Freedom Writer - January/February 1996 CNP leads the way in California By Jerry Sloan Over

Freedom Writer - January/February 1996

CNP leads the way in California

By Jerry Sloan
	
Over sixty Californians are members of the Council 
for National Policy (CNP) and nowhere in the country 
have CNP members been more politically active and spent 
more money than in California. Since 1988, many of 
these members have assumed a very active lea
dership and generous financial role in a variety of 
ideological causes moving the California Republican 
Party into the ranks of the Radical Religious Right.

One of the most influential CNP members no longer lives 
in California, but his long shadow reaches from the 
Rocky Mountains to the Sierras. James Dobson, formerly 
of Pomona, now presides over his Focus on the Family 
(FOF) empire from Colorado Springs.

According to a November 26, 1995 article in _The_Los_
Angeles_Times_, California state Senator Rob Hurtt 
Jr. came under the influence of Dobson in the early 
80s. Hurtt, in turn, helped bring together a group 
of men who have built a formidable po
litical machine by spending over $8,000,000 from their 
own pockets to change the face of California politics. 
All are members of the CNP. This group of men now consists 
of:

_
Howard Ahmanson. Jr., the heir to the Home Savings 
fortune, chair of the California Independent Business 
PAC, successor to the Allied Business PAC, 20+-year 
trustee of R. J. Rushdoony's Chalcedon, board member 
of the Claremont Institute, and de
ep-pocket political campaign contributor. In a 1985 
_Orange_County_Register_ interview, Ahmanson stated 
he wanted to dedicate his fortune to see that we had 
Biblical law integrated into our everyday lives.

Roland Hinz, owner of Daisy/HiTorque Publications, 
publishers of _Dirt_Bike_ and _Motocross_ magazines. 
His wife, Lila, has served on the board of directors 
of Paul Weyrich's National Empowerment TV.  	

Edward G. Atsinger III, owner of 29 commercial Christian 
radio stations, graduate of Bob Jones University, and 
board member of the National Religious Broadcasters 
Association.

Richard A. Riddle, owner of I. W. Walker, a box manufacturing 
company and a partner in Richray Industries, an import-export 
company which does a lot of business with South Korea, 
and a graduate of Bob Jones University.
_

The group has gone through several name changes. It 
started out as the Capitol Commonwealth Group which 
became the Allied Business PAC which in turn has been 
reborn as the California Independent Business PAC. 
It has helped to elect over one-fourth of the 
120 members of the California legislature.

Because of California political campaign laws, Sen. 
Hurtt has been forced to drop out of the California 
Independent Business PAC. However, that did not keep 
him from spending almost $2,000,000 on political campaigns 
in 1994.

In 1987, Hurtt, Ahmanson, and CNP member Preston Hawkins, 
a developer, founded the Capitol Resource Institute 
(CRI) in Sacramento as a public-policy organization 
affiliated with Focus on the Family (FOF). Since CRI's 
founding, Hurt and Ahmanson have provi
ded over 75% of the annual budget. 

With a small staff, CRI conducts a multitude of activities 
such as lobbying the legislature on behalf of Hurtt 
and FOF, publishing at least two monthly newsletters, 
conducting daily and weekly radio programs (mostly 
on Atsinger's radio stations), providin
g voters' guides, and presenting Community Impact Committee 
seminars.

Ahmanson's megabucks also provide support for such 
organizations as the Western Center for Law and Religious 
Freedom, the Reason Foundation, the Claremont Institute, 
the Heritage Foundation, the California Prolife Council, 
and Chalcedon, Inc.

In 1994, the men supported a failed school-voucher 
initiative by providing over $450,000. According to 
a Common Cause report, in 1994 they were responsible 
for almost 10% of all the money donated to the California 
Republican Party.

Another CNP member is assemblywoman Barbara Alby, an 
ally of former state senator H. L. (Bill) Richardson, 
a long-time Christian Reconstructionist activist. Assemblyman 
Howard Kaloogian of San Diego County is a new member. 
Former assemblyman Patrick Nolan
 is still listed in the 1995 CNP phone directory as 
a member, although he is presently a resident of a 
federal correctional facility. Nolan pleaded no contest 
to political corruption charges. Christian Reconstructionist 
guru R.J. Rushdoony has been listed
 as a member for many years, although he claims he 
hasn't been to a meeting in years and doesn't know 
who pays his annual membership fees. Some other Californians 
who are members:

_
Pat Boone, actor/singer/info-mercializer
William Dannemeyer, former U.S. Representative
Robert K. Dornan, U. S. Representative and candidate 
for the Republican presidential nomination
William Saracino, Citizens for Responsible Representation, 
slate mailer expert
Louis K. Uhler, U.S. Taxpayers Association, author 
of California legislative term limits
Barbara Keating-Edh, Citizen Alert, failed candidate 
for the Assembly
James Dignan, former chair of the Republican State 
Party
Dr. Henry M. Morris, retiring president of the Institute 
for Creation Research
Margret Lesher, former owner of the Lesher publishing 
empire which she reportedly sold for $350,000,000
W. Robert Stover, chairman of Western Temporary Services 
(among their temporary services, they supply most of 
the Santas for department stores and malls in California)
Larry Arnn, president of the Claremont Institute (promoters 
of the anti-affirmative action initiative)
Robert W. Poole, president of the Reason Foundation
Joseph Farah, former editor of the now-defunct _Sacramento_
Union_
Ms. Terry Siemens, a former Miss California
William Rusher, fellow of the Claremont Institute
David Balsiger, movie and TV producer
John Stoos, former executive director of  California 
Gun Owners Association, political consultant 
_

To define most CNP members as radical is charitable. 
As one looks at the activities in which CNP members 
are engaged, it would appear their goal is the total 
destruction of society as we know it. They are leading 
the charge to deny minorities equality, de
stroy public education, and the institution of government. 
California is their testing ground.

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