Regressive taxation

White House Press Secretary Tony Snow's salary is paid by the taxpayers. While it's already tough to swallow the amount of spinning that thus takes place on the taxpayer dime, he's carrying it to a new level with his appearance at this event --

THE NATIONAL REVIEW INSTITUTE INVITES YOU TO ATTEND A CONSERVATIVE SUMMIT
Claiming the Future
Speakers include:

Jeb Bush, Tony Snow, Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, John Boehner, John Bolton, Rich Lowry, John O’Sullivan, Kate O’Beirne, Mark Steyn, Laura Ingraham, Kathryn Lopez, Robert P. George , Maggie Gallagher, Ramesh Ponnuru, Ed Whelan, Marvin Olasky, James Woolsey, Jerry Taylor, Ward Connerly, Byron York, Jonah Goldberg, Rob Long, Pat Toomey, Ralph Reed, Ryan Sager, Mark Krikorian, Cliff May, Tamar Jacoby, Charles Murray, John Miller, Rick Brookhiser, Bill Kristol, Terence P. Jeffrey, Michael Steele, Abigail Thernstrom, Mona Charen, Ed Gillespie, Andrew McCarthy

Topics include:

Debates on the war in Iraq, the role of the Religious Right, immigration, and energy policy; panels on foreign policy, social issues, domestic policy, small government, and quotas, blacks, and the GOP.

Join fellow conservatives, leading writers, and top policymakers in a frank debate and discussion of the state of the movement.

i.e. a bunch of people who feed at the institutional/pundit trough -- and one dude, Tony Snow, who works for the US government. Admission is $225 a head. Is participating in what is in effect a fundraiser for a private institution in his job description?

Note also that awkwardly placed comma: "and quotas, blacks, and the GOP," implying that "blacks" is a stand-alone topic for the event. Is this part of the White House outreach to minority voters [or, adding, that blacks only arise in the context of "quotas"]?