Front Groups

It's an "Educational" Ad (Wink, Wink)

by Anne Landman — April 8, 2010 - 3:13pm

The California Chamber

Main Source:

Los Angeles Times, April 6, 2010

The "AB 32 Implementation Group": A Wolf in Green Clothing

by Anne Landman — February 12, 2010 - 2:54pm

In 2006, the California legislature passed AB 32, the "Global Warming Solutions Act," which requires the state to bring its greenhouse gas emissions down to 1990 levels by the year 2020.

Main Source:

California Watch, January 16, 2010

Wal-Mart's Hidden Cashroots Advocacy Exposed in Chicago

by John Stauber — January 28, 2010 - 10:12am

Wal-Mart creates front groups such as Working Families for Wal-Mart and also hires hidden public relations operatives to create the appearance of grassroots support.

Main Source:

Chicagoist.com Website, January 26, 2010

Secret Money Abounds in Health Reform Fight

by Anne Landman — January 11, 2010 - 2:35pm

Reporter Dan Eggen quotes CMD in a review of how special interests have attempted to influence health reform: "It's sort of like money-laundering their PR," said Lisa Graves, Executive Director of the Center for Media and Democracy, the group that operates PRWatch.org &

Main Source:

Washington Post, January 7, 2010

Patton Boggs Runs Pro-War Front Group for Hamed Wardak and NCL Holdings

by John Stauber — December 24, 2009 - 12:22pm

The Campaign for a U.S.-Afghanistan Partnership is being exposed as an insidious pro-war front group.

Main Source:

The Nation, December 22, 2009

"Americans for Quality and Affordable Healthcare": Yet Another Health Insurance Industry Front?

by Anne Landman — November 20, 2009 - 3:39pm

According to the Associated Press, "Americans for Quality and Affordable Healthcare" (AQAH) is a "secretive" group that organizes "below-the-radar" activities to drum up opposition to health care reform. AQAH is opposed to a government-run public health insurance option, but supports a mandate to require all citizens to purchase health insurance -- views that happen to exactly match those of the health insurance industry.

Main Source:

Associated Press, November 15, 2009

Center for Medicine in the Public Interest Fronting for the Drug Industry

by Anne Landman — November 20, 2009 - 1:21pm

The pharmaceutical industry-funded front group Center for Medicine in the Public Interest (CMPI) is helping its corporate funders fight health care reform by disseminating misinformation and orchestrating campaigns to generate fear about health car

Main Source:

Think Progress, November 18, 2009

The Nuclear Sponsorship That Keeps on Giving

by Bob Burton — October 12, 2009 - 8:01pm

Former Greenpeace activist turned industry PR consultant, Patrick Moore, regularly appears as an opinion columnist or interviewee in news outlets around the world.

Main Source:

Statesman-Journal.com (Oregon), October 12, 2009

New Oil and Coal Fronts Greenwash Global Warming

by Diane Farsetta — September 29, 2009 - 1:26pm

Television ads from a new Montana-based group called CO2 Is Green claim: "There is no scientific evidence that CO2 [carbon dioxide] is a pollutant. In fact higher CO2 levels than we have today would help the Earth's ecosystems." The ads urge voters to contact their Senators and Representative, "and remind them CO2 is not pollution." The ads are meant to stoke opposition to climate change legislation.

Main Source:

Washington Post, September 25, 2009

Dr. Evil and the Payday Loan Sharks

by Diane Farsetta — September 22, 2009 - 2:12pm

The Center for Economic and Entrepreneurial Literacy (CEEL) is one of lobbyist and serial corporate front man Rick Berman's "more recent creations," writes Daniel Schulman.

Main Source:

Mother Jones, September / October 2009