Ad wars: Industry overwhelms labor, advocacy spending
Ben Smith // Politico (Ben Smith Blog)December 14, 2009
The media tracking firm TNSI-CMAG finds a continued flood of health care spending in the month of November, in its latest report, and also found that industry backed foes of health care legislation -- led by the Chamber of Commerce -- widely outspent its backers, with industry dollars on both sides swamping ads from unions and liberal advocacy groups.
In sum:
The equality of every YouTube video on a blog like this can easily mask the difference between an ad that airs a few times inside the Beltway and an ad that moves national numbers. The Chamber of Commerce, the group finds, was "the main voice of the opposition" in November, spending $17 million to air 8 spots 30,361 times around the country.
The industry group AHIP spent $3.4 million on running ads 5,837 against the legislation; the 60 Plus association put $2.7 million behind running ads 6,803 times; the Employment Policies Institute spent $2.3 million running to ads 3,347 times; and the Biopharmaceutical trade group spent $1.5 million warning against Medicare cuts.
On the other side, the AARP led the way, spending $7.2 million airing ads 3,100 times on national cable in various markets, putting its seal of approval on the plan, and the PhRMA-backed Americans for Stable Quality Care spent $5.2 million.
Increasingly, the industry groups (and AARP) are demonstrating that they simply have deeper pockets than labor and other liberal advocacy groups: HCAN spent $621,000 on the month, SEIU spent $560,000, AFSCME and Americans United spent $421,000, and MoveOn spent $404,000.
Richard Berman has been a regular front man for business and industry in campaigns against consumer safety and environmental groups. Through his public affairs firm, Berman and Company, Berman has fought unions, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, PETA and other watchdog groups in their efforts to raise awareness about obesity, the minimum wage, the dangers of smoking, mad cow disease, drunk driving, and other causes. Berman runs at least 15 industry-funded front groups and projects, such as the Center for Union Facts and holds 16 "positions" in those organizations.
Each year, Berman, using his front groups to spread misinformation, spends millions of dollars distracting the public with misleading ads.
As a result of his largesse, in 2006, Richard Berman used $2,000,000 in cash to buy this $3.3 million house.
