Berman Exposed: Latest News Stories

Ad campaign targets D.C. teachers union

dmerchant — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 13:41:13 -0400

The Washington Teachers' Union is the target of an aggressive advertising campaign created by an organization founded by an anti-union lobbyist.

Ca-Ching: Puppy Mill Sales Continue to Ring

dmerchant — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 12:14:48 -0400

The USDA is the government agency that regulates and the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service's (APHIS) Animal Care officers enforce the Animal Welfare Act with about as much bite to protect animals as the Interior Department's Minerals Management Service, responsible for mine safety inspections or the oversight required with the approved drilling of that offshore well, Deepwater Horizon and we all know how well that is going.

Editorializing for animal protection, agricultural progress

dmerchant — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 09:13:25 -0400

Two editorials in the past couple of days—both ringing calls for greater protection for animals—provide a study in contrasts. One, in The New York Times, celebrates change in agriculture, where the industry was part of the process of reform. The other, in the Raleigh News & Observer, reminds us that the industry can at times be obstinate and mean-spirited, ultimately not just hurting animals, but also its own standing and reputation.

The Smear Becomes More Clear

dmerchant — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 09:10:31 -0400

It hasn’t been a good PR week for multimillionaire PR flack Rick Berman. This past weekend, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune exposed his attack on The HSUS and included the voices of animal shelter leaders concerned that Berman’s smear campaign against The HSUS was harming their operations.

Nonprofit Advocate Carves Out a For-Profit Niche

dmerchant — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 10:55:48 -0400

Speaking on behalf of the Center for Consumer Freedom, Richard B. Berman takes no prisoners.

The Humane Society of the United States is his latest target, and his attacks on the way the organization spends its money have recently appeared in catchy newspaper advertisements, on bus shelters around Washington and on a billboard in Times Square.

Animal Abusers Hate Humane Society Because We Hurt Their Bottom Line

pbjork — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 09:36:27 -0400

If you were to describe the work of The HSUS, you probably wouldn't call it subtle or indirect.

The HSUS's member magazine is called All Animals. Our mission statement is "Celebrating Animals, Confronting Cruelty." The HSUS has program departments devoted to animal research issues, companion animals, equine protection, farm animal welfare, and wildlife and habitat protection. Our website is a compendium of information on our animal care centers, our veterinary programs, our global work on spay and neuter and the wildlife trade, our disaster response deployments in Haiti and other parts of the world as well as across the United States, our advocacy campaigns (puppy mills, factory farming, animal fighting, seal killing, wildlife abuses, and the exotic pet trade), and so much more.

Which organizations really work in the interests of the American public

pbjork — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 09:22:25 -0400

David Martosko of the so-called Center for Consumer Freedom spun quite a yarn in a recent column in The Telegraph. Readers should not be fooled by the likes of this professional con artist. The Center for Consumer Freedom has been exposed by ABC News and CBS's "60 Minutes," among others, as an industry-front group that attacks public interest organizations and his attack against The Humane Society of the United States is just more of the same.

According to the 2008 public filings by CCF with the Internal Revenue Service, 92 percent of the money it collects went straight into the hands of a for-profit PR outfit called Berman and Company Inc., which is owned by the founder, Rick Berman.

Campaign Attacks National Humane Society

pbjork — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 14:10:46 -0400

WASHINGTON - An array of ads in newspapers and on billboards targets the Humane Society of the United States, but the animal rights group maintains the controversial campaign is missing the mark.

Billboard denounce the HSUS for the small amount of money it gives local animal shelters. The ads at bus stops or in newspapers get strong responses from animal lovers.

"I give a lot of money to the Humane Society but not to Animal Shelters. Well, isn't that how it's supposed to trickle down?" asked one woman.

This April Fools, Center for Consumer Freedom is the Joke

pbjork — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 10:43:41 -0400

Imagine that I, while serving as president and CEO of The HSUS, owned a for-profit public relations company and that 92 cents of every dollar donated to The HSUS went to that very company or to me. I was paid by The HSUS, and then I also got paid by this for-profit corporation-double-dipping as it were. You'd sniff out that nifty little arrangement as a colossal self-enrichment scam, and the Internal Revenue Service, Congress, reputable journalists, and every nonprofit watchdog agency would be all over it like mud on a pig at a family farm. And rightly so.

Bet You Can't Eat Just One

pbjork — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 16:14:06 -0400

In his book, "The End of Overeating," former FDA commissioner David Kessler charges food companies with deliberately manipulating the chemical composition of their products to make them addictive to people with vulnerable brain chemistries- i.e., children. Kessler participated in subsequent research that found similarities in how rat's brains experienced withdrawal symptoms similar to drug withdrawal then, after being fed by a high fat, high sugar mix, they were suddenly put on a diet. The food industry dismissed Kessler's claims by ignoring them, and one of their top lobbyists admitted that the strategy was deliberate: to respond would call attention to the claims and force the good companies into a tit-for-tat debate about neuroscience. Kessler believes that many food companies ought to be publicly shamed for constructing and marketing addictive, unhealthy food to kids.

"˜Reckless Attacks'

pbjork — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 12:46:33 -0400

Darci Adams, Sioux Falls

Incoming South Dakota State Director, The Humane Society of the United States

Washington lobbyist David Martosko gets it wrong when he recklessly attacks and falsely characterizes the work of The Humane Society of the United States (Press & Dakotan, March 16). For more than a half-century, The HSUS has stood as the nation's most important advocate for local humane societies. The HSUS provides training programs, hosts the nation's largest trade and educational show for shelter professionals and provides national shelter standards.

In The Loop: The Pay-Day Lenders' Ties To Powerful Beltway Influence-Peddlers

pbjork — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 10:58:57 -0400

We told you last week about the sophisticated Washington lobbying and PR operation that has helped the $42 billion-a-year pay-day lending industry water down provisions in the financial reform bill currently before Congress. But it looks like the industry's ties to a host of heavy-hitting, and sometimes controversial, Beltway players are even more extensive.

Those players, it appears, include a prominent and well-regarded DC consulting firm founded by top former Clinton administration staffers, a key editor at the Andrew-Breitbart-created website that hosted James O'Keefe's ACORN "exposes," Dick Armey's FreedomWorks, and a notorious corporate lobbyist known as "Dr. Evil."

The Enquirer's Apology

pbjork — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 13:15:11 -0400

It doesn't quite rank up there with the front-page apology to Chiquita that the newspaper published for three straight days in 1998, but The Cincinnati Enquirer used an entire interior page of it's "A" Section today to apologize to Congressman Steve Driehaus.

Driehaus, the Democratic lawmaker from Price Hill, was incensed after an advertisement appeared in Wednesday's Enquirer that included a photograph of him with his two young daughters. The ad, paid for by a special interest group, urged Driehaus to vote "no" on the healthcare reform bill winding its way through Congress.

Corporate Front Group Targets Boccieri Over Healthcare Reform

pbjork — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 11:49:46 -0400

Wednesday's Plain Dealer featured a large ad on page 9 urging Congressman John Boccieri - a fence-sitter on health care - to vote no on the pending reform bill. The not-quite-full-page ad has a picture of Boccieri atop photos of President Obama and Nancy Pelosi (the latter seemingly chosen for its snarling expression) under a headline "A majority of Representative Boccieri's district opposes the health reform bill." It asks, "If he votes for it, who is he representing - you or them?" It urges Boccieri's constituents to ask him not to add the "$2 trillion" cost of health-care reform to the "$12 trillion" deficit.

The ad was sponsored by a group with the pleasant, well-meaning-sounding name "Rethink Reform." It's an advocacy group run by a corporate lobbyist named Richard Berman. The guy's bio sounds like he was the model for the main character in the film Thank You for Smoking.

Adler hearing from both sides in health care debate

pbjork — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 10:13:25 -0400

The debate over health care reform may be centered on Capitol Hill, but the battle lines run squarely through Democrat John Adler's 3rd Congressional District.

Adler was one of 39 Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives to vote against his party's reform bill last fall, and he's now back in the crosshairs of both reform proponents and opponents as the House prepares to vote again on a modified version of a bill approved by the Senate on Christmas Eve.

Ohio congressman being lobbied on health care vote outraged by ad showing his daughters

pbjork — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 10:07:43 -0400

CINCINNATI - An Ohio congressman says an ad featuring a large photo of him with his two young daughters went too far in the heated debate over health care.

Tim Mulvey, a spokesman Rep. Steve Driehaus (DREE'-hows), says the southwest Ohio Democrat was outraged by the advertisement, which appeared Wednesday in The Cincinnati Enquirer. The ad was paid for by the Committee to Rethink Reform, a Washington-based group opposed to thehealth care overhaul nearing a vote.

Higher Tax on Alcohol Proposed in CA

pbjork — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 10:32:08 -0400

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KCBS) -- A battle over alcohol is returning to California politics. A San Jose assemblyman is reintroducing legislation that would add a fee of five cents per drink. A measure that would have added 10 cents per drink failed earlier this year.

Sarah Longwell with the American Beverage Institute says that whether it's 10 cents or five cents- it doesn't matter because both are unfair.

"Alcohol is already one of the most highly taxed products in the United States," said Longwell. "We don't think that it's appropriate to tax us further simply because legislators can't get their spending under control."

Altmire Targeted In Pro-Health Care Overhaul Ads

pbjork — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 11:18:56 -0400

PITTSBURGH -- A new $1.3 million ad campaign will target 17 House Democrats this week urging them to support President Barack Obama's health care plan.

The ads are funded by labor unions and other groups backing health care reform.

At least seven of the lawmakers - including Rep. Brad Ellsworth of Indiana - voted in favor of the legislation last year.

Some lawmakers push for tougher penalties against drunk drivers

pbjork — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 11:05:42 -0500

FRANKFORT, KY (WAVE) - Some lawmakers in Frankfort are trying to push through a bill to toughen penalties for drunk drivers. House Bill 58 calls for ignition locks to be mandatory on vehicles after the first DUI conviction. Offenders would have to pass a breath test before starting their cars. A dozen other states have a similar law.

The bill passed the full House last month but hasn't made it to the Senate. Supporters say it's time for lawmakers to take some action. Mary Jane Oswald's son Trey was killed by a drunk driver in July 2004. CJ Hill, 20, also died in that crash. "I cry every day for Trey. It's been almost 6 years, and it never gets any easier," she said.

Drunk Driving Bill Stalls

pbjork — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 11:03:40 -0500

The idea of requiring convicted drunk drivers to have ignition interlock devices on their cars has stalled in the Kentucky Senate. It has MADD, the bill's sponsor and relatives of victims frustrated by the roadblock.

May Jane Oswald of Louisville lost her 33-year-old son, Trey, six years ago when he was killed by a drunk driver. She says if the safety device law had been on the books back then the drunk driver who killed her son would not have been behind the wheel.

Ignition interlocks for convicted drunk drivers

pbjork — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 11:01:28 -0500

Time is running out on a bill some say will save hundreds of lives every year on Kentucky's roadways. So one mother took her story to Frankfort in hopes of stopping drunk drivers before they even turn the key.

Mary Jane Oswald explains, "On July 9, 2004, my only son Trey was killed by a drunk driver." It's the real-life nightmare so many mothers like Mary Jane Oswald have to live: "He would say, 'I love you Mom.' Knowing that I will never hear those words from him again is so unbearable."

NY seeks 'fat tax' on sodas to fight rising US obesity

pbjork — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 10:45:50 -0500

State Health Commissioner Richard Daines took up the issue Monday, speaking of a "golden opportunity" to create the tax.

"The dramatic underpricing of sugar-sweetened beverages, their widespread availability, and the ceaseless marketing of these products constitute a stumbling block to good health and are a clear and present danger to the future of our children," Daines said.

Beverage group is wrong to argue against ignition locks

pbjork — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 10:44:25 -0500

In arguing against Maryland's proposed law that would require first-time drunk-driving offenders to use ignition interlocks, the American Beverage Institute worries that the law would inhibit people from having a second drink when dining out or attending sporting events ["Md., Va. consider ignition breathalyzers for first offense," Metro, March 2]. ABI managing director Sarah Longwell said, "We don't think that they should be punished to the same degree as somebody who has 10 drinks and then drives."

Soda tax back on the table

pbjork — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 11:59:11 -0500

The fat tax is back.

A year after Gov. David Paterson abandoned his controversial proposal to tax soft drinks, the plan is enjoying a second wind, with Mayor Michael Bloomberg endorsing it Sunday as a way to raise money and save lives.

But bodega owners say the tax would kill their businesses, support in Albany is far from assured and New Yorkers chaffed at the idea of yet another tax.

New Web Site Set To Dog Humane Society

pbjork — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 11:31:51 -0500

The farming sector has received negative press of late concerning food contamination cases, recalls, antibiotics overuse and, more recently, calling into question animal agriculture as a threat to animal welfare and global climate change.

Ask a farmer involved in livestock production and he's likely to say that much of the bad publicity is the work of animal rights activists. It's a fight that's been going on for years.

Pet donations: What to know before you contribute

pbjork — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 11:05:06 -0500

The nonprofit Center for Consumer Freedom took out another ad recently in a national newspaper criticizing the way the Humane Society of the United States doles out its dollars. The headline says "Shouldn't the Humane Society do Better?'' Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of HSUS, said Wednesday the attack is "unjustified and fraudulent."

According to the advertisement, HSUS gives less than one-half of one percent of its $100 million budget to hands-on pet shelters. Pacelle says working with shelters is only a small part of what HSUS does for animals.

Lawmakers consider ignition interlock for all DWI offenders

pbjork — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 10:58:38 -0500

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- The state Senate's transportation committee heard testimony Tuesday from supporters of a bill that would require ignition interlock systems for all drunken driving offenders -- even first-time offenders.

Ignition interlock forces drivers to blow into a machine and prove they haven't been drinking before their vehicles will start.

"This is a good bill," Tim Leslie of the state's Public Safety department told lawmakers. "It provides both public safety on our roadways and legal driving opportunities for DUI offenders."

Ignition locks are debated

pbjork — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 10:14:01 -0500

Advocates for a crackdown on drunken driving squared off against the alcoholic beverage industry Thursday over an O'Malley administration-supported bill that would require court-determined drunken drivers to install devices that would prevent their cars from being started if they have been drinking alcohol.

Proponents of the so-called ignition interlock technology went into the Senate hearing with high hopes that they can win passage of at least a compromise version of a bill that has failed in previous years. But the measure, which would make the program mandatory for even first-time offenders, still faces a steep climb - particularly in the House of Delegates.

Sign is one of a kind at local McDonald's

pbjork — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 12:57:09 -0500

Order a Big Mac at the McDonald's in Texas Children's Hospital, and it will set you back 540 calories. A Quarter Pounder will cost you 26 grams of fat.

Along with prices on the burger joint's menu board in the hospital, consumers can now see how many calories and grams of fat and carbohydrates their meal will include.

It's the only McDonald's in Texas to have the features, which the hospital hopes will help consumers make healthier choices.

Humane Society Spars With Consumers Group

pbjork — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 11:37:28 -0500

The Humane Society of the United States is barking back after the start of a high-profile campaign that includes a new Web site attacking its work.

The Web site, HumaneWatch.org, was created by the Center for Consumer Freedom, a nonprofit group run by Washington lobbyist Richard Berman that advocates in behalf of restaurants and other companies.

The Center for Consumer Freedom ran a full-page advertisement in Tuesday's New York Times announcing the new Web site and saying that "the dog-watchers need a watchdog."