“Astroturf,” as in “fake grassroots” originated not with Republicans but with industry support groups, and it is still going strong there.
According to Spin of the Day, the pharmaceutical industry has a new and improved way to present its wants to the public: disguised as fake senior citizens’ groups.
These Astroturf fakers were exposed–not by a government looking out for our interests–but by a competitor, the American Association for Retired People (AARP). The latest issue of the AARP bulletin has some hilarious revelations about so-called “senior citizen groups” whose revenue from membership is zero but which get millions from pharmaceutical companies to lobby against legislation that might hurt drug company profits. When one group is exposed, the drug companies shut it down and start another.
These Astroturf groups are trying to tap new sources of revenue, however. For example, United Seniors came out in favor of a plan “to allow more production of domestic energy in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge” soon after receiving $181,000 from Anchorage-based Arctic Power, which wanted to permit drilling in the refuge.
The groups have run into trouble trying to get money from actual senior citizens, however. For example, one group just got a cease and desist order from the Social Security Administration for tricky envelopes, etc. designed to “mislead the public into believing the mail is officially sent or approved by the Social Security Administration.” United Seniors, of course, is appealing the order.
Astroturf helping drug companies–online
United Seniors thoughtfully reports their own poll of seniors:
“On the issue of prescription drugs, voters clearly favored a voluntary system with coverage options rather than a universal system. 54% support a voluntary system with coverage options that is run by the same kind of companies that provide health care plans for federal government employees; only 31% support a universal system run by the government. “
I bet their pharmaceutical pals were happy to publicize that result.
If United Seniors were a little more interested in helping seniors, and a little less interested in helping drug companies, they might have worded the question a little differently. Maybe:
“Do you support a system where seniors must buy extra insurance if they want help paying for drugs, or do you think the drugs should be covered by Medicare?”
That might have yielded a slightly different poll result….