regardless of who is in or out or running for office. I don't know of
anyone that actually follows business trends that doesn't know about
the annual event.
On Feb 5, 8:38 am, Tommy News <tommysn...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Koch Brothers Convene Super-Secret Billionaires' Meeting for 2012 Elections
> By Lee Fang, Republic Report
> Posted on February 4, 2012, Printed on February 4, 2012http://www.alternet.org/story/153998/koch_brothers_convene_super-secr...
> At a retreat last weekend, dozens of wealthy donors convened in a
> large golf resort in Indian Wells, Calif. for a four day conference to
> raise money and plot out election year strategy, the Republic Report
> has confirmed. We traveled to the conference, and spoke to a few of
> the attendees.
> The summit, organized by the billionaire brothers Charles and David
> Koch, was cloaked in secrecy. Helicopters, private security and police
> officers from neighboring cities patrolled the area constantly. In
> previous years, Supreme Court justices, some of the wealthiest
> businessmen in the country and Republican politicians like Congressman
> Paul Ryan have all gathered at these twice-annual events. The
> Esmerelda Renaissance, the conference venue this year, was guarded
> carefully with every entrance blocked and the entire 560-room resort
> rented out. I arrived at the hotel the night before the event, but was
> followed closely by security and asked to leave the next morning
> before the Koch meeting guests arrived.
> Though the donors will funnel tens of millions of dollars into the
> election this year, they will not have to disclose a single cent.
> Using an elaborate array of foundations, nonprofits and other legal
> entities, the Koch network sponsored bus tours, attack ads, think
> tanks, and hired Tea Party organizers to shape the midterm elections
> two years ago. Now, they appear to be expanding their effort.
> The most the public knows about these meetings has been culled from
> leaked audio tapes, reporting from journalists like Ken Vogel, and
> from an invitation I exclusively reported back in October 2010. The
> document I posted over a year ago explained that during the meetings,
> strategy is discussed, from legislative campaigns to judicial
> elections, and money is raised from an assortment of executives from
> the oil, banking, manufacturing, and real estate industries.
> At the Palm Springs Airport last weekend, I ran into Phil Kerpen, the
> vice president of Americans for Prosperity, the Tea Party group
> founded by David Koch. Kerpen, who was in a rush to make it to the
> event, didn't say much about the agenda. Kerpen's group recently
> purchased $6 million in undisclosed attack ads against President
> Obama, the largest such buy of the entire campaign cycle so far.
> Kerpen asked how I knew about the conference. "I thought they had
> stopped all leaks," he muttered, as I walked with him through the
> baggage claim. Eventually he relented a bit and told me that he hopes
> to help achieve "aggressive cuts to government spending and to
> regulation to allow robust economic growth" in January 2013.
> At the last Koch meeting, in Vail, Colo., Charles Koch raised several
> million dollars from his cohorts, while reffering to President Obama
> as "Saddam Hussein" and this year's election as the "mother of all
> wars." Kerpen disputed the reporting of Charles Koch's comments, but
> did not elaborate on what the Koch Industries CEO really meant.
> "Ask your leaker to post my speech, because it's very good," he added,
> before getting in a car with two associates.
> The added secrecy was apparent even to local reporters, who were
> confused about why the multi-golf course Esmerelda Renaissance was
> locked down and why the hotel staff couldn't talk to anyone about what
> was going on.
> The jets provided many clues into who was attending the event. A
> private plane owned by wealthy mutual fund manager Foster Friess flew
> to the area the morning of the conference, and left the day it ended.
> Friess is a social conservative who has gained headlines recently for
> his massive backing of a super-PAC supporting Rick Santorum. He has
> also attended the Koch meeting in the past.
> A plane belonging to billionaire investor Phil Anschutz, another
> regular Koch attendee and major conservative financier, arrived at a
> nearby airport during the event. We identified over half a dozen
> private planes owned by major Republican donors that also arrived in
> the Indian Wells area during the event, but none of their owners would
> respond to requests for comment. Some, like Kenny Troutt, a financier
> of a super-PAC that supported Rick Perry's bid for the presidency,
> seem to suggest new participants to the Koch meetings.
> A jet owned by Continental Resources, a large fracking company that
> dominates the Bakken shale formation in North Dakota, arrived at the
> event. The company, headed by Obama critic Harold Hamm, refused to
> answer any questions about the Koch meeting.
> About a day after our call, a Web site that tracks private jet flights
> posted a note about Continental Resources: "This aircraft is not
> available for tracking per request from the owner/operator."
> Lee Fang is a freelance journalist and investigator with the United Republic.
>
> View this story online at:http://www.alternet.org/story/153998/
> --
> Together, we can change the world, one mind at a time.
> Have a great day,
> Tommy
>
> --
> Together, we can change the world, one mind at a time.
> Have a great day,
> Tommy
--
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