Sorting Out The Puzzle Of Organizing For Action - And Response (4)

  • Saturday, October 5, 2013
Great picture of the Organizing for Action group demonstrating here in Chattanooga over ObamaCare.  Who could possibly object to their mission: "Organizing for Action is the grassroots movement fighting for the agenda Americans voted for in 2012. We are millions of people, empowering individuals to make their voices heard."  

They are?  

Interesting fact:  Organizing for Action is a revamp of Organizing for America, a community organizing project of the Democratic National Committee.
"Under the federal tax code 501(c)(4) the group has a tax-exempt status as long as it is not primarily involved in activity that could influence an election. As a non-profit, it can run support ads for an issue as long it is not involved in activity aimed at electing candidates for office."

So they remain non-profit "as long as they are not involved in activity aimed at electing candidates for office."  Let's test that.

The DNC-created Organizing for America, now known as Organizing for Action, is a parent of the Obama/Democrat-party backed group called "Enroll America."  

Enroll America promotes ObamaCare and solicited various left-leaning non-profit groups to become qualified to be ObamaCare Navigators and "In-Person Assistants."  These "non-profit" folks work with the states and others to conduct meetings to explain ObamaCare while others go door-to-door promoting the same agenda.  

In addition to promoting ObamaCare, some of these Enroll America "non-profits" were reported to be simultaneously registering new voters for the 2014 elections--even before the Exchanges were open for business. Reports also have surfaced that some of these "non-profit" groups simultaneously signed up folks for "ObamaPhones" while they were at it.  (In case you missed it, those free cell phone costs in this nation have rocketed from $770 million under Bush--to $2.2 trillion under Obama, even before this latest Democrat party giveaway.)  Further, many of the ObamaCare "Navigators/In-Person-Assistants" were selected from among non-profit organizations long associated with Enroll America's known Democrat party alliances.

So, let's recount the work of this totally "grass roots" movement:  1) Register folks for ObamaCare (in predominantly minority/Hispanic/youth-oriented areas). 2) Register new voters for 2014. 3) Sign up for free cell phones.  4) And be sure to actively push for hiring ObamaCare "Navigators" and "In-Person-Assistants" from non-profit groups long associated with the Democrat party/Organizing for America/Organizing for Action.  

What's not to like.  Especially the part where many of these Enroll America groups were then given federal grants paid for with U.S. taxpayer dollars to essentially ensure the Democrat agenda succeeds.  


And then there's this: U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius personally asked the healthcare industry and others to donate and support the activities of Enroll America.  Remember, Enroll America is the same Democrat party-backed group that was heavily involved in rallying the vote for President Barack Obama’s reelection campaign.  As a reminder of that fact: "As Politico has reported, Enroll America is working with the president’s campaign team, Organizing for America, to 'unleash the same grass-roots mobilization and sophisticated micro-targeting tactics seen in the 2012 campaign.'” 

Wait!  Did this just say they rallied the vote for Obama's re-election campaign?  But they are not supposed to be  "actively engaged in elections" via the requirements under the 501(c) Organizing for Action?  Hmmmm...

Incidentally, the board of Enroll America includes Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Kaiser Permanente, the American Hospital Association and the Catholic Health Association of the United States, Blue Shield of California, AARP, Aetna, CVS Caremark, the NAACP, and the Service Employees International Union, among others. Glad there's no conflict of interest there between political parties, selling insurance, medical care, and pharmaceuticals.

There is just one remaining piece of this Organizing for Action puzzle...and it's a BIG piece.

You see, Jim Messina came onboard to head Organizing for Action in January 2013.  Messina is a political adviser and long-time Democrat party hack who was the White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations under Obama in 2009-11.  He also served as Obama's campaign manager for 2012.  Obama's campaign manager?  And yet their 501(c) status says they're not involved in "activity aimed at electing candidates for office"?  So, the group that rallied the vote to reelect Obama-- and which now has Obama's former campaign manager heading this "non-profit" group is NOT involved in electing candidates for 2014? Seriously?

Ah, so the puzzle is nearly complete now. 

Where can we expect to see these "non-profit grass roots" arms of the Democrat party protesting the GOP and GOP representatives (like Congressman Fleischmann) around the entire US from now until 2014?  
Government shut down?  They'll be there.
Gun control?  They'll be there.
Immigration?  They'll be there.
ObamaCare?  They'll be there.
Climate?  They'll be there.
Women?  They'll be there.
Debt ceiling?  They'll be there.

Yes.  These Democrat National Committee-backed groups, under the guise of being "non-profit," will be there.  All promoting the Democrat agenda and working toward the 2014 election campaigns.

In other words, this is not a "grass roots movement," but a carefully orchestrated, well executed, poster-carrying, agenda-driven Democrat National Committee-funded, backed, and directed movement designed to make sure Obama gets what he wants and that Democrats continue to dominate this country--even if it takes handing out freebies and more dirty politics and violations of their tax-exempt status.

And to think you folks complained because the real grass roots movement, the Tea Party, had the audacity to  request a tax exempt status.

Shame on you,

Mya Lane 

* * * 

As a boy I was taught that the guilty dog always barks first.  The same applies here.  I remember the first "Tea Party" supporter I met.  He claimed to be against big "gubmint," was scared the Democrats were going to take his guns, and claimed to have "awakened" politically after President Obama was elected.  He acted as if the George Bush Administration never happened:  the two unfunded and marginally illegal wars.  

He never mentioned his concern when President Bush doubled the debt during his two terms.  He railed against the government deficit and the government debt, but I after chatting with him a few minutes it was clear he was clueless about the particulars of either, and he constantly confounded the two issues.   

I also found out later that he was a government employee too, and had been living off "gubmint" dole ever since he was discharged from the military.  Being a veteran myself, I thanked him for his service, but I was forced to correct his numerous erroneous claims about government and the Democrats. Being a former "gubmint" employee myself, I was amazed at his self hatred but marveled at his lack of awareness and intellectual integrity. 

What is the Tea Party?  Who knows?  There is the Tea Party Nation, the Tea Party Patriots, and the Armed Forces Tea Party, or any host of other offshoot groups as plentiful as Baptist churches in the Bible Belt.  One thing common in all the groups is that they are made up of an overwhelming majority of angry, upper middle class white men and women.  They have a history of living of "gubmint" dole and claiming that what they were doing was "working for a living," and they are very vocal.   Whether in the federal, state, or local arena, for the most part the leaders are people who have benefited very much from "public funded careers."   

The Tea Party movement in general was the brainchild of the Koch Brothers.  You don't have to go back very far in the Koch family history to see the political philosophy they favor, and I'll leave it up to the reader to research the Koch family, especially in World War 2.  The Koch's live by one rule, The Golden Rule:  He who has the gold makes the rules.  In saying that, I will put forward the idea that this is a free country and everyone is entitled to their opinion, but not their own facts.  I've come to the conclusion that the Tea Party folks are the Rip Van Winkle's of our body polity.  The are the politically ignorant who are being taken advantage of by their affluent peers.  They awaken every few election cycles when someone that doesn't look like them "seems" to dominate their political landscape, and talk like they are from 100 years ago.  

I think that being honest with yourself is the first step in leading an honest life.  Intellectual honesty is hard to come by these days.  How so?  The government employees are against big "gubmint," the people who controlled the corporations that poisoned Chattanooga Creek are now calling the shots and the Environmental Protection Agency and telling the rest of us we need to be environmentally conscience, and all the while nobody gets called on their dishonesty, but the poor man still foots the bill for the cleanup.  Who do these people think they are fooling? 

Perspective is essential to understanding politics.  In my time as a federal employee, I had a supervisor who was a bonafide war hero.  The man was a natural born leader, and wouldn't ask anything of his employees to do something he himself would not do.  I remember one night overhearing a conversation between him and other employees.  The employees had been bad mouthing people on food stamps, although each one of them was way overpaid and in a sense they were being given something they didn't earn, which was the same thing they were downing people on food stamps for doing.  After hearing this diatribe for a while, this supervisor stood up and said, "Boys, I would not trade places with any of them."  He put it all in perspective, and that is something that is missing from the Tea Party diatribe.  

So, the next time someone comes up to you and claims to be a Tea Party supported ask them:  Are you a government retiree?  Are you a retired police officer?  Are you a retired park ranger?  Are you a retired TVA employee?  Are you retired military?  If they say yes, these are people who are afflicted with "cognitive dissonance."  They are living off "gubmint" but downing people for living off "gubmint."  Understand?  Me neither.  Further, if these Tea Party supporters claim they work for a living ask them:  Are you a city employee?  Are you a state employee?  Are you a federal employee?  If they say yes, these are the very people whom they describe as "living off the government dole."   

Actually, I am in full agreement with these people that we need to do away with such wasteful government spending as they are receiving, because if they can be so intellectually dishonest with themselves and the public, there is no telling at the corruption they are participating in under the guise of "public service."   

Stephen Durham 

* * * 

Mr. Durham, your dog is barking up the wrong tree.  Ms. Lane's complaint is primarily about oranges; your response is primarily a complaint about apples.  In simple English: You sidestepped Ms. Lane's issue (Organizing for Action, a nonprofit social-welfare organization, being illegally involved in electing political candidates).   

Of course being a liberal party animal, your dog is only doing as it is trained.   

Jim Ashley 

* * *

Mr. Dunham  - I am amazed at the ignorance people have about the Tea Party.  Koch Brother's started the Tea Party? I'm still waiting for my marching orders after over three years.  

Retired veterans living off the government - perhaps you think they didn't perform a service. 

Social Security - I kind of remember the government forcibly taking my money for 40 years and then kindly giving me some of it back.  

Benefitted from public careers? The Tea Party isn't against people who work for a government organization, many of those are important jobs. 

Perhaps you should actually come to a Tea Party meeting and meet the members. Your comments about the Tea Party are dead wrong.  

One last thing - people who work for the government are working - are they not allowed to have an opinion about an over taxing, over regulated, and oppressive federal government? 

Gregg Juster
Chattanooga Tea Party

* * * 

It's certainly not an apples and oranges comparison.  Do you honestly think the Koch Brothers are a bastion of innocence and moral decency? Last year they distributed $200 million to "non-profits," most of which were organized by Ed Meese III, whose sole purpose is to defeat The Affordable Care Act by defunding. 

In this day and time, to think there is such a thing as a genuine grass roots effort is ignorant at best.  Everybody, non-profit or otherwise, has an agenda. It's truly depressing. 

Herb Montgomery
Chattanooga

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