Charles Koch and Bernie Sanders do not have a lot in common, but according to the controversial philanthropist, he agrees with the self-described socialist on the issue of income inequality.
Charles Koch, 80, thinks that Bernie Sanders is right when it comes to inequality in America. Koch, and his brother, David Koch, have invested a lot of money throughout the years pushing conservative ideas and free-market solutions around the country.
This strong advocacy on behalf of right-leaning policies has turned the Koch brothers into the faces of evil effects of money in American politics. Democrats were able to use them with some success in political campaigns. Sanders, 74, a senator from Vermont running for the Democratic Party presidential nomination, has called them proponents of an “oligarchic society.”
Despite all of this drama, Charles Koch has revealed in a Washington Post op-ed that Sanders is right when he says that the game is “rigged” against poor people. The business mogul wrote:
“The senator is upset with a political and economic system that is often rigged to help the privileged few at the expense of everyone else, particularly the least advantaged. He believes that we have a two-tiered society that increasingly dooms millions of our fellow citizens to lives of poverty and hopelessness. He thinks many corporations seek and benefit from corporate welfare while ordinary citizens are denied opportunities and a level playing field. I agree with him.”
So, Is Koch ready to endorse Sanders for president? The answer to this question is no. He explained his position by saying:
“At this point you may be asking yourself, ‘Is Charles Koch feeling the Bern?’ Hardly.”
There is a reason behind the non-endorsement. While the businessman and the politician agree on the problem, their solutions are opposites. Koch believes that inequality is caused by “regulations, handouts, mandates, subsidies, and other forms of (government) largesse.” However, Sanders thinks the government should regulate Wall Street and big banks, tax the rich, and push energy policies to combat climate change.
Besides inequality, Koch agrees with Sanders on the need to reform America’s justice system.
