Charles Koch Quotes
When a company is not being guided by the products they make and what the customers need, but by how they can manipulate the system - get regulations on their competitors, or mandates on using their products, or eliminating foreign competition - it just lowers the overall standard of living and hurts the disadvantaged the most.
Koch, Charles G. Good Profit: How Creating Value for Others Built One of the World's Most Successful Companies. Crown Business, 2015.
He and his brother were the largest political contributors in the United States, so they had enormous influence on Republicans (they only made political contributions to conservative organizations).
The Bishop in this letter threatened to excommunicate the President because his economic policy was causing the death of babies and elderly people from malnutrition and lack of medical care and other basic services.
The “regulation” to which Franklin objected was not the type of regulation we have today. It was generally limited to the granting of monopolies to individuals or their companies if they would institute a service that was perceived as beneficial by the public as a whole. For example, a company might build steamboats and provide regular service across a river or along it. The company would argue that the initial cost and investment is so great, that they are entitled to a period of protection so that they can be sure of getting their investment back. In most cases, they would have made the investment, monopoly or not, and in many cases the public officials are unsophisticated and make a bad deal; in others there was (and is) outright corruption. Countries like Norway, have been so burned by the problem Franklin observed, that they try to avoid even government monopolies of service. They for example, have private and public light rail commuter lines which continuously compete against each other.
McConnell had become very rich as a senator despite the relatively modest salary paid to members of Congress. As soon as Grimes announced her candidacy, McConnell launched a serious of negative attack ads to try and define her negatively for the voters. She then retaliated. This is one of her retaliations. The campaign was a good example of Congressional races then where candidates spend very little time and resources telling the voters what they were for. Instead they spend their resources and efforts on stating what is wrong with their opponent. Grimes lost to the incumbent who outspend her in their mutual attack campaign. McConnell never did explain how he had become so wealthy.
Charles de Ganahl Koch is an American billionaire businessman and philanthropist. As of April 2021, he was ranked as the 15th-richest person in the world on Bloomberg Billionaires Index, with an estimated net worth of $63.1 billion. Koch has been co-owner, chairman, and chief executive officer of Koch Industries since 1967, while his late brother David Koch served as executive vice president. Charles and David each owned 42% of the conglomerate. The brothers inherited the business from their father, Fred C. Koch, then expanded the business. Originally involved exclusively in oil refining and chemicals, Koch Industries now includes process and pollution control equipment and technologies, polymers and fibers, minerals, fertilizers, commodity trading and services, forest and consumer products, and ranching. The businesses produce a wide variety of well-known brands, such as Stainmaster carpet, the Lycra brand of spandex fiber, Quilted Northern tissue, and Dixie Cup.
