Stop the Housing Bailout
(www.stopthehousingbailout.com)

The problems have with them are pretty straightforward. I don’t think they’re honest about what they do:

* They’re a partisan group; several of their state directors are Republican activists, at least one is an executive of his state’s Republican Party, one was a regional coordinator for Guiliani’s campaign, etc. Which would be fine, if they disclosed that, which they don’t. Kinnan bragged to the media in 2004 about how FW was working to get Nader on the ballot in swing states in order to help George W. Bush’s chances in those states.

* They’re not funded by the grassroots and are not a grassroots organization. They’re funded by donations from major corporations, many of whom have a huge stake in the legislation they’re pushing. The Washington Post covered this, observing that FW took on certain issues (an everglades project and net neutrality, in particular) immediately after receiving large money donations from interested parties. They have also used ruses to sign up “members” without their consent, also covered by the Washington Post. FW will not release names of its donors.

* They don’t practice what they preach. FW’s Oregon director pushed a ballot measure there which would have regulated the attorney market, despite FW’s stated goal to end market regulation. It is unclear how much FW money, if any, went to fund that project, but they did pay Kevin Mannix (another Oregonian, Republican party activist, and advocate of the ballot measure) over six figures for consulting services around this time.

There’s more, but you get the gist. I want them to be honest about what they do and how they do it. I discovered these guys because I was one of the people signed up as a CSE (now FW) “member” against my will. Didn’t take long to figure who they were and what they do.

Oh, and finally:

* for a site all about fiscal responsibility, they have never said anything about the war in Iraq or Afghanistan. Pretty conspicuous silence, there. Which leads me to believe that, one way or the other, they are too cowardly to broach that issue, currently costing Americans at least $200 million per day. So I have a hard time respecting, let alone comprehending, such a lack of courage to write about it.

I am confused, are they wrong for policy reasons or because you don’t like that you have to click around to find out who runs the site?

What are your issues with their policies?

Not only that but he talks about these things as if FW is the only organization or PAC that uses these techniques to boost membership.

Heh. Hardly. If that were true, policy and politics would be a lot cleaner.

Its odd to see a man who clearly has way too much time on his hands and such a blatant prejudice towards this organization, regardless of their ideals or actions. In fact, its rather sad…

I think Mister Guy said it best:

When you are devoid of any new arguments, then it’s time to shoot the messenger eh?

Chris, you took advantage of that, too, adding Bob and Mike and Sue to the list, who I assume are family members in your household. (Who pays the rent?) You even signed twice, on April 8 and April 9, saying the first time “Thanks for this site” to the website owners without revealing that you’re, well, the one who registered the damn thing.

Tell me, who is “Angry Renters” really?

Which is why I won’t sign your petition, even though I actually want to. I don’t trust how you’re present the signatures or where you’ll say they came from. I don’t trust what you’re going to do with our personal information, since it’s not clear who AngryRenter is and I think FW is just going to keep it and use it for themselves.