Internal memo from the desk of Phil T. Rich

Fellow plunderers,

In between writing the country's energy policy, privatizing Iraq, and holepunching environmental regulations, we've been hitting the streets in style and buying extensive media coverage. Below is only a sample of our activities from the past months. And stay tuned: now that I've cleared the enormous pile of benjamins off my desk, I'll be sending regular updates in the future.

New York Sunday Times Magazine: The Birth of the Meta-Protest Rally? (03/28/04)

"The men handsome in tuxedos and top hats and the women stunning in ball gowns with elbow-length gloves, they marched boldly past the protesters. They shouted, 'We want Bush!' One placard they held up read, 'Because He's Just Like Us.' Hisses traveled through the body of the mob, as a policeman stopped traffic so they could cross. Applause erupted from the ranks of the flag-wavers at the arrival of such beautiful people. Pro-Bush people happily backed up, ceding the most prime piece of their 'free speech zone.' Then it happened. Halfway across the street — in that moment of eerie suspension as the bare flick of a police officer's hand caused the dragon of traffic to pause — you could see the epiphany. The newcomers unfurled their giant banner: 'Billionaires for Bush.' "
Read the full article »

MSNBC.com: Groups gear up for big RNC protests (05/03/04)

"While tens of thousands of Republican Party delegates and media representatives flock to Madison Square Garden in Manhattan from Aug. 30 through Sept. 2 for the GOP?s nominating convention, Billionaires for Bush will be the president's only champagne-sipping, cigar-chomping champions on the streets, where between 500,000 and a million people are expected to demonstrate."
Read the full article »

Additional links:

$ Now in Previews, Political Theater in the Street (New York Times, 02/19/04)

$ Billionaires on the Move (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 04/04/04)

$ Photos of heroic Billionaires on the front lines!

Tax Day A Huge Success!

We should be very pleased with ourselves. Just eleven weeks after our campaign kickoff, nineteen B4B chapters across the country gathered at post offices on Tax Day to thank ordinary taxpayers for paying our fair share. They will bear higher public university tuitions, state and property taxes, and health care costs so we can buy that third chalet in the Hamptons. Many of you appeared in the press, everyone had a great time!

$ Dressed To the Nines For the 1040 (New York Times, 04/16/04)

$ Billionaires for Bush Celebrate Tax Day (The Modern Tribune, 04/16/04)

Billionaires in the following 19 chapters participated in Tax Day actions:

Iowa City, Houston, Seattle, Philadelphia, Scranton, Boston, Atlanta, San Diego, Minneapolis, San Marcos (TX), Montpelier (VT), San Francisco, Poughkeepsie (NY), Albany, Long Island, Whidbey Island (WA), Olympia, and New York City.

Tophats off to all!