CSE Was Created In 1984 By David Koch And Richard Fink. According to the New Yorker, “In 1984, David Koch and Richard Fink created yet another organization, and [President of FreedomWorks Matt] Kibbe joined them. The group, Citizens for a Sound Economy, seemed like a grassroots movement, but according to the Center for Public Integrity it was sponsored principally by the Kochs, who provided $7.9 million between 1986 and 1993.” [New Yorker, 8/30/10]

CSE Was “Principally” Sponsored By The Kochs, Who Gave $7.9 Million To The Group Between 1986 And 1993. According to the New Yorker, “The group, Citizens for a Sound Economy, seemed like a grassroots movement, but according to the Center for Public Integrity it was sponsored principally by the Kochs, who provided $7.9 million between 1986 and 1993.” [New Yorker, 8/30/10]

• The Koch Brothers Were “Very Controlling” Of CSE. According to the New Yorker, “Within a few years, the group had mobilized fifty paid field workers, in twenty-six states, to rally voters behind the Kochs’ agenda. David and Charles, according to one participant, were ‘very controlling, very top down. You can’t build an organization with them. They run it.’” [New Yorker, 8/30/10]

CSE Worked For Public Policy Changes That Would Result In “Lower Taxes” And “Less Government. According to an archived page of the CSE website, “The members of CSE are fighting hard to restore America’s freedoms and the values of our Founding Fathers. We work for public policy change that will result in lower taxes, less government, and more freedom.” [CSE.org via Archive.org, 12/3/03]

CSE Was A National Grassroots Organization That Invested “Major Resources In Activist Recruitment And Education.” According to a press release on the FreedomWorks website, “For years CSE has been building a national grassroots base for just such a moment. We have invested major resources in activist recruitment and education. Complementing our 50 paid staff in Washington, D.C., CSE now has more than 30 paid staff in key states working directly with activists in critical swing districts. Whether it is through the 39-city ‘Scrap the Code’ tour, Tax Club Forums, creating a national network of dozens of CSE clubs, attending thousands of political events and rallies, or distributing educational brochures and issue mailers, CSE has educated hundreds of thousands citizens about free-market ideas. CSE has recruited, trained, and sustained a ground force ready to fight for sound economic policy.” [FreedomWorks Press Release, 4/16/01]

• President Of FreedomWorks Matt Kibbe On CSE: “We Learned We Needed Boots On The Ground To Sell Ideas, Not Candidates.” According to the New Yorker, “Its mission, Kibbe said, ‘was to take these heavy ideas and translate them for mass America. . . . We read the same literature Obama did about nonviolent revolutions—Saul Alinsky, Gandhi, Martin Luther King. We studied the idea of the Boston Tea Party as an example of nonviolent social change. We learned we needed boots on the ground to sell ideas, not candidates.’” [New Yorker, 8/30/10]

CSE Received “Substantial Funding” From Corporations Such As Phillip Morris, General Electric, And Johnson & Johnson. According to the Associated Press, “The campaign to repeal the tax is being led by Citizens for a Sound Economy, a Washington, D.C.-based group that gets substantial funding from corporations such as Phillip Morris, General Electric and Johnson & Johnson. [Associated Press, 9/27/03]

• Exxon Mobil And Koch Industries Were Among CSE’s Corporate Donors. According to the National Journal, “A separate previously unreported Schedule B from Citizens for a Sound Economy Educational Fund lists a number of big corporate and foundation donations, but records David Koch as the largest funder. That document , from 2001, states that the David H. Koch Charitable Foundation provided the single largest contribution, $2.35 million, while David Koch personally donated $1 million, and Koch Industries chipped in another $952,500, for a total of more than $4 million. Corporate donations include $750,000 from General Electric, $275,250 from Exxon Mobil, $255,000 from State Farm, $100,000 from Philips Lighting, and $350,036 from the law firm Wilmer, Culter, & Pickering, now known as WilmerHale.” [National Journal, 9/24/13]

CSE Worked “Closely With Big Tobacco.” According to the New York Observer, “There’s plenty of evidence in the documents that Philip Morris and other tobacco companies have released in connection with the Minnesota lawsuit to support the view that C.S.E. works closely with Big Tobacco. The documents indicate that the industry understood in 1994 that ‘almost any organization other than a tobacco company’ had more credibility on political issues regarding health care or taxation on cigarettes.” [New York Observer, 4/10/00]

“Clinton-Hating Billionaire” Richard Mellon Scaife Was Among CSE’s Funders. According to the New York Observer, “Another C.S.E. funder, according to Internal Revenue Service records, is the Clinton-hating billionaire Richard Mellon Scaife.” [New York Observer, 4/10/00]

CSE Was Chaired By President Bush’s White Counsel In 2000. According to the New York Observer, “Founded by oilman David Koch, a conservative who has contributed to many Republican causes, it is chaired by C. Boyden Gray, President George Bush’s White House Counsel.” [New York Observer, 4/10/00]