Koch puppet

A Koch puppet is someone who adopts or modifies political positions due to a desire to receive some of the money flowing from the Koch brothers' wealthy network of organizations and co-donors. The Koch brothers' are estimated to have more money than Bill Gates, and unlike Gates the Koch brothers spend enormously on politics.

Some Koch puppets are exposed by campaign or lobbying disclosure requirements, but most them are secret recipients -- or wannabe recipients -- of Koch funding. As talk radio has declined, most national talk radio hosts have become Koch puppets based on prior or hoped-for funding by the Koch brothers.

At the state level, Koch puppets promote the Convention of States, which advances the Koch brothers' dream of rewriting the U.S. Constitution. At the federal level, Koch puppets are typically anti-Trump.

Almost no groups have yet publicly disavowed funding from the Koch network, but some conservative groups have spoken out against the influence and stood up against many bad items in the Koch agenda.

Politicians

The following public officials are Koch puppets who attempt to advance the agenda of the Koch brothers, often without publicly admitting it:

• U.S. Senator Ben Sasse (R-NE)
• U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX)
• Texas Gov. Greg Abbott
• former U.S. Senator Jim Talent