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tpsbmam
tpsbmam's Journal
tpsbmam's Journal
February 21, 2012
The rest at The Guardian.
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Occupy-ALEC/327473290599424
#shutDOwnALEC/#occupyALEC/#ALECexposed/Shut down ALEC livestream page: http://shutdownalec.org/
I didn't have a lot of success looking for a centralized resource for local groups. Here's a search for occupy ALEC February 29, which is the one that had the most hits (try F29 or #F29 -- both are coming up a lot) -- you'll do better through local occupy groups and searching online for local protests
http://bit.ly/wFxrcU (yeah, it's Google)
Nationwide protests planned *Occupy ALEC* February 29
Co-ordinated protests are planned in some 60 cities later this month against a right wing group which activists say has an unfair hand in writing state legislation that favours corporate interests.
Working under the banner Shut Down the Corporations, activists plan to target corporate members of the American Legislative Exchange Council (Alec) with nationwide protests on 29 February.
Organisers say Alec, a nonprofit free-market policy group whose membership includes some 2,000 state legislators, wields undue influence by drafting legislation beneficial to its corporate members, which in some cases is then used as a model for legislation in states across America.
The nationwide protest is being co-ordinated by Occupy Portland, with activists across the country due to take part including from Occupy Wall Street and Occupy Oakland.
Working under the banner Shut Down the Corporations, activists plan to target corporate members of the American Legislative Exchange Council (Alec) with nationwide protests on 29 February.
Organisers say Alec, a nonprofit free-market policy group whose membership includes some 2,000 state legislators, wields undue influence by drafting legislation beneficial to its corporate members, which in some cases is then used as a model for legislation in states across America.
The nationwide protest is being co-ordinated by Occupy Portland, with activists across the country due to take part including from Occupy Wall Street and Occupy Oakland.
The rest at The Guardian.
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Occupy-ALEC/327473290599424
#shutDOwnALEC/#occupyALEC/#ALECexposed/Shut down ALEC livestream page: http://shutdownalec.org/
I didn't have a lot of success looking for a centralized resource for local groups. Here's a search for occupy ALEC February 29, which is the one that had the most hits (try F29 or #F29 -- both are coming up a lot) -- you'll do better through local occupy groups and searching online for local protests
http://bit.ly/wFxrcU (yeah, it's Google)
February 2, 2012
It's Amy Goodman -- the rest is worth reading! She nails it. Damn, if anyone would personify the government being of the 1% for the 1%, it'd be Romney!
Amy Goodman: Romney’s 1 Percent Nation Under God
Although Mitt Romney has yet to win a majority in a Republican primary, he won big in Florida. After he and the pro-Romney super PACs flooded the airwaves with millions of dollars worth of ads in a state where nearly half the homeowners are underwater, he talked about whom he wants to represent. We will hear from the Democrat Party the plight of the poor, and theres no question, its not good being poor, he told CNNs Soledad OBrien. You could choose where to focus, you could focus on the rich, thats not my focus. You could focus on the very poor, thats not my focus. My focus is on middle-income Americans. Of the very rich, Romney assures us, Theyre doing just fine. With an estimated personal wealth of $250 million, Romney should know.
Romneys campaign itself is well-financed, but his success to date, especially against his current main rival, Newt Gingrich, is driven by massive cash infusions to a so-called super PAC, the new breed of political action committee that can take unlimited funds from individuals and corporations. Super PACs are legally prohibited from coordinating their activities with a candidates campaign. Federal Election Commission filings made public Jan. 31 reveal that the principal super PAC supporting Romney, Restore Our Future, raised close to $18 million in the second half of 2011, from just 199 donors. Among his supporters are Alice Walton, who, although listed in the report as a rancher, is better known as an heir to the Wal-Mart fortune, and the famously caustic venture capitalist and billionaire Samuel Zell, the man credited with driving the Tribune media company into bankruptcy. William Koch, the third of the famous Koch brothers, also gave.
Juxtapose those 199 with the number of people living in poverty in the United States. According to the most recent figures available from the U.S. Census Bureau, 46.2 million people lived in poverty in 2010, 15.1 percent of the population, the largest number in the 52 years the poverty estimates have been published. 2010 marked the fourth consecutive annual increase in the number of people in poverty.
-snip-
The next morning, NBCs Matt Lauer challenged him, asking: Did you suggest that anyone who questions the policies and practices of Wall Street and financial institutions, anyone who has questions about the distribution of wealth and power in this country, is envious? Is it about jealousy, or fairness? Romney doubled down, claiming: I think its about envy. I think its about class warfare. When you have a president encouraging the idea of dividing America based on the 99 percent versus 1 percentand those people who have been most successful will be in the 1 percent ... [its] entirely inconsistent with the concept of one nation under God.
Romneys campaign itself is well-financed, but his success to date, especially against his current main rival, Newt Gingrich, is driven by massive cash infusions to a so-called super PAC, the new breed of political action committee that can take unlimited funds from individuals and corporations. Super PACs are legally prohibited from coordinating their activities with a candidates campaign. Federal Election Commission filings made public Jan. 31 reveal that the principal super PAC supporting Romney, Restore Our Future, raised close to $18 million in the second half of 2011, from just 199 donors. Among his supporters are Alice Walton, who, although listed in the report as a rancher, is better known as an heir to the Wal-Mart fortune, and the famously caustic venture capitalist and billionaire Samuel Zell, the man credited with driving the Tribune media company into bankruptcy. William Koch, the third of the famous Koch brothers, also gave.
Juxtapose those 199 with the number of people living in poverty in the United States. According to the most recent figures available from the U.S. Census Bureau, 46.2 million people lived in poverty in 2010, 15.1 percent of the population, the largest number in the 52 years the poverty estimates have been published. 2010 marked the fourth consecutive annual increase in the number of people in poverty.
-snip-
The next morning, NBCs Matt Lauer challenged him, asking: Did you suggest that anyone who questions the policies and practices of Wall Street and financial institutions, anyone who has questions about the distribution of wealth and power in this country, is envious? Is it about jealousy, or fairness? Romney doubled down, claiming: I think its about envy. I think its about class warfare. When you have a president encouraging the idea of dividing America based on the 99 percent versus 1 percentand those people who have been most successful will be in the 1 percent ... [its] entirely inconsistent with the concept of one nation under God.
It's Amy Goodman -- the rest is worth reading! She nails it. Damn, if anyone would personify the government being of the 1% for the 1%, it'd be Romney!
February 2, 2012
President Obama still outpaces the Republican candidates when it comes to direct fundraising filling campaign coffers. But the big money, the more secretive stuff, is coming from these groups running ads and engaging in other activities to influence the election.
Much more at this must read NY Times article. The terrifying ones are the ones that allow for donors to hide their identities -- god only knows what foreign and illicit entities are buying their candidates and our elections.
Secrecy Shrouds ‘Super PAC’ Funds in Latest Filings
Newly disclosed details of the millions of dollars flowing into political groups are highlighting not just the scale of donations from corporation and unions but also the secrecy surrounding super PACs seeking to influence the presidential race.
-snip-
Some came from companies closely identified with prominent industrialists or financiers, like Contran, a mammoth holding company controlled by the Texas billionaire Harold Simmons, a patron of a number of conservative groups and candidates, and Blue Ridge Capital, a New York hedge fund founded by the wealthy investor John A. Griffin, a supporter of Mitt Romney.
But some checks came from sources obscured from public view, like a $250,000 contribution to a super PAC backing Mr. Romney from a company with a post office box for a headquarters and no known employees.
-snip-
Some came from companies closely identified with prominent industrialists or financiers, like Contran, a mammoth holding company controlled by the Texas billionaire Harold Simmons, a patron of a number of conservative groups and candidates, and Blue Ridge Capital, a New York hedge fund founded by the wealthy investor John A. Griffin, a supporter of Mitt Romney.
But some checks came from sources obscured from public view, like a $250,000 contribution to a super PAC backing Mr. Romney from a company with a post office box for a headquarters and no known employees.
President Obama still outpaces the Republican candidates when it comes to direct fundraising filling campaign coffers. But the big money, the more secretive stuff, is coming from these groups running ads and engaging in other activities to influence the election.
-snip-
Most of the money disclosed this week went to independent groups supporting Republicans, giving them an enormous money advantage over similar Democratic groups in the first phase of the 2012 election cycle. Such donations were made possible by the Supreme Courts Citizens United decision in 2010 and subsequent court rulings, which opened the door to unlimited corporate and union contributions to political committees and made it possible to pool that money with unlimited contributions from wealthy individuals.
Most of the money disclosed this week went to independent groups supporting Republicans, giving them an enormous money advantage over similar Democratic groups in the first phase of the 2012 election cycle. Such donations were made possible by the Supreme Courts Citizens United decision in 2010 and subsequent court rulings, which opened the door to unlimited corporate and union contributions to political committees and made it possible to pool that money with unlimited contributions from wealthy individuals.
Much more at this must read NY Times article. The terrifying ones are the ones that allow for donors to hide their identities -- god only knows what foreign and illicit entities are buying their candidates and our elections.
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