The Kochs, Glenn Beck and Titans of Industry Met to Plot 2010 Elections [1]
Submitted by Anne Landman [2] on
ThinkProgress has discovered that the oil billionaire brothers, David H. [3] and Charles G. Koch [4], who played a key role in creating and funding [5] the Tea Party [6] movement, hold a quiet annual, invitation-only gathering where they coordinate their political agenda with other titans of industry -- including the big health insurers, oil executives, Wall Street investors, real estate tycoons, conservative journalists and TV opinion show stars like Glenn Beck [7]. ThinkProgress obtained a memo [8] (pdf) that gives details about the Koch's last gathering in June, 2010. It exposes a symbiotic relationship between multi-billion dollar corporations and much of America's conservative infrastructure. Corporations represented at Kochs' meeting include businesses with a strong profit motive to block the progressive reforms President Obama [9] is pursuing, like in areas of health care and clean energy. Participants also include consultants, like Tim Phillips [10], who specialize in creating fake grassroots [11] "movements. The memo also shows that Fox News Channel [12] opinion star Beck has been collaborating with the Kochs and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce [13], which explains why Beck asks his viewers to donate to the Chamber and why he claims that the Chamber -- the biggest and best-funded business lobby in the country -- simply "defends the little guy." [14]