ACORN-Led ‘Think Tank’ Works In Concert With NY Times To Attack Energy Companies
by Capitol ConfidentialEarlier this month, The New York Times ran a front page article that claimed, “an examination of the American tax code indicates that oil production is among the most heavily subsidized businesses, with tax breaks available at virtually every stage of the exploration and extraction process.” The thesis of the article was that oil companies are the benefactors of enormous subsides, primarily through complicated maneuvering of offshore assets, “tax breaks,” and “loopholes.”
Unfortunately, the copy of the American tax code that The Times used to conduct their careful analysis appears to have been heavily edited by a cadre of left leaning groups, including ACORN President Maude Hurd, Citizens for Tax Justice, Center for American Progress and the Clean Energy Works campaign.
The smoking gun comes in the form of a leaked memo from CEW communications advisor and former Democratic congressional staffer David Di Martino just days after The New York Times ran it’s wildly misguided assessment of U.S. tax policy.
In the memo, Di Martino outlines a strategy to change America’s perception of increased taxes on energy producers as a tax on consumers by arguing “the American people already have a national energy tax — The Big Oil Welfare Tax — in the form of billions of dollars in subsidies to the wildly profitable big oil companies.” The same day that Di Martino released his memo, Citizens for Tax Justice (CTJ) released their own defective and dishonest hit piece, titled “What Oil and Gas Companies Extract from the American Public.” The tax breaks referred to by Di Martino and the CTJ memo, in reality, are the same credits that every American company receives for taxes paid overseas to foreign governments on income earned abroad.
Di Martino’s ammunition to redefine these essential standard tax credits? It should come as no surprise that its The New York Times skewed assessment of the U.S. tax code and biased analysis from the Center for American Progress (CAP).
Before we let The Times and its allies at CEW “redefine” the tax credits that allow America’s oil and gas industry to remain competitive with foreign oil companies that receive more favorable tax treatment, we should ask who’s really behind this smear campaign:
- Citizens for Tax Justice: A progressive tax policy “think tank” that actively campaigns for the Obama Administration’s tax policies. CTJ board members include:
o Maude Hurd, President of ACORN
o Blair Horner of the New York Public Interest Research Group
- CEW: A collection of labor and environmental organizations, including the World Wildlife Fund, Sierra Club and the Community Action Partnership – a network of 1,100 ACORN like Community Action Agencies across the country.
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65 Comments
So the NY Times relied on something that was heavily edited? I wonder if all those who condemned Breitbart for relying on "heavily edited video" will now condemn the Times?
Well, it's really not that important. It's just about our energy policy. Not a big deal. Really.
Give them some hoods and they'll match the klan. They appear to already have them. The color is black.
Well, The Marxists (I mean Democrats) Environmentalist (NO, I guess I mean Marxists) have stolen most of what was left of our Manufacturing that was not moved to China, Own Health Care, our Financial Industry, Managed to mandate our Blue Collar Work Force compete with third world labor for their wages, and steal 40% of the earned wealth from the people. About all that is left would be to take control of energy to wrap this Transformation thing up once and for all. Obama and clowns will not be happy until the USA joins the third world.
Folks, we are running out of time. Tea Party, do you have a plan B yet?
Enemies domestic.
When will Americans wake up and take their country back from these derelicts, traitors of democracy.
The real question is why didn't gas and oil rebuke the NYT article? Are they in on the gig to raise the price of oil and gas at the consumers expense? Just like our import duty and tarrif codes. A lie sold as a means to make American products more competetive but all at the expense of the consumer, who actually pays the end duty. What a scam!
I believe by looking at the American awakening happening in America today with the Tea party, we are well on our way. The last time in our history when government tried to run our lives was during prohibition. Guess what? We the people took back our freedoms, and we will again this time. Unions are part of the cancer to our freedoms, and need's to be dealt with appropriately.
http://remembernovember.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AP-IM7maxbI&fe...
All this time, and I never realized that Acorn were the real energy experts. I hope they keep these amusing protests up… the more they protest, the more they are exposed as fools and thieves.
I'm shocked to hear of acorn, and the nyt acting in concert. I will report this immediately to the center for American progress I hope g.soros takes my call.
I call BS!! Breitbart- has absolutely no credibility anymore.
Personally, i am against subsidies, especially to large, very profitable organizations, like the oil companies and the unions.
The problem is the tax code itself. So cumbersome and complicated that it intentionally makes for loopholes. It is simply HUMAN NATURE that people will do things to find a way around an obstacle, and a complex tax code is just the ticket.
Look at NY and their prohibitive cigarette tax,,,,those idiots seem to have forgotten that most of their population live minutes away from a state line where that tax is not imposed.
All I can say is keep it up and keep screwing us taxpayers and you are the one selling rope to the hangman.
I can see November from my house.
No, Progressives have no credibility anymore. http://vimeo.com/13390184
#. You cannot establish sound security on borrowed money.
#. You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred.
#. You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than you earn.
#. You cannot build character and courage by destroying men's initiative and independence.
#. And you cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they can and should do for themselves.
It's going to be a 'Tug of War'……
ACORN is bad because it's mostly a BLACK ORGANIZATION! They MUST be stopped.
Eric, you eat BS….
No Erik, its bad cause it is corrupt, run by marxist/communist, voter fraud. If that isnt enough to stop them, then what is.
Besides, ACORN just like SEIU resorts to thuggery and angry mobs to get their point across even at the cost of breaking many laws to do so. I dont know about you, but these organizations and unions need to be put out of existance and their leaders jailed for life.
The only credibility you have is the ability to mooch off others. How's that make you feel? It's absolutely hilarious how the left claims such intellectual superiority over others but yet just can't seem to make it on thier own without the "Mooch".
This applies to November's Election. If you take note of the groups, you'll see how they amass Voting blocks for Elections. They have their causes, Groups, Coalitions, Organizations and they all vote Democrat.
There is ACORN, Citizens for Tax Justice, Center for American Progress & clean energy works, and
The CEW- A Group of Labor & Environmental Orgs, such as World Wildlife Fund, Sierra Cloub, Community Action Partnership, and they connect across the nation. They are collecting people and creating movements that are not in line with our beliefs.
Add the strategy of Democrat Staffer David DiMartino in the memo to 'change America's perception of incresed taxes on energy producers as a tax on Consumrs' Is that aimed at Cap n Tax? Does that sound honest?
To stop this we need to Get out the vote! They are! Time for more Tea Party Meetings! Lets Roll!
ACORN and "Think Tank" – what exactly are they going to contemplate? New and illegal ways to operate whore houses? No wonder they like Senator Reid.
Erik, I would like to give you a personal Thank You! The Dumbocrats and their voters have been able to do something NO Conservative has been able to.
Obama and his Blame America First Ivy League Wanna-be Aging Green Before Gowd Hippies (being YOU) have proven that the Founding Fathers and our Constitution were right. Government CAN"T FIX IT. Can't fix what? Anything. Government can however mess up a Sh;t Sandwich and for proving this beyond ANY Doubt we thank them and of course YOU! The only thing worse then the current tyrants holding power today are the propaganda Main Stream News Media who has enabled them. Now it is time for them to be removed and maybe then you will be able to walk into the light and free yourself from the Poverty Pimps who have been holding you back.
But they only have our best interest at heart. If gas gets up to $5.00 to $8.00 a gallon, we must remember it’s for the children.
Fully exposed people, sick’em in November!
About the only good thing I know to say about the New York Times is it makes for a decent bird cage mat. Since I don't own a buzzard, I really have no use for it. Whoever actually reads and believes that gossip needs a mental evaluation. No offense to the author above intended. Appreciate the insight and your diligence to proof the idiot savants working at the New York Slimes. Busted, again.
Fair
Taxes
Now
Isn't ACORN the pot calling the kettle black
Acorn Whines Again!!
That's all you had to write to let us know tese fraudulent progressive bastards are up to no good as usual.
Acorn Whines Again!!
That's all you had to write to let us know these fraudulent progressive bastards are up to no good as usual.
Aaaaaand introducing yet another useless Marxist anti-American fraudulent progressive lying bastard writing here, weighing in with his high school diploma/Harvard law degree.
You couldn't be more ignorant of the FACTS than you are that Obama has fixed everything! Woohoo, the economy has fully recovered. Your moronic $h!t writing is perfectly in line with the racist classification of yourself and Obama.
If these lunatics are so worried about "clean energy" and saving the planet, why don't they all voluntarily give up their electricity and cars? In fact, why don't they stop using all products with petroleum in them? There's a boycott I can get behind–no more lefties cluttering up the internet with their drivel, no more lefties busing in to harass children in their homes, no more lefties on television spewing hate and racism. Now there's some hope and change I can get behind.
I think they're a little too busy trying to fight crap-n-trade to deal with an incompetent reporter.
Dang, Washington76, you're the sharpest knife in the drawer here! Awesome!
A tax break isn't the same as a subsidy, but I see what you're saying. And I agree that the tax code is a huge game that gets played to the hilt by everyone. A flat tax of some sort, or scrapping the tax code altogether in favor of a national sales tax, would be a much better solution. Then we wouldn't have nearly 50% of Americans paying no taxes at all.
LOL! Make 'em live up to their ideology!
Come to think of it, dont all Progressives whine and then reform. It is what this administration is doing, just whining about every issue at hand and just makes a bill to reform but not actually fix the problem.
Not to mention, any city, state or country run by Progressives is always turned into a hellhole. Prime examples are Chicago, Cali, New York, and Michigan.
Just a good memory, and scholar of the history which I have lived.
Here we go folks. This is what is known as projection. The racist even used capital letters to make his point.
Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
ACORN led "Think-Tank" : Now that's funny I don't care who you are. They must sit around watching Sponge Bob. The collective IQ of ACORN couldn't be above 80!
Go Away TROLL
The reality is that for all the claims of financial favoritism Big Oil only makes high GROSS profits. In the end, their financial returns as a percentage are the lowest of nearly any industry. That's not to say they may not get too many favors. However, about three years ago I looked at the model for green energy that was being espoused by some of the liberal think tanks and really partisan organizations like the Apollo Network. And in my review the one thing that seemed remarkable to me is the margins (percentage profit) they were targeting for a number of the players or companies in the industry. About 5x the margin for Big Oil now. It wasn't out of line, just odd that they were casting aspersions on oil while advocating even better for "green" producers. Some would argue the higher margins are set to enrich many who "advocate" for the greens.
Has anyone seen any analysis of business models more recently, especially since congressional staffers have actually been working on more concrete legislation?
Phony alert! Democrat operative at work!
ACORN, the Democrats new KKK. That's a keeper.
I love this note. But, does anyone else at the MSM bother to investigate this? How can we make this bigger news? One answer is that it starts by having conservatives AVOID the MSM – why should we, as 60% of the American people, support the traditional networks, or Hollywood, when $1.23 out of every movie ticket goes straight to the Democrat party. And you have to ask yourself, why does talk radio prolong the careers of people like Obermann and Mathews by reporting on what they say? WHy give them free publicity?
As I reflect upon the complexities of challenges that lay ahead of us as Americans, I am persuaded that the single most important tangible or intangible substance, whether of mind or spirit, that we must insist upon ourselves and others without regard to status or person, is the TRUTH.
Armed with the evidence of historically proven leadership in our Founding Fathers, current prominent leaders, and an unapologetic reference of God’s word.
There has never been a time to lie or treat the TRUTH with contempt. However, as Americans, we have simply subjected ourselves to soundbites of personalities which emanates from a insatiable desire for a king to rule over us. This has gone on for so long, that the TRUTH has been surrendered for a utopian ideology that always remains just that… an idea, and total fiction.
Way too correct my friend. It is a Greek tragedy crashing down anywhere and everywhere the progressives have any form of power.
Talk about a group of people wanting to make their delusions reality.
(They want to live in the dark, literally).
In our business, there a few companies that offer green products. They are a little more expensive (economy of scale) but they rarely sell based on being "green". They sell more because several of the "green" products are actually better quality (longer lasting). That is because they are made from recycled plastics vs wood. This may be sort of unique to our business. I think many manufacturers jump on the "green" band wagon since there is no standard for calling something "green". Bottom line I don't have many customers walking in asking for something "green" just to be "green". there has to be a value associated with it, just like anything else.
And here you'd think they would call it a Big F*****g Deal.
He never had credibility with you…
We us, he has not lost one iota of credibilty.
On the contrary, the MSM have further defamed themselves.
ERIKNW is actually Ezra Klein trying trying to racebait
If the government didn't have its tentacles in every little cranny of American business studies like these wouldn't be necessary. And if the tax code was readable and understandable wee wouldn't need special interest groups to decipher it.
If ya want the troll to go away stop responding to it….thumb it down and move on without exception….
As soon as we have taken back the legislature in November and the White House in 2012, the tax code must be replaced. Preferably with a version of the Fair Tax. No loopholes, no "progressive" rates. Everyone, businesses included, pays the same rate.
NYT and ACORN got their marching orders from the Democratic party. Nothing surprise's me with these groups.
This reminds me of the piece on this site a few weeks back calling some credit card swiping related reform a "BP BAILOUT!!" It was complete and utterly shameless BS, and also from Capitol Confidential (Republican lobbyists/staffers). Pick an issue, claim it's somehow tied to the most unpopular group or cause you can think of, and scream about it. Awesome.
Mr. ACORN himself:
http://i33.tinypic.com/2u8j5hh.jpg
Oil subsidies make cheaper gas prices for everybody and this especially helps the poor so it doesn't take more of their disposable income. Same was farm subsidies make for cheaper food prices for poor people. Duh.
Corporations don't pay taxes, they have to pass the price along. Doesn't even matter if you take them over — look at Venezuela. They're trash.
I read in some forum that one infiltrator replied to another infiltrator that he/she aspired to break the mythical barrier of 200 thumbs down. They relish their notoriety. We know who they are from their posts. i say we take turns giving them thumbs up and thumbs down keeping them at zero, for zeros are what they are.
When we are bankrupt as a nation, energy costs are literally 5 fold what they are now, and fuel costs are so high that people can;t afford to drive to work, and live to far away to walk or use bikes, what will they do? How is that considered an utopian society by ANYONE? Do they not think through what the end results will be?
Any group that aligns itself with Acorn for any reason, should not be funded with OUR TAX DOLLARS. No exceptions. Acorn is nothing more than a group of Frauds and are a very dangerous group. They will have a person killed, slandered or beaten by Law Enforcement. And the United States Attorney and the FBI will ignore it all. I am one of those victims.What a great country we are in. Freedom Denied
"Breitbart- has absolutely no credibility anymore."
Why, did he promote fake documents like Dan Rather did?
ACORN is bad because it's mostly a BLACK ORGANIZATION! They MUST be stopped.
Thanks for that reminder that some libs here are just trolls.
It will be utopia to the progressives because we'll all be equally miserable – there will be no "wealth disparity," which they hate.
Except there will still be wealth disparity, because elitists in the government will control everything.
Remember bimplebean, from a day or so ago? She said she was "doing research" yesterday. Opposition research, I'd say. Over fifty and still stupid.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/bimplebean
Repeated your talking points, did he? Hung any Blacks today?
Inneresting, thanx!
Liberal is a contraction of "lie barrel."
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