Pants On Fire, Inc

Well, frumps, Congress is back in session which means that so are professional lobbyists.  In addition, this weekend, the District will be hosting the good people of Ugh-Beck-istan for their long anticipated 9/12 bash.  I’m sure they’ll provide their usual measure of red, white and blue grassroots madness.  Speaking of grassroots, I have a story for you, today about the grassroots extraordinaire outfit called the U.S. Citizens Association

They are called that because their first choice of a name didn’t work out.   USCA started out calling themselves The Better Government Association.  Only problem was, there was already a Better Government Association which is a venerable, 86 year old, watchdog group headquartered in Chicago, IL. 

Here’s how the REAL Better Government Association describe themselves:

Founded in 1923 by a group of citizens concerned about the growing influence of the Capone mob, the Better Government Association (BGA) is an independent, non-partisan government watchdog group committed to fighting waste, corruption and inefficiency in government. The BGA applies investigative journalism techniques, litigation, and public policy studies to expose problems, inform citizens about the operations of their government and lay the groundwork for substantive legislative and administrative reforms.

 

The BGA remains committed to the same principles that mobilized our founders more than 80 years ago:

• A public office is a public trust.
• Anything that diminishes that trust, such as waste, fraud and corruption, ultimately undermines the public’s confidence in government.
• Such actions cost legitimate programs scarce resources and lead to decisions based upon private gain rather than public good.

 

Here’s how the fake Better Government Association described their mission:

1.  To inform the public on the fallacies of the information being spread by the liberal socialist organizations and the facts on capitalism versus socialism;
2.  To promote conservative capitalist candidates for public office;
3.  To file lawsuits against unconstitutional laws and actions by government and counter-lawsuits to those lawsuits filed by the liberal socialist organizations; and
4.  To form grass root organizations to compete with ACORN.

Ick!

 

Busted! 

Around about July, 2009, the real BGA got wind of the foaming-at-the-mouth agenda of the fake BGA (which, coincidentally, is at the opposite end of the political spectrum) and attempted several times to notify them that they, the real BGA,  would like their name back.  That civilized approach availed the real BGA little because when you call the fake BGA you are actually calling InfoCision, an Akron, OH-based telemarketing firm.

Finally, in exasperation, the real BGA had their attorneys seek a restraining order against the fake BGA to get their name back.  According to the Docket Record on that case, the fake BGA’s attorney did not present to defend them and the real BGA carried the day.  A Cease and Desist order was issued and overnight (literally) the fake BGA was reborn as US Citizens Association.

 Here’s how these dopes announced the name change on their website:

Due to the overwhelming response we’ve received from American citizens, we felt this new name, the U.S. Citizens Association, better reflects our mission and purpose. Since our media launch, we are becoming one of the most powerful and influential forces for halting the slide to Socialism that America is on course for today.

As always, the U.S. Citizens Association will provide the organization and drive necessary to reverse the forces that threaten our nation’s economic heritage. Why? Because those presently in power are on the verge of changing our country from capitalism to socialism. The truth is, liberal socialists have triumphed over conservative capitalists not because the liberal philosophy is better… but because they are well organized.

 

Socialists organize through labor unions, government employee unions, teachers unions, entertainment industry unions, environmental organizations, plaintiff attorney organizations, and political action organizations such as ACORN, Media Matters, and MoveOn.org. They also receive substantial funding from individuals (like George Soros) and have developed very advanced fundraising methods – including Internet.

 

In essence, conservative capitalists need an organization with mega-money and the expertise to compete with the organized efforts of the liberal socialists. This must include getting the message of the conservative talk show hosts and conservative organizations out to 100% of the public.

 

That’s where the U.S. Citizens Association comes in…

 

So, now we have the new US Citizen’s Association and it’s relationship with Infocision continues. InfoCision’s claim to fame is a practice called “political telemarketing” which just happens to be exempt from “do not call” regulations (or any obligation to tell the truth).   Clearly business is good in the political telemarketing game as demonstrated by the fact that the football stadium at the University of Akron is called InfoCision Stadium.  InfoCision, which operates 32 call centers, is a “message mercenary.” They’ll provide workers who in turn will say anything for a price.  And so it is that Mr. Lance Davis, who is employed by InfoCision, appears on U.S. Citizen’s Association’s website as their Founder (good of him to do that).

 

Who Are These Guys!?

It takes quite a bit of digging to actually unearth even that one name on the USCA’s site – Lance Davis, Founder is it, period.  As a matter of fact there are no identifying marks anywhere on the site, not even web design credits.  Nevertheless, in one month, USCA has spent millions of dollars on broadcast and print Anti-Obama ads nationwide.  You’d think someone would want to take credit for all that propaganda.

That brings us up to the present day and my morning troll through HuffPo where I found a brief posting from Lee Stranahan.  Poor Lee  had a jawdropping experience first thing Saturday morning.  His daughter was happily watching the Cartoon Network when, in the distance Larry hears the words “healthcare” and “socialism.”  Sure enough, when he checked it out the Cartoon Network was running USCA’s anti-Obamacare TV ad.  As Stranahan so succinctly put it:

“ So on the day before conservative crazies are about to pull their kids out of school so President Obama won’t ‘brainwash’ them with her commie talk about personal responsibilty and getting an education, there’s an ad about ’socialized medicine’ running on The Cartoon Network.”

“The ad makes statements that have been debunked over and over such as “You will pay for free health care for over 20 million illegal aliens.”

It turns out that this particular USCA advertisement is so spectacularly untrue and offensive that it has already drawn fire and been yanked from many networks due to outstanding efforts by CREW (Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington).

An article on CREW’s website dated August 27, 2009 and signed by CREW’s Executive Director Melanie Sloan reported that she had:

“sent a letter to MSNBC President Phil Griffin asking that MSNBC stop airing an ad sponsored by the U.S. Citizens Association. The ad, which ran at least once on August 27, 2009, during Morning Joe, violates Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations and NBC’s advertising policy.  (The letter can be seen here.)”

“The ad, which can be viewed on the organization’s website opposes healthcare reform and includes the following statements:

• Government can tax and print money, which will eliminate private healthcare and impose socialized medicine.
• You will wait months and years for treatment. Many people will not get treated at all.
• You will pay for free healthcare for over 20 million illegal aliens.

CREW Executive Director Melanie Sloan said:

 ”The ad goes beyond misleading and well into delusional. There is no reasonable explanation for airing an ad that irrationally argues because the government can tax and print money, private healthcare will be eliminated. MSNBC should be embarrassed this one got through and pull it immediately.”

Evidently, the ad has been pulled from most mainstream carriers but reports were coming in that the ads were still running on DISH Network and World Cinema, a major supplier of satellite TV for hotels was where Lee Stranahan saw it.

So, in its very brief lifetime, USCA has managed to cause quite a stir and spend QUITE a lot of money.  And still, no one really knows who is behind it all.  A lot of folks, including yours truly, have been digging to try to get to who is funding this Astroturf Factory.  I can’t rest when I come across anonymous BS like this:

“OUR MASSIVE MEDIA BLITZ HAS THE LIBERALS ON THE RUN…AND THEY DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT!”

“Despite our ads being rejected by Wall Street Journal, CNN and MSNBC–we are getting the truth out about the socialist healthcare reform and cap- and-trade bills in Congress. Ordinary Americans like you are becoming EMPOWERED and making it happen.”

“Your urgently needed contribution will help keep our hard-hitting ads on TV, Radio, the Internet and in the newspapers. Your generous media contribution will allow us to continue to put the heat on the socialist policies of the Obama Administration and Congress.”

Are there really people who donate to Black Holes like this?

 

USCA’s website identifies them as a “non-profit” organization but usually non-profits tell you whether or not your donations are tax dedutible or not (generally donations to 501c (3) orgs are deductible while donations to 501 c (4) are not).  Usually there are also some reassurances that your money will be going where you think it is.  I tried to find U.S. Citizens Association on the IRS search tool for non-profits and found nothing; I also searched under the Better Government Association name and found only the real BGA, in Chicago.  The donations spiel on the USCA website is characteristically squirrely:

 

“The U.S. Citizens Association is a non-profit organization made up of U.S. citizens. U.S. Citizens Association Membership is free. Donations are optional.”

“The U.S. Citizens Association will initially engage in fundraising to carry out the mission. Contributions to the U.S. Citizens Association will provide a great return on investment. In comparison to your time and/or a donation to the U.S. Citizens Association, think about how much it will cost you if your income tax is increased by 5% and you have to pay an additional 7.5% for Social Security for a total of 12.5%. On top of that, think about what socialized medicine and Carbon Cap-and-Trade tax will cost you. Think of what Card Check will cost you.”

No wonder they’ve had “such an overwhelming response” that they had to change their name.  Word-smithing like that is hard to resist.

 

What Would Sherlock Do? 

Before their name change, a couple of fellow sleuths over at Democratic Underground  made a few calls to the fake BGA and, of course reached InfoCision.  A call center supervisor said that she had no phone numbers for BGA headquarters but she did cough up the names of a few BGA Board members.

The DU’ers first called board member Rev. Herschel Gammill of Cathedral of Life Ministries in Canton, OH who declined to comment and instead referred questions to Ed Rollins, the Republican strategist who was Mike Huckabee’s national campaign chairman in 2008 presidential election.  Rollins, Gamill said, is chairman of the fake BGA’s (USCA) board.

A secretary for Rollins’ Washington-based New Strategies group told the Huffington Post Rollins was recovering from surgery and unavailable to comment.   She could not confirm whether he was affiliated with the fake BGA.

A few checks on USCA’s physical address turned up nothing for the address and suite number that they give as their address.  No big surprise there . . .  A WhoIs lookup for their web address turns up only an Administrator’s name, one Una L. Lauricia who, it turns out, is a partner at Pearne & Gordon LLP in Cleveland, OH.  According to the firm’s website, Una

“has handled various intellectual property disputes, including trademark opposition proceedings, patent litigation, and copyright disputes. Additionally, Una has rendered infringement, patentability, and validity opinions and has experience in drafting and negotiating various business agreements and documents including confidentiality and nondisclosure agreement and Internet-related agreements.”

Now it would be a major hoot if Una actually had something to do with establishing fake BGA, given the fact that her specialty is trademark opposition and copyright disputes.  But I suspect that there’s a more mundane explanation like the Pearnes & Gordon firm offering to set up the new organizational name and website domain after their clients, fake BGA,  were ordered to give up their old name.  Just guessing . . .

At any rate, now you’ll know where those anti-Obamacare ads in your motel room, or the full-page print ads that USCA has taken out in every market, are coming from.  If you go to the USCA website, you’ll find Astroturf at its down-and-dirtiest.  And, never fear, when healthcare reform is just a fond memory, USCA will still be covering ACORN or Carbon Cap or eliminating the Fed or some such rant on a TV or newspaper near you.  Keep an eye out, they are unmistakably awful.

Technorati Tags: US Citizen’s Association, astroturf,   right-wing, disinformation, Better Government Association

Tagged as: astroturf, Better Government Association, disinformation, right wing, US Citizen's Association