Washington's robust market for attacks, half-truths

Even by the contemporary standards of bare-fisted attack ads, the unlikely assault on the president of the Humane Society of the United States seems particularly brazen.

Washington's robust market for attacks, half-truths

Even by the contemporary standards of bare-fisted attack ads, the unlikely assault on the president of the Humane Society of the United States seems particularly brazen.

Washington's robust market for attacks, half-truths

Even by the contemporary standards of bare-fisted attack ads, the unlikely assault on the president of the Humane Society of the United States seems particularly brazen.

Business lobbyist’s case trumpets faulty research

The corporate backers of public relations executive Rick Berman would like you to believe that claim. Berman runs a notorious network of nonprofit front groups that peddle industry spin on behalf of corporate giants. Berman’s groups are currently the target of an IRS complaint arguing that they illegally advance the private interests of their corporate clients in violation of tax laws.

Does the Food Lobby Really Care about Freedom of Choice? Fuhgeddaboutit!

This fall, two very different efforts to make our food supply safer and healthier met with two very different responses from the people who actually make our food.

In New York City, opponents of a proposed ban on large sodas (i.e., soda companies and corn growers) argued loudly that Mayor Michael Bloomberg was stifling consumer choice, saying people should be able to make up their own minds about whether they want to buy soft drinks the size of their heads.

Union Busting by Profiting From Non-Profit May Breach IRS

When Smithfield Foods Inc. (SFD) was trying to fend off a union organizing drive at its largest meat- processing plant, it hired public relations executive Rick Berman. They discussed “preparing the nuclear strike,” according to e-mail records. Soon after, a non-profit called the Center for Union Facts began running television ads slamming the “union bosses” who were trying to organize Smithfield’s plant in Tar Heel, North Carolina. That was no coincidence: Berman also runs the center.

USA Today Ad Slams HSUS for Supporting Michael Vick as America’s Newest Dog Owner

A full-page ad from HumaneWatch.org, a project of the nonprofit Center for Consumer Freedom, appears in today’s USA Today, criticizing the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) President Wayne Pacelle for supporting convicted dogfighting felon Michael Vick’s ownership of a new dog. Pacelle was quoted in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution claiming Vick “would do a good job as a pet owner.” The ad condemns HSUS for supporting the Philadelphia Eagles quarterback’s newfound dog ownership, and asks what is Pacelle thinking.

Conservative PAC raises questions about unions’ political spending

A right-leaning political action committee headed by Washington D.C. lobbyist Rick Berman bought full page ads today in the New York Times and USA Today (owned by the Statesman Journal’s parent company) that accused unions of spending large amounts money on political campaigns without their members’ approval.

Chicago Tribune Refuses to Print Anti-Teachers Union Ad

The Chicago Tribune has refused to print an anti-teachers union ad, according to the Center for Union Facts, the group whose ad was rejected by the paper. The Tribune rejected the ad by saying it had "racial undertones."

"The ad pictures the famous photograph of George Wallace standing in the doorway at the University of Alabama, refusing to admit black students into the school on the first day the University was integrated," the Center for Union Facts says in an email. "The headline reads, 'Someone New is Standing in the School House Door.'"

Devices that help prevent drunk driving could save you

Sarah Longwell, in her July 11 piece on behalf of the American Beverage Institute (“Big Brother’s effort to stop drunk driving could strand you”), represented the view of the extreme minority wing of the alcohol industry. Fortunately, cooler heads prevailed when the federal highway bill passed, resulting in provisions that will save lives in the short term and set us on the path to eliminating drunk driving.

Unions can help improve economy

I am responding to the June 24 guest column, titled “Improve the economy through labor reform,” and written by Rick Berman. One simply needs to Google Mr. Berman to find out that he is a hired gun who uses front groups to defend his corporate clients against public interest.

Berman writes about the Employee Rights Act, and the reasons why he supports it. Most of what is written in the article is not even an issue in unions, but Berman would like you to believe so.

Economic research supports raising the minimum wage

Michael Saltsman has trouble with his facts from the very first sentence of his op-ed on the minimum wage. Saltsman asserts that President Obama made a campaign pledge to raise the minimum wage to $9.50 an hour and that four members of Congress have "introduced bills to make this promise a reality." In fact, President Obama argued for raising the minimum wage to $9.50 last year, and there is only one bill in the House that would set a similar figure: H.R. 5727 (and it would raise it to $9.80 by 2014, not $9.50). Sen.

Alcohol-sensing technology could become standard in all cars

The long-term transportation funding bill just approved by Congress includes funds for researching alcohol-detection technology that could eventually be standard equipment in all new cars.

That funding — $5 million over two years — should have been stripped from the bill because it "uses American taxpayer dollars to fund something they're not going to want in their cars," said a group representing the restaurant industry.

Letter to the Editor: Society defends efforts

Editor: Rick Berman is a front man for anonymous corporations that have a stake in the status quo mistreatment of animals (letter, June 21). There is no ploy Berman won't attempt in order to keep raking in money from his shadowy paymasters including peddling the idea that calling something a poll has credibility. Remember when the cigarette companies came up with bogus "research" about the safety of tobacco? Berman cut his teeth as a front man for tobacco back then.

HSUS fights all animal cruetly

The so-called Humane Society for Shelter Pets is the latest front group created by public relations operative Rick Berman — it is not a legitimate animal welfare charity. While the Humane Society for Shelter Pets may sound innocuous, the group's primary purpose is to undermine the work of The Humane Society of the United States, which was named by peer organizations in 2011 as the most effective animal protection organization in the nation, and to divide animal organizations against each other.

DC soda-lobby effort falls ‘flat’

Mayor Bloomberg’s campaign to ban big drinks ignited a soda war in the nation’s capital yesterday.

Beverage-industry lobbyist Rick Berman — the man behind the full-page newspaper ad depicting Bloomberg as a frumpy nanny — tried to infiltrate an anti-soda conference that featured city Health Commissioner Tom Farley.

But Berman was tossed out of the event.

‘Consumer Freedom’ Org Attacks Big Soda Ban By Putting Bloomberg In A Dress

The ads are emasculating, demeaning, and oversimplify the issue, but that’s not even our biggest beef: The real problem is that The Center for Consumer Freedom is basically a front for the food and restaurant industry—including organizations like the American Beverage Association, which receives direct funding from corporations like Coca Cola and Pepsi. Which says to us that the organization is a lot more about company freedoms than consumer freedoms.

Ad zings ‘mothering’ mayor

It’s Nanny Bloomberg like you’ve never seen him before.

Hizzoner looked more like Mrs. Doubtfire than a titan of industry and government — gussied up in a frumpy lavender dress with ill-fitting shoulder pads, a matching scarf and a silver locket — in a Photoshopped, full-page ad in The New York Times yesterday.

Mayor Bloomberg Defends Proposed Soft Drink Ban Despite Growing Criticism

Mayor Bloomberg fiercely defended his proposed ban on super-sized soft drinks on Sunday.

He told CBS 2′s Dave Carlin that, ”People understand we have to do something.”

In the face of growing ridicule and intense criticism the Mayor has defended his stance on sugary drinks.

“When airlines have a problem that most passengers can’t fit in the seats anymore when the statistics say 30 40 50 percent of our kids are obese they are going to be obese as adults they’re not going to live long they’re not going to have great lives,” he said.

Wisconsin Recall Breaks Record Thanks To Outside Cash

Tuesday’s recall election of Republican Gov. Scott Walker is the most expensive in Wisconsin history. More than $63.5 million has been spent by candidates and independent groups, the overwhelming majority underwritten by out-of-state sources.

The record spending total was made possible thanks to the Citizens United U.S. Supreme Court decision — which had the effect of invalidating Wisconsin’s century-old ban on independent expenditures by corporations and unions — and a state law that allows unlimited contributions to the incumbent in recall elections.

FAQ: Who is Richard Berman, and why he is attacking The HSUS?

Richard Berman is a corporate front-man, a Washington, D.C., lobbyist and PR operative. Over the years, he has created a spider web of organizations whose aim is to attack established charities, nonprofits and public interest groups—from Mothers Against Drunk Driving to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to the Institute of Medicine to The Humane Society of the United States.

SPECIAL REPORT: How Washington went soft on childhood obesity

In the political arena, one side is winning the war on child obesity.

The side with the fattest wallets.

After aggressive lobbying, Congress declared pizza a vegetable to protect it from a nutritional overhaul of the school lunch program this year. The White House kept silent last year as Congress killed a plan by four federal agencies to reduce sugar, salt and fat in food marketed to children.

ANALYSIS: Health insurers try to fool Congress with fuzzy math

Want to find out what Congress is about to vote on? Take a ride on the Washington subway.

If you’ve been on the Metro in recent days, you might have seen an ad designed to make you feel sorry for our poor health insurance companies. So sorry that you’ll call your congressman and demand he support a bill would gut an important part of the health care reform law: the provision requiring that insurers spend at least 80 percent of the premiums they collect from us on our actual health care.

A sneaky effort to stop safe-driving technology

Sarah Longwell, who describes herself as “managing director” of something called the American Beverage Institute, conjured up quite a nightmare scenario on these pages on April 1, turning efforts to create a smart, sensible way to keep drunk drivers off the road into a bizarre vision of moms unable to pick up their children from soccer practice (“Safe driving’ technology targets social drinkers,” Page D3).

A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing – New ‘animal welfare’ agency not what it seems

In early December, I received an email introducing the Humane Society for Shelter Pets, a new non-profit animal welfare organization. The press release stated: “In these difficult economic times, pet shelters are feeling the shortfall in charitable giving. Many shelters already operate on tight budgets to provide needed hands-on care and don’t have the time or money to spread a ‘give local’ message.

DUI's new enemy: robocars

Skynet has not become self-aware, but it's hard to escape the feeling that we're heading for a "Terminator"-like future in which intelligent machines start wanting to run the show, what with cellphones that can talk to us and websites that can peg our entertainment preferences with eerie accuracy. So it should come as little surprise that someday our cars might exercise better judgment than we do.

After the Party, a Car That Takes Away Your Keys

Friends don't let friends drive drunk. In the future, your car could be that friend.

Researchers working with the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration are developing technology that could be built into a car's dashboard or controls to check a driver's blood-alcohol level and refuse to start if above the legal limit. The effort, which began in 2008, is officially known as the Driver Alcohol Detection System for Safety, or DADSS for short.

Is Sugar Toxic? Dietary Science Goes Mainstream

Sugar isn't healthy. That's a fact most people don't deny. But is the sweetener the worst thing in the American diet? According to a vocal minority of researchers, that's exactly the case. Led by University of California Endocrinologist Robert Lustig, these experts claim that sugar is the primary cause of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and even some cancers.

What's more, the theory appears to be going mainstream. Major news outlets are giving the sugar-chronic disease link serious attention, and not in order to disprove it.

Who's paying for the attacks on MADD?

Who else but Richard Berman would argue we need to better protect drunk drivers? Sarah Longwell, the “managing director” of the American Beverage Institute (ABI) is credited with Today's MADD drives dangerous new policies, but Longwell’s real job is vice president at Berman’s public relations firm, Berman & Company, and ABI is just one of Berman’s many industry front groups.

Who Is Trying to Destroy the Humane Society?

If you watched the Academy Awards ceremony last month, you may have noticed something out of character with the evening's festive atmosphere -- a 30-second spot attacking the Humane Society, America's largest animal protection organization. The commercial, broadcast on ABC and reminiscent of the negative campaign ads we've been seeing on TV lately, began with a flashing red light and throbbing alarm sound as the voiceover warned, "Attention: consumer protection alert."

Fight brews over DUI technology

Safety advocates and alcohol interests are squaring off over legislation intended to reduce alcohol-related traffic deaths through the use of devices that prevent drunken drivers from starting their cars.

Tucked into the Senate’s transportation bill is a provision that directs the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to study “more widespread deployment of in-vehicle technology” that would prevent drunken driving.

Driving ABI to Drink

The American Beverage Institute is against drunken driving. But buzzed driving? Well … that’s another story.

The trade association, which is one wee part of unregistered super lobbyist Richard Berman’s empire of corporate-backed nonprofits, is afraid that legislation aimed at encouraging the use of anti-drunken-driving technology will turn restaurant-goers into teetotalers.

Union-buster joins Wisconsin recall fight

The Wisconsin recall ad wars have a new player: the Center for Union Facts, the well-heeled union-bashing outfit founded by food and beverage super-lobbyist Rick Berman. A CUF source says the self-described “union watchdog” is spending “just over a million dollars” in Wisconsin, and “may do more in the coming weeks.”

The PR Man Behind the Oscar Night Anti-Humane Society Slam

Americans who endured Sunday night's Academy Awards ceremony were treated to a surprisingly aggressive campaign-style ad attacking the Humane Society for supposedly spending less than one cent of every dollar it takes in on animal shelters. The ad opens with a blaring siren on one side of the screen and footage from a Humane Society TV spot on the other. "Consumer alert!" a voiceover declares.

PETA and Humane Society attacked by reports – but are they real?

If you were watching the Oscars last night, you would have seen an ad that said only one percent of the money the Humane Society of the United States raises from the public goes to local, hands-on pet shelters. The ad was financed by a Web site called HumaneWatch.org. That ad comes on the heels of another controversial report for animal lovers last week, stating that PETA kills more than 95 percent of the pets in its charge at its Norfolk, Va., headquarters. The report came from a Web site called PetaKillsAnimals.com.

But are the reports genuine?

Bare Minimum Wage

One of the most active in the propaganda industry has been the Employment Policies Institute, a so-called think-tank in Washington that serves as a front for Richard Berman & Co., a lobbying firm for major corporations in the fast-food, alcohol, and tobacco industries. The Employment Policies Institute studies essentially say: Raising the minimum wage hurts minimum-wage earners. We know, we know. That sounds counter-intuitive, but trust us. We're the experts.

Drunk-Driving Interlock Sales May Jump

The market for devices to prevent convicted drunk drivers from starting cars if they’ve had too much to drink may surge almost fivefold if the U.S. Congress passes a bill under debate this month.

Berman turns his eye to battling big labor

Rick Berman has a black baseball cap with the words “Dr. Evil” in his K Street office. His critics may find it a fitting nickname for the former corporate lobbyist, who has ties to the tobacco and alcohol industries. Labor leaders sent it to him in jest, but he embraces the label.

“I take that as a compliment that they’re so upset,” Mr. Berman said. “Consider the source. If the unions call you ‘Dr. Evil,’ you’re probably doing something right.”

Opinion: Super Bowl Ad Offends Working People

During this year's Super Bowl, many Americans were subjected to a biased piece of political advertising by D.C., corporate lobbyists that was offensive to working people. An anti-worker front group calling themselves the "Center for Union Facts" aired a distasteful and misleading ad promoting a piece of legislation called the "Employee Rights Act" which would, in reality, weaken longstanding law protecting the rights of workers to organize.

A nonsense fact in a Super Bowl ad

A group that supports a bill in Congress that would require every unionized workplace to recertify their union every three years made this interesting claim in a TV ad that ran during the Super Bowl. The Center for Union Facts also asserted this fact in an advertisement that ran in The New York Times, featuring the dictatorial leadership of North Korea as apparent stand-ins for union leaders.

Fight Over Union Rights Enters Super Bowl Huddle

One political organization refrained from keeping their political message on the sidelines during this year's Super Bowl.

In addition to Michigan Senate candidate Pete Hoekstra's controversial campaign ad, some football watchers also saw the fight over union rights elevated to the national stage Sunday. A TV ad aired during the game blasted unions for spending their dues on political candidates, and pressed for the passage of the Employee Rights Act, a bill which would scale back union power across the country.

MADD to Face Opposition from Restaurant Groups Over Mandatory Ignition Interlocks in Highway Bill

The Republicans in the House of Representatives unveiled their version of a long-term surface transportation bill (HR 7) last week, which includes, among several contentious provisions, incentives for states to require convicted drunk drivers to use ignition interlocks in their cars. Ignition interlocks are devices that test the blood-alcohol level of the driver to ensure it is below legal limits before starting their cars. The provision is expected to be in the Senate bill as well.

A look at the Super Bowl ads with political agendas

Whether you were rooting for the Patriots or for the Giants, there’s one thing everyone can thank the Super Bowl gods for — the fact that our airwaves weren’t inundated with presidential candidates promoting their ideals. (Just corporations advertising the things that Americans can really rally around).

Still, scattered among the promotions for beer, cars, Doritos and not much else, were a few commercials with political agendas.

Bill seeks to end sobriety checkpoints

For different reasons, a bill doing away with sobriety checkpoints in New Hampshire has the backing of both constitutionally minded lawmakers and a D.C. trade group representing alcohol-serving restaurants.

House Bill 1452 would eliminate the sobriety checkpoints organized by local police departments to catch drunken drivers. A hearing on the bill is scheduled for 11 a.m. Thursday in Room 204 of the Legislative Office Building.

House transportation bill expected to go after drunken driving

A bill to be introduced Tuesday that provides for the long-term reauthorization of federal transportation programs is also expected to include language that would offer states millions of dollars in incentives for imposing tough penalties on first-time drunken drivers.

Restaurant Owners, MADD May Clash Over Transportation Bill

A small provision in the upcoming transportation bill could fuel a big brawl between restaurant owners and opponents of drunken driving.

Both chambers are expected to introduce reauthorization bills this week with financial incentives for states to require that convicted drunken drivers use ignition interlocks — devices that require drivers to blow into a tube to test their blood-alcohol level.

Center for Union Facts Steps Up $10 Million Ad Campaign Backing Broad Anti-Union Bill

This commercial, which aired during one of this month’s presidential debates, is one of four in a new campaign from the anti-union Center for Union Facts. CUF pledged last month to spend $10 million on the campaign, which promotes a new “Employee Rights Act” introduced in Congress by Utah Senator Orrin Hatch and South Carolina Congressman Tim Scott.

Animal welfare groups united in their cause

Washington lobbyist Rick Berman is well known as a front man for smearing the reputations of public interest groups (“Humane Society, shelter group at odds,” Dec. 22). His latest target is The Humane Society of the United States because we are the greatest threat to animal abusers and his industry paymasters. Berman and his so-called “Humane Society for Shelter Pets” falsely try to define animal welfare work as just one narrow category of writing checks to local pet shelters, which do important work and take in 6 million to 8 million dogs and cats each year.

Humane Society targeted by pro-shelter campaign

The Humane Society of the United States says it's under attack by a new group that's trying to starve it of funding by urging donors to send money to local animal shelters instead.

The society has long been a thorn in the side of some in agriculture with its undercover investigations and campaigns against animal cruelty. It claims the new group is the brainchild of conservative public relations executive Rick Berman, who spearheaded an earlier campaign against it, and that it's supported by big agricultural interests.

What’s in a name? Beware of astroturfing.

Too bad the season of giving has to coincide with the season of questionable charities, but I guess we’ll never be rid of unreformed Scrooges, poised to cash in. Generous animal lovers shouldn’t be fooled by one particular humbug who’s trying to undermine the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), a champion for sweeping changes in animal conditions for almost 60 years.

Rick Berman's Anti-Labor Front Group To Launch $10 Million Ad Campaign

A D.C.-based front group representing corporate interests will be rolling out a $10 million national advertising campaign next week to promote legislation that would likely weaken unions.

Tis the Season for Collaboration, Not Combat

It's happened again. And just a little more than a few weeks before Christmas. A new non-profit organization called the Humane Society for Shelter Pets (HSSP) was formed by the Center for Consumer Freedom (CCF).

The latter is run by Rick Berman, who has battled such "tyrannical" organizations as Mothers Against Drunk Driving, and who seems to have a personal vendetta against the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS). He is using HSSP to create a veritable public coliseum over his claim that HSUS does not support shelters or shelter animals.

More Deception from Con Man Richard Berman

Rick Berman is the king of charity fraud. He sets up phony front groups to do the dirty work of bad actors in industry. He takes their money and then takes on their critics. He runs “charitable” organizations, like the Center for Consumer Freedom (which fights The HSUS), the American Beverage Institute (which fights Mothers Against Drunk Driving), and the Center for Union Facts (which attacks public employees and unions), yet his groups don’t feed one animal, shelter one homeless person, or provide any other tangible social service.

Letter: Pacheco's $10 minimum wage bill is a worthy effort

Sen. Marc Pacheco, D-Taunton, demonstrates real concern for the well-being of Massachusetts workers by supporting a $10 state minimum wage.

Contrary to critics’ claims, we can expect this proposal to improve the quality of jobs without causing layoffs. This is because such a measure would have a very limited impact on businesses’ overall costs. The evidence shows that employers find ways to adjust that don’t require them to lay off workers, such as nearly imperceptible price increases. Lower turnover by better-paid workers further offsets any cost increase.

From local roots, Bradley Foundation builds conservative empire

Less than a week after being elected governor, Scott Walker and his wife met privately with one of the most powerful philanthropic forces behind America's conservative movement.

It wasn't the Koch brothers - the bogeymen for the American left.

On Nov. 8, 2010, the Walkers broke bread at the upscale Bacchus restaurant in the Cudahy Tower with the board and senior staff of the Milwaukee-based Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation.

Congress Considers Increased Financing to Study Alcohol Interlocks

Cars that prevent intoxicated drivers from operating them may be rolling a little closer to reality, if only legislatively.

The American Beverage Institute, a restaurant trade association, noted the Senate’s approval this week of an appropriation, by a vote of 60 to 39, that would allot $5 million for further research into alcohol-detection devices known as interlocks.

Humane Society faces smear from lobbyist

It’s no surprise that, in his Oct. 22 letter, millionaire lobbyist Rick Berman attacked The Humane Society of the United States. His so-called “Center for Consumer Freedom” is a front group for corporations trying to thwart animal welfare, environmental and other public interest reforms. It is not a consumer protection organization, and it has no social welfare mission.

CCF takes in boatloads of corporate cash, providing anonymity to companies and allowing them to get tax breaks through their “donations” to this phony nonprofit.

Humane Society: We're targeted for the work we do

Remember when those slick Washington P.R. operatives wanted us to believe that it’s OK to smoke?

Well, the same shady character who started out raking in big bucks from the tobacco companies is at it again. He’s out there trying to minimize the menace of drunks on our roads, he’s defending mad cow disease as a “low risk,” he’d have us believe that pregnant women shouldn’t worry about mercury in seafood and argues the case that organic food is bad for the environment.

Bill mandating breath-testers for DUI offenders advances

The Senate Transportation Committee today approved legislation requiring first-time DUI offenders to equip their vehicles with ignition interlock systems that test their breath for alcohol before allowing the car to be started.

Existing Pennsylvania law requires interlock systems only for repeat DUI offenders.

All should help pay down debt

As President Obama said in a Rose Garden speech Sept. 19 about our nation's debt crisis, "it's only right that we ask everyone to pay their fair share."

But if we're going to take seriously the notion of defeating the debt, it's going to take more than rhetoric and we'll all have to chip in — some of us more than others. Salvaging our downgraded economy demands tough sacrifices from all of us instead of a scapegoated few.

Longwell: The new Prohibition

Ken Burns' new documentary, "Prohibition," is a big hit for PBS — almost 4 million viewers tuned in last week to see America's premier documentarian tell the tale of a time when Americans had to know a secret knock just to get an after-work cocktail.

What viewers might not realize is that prohibitionists are alive and well today.

Understanding the consequences of changes in the minimum wage

When discussing public policy, it's typically easier for those who favor increased burdens on business to dismiss economic arguments to the contrary instead of tackling them head-on.

Back in 1996, when then-President Clinton was arguing for an increase to the federal minimum wage, his chief of staff laughed off complaints from business owners that rely on minimum wage labor: "We're talking about a lousy 90 cent increase," he guffawed.

Educate yourself on what you’re really supporting

Mario Batali, the famed ex-“Iron Chef” and restaurateur, has turned his coat and joined up with the radical environmental fringe. Batali now publicly endorses the Meatless Monday campaign and applies this philosophy to his restaurants.


What’s wrong with going meatless once a week? It sounds like eating in moderation. But the backers of the Meatless Monday campaign have a broader agenda behind the façade of health. 


Raising minimum wage won't lower poverty

The U.S. Census Bureau reported this week that more Americans are living in poverty than ever before measured -- 46.2 million people.

This news was followed by a predictable response from advocacy groups like the National Employment Law Project which suggested that an increase in the minimum wage could help lift Americans out of poverty. And not only that; in a CNN.com op-ed, a policy analyst with the group said that an increase in the minimum wage could boost the economy and create 160,000 jobs.

When a trend is not a trend

Outrage is in the air over concerns that companies are hiring only those who currently have jobs. Apparently, the nation is littered with “Unemployed need not apply” signs hanging from storefronts.

Sarah Longwell: Think of money that could be used to boost teachers salaries if there were no unions wasting valuable resources

According to a new survey released by the testing organization ACT, three out of four students are not prepared for college. These students will have to take at least one remedial course in math, science, reading or English.

Another new survey, this one from Phi Delta Kappa International (an educators' association) and Gallup, shows that Americans know who to blame for this mess. It isn't teachers: Three out of four respondents have "trust and confidence in public school teachers."

Another view: Group attacking MADD lacks credibility

At first glance, an emailed press release seemed unremarkable: another trade group trying to score a couple of points at the expense of an adversary.

But with a second glance, profound tackiness emerged. A group calling itself the American Beverage Institute was hammering at Mothers Against Drunk Driving for not getting as much mileage out of its fundraising efforts as other non-profit groups and for earning comparatively poor scores from two charity ratings organizations.

Mad at MADD

Finally, somebody has the guts to take on Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

"Mothers Against Drunk Driving Receives Another 'D' from Charity Rating Guide," shouts the Aug. 24 press release. It notes that the guide's publisher, the American Institute of Philanthropy, "says most highly efficient charities are able to spend 75 percent or more of total expenses on charitable programs. Yet, MADD has spent as little as 61 percent on programs."

Sixty-one percent versus 75 percent? That doesn't sound great, but it doesn't sound awful, either. So why the press release?

Report: Majority of Congress with no education in business

Almost 80 percent of lawmakers have no academic background in business or economics, even as Congress grapples with deficits, unemployment and other economic issues of tremendous complexity, according to an independent analysis released Tuesday.

The Employment Policies Institute (EPI) found that only 8.4 percent of lawmakers majored in economics or a related field, while just 13.7 percent studied topics related to business or accounting.

Berman to Industry: Play Offense

If it's already a bill, you're probably too late. Or, as conservative public affairs specialist Rick Berman cautioned at CSP's 2011 Outlook Leadership Conference, "legislation does not drive public opinion; public opinion drives legislation."

And liberal groups, he said, have been winning too many battles on issues such as obesity taxes and energy legislation not because the facts line up with their positions, but because they are staking positions early and putting industries on the defensive.

The minimum-wage solution

We need jobs.

With a 9 percent unemployment rate and anemic labor market growth, this is one goal on which there's bipartisan consensus. Unfortunately, there's little agreement on how to best accomplish this goal. And there are few issues on which the parties are more diametrically opposed than the minimum wage.

Commentary: Conventional wisdom isn't always wise

In a time when seemingly every kind of food or drink has something bad associated with it, you’d think at least water would escape unscathed. But one doctor reported in the British Medical Journal this July that advice to drink 8 glasses of water per day is “nonsense.” And drinking too much water could actually be harmful.

The lesson here isn’t that water is bad or that we shouldn’t drink it. Rather, it’s that the so-called experts on what we eat and drink can change their minds (and often do).

Sloan: Shining Some Light on Berman’s Ulterior Motives

The Great and Powerful Oz was really just an old man with theatrical flair, hiding behind a false persona. In much the same way, D.C. public relations Svengali Richard Berman has taken to these pages in disguise — as the executive director of the Center for Consumer Freedom — in a dubious attempt to discredit my organization, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.

But Berman isn’t just any corporate shill. He becomes anyone you want him to be ... for the right price.

The Daily Caller Hires Glee Club Conductor With Rap Sheet as New Executive Editor

David Martosko, senior strategist and director of research for the public affairs firm Berman and Company, will be the new Executive Editor of The Daily Caller. Megan Mulligan, who formerly held the position, resigned in May to move to Tunisia. Martosko begins his new job this week. As you’ll see below, he’s got the Social Media world covered as well as a few other things, like a rap sheet.

Hounding the Humane Society of the U.S.

The Humane Society of the United States is accustomed to criticism. As the country's largest, richest and most powerful animal welfare organization, it is a big target. Its successful 2008 campaign in California to pass Proposition 2, which outlawed battery cages for egg-laying hens, was fought hard by the egg industry, which protested that the new law would cripple egg farmers throughout the state.

Ending unpaid internships hampers young careers

The career ladders of blue collar and white collar workers might reach differing heights, but unless you are well-connected, both require steps on a bottom rung.

Now a new assault on unpaid internships makes that first step less likely than ever. Last year, a Labor Department official announced that "there aren't going to be many circumstances where you can have an internship and not be paid."

BERMAN: Health-scare hocus-pocus

May is National Cancer Research Month. Cancer is so widespread that it’s likely you know someone who has it. As a cure continues to elude our best scientific minds, public health advocates emphasize prevention as the best medicine.

This makes perfect sense, of course, but it’s an approach that’s easily abused. Some activists use the public’s fear of cancer as leverage to promote environmental, nutritional and behavioral agendas. And they often do it with limited (if any) scientific support.

Minimum wage hikes hurt cost business and their employees more than just six cents

Back in 1996, when President Clinton was pushing for an increase in the federal minimum wage, his chief of staff went on TV and complained that "we're talking about a lousy 90 cent increase."

One can only imagine his response to criticisms of the six-cent minimum wage hike coming to Florida on June 1. It's just a lousy six cent increase! But let's figure out what those six cents represent to businesses.

Lobbyist disguises true ID

The Great and Powerful Oz was really a feeble old man hiding behind a false persona. In much the same way, Richard Berman took to these pages (re: Bait and Switch and Bankrupt, April 20) and pretended to be an expert on the debt. In reality, he's a hired gun Washington lobbyist.

Bait-and-switch and bankrupt

When a company advertises a great product at an unbelievably low price, then tries to sell you a higher-priced alternative because they never had the product in the first place, we call it "bait-and-switch." It's fraud, and it's illegal.

When the government proposes a law and sells it to the public with unrealistically low cost estimates - knowing full well that we the people will pick up the tab - we call it "business as usual." And while the costs are worse than commercial fraud, it's plenty legal.

Chicago school bans some lunches brought from home

Fernando Dominguez cut the figure of a young revolutionary leader during a recent lunch period at his elementary school.

"Who thinks the lunch is not good enough?" the seventh-grader shouted to his lunch mates in Spanish and English.

Chicago School Bans Bag Lunches to Get Kids to Eat Less Junk Food

A push for healthier school lunches has led one Chicago school to ban students from bringing lunches from home altogether.

Students at Chicago's Little Village Academy are required to eat the lunch provided to them by the school -- a policy that has cooked up controversy among parents and educators amid a national debate about the best way to promote healthy eating for children.

Alcohol detection devices could be option on new cars

Proposed federal funding for alcohol-detection devices could make them available as a new car option within 10 years, but some hope — and others fret — it will speed installation in every car.

In the Bag: Why Disguised PR Shills Shouldn't Be Writing Tennessean Opinion Pieces

Here's a memo to The Tennessean: If the author of one of your op-eds plans to cut out his column, clip it to a receipt and mail it to one of his Fortune 500 company clients — you may want to find a new contributor.

In this week's Scene, we detail how Richard Berman, an infamous PR guru, manages to shill for his clients in the op-ed pages of The Tennessean.

How a notorious PR puppetmaster infiltrated the Tennessean's op-ed page

Last month, The Tennessean ran a "Tennessee Voices" op-ed column stridently defending a grave public concern: the much-maligned plastic bag. The topic hadn't exactly topped Music City's agenda, but you can forgive author J. Justin Wilson for not knowing much about Nashville.

Another anti-union attack, cocked and loaded

Last we heard from the Center for Union Facts, they were tacking up signs in the Farragut North station decrying the teachers' union for ruining children's educations. You could tell their educations, and lives, were ruined because the kids were doing things like holding their hands over their eyes.

An unwarranted attack by an unworthy sham organization

A reckless attack piece by David Martosko paints a false and misleading picture about the work of The Humane Society of the United States. It’s no surprise because Martosko works for the Center for Consumer Freedom, a front group for corporations trying to thwart animal welfare, environmental and other public interest reforms masquerading as a legitimate non-profit organization.

Industry has role to play in curbing addiction to food

Three years ago this month in Houston, at the first meeting of the Society of Food Addiction Professionals, Martin Lerner pithily framed one of the condition's problems: Its name.

Counterpoint: Ulterior motives motivate critics of Humane Society

Counterpoint: The Humane Society of the United States spends millions cleaning up after animal abusers -- whether starving horses, hoarding instances or puppy mill operations gone awry. We help local governments and humane organizations just about whenever called. We've also given tens of thousands in grants to Missouri shelters this year alone. It was HSUS that pushed for crackdowns on puppy mills and cockfighting in the state, and we stake out mainstream positions on agriculture and hunting issues.

Group shamelessly defends drivers who protest DUI checkpoints

One of the most reprehensible news releases to slither its way into my inbox came last week from flacks for the American Beverage Institute, an "association of restaurants committed to the responsible serving of adult beverages.

It urges "law enforcement agencies to reconsider holding sobriety checkpoints over Christmas and New Year's Eve" and instead "encourage police to employ roving patrols ... looking for erratic drivers."

Living Wage Fight Heats Up As Business And Labor Interests Release Dueling Research

The business-vs-labor war over the living wage bill is getting uglier with the release of a report questioning the credentials of a group of 650 economists whose support for raising the city’s wage standards is being considered by the City Council.

Corporate Front Group Accuses N.Y./N.J. Firefighters of ‘Mediocrity’

Recent well-publicized efforts to smear public employees haven’t just come out of nowhere. They’re part of a well-orchestrated campaign brewed up by the reactionary likes of the Heritage Foundation in advance of this year’s midterm election.

Ad campaign targets D.C. teachers union

The Washington Teachers' Union is the target of an aggressive advertising campaign created by an organization founded by an anti-union lobbyist.

Ca-Ching: Puppy Mill Sales Continue to Ring

The USDA is the government agency that regulates and the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service's (APHIS) Animal Care officers enforce the Animal Welfare Act with about as much bite to protect animals as the Interior Department's Minerals Management Service, responsible for mine safety inspections or the oversight required with the approved drilling of that offshore well, Deepwater Horizon and we all know how well that is going.

Editorializing for animal protection, agricultural progress

Two editorials in the past couple of days—both ringing calls for greater protection for animals—provide a study in contrasts. One, in The New York Times, celebrates change in agriculture, where the industry was part of the process of reform. The other, in the Raleigh News & Observer, reminds us that the industry can at times be obstinate and mean-spirited, ultimately not just hurting animals, but also its own standing and reputation.

The Smear Becomes More Clear

It hasn’t been a good PR week for multimillionaire PR flack Rick Berman. This past weekend, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune exposed his attack on The HSUS and included the voices of animal shelter leaders concerned that Berman’s smear campaign against The HSUS was harming their operations.

Nonprofit Advocate Carves Out a For-Profit Niche

Speaking on behalf of the Center for Consumer Freedom, Richard B. Berman takes no prisoners.

The Humane Society of the United States is his latest target, and his attacks on the way the organization spends its money have recently appeared in catchy newspaper advertisements, on bus shelters around Washington and on a billboard in Times Square.

Animal Abusers Hate Humane Society Because We Hurt Their Bottom Line

If you were to describe the work of The HSUS, you probably wouldn't call it subtle or indirect.

The HSUS's member magazine is called All Animals. Our mission statement is "Celebrating Animals, Confronting Cruelty." The HSUS has program departments devoted to animal research issues, companion animals, equine protection, farm animal welfare, and wildlife and habitat protection. Our website is a compendium of information on our animal care centers, our veterinary programs, our global work on spay and neuter and the wildlife trade, our disaster response deployments in Haiti and other parts of the world as well as across the United States, our advocacy campaigns (puppy mills, factory farming, animal fighting, seal killing, wildlife abuses, and the exotic pet trade), and so much more.

Which organizations really work in the interests of the American public

David Martosko of the so-called Center for Consumer Freedom spun quite a yarn in a recent column in The Telegraph. Readers should not be fooled by the likes of this professional con artist. The Center for Consumer Freedom has been exposed by ABC News and CBS's "60 Minutes," among others, as an industry-front group that attacks public interest organizations and his attack against The Humane Society of the United States is just more of the same.

According to the 2008 public filings by CCF with the Internal Revenue Service, 92 percent of the money it collects went straight into the hands of a for-profit PR outfit called Berman and Company Inc., which is owned by the founder, Rick Berman.

Campaign Attacks National Humane Society

WASHINGTON - An array of ads in newspapers and on billboards targets the Humane Society of the United States, but the animal rights group maintains the controversial campaign is missing the mark.

Billboard denounce the HSUS for the small amount of money it gives local animal shelters. The ads at bus stops or in newspapers get strong responses from animal lovers.

"I give a lot of money to the Humane Society but not to Animal Shelters. Well, isn't that how it's supposed to trickle down?" asked one woman.

This April Fools, Center for Consumer Freedom is the Joke

Imagine that I, while serving as president and CEO of The HSUS, owned a for-profit public relations company and that 92 cents of every dollar donated to The HSUS went to that very company or to me. I was paid by The HSUS, and then I also got paid by this for-profit corporation-double-dipping as it were. You'd sniff out that nifty little arrangement as a colossal self-enrichment scam, and the Internal Revenue Service, Congress, reputable journalists, and every nonprofit watchdog agency would be all over it like mud on a pig at a family farm. And rightly so.

Bet You Can't Eat Just One

In his book, "The End of Overeating," former FDA commissioner David Kessler charges food companies with deliberately manipulating the chemical composition of their products to make them addictive to people with vulnerable brain chemistries- i.e., children. Kessler participated in subsequent research that found similarities in how rat's brains experienced withdrawal symptoms similar to drug withdrawal then, after being fed by a high fat, high sugar mix, they were suddenly put on a diet. The food industry dismissed Kessler's claims by ignoring them, and one of their top lobbyists admitted that the strategy was deliberate: to respond would call attention to the claims and force the good companies into a tit-for-tat debate about neuroscience. Kessler believes that many food companies ought to be publicly shamed for constructing and marketing addictive, unhealthy food to kids.

"˜Reckless Attacks'

Darci Adams, Sioux Falls

Incoming South Dakota State Director, The Humane Society of the United States

Washington lobbyist David Martosko gets it wrong when he recklessly attacks and falsely characterizes the work of The Humane Society of the United States (Press & Dakotan, March 16). For more than a half-century, The HSUS has stood as the nation's most important advocate for local humane societies. The HSUS provides training programs, hosts the nation's largest trade and educational show for shelter professionals and provides national shelter standards.

In The Loop: The Pay-Day Lenders' Ties To Powerful Beltway Influence-Peddlers

We told you last week about the sophisticated Washington lobbying and PR operation that has helped the $42 billion-a-year pay-day lending industry water down provisions in the financial reform bill currently before Congress. But it looks like the industry's ties to a host of heavy-hitting, and sometimes controversial, Beltway players are even more extensive.

Those players, it appears, include a prominent and well-regarded DC consulting firm founded by top former Clinton administration staffers, a key editor at the Andrew-Breitbart-created website that hosted James O'Keefe's ACORN "exposes," Dick Armey's FreedomWorks, and a notorious corporate lobbyist known as "Dr. Evil."

The Enquirer's Apology

It doesn't quite rank up there with the front-page apology to Chiquita that the newspaper published for three straight days in 1998, but The Cincinnati Enquirer used an entire interior page of it's "A" Section today to apologize to Congressman Steve Driehaus.

Driehaus, the Democratic lawmaker from Price Hill, was incensed after an advertisement appeared in Wednesday's Enquirer that included a photograph of him with his two young daughters. The ad, paid for by a special interest group, urged Driehaus to vote "no" on the healthcare reform bill winding its way through Congress.

Corporate Front Group Targets Boccieri Over Healthcare Reform

Wednesday's Plain Dealer featured a large ad on page 9 urging Congressman John Boccieri - a fence-sitter on health care - to vote no on the pending reform bill. The not-quite-full-page ad has a picture of Boccieri atop photos of President Obama and Nancy Pelosi (the latter seemingly chosen for its snarling expression) under a headline "A majority of Representative Boccieri's district opposes the health reform bill." It asks, "If he votes for it, who is he representing - you or them?" It urges Boccieri's constituents to ask him not to add the "$2 trillion" cost of health-care reform to the "$12 trillion" deficit.

The ad was sponsored by a group with the pleasant, well-meaning-sounding name "Rethink Reform." It's an advocacy group run by a corporate lobbyist named Richard Berman. The guy's bio sounds like he was the model for the main character in the film Thank You for Smoking.

Adler hearing from both sides in health care debate

The debate over health care reform may be centered on Capitol Hill, but the battle lines run squarely through Democrat John Adler's 3rd Congressional District.

Adler was one of 39 Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives to vote against his party's reform bill last fall, and he's now back in the crosshairs of both reform proponents and opponents as the House prepares to vote again on a modified version of a bill approved by the Senate on Christmas Eve.

Ohio congressman being lobbied on health care vote outraged by ad showing his daughters

CINCINNATI - An Ohio congressman says an ad featuring a large photo of him with his two young daughters went too far in the heated debate over health care.

Tim Mulvey, a spokesman Rep. Steve Driehaus (DREE'-hows), says the southwest Ohio Democrat was outraged by the advertisement, which appeared Wednesday in The Cincinnati Enquirer. The ad was paid for by the Committee to Rethink Reform, a Washington-based group opposed to thehealth care overhaul nearing a vote.

Higher Tax on Alcohol Proposed in CA

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KCBS) -- A battle over alcohol is returning to California politics. A San Jose assemblyman is reintroducing legislation that would add a fee of five cents per drink. A measure that would have added 10 cents per drink failed earlier this year.

Sarah Longwell with the American Beverage Institute says that whether it's 10 cents or five cents- it doesn't matter because both are unfair.

"Alcohol is already one of the most highly taxed products in the United States," said Longwell. "We don't think that it's appropriate to tax us further simply because legislators can't get their spending under control."

Altmire Targeted In Pro-Health Care Overhaul Ads

PITTSBURGH -- A new $1.3 million ad campaign will target 17 House Democrats this week urging them to support President Barack Obama's health care plan.

The ads are funded by labor unions and other groups backing health care reform.

At least seven of the lawmakers - including Rep. Brad Ellsworth of Indiana - voted in favor of the legislation last year.

Some lawmakers push for tougher penalties against drunk drivers

FRANKFORT, KY (WAVE) - Some lawmakers in Frankfort are trying to push through a bill to toughen penalties for drunk drivers. House Bill 58 calls for ignition locks to be mandatory on vehicles after the first DUI conviction. Offenders would have to pass a breath test before starting their cars. A dozen other states have a similar law.

The bill passed the full House last month but hasn't made it to the Senate. Supporters say it's time for lawmakers to take some action. Mary Jane Oswald's son Trey was killed by a drunk driver in July 2004. CJ Hill, 20, also died in that crash. "I cry every day for Trey. It's been almost 6 years, and it never gets any easier," she said.

Drunk Driving Bill Stalls

The idea of requiring convicted drunk drivers to have ignition interlock devices on their cars has stalled in the Kentucky Senate. It has MADD, the bill's sponsor and relatives of victims frustrated by the roadblock.

May Jane Oswald of Louisville lost her 33-year-old son, Trey, six years ago when he was killed by a drunk driver. She says if the safety device law had been on the books back then the drunk driver who killed her son would not have been behind the wheel.

Ignition interlocks for convicted drunk drivers

Time is running out on a bill some say will save hundreds of lives every year on Kentucky's roadways. So one mother took her story to Frankfort in hopes of stopping drunk drivers before they even turn the key.

Mary Jane Oswald explains, "On July 9, 2004, my only son Trey was killed by a drunk driver." It's the real-life nightmare so many mothers like Mary Jane Oswald have to live: "He would say, 'I love you Mom.' Knowing that I will never hear those words from him again is so unbearable."

NY seeks 'fat tax' on sodas to fight rising US obesity

State Health Commissioner Richard Daines took up the issue Monday, speaking of a "golden opportunity" to create the tax.

"The dramatic underpricing of sugar-sweetened beverages, their widespread availability, and the ceaseless marketing of these products constitute a stumbling block to good health and are a clear and present danger to the future of our children," Daines said.

Beverage group is wrong to argue against ignition locks

In arguing against Maryland's proposed law that would require first-time drunk-driving offenders to use ignition interlocks, the American Beverage Institute worries that the law would inhibit people from having a second drink when dining out or attending sporting events ["Md., Va. consider ignition breathalyzers for first offense," Metro, March 2]. ABI managing director Sarah Longwell said, "We don't think that they should be punished to the same degree as somebody who has 10 drinks and then drives."

Soda tax back on the table

The fat tax is back.

A year after Gov. David Paterson abandoned his controversial proposal to tax soft drinks, the plan is enjoying a second wind, with Mayor Michael Bloomberg endorsing it Sunday as a way to raise money and save lives.

But bodega owners say the tax would kill their businesses, support in Albany is far from assured and New Yorkers chaffed at the idea of yet another tax.

New Web Site Set To Dog Humane Society

The farming sector has received negative press of late concerning food contamination cases, recalls, antibiotics overuse and, more recently, calling into question animal agriculture as a threat to animal welfare and global climate change.

Ask a farmer involved in livestock production and he's likely to say that much of the bad publicity is the work of animal rights activists. It's a fight that's been going on for years.

Pet donations: What to know before you contribute

The nonprofit Center for Consumer Freedom took out another ad recently in a national newspaper criticizing the way the Humane Society of the United States doles out its dollars. The headline says "Shouldn't the Humane Society do Better?'' Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of HSUS, said Wednesday the attack is "unjustified and fraudulent."

According to the advertisement, HSUS gives less than one-half of one percent of its $100 million budget to hands-on pet shelters. Pacelle says working with shelters is only a small part of what HSUS does for animals.

Lawmakers consider ignition interlock for all DWI offenders

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- The state Senate's transportation committee heard testimony Tuesday from supporters of a bill that would require ignition interlock systems for all drunken driving offenders -- even first-time offenders.

Ignition interlock forces drivers to blow into a machine and prove they haven't been drinking before their vehicles will start.

"This is a good bill," Tim Leslie of the state's Public Safety department told lawmakers. "It provides both public safety on our roadways and legal driving opportunities for DUI offenders."

Ignition locks are debated

Advocates for a crackdown on drunken driving squared off against the alcoholic beverage industry Thursday over an O'Malley administration-supported bill that would require court-determined drunken drivers to install devices that would prevent their cars from being started if they have been drinking alcohol.

Proponents of the so-called ignition interlock technology went into the Senate hearing with high hopes that they can win passage of at least a compromise version of a bill that has failed in previous years. But the measure, which would make the program mandatory for even first-time offenders, still faces a steep climb - particularly in the House of Delegates.

Sign is one of a kind at local McDonald's

Order a Big Mac at the McDonald's in Texas Children's Hospital, and it will set you back 540 calories. A Quarter Pounder will cost you 26 grams of fat.

Along with prices on the burger joint's menu board in the hospital, consumers can now see how many calories and grams of fat and carbohydrates their meal will include.

It's the only McDonald's in Texas to have the features, which the hospital hopes will help consumers make healthier choices.

Humane Society Spars With Consumers Group

The Humane Society of the United States is barking back after the start of a high-profile campaign that includes a new Web site attacking its work.

The Web site, HumaneWatch.org, was created by the Center for Consumer Freedom, a nonprofit group run by Washington lobbyist Richard Berman that advocates in behalf of restaurants and other companies.

The Center for Consumer Freedom ran a full-page advertisement in Tuesday's New York Times announcing the new Web site and saying that "the dog-watchers need a watchdog."

New Center for Consumer Freedom website targets Humane Society of the United States

Anyone who's ever glanced at the website PETAKillsAnimals.com is familiar, whether they know it or not, with a group that calls itself the Center for Consumer Freedom.

The Center for Consumer Freedom -- headed up by a lobbyist for the food, alcoholic beverage and tobacco industries named Richard Berman -- has long been at odds with groups like PETA and the Humane Society of the United States. (For the record, though, it has also worked to discredit non-animal-related advocacy groups including Mothers Against Drunk Driving through its ActivistCash.com website. Another of its websites, ObesityMyths.com, attempts to debunk what it describes as "myths" about human health. Among those "myths": "Obesity will shorten life expectancy" and "Obesity has made diabetes epidemic.")

Barnyard brawl a-comin': Food sector lobbyists launch website aimed at the Humane Society

Get ready for a food fight.

Animal rights groups have long kept a sharp eye (and a bounty of hidden cameras) on livestock farmers and others who raise animals for meat production. Now, the food producers are turning the tables: They're siccing their own watchdog on the animal world's largest guardian "“ the Humane Society of the United States.

Consumer Freedom Publishes Petty Attack Ad Against Humane Society

Please ask, who paid for that attack ad against The HSUS in today's New York Times? What is the so-called "Center for Consumer Freedom" and what corporations fund this shadowy organization?

New watchdog for Humane Society

Animal rights has be come a key phrase for raising money, and some groups such as the Humane Society of the United States raise tons of it saying they save pets and animals.

The question is, where does all this money go?

The Center for Consumer Freedom is announcing the launch of HumaneWatch.org, a watchdog project dedicated to analyzing the activities of the Humane Society of the United States, the largest anti-hunting and fishing group in the country.

Believe a simple fact: Alcohol ignition interlocks save lives

I read with great concern the opinion in The Tennessean on Feb. 18 written by the managing director of the American Beverage Institute regarding life-saving alcohol ignition interlocks ("MADD's interlock proposal lumps all drinkers in same category").

The institute has a long, sad history of fighting to keep drunken drivers on the road. Over the past 20 years, this Washington-based organization has opposed nearly every measure proven effective and widely accepted by the public to stop drunken driving and save lives.

House approves bill requiring breath device for drunken drivers

Convicted drunken drivers would have to pass a breath test before starting their vehicles under a bill the Kentucky House passed 95-0 on Thursday.

House Bill 58, which now proceeds to the Senate, would require judges to order a breath-alcohol monitoring devices for defendants' vehicles for six months after a first conviction for driving under the influence. The drivers blow into the devices, and if they have been drinking alcohol, an ignition lock prevents their vehicles' engines from starting.

SPECIAL REPORT: DUI Checkpoints...Do They Work?

PALM SPRINGS - In 2010 over 1,000 people will die in drunk driving crashes in California. Local police believe DUI checkpoints are a way to save lives while a national organization says there are other more efficient ways. Palm Springs driver, Holly Connor says they are all over the place. Allan Borges of Palm Springs said he went through one on Super Bowl Sunday.

Two bills, two targets close to home: Sugary drinks and cell-phone radiation

SACRAMENTO - Enjoy a sugary drink every now and then? Unless you switch to diet, it could cost you a few extra pennies.

And are you thinking of buying a new cell phone? If you're the nervous type, better do it now - before California requires retailers to display in big numbers how much radiation the devices emit.

A pair of bills unveiled in the Legislature on Thursday seek to dramatically shift our relationships with two American staples: our pop cans and our phones.

Shipley's interlock device bill advances

Tennessee state Rep. Tony Shipley's legislation requiring certain DUI offenders to use an ignition interlock device (IID) advanced Wednesday, as did a competing bill mandating IIDs for convicted drunk drivers.

Shipley's bill, which moved out of the House Criminal Practice Subcommittee, calls for drivers convicted of DUI with a blood alcohol content (BAC) of 0.15 percent or higher, or convicted of refusing the blood/alcohol test at the time of the DUI, to be ordered to use the IID.

Rick Berman Attacks the Humane Society

Front group man extraordinaire Rick Berman and his attack group, the Center for Consumer Freedom (CCF), have launched a new Web site, HumaneWatch.org, to harass the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), the country's largest animal welfare organization. In pursuing its mission of stopping animal cruelty, HSUS has apparently run afoul of some large, wealthy business interests, and now it is getting some major pushback.

The Humane Society works to stop egregious, ongoing animal abuse, particularly in money-making enterprises like puppy mills, factory farming, dogfighting, cockfighting, and unsporting hunting practices like "canned hunts," where hunters pay to shoot at captive, domestically-raised, exotic animals.

Letter: 'Health care is not a commodity'

In response to the Jan. 28 letter to the editor "Wrong numbers fuel poor policies "by Kristen Lopez Eastlick, it's interesting to note the letter writer's affiliation.

Eastlick is paid by the Economic Policy Institute which lobbies on behalf of hotel, alcoholic beverages, tobacco and restaurant industries. This group opposes any minimum wage laws and living wage ordinances. Since 1991, it has argued against any health care reform and either cherry picks or cooks data to support its positions.

Smashing ACORN: Scandal 'the last straw' for advocacy group in Michigan

You haven't seen Carrie Guzman on the television shows hosted by archconservatives Bill O'Reilly or Glenn Beck. Her name hasn't appeared on the op-ed page of The Wall Street Journal. And she hasn't shown up in any surreptitiously videotaped sting operations conducted by youthful right-wing zealots.

In fact, Guzman represents a face of the group ACORN that has been largely absent from the media in general since various factions of the right wing set out to discredit and cripple the anti-poverty organization.

The Other Political Super Bowl Ad

Watching TV in Washington, DC--particularly cable news--carries the distinct drawback of exposing District viewers to more political ads out of election season, commonly run by interest groups seeking to influence the national discussion by gaining the ear of opinion makers.

The Super Bowl was no different: to the surprise of anyone consumed by anticipation of the Tim Tebow abortion ad, CBS's DC feed carried a political ad criticizing U.S. debt, featuring American children pledging allegiance to the Chinese government.

If the Tebow ad was demurely apolitical, this ad was anything but.

Industry front maligns work of Humane Society

A letter writer from Billings gets it wrong when she falsely characterizes the work of The Humane Society of the United States ("Local donations will result in aid reaching animals," Jan. 30). She relies on false information from the misnamed Center for Consumer Freedom, an industry front for tobacco, alcohol and agribusiness, which serves no function other than to attack organizations that promote food safety, public health or animal welfare.

Is Coke's Fizz Going Flat?

Like a tobacco company, Coca-Cola primarily sells one product--in its case, sugar water--that is linked to a number of diseases. It's under fire all over the world for its environmental, human rights, and health record. Here at home, it finds itself as the potential target of new taxation, expelled from America's schools, and outflanked by its nimbler competitor, PepsiCo. Angry parents, activist scientists, and wary shareholders are watching the company's every step.

Campus Right Unbowed by Okeefe Scandal

When James O'Keefe applied for a grant to fund a conservative newspaper at Rutgers University, he appealed to people like Sarah Longwell. As the senior program officer at the Collegiate Network, she toured campuses across America to help conservative and libertarian students start newspapers or keep their publications running. She "read basically every conservative college paper," and got to know the sort of people attracted to the unpaid work of right-leaning campus muckraking.

Smashing ACORN

You haven't seen Carrie Guzman on the television shows hosted by archconservatives Bill O'Reilly or Glenn Beck. Her name hasn't appeared on the op-ed page of The Wall Street Journal. And she hasn't shown up in any surreptitiously videotaped sting operations conducted by youthful right-wing zealots.

In fact, Guzman represents a face of the group ACORN that has been largely absent from the media in general since various factions of the right wing set out to discredit and cripple the anti-poverty organization.

Emblem: Corporate lobbying arms "the power to change the debate"

"Propaganda" is a form of communication aimed at emotionally influencing the public's attitude toward some cause or position as opposed to impartially providing information.

There are grassroots, tax-exempt organizations that actually educate and open up public dialogue with information to allow for well-informed decisions. There are also others with grassroots-sounding names fueled by corporate lobbyists who use the powerful and effective tools of fear and distrust to swiftly shut down debate. Some of these "public policy" sounding organizations claim to be non-partisan "think tanks" but are puppet organizations of corporate lobbyists.

Oregon teen unemployment third highest

Not only does Oregon have one of the highest unemployment rates in the nation at 11 percent, the state's teen unemployment rate is now the third-highest.

Analysis of preliminary data by the Washington, D,C-based Employment Policies Institute shows that the teen unemployment rate in Oregon has averaged just over 31 percent over the last year. This is nearly 28 percent higher than the national teen average, and the third-highest average state teen unemployment rate in the nation.

Government union rolls grow as layoffs hit private sector

WASHINGTON - A majority of union members now work for the government, partly because of huge numbers of layoffs during the prolonged recession, which has accelerated the downward spiral of union dues-paying members in private business.

Local, state and government workers make up 51.5 percent of all union members, becoming the majority of organized labor for the first time, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday.

Most U.S. Union Members Are Working for the Government, New Data Shows

For the first time in American history, a majority of union members are government workers rather than private-sector employees, the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced on Friday.

In its annual report on union membership, the bureau undercut the longstanding notion that union members are overwhelmingly blue-collar factory workers. It found that membership fell so fast in the private sector in 2009 that the 7.9 million unionized public-sector workers easily outnumbered those in the private sector, where labor's ranks shrank to 7.4 million, from 8.2 million in 2008.

Hey Buddy, Can You Spare $12 Trillion?

Times Square was hit by a flash mob of "homeless" Uncle Sams today, who were there giving the Naked Cowboy a run for his money, asking passerbys if they could spare some change -$12 trillion, to be exact.

No, that's not a typo. It was a stunt by the Employment Policies Institute, part of their "Defeat the Debt" campaign to try to educate Americans about just how big the U.S. debt is a day before Congress is scheduled to begin debate on raising the debt ceiling.

Humane Society proud of its record of helping

Re: David Martosko's Jan. 19 letter, "Be more humane":

Martosko is the director of research for the Center for Consumer Freedom in Washington, D.C., an industry front for tobacco, alcohol and agribusiness. It serves no function other than to attack organizations that promote food safety, public health and animal welfare.

The CCF was started with a $600,000 grant from tobacco giant Phillip Morris. It has even attacked Mothers Against Drunk Driving and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Getting the facts straight on New Mexico's DWI interlock law

In response to Sarah Longwell's letter to the editor, the first mandatory interlock law actually went into effect in New Mexico on Jan. 1, 2003, not in 2005 as you state.

In 1999, it was optional for all second and third DWIs. In 2002, it was mandatory for all aggravated and subsequent DWIs. 2003 was when the Ignition Interlock License Act was in place as an alternative to license revocation. 2005 was when mandatory interlocks were for all DWIs.

UPDATE 1-New York City leads drive to cut U.S. salt intake

NEW YORK, Jan 11 (Reuters) - New York City, which has banned smoking and artificial trans fats in restaurants under Mayor Michael Bloomberg, is taking on another enemy of healthy living: salt.

The city's Health Department announced on Monday that it is coordinating a nationwide effort to reduce salt in restaurant and packaged foods by 25 percent over five years.

Society's quest is noble

What the Humane Society of the United States stands for, and what it does, is plain for everyone to see. We are against the mistreatment of animals, and we battle on many fronts to bring it to an end.

That's been our story for more than a half-century. You can read about us, about our finances, about our field work, about our staff and our far-flung legions of supporters at humanesociety.org.

Help Wanted: Ohio Teens Find It Harder Than Ever To Land A Job.

It's hard for anyone to find a job right now. But on this week's upside / downside one group's having an even harder time than most. For teens, finding a job is always harder. But in the recession, even the few jobs that normally go to the young and inexperienced are being snatched by workforce veterans. ideastream®'s Ida Lieszkovszky has this the latest installment in our ongoing series on unemployment...Help Wanted.

Another defeat for California lawmaker's alcohol fee

SACRAMENTO - A South Bay lawmaker's plan to chase every alcoholic drink served in California with a 10-cent fee was officially put on ice Tuesday, failing for the second time in a year to win support from his colleagues.

The charge, sought by Assemblyman Jim Beall, D-San Jose, would have raised $1.44 billion a year to help pay for some of the billions in criminal justice and public health costs associated with alcohol abuse.

Cap high interest rates on payday loans

Sarah Longwell and the Center for Consumer Freedom shouldn't be interfering with the efforts of the Des Moines City Council to reduce the prevalence of predatory and abusive lenders in the city (Dec. 9 letter).

Longwell fails to realize that payday lending is anything but a "valuable financial tool." The idea that payday lending regulation limits consumer freedom seems like a cruel joke that mocks the thousands of Iowans each year whose financial freedom is stripped away when they are ensnared in a payday loan cycle.

Tobacco Lobbyists Join Wall Streeters on Debt Crusade

Millions of people around the country have been treated to the anti-debt ads run by one-time tobacco industry lobbyist Richard Berman. Mr. Berman, who has also worked to thwart minimum wage increases and managed to get on the opposite side of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, is now working alongside the Wall Street types who wrecked the economy.

Wall Streeters, like billionaire fund manager Peter Peterson, want to use the government debt burden created by the collapse of their credit bubble as an excuse to slash Social Security and Medicare.

Corporate W**** Rick Berman Smacked Down by Court for Anti-Health Care Ad

It's nice to see the purveyors of corporate activism get their comeuppance.

A federal court ordered the latest Rick Berman front group to take down its anti-healthcare ad because of trademark violations. Berman's group falsely claimed several doctors' groups opposed "government health care," and those groups weren't too happy.

Is that Right? Facebook disses dairy?

I enjoy reading the e-mails I receive from the Center for Consumer Freedom, a group that rails against regulation and taxation and argues that consumers should be left to make their own decisions about what they put in their mouths. One of the Center's chief bugaboos, for instance, is the move toward imposing a tax on sweetened soft drinks as a means of combating obesity.

Payday lenders don't sell affordable credit

I was appalled to read Sarah Longwell's Dec. 9 letter in which she sings the praises of the payday lending industry. Longwell is identified as the director of communications for the Center for Consumer Freedom. I think I can guess who funds that outfit.

In reality, payday loans trap hard-working Iowans in a vicious cycle of debt with interest rates that can exceed 400 percent. The average $300 payday loan costs the borrower $800.

On top of that, nearly $40 million in fees alone leave Iowa for corporate payday lending headquarters in other states.

Health Reform Foes' New Dirty Tricks (VIDEO)

What does the popular wing restaurant Hooters have to do with health reform? Gift certificates to that fine establishment are one of several prizes you can obtain in exchange for simply signing up for free e-mails from anti-health reform advocates. This comes on the heels of reporting last week where we showed that gamers playing a popular Facebook game were being offered virtual money to spend in that game if they filled out a health reform-related survey.

Court forces health care foes' ad off air

A federal court in Illinois today ordered that an ad opposing health care legislation be taken off the air and removed from the Internet after a leading medical group complained that the ad miscast its stance on the bill and misused its trademark.

Surgeons groups want names pulled from ad (UPDATED)

A leading medical group is demanding its name be removed from a an ad attacking health care legislation.

The American College of Surgeons has asked the group "Rethink Reform" to to remove the college's name from a scrolling list of "Doctors Against the Plan" in an ad that says doctors "understand that under the proposed rules there will be longer waiting times and rationing of care for seniors."

Rethink Reform is one of many campaigns run by the wide-ranging business lobbyist Rick Berman, and isn't required to disclose its donors.

DUI check stops 633 cars; nets 1 arrest

SARASOTA COUNTY - For more than four hours last weekend, two dozen deputies and officers set up a sobriety checkpoint and stopped every car going south on U.S. 41 in North Port.

Out of 633 cars stopped, police made only one DUI-related arrest.

The lack of arrests gives fuel to a long-standing criticism of DUI checkpoints that are usually set up during holidays.

"They're just not a particularly effective way to spend law enforcement dollars," said Sarasota defense attorney Tom Hudson, who has studied the results of the checkpoints in Sarasota and Manatee counties.

Ad wars: Industry overwhelms labor, advocacy spending

The media tracking firm TNSI-CMAG finds a continued flood of health care spending in the month of November, in its latest report, and also found that industry backed foes of health care legislation -- led by the Chamber of Commerce -- widely outspent its backers, with industry dollars on both sides swamping ads from unions and liberal advocacy groups.

In sum:

Facebook to lift ban on promotion of dairy products

Guns, dairy and prescription drugs. They're not often in the same category.

But the promotion of dairy products - along with firearms, cigarettes, gambling, tobacco, prescription dugs and gasoline - was banned on Facebook.

"When you looked at the list of products they have banned, it just didn't make any sense," said Patrick Geoghegan, senior vice president of corporate communications with the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board in Madison. "So we poked around and were later told they took dairy off the list."

He didn't know why dairy was on the list to start with.

Conservative Groups Load Up For Major Anti-Health Care Ad Push

A host of conservative groups are ramping up their efforts to derail health care reform in Congress, spending more than $3.91 million for a fresh wave of ad buys in key states, according to data provided by a Democratic ad tracker.

The Great Dairy Compromise: Facebook No Longer Lactose-Intolerant

Raise your milkshakes, dairy lovers -- a Facebook ban on dairy promotions has been partially lifted.

The social-networking giant had banned certain items from promotions: gambling, tobacco, firearms, prescription drugs, gasoline and dairy.

One of those things is not like the other, said Center for Consumer Freedom research director David Martosko.

Health reform foe may keep eye on bottom line

I read with great interest the editorial titled "High premium talk is hot air," published Dec. 2. After being constantly barraged with the TV ads by Re-think Reform, I wanted to know who really was behind such a massive effort to discredit any meaningful health care reform efforts.

Lo and behold, the sponsoring entity is the Employment Policies Institute. EPI is one of several front organizations created by Berman & Co., which is owned by Rick Berman who lobbies for the tobacco, restaurant, alcoholic beverage and hotel industries.

'Consumer' group's attack on physicians committee's nutrition recommendations is disingenuous

It's no surprise that David Martosko doesn't like the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine's work to promote healthful diets ["I'll take turkey," cleveland.com, Wednesday]. Martosko's employer, the so-called Center for Consumer Freedom, has been exposed in The Washington Post as a corporate front group that has taken millions of dollars from fast-food chains, tobacco giant Philip Morris, corporate meat producers and other companies selling unhealthy products. Martosko's group has attacked virtually every public health advocate in America, from Mothers Against Drunk Driving to our organization, which has more than 9,000 physician members.

Get real facts before believing biased TV ads

Central Indiana viewers have been bombarded recently with advertisements regarding health-care reform. It is important for viewers to understand who is funding these advertisements. The ads urging us to "rethink health-care reform" come from an organization called the Employment Policies Institute, a conservative pro-business group that opposes minimum wage increases and any requirement for employers to insure their employees.

Movie popcorn: greasy buckets of death

Yoicks! Just in time to cripple our holiday fun.

Gigantic spoilsports at the Center for Science in the Public Interest announced on Nov. 18 that movie popcorn will kill you.

Is your teenager jobless? An adult likely took the position

Alissha Marcum can't find a job -- "There's nothing," the 19-year-old said.

Marcum recently moved back to Belleville after she lost her job in Bloomington, Ind. "I was working at Steak 'n Shake," she said.

Marcum and others her age are finding fewer jobs than ever before. According to statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit research organization Employment Policies Institute has cited that the nation's unemployment rate among those 16 to 19 years old soared to a record 27 percent last month.

Tough road to adulthood for jobless teens

ROCKFORD - When Michelle Morgan was 15, she worked at the now-closed Hamilton Center True Value store as a cashier.

The job taught the Machesney Park resident a lot - how to work with people, how to deal with the public, how to handle money. All are skills she still uses as an adult, and they're skills she fears her 16-year-old son, Brandon, will never get.

Brandon has been looking dutifully for a part-time job since the summer, but has had only one interview out of the dozens of applications he's submitted.

More breath devices may curb offenses

They are a key weapon in the fight against drunken driving, and next year a lot more of them will be on the roads.

A tough new state law enacted this month will require everyone convicted of misdemeanor or felony DWI to spend at least six months driving with an ignition interlock device that requires them to blow a breath free of alcohol before a car will start.

That requirement will come after they finish any jail or prison time and regain their driver's licenses.

DUI checkpoints net offenders, but remain controversial

Drivers slowed as they pulled to a stop on a dark section of Route 13 in Bristol Township. When they rolled or thumbed down their window, a cop's head popped in.

The officers - eight of them stopping sets of four cars at a time - leaned into the open windows and asked to see a driver's license. They explained that it was a DUI checkpoint and, hopefully, the drivers would be on their way again in seconds.

Not everyone got to drive away, though.

Ads Add Heat to Healthcare Debate

For weeks, Sen. Blanche Lincoln has been attacked as a "flip-flopper" or an obstructionist in television ads aimed at Arkansas voters, who will decide next year if she gets to keep her job.

This week, she and other moderate Democrats who made a politically risky vote to start debate on the Senate's health care bill may get a bit of positive support from two campaigns, funded by reform advocates, highlighting their votes to allow debate on the Democrats' bill.

Who the hell is Monica Wehby and why is she spouting nonsense?

Monica Wehby is the star of a new commercial presented by rethinkreform.com.
Wehby claims to be a Doctor, and she actually is one. Bingo, there is one truth. Monica claims to oppose the health reform plan as currently constituted. Bingo, I guess that is true. She would have no reason to lie, right?

DUI Sobriety Checkpoints Don't Work

DUI sobriety checkpoints do not work in stopping drunk drivers. This is the message from the American Beverage Institute in a press release today urging law enforcement agencies to forego the practice of DUI sobriety checkpoints over Thanksgiving weekend and, instead, focusing their time, effort and money toward the more effective roving DUI patrols.

Group wants to do away with DWI checkpoints

JEFFERSON CITY -- Beginning Wednesday, mid-Missouri law enforcement will be out of in force to watch for drunk drivers over the holiday weekend.

But what's the best way to catch drunk drivers?

The American Beverage Institute says the answer isn't DWI checkpoints, which they call ineffective and a waste of money.

"There's no proof that [checkpoints] deter drunk drivers," said Sarah Longwell with the ABI. "When they talk about deterrent, I think of it more as a publicity stunt."

Ohio Teens Hit Hard by Job Loss

WASHINGTON -- New unemployment numbers show Ohio teenagers are hit particularly hard by the lagging economy.

The state unemployment rate in Ohio was 10.5% in October, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports, and the teen unemployment rate was 31.2%, three times as high as both the state and national unemployment rates.

According to analysis from the Employment Policies Institute, Ohio has the 10th highest teen unemployment rate in the nation. Since October 2008, Ohio's teen unemployment rate has increased nearly 38%, from 22.6% in 2008.

NY DWI offenders now face toughest penalties in nation

Not only will drunk drivers who have a child passenger face more stringent penalties, but all convicted DWI offenders will also face stricter punishments under a new law Gov. David A. Paterson signed last Wednesday.

The bill (A.40008/S.66008, Governor's Program Bill 204) known as "Leandra's Law" is aimed at preventing the death of child passengers, anyone 15 years old or younger, due to the driver being intoxicated. Leandra Rosado was an 11-year-old who died in a drunk driving accident.

Letter writer has written to many newspapers across the country

I've been following the diatribes incited by Marc Guthrie's Nov. 11 view "Supporting health care is vote for common good." What finally motivated me to write was the letter by Kristen Lopez Eastlick. I decided to learn more about her since we don't have a large number of economic analysts in Licking County and she purports to be one. (I know that Marc lives in Licking County.)

Tougher DWI penalties signed into law; not all pleased

ORISKANY, N.Y. (WKTV) - The penalties for DWI in New York State just got a bit tougher Wednesday.

Governor David Paterson signed legislation Wednesday afternoon that stiffens the penalties for those convicted of DWI who have children in the car, and makes even first-time offenders use the ignition interlock program. The charges will be raised from misdemeanor to felony, and now anyone convicted of a DWI is subject to blowing in a breathalyzer before they start their car.

Michael Calengelo, the coordinator for the Oneida County Stop-DWI program calls Wednesday's bill a step in the right direction.

Senate takes up health care

WASHINGTON - With the U.S. House approving a health-care plan, all the attention now turns to the U.S. Senate where U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu is considered one of five votes that could make or break the effort.

Democrats outnumber Republicans in the chamber, 60 to 40. But supporters of the health-care revamp proposed by Senate Democrats will need all 60 Democratic votes to block an expected Republican filibuster.

Landrieu, who opposes the plan in its current form, is one of the Senate's Democratic moderates whose defection could sink the yearlong effort to pass health-care legislation.

Business Opponents Of Health Overhaul Ramp Up Advertising

Interest groups, including business opponents, are ramping up spending on advertising.

"Business foes of health care overhaul legislation are outspending supporters at a rate of 2-to-1 for TV ads as they grow increasingly nervous over a final bill," The Associated Press reports. "Led by the giant U.S. Chamber of Commerce, opponents of the Democratic health care drive have spent $24 million on TV commercials over the past month to $12 million spent by labor unions and other backers. That's an abrupt reversal from the vast spending advantage supporters enjoyed most of this year, according to Evan Tracey, president of Campaign Media Analysis Group, which tracks political ads. More than half the opposition spending has been by the chamber." The chamber has also "circulated an e-mail to other business groups asking them to help fund a $50,000 study by a 'respected economist' of the proposed health care overhaul. The study would be used for a letter, ads and other lobbying efforts to argue that the bill 'will kill jobs and hurt the economy,' according to the e-mail" (Fram, 11/17).

K Street Files: "˜Dr. Evil' Takes On Health Care

A group run by sharp-edged lobbyist and public relations maven Richard Berman plans to saturate the airwaves in six states starting today with television ads warning about the high cost of proposed health care reforms.

The spots are part of a $10 million campaign spearheaded by the Employment Policies Institute, which is financed by Berman's business clients.

Health-care debate heats up in Senate

BATON ROUGE - Now that the U.S. House has passed a controversial health-care-reform bill, Louisiana's two senators find themselves on the hot seat.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, said he will bring the legislation to the floor this week.

And beginning today, the Employment Policies Institute, a Washington-based nonprofit research group that leans Democrat, will be airing advertisements in the Houma-Thibodaux area.

Business group unveils $10 million campaign against health reform

A group that helped defeat President Clinton's healthcare plan is set to launch a $10 million campaign against the pending legislation.

A pro-business group that helped defeat President Bill Clinton's healthcare plan announced Thursday a $10 million campaign against the pending healthcare legislation.

The radio and television campaign is part of a wave of ads that advocacy groups have unveiled in the past day.

The Employment Policies Institute said the $10 million campaign would be its largest ever on the issue of healthcare. It will run over the next eight to 10 weeks.

Health-Bill Battle Won't Get a Recess

WASHINGTON -- The fight over the future of the U.S. health-care system is heading outside the Beltway this week, as groups on all sides take advantage of Congress's Veterans Day recess to put pressure on lawmakers.

Conservative groups are using the recess -- one week for the House and three days for the Senate -- to press lawmakers to vote no on the health-care overhaul plans. Groups in favor of the Democratic health plan are equally active, if not more so, after getting caught flat-footed this summer when groups opposing the plans packed town-hall meetings.

Groups Launch Anti-Health Care Reform Ads

The Employment Policies Institute, founded by lobbyist and public relations man Richard Berman, has launched a $10 million television campaign warning about the high cost of proposed health care reform.

The television spots, which will be aired on national cable channels and in six states, are part of the high-priced efforts by both sides to influence the health care debate as the Senate prepares to take up the legislation as soon as next week.

EPI takes on health care reform bills

WASHINGTON (Nov. 12, 2009) The Employment Policies Institute, a nonprofit research organization that addresses issues affecting restaurants, debuted Thursday a $10 million advertising campaign arguing that current health-care reform legislation will fuel the national debt and hamper job creation.

The EPI's national campaign kicks off with a television ad featuring Dr. June O'Neill, former director of the Congressional Budget Office, who maintains that the country is facing "an enormous debt crisis" and health care legislation will only add to that.

It doesn't matter how you drink, you shouldn't drive

I could not disagree more with Sarah Longwell's op-ed "MADD's ignition interlock proposal goes to far" (November 4).

Ms. Longwell writes: "A 120-pound woman can reach the legal limit of 0.08 after two 6-ounce glasses of wine over a two-hour period. Under this new mandate, if she drives, she would automatically be punished with an interlock for behavior that, according to studies, is equivalent to driving while talking on a 'hands-free' cell phone."

Ms. Longwell misses the point. The issue here is not in what manner a driver has consumed alcohol but whether the driver can safely operate an automobile.

One Lone Voice Against Animal Welfare

I've been encouraged, even heartened, by the swift and broad reaction to The HSUS's recent undercover investigations of wanton animal abuse at a heinous facility in Vermont that specializes in slaughtering infant calves discarded by the dairy industry and processes them to make "bob veal."

That is, with one inexcusable exception. So bear with me, because this single wrong-way group of corporate mercenaries deserves to be called out as the champions of cruelty that they really are.

Your Opinion: Group advocates for animals

David Martosko's Center for Consumer Freedom (CCF) is an industry front for tobacco, alcohol and agribusiness interests, and the group's stock-in-trade involves taking aim at organizations that promote food safety, public health or animal welfare ("Group pursues radical agenda," Oct. 25). It started with a $600,000 grant from tobacco giant Phillip Morris, and CCF has even attacked Mothers Against Drunk Driving and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for their anti-drunk driving and public health campaigns. CCF has always griped about our work to combat factory farming, puppy mills, the Canadian seal slaughter, commercial whaling and other large-scale cruelties. It's now unhappy about our successful collaboration in Michigan with agricultural leaders in working to pass legislation to phase out intensive confinement practices for animals living on factory farms.

Proposed tax on sugar-sweetened beverages could generate revenue, reduce obesity rates

A group of medical researchers are proposing a 1-cent per ounce tax on beverages that contain any added caloric sweetener as an attempt to alleviate escalating health care costs and the rising number of diseases related to poor diet.

Interlocks can stop drunken drivers

In response to Sarah Longwell's Oct. 19 letter, "Don't push for interlocks in cars": Statistical mumbo jumbo in regard to drinking and driving is irrelevant. Either you are over the limit, or you are not.

My son Christopher was 16 when he was killed by a drinking-impaired driver. Over the legal limit of 0.08 is just what it is. Interlock devices can stop drunken drivers.

I doubt that the parents of the next child killed by a drinking-impaired driver would be relieved to hear that the driver was only marginally over the legal limit.

Brian Bascom

Rensselaer

Soda's role in dental decay is scientific

Regarding J. Justin Wilson's Oct. 24 letter about pop and obesity: It is important for people to realize that his advocacy group, the Center for Consumer Freedom, represents the interests of Coca-Cola. An editorial writer for USA Today suggested that the organization rename its Web site FatForProfit.com.

My particular bone to pick with soda comes not from obesity, but from my profession - dentistry. I would be glad to debate Wilson on the contribution that this liquid candy plays in the devastating disease of dental decay I see everyday.

We Can't Reform Health Care without Reforming Food

If and when health care reform finally passes, we will have successfully ameliorated only half of the crisis. The treatment half. The next step has to be focused upon doing something about the poisoned filth we've collectively nicknamed "food." Without any real changes in how our food is produced, the health care system will continue to bloat and fall apart. Not unlike the insides of an average American body.

Sugary drink tax overdue to help fund health care

Better get a straw because it's becoming harder and harder to swallow claims being made by a group known as Americans Against Food Taxes.

One of the group's current television commercials features a mom with groceries telling government not to tax her two-liter bottle of cola - because it would hurt her family and ours.

First-time DUI punishment is just

The time has come for our justice system to serve both the crime and the convict.

"Court-mandated" is most certainly not among my favorite phrases. So I pay attention when I hear the words "mandated" and "intrusive" from opponents of current legislation.

Sacramento is one of four counties in California piloting a program that would mandate ignition interlock devices for all first-time DUI offenders.

Effective July 1, 2010, a five-month period of use will be required of all those convicted.

Issue 2: Prevent animal suffering from birth until death

David Martosko's op-ed piece, "Hard-boiled animal activists could threaten vaccine supply" (Sunday), is as misleading as it is heartless.

He attacks the Humane Society of the United States for its support of California's Proposition 2, a ballot initiative that, according to Martosko, required that egg-laying hens be raised without cages. In truth, the passage of Proposition 2 last year by nearly two-thirds of California voters requires only that hens be confined in ways that allow them to lie down, stand up, extend their limbs and turn around freely. Egg producers have until 2015 to comply. In what way is that radical?

Obesity doctors urged to back off soda tax

The annual gathering of the Obesity Society is underway this week in Washington, D.C., and that means the debate over taxes on sodas and other junk food is back on center stage.

Corn syrup 'not guilty'

High fructose corn syrup should be acquitted. It's not to blame for America's obesity any more than sugar or honey, proclaims the latest campaign launched recently on behalf of the often-maligned sweetener.

"A sugar is a sugar," the TV and print ads state. Pictured are a "lineup" that includes people costumed as an ear of corn, a sugar cube and a bear-shaped honey bottle.

The message: They're all the same, including number of calories.

ACORN's Current Woes Years In The Making

ACORN, the community organizing group, is fighting for its survival these days, but its current plight has been years in the making.

Part of the story is the group's own missteps. ACORN was founded to help low- and middle-income Americans, but its edgy tactics and a series of gaffes fed the notion that the group was unreliable.

That image, however, was built in part by a long campaign of attacks and allegations of illegal activities from a host of opponents in the corporate world, the Republican Party and conservative media outlets.

Far From the Tree

When ACORN came to Idaho in 2007, its first act was bringing a traffic engineer to Latah and Nez Perce streets and getting the city to turn the intersection into a four-way stop. ACORN, as the nonprofit Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now is widely known, distributed a flier in November 2007 encouraging Bench neighbors for helping "make a difference." The group assisted tenants in Garden City with water quality and other utility complaints and connected people in default or foreclosure with HUD certified loan counselors.

Whom can you trust? (Anyone?)

We read today that a group called The Cancer Project has filed a class action lawsuit against McDonald's, Burger King and the Friendly's restaurant chain for selling grilled chicken that they knew contained a cancer-causing chemical, a heterocyclic amine called PhIP.

We also received an e-mail from a group called the Center for Consumer Freedom, warning us that the Cancer Project was "deceptive," "sneaky," and "an animal rights group in disguise."

Beverly Citizen uncovers vegan letter scam

Beverly, Mass. - A Lothrop Street, Beverly resident who has supposedly written dozens of letters to the editor supporting being a vegan and opposing eating meat doesn't exist.

And the Beverly address he was using as his home address is also phony.

A man named Matthew Warden has written at least 24 letters to the Citizen since 2004, according to a search of the paper's archives. In the letters, Warden often wrote opposing eating meat.

Diet Activists in 'Food Fight'

Not everyone is happy with the ongoing campaign to get people to adopt more healthful eating habits.

Some A consumer freedom movement is fighting efforts by diet activists who, they say, are trying to dictate what people should and should not eat.

FIGHTING FOR FOOD RIGHTS

The Center for Consumer Freedom (C.C.F.) was formed by lobbyist Rick Berman to back those who feel their personal choices are being increasingly threatened.

Outside observers say PETA videos extreme at best, at worst, staged

The animal images are grainy and graphic.

Dairy cows that appear filthy, ailing and abused. Hogs kicked by angry workers. Hens that die in their cages, their rotting carcasses left for days.

Animal-rights activists have filmed these images with hidden-camera videos and made them public. In each case, the activists have gone a step further, condemning the Minnesota corporations that buy the milk, hogs or eggs.

Despite stimulus, teens find little aid in competition for jobs

Chelsea Lipscomb couldn't find a summer job this year, despite filling out applications at several Ross Park Mall stores, local restaurants and supermarkets.

None of the businesses called her. "A lot of places weren't interested in hiring college students because we would be leaving for school," said Lipscomb, 18, a sophomore chemical engineering major at Penn State's Greater Allegheny Campus in McKeesport.

Thousands of other local teenagers faced the same predicament. Teen unemployment has been on the rise, and just-released September's numbers put it at an all-time high, 25.8 percent, nationwide, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said. The overall jobless rate was 9.8 percent.

US considers taxing sugary drinks

The average American drinks 189 litres of sugary beverages like soft drinks and sweetened tea each year.

One study shows that adults who drink one or more sugary drinks a day are 27 per cent more likely to be overweight or obese.

Some health care experts say a tax would help cut consumption, just as tobacco taxes have helped curb smoking. It could also help to fund America's mounting health care costs.

Agribusiness interests are trying to continue using inhumane practices on farms

Editor, the Gazette:

David Martosko's Center for Consumer Freedom is an industry front for tobacco, alcohol and agribusiness interests ("Issue 2 failure might mean loss of jobs," Oct. 10, Gazette). CCF has even attacked Mothers Against Drunk Driving and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. CCF has always griped about our work against factory farming, puppy mills, the Canadian seal slaughter and other large-scale cruelties.

OPINION: Tougher OUI laws send right message

BROCKTON -

The American Beverage Institute would like you to think of some drunken drivers as no more dangerous than someone on a cell phone. They even say there are data to back it up.

That's why the ABI is against a state bill that would require all first-time drunken driving convictions to include a requirement that the offender have a device installed in their car for six months to prevent them from repeating their crime.

Lunetta passes off lies as fact

It's truly sad that Steve Lunetta's column ("The stench coming from ACORN," The Signal, Oct. 12) is another example of a conservative making up things and passing them off as fact. He then decries the made up situation. His column is both factually incorrect and backed by information provided by an organization that provides "made as instructed" studies.

DUI ignition locks on the way in Sacramento County

Drunken driving convictions are about to get harsher in Sacramento County.

Motorists found guilty of a first drunken driving offense here and in three other California counties will be required to install and use breathalyzers in their cars for five months, under a law signed this week by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The ignition interlock device will keep the car from starting if the driver's breath shows more than a small amount of alcohol in the blood.

Industry works to save high-fructose corn syrup from 'fat' reputation

WASHINGTON: As part of its $1 million marketing campaign, the Center for Consumer Freedom (CCF) is calling for media outlets to dispel myths that the organization claims unfairly blames high-fructose corn syrup for America's obesity epidemic.

LOSERS OF THE WEEK: 10-11-09

t's been an interesting week of politics and I thought I would list my favorite LOSERS OF THE WEEK! These are people whose actions have contributed in a unique and noteworthy way to the political and social discourse gripping our country!

House Democrats for allowing House Ways & Means Committe Chairman, Charlie Rangel to hold his position of leadership while the investigation into his finances is expanded...again!

Rachel Maddow Takes on Corporate Agribusiness PR. Next Up, the Fight for Food Safety?

Last night Rachel Maddow interviewed the notorious corporate public relations hit man Rick Berman, best known for heading the Center for Consumer Freedom and for starting numerous websites that pose as fact havens while he is most likely being paid by the corporate interests pushing high fructose corn syrup, trans fats, tanning beds, tuna fish and more. Why don't we know who is footing the bill? Because Berman orchestrates a cadre of non-profits to represent corporate political aims, and they do not have to reveal their donors.

Rachel Maddow vs. "Dr. Evil": Smackdown over Rick Berman's Corporate Funding (VIDEO)

Rachel Maddow last night took on corporate PR maestro Rick Berman. Berman has established a bevy of anti-reform "non-profit" websites that enable him to attack everything from ACORN to unions to Mothers Against Drunk Driving while defending trans-fats, lowering the minimum wage and high fructose corn syrup as good for you and the economy. But most critically, Maddow notes, "We're not allowed to know who picks up the bill" for his hit jobs.

Fighting for the Right to Drink Soda

NEW YORK - Depending on what subway car you're riding in New York these days, you might either see an ad warning that soft drinks are dangerous to your health, or a sardonic opposing ad charging that the government's campaign against soft drinks threatens your basic freedoms.

Ad Campaign Challenges 'Misinformation' About High Fructose Corn Syrup

WASHINGTON -- The nonprofit Center for Consumer Freedom has launched a new $1 million ad campaign designed to refute what it calls "the blatant inaccuracies" surrounding high-fructose corn syrup. The campaign communicates to the public that high-fructose corn syrup is nutritionally the same as organic sweeteners like table sugar and honey.

A tax on Coca-Cola and Pepsi 'could make Americans thinner'

They brought the world Coca-Cola and Pepsi, two of the globe's most recognisable brands. Now Americans "“ not renowned for favouring new taxes "“ have been told that a national levy on its fizzy drinks could not only wipe out the budget deficits of most US states but significantly reduce obesity and diabetes.

Soda tax could close states' budget gaps, health advocacy group says

The Center for Science in the Public Interest believes that many states might be able to close gaps in their budgets by placing a tax on soda and other sugary drinks.

The health advocacy group released a study this week that estimates budget-strapped states -- including California -- could generate a combined $10 billion a year by levying a tax of 7 cents per 12-ounce can of Coke or other beverage. Currently, 25 states impose special taxes on sugary drinks.

Teen Unemployment Rate Hits All-Time High

While the U.S. unemployment rate continued its steady upward march to 9.8 percent last month, reaching a 26-year record, the jobless rate for teenagers hit an all-time high.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in the year from September 2008 to last month, teen unemployment soared by a third, to 25.9 percent -- the highest its been since the Bureau began keeping records in 1948.

Among African American teens, the jobless figure is a particularly high 40.8 percent -- a 37 percent increase from a year ago.

'Sweet' revenge vs. Mike

Fat chance Mayor Bloomberg's war on junk food would go unchallenged.

The industry-backed Center for Consumer Freedom unleashed a $1 million advertising campaign against Bloomberg and the Department of Health's crusade against sugary soft drinks.

"It's a pushback. When we saw the Department of Health's hyperbolic campaign, we felt it was so over the top and moved into the new territory of demonizing a product," said Sarah Longwell, spokeswoman for the Washington, DC-based center.

New ad campaign to tackle "˜viral urban myths' about HFCS

The Center for Consumer Freedom (CCF) has launched a new advertising campaign in an effort to dispel consumer misconceptions about high fructose corn syrup (HFCS).

Fears about HFCS were raised in 2004, when an article was published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition hypothesizing that the sweetener could be linked to rising rates of obesity. One of the article's authors Dr Barry Popkin has since said that he was wrong to pinpoint HFCS as obesity's major cause, but consumer concern has continued nonetheless.

Let's limit our intake of corn-syrup ads

News flash: High-fructose corn syrup isn't to blame for the obesity epidemic.

"High-fructose corn syrup was acquitted today amidst a flood of public apologies by consumers who had singled the corn sweetener out as a unique cause of obesity," newspaper ads declared in what was intended to look like a news story showing a man dressed like an ear of corn being proved innocent.

Letter: Writer chooses to minimize real problem

America's shortage of health insurance and limits on access to quality health care are far greater than shown by the official Census numbers.

So, let's clear up a few things about the "Employment Policies Institute" response to my recent letter regarding Congressman Dave Loebsack's health care Town Hall in Tipton.

First, the 46 million figure I used for the uninsured in this country is, in fact, the best number available. It comes from the Census Bureau's Current Population Survey, long the standard for this information.

High fructose corn syrup sticks to its defense

High fructose corn syrup should be acquitted. It's not to blame for America's obesity any more than sugar or honey, proclaims the latest campaign launched Tuesday on behalf of the often-maligned sweetener.

"A sugar is a sugar," the TV and print ads state. Pictured are a "lineup" that includes people costumed as an ear of corn, a sugar cube and a bear-shaped honey bottle.

The message: They're all the same, including number of calories.

Here Comes Trumka

He put himself through Penn State while working in the very same southwestern Pennsylvania coal mine where his father labored for 44 years. He's built like a linebacker and has a law degree from Villanova University. He gives fiery, inspirational speeches that bring audiences to their feet.

He's Richard L. Trumka, the AFL-CIO's newest president, and his admirers say HR leaders had better be on their toes.

Will Soda Pop Tax Prevent Obesity?

Legislators are considering the option of food taxes on sweetened beverages, including soda pop, and snack foods in an effort to battle obesity. Forty states are in support of a small tax on soda, while New York and Maine believe a higher tax may be necessary.

Rachel Maddow Blames Corporations, Lobbyist for ACORN Attacks

Recent videos from two investigative reporters, James O'Keefe and Hannah Giles, with the help of Andrew Breitbart, showed that community-group ACORN engaging in scandalous practices. But MSNBC host Rachel Maddow argued Sept. 24 that wasn't the story that mattered.

ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, was hit hard by the videos showing employees giving tax avoidance advice to a "pimp" and "hooker."

Fruitless Labor

A half-century ago, labor unions' prodigious political influence might not have seemed so oversized. Nearly a third of American workers belonged to a union when memberships peaked in 1953. Now these organizations represent only one-eighth of the national workforce, but they've kept lots of lawmaking friends -- including many Republicans.

Unionization effort grows stagnant

Nineteen-year-old Lynette Santiago, a housekeeper in the Environmental Services Department of Yale-New Haven Hospital, met him while grabbing coffee at Dunkin' Donuts six months ago.

The man was dressed in a union uniform, she recalled - the New England Healthcare Employees Union District 1199, Services Employees International Union. She took his card. ("I didn't keep it," she said.) They have not seen each other since.

For ACORN, controversy now a matter of survival

LOS ANGELES - Millicent Hill says God put her in her stucco home on East 92nd Street, but she believes she would have lost the house without ACORN.

Hill's home is a center of after-school activity for kids in the Watts neighborhood in gritty South-Central Los Angeles. Children in her church-supported program can avoid the street, get a snack, work on a computer or get a hug.

AFL-CIO increases political activity to influence working conditions and paychecks

• Nearly 100,000 members

• Comprises 148 local unions

• Peak membership of 250,000 in 1958

• Formerly known as Cleveland AFL-CIO Federation of Labor. Name changed in 2006 when unions in Lake and Geauga counties joined

Harriet Applegate, elected executive secretary in 2007, is the first woman to head the organization.

Defeat the Debt- the TV ad and the American Right

A TV ad that Mr Benjamin A Shobert describes in disturbing detail in Asia Times this week is part of an overall campaign that includes this national television commercial, which is currently airing on Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, and CNBC. Additionally, full-page ads are running in The New York Times, USA Today, The Washington Times, The Washington Examiner, The San Francisco Chronicle, and The Las Vegas Review-Journal. Mr Shobert rightly deduces that for the US, China is the financial bogeyman.

Report: Proposed tax on sugar-sweetened beverages would generate revenue, reduce obesity rates

A group of medical researchers are proposing a 1-cent per ounce tax on beverages that contain any added caloric sweetener as an attempt to alleviate escalating health care costs and the rising number of diseases related to poor diet.

Docs Propose Taxing Sweet Drinks to Cut Consumption, Finance Care

Soft drinks and other beverages loaded with sugar should be taxed as a public health hazard, much as cigarettes are, a group of prominent medical researchers says.

Since extensive evidence ties sugary drinks to an epidemic of obesity and related health problems, such as heart disease and diabetes, they should be taxed to curb consumption and help pay for increasing healthcare costs, said David S. Ludwig, MD, PhD, of Children's Hospital Boston.

Ludwig is one of the authors of the sugar tax proposal, published online today in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Soft-Drink Tax Could Pare Waistlines, Cover Health-Care Costs

(Bloomberg) -- A penny-per-ounce tax on soda and other sugary drinks would raise about $150 billion over a decade while slimming Americans' waistlines, according to a report from public health and economic researchers.

Mayor Bloomberg Feted With Health Prize

Along with researchers studying nuclear reprogramming and physicians who developed a revolutionary leukemia drug, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg won a public service award from the Lasker Foundation today. The honor recognizes Bloomberg's public health policies-from banning smoking in bars and restaurants to eliminating trans fats in city eateries-along with his philanthropic efforts to support public health education and global anti-smoking campaigns.

Bloomberg's public health policies have at times met with resistance.

Drunken Driving Laws

- In a state that's known for its taverns and breweries, the topic of drunken driving laws evokes some strong opinions.

Now there's increasing pressure on lawmakers to make those laws tougher.

Right now penalties in the state for drunken driving range from fines to license suspension to prison time based on the offense and judge's discretion.

But several pieces of legislation could change that.

Representative Tony Staskunas, says "I think people feel they can get away with it because our laws are so laxed."

3 counties might get drunken driving pilot plan

A bill passed by the Legislature would require convicted drunken drivers in Alameda County and three other counties to blow into a device that would unlock their car ignitions only if it doesn't detect much alcohol on their breath.

If approved by the governor, the bill would establish a pilot ignition interlock program from 2010 to 2016 for those convicted of driving under the influence in Alameda, Los Angeles, Sacramento and Tulare counties.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has not yet taken a position on the bill, a spokesman said Thursday.

California lawmakers pass a raft of bills as session winds down

Reporting from Sacramento - State lawmakers forged into the final 72 hours of their legislative year by passing a flurry of measures Wednesday that included a jab at the Culligan Man, a bow to breast-feeding mothers and an effort to thwart the potential perils of cosmetic surgery.

With the fate of California's biggest issues -- including a potential re-plumbing of the state's water system -- still unresolved, lawmakers churned through scores of bills as the clock ticked toward the end-of-session deadline at midnight Friday.

LETTER: Letter writer's pro-business group thinks underemployment is good for America

From Jeff Hoeft
Hutchinson

Last Tuesday's Leader Opinion page contained a letter from Kristen Lopez Eastlick, a senior economic analyst for the Employment Policies Institute. In her letter, Ms. Eastlick states the "oft quoted statistic of 46 million uninsured is actually a gross overestimation of the problem, as recent research suggests the number of Americans who cannot currently afford health insurance is much lower."

Attacks on Sunstein Frustrate Conservative Fans

On January 8, The Wall Street Journal broke the news that Harvard Law School Professor Cass Sunstein would be nominated to run the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. It was a surprising choice for a job, created in 1980, that monitors and manages the federal government's regulatory apparatus.

California bill requiring onboard alcohol sensor for drunken drivers goes to governor

Jumping behind the wheel and getting on the road after knocking back a few drinks may no longer be that easy in California.

Why? Because the car won't start.

The state Assembly, by an overwhelming 56-0 vote, approved a bill Wednesday that would require ignition interlock devices in all vehicles of owners convicted of driving under the influence in Alameda and three other counties. The pilot program would start next July and run until 2016, at which time it could become statewide law.

President Obama says 'sin tax' on sodas is food for thought, despite Gov. Paterson's failed proposal

Gov. Paterson's proposal to tax soda in New York fizzled, but President Obama says it's an idea whose time may come.

The President, in an interview with Men's Health magazine released yesterday, said he thought taxing soda and other sugary drinks is worth putting on the table as Congress debates health care reform.

Restaurant Industry Assails Fast-Food Ban Idea

WASHINGTON "“ The restaurant industry is attacking a recently published report that recommends creating so-called health zones that ban quick-service restaurants from having locations near schools or in particular neighborhoods, Nation's Restaurant News reports.

Don't let the lobbyist in sheep's clothing fool you

RE: "Accurate information yields informed decisions," Sept. 2

Kristen Lopez Eastlick wrote as though she might be the woman next door. But her "facts" were not pertinent to The Daily Times readers. Her Washington, D.C. address made me suspicious. So I googled her.

She is an employee -- a feminine mouthpiece, if you will -- of Richard Berman, a hired gun lobbyist who defends his corporate clients against public interests. In other words, she's a shill in Salisbury clothing.

Locked When Loaded

The four friends were on their way home from Applebee's in Farmingdale for a farewell dinner after their Thanksgiving break from college when an SUV crossed into oncoming traffic. There was no time to react. Their convertible was hit head on, killing the driver, Jason Shein, and critically injuring passenger Eric DiGiovanna, while the two others walked away with minor injuries.

John Galt Not Hiding From The Public Eye

One of the strangest-but perhaps, predictable-trends that has accompanied the recession is a resurgence of interest in the writings of Ayn Rand and especially, the book Atlas Shrugged. Sales of the book have apparently soared over the last year. The book's hero, John Galt, has become a rallying figure for anti-big-government activists.

Dr. Evil's Payday

Early one morning in late April, as the Today Show broadcast live from Rockefeller Center, a group of onlookers gave Matt Lauer a T-shirt emblazoned with the Web address Econ4U.org. "Scored a T-shirt here from these folks promoting economic literacy, which is really nice," the good-natured anchor said, displaying the shirt to nearly 6 million viewers. Little did Lauer know, but he'd been duped into providing that free advertising for a group that promotes payday lending-an industry long accused of preying on low-income Americans with short-term loans carrying huge interest rates.

Business-Linked Group Assails Growing Debt

The Employment Policies Institute, a conservative research group with close ties to business, has started a new advertising campaign focused on the growing national debt.

The group will spend about $1 million on the first part of the campaign, which includes a Web site, DefeatTheDebt.com, and this advertisement that began running on cable on Tuesday.

YOUR SAY: Telegraph leaning too far to the right

Seriously, editors, this is not The Telegraph I once believed to be relatively nonpartisan. In the Aug.14 edition, on the opinion pages, there was not one single piece by a moderate to liberal writer. While Erick Erickson's piece was about local issues, those issues were framed on an obvious right-left continuum. There was Kathleen Parker's rather reasonable post on the death panels controversy resulting from vague language in HR 3200 but also containing the expected gibe that "even Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, and Barack Obama will be elderly someday."

The Cost of Progress: Mercury in Every Stream and Fish

After eight years researching mercury levels in the nation's streams, scientists at the United States Geological Survey unveiled some bad news yesterday: Every fish taken from nearly 300 streams between 1998 and 2005 tested positive for Mercury, a neurotoxin, with 27 percent containing levels deemed unfit for human consumption. The Associated Press lays out both the dangers, and the sources of contamination:

DUI checkpoints important

Editor: Wow, what a big surprise! Sarah Longwell of the American Beverage Institute (read: booze lobbyist) thinks DUI checkpoints are not useful (letter to the editor, Aug. 13).

Tell that to the thousands of families who have lost loved ones to drunken drivers. Her math may be correct regarding the stopped cars to amount of arrests ratio, but her logic stinks.

Are four arrests worth the time and effort? In a town this small, the answer is you betcha. Those four individuals could have killed or seriously injured an innocent Petaluma citizen.

Anti-meat PETA billboard in Jacksonville stirs controversy

Animal rights organization People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals chose Jacksonville as the one place to put a billboard associating meat-eating with obesity. But the reaction since the billboard went up Aug. 3 has spread nationwide.

The billboard shows part of the body of a cartoon obese woman in a bikini. The messages, "Save the Whales" and "Lose the blubber: go vegetarian" are superimposed over the beach background.

Mercury found in all fish caught in U.S.-tested streams

Sports fishermen take heed: A government test of fish pulled from nearly 300 streams in the USA found every one of them contaminated with some level of mercury.

The U.S. Geological Survey's research marks its most comprehensive examination of mercury contamination in stream fish. The study found that 27% of the fish had mercury levels high enough to exceed what the Environmental Protection Agency considers safe for the average fish eater, those who eat fish twice a week.

YOUR SAY: Minimum wage opinion was misleading

As my interest was piqued by your lead story title on page 1 of Sunday's Perspective/Business section, "Minimum wage law hurting early jobs" I turned to page 4F, which, lo and behold, turned out to be an opinion article titled "Minimum wage hike: What's next?" by Kristen Lopez Eastlick, identified as the "senior economic analyst at the Employment Policies Institute, a nonprofit research organization."

Consumer Group Lashes Out at "Fringe" PETA's Camp Pendleton Protest

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is a "fringe group" that is hypocritical about euthanizing animals, charges a Washington, D.C.-based consumer group that also denounced today's PETA protest against Camp Pendleton's use of live pigs in medical training for troops.

The Center for Consumer Freedom was reacting to today's preview of the PETA protest by the Orange County Register's Vik Jolly, who quoted animal-rights activists saying the medical trauma training outside of Camp Pendleton antiquated and Marines officials calling it necessary.

PETA members protest outside of Camp Pendleton over military's use of live pigs

CAMP PENDLETON - Members of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals protested outside the main gate of Camp Pendleton today over the military's use of live pigs in trauma training exercises.

"Shooting and stabbing pigs in order to train medical personnel how to treat human injuries is archaic," PETA's Kathy Guillermo said in a statement. "The animals "“ and our soldiers "“ deserve better."

Protesters carried signs that read "Support Our Troops: Reject Animal Tests" and "Camp Pendleton: Stop Torturing Animals."

Health care debate heats up

So what's stalling reform?

In last Sunday's paper, a letter was submitted titled "Health care is a basic right."

While we can debate and discuss that statement, I found it very interesting that the letter contained the following sentence: "Republicans don't want reform, they just want to make sure, for political reasons, that the Democrats fail."

I submit that all Americans believe there needs to be reform; it is a matter of how it is delivered.

LETTER: Providing aid to animals

In response to David Martosko's letter, "Sad but typical," in Tuesday's Standard-Times: Martosko's Center for Consumer Freedom is an industry front for tobacco, alcohol and agribusiness interests, and the group's stock-in-trade involves taking aim at organizations that promote food safety, public health, or animal welfare.

It started with a $600,000 grant from tobacco giant Phillip Morris, and CCF has even attacked Mothers Against Drunk Driving and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for their anti-drunk driving and public health campaigns.

Mercury Rising

The debate over the possible/probable mercury contamination of seafood rages on in scientific, medical, governmental, consumer-protection and seafood-industry circles, with no clear end in sight.

The nonprofit Center for Consumer Freedom, in Washington, D.C., for example, has accused the U.S. Geological Survey of conducting a misleading study, published in May 2009, about mercury in the Pacific Ocean. The dispute centers on the argument that the study may have tested ocean water, but didn't measure mercury in any actual fish, leaving consumers confused about seafood-consumption practices.

U.S. may require anti-DWI locks on vehicles

A national campaign against first-time drunken-driving offenders is gaining ground as states and the federal government weigh mandatory use of devices requiring violators to prove their sobriety before their engines start.

Three more states have enacted laws this year requiring all violators to install devices called alcohol ignition interlocks, bringing to 11 the number of states with such rules. The instrument blocks a vehicle engine from starting if it detects alcohol on the breath of drivers.

Soda tax idea losing its fizz

A consumer group is blasting health officials and politicians who are proposing a regulatory approach to curbing obesity in the United States.

Centers for Disease Control chief Dr. Thomas Freiden stated recently that increasing the price of unhealthy foods and drinks "would be effective" at combating the nation's obesity problem. The Senate Finance Committee has floated the idea of taxing sodas and other sugary drinks as a way to pay for President's Obama's healthcare reform plan.

Minimum Wages To Rise In 31 States

Minimum-wage earners in the District of Colorado and 31 states - not Colorado - can soon expect slightly bigger paychecks thanks to the third and final installment of a federal rate hike that raises the wage floor from $6.55 an hour to $7.25 an hour effective last Friday.
The latest federal bump will enlarge roughly 4.5 million workers' paychecks by about four cents an hour in some states to almost $1 an hour in others, according to the Economic Policy Institute, a nonpartisan research group in Washington, D.C. that supported the increase.

Obama czar pick: 'Raving animal rights nut'

President Obama's friend and nominee for "regulatory czar" is a "raving animal rights nut" who has a secret agenda, according to one consumer group.

David Martosko, director of the Center for Consumer Freedom, told Fox News' Glenn Beck that Cass Sunstein, the Harvard Law professor nominated by the president to become the administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, is a "raving animal rights nut" and devout disciple of Peter Singer.

Lawsuit Filed Against Hot Dog Manufacturers

On behalf of three New Jersey residents, The Cancer Project is filing a lawsuit against Nathan's Famous, Kraft Foods/Oscar Mayer, Sara Lee, Con Agra Foods, and Marathon Enterprises for failing to warn consumers that hot dogs increase the danger of colorectal cancer.

"Just as tobacco causes lung cancer, processed meats are linked to colon cancer," says Neal Barnard, M.D., president of the Cancer Project. "Companies that sell hot dogs are well aware of the danger, and their customers deserve the same information."

Tipped Workers Left Out as Minimum Wage Rises

On Friday, the federal minimum wage will rise to $7.25 per hour. But as a new report from the National Employment Law Project points out, the increase will not apply to tipped employees, like bartenders and waitresses.

Their minimum wage will remain at $2.13 per hour - a level that has remained unchanged for 18 years.

New Jersey Residents Sue for Cancer-Risk Labels on Hot Dog Packages

NEWARK, New Jersey, (ENS) - Three New Jersey residents are asking the courts to decide whether or not eating America's favorite ball park food increases their risk of colorectal cancer.

The class-action consumer fraud lawsuit was filed today in Superior Court in Essex County seeking to compel five companies to place cancer-risk warning labels on hot dog packages sold in New Jersey. The labels would read "Warning: Consuming hot dogs and other processed meats increases the risk of cancer."

Obama Regulatory Czar's Confirmation Held Up by Hunting Rights Proponent

WASHINGTON -- President Obama's nominee for "regulatory czar" has hit a new snag in his Senate confirmation process -- a "hold" by Texas Sen. John Cornyn, who's says he's not convinced that Harvard professor Cass Sunstein won't push a radical animal rights agenda, including new restrictions on agriculture and even hunting.

Senators are permitted "holds" to prevent a vote on a nominee from coming to the floor. They are often secretive and for very specific reasons.

Forum: Drunken driving shouldn't be tolerated

This is in response to a forum written by Sarah Longwell, managing director of the American Beverage Institute.

Longwell argues that compelling an individual convicted of drunken driving to utilize an ignition interlock system is unreasonable and an infringement upon the rights of the rest of the alcohol consuming public. I disagree.

Longwell's central argument seems to be that a distinction should be made between an individual who was only slightly over the legal limit but legally intoxicated and those who are ridiculously over the legal limit and obviously intoxicated.

Sobriety checkpoint

New Hampshire State Police will hold a sobriety checkpoint in Bow a few days before Nashua police do the same thing downtown.

State Police will operate a checkpoint in the Bow area in an effort to nab drunk drivers because the incidence of drinking and driving is increasing and those drivers are causing an "alarming number" of deaths and injuries, according to Sgt. Christopher Scott.

The checkpoint will be July 20, five days before the Nashua police hold a similar checkpoint in the city. A Hillsborough County Superior Court judge approved the Nashua police application last month.

Letter misleading

PITTSBURG - Dear Editor:
The Letter to the Editor in The Morning Sun (7/15/09) from Kristen Lopez Eastlick was quite interesting, but misleading on several fronts. But, first one must look at "where she's coming from."

Group questions DUI-offender provision

The restaurant and beverage industry is pushing back against a bipartisan proposal in the House highway bill that seeks to punish states that fail to require ignition locks in cars driven by convicted drunk drivers.

SEIU Demands Nebraska, Arkansas TV Stations Pull Down Misleading "Employee Forced Choice Act" Ads

The Service Employees International Union is demanding that television stations in Arkansas and Nebraska pull down ads calling on Sens. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) Mark Pryor (D-AR), and Ben Nelson (D-NE) to vote against the "Employee Forced Choice Act."

"Your news network is running an advertisement sponsored by the Employee Freedom Action Committee," reads a letter the union sent to networks in both states, "which is demonstrably false and maliciously misleads viewers about unions and the Employee Free Choice Act."

Do the Numbers Behind Calorie Counts Add Up?

My print column this week considers nutritional labels on menus at restaurant chains, which are now required in New York and about a dozen other localities, and are proposed as part of the Senate's health-care bill.

Whose side are health advocacy groups on?

Obesity is a national health crisis -- or it isn't. Vaccines cause autism -- or they don't. Think of any current health controversy, and you can be sure that plenty of experts have already taken opposite sides.

Some of the most influential and vocal health experts belong to advocacy organizations such as the Center for Science in the Public Interest and the American Council on Science and Health. These groups have well-oiled publicity machines, connections in Washington and a proven ability to show up in news stories. But who are they, and what do they stand for?

Labor's Last Stand

On a Monday morning this past April, a few dozen Arkansans from that state's Chamber of Commerce could be found holing up in a Marriott hotel in Crystal City, Virginia, less than a mile from Washington's Ronald Reagan National Airport. They assembled in the hotel's Jefferson Ballroom, on one wall of which hangs a portrait of the third president standing before a giant Declaration of Independence. Despite the early hour, the visitors were cheerful, sipping from big Starbucks cups as they gathered up political literature and hard candies and waited for their program to begin.

Alcohol detector would prevent car from starting if driver is drunk

WASHINGTON -- Drunken driving kills. And now the auto industry and federal government are collaborating on research they hope will kill drunken driving.

The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration are spending $10 million over five years to develop high-tech "passive" alcohol-detection devices that would keep a car from starting if a driver is drunk.

New Million Dollar Ad Campaign Urges Sen. Ben Nelson to Stop the Employee Free Choice Act

WASHINGTON, July 1, 2009 /PRNewswire-USNewswire via COMTEX/ ----Today, the Employee Freedom Action Committee (EFAC) opened a new front in the campaign to stop the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), by releasing TV ads in Nebraska urging Democratic Senator Ben Nelson not to compromise on EFCA. The campaign is scheduled to move beyond Nebraska next week. The bill is currently pending before Congress.

Coming Soon: A Breathalyzer in Every Car?

Nearly 13,000 Americans die in traffic accidents every year. Now Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) is opening a new front in its war on drunk drivers, and it's getting help from the Alliance for Automobile Manufacturers and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

A new highway bill pending before Congress would instruct all 50 states to require all motorists convicted of driving under the influence to equip their cars with interlock systems that shut down a vehicle when a measured amount of alcohol is detected.

Front group for industries is hardly pro-consumer

You should be ashamed to have printed David Martosko's June 19 letter blasting the documentary film "Food Inc." without explaining what the organization for whom he works - the Center for Consumer Freedom - actually is.

The center is another of the many right-wing organizations with names chosen deliberately to mislead the public. SourceWatch describes the center as follows:

Food industry is funding so-called consumer center

It's interesting how David Martosko (Letters, June 19) wants us to believe that the new film "Food, Inc." is a propaganda piece that doesn't ring true. He works for the Center for Consumer Freedom, funded by KFC, McDonald's, Tyson Foods and Coca-Cola, to name just a few.

Sarah Longwell: DUI roadblocks are avoided

To the editor:

The sobriety checkpoint planned for Craig this weekend will serve to funnel limited state and federal grant money away from measures that have proven to be most effective in combating drunk driving (State Patrol: DUI checkpoint coming Saturday, Craig Daily Press, June 16).

Because they are highly visible by design and publicized in advance, roadblocks are all too easily avoided by the chronic alcohol abusers who comprise the core of today's drunk driving problem.

Industry fights hike in alcohol tax

The hospitality industry is fighting an effort to raise the state's alcohol tax.

The American Beverage Institute will run full-page advertisements this week in the state's largest newspapers that are critical of the proposed 5 percent increase in the alcohol tax, now being considered by the N.C. General Assembly.

The ads contend that North Carolina's liquor prices are already 30 percent higher than South Carolina's. An increase would just drive more business across the border, they say.

"The hospitality industry is already hurting," said ABI Managing Director Sarah Longwell.

Teens hunt (and hunt and hunt) for summer work

Randolph Shadley came home May 9 from his freshman year at Virginia State University. Two days later, he started the hunt for a summer job.

He's still looking.

"I expected it to be hard," said Shadley, 19, of Chesapeake, "but things are moving kind of slow."

Shadley, a psychology major who plays middle linebacker for Virginia State's football team, said he's put in applications at more than 20 businesses, from McDonald's to Macy's. No luck.

Do DUI checkpoints work?

You're out for a Friday night celebration and having a few drinks with friends.

The evening is coming to an end, and you and your responsible group - who have only had a couple of drinks in between the lively conversation at a local bar - get into your cars and drive home.

It's now 1:30 a.m. and you're 10 minutes from home but traffic on the major street you're traveling on is coming to a stop.

That's when you notice the lights, the police officers, the makeshift holding stations, the tow trucks - you've been caught in a state-sponsored DUI checkpoint.

Better Business Bureau's new grading system under fire

For decades, the Better Business Bureau has been a key source for consumers seeking to find reputable companies.

Now the agency's new system of rating companies - switching from satisfactory and unsatisfactory ratings, to a letter grade system from A to F - has come under fire.

Richard Berman, whose Washington, D.C.-based public relations firm represents restaurants and other entities across the country, has launched a one-man campaign to alert consumers about the new grading system.

Do we still need organized labor?

North Attleboro police officers, forgoing raises for fiscal year ending June 30, 2009, in a contract OK'd by the union and the town are, for sure, marching to a unique drummer.

"They are the only unions that have sacrificed with zero percent pay raises," Selectmen Chairman Paul Belham noted to Sun Chronicle staff writer Amy DeMelia last week.

The move is meant to eliminate cuts in hours. Agreement was reached the same week that several MBTA unions gave up raises to help close a $160 million budget deficit, the Boston Globe reported.

DWI patrols on tap for weekend

The Memorial Day weekend means extra Louisiana State Police troopers patrolling highways and roads searching for impaired drivers.

Although there are no planned sobriety checkpoints in the Troop A area this weekend, Troop A spokesman Russell Graham said "aggressive DWI enforcement" started Thursday and will continue to Tuesday.

Extra patrols are exactly the kind of DWI enforcement pushed by the American Beverage Institute.

Support Grows for Alcohol Interlocks on Cars

A campaign to stop drunken driving by putting some form of alcohol interlock in every new car is picking up support.

As Congress considers highway spending for next year, the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers suggested spending $30 million a year on developing devices that would sense alcohol in a driver. The idea comes from Mothers Against Drunk Driving and is also backed by the auto insurance industry [pdf] and a former head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

300 Million Patients

When the H1N1 swine flu reached the United States last month, no one had any idea whether it was going to be mild or a lethal pandemic. It fell to Dr. Thomas Frieden, head of New York City's Department of Health, to sort out the local response. Calmly and methodically, Frieden and his team worked around the clock, seven days a week, trying to size up the new virus, keep the public informed and determine which schools needed to be closed to limit the contagion. Though H1N1 is still spreading-and one assistant principal in New York City just died-many have praised his level-headed approach.

'Card-check' opponents

The opponents of the Employee Free Choice Act, a major priority of labor that is also known as "card check," formed a well-coordinated army during 2008. Today the force includes more than a dozen organizations that together provide tens of millions of dollars for advertising and organizing in nearly every state. Here's a look at six leading players.

Corporate Front Man: Richard Berman manages the news on key labor-backed bill

Richard Berman, a prominent lobbyist for the food and restaurant industry, is one of the leading opponents of the hotly-debated Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), which would make it easier to organize labor unions. Berman is the sole owner and executive director of Berman and Company, a for-profit management firm that runs fifteen corporate-funded groups. He holds at least sixteen positions within these interlocking organizations.

Where Humane Society Donations Really Go

ATLANTA -- A Channel 2 investigation is looking into millions of dollars in donations given to the Humane Society of the United States.

A national consumer organization says the society solicits pet-lovers for money, but little to none of that money ever goes to help local shelters.

Critics tell Channel 2 Action News reporter Amanda Rosseter that this isn't just consumers misunderstanding who they are giving to -- but an organization actively misleading donors to get money.

"They do their marketing very well, that's for sure," said Trey Burley of PAWS Atlanta.

Car breath tests for 1st-time DUI offenders?

Some Ohio lawmakers and Mothers Against Drunk Driving want the state to require anyone convicted of a drunken-driving offense to blow into an alcohol tester before his or her car can start -- the first step, opponents say, in requiring all drivers to submit to such a test.

MADD's national president, Laura Dean-Mooney, testified at the Ohio Statehouse yesterday in favor of a bill that would require ignition-interlock devices for first-time DUI offenders.

Debate Heats Up Over Ignition Interlock

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Opponents and proponents sounded off Wednesday about proposed legislation that would require first-time drunken-driving offenders to install an ignition interlock on each car they drive.

An ignition interlock is a device similar to a breathalyzer. A driver blows into a tube and the device performs a breath-alcohol test. If the device detects a certain level of alcohol, the vehicle cannot be started.

DUI Interlock Devices For First Time Offenders Clears Hurdle

A state measure to make it harder for drunk drivers to commit the same crime passed its first speed bump today.

The House Science and Technology Committee signed off on a bill to expand the use of interlock devices on cars.

There is a fight over this bill designed to save lives.

A simple voice vote breathes life into North Carolina's breathalyzer bill.

If adopted, devices like this would become mandatory on all cars driven by all D.U.I. offenders in the process of getting their licenses reinstated.

A positive alcohol test won't let a car start.

McGovern says the secret ballot is 'a matter of principle'

George McGovern's name has long been synonymous with the kind of principled, doctrinaire and politically suicidal liberalism that Democrats from Bill Clinton to Barack Obama work to avoid.

But McGovern, 87, has reemerged in recent months on the other side of the political spectrum, as a prominent foe of a key piece of the progressive agenda: the labor-backed Employee Free Choice Act.

George McGovern on the Employee Free Choice Act

Revisiting Sen. Scarlett O'Hara

Prissy: "Mammy, here's Miss Scarlett's vittles."
Scarlett: "You can take it all back to the kitchen; I won't eat a bite."
Mammy: "Yes'm you is, you's gonna eat every mouthful of this."
Scarlett: "No I'm NOT."

- "Gone With the Wind"

Sobriety checkpoint bill appears dead in state House

AUSTIN - Opponents of sobriety checkpoints in Texas appear to have succeeded in blocking efforts to let some law enforcement agencies, including Fort Worth and Arlington, use the controversial drunken-driving deterrents.

Legislation allowing checkpoints has passed the state Senate but does not appear likely to reach a vote in the House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee, Rep. Pete Gallego, D-Alpine and the committee chairman, said Friday.

Supporters and opponents testified at a late hearing Wednesday.

Hired Gun: CCF's Greatest Hits

American Idol Star Carrie Underwood Accused of "Supporting Domestic Terrorists"

American Idol star Carrie Underwood is donating a portion of the proceeds from her new single to the Humane Society of the United States, and getting accused of supporting "animal rights terrorists." One of my favorite lines so far: "Carrie Underwood may think she is supporting puppies and kittens, but she needs to understand that she is supporting domestic terrorists instead."

Feinstein, Specter Compromises Pave the Way For Passage of Employee Free Choice Act

New compromise measures from Diane Feinstein and Arlen Specter may pave the way for the passage of the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA).

With 900,000 union members in the state of Pennsylvania, the Arlen Specter firewall appears to be crumbling. He knows he can't win a Democratic primary in Pennsylvania without labor, and they have made it clear that their support is contingent on his vote on Employee Free Choice.

Which is why Penny Pritzker and fellow billionaires are getting nervous, publicly breaking with the White House and President Obama over his support for the bill.

Corporate Lobbyists: We Were for Arbitration Before We Were Against It

In a new round of attacks against the Employee Free Choice Act, corporate lobbyists and executives are showing their true, greedy selves.

In recent weeks, corporate lobbyist groups such as the Center for Union Facts, the Chamber of Commerce, and conservatives like Newt Gingrich, have waged war to prevent workers from enjoying what CEOs take for granted: a contract.

Teens compete with laid-off adults for summer jobs

JACKSON, N.J. - Teenagers who lined up in beige folding chairs at a Six Flags amusement park job fair last month continually repeated the gripe: The hunt for summer work is brutal.

Proposed fee increases on alcohol a worry for Inland wineries

After a similar idea pushed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was dropped earlier this year, a proposal to increase fees on producers of beer, wine and other alcoholic beverages is again making the legislative rounds in Sacramento.

Currently in committee and up for its next discussion Tuesday, Assembly Bill 1019 would impose a per-gallon mitigation fee -- ranging from $1.07 for beer to $8.53 for distilled spirits -- to help California handle health and social problems caused by alcohol consumption. If approved, fees would take effect in January.

D.C. group's ad blasts CIB drink tax proposal

The Washington, D.C.-based American Beverage Institute has taken out an ad in today's Indianapolis Star encouraging Hoosiers to contact legislators and demand a "no" on boosting the alcohol tax to help the city's struggling Capital Improvement Board.

The CIB, which operates Lucas Oil Stadium, Conseco Fieldhouse, other professional sports venues and the Indiana Convention Center, is facing a $47.5 million deficit.
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REGULATION: Legislature ponders 'dime-a-drink' fee on alcohol sales

A fee of a dime per drink would be added to California alcohol sales under a bill being considered in the state Legislature.

The Marin Institute, a group founded to reduce alcohol use, says the surcharge, which would raise an estimated $1.44 billion a year, is needed to compensate for the cost of alcohol abuse. But an industry group and a libertarian economist say the cost is factually unjustified and harmful to the economy.

The bill, AB 1019, had its first hearing in the Legislature on Tuesday, before the California State Assembly Health Committee.

A Proposal to Separate Fast Food and Schools

Just in from the department of not-so-surprising news: a study has found that young teenagers tend to be fatter when there are fast-food restaurants within one block of their schools.

The report found an increased obesity rate of at least 5.2 percent among teenagers at schools where fast-food outlets were a tenth of a mile - roughly one city block - or less away.

To remedy that, Eric N. Gioia, a city councilman from Queens, wants to stop fast-food restaurants from opening so close to the city's schools.

Lawmaker, alcohol industry battle over DUI bill

A Democratic assemblyman from Southern California and a restaurant lobbying group are battling over a bill that would require an ignition locking device on cars owned by people convicted of drunk driving. The device measures blood alcohol content. Debate over the bill has heated up after the deaths of Angels baseball pitcher Nick Adenhart and two of his friends who were hit by a drunk driver last week. KPCC's Frank Stoltze reports.

Union bill's fate linked to Lincoln and Pryor

As business and labor groups arm themselves for political war over pro-union legislation headed to Congress, both sides are following battle plans designed to go straight through Arkansas.

Congressional Democrats are expected to push a bill soon to make it easier for workers to organize by forcing employers, in some cases, to accept unioniza-tion without secret-ballot elections.

Interlock device may be for first offenders

SACRAMENTO, CA (KGO) -- Tough new legislation targeting drunk drivers could change the way first time offenders are treated. Those convicted of driving under the influence would have to have a locking device on their ignition requiring a breathalyzer test before driving.

"Nick Adenhart, whose future, a very promising future, has been ruined because of a drunk driver. Nick is dead," said Assembly member Jose Solorio (D) from Santa Ana.

Perhaps it was the fatal crash that killed Angels Pitcher Nick Adenhart and two others that gave this tougher DUI bill momentum.

Bill would mandate Breathalyzer-type device for first-time DUI offenders

ACRAMENTO - When Mary Klotzbach first heard that 22-year-old Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim pitcher Nick Adenhart was killed by a drunken-driving suspect last week, she relived overwhelming anger and pain from her own son's death nearly eight years ago. She spent the night weeping, and wrote a poem.

I know the pain

I know the loss

The eternal screams as I toss.

Her son, Matthew, was 22 when he was killed by a drunken driver, and also on the verge of great things, as a midshipman in the U.S. Naval Academy.

DWI checkpoints get Senate OK

AUSTIN -- A bill making its way through the Legislature would give local police departments the ability to set up sobriety checkpoints at strategic locations to reduce drunken driving.

Supporters of the checkpoints say they will reduce deaths in the state, but a lobby for the restaurant industry has said the bill could affect responsible drinkers more than drunken drivers.

The Senate approved the bill by 20 votes, including state Sen. Eliot Shapleigh, D-El Paso, but the House Public Safety Committee won't hear the bill for at least another week.

Another Examiner inadequately identified Richard Berman

In February, the Washington Examiner glossed over Richard Berman's anti-labor record; on Monday, the San Francisco Examiner did likewise. The paper ran an op-ed by Berman attacking the UAW; here's how the paper identified Berman:

Meat vs. Climate: The Debate Continues

At least since a 2006 United Nations report asserted that livestock is responsible for a full 18 percent of greenhouse gas emissions - a higher percentage than that caused by transportation - a debate over meat consumption and climate change has been cooking.

Union bill creates jobs-for GOP ops

Danny Diaz's morning e-mails are back.

Diaz, until last month the relentless communications director for the Republican National Committee and reliable source of jabs at Democrats, now sends out a new "Morning Roundup" of attacks on the Employee Free Choice Act.

Union Allies Fight Back Against GOP "Meltdown Lobby" With Lawsuit, Grass-Roots Campaigns

Republican leaders and their conservative big business allies, including the Chamber of Commerce, have gone after workers' rights with a new set of misleading attacks targeting the pro-union Employee Free Choice Act.

Complaint filed with IRS by labor movement against anti-union corporate front groups

The AFL-CIO and Change to Win filed a joint complaint with the Internal Revenue Service today against Rick Berman's Center for Union Facts and Bernie Marcus' the Marcus Foundation for violating their "charitable" tax status by engaging in partisan political activity on behalf of Republican Senate candidates during the 2008 election.

Examiner whitewashes Richard Berman's anti-worker record

Today's Examiner features an op-ed by Richard Berman titled "Employee Free Choice Act may backfire on unions." At the bottom of the column, the Examiner identifies Berman:

Is Obama's Regulatory Czar a "Radical Animal Rights Activist"?

Does the famed legal mind President Obama has picked to be his regulatory czar really have a "radical animal-rights agenda"? And if so, is that the real reason an industry front group called the Center for Consumer Freedom (CCF) has launched a campaign against him?

Good Sign for Consumers: Obama's Pick for Regulatory Czar, Cass Sunstein, has Big Business in a Tizzy

In an article published online today for Mother Jones, Jonathan Stein reveals a media campaign against President Barack Obama's choice of Cass Sunstein to head the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs for what it is: a combination of fear mongering and downright lies.

Stein expertly picks apart the arguments that the Center for Consumer Freedom (CCF) makes against Sunstein. The group calls Sunstein "a radical human rights activist," warning meat lovers to "stock their freezers" in anticipation of Sunstein's approval as regulatory czar.

Bailout Recipients Hosted Call To Defeat Key Labor Bill

Three days after receiving $25 billion in federal bailout funds, Bank of America Corp. hosted a conference call with conservative activists and business officials to organize opposition to the U.S. labor community's top legislative priority.

Participants on the October 17 call -- including at least one representative from another bailout recipient, AIG -- were urged to persuade their clients to send "large contributions" to groups working against the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), as well as to vulnerable Senate Republicans, who could help block passage of the bill.

CREW launches BermanExposed.org shining light on notorious union buster Richard Berman

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) has launched BermanExposed.org, a site dedicated to exposing lobbyist Richard Berman's activities, his myriad front groups and projects, his employees' work, and his firm's tactics.

Ad Wars: Dr. Evil vs. Unions Over Employee Free Choice Act

The pro-union American Rights at Work launches Thursday a new $3 million ad campaign promoting the right to organize unions and the Employee Free Choice Act. But it's also facing a savvy, if deceptive, PR and ad blitz against the Employee Free Choice Act led in part by Richard Berman, a Washington attorney also known as "Dr. Evil," whose specialty is organizing front groups that attack proposed corporate reforms and public interest organizations, including Mothers Against Drunk Driving.