Reid’s Bogeymen Koch Brothers Donate $25 Million to United Negro College Fund
June 9, 2014 - 11:25 AM
By Barbara Boland
http://www.cnsnews.com/mrctv-blog/barbara-boland/reid-s-bogeymen-koch-brothers-donate-25-million-united-negro-college-fund?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=Marketing&utm_term=Facebook&utm_content=socialflow&utm_campaign=B-KochBros
The billionaire Koch brothers, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's favorite whipping boys, announced Friday that they are donating a $25 million grant to the United Negro College Fund.
The grant will be used to provide "nearly 3,000 merit based awards to African American ...students seeking scholarship assistance," according to the Charles Koch Foundation's press release.
$18.5 million of the money offered will go toward a scholarship program, with the remaining $6.5 million going to general support of historically black colleges and universities. $4 million is to go to loan assistance.
"UNCF is proud to announce this new scholarship program that will help motivated and deserving students not just get to and through school, but to become our next generation of innovators and entrepreneurs. We are enormously grateful to Koch Industries and the Charles Koch Foundation for their long-standing support of UNCF and for helping to create new opportunities for earned success and a better future for our students," said Michael Lomax, UNCF president and CEO.
"Increasing well-being by helping people improve their lives has long been our focus," Charles Koch said in a statement.
The Washington Post noted "such a highly-publicized gift is unusual for Charles Koch. His foundation routinely gives away lots of money, but typically with little fanfare."
Senator Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has criticized the Koch brothers countless times from the Senate floor, calling them a "pair of shadow billionaires spending millions of dollars to rig our political system" and "two very wealthy individuals who intend to buy their very own Congress."
Reid also claimed that all Obamacare "horror stories" were "being paid for by two billionaire brothers" - the Kochs - and that they were "absolutely false."
Despite Reid's continued attacks, a George Washington University poll found that 52% of Americans have never heard of the Koch brothers. A Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll found similar numbers.
