"The Libertarian party got a little too radical for us," [David] Koch says. Instead, he and Charles started creating and funding institutions to further their ideas. These include the Cato Institute...This was the beginning of "the Kochtopus," a term David uses himself, and of the twice-a-year Koch Brothers conferences, where attendees hear progress reports on their attempts to promote their ideas through political activity, public advocacy, think tanks, and academic programs. The conferences have grown from a dozen people a decade ago to "an amazing number of people" who want to attend now.How unradical has David Koch gotten?
Koch is attending the Republican National Convention as a Romney delegate:
Not even the most experienced reporter is likely to recognize him as he takes his seat in the New York delegation or struggles to make his way through the jostling crowds on the floor of the Republican National Convention this week in Tampa..."I like to engage where my part makes a difference," he says..."I have a point of view. When I pass on, I want people to say he did a lot of good things, he made a real difference, he saved a lot of lives in cancer research." Next to that, being a delegate to the Republican National Convention -- and getting jostled by the packed crowd on the floor -- is not such a big deal.
Libertarian Party too radical? The Koch brothers, among other forces, were instrumental in the watering down of the Libertarian Party. And while there are many good people at the Cato Institute, and while the Cato Institute has also helped with spreading libertarian causes, organizations such as the Ludwig von Mises Institute and The Future of Freedom Foundation have a more radical and more consistent pro-liberty message.
ReplyDeleteOne of my complaints about the Libertarian Party is that it is not radical enough. For the past two elections, the Republicans had a candidate (Ron Paul) who was more radical than the Libertarian candidates were (Bob Barr and Gary Johnson). I wish the Libertarian Party would start running more radical candidates again, instead of running lukewarmly-libertarian candidates like Ed Clark and Bob Barr in a failed attempt to widen the party's appeal.
I'll second 7:53's views on the LP. While they are the only party I ever vote for, we fight tooth and nail at every convention to keep the party from going too republican. My view is that if a republican and a libertarian show up wearing the same blue suit, white shirt and red tie and say the same things, no one will vote for us. We are the protest vote. If we start start winning elections we will likely become part of the problem.
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