Koch Group's Poll Cites Barriers to Achievement
The Koch Brothers Commissioned a Survey of Americans and Found Most Like a $15 Minimum Wage, Free College, and Universal Health Care
Nick Surgey, Zaid Jilani August 9 2018, 7:00 a.m. Leia em português
During the month of July, the marketing and communications group In Pursuit Of — launched by the Koch brothers in 2017– conducted a survey of Americans on a range of issues.
The poll was later written up by RealClearPolitics, which spun the results as favorable to the Koch network. RealClearPolitics noted that on a set of vague values questions, Americans appeared to take the conservative or libertarian side of political arguments. For instance, RealClearPolitics noted that the survey found that 86 percent of Americans said the right to personal property is key to a free and just society. Okay, sure.
But mostly left out of the RealClearPolitics write-up is the fact that the poll also surveyed Americans in detail on a number of issues they felt would help them overcome social barriers, and found that Americans are quite favorable to a set of policies that the Koch network opposes. Where the Koch brothers see government tyranny, most Americans see common-sense solutions to basic problems:
For instance, the poll found that 66 percent of Americans would find “government-paid college tuition” as a “very effective” or “somewhat effective solution” to social barriers, with more than half of those lining up on the “very effective” side.
Americans For Prosperity, the Koch-funded political advocacy organization, campaigned against free college tuition in 2016, just as the idea was becoming a central plank of Bernie Sanders’s presidential campaign. AFP Wisconsin called it a “terrible idea,” while the state director of AFP Colorado called it “pie-in-the-sky.”
A $15 minimum wage was almost as popular in the poll, with 35 percent saying it would be a very effective solution and a further 30 percent saying it would be a somewhat effective solution.
The Kochs, and groups they financially back, have campaigned against minimum wage laws for decades. In 1980, when David Koch ran alongside Ed Clark on the Libertarian Party ticket, aiming to become vice president, their platform included a promise to abolish all minimum wage laws. That project has continued with the groups that the Kochs have funded over the years. Americans for Prosperity and its state affiliates have campaigned against increases to city, state, and federal minimum wage laws, including lobbying Congress.
A third of respondents believe that more regulation of Wall Street would be very effective, while 36 percent said it would be somewhat effective. Nearly seven in 10 respondents said increasing government assistance for child care would be a very or somewhat effective policy response to social barriers.
The top concern of those polled is the growing cost of health care, with 92 percent saying it is a problem. A combined 55 percent said a government-run health care system would be a very or somewhat effective policy response.
The idea of government run health care would be completely intolerable to the Koch network. Koch-backed groups have campaigned against reforms, like the Affordable Care Act, that would place even limited controls on the private market and which provide government subsidies to enable the poorest to purchase insurance. The American Legislative Exchange Council, a state-level group that pushes model legislation, promoted a bill that pushed the Affordable Care Act into the courts. Generation Opportunity, the Koch student group, pushed students to not buy insurance, through expensive TV ads and campus events. Concerned Veterans for America, another Koch group, has campaigned to privatize the Department of Veterans Affairs through vouchers.
Top photo: Charles Koch, head of Koch Industries, talks passionately about his new book on market-based management, on Feb. 26, 2007.
Contact the author:
Nick Surgey nick@ documentedinvestigations.org @nicksurgey
Zaid Jilani zaid.jilani@ theintercept.com @ZaidJilani
Source: https://theintercept.com/2018/08/09/koch-brothers-health-care-free-college/
Koch Group's Poll Cites Barriers to Achievement
By Sally Persons July 28, 2018
Bo Rader/The Wichita Eagle via AP, File
A new survey from a group founded by conservative mega donors Charles and David Koch shows Americans believe a growing number of barriers – some of which are government-imposed -- are preventing them reaching their full potential in life.
The poll was conducted by In Pursuit Of — the marketing wing of the Koch-backed Seminar Network — ahead of a biannual donor event this weekend in Colorado Springs, Colo. The purpose of the survey was to measure how best the network could focus its outreach efforts. It is the first national poll released ahead of the group’s donor meeting.
Overall, 56 percent of respondents said there are more barriers today compared to previous generations. Another 66 percent said they agree barriers prevent people from improving their lives and that breaking them should be a “top priority.” Seventy percent agreed that government is responsible for creating the opportunity for upward mobility, but actually achieving success depends on each individual.
The Koch network focuses its outreach on four main areas: government, education, business and community. The group wanted to see if its priorities are still in line with what people are feeling. None of the survey questions were inherently political, and none asked about individual politicians or political parties. A spokesman for the Seminar Network said the survey confirmed that the group has the right priorities.
“Our Network is focused on removing the barriers that stand in the way of people helping themselves and helping each other,” said James Davis in a statement released with the survey results. “We’ve seen significant progress, but work remains if we are going to truly turn around the trajectory of this country toward one where people are able to improve their own lives and realize their full potential.”
According to the poll, Americans see infringements on their individual liberties as a major problem. Sixty-two percent of those polled said that government needs to focus on protecting individual rights, including “property rights, free speech, and equal treatment for everyone under the law.” Another 86 percent said that the right to “personal property” is fundamental to a free and just society.
Despite the imperfections of government, however, 51 percent said that it is best suited to address major issues in society. Sixty-nine percent said that there are existing barriers in government as well as in business, education and communities that prevent people from achieving their best in life.
The top issue respondents selected as a barrier was the cost of health care. People also pointed to the national debt and cost of higher education as major issues preventing them from achieving their full potential. When asked about solutions to these problems, a majority said lower taxes, enforcing equal rights and putting health care in the hands of patients would be “very effective” steps.
A spokeswoman for In Pursuit Of said that a focus of this weekend’s donor meeting will be a comprehensive look at removing these barriers, and how the network and affiliated groups can help with this process.
The survey of 1,000 adults nationwide, conducted online July 16-18, has a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points.
Sally Persons is RealClearPolitics' White House correspondent.
Related Topics: Koch Network