CPAC is NOT grassroots. It's being supported by the gun and oil industries

[Cali_Democrat]

Why CPAC Isn’t As Grassroots As You Think
The American Conservative Union’s annual conference takes big, big sums from the gun, oil, and cigarette industry.

By Eli Clifton

This week hundreds of college Republicans and men sporting Founding Father costumes are in National Harbor, Md., down 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, CPAC’s parent, refers to itself as the “nation’s oldest and largest grassroots conservative organization,” an examination of the group’s finances shows the organization receives support from some of America’s 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 Foundation’s overall revenue. In 2010 the ACU Foundation reported $288,670 in grant revenue and $1,063,103 in “program service revenue.” The NRA’s 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 conference—a 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.

Read more: http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2014/03/cpac_supported_by_gun_oil_and_cigarette_industries_american_conservative.html

[blkmusclmachine]

1. Astroturf

[Cali_Democrat]

2. Yep

Just like the tea party itself.