Ben Smith of the Politico has the scoop on a new group of "Grass Roots" outfits such as SEIU, NEA, and MoveOn.org that have put up $25K a piece to form some creepy campaign called "Rebuild and Renew". It's your regular rabble of progressive/liberal/whatever mainstays like unions, trial lawyers, and environmental groups, but this level of consolidation is unprecedented and certainly deserves some scrutiny. Looking to secure their piece of the federal budget pie, their stated mission is as follows:
President Obama’s Fiscal Year 2010 budget provides a visionary blueprint that turns away from the failed economic policies of the past and seeks to invest in our future by expanding opportunities for all. His budget commits major investments in health care reform, education, and clean energy, while restoring fairness to our tax system and reducing military expenditures over time in a responsible manner...More swell ideas that involve spending your money to keep wide swaths of citizens dependent on the dole (thereby securing favorable voting patterns down the road). The group's media spokesman, a Mr. Jeremy Funk, is the same guy behind the Hush Rush campaign a few weeks, so you can expect public shaming and ad hominem attacks will be the norm for anyone who dares to criticize The Obama's budget.
...We can extend opportunity and security for families in all walks of life by expanding health care coverage, making college more affordable, supporting the financial and nutritional needs of low income families, expanding affordable housing, investing in a far-reaching policy that will develop clean sources of energy and protect the planet by reducing global warming pollution, and generate good jobs to rebuild our middle class.
But the strangest thing was the imagery they choose on the header of their newly developed website (pictured below):
Not sure what the pair of grubby hands on the right is supposed to represent, but I presume it's how the rest of America, not affiliated with these special interests, will be living under the catastrophic debt Obama has promised. Foraging for scraps of food in the dirt, and some hope and change too.
