You may have seen a new television ad from an outfit calling itself "Bankrupting America," picturing a guy in a suit with a shovel digging a hole. The voiceover says America is indebted to the tune of $13 trillion, nearly as much as our GDP. It exhorts viewers to defeat members of Congress who vote for spending programs, with no specifics. The line at the bottom of the ad says it's paid for by something called "Public Notice."
So who's that? Well, the website says it's a non-profit "dedicated to providing facts and insight on the economy and how government policy affects Americans’ financial well-being." That's it. There's no list of funders in the "About" page.
Ah, but back in March one of Josh Marshall's beady-eyed researchers noticed a column in US News and World Report announcing the formation of the organization. TPM interviewed the founder, one Gretchen Hamel. Who might she be, you ask? Ah, well. She's a former PR flack who "served as the Bush administration's top spokesperson on trade issues, and as press secretary for the House Republican Conference."
Hmm. I guess that's sufficient information to figure out just which members of Congress Bankrupting America would like to have elected and which defeated, don't you agree? It would be interesting to know whether it's funded directly by the RNC or indirectly by one of the scores of right-wing billionaires (Scaife, Koch, etc.) who back the Republicans, but either way I now know I can sneer at those ads with justification.
Posted by Linkmeister at September 30, 2010 03:19 PM | TrackBackAnd can we please get the DISCLOSE act passed, so we don't have to dig around for this sort of information, which should be public and easily found? "Public Notice," indeed!
Posted by: hedera at September 30, 2010 07:33 PMReally excellent blog!
Posted by: Ailuridae at September 30, 2010 09:23 PM