Koch network pushes private-sector health-care agenda to counter Biden’s public option

Koch network pushes private-sector health-care agenda to counter Biden’s public option

Called the “personal option,” the plan is a collection of policy proposals geared toward the private sector that focuses on tax breaks, expanding health savings accounts and slashing regulations. The plan’s name and messaging are intended to contrast with Democrats’ push for a public option, which would give people a chance to buy in to a government-run health-care program that would compete with private insurers.

Charles Koch Attempts an Apology Tour after He and His Father Financed a Political Hate Machine for Six Decades

Charles Koch Attempts an Apology Tour after He and His Father Financed a Political Hate Machine for Six Decades

As millions of Americans face eviction, have no money for Christmas presents for their children, food pantry lines stretch for miles, and the COVID-19 crisis escalates across the country, it’s critical to remember the role that Charles Koch has played in turning much of the U.S. into a heartless kleptocracy.

Journalism’s Gates Keepers

Journalism’s Gates Keepers

I recently examined nearly 20,000 charitable grants the Gates Foundation has made through the end of June and found more than $250 million dollars going toward journalism. Recipients include news operations like the BBC, NBC, Al Jazeera, ProPublica, National Journal, The Guardian, Univision, Medium, The Financial Times, The Atlantic, The Texas Tribune, Gannett, Washington Monthly, Le Monde, and The Center for Investigative Reporting; charitable organizations affiliated with news outlets, like BBC Media Action and The New York Times Neediest Cases Fund; media companies including Participant Media, whose documentary Waiting for “Superman” supports Gates’ agenda on charter schools; journalistic organizations such as the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, the National Press Foundation, and the International Center for Journalists; and a variety of other groups creating news content or working on journalism, such as the Leo Burnett Company, an ad agency that Gates commissioned to create a “news site” to promote the success of aid groups. In some cases, recipients say they distributed part of the funding as sub-grants to other journalistic organizations—which makes it difficult to see the full picture of Gates’ funding into the fourth estate.