Americans for Prosperity (Tea Party) or Progress (Open Society) – What is the Truth?
The above heading appears to me to represent the forces opposing each other in the United States and at the centre of the US Shutdown. It appears two camps have emerged – Americans for Prosperity funded by the Koch Brothers who are reported to be behind the Tea Party movement. President Obama is reported as saying that this small group in the Republican Party (far right) is responsible for the US Shutdown. The other camp is represented by the Centre for American Progress. I love the poetry and dichotomy in prosperity vs progress, another way of wording it is business-as-usual or change, it is an accurate depiction of the core issue and tension. The Center for American Progress interestingly has George Soros as a backer and as I delve further into this subject it appears there are indeed two camps between the billionnaire George Soros and the Koch Brothers. My immediate thought moves to democracy and if it was truly actioned, no wealthy people would be the puppeteers behind the actors. For indeed they are all actors. As a clown and performer myself I see shadow puppets and masks in this state of play, but they are slipping off. So let’s play with the idea of the perceived masters of the universe running the show behind the scenes and attempting to influence public opinion and orchestrate actions that serve their vested interests. Both – in my opinion – subvert the will of the people as the people are the observers in this coliseum, yet their lives are directly affected by power politics.
I will provide below excerpts of both the Centre for American Progress and Americans for Prosperity by Wikipedia. This will be followed by some interesting Youtube analysis of the players in this game that affect the world stage and prospects for future generations and peace.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Center_for_American_Progress
The Center for American Progress is a progressive public policy research and advocacy organization. Its website states that the organization is “dedicated to improving the lives of Americans through progressive ideas and action”.[2] The Center presents a liberal[3] viewpoint on economic issues. It has its headquarters in Washington, D.C.[4]
Its President and chief executive officer is Neera Tanden, who worked for the Obama and Clinton administrations and for Hillary Clinton’s campaigns.[5] Its first President and chief executive officer was John Podesta, who served as chief of staff to then U.S. President Bill Clinton. Podesta remains with the organization as chairman of the board. The Center for American Progress has a campus outreach group, Campus Progress, and a sister advocacy organization, the Center for American Progress Action Fund. Citing Podesta’s influence in the formation of the Obama Administration, a November 2008 article in Time stated that “not since the Heritage Foundation helped guide Ronald Reagan’s transition in 1981 has a single outside group held so much sway”.[6]
…The Center for American Progress publishes a daily email newsletter entitled The Progress Report, which is a recap and analysis of major political news in the United States, providing a progressive perspective on the day’s stories. The authors are Faiz Shakir, Amanda Terkel, Satyam Khanna, Matthew Corley, Ali Frick, and Benjamin Armbruster…
The Center publishes the daily global warming blog Climate Progress.[10] Edited by climate and energy expert Joseph J. Romm, the blog discusses climate science, climate and energy technology solutions and political news related to climate change. It is a project of the Center for American Progress Action Fund. In 2008, Time magazine named this blog one of the “Top 15 Green Websites”, writing that it “counters bad science and inane rhetoric with original analysis delivered sharply…. Romm occupies the intersection of climate science, economics and policy…. On his blog and in his most recent book, Hell and High Water, you can find some of the most cogent, memorable, and deployable arguments for immediate and overwhelming action to confront global warming.”[11] In 2009, Thomas L. Friedman, in his column in The New York Times, called the blog “indispensable”,[12] and Rolling Stone magazine named Romm to its list of “100 People Who Are Changing America”.[13] Time magazine named Romm one of its “Heroes of the Environment (2009)“, calling him “The Web’s most influential climate-change blogger”[14] and, in 2010, it included Climate Progress in a list of the 25 “Best Blogs of 2010”[15] Romm’s 2010 book, Straight Up is a compilation of some of his best blog entries from Climate Progress, with introductions and analysis by Romm…
Campus Progress, now known as Generation Progress, was launched in February 2005 and is the Center for American Progress’s comprehensive effort to help young people make their voices heard on issues and to empower new generations of progressive leaders. Campus Progress is active on over 500 U.S. campuses and in communities across the United States…
Formerly known simply as the American Progress Action Fund, the Center for American Progress Action Fund is a “sister advocacy organization” and is organizationally and financially separate from the Center for American Progress, although they share many staff and a physical address. Politico wrote in April 2011 that “The Center for American Progress Action Fund openly runs political advocacy campaigns, and plays a central role in the Democratic Party’s infrastructure, and the new reporting staff down the hall isn’t exactly walled off from that message machine, nor does it necessarily keep its distance from liberal groups organizing advocacy campaigns targeting conservatives.”[17] Whereas the Center for American Progress is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, the fund is a 501(c)(4), allowing it to devote more funds to lobbying.[18] In 2003, George Soros promised to financially support the organization by donating up to three million dollars.[19] The action fund is headed by Jennifer Palmieri.[17]…
A report from the Center for American Progress concludes that a $100 billion federal investment in clean energy technologies over 2009 and 2010 would yield 2 million new U.S. jobs, cutting the unemployment rate by 1.3% and put the nation on a path toward a low-carbon economy. The report, prepared by the Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts, proposes $50 billion in tax credits for energy efficiency retrofits and renewable energy systems; $46 billion in direct government spending for public building retrofits, mass transit, freight rail, smart electrical grid systems, and renewable energy systems; and $4 billion for federal loan guarantees to help finance building retrofits and renewable energy projects. The Center believes that clean energy investments would yield about 300,000 more jobs than if the same funds were distributed among U.S. taxpayers. The clean energy investments would also have the added benefits of lower home energy bills and reduced prices for non-renewable energy sources, due to the reduced consumption of those energy sources.[30]
Let’s look at Americans for Prosperity courtesy of Wikipedia
Americans for Prosperity (AFP) is an American conservative political advocacy group headquartered in Arlington, Virginia.[2][3][4] AFP’s stated mission is “educating citizens about economic policy and mobilizing citizens as advocates in the public policy process”.[1] The group played a major role in the 2010 Republican takeover of the U.S. House of Representatives,[5] and has been called “one of the most powerful conservative organizations in electoral politics”.[6]
Americans for Prosperity was founded in 2004 when Citizens for a Sound Economy (CSE) split into FreedomWorks and the Americans for Prosperity Foundation (formerly the Citizens for a Sound Economy Foundation). Dick Armey, who had become chair of CSE in 2003 after retiring from Congress,[7] remained chairman of FreedomWorks, while David H. Koch remained chairman of the AFP Foundation. Like CSE, AFP was founded with the support of David H. Koch and Charles Koch, both of Koch Industries.[8][9][10]
Americans for Prosperity describes its mission as educating citizens about economic policy and mobilizing them as advocates of lower taxes and limited government. The organization focuses on eight issue areas: budget and spending; taxes; property rights; health care and entitlements; banking and financial services; labor, education, and pensions; energy and environment; and technology.[1]
According to AFP, their mission is to promote “limited government and free markets on the local, state, and federal levels”, and to do so, they support:[1]
- Cutting taxes and government spending in order to halt the encroachment of government in the economic lives of citizens by fighting proposed tax increases and pointing out evidence of waste, fraud, and abuse.
- Removing unnecessary barriers to entrepreneurship and opportunity by sparking citizen involvement early in the regulatory process in order to reduce red tape.
- Restoring fairness to the judicial system.
Like its predecessor, Citizens for a Sound Economy, and other advocacy groups (for example, the National Taxpayers Union), Americans for Prosperity consists of two separate entities: Americans for Prosperity, a 501(c)(4) organization established in 2004, and the Americans for Prosperity Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization established in 1984.
On the national level, Americans for Prosperity is led by its president, Tim Phillips. From 2003-2007, AFP was led by Nancy Pfotenhauer, the president of MediaSpeak Strategies. Other current executive staff include Chief Operating Officer Luke Hilgemann and Vice President of State Operations Teresa Oelke.[11] James C. Miller, James E. Stephenson, Frayda Levy, Richard Fink, and Nancy Pfotenhauer serve on the board of directors.[12]
As of March 2012, Americans for Prosperity had 1.9 million members.[13] AFP had its headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, which oversees 35 state chapters.
In its 2007 annual tax return, the AFP Foundation reported revenue of $5.7 million with expenditures of nearly $6.8 million. Of these expenditures, $2.1 million went to national office operations and $2.9 million went to the state-based chapters. By 2010, AFP’s and the AFP Foundation’s combined budget was $40 million.[14]
Based on the AFP Foundation’s financial operations and programs, the independent nonprofit review organization, Charity Navigator, gave it a three-star rating out of four stars overall – four stars for financial operations, and two for accountability and transparency – and 53.8 out of a possible 70 points.[15]
According to AFP, 90,000 people across 50 states have donated to AFP or the AFP Foundation.[16]
Since 2007, the AFP Foundation has hosted the “Defending the American Dream Summit”, which is now the second largest annual gathering of conservatives in Washington, DC (the first is the Conservative Political Action Conference). Topics have included government spending and taxation, health care reform legislation, economic policy, and proposed energy legislation. Presidential candidates who attended the inaugural event included Rudy Giuliani, Mike Huckabee, John McCain, Ron Paul, Sam Brownback, Mitt Romney, and Fred Thompson. 2,000 people attended the 2011 summit.[17]
To “send a message to the bureaucrats that energy rationing will kill jobs, raise taxes, and crush our freedoms”,[18] AFP created the “Cost of Hot Air Tour”, a nationwide tour that included webcasts from the United Nations meetings COP15 in Copenhagen in 2009[19] and COP16 in Cancun in 2010.
In 2008, in the same city (Austin, Texas) and at the same time (July) as the liberal Netroots Nation conference, AFP hosted RightOnline, a conference of conservative bloggers and activists that aimed to develop conservative social media strategies.[20][21] RightOnline has since become an annual event, with 1,500 attendees in 2011.[22]
In 2011, in conjunction with Sarah Palin,[23] AFP helped lead a counterprotest in Madison, Wisconsin, where Governor Scott Walker‘s budget and labor-law initiatives had drawn considerable opposition in the streets. President Phillips said Walker’s proposed cuts were necessary and “represented the start of a much-needed nationwide move to slash public-sector union benefits”.[24] After the budget reforms in Wisconsin passed, the AFP Foundation initiated an advertising and town-hall effort called “It’s Working!” to promote them.[25]
Also in 2011, AFP sponsored the first debate among the Republican presidential candidates in New Hampshire. Candidates who participated included Mitt Romney, Tim Pawlenty, Michele Bachmann, Rick Santorum, and Herman Cain.[26]
AFP announced plans to participate in a rally protesting the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act during the Supreme Court’s oral arguments regarding the constitutionality of the law.[27]
In 2008, AFP circulated an anti-tax pledge to government officials at the federal, state, and local levels. A candidate who signs the “No Climate Tax Pledge” vows to “oppose any legislation relating to climate change that includes a net increase in state or local government revenue”.[28]
As of August 2010, more than 600 lawmakers and candidates, primarily Republicans, had signed the pledge. Prominent signers include Senators Pat Roberts and Roger Wicker and Representatives Michele Bachmann, Jeff Flake, and Fred Upton. Of the 12 Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee in 2011, nine have signed the pledge.[29]
In May 2009, AFP launched “Patients United Now”, a project to, according to their website, oppose “a government takeover of the United States health care system”.[30]
Patients United Now ran television ads advancing this viewpoint. In one ad, a Canadian woman, Shona Holmes, says she was not able to get timely treatment for brain tumor surgery and ultimately was treated in the U.S. Columnist David Lazarus of the Los Angeles Times responded that the Canadian government does not offer medical treatment but has a government-run insurance program.[31] Amy Menefee, a spokeswoman for Patients United Now, stated that “The point of the ad is to show the extremes where things could go. This would be a bigger role for government than we’ve ever seen. It’s a power grab in this area of the economy.”
Also in 2009, AFP initiated the “Hands Off My Healthcare Tour”, which sponsored 250[32] rallies and collected signatures in an effort to raise awareness about free-market-based health care reforms.[33][34]…
From 2011-2012, in what the Wall Street Journal called “perhaps the biggest attack on Mr. Obama so far in the 2012 election campaign”,[46] AFP spent $8.4 million ($2.4 in 2011[47] and $6 million in 2012[48]) on television ads that criticized the federal loan to now-bankrupt manufacturer of solar panels, Solyndra.
In September 2012, the Washington Post called AFP “One of the major players on the right”, reporting that AFP planned to spend $125 million on the 2012 United States presidential election. President Phillips said the organization has 116 staff members on the ground targeting 9 million voters who are undecided about how to assess Obama’s economic record.[49]
Refer Wikipedia for criticism of both.
Here is an interesting Youtube documentary about the Koch Brothers.
The second video is a promotional video of The Center for American Progress, I wasn’t able to find a critique other than news. So I will leave it up to you to gain a better perspective of both sides. Essentially the video indicates to me that they are left leaning with a social focus on the rights of citizens. So here is the overview.
Now I feel to bring in another perspective that elevates beyond the conflict. I will call this the ’emerging consciousness’ that is change itself. Change of course is inevitable. I would like to venture into the idea of prosperity. I was at a meeting the other day and people spoke about meditating for prosperity which inevitably included money. I myself, have lived without much of a focus on money preferring to focus on heart based preferences and to know myself and be true. My own journey has led me to Gandhi’s Satyagraha a focus on truth and love. I have also been interested in virtues and values as navigators of my life rather than doing ‘the right thing’ or the action that will bring ‘more money’. What I told this group about prosperity is that it is inner wealth. As a clown, my character is the archetype of the jester (fool), I see real wealth in the fool’s gold. I told them about this and was not sure if they truly understood. It is a new concept. What I mean was the real wealth is within humanity, it is values, it is what is truly valuable, it is the inner strength that keeps you going and it anchors resilience. Many cultures, pre-industrial, lived without money and had a close relationship with the earth. They had harmony based cultures where they took what they needed and deeply valued family and each other. Yes there were conflicts but they also were evolving, the essence was they learned harmony from nature. The indigenous people here in Australia speak of ‘listening deeply’ and sharing rather than self interest. Listening deeply is to listen to your own truth and to listen to others with the same focus. When you truly hear and you clarify that truth with others, then you are in a position to live in harmony and not dominate others. Their relationship to nature had no division as they saw nature as themselves, the earth was understood as the ‘mother’, mother earth nourished them and created a context for life which they deeply honoured. They had the gods as part of mythology as a image to connect to the higher intelligence. Some were highly advanced civilisations.
As my focus has shifted within and more and more focused on love I am starting to understand sharing rather than self interest, giving rather than taking, visibility rather than secrecy and living from day to day slowly letting go of conditioned thought conveyed without question through our cultural system. What has emerged for me was to trust life, that all is in perfect order. This is not idealism, I have done it. I have been homeless from 3.5 years exploring inner peace. Like the fool archetype stepping off the cliff of fear to find something comes as a platform for my next step. To stop controlling and just allow the magic of life to happen. None of us know what is next, we can plan but life has its own interesting timing. Even the conflicts that we see arising around the world are the tensions revealing themselves and people playing out choices. Tensions as conflicts or differences are natural as they challenge us with different perspectives, the idea is for us to reach for more of who we are through this tension. It was never about destroying anyone. That is a dysfunction that has been promulgated through the warrior image that kills its opponent without understanding the universal dynamics involved. We see winners and losers rather than expanding infinite possibilities through reaching for higher potential. At the end of the day each person is deciding who they are in relationship to others and the contrasts propel us higher.
If we promote a greed consciousness or self interest we tend to compete, to dominate to feel better than others and it plays out as ‘us against them’. The ego seeks to be more, to have more and the emptiness never fills. The same sentiment can happen on the other side of politics where they see the other as the ‘enemy’ and both camps seeing themselves at war. I see this as a duality consciousness of ‘against’. It remains in revolving door conflicts but never stops to deeply reflect on what the negativity really means. What does it mean to life, liberty and happiness. We battle on thinking it is the good fight to find when older that life is over and you missed your opportunity to really live your purpose. The purpose of course was always happiness.
Let’s go deeper – I would argue both camps are ego based as both see separation and don’t have an awareness of the unity of all of us. The unity consciousness, which is the re-new-able consciousness, is emerging on the planet, it means we are One. Those who are awakening to it see the world as one and that what we do to another we do to ourselves. Moreover, what I see in the other is indeed myself. Byron Katie is a proponent of self inquiry, to question negative thinking (see www.thework.com). It is fascinating to see people hating one side as ‘the evil other’ and what they are really hating is an aspect of themselves that is unquestioned. In psychology it is called projection. In unity consciousness both negative and positive are integrated as all is accepted as it is. Byron Katie speaks of ‘loving what is’ there is no resistance or fight with reality. Reality of course is NOW.
People naturally want to associate with those like themselves, we see this on Facebook or on-line groups. We want those with us who agree with us, it strengthens the ego and if we are insecure makes us feel more powerful in numbers. Like-mindedness is attraction to those with similar ideology, in agreement, perhaps a shared sense of powerlessness or perceived values in common. For example a conservative who fears change and fights against it might fear an unknown future where he or she does not have control. Inside they are uncertain, they may feel not in control and may try to create control outside themselves to feel secure. That is why powerless people often seek control, they are not in control within, we see that with bullying behaviour, one seeking power over the other to feel stronger, but it is not real strength. There could be other reasons they seek sameness or control, perhaps they grew up in the depression and knew about rations, what it was like to not have enough. Perhaps their parents espoused the importance of hard work and being self made as true empowerment and success. So they look for sound, true and traditional ideas that don’t rock the boat but keep things business as usual. They may have fortunes which they don’t want to lose in a world that is uncertain or perhaps their money is redistributed and they lose power. They predict a sense of loss. The underlying fears and concerns won’t be mentioned but the rhetoric will identify values and freedoms as the mask to what is going on within. The liberal minded or democratic mindset may well feel compassion for the poor and see that as a structural problem caused through the class system. They may be fighting for justice as they see winners and losers. They may have grown up in poverty and know the struggle and missed opportunities by not going to the right schools or being in the right groups to get ahead, they may have felt the inequality and it made them feel somehow less than. Thus they may value equality and human rights preferring the human side of the equation to the material. Their life lessons have given them the experience here. So they look across the table at the conservative and see a hard and cruel capitalist who doesn’t care. The conservative sees communism, bleeding hearts wasting money, stripping wealth from hard won earnings, government controlling their lives, high taxes taking their money and feeling powerless when others threaten to take control over their lives, it taps into their sense of powerlessness. So they look back across the table and see their wealth threatened by socialism or collectivism rather than rewarding merit and entrepreneurship, in their eyes. They both see an enemy. That is war. So they seek to destroy the other not realising it is in truth a reflection of themselves that they see. It is an aspect of themselves they have repressed as soft or bleeding heart or the part that is self serving or entrepreneurial. That is how democracy becomes us against them rather than a sharing of perspectives where we seek common ground so all can win.
In the future unity consciousness will rise where we awaken to the idea that the world consists of one energy. There is a higher consciousness here that sees karma playing out and the illusion of separation. As one awakens you begin to see the other as yourself and you seek to integrate or accept that other. In my case I often view those with different views as teachers to myself and I seek understanding rather than conflict. They are always assessed through the filter of love, as love is truth and conflict is ego. This is a truly open society that understands that life is a flow and need not be controlled. As you let go of control you start to notice what turns up on a momentary basis. Rather than thinking of the future with fear or the past with remorse, you recognise that neither the future or past exist. You begin to live in the moment. You allow life to come and go without trying to force it. In this unity consciousness you become aware that you are the creator of your reality. You realise that your thoughts do indeed create the future. What you focus on expands and you become mindful about what you think. Moreover, the feeling aspect of humanity or what is termed the feminine (emotions, intuition) becomes the primary arbiter the mind becomes secondary. In other words you follow your feeling, you sense your environment and you are deeply connected to your feelings, recognising they are navigators. The emotions and feeling state is connection to the higher consciousness that knows. Every artist, poet and philosopher knows this. Thus the answer is always within you when you focus on your inner-sense or some may say innocence, no longer are you influenced by other opinions or the world of news media, you start to come at life from within. As you turn off the television and drama outside of yourself you begin to feel peacefulness arising, that is connection to nature which is always peaceful. You start to look at people with love, no matter their politics, creed, colour, aesthetics, wealth or religion. This is the politics of love that sees no other and creates a global civilisation of Oneness and Love.
As a clown I can say when I clown on the street the only interest I have is happiness. I generate it by smiling and accepting all who come into my space. I do not seek to make them happy (force) I simply seek to be happy and see what happens, I create a space for possibility. I allow them to be themselves and there is nothing they need to do to receive my love, it is unconditional. I start to see beauty all around me as people break into smiles and some even dance with me. I realise that everyone has an inner beauty when the environment is open and caring. When clowning in Russia with Patch Adams I saw how the orphans responded when clowns came to play with them. Their faces were shining. I’ve seen kids who are disabled, some with HIV/Aids, others disfigured, deaf or blind respond to the loving intention directed toward them. What I really noticed is the joy it generates in me to bring happiness to a moment. I see that my world is a reflection of me and that I am the creator of that reality. Do you see what I mean. You see what you believe and if you see nothing but drama and negative beliefs, then your world looks scary to you. You start to terrorise yourself with all the fears out there and you feel you need protection. I don’t have that fear, I have no fear and have walked at night alone, travelled the world alone, been in militarised zones with joy, sat with the Khmer Rouge, met corrupt officials, sat with people with HIV/Aids and seen nothing but beauty. That doesn’t mean I don’t empathise with their situation, it means it is not my turn right now to suffer. It means I can bring a moment of happiness to this person and not make them feel worse by sympathy or seeing them as less. I have even clowned in Parliament – they called me a POI, person of interest. I was curious about civil society conference participants, were they really inclusive. Could they accept clowns? In my world everyone is equal and it is a delight to live in such a beautiful world. I’ve also been an economist, market analyst and worked in administration in 400 companies. I’ve seen so many aspects of life but the real world for me was always the world of clowning where people relax and let down their defences. That is when peace arises, in the moment, and I feel unity. I can promise you it is the future, if you choose it.
I invite the people in the tea party, the Koch Brothers and Americans for progress and those on the left in The Center for Progress to sit together and have a cup of tea or coffee or water. The tea ceremony holds special significance, is one of sitting together to relax, to share perspectives but not deliberately influence, it is to get to know each other, to find out about families, hobbies and what they enjoy about life. Imagine if they could meet as friends, as Patch Adams says to come together in ‘friendshipism’. This is to create a new variety that truly embraces diversity (difference of ideology) as part of democracy and unity. For in truth both will lose this war as it is in no-one’s interests as both prosperity will be shutdown when capital flight occurs and progress will be stifled as conflict and self interest demands its way and doesn’t share. There is no enemy they will discover, only the mirror of their fear is what they truly see, and when you look deeply into the mirror you see the other is you. That is the truth many will avoid and deny. Only self knowledge and personal inquiry will enable the truth to set all free. It is only when you have an intention for truth do you find a new way opens up, naturally.
Peace to the Americans and may we see prosperity in virtues and progress in harmony with the earth. Is it better to be right or happy? Why not live this song – don’t worry be happy – the latter is my truth. Good old clown philosophy. I love you all. Thank you for giving me an opportunity to learn about real power.