Inside the Koch machine: The billionaire brothers who want to ‘save’ America

The hundreds of wealthy conservatives gathered on the grand lawn of the St Regis Monarch Beach had already poured millions into helping build a network of nonprofits that is now one of the most potent forces in American politics.

But Charles Koch, the billionaire industrialist who leads their effort, wanted them to do more.

“Will you stand with us to help save our country?” Koch implored, standing on a riser as he addressed the attentive crowd. “It can’t be done without you and many, many others. So I pray that you will help us in this, I think, long-term, life-or-death struggle for our country.”

That cause, Koch told them, was eliminating obstacles to create a “truly free society”. He ticked off several pressing goals, such as reducing irresponsible government spending and doing away with corporate welfare, and lambasted big banks for their reliance on government bailouts.

Left unmentioned was the role the network will play in shaping the 2016 elections through its deeply funded political nonprofit groups, which do not have to disclose their donors. But the operation’s might was clear in the array of prominent GOP figures who flocked to Dana Point for the summer conference of Koch-bached groups. They included five presidential candidates and a group of US senators and governors.

“Your help over the last election cycle produced the numbers that we have today,” Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina told attendees Saturday night during an alfresco dinner held on one of the resort’s palm-tree-fringed lawns. “The major contributions and investments that you have made have played a major role.”

Twelve years after Koch hosted a gathering of like-minded libertarians frustrated by the growth of government, the political and policy network he and his brother David Koch helped set in motion is entering its most ambitious phase yet, with plans to spend US$889 million by the end of 2016.