Americans for Jobs, Healthcare, and Progressive Values-Who are they?

http://www.progressivevalues.com/default.asp?ID=2

I found this website and clicked on the "About Us" tab. The sugar daddy for this operation is former Congressman Edward Feighan, who is also the "President and Chief Executive Officer of ProCentury Corporation, the parent of the Century Insurance Group".

"Americans for something else entirely" is my suggestion.

"Progressive values", my eye. Promoting the biggest single losing issue for Dems (gun control), and lending aid and comfort to the Bush regime's slaughter in Iraq by promoting one of the Bush regime's biggest lies about the Middle East (Islamists want to destroy America), makes that group by definition NOT progressive.

Sounds like somebody finds the idea of the grassroots taking back the Democratic Party a little threatening to their personal power base.

http://www.opensecrets.org/indivs/search.asp?NumOfThou=0&txtName=Feighan%2C+Edward&txtState=%28all+states%29&txtZip=&txtEmploy=&txtCand=&txt2004=Y&txt2002=Y&txt2000=Y&Order=N

FEIGHAN, EDWARD
LAKEWOOD,OH 44107
CENTURY INSURANCE GROUP/DIRECTOR
2/5/2003
$2,000
Gephardt, Richard A

FEIGHAN, EDWARD
LAKEWOOD,OH 44107
CENTURY BUSINESS SER
4/21/1999
$250
Democratic National Cmte

FEIGHAN, EDWARD F
NEW YORK,NY 10003
ALLIANCE FINANCIAL LTD
11/12/1999
$1,000
Flanagan, Edward Sawyer

FEIGHAN, EDWARD F
NEW YORK,NY 10003
ALLIANCE FINANCIAL LTD
6/16/1999
$1,000
Flanagan, Edward Sawyer

FEIGHAN, EDWARD MR
LAKEWOOD,OH 44107
SELF-EMPLOYED/CONSULTANT
6/17/2003
$2,000
DNC Services Corp

----------------------------

On Edit:

http://www.opensecrets.org/indivs/search.asp?NumOfThou=0&txtName=Feighan%2C+Edward&txtState=%28all+states%29&txtZip=&txtEmploy=&txtCand=&txt1998=Y&txt1996=Y&Order=N

FEIGHAN, EDWARD
CLEVELAND,OH 44125
INVESTOR
11/2/1998
$1,000
Levin, Sander M

FEIGHAN, EDWARD
LAKEWOOD,OH 44107
ALLIANCE HOLDING COMPANY
5/16/1997
$1,000
Gephardt, Richard A

FEIGHAN, EDWARD F
LAKEWOOD,OH 44107
3/26/1998
$250
Green, Mark

:hi:

here in Iowa. I still have a bad taste in my mouth from him giving Bush war powers so that Gep could clear the air for his presidential bid--a blatantly political ploy that has lead to countless deaths and more to come. In my book, Gep's playing politics is just as disasterous as Bush playing presidential.

I saw the ads and didn't think they were awful, although I did think they were mediocre (not quite the same thing).

There wasn't a thing said in them that people here and elsewhere don't say all the time, and every point brought up was relevant to the campaign. I didn't notice any lies or gross distortions. Hardball? Yep. Mild, and of inferior quality, compared to what Bush would throw at Dean? I don't even need to answer.

It will be interesting to see how the Dean campaign counters it. Will they just use it to gather more money or will they refute the charges through ads or possibly a public statement? Gephardt is an old school politician, he won't pull any punches and is willing to get down and dirty.

It does attack Dean only, however. It says "Howard Dean just cannot compete with George Bush on foreign policy". ...

If the sponsors want to come out and say who they are and who they ARE supporting, assuming they believe *some democrat* can compete with dumya, that's fine. They are hiding. But it will be discovered.

http://blog.deanforamerica.com/archives/002665.html

I watched all the commercials on the site, so I have no idea what 'View commercial' is supposed to mean. As for finding out who did it, it's hardly the point, is it? My assumption is, it was someone who has adopted an 'Anyone But Dean' mentality to some extent or another, which I can certainly understand. Ultimately what matters is twofold: the immediate -- will these attack ads have an impact on the election; and the long-term -- will campaign finance laws be enacted to stop these sorts of ends-around the process, which is something I'd like to see.

But at this point, only dealing with the efficacy of the ads, these are love taps compared to what the Republicans would deal out.

for those who haven't seen it.

For all I know all eight other candidates have adopted an ABD mentality. As well as yourself, I gather.

I'm not comparing this to what rove media will deal out. That isn't the issue here.

Finding out who is doing it is precisely the point. But since you are ABD, I doubt you are interested in that undertaking.
We are interested in finding out who is behind this, and most especially why they don't want to be discovered.

If other candidates don't care about this, and see it as just doing their dirty work for them, you better believe Dean voters want to know who it is.

Beat them up? Burn them in effigy? Stick voodoo needles in their images? Subject them to public ridicule at one of your cult meetings? Issue a fatwa? I don't know exactly what 'finding out' is going to do for you.

Your candidate started the dirty pool, and now he's getting some of his own back.

will be used to inform voters. You are in favor of informed voters?

Anything Dean has ever said (which you refer to as dirty pool) has been said openly and directly. He doesn't hide and expect someone else to take his shots for him.

What if your candidate is involved in some way? He's running on a platform of superior ability in foreign affairs.

Even if you don't want to know, plenty of voters do. IMO, no one who wants to hide in the background, deceiving voters about their true identities is fit to set foreign policy.

He hides behind Jesse Jackson Jr. for his Confederate Flag remarks. He hides behind Al Gore for his newfound love of the 11th commandment. But that's nitpicking.

'Hiding in the shadows' has nothing to do with one's ability to fashion policy, foreign or otherwise. It sure as hell didn't hurt Nixon, who was one of the slimiest, yet accomplished, people in the White House. You're just pissed about the ads, and you want something or someone to take it out on. Time to grow up and learn to take stuff like that like an adult, because if Dean's the nominee, imagine all the wealthy Republicans, stymied by the $2k limit, who will be 'hiding in the shadows' and launching attack ad after attack ad. Better get your blood pressure checked, because if you're pissed about this one, you'll pop with rage after the Republicans are done.

Personally, I'm not into revenge. I think information is more powerful.

I am planning to vote in the presidential election, so I want all the information I need to make an informed decision.

Dean's voters and campaign staff are not afraid of taking on the indumbment. The ABD group doesn't believe he can beat w anyway, so why would *you* want to address that issue at this point?

I would prefer you spared me an emotional evaluation and your opinion on my maturity. That's not the topic under discussion.

Nixon is a good comparison. He thought he could hide, and it cost him his job. I'm not sure how you are rating his "acomplishments". If you think we need another Nixonian for president, would that be General Clark?

the voters about their true identities historically have much more to do with foriegn policy than the guy out front.

And if you can clear the film from your vision, the only reason other candidates are opposing Dean is because THEY want to win. There is no such animal as "anybody but Dean" in this race. There are lots of people who say "me, me, me" such as Kerry and Gephardt, etc, but they aren't united in a holy crusade to bring down the white knight.

They are trying to win an election. Dean is ahead. They attack Dean.

How hard is that to figure out? There is no "conspiracy" to deny your guy the coronation your camp seems to expect, there is only politics.

These ads are out of line, and they should be stopped if possible. Certainly, Gephardt should consider returning that donation from the guy running them but I don't expect he will.

As for your opinion of your candidate, I heard the same things about McGovern and McCarthy and, yeah, Goldwater and Perot. It was true about Perot. The rest of the guys were politicians who rode a horse as far as it would take them. Had they won the odds are the people who would have been most disappointed would have been their fondest partisans.

"don't trust leaders
and watch the parking meters..."

And, oh yeah. I support Clark because I think he is the only guy in the field who has a shot at beating an incumbent president in a time of alleged war. A long shot, for sure, but a lot better than your Yankee governor who signed a civil union law and wants to revoke all of Bush's tax cuts. Dean could wrap himself in the Confederate Battle Flag and it won't help him.

Just my opinion, of course.

Will not vote for them should they somehow get the nod. Gep will never get my vote, and to think I once drove 60 miles round trip in a snow storm to vote for him. How dumb I was. I am not sure I want to be a democrat any more. Makes me sick.

fully expect the rpukes to employ the manufacuterd fear of the boogey man to prop up George Bush. We also expect democrats to repudiate the contrived fearmongering, not play to it.

Accepting the Bush regime's claims and excuses for their Middle East Policy ("they" want to destroy America), is a gross distortion at best.

But I make no mistake regarding the intentions of Bin Laden and those of his ilk: they really would like to destroy the West and the secularism it stands for. So while I agree that using the picture of Bin Laden was aggressive, I really have no problem with the message it's conveying. Are we in danger of being destroyed? Not a chance. Is the threat of further terrorism real? Yes. Does it justify the extreme reaction of Bush, Ashcroft & Co? No. Will the Republicans run ads like that? Yes they will, and more effective ones. And I think that's the real point of the ad.

Yes, Bin Laden probably would want to destroy America, but the ad seems to be using Bin Laden to raise doubts about Dean's position on the Iraq invasion, which has nothing to do with Bin Laden and his intentions. And in any case, whether one likes Howard Dean or not, the ad plays right into the hands of the Bush regime by accepting Bush's foreign policy views at face value.

If I was Gephardt I'd return Feighan's money, though he probably won't. This is a real cheap and shoddy shot at Dean and no one should contenance it in any way.

Hanging it around Gephardt because someone gave him a donation is just bogus, however.

Exactly what foreign policy experience does Gephardt have?

ProCentury: (this was 11/20/2003) what date did K&G's staff members reassign themselves?

Beginning in 1982, Feighan held elected offices for 20 consecutive years. He served as a State Representative for six years, a Cuyahoga County Commissioner for four years and a Member of the United States House of Representatives for 10 years. Feighan has been recognized as a leading authority on foreign policy and international trade and finance.
http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/newswire/midwest/2003/11/20/34303.htm

ProCentury: http://www.centurysurety.com/century/company/associations/index.html

The Century Insurance Group is the principal investment of ProCentury Holdings Corporation, an Ohio-based holding company for a group of financial services entities. ProCentury is privately held by members of management along with five community banks. As such, it is believed to be the first entry of banks into insurance under the 1999 federal financial modernization law, the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act.


This is his former company:
http://www.cbizinc.com/Default.asp?bhcp=1
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/pr?s=CBIZ
Steven Gerard, 57 Chairman, CEO $ 943.00K N/A
Jerome Grisko, Jr., 41 Pres, COO $ 431.00K N/A
Rick Burdick, 51 Vice Chairman N/A N/A
Ware Grove, 52 CFO, Sr. VP $ 341.00K N/A
Leonard Miller, 63 Sr. VP, Accounting, Tax & Advisory $ 406.00K N/A

The PR Firm: Performance-based Internet Marketing and CRM services.
http://www.iprocentral.com/Designers117/wind.htm

Web hosting:
http://www.yellowdoginteractive.com/default.asp?ID=112

*** Who were the groups Soros donated to?

Is Secrecy a Progressive Value?

Sunday, December 14, 2003; Page B06

SOME HARD-HITTING ADS have been running in Iowa. One compares former Vermont governor Howard Dean to President Bush, citing both men's "top grades" from the National Rifle Association. The latest notes that "Howard Dean and George Bush stood together and supported the unfair NAFTA trade agreement." At the end, the announcer intones, "So if you thought Howard Dean had a progressive record, check the facts. And please, think again." But it's not any of Mr. Dean's rivals who are seeking this reconsideration. Instead, it's a new entity that calls itself "Americans for Jobs, Healthcare and Progressive Values."

Values that don't include letting voters know who's footing the bill. The group has spent $230,000 for the first week of ads, but it won't say where the money is coming from. Under the out-of-sync reporting schedule that governs such groups, donors' names don't have to be revealed until early February, after the caucuses are safely over. Meanwhile, its identity is getting more and more mysterious: Early last week, its president was Timothy L. Raftis, a former aide to Sen. Tom Harkin; now, a new president has suddenly appeared on the group's Web site: former representative Edward Feighan (D-Ohio). The group's treasurer is fundraiser David Jones, who has worked for one of Mr. Dean's chief rivals, Rep. Richard A. Gephardt of Missouri -- but suddenly, it has a new spokesman, John Kerry's former press secretary, Robert Gibbs, which might suggest, to the conspiracy-minded, an effort to deflect attention from a possible Gephardt connection. (The Gephardt campaign says it knows nothing about the group.)

So is the money from unions that back Mr. Gephardt but don't want to be publicly connected to this anti-Dean campaign? At least some such unions have been solicited. Or is it from a few wealthy donors who don't like Mr. Dean -- and perhaps are backing another one of the trailing Democratic candidates? From Republicans who want to take Mr. Dean down a few notches? There's no way for a voter in Iowa to know, not in time for that information to make a difference. The group could voluntarily disclose its backers before the legal deadline, but it won't. "The reason is that's what we've chosen to do. . . . We want to ensure that we have full disclosure rather than piecemeal," Mr. Raftis told us.

…
'
This outside-group dodge is troubling enough when employed by those who don't pretend to believe in campaign finance reform. From those who pose as champions of "progressive values," it's despicable. "I believe strongly in the view of Thomas Jefferson that an informed electorate helps insure the strength of democracy," Mr. Raftis said on the group's Web site. Informed, that is, of what he chooses to tell them. What hypocrisy.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A61289-2003Dec12.html

You support full disclosure, right? Well, then you should push the governor to reveal his records so that voters can see what he's hiding. Otherwise, you're a hypocrite.

We want to find out who these people are.
If there aren't five or six open threads about Dean's records, maybe it's time for a new one.

during the GOP primary? The ad attacked John McCain's environmental record. It turned out that the Texans for the Environment were 3 people that had received prison construction contracts from Governor George Bush.

Nice to see we have the same kind of rats in the Democratic Party.

That's my gut reaction to this thing. It's dirty politicking and it disgusts me.

to claim to represent "democrats", but fail to say WHICH "democrats"? How did we democrats manage to surive so far without this group's indoctrination?
The name and ad refer to "progressives", but most voters don't view themselves with that title. It is being marketed to democrats for a democratic election.

An earlier post gives the website for associations of the ProCentury banking/insurance group. We can look into those groups for more clues.

bbl.

but you can only submit proof.

If the Dean camp gets into the "lies and innuendos" game we will end up with our own little McCarthy pogrom right here in the Democratic party.

Right now, I can unequivocally state for the record that I had nothing to do with these ads. Lets hear from the other 200 million plus Americans until we hunt this down.

:kick:

I suggest everyone who thinks this ad stinks should do the same.

Welcome to the Soros paid ads. Expect many more.

Edward F. Feighan was Bill Clinton's campaign Communications Director who got pretty close to Hillary at the Institute for Policy Studies
http://www.ips-dc.org/index.htm

It was Edward F. Feighan who introduced the Brady Bill in the House in 1987 as the NRA campaigned heavily against the gun control issue. http://www.saf.org/LawReviews/Aborn1.html

George Stephanopoulos was his Administrative Assistant and later his Chief of Staff.
http://63.147.65.175/books/chap0411b.htm

Served on the Clinton Administration: Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions
http://dwardmac.pitzer.edu/dward/classes/congpres/sim00.html

Do we have any concrete evidence that Soros is funding this outfit? Any web links?

I do know that Soros is a big MoveOn funder, which would seem to negate any suspicion that he would be behind the anti-Dean ads.

thanks for the research. Soros did enter my mind.

I'm not on a vendetta here .. but if the last three years have shown us ANYTHING . it might be that we are not safe, better off, happy, understanding or any of the other BS the WH would have us believe when there are moneyed-powerful people behind the scenes pulling strings and running world agenda to suit their own narrow interests.
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