The NRCC is continuing the indicted Hammer's trolling for dollars scheme. The masters of manipulating people's honor, ego, pride, values, etc. for political gain are once again offering their national "Awards for Dollars" Telethon. They pulled this one on me once and I wish I would have handled it differently. This week, I have been given a second chance.
Several years ago I got an interesting item in the mail. It said I was being nominated for a National Business Leadership award and a place on the Business Advisory Council. There would be a large print ad to announce my award. I would be invited to D.C. not only to wine and dine with bigwigs in Congress, but also to communicate my issues directly to them.
At the time, I was a small business owner. The business had been going strong for a few years by then and we were fairly successful and well-known. What an honor, my then naïve self thought. So I called the number for more information. The phone was answered "Congressman's Delay's office..."
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After asking for more information, I was told that the dinners came with a price. I can't remember if it was mandatory or suggested, but the per-plate was upwards of $1000. I would be responsible for my own transportation and lodging, too. That didn't sound like such a great honor so I kindly informed the lady that I would not be attending. She then informed me my nomination would not be affected, and I would still be mentioned in the ad, but a small donation would help offset the cost.
This started sounding very fishy. I had to ask one more question. First, a disclosure--at that time I was not nearly as informed as now. I have always voted Democratic, always knew my representatives, etc., but was woefully ignorant of much else. So, I am embarrassed to admit my question, but here goes. I asked, "Is Mr. Delay a Republican or a Democrat?" We all know the answer. Back then I was not only uninformed, I was a very undiplomatic smart mouth. So my reply was "I'd rather be associated with the KKK than the Republican party." She laughed and said, "Oh, it's not that bad." I replied, "Oh yes it is" and hung up.
I forgot about this for years, until recently when Mr. Delay's little fund raising schemes became an interest to prosecutors. I wish I had saved that letter so I could see if that call had anything to do with his current indictments. Well, apparently not, because they are at it again.
The NRCC called me on Tuesday and left a voicemail. I just listened to it and, what do you know, I have been nominated again! This time the dubious honor comes from Congressman Tom Reynolds, NY-26 and NRCC Chairman. I did a little research and discovered this "honor" is not so exclusive. See some more stories here, here, here, here, here, here, and...oh hell this is easier, check out a simple search, Google has pages of these.
I think I have figured out what they are doing. My business was incorporated. Corporate filings, registered agents, etc. are public information. My theory is that they are getting a free mail lead list by scouring corporate (and LLC, and any other state level business registries) for business owners. Figuring that business owners are more likely Republican, they cast this large net in an attempt to dupe busy entrepreneurs that they are finally being recognized for their hard work. When you are the boss, there aren't too many around to pat you on the back, so you feel recognized (finally) for all your 18 hour days and 7 day weeks. So the ones that fall for this bait and switch send their deductible contribution, and relish in their false glory. All the while, the NRCC laughs at their evil genius and funds campaigns that will most likely attempt to elect a Big Business Republican. The sad irony is that Big Business Republican will probably vote on a bill that will further empower the oligarchy, or loosen regulations for Big Business which in turn could put so much pressure on the small business it could literally put them out of business.
That Big Business Republican also voted for the Bankruptcy Bill, so if you lose your business while still saddled with debt, sorry, you are screwed. But you can be proud of the fact that you were a National Leader and Business Advisory Council member! Wonder how much food you can buy with such an honor?
I don't know if this is legal, but surely it is skating on thin ethical ice. I wonder if they are just scouring the S-corp filings and not the C-Corps since Sub-S status entities are smaller businesses. I am pretty sure they aren't capturing sole proprietor and general partnership filings since those are really small businesses, they are filed at the county level (thousands of counties vs. 50 states) and they are inexpensive (about $20 compared to $200 to several thousand for state level filings) and are therefore established by many who can't or won't pay the higher corporate filing fees and attorney fees.
UPDATE: From the comments, it looks like sole proprietors are getting them, too.
So what should I do. Should I call back? Texas is a one-party state for recording conversation, so if I call should I record the call? Should I play ball and pretend I am all for it, but refuse to commit money and see what happens? Should I give them another immature, inappropriate insult like last time? I'd like to hear suggestions and opinions.
I would also like to hear if the DKos community thinks this might be an idea we can incorporate for the Democratic party. No, I am not suggesting offering bogus awards in exchange for contributions. Rather, I am thinking that we can also send information to small business owners to inform them of how GOP policies affect them and how the Democratic party can better represent their interest. I am sure most of the 20 million or so small business owners in this country would be great advocates for universal single payer healthcare since they can rarely afford the premiums. We could draft a simple letter, and have volunteers give them or mail them to their favorite local small business owners. We can even take it a step further and ask Democracy for America for their thoughts on using public records like business registrations as possible contact lists. Again, I don't know if this is legal for political purposes, but I know smart business to business marketers use this free lead source all the time. Although I am fairly sure a private marketer's response rate is less than the NRCC's since they can't offer dinners with policy makers and awards that "feel" like Congressional honors.
The GOP machine is large, smart, widespread, entrenched, and full of sneaky, tricksy, SOBs.
How do we push back?