http://www.prwatch.org/news/2011/03/10375/cmd-special-report-who-are-headliners-koch-funded-afp-conventionsA CMD Special Report: Who Are the Headliners at Koch-Funded AFP Conventions?
Submitted by Lisa Graves on March 29, 2011 - 10:57am
MADISON -- In the midst of the controversy of Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker's ties to David Koch and Koch Industries, the Center for Media and Democracy has conducted an analysis of the headliners at Koch-funded Americans for Prosperity (AFP) conventions in the state in the past two years. The events featured select candidates who were running for office, including gubernatorial candidate Scott Walker, Attorney General candidate J.B. Van Hollen, judicial candidate David T. Prosser, Jr., and Congressman James Sensenbrenner. The AFP events also featured an array of national speakers who have supported AFP and its "Tea Party" related activities.
Since our founding in 1994, the Center's mission has been to research and expose corporate- and CEO-funded PR activities and special interest groups, like AFP. The Center also profiles who's who at key meetings, such as David Koch's posh strategy sessions in Palm Springs and Aspen as well as at events funded by Koch and other petro-chemical industrialists trying to influence pollution policies, such as meetings of the Heartland Institute. This report on AFP Wisconsin is part of that continuing reporting on groups attempting to influence elections and public policies. Because many of the headliners were the same at both the 2009 and 2010 AFP events in the state, this article provides a guide to both of the most recent annual events.
Elected Officials Headlining AFP Wisconsin Annual Summits -- "All the Feel of a Tea Party Convention"
As noted in the Post Crescent article on last year's AFP conference in the region, "scheduled to speak are U.S. Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Menomonee Falls), state Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen and state Supreme Court Justice David Prosser." There is no written transcript of their remarks from the 2010 event, which reportedly drew 2,000 people to the gathering at a posh resort in the Wisconsin Dells. As the Post Crescent noted, people "who staged Tea Party rallies across Wisconsin" gathered for the AFP events "to discuss strategy, hear from national and state conservative leaders and office holders, and look ahead to how they can influence the 2010 elections." According to one report, AFP's annual meeting "had all the feel of a tea party convention, even though there is no such official party in Wisconsin." (A related video, "Tea Party Hits the Dells," is no longer accessible.) (CMD does not take a position for or against candidates for office.)
It is not clear how these candidates for public office, among all those running for office in the state in the past two years, were chosen to be featured by AFP, or if others were invited but could not or chose not to accept the invitation. Below are the elected officials who were listed as invited or attending, along with the year of the conference, the office each was running for and the names of other candidates who were not listed as invited or attending.
-snip-
Much more at the link.
The candidates headlining the AFP summits include Scott Walker, J.B. Van Hollen, and David T. Prosser, Jr.
The article also lists some of the topics of the "strategy sessions" including Net Neutrality, Taxpayer Tea Parties, and Executive Briefing for "Prosperity Warriors."
The article also lists the "Wisconsin Business Leaders" who spoke at these events.
Btw, I found this article after doing a Google search for articles that had been on the Truthout site in recent days. As mentioned in another topic here, Truthout's site was attacked and its most recent stories vanished. Fortunately the Google results gave me the title of this CMD report and I was able to find the original.
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