Submitted by Jessica Mason on
The Koch brothers' Americans for Prosperity announced a major statewide ad buy to defend proposed Right-to-Work legislation in Wisconsin. The ad, which repeats the inaccurate claim that workers can be forced to join unions under current law, will run online and on the radio and urges people to contact their legislators in support of the bill.
The ad buy comes as no surprise given that the Koch network, including AFP, has poured millions of dollars into Wisconsin to support the right-wing campaign against unions. AFP spent at least $10 million defending Scott Walker in the 2012 recall election sparked by Act 10, which denied collective-bargaining rights to public-sector workers. The Executive Director of the Republican Governors Association was even caught on tape bragging that AFP was a "tremendous partner" during the recall. The RGA itself received $1 million from David Koch in 2010, and the Koch PAC gave Walker's campaign $43,000 that year, the maximum amount allowed under state law.
In collaboration with the Bradley Foundation-funded MacIver Institute, AFP spent another $2.9 million in 2011 and 2012 on an ad defending Walker's policies that was titled "It's Working."
"What Scott Walker is doing with the public unions in Wisconsin is critically important. He's an impressive guy and he's very courageous…If the unions win the recall, there will be no stopping union power," said David Koch in 2012.
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