Research Cited

Journal Sentinel Slams “Liberal” News Site

Source: Urban Milwaukee | Published: 8/27/2019

The main thesis of the JS story on Wisconsin Examiner is that it is a “left-wing” response to right-wing sites like the MacIver Institute. But MacIver was started as a think tank, not a news site. And when it did do journalism, its methods could be questionable, as Sourcewatch has noted: In 2009 MacIver operative Bill Osmulski was charged with obtaining interviews with two elected Wisconsin officials under false pretenses. The MacIver Institute falsely claimed the state Government Accountability Board would deem recall signatures from “Mickey Mouse” or “Hitler” to be valid when counting signatures in the recall effort against then-governor Scott Walker.

Energy Lobbyists Changed Politicians’ Official Letters Supporting Gas Project

Environment

Source: High Country News | Published: 8/26/2019

CEA is a registered 501(c)(4) nonprofit that describes itself as an advocate for “sensible energy policies for all consumers,” but its members include dozens of fossil fuel, agriculture and manufacturing companies. The nonprofit Center for Media and Democracy identifies CEA as an industry front group. It has been accused multiple times of faking support for energy projects.

A Lobbyist-Tied Industry Group Was Behind Officials’ Letters Of Support For Gas Project

Environment

Source: HuffPost | Published: 8/25/2019

The Death of David Koch

Koch

Source: Bacon's Rebellion | Published: 8/24/2019

Among other groups accepting Koch money was the Thomas Jefferson Institute of Public Policy, a Northern Virginia-based free market think tank, according to the left-leaning group Sourcewatch. The institute once sponsored this blog.

Plain Talk: Evers Needs to Rethink Ban on Right-Wing Media Group

Democracy, Wisconsin

Source: The Cap Times | Published: 8/23/2019

It had been common practice for Assembly Speaker Robin Vos to deny press credentials to the Center for Media and Democracy which, like the MacIver Institute, covers state politics, only from a more liberal view. CMD has unearthed several “scoops” in recent years, including the cozy relationship between Wisconsin conservative legislators and the infamous American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and how they conspired on legislation.

David Koch, Whose Money Harmed LGBTQ People, Dead at 79

ALEC, Koch

Source: Advocate.com | Published: 8/23/2019

They also have funded the American Legislative Exchange Council, known by the acronym ALEC, a conservative group that drafts model legislation for states with the goals of cutting taxes, opposing gun restrictions, weakening labor unions, and repealing regulations on business. In addition, ALEC has drafted many laws criminalizing HIV exposure and, at least in its early years, strongly opposed LGBTQ equality. Recently it has teamed up with the anti-LGBTQ Alliance Defending Freedom to promote legislation that supposedly supports free speech on college campuses but would provide no protections for those who demonstrate against campus speakers, according to the Center for Media and Democracy.

The Realism and Unrealism of the Green New Deals

ALEC, Koch

Source: CounterPunch | Published: 8/23/2019

The Institute disingenuously calls itself “impartial and unbiased” on its About web page, but also attributes to “free markets” all manner of progress. SourceWatch reveals that the Institute is founded by the Koch brothers, has a president who was formerly an executive with Enron and is tied to the Koch brothers’ infamous American Legislative Exchange Council, an organization that literally writes extreme Right bills for state legislatures.

It’s Business as Usual for Georgia-Pacific’s Talladega Plant Despite Company Changes Elsewhere

Economy

Source: The Daily Home | Published: 8/22/2019

A story published in Business Alabama, citing a report published earlier this week by PR Watch, said the company “announced a retreat from its commercial paper, particle board and wood products business … (while) renew(ing) its focus on bath tissue.”

Why Did Trump’s ‘Judge Whisperer’ Buy a House on the Maine Coast?

Democracy, Trump

Source: centralmaine.com | Published: 8/18/2019

“Leo is promising his allies that he’ll return the law to the pre-New Deal era, the robber baron era, and here he is managing to buy the cottage of one of the great robber barons,” says Lisa Graves, a former chief counsel on judicial nominations for the Senate Judiciary Committee and board president of the Center for Media and Democracy, a liberal-leaning government transparency watchdog group.

Letter: In the Minimum Wage Debate, Beware of Lobbyists

Economy

Source: Peoria Journal Star | Published: 8/17/2019

It is no surprise that Samantha Summers insists a $15 minimum wage hike is detrimental to the workers. The Employment Policies Institute is a very conservative organization, and one of several front groups created by Berman & Companies. Berman & Companies lobbies for restaurants, hotels, alcohol, and tobacco industries.

They own two domains, LivingWage.com and MinimumWage.com, which portray the idea of a living wage as some kind of insidious conspiracy, according to SourceWatch.org.