Koch defended his companies’ record and said he has worked years to oppose 'cronyism.' Koch calls critics 'collectivists'

Charles Koch is firing back at Democrats who have been invoking his and his brother’s name and slamming them for “un-American” activities, saying in an op-ed that he is fighting for core American principles.

The billionaire businessman took to the pages of The Wall Street Journal to defend himself, without mentioning any names, against repeated attacks from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid on the Senate floor and other Democrats that have sought to portray the major Republican donors as nefarious.


“Collectivists (those who stand for government control of the means of production and how people live their lives) promise heaven but deliver hell,” Koch wrote in an op-ed piece on Wednesday.

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“Instead of encouraging free and open debate, collectivists strive to discredit and intimidate opponents,” he added. “They engage in character assassination. (I should know, as the almost daily target of their attacks.) … Rather than try to understand my vision for a free society or accurately report the facts about Koch Industries, our critics would have you believe we’re ‘un-American’ and trying to ‘rig the system,’ that we’re against ‘environmental protection’ or eager to ‘end workplace safety standards.’’”

Koch defended his companies’ record and said he has worked years to oppose “cronyism,” including subsidies and tariffs, and identified the problem for American businesses as too much government regulation.

“I have devoted most of my life to understanding the principles that enable people to improve their lives. It is those principles—the principles of a free society—that have shaped my life, my family, our company and America itself,” Koch said, saying that he is fighting to protect American freedom from the government itself.

Reid and the Democrats have shown no signs of letting up in their war against the Koch brothers, with Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) saying polls showing almost half of Americans know who they are are evidence the crusade is working.