Heads Up Talk Radio: The President’s Foot Soldiers Have Your Number

Newsmax first reported that Organizing for America, the community organizing outfit under the auspices of the Democratic National Committee, has launched a plan to inundate talk radio shows with callers.  The action will occur when a particular radio show is discussing ObamaCare.

This is an extension of OFA’s and Health Care for America Now’s campaign to flood last summer’s town hall meetings with union members and left-wing activists supporting Obama’s government takeover of health care.

The intent then, just as it is now, was to drown out average taxpayers showing up  to voice their concerns or vent their frustrations.  The intent is also to run out the clock on real debate and take a vote on health reform with as little resistance as possible.

HCAN and ACORN were busing non-constituents, some from as far as 200 miles away, to fill the seats and skew the crowd.  It was to give the false impression that constituents really wanted ObamaCare.

But the result was even worse.  HCAN and union members, particularly SEIU, were filling the seats which would have otherwise been occupied by the average person just getting out of work.

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Tags: ACORN, Democratic National Committee, DNC, HCAN, Health Care for American Now
Posted Mar 11th 2010 at 7:01 am in Big Labor, Healthcare, News, Obama, Politics | 8738688 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/kolson/2010/03/11/heads-up-talk-radio-the-presidents-foot-soldiers-have-your-number/Heads+Up+Talk+Radio%3A+The+President%E2%80%99s+Foot+Soldiers+Have+Your+Number2010-03-11+15%3A01%3A24Kyle+Olson

Teachers Unions Spends Dues on Left-Wing Causes AND Ally of Robert Mugabe

Courtesy of Victor Skinner, writing on NEAexposed.com:

A recent study of contributions made by the nation’s two largest teachers unions reveals that both shelled out millions in 2008-09, with a good chunk going to radical and scandal-ridden organizations.

The study, posted online by the Education Intelligence Agency, is further proof that the National Education Association and American Federation of Teachers are out of step with their members, which union officials claim are evenly split between Democrat, Republican and Independent parties.

This is what the EIA found:

The AFT gave $46,894 to the scandal-plagued Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN). That organization’s members gave tax evasion advice to pimps and prostitutes, encouraged struggling homeowners to walk away from their mortgages, and championed radical causes like softer immigration regulations and a government takeover of health care.

The AFT’s interest in government-run healthcare is also apparent in its $407,208 donation to the Economic Policy Institute, a union-funded progressive think tank that advocates for the expansion of unionized government jobs, and generally promotes organized labor’s interests.

(more…)

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Tags: ACORN, AFT, Apollo Alliance, Economic Policy Institute, Education Intelligence Agency
Posted Feb 16th 2010 at 10:19 am in ACORN, Big Labor, Education, News, Politics | 7609078 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/kolson/2010/02/16/teachers-unions-spends-dues-on-left-wing-causes-and-ally-of-robert-mugabe/Teachers+Unions+Spends+Dues+on+Left-Wing+Causes+AND+Ally+of+Robert+Mugabe2010-02-16+18%3A19%3A27Kyle+Olson

America Exports Socialist Ideas to Venezuela

Here’s a concept I never thought we’d be exporting: governments taking over markets to act as the “competition.” 

News is Venezuelan brute Hugo Chavez has created a “new chain of government-run, cut-rate retail stores that will sell everything from food to cars to clothing from places such as China, Argentina and Bolivia,” according to Breitbart.com:

Chavez said the Comerso chain of stores will include “a network of subsidiaries” that will sell new vehicles directly imported from China and Argentina, “without capitalist intermediaries.”

“We’re going to defeat speculation. Private individuals in sales can still sell, but they’ll have to compete with us and with a people who is now fully aware,” Chavez said.

Gee, where have I heard that before?  Oh yeah!  That kind of sounds like the talking points from the Democrats government-option proposal.

(more…)

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Tags: ACORN, Chuck Shumer, Free Markets, government competition, Harry Reid
Posted Dec 28th 2009 at 8:51 am in ACORN, Big Labor, Congress, News, Politics | 5281064 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/kolson/2009/12/28/america-exports-socialist-ideas-to-venezuela/America+Exports+Socialist+Ideas+to+Venezuela2009-12-28+16%3A51%3A22Kyle+Olson

Exclusive: Ex-Convict Bob Creamer Laid Out Health Care Reform Plan In 2008 Speech

ACORNcracked.com recently obtained an audio recording a speech by Robert Creamer, given at the Take Back America 2008 conference in Washington, DC, that was hosted by Campaign for America’s Future, an ultra-liberal organization.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

In a March 19 session entitled, “Health Care: The Politics of Winning,” ex-convict Creamer and husband of Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), laid out his vision for health care reform.  Of Creamer’s 10-point plan, number 5 is:

To have a movement that both deals with that fact [that health care reform should be personal] and creates a movement we have to have two elements.  In a lot of campaigns we run are either about a populist kind of message and feel because it’s about people’s pocketbooks and needs directly.  Or it has a moral dimension that is inspirational and empowering – the civil rights movement, for instance.

This movement needs to have both.  To have a movement, to mobilize people, to inspire people, you have to appeal to their sense of meaning and purpose and something important.  So we have to create a sense that this is a historic battle. This is about you’re being part of something that will make you meaningful. (emphasis added)

(more…)

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Tags: ACORN, Bob Creamer, Celinda Lake, government health care, government take over
Posted Dec 8th 2009 at 12:57 pm in Big Labor, Culture, Exclusives, Healthcare, Justice/Legal, News, Obama, Politics | 4304655 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/kolson/2009/12/08/exclusive-ex-convict-bob-creamer-laid-out-health-care-reform-plan-in-2008-speech/Exclusive%3A+Ex-Convict+Bob+Creamer+Laid+Out+Health+Care+Reform+Plan+In+2008+Speech2009-12-08+19%3A57%3A35Kyle+Olson

The Blueprint Penned From the Pen: Manufacture a Crisis, Manufacture Rage

In today’s Big Government post by Joel Pollak readers were treated to an amazing glimpse into the political strategy that has been put into place over the past year by the Obama Administration to force the radical overhaul of the American health care system all under the guise of “Health Care Reform”

If anyone doubts that the strategy blue print written by convicted felon Robert Creamer (while he was serving his time in Federal Prison) was really put into action by the administration, one only needs to look at the endorsements page and notice a rave from none other than David Axelrod:

Bob Creamer has devoted his life to progressive causes.  Here he provides a fascinating narrative of how progressives have won in the past and provides a blueprint for future victories.

When David Axelrod reads and endorses Creamer’s book and describes it as a “blueprint for future victories” then it might be more than just a coincidence that what Creamer suggested/predicted is exactly what has come to pass.

As odd as it seems that President Obama’s top political advisor would see fit to publicly endorse a book by a newly released felon, it is still instructive to actually look at Mr. Creamer’s “blueprint for future victories” and see how Mr. Axelrod and the Democratic leadership has used that blueprint for President Obama’s Health Care scheme.

(more…)

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Tags: AARP, ACORN, AFL-CIO, AFSC, Bob Creamer
Posted Dec 7th 2009 at 5:43 pm in Big Labor, Healthcare, News, Obama, Politics | 42570177 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/sright/2009/12/07/the-blueprint-penned-from-the-pen-manufacture-a-crisis-manufacture-rage/The+Blueprint+Penned+From+the+Pen%3A++Manufacture+a+Crisis%2C+Manufacture+Rage2009-12-08+00%3A43%3A11Larry++O%26%2339%3BConnor

ObamaCare: HCAN Proudly Suppressing Dissent

Suppressing dissenting viewpoints is so natural for the Left that they don’t even mind if people tape them encouraging it.

I went with Joel Pollak to Rep. Jan Schakowsky’s town hall meeting on August 31, 2009.  I didn’t expect to see anything outrageous, just wanted to see how she would handle real people with real concerns.  Joel wasn’t a candidate at that point, just a constituent.  What we saw there, however, pushed him to challenge Jan Schakowsky for the privilege to represent the people of the 9th district of Illinois.

We got there two hours early, and a long line had already formed, so we dutifully took our places at the back.  ”Health Care for America Now” organizers (HCAN) were walking up and down, passing out lapel stickers to everyone there.  The line was already packed with Schakowsky’s supporters, who had been told to come early to fill up the place before people got off work and came over.

We conveniently made ourselves unavailable whenever they passed by.  I didn’t want to take a sticker, but I didn’t want to make a big deal out of it either.  Since I was surrounded by stickered people, I knew that my refusal would start something.  I hadn’t come to cause problems, just to watch.

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Tags: 9th district illinois, HCAN, Health Care for America Now, illinois 9th district, Jan Schakowsky
Posted Dec 7th 2009 at 4:17 pm in Big Labor, Healthcare, News, Obama, Politics | 4231473 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/capitolconfidential/2009/12/07/42314/ObamaCare%3A+HCAN+Proudly+Suppressing+Dissent2009-12-07+23%3A17%3A04Capitol++Confidential

Was Democrats’ Health Care Strategy Written In Federal Prison?

On August 31, I headed to the health care town hall meeting of my congressional representative, Jan Schakowsky (D-IL). I suspected that she planned to stack the meeting with paid organizers, after she vowed on Real Time with Bill Maher to bring “millions” of people into the streets to support the so-called “public option.” So I brought a video camera.

A friend and I took turns filming protesters on both sides of the issue. We caught an organizer from the group Health Care for America Now (HCAN) instructing followers to block dissenting views: “So if they stand up and start asking questions, and you’re in that area, simply stand up, and start chanting… ‘Health care now! Health care now!’”

(more…)

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Tags: ACORN, Alinsky, American Medical Association, Andy Stern, astroturfing
Posted Dec 7th 2009 at 3:01 pm in Big Labor, Exclusives, Featured Story, Healthcare, Justice/Legal, News, Obama, Politics | 42174489 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/jpollak/2009/12/07/was-democrats-health-care-strategy-written-in-federal-prison/Was+Democrats%E2%80%99+Health+Care+Strategy+Written+In+Federal+Prison%3F2009-12-07+22%3A01%3A13Joel+B.+Pollak

AP Whitewashes My Public Statement on Whitewashed ACORN Investigation

Pete Yost of the Associated Press asked for my comment regarding the findings of the ACORN “internal investigation.”  Here is what I emailed him:

ACORN is a corrupt and criminal organization, and anyone with open eyes can see this. Yet SEIU’s Andy Stern and left wing puppetmaster John Podesta, of the Soros-funded radical leftist think-tank, the Center for American Progress, chose to architect a whitewashed ‘internal investigation’ by a Democrat Party hack from Massachusetts, and have put immense efforts into launching a two-pronged propaganda  campaign and legal assault against the filmmakers of the ‘pimp and  prostitute’ exposé and the story’s publisher. BigGovernment.com  continues to expose ACORN’s illegal activity and has helped to  illuminate how corrupt organizations like ACORN, SEIU and HCAN are coordinating the efforts to shove radical health care reform down an unwilling  majority of Americans throats.

Here is the sole excerpt from the above statement chosen for the article:

The report is “a whitewashed ‘internal investigation’ by a Democrat Party hack from Massachusetts,” said conservative columnist Andrew Breitbart, who is being sued by ACORN along with James O’Keefe and Hannah Giles, who played the prostitute and her boyfriend in the videos. Breitbart posted the videos on his Web site.

I wanted the BigGovernment.com readers to see that’s it’s not just the internal investigators who are whitewashing the magnitude of the ACORN scandal, it’s the mainstream media writ large.

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Tags: ACORN, acorn scandal, Andrew Breitbart, Associated Press, Center for American Progress
Posted Dec 7th 2009 at 1:19 pm in ACORN, Media Criticism | 4220670 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/abreitbart/2009/12/07/ap-whitewashes-my-public-statement-on-whitewashed-acorn-investigation/AP+Whitewashes+My+Public+Statement+on+Whitewashed+ACORN+Investigation2009-12-07+20%3A19%3A03Andrew+Breitbart

The Complete ACORN Whitewash Report: Nothing to See Here Folks, Move Along…We Have to Pass ObamaCare

Well, ACORN retained a law firm to investigate its operations and, surprise, the law firm found that ACORN hadn’t done anything wrong in the undercover videos filmed by James O’Keefe and Hannah Giles. The review, overseen by former Massachusetts Attorney General Scott Harschbarger, a long-time ally of ACORN, found that any problems within ACORN are, gosh darn it, simply because ACORN was too successful, i.e. grew too big and too fast. The problems are also mostly, conveniently, the result of people who are no longer employed by ACORN, i.e. Wade Rathke.

Full report below:

ACORN Report –

The entire report can be summed up: Wade Rathke really made a mess of things. The current management, i.e. Bertha Lewis, has been trying to reform the organization and she is really, really committed to it now. ACORN has a “roadmap” for reform that, while it may take a while to implement, will really fix everything you thought was wrong with ACORN. Just trust them.

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Tags: ACORN, acorn scandal, Andy Stern, Bertha Lewis, Center for American Progress
Posted Dec 7th 2009 at 10:43 am in ACORN | 42122203 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/mikeflynn/2009/12/07/the-complete-acorn-whitewash-report-nothing-to-see-here-folks-move-along-we-have-to-pass-obamacare/The+Complete+ACORN+Whitewash+Report%3A+Nothing+to+See+Here+Folks%2C+Move+Along...We+Have+to+Pass+ObamaCare2009-12-07+17%3A43%3A26Mike+Flynn

HCAN = SEIU = ACORN = Community Organizers = Bullies

We have already established the Healthcare for America Now (HCAN) is a front group primarily staffed by former SEIU members and financed by the SEIU.  And we’ve established HCAN’s role in the angry intimidating tactics employed to bully the town hall protestors during the month of August.  So, who is HCAN?

In short, HCAN is ACORN.  Take a look at their staff page:

f3f6e561444d6d6ca2_3xm6b5vr5 –

(more…)

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Tags: ACORN, community, HCAN, Health Care for America Now, Kenneth Gladney
Posted Dec 3rd 2009 at 5:31 pm in ACORN, Big Labor, Healthcare | 4093428 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/sright/2009/12/03/hcan-seiu-acorn-community-organizers-bullies/HCAN+%3D+SEIU+%3D+ACORN+%3D+Community+Organizers+%3D++Bullies2009-12-04+00%3A31%3A18Larry++O%26%2339%3BConnor

Anatomy of a Beat-Down Part 4: Why Kenneth Gladney Was Beaten And by Whom

On July 31, 2009, the Democratic House Leadership communicated to their members that they were working in close coordination with the White House and Health Care for America Now (HCAN) to get “grass roots” activities at town hall meetings through the month of August.  Five days later HCAN released a detailed instruction sheet for the union members of SEIU on how to control admission, speech, behavior and security at town hall meetings.  Two days after that staff members of the St. Louis SEIU implemented these strategies at Rep. Russ Carnahan’s town hall event which resulted in Kenneth Gladney being beaten by an SEIU Business Agent and an SEIU Public Service Director.

The three-page document titled:   “Strategic Communications Plan for August: Health Insurance Reform” details various strategies for working district health care events, telephone town hall meetings, press outreach…etc.  Then under the heading of “Coordination” (and they say there is a vast RIGHT wing conspiracy) the House Democratic Leadership states:

The Leadership is working in close coordination with the White House and outside groups (including but not limited to HCAN, Families USA, AFSCME, SEIU, AARP, etc.) to ensure complementary efforts during August. The President, Secretary Sebelius and other principals in the reform debate will be working throughout the month to hold events, promote the message in the press and move the reform effort forward. We are also working closely with supportive organizations to ensure they are implementing comprehensive plans for August that include grassroots efforts, media strategies and anything else that can add to the momentum. In addition, a list of groups supporting health reform has been provided to your offices with information on ways you can partner with them in your districts.

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Tags: ACORN, Democratic National Committee, Democratic Party, Elston McCowan, HCAN
Posted Dec 3rd 2009 at 2:10 pm in Big Labor, Tea Party | 4055822 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/sright/2009/12/03/anatomy-of-a-beat-down-part-4-why-kenneth-gladney-was-beaten-and-by-whom/Anatomy+of+a+Beat-Down+Part+4%3A+Why+Kenneth+Gladney+Was+Beaten+And+by+Whom2009-12-03+21%3A10%3A36Larry++O%26%2339%3BConnor

Anatomy of a Beat-Down Part 3: Why Kenneth Gladney Was Beaten And by Whom

In Part 1 of this series we detailed the events leading up to the assault on Kenneth Gladney on August 6^th and revealed the document written by Margarida Jorge at Health Care for American Now (HCAN) a front group funded by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) which laid a blueprint for the unions to follow that evening at Rep. Russ Carnahan’s town hall meeting.  Yesterday, in Part 2, we exposed a second town hall meeting that occurred the same night in Tampa Bay, FL with Rep. Kathy Castor that followed the same structure and had very similar results.  We also detailed the relationships of key decision makers at HCAN, Rep. Carnahan’s office and the White House and showed how they were all inter-related at SEIU, the Obama for America campaign and the two accused of assaulting Kenneth Gladney that evening.

Margarida Jorge

On the evening of August 6^th hundreds of citizens were shut out of the meeting and not allowed to question their elected official while hundreds of SEIU members were ushered in a side entrance to sit in reserved seats in the front of the hall.  This followed precisely the instructions penned by Margarida Jorge of HCAN.

• We need to stack our folks in the front to create a wall around the Member…
• Get to your location early and make sure you set up the venue in a way that ensures that the attendees you want are at the front and that any protesters who come are sequestered as far as possible from the stage.
• Make sure that you assign marshals to take care of moving the crowd, keeping people organized and orderly, and acting as security

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Tags: Barack Obama, Bob McCulloch, Buffy Wicks, Carnahan town hall, Elston McCowan
Posted Dec 2nd 2009 at 3:19 pm in Big Labor | 4009449 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/sright/2009/12/02/anatomy-of-a-beat-down-part-3-why-kenneth-gladney-was-beaten-and-by-whom/Anatomy+of+a+Beat-Down+Part+3%3A+Why+Kenneth+Gladney+Was+Beaten+And+by+Whom2009-12-02+22%3A19%3A01Larry++O%26%2339%3BConnor

Anatomy of a Beat-Down Part 2: Why Kenneth Gladney Was Beaten And by Whom

Yesterday we discussed the events leading up to the August 6^th health care town hall meeting featuring Rep. Russ Carnahan (D-MO).  The event was hosted by Health Care For American Now (HCAN) and Organizing for America (OFA), the former a front group for Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and the latter an off-shoot of the Obama Campaign now run by the Democratic National Committee (DNC).  We revealed a four page document released by HCAN two days before the August 6^th town hall meeting.  In that document, guidelines are revealed for members of HCAN (union members) on how best to stifle the protestations of ObamaCare.

The meetings hosted by HCAN (like the one on August 6^th in St. Louis) were set up using these rules.  Americans showed up at these meetings thinking that it would be an opportunity to address their elected representatives and talk to them about the single most important piece of legislation our congress has proposed in decades.  Instead, they were pushed to the back of the room and shouted down by the well-trained SEIU members.  Eventually, an American citizen who was distributing “Don’t Tread on Me” flags and buttons was assaulted by a handful of the SEIU members.  His name is Kenneth Gladney.

Let’s look at that memo and how it matches the events of August 6^th: (more…)

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Tags: ACORN, Americans Coming Together, Buffy Wicks, David Axelrod, Democratic National Committee
Posted Dec 1st 2009 at 1:42 pm in Big Labor, Featured Story | 3913456 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/sright/2009/12/01/anatomy-of-a-beat-down-part-2-why-kenneth-gladney-was-beaten-and-by-whom/Anatomy+of+a+Beat-Down+Part+2%3A+Why+Kenneth+Gladney+Was+Beaten+And+by+Whom2009-12-01+20%3A42%3A37Larry++O%26%2339%3BConnor

Anatomy of a Beat-Down Part 1: Why Kenneth Gladney Was Beaten, And by Whom

On August 6, 2009 two Service Employee International Union (SEIU) leaders and a volunteer for Organizing for America (OFA) assaulted Kenneth Gladney outside of Rep. Russ Carnahan’s Town hall meeting on health care.  The perpetrators were arrested at the scene of the crime, and three months later charges have finally been filed.

Much has been said in the past three months about this incident.  Here at Big Government calls have been made for justice, for formal charges and mostly for the mass media to follow the story and delve into the government’s role in this violent attempt to intimidate and silence dissent.  We can no longer wait for the establishment journalists to connect the dots and bring to light the insidious relationships between the SEIU, OFA, Russ Carnaham’s office and the Obama Administration.

Was this assault merely a flare up of tempers during a heated exchange of rival political camps?  Or was it a coordinated attempt to silence the scores of protesters who had been so effective at swaying public opinion against the President’s health care scheme?  Today, Big Government will bring to light documents that read like an instruction manual for the SEIU forces in St. Louis the evening of August 6^th.  We will also show that on the very same evening of the St. Louis assault, an almost identical scene played out in Tampa Bay, Florida.  Also involving SEIU and OFA.  Also resulting in hordes of union members shouting down and physically evicting protesters from a U.S. Representative’s Town hall meeting.  Finally, we will introduce all of the various players in leadership roles at these organizations, what they said in instructing their members in how to fight back against the Town hall protesters, and how these individuals all connect to each other and to the Obama Administration.  As I said, we’ve been waiting for the “Real” journalists to do this, we’ve waited long enough.

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Tags: Big Government, Daily Kos, DNC, flag@whitehouse.gov, government-run health care
Posted Nov 30th 2009 at 2:06 pm in Big Labor, Featured Story, Healthcare, Tea Party, Uncategorized | 38458138 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/sright/2009/11/30/anatomy-of-a-beat-down-part-1-why-kenneth-gladney-was-beaten-and-by-whom/Anatomy+of+a+Beat-Down+Part+1%3A+Why+Kenneth+Gladney+Was+Beaten%2C+And+by+Whom2009-11-30+21%3A06%3A11Larry++O%26%2339%3BConnor

Giving Thanks For The Internet

Tis the season to be thankful, and this year one thing stands out as something to be particularly grateful for…the Internet.

Thanks to the Internet, and the Army of Davids it has empowered, the mainstream media no longer possess a strangle hold on information. They no longer get to decide what we know about the people and organizations that effect our daily lives.

In direct terms, this means that when SEIU thugs beat up a black conservative at a health care town hall meeting, the whole world gets to see it via the internet.

And when those thugs are outed as Health Care for America (HCAN) coordinated responders to criticism of Obamacare, the whole world can take it upon themselves to learn about HCAN, using Google and other fabulous tools of the internet.

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Tags: Citizen Action, communism, DSA, HCAN, Heather Booth
Posted Nov 26th 2009 at 8:16 pm in Big Labor, Culture, Media Criticism, News, Politics | 3750644 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/amarcus/2009/11/26/giving-thanks-for-the-internet/Giving+Thanks+For+The+Internet2009-11-27+03%3A16%3A32Andrew++Marcus

St. Louis County Counselor Redington: Gladney Beating ‘Has Not Been Swept Under the Rug’

The story of Kenneth Gladney may finally be getting somewhere. County Counselor Patricia Redington, after waiting three months, has been forced to come out and defend her office in emails and in an interview with KMOX, a local St Louis radio station.  We’d say it was quick work, but waiting to look into charges of political violence until after healthcare reform comes to a vote seems to be the plan.  In previous columns, we identified a time difference for assault charges of 3 months versus 2 days.  3 months to start looking if you’re a black man beaten by union thugs and 2 days if you’re a Republican running for Congress against Dick Gephardt.

Redington is now responding to emails saying she is looking into the events, the investigation is still under review, and her office is interviewing witnesses.  This is one of her responses to a St Louis county resident about the affair.

There were several incidents at this event which required police intervention, and our office is reviewing the police report and has been interviewing various witnesses before making a final decision on what charges may be issued.

(more…)

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Tags: Bob McCulloch, Dick Gephardt, Elston McCowan, HCAN, Jake Wagman
Posted Nov 19th 2009 at 7:17 pm in Big Labor, Justice/Legal, Media Criticism, News, Politics, State Politics, Tea Party | 3403855 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/capitolconfidential/2009/11/19/st-louis-county-counselor-redington-gladney-beating-has-not-been-swept-under-the-rug/St.+Louis+County+Counselor+Redington%3A+Gladney+Beating+%27Has+Not+Been+Swept+Under+the+Rug%272009-11-20+02%3A17%3A04Capitol++Confidential

SEIU’s Targeted Townhall Violence: You Started It And Now You Don’t Like it

SEIU is not stupid. When reports first came out of violence at the Russ Carnahan TownHall in Missouri, SEIU flacks jumped into their media spin machine and got to work. Tim Targaris, the SEIU new media spokesman started the party with a Tweet declaring:

Seven teabaggers arrested at Missouri town-hall event today. One SEIU staffer sent to hospital (shoulder) and will be ok. 9:01 p.m. August 6th.

We know now that it was five HCAN supporters who were arrested, but Tagaris continued to tweet false information, defending the story by citing an internal brief and then moving to other media response. A pledge was quickly created and touted by SEIU, decrying violence at townhalls. A video was cut that took the post-attack YouTube footage and spliced it with alternating footage of SEIU members singing peacefully followed by groups of tea party protestors shouting. And then an anonymous phone call characterized as a death threat was played for dramatic effect. It was some very fine propaganda.

Step 2 was turning the initial attacker Elston McCowan into a saint. SEIU and their pet bloggers on the left started talking about the 40-something, blind in one eye Baptist minister who was brutally attacked by teabaggers (SEIU likes to repeat the sexual slur). McCowan published photos of himself in a black outfit, a white priest collar, and a sling. He was Saint Innocent, the real victim. Once the video was released, SEIU created a second version of the story, maintaining it was McCowan who was attacked while laying helplessly on the ground. On August 13th, a full week after the attack, in an interview with Don Fitz of the St Louis Gateway Greens, McCowan relates what he claims is the real story behind the attack:

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Tags: Cheryl Johner, Don Fitz, Elston McCowan, HCAN, Health Care for America Now
Posted Nov 17th 2009 at 6:03 am in Uncategorized | 3222655 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/capitolconfidential/2009/11/17/seius-targeted-townhall-violence-you-started-it-and-now-you-dont-like-it/SEIU%27s+Targeted+Townhall+Violence%3A+You+Started+It+And+Now+You+Don%27t+Like+it2009-11-17+13%3A03%3A45Capitol++Confidential

What If ObamaCare Had a Rally and Nobody Showed Up? St. Louis Edition

There isn’t anything dramatic like SEIU thugs beating up people in the video below. What’s dramatic is what isn’t there–like the famous dogs who didn’t bark in the Sherlock Holmes story. Health Care for America Now (HCAN), the principal organization pushing for ObamaCare, and Organizing for America, Obama’s campaign arm at the Democrat National Committee, recently opened major offices in St. Louis. Their goal is to build a grassroots movement supporting ObamaCare. As this video shows, this national effort was able to muster around 30 people.

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Tags: counter-protest, government health care, HCAN, Health Care for America Now, ObamaCare
Posted Nov 14th 2009 at 7:53 pm in Big Labor, Obama, Politics, State Politics | 31190100 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/publius/2009/11/14/what-if-obamacare-had-a-rally-and-nobody-showed-up-st-louis-edition/What+If+ObamaCare+Had+a+Rally+and+Nobody+Showed+Up%3F+St.+Louis+Edition2009-11-15+02%3A53%3A15Publius

From the Archives II: ACORN Corruption Runs Deep

In politics the media seems to have a tier system for how they report on scandals. Republicans who fall from grace are vilified. They are the butts of countless inappropriate jokes and cartoons and expected never to be heard from again. Recent right scandals (examples, Governor Mark Sanford and Mark Foley) dominated the news, but, besides Fox News, the media barely covered Obama adviser Van Jones or delved deeply into the dealings of Louisiana Congressman William Jefferson.

Unfortunately for America, the media has been filtering news for years and this practice has allowed some of the main figures in the Teamstergate scandal to assume top spots in the Democrat party. Part 1 of this series reviewed the history of the scandal and its strong ties to ACORN and President Obama.  In order to help readers fully appreciate the connections, I discuss below some of the major players in the Teamstergate saga who were named in indictments and a Congressional report on in a scheme that reached all the way into the White House.

The Congressional report, on Teamstergate, reached a number of damning conclusions that implicated organizations like Project Vote  and Citizen Action. It also raised a number of questions about campaign finance and “soft money” donations. Something that ACORN seemed concerned with as detailed in a spring blog post here. Were these questions raised by ACORN political director Zach Polett a result of the following statement in the Congressional report:

The issue of soft money abuses is inevitably tied to the question of how access to political figures is obtained through large contributions of soft money. It is also tied to the question of how tax-exempt organizations have been used to hide the identities of soft money donors. A system that permits large contributions to be made for partisan purposes, without public disclosure, invites subversion of the intent of our election law limitations.

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Tags: ACORN, acorn scandal, ACORN videos, Andy Stern, Barack Obama
Posted Oct 12th 2009 at 11:16 am in ACORN, Big Labor, Featured Story, History, Obama, Politics | 1563854 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/amoncrief/2009/10/12/from-the-archives-ii-acorn-corruption-runs-deep/From+the+Archives+II%3A+ACORN+Corruption+Runs+Deep2009-10-12+18%3A16%3A39Anita+MonCrief

ACORN ‘Advisory’ Committee Has Huge Stake in Success of Group

As ACORN’s faux independent review gets under way, ACORN’s advisory committee, made of up key liberal allies, is watching it closely, as seen in a fresh media advisory issued by David Redlener of The Advance Group and obtained by ACORNcracked.com.  That’s because ACORN is a critical component to the Left’s agenda for America.

Remember during the bank bailouts the justification was because they were “too big to fail.”  Well, to the liberal Left, ACORN is too big to fail.  It has its hands in too many things and runs an effective ground operation through registering voters, turning them out on Election Day, as well as managing ballot initiative campaigns as a tool to boost Democratic turn-out.

Consider Professor Peter Dreier’s analysis of ACORN’s use of ballot initiatives, from a 2005 article he wrote:

ACORN’s strategy to inject this issue into state ballot measures is another important step. In early 2004, ACORN initiated a statewide ballot initiative in Florida to raise the state minimum wage, registered thousands of residents, mostly in low-income, minority neighborhoods in cities, to increase turnout on election day, and won a decisive victory the following November. On its own, this is an impressive accomplishment. Since its victory in Florida, ACORN and its labor allies have begun talking about grassroots minimum-wage initiatives in other states in 2006, particularly where Democrats have a chance to expand, or hold on to, key offices. Campaigns are already underway in Ohio, Michigan, and Arizona, and ACORN is exploring possibilities in six other states and several cities. The strategy is designed to increase voter turnout and to provide candidates with a clear economic-justice issue.

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Tags: ACORN, acorn scandal, Andy Stern, ballot initiatives, Barack Obama
Posted Oct 1st 2009 at 11:20 am in ACORN, Big Labor, News, Politics, State Politics | 1099042 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/kolson/2009/10/01/acorn-advisory-committee-has-huge-stake-in-success-of-group/ACORN+%27Advisory%27+Committee+Has+Huge+Stake+in+Success+of+Group2009-10-01+18%3A20%3A17Kyle+Olson