People have plenty of conspiracy theories about the libertarian Competitive Enterprise Institute — viewing it as an extension of the Koch brothers’ empire or a subsidiary of Exxon Mobil.
The truth turns out be a bit more complicated, as revealed by the companies and interest groups that sponsor its annual fundraising dinner, which took place Thursday night at the J.W. Marriott in Washington.
According to a copy of the dinner program provided by the group, the biggest single donor to the group is Google, which gave $50,000, while Facebook kicked in $25,000.
Other donations were more predictable, including $110,000 from the energy sector and the same amount from conservative foundations — three of which are associated with billionaires Charles and David Koch.
The group ranks its donors according to the value of five metals — chromium, tungsten, nickel, copper and tin. The designations come from a bet between economist Julian Simon and ecologist Paul Ehrlich, who predicted that the metals would be more scarce in 2005 than in 1980, the year of the wager. (Ehrlich lost the bet.)
[CEI President Lawson] Bader convinced his mother, Jeannie, and his brother, Cole, to buy dinner tickets at $250 each.
When asked whether he thought his mother should have made a bigger donation, Bader replied, “No comment.”Here are the donors who supported the annual dinner, listed by sector:
Energy
Murray Energy Corporation $45,000
Marathon Petroleum $25,000
Devon Energy $15,000
Phillips 66 $10,000
American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity $5,000
American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers $5,000
Emerson Electric $5,000
Transport
Association of American Railroads $5,000
BNSF Railway $5,000
Canadian National Railway $5,000
CSX Corporation $5,000
Norfolk Southern $5,000
Union Pacific Corporation $5,000
Auto Industry
Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, Inc. $15,000
Ford Motor Company $5,000
Volkswagen Group of America $5,000
Alcohol/Tobacco/Beverage
Altria Corporate Services $10,000
American Beverage Association $5,000
Distilled Spirits Council of the United States $5,000
Pepsico, Inc. $5,000
Foundations/Advocacy Groups
JP Humphreys Foundation $40,000
Claws Foundation $25,000
Koch Companies Public Sector $15,000
Charles Koch Foundation $10,000
Dunn’s Foundation $10,000
Americans for Prosperity $5,000
The Beach Foundation $5,000
Communications/Entertainment
Comcast-NBC Universal $10,000
National Cable & Telecommunications Association $10,000
News Corporation $10,000
Verizon Communications $7,500
The American Conservative $5,000
Motion Picture Association of America $5,000
White House Writers Group $5,000
High-Tech
Google $50,000
Facebook $25,000
Consumer Electronics Association $10,000
GTECH $5,000
Microsoft Corporation $5,000
Pharmaceuticals/Health/Biotech
PhRMA $25,000
Glaxo-SmithKline $15,000
American Optometric Association $10,000
Generic Pharmaceutical Association $10,000
Biotechnology Industry Organization $10,000
Chemical/Agriculture/Business
Monsanto $10,000Syngenta $10,000FMC Corporation $5,000
U.S. Chamber of Commerce $5,000
Construction/Real Estate
Miller & Long D.C., Inc. $5,000
Old Boston Restorations $5,000
Financial
MasterCard $25,000
Cash America $10,000
Credit Union National Association $25,000
National Association of Credit Service Organizations $7,500
American Bankers Association $5,000
Law Firms/Lobby/Consulting Firms
Bracewell & Giuliani $7,500
Baker & Hostetler LLP $7,500
DCI Group $5,000
Dezenhall Resources $5,000
Wiley Rein LLP $5,000
Individuals
Ambassador C. Boyden Gray $25,000
Stanford Rothschild $25,000
Stephen Modzelewski $25,000
Fred Young $15,000
Jean Claude Gruffat $10,000
Robert Luddy $10,000
Jack France $7,500
Lester Weindling $5,000
Arcadio Casillas $5,000
James Curley $5,000
Forrest G. Hoglund $5,000
Angelo Puglisi $5,000
CEI said that last year it raised a record $700,000 from the dinner. CEI also said that its goal this year was to raise $1,000,000.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) was the keynote speaker at the event. His father, Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX), recently started his own think tank - the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity. Sen. Paul skipped the opening of his father's think tank.
Here is a previous Think Tank Watch post titled "CEI Knows How to Party."
