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2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumWhy CPAC Isn’t As Grassroots As You Think
The American Conservative Unions annual conference takes big, big sums from the gun, oil, and cigarette industry.By Eli Clifton
his week hundreds of college Republicans and men sporting Founding Father costumes are in National Harbor, Md., across the Potomac from Washington, D.C., for the Conservative Political Action Conference, the annual meeting of the American Conservative Union. Anti-tax crusader Grover Norquist calls it Woodstock for conservatives.
But while the American Conservative Union, CPACs parent, refers to itself as the nations oldest and largest grassroots conservative organization, an examination of the groups finances shows the organization receives support from some of Americas biggest and least popular industries: guns, big oil, and cigarettes.
Rarely seen and previously unreported tax filings for the ACU and ACU Foundation, the group responsible for staging CPAC, reveal that in the 2010 tax year, the National Rifle Association provided $225,000 of the ACU Foundations overall revenue. In 2010 the ACU Foundation reported $288,670 in grant revenue and $1,063,103 in program service revenue. The NRAs executive vice president and CEO, Wayne LaPierre, has been a regular featured speaker at past CPAC events and he again spoke at the gathering on Thursday. The 2013 CPAC included an event titled NRA University at which CPAC attendees could learn more about NRA, Second Amendment, gun control debate. It even offered participants a FREE one-year NRA membership, according to the conference schedule. The NRA is a presenting sponsor at the 2014 conferencea sponsorship level requiring a $110,000 contribution.
In 2010 the billionaire Koch brothers companies contributed a total of $50,000 to the ACU and the ACU Foundation. In the same year, cigarette giant Altria contributed $25,000 to the ACU, and the conservative Anschutz Foundation contributed $25,000 to the ACU Foundation.
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http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2014/03/cpac_supported_by_gun_oil_and_cigarette_industries_american_conservative.html?
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Why CPAC Isn’t As Grassroots As You Think (Original Post)
DonViejo
Mar 2014
OP
CPAC, like many political polls, is meant to drive public opinion, not reflect it. n/t
winter is coming
Mar 2014
#1
Who in the hell ever thought anything Repub in the last 20 years has been "grass roots?"
Wounded Bear
Mar 2014
#2
winter is coming
(11,785 posts)1. CPAC, like many political polls, is meant to drive public opinion, not reflect it. n/t
Wounded Bear
(58,662 posts)2. Who in the hell ever thought anything Repub in the last 20 years has been "grass roots?"
I certainly never thought that.
pangaia
(24,324 posts)3. "Anti-tax crusader Grover Norquist calls it “Woodstock for conservatives.”
Uh, no.. I don't think so, fuckwad. You wouldn't know 'Woodstock' if it smacked you in the face. Woodstock was attended by human beings.
sakabatou
(42,152 posts)4. CPAC astroturf?
You don't say.