"I predict that one day before the end of this century the Council [for National Policy] will be so influential that no President, regardless of party or philosophy, will be able to ignore us or our concerns or shut us out of the highest levels of government." -- Louis Elwood "Woody" Jenkins (Newsweek,1981). Former LA State Rep. Woody Jenkins was the CNP's First Executive Director, 1982-85 and was the recipient of the CNP's "Winston Churchill Award" in 1990.
So, what is this Council for National Policy and what do they hope to accomplish? Here's Wikipedia's answer and links:
CNP was founded in 1981 by Tim LaHaye, author of the Left Behind series of books. Other early participants included Paul Weyrich, Phyllis Schlafly, Robert Grant, Howard Phillips, a former Republican affiliated with the Constitution Party, Richard Viguerie, the direct-mail specialist, and Morton Blackwell, a Louisiana and Virginia activist who is considered a specialist on the rules of the Republican Party.
The council employs about eight people. Its first executive director was Woody Jenkins; later, Morton Blackwell served in this role, which is currently held by Steve Baldwin. Presidents have included Nelson Bunker Hunt of Dallas, Amway co-founder Richard DeVos of Michigan, Pat Robertson of Virginia Beach, Paul Pressler of Houston, and former Reagan Cabinet secretaries Ed Meese and Donald Hodel, as well as current president Kenneth Cribb.
The Center for Religion, Ethics and Social Policy at Cornell University considers the Council for National Policy a leading force in the Dominionist movement. TheocracyWatch, a CRESP project, describes it as "an umbrella organization of right-wing leaders who gather regularly to plot strategy, share ideas and fund causes and candidates to advance the theocratic agenda."[5] Southeastern Louisiana University philosophy professor Barbara Forrest says of the Council for National Policy "The CNP membership also includes a sizeable segment of Christian Reconstructionists: "Reconstructionists espouse a radical theology that calls for trashing the U.S. Constitution and replacing it with the harsh legal code of the Old Testament. They advocate the death penalty for adulterers, blasphemers, incorrigible teen-agers, gay people, 'witches' and those who worship 'false gods'."[6]
How was CNP initially funded?
Nelson Baker Hunt, billionaire son of billionaire oilman H.L. Hunt (connected to both the John Birch Society and to Ronald Reagan's political network [YRHT note: Nelson Hunt was also convicted of manipulating the silver market and was a supporter of eugenics]), businessman and one-time murder suspect T. Cullen Davis, and wealthy John Bircher William Cies provided the seed money.
George W. Bush addressed the Council for National Policy on October 9, 1999 in San Antonio, but his presidential campaign refused to release the full text of his remarks, and ordered that tapes of the speech be erased. A few weeks earlier he met with another far right group.
On September 24, 1999, Bush huddled with a motley group called the "Madison Project" at the posh Hay Adams Hotel on Lafayette Square across the street from the White House. Among those gathered were: Michael Farris, of the Home School Legal Defense Association; John C. Wilke, MD, president of Life Issues Institute, an antiabortion group; Paul Pressler, a Southern Baptist honcho and former judge; the Rev. Tim LaHaye, co-founder of the Moral Majority, and successful co-author of scary end-time novels; Beverly LaHaye, his wife, and founder of Concerned Women for America; Marlin Maddoux, the radio evangelist; Paul Weyrich, of the Free Congress Foundation; and the Rev. Peter Marshall, an author and lecturer who promotes "Christian America."
This past weekend Vice President Dick Cheney attended and spoke at the latest CNP meeting in Salt Lake City, Utah. This important Democratic Daily post is chock-full of interesting information and links about the latest meeting, and the connections the CNP has to the Dominionist and Christian Reconstructionist movements.
===
More about the CNP:The Council for National Policy (CNP) is a secretive far right tax-exempt organization that brings together the most powerful radical right activists and financial backers in order to coordinate strategy. The group's membership is secret and its meetingsheld three to four times per yearare not publicly announced. According to Russ Bellant in The Coors Connection, Morton Blackwell of the Council for National Policy has said "the policy is that we dont discuss who attends the meetings or what is said." The organization was founded in 1981 by Tim LaHaye, a leader of Moral Majority and Texan conservative T. Cullen Davis. LaHaye brought together representatives from the Religious Right, the White House, elected officeholders, the political right, and rightwing businessmen and setup an atmosphere that would blend the religious right and "the low-tax, anti-government" right (source). The CNP's newsletters take credit for everything from helping to kill health care reform to blocking regulations restricting religious expression in the workplace (source). In the 1980s, the Council for National Policy was heavily involved in channeling money from the religious right into a variety of efforts supporting President Ronald Reagan's Central America policies ranging from building support in for his policies in the United States to building ties with the international right via arms dealers, mercenaries, and other such forces (source).
Notable members of the Executive Committee have included Oliver North, Gary Bauer, Pat Robertson, Richard DeVos, Tim LaHaye, and Richard Shoff, a former Ku Klux Klan leader in Indiana.
===Former Ku Klux Klan leader Richard Shoff? What's up with that guy?
Richard Shoff - CNP Board of Governors (1982). Former Grand Kilgrapp (state secretary) and funder of the Indiana Ku Klux Klan. Financial supporter of High Frontier, a Star Wars group allied with Elizabeth Clare Prophet's Church Universal and Triumphant. Served on board of Jesse Helms' Coalition for Freedom which receives funding from the Pioneer Fund which funds racialist research. Funds and served on board of directors of the Conservative Caucus. [Bellant (CC) 38, 54]
"Another Conservative Caucus board member and funder is Richard Shoff, a North Carolina businessman whose questionable business practices have brought him the attention of local newspapers, trade associations, and the Better Business Bureau. Shoff has also been involved in a number of lawsuits while running sales operations in Indiana and selling log homes from his company, Lincoln Log Homes, in North Carolina. In the early 1970's, he was the Grand Kilgrapp (state secretary0 of the Indiana Ku Klux Klan. Indianapolis police told a reporter that KKK cross burnings were held on Shoff's property during Klan rallies which were hosted by Shoff. According to the head of the Indiana KKK, Shoff was also a generous funder of Klan activities. Shoff claims he has left the Ku Klux Klan in 1973.
"Shoff is also on the board of Coalition for Freedom, a Jesse Helms group that receives funding from the Pioneer Fund which funds racialist research. Shoff is one of a number of TCC [The Conservative Caucus] leaders who are also members of the Council for National Policy. Other Conservative Caucus supporters and leaders who are also members or leaders of the Council for National Policy include Amway leader Richard DeVos, Louis Jenkins, and Robert H. Krieble, John D. Beckett, and Joe and Holly Coors." [Bellant (CC) 54]
===Who else is a longtime member of this secretive group with questionable membership? Stay tuned...
