Carl Bearden: astroturf "r" us

by: Michael Bersin

Fri Jun 19, 2009 at 23:43:25 PM CDT

I opened up my local paper this afternoon (The Warrensburg Daily Star-Journal) and had the rare privilege to read a rather lengthy letter to the editor by Carl Bearden, representing himself as the state director of Americans for Prosperity Missouri, attacking the Employee Free Choice Act.

Carl Bearden, Carl Bearden? Where have I seen that name before? Oh, yes:

Individual Lobbyist Pricipal List for: Carl Bearden [pdf]

AMERICANS FOR PROSPERITY AND FOUNDATION
912 EAST BROADWAY
COLUMBIA MO 65201
573-256-1322 A 11/9/2007

PELOPIDAS, LLC
912 EAST BROADWAY, SUITE 207
COLUMBIA MO 65201
573-256-1322 A 7/19/2007

THE BROWN LOBBY FIRM, LLC
912 EAST BROADWAY, SUITE 208
COLUMBIA MO 65201
314-540-5515 A 8/2/2007

Hey, they're all neighbors! Or do you think it's like one of those mailbox drop places?

6/19/2009 10:22:00 AM
Union leaders desperate, threaten secret ballot vote
Letter to the Editor

Union leaders nationally are desperate...

...unions have turned toward an Orwellian named proposed federal legislation called the Employee Free Choice Act...

...The unions are promoting the act as the best method to increase membership, and improve wages and working conditions. But don't be fooled...

...One union boss, Andy Stern of the SEIU...

Interestingly enough, a Carl Bearden wrote an op-ed in the Springfield News-Leader last week:

Unions up to no good with new legislation

Carl Bearden June 13, 2009

Union leaders nationally are desperate...

...unions have turned toward an Orwellian named proposed federal legislation called the Employee Free Choice Act...

...The unions are promoting the act as the best method to increase membership, and improve wages and working conditions. But don't be fooled...

...One union boss, Andy Stern of the SEIU...

You get the picture.

So, if Andy Stern, President of the Service Employees International Union can be called a "union boss" in a letter to the editor, don't you think that Carl Bearden should be identified as a "connected republican lobbyist" in that same editorial page?

Back to Americans for Prosperity. There's an Americans for Prosperity Foundation registered with the Missouri Secretary of State. And their filing [pdf]contains all kinds of information:

David Koch? The billionaire? He doesn't like organized labor?

Back to Carl Bearden, and Tilley, and Brown, oh my!:

Today's Republican Floor Leader co-owns plane with Lobbyist story is [RBH]

A Plane, a Business, a Representative, and a Lobbyist

A Plane, a Business, a Representative, and a Lobbyist, part 2

A Plane, a Business, a Representative, and a Lobbyist, part 3

You get the picture.

And, by the way, the Employee Free Choice Act doesn't "do away" with the secret ballot. It just leaves the choice up to the working people who will be doing the voting, not the billionaires.