McConnell defends Kochs

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell on Friday blasted President Barack Obama for joining in liberal attacks against conservative billionaires Charles and David Koch.

In a speech at the American Enterprise Institute, the Kentucky Republican accused Obama’s reelection campaign of employing tactics not seen since the Nixon administration. Part of that, he said, is an “enemies list” and efforts to demonize private citizens like the Koch brothers.


“Charles and David Koch have become household names, not for the tens of thousands of people they employ, not for their generosity to charity, and not for building up one of the most successful private corporations on the planet, but because of their forceful and unapologetic promotion and defense of capitalism,” McConnell said, according to prepared remarks.

The Senate minority leader said the president has wrongly accused big conservative donors like the Koch brothers of a “corporate takeover of our democracy.”

“Indeed, for all the talk after the Citizens United ruling about the corporate takeover of politics, not a single Fortune 100 company contributed a penny to the eight Super PACs that supported the Republican primary candidates,” McConnell said. “And that includes Big Oil, Wall Street banks and health insurers — the three corporate bogeymen that President Obama himself warned us about in the wake of the court’s ruling.”

McConnell, who has vehemently opposed the McCain-Feingold Act, spoke in favor of the landmark Citizens United decision, calling it “strong validation of a fight I’ve waged for nearly three decades against those within the government who would micromanage political speech.”

He repeatedly called out the Obama administration for violating the First Amendment and called the DISCLOSE Act, which would require outside groups to list their donors, a political weapon for exposing and intimidating the president’s critics.

The administration’s views on campaign finance laws reflect Obama’s attempt at stifling his critics, McConnell said, using the example of the aftermath of Newark Mayor Cory Booker speaking out against the Obama campaign’s portrayal of Bain Capital.

“My own view has always been that if you can’t convince people of the wisdom of your policies, then you should come up with some better arguments,” he said. “But for all its vaunted tolerance, the political left has consistently demonstrated a militant intolerance for dissent.”

McConnell’s leadership PAC, Bluegrass Committee, has raised $634,194 so far this election cycle. McConnell, who is not up for election this year, is helping support the reelection efforts of nearly 30 members of Congress through his political action committee, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, another heavy contributor to Republican reelection campaigns, came out in support of McConnell’s views on campaign-finance laws.

“Leader McConnell’s remarks today correctly highlighted the dangers of the government attempting to limit our freedom of speech. The temptation for those in power to limit the speech of those who disagree with them is simply too great to allow the protections of the First Amendment to be eroded,” said Chamber vice president Bruce Josten in a statement.

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), who supports a constitutional amendment to overturn the Citizens United decision, criticized McConnell’s speech Friday afternoon.

“Senator McConnell’s entire speech was an exercise in twisted logic and double-speak. He has gone from being the greatest champion of disclosure to being its foremost opponent,” Schumer said in a statement. “As Justice Brandeis said, sunlight is the greatest disinfectant. Senator McConnell is apparently now afraid of sunlight because the hundreds of millions of dollars being spent for his candidates and against the President, if disclosed, would create an enormous backlash.”

The Obama campaign declined to comment on McConnell’s speech.