Obama Condemns Corporate Money While Using It To Promote Agenda
by Tom RemingtonAugust 24, 2010
President Obama’s Radio Address “No Corporate Takeover of Our Democracy” Exposes President’s Double Standard Regarding Corporate Influence
Big Business Played a Major Role In Passing ObamaCare and the Waxman-Markey Cap-and-Trade Legislation, says the Free Enterprise Project
Washington, D.C. – The Free Enterprise Project is charging President Obama with having a double standard on corporate money and influence.
“After using big business to advance his political agenda, suddenly President Obama is expressing concerns about corporate money in the political process. The fact is corporations played a crucial role in making ObamaCare law and getting the Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade bill passed in the House of Representatives,” said Tom Borelli, Ph.D., director of the National Center for Public Policy Research‘s Free Enterprise Project.
During his radio address Saturday, President Obama expressed fear that the Supreme Court decision in the Citizens United case would allow corporate special interests to spend unlimited amounts of money to sway elections. The president warned that companies could “hide behind a phony name like ‘Citizens for a Better Future,’” since a business entity paying for TV advertising is not required to disclose its name. The president added that the business could be a foreign corporation: “You don’t know if it’s BP,” said Obama.
Borelli notes that President Obama was the sole spokesperson in a television advertisement touting the benefits of his health care plan — an advertisement sponsored by Americans for Stable Quality Care, an organization funded by the drug industry and SEIU, the service employees’ union. In addition, Politico reported that PhRMA, the drug industry trade group, at one point planned to spend “as much as $150 million for advertising and grass-roots activity to help pass the president’s plan.”
“President Obama’s selective outrage about corporate influence is alarming. It’s ironic that the president himself appeared in a TV advertisement sponsored by what he now calls “shadowy groups with harmless-sounding names,” added Borelli.
“The President’s reference to BP is also disturbing. While Obama is trying to frighten the public by depicting BP as a ‘foreign-controlled corporation,’ he failed to mention the company was an ally in lobbying for his cherished cap-and-trade legislation. BP was a founding member of the United States Climate Action Partnership – a lobbying group that was largely responsible for passing the Waxman-Markey bill in the House of Representatives in 2009,” said Borelli.
Borelli notes that corporate interests such as General Electric have been a key ally of President Obama: “GE CEO Jeff Immelt has been a cheerleader for Obama’s political plan including the president’s green energy agenda. Immelt has partnered with Obama in seeking the so-called green energy economy and the company has aggressively lobbied for the president’s $ 787 billion stimulus plan. Hundreds of millions of dollars of the stimulus money was subsequently steered to GE’s customers. It’s disingenuous for the president to challenge corporate influence when he has actively partnered with big business when it served his political purposes,” added Borelli.
In a radio address last year, Obama cited the important role corporations were playing in pressing for cap-and-trade, saying, “Utility companies and corporate leaders are working with environmental advocates and labor leaders to find a way to reduce dependence on foreign oil, to fight climate change, and to create millions of new jobs in America.”
Borelli concludes, “Corporate special interests such as GE and the drug industry can be as much as a risk to liberty as progressive politicians. This is especially true when the agenda of big business aligns with progressive elected officials and labor unions. This is why Tea Party activists need to challenge politicians and business leaders.”
General Electric “Opportunistic Parasite”, Exploiting Big Government For Profits
by Tom RemingtonJuly 29, 2010
Lobbying for Increased Government Spending Puts GE on a Collision Course with Tea Party as House Panel Approves $450 Million Earmark for General Electric’s Jet Engine
Activists Urged to Sign Petition Calling for GE CEO Immelt to Resign
Washington, D.C. – Calling General Electric an “opportunistic parasite feeding on the expansion of government,” activists with the Free Enterprise Project of the National Center for Public Policy Research are calling on the public to sign a petition calling on GE CEO Jeff Immelt to resign.
The petition can found at http://www.bigbusinesswatch.org.
On Tuesday, the House Defense Appropriations Committee in an 11-5 vote approved $450 million earmark for a backup engine designed by General Electric and Rolls-Royce for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. The jet engine funding was part of the $681.8 billion spending bill approved by the committee.
President Obama and Defense Secretary Robert Gates opposed the funding of the secondary engine over budget concerns – Gates believes funding a backup engine is a waste of money. The Pentagon chose an engine made by Pratt & Whitney to power the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.
“GE’s success in getting the House panel to vote for its jet engine illustrates its dominance over the legislative process. Under GE CEO Jeff Immelt’s leadership, GE has become an opportunistic parasite feeding on the expansion of government,” said Tom Borelli, Ph.D., director of the National Center for Public Policy Research’s Free Enterprise Project.
In addition to its lobbying success with the jet engine, GE pushed for President Obama’s $787 billion stimulus plan and the company is working hard to pass cap-and-trade legislation and a renewable energy standard in the Senate. GE stands to benefit from government subsidies for its wind turbines and solar energy products and from its utility customers that received smart-grid grants.
“Recent news stories about the demise of cap-and-trade legislation may be greatly exaggerated. President Obama recently expressed an interest in pursuing climate change legislation and White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said the House cap-and-trade provisions could be merged with a Senate energy bill during a conference committee,” said Borelli.
“GE lobbyists will be swarming over the last minute push for cap-and-trade. Immelt’s business strategy to profit from an expansion of government is in direct conflict with liberty-loving Tea Party activists who want to rein in spending and stop cap-and-trade. GE’s actions demonstrate that advocates for limited government and fiscal responsibility can’t ignore the risk posed by CEOs such as Immelt,” added Borelli.
Stopping cap-and-trade remains a high priority for Tea Party members. It’s at the top of the list in the Contract From America, a policy agenda for Congress put together by Tea Party activists nationwide.
“To address the threat to limited government brought about by GE we have a petition that calls for Immelt to resign. It’s time that ‘We the People’ send a strong message that citizen patriots will tackle CEOs as well as big spending elected officials,” said Borelli.
The petition can found at http://www.bigbusinesswatch.org.
Dow Chemical Exploits President Obama’s Failed Energy Policy
by Tom RemingtonJuly 9, 2010
Company Lobbies for Cap-and-Trade and Government Subsidies While Expanding in the Middle East
Washington, D.C. – Today policy experts at the National Center for Public Policy Research are calling attention to Dow Chemical’s exploitation of Obama’s failed energy policy.
“Dow Chemical is taking advantage of President Obama’s failed leadership on energy. Dow is aggressively lobbying for cap-and-trade and Obama’s green initiatives to line its pockets with taxpayers’ funds while it expands the company’s manufacturing base overseas. American taxpayers are subsidizing Dow’s moving costs,” said Tom Borelli, Ph.D., director of the National Center’s Free Enterprise Project.
Dow is a member of the United States Climate Action Partnership – a lobbying coalition that is actively pursuing cap-and-trade legislation.
The Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade bill that passed the House of Representatives last year gave companies the vast majority of energy tax revenue in the form of carbon allowances free of charge. Originally, President Obama intended to auction off carbon allowances to industry with the revenue going to the government.
Dow is expanding its investment in overseas operations especially in the Middle East. In 2007, Dow entered into an agreement with Saudi Aramco to establish a multi-billion dollar petrochemical joint venture based in Saudi Arabia. More recently, Dow partnered with the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology on a multi-million dollar joint research effort.
“Dow CEO Andrew Liveris’ actions demonstrate he sees the company’s future outside the U.S. In the U.S., Dow is happy to join with the growing list of climate profiteers to exploit Obama’s green dream but when it comes to real investment in chemical manufacturing, Liveris is all in with Saudi Arabia,” added Tom Borelli.
Dow is also aggressively lobbying for the Home Star Energy Retrofit Act of 2010. The legislation, also known as ‘Cash for Caulkers,’ was recently passed by the House of Representatives, and provides rebates for homeowners who take measures to update their homes with energy saving products such as insulation. Dow, a supplier of home insulation products, stands to cash-in on the bill that provides $6 billion in rebates.
“Savvy CEOs are reaping the benefits of Obama’s poor leadership. Big business has figured out it can profit from Obama’s green initiatives which are subsidized by government funds. This is a losing proposition for Americans; our debt goes up while companies such as Dow use subsidies to make significant investments overseas,” said Deneen Borelli, Fellow with Project 21.
“The disaster in the Gulf of Mexico will only exacerbate problems for the oil and chemical companies. Obama’s war on fossil fuels will likely chase more companies overseas leading to slower economic growth and higher unemployment,” added Deneen Borelli.
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by Tom RemingtonJune 23, 2010
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Juneteenth Civil Rights Holiday Observed With Future Freedom At Risk
by Tom RemingtonJune 23, 2010
Washington, D.C. – On the occasion of “Juneteenth” — the oldest and most recognized annual commemoration of the end of slavery in the United States — members of the Project 21 black leadership network assert the civil rights-themed holiday should be used to reflect on past struggles for freedom and how to expand and protect hard-won liberties and opportunities at a time when they may be on the wane.
Project 21 members have commemorated Juneteenth since 1999, urging black Americans to use the observance of Juneteenth to embrace their inherent talents and strengthen ties with family and community.
“Juneteenth is a time to reflect on where we as blacks have been and a time to conduct an azimuth check on where we are going,” said Project 21 member R. Dozier Gray. “It is a time for reflection. It is a time for clarity. It is a time to count the ways in which we are free and to take measure of the chains that still bind us. It is a time to take stock of ourselves — as men, as husbands, as women, as wives and sons and daughters. It is a time to plot a course to freedom from debt, immorality and lethargy. No one ever truly freed a man but himself, just as no one ever really enslaved a man but himself.”
In the course of the past year, government spending and government control greatly expanded and the nation’s economic well-being is now at risk. The passage of ObamaCare, which will result in the takeover of much of the nation’s private health care system, and ongoing attempts to impose a “cap-and-trade” energy policy will lead to decreased liberty and increased oversight over and cost to the average American in the future. That makes this year’s Juneteenth commemoration the most important in many years.
Project 21 fellow Deneen Borelli added: “Juneteenth is a special day for blacks to commemorate liberty. Liberty offers us the opportunity to use our talents to pursue happiness and success. With this in mind, we must seek self-reliance and rely on hard-work as a means to achievement — avoiding government programs that create dependency.”
Juneteenth commemorates the anniversary of the June 19, 1865 arrival of Union soldiers in Galveston, Texas. The soldiers carried the news that the Civil War was over and that President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation had abolished slavery two-and-a-half years earlier.
The annual commemoration became known as Juneteenth and quickly became a stabilizing as well as motivating presence in the lives of black Americans in Texas, who faced many uncertainties associated with newly-acquired freedom. The observance quickly spread from Texas to be recognized across the United States.
Juneteenth is celebrated in many ways, but education and self-improvement have been consistent themes at commemorative community gatherings and picnics in recent years. In 1980, Juneteenth was made an official holiday in Texas. Currently, 35 states recognize Juneteenth as a state holiday or observance.
New Technology Makes Oil Fast
by Al RemingtonJune 12, 2010
“Called “biomass catalytic cracking,” KiOR uses a unique chemical to catalyze, or greatly speed up, the “cracking” of larger plant compounds into smaller oils that can be refined for practical use. Their goal is to build small processing units that will be used in rural areas to produce energy, yielding only water and ash as waste products. The process can generate “green oil” in seconds, in contrast to the crude oil that supposedly required millions of years to develop.”
article by Brian Thomas, M.S.
Institute for Creation Research
Washington’s Assault on Alaska
by Al RemingtonJune 10, 2010
ConocoPhillips, Anchorage, Alaska/photo Al Remington
In a recent address at an Anchorage Chamber of Commerce “Make it Monday” forum, U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, spoke about how Alaska is under assault back in Washington. Below are some examples that Murkowski cited in her remarks:
•Most recently the decision by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to update the management plan for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, including a possible wilderness designation.
•The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers denial of ConocoPhillip’s CD-5 plan because of EPA and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service complaints about river disturbances near NPR-A.
•EPA’s proposed lead-based paint rule requiring all home-sellers of properties built before 1976 to have a certified lead-paint removal specialist perform any work that disturbs more than six-square feet of a house’s surface. Some contractors estimate this will add 10 percent to the cost of major remodels and up to $5,000 for whole house paint removal efforts. Compliance will be especially difficult in rural areas where there are few, if any, qualified lead-paint removal specialists.
•EPA proposal to tighten ozone air standards, in addition to tighter PM 2.5 particulate standards unveiled last year, and new mercury air emission standards – all standards that threaten Alaska’s coal industry, but also complicate economic activity for the transportation industry and for towns like Fairbanks and Juneau’s Mendenhall Valley.
•The tourism industry faces new low-sulfur diesel fuel requirements and engine replacement rules that could drive up the cost of cruises as well as freight shipments to Alaska.
•General aviation faces new limitations on lead in aviation gas that could affect 30 percent of older airplanes in Alaska, effectively preventing them from flying since engine modifications may be impossible that would allow them to operate on new fuels.
•This administration is considering unveiling new spatial planning requirements for the oceans off our coasts, which could shut down both offshore and onshore energy development, including our ability to tap our renewable energy resources.
•The Bureau of Land Management’s new leasing policies for onshore oil and gas drilling – theoretically to regulate oil shale leasing in the Mountain West – that will likely impact oil and gas exploration and development in the NPR-A. The new rules override the use of categorical exclusions, slowing down permitting and environmental reviews.
•The administration’s repeated efforts to impose nearly $400 billion in new taxes over a 10-year period on the oil and gas industry.
•Interior Department’s proposed “time-out” on offshore exploration in response to the Gulf disaster.
•New Endangered Species Act listings, not just for the polar bear and the beluga in Cook Inlet, but also for seals, walrus and loons.
•New Clean Water Act enforcement rules aimed at the mining industry.
•Efforts to reform the Mining Law of 1872 and battles over land-use designations in Alaskan mining districts.
•Proposal to reinstate the Clinton road-less rule nationally.
•The administration’s plan to unveil a new logging plan for the Tongass that will focus on restoration sales and small-diameter timber offerings, but not the logging of old-growth needed for mills to be profitable.
My Slit Throat and other EnviroMental Frauds, Hoaxes.
by Al RemingtonJune 5, 2010
Reading the paper again today, I came across an article in the sad state of affairs, California, where the author posed the coming global affects of our own actions causing our own demise. The rising seas; the polar bear; the seals the birds the bees the worms the trees is because global warming is here and you have to do something.
I will; as soon as the seas start rising and the polar bear stops breeding so fast.
The seals leaving california from their rising temperatures, sea levels, warming ocean currents (pick one), should meet up with the seals leaving the melting Alaska, right about the time the gray whale finds the deminishing belugas. If the timing is perfect; and it should be; always is in science mongering, all the salmon and multitude other fishes will escape into the seas from the fresh waters before the super-erosion of the coast lines from 30 to 40 foot higher sea levels.
Typical as the paper has been on articles of this nature, this is the fifth or sixth time I have gone to electric mail to find the article to post to; and it is not there. It reads the same as the rest of the papers owned by tyrannous bastards, so, I’m going to keep blabbin’.
Like the slit throat and the gashed mouth in the photo; make-up and fakes, fraud, desception.
Kerry – Lieberman Cap-and-Trade Bill Rewards Wall Street
by Tom RemingtonMay 13, 2010
Kerry – Lieberman Cap-and-Trade Legislation Rewards Wall Street and Members of President Obama’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board
Legislation Powers a Green Investment Bubble
Washington, DC: Responding to the introduction of the American Power Act by Senators John Kerry (D-MA) and Joseph Lieberman (I-CT), policy experts at the National Center for Public Policy Research are calling attention to the role big business and special interests played in shaping the bill.
“In reality the bill should be called the ‘American Corporate Power Act,’ since the legislation caters to big business demands while exposing Americans to the financial risks of a green investment bubble. By establishing a cap-and-trade scheme, Congress is incentivizing Wall Street to profit from a carbon trading market that is filled with risk,” said Tom Borelli Ph.D., director of the National Center’s Free Enterprise Project.
“Wall Street is a big winner with Kerry-Lieberman.,” Borelli added. “The legislation’s cap-and-trade scheme powers a carbon trading market where banks will profit from the buying and selling of carbon credits and carbon offsets. However, by pursuing a quick buck, Wall Street is overlooking the inherent risk of trading carbon dioxide. Through cap-and-trade, the government is by decree, making carbon dioxide a commodity – something of value that can be traded. But carbon dioxide has no intrinsic value; it’s a ubiquitous naturally occurring gas.”
“Unlike other commodities such as gold, silver, even orange juice or pork bellies – with carbon dioxide you can’t eat it, wear it or build with it. If Wall Street could not manage the risk with real estate where land has actual value, how can they manage risk with carbon dioxide?” asks Tom Borelli.
“It’s outrageous that Congress, in its rush to establish a carbon trading market, is ignoring reports of fraud that has plagued the European carbon market,” said Tom Borelli.
General Electric CEO Jeff Immelt and Al Gore’s venture capital partner John Doerr are members of President Obama’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board. GE and Kliner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers – Doerr’s firm – have made huge bets on green technologies and stand to profit handsomely from the Kerry – Lieberman legislation.
Both Immelt and Doerr issued statements supporting the American Power Act following the bill introduction.
“The alignment of business and government interests to mandate a carbon trading market and sales in green technologies is truly frightening. President Obama has ushered in a new era of politics where he financially rewards supporters of his progressive agenda at a great cost to the American people,” said Deneen Borelli, full-time fellow with Project 21.
“Let’s not forget that Spain’s green jobs initiative was a miserable failure. Why would a green jobs program be any different here in the U.S.,” added Deneen Borelli.
“The business community is making a mistake by seeking profits on the backs of the Americans who are going to get saddled with the burdens of higher energy prices. Stopping cap-and-trade is very high on the agenda of the ‘Contract from America’ – the Tea Party legislative agenda for Congress. Companies will soon discover that alienating millions of customers is a bad business strategy,” said Deneen Borelli.
Corporate Spending for Cap-and-Trade Faces Investor Challenge
by Tom RemingtonMay 12, 2010
Political Contributions Proposal to Be Voted on at PG&E Annual Shareholder Meeting
Concerns over PG&E Lobbying for Cap-and-Trade Spurred Investor Action
Washington, DC: The fate of a Political Contributions Shareholder Proposal being offered by Shelton Ehrich at the PG&E shareholder meeting Wednesday is being carefully monitored by the National Center for Public Policy Research, which applauds efforts to bring greater transparency to corporate political giving.
Tom Borelli, Ph.D., director of the National Center for Public Policy Research‘s Free Enterprise Project, says, “All Americans would benefit from greater transparency regarding corporate political giving. According to the proposal, in 2008 alone, PG&E spent over $27 million lobbying for such things as cap-and-trade, an expensive global warming-related policy scheme that would enrich a handful of corporations while raising consumer prices and driving our jobs overseas.”
PG&E is a member of the United States Climate Action Partnership (USCAP) – a lobbying coalition of corporations and environmental activist groups who are seeking a national law to limit carbon dioxide emissions. USCAP played a key role in passing the Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade bill in the House of Representatives last year. Other USCAP members include troubled companies such as BP, GM and Chrysler.
Senators John Kerry (D-MA) and Joseph Lieberman (D-CT) are expected to introduce a Senate version of a cap-and-trade bill this week.
“With California’s unemployment rate at 12.5 percent, the state can’t afford cap-and-trade. Tragically, PG&E is trying to bring President Obama’s cap-and-trade dream to reality, despite the economic cost. Recall Obama said during his presidential campaign, ‘Under my plan of a cap and trade system, electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket,’” said Deneen Borelli, full-time fellow of Project 21.
Economic studies on cap-and-trade have consistently found this regulatory regime would result in higher energy prices and slower economic growth.
PG&E’s annual shareholder meeting will be held May 12 at 10:00 AM PT at the San Ramon Valley Conference Center, 3301 Crow Canyon Road, San Ramon, California.
Mr. Ehrlich is expected to present the proposal at the meeting.
