,"Oil magnates Charles and David Koch are firing back at President Obama's reelection campaign over a fundraising letter tying Mitt Romney to their business interests.
In an open letter addressed to campaign manager Jim Messina, president of government & public affairs for Koch industries Philip Ellender accuses the Obama campaign of sending an "irresponsible and misleading letter" to supporters.
"If the Presidents campaign has some principled disagreement with the arguments we are making publicly about the staggering debt the President and previous administrations have imposed on the country, the regulations that are stifling business growth and innovation, the increasing intrusion of government into nearly every aspect of American life, we would be eager to hear them," Ellender writes.
"But it is an abuse of the Presidents position and does a disservice to our nation for the President and his campaign to criticize private citizens simply for the act of engaging in their constitutional right of free speech about important matters of public policy. The implication in that sort of attack is obvious: dare to criticize the Presidents policies and you will be singled out and personally maligned by the President and his campaign in an effort to chill free speech and squelch dissent," he writes.
"It is understandable that the President and his campaign may be 'tired of hearing' that many Americans would rather not see the president re-elected. However, the inference is that you would prefer that citizens who disagree with the President and his policies refrain from voicing their own viewpoint. Clearly, thats not the way a free society should operate
Koch brothers fire back at Obama - POLITICO.com