Billionaire Funder and Fox News Collude in Glenn Beck’s Affront to MLK’s “I Have A Dream"

[Hannah Bell]

Tim Phillips, president of the Americans for Prosperity Foundation, flatly denies that his organization has any partnership with Rupert Murdoch, CEO of Fox News’ parent company, News Corporation. Still, the coincidental evidence keeps piling up.

Take, for instance, the cheapy-cheap deals available through the AFPF Web site for those wishing to travel to Washington, D.C., for the big Glenn Beck event, Restoring Honor — which happens to take place at the Lincoln Memorial on the 47th anniversary of Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, which took place in the same hallowed location.

Okay, so AFPF doesn’t advertise the deals as being for the Beck event; they just happen to be wrapping their own annual D.C. conference around the Beck event, and will be ferrying attendees to their Defending the American Dream confab to the Beck event. And the buses will conveniently not leave D.C. until the Beck event concludes. (Coincidentally, FreedomWorks, which is using Glenn Beck’s image and endorsement to peddle membership in its Take America Back election campaign, is also hosting a conference the same weekend...)

...One more time: Glenn Beck is Rupert Murdoch’s community organizer.

http://blogs.alternet.org/speakeasy/2010/08/20/americans-for-prosperity-offers-bushotel-packages-for-glenn-beck-lincoln-memorial-event/



FreedomWorks and Americans for Prosperity both originated from a campaign called Citizens for a Sound Economy, which split in two in 2004. CSE was set up by businessman David Koch (Koch Industries), who has also promoted liberty and research organizations (Cato Institute and Reason Foundation). Citizens for a Sound Economy (grassroots machine) merged with Empower America (policy expertise) in 2004 and was renamed FreedomWorks, with Dick Armey, Jack Kemp and C. Boyden Gray serving as co-chairmen, Bill Bennett focusing on school choice as a Senior Fellow, and Matt Kibbe as President and CEO. Empower America was founded in 1993 by William Bennett, former Secretary of HUD Jack Kemp, former Ambassador Jeane J. Kirkpatrick, and former Representative Vin Weber. There is no relation today between FreedomWorks and the Koch family or foundation, despite its partial origins in Citizens for a Sound Economy. FreedomWorks has received no funding from the Koch family or foundations.

Citizens for a Sound Economy is chaired by former House Majority Leader Dick Armey. Publisher Steve Forbes serves as Vice Chairman of Citizens for a Sound Economy....In 2009, FreedomWorks responded to the growing number of Tea party protests across the United States, and is currently one of several groups active in the "Tea Party" tax protests...For the 2010 Congressional elections, FreedomWorks has endorsed a number of candidates, including Marco Rubio, Pat Toomey, Mike Lee, and Rand Paul.

FreedomWorks is primarily funded by individual donations. According to the media watchdog group Media Matters for America, FreedomWorks has also received funding from Verizon and SBC (now AT&T).<9> Other FreedomWorks funders have included Philip Morris and foundations controlled by the conservative Scaife family, according to tax filings and other records...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FreedomWorks