Here is a draft version of an advertisement in The New York Times (NYT) that slams the current climate change witch hunt. This is a draft version. Thanks to metadata, a file copy sent to Newscast Now included earlier revisions. As supporters of freedom of speech, we are publishing the entire unedited earlier draft here right next to a picture of the final published NYT advertisement. The draft included much more extensive biographical information of the signers. Click the graphic to enlarge it.
This article is from the parody section, as if you can’t tell.
ABUSE OF POWER
All Americans have the right to support causes they “believe” in.
The right to speak out and commit fraud in business by making knowingly false representations for profit is among the most fundamental principles of American democracy. It should never be taken away.
Yet, around the country, a group of state attorneys general have launched a misguided effort to silence the views and voices of those who disagree with them just because they make trillions on those innocent disagreements.
Recently, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, U.S. Virgin Islands Attorney General Claude Walker, and a coalition of other “AGs United for Clean Power” announced an investigation of more than 100 high polluting profit businesses, nonprofits, and private individuals who question their positions on climate change.
This abuse of the power to defraud for something as American as good profits is unacceptable. It is unlawful. And it is un-American.
Regardless of our views on climate change, every American should reject the use of government power to harass or silence or hold accountable those who fake their opinions to make money. This intimidation campaign sets a dangerous precedent and threatens the rights of anyone who wants any honesty at all in transactions—whether it’s vaccines, GMOs, baby formula, leeching, or any other politically charged issue. Law enforcement officials should never use their powers to reduce profits just because science is ‘politicized’ by polluting industries.
We are standing up for every American’s First Amendment right to listen attentively. We care about YOU! If we cannot publish highly-polished contorted climate change studies out of a small slice of our trillions of dollars of profit, then your children will no longer be allowed to ask questions to the teacher in class.
We hope you will join because we can never get enough persuasive power. This is a critical battle, and it will determine whether our society allows business profits to fund incredible science or if the government communists will demand access to your home and demand to share your toothbrush.
SIGNERS
Kent Lassman
President & CEO, Competitive Enterprise Institute funded by oil, tobacco and Koch brothers; member DCI funded by tobacco and Exxon; Research Fellow, Progress and Freedom Foundation, funded by telecoms, drugs companies and tobacco.
C. Boyden Gray
Former White House Counsel and longtime Republican crony politician; Lawyer and friend of Koch Brothers; writer for too many Koch brothers funded organizations to list here; quote: “I suppose you could say I’m a Bush supporter.”
Andrew C. McCarthy
Former Chief Assistant United States Attorney, Southern District of New York; writer of ideological books including The Grand Jihad: How Islam and the Left Sabotage America; major war supporter at the Republican war periodical National Review.
Michael B. Mukasey
U.S. Attorney General for GWB, 2007-2009; U.S. District Judge, 1988-2006, defender of free speech and of the related rights to free waterboarding, free indefinite detention of American citizens, free warrantless wiretapping, etc. Freedom!
Ross McKitrick
Professor of Economics, University of Guelph, sometimes plays anti-global warming scientist for Fraser Institute and other unrelated groups funded by Exxon and Koch brothers. Thanks to that liberal value of tenure, McKitrick maintains his university position.
Ronald D. Rotunda
Distinguished Professor of Jurisprudence, Chapman University, and another independent signer who works as a senior fellow at CATO Institute and other groups funded by Koch brothers.
Richard S. Lindzen
Professor Emeritus of Atmospheric Sciences, MIT, another unaffiliated scientist from the CATO Institute funded by Koch brothers and an oil company consultant too. What variety!
William Happer
Emeritus Professor of Physics, Princeton University, utilizing his credentials to alert people that the world benefits from more human-released carbon dioxide. He will take money from any oil company to write reports. Maintains physics professorship again thanks to tenure!
Jim DeMint
President, The Heritage Foundation funded by Koch brothers, Republican senator, most famous for his objectivity in explaining his support of voter restrictions: “In the states where they do have voter ID laws you’ve seen, actually, elections begin to change towards more conservative candidates.”
James H. Amos, Jr.
President & CEO, National Center for Policy Analysis, almost needless to say, funded by Koch brothers.
John A. Baden
Chairman, Foundation for Research on Economics & the Environment (FREE), a group working to reduce or suspend damage claims by victims of the Deep Horizons oil spill in the US Gulf, because people weren’t really harmed –they were just a bunch of fraudsters. Guess who funds this one? A pair of brothers whose four-letter word sir name begins with a K. Democracy!
Lisa B. Nelson
CEO, American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), the crown jewel of the Koch think-tank empire, and of course, totally independent.
Paul Driessen
Author & Energy Policy Analyst, member of many alphabet soup think-tanks funded by Coors, Scaife, oil companies and tobacco… and by the Koch brothers.
Thomas J. Pyle
President, Institute for Energy Research, straight-up oil company lobbyist working directly for Koch brothers.
Steven J. Allen
Vice President & Chief Investigative Officer, Capital Research Center, funded by oil and Koch brothers.
David Ridenour
President, National Center for Public Policy Research, a group that specializes in scaring old people away from voting booths ever since Koch-funded ALEC got in trouble over that issue. This group is funded by oil and every major “conservative” funding family — Scaife, Coors, Bradley — except Koch brothers. Truly independent!
Steven J. Milloy
Publisher, JunkScience.com, coal company employee specializing in ‘external strategy;’ climate change minimizer on Fox News which itself denied it knew about Milloy’s oil and tobacco funding; and as you may have guessed, a member of many Koch brothers think-tanks.
Brooke Rollins
President & CEO, Texas Public Policy Foundation which receives millions in funding from Koch brothers. Rest assured, money has nothing to do with her views.
Paul Gessing
President, Rio Grande Foundation which is a member of the State Policy Network of Koch affiliated “independent” think-tanks. Let’s all say the slogan of the Rio Grande Foundation together now: “Liberty! Opportunity! Prosperity!”
Ron Arnold
Researcher & Author; VP of Center for the Defense of Free Enterprise which is funded by Exxon and … guess who else? Georgia Pacific, a Koch brothers company.
William Perry Pendley
President, Mountain States Legal Foundation funded by the notorious Coors family and Exxon.
Adam Brandon
President & CEO, FreedomWorks Foundation which does not disclose all donors. This think-tank is partially funded by the Bradley Foundation, which was created by Harry Bradley who founded the Birch Society with Fred Koch, the father of the Koch brothers. Koch brothers have used their buddies at the Bradley Foundation to fund many of their newer Tea Party groups because they love transparency so much.
Hank Campbell
President, American Council on Science and Health (ACSH), which “stopped disclosing corporate donors early in the 1990’s” but was funded by Koch brothers and the usual dark money networks before then. Hank Campbell holds a Special Certification in Crying about dark money from behind the dark money funding of ACSH. Now, the group is funded by a mysterious thing called Donors Trust.
Craig Rucker
Executive Director, Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow, another oil company and Koch brothers “independent” organization.
Tom McCabe
CEO, Freedom Foundation, formerly known as Evergreen Freedom Foundation. Rumor has it that the tree died during a Koch brothers pollution event and the government had to remove its skeleton at taxpayers’ expense. Freedom Foundation is funded by the same anonymous dark money groups that Hank Campbell was crying about above — and a few familiar “grass roots” names. When he is not playing scientist in full page NYT ads, Tom McCabe is busy suing unions.
Richard B. Belzer
Economist, another Competitive Enterprise Institute expert economist funded by Koch brothers dabbling in science and law for economic reward.
Heather R. Higgins
President & CEO, Independent Women’s Voice “sister organization of the Independent Women’s Forum” funded naturally by Koch brothers. Heather Richardson Higgins is also the daughter of prolific conservative funding machine founder Randy Richardson whose Smith Richardson Foundation has been giving eight figures a year to most of the same think-tanks funded by Koch brothers. Heather is a self-made feminist icon unrelated to her father except by upbringing and blood.
Joseph G. Lehman
President, Mackinac Center for Public Policy, another group that does not disclose donors, but is known to be funded by Koch brothers anyway. Joseph Lehman also played starring roles at CATO Institute and received a prestigious award by the State Policy Network, both Koch brothers funded.
Sabrina Schaeffer
Executive Director, Independent Women’s Forum, funded by Koch brothers and the same few funding families for all these groups: Bradley, Coors, Scaife, and the super-secret Donors Trust which exists simply to hide true donor identities. Koch brothers perhaps?
Joseph Bast
President, The Heartland Institute funded by those all-too-famous Koch brothers. Joseph Bast is waiting for an award for his creative comment: “A modest amount of global warming, should it occur, would be beneficial to the natural world and to human civilization.”
John C. Eastman
Founding Director, The Claremont Institute’s Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence, funded by that same small crowd who work with the Koch brothers — Coors, Scaife, Bradley. Law Professor John Eastman is also known for his intriguing question, “What If Fetuses Do Feel Pain?” In his article at Koch-funded Federalist Society, he stated that the “United States is one of only four nations in the world that allows for abortion on demand at any time during pregnancy.” This of course is not true. The law professor ought to take a look at Roe v. Wade which said something about “trimesters.” Never mind that now — John C. Eastman signed this NYT ad.
Robert Alt
President & CEO, The Buckeye Institute, funded by Koch brothers; also a member of many other Koch-funded groups.
Michael Pack
President & CEO, The Claremont Institute (again), and a GWB appointee to a humanities position. He produced documentaries at PBS including “Inside the Republican Revolution: The First Hundred Days.” Need more than that title? These “documentaries” were funded by the same families that usually work with Koch brothers — in this case — Bradley and Olin. In at least one case, Michael Pack took money from one of the propaganda tanks, then took the same money again from the taxpayers — all so the “liberal media” could broadcast these advertisements as some kind of news. Count on Michael Pack doubly to provide the truth.
Josh Blackman
Assistant Professor, South Texas College of Law; also works for Koch-funded Federalist Society and CATO Institute. Author Josh Blackman is also a “representative of a coalition of independent business interests” against Obamacare.
Lynn Taylor
President, Tertium Quids, another member of the Koch network, the State Policy Network, and the mystery “Donors” groups — another totally independent expert trying to educate us through advertising.
David Rothbard
President, Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT), funded by Exxon and Chevron, and Carthage and Scaife families. CFACT is a “who’s who of climate skeptics and industry-funded scientists.” This group, along with Koch brothers funded Competitive Enterprise Institute, tried to silence and censor a GWB-era Climate Action Report. David Rothbard loves free speech so much — just don’t say anything unflattering to oil company profits or you need to shut up!
Tracie Sharp
President & CEO, State Policy Network or SPN, which is the very glue that holds the Koch funded web of state organizations together. These groups prepare the model bills that state legislators sponsor, and in return, the legislators become sponsored in campaigns. But its not bribery! Freedom of speech!
Kenneth Haapala
President, Science and Environmental Policy Project, funded by at least four major oil companies, and finding no connection between carbon dioxide and climate change coincidentally enough.
Tim Phillips
President, Americans for Prosperity, NOT FUNDED BY KOCH BROTHERS … honest … truly … seriously … It was oil trade groups and other familiar wealthy families.
Myron Ebell
Director of the Center for Energy & Environment, and yet another economist playing scientist at the Koch funded Competitive Enterprise Institute, but thoroughly independent no doubt.
George Landrith
President, Frontiers of Freedom, a partisan Republican group by a politician who knows science so well and funded by Exxon.
John Tillman
CEO, Illinois Policy Institute. Could this group be part of the State Policy Network and the Koch think-tank empire? Yes! Got some ambiguous “Donors Trust” funding in here too. The group also acts as a real-time promoter of the sitting governor with fake news reports. Put it aside — fraud speech is free speech!
Craig D. Idso
Chairman, Center for the Study of Carbon Dioxide and Global Change, funded by Exxon and the Scaife family. Are these funding sources seeming redundant? Craig Idso speaks for Koch funded ALEC, and writes for Koch funded CATO Institute.
The Liberal Media
Free (as in no cost) outlet for articles, commentaries and perspectives by many of the above signatories, properly disguised as ‘fair’ coverage of both sides of the news and almost always without disclosing the funding sources of the think-tanks and organizations involved.
Affiliations listed for identification purposes only.