RetireSafe

Seniors Group With Republican Ties Honors Republicans For Protecting Seniors

Jillian Rayfield | December 3, 2011, 10:44AM

A seniors group that claims to be grassroots but has ties to Republicans and members of the pharmaceutical industry has been handing out awards to vulnerable Republicans for standing up for senior citizens.

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Rick Berman

Complaint Spotlights 'Dr. Evil' Campaign Against Drunk-Driving Protections

Zachary Roth | May 13, 2010, 11:35AM

Rick Berman

Not too many people oppose efforts to keep drunk drivers off the road. But then, not too many people are known to enemies and friends alike as "Dr. Evil," and revel in their role as the poster boy for deceptive astroturf corporate lobbying.

We're talking, of course, about TPMmuckraker favorite Rick Berman, who has built a lucrative business by creating a string of industry-funded front groups that have fought efforts to fight smoking, drinking, and obesity without revealing their corporate clients.

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Stop Too Big To Fail

Rent-A-Front: New Group Wages Stealth Battle Against Wall Street Reform

Justin Elliott | April 21, 2010, 2:50PM

Consumers for Competitive Choice President Bob Johnson (inset)

In the last few weeks, a new player entered the financial reform fray with a $1.6 million ad buy, a respected economist on board, a blitz of opinion columns on left-leaning websites, and a message, cooked right into the group's name -- Stop Too Big To Fail -- that liberals could love.

But as TPMmuckraker has looked into the group, every indication is that Stop Too Big To Fail is an astroturf operation funded by corporate interests to give the appearance of grassroots opposition to reform.

The group's leader has a long history running a rent-a-front operation: offering up his services to large corporations who are willing to pay top dollar for a "consumers group" that will engage in stealth advocacy on behalf of industry. The group refuses to divulge its funding sources. The respected economist whose support the group touts now says he was deceived. And Stop Too Big To Fail has links to DCI Group, one of Washington's best-known astroturf operators.

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Goldwater Institute

Group That May Bring Health-Care Lawsuit Is Backed By Big-Name Conservative Funders

Zachary Roth | April 7, 2010, 11:14AM

Gov. Jan Brewer (R-AZ)

A conservative think tank that's funded by several prominent backers of right-wing causes may bring a lawsuit over health-care reform on behalf of the governor of Arizona.

The Goldwater Institute has offered to bring the suit for free, and Gov. Jan Brewer is considering the offer, a spokeswoman for the institute told TPMmuckraker.

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Endangered Species Act

Alaska Legislature Plans $1.5 Million Astroturf Fight Against Endangered Species Act

Justin Elliott | February 8, 2010, 12:07PM

Seeking to protect the oil industry, the Alaska state legislature has appropriated $1.5 million to fund an astroturf campaign to weaken the Endangered Species Act and put on a conference questioning the listing of polar bears as a threatened species.

Over the objections of some members who warned of "PR damage" to the state, a group of lawmakers late last week decided to move ahead with reviewing bids from public relations firms for the polar bear contract, the Anchorage Daily News reported.

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Tea Party Express

'The Tea Party Movement Is About To Be Hijacked': Activists Slam Plan For Convention

Zachary Roth | January 11, 2010, 9:00AM

In the latest sign of rancor in Tea Party circles, a convention billed as an effort to bring together conservative activists from across the country is being attacked by some leading Tea Partiers as inauthentic, too tied to the GOP, and -- at $549 per head -- too expensive for the working Americans the movement aspires to represent.

The National Tea Party Convention, scheduled for early February in Nashville, grabbed headlines after announcing that Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann would appear as speakers, Palin as the keynote. According to a message on the convention's website, the event "is aimed at bringing the Tea Party Movement leaders together from around the nation." But organizers are a long way from unifying the notoriously fractious movement.

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Astroturf

We Were Framed: Business Lobby Groups Claim Ignorance On Ads Offering Rewards For Political Action

Zachary Roth | December 17, 2009, 8:36AM

Forget those forged letters, and fake rallies. This week, we've been digging into it what may be the latest tool in the astroturf toolbox: incentivized online advertising.

That's when internet users are induced to take political action, on behalf of a lobbying group, through websites or online ads that offer rewards -- airline miles, free trips, even a gift card to Hooters. The problem with the tactic is clear: when members of Congress get an email from a voter on an issue of public concern, they assume it's an expression of authentic grassroots passion. If the sender was in fact incentivized by the chance to win a free plasma TV, that assumption doesn't bear out.

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Astroturf

Fight Health Reform -- And Win A Plasma TV: Health Insurer Says Ads Are Fake

Zachary Roth | December 16, 2009, 10:58AM

Last week, we learned that Facebook users could win virtual currency for use in online games by sending an email to Congress opposing health-care reform.

In response, both the health insurers coalition thought to be behind the ads, and the P.R. firm hired by the coalition, claimed ignorance. A spokesman for the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association (BCBSA), which runs the coalition, Get Health Reform Right, told us yesterday that the coalition's contract explicitly forbids the use of such "incentivized ads," and said the ads that showed up on Facebook must be fakes. Pam Fielding, the president of 720 Strategies, which handled the campaign, said the same thing.

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Astroturf

Chamber of Commerce Campaign: Fight Health-Care Reform -- And Win A Trip To Hooters!

Zachary Roth | December 16, 2009, 8:52AM

How'd you like to fight government-run health-care -- and get a free gift card to Hooters out of it?

Well, now you can! And it's all thanks to the Chamber of Commerce.

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Astroturf

Inside The Hot New Astroturf Trend: Emails To Congress Aren't What They Seem

Zachary Roth | December 15, 2009, 1:08PM

In the world of astroturf lobbying, forged letters and fake rallies are getting kind of passé. Here's what the real experts are doing...

Last week, we learned that online gamers can earn virtual currency by sending emails to Congress opposing health-care reform, stemming from a campaign by a health-insurance lobby group. The news of the scheme, reported by Gawker and the AP, suggests that at least some of the anti-reform emails lawmakers have received are something less than authentic expressions of grassroots passion, since they're being sent by people who have been incentivized to get involved through the offer of rewards.

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American Future Fund

GOP Group Undermining Robo-Call Laws Has Ties To DCI

Zachary Roth | November 24, 2009, 5:37PM

American Future Fund (AFF), the shadowy conservative advocacy group that's working to undermine state laws against robo-calling, has ties to DCI Group, a Republican lobbying firm with a reputation for dirty tricks and shady clients. And a closer look at AFF suggests the group has been designed to carry out political attacks while escaping scrutiny from the press and public.

AFF paid $249,000 last year to McKenna & Associates for fundraising work, according to a copy of AFF's 990 form for 2008 that was obtained by TPMmuckraker. The Arlington, Virginia-based firm is run by Andrew McKenna, a GOP operative and former senior vice-president of DCI Group. McKenna did not immediately respond to TPMmuckraker's request for comment.

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James Thurber

Did Thurber Ever Sign On As Bonner's Ethics Adviser?

Zachary Roth | November 9, 2009, 12:07PM

Jack Bonner, Bonner & Associates, and James Thurber, American University

Did American University professor James Thurber ever sign on to act as an independent ethics adviser for astroturf lobbyist Jack Bonner, in the wake of the scandal over those forged letters to lawmakers on climate change? The two principals can't seem to agree.

Thurber has now backed out of the gig, after an ad he ran in Roll Call praising Bonner raised questions about how independent he could truly be. But how firm was the arrangement in the first place?

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Astroturf

Bonner's 'Independent' Ethics Adviser Backs Out Over Ad Flap

Zachary Roth | November 6, 2009, 1:38PM

Jack Bonner, Bonner & Associates, and James Thurber, American University

The "independent" ethics adviser that astroturf lobbyist Jack Bonner told Congress he'd retained in the wake of the flap over those forged letters to lawmakers has backed out of the role, citing the TPMmuckraker-driven fallout over an ad he placed this week praising Bonner.

James Thurber, a long-time political science professor at American University, told National Journal he'll recommend a different ethics adviser for Bonner's firm, and noted:

I teach a class on ethics and lobbying and I have never had anything like this. There have been articles about this and I have received phone calls. I never am going to do [ads] like this again, thanking people. I'll do it through personal correspondence.

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Jack Bonner

University Probing Ad Placed By Bonner's "Independent" Ethics Adviser

Zachary Roth | November 5, 2009, 9:15AM

Jack Bonner, Bonner & Associates, and James Thurber, American University

American University is investigating the ad praising astroturf lobbyist Jack Bonner that ran in Roll Call yesterday in the name of one of the school's department's.

"The university is aware of the ad and is looking into the facts of the situation," a university spokeswoman told TPMmuckraker. "The university does not endorse individuals or organizations."

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Media

Newsweek And Oil Lobby Team Up To Host Climate Change Event With Lawmakers

Zachary Roth | November 4, 2009, 11:29AM

Jack Gerard, CEO of the American Petroleum Institute

Newsweek magazine is teaming up with an oil-industry lobbying group to host an event on climate-change and energy issues involving lawmakers, just as the Senate gets set to take up legislation on the subject.

The panel discussion, entitled "Climate and Energy Policy: Moving?," will feature Jack Gerard, CEO of the American Petroleum Institute, and, as moderator, Newsweek columnist Howard Fineman, according to an email invitation sent by a Newsweek business staffer and obtained by TPMmuckraker.

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Global Warming

Could Coal Lobby Chief Be Probed For Perjury?

Zachary Roth | October 29, 2009, 4:49PM

CEO of ACCCE Steve Miller

Could apparently false statements made by the head of a coal-industry lobby group before Congress this morning end up being referred to the Justice Department for a criminal perjury probe? Congressional investigators aren't ruling it out.

As we reported, Steve Miller, the director of the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity (ACCCE), appears to have twice misled Congress while under oath during his testimony this morning over those forged letters sent on the coal lobby's behalf by Bonner and Associates.

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Astroturf

Bonner Testimony

Zachary Roth | October 29, 2009, 10:58AM

Jack Bonner

Here's Jack Bonner's complete testimony about those forged letters.

In a nutshell: we should have checked resumes closer. And we shouldn't hire liars.

Jack Bonner

Bonner: We Should Have Notified Lawmakers Right Away

Zachary Roth | October 29, 2009, 10:54AM

Jack Bonner

Perhaps Bonner's biggest problem here is that he learned about the forged letters before the vote on global warming legislation, but didn't notify the affected lawmakers until after.

Here's what Bonner said in his testimony on that point:

While our immediate focus upon learning of this fraud was to reach out and apologize to the organizations whose names were used without authorization, on July 1, 2009, we contacted the offices of two of the three Members of Congress who received fabricated letters. After numerous attempts and the intervening Congressional recess, it was not until July 13, 2009, that one of our staff finally succeeded in directly speaking with Congressional staff for Rep. Perriello and Rep. Dahlkemper about this matter although it appears that Rep. Carney's office, which received one letter, was not contacted. In retrospect, we should have immediately contacted all three offices and apologized in person.

And he's now being grilled on that point by Chairman Ed Markey. "I should have personally sat there to make sure the message got through," Bonner admits.

Bonner claims he didn't know the date of the vote. But Markey seems to find that hard to believe, given the high-profile nature of the vote.

You can read Bonner's full testimony here.

Global Warming

Bonner: "This Incident Was An Anomaly"

Zachary Roth | October 29, 2009, 10:48AM

Jack Bonner

Jack Bonner is testifying now. And he's not backing down too much.

This incident was an anomaly and the result of an individual who from his first day at work, intentionally disregarded our procedures and instructions and was determined to engage in fraudulent activity.

...

Let one thing be very clear: this improper activity was undertaken without the knowledge or permission of anyone at our firm. These were the actions of one rogue temporary employee, acting against our company's policy and without the knowledge of anyone else at Bonner & Associates.

In other words, don't blame us.

ACCCE

Coal Lobby Paid $7 Million To PR Firm That Hired Bonner

Evan McMorris-Santoro and Zachary Roth | October 29, 2009, 9:32AM

Jack Bonner

A coal industry group paid over $7 million last fiscal year to the company that hired Bonner & Associates, the astroturf lobbying firm behind those forged letters to Congress. That's according to internal documents obtained by congressional investigators and examined by TPMmuckraker.

Jack Bonner, the founder of the firm that bears his name, will go before a Congressional committee this morning to explain how those letters -- which purported to come from local community groups, and urged lawmakers to oppose climate change legislation -- got sent.
Bonner has blamed the letters on a temporary employee, since fired, and claimed that it was a "victim of fraud" itself.

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ACCCE

Bonner Hearing Postponed After GOP Complaints

Zachary Roth | October 15, 2009, 10:13AM

Jack Bonner

Not so fast...

This morning's hearing, at which astroturf lobbyist Jack Bonner was scheduled to testify about the forged letters sent by his firm to lawmakers, has been postponed a week.

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Bonner & Associates

Bonner To Testify On Forged Letters

Zachary Roth | October 14, 2009, 11:16AM

Jack Bonner

Astroturf lobbyist Jack Bonner will testify tomorrow in front of a Congressional panel investigating the forged letters his firm sent this summer, according to a witness list for the hearing obtained by TPMmuckraker. Also testifying will be Steve Miller, the CEO of the coal industry group that had hired Bonner to gin up opposition to climate-change legislation.

This summer, Bonner & Associates sent forged letters to several lawmakers, urging them to oppose the legislation. The letters, sent on behalf of Bonner's client, the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity, purported to come from local minority, senior, women, and veterans groups. Bonner has blamed the letters on a temporary employee, but as we've shown, his firm's modus operandi makes such occurrences all but inevitable.

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Astroturf

Congress To Hold Hearing On Bonner's Forged Letters

Zachary Roth | October 13, 2009, 2:27PM

Jack Bonner

This should be fun...

A congressional panel will hold a hearing Thursday into those forged letters urging lawmakers to oppose climate change legislation. The letters purported to come from minority, senior, and veterans' groups, but in fact were sent by Bonner & Associates, a GOP-aligned astroturf lobbying firm, on behalf of a coal industry client.

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Health Care

Obama Admin. Suggests Other Health Insurers May Be Getting Customers To Lobby Against Reform

Zachary Roth | September 22, 2009, 10:08AM

Is Humana just the tip of the iceberg?

Yesterday we reported on the campaign by health insurer Humana Inc. to enlist beneficiaries to lobby lawmakers against a key cost-saving measure in Sen. Max Baucus's health-reform bill. Humana's letters to its customers, urging them to contact their member of Congress, are currently being probed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which contracts with Humana, among other firms, to provide Medicare Advantage.

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Health Care

Health Insurer Probed For Enlisting Beneficiaries To Fight Reform Proposal

Zachary Roth | September 21, 2009, 12:19PM

Health insurer Humana Inc. portrays itself as a guide through the treacherous waters of health-care coverage. The company's tagline is "Guidance When You Need It Most," and switchboard operators at its Louisville headquarters answer the phone by asking callers: "How can I guide you?"

But is Humana guiding its customers a little too much in enlisting them to oppose a key aspect of health-care reform?

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ACCCE

Liberal Groups Set Up Hotline For Forged Letters

Zachary Roth | September 3, 2009, 5:06PM

Jack Bonner

Supporters of action on climate change are still working to make hay out of those forged letters, sent by a Washington lobbying firm opposing a recent climate change bill.

The National Wildlife Federation, Sierra Club, American Progress Action Fund, the NAACP and the AAUW, a women's rights group, have set up a "hotline" where callers can leave tips about forged letters and other suspected trickery by industry lobbyists, reports The Hill.

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Howard Kaloogian

Legendary GOP Bamboozler Hitches Wagon To Tea Party Brand

Zachary Roth | September 1, 2009, 2:56PM

Howard Kaloogian

Remember Howard Kaloogian? He was the Republican House candidate who in 2006 tried to pass off a picture of a quiet Istanbul street as having been taken during a trip he made to Baghdad -- then told a string of additional lies in trying to explain what happened.

Well, he's back. And this time he's taking the bamboozlement to a whole new level.

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Astroturf

Contra Bonner's Claim, Local Groups Say Lobby Firm Never Contacted Them

Zachary Roth | August 31, 2009, 12:25PM

Jack Bonner

Did Bonner & Associates flat-out lie to Congress about informing lawmakers and constituent groups of those forged letters it sent?

In a letter to Rep. Ed Markey that we posted late last week, Bonner lawyer Steven Ross wrote that in the days after Bonner discovered the forged letters, the firm "personally contacted each of the eight organizations that were defrauded."

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ACCCE

Bonner Paid Productivity Bonus To Employee Who Forged Letter

Zachary Roth | August 28, 2009, 3:28PM

Jack Bonner

We've now obtained the letter to Congress from Bonner's lawyer that we told you about earlier -- in which Bonner hilariously claims that its client, a coal industry group, was the "victim of a fraud" stemming from the forged letters to lawmakers about the climate change bill.

The letter, from Akin Gump lawyer Steven Ross to Rep. Ed Markey, can be seen here.

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