And there he is shaking my Grandfathers hand back when he was around. lol
Posted on 08/18/2009 4:04:25 PM PDT by taildragger
Edited on 08/18/2009 4:25:51 PM PDT by Admin Moderator. [history]
The allegations in this Bloomberg story --if true-- pose a huge problem for a senior advisor to the president, David Axelrod. This is the heart of the problem:
Axelrod was president and sole shareholder of AKPD from 1985 until he sold his interest after Obama’s victory, government records show. The firm owes Axelrod $2 million, which it’s due to pay in installments beginning Dec. 31. Axelrod’s son, Michael, still works there. He didn’t return a phone call. The firm’s Web site continues to feature David Axelrod’s work on the Obama campaign. (Emphasis added.)
The problem is that Axelrod's former firm is currently receiving huge fees "from Healthy Economy Now, a coalition that includes the Washington-based Pharmaceutical Research & Manufacturers of America, known as PhRMA," as well as AARP, the SEIU and other big players in the health care debate.
If Axelrod has been negotiating any part of any deal involving any of these players which are funneling money to the firm that owes him money, or if he is advising the president on the deals with any of these groups, that's a conflict of interest. Laundering the money through a "coalition" doesn't remove the conflict much less the appearance of impropriety. The coalition is in effect partially funding David Axelrod's severance package though its members might have done so unknowingly. These forthcoming payments to Axelrod are much more significant than the sort of "retained ties" that Democrats blasted Dick Cheney for vis-a-vis Halliburton even though there was no high level negotiations between the vice president and his former company.
David Axelrod has some tough questions to answer, and according to Politico's Mike Allen, Politico's Ken Vogel will be publishing more on matters Axelrodian tomorrow. (Thetranscript of my interview with Allen will be posted here later tonight.) Vogel's story on Axelrod's son from a few days back casts doubt on the Bloomberg story's accuracy as Bloomberg has Axelrod's son still at Axelrod's old firm, but Vogel has him at The Huffington Post.
If it was Karl Rove in a similar set of circumstances, the blogs and some in MSM would already be demanding a special prosecutor. There are lots of questions for Mr. Axelrod, the first one being whether the Bloomberg story is accurate. if the answer is "yes," the second will be: "Have you lawyered up?"
GET OBAMA ON THE RECORD NOW...
Oh thats right ....LOL .... The media is in his pocket no one will question him on this issue, and as they all gather for a BBQ in the Hamptons where us common folk better known as Bitter Clingers are discussed in disparaging tones, called ignornat and have our patriotism questioned, they will plot the appropriate actions and response to this issue and say it is laughable to suggest that Mr. Axelrod would in anyway be culpable in a conflict of interest, I mean didn’t we have enough of the with Dick Cheney and Haliburton? Any resistance will be minimalized with comments like its only a small mindless group of crazy right wingers fixated on destroying Obama through various concocted conspiracies. Followed with blame on Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity.
Is Glenn Beck really on vacation? He returned from a week’s vacation only recently and now he’s off again. Did FOX suspend him because of the loss of ad revenue?
We all saw how Rahm resigned with the revelations of his crooked dealings in Chicago...OR Pelosi...these crooks stick together and you’ll not see any of them resign. They stick their finger in the air at Americans and continue with whatever they choose to do. Foxes guarding the hen house...and it appears there is not one thing any of us can do about it.
Just think what the UNION GOONS at SEIU GET with a NATIONALIZED HEALTHCARE EXTORTION RING! YEP! THE SEIU GETS a 100% UNION MEMBERHIP GUARANTEED CONTROLLING 20-25% OF THE ENTIRE NATIONAL ECONOMY INITIALLY! and then the PERCENTAGE only goes UP FROM THERE!
Well how screwy is this?
http://www.barackobama.com/issues/healthcare/
otherwise known as ORGANIZING FOR AMERICA
How many presidents have websites in their name like this, supposedly having no connection to obama. Hunh?
Created by Axelrod’s AKPD Media and Messages team. Here they are, bragging about their obama accomplishments:
http://akpdmedia.com/newsroom/
Axelrod’s people are in everything
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=6665918
Obama Aide Axelrod Leaves Chicago Firm
David Axelrod, a top Obama aide, sells stake in Chicago consulting firm
WASHINGTON January 16, 2009 (AP)
The Associated Press
David Axelrod, President-elect Barack Obama’s top political adviser, is severing his ties with the Chicago media consulting firm he founded 23 years ago.
Axelrod, who will be a White House senior adviser with an office near the Oval Office, said Friday he has sold his stake in AKPD Message and Media. Among the remaining partners is David Plouffe, who was Obama’s presidential campaign manager.
(snip)
http://minstrelboy.blogspot.com/2009/05/chris-kenndy-is-in-for-senate-seat.html
Chris is in
Chicago Sun-Times (IL) - Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Author: Michael Sneed, The Chicago Sun-Times
SCOOPSVILLE . . .
Bet the ranch!
- Translation: Sneed has learned the Merchandise Mart’s Chris Kennedy, son of the late U.S. Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, will announce he is running for the U.S. Senate early next week.
- Tip ‘em: Sneed tipped (April 28) that Kennedy, who will be the first member of his famous family to run for office from Illinois, had commissioned Obama pollster John Anzalone — and talked to media consultants Larry Grisolano and John Kupper, who now run the AKPD firm once headed by David Axelrod , President Obama’s senior adviser.
- To wit: Kennedy will be running for Barack Obama’s old Senate seat, now held by Roland Burris, the beleaguered appointee of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
- The upshot: The AKPD firm has reportedly prepared an Internet commercial, which will be aired next week introducing Kennedy’s candidacy.
(snip)
NYS: DiNapoli hires Del Cecato for 2010 campaign
Newsday: Blogs (Long Island, NY) - Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Author: Dan Janison
Ramping up his 2010 election campaign, state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli today hired a veteran of Barack Obama’s presidential bid to advise him on media matters.
John Del Cecato, left, a partner in the firm AKPD founded by Obama media guru David Axelrod , will serve as a consultant to DiNapoli 2010.
Previously, Del Cecato worked on races for Philadelphia mayor, Congress and for state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, as well as former Bronx Borough President Fernando Ferrer.
(snip)
Patrick picks Obama aide for his 2010 campaign
Boston Globe, The (MA) - Friday, June 5, 2009
Author: Matt Viser Globe Staff Globe Staff
Governor Deval Patrick is tapping the architect of Barack Obama’s presidential campaign to help run his bid for reelection next year, an indication of the type of political star power the governor may be able to utilize as he seeks another four-year term.
David Plouffe, who was Obama’s campaign manager and is widely credited with Obama’s successful run, will work as a campaign consultant focusing on Patrick’s message and strategy.
“What I’m excited about is bringing about change,” Plouffe said by phone yesterday. “And doing longer- term things is hard in politics. But I think he’s trying to bring about a lot of reforms and has been successful about them already.”
The announcement of Plouffe’s role in Patrick’s campaign is a sign the governor is beginning to build his campaign network and trying to put to rest doubts political insiders have raised about whether he is committed to running again.
“David Plouffe’s credentials speak for themselves,” said Steve Crawford, spokesman for the Patrick campaign. “It’s great to have him back as part of the campaign team.”
Plouffe is credited with keeping Obama’s campaign a tightly run ship, building a national grass-roots network and a fund-raising powerhouse, and running the mechanics of the race. He was the quieter, behind-the-scenes operator, while campaign strategist David Axelrod , who is now in the White House as an Obama senior adviser, was more of a public face for the campaign.
Plouffe did not take a position in the Obama administration and has maintained a low profile since the conclusion of the presidential campaign. He has been doing corporate consulting work, writing a book about the campaign called “The Audacity to Win,” and spending time with his family, who now live in Washington.
Plouffe is scheduled to be in Boston tonight for a fund-raiser, and is also delivering a keynote address at the Massachusetts Democratic State Convention tomorrow in Springfield.
“I feel a lot of loyalty to him,” he said of Patrick. “This will be the one race I spend a lot of time on.”
(snip)
...............................................
Numerous people with knowledge of PhRMA’s plans said they had been told it would likely reach $150 million and perhaps $200 million. They spoke on condition of anonymity, saying they were not authorized to divulge details.
Additionally, the industry is the major contributor to Healthy Economy Now, which recently completed a $12 million round of advertising nationally and in several states. The ads were made by companies with close ties to Democrats and the White House and generally reflected the administration’s changing rhetoric on health care.
In an interview, Ken Johnson, senior vice president of PhRMA, said, “We will have a significant presence over the August recess, both on television and newspapers and on radio, but we have not finalized details for our fall campaign.”
Independent calculations show Healthy Economy Now has spent about $12 million on three ads that ran nationally and in 17 states and the District of Columbia.
The messages meshed with the White House’s changing rhetoric. An ad that began in mid-June said patients would be able to choose their own doctors. Another, launched in mid-July, focused on consumer protections, including a ban on insurance companies denying coverage due to pre-existing medical conditions.
To make the ads, the group hired GMMB, a political consulting and advocacy advertising firm with close ties to the White House and Senate Democrats, as well as AKPD, top White House strategist David Axelrod’s former firm.
22 posted on Tuesday, August 18, 2009 6:22:43 PM by kcvl
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/18/AR2009011802286_pf.html
As the Consultants Turn
The world of political consulting has been compared to a soap opera — drama galore and a lot of sudden breakups and overdue reconciliations. The early days of 2009 are proving to be no exception, as a number of high-profile consultants are opening new shops, joining forces and otherwise re-orienting the professional political class.
Among the most noteworthy changes:
· David Axelrod, the lead strategist for Obama, has sold his ownership stake in the firm AKPD Message and Media. The new firm will comprise three of its current partners — John Kupper, David Plouffe and John Del Cecato — as well as Larry Grisolano, who coordinated the ad strategy and polling operations for Obama. Grisolano will be the managing partner of AKPD and will retain an “of counsel” role to the Strategy Group, a direct-mail firm in which he served as a partner. Axelrod’s decision to go into the White House necessitated a clean break with his consultant past. “It’s really difficult for me to leave a company that’s been such a huge part of my life, but I enter my new post with enormous pride and confidence in the team that’s taking over,” Axelrod said of the move.
· Jason Ralston, one of Obama’s lead admakers, is leaving the media consulting powerhouse GMMB to start a new company with John Lapp, the man who directed House Democrats’ 30-seat pickup as executive director of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee during the 2006 cycle. Lapp and Ralston got to know each other during that election as Ralston was the lead media consultant for the multimillion-dollar independent expenditure effort. Lapp, who spent the 2008 election cycle at the media firm McMahon Squier Lapp and Associates, said that he and Ralston “look forward to working together — to grow a progressive majority all across the country.” The new firm will be known as Ralston Lapp Media.
· Steve McMahon and Alex Castellanos — two of the most frequent TV guests among the world of political consultants — are teaming up to form Purple Strategies, a “strategic public affairs communications firm,” according to a news release trumpeting the new company. McMahon is best known as a senior adviser to the 2004 Democratic presidential campaign of former Vermont governor Howard Dean, and Castellanos was the lead media consultant for former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney’s unsuccessful 2008 Republican presidential bid. Bruce Haynes, who served as chief of staff to Rep. Bob Inglis (R-S.C.), will be the new firm’s managing partner, while John Donovan, a longtime Democratic media adviser, will lead the company’s creative team. The goal of the company is to offer “the complete perspective” on issues to corporations and nonprofit organizations, according to McMahon. Neither McMahon nor Castellanos will leave their political firms.
After they get Obamacare, they get to keep the "VEBA" money for recruitment.....
It’s SPECIAL PROSECUTOR TIME!!
Between this and the ‘snitch line, we are looking at several felonies!
Thanks for the background links.
Political Insider Reed lays claim to Obama campaign advisors
Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The (GA) - Thursday, February 26, 2009
Author: JIM GALLOWAY ; Staff
7:10 pm February 26, 2009
Last year, Councilwoman Mary Norwood said she’s the Barack Obama candidate in the race to succeed Shirley Franklin to become Atlanta’s next mayor.
But when it comes to Obama infrastructure, much of that has been snagged by state Sen. Kasim Reed, according to my AJC colleague Eric Stirgus.
Reed announced Thursday that AKPD Message & Media will serve as his camp’s media consultants. Some of the firm’s better known names include David Plouffe, Obama’s campaign manager; John Del Cecato, who produced many of the presidential candidate’s TV ads; and John Kupper, who helped the president-to-be as a message and advertising consultant.
Additionally, Reed said he has lined up Cornell Belcher, who was Obama’s pollster.
(snip)
//
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/03/AR2009030303210_pf.html
Minority Leader Limbaugh
By David Plouffe
Wednesday, March 4, 2009; A15
The 2008 election sent many messages. At the top: Americans wanted to turn the page on the politics of division and partisan pettiness, and they wanted a government — and country — that would put the middle class first.
Watching the Republicans operate this past month, it would appear that they missed that unmistakable signal.
Instead, Rush Limbaugh has become their leader.
(snip)
But if the GOP sticks with its strategy of failure as the only option, further eroding its brand with the people who decide elections, we may find out what it means for a political party to hit rock bottom.
The writer is senior adviser at AKPD Message and Media, a political consulting firm. He served as campaign manager for Obama for America and Obama-Biden 2008.
//
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/08/AR2009020802333.html
Obama Confidant Plans To Meet Azerbaijani Leader
Washington Post, The (DC) - Monday, February 9, 2009
Author: Shankar Vedantam, Washington Post Staff Writer
David Plouffe, who managed Barack Obama’s presidential campaign and was cited by Obama as the “unsung hero” in his ascendancy to the White House, is expected to meet this week with Azerbaijan’s president, who has been accused of undermining democracy in that oil-rich country.
Plouffe does not work for the White House, but he remains close to top White House officials. His outreach to Democrats, particularly through new-media ventures, was credited with propelling Obama to victory, and he continues to play an integral role with President Obama’s grass-roots political operation, Organizing for America. Last week, he e-mailed that group’s 13 million addresses with a video from Obama that urged support for the economic stimulus plan.
His trip to Azerbaijan is scheduled to include a speech today at Gerb University in the capital of Baku, followed by a meeting with President Ilham Aliyev and the speaker of the parliament, Oktay Asadov, according to Radio Free Europe, which first reported on the trip.
“Plouffe is coming as a private citizen,” Terry Davidson, a spokesman at the U.S. Embassy in Azerbaijan, told Radio Free Europe. “The embassy is not in charge of his schedule.”
Check out post #69.
WOW!
“David Plouffe, who managed Barack Obama’s presidential campaign and was cited by Obama as the “unsung hero” in his ascendancy to the White House, is expected to meet this week with Azerbaijan’s president, who has been accused of undermining democracy in that oil-rich country.”
He is pretty good at undermining democracy..he has done it in America too! Breaking on Drudge....The Democrats plan on using the nuclear option and going it alone on Healthcare! Obama and the democrats have just declared war on America!
Celente on the 2nd American Revolution....
I fear Celente's predictions of last summer....
Don’t miss this gem ...
“Plouffe does not work for the White House, but he remains close to top White House officials. His outreach to Democrats, particularly through new-media ventures, was credited with propelling Obama to victory, and he continues to play an integral role with President Obama’s grass-roots political operation, Organizing for America. Last week, he e-mailed that group’s 13 million addresses with a video from Obama that urged support for the economic stimulus plan.”
Wonder if he is behind the email snitch scandal? Sounds like a likely suspect.
http://creativity-online.com/news/the-2009-creativity-50-david-axelrod-and-david-plouffe/134455
“. . . Plouffe—a college dropout with years of electoral experience—stayed behind the scenes and crunched the numbers, famously devising a path through the primaries that allowed Obama to upset the presumptive favorite Hillary Clinton. (Perhaps these guys aren’t named “David” by accident.) Together they ran a campaign that exhibited discipline in everything it did—from messaging to font treatments to online networking—and which will serve as the blueprint for many campaign cycles to come.”
ping
The Axehole’s son just started working for Huff & Puff about 2 weeks ago.
Hugh Hewitt was convinced Axelrod is toast. This goes WAY beyond an 'appearance' of conflict. It is actual conflict - period.
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