Larry Kudlow may have been more wrong about the economy than anyone alive
Dana Milbank / Washington Post
It was the eve of the biggest economic collapse since the Great Depression. Many on Wall Street worried that a recession loomed and that the housing bubble was bursting. — And then there was Larry Kudlow …
Kudlow on CNBC
Another “woman” for Trump?
Larry Kudlow is a long-time (albeit on and off) director of the “Independent Women’s Forum” — a Koch-connected astroturf anti-Feminism group. Kellyanne Conway is another board member on leave of absence.
IWF began as “Women for Clarence Thomas.”
IWF has received funding from several sources with ties to the Koch brothers. The Koch family foundations donated $844,115 to IWF between 1998 and 2014 and no fewer than half of the Independent Women’s Forum’s full-time staff previously worked directly for Koch-controlled groups or for entities that received Koch funding. DonorsTrust and Donors Capital Fund have contributed over $5 million to IWF from 2002 to 2014.
Heather Higgins, the chair of IWF’s board of directors, has attended at least one Koch network summit meeting. Former IWF president Nancy Pfotenhauer worked for Koch Industries and has attended multiple Koch network meetings. Pfotenhauer currently sits on the board of Americans for Prosperity, a key organization in the Kochs’ political network.
Actually, Pfotenhauer was the Koch Industries spokesperson for several years.
And don’t forget Kellyanne Conway (also in 2014):
Kellyanne Conway was a director in 2015
The New York Times editorialized: ” [The IWF is] a right-wing public policy group that provides pseudofeminist support for extreme positions that are in fact dangerous to women.”
An interesting 2006 contribution
For many years, its former head, Michelle Bernard was a constant on the ever-shifting kaleidoscope of talking head pundits on MSNBC (among others). I even wrote [in “MSNBC Misses the Astroturf in its own Building,” 3 SEPTEMBER 2009 · 12:27 PM]:
Certainly [Koch Brothers entities are] dominating the “health care” debate via their astroturf groups. Case in point is that the two main groups opposing health care reform were, ten years ago:
- Citizens for a Sound Economy Foundation (became Americans for Prosperity),
- Citizens for a Sound Economy (became FreedomWorks)
Now, another astroturf group has weighed in, a subsidiary of the aforementioned, which Rachel Maddow mentioned Tuesday on Maddow’s MSNBC Show.
- Independent Women’s Forum
What’s strange is that nobody at MSNBC noticed that the HEAD of the Independent Women’s Forum (a Koch Brothers astroturf group) is an MSNBC Political Analyst, and she’s on Chris Matthews ALL THE FREAKING TIME!
Michelle Bernard interviewed on CSPAN as President of the IWF
Adding:
According to the Women’s Legal Defense and Education Fund:
Originally formed in 1991 as “Women for Clarence Thomas” in an effort to secure the nominee a seat on the Supreme Court. Just what the Independent Women’s Forum is independent from is unclear — it certainly cannot claim independence from the White House with Vice-Presidential wife Lynne Cheney as Director Emeritus and ultra-conservative pundit and Bush advisor Larry Kudlow as a board member. IWF has even been awarded a grant as part of the US Department of State’s $10 million Iraqi Women’s Democracy Initiative to help a group of Iraqi women leaders define their role in Iraq’s government.
from the 2007 return
from the 2007 return
And updating with this:
Just received (h/t Bill Eagle emphasis added):
A False Appeal To Women’s Fears
Republican-leaning group claims health care legislation could lead to 300,000 deaths from breast cancer, but uses old statistics, faulty logic and false insinuations.
September 4, 2009
Summary
A conservative group with Republican ties called the Independent Women’s Forum is airing an ad that says “300,000 American women with breast cancer might have died” if our health care were “government run” like England’s, citing the American Cancer Society as a source for the figure. In fact, a spokesman for the cancer society’s advocacy arm says that figure is “not reliable” and adds: “[I]t’s not one that we have ever cited; it’s not one that we would ever cite.” Furthermore, an epidemiologist with the cancer society told us that the way this figure was calculated was “really faulty.”
Hmmm. Gee. Why does this not seem a great surprise?
Kudlow himself has made interesting predictions about Trump:
And now he gets to help.
‘The Rachel Maddow Show’ for Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Read the transcript to the Tuesday showupdated 6:54 a.m. PT, Wed., Sept . 2, 2009
Guests: Tom Ridge, Terry O‘NeillMADDOW: […] See, health reform – it‘s a secret plot to kill hundreds of thousands of American women with breast cancer. That ad is being broadcast in a multimillion-dollar ad buy in eight states. It was done by a conservative group called the Independent Women‘s Forum. We called them for comment today. We‘re still waiting for their response.
And as reported by Michelle Goldberg today at the “Daily Beast,” the Independent Women‘s Forum has also sent out a fundraising E-mail covering the same scare tactics territory. The E-mail has the subtle subject line, quote, “More American women are going to die.”
IWF Board – Kudlow 2007
IWF Board – Kudlow 2006
I wonder if his status as an “Independent Woman” will help or hinder him in the Trump White House?
After all, you know what they like to grab.
Courage.
cross-posted from his vorpal sword
A writer, published author, novelist, literary critic and political observer for a quarter of a quarter-century more than a quarter-century, Hart Williams has lived in the American West for his entire life. Having grown up in Wyoming, Kansas and New Mexico, a survivor of Texas and a veteran of Hollywood, Mr. Williams currently lives in Oregon, along with an astonishing amount of pollen. He has a lively blog, His Vorpal Sword (no spaces) dot com.