Posted on 03/17/2005 5:35:21 AM PST by oldtimer2
CAMPAIGN-FINANCE reform has been an immense scam perpetrated on the American people by a cadre of left-wing foundations and disguised as a "mass movement."
But don't take my word for it. One of the chief scammers, Sean Treglia, a former program officer of the Pew Charitable Trusts, confesses it all in an astonishing videotape I obtained earlier this week. This is an amazing story. I combined part of Ryan Sager's editorial and the transcript of the tape.
The tape — of a conference held at USC's Annenberg School for Communication in March of 2004 — shows Treglia expounding to a gathering of academics, experts and journalists (none of whom, apparently, ever wrote about Treglia's remarks) on just how Pew and other left-wing foundations plotted to create a fake grassroots movement to hoodwink Congress.
"I'm going to tell you a story that I've never told any reporter," Treglia says on the tape. "Now that I'm several months away from Pew and we have campaign-finance reform, I can tell this story."
That story in brief: Charged with promoting campaign-finance reform when he joined Pew in the mid-1990s, Treglia came up with a three-pronged strategy: 1) pursue an expansive agenda through incremental reforms, 2) pay for a handful of "experts" all over the country with foundation money and 3) create fake business, minority and religious groups to pound the table for reform.
"The target audience for all this activity was 535 people in Washington," Treglia says — 100 in the Senate, 435 in the House. "The idea was to create an impression that a mass movement was afoot — that everywhere they looked, in academic institutions, in the business community, in religious groups, in ethnic groups, everywhere, people were talking about reform."
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
You can put out all the studies and reports you want, you just can't get involved in the actual legislation.
Over McCains limp body.
We do the studies and reports........but our hands are really tied when it comes to advocacy.
The only way we seem to be able to do it is through interviews, not on the website.
Let's not forget McStain wants to write more legislation to close the "loophole" in CFR, thus cutting out the internet. How can ANYONE think this man is anything but the Enemy?
Seen this yet?
Wow, looks like Armstrong Jones got chump change.
I'd like to see Treglia charged with defrauding the government (congress, with his phony grass roots movement) and CFR challenged again.
A very good question. Where is the IRS when ya really need them?
I will refrain from saying "Please!" so that I don't tempt the AdminMod to make me go sit in a corner for a 'time out'.
- A 'red' guy in a 'blue' AZ county
Thanks Meek. That's a heckuva ping list you have there.
:^D
The difference is that the organization I belong to is involved in fighting for less nanny-state and more personal responsibility and private property rights.
In other words, we're not PC.
Their worst nightmare is the right and left comes together on one issue and this is the issure. Bring it on, idiots.
IMO, the left could care less about CFR except to whine that conservatives and those of the opinion that certain candidates are dangerous to our existance haven't been shut out completely enough. Only a matter of time before McStain fixes that.
MoveOn should be onboard, the DUmmies don't like it either.
Maybe. I hope you're right.
The way I read it, advocacy in itself is okay, 99.99% of C-3's are involved in advocacy of some sort. It's when a C-3 get's involved in the political or legislative process, indirectly or through advocacy, that crosses the line.
What the heck good is advocay if one can't be involved int he legislative process? isn't that the whole point of advocacy?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.