Meehan Campaign Attracts Support of Koch Brothers – Prominent Funders of Tea Party, Outsourcers of American Jobs
 
Springfield, PA –  Two billionaire, oil-industry brothers who are leading funders of groups that back privatizing Social Security, the continued outsourcing of American jobs and rolling back decades of environmental regulations[1], are throwing money behind Republican Pat Meehan’s campaign.
 
Charles and David Koch, owners of oil-industry giant Koch Industries, gave Meehan’s campaign the maximum allowable donation during the current fundraising quarter through KochPAC, their company’s political action committee. KochPAC also gave to Meehan’s campaign in the previous quarter.
 
The Kochs have been one of the main proponents of the Tea Party movement, funding Americans for Prosperity, a so-called “astroturf” organization that has used Tea Party members to promote an agenda that advances their corporate interests. That organization has opposed the ending of tax breaks that benefit outsourcers of American jobs, the passage of Wall Street reform, and letting the government negotiate prescription drug prices to lower the cost of Medicare. It has also called for the privatization of Social Security and Medicare.
 
Through Koch Industries, the Koch brothers have also outsourced American jobs to boost the profitability of their company. Koch Industries’ subsidiaries have added jobs in China, South America and Mexico at the same time that it has cut the size of its workforce in the U.S., government records show.
 
“The Koch brothers are throwing their support behind Pat Meehan’s campaign because they know he would be a reliable voice for continuing policies that will allow them to continue sending American jobs overseas at the expense of working families,” said Kevin McTigue, campaign manager for Bryan Lentz, the Democratic nominee for Congress in Pennsylvania’s 7th Congressional District. “Their support for Pat Meehan’s campaign speaks volumes about where he really stands on the issues that impact working families.”
 
The money from the Koch brothers is part of the hundreds of thousands of dollars that Pat Meehan’s campaign has taken from corporations through their political action committees. Those funds have come from oil industries, the gaming industry and the pharmaceutical industry.
 
A former Airborne Ranger, criminal prosecutor and Iraq War veteran, Bryan Lentz currently serves in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from Delaware County. He was awarded both the Bronze Star for Service and the War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal for his military service. He lives in Swarthmore with his wife Jennifer and their son Thomas.
 
###