The Koch brothers are coming to a neighborhood near you. That’s the message from a new Public Citizen report, “Outside Spenders, Local Elections.” The report details how the Koch brothers’ Americans for Prosperity (AFP) is dumping money into local government races to advance their pro-corporate, anti-worker and anti-government agenda.
In Douglas County, Colorado, for example, AFP pumped $350,000 into a school board race in an effort to keep the incumbent board members and protect recent policy changes such as one that weakened the local teachers union. In Iron County, Wisconsin, AFP sent out mailers to 1,000 homes labeling board of supervisors candidates opposed to a new open pit mine as “anti-mining radicals.” AFP even reportedly spent more than $20,000 to oppose a levy to support the Columbus Ohio zoo!
It appears that no election, no matter how local, is immune from the big money machine unleashed by Citizens United. The American peoples’ voices cannot be heard when organizations such as Americans for Prosperity funnel their money into our communities. We need a constitutional amendment to fight back against corporations and billionaires hijacking our elections.