Nothing gets decided until the Super-Duper Secret Billionaires meeting.
Hosted by C. Montgomery Burns in Springfield, XXX, U.S.A.
For an invite. Just contact Mr. Smithers.
Bear
On 5 February 2012 09:38, Tommy News <tommysnews@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, 2012
http://www.alternet.org/story/153998/koch_brothers_convene_super-secret_billionaires%27_meeting_for_2012_elections
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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