Koch Heads: Billionaire ‘Libertarians’ Lobbied Alaskan Government to Bailout Their Failing Oil Refinery
Peter D'Abrosca
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Billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch pleaded with government officials for a bailout of a failing North Pole oil refinery that they purchased in 2003.
“The Koch’s own a few refineries in the United States including the Flint Hills Refinery in Fairbanks. In 2003, they paid $265 million in purchasing the refinery from the Williams Companies,” wrote Alaskan journalist Andrew Halcro in 2009. “Less than three years later, Flint Hills began asking for relief from the Murkowski administration. In Februrary of 2006, Flint Hills sent a letter to the state asking for a change to their oil supply contract with the state so that payments owed wouldn’t be required.”
The Koch’s are notorious for their public opposition to “big government.”
“These are bothers who have established themselves as staunch Libertarians,” wrote Halcro. “Defenders of the free market and generous benefactors to such notable free market advocacy groups as the Cato Institute, to whom together, the brothers have donated over $21 million.”
But the Koch’s quietly worked behind the scenes for decades with establishment members of both political parties to enrich themselves at the expense of ordinary Americans. The Alaskan oil refinery is the perfect example.
Halcro wrote:
“Less than three years [after the purchase], Flint Hills began asking for relief from the Murkowski administration. In Februrary of 2006, Flint Hills sent a letter to the state asking for a change to their oil supply contract with the state so that payments owed wouldn’t be required.
In an immediate response, State’s Oil & Gas Director Bill Van Dyke responded by saying that all parties, including Flint Hills, knew the oil supply contract was negotiated in early 2004, that disputes before federal regulatory agencies over pipeline tariffs were likely and could affect the oil price retroactively.
One Fairbanks lawmaker even introduced legislation (SB314) in April of 2006 to prohibit such retroactive billing adjustments in order to help out the home team refinery. The bill died in committee.”
According to Halcro, the Koch’s worked with Gov. Sarah Palin to try to fix their mess, and in 2008 she announced a “Cooperative effort aimed at positioning the North Pole Refinery for success.“
The state even considered taking over ownership of the refinery, and letting the Koch’s keep royalties from the profits.
In the end, the Koch’s never received the bailout they were looking for, and the Flint Hills refinery was closed in 2014.
Does this sound like the behavior of so-called libertarians? Of course not. The Koch’s have been part of the establishment uni-party that has crippled the American economy while enriching the elites for decades.
It was all a scam. And President Donald J. Trump knows it. In two consecutive Twitter posts from Tuesday, he said:
“The globalist Koch Brothers, who have become a total joke in real Republican circles, are against Strong Borders and Powerful Trade. I never sought their support because I don’t need their money or bad ideas. They love my Tax & Regulation Cuts, Judicial picks & more. I made………them richer. Their network is highly overrated, I have beaten them at every turn. They want to protect their companies outside the U.S. from being taxed, I’m for America First & the American Worker – a puppet for no one. Two nice guys with bad ideas. Make America Great Again!”
The of the Koch dynasty is near, ushering in a new era of wealth and prosperity for ordinary Americans.
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