Reid says the Koch brothers can't 'frighten' him with their money. Reid: Ryan budget creates 'Koch-topia'

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid preemptively slammed the budget proposal Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) will release Tuesday, calling it a document written to pander to the Koch brothers and other billionaires.

“It’s a blueprint for a modern… how would we say this? Koch-topia. Yes, that’s it,” Reid said. “Call it whatever you want. We might as well call it the Koch budget because that’s what they’re doing, protecting the Koch brothers.”


Reid’s remarks mark the latest volley in Democrats’ mid-term election year strategy of attacking the Kochs repeatedly, hoping to fire up their liberal base and associate Republicans with the brothers in the minds of voters. And while a poll last week showed that most Americans don’t know who the Koch brothers are, 45 percent of self-identified liberals said they have a negative opinion of them.

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Reid dared conservative outside groups to “fire away” at him for his fiery election-year attacks on the billionaire Koch brothers.

Speaking after the group American Encore spent $30,000 on Monday airing ads in Nevada dinging Reid for “attacking free speech,” the Senate majority leader launched a rebuttal aimed at Charles and David Koch, harshly criticizing their role in politics and influence among Republicans.

Reid called American Encore one of the Kochs’ “puppet organizations,” likening it to Americans for Prosperity, the Koch-backed group that’s poured millions in attack ads onto vulnerable Senate Democrats for their support of Obamacare and climate change stances.

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And while Reid criticized outside groups for having the “staggering” gall to criticize Democrats’ seemingly endless attacks on the brothers, he also dared American Encore to aim more spending at him. Reid isn’t up for reelection until 2016.

“It’s a fool’s errand for the Koch brothers to think they can use their money to frighten me or to brainwash Nevadans or the rest of the country,” Reid said. “There have been times in my life I’ve been a little afraid, but I’m not afraid of them … I understand they spent $30,000. Let them spend $300,000 in Nevada.”

He later added: “To any and all groups who wish to attack me on behalf of multibillionaires, fire away … I am very happy, I’m proud to be the target of those attacks. I will gladly endure them in order to call attention to the unscrupulous acts of these two barons.”