Americans for Prosperity: The Koch Industries - Tea Party Nexus

Guest Post By Nomadic Joe

What It is

The Tea Party members seem to take great pride in portraying themselves as modern day revolutionaries, the conscience of the people taking back their government. In their minds, the Tea Party is a spontaneously organized, leaderless and populist grassroots movement. In fact, many- if not most of them- have never heard of the oil billionaires David and Charles Koch, or what they do or how they spend their wealth. It is a sadly ironic fact that even those saluting the Kochs’ flag may not know who these brothers are. If they have heard of the organization named Americans for Prosperity, it would have probably have been on Fox News. And, for a news organization, Fox News is exceedingly good at keeping secrets.

Created by David Koch and Richard Fink (a member of the board of directors of Koch Industries), Americans for Prosperity is an "astro-turf" front group. To be clear, a front group is any organization that purports to represent one agenda while in reality it serves some other interest whose sponsorship is hidden or rarely mentioned—typically, a corporate or government sponsor. AFP came into being at a July 4th 2010 weekend summit called Defending the American Dream in Austin, Texas, when five hundred people attended what the New Yorker called a training session for Tea Party activists. Even Joe the Plumber was there.

"We are thrilled to have Joe the Plumber speak at the Summit,” said AFPF State Director Peggy Venable. “His fearlessly speaking out as an ordinary citizen led the exposure of then-candidate Barak Obama’s plan to ‘spread the wealth.’ Obama’s agenda isn’t working for us, and we are fighting to stop the bankrupting of America. We need more bold grassroots activists like Joe, who are ready to stand up for conservative principles and take back America."

Advertising for this event stated: "Today, the voices of average Americans are being drowned out by lobbyists and special interests. But you can do something about it." I give them points for irony, that's for sure. There was, naturally no mention of the backers of the event.

David Axelrod, President Obama’s senior adviser, said, "What they don’t say is that, in part, this is a grassroots citizens' movement brought to you by a bunch of oil billionaires."

How It's Done

With assistance from the Koch family's other conservative foundations and think tanks, the AFP's main goal is to disrupt Obama's presidency on all fronts, from health reform, to stimulus spending, from cap and trade to "green jobs."

According to an article in the August 30, 2010 issue of The New Yorker, the Kochs are known for "creating slippery organizations with generic-sounding names," that "make it difficult to ascertain the extent of their influence in Washington."

Reports indicate that the Tea Party Movement benefits from millions of dollars from conservative foundations that are derived from wealthy U.S. families and their business interests. It appears that money to organize and implement the Movement is flowing primarily through two conservative groups: Americans for Prosperity and FreedomWorks.

How it is accomplished in specific detail is rather dry stuff, the kind of arrangement that tax lawyers and an accountants become all dewy-eyed and breathless over. Here it is, in its basic design.

According to official documentation, AFP is a section 501(c)(4) organization, and Americans for Prosperity Foundation (AFP Foundation), a section 501(c)(3) organization.

For your information, a 501(c)(4) type are organizations that are supposed to be operated exclusively for the promotion of social welfare, or local associations of employees with membership limited to a designated company or people in a particular municipality or neighborhood, and with net earnings devoted exclusively to charitable, educational, or recreational purposes.

Groups with this classification had never had to disclose their donors but were not allowed to take corporate or union money, still without disclosure to the FEC.

That, however, was abolished with the January 2010 Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission Supreme Court decision. Following this unprecedented ruling, 501(c)4 groups can now take unlimited corporate and union money, still without disclosing. Questions about ethical misconduct by two Supreme Court justices have arisen specifically in this case and about what many people see as inappropriate contacts with Koch brothers during the deliberations as well as lobbying efforts for the Tea Party by the wife of another.

Affiliated to the AFP is the Americans for Prosperity Foundation (AFP Foundation) which is a section 501(c)(3) organization. Donations to 501c3 organizations which are tax-exempt under section 501(c)3 of the U.S. tax code are tax deductible, "unlike donations to political and lobbying organizations." 501c3 "charities don't have to report their contributors to the Federal Election Commission, the IRS or any federal agency."

"By law, charities must only conduct nonpartisan voter activities to keep their tax-exempt status. But the law also allows charities to register and mobilize likely Democratic or Republican voters. In exchange for being able to accept tax-deductible donations, the IRS demands that 501(c)(3)'s refrain from "activities which constitute participation or intervention in a political campaign on behalf of or in opposition to a candidate."

This prohibition also includes "the publication or distribution of written or printed statements or the making of oral statements on behalf of or in opposition to such a candidate." But 501(c)(3) groups like the Americans for Prosperity Foundation can share a portion of their resources with a 501(c)(4) affiliate, like Americans for Prosperity.

Unlike 501(c)(3) organizations, 501(c)(4) organizations may lobby for legislation; they may also participate in political campaigns and elections, as long as campaigning is not the organization's primary purpose. There has long been a hanging question in campaign finance law, however, over just what constitutes a political communication or campaign

Thus, by pairing these two differently-classed organizations the AFP and its affiliated foundation provide the funding for the Tea Party activities, conduct seminars and other politically related projects, all through tax deductible donations from Koch and other corporation contributors.

Here is a list of the staff at AFP including the state branches from the AFP website.

What They Do

According to the very un-grassroots AFP website, their mission statement sounds noble enough.

Americans for Prosperity™ (AFP) and Americans for Prosperity Foundation (AFP Foundation) are committed to educating citizens about economic policy and mobilizing those citizens as advocates in the public policy process. AFP is an organization of grassroots leaders who engage citizens in the name of limited government and free markets on the local, state and federal levels. The grassroots activists of AFP advocate for public policies that champion the principles of entrepreneurship and fiscal and regulatory restraint.

AFP Foundation is committed to educating citizens about economic policy and a return of the federal government to its Constitutional limits. AFP Foundation's educational programs and analyses help policymakers, the media, and individual citizens understand why policies that promote the American enterprise system are the best method to ensuring prosperity for all Americans. To that end, AFP and AFP Foundation support:

• Cutting taxes and government spending in order to halt the encroachment of government in the economic lives of citizens by fighting proposed tax increases and pointing out evidence of waste, fraud, and abuse.
• Tax and Expenditure Limitations to promote fiscal responsibility.
• Removing unnecessary barriers to entrepreneurship and opportunity by sparking citizen involvement in the regulatory process early on in order to reduce red tape.
• Restoring fairness to our judicial system.

Despite this glowing self-description, AFP, in some ways, could be more accurately be described as an umbrella organization, receiving additional funds- apart from sums donated by the Koch brothers- through corporations with other agendas. Here's one example:

The link between cigarette smoking and prosperity may not automatically come to mind unless you are part of the tobacco industry. On issues such as cigarette taxation and clean indoor air laws, Americans for Prosperity is staunchly pro-tobacco industry. They have worked around the United States in recent years to defeat legislation regarding smoke-free workplaces and cigarette excise tax increases.

Interestingly AFP's strategy is to paint smoking as "a property right", a tactic formulated by Philip Morris in the middle of the 1990s. A spokesperson for AFP has called anti-smoking bills a "reckless expansion of government" that "set a dangerous precedent." So the next time you hear a Tea-party supporter decry the dangers of "BIG government" you can just translate it as Philip Morris' right to market a cancer-causing product without restraint.

Rolling Stone Magazine has cited Tim Phillips president of AFP, as seventh on a list of the twelve notable people who are blocking progress in reducing climate change.

Phillips is on a mission to convince Americans that global warming is a plot hatched by Al Gore to take away their freedom and destroy the economy. Backed with $5 million from foundations funded by Koch Industries, Phillips launched a "Hot Air Tour" of America last year, staging faux-populist protests against climate legislation. In California, he organized "No Jobs" fairs to encourage voters to support Proposition 23, the referendum backed by the oil industry that would have scrapped the state's crackdown on global warming. And during the midterm elections, he cooked up a "No Climate Tax" pledge for conservative candidates, making them all but promise never to utter the words "cap and trade" in public, let alone vote for it in Congress. The political pressure worked: More than 600 candidates signed the planetary death warrant.

Another battlefield for AFP has been health care reform. They have set up various front groups in order to hold rallies against health care. One group, Patients United Now organized what is estimated to be in excess of three hundred rallies against health-care reform. Patients United Now also helped organize "Kill the Bill” protests outside the Capitol, in March 2010, where Democratic supporters of health-care reform alleged that they were spat on and cursed at.

Additionally AFP started a group called "Patients First" to oppose health care. Patients First conducts bus tours around the country to create opposition to health care reform. Americans for Prosperity/Patients First visit cities and speaks to rally people and encourage them to oppose health care reform.

Brian Buetler in an article for Talking Points Memo writes,

AFP has been accused of likening Democratically-proposed health care reform to the regimes of Mugabe, Hitler, Stalin, and Pol Pot as the SEIU-produced video here demonstrates. A speaker at an AFP co-sponsored event in Pueblo, Colorado repeated the discredited conservative idea that Democratic health care reform will mandate physician-assisted suicide or death for older members of society. "Adolf Hitler issued six million end of life orders -- he called his program the final solution. I kind of wonder what we're going to call ours," he said. The speaker further advises audience to "go to offices of members of Congress and put the fear of god in them."

All this wild rhetoric is really not new. Murdoch's Fox News has made the wailing by Beck and others, continuous and wide-ranging. As Frank Rich astutely pointed out in a New York Times op-ed piece:

The Koch brothers' father, Fred, was among the select group chosen to serve on the Birch Society’s top governing body. In a recorded 1963 speech that survives in a University of Michigan archive, he can be heard warning of "a takeover" of America in which Communists would "infiltrate the highest offices of government in the U.S. until the president is a Communist, unknown to the rest of us." That rant could be delivered as is at any Tea Party rally today.

Rich also points out:

When David Koch ran to the right of Reagan as vice president on the 1980 Libertarian ticket (it polled 1 percent), his campaign called for the abolition not just of Social Security, federal regulatory agencies and welfare but also of the F.B.I., the C.I.A., and public schools—in other words, any government enterprise that would either inhibit his business profits or increase his taxes.

According to a book by Brian Doherty, an editor of Reason magazine, David and his brother Charles viewed politicians as "actors playing out a script" and they wanted to "supply the themes and words for the scripts" by influencing "the areas where policy ideas percolate from: academia and think tanks." But of course, they omitted the final piece in a triad of influence over the direction of the nation—who it will represent and who it will not. That final piece would be public pressure, kindly manufactured by our good friends at Americans for Prosperity with a donation from special interests. Furthermore, to guarantee that the word gets out, Rupert Murdoch's news outlets have been recruited to legitimize and broadcast the activities of the Tea Party.

With all this plotting and stealth, all that secret financing and wild ranting, those private deals and angry but essentially ignorant crowds, it sometimes can be depressing. Still, Kennedy in a November 18, 1961 speech encouraged all of us with this observation:

At times these fanatics have achieved a temporary success among those who lack the will or the vision to face unpleasant tasks or unsolved problems. But in time the basic good sense and stability of the great American consensus has always prevailed.

Michele Bachmann's Constitutional Classes: Spring Training for the Minor Leagues?

Guest Post By Nomadic Joe

Normally when a Republic as great as the United States elects a citizen to a high office, the public expects that person to be politically "fully-developed." Naturally we don't expect to have to give classes to teach them what they should already be familiar with, such as, for example, the laws of the land or the basic principles upon which that republic was founded, namely the Constitution. And we certainly don't expect the American taxpayers to foot the bill for these remedial classes. Yet, apparently Rep. Michele Bachmann thinks that new members of Congress - read, Tea Party members - need some indoctrination into the the extreme far right's world view.

In an interview with Lou Dobbs, Bachmann outlined the concept in sporting terms:

Dobbs: You've got a terrific idea that you're going to implement with the new Congress: a course on the Constitution for incoming Congressmen and women. Tell us about that.
Bachmann: We're going to do what the NFL does and what the baseball teams do: we're going to practice every week, if you will, our craft, which is studying and learning the Declaration, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. Justice Scalia has graciously agreed to kick off our class. The hour before we cast our first vote in congress, we'll meet in the Capitol, we'll have a seminar on some segment of the Constitution, we'll have a speaker, we'll have questions and answers, we'll wrap our minds around this magnificent document [and] that'll set the tone for the week while we're in Washington.

Watch:

“Every week the hour before we take our first votes, we have our weekly class so that we are reminded of our constitutional jurisdictional limits,” Bachmann told Glenn Beck in a recent radio interview.

Sergio Gor, a spokesman for Bachmann, explained:"It was something she’s always wanted to do. There’s so many folks that come to Capitol Hill to discuss obscure and mundane topics, but no one coming regularly to discuss bill of rights or the role of government.”

Although Bachmann doesn't plan on teaching the class, Gor added, she will organize sessions with constitutional scholars, experts, and judges likely to be held in one of the committee rooms on the Capitol Hill complex. According to a report by Politico in October 2010, Gor explained that the classes will be open to any members — not just freshman — looking to continue their study of America’s founding documents. They will not be open, however, to staff or members of the press, and the list of speakers won’t be made public.

However his statement, like so much about the Tea Party, is misleading. Both the topics being discussed and the speakers who have reportedly been asked to lecture are much more specific than Gor's statement suggests.

Even the way the opening seminar with Justice Scalia was conducted is questionable and shadowy. Take a look at this telephone conversation between a Daily Kos reporter and a staffer at Bachmann office, which was published on January 24, 2011:

REC: No, it is a seminar.
ME: Then, why is it closed to the public. I thought the only time a Caucus was "closed" was when the members were deciding on "policy."
REC: Justice Scalia is not speaking to the Tea Party Caucus. Justice Scalia is speaking to all members of Congress.
ME: Then why is it "closed" to the public.
REC: For security reasons.
ME: Where is the meeting being held?
REC: In the Capitol building
ME: Did they close the Capitol Building to the public today?
REC: No.
ME: Then Scalia's Seminar is not closed due to security reasons at all. Otherwise they would have cleared the Capitol.
REC: It is "closed" because it is a Congressional Constitutional Seminar.
ME: The only "Closed Door" Seminars I have attended are only "Closed" because the group hosting the event wants to make sure they get paid - so they can pay the Seminar Speaker. Since you are telling me Scalia is not getting paid there is no reason to "close" this seminar off from the public.
REC: It is closed because there was not enough room to handle the press.
ME: You told me that the Seminar was open to all 535 members of Congress. CNN is reporting that only 40 people showed up. That means there is PLENTY of empty seats for the press. So, who made the decision to have a "Closed Door" Seminar and why was that decision made.
REC: Members of Congress have 'closed door' meetings all the time.
ME: Is this a "meeting" or a "seminar."
REC: It is a Constitutional Seminar.

Influence and Conflicts

When certain members of the Supreme Court are allowed to give policy advice behind closed doors to selected members of Congress, it is time to start asking questions about ethics and impartiality of their rulings.

Issues of judicial ethics have already been raised regarding Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas, two of the more conservative members of the bench, attendance at seminars sponsored by the energy giant and Tea Party bank-roller Koch Industries. While there is nothing unusual about Supreme Court Justices attending seminars, the Koch event seems to have been more political than the usual fare. In its own invitation, it was described as a "twice a year" gathering "to review strategies for combating the multitude of public policies that threaten to destroy America as we know it." I think it is safe to assume this would be liberal policies.

"I think it is very important for judges to be part of the real world and to appear in public for educative purposes to help explain the arcane mysteries of the court to the general public," said William G. Ross, a judicial ethics professor at Samford University's Cumberland School of Law. "That is very healthy and I don't think that judges should isolate themselves in a marble palace... However I am very troubled by the tendency of judges to make broader comments on public issues and to appear in public or private gatherings in which there are political overtones."

A reform group called Common Cause requested that the Department of Justice investigate possible conflicts of interest regarding their appearance at Koch brother's retreats at the very time the court was deliberating a case which would allow corporation to spend unlimited amounts of money on federal elections (Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission).

So, the question boils down to: Is there any real evidence that judicial decision were affected or influenced by Koch? Nothing concrete. However there is circumstantial evidence.

In the dissenting opinion of the Supreme Court by Justice Stevens, it was noted that the decision of the court over-reached the original case brought before it and so claimed that the majority "changed the case to give themselves an opportunity to change the law." Stevens concluded his dissent with: Basically a case of opportunism.

Justice Thomas, the other Koch retreat attendee, would have preferred to go even further. In order to protect the anonymity of corporations that contributed financially - an exercise of their free speech according this ruling - Thomas argued that making contributor lists public makes the contributors vulnerable to retaliation, citing instances of retaliation against contributors to both sides of a then recent California voter initiative. Thomas also expressed concern that such retaliation could extend to retaliation by elected officials.

In any case, whether or not there was any corporate influence in this historic - some say disastrous - court decision, the appearance of a conflict of interest undermines the impartiality of the court and therefore the Justices should have recused themselves from the case.

Beyond the question of Koch and its influence, Justice Thomas is facing, separate ethical questions regarding his wife's lobbying efforts on behalf of the Tea Party. According to a New York Times article, Mrs. Thomas is the founder and head of a new nonprofit group, "Liberty Central", dedicated to opposing what she characterizes as the leftist “tyranny” of President Obama and Democrats in Congress and to “protecting the core founding principles” of the nation.

Guest Speaker Barton

The list of seminar speakers is a tightly held secret but rumor has it that Bachmann intends to invite another member of the Supreme Court bench, Chief Justice John Roberts, Beyond Supreme Court Justices, Bachmann has also supposedly made plans to court a variety of other conservative stars, such as 9/11 "truther" and judge, Andrew Napolitano, Fox News personality Sean Hannity, and controversial Evangelical and separation-of-church-and-state denier David Barton to teach the "bipartisan" classes, AOL News reported last month.

The mention of David Barton should raise a lot of eyebrows from those in the know. Think Glenn Beck on steroids and that, believe it or not, is a charitable, a kind view of this character. David is a controversial figure whose ideas about the constitution and the founding fathers have drawn sharp criticism from both the religious and secular communities.

Bachmann and Barton, who have worked together for many years, have a long relationship going back to Bachmann’s time as state senator. Barton was invited to Minnesota to help Bachmann with legislation on school history standards, she’s appeared his radio show numerous times and she and Barton have conducted tours in Washington, D.C., to demonstrate to tea partiers how religious the Founding Fathers were.

Barton came to Minnesota in 2005 to help Bachmann shape the state’s “history standards.” Bachmann wanted to make sure that references to religion in historical documents were taught in Minnesota’s public schools. Barton came to the Minnesota Senate to give a presentation at Bachmann’s invitation.

The statements Barton has made in the past are certainly not the kind of remarks that bring either honor or information to the halls of Congress. For example, he has stated in all seriousness that the government should regulate homosexuality (if you don't believe me, please check this link).

According to the Anti-Defamation League, David Barton, a self-described historian promoted by Fox News' Glenn Beck, has twice spoken to groups affiliated with the racist and anti-Semitic Christian Identity movement. Beck himself has promoted the work and ideas of anti-Semites.

Also, the details of the charge do not paint a pretty portrait of Barton. In 1991 Barton addressed the Rocky Mountain Bible Retreat of Pastor Pete Peters' Scriptures for America, a group that espouses the racist "Christian Identity" theology. Advocates of this bizarre dogma insist that white Anglo-Saxons are the "true" chosen people of the Bible and charge that today's Jews are usurpers. Aside from being a virulent anti-Semite, Peters has advocated the death penalty for homosexuals. According to the Anti-Defamation League, other speakers at the event included white supremacist leader and 1992 presidential candidate James "Bo" Gritz, a leader of the radical and increasingly violent militia movement, and Malcolm Ross, a Holocaust denier from Canada. In November of that same year, Barton spoke at Kingdom Covenant College in Grants Pass, Oregon, another "Christian Identity" front group with ties to Peters.

In the recent past, he has stated his belief that United States borders were drawn by God, thereby condemning illegal immigration as a sin against God.

“God’s the one who drew up the lines for the nations, so to say open borders is to say, ‘God, you goofed it all up and when you had borders, you shouldn’t have done it,’” he said recently on his radio program. “And so, from a Christian standpoint, you cannot do that. God’s the one who establishes the boundaries of nations.”

Barton's brand of revisionist history has come under intense criticism and he penchant for using unverified quotes from the founding fathers are used to support his idea that Constitution calls for the United States to be a Christian nation.

Kyle Mantyla, senior fellow with People For the American Way, told the Minnesota Independent:

That Rep. Bachmann would possibly tap someone like David Barton to teach this class is in no way surprising, since Bachmann clearly has no desire to gain a true understanding of the Constitution and is looking instead for an opportunity to pass off right-wing propaganda as scholarship. As such Barton is the perfect teacher for her effort. In fact, only Bachmann would considering having a class on the Constitution taught by a man whose academic credentials consist entirely of a B.A. from Oral Roberts University and an Honorary Doctorate of Letters from Pensacola Christian College.

Former Republican Senator Arlen Specter wrote in the Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy that Barton’s “pseudo-scholarship would hardly be worth discussing, let alone disproving, were it not for the fact that it is taken so very seriously by so many people.”

Tell it to the Newts of this world, Mr. Specter. At a Heritage Foundation speech pushing a school prayer amendment held on October 5, 1995, Newt Gingrich, who considers himself an historian and fancies himself a potential Republican candidate for president in 2012, praised Barton's books, calling them "most useful" and "wonderful."

Looking over Bachmann's list of speakers, who can hardly be considered experts, one wonders how much of this Bachmann-styled education is really just a form of Neo-Con brainwashing for the fresh faces of Washington.

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Koch Brothers and friends meet at luxurious resort in California and need riot police to protect them from protestors armed with slogans

By Patrick

The Koch Brothers, who recently have been exposed of being one of the main financial backers of the Tea Party movement, are in the headlines again. They had another of their "secret meetings" last Sunday at a luxury resort in California. The content of such "top secret" meetings of the Koch Brothers are "not so secret" any more after a few months ago explosive documents from previous "secret meetings" were leaked - proving beyond any doubt that the billionaire Koch Brothers use their vast resources to achieve a libertarian corporate domination in American politics. It became apparent that one of their main goals is to get rid of environmental regulations, using "Americans for Prosperity" as their "propaganda teams."

Watch the Koch Brothers gloating over their success in funding the Tea Party movement earlier in 2010:



It was revealed that not only several mainstream journalists, but also for example the Supreme Court justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas have also secretly taken part in previous Koch Brothers secret meetings as well.

This in itself is not enough to start a revolution, but many people woke up after these recent revelations - they are not silent any more. Curiously it seems that the law enforcement authorities regard peaceful protestors as a real threat, and apparently expected the protestors to storm the "Rancho Las Palmas Resort" just like the angry citizens of France once stormed the Bastille. The law enforcers were out in force on Sunday.

Riot police were on the scene, and 25 protestors were arrested, out of at least 1000 - for "trespassing." David Dayen wrote on Firedoglake about the protests on Sunday:

The Koch Brothers, billionaires who have generously funded conservative and libertarian causes for over a generation – including the Heritage Foundation, the Cato Institute, and tea party groups like Americans for Prosperity – put together an annual meeting, typically held in the California desert, with fellow corporate CEOs and conservative operatives, to plan the year ahead. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor and 2012 Republican Presidential candidate Herman Cain were reputed to attend the gathering at the sprawling Rancho Las Palmas resort. The Kochs bought out the entire resort for Saturday and Sunday. Some activists who stayed at the resort Friday night and booked dinners at their restaurants on Saturday had their reservations canceled by the resort, and were given $150 each for their trouble.

Common Cause organized the protest weeks ago, and set up a stage in the parking lot across the street from the Rancho Las Palmas resort. But from the beginning, activists were far more interested in the resort site, and they massed themselves across the street and then eventually in the driveway of the resort. The police, in their riot gear, came out very early to guard the resort, only letting in authorized personnel. Hotel guests, presumably attendees to the Koch Brothers meeting, looked on, holding smart phone cameras and taking pictures of the display. In addition, conservative provocateur Andrew Breitbart, resplendent in shorts and roller skates, mulled around the crowd with a couple lackeys and a small video camera, talking to (and arguing with) attendees. I asked Breitbart exactly who necessitated the riot police, the lady with the papier-maché puppet or the Code Pink lady’s umbrella, and he claimed to have seen unspecified “internal emails” proving the potential for violence and the need for security. Surely that will come out in the next few days. I didn’t want to keep him from his workout, so I wrapped up the interview.

Here is a news report about the meeting:



Politicalgates was very lucky, because our reader Kasha Knish was "at the scene" on Sunday as well!

Kasha Knish made lots of pictures for politicalgates and also wrote a report. Therefore we have the chance to get a much better impression of what happened; we are always very grateful when our readers take the initative!

Kasha Knish left before the arrests happened, but nevertheless managed to take great pictures and also sent us a very detailed report.

All the following pictures were taken by Kasha Knish (click to enlarge).

SUMMARY - By Kasha Knish

Several weeks ago I became aware of the “Secretive Billionaire’s Caucus” (Koch Brothers) that was to be held in my area. At the time I did not realize that this was to be 8th time this gathering has occurred only miles from my home. (Thank you, Caligirl!)

So, it was that I found myself leaving my home early on Sunday morning to begin a political adventure of sorts.

I decided to record this experience for posterity and Politicalgates, of course… along the way I met some very nice people…had my camera battery die (aren’t cell phone cameras a great back-up?) …and ultimately realized that sending photos without context would not really work well. So, along with the photos I have now penned (well, typed out) my experience.

Here we go….

It was 9:29 a.m. when I passed the Rancho Las Palmas Resort in Rancho Mirage which is where the Koch Caucus was being held. Two sheriffs’ officers were already ensconced across the street at the resort. The resort is located across the street from The River (an upscale outdoor shopping area).

Later in the day the parking area of The River was to be used for a protest rally, music, entertainment, personal testimonies, etc. I suppose the yellow caution tape everywhere provided a clue that something was up.

Ultimately, I found myself going to the theatre at The River. This is where the program prior to the rally was going to be held.

Before going in I decided to take a photo of “the river” at The River (it is actually man-made and very small), but was told by a security guard that photos of the common areas were not allowed unless a person was in the photo. Really? I thought it odd, but just continued on into theatre.

As soon as I entered the lobby, I spotted a group of people with signs. Yeah! Finally, signs. We chatted a bit. I told them what had just happened and asked if they would come outside, so, I could take a photo of them.

I just couldn’t resist telling the security guard that I found some people as they held their signs high for several photos. (grin)


Folks began arriving about the time I did – some had come as a group via bus. As we entered one of the theatres, we were given a Common Cause T-shirt and some information on Common Cause. Slowly, the theatre seats began filling up.

The front row seats were being saved for media. At one point, I explained that I was taking photos for a blog and asked if I would be considered media. She answered in the affirmative, but I had just been curious.

In the course of the brief conversation, I told her about the blog(s) and she said she was familiar with the site due to information on Trig.

The program began, but I had taken so many photos at that point that I decided to go home to send them off to Patrick/Kathleen.

My adventure continued about an hour later… By this time all the folks were at the cordoned off area and things got a bit more interesting.

The first thing I heard when I got out of my car was a helicopter. I don’t know if it was law enforcement or perhaps, a news station. Most likely law enforcement, though, as it circled in a continuous loop the entire time I was there.

It was a very pleasant and mellow crowd although those seeing photos might wonder when they see the large police presence.

Folks stood at The River facing the Las Palmas Resort – both locations are on Bob Hope Drive.

Lots of people beeped their car horns in support of the protestors. I was a bit surprised. This is a somewhat conservative area - most likely why the meeting has been held here in the first place.

At one point protestors began to cross the street in large groups, but continued to follow traffic rules. I noticed that more officers were now across the street and they had their truncheons out and ready.

A Sheriff’s bus appeared behind the wall of the resort and disappeared. Hmmm, was this to transport the officers or perhaps, protestors or maybe both??? Who knows…. All the while the helicopter circled above.


I must admit although all was calm, I did think, briefly, of Tucson when I found myself next to two sweet little girls and their parents.

It was about this time that my camera battery went dead and I began to go back to my car in defeat. But, all of a sudden I remembered that my cell phone had a camera on it.

A few more photos were taken with my cell phone, but all of a sudden I noticed the sky looking quite ominous.

At that point, I decided to come home and download the new photos.

Thus, ends my political adventure…the sun has set and all is well…

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