Koch brothers pour more cash into think tanks, ALEC

Derek Cressman ‏@DerekCressman

Koch brothers pour more cash into think tanks, ALEC | The Center for Public Integrity http://ow.ly/himPE

http://www.publicintegrity.org/2013/01/31/12105/exclusive-koch-brothers-pour-more-riches-think-tanks-alec?utm_source=iwatchnews&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=rss

Four foundations run by billionaire industrialists Charles and David Koch hold a combined $310 million in assets according to tax filings obtained by the Center for Public Integrity.

The documents also show that the brothers, principal owners of the second-largest privately held company in the United States, combined in 2011 to donate $24 million through those foundations with much of the money going to support free-market and libertarian think tanks and academic centers.

A $4.5 million grant to the George Mason University Foundation makes up nearly 15 percent of the university foundation’s revenue for 2011. The school is the largest recipient of Koch foundation money since 1985, and it houses several free-market and libertarian research centers including the Institute for Humane Studies, which received $3.7 million from the Koch foundations.

The D.C.-based American Legislative Exchange Council received $150,000 to help finance its activities, including meetings where corporate representatives draft model legislation with state legislators. The Koch brothers have decades-long connections with ALEC, which gave the brothers the Adam Smith Free Enterprise Award in 1994.

(More at the link; note the donation to the Ayn Rand Institute.)