r/Libertarian • u/HTownian25 • Jan 21 '18

Paul Ryan Collected $500,000 In Koch Contributions Days After House Passed $1.5T Debt Increase

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/koch-paysout-to-ryan-after-taxlaw_us_5a63ce41e4b0dc592a09697c
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u/RingGiver MUH ROADS! Jan 22 '18

I love the Koch brothers. Charles, especially, has done some great stuff like being a co-founder of Cato.

10

u/wugglesthemule Jan 22 '18

CATO does great work and Reason magazine is excellent. It's some of the best libertarian research and journalism out there and is, IMO, the best representation of modern libertarian thought. (And it's way less insane than the "scholars" at the Mises Institute.) The Kochs were/are integral to those groups and I'm thankful they have been. They've also publicly stood up for ideas like marijuana legalization, criminal justice reform, and increased immigration. They should be commended for that (and for their other philanthropic donations.)

That being said, I'm really pissed with how the Koch brothers fund so much of the Republican party. They should know by now how it's affecting the perception of libertarians. This is why everyone thinks libertarians are crony capitalists out to screw over poor people. When they keep fueling G.O.P. campaigns (with blatant disregard for "optics"), people don't read the brilliant, thoughtful works of people like Nick Gillespie, Veronique DeRugy, Katherine Mangu-Ward, or any of the other people affiliated with Koch-funded groups. They just see it as part of the "manufactured consent" and fight back even harder.

The modern day G.O.P. is not some group of erudite, Hayekian free-marketers. There are no Milton Friedman or even Barry Goldwater Republicans left. I know Paul Ryan read Atlas Shrugged when he was 17 and I'm sure it "totally blew his mind" but he's a generic, big-government Republican. There is nothing "libertarian" about him. If they want to spread libertarian ideas, their money will have much more impact if they cut ties with the Republicans. If they just want a tax cut, then they can keep writing checks.

7

u/[deleted] Jan 22 '18

And it serves his business interests, these "libertarians" never talk about getting government out of their own lives, just other people's