Koch brothers lobby for broken government, burning planet.

• Author: Bottari, Mary
• Position: Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires - Book review

Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires

Behind the Rise of the Radical Right

By Jane Mayer

Doubleday. $29.95.449 pages.

For too many Americans, the levers of democracy are broken. Congress and the majority of states have failed to take meaningful action on the issues Americans consistently rate as their top concerns--the economy, employment, and wages.

This sad state of affairs has put "dissatisfaction with the government" at the top of the list of America's problems for the second year in a row.

But this broken system is no accident. In fact, it maybe the crowning achievement of a secretive network of uber-wealthy extremists who are the subject of an exceptional new book by Jane Mayer, the award-winning writer for The New Yorker.

Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right is a must-read for everyone concerned about the crisis of American democracy and the disconnect between what citizens want from their government and what government is delivering.

Mayer reveals fascinating new details about the kingpins of the anti-government gang, billionaire industrialists Charles and David Koch, whose family firm, Koch Industries, is the second largest privately held company in America and one of the biggest corporations in the world.

Father Fred Koch was a founding member of the John Birch Society, which hyped the threat of communism and fought the civil rights reforms of the 1960s. Son Charles, who now runs the company, once helped lead and raise funds for the Birchers, but split with the group over Vietnam.

In recounting the family history, Mayer digs up some killer quotes, which shed light on the brothers and their motivations. In the 1970s, Charles wrote in the Libertarian Review: "Ideas do not spread by themselves; they spread only through people. Which is why we need a movement." And the movement he envisioned "must destroy the prevalent statist paradigm."

In 1980, this vision was set forth in detail when brother David ran for Vice President on the Libertarian Party ticket against Ronald Reagan. His platform called for abolishing government health-care programs Medicare and Medicaid, as well as Social Security, and all income and corporate taxes.

Also on the Koch chopping block were OSHA, the FDA, the SEC, the EPA, and the FBI. And David called for the abolition of campaign finance laws and any laws impeding employment, such as minimum wage and child labor laws.

The campaign's goal, writes...