In a column in the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday, Charles Koch - co-owner of Koch Industries, patron of various libertarian groups, and the left's designated villian in Wisconsin - hit back at the conspiracy theorists alleging that he is behind efforts by Gov. Scott Walker to rein in public employee unions.
For many years, I, my family and our company have contributed to a variety of intellectual and political causes working to solve these problems. Because of our activism, we've been vilified by various groups. Despite this criticism, we're determined to keep contributing and standing up for those politicians, like Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who are taking these challenges seriously.
Both Democrats and Republicans have done a poor job of managing our finances. They've raised debt ceilings, floated bond issues, and delayed tough decisions.
Senior Economics Writer Stephen Moore critiques Washington's pending budget deal.
In spite of looming bankruptcy, President Obama and many in Congress have tiptoed around the issue of overspending by suggesting relatively minor cuts in mostly discretionary items. There have been few serious proposals for necessary cuts in military and entitlement programs, even though these account for about three-fourths of all federal spending.
The column is hardly groundbreaking - most of the things Koch says have been said by others - but it marks the brothers' first high profile attempt to respond to their vociferous critics. What do you think: is the effort worthwhile, or did Koch simply stoop to his critics' level?
