 |
Corporations have armies of lobbyists, deep pockets, and political connections. And when that is not enough, they manufacture the illusion that ordinary people support policies designed to make the rich even richer. And Bloomberg News just exposed a big one. Bloomberg identified nearly 12,000 fake or manufactured comments supporting the Trump administration’s proposal to overturn regulations stopping 401(k) retirement savings funds from investing in private equity, crypto currency, and other risky alternative investments. They contacted dozens of companies and industry groups in favor of the proposal, and none of them were willing to say who was behind the astroturf campaign. Reporters found comments filed under the names of people who said they never submitted them. Heath Oderman was astounded to discover a comment from his mother, Danna Oderman, dated May 3rd, when she actually died in December of last year. Disturbingly, this was one of multiple comments by people who were actually deceased. But that’s not all they found. Bloomberg reviewed all the comments and specifically highlighted the difference between the shady astroturf campaign and the AFR campaign mobilizing more than 30,000 comments from real people against the Trump administration’s proposal. Check out this graphic included in their report:  Bloomberg determined that ninety-nine percent of AFR-driven comments could easily be proven as real comments from real people, because they included contact information, location and other identifiers in their submission. Bloomberg noted that many had personalized messages or signatures at the end of the form letter we had provided. Judith Bergson, a social worker in Massachusetts who confirmed she submitted her comments through our campaign, is quoted saying she would be “terribly upset” if private investments were put into her retirement plans. She added, “I’m definitely a person.” And she’s not just a real person. Judith was also 100% on message! That difference matters. Official public comments create a record the Trump administration cannot simply wish away. They make it harder to ram through policies that put working people at risk, expose weaknesses in agency arguments, and can strengthen legal challenges when agencies ignore the evidence and the public. If you've saved your payment information with ActBlue Express, your secure donation will go through immediately: The truth is Bloomberg exposed only this one example — for now. Powerful industries routinely flood Washington with lobbyists, front groups, misleading campaigns, and manufactured “grassroots” pressure to convince policymakers that corporate demands somehow represent the public interest. That is why AFR’s mobilizing support matters. We give people a direct way to enter the official record, make their voices impossible to ignore, and stand alongside advocates, researchers, lawyers, unions, and community organizations fighting corporate greed. Wall Street can buy access. Corporations can manufacture talking points. They can apparently even manufacture commenters. What they cannot manufacture is the power of tens of thousands of real people demanding the government work for everyone instead of just the wealthy few. Every contribution helps us mobilize more people to fight back and win, defeat dangerous policies in Congress, and stop Trump’s lawless misuse of federal agencies. And we do this all while never losing sight of our mission to protect critical institutions like the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau from destruction and the USPS from privatization. Thank you for helping us make sure real people are heard. Ericka. Ericka Taylor (she/her)
|
Aucun commentaire:
Enregistrer un commentaire