Council for National Policy...follow the money and the power

Most of us have never heard that name or if we do we confuse it with the Center for National Policy. The Council for National Policy is a little known group, most of their members and activities are kept out of the media spotlight. One of the main rules of the group is no media attention and with good reason.

This may sound like one of those Illuminati conspiracy stories, but it’s not. One of the very reasons why the Republicans stay in control is money. Money is power, groups like the Council for National Policy consists of some of the largest financial backers of the Religious Right aspect of politics today. They don’t want you to know about them or what they do because they don’t want you to realize that they are influencing us. Some of the members aren’t names you immediately connect to politics.

While the Council doesn’t come right out and attack Democrats or liberal ideas you can trace some of their members to other groups which do. Take United Seniors, which is now known as USAnext.org, they were created to be the Republican/Religious Right version of AARP. The founder Richard Viguerie has proven connections to the Council of National Policy. While they’ve tried to make Richard less of a forefront of the operations with Charles Jarvis, a former big wig with American Family, another Religious Right group, if you do some back research to when the group was called United Seniors, Richard’s involvement is clear.

It’s also important to point out that there is a direct link to many of the Council of National Policy members and the Terri Schiavo case. This site outlines some of the financial connections to the Schindlers. (Bioethics) Some of the names on this list are supporters of not only the Council of National Policy but the Heritage Foundation. The fact that it is well known that the CNP has a great deal of influence with Republicans might explain the latest Congressional action in creating Terri’s law. It’s rather ironic that Bill Frist made several comments not consistent with a Physician, yet the paragraph below will make you say hmmmmmm.

At first glance what media you do hear about them sounds like a bunch of like minded individuals getting together a few times a year for a little partying. They give an award called the “Jefferson Award” (you’d be amazed at how many different Jefferson awards there are out there), a well known figure comes to talk to them, (both President Bush and Vice-President Cheney have been guest speakers in the past) a little dinner and an award, this last year’s award when to Bill Frist. Harmless right? After all rich people deserve to get to together and “hang” like us ordinary folk. However once you start reading the few names we do know about and the groups these people are associated with you start to get a strange feeling. The web of how these people and the groups inter-connect makes you realize how little control we really do have over our government. Not quite the method our Founding Fathers thought they had created.

However knowledge while not being as powerful as money is power as well. If we start opening the doors on these individuals; make it very clear where their connections lie then we start to diminish their ability to operate.

Next installment? Meet some of the Council for National Policy members and their “pet projects”.