Common Cause: As Nonpartisan as Moveon.org

While browsing through the web today, I noticed an advertisement to sign a petition for the "nonpartisan, nonprofit" lobby and advocacy organization called Common Cause. According to their mission statement, Common Cause is a "nonpartisan, grassroots organization dedicated to restoring the core values of American democracy, reinventing an open, honest and accountable government that serves the public interest, and empowering ordinary people to make their voices heard in the political process.”

Although the group was started by conservative, John W. Gardner in 1970, the organization has morphed into anything but conservative in nature.

Common Cause has been hi-jacked by democrats and is far from being nonpartisan. The president and CEO is Robert W. Edgar, a former Pennsylvania Democratic congressman, and the chairman of the outfit is Robert Reich, Bill Clinton's former Labor Secretary. Also, the head of legislative affairs is Sarah Dufendach, who served as chief of staff to former U.S. Congressman David Bonior (Democrat-MI). Many of you will not remember, but Bonior filed over 75 ethics charges against then Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich. A nonpartisan if ever there was one.

Do you recall the Courage Campaign protests around February 2011? The quote below is from Calitics.com.

"The Courage Campaign coordinated a diverse coalition of organizations, bringing together activists - with a broad array of concerns about the Koch brothers - to counter the billionaires cabal. Our partners include Common Cause, CNA, AFSCME, HCAN, Greenpeace, California Student Sustainability Coalition, CREDO, MoveOn, COPEPINK, The Ruckus Society and The Other 98%. My role was to coordinate logistics for the coalition, which is a cohesive panoply of groups committed to hold billionaires accountable for the damage they have done (and stop them before they cause any further harm). This demonstration is the kickoff for national campaigns for corporate accountability and good government this year." 

As part of the big shindig, Calitics.com also reported:

"Common Cause hosted a panel, "Uncloaking the Kochs," in a nearby movie theater, and you can view that at Common Cause's youtube page. Over 350 attendees attended the panel on the Koch brothers influence on our political process, including panelists including Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of UC-Irvine's law school, Van Jones, Bob Edgar, and Lee Fang. The panel discussion and the rally was broadcast on ustream so many more participated from around the globe."

Let's see, that's Robert "the Bob" Edgar from Common Cause with Van "the Communist" Jones, who was Obama's Green Jobs Czar until a little less-than-positive reports began to surface.

The East Bay Express did a profile on Van Jones on November 2, 2005. Based on the information from the story, Politifact.com wrote that:

"Jones was arrested in 1992 during the Rodney King protests. The charges were dropped later, but while in jail, Jones said, "I met all these young radical people of color — I mean really radical, communists and anarchists. And it was, like, 'This is what I need to be a part of.' I spent the next 10 years of my life working with a lot of those people I met in jail, trying to be a revolutionary."
"In the months that followed," the Express article said, "he let go of any lingering thoughts that he might fit in with the status quo. 'I was a rowdy nationalist on April 28th, and then the verdicts came down on April 29th,' he said. 'By August, I was a communist.'"
In 1994, the story states, Jones formed a socialist collective called Standing Together to Organize a Revolutionary Movement, or STORM.
According to a history of STORM written in the spring of 2004, the group held "structured political education" training at every meeting "to help members develop an understanding of the basics of Marxist politics." They "trained members on capitalism and wage exploitation, the state and revolution, imperialism and the revolutionary party."

Now, the big question is, why are these folks attacking David and Charles Koch? Well, it's because the two brothers have pumped over 100 million dollars into conservative and libertarian groups over the last three decades. Some of the more notable causes include Americans for Prosperty, the Heritage Foundation, FreedomWorks, the Cato Institute, and the Tea Party movement.

Common Cause also went after Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia. Why? Once again, primarily due to the Koch family. To read more about this you can go to the Common Cause website link.

Finally, the real mission of CommonCause.org is revealed. The organization seeks to eliminate  conservative funding of politicians or political groups during elections, while ignoring big unions and other groups bankrolling democrats. And what is the latest event most likely brought to you by the Common Cause cronies and the sponsors of the Courage Campaign? I'm guessing it's "The Occupy Wallstreet Wackos.