Letters: Don’t let Koch brothers control South Carolina

The April 3 guest column, “Increase accountability, not taxes at S.C. Transportation Department,” written by the head of the S.C. chapter of Americans for Prosperity, discouraged an increase in the state gasoline tax, which is the second lowest in the nation.

Americans for Prosperity is financed by the billionaire Koch brothers, who flooded the state last year with money and fliers to convince the Legislature not to add a 10-cent tax to the price of gasoline.

In case you are wondering why two billionaires in Kansas are so concerned about the price of gas in South Carolina, it may be because much of their wealth has come from fossil fuels.

Both last year and this year, our governor has inexplicably come out against a gas tax increase. In fact, Gov. Henry McMaster argued in the April 9 State that, rather than adding 10 cents to the price of a gallon of gas, we should borrow a billion (that’s billion with a B) dollars to fix our roads.

What Republican would choose a billion dollars of long-term debt over a debt-free solution? The answer may lie in campaign contributions from the Koch brothers or one of their super PACS.

This story was originally published April 16, 2017 at 6:03 PM with the headline "Letters: Don’t let Koch brothers control South Carolina."