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
Christopher_j_bowers@yahoo.com
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.