This man is all about making money, very pro-big business and extremely anti-environment, anti-consumer, anti-union. His cient list includes that most revered independent "dem" Holy Joe LIEberman.
"Clients, past and present, include Blackwater USA, Shell Oil, Coca-Cola, Texaco, Eli Lilly, British Petroleum (BP), Vodafone, Pfizer, Merck, AT&T, and Procter & Gamble. "
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_PennHere is a link to a good article in the American Prospect as well
http://prospect.org/cs/articles?article=penn_inc"I will admit to being a little obsessed with Penn, partly because I think his focus on these dubious sub-segments of affluent swing voters has hugely limited the possibilities for inspiring, ambitious, purposeful politics in the last decade. (And its corollary assumption that all lower-income voters are unmovable -- either locked to one party or to non-voting -- was proven wrong by Karl Rove in 2004 and Rahm Emanuel in 2006.) It is that sentence -- "soccer moms' ... kids are going off to college" -- that captures why almost every Democratic pol seems to have become convinced that our most important domestic priority is to make college tuition tax deductible. Given all the problems in the world, this is a staggeringly irresponsible policy, since it wouldn't help a single kid go to college who is not already attending college and would disproportionately benefit the well-off."
another bit about him (link follows)
"While the Clinton campaign says Penn "is currently working only with Microsoft" for his day job, an internal Burson-Marsteller blog "suggests ... he has been working with multiple clients," reported Bloomberg News. Blog posts by Penn mention work for Shell Oil, the energy company TXU, and the U.S. Tuna Foundation. In one post, Penn says "the mixing of corporate and political work" is "helpful in cross-pollinating new ideas and skills." The Nation notes Burson-Marsteller's astroturf "attacks against environmental and consumer groups," and its "confrontational relationship with organized labor," as well as Penn's polling firm's work for the nuclear power industry (which the Center for Media and Democracy reported on).
"I also, personally, don't do any lobbying," Penn told the Washington Post. <5>"
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Mark_Pennyet another "choice" campaign they worked on:
"Burson-Marsteller (B-M) has had a close relationship with cigarette maker Philip Morris (PM), having organized the smokers' rights group the National Smokers Alliance (NSA) for PM in the early 1990s. The purpose of the group was to mobilize smokers on behalf of the tobacco industry to protest clean indoor air laws, increased cigarette taxes and other legislated efforts that would affect cigarette consumption. The smoke-free advocacy organization Americans for Nonsmokers' Rights compiled a report exposing NSA's links to Philip Morris and showing that Philip Morris funded the NSA with $4 million in seed money.<5><6> PM was not the only tobacco company that helped support the NSA. In 1997, Brown & Williamson donated $500,000 in support of NSA.<7>
After the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ruled in 1993 that secondhand tobacco smoke should be ranked as a Group A Human Carcinogen (the same rating EPA gives to asbestos, radon gas and vinyl chloride), Thomas Humber of Burson Marstellar wrote a memo to Ellen Merlo, Senior Vice President of Philip Morris Corporate Affairs, urging PM to put into action list of strategies to fight public health authorities on the issue of environmental tobacco smoke (ETS)."
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Burson-Marstellerand I found THIS to be extremely telling and disgusting:
"Fake News
In July 2006, Burson-Marsteller announced a new partnership with the broadcast PR firm The NewsMarket, which produces video news releases and b-roll footage for clients.
"This partnership enables Burson to offer its clients a highly scalable, fully integrated solution to market and deliver digital content to journalists, new and emerging news platforms, and direct-to-consumers globally in local languages," read the press release. "This marks the first time a PR agency will offer a comprehensive, integrated strategic counsel capability with a digital content management and distribution platform that will enable turn-key execution for clients." <11>"
In addition Penns company donates almost 60% of the money it raises in its PAC to Republicans, and he opened a new wing for the company called 360 Advantage - staffed by top operatives from the Bush campaign!
IS THIS TRULY WHO HRC SHOULD HAVE AS A TOP ADVISOR?
A man who states boldly that his political work provides benefits for his corporate customers?!? A man who has clearly use PR campains to spread lies about everything from the dangers of second hand smoke to the benefits of nukes?
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