Investigating Power
National deep pockets backing GOP and corporate interests have pumped more than $9 million into the Buckeye Institute and the Freedom Foundation, the two groups leading attacks on public employee unions in Ohio.
Documents obtained by CMD show the extent of the corporate lobby group’s role in pressuring the states to force a rapid reopening of the economy despite strong public resistance and health concerns.
The Koch-funded policy group calls for broad cuts to Medicaid, education, and water quality protection on top of Governor DeWine’s hiring freeze and budget cuts.
Koch Industries spent $2.7 million in the first quarter of 2020 on lobbying Congress to block climate progress, weaken environmental protections, and protect its bottom line.
FreedomWorks and Convention of States Action, both with Koch network ties, have new initiatives to promote state-based protests against COVID-19 social distancing measures.
The well-funded machinery that sowed doubt about climate is now sowing seeds of doubt over the economic and public health response to COVID-19.
The far-right, Trump-aligned student activist group Turning Point USA is attempting to exploit the coronavirus pandemic to out “radical leftist” professors “corrupting our youth.”
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine asks Trump administration to drop work requirements for Medicaid, food stamps, and Temporary Assistance to Needy Families in the face of the coronavirus pandemic.
Groups favored by the Koch donor network and the Mercers have pumped more than $10 million into the Heartland Institute, but mainstream donor-advised fund sponsors are financing it too.
DonorsTrust, the corporate Right’s most popular donor-advised fund sponsor, provided the sting operation with nearly one-third of its revenue over the last five years on record.