The Koch Brothers Billionaires Meeting was (almost) in our backyard

by David Safier

OK, Indian Wells is more like Palm Springs than Tucson, but I drove there a few years ago to attend the tennis tourney, so it's not that far away.

Here's a semi-first hand report about the four day conference held last weekend, organized by the Koch Brothers for their point-one percent buddies. The report could only be semi-first hand, because the reporter, Lee Fang, wasn't supposed to know about the event, and he was shooed out of the hotel. His only contact with participants was at the Palm Springs airport.

The summit, organized by the billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch, was cloaked in secrecy. Helicopters, private security, and police officers from neighboring cities patrolled the area constantly. In previous years, Supreme Court justices, some of the wealthiest businessmen in the country, and Republican politicians like Congressman Paul Ryan have all gathered at these twice annual events. The Renaissance Esmerelda, the conference venue this year, was guarded carefully with every entrance blocked and the entire 560-room resort rented out. I arrived at the hotel the night before the event, but was followed closely by security and asked to leave the next morning before the Koch meeting guests arrived.

[snip]

The most that the public knows about these meetings has been culled from leaked audio tapes, reporting from journalists like Ken Vogel, and from an invitation I exclusively reported back in October of 2010. The document I posted over a year ago explained that during the meetings, strategy is discussed, from legislative campaigns to judicial elections, and money is raised from an assortment of executives from the oil, banking, manufacturing, and real estate industries.

Lots of private planes. Lots of billionaires and multi-millionaires, all plotting behind closed doors to increase the wealth and power of the point-one percent — the only people they care about.