Published: September 8th 2010 - at 9:45 amThey want lower taxes but love free museums!
The TaxPayers Alliance are hosting the annual ‘European Resource Bank’ conference today – essentially a gathering of radical right-wing lobby groups and think-tanks from the UK and USA.
The TaxPayers’ Alliance has the privilege of hosting the seventh annual European Resource Bank meeting from 8-10th September. The name comes from the notion of building a ‘bank’ of human capital by creating and renewing the ties between academics, free marketeers, think tanks, campaign groups and taxpayer groups from across Europe, the United States and the rest of the world.
We kick off the conference on Wednesday evening with a champagne reception at a fantastic penthouse apartment overlooking central London.
A champagne reception at a penthouse suite? Clearly the cuts aren’t affecting the groups claiming to represent… er, ordinary taxpayers.
The event is also reported in the Guardian today:
The event, the largest of its kind in Europe, is heavily sponsored by US lobby groups that have backed the Tea Party grouping as its challenges moderate Republican party candidates in congressional elections.
Critics of the event said it established a clear link between British rightwing groups and aggressive American lobbyists who pursued low taxes, loose regulation and widespread privatisation of public services.
The event is being sponsored by the Cato Institute and Americans for Prosperity Foundation, amongst others.
As the New Yorker detailed a few weeks ago, both organisations have been funded heavily by the billionaire Koch brothers.
Nice money if you can get it. The same Koch brothers also, from 2005 to 2008, “vastly outdid ExxonMobil in giving money to organizations fighting legislation related to climate change, underwriting a huge network of foundations, think tanks, and political front groups.”
You’d think these people would be very much against government subsidies then.
But what’s this on their ‘local info’ page?
Many museums in the UK are free to visit – these are marked where applicable.
No mention of why these museums are free to visit then? Thought these bunch of radical libertarians would be eschewing such blatant government subsidies…
[hat-tip Clifford Singer]
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Sunny Hundal is editor of LC. Also: on Twitter, at Pickled Politics and Guardian CIF.
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Reader comments
The Taxpayer’s Alliance should change their name to something a little less bollocksy, like the Keep The Rich Rich Alliance. I’m a taxpayer and they damn well don’t represent me.
Those museums better be careful – perhaps it’s a hit-list.
Wasn’t it Marx who said that you couldn’t live outside the current system even while you tried to overturn it? So the TPA are just following the bearded ones advice. Good news that even the Evil Capitalists are coming round to the true way thinking isn’t it Comrade?
Hah!
There’s donation boxes of course, so if their quasi-Libertarian consciences squirm they can always cough up.
Well David Koch has just given $10m to the Met.
Is that enough for you?
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704302304575214612871804010.html
Personally I’m very much looking forward to the Koch Museum of Natural History, the Koch Science Museum (minus climate change exhibit) and the Koch Tate.
Alternatively the super-rich could just show their contribution to society by paying more taxes. But that’s precisely what today’s conference wants to avoid.
Hmmm…wonder how the Tate got its name…??
Why would you give more money to the government? They’ll only use it to blow up a few more Arabs. Much better to spend it yourself on stuff that has social value.
cjcjc – touche, nice one re the Tate.
The Cato Institute are small-govt libertarians, not social conservatives. You’d probably support some of their policies, like the legalisation of all drugs.
“Let Ben & Jerry’s sell Morphine Mint if they want”
Given that my tax money is keeping those museums free I am perfectly entitled to go and take advantage while believing that they shouldn’t be free and that taxes should be cut accordingly.
“Well David Koch has just given $10m to the Met.
Is that enough for you?”
Wikipedia lists Kock’s personal worth in the tens of billions. I’m sure the money that groups like the TPA save him leave plenty of space for the odd $10m or so.
Sunny, you forgot to mention that the TPA are evil Tories and that they want to kick all poor people out of their homes and leave them to starve on the streets whilst the rich bankers enjoy their big fat tax cuts. I can’t believe you wrote about the TPA without mentioning that, you must have been distracted.
“A champagne reception at a penthouse suite? Clearly the cuts aren’t affecting the groups claiming to represent… er, ordinary taxpayers”.
And of course at labour party conferences they drink beer and eat beans on toast – them being the party of the working man. And Tony Blair holidays in er Elton Johns pad in Tuscany rather than Butlins and Peter Manelson never kissed a donors arse on a yatch in the med. Lazy cliches.
“Sunny, you forgot to mention that the TPA are evil Tories and that they want to kick all poor people out of their homes and leave them to starve on the streets whilst the rich bankers enjoy their big fat tax cuts. I can’t believe you wrote about the TPA without mentioning that, you must have been distracted.”
Is that sarcasm? I hope not, because it’s fairly (if melodramatically) accurate.The TPA exist to ensure that as many pounds stay in the pocket of the well-off as possible. Their mission statement may as well be “I’m alright, Jack”.
I like your post and really this description is very informative for us.
Reactions: Twitter, blogs
- Liberal Conspiracy
They want lower taxes but love our free museums http://bit.ly/aLWCrt
- Andrew Griffiths
RT @libcon: They want lower taxes but love our free museums http://bit.ly/aLWCrt
- Max
RT @libcon: They want lower taxes but love our free museums http://bit.ly/aLWCrt >> I'm sure the irony is totally lost on them too
- Sam Chong
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- Other TaxPayers Alli
RT @libcon TaxPayers Alliance want lower taxes but love our free museums http://bit.ly/aLWCrt
- Paul Sandars
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- MyDavidCameron
RT @libcon They want lower taxes but love our free museums http://bit.ly/aLWCrt
- Matt Nicholas
Words fail me…the very people whose gov't is about to decimate musems…love free museums: http://bit.ly/a1uTOa
- Angela Pateman
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- GuyAitchison
Free market fundamentalists gather in London today to promote UK shock doctrine (& take advantage of our free museums!) http://bit.ly/dxw8lL
- Jessica Reed
RT @GuyAitchison Free market fundamentalists gather to promote UK shock doctrine (& take advantage of our free museums) http://bit.ly/dxw8lL
- Free Stuff
They want lower taxes but love our free museums | Liberal Conspiracy http://bit.ly/a7g7HV
- Ross Haffenden
http://liberalconspiracy.org/2010/09/08/they-want-lower-taxes-but-they-love-our-free-museums/ Via @guyaitchison
- sandra blok
They want lower taxes but love our free museums | Liberal Conspiracy: They want lower taxes but love our free muse… http://bit.ly/a7YCCz
- Glen Mehn
America's Tea Party movement arrives in London http://bit.ly/c8qU9K but they love our tax-subsidised free museums: http://bit.ly/dxw8lL #fb
- Eric Fish
RT @OtherTPA: RT @libcon TaxPayers Alliance want lower taxes but love our free museums http://bit.ly/aLWCrt
- Neil Young
RT @commentisfree: Free market fundamentalists meet to promote UK shock doctrine (& take advantage of our free museums) http://bit.ly/dxw8lL
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[...] They want lower taxes but love our free museums | Liberal Conspiracy [...]
- K C FONG
They want lower taxes but love our free museums | Liberal Conspiracy: Critics of the event said it established a c… http://bit.ly/9mWs4M
- sunny hundal
The radical libertarians want lower taxes, but they love our free museums. Hypocritical much? http://t.co/6L2SfIl
- Taxation
RT @sunny_hundal USA's radical libertarians want lower taxes and love the UK's free museums http://t.co/6L2SfIl
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RT @sunny_hundal: The radical libertarians want lower taxes, but they love our free museums. Hypocritical much? http://t.co/6L2SfIl
- kimberly jones
They want lower taxes but love free museums! | Liberal Conspiracy: They want lower taxes but love free museums! by… http://bit.ly/bBkyoY
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They want lower taxes but love free museums! | Liberal Conspiracy: The name comes from the notion of building a 'b… http://bit.ly/9OQpPA
- TenPercent
TaxPayers Alliance, funded by Koch, aligned with Tea Party http://t.co/gfX46cb via @libcon
- Aileen Kane
@GSteudler The UK of A! Funded by Koch. http://bit.ly/9nLL5H
- Krystal Cambridge
They want lower taxes but love free museums! | Liberal Conspiracy: They want lower taxes but love free museums! by… http://bit.ly/bqNU1h
- Campbell
RT @libcon: They want lower taxes but love our free museums http://bit.ly/aLWCrt
- Michael Jones
@dontgetfooled http://liberalconspiracy.org/2010/09/08/they-want-lower-taxes-but-they-love-our-free-museums/ Read this yesterday…
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