The 2018 midterm election cycle is becoming more contentious with the Democratic platform of opposing the president and Republicans battling back and running on the booming American economy. Recently, California billionaire and environmentalist Tom Steyer announced he would dump $30 million in congressional races around the country in an attempt to thwart the movement of President Donald Trump and his agenda. However, Steyer’s generous funding for Democrats is now being overshadowed by the Koch brothers who announced they are prepared to spend $400 million in the same congressional races.
The unprecedented amount of funding comes after the conservative-minded Koch network hosted its annual donor conference amid the top-level business acumen approach the president used on the economy that has boosted areas of manufacturing and commerce to record levels. Brothers Charles and David Koch are big fans of Trump’s Tax Cut and Jobs Act and his deregulatory hand on the federal government. Though, celebratory remarks were lined with a touch of political restlessness from the upcoming congressional elections that pose a risk to Trump’s economic agenda.
According to a report from Reuters, the $400 million spending package is a 60 percent increase from the network’s financial investment in the 2016 election cycle. Although the business giants are avid supporters in Republican politics, they never came to favor Trump during his presidential bid. However, that has been reversed after federal regulations and the corporate tax rate was cut by the Trump administration, showing them “America is back in business.”
“It’s going to be a very challenging environment,” claimed Tim Phillips, president of the grassroots political activist group Americans for Prosperity, an arm of the Koch network. “The left is energized. There’s no question about that,” he added.
An invigorated political left and anti-Trump activism has helped Democrats gain back seats in the Senate with the special election in Alabama and grabbed backed 15 seats from Republicans in the Virginia House of Delegates. Therefore, the Koch brothers will sell the public and voters on Trump’s tax plan and the booming U.S. economy.
The Koch brothers still disagree with the president on a few issues, including one big one – immigration. According to Daniel Garza and Jorge Lima, two operatives of the Koch network, they are attempting to broker a deal with White officials on protecting DREAMers from deportation, an issue president Trump has claimed he is working on with the Republican majority in Congress. Moreover, the network issued a statement last week explaining their disagreement with Trump over his immigration plans, including a limit on legal immigration.
Operatives from the Koch network are also in contrast with the president’s views on trade. They adamantly oppose Trump’s measures to impose new tariffs on imports and are concerned with the U.S. leaving the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) set with Mexico and Canada. Trump is currently in the stages of renegotiating the agreement and has even threatened to leave it, citing concern for American-based jobs.
Approximately $20 million of the $400 million total will be allocated towards promoting the new tax legislation. Democrats have continuously complained that the tax law only benefits large corporations and the richest Americans. Phillips claims Americans will increase their favor with the president’s tax cuts after voters see increases in paychecks themselves.
Hundreds of American companies including Wal-Mart, Starbucks, Disney, AT&T, and Wells Fargo, have announced pay increases and bonuses for employees in the wake of the revitalized tax law. Furthermore, consumer confidence is reaching levels not seen in decades, showing Americans are benefiting from the the tax bill.
Phillips stated that American for Prosperity and the Koch network will most likely not interfere with Republican primaries around the country. Their challenge is to avoid a liberal-backed referendum on the president in every congressional seat up for reelection. Nonetheless, this year’s election cycle will see influence from big business patrons on both sides of the political spectrum.
