center for american progress
Center for American Progress
Summary (posts follow):
Left-wing "progressive" thinktank in Washington DC. Founded by former Clinton chief of staff John Podesta. Now a source of both ideas and people for the Obama administration.
They also support illegal immigration; per them, a "progressive" precept is opposition to xenophobia, and in their case that's manifested by supporting illegal activity. One of their senior fellows is part of the Mexican government's extended network. They also run the blog ThinkProgress, a juvenile site that specializes in gaffes, mockery, enforcing political correctness, and the like. That blog also refers to mainstream rightwing talk radio as "hate radio", and CAP released a study arguing for "localism" and opposing media consolidation, two things that would help drive rightwing talkers off the air. Both those are supported by Barack Obama.
Last modified Dec 4, 2008
Discussed in (click each link for the full post):
Americans for a Conservative Direction ad "Choices" misleads about immigration (Zuckerberg, Facebook) - 06/10/14
"Americans for a Conservative Direction" is a front group for FWD US, which is a front group started by billionaire Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook and other wealthy Silicon Valley employers. Their latest ad is called "Choices" and it's as deceptive as you might expect.
Center for American Progress corporate funders and immigration - 12/14/13
The leftwing Center for American Progress has released a list of their corporate funders for 2013 [1]. Several of the funders have a financial interest in higher immigration and in comprehensive immigration reform.
Will ThinkProgress admit mass immigration led to lower unionization and lower wages? (Bryce Covert) - 06/11/13
Bryce Covert - the Economic Policy Editor for ThinkProgress - discusses a new study [1] claiming that wages for many workers have fallen since 1979 due to lower unionization rather than computerization.
What "Young Invincibles" dare not tell you (youth joblessness, Campaign for Young America, Rory O’Sullivan, Alistair Johnston) - 07/10/12
It's an indisputable fact that hundreds of thousands or millions of illegal aliens are doing jobs that unemployed young people could be doing.
So, it's a bit curious that a new report on youth joblessness by the "Young Invincibles" (part of the left-leaning Campaign for Young Americans, "CYA") doesn't mention that. We're talking about hundreds of thousands or millions of potential jobs, yet there's only one brief mention of immigration in their report.
Sarah Jane Glynn of CAP hypes amnesty using studies from Cato, Bush, and the Fed - 07/09/12
In 2010, Rupert Murdoch testified for amnesty using two studies from the progressive Center for American Progress ("CAP").
The Top 10 Things You Should Know About New Mexico's Demographic Changes and Immigration Politics - 06/04/12
(This is a Guest Post - subtitled A Look at the States Emerging White Communities Before the Republican Primary - by Vanessa Petherbridge and Ingrid Schneckldorf; original location here at the Center for American Progress)
Center for American Progress unwittingly admits attrition works (Leah Muse-Orlinoff, immigration, self deport) - 02/22/12
The Center for American Progress has released a study in which they attempt to claim that immigration attrition (see the link) doesn't work. What they do instead is unwittingly admit that it does work, it just needs to be nationwide.
Leah Muse-Orlinoff [1] offers "Staying Put but Still in the Shadows: Undocumented Immigrants Remain in the Country Despite Strict Laws" [1]:
Two examples of conservative failure (CPAC, rap, Crowder, Reynolds, V. Jackson) - 02/11/12
The first example is from an Ed Morrissey post [1] about a Friday event at CPAC ("Conservative Political Action Conference"):
Dozens of pro-illegal immigration groups were invited to Obama's mini-amnesty rollout and you weren't - 08/25/11
On August 18, Barack Obama's Department of Homeland Security announced an administrative amnesty that could cover 300,000 or more illegal aliens.
Why "Contract for the American Dream" is a sham (Van Jones, MoveOn, Rebuild the Dream) - 08/10/11
Van Jones, MoveOn, and a host of other groups [1] have teamed up to offer the "Contract for the American Dream", which consists of "10 Critical Steps to Get Our Economy Back on Track" (contract.rebuildthedream.com).
CAP wants to run the U.S. and can't even make a workable website - 05/31/11
The Center for American Progress has redesigned their website, and it's far worse than what it was before. I don't usually comment on technical matters here, but there's a political angle: CAP is deeply linked into the Obama administration and they want to control policy. At the same time, they can't even put together a website that works.
Obama meets with "stakeholders" for amnesty propaganda push ("immigration reform") - 04/19/11
Earlier today, Barack Obama met with a group of 70 "stakeholders" to discuss a new push for comprehensive immigration reform. The stakeholders in question represent only a small number of Americans; see the list below.
Rightwing wants to stoop to MMFA, CAP level (opposition research, SHOCK!, hypocrisy...) - 04/03/11
Kenneth Vogel of the Politico reports (link) that conservatives are trying to offer their own alternatives to opposition research groups like Media Matters for America and the
Rupert Murdoch testifies for amnesty, massive immigration (using two CAP studies) - 09/30/10
Rupert Murdoch of Fox News testified before Congress today in support of comprehensive immigration reform (aka amnesty) and in support of massive immigration in general. And, two studies he used to buttress his argument are from the leftwing, Obama-linked Center for American Progress.
From this:
News Corporation CEO Rupert Murdoch said he supports amnesty for “law abiding” illegal immigrants because as legal residents they can help the nation’s economy by adding to “our tax base.” He also said he supports securing the border to prevent more illegal immigrants from entering the United States....
ICE goes easy on both illegal aliens and their employers ("silent raids", audits) - 09/03/10
Under the Bush administration, the Department of Homeland Security engaged in a small number of showy but not overly effective immigration raids. Under the Obama administration, the DHS switched to (in addition generally not doing its job) what are called "silent raids" where they audit a company's employment records and then request that the employees are fired if they can't prove they're here legally. That lets illegal aliens stay in the U.S. and simply go find work at another company. And, that helps the Democrats maintain a power base. (Over nine months ago I urged people to ask Janet...
"Moms for Family Unity" shows far-left will oppose future immigration enforcement (CAP, America's Voice, RI4A) - 08/03/10
"Moms for Family Unity" [1] is a new effort designed to prevent deportation of mixed-status families, and it's yet another in the long line of data points showing that the far-left has little use for immigration enforcement and is completely disingenuous about comprehensive immigration reform.
Luis Gutierrez' CIR ASAP amnesty has 100+ co-sponsors (Honda, Polis, Weiner, Serrano) - 06/24/10
U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez conducted yet another pro-comprehensive immigration reform event today, this in support of his CIRASAP ("Comprehensive Immigration Reform for America's Security and Prosperity Act") amnesty. It's reached the milestone of over 100 co-sponsors, and per this those speaking in support included Reps. Barbara Lee, Anthony Weiner, and Jared Polis; Campus Progress (part of the Center for American Progress); and the quite far-left Casa de Maryland.
And:
(Rep. Mike Honda), standing next to a young girl, asked the room if it was right to deny her the American Dream because,...
Obama wants $500 million to send National Guard to secure the border (prelude to amnesty) - 05/25/10
Barack Obama wants Congress to allocate $500 million in order to send up to 1200 National Guard troops to the border. Per an unnamed administration official (link):
"[The troops will] provide intelligence; surveillance and reconnaissance support; intelligence analysis; immediate support to counternarcotics enforcement; and training capacity until Customs and Border Patrol can recruit and train additional officers and agents to serve on the border... [the funding will be used to] enhance technology at the border, share information and support with state, local, and tribal law enforcement, and...
UCLA CAP IPC deceptive study: immigration reform would increase GDP by $1.5 trillion over 10 years - 01/07/10
Earlier today, the Center for American Progress, the Immigration Policy Center, and professor Raul Hinojosa Ojeda of the University of California at Los Angeles released a study making the deceptive and fantastical claim that legalizing all illegal aliens would increase Gross Domestic Product by $1.5 trillion over 10
PJTV clueless about asking tough questions (CEI, Climategate) - 11/30/09
Glenn Reynolds alerts us (pajamasmedia.com/instapundit/89283) to the Pajamas Media video "Warmists Give Climategate The Cold Shoulder", subtitled "What do Greenpeace, the Sierra Club, the
Janet Napolitano falsely says she needs immigration "reform" to do her job; says border more secure; sounds like Chertoff - 11/13/09
Speaking at the Center for American Progress earlier today (prepared remarks: www.dhs.gov/ynews/speeches/sp_1258123461050.shtm NYT article: link full video: americanprogress.org/events/2009/11/Napolitano.html), Department of Homeland Security secretary Janet Napolitano said that she needs comprehensive immigration reform (downsides at the link) to do her job and that such "reform" (aka amnesty) is more attainable due both to supposed increased border security and due to fewer people trying to cross because of the economic downturn. In her speech, she sounded almost exactly like Michael...
"Enough is Enough!" anti-Lou Dobbs campaign from Democracia Ahora (DNC link, Obama too?; Bendixen) - 09/18/09
In addition to the Drop Dobbs campaign, another group is starting their own push in an attempt to silence Lou Dobbs. This group has links to the Obama administration and the Democrats that are slightly closer than the other, and given that Obama lied about Lou Dobbs during the election, it would be interesting to know the degree to which there's any coordination.
The campaign is from Democracia Ahora - run by Jorge Mursuli - and is called "Enough is Enough!" (TellCNNEnoughisEnough.com). They commisioned Sergio Bendixen's firm to conduct what amounts to an extraordinarily biased push-poll of...
Van Jones re-hired by Obama-linked Center for American Progress (UPDATE: maybe not) - 09/09/09
Van Jones - Barack Obama's "green jobs czar" - quit just four days ago, but the landing was rather soft: he's been re-hired by the Obama administration-linked Center for American Progress (link). He had previously been a senior fellow there, and now he's back.
That link also points out that CAP hired Louis Caldera, the administration official who ordered (or who just took the heat for) the New York City flyover by Air Force One.
UPDATE: Now, Ben Smith of the Politico says (politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0909/Report_Jones_to_CAP.html) he asked Jennifer Palmieri of CAP about this and she said...
SPLC smears Steve Levy in quest to support illegal activity (Suffolk County, Long Island; CAP) - 09/02/09
The Southern Poverty Law Center has a new report entitled "Climate of Fear/Latino Immigrants in Suffolk County, N.Y." about that county on Long Island, New York (splcenter.org/news/item.jsp?aid=395). County executive Steve Levy has attempted to reduce illegal immigration in his county, such as by taking actions against residences where dozens of illegal aliens live; see this from 2005 and also this (involving then-Mexican consul Arturo Sarukhan) and this.
In the current case, the SPLC is trying to conflate Levy's efforts with violent attacks in that county, both reported and simply alleged....
Napolitano immigration meeting: you weren't represented (vast # of loose borders groups, Obama/Janet anti-287g) - 08/20/09
Earlier today, Janet Napolitano of the Department of Homeland Security held a closed-door meeting with a group of what she calls "stakeholders" (dhs.gov/ynews/releases/pr_1250792978709.shtm) but was actually a vast pantheon (see below) of far-left, racial power, corrupt business, and in general loose borders groups all of which want some form of comprehensive immigration reform, aka amnesty. There were at least 98 participants in the meeting, and none of them represent your interests or the interests of the great majority of American citizens. Why exactly they'd hold the meeting isn't clear;...
George Soros gives $5 million to push Obamacare (HCAN, NCLR, ACORN, SEIU, etc...) - 08/11/09
George Soros has contributed $5 million to the group Health Care For America Now (healthcareforamericanow.org) so that they can push Obamacare. That's dwarfed by the $35 million he's giving to help/"help" children in New York (in partnership with the federal government, [1]). As discussed here, HCAN is considered a bit on the wimpy side by the far-left, such as Jane Hamsher. That's despite HCAN including some true "liberal" stalwarts. Their steering committee includes the following:
* ACORN
* AFL CIO
* American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME)
* Campaign for...
CAP promotes benefits of states, politicians profiting from illegal immigration (Census, Andrea Nill) - 08/10/09
Andrea Nill of the Center for American Progress offers "Why Counting Undocumented Immigrants In The 2010 Census Counts For A Lot" (wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/2009/08/10/immigration-census-bureau), a through-the-looking-glass post listing all the wonderful ways that states and localities can make out like bandits from counting illegal aliens in the Census and using their population in apportioning Congressional representation:
...the census serves many other purposes, namely the allocation of scarce federal resources for states and localities. Census data is used to distribute federal funding...
David Cutler of Harvard keeps lying about who's covered under universal healthcare (Melinda Beeuwkes Buntin, CAP) - 06/24/09
Professor David Cutler of Harvard University and Melinda Beeuwkes Buntin of the Rand Corporation offer a report entitled "The Two Trillion Dollar Solution/Saving Money by Modernizing the Health Care System" (published by the Center for American Progress, americanprogress.org/issues/2009/06/2trillion_solution.html). It contains a major lie, and one that Cutler has engaged in before:
The fundamental challenge in health reform is to reduce the growth rate of health care costs. If annual cost increases can be lowered, then workers’ incomes will increase, labor market distortions will decline, and...
Casey Sanchez/SPLC, Frank Sharry, Andrea Nill/CAP smear FAIR over non-existent connection (Dave Bennion) - 06/17/09
From a FAIR press release (link):
The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) has launched its most irresponsible attack to date against the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR). The SPLC claims that Shawna Forde, the alleged killer of a little girl and her father during an Arizona home invasion, had ties to FAIR. Although no association exists -- or ever has -- between Ms. Forde and FAIR, the SPLC and organizations advocating mass amnesty and open borders have used this tragedy to fuel their on-going smear campaign against FAIR and other immigration policy organizations in order to...
Why is John Podesta of CAP willing to hurt American nurses and teachers? - 06/04/09
Angela Kelley of the Center for American Progress quotes her boss (americanprogress.org/issues/2009/06/no_delay.html):
The question that remains is whether there is the political will, especially in tough economic times, to move a reform package. Yet as (John Podesta) stated at yesterday's event, "we need solutions that restore the rule of law while aiding our economy by making taxpayers of all immigrants. So, to those opponents of reform we say this - immigration reform and economic recovery are not at odds with each other, but rather go hand in hand."
CAP is still the "think tank that can't...
"Reform Immigration For America": business, labor, CAP, NCLR, CHIRLA begin new push; summit, townhall meeting; John Quigley - 06/01/09
A new group called "Reform Immigration For America" recently launched in order to push for comprehensive immigration reform, aka amnesty. They're a coalition of business, labor, and far-left/racial power groups; see their slick site here: reformimmigrationforamerica.org.
Angela Kelley/CAP, Gary Langer/ABC News admit: immigration "reform" is amnesty - 05/12/09
One of the games that illegal immigration supporters like to play is to pretend that comprehensive immigration reform isn't amnesty; they use a variety of misleading euphemisms, such as "earned legalization" and so on. But, sometimes the mask slips, as it did with Angela Kelley of the Center for American Progress. Referring to the recent Washington Post/ABC News poll, she says (americanprogress.org/issues/2009/05/immigration_friends.html):
In fact, in the poll a majority of Democrats, Republicans, Independents, moderates, and conservatives supported an Amnesty Program. "Seven in 10 liberals...
Obama immigration budget: does a McCain: border security, then amnesty; fulfills promise to Mexican government; worried about *southbound* flows - 05/06/09
Remember how when John McCain used the cheap, misleading tactic of talking about how he wanted to "secure the border first" and then use that to push for amnesty, and Obama supporters lied and said he didn't support comprehensive immigration reform anymore? Well, now Barack Obama wants to secure the border first and then use that to push for amnesty. Somehow it's different this time.
From "Obama budget puts security first at the border/He'll ask Congress to help curb the flow of arms to Mexico before seeking any immigration reform" (by Anna Gorman and Peter Nicholas of the Los Angeles Times;...
Immigration Policy Center absurd study claims immigration "reform" would help economy - 04/14/09
The Immigration Policy Center (IPC) - part of the American Immigration Lawyers Association-linked American Immigration Law Foundation - has released a new, canard-rich study called "What Immigration Reform Could Mean for the U.S. Economy" (immigrationpolicy.org/index.php?content=fc011309):
ThinkProgress now openly acting like White House PR department - 04/13/09
ThinkProgress - the very low-wattage blog run by the Obama-linked Center for American Progress - has, of course, been strongly pro-Obama since he won the election. However, the post "Obama: Stimulus transportation projects ‘under budget,’ ‘ahead of schedule’" [1] by Faiz Shakir is more like a press release or something you might find on Page D-8 of an 70s-era copy of Pravda or in 1984:
Today, President Obama and Vice President Biden will appear at the Transportation Department along with Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood to celebrate the 2,000th transportation project funded by the stimulus...
Letter to Senate shows Harold Koh's disinterest in U.S. sovereignty (John Fonte) - 04/09/09
Under the name "Coalition to Preserve American Sovereignty", John Fonte and others from the Ethics and Public Policy Center are seeking signatures for a letter pointing out just how weak State Department legal advisor Harold Koh is on U.S.
Dear Center for American Progress: do you support getting jobs for Fresno's homeless? - 03/26/09
An open letter to the Center for American Progress:
Quiz: can the Center for American Progress fool you into thinking you're "progressive"? - 03/12/09
The always-entertaining Center for American Progress - aka "the think tank that can't think straight" - keeps trying to make people think they're "progressive" when many people would run with horror after finding out what CAP really supports. Their latest effort is a fun online quiz: americanprogress.org/issues/2009/03/progressive_quiz.html
While the "World's Smallest Political Quiz" (hint: that's a satire of it at the link) remains the gold standard for deceptive quizzes, CAP comes close.
I alternated between trying to see how "badly" I could do and trying to see how quickly I could...
ThinkProgress lies for Obama (Cliff Kincaid on knowing where Obama was born) - 02/28/09
On the 26th, Cliff Kincaid appeared at CPAC and said among other things:
back there in the 1980s at least we knew that our president was born in the United States
The ThinkProgress blog - run by the Barack Obama-linked Center for American Progress then lied about what he said, uploading a video with that quote under the false title "Cliff Kincaid Says President Obama Not Born in US" (link).
Obviously, saying we don't know where Obama was really born and saying that he wasn't born in the U.S. are too very different things. This shouldn't come as much of a surprise: both ThinkProgress and CAP...