The Audacity of Astroturf

by: Zandra Rice Hawkins

Sat Aug 01, 2009 at 09:31:02 AM EDT

At least, it appears that's the tact taken by lobbyists working to twist a Virginia Congressman's arm on the American Clean Energy and Security Act, when they stooped so low as to forge letters from local community groups in order to sway a vote.

"They stole our name. They stole our logo. They created a position title and made up the name of someone to fill it. They forged a letter and sent it to our congressman without our authorization," said Tim Freilich, who sits on the executive committee of Creciendo Juntos, a nonprofit network that tackles issues related to Charlottesville's Hispanic community.

So far, six letters have been uncovered to the surprise of multiple community groups whose identity was stolen. The NH Sierra Club was hot on the story:

"These are incredible examples of the great lengths that special interests will go to undermine clean energy legislation in our country. True grassroots supporters in New Hampshire and across the country have made it clear that it's time for America's progress towards a clean energy economy. NH Sierra Club will be checking with Congressional offices here to ensure that this same underhanded behavior is not playing out in our state. New Hampshire has seen a recent influx of Astroturf campaigns in opposition to the American Clean Energy and Security Act. Groups like Americans for Prosperity, a front group for Koch Industries and brothers Charles and David Koch who run the country's largest privately held energy company, have tried to give a false impression of grassroots opposition to clean energy."

Americans for Prosperity is one of the groups behind the "grassroots" tea parties that Faux News so loved.

Why is a New Hampshire Democratic Senator the guest speaker at right-wing event?

by: Michael Marsh

Mon May 25, 2009 at 09:00:06 AM EDT

The anti-tax Americans for Prosperity will have D'Allesandro as its guest speaker Wednesday morning at Gauchos Restaurant in Manchester.

Americans for Prosperity (AFP) is a key group in the vast right-wing noise machine.  Their main goals are cutting taxes and preventing action to stop global warming. They were the organizer of last month's Tea Party protests and campaigned last year against the science of climate change with their Global Hot Air tour.

Major funders of AFP  include ExxonMobil and rightwing oil billionaire Bill Koch, who is also the group's chairman. Koch and his brother are two of the largest funders of rightwing agit-prop organizations, spending $$ millions each year on groups like the Cato Institute, the Federalist Law Foundation, the Heartland Institute, and the Heritage Foundation. Their father was the founder of the John Birch Society.