Letters to the editor on Kochs, energy politics
http://bit.ly/PGj299
WICHITA EAGLE – By Melissa Cohlmia
Kevin Horrigan’s commentary was misleading and a disservice to readers (“GOP acts as bellhop for corporations, Kochs,” Sept. 21 Opinion).
Yes, Koch Industries benefits from subsidies – a fact Charles Koch stated in his Wall Street Journal commentary. This is not hypocrisy, as Horrigan claimed. Rather, where subsidies exist, any company that opts out will be at a disadvantage and often driven out of business by competitors with the artificial advantage. This perverse incentive drives out companies that are in favor of sound fiscal policy and opposed to subsidies, and favors inefficient companies that are dependent on subsidies.
Koch’s long-standing position is to end to all subsidies, which distort the market and ultimately cost taxpayers billions of dollars.
What’s Wrong with the Koch Brothers?
http://bit.ly/PoGczT
FRAN TARKENTON
Why should we demonize people who deeply believe in something and do whatever they can to promote it? If the Koch brothers spent millions of dollars on politicians who would subsidize their products and outlaw their competitors, that would be wrong. But instead, they advocate for an end to market distortions, government interventions in the private sector, and cronyism in general. They’re not trying to get more of the government pie; they just really believe they have a vision to help America, because they love this country and the values it stands for.
The truth is that everything we have in this country is because of entrepreneurs, large and small. From the corner store up to the most successful business people—whether conservatives like the Koch brothers, liberals like Steve Jobs at Apple, or libertarians like Jeff Bezos of Amazon—the great wealth of this country comes from people helping other people by creating value. Without value, when businesspeople are just in it for themselves and don’t care about value, only about accruing benefits to themselves, everything falls apart—including the business itself! Those who do create value are the reason we have the great society we have. Since their business began, the Koch brothers have been part of the value-creating class, not the crony class of business owners.
MIT plans to build new childcare facility
http://bit.ly/S1nFsQ
MIT
MIT plans to construct a roughly 14,000-square-foot Technology Children’s Center (TCC) that will nearly double the on-campus childcare slots available to Institute faculty, staff, postdocs and graduate students. The new facility, at 219 Vassar St., is expected to open in late summer 2013.
The center was made possible through the generosity of MIT alumni David H. Koch, who provided a lead gift, and Charles W. and Jennifer C. Johnson.
The Chick-fil-A War Is Back On
http://on.wsj.com/Pirf2f
WALL STREET JOURNAL – By William McGurn
[T]he Supreme Court in Citizens United may have upheld the speech rights of corporations in law, but these assaults on corporate giving seek to deny anyone who speaks up for smaller and more limited government the funding and wherewithal necessary to mount a public argument.
In short, under the false flag of better governance, the activists are working hard to impose standards and codes that would make it impossible for American business—and individuals—to support any but the most politically correct causes. For all the lofty words about accountability, did the drafters of our public-disclosure laws really intend them to be used by activist groups to get people fired for holding unfashionable views?
