Bus Tours

=see hot air toursee tim phillip AFP
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: small; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0.4em 0px; border: 0px; line-height: 24.75px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The rate at which the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Americans_for_Prosperity" style="font-weight: inherit; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Koch Industries</a> funded Americans for Prosperity (AFP) churns out front groups to promote its right-wing corporate agenda sets the organization out among similar conservative “<a href="http://thinkprogress.org/2009/04/14/lobbying-clients-teaparties/" style="font-weight: inherit; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">think tanks</a>.” This week, AFP created their latest front group called “<a href="http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/2009/05/27/pun/" style="font-weight: inherit; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Patients United Now</a>,” an entity set up to defeat health care reform. Patients United follows a familiar pattern AFP has used for their other front groups: create a new stand alone <a href="http://blogs.tnr.com/tnr/blogs/the_treatment/archive/2009/05/26/more-right-wing-lies-with-beer-chaser.aspx" style="font-weight: inherit; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">website</a>, fill it with lines like “We are people just like you” to give the site a <a href="http://www.theseminal.com/2009/05/26/new-anti-obama-health-care-front-group-patients-united-now/" style="font-weight: inherit; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">grassroots</a> feel, and then use the new group to recruit supporters and run <a href="http://mediamattersaction.org/factcheck/200905270002" style="font-weight: inherit; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">deceptive advertisements</a> attacking reform. This “<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Astroturf" style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">astroturfing</a>” model has been used by AFP to launch groups pushing distortions against other progressive priorities:<blockquote style="font-size: small; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 1em 3em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; line-height: 24.75px; vertical-align: baseline; quotes: none;">– The “<a href="http://www.hotairtour.org/" style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Hot Air Tour</a>” promoting global warming skepticism and attacking environmental regulations. – “<a href="http://www.freeourenergy.com/" style="font-weight: inherit; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Free Our Energy</a>,” a group promoting increased domestic drilling. – The “<a href="http://www.savemyballot.com/" style="font-weight: inherit; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Save My Ballot </a><a href="http://www.savemyballot.com/" style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Tour</a>,” a group that pays <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/2009/04/01/joe-plumber-stumped/" style="font-weight: inherit; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Joe the Plumber</a> to travel around the country smearing the Employee Free Choice Act. – “<a href="http://www.noclimatetax.com/" style="font-weight: inherit; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">No Climate Tax</a>,” a group dedicated to the defeat of Clean Energy Economy legislation. – “<a href="http://nostimulus.com/" style="font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">No Stimulus</a>,” a group launched to try to stop the passage of the Recovery Act.</blockquote><p style="margin: 0px; font-size: small; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0.4em 0px; border: 0px; line-height: 24.75px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Notably, AFP was also instrumental in <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2009/04/09/37433/lobbyists-planning-teaparties/" style="font-weight: inherit; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">orchestrating</a> the anti-Obama, anti-tax tea party protests in April.<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: small; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0.4em 0px; border: 0px; line-height: 24.75px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">With nearly 70 Republican operatives and former oil industry spokesmen<a href="http://www.americansforprosperity.org/about/staff" style="font-weight: inherit; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">working</a> behind the scenes of AFP’s various fronts and <a href="http://mediatransparency.org/recipientgrants.php?recipientID=8806" style="font-weight: inherit; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">disclosures</a> that point to ever <a href="http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=3511" style="font-weight: inherit; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">increasing</a> oil and corporate donations to the group, one must wonder, who is guiding this massive front group factory? The answer is <a href="http://www.americansforprosperity.org/about/staff/tim-phillips" style="font-weight: inherit; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Tim Phillips</a>, the President of AFP who has built a long career of inventing fake grassroots causes. In Phillips’ official biography, there appears to be over a 10 year gap — but that period was when Phillips developed his very first astroturf groups to do everything from smearing his opponents with anti-Semitic attacks to laundering money for criminal lobbyists.=women for trump kremer ran one before 1/6?<table role="presentation" class="yiv0708215025stylingblock-content-wrapper" width="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="min-width: 100%;"><tbody><tr><td class="yiv0708215025stylingblock-content-wrapper yiv0708215025camarker-inner" style="word-break: normal; border-collapse: collapse; padding: 0px 10px;"><div style="line-height: 31px;">Dustin Stockton, a pro-Trump organizer who helped plan the January 6 “March to Save America” rally that led to a violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, is <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="blank" href="http://click.e.mediamatters.org/?qs=092a84c8cf3a8cd304d69858845d990d957281855ec563dec14a2fb2f3999143bc99d7f43cbfecd01413d70f08f3f5ff1df76a6ad241bb3047c246ef49cbd57f" title="now planning" style="">now planning</a> a “MAGA sellout” bus tour targeting Republicans who did not side with former President Donald Trump’s efforts to steal the election. Stockton and his fiancé, Jennifer Lynn Lawrence, both former Breitbart bloggers, previously organized the <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="blank" href="http://click.e.mediamatters.org/?qs=092a84c8cf3a8cd39191a1e0e8f1c3740d8335f976969d25d9927d5bf2bfe440bd6977ef861a02beb56a9cd6c1cca6566dda0519c54f20c31ff71d9b68b2700e" title="“March for Trump” bus tour" style="">“March for Trump” bus tour </a>, which made stops in more than 20 cities starting in late November and continuing through January. Buzzfeed reported that Stockton “evoked images of revenge and violence” in his remarks on the tour, “advised people to arm themselves” and said if Congress “allow[s] the election to get stolen” the tactics of pro-Trump activists will get “a lot, lot uglier and a lot, lot worse. And I don’t think any of us want to go there.”Now Stockton and Lawrence are using social media platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, and a newsletter hosted on Substack, to plan a follow-up “MAGA Sellout” bus tour from February to May. A website for the tour lists the districts of the Republican members of Congress who voted for Trump’s second impeachment, plus Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) and Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), who “betrayed President Trump” following January 6.Madeline Peltz <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="blank" href="http://click.e.mediamatters.org/?qs=092a84c8cf3a8cd3cdd2780c89698d47f856e1d6f295acb05d2600843acafc29150925f5bd8655911583f18ca4d216caeadca95b9e509e46443397e15cbee8a1" title="explained" style="">explained</a>, “That these activists, who have a history of promoting violence, are able to organize a follow-up bus tour on Twitter, Substack, and Facebook -- the very same platform where a violent insurrection was planned less than a month ago -- shows that these social media companies have a long way to go in stopping the spread of extremism on their platforms.”</div></td></tr></tbody></table><table role="presentation" class="yiv0708215025stylingblock-content-wrapper" width="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); min-width: 100%;"><tbody><tr><td class="yiv0708215025stylingblock-content-margin-cell" style="word-break: normal; border-collapse: collapse; padding: 0px 10px;"><table role="presentation" class="yiv0708215025stylingblock-content-wrapper" width="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="background-color: transparent; min-width: 100%;"><tbody><tr><td class="yiv0708215025stylingblock-content-wrapper yiv0708215025camarker-inner" style="word-break: normal; border-collapse: collapse; padding: 0px;"><h2 style="line-height: 1;">Featured Media</h2></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table><table role="presentation" class="yiv0708215025stylingblock-content-wrapper" width="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); min-width: 100%;"><tbody><tr><td class="yiv0708215025stylingblock-content-margin-cell" style="word-break: normal; border-collapse: collapse; padding: 0px 10px;"><table role="presentation" class="yiv0708215025stylingblock-content-wrapper" width="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="background-color: transparent; min-width: 100%;"><tbody><tr><td class="yiv0708215025stylingblock-content-wrapper yiv0708215025camarker-inner" style="word-break: normal; border-collapse: collapse; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 31px;"><ul><li style="margin-bottom: 1em;">Watch Brianna Keilar <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="blank" href="http://click.e.mediamatters.org/?qs=092a84c8cf3a8cd37d6899455427f2a52657918fc03ee6fcdcc30ad4badb9474cc83710d9d0366acefcb2caa654e87c9f57b20511d6db7e08138a9431d22282d" title="call out" style="">call out</a> Sean Hannity's lies and conspiracy theories.</li><li style="margin-bottom: 1em;">Angelo Carusone and Sirius XM’s Dean Obeidallah <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="blank" href="http://click.e.mediamatters.org/?qs=092a84c8cf3a8cd3593fc9e3eb3c74bb77b938c813f15aa1ae6760def330a800b1fa92073c965c316e575045ee60a23dbb3f081c324287b7f6d1e021bdab5e77" title="discussed" style="">discussed</a> the Fox News defamation lawsuit: “They're in big trouble”</li><li style="margin-bottom: 1em;">Watch Nicolle Wallace <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="blank" href="http://click.e.mediamatters.org/?qs=092a84c8cf3a8cd3786dbcabe9c1e236aa6f8665815639e385f6ea0ca0728106db6e00e79775cde16a7469cd438e8138836985ee61a574eb13ed5020cf6c68a7" title="highlight" style="">highlight</a> the lies told about Smartmatic on Fox News and Fox Business.</li><li style="margin-bottom: 1em;">Fox News called for more and more Benghazi investigations. Now the network wants to <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="blank" href="http://click.e.mediamatters.org/?qs=092a84c8cf3a8cd314219034a9e1826df19f9dd01ad27baece6f4c021aba3b6ca145393939a1524367bd7bbf5d19e77c18459ea5b23f413605a0f7206a581df7" title="“just move on”" style="">“just move on”</a> from the January 6 attack.</li></ul></div></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table><table role="presentation" class="yiv0708215025stylingblock-content-wrapper" width="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); min-width: 100%;"><tbody><tr><td class="yiv0708215025stylingblock-content-margin-cell" style="word-break: normal; border-collapse: collapse; padding: 0px 10px;"><table role="presentation" class="yiv0708215025stylingblock-content-wrapper" width="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="background-color: transparent; min-width: 100%;"><tbody><tr><td class="yiv0708215025stylingblock-content-wrapper yiv0708215025camarker-inner" style="word-break: normal; border-collapse: collapse; padding: 0px;"><h2 style="line-height: 1;">This Week In Dumb</h2></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table><table role="presentation" class="yiv0708215025stylingblock-content-wrapper" width="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); min-width: 100%;"><tbody><tr><td class="yiv0708215025stylingblock-content-margin-cell" style="word-break: normal; border-collapse: collapse; padding: 0px 10px;"><table role="presentation" class="yiv0708215025stylingblock-content-wrapper" width="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="background-color: transparent; min-width: 100%;"><tbody><tr><td class="yiv0708215025stylingblock-content-wrapper yiv0708215025camarker-inner" style="word-break: normal; border-collapse: collapse; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 31px;"><ul><li style="margin-bottom: 1em;">Rudy Giuliani <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="blank" href="http://click.e.mediamatters.org/?qs=092a84c8cf3a8cd31c0ab01f3f82f46c9fe8d54a1fcdcc69bc76478340b50bf76285238f67077211da441cdfbbc1ddd5ec8b854c0bcb34d3556f26b162a674a6" title="was furious" style="">was furious</a> at his employer WABC for adding a legal disclaimer to the start of his radio show.</li><li style="margin-bottom: 1em;">QAnon supporters <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="blank" href="http://click.e.mediamatters.org/?qs=092a84c8cf3a8cd32b499ed6046c4daa53a7e0e698a62a0c7dc0fbf278b85f406f58638148ae3d1b4388b006f2e72a96e547aaae6e3adb4b936972dd3c0839bf" title="looked at the coup" style="">looked at the coup</a> in Myanmar/Burma and wanted it to happen in the United States.</li><li style="margin-bottom: 1em;">Mainstream outlets too often <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="blank" href="http://click.e.mediamatters.org/?qs=092a84c8cf3a8cd3f39cbb8634b880677ce6e90b096dee16f371eba0940808ba48590f456c3c3d5bed9c5273c1baf3b7eccd7602498a59ca1133353c353f94a5" title="are falling for" style="">are falling for</a> Republican senators' demands to shrink the pandemic rescue package making its way through Congress in the name of "unity."</li><li style="margin-bottom: 1em;">Fox guest Matt Schlapp <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="blank" href="http://click.e.mediamatters.org/?qs=092a84c8cf3a8cd33b5466d8a187db28df5b6df0564f282539b0c4a277a2261eef65a5e7b0d7e096fab597c6f6e0eef305294fa27a54f54eca6596bb2ae214dc" title="Criticism of Marjorie Taylor Greene is" style="">called</a> criticism of Marjorie Taylor Greene “part of this cancel culture.”</li><li style="margin-bottom: 1em;">Tucker Carlson <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="blank" href="http://click.e.mediamatters.org/?qs=092a84c8cf3a8cd3796698e9b377ee32a45d69941c7d33ac22872dd08d48e7f2620bfb9a1247f036112187da1b97968f87bc3803c82763e5fd83817f838d3752" title="warns" style="">warned</a> that fighting domestic extremism will only create more extremists.</li><li style="margin-bottom: 1em;">Laura Ingraham <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="blank" href="http://click.e.mediamatters.org/?qs=092a84c8cf3a8cd350667be26a5f5dfa15cfe2a75fdea9e94fa5dc90ac258d56e290d3af99c9d6c0f4ad9221ed87984a4627c1abec6059177ef508758325adbd" title="warns" style="">warned</a> that Republicans will oppose funding the military if extremists in the ranks are removed.</li><li style="margin-bottom: 1em;">Sean Hannity <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="blank" href="http://click.e.mediamatters.org/?qs=092a84c8cf3a8cd3fc08345c18bc0e28e234930357f69cf014839178c76d60f27d397687a6f26cf3b26c099fc78dc05bcb131bfe35f5fdaf0bfaaf1e32322621" title="Sean Hannity" style="">claimed that</a> Democrats “are far more guilty of insurrection than Donald Trump.”</li><li style="margin-bottom: 1em;">Tucker Carlson <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="blank" href="http://click.e.mediamatters.org/?qs=092a84c8cf3a8cd3dfab1f087e8e55f90b34159e7e7352019d4f84f18de56145369019c5cabc02ba4d285e5245f61226280613f7c01ec3c39dc2c635a2355dd3" title="claims" style="">declared that</a> Democrats want “a new war against our own population.”</li><li style="margin-bottom: 1em;">A Newsmax host and contributor <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="blank" href="http://click.e.mediamatters.org/?qs=092a84c8cf3a8cd3d3e8d7a3255a888cda894417c7b1ed67d810be8132da6698bc8a19c59602c2f97774473ab15bcf2b58c3bbd6f4c01298608d2b2d690cd626" title="deny" style="">denied</a> that white nationalists exist in America.</li><li style="margin-bottom: 1em;">Fox guest: <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="blank" href="http://click.e.mediamatters.org/?qs=092a84c8cf3a8cd349e8eb79ad801ad0d97b7a6d464cb2fea03a8e93797acca26d0f494d48f57866a408198bab67a413a058d30ced655d22ef52b4ae9f6674e0" title="Chicago teachers " style="">Chicago teachers</a> too happy in their “second homes” in Florida and California to teach in-person.</li><li style="margin-bottom: 1em;">Laura Ingraham <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="blank" href="http://click.e.mediamatters.org/?qs=092a84c8cf3a8cd3d79934e5dbbfabc1df456747a658b5f1202c353f8f5ebc30fe3fa2cff5c9e6025dea11293d18f4d1cf1f0b60ac0c1cc7d73e48d1bc4dbb8d" title="Laura Ingraham" style="">said that</a> “the left perversely loves the pandemic.” Meanwhile, Ingraham is <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="blank" href="http://click.e.mediamatters.org/?qs=092a84c8cf3a8cd32e070aa60ff1532af924dc03f3309fa58bb81a3337a81d10e4849a5079093e0b3a13779d524b8b9d13c83cf8760a868e7acbc9afca90cee3" title="still elevating" style="">still elevating</a> vaccine conspiracy theorists.</li><li style="margin-bottom: 1em;">Sean Hannity <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="blank" href="http://click.e.mediamatters.org/?qs=092a84c8cf3a8cd31a4da06abaae9f14b89bc997c3ec6683520f309e7c723ceda523af8724255ecc6045792a62fd2224861741d4b811f3e71b9d5659d9dc9562" title="claims" style="">claimed</a> pipe bombs planted the night before Capitol riots exonerate Trump from impeachment charges.</li><li style="margin-bottom: 1em;">Fox guest Peter Navarro <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="blank" href="http://click.e.mediamatters.org/?qs=092a84c8cf3a8cd3056e3d4cb2312537e5e62094c479dbd77b1d3b348cd5d87a355a425cdfeb0404e89d30294d277823cd51b3a12729e902e8a8f26fbf8cd378" title="claimed" style="">claimed</a> that Biden's executive orders are part of a "deep state coup."</li></ul></div></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table>=hot air tour<a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/08/26/david-koch-donald-trump/">https://theintercept.com/2019/08/26/david-koch-donald-trump/</a>lee f<ol><li>in other instances, the propaganda techniques bordered on comical. One television advertisement <a href="https://thinkprogress.org/front-group-for-polluter-billionaires-wastes-140k-on-goofy-global-warming-denial-ads-a4af63f2738f/" style="letter-spacing: 0.01em; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none;">featured an actor</a> who played “Carleton the eco-hypocrite,” who sought action on global warming only to enrich himself and cause “massive unemployment.” Another Americans for Prosperity campaign <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20100417035059/http://regulationreality.com/blog/" style="letter-spacing: 0.01em; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none;">depicted</a> the Environmental Protection Agency’s climate policies represented as a Big Brother-style power grab, falsely claiming that “carbon cops” would arrest Americans and regulate <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20100403015229/http://regulationreality.com/2010/03/15/epa-regulation-and-single-family-homes/" style="letter-spacing: 0.01em; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none;">churches</a> under the guise of combating global warming. The campaign toured throughout the country with free food and an inflatable bounce house for children shaped as a <a href="https://farm5.static.flickr.com/4051/4462067391_aeb48903b8.jpg" style="letter-spacing: 0.01em; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none;">giant green police car</a> to illustrate the point....</li></ol>---ref  11/5/09 not epa?<a href="https://thinkprogress.org/astroturf-in-action-right-wing-billionaire-david-koch-pays-for-40-buses-to-haul-in-protesters-518e8aed42f5/">https://thinkprogress.org/astroturf-in-action-right-wing-billionaire-david-koch-pays-for-40-buses-to-haul-in-protesters-518e8aed42f5/</a>
Americans for Prosperity (AFP), the corporate front group founded in the 1980s by Koch Industries billionaire David Koch, worked closely with Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) to orchestrate the anti-health reform <a href="http://archive.thinkprogress.org/2009/11/05/holocaust-sign/" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(144, 141, 255);">rally</a> today. As ThinkProgress reported yesterday, AFP has been encouraging right-wing activists to board their buses — <a href="http://archive.thinkprogress.org/2009/11/04/king-astroturf-paulrevere/" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(144, 141, 255);">free of charge</a> — to attend the <a href="http://archive.thinkprogress.org/default/2009/11/05/67968/akin-pledge/" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(144, 141, 255);">rally</a>. While AFP does not disclose all of its corporate donors, foundations controlled by David and Charles Koch provide millions in yearly funding, and David continues to chair the AFP foundation and <a href="http://washingtonindependent.com/62453/david-koch-at-defending-the-american-dream-summit" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(144, 141, 255);">preside over</a> AFP’s annual convention.ThinkProgress found at least a dozen AFP staffers standing at their designated bus drop off point near the Capitol, handing out signs, directions, talking points, petitions, and donuts to protesters. Many of the people who work at AFP are longtime Republican operatives, like <a href="http://www.americansforprosperity.org/041709-ben-marchi-afp-va-state-director" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(144, 141, 255);">Ben Marchi</a>, the AFP Virginia director who previously worked for the National Republican Congressional Committee and for Rep. Tom Delay (R-TX). Victor Zapanta produced this video report of AFP staffers talking about their exploits at the rally today:<blockquote name="e85b" id="e85b" class="graf graf--blockquote graf-after--p" style="box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; margin: 0px 1.5625rem; padding: 0px; position: relative; border-left: 3px solid rgb(87, 87, 206); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">AFP STAFFERS: We have 25 buses just from Pennsylvania, New Jersey we probably have 5 or 6 from Maryland.</blockquote><blockquote name="eba4" id="eba4" class="graf graf--blockquote graf-after--blockquote" style="box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; margin: 0px 1.5625rem; padding: 0px; position: relative; border-left: 3px solid rgb(87, 87, 206); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">AFP STAFFERS: We have about 40 buses coming.</blockquote>Watch it:[vid]Koch’s AFP has a long history of marshaling “grassroots” support for GOP objectives. In the early 1990s, AFP, then known as Citizens for a Sound Economy, <a href="http://www.pbs.org/newshour/forum/may96/background/health_debate_page3.html" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(144, 141, 255);">worked secretly</a> with then-Rep. Newt Gingrich (R-GA) to organize angry crowds following the Clintons as they touted their health reform bill. Industry money from health insurance, telecommunications, oil, and other companies <a href="http://www.citizen.org/documents/Citizens%20for%20a%20Sound%20Economy%20Report.pdf" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(144, 141, 255);">has flowed freely</a> to AFP over the years to help AFP promote an agenda of boosting the rich, stripping consumer safeguards, and maintaining corporate monopolies. Phillip Morris rented out AFP from the Koch family, contributing millions to the organization in exchange for AFP <a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/nationalaffairs/index.php/2009/10/01/echoes-of-philip-morris-and-hillarycare/" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(144, 141, 255);">to build opposition</a> to tobacco regulations.AFP’s daily activities are managed by <a href="http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/2009/05/29/afp-timphillips-astroturf/" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(144, 141, 255);">Tim Phillips</a>, an infamous astroturf lobbyist who built a career using Christian front groups to wage stealth campaigns. For example, his work <a href="http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/2009/05/29/afp-timphillips-astroturf/" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(144, 141, 255);">includes fighting under the radar</a> to promote energy deregulation for Enron and helping Jack Abramoff clients continue forced abortion sweatshops in the Northern Mariana Islands.Will the media report on the true driver of today’s rally? Or will they leave David Koch out of the equation, despite his hand-in-glove involvement.<h4 style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 2.75rem; margin: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Update:</h4>This afternoon on the House GOP’s live webcast, Rep. Bob Latta (R-OH) praised the anti-health reform protesters for arriving to the Capitol without any assistance paying for the buses. He also said no central organization was orchestrating the effort:<blockquote name="3cdf" id="3cdf" class="graf graf--blockquote graf-after--p" style="box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; margin: 0px 1.5625rem; padding: 0px; position: relative; border-left: 3px solid rgb(87, 87, 206); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">LATTA: Some stakes took over 20 buses […] You know, they’re not rabble-rousers.KINGSTON: Who paid for them?LATTA: They all paid for themselves. You know, these people came down on their own.</blockquote>Watch it:---ref tim p 404http://dnserrorassist.att.net/search/?q=http%3A//wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/2009/05/29/afp-timphillips-astroturf/&r=&t=0&bc=<a href="https://archive.thinkprogress.org/tim-phillips-the-man-behind-the-americans-for-prosperity-corporate-front-group-factory-8437d7fa8a7e/">https://archive.thinkprogress.org/tim-phillips-the-man-behind-the-americans-for-prosperity-corporate-front-group-factory-8437d7fa8a7e/</a>lee f 5/09the rate at which the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Americans_for_Prosperity" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(144, 141, 255);">Koch Industries</a> funded Americans for Prosperity (AFP) churns out front groups to promote its right-wing corporate agenda sets the organization out among similar conservative “<a href="http://archive.thinkprogress.org/2009/04/14/lobbying-clients-teaparties/" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(144, 141, 255);">think tanks</a>.” This week, AFP created their latest front group called “<a href="http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/2009/05/27/pun/" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(144, 141, 255);">Patients United Now</a>,” an entity set up to defeat health care reform. Patients United follows a familiar pattern AFP has used for their other front groups: create a new stand alone <a href="http://blogs.tnr.com/tnr/blogs/the_treatment/archive/2009/05/26/more-right-wing-lies-with-beer-chaser.aspx" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(144, 141, 255);">website</a>, fill it with lines like “We are people just like you” to give the site a <a href="http://www.theseminal.com/2009/05/26/new-anti-obama-health-care-front-group-patients-united-now/" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(144, 141, 255);">grassroots</a> feel, and then use the new group to recruit supporters and run <a href="http://mediamattersaction.org/factcheck/200905270002" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(144, 141, 255);">deceptive advertisements</a> attacking reform. This “<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Astroturf" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(144, 141, 255);">astroturfing</a>” model has been used by AFP to launch groups pushing distortions against other progressive priorities:<blockquote name="8d35" id="8d35" class="graf graf--blockquote graf-after--p" style="box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; margin: 0px 1.5625rem; padding: 0px; position: relative; border-left: 3px solid rgb(87, 87, 206); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">— The “<a href="http://www.hotairtour.org/" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(144, 141, 255);">Hot Air Tour</a>” promoting global warming skepticism and attacking environmental regulations. — “<a href="http://www.freeourenergy.com/" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(144, 141, 255);">Free Our Energy</a>,” a group promoting increased domestic drilling. — The “<a href="http://www.savemyballot.com/" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(144, 141, 255);">Save My Ballot Tour</a>,” a group that pays <a href="http://archive.thinkprogress.org/2009/04/01/joe-plumber-stumped/" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(144, 141, 255);">Joe the Plumber</a> to travel around the country smearing the Employee Free Choice Act. — “<a href="http://www.noclimatetax.com/" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(144, 141, 255);">No Climate Tax</a>,” a group dedicated to the defeat of Clean Energy Economy legislation.  — “<a href="http://nostimulus.com/" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(144, 141, 255);">No Stimulus</a>,” a group launched to try to stop the passage of the Recovery Act.</blockquote>Notably, AFP was also instrumental in <a href="http://archive.thinkprogress.org/politics/2009/04/09/37433/lobbyists-planning-teaparties/" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(144, 141, 255);">orchestrating</a> the anti-Obama, anti-tax tea party protests in April.With nearly 70 Republican operatives and former oil industry spokesmen <a href="http://www.americansforprosperity.org/about/staff" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(144, 141, 255);">working</a> behind the scenes of AFP’s various fronts and <a href="http://mediatransparency.org/recipientgrants.php?recipientID=8806" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(144, 141, 255);">disclosures</a> that point to ever <a href="http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=3511" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(144, 141, 255);">increasing</a> oil and corporate donations to the group, one must wonder, who is guiding this massive front group factory? The answer is <a href="http://www.americansforprosperity.org/about/staff/tim-phillips" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(144, 141, 255);">Tim Phillips</a>, the President of AFP who has built a long career of inventing fake grassroots causes. In Phillips’ official biography, there appears to be over a 10 year gap — but that period was when Phillips developed his very first astroturf groups to do everything from smearing his opponents with anti-Semitic attacks to laundering money for criminal lobbyists.Click More To Read The WonkRoom’s Investigation Of AFP’s Tim PhillipsAs a Virginia-based political consultant, Phillips got his first big break managing the campaign of Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA). After serving as Goodlatte’s chief of staff for four years, Phillips joined former Christian Coalition director Ralph Reed in 1997 to create an astroturf lobbying and campaign consulting operation called <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Century_Strategies" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(144, 141, 255);">Century Strategies</a>. The firm promised to mount “grassroots lobbying drives” and explained its strategy as “it matters less who has the best arguments and more <a href="http://www.commondreams.org/views02/0304-06.htm" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(144, 141, 255);">who gets heard</a> — and by whom.”After being recommended by Karl Rove, Century Strategies signed its first major corporate client — <a href="http://www.time.com/time/2002/enron/" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(144, 141, 255);">Enron</a>. Phillips and Reed were paid $380,000 to mobilize “religious leaders and pro-family groups” to push energy deregulation in Congress and on the state level, a <a href="http://www.citizen.org/cmep/energy_enviro_nuclear/electricity/Enron/articles.cfm?ID=7104" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(144, 141, 255);">policy shift</a> that led to the energy crisis and economic meltdown of 2001. The Washington Post reported that the pair informed Enron that they had leveraged their relationships with members of Congress and “<a href="http://bodurtha.georgetown.edu/enron/Bush%202000%20Adviser%20Offered%20To%20Use%20Clout%20to%20Help%20Enron.htm" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(144, 141, 255);">placed</a>” articles in prominent papers like the New York Times.Part of Phillip’s role at Century Strategies was to <a href="http://politicalvine.com/complaints/EXHIBIT%20A.pdf" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(144, 141, 255);">manage</a> the firm’s direct mail subsidiary, Millennium Marketing. In 1998, now disgraced lobbyist <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/03/AR2006010300474.html" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(144, 141, 255);">Jack Abramoff</a> hired Phillips’ firm to pressure members of Congress to vote against legislation that would have made the U.S. commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands subject to federal wage and worker safety laws. A federal report “found that Chinese women were subject to forced abortions and that women and children were subject to forced prostitution in the local sex-tourism industry.” Nonetheless, Phillips sent out mailers claiming Chinese workers “are exposed to the teachings of Jesus Christ” while on the islands, and many “are converted to the Christian faith and return to China with <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/28/AR2006052800964.html" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(144, 141, 255);">Bibles in hand</a>.” The mailers then encouraged the recipients to contact lawmakers and ask them to oppose the Marianas labor reform legislation.The Marianas stealth lobbying effort was not the only time Phillips worked with Abramoff. Reed and Phillips <a href="http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/reed.php" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(144, 141, 255);">conspired</a> to generate conservative Christian outrage towards gambling at Indian casinos in a cynical plot to encourage those same tribes to hire Abramoff to lobby on their behalf. In some cases, Phillips’ anti-gambling crusade would simply be part of an effort to kill off competition to <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A50258-2004Sep25?language=printer" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(144, 141, 255);">Abramoff’s clients</a>. And while Phillips and Reed postured to be motivated by anti-gambling Christian values, the pair helped <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/15/AR2005101501539_pf.html" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(144, 141, 255);">launder</a> lobbying money from an Abramoff Internet gambling client called eLottery.Though Phillips and Reed are best known in the campaign consulting world for engineering the dual <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/06/us/2002-elections-georgia-senator-cleland-loses-upset-republican-emphasizing.html" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(144, 141, 255);">victories</a> of Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) and Republican Gov. Sonnie Perdue in Georgia (by associating images of <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKFYpd0q9nE" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(144, 141, 255);">Osama bin Laden</a> with the incumbent Democratic senator), the pair can also be credited with the most below the belt tactics ever seen in modern Republican primaries. The duo “<a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20041214162123/www.censtrat.com/index.cfm?FuseAction=Team.View&Biography_id=2" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(144, 141, 255);">spearheaded</a>” the telemarketing and direct mail efforts for George Bush against John McCain in the 2000 primaries. It is widely believed that Century Strategies executed the mass mailers and robo-calls which accused McCain of fathering an <a href="http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2008/01/10/post_270.html" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(144, 141, 255);">illegitimate child</a> with a black woman, using the image of McCain’s adopted daughter from Bangladesh.Phillips’ brass knuckled hits on fellow Republicans almost prevented the only Jewish Congressman in the GOP caucus from ever being elected. Phillips set up a 527 called “<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Faith_and_Family_Alliance" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(144, 141, 255);">The Faith and Family Alliance</a>,” a group supposedly designed to support conservative and Christian causes. But like his other front groups, Phillips used the Family Alliance to simply slime his political opponents with an organization that appeared to represent a grassroots community. The Richmond Times Dispatch reported that Phillips was hired by State Sen. Stephen Martin to manage his direct mail campaign against State Del. Eric Cantor in the 2000 Republican primary for the Congressional seat being vacated by Rep. Tom Bliley (R-VA). Phillips used his Family Alliance to blast robo-calls and mass mailers claiming Cantor did not represent “Virginia values” and that his opponent was the “<a href="http://spectator.org/blog/2006/01/13/cantor-survived-abramoff-reed" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(144, 141, 255);">only Christian in the contest</a>.”Larry Sabato, a political analyst and the director of University of Virginia’s Center for Politics, <a href="http://www.dailyprogress.com/cdp/news/state_regional/state_regional_govtpolitics/article/gop_chair_tied_to_group_that_attacked_cantor/39925/" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(144, 141, 255);">noted</a>:<blockquote name="dbc7" id="dbc7" class="graf graf--blockquote graf-after--p" style="box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; margin: 0px 1.5625rem; padding: 0px; position: relative; border-left: 3px solid rgb(87, 87, 206); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">A despicable, underground campaign that was unquestionably anti-Semitic nearly beat Cantor in the GOP primary for U.S. House to succeed Tom Bliley in June 2000. Cantor had been heavily favored over state Sen. Steve Martin, but in the end he won by a couple hundred votes. Now the national and state GOP appears grateful for its lone Jewish House member — but the Republican base and some Christian groups almost insured his defeat. I’m amazed that Democrats and even Republicans haven’t raised this matter.</blockquote>Indeed, after the Phillips’ anti-Semitic attacks, Cantor went from being high in the polls to barely winning the primary by a mere <a href="http://www.momentmag.com/Exclusive/2009/2009-04/200904-Eric_Cantor.html" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(144, 141, 255);">264 votes</a>. Phillips still holds rallies — under the umbrella of AFP — to boost his old <a href="http://www.americansforprosperity.org/afp-va-activists-rally-against-kaine-tax" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(144, 141, 255);">client</a> Sen. Martin.Phillips managed to escape most of the controversy that eventually embroiled his partners Reed and Abramoff. Working under the <a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/directory/vocabulary/4028#" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(144, 141, 255);">slush fund</a> provided by oil baron <a href="http://64.203.97.162/index.php?static=455" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(144, 141, 255);">David Koch</a> — with a salary <a href="http://d35brb9zkkbdsd.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/2007-afp990.pdf" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(144, 141, 255);">approaching</a> $300,000 a year and <a href="http://d35brb9zkkbdsd.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/2007-afpfoundation-2007-2.pdf" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(144, 141, 255);">at least</a> a $7 million annual budget — Phillips continues to lead AFP in building front group after front group to advance his radical right wing agenda.==819 DN...And then, finally, perhaps most importantly, Koch has built a nationwide activist network called Americans for Prosperity. And what this is is a boots-on-the-ground operation. So, Americans for Prosperity has chapters around the country. They can activate people to go knock on doors, take petitions. They will charter buses from West Virginia, North Carolina, Missouri, Ohio, you name it. They will get buses of angry voters [pseudo-populist trigger anti-gubmint] to come to Washington, D.C., and then go visit congressional offices that have been specifically identified by that big corporate lobbying shop we talked about, where they can pressure lawmakers.And Koch put this political machine into full force in 2009 and 2010, when it looked like the United States was going to regulate greenhouse gas emissions for the first time. You know, back then, there really was bipartisan support to do something on climate change. The Republican, John McCain, ran on doing something about climate change. But Koch Industries intervened, and, I think more than even Exxon or other companies, it sort of — it politicized this issue of climate change. And Koch went after any moderate Republicans who acknowledged that climate change was real, who supported any effort to put a price on carbon. And Koch helped to drive those people out of office. So it played a vitally important role in making it clear to Republicans that they could not support any effort on climate change.AMY GOODMAN: The Kochtopus? Elaborate further.CHRISTOPHER LEONARD: The Kochtopus, here’s a great example. In 2009, when we were debating climate change, my book shows that Koch secretly funded a think tank report from this group called the American Council [for] Capital Formation. And this report said that if we regulate climate change, it will be a disaster for the American economy. Then another Koch-funded think tank called the American Energy Alliance took the findings from that report, made political ads and targeted those ads at Republican politicians, like Lindsey Graham, who supported climate change legislation, so now Lindsey Graham has got these horrible campaign spots running back home. And then the corporate lobbyists from Koch will be visiting the offices of Lindsey Graham and explaining why they can’t support climate change bill.So, the Kochtopus is this remarkably effective 360-degree machine that affects the public debate around issues like this, that has lobbyists who work on issues like this, and that can, finally, bring voters in. You know, Americans for Prosperity will — I’ve been at these events where they bus voters into Washington, D.C. They give them glossy printed protest signs. They feed them a boxed lunch. They take them to the congressional offices. And they can stoke what appears to be a real public revolt against legislation like this....=<div>2/18</div><div>
</div><div>with midterm elections on the horizon and congressional majorities up for grabs, outside groups have jumped at the opportunity to control messaging on tax reform — the one piece of major legislation passed by Congress in 2017.Corry Bliss, executive director of conservative group <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/summary.php?id=D000060058" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">American Action Network</a> (AAN), said selling the landmark legislation to voters should be Republicans’ top priority in the coming months.“Every member of the Republican Party should be spending all of their time selling the tax plan,” Bliss told <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">The Washington Post</a>. “Everything else is a waste of time and money.”Conservative groups have done their best to corner the market on tax messaging based on pure volume and size of expenditures, but liberal groups too have asserted themselves since the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act’s enactment in late December.On Jan. 2, the liberal coalition Tax March released <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtqpxHBrTSjyoYbXHD9mLag/videos" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">TV ads</a> in 23 Republican-held congressional districts — 14 of which Hillary Clinton carried in 2016 — admonishing representatives for their support of a bill they claim “raises taxes on 36 million middle class families.” Tax March has promised to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2017/12/20/democrats-ready-year-long-assault-against-tax-cut-package/?utm_term=.17cb525c530f" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">double</a> its spending from last year to $10 million on the issue in 2018 as a part of its Not One Penny campaign.Not to be outdone, AAN launched its own ads the next day in 23 districts, thanking Republican representatives who voted for the bill, which ads published on their <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/AmericanActNet/videos" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">YouTube page</a> claim “will save a typical family more than $2,000.” AAN, which pumped millions of dollars into the bill’s passage, plans to spend another <a href="https://americanactionnetwork.org/press/american-action-network-continues-tax-reform-blitz-releases-1-million-digital-campaign/" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">$10 million</a> defending it.Republican megadonors Charles and David Koch are promising the financial support of their powerful political machine. Four Koch-funded groups —<a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/lookup2.php?strID=C00564765" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;"> Freedom Partners</a>, <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/summary.php?id=D000024046" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Americans for Prosperity</a>, <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/lookup2.php?strID=C90016239&cycle=2016" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">The Libre Initiative</a>, and General Opportunity — have already announced their intentions.According to a <a href="https://freedompartners.org/latest-news/look-back-2017-look-forward-2018/" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">release</a> on the Freedom Partners website, the four groups “will be participating in a full scale nationwide education campaign” to “demonstrate the tremendous benefits of pro-growth tax reform and show how this plan is directly helping Americans improve their lives.”The Kochs have promised to spend up to $400 million on the looming midterm election, <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/01/27/koch-brothers-network-to-spend-400-million-in-midterm-election-cycle.html" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">CNBC reported</a> recently. That’s roughly 60 percent more than they said they dedicated to the 2016 cycle when they focused on down-ballot races instead of throwing their support behind Donald Trump.The brothers, whose organizations spent $20 million in support of the tax bill’s passage last year, announced at a recent donor summit that they will allocate another $20 million to promote its perceived benefits to an electorate that remains skeptical.According to the <a href="http://www.people-press.org/2018/01/24/public-has-mixed-expectations-for-new-tax-law/" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">results</a> of a Pew Research survey released last week, just 37 percent of Americans approve of the tax bill compared to 46 percent who disapprove. It also found that 29 percent of adults believe the overhaul will have “mostly positive” effects on themselves and their families in the coming years compared to 27 percent who anticipate “mostly negative” effects.In a number of critical districts, it’s not just middle class voters who are concerned with the implications of the overhaul. Wealthier households in more affluent districts will be hit with the downsizing of key tax breaks such as the mortgage interest and state and local tax deductions (SALT).Graeme Boushey, political science professor at the University of California Irvine in the state’s 45th District, said this poses an interesting dilemma for some Republicans.“For many Republican voters, this has been an objective — something they’ve desired for a very long time,” Boushey said. “But it’s intermingled with the concern that they will be personally injured by the bill.”Republican congresswoman Mimi Waters, who represents the 45th District, voted in favor of the bill. Boushey said that, in defending Waters’s vote, GOP tax messaging in the district will have to appeal to voters’ belief that the overhaul will benefit the country at large.According to the Pew survey, 35 percent of adults expect the overhaul to have “mostly positive” effects on the country at large compared to 40 percent who anticipate “mostly negative” effects.Landmark legislation is oftentimes mired by unfavorable public perceptions. The Affordable Care Act, which passed in 2010, was largely <a href="https://www.kff.org/interactive/kaiser-health-tracking-poll-the-publics-views-on-the-aca/#?response=Favorable--Unfavorable&aRange=all" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">unpopular</a> during President Obama’s tenure. It has enjoyed its highest levels of support only since Obama left office, in the wake of Republican attempts to repeal it.Boushey said there are striking political parallels between the passage of the Affordable Care Act  — commonly known as Obamacare — and the passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. He cited the pressure placed on both parties to enact landmark legislation on ideological principles when in control of the White House and both chambers of Congress.“This is very similar to the Democrats’ ACA vote,” Boushey said. “Once in 40 years, you get a chance with unified government to enact a sacred cow for the party — pass tax reform here. I think for some of these representatives, there’s a consequences-be-damned attitude to it, even if they know it’s going to cost them in their election.”Republicans <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/itsallpolitics/2014/05/20/314366027/study-obamacare-buried-by-avalanche-of-negative-ads" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">drastically outspent</a> Democrats on healthcare messaging after the passage of Obamacare — using it as a valuable piece of political propaganda even in 2016 when many congressional leaders were elected on promises of repeal and replace. Sensing the potential for a Democratic wave election this year that could threaten congressional majorities, Republicans cannot afford to let the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act follow the same trajectory.With millions being poured into TV ads, some groups are resorting to more out-of-the-box methods of messaging. The <a href="https://www.jobcreatorsnetwork.com/press_releases/job-creators-network-launches-multi-million-dollar-campaign-supporting-tax-cuts-now/" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Job Creators Network</a> is embarking on a nationwide bus tour to sing the praises of the bill, and Democratic leaders are hosting teach-ins to convey its perceived pitfalls to constituents.</div><div></div>=Lincoln had to be smuggled into Washington DC , essentially a Southern city (a compromise to South’s economic clout, heavuily representaed in Founding Fathers and all slaveholdrs), by train in the dead of night and in drag for fear of assassination, but he went home in a Pullman Palace car as a promotional campaign (later the company key in civil rights when the porters, all black, organized; factory involved in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pullman_Strike" style="text-decoration:none;">Strike</a>/White City?[Debs v Pres Grover C sent Gen Miles, 30 kia] Pullman so hated he was buried under tons of cement so his grave could not be descectated). Dewey Defeats Truman picture taken on platform. RFK? 1972 Boys on the Bus included Novak and Hunter Thompson (“pack journalism”).now st'd?1. Pretending to care – PR blitzBig Tobacco perfected the art of self-serving public relations, to appear to care about the very problems your products cause and offer alleged solutions.A key element of the pesticide industry’s PR strategy is to go on the offensive by creating an elaborate appearance of being “out in front” and taking a lead role in “saving bees”. For example, last year, Bayer launched its mobile “Bee Care Tour” at the Ag Issues Forum and Commodity Classic in Orlando, Florida. The<a href="http://www.beecaretour.bayer.com/" class="external" target="blank" style="text-decoration: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> tour continues in 2014</a>, with stops at Oregon State University, Washington State University, University of California, Davis, South Dakota State University, and Purdue University. In June, the Bee Care Tour will be on hand for National Pollinator Week in Washington, DC.=<a href="http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2009/08/22/174407/dirty-energy-town-hall/">http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2009/08/22/174407/dirty-energy-town-hall/</a>...In fact, by attacking legislation that addresses climate change and our national dependence on fossil fuels, AEA is preventing a <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090826140723/http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/2009/04/21/ucs-green-economy/" style="outline: none;">clean-energy</a> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090826140723/http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/2009/06/18/clean-energy-jobs-report/" style="outline: none;">economic boom</a>. Laughably, AEA claims it has “<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090826140723/http://www.americanenergyalliance.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=12&Itemid=34" style="outline: none;">no ties to any political party</a>“:<blockquote style="line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">AEA has no ties to any political party, and it has no interest in supporting the agenda of any particular political party.</blockquote>AEA may be telling the truth that it has “no interest in supporting the agenda of any particular political party” — its only interest seems to be blocking progressive reform by spreading lies and distortions. However, AEA is tightly connected to the Republican Party and right-wing oil interests. In fact, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090826140723/http://www.americanenergyalliance.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=171&Itemid=144" style="outline: none;">all of its employees</a> are former House Republican staffers:<blockquote style="line-height: 18px;">Thomas J. Pyle, AEA President, Is A Oil Lobbyist And DeLay Operative.Before joining the Institute for Energy Research and the American Energy Alliance, Pyle worked as a lobbyist for the right-wing oil giant Koch Industries, first in-house starting in 2001, and then at the Rhoads Group. In 2008 Pyle became a lobbyist for the National Petrochemical and Refiners Association. Previously, Pyle served as policy analyst for Rep. Tom DeLay (R-TX), Majority Whip of the U.S. House of Representatives and as staff director for the GOP Congressional Western Caucus. Pyle started as a legislative assistant for radical anti-environmentalists Rep. Richard Pombo (R-CA) and Rep. George Radanovich (R-CA). [<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090826140723/http://www.instituteforenergyresearch.org/staff/thomas-j-pyle/" style="outline: none;">Institute for Energy Research</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090826140723/http://www.opensecrets.org/revolving/rev_summary.php?id=22770" style="outline: none;">Center for Public Integrity</a>]Patrick Creighton, AEA Communications Director, Worked For Bush And Pennsylvania Republicans. Patrick Creighton was the special assistant to Samuel T. Mok, the chief financial officer at the Department of Labor from 2004 to 2006. He then worked as a spokesman for oil and natural gas advocate Rep. John Peterson (R-PA) from 2006 to 2009, worked to elect Rep. Glenn Thompson (R-PA), then joined Thompson’s office until May 2009. [<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090826140723/http://www.instituteforenergyresearch.org/staff/" style="outline: none;">Institute for Energy Research</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090826140723/http://www.legistorm.com/person/Patrick_J_Creighton/29297.html" style="outline: none;">Legistorm</a>]Kevin Kennedy, AEA Federal Affairs Director, Promoted Alaska Drilling Under Don Young. After graduating from Union College in 2004, Kevin Kennedy worked for the Astroturf organization Arctic Power, which advocated drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. In 2007, Kennedy became a legislative assistant for the corrupt Rep. Don Young (R-AK) and the House Committee on Natural Resources. He joined the Institute for Energy Research and American Energy Alliance in 2009. [<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090826140723/http://www.instituteforenergyresearch.org/staff/" style="outline: none;">Institute for Energy Research</a>]Laura Henderson, AEA Spokesperson, Served Shelby, Dole, And Tiberi. Laura Henderson was a former press secretary for offshore drilling advocate Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL) from 2005-2009. Previously, she worked for former Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R-NC) and Rep. Pat Tiberi (R-OH). [<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090826140723/http://www.instituteforenergyresearch.org/staff/" style="outline: none;">Institute for Energy Research</a>]Daniel R. Simmons, AEA State Affairs Director, Is A Koch-Funded GOP Staffer. Simmons was the Director of the Natural Resources Task Force at the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a right-wing network funded by Koch Industries, the American Petroleum Institute, and other corporate and right-wing organizations. Previously, Simmons was a Research Fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, also funded by Koch. From 2001 to 2005, Simmons served on the staff of Rep. George Nethercutt (R-WA) on the House Natural Resources Committee. Simmons holds a B.A. in Economics from Utah State University and a J.D. from George Mason University School of Law, also supported by Koch Industries. [<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090826140723/http://www.instituteforenergyresearch.org/staff/daniel-r-simmons/" style="outline: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Institute for Energy Research</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090826140723/http://www.legistorm.com/person/Daniel_R_Simmons/28099.html" style="outline: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Legistorm</a>]</blockquote>Furthermore, AEA’s <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090826140723/http://www.energytownhall.org/" style="outline: none;">EnergyTownHall.org</a> website is run by yet another former GOP House staffer:<blockquote style="line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">GOP.gov Webmaster Nathan Imperiale Runs EnergyTownHall.Org.AEA’s EnergyTownHall.org was designed by NJI Media Group, part of Endeavour Global Strategies. Endeavour’s head,Sean Spicer, is a long-time GOP operative, including communications work for the House Republican Conference and the Bush White House. NJI Media Group’s president, Nathan Imperiale, served as Director of New Media for the House Republican Conference, building its GOP.gov website. [Twitter, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090826140723/http://twitter.com/Imperiale/status/1206518235" style="outline: none;">2/13/09</a>; <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090826140723/http://endeavourglobalstrategies.com/theteam/" style="outline: none;">Endeavour Global Strategies</a>]</blockquote>AEA’s “American Energy Express” joins a field crowded by conservative oil and coal propaganda — the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity’s <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090826140723/http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/2009/05/07/dirty-coal-factuality/" style="outline: none;">“Factuality” bus tour</a>, the American Petroleum Institute’s <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090826140723/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kevin-grandia/leaked-memo---oil-lobbys_b_259149.html" style="outline: none;">“Energy Citizens” oil rallies</a>, and the Americans For Prosperity <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090826140723/http://www.hotairtour.org/" style="outline: none;">“Hot Air” balloon tour</a>.
--2xpatrick creighton now at FTIGOP Team At American Energy Alliance Runs ‘Energy Town Hall’ Oil Bus Tour
BY BRAD JOHNSON AUG 22, 2009 10:06 AM
AEA TeamAmerican Energy Alliance staffers Kevin Kennedy, Patrick Creighton, and Laura Henderson on tour in Pennsylvania. All are former House GOP staff.The American Energy Alliance (AEA), a new polluter front group, is touring the nation to smear President Barack Obama’s clean energy reform agenda. Employees riding the “American Energy Express” bus are spreading the conservative lies that the American Clean Energy and Security Act will “cripple our sluggish economy.” AEA is the 501 c(4) offshoot of the Institute for Energy Research, a right-wing oil-industry think tank run by Robert Bradley, a former speechwriter for Kenneth Lay. E&E News reports that AEA’s “Energy Town Hall” bus tour pictures workers in hard hats:The American Energy Alliance, which is affiliated with the conservative Institute for Energy Research, has begun a four-week bus tour to county fairs, sporting events and public meetings in several coal-reliant states. Representatives of the group will travel in a large blue bus carrying the slogan “Stop the National Energy Tax, Save American Jobs” and a picture of workers in hard hats. They will cross Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, West Virginia and Virginia. Yesterday, AEA officials participated in a rally with another group, Americans for Prosperity, in Zanesville, Ohio; a day earlier, they visited a county fair in western Pennsylvania.In fact, by attacking legislation that addresses climate change and our national dependence on fossil fuels, AEA is preventing a clean-energy economic boom. Laughably, AEA claims it has “no ties to any political party“:AEA has no ties to any political party, and it has no interest in supporting the agenda of any particular political party.AEA may be telling the truth that it has “no interest in supporting the agenda of any particular political party” — its only interest seems to be blocking progressive reform by spreading lies and distortions. However, AEA is tightly connected to the Republican Party and right-wing oil interests. In fact, all of its employees are former House Republican staffers:Thomas J. Pyle, AEA President, Is A Oil Lobbyist And DeLay Operative. Before joining the Institute for Energy Research and the American Energy Alliance, Pyle worked as a lobbyist for the right-wing oil giant Koch Industries, first in-house starting in 2001, and then at the Rhoads Group. In 2008 Pyle became a lobbyist for the National Petrochemical and Refiners Association. Previously, Pyle served as policy analyst for Rep. Tom DeLay (R-TX), Majority Whip of the U.S. House of Representatives and as staff director for the GOP Congressional Western Caucus. Pyle started as a legislative assistant for radical anti-environmentalists Rep. Richard Pombo (R-CA) and Rep. George Radanovich (R-CA). [Institute for Energy Research, Center for Public Integrity]Patrick Creighton, AEA Communications Director, Worked For Bush And Pennsylvania Republicans. Patrick Creighton was the special assistant to Samuel T. Mok, the chief financial officer at the Department of Labor from 2004 to 2006. He then worked as a spokesman for oil and natural gas advocate Rep. John Peterson (R-PA) from 2006 to 2009, worked to elect Rep. Glenn Thompson (R-PA), then joined Thompson’s office until May 2009. [Institute for Energy Research, Legistorm]Kevin Kennedy, AEA Federal Affairs Director, Promoted Alaska Drilling Under Don Young. After graduating from Union College in 2004, Kevin Kennedy worked for the Astroturf organization Arctic Power, which advocated drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. In 2007, Kennedy became a legislative assistant for the corrupt Rep. Don Young (R-AK) and the House Committee on Natural Resources. He joined the Institute for Energy Research and American Energy Alliance in 2009. [Institute for Energy Research]Laura Henderson, AEA Spokesperson, Served Shelby, Dole, And Tiberi. Laura Henderson was a former press secretary for offshore drilling advocate Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL) from 2005-2009. Previously, she worked for former Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R-NC) and Rep. Pat Tiberi (R-OH). [Institute for Energy Research]Daniel R. Simmons, AEA State Affairs Director, Is A Koch-Funded GOP Staffer. Simmons was the Director of the Natural Resources Task Force at the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a right-wing network funded by Koch Industries, the American Petroleum Institute, and other corporate and right-wing organizations. Previously, Simmons was a Research Fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, also funded by Koch. From 2001 to 2005, Simmons served on the staff of Rep. George Nethercutt (R-WA) on the House Natural Resources Committee. Simmons holds a B.A. in Economics from Utah State University and a J.D. from George Mason University School of Law, also supported by Koch Industries. [Institute for Energy Research, Legistorm]Furthermore, AEA’s EnergyTownHall.org website is run by yet another former GOP House staffer:GOP.gov Webmaster Nathan Imperiale Runs EnergyTownHall.Org. AEA’s EnergyTownHall.org was designed by NJI Media Group, part of Endeavour Global Strategies. Endeavour’s head, Sean Spicer, is a long-time GOP operative, including communications work for the House Republican Conference and the Bush White House. NJI Media Group’s president, Nathan Imperiale, served as Director of New Media for the House Republican Conference, building its GOP.gov website. [Twitter, 2/13/09; Endeavour Global Strategies]AEA’s “American Energy Express” joins a field crowded by conservative oil and coal propaganda — the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity’s “Factuality” bus tour, the American Petroleum Institute’s “Energy Citizens” oil rallies, and the Americans For Prosperity “Hot Air” balloon tour.UPDATE At Free Advice, Institute for Energy Research economist Bob Murphy writes that Paul Krugman doesn’t understand tea party protesters because he doesn’t care about checks on government power like they do, and continues:So, by symmetry, I think people on “our side” should realize that the great masses of Americans who are for health care reform and climate legislation (and it pains me to not put scare quotes around those phrases) aren’t actually closet socialists who want to bring America to its knees.==– Tea Party Express: The Tea Party Express bus tour, and affiliated political action committee, has raised funds using tea party messages. The Tea Party Express effort has been a slick public relations gimmick of the Sacramento-based consulting firm <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Russo_Marsh_%26_Rogers">Russo, Marsh and Rogers</a> (RMR). RMR has worked on several stealth campaigns for Republican clients, including the underhanded push to recall Gov. Gray Davis (D-CA). In any case, the Tea Party Express, which RMR staffers operate, has proved to be a cash cow for RMR — in 2009 alone, it plunged at least <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alex-brantzawadzki/tea-party-express-planned_b_427818.html">$1,025,559</a> of money it raised back into RMR.

----Hot Air Tour. "Exposing the Ballooning Costs of Global Warming Alarmism." Consisted of more than 75 events in 2009 "focused on congressional attempts to tax and ration Americans’ energy usage in the name of global warming." The last event of the tour in 2009 was an event in Copenhagen, Denmark, featuring climate change denialist Christopher Monkton. The scientists at <a href="http://www.realclimate.org/" class="external external_icon" target="blank">RealClimate.org</a> call Monkton their "favorite contrarian" and call his ideas "<a href="http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2006/11/cuckoo-science/" class="external external_icon" target="blank">cuckoo science</a>": "like cuckoo eggs in a nest, they are only designed to look real enough to fool onlookers and crowd out the real science." The event was disrupted by demonstrators. See <a href="http://climateprogress.org/2009/12/10/lord-monckton-hitler-youth-for-crashing-americans-for-prosperity%e2%80%99s-global-warming-event-in-copenhagen/print/" class="broken_link external external_icon" target="_blank">TVMOB shocker: Activists decried as “Hitler Youth” for crashing Americans For Prosperity’s global warming event in Copenhagen</a> (Climate Progress, 10 December 2010); and <a href="http://www.climatesciencewatch.org/index.php/csw/details/viscount_monckton_denialist_dujour/%20">Viscount Monckton of Brenchley, global warming denialist du jour on Capitol Hill</a> (Climate Science Watch, March 27 2009)

UPDATE 6/10 http://thinkprogress.org/2010/06/09/inhofe-fiorina-hoax/<p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">

‘Hitler Youth.’ At an Americans for Prosperity event in December 2009, guest speaker Christopher Monckton called youth climate activists “Hitler Youth.” He told a Jewish youth climate activist whose grandparents escaped the Nazis that he was “Hitler Youth,” and that “you people don’t care” that “millions are dying in third world countries.” Americans for Prosperity again featured Christopher Monckton at a regional summit in March 2010. [The Times, 12/11/09]

‘Radical Global Warming Agenda.’ “President Obama is at again,” the Americans for Prosperity Regulation Reality Tour warns, with a “radical global warming agenda” by “unelected bureaucrats regulating our life,” “ignoring the entire democratic process all together.” Supposed threats of “EPA’s power grab” include “Grass Mileage Standards,” “Government Control of your Thermostat,” “Churches would need EPA Permits,” and The tour features “EPA Carbon Cops” who want to punish you if you “opened your refrigerator” or “drove a car.” [RegulationReality.com]<p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">

‘Al Gore’s Global Warming Alarmism.’ The Americans for Prosperity Hot Air Tour told people to “rally against Al Gore’s global warming alarmism” and “propaganda advanced by global warming alarmists,” claiming “global warming alarmism” means “fewer jobs,” “less freedom,” and a “government that controls your home thermostat remotely.” The Hot Air Tour flew a balloon over Al Gore’s “energy-guzzling mansion” in Tennessee with the message “Global Warming Alarmism.” [HotAirTour.org]<p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">

‘We Might As Well Forget Freedom.’ The Americans for Prosperity Hot Air Tour says that “far left environmentalists” are “radicals” with a “radical Global Warming ideology that claims people are the problem” who “want GOVERNMENT to force us to drive less and live in smaller homes while killing jobs that help grow our economy” and “want GOVERNMENT dictating our lives.” [HotAirTour.org]

Cohlmia told the Wonk Room that “AFP is an independent organization and Koch companies do not in any way direct their activities.” This is a remarkable claim, as Koch Industries executive vice presidents and directors Charles Koch and Richard Fink are also directors of the Americans for Prosperity Foundation.<p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
<p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">--

=   AFP:Hitler Youth.: At an Americans for Prosperity event in December2009, guest speaker Christopher Monckton called youth climate activists Hitler Youth. He told a Jewish youth climate activist whosegrandparents escaped the Nazis that he was âHitler Youth,â and that âyoupeople donât careâ that âmillions are dying in third world countries.âAmericans for Prosperity again featured Christopher Monckton at aregional summit in March 2010. [The Times, 12/11/09]  Radical Global Warming Agenda
President Obama is at again, theAmericans for Prosperity Regulation Reality Tour warns, with a radicalglobal warming agendaâ�� by âunelected bureaucrats regulating our life,âignoring the entire democratic process all together.â Supposed threatsof EPAâs power grab include Grass Mileage Standards,â âGovernmentControl of your Thermostat,â âChurches would need EPA Permits,â and Thetour features âEPA Carbon Cops who want to punish you if you âopenedyour refrigeratorâ�� or âdrove a car.â [RegulationReality.com]    Al Gore's Global Warming Alarmism.  The Americans for ProsperityHot Air Tour told people to ârally against Al Goreâs global warmingalarmismâ and âpropaganda advanced by global warming alarmists,âclaiming âglobal warming alarmismâ�� means âfewer jobs,â�� âless freedom,âand agovernment that controls your home thermostat remotely The HotAir Tour flew a balloon over Al Gore's energy-guzzling mansion inTennessee with the message âGlobal Warming Alarmism.â [HotAirTour.org]  We Might As Well Forget Freedom: The Americans for Prosperity HotAir Tour says that âfar left environmentalists are "radicals with aradical Global Warming ideology that claims people are the problem whowant GOVERNMENT to force us to drive less and live in smaller homeswhile killing jobs that help grow our economy and âwant GOVERNMENTdictating our lives.â [HotAirTour.org] Cohlmia told the Wonk Room that AFP is an independent organization andKoch companies do not in any way direct their activities.  This is aremarkable claim, as Koch Industries executive vice presidents anddirectors Charles Koch and Richard Fink are also directors of theAmericans for Prosperity Foundation.==http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2010/03/31/174617/koch-hitler-debate/

After Greenpeace released a report yesterday detailing the efforts of the Koch Industries billionaires David and Charles Koch to <a href="http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/2010/03/30/koch-denial-machine/" style="line-height: inherit; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">pollute energy policy </a>and deny the threat of global warming, Koch Industries communications director Melissa Cohlmia attempted to <a href="http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/30/koch-industries-responds-to-greenpeace/" style="line-height: inherit; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">greenwash their record</a>:<blockquote style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 1em 3em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 24px; vertical-align: baseline; quotes: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0.4em 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.6em; vertical-align: baseline;">Both a free society and the scientific method require an open and honest airing of all sides, not demonizing and silencing those with whom you disagree. We’ve strived to encourage an intellectually honest debate on the scientific basis for claims of harm from greenhouse gases.</blockquote>Americans for Prosperity — founded, funded, and overseen by Koch Industries billionaire David Koch — claims to be trying to build that “free society” by “<a href="http://www.americansforprosperity.org/about" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">educating citizens</a> about economic policy and mobilizing those citizens as advocates in the public policy process.” So far, they’re not doing a very good job of engaging in an “intellectually honest debate” without “demonizing and silencing those with whom you disagree”:<blockquote style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 1em 3em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 24px; vertical-align: baseline; quotes: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0.4em 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.6em; vertical-align: baseline;">‘Hitler Youth.’ At an Americans for Prosperity event in December 2009, guest speaker Christopher Monckton called youth climate activists “Hitler Youth.” He told a Jewish youth climate activist whose grandparents escaped the Nazis that he was “Hitler Youth,” and that “you people don’t care” that “millions are dying in third world countries.” Americans for Prosperity again <a href="http://www.americansforprosperity.org/021710-3rd-annual-wisconsin-defending-american-dream-summit-and-midwestern-rightonline-conference" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">featured Christopher Monckton</a> at a regional summit in March 2010. [The Times, <a href="http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article6954160.ece" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">12/11/09</a>]<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0.4em 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.6em; vertical-align: baseline;">‘Radical Global Warming Agenda.’ “President Obama is at again,” the Americans for Prosperity Regulation Reality Tour warns, with a “radical global warming agenda” by “unelected bureaucrats regulating our life,” “ignoring the entire democratic process all together.” Supposed threats of “EPA’s power grab” include “Grass Mileage Standards,” “Government Control of your Thermostat,” “Churches would need EPA Permits,” and The tour features “EPA Carbon Cops” who want to punish you if you “opened your refrigerator” or “drove a car.” [<a href="http://regulationreality.com/" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">RegulationReality.com</a>]<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0.4em 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.6em; vertical-align: baseline;">‘Al Gore’s Global Warming Alarmism.’ The Americans for Prosperity Hot Air Tour told people to “rally against <a href="http://www.hotairtour.org/index.php?content=portland" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Al Gore’s global warming alarmism</a>” and “propaganda advanced by global warming alarmists,” claiming “global warming alarmism” means “fewer jobs,” “less freedom,” and a “government that controls your home thermostat remotely.” The Hot Air Tour flew a balloon over Al Gore’s “energy-guzzling mansion” in Tennessee with the message “Global Warming Alarmism.” [<a href="http://www.hotairtour.org/index.php?content=hat13" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">HotAirTour.org</a>]<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0.4em 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.6em; vertical-align: baseline;">‘We Might As Well Forget Freedom.’ The Americans for Prosperity Hot Air Tour says that “far left environmentalists” are “radicals” with a “radical Global Warming ideology that claims people are the problem” who “want GOVERNMENT to force us to drive less and live in smaller homes while killing jobs that help grow our economy” and “want GOVERNMENT dictating our lives.” [<a href="http://www.hotairtour.org/index.php?content=Fayett" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">HotAirTour.org</a>]</blockquote>Cohlmia told the Wonk Room that “AFP is an independent organization and Koch companies do not in any way direct their activities.” This is a remarkable claim, as Koch Industries executive vice presidents and directors Charles Koch and Richard Fink are also <a href="http://americansforprosperityfoundation.org/foundation/about/directors" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">directors of the Americans for Prosperity Foundation</a>.===

<h1 id="meebo-title">Is CNN Really ‘Pimping’ Tea Party Express Bus Tour?</h1>

<div class="dateline">by <a href="http://www.mediaite.com/author/tommy-christopher/" title="Posts by Tommy Christopher">Tommy Christopher</a> | 10:12 am, April 4th, 2010</div>

When I saw <a href="http://www.mediaite.com/tv/is-cnn-really-pimping-tea-party-express-bus-tour/Great%20American%20Tea%20Party%20Express%20PR%20and%20Propaganda%20Tour">this post at liberal blog Crooks and Liars</a> alleging that CNN is “pimping” the “Great American Tea Party Express PR and Propaganda Tour,” I thought perhaps I had stumbled onto an explanation for all the Erick Erickson-related<a href="http://www.mediaite.com/online/jon-stewart-torches-cnn-and-redstates-erick-erickson/"> craziness</a> this <a href="http://www.mediaite.com/tv/cnns-erick-erickson-threatens-to-pull-shotgun-on-census-worker/">week</a>. First, CNN hires the incendiary Redstate blogger, then they hit the road with the Tea Party Express? Is this a bid to peel off some Fox News viewers? [EE cuts Trump 8/15]

Upon closer inspection, however, it appears that while the effect of CNN’s coverage may be to promote the Tea Party Express, that’s not the intent. I think CNN is looking for another kind of gold in them thar Tea Party hills.

<a href="http://crooksandliars.com/karoli/cnn-joins-great-american-tea-party-express">C&L’s Karoli</a> makes an excellent case that CNN is giving the Tea Party Express Tour a disproportionate amount of attention, and an inflated sense of the “movement’s” size and intensity:

Since the kickoff of the TeaParty Express Tour, CNN has embedded a small press corps in their custom-painted “CNN Express” press bus for the sole purpose of following teabaggers around the country , reporting 3-4 times daily on the activities of the corporate-funded, RNC-connected Tea Party Express.

This clip from Wednesday boggled my mind. You can see how few there are at this rally, but watch as Ali Velshi and Ed Lavandera turn it into a “movement”.

</blockquote>