Economy

Think Tank Mentions Sink

by Diane Farsetta — September 8, 2009 - 1:26pm

Total media citations of think tanks were down for the fourth year in a row, according to Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR).

Main Source: 
Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, September 3, 2009

Wendell Potter: Rally Against Wall Street's Health Care Takeover

by Wendell Potter — August 31, 2009 - 12:24pm
  • Topics: Economy, Health, Lobbying

    • Saturday, August 29 I had the good fortune to speak at a community rally for health care reform in a city park in downtown Portland, Oregon. It was a broad-based and diverse group with many signs and placards supporting the 'public option' being debated by Congress, and others calling for 'single payer' reform like that working effectively in other countries such as Canada. Here is what I said:

    I would like to begin by apologizing to all of you for the role I played 15 years ago in cheating you out of a reformed health care system. Had it not been for greedy insurance companies and other special interests, and their army of lobbyists and spin-doctors like I used to be, we wouldn't be here today.

    I'm ashamed that I let myself get caught up in deceitful and dishonest PR campaigns that worked so well, hundreds of thousands of our citizens have died, and millions of others have lost their homes and been forced into bankruptcy, so that a very few corporate executives and their Wall Street masters could become obscenely rich.

    Welcome, Mary Bottari, the Director of the Real Economy Project of CMD!

    by Lisa Graves — August 25, 2009 - 12:09pm
  • Topics: Activism, Internet, Economy

    • I am very pleased to announce that Mary Bottari is joining the Center for Media and Democracy. She is the Director of a new project we are calling the "Real Economy Project." (You know, the "real" economy, as opposed to the faux Wall Street-driven economy?)

    For those of you who don’t know Mary, she really is a powerhouse — she’s an exceptional public interest advocate with tremendous communications and campaigning experience. For the last ten years, she has served as a senior analyst for the Washington, D.C.,-based consumer group Public Citizen.

    She started in its Global Trade Watch division in the months before the World Trade Organization’s Seattle Ministerial meeting. Mary was deeply involved in planning for Seattle, and she ran the NGO press center to help communicate the disillusionment of labor, farm, and environmental groups with the corporate trade agenda.

    Bank Looting Bonuses Reported--Will the SEC Awake from Its Slumber?

    by Mary Bottari — August 21, 2009 - 4:35pm
  • Topics: Corporations, Economy, U.S. Government

    • A short time ago, New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo released a report focusing on the bank bonuses paid out by the biggest banks in 2008, the same year they were bailed out by federal taxpayers.

    Chamber Sees Reform as an Attack on Free Enterprise

    by Diane Farsetta — August 12, 2009 - 11:13am

    The U.S. Chamber of Commerce "has emerged as a multitasking, multimillion-dollar defender of the private sector against presidential initiatives," reports Associated Press. It's launched a $2 million campaign to oppose a "public option" in the healthcare reform plan, but -- to further the interests of the insurance industry -- wants "to work with the White House to mandate coverage for all." It's slamming the public insurance option in "newspaper and online ads ...

    Main Source: 
    Associated Press, August 9, 2009

    $23.7 Trillion Bailout - Will Justice Shoot the Messenger?

    by Mary Bottari — July 28, 2009 - 2:00pm
  • Topics: Economy, Politics, U.S. Government

    • Neil Barofsky, Special Inspector General of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (a.k.a. the SIGTARP ) caused quite a stir in Washington last week when he released a quarterly report that attempted to tally up the total dollar amount of federal government commitments related to the bailout. Those commitments include federal government programs that spend taxpayer money or issue loan guarantees in an attempt to rescue financial services institutions and support the economy. While the administration and the media have focused on the $700 billion in bailout funds explicitly authorized by Congress, Barofsky tried to bring a little transparency to the complex array of federal programs including those of the Treasury and the opaque Federal Reserve. His report put the potential outlay of taxpayer dollars of the combined 50-plus programs at an astonishing $23.7 trillion.

    "Harry and Louise" Against Consumer Protection

    by Diane Farsetta — July 8, 2009 - 3:52pm

    The industry backlash against the Obama administration's financial reform plans -- especially the proposed Consumer Financial Protection Agency -- is taking shape. "A coalition of financial trade groups is brainstorming on how to sink the agency," reports Reuters.

    Main Source: 
    Reuters, July 6, 2009

    Big Business Fights Consumer Protection

    by Diane Farsetta — July 1, 2009 - 5:04pm

    Key to the Obama administration's proposal for financial industry reform is the establishment of a Consumer Financial Protection Agency. The proposed agency would "have a broad mandate to cover the spectrum of consumer financial products and to fill gaps in current regulations." Not surprisingly, big business is fighting back.

    Main Source: 
    Washington Post, July 1, 2009

    FDIC Banks on Good PR

    by Diane Farsetta — June 16, 2009 - 3:33pm

    From March 2008 to January 2009, the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) spent $7.6 million on public relations and marketing, to "instill confidence in the stability of the insured banking system" and mark the agency's 75th anniversary. The Weber Shandwick and Porter Novelli firms worked on the FDIC campaign.

    Main Source: 
    O'Dwyer's PR Daily (sub req'd), June 16, 2009

    FedEx Campaign Delivers Controversy

    by Diane Farsetta — June 10, 2009 - 3:52pm

    FedEx's new "multimillion-dollar marketing campaign" doesn't tout the delivery company's service or speed. It accuses rival United Parcel Service (UPS) of receiving a government bailout.

    Main Source: 
    New York Times, June 9, 2009
    Syndicate content