The leftist organization Free Press, sensing that it is losing
the political and policy battle at the Federal Communications
Commission over “net neutrality,” organized a letter from about
150 nonprofit and charitable organizations in support of federal
government regulation of the Internet, or “net neutrality.”
Free Press is the astroturf and political organization
founded by Marxist and Obama supporter, Robert
McChesney. The group has advocated for government
regulation of the Internet and taxpayer-supported media, among
other issues. It is an organization that has refused to divulge
its funding sources, but of late, the MacArthur and Ford
Foundations have admitted to giving millions to the organization,
and sources with knowledge of the group claim that Free Press
also receives funds from the Tides Foundation and such labor
organizations as the SEIU.
The Tides is a leftist nonprofit that accepts funds from
other leftist foundations and donors and pools the funds and
disperses them to groups. In this way, the true sources of the
funds are obscured.
Well-known leftists like Bill Moyers,
among others, have profited from entities that support the Tides,
and they in turn have also supported Free Press.
But the letter sent on Wednesday morning to the FCC is
notable because it reveals a number of small, local entities with
ties to Free Press and its benefactors, such as the Tides, and
indicates just how widespread the network of leftist groups is.
For example, the Women Donors Network, which signed on to the
letter, is an organization that receives Tides funding. As well,
such signatories as
Color of Change; UNITY: Journalists of Color,
Inc.; National Alliance for Media Arts & Culture; the Center
for Media Justice; Community Technology; Participatory Culture
Foundation; Media Alliance; Center for Community Technology
Services; Center for Resilient Cities; Coastal Community
Foundation; Community Frontiers; Healthy Families San Angelo;
Room to Roam; Smart People Foundation; Social Actions; among
others, all have ties to Tides donors and Free Press. A number of
the organizations based in San Francisco have ties to disgraced
Obama Administration aide Van Jones, who worked
extensively with Free Press before being hired as a White House
staffer last year.
“Hillary Clinton talked about the vast right-wing
conspiracy? This letter kind of lays out the vast left-wing
conspiracy,” says a House staffer for a Blue Dog Democrat. “It’s
like a satire of left-wing and community activists networks.
There is no way my boss could possibly get on board something
like this.”
In fact, it appears Free Press and its minions understood
how toxic their organization’s positions have become, because
several nonprofits that signed on to the letter claimed they had
not understood the nature of the letter before their
organization’s names were added to the list.
By mid-day on Wednesday at least one signer had demanded
that its name be removed from the letter, claiming they were
unaware of the political nature of the “net neutrality” issue.
Other organizations that signed on were indicating they too would
be seeking to have their names removed.
It’s unclear what impact the flawed letter might have at
the FCC. “Frankly, Free Press and its people have worn out their
welcome here,” says an FCC staffer, who works with the three
Democrat members of the commission. “I’m sympathetic to their
issues, but their tone and tactics make it almost impossible to
deal with them.”
Recently Free Press complained that they had not been
invited to what they termed “secret” meetings at the FCC. Only
after they complained was it revealed that they had more than 30
similar meetings with senior FCC officials, and a number of
similar meetings at the White House.
“They can’t seem to control themselves, and it just comes
back to bite them in the ass,” says the FCC staffer. “For
supposedly politically savvy operators, they sure don’t seem to
care that they have burned just about every reasonable bridge
they’ve got.”
