Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Koch vs. Koch

In the spirit of the recent MR X vs. X posts, Koch Industries is both fighting the ACA and applying for subsidies from the ACA.

4 comments:

Kebko said...

Fighting against something that subsidizes you isn't contradictory or hypocritical. It's principled.

I think the issue is clarified if one thinks of a high member of the Communist Party who, say, fought for more freedoms & openness. We would see them as a progressive hero, not a hypocrite.

This is just an easy double standard people can use against libtertarians.

jdcross said...

Kebko is spot on in their analysis. It is not contradictory or hypocritical to take advantage of govt. programs that one opposes. From an empirical perspective (decidedly not a principled one), think about whether or not is contradictory or hypocritical for local, state, or federal employees to have their jobs while voting and encouraging small govt. Or for public university professors to do the same. Or, as noted in the comments of the linked article, for someone to vote for tax cuts and smaller govt. while using govt. services like roads.

Tom said...

Both posts above are good and, also, there are two different personalities making the two decisions: As CEO of "Koch, Inc.", Mr. Koch has a fiduciary duty limit costs and maximize profit within the current legal environment, whatever that may be; but as a private person, the right-wealthy Mr. Koch can support any political position he desires, independent of Mr. CEO Koch's actions.

The only hypocrisy here is a fever dream in the minds of those blinded by hatred.

Anonymous said...

There was a recent NYT article explaining how the Koch brothers bankrolling the Tea Party:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/29/opinion/29rich.html