Loading ...
TPS DISCOVERS WHERE THE MONEY IS COMING FROM… AND WHY
Have you heard the radio ads attacking U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham?
Or have you seen the Halloween-themed television ad claiming that Graham “supports a national energy tax called cap-and-trade”?
Did you think the ads were sponsored by a taxpayer group? Who’s picking up the tab for the ad campaign? And more importantly, are the ads truthful?
A little research by The Palmetto Scoop turned up some rather interesting answers.
A shadowy, mysterious group called “American Energy Alliance (AEA)” has bought nearly $300,000 worth of ads in South Carolina attacking Graham. We will reveal who’s really behind the ads in a moment. But first, let’s deal with the content.
The ad claims Graham supports federal cap-and-trade legislation. Is that true? The answer is unequivocally “no.”
Graham has made his position clear: He will not support any form of caps on carbon pollution unless the Democrats agree to green-light the expansion of nuclear energy, offshore drilling, clean coal and natural gas as energy alternatives to create new jobs and to end American dependence on foreign oil.
So why is this group deliberately twisting Graham’s position?
Well, that might have something to do with who is actually funding the ads.
Almost nothing is known about the American Energy Alliance itself other than that it was established as a 501(c)4 in 1993 to fight energy initiatives created by the Clinton Administration.
The group lists none of its donors, has filings with neither the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission nor the Internal Revenue Service, and has no way to be contacted.
The AEA is described by the Center for Media and Democracy as a “front group” for the Institute for Energy Research (IER) and openly calls itself the group’s “grassroots arm.”
The IER is a Houston, Texas-based “think tank” funded by, wait for it… the big oil companies. And IER has received hundreds of thousands of dollars from ExxonMobil over the last 10 years.
But it gets better.
The group’s founder and president is a man named Robert L. Bradley, Jr. Bradley’s previous position was Director of Public Policy Analysis at a little company called Enron.
At Enron, Bradley wrote speeches for Kenneth Lay, the company’s chairman who was found guilty on 10 federal charges of securities fraud, wire fraud, and making false and misleading statements. I guess the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.
With those facts in hand, it’s not too difficult to see why this secretive special interest group would attack Graham.
It all comes down to profits.
Graham is working to end the nation’s dependence on foreign oil. In the process, he has stepped on some big oily toes.
Big oil companies are fighting with everything they have to preserve the status quo. They want the status quo – they need the status quo – to protect their profits.
Alternative sources of cleaner, more efficient energy would be great news for Americans… but very bad news for big oil.
Graham is also well-aware that South Carolina, in particular, has much to gain by new development in nuclear energy. If Graham can gain permits for new nuclear reactors as well as full-funding for mixed oxide fuel facilities in the Palmetto State, it would means billions in new investments and thousands of new jobs.
Plus, reducing our dependence on foreign oil would literally save American lives. We would no longer be spending a billion dollars a day to buy oil from countries that want to kill us.
But big oil has a different agenda. For them, the continued dependence on oil is money in the bank. So you can expect more attacks from their front groups like AEA and IER.
As Republican South Carolina Sen. John Courson said in defense of Graham, however, we should remember the oil companies are protecting their profits, while “Lindsey Graham is protecting us.”
Adam: You’re going to have a hard time convincing folks down my way that attacks on Graham are unfair. We can’t trust him to be a reliable conservative voice for us in the Senate.
After reading Graham’s joint op-ed with John Kerry on the subject of climate change, I’m inclined to believe the attack ads:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/11/opinion/11kerrygraham.html
Adam
I am through with Lindsey. His compromises have helped lead us to where we are . No doubt he will compromise on Health Care Reofrm and Cap and Trade
I will leave that general election ballot blank if I have too.
PS…it does not matter if congress changes the laws on off shore drilling and nuclear power, the activist regularly tie up those projects for DECADES! And Lindsey knows this!!
Lindsey Graham sealed his fate with many conservatives when he voted to approve Sotomayor’s confirmation to the Supreme Court. I don’t trust him to represent me anymore. He’d better turn coat and register as a Democrat if he intends to stay in politics.
i don’t care who attacks lindsey graham.. what i do lnow is he doesnt represent me or most of the people who elected him. his amnesty, crap n trade, supreme court etc etc etc. lindsey himself has said he will vote the way he wants and doesnt care what we think… his own words…he is a fool to think he can get along with these leftwing loons. always remember—-he who in the middle of the road is the one that gets run over. we need a conservative in his spot, even if its a dem or independent… i would vote for a conserv dem than him. i will donate and work for anyone that runs against him… those that you say attack him i salute….we dont need rhinos in south carolina.. not happy with ingles at this point either. what has happened to the sc repub party? they have lost last two election because dem consevatives beat liberal repubs.. thats the bottom line.. ronnie reagan=we need you.
Mike — Read this:
http://www.palmettoscoop.com/2009/10/21/graham-defends-cap-and-trade-position/
Ditto. I lived in Washington for a while. Senators can be fooled into thinking that Georgeown is the center of the universe. The only way to be accepted in the O Street salons is to have the NYT or the Washington Post write about you favorably.
Lindsey was a House Manager. That’s why I voted for him for Senator. At the time, he was the heir to Ole Strom.
In reality, his politics mirror Fritz Hollings.
Cap and Trade is one of the most cynical ideas to come on the scene in the last century.
Just as the amount of Americans without healthcare grew throughout the summer (ie. 30 mill. to 48 mill.), we are expected to cede our money and prestige to a concept that is a scam to begin with. I won’t say that we aren’t experiencing climate change (although nothing convinces me that it so), but it is manufactured. It’s the secular version of the Apocolypse dessigned to scare trailer parkers.
Good reporting on this, I am always interested in truth in reporting, but just as Mike’s America stated….Graham has flip flopped on too many serious matters and sided with the wrong crowd…..so I still want a serious Republican to challenge him for the nomination. And if he runs unopposed my vote will not be made for him.
Those of us from SC that know Lindsey Graham and what he stands for already had a pretty good idea that this smear campaign associating Linsey with all this “cap and trade” was a pile of reeking garbage.
Graham stands out as the odd ball in the political arena because as a politician his record clearly reflects his uncompromising dedication to the PEOPLE he represents and not big business, special interests, or political correctness.
The people that know Graham put him in office and regardless of the smear tactics will keep him there!!
Lindsey, as always, thinks for himself and suffers the slings and arrows from the peanut gallery.
Some of the comments seem to suggest that if Senator Graham does not agree 100% with the Republicans party then he should be attacked by big oil companies. This so true of what has happened to our country over the past eight years. You either agreed with Bush, Halliburton, and all other industrial capitalist or you were unamerican. The sad part about all of this is the that defending the middle class has become a no, no. Sock it to them with high interest rates, oil prices climbing, and anything else to push them into poverty is the way to go. So if someone comes along with a better way of serving our country, then they must be hung out to dry. I respect Senator Graham for standing for right and truth. I wish more people would. Cliches and mistruths are all we are getting from some of our people in Washingon. The welfare of the people has taken a backseat for 8 years. I say KUDOS for Senator Graham.
Lindsey Graham is the only elected official in South Carolina who represents all of South Carolina and not just the people who voted for him. I’m a conservative and I will vote for Jim DeMint in next year’s re-election bid—-but make no mistake, Mr. DeMint knows he can just talk tough and play to his base and his job is safe. Mr. Graham is willing to tackle issues and represent South Carolina while trying to accomplishm something. He’s a statesman and I admire him greatly. Thank you Senator Graham.
One thing is clear – Graham has stepped up to be a big voice for more subsidies and hand-outs for the nuclear power industry. If he were a free marketeer he would tell the “mature” industry that it was time to stand or die on its own – no loan guarantees, no production credits, no tax breaks, etc. Graham now comes across as an advocate for the powerful nuclear industry so their donations are having an impact. Money to costly, risky nuclear power means that new generating plants and not energy efficiency and conservation will get the nod.
It really doesn’t bother me what anyone has to say about Senator Graham; weather pro or con, because I would never cast another vote for him unless it was to remove him from office. I cannot believe that the good people of the great state of South Carolina would ever elect him for any public office again other than perhaps dog catcher.
Lindsey is one of the few members of Congress that thinks about what is good for Americans first and party second. The hate mongers on both sides are ripping this country apart with no regard to the damage they do. I for one hopes Senator Graham continues to think the way he does and that more politicians with guts will join him.
Mark
Good work Adam! Another prominent astroturfing org with loads of hidden agendas to watch out for in these oil-related matters is the American Petroleum Institute. Or API. They give loads of money to Edelman PR (there’s a big office of that sleezoid PR firm here in Atlanta) to carryout their nefarious, underhanded astroturfing campaigns.
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=American_Petroleum_Institute
Graham, you may be a Senator for a long time, but you will do it without my vote.
Curt
Lindsay Graham has become a radicalized progressive.
He has abandoned the very values that we in SC elected him for (keeping government intrusion into the private sector to a minimum). ANY artificial limits on business activity is not worth the supposed trade-offs. We cannot trust any “deal” Senator Graham is going to negotiate. This is one instance where the interests of regular folks and the oil companies coincide.
Graham and John Courson are not on our side. I pledge to use my time, energy, and finances to insure they are defeated next election.
I just cannot trust someone who wanted ammnesty for illegals, voted to confirm the last supreme court justice, considered Ted Kennedy a good friend, and makes deals with John Heinz.
All you ‘my way or the highway’ folks should just get on that highway to oblivion. We have seen the corruption that unregulated capitalism produces and most thinking people recognize that the main role of government is to check the greed of the Pharisees, whether they be in oil, energy, banking or health insurance industries. You can never trust those with the profit motive to do the right thing by all the people. It’s blatant hypocrisy that so many of these people claim to be Christians. Shame on you!
Lindsay sent me a letter a couple of months ago stating that he is for some kind of cap and trade. I am not voting for him. I hope someone good runs against him.
Nothing El Grahamo does would surprise me. This very fact is the reason his record can be so easily twisted. He has been the darling of the progressives and his refusal to address issues at townhall meetings has lost me and mine. I am giving dollars to donuts that this is his last term!
I don’t want Mr Gramnesty to oppose the cap and tax bill “unless…” I want him to oppose it, PERIOD!
Sure, his position is very clear: Sen Graham is willing to compromise with Obama. He will support the onerous cap & tax in treturn for Obama giving a green light to off shore drilling, nuclear plants, etc.
No wonder people are disgusted with Sen Graham. He’s troo damn naive. With Obama there is NO COMPROMISE! Just look at what he did to the pro-life people over the health care bill. They added an amendment to get pro-lifers’ support, yet told the pro-abortion crowd, don’t worry, that amendment will be dropped in conference…you guys can go ahead & vote for the bill — we’ve got your back.
Lindsey Graham doesn’t know how to stand firm for conservative principles. He and his buddy John McCain will end up selling out to the Marxist in the White House…all in the name of compromise.
Lindsay Graham is very close to being another one of those RINO’s like Olympia Snowe. If he is sponsoring anything to do with energy with John Kerry I am very suspicious about it.
Lindsey Graham is the only Republican in SC I can support. He actually THINKS and displays a grasp of issues that escape DeMInt, Barrett and many others. We need to get off foreign oil. Period! Cap and Trade is one way to do it. We need Health Care reform, as the status quo is the most expensive alternative. We need to stop insurance bureaucrats denying coverage or cancelling when we get too sick. Lindsey Graham grasps these issues
All people elected to office should vote on all issues that is what they are there for. In reference to how Graham voted on the cap and trade you can see his results here …
http://votesmart.org/voting_category.php?can_id=21992
If he is against it there would be a vote saying so but he elected not to vote. In my personal opinion if the don’t vote then they are not representing the people that placed him in office and he needs to be replaced asap.
There is a video on youtube where he said he was not a constitutionalists, well he better be as a matter of fact they are all supposed to support the constitution or they are in the wrong country!
Lindsay Grahamnesty has let the voters down too many times. He should just be honest and declare himself a democrat – his voting record already supports that. He is always willing to “meet in the middle – trying to appease the other side” – well when do you see the Democrats trying to meet the Republicans in the middle? NEVER! When our Republicans start acting like true Republicans we will win but not as long as they act like rinos (republican in name only).
I am not convinced that there is a “smear campaign” against him – it is a “the trruth hurts campaign.”
Good reporting, Adam. I think the attacks are unfair and am not surprised by the funding source. This sounds like a John Grisham novel!
I call his office last week. He believe in the false reports on global warming. I told his office that over 10,000 (up to almost 30,000 now) scientist are aginst the belief of man-made global warming. His office says that they was bias. I don’t trust wimpy lindsay.
Lindsey Graham and liberal Republicans like him are the very reason our government is controlled by Democrats today.
He should follow Arlen Specter and defect to the Democratic
party. He is far too liberal for South Carolina.
I would love to see a strong Independent Conservative run
against him. That person would surely get my vote.
Good reporting. Unfortunately there are those who do not read to learn but to find someone who agrees with them. They are not want to learn or open their thinking to new ideas. This state’s political discourse is so stilted and antiquated that their is little wonder that any progress can be made. Hopefully our colleges, universities and technical schools will start to impact this hum drum thinking.
When Lindsey Graham stands up at a town hall meeting and tells a constituent that if he doesn’t like the way he (Graham) thinks, he can just get out, it doesn’t sound like he is even trying to represent “the people”. Ever since he became a Senator, the beltway has wrapped around his head and leads him around. He has become one of the “elites” who think they know what’s best for us folks.
I, for one, will never vote for him again. In fact, I didn’t vote for him the last time. I left that slot blank. I hope the Party comes up with a viable alternative to run against him next time.
As a member of a Vietnam Vets group, we have written Graham off a long time ago. None of this is a surprise. It’s time to put a real conservative in office.
I am fed up with Graham and the entire Republican party of S. C. They have destroyed our State. I own a house in Charleston and pay over $2,000.00/year in taxes, but I cannot vote for countty representitives that may evolk “Public Domain” due to the Air Base expansion. Graham is a coward and not married–most of us think he is gay. I have no problem with his being gay, but, I do when he promotes “family values.” I own 3 properties here in Rock Hill and pay my taxes. I have had 4 confirmed heart attacks and now a pacemaker/defibrallator for the rest of my life. Our State is dead last in education due to the “No Child Left Behind.” I am dead set against “Cap and Trade” and you are wrong in blaming the Clinton Administration for this ad!
Jim Demint(ed) was holding up a Wellpoint broschure when asked about health care reform. Who in the hell are these guys working for? It is not the poeple of SC! Also, Demint sent out letters of congratulations to every Christian based High school graduate, but not one to any public schools!
The only way we are going to get out of this mess is to educate ourselves out. We have to go back to what our founding Fathers’ decreed nearly 300 years ago about separation of Church and State.
As far as Graham’s support of “Green” energy goes, I am for alternative energy, not drilling for a finite resource such as coal and off-shore drilling! Solar and wind are renewable resources that are truly “green.” There is no such thing as “clean” coal! Anyone that is buying this ad from this woman from Arkansas is copletely ignorant to the issue. For example, I was told last night that due to their drilling and mining north of Little Rock, Ar, they have had over 30 earthquakes. They stopped, so did the earthquakes. Natural gas has to be drilled for and is not as bad on pollution, but it still is a pollutant, nonetheless.
Graham will not stand up for what is right. Just look at the speech that Wilson yelled “You Lie” at President Obama. During that speech, Graham was about to applaud the President, when he realized that his Republican colleagues weren’t clapping he tried to be “smooth” and rubbed his hands together. He is a coward and does not represent SC. Thomas Jefferson wrote, ” For our Democracy to continue, we will need a revolution every 20 years to secure it.” BTW, NO Democracy in History has ever lasted more than 250 years (Romans and Greeks). The irony of all failed democracies is that this dictators were freely elected. This is why we have a Bi-Cameral system. It is not fast, but it is not designed to be. The idea is to make sure what we are doing is the right thing. If you want to get something done, then vote in a dictator like Bush–who was never elected, but was handed the reigns of Government by the right wing Supreme Court that both Demint(ed) and Graham voted for.
Clinton was the only President to leave a surplus–Jackson had to close all the banks to do that (he being the only other President to do the same (remove the National Debt).
Obama has only been in office for ten months. Give him a break. But SC is very racist and that is so sad. As far as the gentleman that thinks so highly of “Ole Strom”, well he was a hypocrit and a liar. Fritz Hollings was a moderate–which is what is needed, Now! I have not met but a few die-hard Republicans that are against Health care reform. The majority of South Carolinians are for it. Yet, Graham and the rest of his colleagues are against it. Most South Carolinians do not have adequate health care–this sad.
Peace and have a great day,
Bobby Hughes–Independent and a Historian.
[...] admit they were wrong – and the far right just doesn’t like doing that. “…Well, that might have something to do with who is actually funding the [...]
We have a definite pattern here:
1. Lindsey Gaham declares something is inevitable: “The green economy is coming” or declares that we can’t get rid of illegal aliens, etc.
2. Gaham then states that we have to “lead” exactly as the liberals want to do in most cases with “cap and tax,” amnesty, etc. for the mega-corporations & special interests.
3. Gaham then demagogues and grandstands when attacked by people in his own state & calls his opponents, “bigots,” “idiots,” “angry white men,” or other ad hominem attacks rather than using logic.
4. Liberals come out of the woodwork to defend him. Networks put him on the air as an “major player.” Corporations he represents donate more money to him.
5. Gaham funnels some of this money to other neo-cons in Republican primaries and otherwise buys off folks in the Dem. party with earmarks and such to stay in office.
6. Gaham votes for the “compromise” even if the only change the “other” side makes is a present for his mega-corporations & special interests.
Lindsey has gotten too far off his base to the left to continue to get my support. I appreciated his questioning of the latest Supreme Justice, but his vote he cast was not what I expected! He will not get my vote, no matter what John Courson says about the energy policy and he may be careful about how far he leans left too!
We don’t want no Rhino’s, moderates,progressives in our party! We don’t want minorities or women either! Our state party has gone to hell putting Karen Floyd in charge then having a minority (Glenn McCall) and another women (Cindy Costa) as national committee persons! We don’t want the likes of Barrett,Inglis,Graham representing us! Don’t give me Andre Bauer, something has to be wrong here when a 40+ year old man isn’t married and you never see him publically or a political event with a female! You have to wonder if the rumors are really true. Where are the real white men with real guts?? We are mad as hell and we want our party back!! If we can not get it our way we will leave and the Republican party and this backwards;backwater;back-assed state can both go to hell!!
It is all well and good to point out that Senator Graham’s compromises “get things done”, I personally don’t believe that some of those “things done” have been done well. I voted for this man, and yet when I heard him address his constituents at a town hall meeting, telling them that he felt they were hijacking the party because they were trying to hold Republicans to the conservative values that they won their elections on, I decided that I was one of those people who were asked to leave the party. When his defense that he does not supported cap and trade is that he only supports it under certain conditions, he has shown me that the “attack” ads are correct. You can not sort-of not support cap and trade.
We have a contradictory report:
http://www.fitsnews.com/2009/11/05/more-on-lindsey-grahams-left-leaning-bedfellows/
Lindsey Graham is a thoughtful Republican who tries to get things done for the good of the nation. I do not always agree with him, but I’ll take his thoughtful, get things done approach, over those who are content to play politics.
Graham is right to help shape legislation to address climate change and energy security. A bi-partisan bill that solves these problems will be far better than anything the Democrats would construct on their own, and simply blocking efforts to address problems–as many Republicans are content to do–is not a path that can help the GOP take back Congress.
It is also worth pointing out that cap-and-trade is a Republican idea. Democrats used to hate it because it was too business-friendly. They favored a command and control regulatory approach. You could dub it “cap and live with it.” Cap and trade was the Republican answer to this and it has proved very successful at reducung acid rain at a far lower cost than projected.
Now, simply because Democrats have warmed to the idea, cap-and-trade is now somehow liberal? Give me a break.
If you are so interested in astroturfing, then take a look at the pro-Graham video and the environmentalist advert here:
http://www.fitsnews.com/2009/11/05/more-on-lindsey-grahams-left-leaning-bedfellows/
Look familiar?
Sen Graham seems to have forgotten that he works for us. He represents the people of South Carolina; he was elected to serve as our representative. It looks like he’s been in DC too long.
What in the world happened to the So Carolina delegation? Last week, the “elder statesman” James Clyburn told us that most of what Congress does “has nothing to do with the United State Constitution.” In othe words, we don’t pay any attention to We The People…don’t care about We The People!
Perhaps We The People should throw all the bums out of DC!
[...] by the oil and coal industry. The oil company front group “American Energy Alliance” has blanketed South Carolina with ads smearing Graham for seeking to address climate [...]
For the longest time, I supported Lindsay Graham. Not now. This country and our state need a man of conservative principles who will vote according to those principles. We do not an individual whose inclination is to compromise. I now do not believe that Lindsay Graham supports in Congress what is best for the state of SC nor for the US. Cap-and-Trade is just the latest: how can you be for Cap-and-Trade if certain other energy areas are expanded? I want a Senator who is against Cap-and-Trade PERIOD…. a Senator who is against illegal immmigration PERIOD. … a Senator who is against a liberal Supreme Court Justives like Sotomayer PERIOD. By the time Graham comes up for relection, the list of his objectionable stands will only have grown- grown to the point, I expect, that a great many other South Carolinians will feel that it is time for a change, time to replace Lindsay Graham. I, for one, will not vote for Lindsay Graham. My hope is that a solid slate of good conservatives, with backbones, will run against him.
[...] efforts to implement renewable energy solutions has also made him a target of big oil. A front group for the Institute for Energy Research, which is funded by ExxonMobile and headed by [...]
[...] head. Unfortunately, there is a far right “hit” out on Lindsey, and some very nasty little big oil folks with former ENRON connections are out to slaughter him because he wants to make us energy [...]
[...] but something else entirely. The AEA is running another hit on Lindsey. The Palmetto Scoop did the initial work on the power behind the [...]
[...] of readers on The Palmetto Scoop learned earlier this month that the group attacking Sen. Lindsey Graham for working to expand domestic alternative energy [...]
[...] front group “American Energy Alliance,” which has been running ads in South Carolina smearing Graham for working to address climate change. Pressure on Graham also stemmed from his recent spat with [...]