Just a Bunch of Hot Air
Submitted by Jeanne Marie So... on November 9, 2009 - 6:46pm
JUST A BUNCH OF HOT AIR
Americans for Prosperity, a lead organizer for the tea party protests, made some appearances in Montana this summer, including a hot air balloon tour in Billings in June and a bus tour through Bozeman in August to lobby against clean energy legislation.
DeSmogBlog, an internet site formed in 2006 to provide accurate information about global warming misinformation campaigns, notes that a through 2006, the majority of AFP’s funds came from one of the Koche Family Foundations, which had funded more than two-thirds of APF’s earlier incarnation as Citizens for A Sound Economy (CASE). Koche Industries, which funds the Foundation, is the largest privately-owned energy company in the country, primarily in oil refining. ExxonMobil also funded CASE.
SourceWatch notes that after being accused of ‘astroturfing for corporations,’ AFP started making hand-made signs for its rallies. They have subsequently resorted to yelling at people with opposing views who use printed signs.
Americans for Prosperity, a right-wing Washington DC group that opposes efforts to address global warming and health care reform, is beginning what it calls its third leg of its cross-country anti-cap and trade hot air tour to Billings on Monday. (The Gazette reported last month that Patients United Now, a group recently formed by Americans for Prosperity, was staging public rallies in Montana and running TV ads warning against "government-controlled health care" or a "Washington takeover" of health care. The group's chief organizer in Montana is Jake Eaton, a former executive director of the Montana Republican Party.) Not sure if there is a MT lead for this tour. I’ve pasted the announcement from AFP web site below.
The Gazette described APF as “a multimillion-dollar interest group advancing conservative causes on a national scale” and a “well-heeled national conservative group best known for promoting tea party protests of American Recovery Act funding.”
The Gazette also quoted NRDC as warning that APF “was actually founded in 2003 by billionaire David H. Koch, co-owner of Koch Industries, which has a large stake in the oil and gas industry. Koch Family Foundations is one of the largest single sources for conservative organizations in the United States.”
No Montana contact is listed for the hot-air Billings stop. People are asked to call a Washington, DC phone number or email the AFP web site.
The Billings Gazette reported last month that Patients United Now, a group recently formed by Americans for Prosperity, was staging public rallies in Montana and running TV ads warning against "government-controlled health care" or a "Washington takeover" of health care. The group's chief organizer in Montana is Jake Eaton. Eaton worked on Congressman Rehberg’s campaign in 2006, and subsequently as executive director of the Montana Republican Party, a position he left shortly he challenged over 6,000 legally registered Montana voters, a stunt that drew widespread condemnation across Montana.
BILLINGS GAZETTE
Letter: Nation stands at crossroads concerning energy
By Mike Penfold, Billings – 07/05/2009
The good ol' boys calling themselves Americans for Prosperity brought their hot air to Billings recently. I wonder how much of their hot air balloon and "hot air tour" is supported by Exxon's $45 billion profits last year. These people work hard to scare the wits out of people. More…
