Exclusive: Conservative group offers to sell endorsement for $2M

[JohnWxy]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/20090717/pl_politico/25072


The American Conservative Union asked FedEx for a check for $2 million to $3 million in return for the group’s endorsement in a bitter legislative dispute, then flipped and sided with UPS after FedEx refused to pay.

For the $2 million plus, ACU offered a range of services that included: “Producing op-eds and articles written by ACU’s Chairman David Keene and/or other members of the ACU’s board of directors. (Note that Mr. Keene writes a weekly column that appears in The Hill.)”

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{but FedEx rebuffed the offer_JW}

After the rebuff, American Conservative Union changed sides. ACU Chairman David A. Keene was one of eight conservative leaders who signed a letter to FedEx Chairman Frederick W. Smith, a champion of capitalism who in the past has been a favorite of conservatives.

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The letter is also signed by Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, who is also on ACU’s board. FedEx is pushing its case with a website called www.BrownBailout.com.

Grover Norquist:
He is one of the "Gang of Five" in Nina Easton's 2000 book by that name, giving the history of leaders of the modern conservative movement. He has been described as "a thumb-in-the-eye radical rightist" (The Nation), and "Tom Paine crossed with Lee Atwater plus just a soupcon of Madame Defarge" (P.J. O'Rourke).

Norquist is famous for his widely quoted comment that he wants to shrink government "down to the size where we can drown it in the bathtub." Norquist largely rejects relativism and is comfortable assigning the labels of "good" and "bad". The pledge of "no new taxes" that so many Republican legislators signed was his project. He holds regular meetings for conservative leaders in which strategy is discussed. He once commented, "We play for keeps; they play for lunch."

[marmar]

1. Like a Mob shakedown......

.... The Cons are nothing but organized criminals.

[Old and In the Way]

2. "Our principles are for sale to the highest bidder"

Times must be tough when they have to revert to prostitution to survive. Guess their donation stream dried up.

[LiberalFighter]

3. Isn't that a form of lobbying? I thought lobbyists had to be registered.

I suppose it is a loophole.

[JohnWxy]

4. it is lobbying.

[LeftishBrit]

5. I wouldn't take the endorsement of anything with 'Conservative' in it, if it was free!