The Billionaires' Tea Party (documentary)

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The Billionaires Tea Party - The Tea Party movement has taken American politics by storm. But is this truly a populist uprising or one of the greatest feats of propaganda ever seen?

Seeking to find out, Australian filmmaker Taki Oldham embeds himself in the Tea Party uprising. From men sporting tri-corner hats in Louisville Kentucky (the movement takes name from a key event in the American revolution) to 100,000 placard waving patriots in Washington D.C. 'taking our country back' from Obama's 'communist' regime. But who are generals of this army?

Enter brothers Charles and David Koch. Oilmen, billionaires 20 times over and on a mission to create a privatized America. For three decades they've unwritten a propaganda war, funding fake grassroots groups (branded 'astroturf' by opponents) to dupe citizens into protesting on behalf of some of Americas most powerful people and corporations. As Taki infiltrates one such group, Americans For Prosperity, he captures David Koch beaming as operatives report running Tea Party events all over the country.

Weaving together commentary from propaganda experts and political insiders with unprecedented footage, The Billionaires' Tea Party follows astroturf groups Americans For Prosperity and Freedomworks coopting the movement from day one. As the Koch's extreme vision of free market capitalism is woven into that cherished American spirit of individual freedom, the patriotic Tea Partiers are guided to oppose key elements of the Obama agenda. Witness hysterical scenes as a proposed Health Care bill is reframed as Soviet style 'socialised medicine'. Follow industry-funded spin doctors and scientists dismissing Obama's climate bill a liberal conspiracy to control peoples lives and destroy the economy. See the cosy relationship between Koch operatives and Fox News. Come undercover as Tea Partiers are indoctrinated into equating their own interests with those of corporate America. Finally, see the stunning culmination at the 2010 elections as fully 1/3 of those elected are Tea Party endorsed candidates out to make Koch's dream a reality.

With America now facing a new era of budget-slashing union-busting politics, The Billionaires' Tea Party is both a journey through a unique moment in American history and chilling portent of the corporate takeover of democracy.

During the Great Depression, corporate elites sought to overthrow FDR and install a dictator in his place. They approached honored Major General Smedley Butler and asked him to lead their far-right fringe group, The American Liberty League. Butler was to lead an army of 500,000 men to intimidate the government and create a fascist regime.

Today, corporate elites, specifically the Koch brothers and Dick Army, orchestrated pseudo-grass roots Tea Party protests to intimidate Democrats and the Obama administration from pursuing bold progressive policies. And the corporate media loves the candy. Now, with the "free" market Citizens United Supreme Court decision, a dictator is no longer needed. Money is power in capitalism. And the corporations are more powerful than ever with weakened regulations, the Bush tax cuts, and corporate loopholes. Corporations are the State.