There book terrified me. I have had problems sleeping reading this book and my family urged me to quit reading it because it was affecting me so. Yet, this book explains everything that is going on in politics and our country today. I finally understand why things are happening to a degree and what once made no sense now makes sense. What I can't fully comprehend is why so many people still vote republican when it is making government a branch of a few billionaires in the country. People are vot

There book terrified me. I have had problems sleeping reading this book and my family urged me to quit reading it because it was affecting me so. Yet, this book explains everything that is going on in politics and our country today. I finally understand why things are happening to a degree and what once made no sense now makes sense. What I can't fully comprehend is why so many people still vote republican when it is making government a branch of a few billionaires in the country. People are voting against their own interests. I still don't understand that part of the equation. It is some slick advertising, for sure.



Dark money begins with the Koch family and the start they get with their money. They made money of WWI and WWII and like the Bush family they made money from the Nazi's. As children, Charles and David, who run the company today, were raised of a nanny from Germany who was a Nazi. She was brutal and the boys were abused. The father was harsh on his children.



We see the rise of the company and the angry that is built up in the Koch brothers because people tried to set limits on them. Who likes limits right? Still, there is a point in life where you simply can't do anything you want just because you want to. These people think you can. It pretty much started with the EPA, notice how the EPA is currently gutted and useless. It came from the plan back in the 70s these brother's launched. The EPA fined the Koch's hard for practices where the were affecting public health. There were dumping hundreds of pounds of mercury into rivers and people were getting sick. This is just one of the many offenses they were fined for.



The brothers believe that as a company, they should have the right to do as they please and if people get sick, that's their problem form living below their plant. As a company why do they have to worry about clean water, or air. They don't care because all they care about it money and being in control.



The Koch's are libertarian. It is basically a view of anarchy where there is no government. Corporations rule and they can do anything they want. They call themselves conservative, but this is not true. The true conservatives thought these views of libertarians were extreme back then and no one gave their views a second thought. This with the smack down of the EPA set off the Koch machine. From this point in the 80s, they decided to control the way people think and the way government works. The scary part about this book shows that they have largely succeeded.



The republican party has been taken over by extremist and the party doesn't even look like the Reagan party looked. They control many middle school and high school textbooks and what is printed there. They teach their ideology from more than 400 universities in the country - all the ivy league. They have been working the past 10 years to control all 3 houses of government and I think it will happen.



They are brilliant at making it look like it is grassroots driven, but behind every movement there is Koch money. The grassroots people can't see it. All the organizers are from the Koch machine. They have branches within branches within branches. They are in everything they can influence people. They have moved a whole party to the far right.



Their big win and what gave them the whole game was citizens united. That changed everything. The machine that funnels Dark money into the systems has almost become more money than the 2 major parties combined in the last election. Republicans have lost control of their party. Boehner went to David Koch's office to plead him to let them save the country from financial ruin in 2009. As Boehner was leaving office, he even mentions how out of control it is and his party is lost.



The Koch's believe in no taxes. They shouldn't have to pay and income tax. They believe that poor people don't need an education and they want to shut down public education. Only the wealthy need an education. They don't believe in any safety net. They package their message as wellbeing and they think that if poor people are poor with no assistance they will work harder to make it.



This is greed that is about to kill a nation. I fear that it is the downfall of our country. Democracy is dying if we don't fix this and we are about to be an Oligarchy where to elite or the billionaires/ slash trillionaire run the government. They will walk all over anyone else who tries to get in their way. They want to abolish the minimum wage so they can pay employees pennies. They want to be able to pollute and sell goods that might not be safe for us. They have no interest in the wellbeing of the rest of the country. We are on our own. They are all about greed.



I kept wondering why Trump cozied up to Russia and North Korea. This is the kind of government they want. Why be in NATO where they have rules and regulations on corporate power. It all makes sense now what they are doing.



It will not help the rest of us. We will lose the weekend and sweetshops will come back to the country. There was a point in the 80s where Charles is quoted as saying he thinks children should work in factories. I mean, they have no limits. There are no limits to what they want. They want all the money and all the power.



Jane Mayer does an amazing job following the money. She traces all their dealings and how they shelled the money around and she has the references and the proof all in this book. She has done a very detailed job of tracing this family and their work behind the scenes of the last 40 years. Now, everyone knows the Koch's, but people still don't know the extent of what they have done and how they have taken control of power in this country. They are the power behind the throne right now. They are pulling the strings. It was Charles who demanded that Republicans do nothing but obstruct Obama. They would not give an inch. He held a meeting with them.



Jane does speak of Soros and she does speak a little about the fact that the democrats run on money too. Both sides do, but there is nothing like the Koch-tapus or the Koch machine. It is in a category all its own. No one is spending money like they are. They have been systematic and they give money to any public figure who uses their talking points like Glen Beck and Rush Limbaugh. They get money to use those talking points. It is so pervasive and it feels so overwhelming. It almost feels like we don't have a chance. How can average people fight Billions and billions of dollars?



In 2016, their machine, which is the Kochs and their donors, spent a record 800 something million dollars on that campaign and this isn't all the money cause some of it can't be traced. The democrats and republicans spent a combined 1 billion dollars roughly on that election. They almost outspent the 2 major parties and this is the money that could be traced.



Democrat or republican, we all as a nation should be upset that a few billionaires have their hands on the government.



We are in scary times and I pray from the future of our country. I hope we don't give in to greed. I hope we can continue to be a country that cares for our citizenry. Taking care of the poor and healing the sick was the heart of Jesus's ministry. I don't see how a nation that considers itself Christian can go down this road. It certainly won't be Christian any longer if it does so, maybe in name only.



This book, I'm sure, is not perfect, but this book has sources and proof. There is a money trail and their are meetings notes and quotes from people. Look at what is happening in todays world and you can see the truth is written here. The Koch's pushed an agenda and people were willing to accept it. Our nation is divided and with what is going on, I don't see any way to fix it. The Kochs will not stop pushing their agenda and fighting. This is a mess we are in and the losers are the American people.



This book is important. I know most things in here have been reported. I'm still glad I read this and now I have to find a way to sleep. I guess I need a plan of action. How can I be part of healing the country. I don't want to fight; discuss, sure. The pendulum has swung. The economy collapsed in 2008 and the Koch's blame the government for the collapse when it was the banks doing dirty deals that did it. When their are no checks on the market, the market will crash. Everything has an up and a down. We will all suffer together either way.



I know I'm not very positive after reading this book. I do have a little tiny hope that the house and senate can be won back by the dems this election. It is only another battle in a very long battle where the other side is better equipped. This book makes me sad. We have so much right now and because they want more, we might lose it all.



None of this mentions having a clean world for people to enjoy and live in. We all share the land. Having clean air is important for people to breathe. Clean water is what makes life possible. Once our water supply is dirtied, there is no way to clean it quickly. Our environment is our most important gift as a nation.



My personal view is that corporations are all about money and they don't care about people. Time and again, they have to be forced to do the right thing, otherwise they use people like we are resources. History bears this out. The only tool, the only way we as normal people can protect ourselves from them is the government. They are the thing to keep them in check and keep them from eating the rest of us. I'm sure people disagree, but that is my view.



Well, if you read all this - congratulations. You know what I think. You know many of my fears and probably many of my weaknesses too.