PBS高端访谈:亿万富翁大卫·科赫去世

And David Koch has died. He was a billionaire businessman, one-time vice¹ presidential nominee², and conservative mega-donor. John Yang looks at his life and legacy³.

JOHN YANG: David Koch helped his brother Charles expand the Wichita-based Koch Industries into one of the largest privately-held corporations in the world. He quickly became a notable figure in elite⁴ New York social circles. The business eventually became the fuel behind one of the highest-spending political action groups in modern American politics, Americans for Prosperity.

NARRATOR: Americans for Prosperity is responsible for the content of this advertising⁵.

JOHN YANG: The anti-tax, pro-small government group poured hundreds of millions of dollars into conservative candidates and causes, often through untraceable so-called dark money contributions.

MAN: The president's doing a mediocre⁶ job.

JOHN YANG: The oil-and gas-based Koch network spent just under $400 million on the 2012 election, an unparalleled sum at the time that filled the airwaves with attack ads.

NARRATOR: President Obama's health care law is actually one of the largest tax increases in history.

JOHN YANG: Targeting President Obama and the Affordable⁷ Care Act, while long denying climate change.

DAVID KOCH, Co-Founder, Americans for Prosperity: I'm basically a libertarian.

JOHN YANG: In a 2014 interview with ABC's Barbara Walters, Koch defended his political contributions.

BARBARA WALTERS, ABC News: Do you think it's fair that just because you have billions of dollars, you can influence elections?

DAVID KOCH: Well, I contribute to public candidate campaigns, and there's a federal limit on how much you can contribute to each individual candidate. I obey the law in that regard, and feel I'm doing it properly.

JOHN YANG: Limits on corporate⁸ donations to political candidates had been lifted four years earlier, the result of the Citizens United Supreme⁹ Court battle that the brothers had helped fund. The Koch brothers famously didn't endorse¹⁰ Donald Trump¹¹ in 2016, over concerns about free trade. But their group did target several Democratic senators in the 2018 midterm elections. In addition to politics, Koch gave millions to cancer research, some PBS programs, and a full wing of the Smithsonian's Natural History Museum. For the PBS NewsHour, I'm John Yang.

戴维·科赫已离世。戴维·科赫是一名从商的亿万富翁，曾经提名为总统候选人，总是低调捐助他人。下面请让我台记者约翰·杨带我们回顾他的生平和贡献。

约翰·杨：戴维·科赫帮着哥哥查尔斯把威奇托的科赫公司扩展成了世界上最大的私企之一。他一跃成为纽约精英社交圈的知名人物。该公司最后成为了现代美国政坛中消费最高的政治行动小组的幕后支持者，该组织名为繁荣美国。

叙述者：繁荣美国负责广告内容。

约翰·杨：该政府组织反对税收，它将无数资金投给保守党候选人和事业之中，通常是通过难以寻迹的灰色收入捐献来实现的。

男：总统的工作很平凡。

约翰·杨：以石油和天然气为生的科赫在2012年的选举中赤字接近4亿美元，这个数额很少有人能企及，正是这样的大手笔让电视上满是他们的广告。

叙述者：总统医疗法案实际上是历史上税收提升最高的一个。

约翰·杨：专注于针对奥巴马总统和《平价医疗法案》，同时在很长一段时间里是否认气候变化的。

戴维·科赫，繁荣美国的合伙人：可以说，我是自由论者。

约翰·杨：在2014年接受美国广播公司（ABC）芭芭拉·沃尔特斯采访时，科赫为自己的政治贡献辩护。

芭芭拉·沃尔特斯，ABC：您觉得自己凭借手里有大量资金就能影响大选的做法是公平的吗？

戴维·科赫：我为公开候选人的选举活动做贡献，为每位个人候选人所做的贡献是有联邦限制的。在这方面，我没有违反法律，所以我觉得我的做法很得当。

约翰·杨：公司对政治候选人的捐献是有限制的，但这个限制在4年前提高了。这是市民联合最高法庭抗争的结果。这场抗争背后的财源也是这对兄弟。众所周知，科赫两兄弟在2016年没有支持特朗普，因为他们对自由贸易的问题是有顾虑的。但他们的组织在2018年的中期选举中针对了几名民主党参议员。除了政治之外，科赫也向癌症研究、PBS节目、史密森尼国家自然历史博物馆投入了大量资金。感谢收听约翰·杨发回的《新闻一小时》。

1 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

2 nominee   

n.被提名者；被任命者；被推荐者

参考例句：

• His nominee for vice president was elected only after a second ballot.他提名的副总统在两轮投票后才当选。
• Mr.Francisco is standing as the official nominee for the post of District Secretary.弗朗西斯科先生是行政书记职位的正式提名人。

3 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。

4 elite   

n.精英阶层；实力集团；adj.杰出的，卓越的

参考例句：

• The power elite inside the government is controlling foreign policy.政府内部的一群握有实权的精英控制着对外政策。
• We have a political elite in this country.我们国家有一群政治精英。

5 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

6 mediocre   

adj.平常的，普通的

参考例句：

• The student tried hard,but his work is mediocre. 该生学习刻苦，但学业平庸。
• Only lazybones and mediocre persons could hanker after the days of messing together.只有懒汉庸才才会留恋那大锅饭的年代。

7 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。

8 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

9 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

10 endorse   

vt.(支票、汇票等)背书，背署；批注；同意

参考例句：

• No one is foolish enough to endorse it.没有哪个人会傻得赞成它。
• I fully endorse your opinions on this subject.我完全拥护你对此课题的主张。

11 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。