May 25, 2012

On Craigslist, Coal Lobby Offers $50 To People To Wear Pro-Coal T-Shirts At Regulatory Meeting

Posted at 8:30 am by Lee Fang

Here’s a great catch from the Environmental Law & Policy Center in Chicago. A coal group posted a Craigslist ad offering people $50 to wear pro-coal t-shirts at an upcoming EPA meeting in Illinois. The posting has been deleted, but here’s a screenshot:

A local Sierra Club blog took pictures of people wearing the shirt at the meeting:

Narrow political interests often lack actual grassroots support, so they simply pay people to pose. AT&T lobbyists used donations to manipulate pro-gay organizations, health insurance lobbyists authored fake letters in support of the wasteful Medicare Advantage program, oil companies routinely pay for buses to ship demonstrators for rallies, and even, on occasion, some unions pay people under minimum wage to picket.

Too often, influence peddling is only quantified by registered lobbying or sophisticated ad campaigns. But these astroturf — fake grassroots — efforts are part of how powerful interests control the policy process. In this Illinois case, the coal interests were simply caught red-handed.

Filed under: Lobbying

March 12, 2012

April 13, 2012

Add a comment

R Andrew Ohge

Forum List for Junius XXIII, LXIII: Wanted-People to attend Public Event for the Emperor to be held at the Coliseum. LXIII pieces of Silver paid to attendees or their families. Must wear toga saying: “Lion Food”.
Pingback: Pretty Good Job for 2012!! - Lawyers, Guns & Money : Lawyers, Guns & Money
Jacherrico

uuuhhh if people want to be prostitutes psshh let them! Boosts the economy. I don’t get pissed at the Dominos guy waving a sign at traffic, or KFC commercials pretending like they don’t serve hot, tasty obesity. Well, I guess I kinda do. Looks like I’ll just haveta go to pizza hut! Or maybe I’ll just grow a tomato and learn to make cheese…

Drpage

Except i doubt that you have ever been surprised to learn that the Dominos guy with a sign, or a Commercial for KFC was being paid to promote a product. The purpose here is to hide the fact that the promotion is being done by people paid to.
Repugnatcant

You’d better start to be concerned about this type of influence or shut your mouth when the corporate fascists do away with what little democracy there is left and dictate what you can and can’t do, say or believe. Very shortsighted of you to simply dismiss this!

CatKinNY

And in Mexico, a vote for the PRI will still get you a new pair of work boots!
http://www.facebook.com/nichols.delilah Delilah Nichols

Wow, another way to make a buck while pretending to be Democratic. How sad, but I’m not sure which is worse; the one’s paying the people to wear these T-shirts, or the people actually getting paid to wear them…
Steven Gaylord

Wouldn’t be surprised to see, one day in the future, government approving coal driven cars on the road… No doubt it hasn’t been considered.
Slaldrich58

Some, if not many, of those people wearing the shirt are doing it for the $50 in this economy. That can ‘get you through’ another day or two (bare bones). So let’s not be too harsh on them, plus teens and young folks getting out of HS or college aren’t exactly winning the day in the job market.

Yes, there is some ‘sell yourself cheap’ element to that, but in the larger scheme of things that may well be outweighed by individual circumstances or necessity.

These companies know how to target the right demographic groups and where to place their ads, trust me. They also ‘encourage’ emplyees to lobby, support and contact their representatives as well, on behalf of the corporate interests. As noted in the article, they also will ‘bus in’ folks when legislation is being voted on or regulatory rulings are forthcoming and up for consideration.

Investigating how money corrupts democracy

On Craigslist, Coal Lobby Offers $50 To People To Wear Pro-Coal T-Shirts At Regulatory Meeting

Bribery By Another Name: While Still In Office, Congessman Heath Shuler (D-NC) Already Negotiating With K Street To Become A Lobbyist

In Latest Press Release, ALEC Claims To Be ‘Transparent, Open’