"Patients United Now" should be called "Plutocrats United Against Real Healthcare Reform".

[drm604]

I just saw an ad on CNN railing against the horrors of "government run healthcare". It was sponsered by a group by the name of "Patients United Now". Their website is http://patientsunitednow.com.

On their "about" page they say "We are Americans just like you." Some simple research shows that this isn't exactly true. No, let's be blunt - it's a lie.

Some simple research shows the owners of that domain: http://whois.domaintools.com/patientsunitednow.com

Registrant Contact:
Americans for Prosperity
Richard Myslinski ()
Fax:
1726 M Street NW
10th Floor
Washington, DC 20036
US

Check out the Sourcewatch page for Americans for Prosperity
Some highlights:

AFP was one of the lead organizations behind the Tax Day Tea Party protests April 15, 2009.

AFP advocates pro-tobacco industry positions on issues like cigarette taxes and clean indoor air laws. The name "Americans for Prosperity" will sound familiar to tobacco prevention policy advocates, as Americans for Prosperity worked around the U.S. in recent years to defeat both smokefree workplace laws and cigarette excise tax increases.

During 2008, Americans for Prosperity ran its Hot Air Tour campaign, a hot air balloon cross-country tour with the slogan, "Global Warming Alarmism: Lost Jobs, Higher Taxes, Less Freedom."

Media Transparency notes that Americans for Prosperity Foundation has received seven grants totaling $1,181,000 between 2004 to 2006. Grants to the foundation have included:<18>

* $1,000 in 2006 from the Roe Foundation;
* $50,000 in 2005 from the Ruth and Lovett Peters Foundation;
* $5,000 in 2005 from the Armstrong Foundation;
* $125,000 from three grants over 2004 and 2005 from the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation; and
* $1,000,000 from the Claude R. Lambe Charitable Foundation.

The members of the Americans for Prosperity Foundation board, as of November 2008, are:

* David H. Koch, Chairman
* Art Pope, Director
* Dr. Wayne E. Gable, Director
* Debra Humphreys, Director
* Walter Williams, Director

For those not familiar with David H. Koch and the "Koch Family Foundations":
www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=David_H._Koch

David H. Koch is one of the billionaire co-owners of Koch Industries. With his brother, Charles G. Koch, he runs the Koch Family Foundations, one of the largest single sources of funding for conservative organizations in the United States.
Koch Industries received a $30,000,000.00 criminal fine in March 2000:
"$30 Million Settlement Approved - US v Koch U. S. District Judge Vanessa Gilmore approved the Department of Justice and State of Texas' settlement with Koch Industries for $30 million in civil penalties and an additional $5 million in supplemental environmental projects to be funded by Koch. This is the largest penalty imposed on a company under federal environmental laws, and is based upon spills of at least 41,000 barrels of oil and other petroleum, resulting in over three hundred violations of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 in six states.

www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Koch_Family_Foundations

Koch Family Foundations consist of the David H. Koch Foundation, the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation, and the Claude R. Lambe Charitable Foundation.

Funding for the foundations comes from the conglomerate Koch Industries, the "nation's largest privately held energy company, with annual revenues of more than $25 billion. ... Koch Industries is now the second largest family-owned business in the U.S., with annual sales of over $20 billion."

"The company is owned by two of the richest men in America," David H. Koch and Charles G. Koch (described as 'reclusive billionaires'), who have a combined personal fortune estimated at more than $3 billion and who have emerged as major Republican contributors in recent years. ... Both David and Charles Koch are ranked among the 50 richest people in the country by 'Forbes'."

These are Americans just like us? No, I think Plutocrats is a much more apt description.

[kenfrequed]

1. Good information.

And this really needs to get recommended.

[drm604]

2. Thank you.

I thought it was going to sink into oblivion, but it's important information.

It's not new information. I didn't do much original research, SourceWatch.org gets most of the credit, but I think whenever one of these ads runs it's important to point out who's really behind it.