Last week we sent you a copy of our latest report, Wolves in Sheep's Clothing: Part II
http://www.commoncause.org/site/pp.asp?c=dkLNK1MQIwG&b=1709777&tr=y&auid=1886505 , which documents how large telecommunications companies like AT&T and Verizon have been spending astounding amounts of money lobbying Congress to pass industry-friendly legislation by masquerading as citizen advocacy organizations. With Congress on break and Members back in their home districts, it's our turn to demonstrate what the public really thinks about important issues like "net neutrality."1 But to be successful, we need your financial support.
http://www.commoncause.org/ItsOurTurnThe righteous sounding 'Hands Off the Internet' (a shill for AT&T and other telecommunications companies) spent $693,658 in a single month on TV ads to manufacture public support with deceiving, populist-sounding messages - that's more than $20K a day! In response, Common Cause is coordinating grassroots activities across the country to mobilize our members and supporters to:
Attend events hosted by lawmakers to raise the "net neutrality" issue.
Organize local meetings in the home offices of key lawmakers to discuss telecommunications policies.
Write opinion pieces and get them placed in local newspapers - the newspapers lawmakers care about the most.
Coordinate the delivery of the 120,000 plus petitions you all helped us gather over the last several months to targeted Members.
Washington DC is deathly quiet in August with Congress on recess, but this is our time to ramp up our work around the country and demonstrate that fake organizations like 'TV4US' and 'The Future… Faster' don't represent the public's telecommunications needs, but rather the efforts of media giants eager to manipulate the system to serve their bottom lines.
http://www.commoncause.org/ItsOurTurnCommon Cause has much of the ground work in place, but we need your financial support to pull it off. We also need you to be on the look out for emails from us in the next few weeks regarding local events and activities near you so that you can join the campaign in a way the telecommunications companies can't: in person and on the ground.
http://www.commoncause.org/ItsOurTurnThanks for all you do for Common Cause!
Sincerely,
The Common Cause Media Reform Team
Lauren Coletta, Celia Wexler and Dawn Holian
1: For more information, read our "Straight Talk on Net Neutrality" fact sheet.
http://www.commoncause.org/site/pp.asp?c=dkLNK1MQIwG&b=1709777&tr=y&auid=1886505