Group criticizes Koch brothers; urges Brownback to change course

? A group opposed to policies pushed by the Koch brothers made a stop Friday at the Statehouse to deliver a letter to Gov. Sam Brownback, urging him to denounce the “Greed Agenda.” A spokeswoman for Koch industries said the group, called the Patriot Majority USA, was being dishonest and that the Koch brothers supported economic freedom.

A group called Patriot Majority USA pulled up in its anti-Koch bus at the Statehouse on Friday.

Sid Voorakkara with Patriot Majority USA delivers letter to Gov. Sam Brownback's office. The group urged Brownback to change his policies.

“It’s not too late to change course — to work for a vision that benefits Kansans instead of draining it in favor of a few,” the Patriot Majority USA said in its letter. Brownback was in Wichita and his office declined to comment.

The letter denounced Brownback’s tax cuts and several other policies embraced by Brownback that have been pushed by groups affiliated with billionaires Charles and David Koch, who run Wichita-based Koch Industries. These groups include Americans for Prosperity and the American Legislative Exchange Council.

The tax cuts will benefit the wealthiest Kansans while draining needed revenues for schools and social services, group members said.

Brownback has defended the tax cuts, saying they will grow the economy, and he has vowed to protect funding for core state services.

Brownback signed into law tax cuts that exempt the owners of 191,000 partnerships, sole proprietorships and other businesses from income taxes, and drop the top individual income tax rate from 6.45 percent to 4.9 percent.

Patriot Majority USA members said they were fighting on the national level and in many states proposals that would do away with the minimum wage, turn Medicare into a voucher program, and weaken unions.

The group, traveling in two buses covered with anti-Koch messages, are on a 23-state tour.

Melissa Cohlmia, a spokeswoman for Koch Industries, said the Patriot Majority was a front group for unions and Democratic leaders.

“Other than the paid operatives on the Patriot Majority bus, there were about 15 people in attendance, which demonstrates that the general public can see through the lies and dishonest attacks being lodged by this group,” Cohlmia said.

She said the Kochs support economic freedom “which history has proven time and again is the best way to advance societal progress — especially amongst the poor.”