Glenn Beck got me researching this after watching his show this evening. This is wicked scary stuff.
I cannot go into great length here it gets way too long and involved. I am going to skim the very tip of this iceberg. You can get a feel for how far reaching it is, and click on the links to see how deep it goes.
What is the Progressive States Network?
Progressive States Network aims to transform the political landscape by sparking progressive actions at the state level…empowering these decision-makers with everything they need to engineer forward-thinking change. …The overarching goals: to get good policy passed into law and change the way issues are debated in the states. Progressive States seeks to strengthen communication between legislators and the organizations they serve, facilitating a groundswell of interest in progressive policy that spans state, regional and ideological lines. Our board consists of labor organizations, grassroots and netroots groups, and key policy centers. Organization experts put together best-practice guidebooks and serve as surrogates for legislative staff members who need talking points and need them fast. Additionally, with an up-to-the-minute news service at www.progressivestates.org
http://www.progressivestates.org/about/18/about
Board of Directors | Progressive States Network
Notables include:
David Sirota, Founding Co-Chair
David is a nationally syndicated columnist and author of the New York Times-bestselling author of The Uprising: An Unauthorized Tour of the Populist Revolt that is Scaring Washington and Wall Street. He is a Senior Editor at In These Times and a former Fellow at the Center for American Progress. Before helping to found PSN, David spent time Capitol Hill working under Representative Bernie Sanders from Vermont (I (communist) - VT) and David Obey (sponsored the porkulus bill) (D - WI) on the House Appropriations Committee. You can learn more about his work at davidsirota.com.
Wes Boyd, President of MoveOn.org
Wes and his wife Joan Blades were the cofounders in 1987 of Berkeley Systems, a San Francisco Bay area software company. After selling the company in 1997, Boyd and Blades went on to found MoveOn.org, which has quickly become a major national political force by using cutting edge online methods to coordinate fundraising and advocacy for progressive causes and candidates.
David Brock, President and CEO, Media Matters for America
David is the author of four political books, including The Republican Noise Machine: Right-Wing Media and How It Corrupts Democracy. His preceding book, Blinded by the Right: The Conscience of an Ex-Conservative, was a 2002 New York Times best-selling political memoir in which he chronicled his years as a conservative media insider. Brock serves on the advisory board of Democracy Radio Inc. and is the recipient of the New Democrat Network's first award for political entrepreneurship.
Anna Burger, International Secretary-Treasurer, SEIU
Hailed by Fortune Magazine as “the most powerful woman in the labor movement” and named as one of Washingtonian's 100 Most Powerful Women in 2006, Anna is both a top ranking officer at SEIU, the nation's largest and fastest growing union, and the first chair of America's newest labor federation, Change to Win. Before moving to SEIU’s international office in Washington D.C., Anna served as the first full-time woman President of SEIU Local 668 in Pennsylvania.
Gerard Hudson, President, United Steelworkers, Vice President, AFL-CIO
After starting his career as a nickel smelter at age 18, Leo rose quickly through the ranks of the United Steelworkers Union, becoming Director of USW District 16 in 1985, National Director for Canada in 1991, International Secretary Treasurer in 1994, and finally as President of the USW International in 2001. Leo also serves as Vice President of the AFL-CIO, where he chairs the organization’s Public Policy Committee. Has been instrumental in forging the Blue/Green alliance for sustainable energy and green jobs and was a central figure in the founding of the Apollo Alliance.
Steve Kest, Executive Director of ACORN
Kest is the National Executive Director of ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. ACORN, which was founded in 1970, is one of the largest and most powerful organizations of low and moderate income individuals and families in the country, with over 175,000 members organized in 800+ neighborhood chapters in 90 cities. Kest has worked for ACORN since 1975, serving as Head Organizer in Arkansas, Connecticut, and New Jersey, and as national Campaign Director, before becoming Executive Director in 1990.
John Podesta, President and CEO, the Center for American Progress
Prior to founding the Center for American Progress, Podesta served as Chief of Staff to President Bill Clinton from 1998 to 2001. He had served previously as a Senior Policy Advisor in the Clinton Administration and as Counselor to former Democratic Senate Majority Leader Thomas Daschle. Currently, John is a Visiting Professor of Law at Georgetown University Law Center. He is considered one of the nation's leading experts on technology policy.
Lee Saunders, Executive Assistant to the President of AFSCME
Lee serves as executive assistant to Gerald McEntee, the President of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees[Union]. Previously, he served as administrator of AFSCME District Council 37 in New York.
The Apollo Alliance is a coalition of labor, business, environmental, and community leaders working to catalyze a clean energy revolution that will put millions of Americans to work in a new generation of high-quality, green-collar jobs.
our key accomplishments in 2008 included:
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Publishing The Apollo Economic Recovery Act, Apollo’s proposal for a comprehensive quick start, clean energy economic recovery strategy to immediately create or retain 650,000 direct green-collar jobs and an additional 1.3 million indirect jobs in communities across the country. (where did we hear this before? …Obama “ President Barack Obama said on Monday accelerated stimulus spending would create or save 600,000 jobs over the next 100 days…” http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUSN0833333820090608
So who is on the Board of Directors here?
http://apolloalliance.org/about/board/
Notables include:
Leo Gerard, International President, United Steelworkers Union
John Podesta, President and CEO of the Center for American Progress
30 Years of Tides
Since 1976, Tides Foundation has worked with donors committed to positive social change.
We put resources and people together—strengthening community-based nonprofit organizations and the progressive movement through innovative grantmaking.
We define "progressive" as creating a positive impact on people's lives in ways that honor and promote human rights, justice, and a healthy, sustainable environment.
Why "Tides?"
The "Tides" name comes from a Bay Area independent bookstore that once served as a meeting place for readers, writers, and activists. While honoring the progressive community that founded the Tides family, the name also suggests the remarkable power derived from people and ideas coming together at the right time, in the right place.
Tides has awarded grants in the following issue areas:
- Civic Participation
- Civil Rights and Liberties / Public Interest Law
- Community / Economic Development
- Economic and Racial Justice
- Education
- Environment (Conservation / Environmental Justice)
- Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Issues
- Health Services/Health Reform
- HIV/AIDS
- Homelessness / Housing and Shelter
- Human Rights / International Relief / Peace Advocacy
- Native Communities
- Progressive and Community Based Arts and Media
- Spirituality
- Sustainable Food and Agriculture
- Violence Prevention
- Women's Empowerment / Reproductive Health
- Youth Development and Organizing
Wade Rathke, Chief Organizer ACORN / Local 100 SEIU
Wade Rathke is the founder and chief organizer of ACORN and Local 100Service Employees International Union, (SEIU) a member of Tides Foundation’s Board of Directors and Chair of the Board of Directors for the Tides Center. He has been a professional organizer for thirty-five years and is currently working with the AFL-CIO, UFCW, and SEIU to design an organizing campaign for Wal-Mart workers. He worked as an organizer for the NWRO (National Welfare Rights Organization) before starting a community organizing project in Little Rock, Arkansas which eventually grew into ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now), now the largest organization of lower income and working families in the United States, with 120,000 dues-paying families spread across about fifty staffed offices in American cities. Wade is also the founder of Local 100, Service Employees International Union, AFL-CIO, headquartered in New Orleans, with operations in Arkansas, Texas, and Louisiana. He has served three terms as Secretary-Treasurer of the Greater New Orleans AFL-CIO, is the president and co- founder of the SEIU Southern Conference, and a member of the International Executive Board of SEIU. Three years ago, Rathke also created the Organizers’ Forum, which brings together senior organizers in labor and community organizations in dialogues about challenges faced by constituency-based organizations.
Local 100 Service Employees
International Union -
www.seiu100.org
1024 Elysian Fields Ave., New Orleans, LA70117 T:504-943-8864
The address above is the same address of the corporate headquarters of ACORN it is basically the SAME Organization, and Glenn and others have reported that there are up to as many as 360 shell companies that all share money and most share this address.
According to an October 8, 2008 article in the New York Post, 40% of ACORN's operations are funded through grants it receives from various governmental entities. Grants have been issued to ACORN by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, which gave $8.2 million to ACORN in the years between 2003 and 2006, as well as $1.6 million to ACORN affiliates. The Environmental Protection Agency gave a $100,000 grant to ACORN in 2004 for a Louisiana Justice Project, which removed lead from the homes of low income families. The Justice Department also gave a grant to ACORN in 2005 for a juvenile delinquency program. ACORN also receives money from organized labor. ACORN has received approximately $4 million from the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) . According to a recent NPR investigation, ACORN also receives funding from the Change to Win labor federation, the Food and Commercial Workers Union and the United Federation of Teachers.
ACORN receives funding from a variety of private charitable organizations that are widely recognized as "liberal," including the Bauman Family Foundation, George Soros' Open Society Institute and the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation
