http://web.archive.org/web/20040429215458/www.eurekareporter.com/Stories/fp-03170401.htm
3/17/04 Eureka City Council Continues
Meeting On LNG To Thursday
by Leann Whitten
The Eureka Reporter
Approximately 1,000 people attended Tuesday night's City Council meeting held at the Municipal Auditorium to hear LNG discussion. The Eureka City Council continued its public hearing and consideration of its decision regarding an exclusive right to negotiate agreement between the city and Calpine Corp. — a San Jose-based independent power producer — at its Tuesday night meeting.
Of the more than 200 speakers who signed up to speak Tuesday night, about half got to speak before a 10:15 p.m. decision to continue the meeting was made. Councilwoman Mary Beth Wolford made a motion to continue the public hearing, but limit it to two hours on Thursday night, starting at 6 p.m. at the Municipal Auditorium.
The 107 residents on the list will have priority in that time to make their 3-minute comment to the council. Then the council will deliberate.
A clear majority of speakers spoke in favor of suspending the decision until a “truly independent” report can be conducted or terminating any consideration at all at Tuesday night’s meeting.
The Eureka Fire Department estimates that roughly 1,000 people filled the auditorium at the beginning of the 6 p.m. meeting.
Calpine is considering proposing a facility that would receive exports — via tanker at a Samoa Peninsula location — of liquefied natural gas, heat it back to its gaseous state and distribute it via pipeline to the Central Valley. Energy from the plant would also power a power plant that Calpine may propose to build for the area.
The council has three options: suspend a decision on the ERTN until “such a time that a memorandum of understanding and associated independent review process can be defined and approved by the county of Humboldt, the city of Eureka and the Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation and Conservation District; or approve an amended ERTN with Calpine and adopt a specific list of council concerns and issues to be forwarded to an independent review committee for formal deliberation and inclusion in an independent report process,” according to a staff report.
Eureka Police Chief Dave Douglas who stood to the side most of the night only stepped in once when one man went over his 3-minute general public comment and refused to forgo the microphone.
City Manager David Tyson gave the staff report to the council on its options, adding a third option on Tuesday night.
“The City Council approves the ERTN, as amended, between the city of Eureka and Calpine Corp. and authorizes the mayor to execute the agreement subject to the approval of an memorandum of understanding between the county of Humboldt, the city of Eureka and the Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation and Conservation District. In addition, the City Council further directs that the listing of issues and concerns be forwarded to an Independent Review Committee for formal deliberation and inclusion in an Independent Report process."
Calpine representative Ken Abreu followed with a 10-minute presentation.
“We are not asking you to make a judgment on the project,” Abreu said. “(We’re asking) do you want to consider it?”
A loud “no” was the reply from the audience.
Mayor Peter La Vallee and other councilmembers reiterated the importance of respecting all speakers despite their viewpoints at this point and several times throughout the night.
Abreu said the project could be a huge opportunity for economic development in Humboldt County, but acknowledged there were legitimate concerns involved.
“We only ask that you get the facts,” he said. Abreu said he has 2,100 names of Eureka residents who have expressed support, among businesses and other organization endorsements.
Eureka resident Barry Evans said he was undecided on whether the project is a fit for Humboldt Bay.
“I don’t believe we have the answers yet to these concerns,” Evans said.
President of the Humboldt Watershed Council Mark Lovelace said the matter facing the council is a question of the future, not feasibility.
“When have you ever had this many people for a good idea,” Arcata Mayor Bob Ornelas asked the council, which he told to reject the ERTN and any consideration of a LNG facility.
Eureka resident Rex Bohn said he wants to see job opportunities available in the area for his son.
“If we don’t at least look at an independent report … (it would be) a grave injustice to our future,” he said. “There may be other resource-based opportunities … but we won’t know that without studies.”
“I don’t want to see the view of the bay damaged, but I do want to keep the window open (to opportunity),” Bohn said.
Northcoast Environmental Center Director Tim McKay reported he had 3,500 signatures opposing LNG on Humboldt Bay “and counting.”
Other residents alluded to more of a fight if the city chooses to enter into the ERTN, as well.
Fortuna resident Dorothy Iversen said she and many generations before her have seen Humboldt change, and change is inevitable. She, as a few others, said the strong opposition in attendance Tuesday night wasn’t necessarily representative of Eureka.
“The loudest voices are not always the most accurate.”
10.27.2009
Calpine Pulls Out
http://web.archive.org/web/20040611075107/www.eurekareporter.com/Stories/fp-03170409.htm
3/17/04 Calpine Pulls Out
by Leann Whitten
The Eureka Reporter
Calpine Corp. — a San Jose-based independent power producer — withdrew its request for an exclusive right to negotiate agreement for the Samoa LNG project on Wednesday. The adjourned City Council meeting scheduled for Thursday night has been canceled.
In a letter to the Eureka City Council, Calpine representative Ken Abreu said Calpine “is ceasing all development activities on the project as of (Wednesday).”
The company was considering proposing a facility that would receive exports — via tanker at a Samoa Peninsula location — of liquefied natural gas, heat it back to its gaseous state and distribute it via pipeline to the Central Valley. Energy from the plant would have also powered a power plant that Calpine would have built for the area.
“It is the policy of Calpine not to build projects in areas where there is insufficient community support. Based on feedback received from the local community and public officials we feel this decision is best for all parties,” he wrote.
Abreu said Calpine was appreciative of the City Council’s consideration and the city staff’s “fair and diligent” efforts in working with us to present the project.
“We wish the residents of Humboldt County well in their efforts to find a productive and compatible use for their port facilities,” Abreu concluded.
“I think the city council is disappointed that we weren’t able to get this project into some type of process,” City Manager David Tyson said. “The council had been working very hard with other elected officials in the region to try to find a way that was acceptable to move this project forward (that would meet the needs of residents and Calpine).”
Tyson said as Calpine is a corporation, the ERTN agreement was needed to meet its needs.
Tim McKay, executive director of the Northcoast Environmental Center, said he believes without the ERTN Calpine couldn’t secure investors and the corporation doesn’t have the money to fund the $1 billion project itself.
“Thousands of thank yous to all who helped make this ground swell of public opinion penetrate to Calpine's front office,” McKay wrote Wednesday afternoon in a bulk e-mail.
“I think there are other opportunities for the port. … Growing our sustainable fishing industry is the most-important thing to do right now,” McKay said. “I think Humboldt County has a brighter future without an LNG facility than with one.”
Abreu said in an interview with The Eureka Reporter last week, that if the community didn’t want LNG here, then Calpine would not push it.
“If we wanted to (do it without community consent), we wouldn’t have proposed the independent study process.”
“Some people have visions of natural lands used for recreation. Some people feel like a deep-water port should be utilized,” Abreu said. “The people of this county need to make up their minds on which of the two visions makes sense.”
3/17/04 Calpine Pulls Out
by Leann Whitten
The Eureka Reporter
Calpine Corp. — a San Jose-based independent power producer — withdrew its request for an exclusive right to negotiate agreement for the Samoa LNG project on Wednesday. The adjourned City Council meeting scheduled for Thursday night has been canceled.
In a letter to the Eureka City Council, Calpine representative Ken Abreu said Calpine “is ceasing all development activities on the project as of (Wednesday).”
The company was considering proposing a facility that would receive exports — via tanker at a Samoa Peninsula location — of liquefied natural gas, heat it back to its gaseous state and distribute it via pipeline to the Central Valley. Energy from the plant would have also powered a power plant that Calpine would have built for the area.
“It is the policy of Calpine not to build projects in areas where there is insufficient community support. Based on feedback received from the local community and public officials we feel this decision is best for all parties,” he wrote.
Abreu said Calpine was appreciative of the City Council’s consideration and the city staff’s “fair and diligent” efforts in working with us to present the project.
“We wish the residents of Humboldt County well in their efforts to find a productive and compatible use for their port facilities,” Abreu concluded.
“I think the city council is disappointed that we weren’t able to get this project into some type of process,” City Manager David Tyson said. “The council had been working very hard with other elected officials in the region to try to find a way that was acceptable to move this project forward (that would meet the needs of residents and Calpine).”
Tyson said as Calpine is a corporation, the ERTN agreement was needed to meet its needs.
Tim McKay, executive director of the Northcoast Environmental Center, said he believes without the ERTN Calpine couldn’t secure investors and the corporation doesn’t have the money to fund the $1 billion project itself.
“Thousands of thank yous to all who helped make this ground swell of public opinion penetrate to Calpine's front office,” McKay wrote Wednesday afternoon in a bulk e-mail.
“I think there are other opportunities for the port. … Growing our sustainable fishing industry is the most-important thing to do right now,” McKay said. “I think Humboldt County has a brighter future without an LNG facility than with one.”
Abreu said in an interview with The Eureka Reporter last week, that if the community didn’t want LNG here, then Calpine would not push it.
“If we wanted to (do it without community consent), we wouldn’t have proposed the independent study process.”
“Some people have visions of natural lands used for recreation. Some people feel like a deep-water port should be utilized,” Abreu said. “The people of this county need to make up their minds on which of the two visions makes sense.”
http://web.archive.org/web/20031201092245/http://www.eurekareporter.com/
Ad's Content In Question
(Editor's note: This is the second of a three-part series.)
On Oct. 10, Recall Paul, Committee to Recall Paul Gallegos, ran an advertisement in The Times-Standard outlining the reason recall proponents feel it is in the community's best interest to recall Humboldt County District Attorney Paul Gallegos. Following are the responses from Gallegos and recall committee member Rick Brazeau. more
Ad's Content In Question
(Editor's note: This is the second of a three-part series.)
On Oct. 10, Recall Paul, Committee to Recall Paul Gallegos, ran an advertisement in The Times-Standard outlining the reason recall proponents feel it is in the community's best interest to recall Humboldt County District Attorney Paul Gallegos. Following are the responses from Gallegos and recall committee member Rick Brazeau. more
Oct. 22 Due Date For Signatures
http://web.archive.org/web/20031011121716/http://www.eurekareporter.com/
Oct. 22 Due Date For Signatures
Humboldt County isn't through with a recall effort, Oct. 22 is the last day for more than 11,100 valid signatures to be delivered to the Humboldt County Elections Office in the bid to unseat District Attorney Paul Gallegos.
If the signatures are validated by the Elections Office, the earliest a recall election can take place is March 16. The latest is April 16. more
Oct. 22 Due Date For Signatures
Humboldt County isn't through with a recall effort, Oct. 22 is the last day for more than 11,100 valid signatures to be delivered to the Humboldt County Elections Office in the bid to unseat District Attorney Paul Gallegos.
If the signatures are validated by the Elections Office, the earliest a recall election can take place is March 16. The latest is April 16. more
8.13.2009
tangled web of drugs and sex, and murder
◼ Testimony dives into tangled web of drugs and sex in Sanders' case
A friend of 30-year-old McKinleyville man Ezra Sanders, who was shot and killed on Feb. 24, testified that she began to believe that her roommates were behind his death when investigators raided her Eureka house looking for stolen goods weeks later.
Ana Rooney said that during the search, investigators asked her if she knew Sanders, and she recalled hearing her “best friend” Jeffrey Alan Burgess talking about burning his clothes the day of the killing. Rooney testified that she began to feel responsible for Sanders' death because, if it weren't for her, he would not have become acquainted with her roommates and friends who investigators claim killed Sanders.
”I was sick to my stomach,” Rooney said in tears. “I wanted to die ... . I am not a monster and I do not believe this was right.”
Rooney said she had stayed at the Lewis Street house after Sanders' death because she didn't want to believe her friend Burgess was involved in the killing. She testified Wednesday that she moved out of the house after the search.
Sanders was found dead of a single gunshot wound outside his trailer in the Widow White Creek RV Park in McKinleyville around 1 p.m. Feb. 24. Investigators say the murder was a botched robbery, as Sanders' body was found with large amounts of money and some drugs.
Burgess, 39, of Eureka, is charged with Sanders' murder, along with Lukas Larry Mace, 31, of Orleans, Ruben Anthony Peredia, 32, of Eureka, and Tracey Joleen Williams, 35, of Eureka. The four have pleaded not guilty.
At a preliminary hearing Wednesday, Rooney said that the day before the killing, she had sold Sanders an ounce of methamphetamine for $1,400, and that he repaid a long outstanding debt of $300 to her, and loaned her $1,200 to pay off a drug debt. Rooney said that Sanders had been quoted a higher price for an ounce of meth by Williams, after which he came to Rooney for a better deal. Rooney said that Williams may have felt slighted by the transaction.
Rooney also testified that Sanders wasn't treated well at the Lewis Street house, where he showed up to buy and use drugs, and meet with Williams. She described Williams as flaunting herself and engaging in sex to secure drugs from a number of men.
Rooney said that she never told anyone at the Lewis Street house that Sanders was carrying a large amount of money, because she was afraid he might become a target.
”He liked (Williams), but he didn't trust her,” Rooney said, “and he had very good reason not to.”
Attorneys for the defendants on Wednesday questioned Rooney about her memory of the events leading up to Sanders' killing.
Under cross-examination, Rooney repeatedly said Mace was a nice guy who'd begun to stay at the Lewis Street house before the shooting, though she could not recall exactly how long he'd been there. She also said that she believed Mace was merely “caught in the crossfire” of the crime, and that he was likely unaware of the intent of Burgess, Peredia and Williams when they picked him up and drove to Sanders' trailer on Feb. 24.
Defense attorneys also asked Rooney about why she left a volunteer position as a resident advisor at a halfway house before she moved into the Lewis Street residence in December.
Rooney said she left after she broke the rules of the program by allowing a friend of hers to hang out at the house, and decided to resign. Rooney, who is on felony probation, said she began using and dealing drugs when she moved into the Lewis Street house. Rooney also testified that she'd helped Williams' mother bail Williams out of jail after her arrest. When Williams returned to the house, Rooney confronted her about property she believed Williams had stolen from her.
”I came back and I socked her right in the lip,” Rooney said, “yes I did.”
The preliminary hearing continues today.
A friend of 30-year-old McKinleyville man Ezra Sanders, who was shot and killed on Feb. 24, testified that she began to believe that her roommates were behind his death when investigators raided her Eureka house looking for stolen goods weeks later.
Ana Rooney said that during the search, investigators asked her if she knew Sanders, and she recalled hearing her “best friend” Jeffrey Alan Burgess talking about burning his clothes the day of the killing. Rooney testified that she began to feel responsible for Sanders' death because, if it weren't for her, he would not have become acquainted with her roommates and friends who investigators claim killed Sanders.
”I was sick to my stomach,” Rooney said in tears. “I wanted to die ... . I am not a monster and I do not believe this was right.”
Rooney said she had stayed at the Lewis Street house after Sanders' death because she didn't want to believe her friend Burgess was involved in the killing. She testified Wednesday that she moved out of the house after the search.
Sanders was found dead of a single gunshot wound outside his trailer in the Widow White Creek RV Park in McKinleyville around 1 p.m. Feb. 24. Investigators say the murder was a botched robbery, as Sanders' body was found with large amounts of money and some drugs.
Burgess, 39, of Eureka, is charged with Sanders' murder, along with Lukas Larry Mace, 31, of Orleans, Ruben Anthony Peredia, 32, of Eureka, and Tracey Joleen Williams, 35, of Eureka. The four have pleaded not guilty.
At a preliminary hearing Wednesday, Rooney said that the day before the killing, she had sold Sanders an ounce of methamphetamine for $1,400, and that he repaid a long outstanding debt of $300 to her, and loaned her $1,200 to pay off a drug debt. Rooney said that Sanders had been quoted a higher price for an ounce of meth by Williams, after which he came to Rooney for a better deal. Rooney said that Williams may have felt slighted by the transaction.
Rooney also testified that Sanders wasn't treated well at the Lewis Street house, where he showed up to buy and use drugs, and meet with Williams. She described Williams as flaunting herself and engaging in sex to secure drugs from a number of men.
Rooney said that she never told anyone at the Lewis Street house that Sanders was carrying a large amount of money, because she was afraid he might become a target.
”He liked (Williams), but he didn't trust her,” Rooney said, “and he had very good reason not to.”
Attorneys for the defendants on Wednesday questioned Rooney about her memory of the events leading up to Sanders' killing.
Under cross-examination, Rooney repeatedly said Mace was a nice guy who'd begun to stay at the Lewis Street house before the shooting, though she could not recall exactly how long he'd been there. She also said that she believed Mace was merely “caught in the crossfire” of the crime, and that he was likely unaware of the intent of Burgess, Peredia and Williams when they picked him up and drove to Sanders' trailer on Feb. 24.
Defense attorneys also asked Rooney about why she left a volunteer position as a resident advisor at a halfway house before she moved into the Lewis Street residence in December.
Rooney said she left after she broke the rules of the program by allowing a friend of hers to hang out at the house, and decided to resign. Rooney, who is on felony probation, said she began using and dealing drugs when she moved into the Lewis Street house. Rooney also testified that she'd helped Williams' mother bail Williams out of jail after her arrest. When Williams returned to the house, Rooney confronted her about property she believed Williams had stolen from her.
”I came back and I socked her right in the lip,” Rooney said, “yes I did.”
The preliminary hearing continues today.
Upcoming elections
◼ November election filings show candidate shortages
McKinleyville Community Services District Board of Directors. Incumbent Jeff Dunk opted not to seek another term, but both Bill Wennerholm and Dennis Mayo want to do it again.
Altogether, six people are seeking three seats. The challengers are David Couch, Jake Pickering, Dave Varshock and Penny Elsebusch. Please, God, no, not Penny Elsebusch and Jake Pickering!
McKinleyville Union School District board, which governs the community's three schools: Morris, Dows Prairie and McKinleyville Middle School. Incumbents Barbara Kelly and David Alan Smith are seeking another four-year term. They're facing challengers Justin Zabel, Don Rosebrook and Tim Hooven.
Manila Community Services Board of Directors incumbents Charles McDaniels or Shelley Lima decided to run again. However, five residents are seeking their four-year seats: Zachary Thoma, John Walker, Robert Rose, Dendra Dengler and Michael Fennell.
Then, for some reason, there's a big focus on the 2010 Supervisor race.
◼ Duffy won't be seeking a third term
◼ Duffy Out, Cleary In for 2010 Race
McKinleyville Community Services District Board of Directors. Incumbent Jeff Dunk opted not to seek another term, but both Bill Wennerholm and Dennis Mayo want to do it again.
Altogether, six people are seeking three seats. The challengers are David Couch, Jake Pickering, Dave Varshock and Penny Elsebusch. Please, God, no, not Penny Elsebusch and Jake Pickering!
McKinleyville Union School District board, which governs the community's three schools: Morris, Dows Prairie and McKinleyville Middle School. Incumbents Barbara Kelly and David Alan Smith are seeking another four-year term. They're facing challengers Justin Zabel, Don Rosebrook and Tim Hooven.
Manila Community Services Board of Directors incumbents Charles McDaniels or Shelley Lima decided to run again. However, five residents are seeking their four-year seats: Zachary Thoma, John Walker, Robert Rose, Dendra Dengler and Michael Fennell.
Then, for some reason, there's a big focus on the 2010 Supervisor race.
◼ Duffy won't be seeking a third term
◼ Duffy Out, Cleary In for 2010 Race
8.12.2009
interesting org related stuff
saving...
◼ Who’s funding the Obamacare Astroturf campaign?
By Michelle Malkin • June 24, 2009 01:40 AM
My syndicated column today investigates the deep pockets behind the “grass-roots” campaign for Obamacare. Chicago crony/White House senior adviser David Axelrod is, of course, the master of astroturfing. So it certainly comes as no surprise that left-wing puppetmasters are behind the government health care takeover lobby. But an informed citizenry needs to know the nitty gritty details.
Will the ABC “All Barack Channel” News health care infomercial tell viewers about the cabal at 1825 K Street (a far Left office complex/headquarters that is the Washington DC analogue of the 1024 Elysian Fields ACORN headquarters in New Orleans, which I first reported on in August 2008)?
Will they tell viewers about the First Lady’s patient-dumping scheme?
Of course not.
So: Read. Learn. Pass it on. Help do the job the rest of the government-directed stenographers won’t do.
***
Who’s funding the Obamacare Astroturf campaign?
by Michelle Malkin Creators Syndicate Copyright 2009
If you believe the White House, there are 30 million Americans who support a government health care takeover. But if you look at the funding behind the Obamacare Astroturf campaign, it’s the same few Leftist billionaires, union bosses, and partisan community organizers pushing the socialized medicine agenda. Let’s connect the dots.
On Thursday, a national “grass-roots” coalition called “Health Care for America Now (HCAN)” will march on Capitol Hill to demand universal health care. The ground troops won’t have to march very far. HCAN, you see, is no heartland network. It is headquartered at 1825 K Street in Washington, D.C. – smack dab in the middle of Beltway lobby land.
In fact, 1825 K Street is Ground Zero for a plethora of “progressive” groups subsidized by anti-war, anti-Republican, Big Nanny special interests. Around Washington, the office complex is known as “The Other K Street.” The Washington Post noted in 2007 that “[i]ts most prominent tenants form an abbreviated who’s who of well-funded allies of the Democratic Party… Big money from unions such as the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, as well as the Internet-fueled MoveOn, has provided groups like those at 1825 K Street the wherewithal to mount huge campaigns.”
MoveOn, of course, is the recreational political vehicle of radical liberal sugar daddy George Soros. The magnate’s financial fingerprints are all over the HCAN coalition, which includes MoveOn; the action fund of the Center for American Progress (a Soros think tank); and the Campaign for America’s Future (a pro-welfare state lobbying outfit).
HCAN has a $40 million budget, with $10 million pitched in by Atlantic Philanthropies – a Bermuda-based organization fronted by Soros acolyte Gara LaMarche. Also in the money mix: Notorious Democrat donors Herb and Marion Sandler, the left-wing moguls who made billions selling shady subprime mortgages and helped Soros fund his vast network of left-wing activist satellites. By their side is billionaire Peter Lewis of Progressive Insurance, whose “Progressive Future” youth group has dispatched clueless volunteers armed with clipboards and literature bashing Rush Limbaugh and Fox News to scare up support for Obamcare.
And two more left-wing heavyweights joining the HCAN parade: the corruption-riddled SEIU (which has battled numerous embezzlement scandals among its chapters across the country while crusading for consumer and patients’ rights) and Obama’s old chums at fraud-riddled ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now.
ACORN and HCAN are linked by left-wing philanthropist Drummond Pike, who heads the non-profit Tides Foundation/Tides Center. As the tax disclaimer for HCAN discloses, “HCAN is related to Health Care for America Education Fund, a project of The Tides Center, a section 501(c)(3) public charity.” For decades, the Tides Center and its parent organization, the Tides Foundation, have seeded some of the country’s most radical activist groups of the Left, including the communist-friendly United for Peace and Justice, the jihadist-friendly National Lawyers Guild; and the grievance-mongering Council for American-Islamic Relations.
Pike is the same philanthropist who assisted ACORN founder Wade Rathke after his brother, Dale, was caught embezzling nearly $1 million from the community organizing group. Rathke sits on the Tides Foundation board of directors. In a conspiracy to cover up Dale Rathke’s massive theft of funds, Pike volunteered to buy a promissory note worth $800,000 to cover the debt. These are the populist do-gooders supposedly looking out for you and your health.
Why do they want Obamacare? An internal ACORN memo I obtained from August 2008 makes the motives clear. “Over our 38 years, health care organizing has never been a major focus either nationally or locally for ACORN,” wrote ACORN Philadelphia region director Craig Robbins. “But increasingly, ACORN offices around the country are doing work on health care.” The goal: “Building ACORN Power.” The memo outlines the ACORN/HCAN partnership and strategy of opposing any programs that rely on “unregulated private insurance” – and then parlaying political victory on government-run health care “to move our ACORN agenda (or at least part of it) with key electeds that we might otherwise not be able to pull off.”
The objective, in other words, is to piggyback and exploit Obamacare to improve and protect their political health. The “grass-roots” movement is not about representing Main Street. It’s about peddling influence and power on 1825 K Street.
Malkin is author of the forthcoming “Culture of Corruption: Obama and His Team of Tax Cheats, Crooks & Cronies” (Regnery 2009).
Posted in: ACORN Watch, Health care
Lots more on this at the link above
◼ Who’s funding the Obamacare Astroturf campaign?
By Michelle Malkin • June 24, 2009 01:40 AM
My syndicated column today investigates the deep pockets behind the “grass-roots” campaign for Obamacare. Chicago crony/White House senior adviser David Axelrod is, of course, the master of astroturfing. So it certainly comes as no surprise that left-wing puppetmasters are behind the government health care takeover lobby. But an informed citizenry needs to know the nitty gritty details.
Will the ABC “All Barack Channel” News health care infomercial tell viewers about the cabal at 1825 K Street (a far Left office complex/headquarters that is the Washington DC analogue of the 1024 Elysian Fields ACORN headquarters in New Orleans, which I first reported on in August 2008)?
Will they tell viewers about the First Lady’s patient-dumping scheme?
Of course not.
So: Read. Learn. Pass it on. Help do the job the rest of the government-directed stenographers won’t do.
***
Who’s funding the Obamacare Astroturf campaign?
by Michelle Malkin Creators Syndicate Copyright 2009
If you believe the White House, there are 30 million Americans who support a government health care takeover. But if you look at the funding behind the Obamacare Astroturf campaign, it’s the same few Leftist billionaires, union bosses, and partisan community organizers pushing the socialized medicine agenda. Let’s connect the dots.
On Thursday, a national “grass-roots” coalition called “Health Care for America Now (HCAN)” will march on Capitol Hill to demand universal health care. The ground troops won’t have to march very far. HCAN, you see, is no heartland network. It is headquartered at 1825 K Street in Washington, D.C. – smack dab in the middle of Beltway lobby land.
In fact, 1825 K Street is Ground Zero for a plethora of “progressive” groups subsidized by anti-war, anti-Republican, Big Nanny special interests. Around Washington, the office complex is known as “The Other K Street.” The Washington Post noted in 2007 that “[i]ts most prominent tenants form an abbreviated who’s who of well-funded allies of the Democratic Party… Big money from unions such as the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, as well as the Internet-fueled MoveOn, has provided groups like those at 1825 K Street the wherewithal to mount huge campaigns.”
MoveOn, of course, is the recreational political vehicle of radical liberal sugar daddy George Soros. The magnate’s financial fingerprints are all over the HCAN coalition, which includes MoveOn; the action fund of the Center for American Progress (a Soros think tank); and the Campaign for America’s Future (a pro-welfare state lobbying outfit).
HCAN has a $40 million budget, with $10 million pitched in by Atlantic Philanthropies – a Bermuda-based organization fronted by Soros acolyte Gara LaMarche. Also in the money mix: Notorious Democrat donors Herb and Marion Sandler, the left-wing moguls who made billions selling shady subprime mortgages and helped Soros fund his vast network of left-wing activist satellites. By their side is billionaire Peter Lewis of Progressive Insurance, whose “Progressive Future” youth group has dispatched clueless volunteers armed with clipboards and literature bashing Rush Limbaugh and Fox News to scare up support for Obamcare.
And two more left-wing heavyweights joining the HCAN parade: the corruption-riddled SEIU (which has battled numerous embezzlement scandals among its chapters across the country while crusading for consumer and patients’ rights) and Obama’s old chums at fraud-riddled ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now.
ACORN and HCAN are linked by left-wing philanthropist Drummond Pike, who heads the non-profit Tides Foundation/Tides Center. As the tax disclaimer for HCAN discloses, “HCAN is related to Health Care for America Education Fund, a project of The Tides Center, a section 501(c)(3) public charity.” For decades, the Tides Center and its parent organization, the Tides Foundation, have seeded some of the country’s most radical activist groups of the Left, including the communist-friendly United for Peace and Justice, the jihadist-friendly National Lawyers Guild; and the grievance-mongering Council for American-Islamic Relations.
Pike is the same philanthropist who assisted ACORN founder Wade Rathke after his brother, Dale, was caught embezzling nearly $1 million from the community organizing group. Rathke sits on the Tides Foundation board of directors. In a conspiracy to cover up Dale Rathke’s massive theft of funds, Pike volunteered to buy a promissory note worth $800,000 to cover the debt. These are the populist do-gooders supposedly looking out for you and your health.
Why do they want Obamacare? An internal ACORN memo I obtained from August 2008 makes the motives clear. “Over our 38 years, health care organizing has never been a major focus either nationally or locally for ACORN,” wrote ACORN Philadelphia region director Craig Robbins. “But increasingly, ACORN offices around the country are doing work on health care.” The goal: “Building ACORN Power.” The memo outlines the ACORN/HCAN partnership and strategy of opposing any programs that rely on “unregulated private insurance” – and then parlaying political victory on government-run health care “to move our ACORN agenda (or at least part of it) with key electeds that we might otherwise not be able to pull off.”
The objective, in other words, is to piggyback and exploit Obamacare to improve and protect their political health. The “grass-roots” movement is not about representing Main Street. It’s about peddling influence and power on 1825 K Street.
Malkin is author of the forthcoming “Culture of Corruption: Obama and His Team of Tax Cheats, Crooks & Cronies” (Regnery 2009).
Posted in: ACORN Watch, Health care
Lots more on this at the link above