The radical right fringe that has been out in numbers to protest meaningful reform in the U.S. health care system is not the only corrupt barrage members of Congress will face during the August recess.

Grist magazine is reporting that the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity, the group whose money ultimately funded the forged letters recently exposed in the national press, has planned a $1 million ad and “volunteer” blitz over the August congressional recess aimed at Senate Democrats in coal-dependent states.

The group plans to organize 225,000 “volunteers” in what its calling “America’s Power Army,” to attend town hall meetings, fairs and other functions attended by members of Congress. The paid staff will work to round up volunteers, providing them with “information or T-shirts” and encouraging them to ask questions of the legislators.

The group is also leading a “road trip in search of a better climate solution” over the recess.

The group is guilty of a practice that is now being called “astroturfing,” the corporate practice of funding initiatives that mimic “grassroots” support for an issue. It has been getting a lot of attention these days, after it came to light that a pro-coal group was ultimately behind forged letters to Congress on the climate bill. But the practice is neither new nor rare, and we can expect to see similar actions over the next weeks as representatives return to their home districts for August recess.

It would sort of be nice to see a counter-astroturfing strategy from the left, as well as some organizational turnout on the part of people who favor health care reform. But you know liberals. Mostly, they are content to watch MSNBC — and send each other e-mail messages.

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This entry was posted on Saturday, August 15th, 2009 at 8:45 am and is filed under Environment News, National Health Care. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.