On behalf of the Koch empire—companies, foundations, and Charles Koch and David Koch—a Koch spokeswoman has claimed not to have helped fund the tea parties. Like the rest of the power elite, the Kochs have always despised populism. So to the extent that they did fund tea activities, and they did, it was to tame and control them, and de-Paulize them. But now even that may be coming to an end. As the largest donors to the Republican establishment since 1994, according to Greg Palast, the Kochs may feel that the tea partiers threaten the plutocracy. I’ve always been a coffee man myself, but tea attracts me more and more.

UPDATE from an American behind enemy lines (he’s inside the Beltway):

Lew, FreedomWorks was founded after Armey left Citizens for a Sound Economy because Armey would not take orders from Charles Koch. Americans for Prosperity was formed from the Koch-controlled parts of CSE. As I’m sure you remember, Ron was chairman of CSE in the early 80s, but was removed because what our old friend Sam Konkin called the Kochtopus took offense over his opposition to central banking, emphasis on the gold standard, and support of Misesian-Rothbardian economics.

The Best of Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.