Attention All Democratic Congressional Chiefs of Staff

My name is Chris Bowers. I write for www.MyDD.com, and I live in Philadelphia (PA-02, Chaka Fattah, to be precise). I want you to know how concerned I am about an upcoming event that all Senate and House Democratic Chiefs of Staff have been invited to attend: the 2005 Chief of Staff Retreat hosted by the Mercatus Center to be held February 4-5 at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Philadelphia, PA. I am writing this to urge you to not attend this event.

It is important that you realize who funds the Mercatus Center. Since 1985, the Mercatus Center has received 513 grants totaling $45,347,884. Their top donors have been as follows:

• Koch Family (Includes Claude Lambe Foundation): $24,258,797
• Olin Foundation: $7,530,824
  
• Scaife Family (includes Carthage Foundation): $5,031,000
  
• Bradley Foundation: $2,5544,050
  
• Barre Seid: $2,212,000
  
• Earhart Foundation: $996,348
  
• McKenna: $265,000
  
• Jacquelin Hume Foundation: $260,000
  
• Smith Richardson: $254,315
  
• The Walton Family (Wal-Mart): $120,000
  
• JM Foundation: $85,000
  
• Castle Rock Foundation (Coors Family): $75,000

Nine of these twelve are the top nine donors to the conservative think tank apparatus. The other three are "conservative angel" Barre Seid, big-time conservative donor Jacquelin Hume, and the Walton family of Wal-Mart infamy. Together, these twelve sources of funding make up over 95% of the Mercatus Center's funding since it was founded in 1985. Several of the smaller donors not listed here are also uber-conservative "angels."

Quite frankly, I believe that attending this retreat would be tantamount to your boss becoming a member of the Fainthearted Faction. If you need an explanation of this term, please click here. Believe me when I tell you that this is not a label you want to give to your boss.

I believe that it is absolutely essential that not a single Democratic Chief of Staff attend this retreat. If you have already reserved a place, cancel it. Under no circumstances should Democrats be associating with, and buttered up by, conservative influence peddlers such as the Mercatus Center. This is especially true at a time when we have become an opposition party and the President is gearing up a campaign to destroy Social Security. We are never going to take our country back if our main influences are the Koch family, the Olin foundation, and the Scaife family.

If you are not attending this retreat, please tell your colleagues why and urge them to do likewise.

In solidarity,
Chris Bowers
[e-mail]

P.S.: I urge anyone who reads this to contact the chief of staff of your local Democratic congressman and/or Senator and urge them not to attend. Also, I have already contacted Harry Reid's chief of staff, and it went very well. There is no need to contact him further.

Update: The situation is worse than even I imagined. Kargo X produced the following list of Democratic Chiefs of Staff who attended the 2004 Mercatus Center retreat (PDF file):

• Lisa Baranello, Dep. Chief of Staff, Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-NY)
• Peter Chandler, Chief of Staff, Rep. Michael Michaud (D-ME)
• Michael Collins, Chief of Staff, Rep. John Lewis (D-GA)
• Lionel Collins, Jr., Chief of Staff, Rep. William Jefferson (D-LA)
• Robert Decheine, Chief of Staff, Rep. Steve Rothman (D-NJ)
• Patricia Delgado, Admin. Asst. (the old name for CoS), Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA)
• Perry Finney Brody, Chief of Staff, Rep. Silvestre Reyes (D-TX)
• David Flanders, Legislative Director, Rep. Jane Harman (D-CA)
• Robert Foust, Senior Policy Advisor, Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND)
• John Haseley, Chief of Staff, Rep. Ted Strickland (D-OH)
• Cookab Hashemi, Dep. Chief of Staff, Rep. Mark Udall (D-CO)
• Clyde Henderson, Subcommittee Staff Director, Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-NY)
• Rita Jaramillo, Chief of Staff, Rep. Ruben Hinojosa (D-TX)
• Melissa Koloszar, Chief of Staff, Rep. James Moran (D-VA)
• Jason Marino, Sr. Health & Social Policy Advisor, Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV)
• Cynthia Martin, Legislative Director/Counsel, Rep. John Conyers (D-MI)
• Susan McAvoy, Admin. Asst., Rep. Martin Frost (D-TX)
• Terri McCullough, Chief of Staff, Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)
• Maria Robles Meier, Executive Director, Congressional Hispanic Caucus
• Jeff Mendelsohn, Chief of Staff, Rep. Ciro Rodriguez (D-TX)
• Neil Naraine, Legislative Fellow, Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA)
• Julie Nickson, Admin. Asst., Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA)
• Gail Ravnitzky, Chief of Staff, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA)
• Michael Rious, Sr. Legislative Asst., Rep. Al Wynn (D-MD)
• Drey Samuelson, Chief of Staff, Sen. Tim Johnson (D-SD)
• Scott Schloegel, Chief of Staff, Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI)
• Lisa Sherman, Chief of Staff, Rep. Susan Davis (D-CA)
• Lisa Venus, Counsel, Democratic Budget Committee
• Larry Walker, Legislative Director, Rep. Major Owens (D-NY)
• Jennifer Walsh, Admin. Asst., Rep. Dennis Cardoza (D-CA)
• Monique Clendinen Watson, Chief of Staff, Del. Donna Christensen (D-VI)
• Rachel Redington Werner, Dep. Chief of Staff, Rep. Jim Turner (D-TX)
• Stanley White, Chief of Staff, Rep. Robert Brady (D-PA)
• Patrice Willoughby, Chief of Staff, Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D-OH)

Clearly, there is no relationship between ideology and the ability to recognize that you are in the matrix. Also, remember that freeing fellow Democrats from the matrix is better than being angry at them for being in the matrix.

Pass these along.

•  Please take action

  And urge others to do the same.

  by Chris Bowers on Fri Jan 21, 2005 at 11:18:15 AM PDT

  •  RECOMMENDED

    Well, I seriously doubt the Chief of Staff of my Congressman, Howard Berman, will attend -- but I'll write to be sure. Same for Barbara Bozer's CoS...

    I'm betting Dianne "Dick" Feinstein's CoS will attend regardless of the mail volume -- but I'll write nevertheless.

    by Maryscott OConnor on Fri Jan 21, 2005 at 11:26:32 AM PDT

    •  All-Partisans: David Castagnetti

      former Director of Congressional Relations for Kerry-Edwards (and brother-in-law of Mary-Beth Cahill) - now a partner at  tort-reform lobby firm Mehlman Vogel Castagnetti (that Mehlman is Bruce Mehlman, brother of Bush campaign manager and soon to be RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman).

      by dotpeople on Fri Jan 21, 2005 at 11:58:19 AM PDT

      •  This reminds me....

        whatever became of Tom DeLay's K Street strategy?

        As you may recall, he announced a policy to close out any lobbying firms with Dem ties, or something to that effect.  Does anyone know if this has "worked"(not that I personally what kind of metrics we would use to evaluate the effectiveness of the policy -- although look who has consolidated power)?

        Which brings up an idea I had...what if we began to do, in a systematic way, what Chris has done here, i.e. identify and create action items at the points where influence is being peddled?

        by maxschell on Fri Jan 21, 2005 at 01:01:55 PM PDT

        •  K Street Project...yes

          I was told by at least one lobbyist friend that I was radioactive because I'm a Dem...said DeLay and Santorum had "put the word out," and that Dems were unlikely to be hired at any of the K Street firms for the immediate future.

          by blue goose on Fri Jan 21, 2005 at 09:43:08 PM PDT

  •  laying it out clearly

    Thank you for this letter. A week or so ago, someone mentioned Mercatus and the retreat, but really didn't lay out where the influence and funding came from. You've done that clearly and succinctly.  As Deep Throat said, "Follow the money."

    by Paul in Berkeley on Fri Jan 21, 2005 at 12:15:45 PM PDT

    •  Mystery solved

      Anyone who has been wondering why so many Democrats were co-opted for Bush's plans to destroy the country and the whole darned world need only look at that list.  They were bought and paid for.  

      by Lois on Sat Jan 22, 2005 at 02:38:39 PM PDT

  •  action taken(n/t)

    by osf on Fri Jan 21, 2005 at 12:46:04 PM PDT

  •  Chris

    Are there any online resources which would help us in identifying the CoS for our Sentators and Reps?  I think writing directly to them is more effective than an email to the general-contact address.

    -AG
    

    by AlphaGeek on Fri Jan 21, 2005 at 01:10:01 PM PDT

    •  Google or pay...

      So far I could only find the Congressional Staff Directory, which is not free and doesn't list the price, that I could find - which means you don't want to know.

      On Google I found some state listings but it is hard to tell how current they are:

      • Massachusetts Congressional Delegation - 108th Congress

      • Oregon Congressional Delegation

      I didn't go through the entire result list. I leave it to you to look for more - I only did this of the goodness of my heart, since MY CoS will almost certainly be there anyway (my non-rep is Weldon. Your pity is accepted.)  Search string I used: "Congressional Chief of Staff".  Variations on that might also yield new results.

      It would be really nice if anyone who finds current information on Congressional staffers, would add this to dkosopedia.  I looked in dkosopedia and didn't find anything.

      by MH in PA on Fri Jan 21, 2005 at 04:36:20 PM PDT

•  as if I need to say it

  Please recommend this diary

  by bornadem on Fri Jan 21, 2005 at 11:25:15 AM PDT

•  Chris

  Thanks for the reminder of that conference and the action alert. Emails to my congressional delegation forthcoming.

  by Lahdee on Fri Jan 21, 2005 at 11:28:41 AM PDT

•  These retreats have

  been an annual event for a few years now.  They also hosted two CBC retreats last year.

  Wonder if there is any way to find out who attended these retreats in the past.  We can only wonder if these bi-partisan retreats have influenced DEM Chiefs of Staff enough to encourage their bosses to behave the way most of them have since GWB moved into the WH.

  by Marie on Fri Jan 21, 2005 at 11:37:29 AM PDT

  •  The hand that feeds the CBC. /sarcasm

    So is this why the CBC are world champion experts in 'drive by politics'? I wonder...

    by HunterKiller on Fri Jan 21, 2005 at 05:46:43 PM PDT

•  Any plans

  for an attendee wall of shame?

  Just a thought.

  by firedoglake on Fri Jan 21, 2005 at 11:46:16 AM PDT

  •  one thing i'd like to see compiled

    on a running basis are any links between any democrats and the scaife foundation. that group crosses every line i have.

    by heterodoxy on Fri Jan 21, 2005 at 11:56:42 AM PDT

    •  Flashback

      Back in my college days in the early 70s, I worked night shift in a Pittsburgh steel plant for a summer. One night we had small explosion in which two employees got slightly injured. This freaked me out to no end since I didn't think that the plant was particulary safe.

      Finally, the night foreman tried to calm me down. "Son, if you don't think we are safe, you should work over there," he said pointing across the river at the Scaife steel plant.  "They take dead people out of there every week".

      I didn't find that reassuring, but I have always hated Scaife.

      by Ed in Montana on Fri Jan 21, 2005 at 01:20:39 PM PDT

      •  Scaife's newspaper in Pittsburgh

        Might be going tits up.  No link, but I saw a story referencing layoffs, resignations and cutbacks in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette the other day.

        by roxtar on Fri Jan 21, 2005 at 01:25:33 PM PDT

        •  Interesting

          The same paper whose editor Teresa Heinz-Kerry told to f**k off last year if I remember correctly.

          by Ed in Montana on Fri Jan 21, 2005 at 01:44:56 PM PDT

          •  Yep

            And I bet she knew exactly who she was talking to - even if most of the country didn't.

            by Catriana on Fri Jan 21, 2005 at 02:29:06 PM PDT

        •  I hope you mean the Tribune Review

          The Post Gazette is the only alternative to Scaife's rag in Pittsburgh! Please clarify.

          by musicsleuth on Fri Jan 21, 2005 at 04:22:08 PM PDT

          •  yep

            its the trib.  just found the article that was pubished in the PG.

            by juls on Fri Jan 21, 2005 at 06:19:48 PM PDT

          •  The Post-Gazette is a real newspaper.

            It's kind of funny that you refer to the P-G as the alternative to the Trib.  The Trib is a worthless rag published in Westmoreland County (not Pittsburgh or Allegheny County) that purports to be a Pittsburgh newspaper but is nothing more than Dickie Scaife's vanity screed.  (I'm not so sure about the intellectual power of the "journalists" out there.  I have on occasion heard Trib reporters (mostly sports guys) interviewed on radio or TV and am always amused at their inability to speak English properly. )

            If it is true that the Trib will go under, it is a blessing from the gods.

            by Merle on Sat Jan 22, 2005 at 06:45:42 AM PDT

  •  That's a helluva fine idea!

    Tell the world about every Dem CoS that shows up.

    Mug shots, the whole bit.  And then organize complainacalls from the districts in question.

    by by foot on Fri Jan 21, 2005 at 09:13:23 PM PDT

•  Some people obviously do know better...

  From the retreat announcement:

  l Quality Networking with over 100 of your senior Hill colleagues, from both chambers, both parties, and a wide range of committee and leadership offices.

  They are already planning on 400+ no-shows, or possibly due to:

  Attending the Retreat is by invitation only. Early registration is strongly recommended to avoid being placed on a waiting list. Please CLICK HERE. If you have any questions or comments, please direct them to David Nutter at 703-993-4952.

  You might find that the chiefs of staff for Boxer, Tubbs-Jones, Kucinich, et al., might not know what you're talking about...

  by bonobo on Fri Jan 21, 2005 at 12:03:47 PM PDT

  •  Lots of nutters

    Is that Mr. Nutter's wife Sarah speaking Saturday at GMU?

    Or are all these retreat people just nuts?  Yes, it's a rhetorical question.

    by ubikkibu on Fri Jan 21, 2005 at 12:55:44 PM PDT

•  Roemer connection?

  Isn't this the retreat that Roemer was pimping to Democrats?

  by Leggy Starlitz on Fri Jan 21, 2005 at 12:11:26 PM PDT

  •  It is

    Maybe he will make attendance mandatory if he becomes DNC chair.

    by captainebo on Fri Jan 21, 2005 at 12:26:28 PM PDT

•  Gosh do you think they invited Bernie Sander's guy

   I sent him a head's up anyway.

   thanks for the info.

    too bad you don't have an agenda.  Is this a deprogramming session?  could explain a lot.

  by Lunch Lady on Fri Jan 21, 2005 at 12:14:59 PM PDT

•  Interesting.

  You know, at first I was going to simply comment how similar this conference-hosting strategy looked to the Law & Economics seminars (WARNING: annoying music!) that George Mason University Law School holds annually for federal judges.

  That's when I realized that the Mercatus Institute is also an organ of GMU.

  Ladies and gentlemen, this is the political equivalent of a time-share sales pitch. You're invited to a free weekend at a retreat or some other fancy digs, and bombarded with thinly-disguised rhetoric about how you need to reconsider everything you think you already know about... yadda, yadda, yadda.

  Read up on the GMU seminars here.

  by Kagro X on Fri Jan 21, 2005 at 12:24:23 PM PDT

  •  Worthy of note:

    The ABC News 20/20 piece, Judge seminars: to inform or influence? is no longer available online. I did, however, find this statement on the piece from Senators Kerry and Feingold:

    Tonight, millions of Americans will see the results of a hidden camera investigation on ABC News' 20/20. There is a major perception problem when corporations with cases pending before the courts underwrite junkets for judges. Trust and confidence in our judicial system will surely suffer when these images are burned into the public consciousness.
    This is a self-inflicted wound. For over two years, judges, policy makers, editorial boards and public-interest groups have been demanding that the Judiciary close the loophole in judicial ethics rules that permits judges to attend biased seminars, hosted in luxury locations, and funded by corporations and other special interests.

    At the end of the last Congress, we introduced legislation that would have banned these private seminars once and for all. Our hope was that our bill would finally be enough to trigger action by the Judicial Branch. It was not. We will introduce new legislation this Congress and this time we will insist on its passage until the very end. The public's trust and confidence is the bedrock upon which our independent judiciary depends -- to keep it intact, our citizens need to know that the system is not rigged against them in favor of big special interests.

    The same sentiments should apply here. It is, after all, largely the same people behind the seminars. Just targeting a different branch.

    by Kagro X on Fri Jan 21, 2005 at 12:30:30 PM PDT

    •  Many of those judicial seminars

      Are held out here at the Big Sky ski resort south of Bozeman, Montana. One of the right wingnut think tanks in Bozeman helps sponser them.

      by Ed in Montana on Fri Jan 21, 2005 at 01:42:34 PM PDT

      •  Sorry....tackless joke to follow...

        If we know the location maybe we can find one of those "turn-everyone-gay" bombs and drop it in the area... man would that make my day... ;)

        by I Want My American Pride Back on Fri Jan 21, 2005 at 04:06:56 PM PDT

  •  More.

    Note the parallels in funding between Mercatus (shown above) and the Law and Economics Center (source:

  • Koch Family (and Claude Lambe Foundation): $260,000
    
  • Olin Foundation (link is to my pet dKosopedia project): $968,000
    
  • Scaife Family Foundations: $955,000
    
  • Bradley Foundation: $163,550
    
  • Earhart Foundaton: $60,000
    
  • McKenna Foundation: $120,000