Leader Staff
Leader Photo by Tim Ryan Protesters rally against the influence of big money — and in particular that of the Koch brothers — at a Day of Action event promoting awareness outside the Shawano County Courthouse on Thursday.
Leader Photo by Tim Ryan Delores Graham, 94, of Arizona, enjoys the milder temperatures of Wisconsin at a Day of Action rally protesting big money’s influence on American politics Thursday. Graham joined the rally outside the Shawano County Courthouse while visiting relatives here.
A small but impassioned crowd of people gathered outside the Shawano County Courthouse on Wednesday evening for a pro-democracy rally aimed at exposing the influence of big money in American politics.
Their chief target in particular were the Koch brothers, Charles and David, oil industry billionaires who have spent the last few years pumping money into the campaigns of candidates who support what critics say is the Koch brothers’ ultra-conservative agenda.
“They have $80 billion. They have a lot of money to spend on elections,” said Jan Koch, of Shawano.
No relation to the brothers, she also notes the names are pronounced differently. Hers is pronounced “cook” not “Coke.”
“We believe that what the Koch brothers are doing is against democracy,” she said. “If it continues, we will not have the environment we have now, we won’t have the education, we won’t have a lot of the things we take for granted, like good-paying jobs. They would even like to abolish the minimum wage.”
Koch recently held a movie party at her home at which about two dozen people viewed the documentary, “Koch Brothers Exposed,” detailing their political involvements and financial influence.
The video was being promoted by the Progressive web site moveon.org, which also encouraged rallies and events to protest the brothers.
“Our action in Shawano County is to make people aware of what’s going on,” Jan Koch said. “We want to make sure that people know who the Koch brothers are. They chose the candidates that will support their agenda of getting rid of regulations, abolishing Social Security, Medicare and government programs that the poor people rely on.”
Rick Adamski, a farmer from Maple Grove, said he was at Wednesday’s rally to advocate for democracy.
“Our democracy is at risk if we allow for corporations to buy the politicians,” he said.
Adamski said the Supreme Court decision on Citizens United made it even easier for the Koch Brothers and other large corporations to influence elections by giving the same rights to corporations as those held by individual citizens.
“What is the population of this country if corporations are people?” Adamski said.
“Some people get to be counted several times,” he said. “We thought we were supposed to be one-person one-vote. We have reinvented the Constitution with this horrific ruling.”
About a dozen supporters were on hand, bearing signs to passing traffic as the rally got underway.
On a few occasions motorists responded with an approving honk of their horn.