LOD: Lies and Damnable Lies

Two national stories with NC connections: One, from the Los Angeles Times, dissects the damnable lies spewed forth in political advertisements sponsored by Americans for Prosperity. It’s not an accident that the deceitful ads attack alternative energy production as well as President Obama; the biggest backers of AFP are oil and gas mega-billionaires David and Charles Koch who don’t like competition from “green” alternatives or the implications of global warming for their industry. One of AFP’s four directors (and a major AFP donor) is Raleigh’s Art Pope, head of the Roses and Maxway chain of department stores. The tax-exempt, “social welfare” organization plans to spend $151 million during the 2012 election on this kind of “educational” ad, but the real source of that money is unknown. The article points out that Obama aims to ramp up his attack ads, too, but in that case you at least know who to hold accountable when you vote. The second story, from National Public Radio, profiles a series of meetings that ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Council) is holding in Charlotte, bringing together top corporate lobbyists with state legislators across the nation to craft model legislation aimed at maximizing private profits and weakening government’s role in protecting the public’s health and welfare. The example NPR uses in its story is a bill to undercut a state attorney general’s ability to sue a utility company (a regulated monopoly) for gouging its customers. The Koch brothers and their corporations are heavy backers of ALEC as well.