Following revelations of their involvement in the war on public unions in Wisconsin, the once-anonymous Koch Industries executive vice president David Koch and
Jul 31, 202012K Shares353.4K Views
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Following revelations of their involvement in the waron public unions in Wisconsin, the once-anonymousKoch Industries executive vice president David Koch and his brother Charles have in short time become boogeymen of the left, the liberal answer to the center of so many conservative conspiracies, George Soros (something David groused about in a recent, fawning Weekly Standard profile).
Meanwhile, other billionaires and multi-millionaires who have used their wealth to fund a similar agenda have managed to slip under the radar. Among them are the Fanjul family, Florida sugar magnates who also happen to be friendsand neighborsof David and Julia Koch.
Like the Kochs, Alfonso “Alfy” and José “Pepe” Fanjul are two of four brothers who inherited a massive conglomerate from their father, in their case, Cuban sugar kingpin Alfonso Fanjul, Sr., who fled Cuba when Fidel Castro came to power. Unlike the Kochs, Alfy and Pepe are by all accounts still on good terms with their brothers, Alexander and Andrés, though Alfy and Pepe are higher profile and are the top executives at Flo-Sun, Inc., the family sugar empire.
Flo-Sun owns resorts in the Dominican Republic but gets most of its revenue through its American Sugar Refining division. ASR owns the C&H, Florida Crystals and Redpath Sugar brands, but its largest and best-known subsidiary is Domino Foods, Inc., producer of Domino Sugar. All told, Flo-Sun is estimated to pull in about $2.5 billion annually.
The Fanjuls, however, are not necessarily the easy targets that the Kochs are; to begin with, Alfy is a devoted Democrat. In the run-up to the 2010 election, he gave $37,230 to nine Democratic candidates for U.S. Congress. The biggest recipients of his largess were Kendrick Meek, who lost in his Senate bid to Marco Rubio despite former President Bill Clinton’s vigorous campaigning, and Ted Deutch, the Broward County representative (and, given their Palm Beach headquarters, the Fanjuls’ own congressman) who overwhelmingly defeated Republican Ed Lynch in a special election in April of last year.
Of course, for mega-corporations like the Fanjuls’, just giving to favored candidates may not represent the best Washington investment for their money. Lobbying is where the Fanjuls put major cash. Flo-Sun spent $695,000 (PDFs: Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4) in 2010 alone lobbying the House, Senate and the U.S. Department of Agriculture on industrial waste regulations, food safety rules relating to sugar and elements of the Clean Water Act that affect the Florida Everglades.
Neither the Fanjuls nor their lobbying firms are required to disclose exactly what’s discussed in lobbyist meetings or which politicians have agreed to meet with them — though it would certainly strain belief to suggest that they’re spending upwards of a million dollars a year to argue in favor of deeper government regulation. Since 2005, Flo-Sun has spent $3.65 millionlobbying the federal government.