Rallying the Catholic Left

By Patrick J. Reilly

Summary: The 2012 race for the White House may depend heavily on the Catholic vote. Catholics signifi cantly contributed to President ’s election in 2008, but neither Democrats nor Republicans can claim their loyalty. If the embattled presi- dent again attracts Catholic support despite recent disputes with Catholic leaders, the cause will largely be a network of Catholic leftists, university faculty, union organizers, and Democratic Party strategists. They are determined to prove the Left’s appeal to Catholics, especially after the embarrassing defeat of the liberal Catholic Sen. John Kerry in his 2004 presidential bid.

wo organizations—Catholics United and Catholics in Alliance for the TCommon Good—are the most pow- erful groups hoping to damage Republicans in 2012 by appealing to Catholics’ traditional concern for the poor while trying to defuse concern over abortion. The latter issue has been problematic for the groups, because they must convince pro-life Roman Catholics to support mostly pro-choice Democrats by Catholic Democrats founder Eric McFadden (shown in mugshot above) was con- making the dubious claim that expanded victed of charges related to promoting an underage prostitution ring in Columbus, federal welfare programs will reduce abor- Ohio in 2009. tions among the poor.

These groups enjoy the assistance of a host of such infl uential Democratic-leaning groups July 2012 activists with ties to fi nancier George Soros, as Faith in Public Life and John Podesta’s CONTENTS the Tides Foundation and its affi liated Tides Center for American Progress. Rallying the Catholic Left Center, the Service Employees International Page 1 Union (SEIU), and the Democratic Party. These activists’ preferred battlegrounds are in Briefl y Noted Behind the curtain, they have support from the media and at highly secularized Catholic Page 8 OrganizationTrends universities because liberal reporters and care bill. Whether such challenges can be whose Catholic Voting Project sought to professors lean heavily in their favor. overcome will signifi cantly test the Left’s counter religious conservatives during John political strength among Catholics. Kerry’s 2004 campaign. The Project set out The 2004 presidential campaign for Kerry— to oppose Catholic Answers, an educational a Catholic who dissented from his church Catholics United group that emphasized pro-life issues over on key moral issues including abortion and When Congressman (R-Wisc.) economic concerns in its 2004 “Voter’s Guide marriage—awakened Democrat strategists agreed to speak at in for Serious Catholics,” and to denounce and activists to the need for Catholic-left April, the stakes were high. As a leading defi - the “personal theological opinion” of then- organizations that would do battle against cit hawk and Catholic legislator, he intended Archbishop Raymond Burke of St. Louis, the bishops and conservative laymen. But to present his argument for federal budget who likewise told Catholics to emphasize despite concerted outreach to “religious discipline and conservatism in the context of moral issues like abortion and same-sex voters” by the Kerry campaign and the estab- his understanding of Catholic social teaching marriage when voting. lishment of a new group called the Catholic on “subsidiarity,” the principle that the sim- Voting Project, Kerry lost both the Catholic plest form of organization—beginning with The original director of Catholics United, vote and the election. the individual and then the family—should Korzen brought a hard-nosed tenacity to the be responsible for human welfare whenever organization, probably drawing on his earlier The Democrats learned their lesson. Ex- possible. Ryan knew to expect opposition at career as an organizer for SEIU and activist panding and improving upon their efforts the nation’s oldest Catholic university, which for the Catholic peace lobby Pax Christi. in 2004, Catholic-left groups played a major in recent decades has become a bastion of Last year he moved to Maine to establish role in President Obama’s election in 2008. “politically correct” orthodoxy and dissent Maine’s Majority, a grassroots political ac- Now fi rmly established after eight years of from Catholic teaching. tion group, leaving Catholics United in the groundwork, they are prepared to support hands of co-founder James Salt. the president in a tough reelection campaign, Not surprisingly, about 90 members of even while the defends its Georgetown’s staff and faculty signed a Salt is a close ally of Health and Human religious liberty from oppressive regulations public letter to Ryan, aghast that he would Services Secretary . Until stemming from President Obama’s health cite Catholic social teaching in his opposi- 2005 when Catholics United was launched, tion to heavy federal spending on welfare Salt was the director of “faith outreach” Editor: Matthew Vadum programs and high federal taxes. efforts for the Democratic Party in Kansas Publisher: Terrence Scanlon and did “messaging work” for Sebelius, who But it was the group Catholics United that was then governor. He has also worked with Organization Trends is published by Capital Research made a spectacle of what was supposed to left-leaning Catholic groups including Pax Center, a non-partisan education and be a serious conversation. “Were you there Christi and NETWORK, and he was on the research organization, classifi ed by the IRS as a 501(c)(3) public charity. when they crucifi ed the poor?” read the 50- “launch team” of Catholics in Alliance for foot Catholics United banner outside the the Common Good (CACG). Address: 1513 16th Street, N.W. event. The group denounced Ryan’s budget Washington, DC 20036-1480 as “immoral” and “an outrageous slap in the His ties to Sebelius are signifi cant for Phone: (202) 483-6900 face to our nation’s poorest and most vulner- Catholics. As head of the U.S. Department Long-Distance: (800) 459-3950 able citizens.” Together with the protesting of Health and Human Services, she recently E-mail Address: staff and faculty, Catholics United captured required many charitable religious institu- [email protected] media attention and distracted Americans tions to provide insurance coverage for Web Site: from Ryan’s argument. abortion-inducing drugs, sterilizations, and http://www.capitalresearch.org contraceptives, thereby provoking Catholic Organization Trends welcomes let- But what may have appeared to be grassroots bishops to fi le a fl urry of lawsuits and decry ters to the editor. concern for the poor was nothing of the sort. the Obama administration’s violation of re- Reprints are available for $2.50 pre- Catholics United is a front for Democratic ligious liberty. Sebelius, although Catholic, paid to Capital Research Center. politics, co-founded by Christopher Korzen, has long been a supporter of abortion, a stance 2 July 2012 OrganizationTrends that led her bishop in Kansas to ask that she Salt should know about politics. Catholics about the same time by some of the same not present herself for Communion. United has taken a number of positions on political operatives, but CACG appears to public policy issues, generally in defense of have a much larger budget and broader sup- Such baggage persuaded many Catholics, government welfare programs and in sup- port, perhaps because of its 501(c)(3) status. including some outspoken bishops, to op- port of Democratic politics. It has opposed Its annual income has fl uctuated depending pose President Obama’s 2009 nomination of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s cost-cutting on whether the year was a federal election Sebelius to lead HHS, but Catholics United measures, encouraged the “Occupy Wall year: $1.1 million in 2006, $829,000 in responded with an aggressive “Catholics Street” protestors, and backed President 2007, $1.1 million in 2008, and $686,000 for Sebelius” campaign. Declaring her a “woman of deep faith” with a record of “reducing the abortion rate in Kansas,” the group sought to soften her image among Catholics. A public letter supporting her nomination was signed by professors from major Catholic universities, many of whom had endorsed President Obama’s election the prior year.

More recently, Catholics United has chal- lenged the bishops over Sebelius’s health insurance mandate, urging Catholics to see a “silver lining” in the violation of their conscience rights: “Although we recognize the authority of Catholic teaching on the is- sue of contraception, we also acknowledge HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius with “Sesame Street” character Elmo at an that … increased access to contraceptive event unveiling a children’s health program, May 2009. services will dramatically reduce the inci- dence of abortion in America.” That’s an Obama’s health care law and regulations. in 2009 (the latest year for which records old argument used to calm pro-life voters, are available). but it’s based on a dubious claim that runs Designated by the IRS as a 501(c)(4) mem- counter to Americans’ experience since the bership organization that is permitted to CACG’s fi nancial reports also seem to reveal Sexual Revolution. lobby for legislation, Catholics United’s something about its role in helping Catholics annual fi nancial forms are not publicly United. The 2007 statement shows that It also refl ects the gentler side of Catholics available the way that reports for 501(c) CACG paid Korzen $84,821 for a 40-hour- United, which in May erupted with a fi erce (3) educational nonprofi ts are. But we per-week position, even though Korzen was response to the American bishops’ announce- know it has received grants from the Tides identifi ed as executive director of Catholics ment that more than 40 Catholic dioceses Foundation, a $170 million slush fund used United throughout that period. and organizations would be suing the Obama by foundations and others to support leftist administration to halt the HHS contraceptive organizations; for example, Tides provided CACG’s founding director was Alexia Kel- mandate. Calling the bishops’ religious lib- $35,000 in 2008 and $15,000 in 2010 for ley, who worked as the Kerry campaign’s erty concerns an “insult” to Christians who media outreach. religious outreach coordinator while Korzen are persecuted in other countries, Salt said was leading the Catholic Voting Project. Kel- the church’s leadership “is more interested Catholics in Alliance for the Common ley’s task was to turn Catholics’ attention to in playing politics than it is in providing for Good Kerry’s liberal economic positions—which the common good.” CACG is the larger cousin of Catholics traditionally have attracted Catholics to the United. Both organizations were established July 2012 3 OrganizationTrends

Democrat Party—and away from moral is- Party. Board member Edward McElroy Sweeney, who used the occasion to accuse sues like abortion. Kelley had previously was president of the American Federation the university of unfair labor practices that worked nearly a decade at the bishops’ of Teachers (AFT) when the union endorsed violate Catholic teaching. Catholic Campaign for Human Develop- both Kerry and Obama for president. (AFT, ment (CCHD), a controversial grant pro- of course, is one of the nation’s strongest op- Also last year, Schneck organized Catholic gram that gave more than $7 million to the ponents of any education reform that would professors to sign a letter opposing the now-disgraced organization ACORN on aid Catholic parochial schools.) The CACG policies of House Speaker John Boehner Kelley’s watch. advisory board includes Tom Chabolla, as- (R-Ohio), who had been invited to deliver sistant to the president of the SEIU; Tiffany the commencement address at Catholic The political orientation of CACG and its ties Heath, national organizer for the AFL-CIO; University. to the Obama administration are impossible and Steve Callahan, a former AFL-CIO coor- to hide—indeed, President Obama made his dinator of labor organizing campaigns. “From the apostles to the present, the Magis- regard for CACG perfectly clear with his terium of the Church has insisted that those 2009 selection of Kelley to direct the Center CACG has also tapped deeply into Catholic in power are morally obliged to preference for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partner- universities, well aware that its message the needs of the poor,” complained the ships under HHS Secretary Sebelius. He is especially welcome at institutions like professors in their letter to Boehner. “Your also tapped the founding chairman Elizabeth Georgetown and Notre Dame. The Rev. record in support of legislation to address Frawley Bagley, a leading donor to Demo- William Byron, a Jesuit priest who has the desperate needs of the poor is among the crats and the 2008 Obama campaign, to a been president of the Catholic University worst in Congress. This fundamental con- position at the State Department concerning of America and the University of Scranton, cern should have great urgency for Catholic interfaith relations around the globe. (Bagley serves on the CACG board. So does Steve policy makers. Yet, even now, you work in is perhaps most notorious for hosting a so- Schneck, director of the Institute for Policy opposition to it.” ciety bash in 2000 to display Cuban refugee Research and Catholic Studies at Catholic Elian Gonzalez after the boy was seized at University. The advisory board includes Politics of Compassion gunpoint on orders from President Clinton’s the president of the Association of Jesuit Perhaps CACG’s most important and in- Attorney General Janet Reno.) Colleges and Universities, as well as sev- famous action was its August 2008 release eral theologians and other professors from of a study by Professors Michael Bailey of Kelley’s successor as executive director, College, Georgetown University, Georgetown University and Joseph Wright Victoria Kovara, is a former community and elsewhere. of the , claiming organizer for the Gamaliel Foundation in to have discovered evidence that abortion Chicago, which played a signifi cant role in Schneck has been particularly vocal in rates could be driven down by redistributive President Obama’s rise to political power. support of CACG’s agenda. He signed policies aiding low-income Americans. The the statement supporting Notre Dame’s theory was that fi nancial hardship causes Co-founder Tom Perriello went on to serve honorary degree to President Obama as most abortions—a powerful argument for one term as a Democratic congressman and well as Catholics United’s letter supporting Catholics, if only it were true. Three months is now president of the Center for American Sebelius’s nomination to head HHS. He after the report’s release, CACG was forced Progress Action Fund. CACG’s chairman, was quoted recently in to abandon the study because of faulty re- Fred Rotondaro, is a senior fellow at the defending Georgetown’s choice of Sebelius search, and Georgetown’s Bailey declined to Center for American Progress, which is led as a graduation speaker; the article decep- put his name on a revised study fi nding far by former Clinton White House chief of staff tively identifi ed him as a professor without less of a benefi t to wealth redistribution. But John Podesta and vigorously backs President disclosing his political activism. Last year the Obama campaign had already benefi ted Obama’s “progressive” agenda. Schneck organized a conference at Catholic signifi cantly. University on the Catholic Church’s relation- CACG has interesting ties to organized labor, ship to labor unions that featured Alexia Just prior to releasing that report, CACG had which historically has had close relationships Kelley and AFL-CIO president emeritus John joined with the Catholic lobby NETWORK to the Catholic Church and the Democratic to organize a Philadelphia convention for the 4 July 2012 OrganizationTrends

“Common Good,” but with a clearly partisan teachings” and describes conservatism as through the Heinz Family Foundation since aim. Sponsored by a number of Catholic-left allowing “no room for Christ and no room 2006. groups and the AFL-CIO, the event included a for human love.” discussion of how to “mobilize for action for Catholic Democrats Election 2008.” Later Katie Paris, a leader In order to protect exorbitant tax Catholics United and CACG represent the at Faith in Public Life (a nondenominational cuts for the super-rich, some ad- new model of left-wing political outreach religious-left group funded overwhelmingly vocate terminating social programs to Catholics which claims the mantle of by George Soros and the Ford Foundation), that promote the poor and middle Catholic orthodoxy even while emphasiz- would tell the far-left Nation magazine that class, both at home and abroad, ing redistributive policies over fundamental CACG had been “very aggressive in this often in ways that are profoundly moral teachings. [2008] election cycle.” anti-life. Many have sought to deny the basic rights of workers to Their approach stands in contrast to the older Soon after President Obama’s election, organize and collectively bargain. model exemplifi ed by Catholics for Choice CACG publicly defended his selection as a In the strongest possible terms, we (formerly Catholics for a Free Choice), which commencement speaker and recipient of an denounce this new ideology as un- is a Ford Foundation-supported front group honorary degree at the University of Notre Christian, un-Catholic, and, indeed, for the abortion-rights lobby. Although Dame, despite public opposition from 83 as a perversion of America’s own Catholics for Choice embraces policy goals bishops and more than 367,000 Catholics best traditions. very similar to its newer rivals, it makes who signed the Cardinal Newman Society’s no pretense of agreeing with the Catholic online petition. CACG purchased a full-page Funding for CACG’s efforts comes from church on abortion or contraception and is advertisement in the South Bend Tribune with sources that are not often Catholic-friend- not concerned with economic issues. There signatures from Catholics supporting Notre ly. is some evidence of confl ict with the newer Dame’s defi ance of the bishops. organizations: when Catholics for Choice The atheist George Soros has donated to director Jon O’Brien opposed CACG founder This year, CACG is back with a voter’s guide CACG through his philanthropies, giving Alexia Kelley’s appointment to HHS because for Catholics that predictably highlights left- $100,000 through the Foundation to Promote of her on-the-record support for restrict- ist concerns while undermining the bishops’ Open Society (2009) and $300,000 through ing abortion, Catholics United’s Korzen positions on abortion and religious liberty. his Open Society Institute (since 2007). publicly accused Catholics for Choice of On the latter topic, CACG embraces the “increasing irrelevance” and the “inability Obama administration’s proposal to force The Tides Foundation has contributed to offer any real solutions to the challenges insurance companies or third parties to pay $190,000 to CACG since 2007. Tides, of our day.” for sterilization and abortifacient coverage incidentally, is heavily funded by Soros. of employees at objecting Catholic institu- His Open Society Institute has given at Catholic Democrats, founded in 2005, is tions. The Catholic bishops have rejected least $25,776,623 to Tides and its affi liated more of the newer model—albeit with less the proposal because it still forces Catholic Tides Center since 1999. The Foundation clout because of serious scandal involving employers and employees to participate in to Promote Open Society, has given at its founder, Eric McFadden. In 2009 he was insurance coverage that violates Catholic least $9,844,312 to the Tides network since convicted of charges related to promoting morality. Indeed, many Catholic employ- 2009. an underage prostitution ring in Columbus, ers, such as the Washington, D.C. archdio- Ohio. McFadden was a signifi cant leader cese, self-insure and thus are the insurance The Arca Foundation, tied to former CACG among the Catholic Left: he founded Catho- company that would be faced to pay for the chairman Elizabeth Frawley Bagley, made lics for Kerry during the 2004 presidential conscience-violating coverage. $200,000 in grants since 2007. campaign, the next year served as president of a group called Catholics for Faithful The CACG voter’s guide attacks Tea Party ac- Teresa Heinz Kerry, wife of Sen. John Kerry Citizenship, was a spokesman for CACG in tivism as “rooted in explicitly anti-Christian (D-Mass.) has given $45,000 to CACG 2006, was ’s top organizer for

July 2012 5 OrganizationTrends

Catholic outreach during her 2008 campaign, claiming that abortions declined in Mas- chusetts. Local Bishop Robert McManus and directed the Offi ce of Faith-Based Initia- sachusetts after 2006, when then-Gov. Mitt had expressed concern about her fi delity to tives for Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland. Romney signed a universal health care law. Catholic teaching on abortion. Catholic Democrats was vocal in support of Today the president of Catholic Democrats Obamacare, even urging Catholic members “These bishops have one standard for Demo- is Dr. Patrick Whelan, a Harvard physician of Congress to give up partisanship for Lent crats and another standard for Republicans,” who was co-director of Catholics for Kerry in order to approve the health care law by complained Krueger, while delivering 20,000 and has served on the Faith Advisory Council Easter 2010. The prior year, Whelan ac- petition signatures to Bishop McManus in for former Gov. Howard Dean’s Democratic cused Rhode Island Bishop Thomas Tobin of support of Kennedy. “They are politicizing National Committee. Whelan has continued interfering in the health care debate because the faith.” to lead Catholic Democrats much in the same the bishop had written then-Congressman manner as McFadden, with aggressive par- Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.) a private letter Whose Politics? tisanship and disdain for bishops perceived years earlier, asking that he stop receiving The irony, of course, is that these Catholic-left to have a conservative bent. Communion because of his public dissent groups are often quite overtly partisan, and from church teachings. they frequently abuse Catholic teaching— The group sponsors Catholics for Obama- even to the point of undermining the Catholic Biden with the obvious mission of promoting Also in 2010, Catholic Democrats sought to bishops—for political aims. President Obama’s 2008 campaign and his infl uence mid-term congressional elections re-election this year. The website features a with a Catholic voter’s guide and a media But they also know that the average Ameri- welcome message from Catholic actor and campaign focused on so-called social justice can, perhaps even the average Catholic, does activist and a book-length issues. not understand distinctions between Catholic missive by Whelan on The Catholic Case teaching on issues like abortion—which the for Obama. Whelan writes: The organization has interesting ties to church teaches is always wrong—versus Voice of the Faithful (VOTF), which was teachings on war, social justice, the economy, Barack has lived a life consonant established to lobby for changes in the and so on. The latter topics involve questions with the Catholic Social Tradition, church following revelations of sex abuse of right and wrong that vary by particular and in the process suffered the by Catholic priests. Although not overtly circumstances (for instance, wars may be insults of those who thought he political, VOTF has tended to attract “pro- just or unjust), and so on those issues debate was too close to the Catholics— gressive” Catholics and many who dissent between liberals and conservatives within and now of some conservative from Catholic teaching. Steven Krueger, the Catholic fold is legitimate. As Cardinal Catholics who think his vision is national director for Catholic Democrats, Joseph Ratzinger wrote to the American too distant from theirs. But his was the fi rst executive director of VOTF from bishops before he became Pope Benedict message of reconciliation—in U.S. 2002 to 2004. Whelan also recruited Suzanne XVI, “There may be a legitimate diversity relations with the world, amidst the Morse, former communications director of of opinion even among Catholics about longstanding battles over abortion, VOTF, to help lead the group. waging war and applying the death penalty, between people of different races but not however with regard to abortion and and economic levels—is one that The board also has ties to the legendary .” hasn’t been heard in a generation, family of Catholic Democrats, the Ken- and rings true now for people across nedys. Members include former Maryland What is government’s role in promoting the political spectrum and from all Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend and social justice? How does one morally bal- the American religious traditions. , widow of Sen. ance the value of social programs with the . So it was no surprise that danger of a growing national debt? Catholics Perhaps trying to improve on the fl awed ef- Catholic Democrats responded strongly won’t fi nd answers to these questions in fort of CACG in 2008 to provide evidence when Vicki Kennedy was disinvited from their catechism, but groups like Catholics that welfare programs signifi cantly reduce the commencement ceremony this year at United and CACG suggest the answers are abortions, in 2010 Whelan published a study Anna Maria College in Worcester, Massa- written in stone. 6 July 2012 OrganizationTrends

President Obama told Catholics at Notre groups like Catholics United and Catholics in Dame in 2009 that he sought respectful Alliance for the Common Good” had “done dialogue on such issues: a disservice to the Church” and “confused the natural priorities of Catholic social It is beyond our capacity as human teaching.” beings to know with certainty what God has planned for us or what As we approach the 2012 presidential elec- He asks of us, and those of us who tion, it would seem not much has changed, believe must trust that His wisdom except for one thing: the Catholic-left groups is greater than our own. This doubt have had time to grow and prepare. What should not push us away from our impact they might have on the election faith. But it should humble us. It remains to be seen; it could bring about should temper our passions, and the demise or the continued growth of such cause us to be wary of self-righ- political advocacy groups. teousness. It should compel us to remain open, and curious, and eager Patrick J. Reilly is president of the Cardinal to continue the moral and spiritual Newman Society and a former editor at debate that began for so many of Capital Research Center. you within the walls of Notre Dame. And within our vast democracy, this doubt should remind us to persuade through reason, through an appeal whenever we can to universal rather than parochial principles, and most of all through an abiding example of good works, charity, kindness, and service that moves hearts and minds.

Moving hearts and minds is most certainly Please consider contributing the objective of Catholic-left organizations, early in this calendar year to the Capital Research Center. but the leading groups focus much more on media campaigns and political protests than We need your help in the dialogue. While the political loyalties of the current diffi cult economic Catholic bishops are never easy to determine, climate to continue our im- the partisan leanings of CACG, Catholics portant research. United, and of course Catholic Democrats are readily apparent. Your contribution to advance our watchdog work is deeply In this context, one easily appreciates the appreciated. frustration of Archbishop Charles Chaput, who in 2008 presided in Denver, Colorado. Many thanks. One month prior to the election of President Obama, Archbishop Chaput had enough of Terrence Scanlon the partisanship and distortions. He told a President crowd that “the work of Democratic-friendly July 2012 7 OrganizationTrends Briefl yNoted

What could possibly go wrong? Former senior ACORN offi cial Joe McGavin, now a director at the Illinois Housing Development Authority (IHDA), has been put in charge of $445.6 million in tax- payer funds from a federal foreclosure relief program. McGavin was “Chicago Operations Manager” at Affordable Housing Centers of America (AHCOA) from November 2008 through January 2011, as Judicial Watch discovered. Until two years ago, AHCOA was called ACORN Housing. The non- profi t corporation renamed itself after undercover activists caught ACORN employees offering helpful advice about starting a prostitution ring on video in 2009. Richard M. Daley, the gun-grabbing mayor of Chicago from 1989 to 2011, happens to be “Of Counsel” at Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP, the same law fi rm at which IHDA chairman Terry E. Newman is a partner. All just coincidences, we’re sure.

While we’re on the topic of ACORN, a new ACORN-inspired group called the Leadership Center for the Common Good (LCCG) has sprung up in Washington, D.C. The board of the tax-exempt 501(c) (3) nonprofi t group is chaired by Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, a former Maryland lieutenant gover- nor and left-wing activist. The LCCG “embraces a strategic opportunity to fi ll, at the national level, the void left by the dismantling of ACORN,” according to one of its funders, the Seattle-based Margue- rite Casey Foundation. The group will apparently focus on training community organizers to rage against capitalism.

A left-leaning “527” political action committee called Emerge America has reportedly lost its tax- exempt status. Three of Emerge America’s 501(c)(4) affi liates were also denied tax-exempt status. The group made no bones about its partisan objectives, a big no-no as far as the IRS is concerned. Its website described Emerge America as “the premier training program for Democratic women.” It said, “We inspire women to run, we hone their skills to win. Our goal is clear: to increase the number of Democratic women in public offi ce.”

New York mayor Michael Bloomberg is at it again. Fresh from proposing a local crackdown on large servings of soda pop, now his charity, the Bloomberg Family Foundation, is offering $5 million in cash for new nanny-state proposals aimed at forcing Americans to become healthier. “If you look, the federal and state government seems to be paralyzed, and they work at a policy level,” Bloomberg was quoted as saying. “So we are trying to fi nd out what’s the best ideas each mayor could maybe have, a different idea that may be transferable to another city.”

Corporations, especially fi nancial institutions, never seem to learn that the activist Left can never be appeased. In that vein the Bank of America just unveiled a 10-year, $50-billion plan for underwriting money-losing, hopelessly ineffi cient green energy programs. The bank plans to fork over $100 million in grants to activist groups promoting low-carbon projects this year. This is a calculated public rela- tions move intended to help the bank shake its image as a friend of the coal industry.

8 July 2012