Politics and Insights from History

Earlier I wrote about Obama and his connections with SEIU.  Let us now look at the Apollo Alliance.

The Apollo Alliance came into existence soon after 9/11.  Though not a Union they are an environmental activist group with strong ties and influence on the federal government.  According to their website, the Apollo Alliance’s mission statement is:

“The Apollo Alliance is a coalition of labor, business, environmental, and community leaders working to catalyze a clean energy revolution that will put millions of Americans to work in a new generation of high-quality, green-collar jobs. Inspired by the Apollo space program, we promote investments in energy efficiency, clean power, mass transit, next-generation vehicles, and emerging technology, as well as in education and training. Working together, we will reduce carbon emissions and oil imports, spur domestic job growth, and position America to thrive in the 21st century economy.”

Basically, they want to do away with oil and coal energy and promote solar, wind, and anything that they deem environmentally safe. The problem is instead of finding a free market way to promote it, they chose to force taxpayers by influencing government regulation. They do so by organizing labor unions and activists for “social justice”. The Apollo Alliance, like SEIU and ACORN are using the federal government to accomplish their ends.

How is Obama connected to these people? Look at Van Jones, Obama’s former Green Jobs Czar. Jones is one of the founders and President of the group Green For All and a board member of Apollo Alliance.[i] Van Jones only resigned his post after it came out that he is an avowed communist. Van Jones is a radical Marxist whose statements brought a lot of heat on the Obama Administration. But the ties to Apollo do not end there.

There is John Podesta, co-chairman of the Obama-Biden Transition Project. Basically he is on Obama’s transition team and his helping to reshape the power structure in Washington. He is the President and CEO of the progressive group Center for American Progress. He is also on the board of directors for the Apollo Alliance.

On an interesting note, Gerald Hudson, who is the Executive Vice President of SEIU is also on Apollo’s board of directors. President Obama has close ties with SEIU and is in constant contact with Andy Stern. He has also given speeches at some of their conventions saying, “Your agenda has been my agenda.”

Then we have Wade Rathke who is also on the board of directors of the Apollo Alliance. He is the founder of ACORN, an organization that Obama worked for. Obama has kept close ties with ACORN. In fact, ACORN has received federal funding thanks to the American Recovery and Reinvestment ACT (AKA Stimulus Bill). ACORN also funds Apollo.[ii]

On another note, Jeff Jones, the director of the Apollo Alliance, was a domestic terrorist who managed to evade capture from the law for eleven years.  He also founded the Weather Underground with Bill Ayers, who happens to be in close relation with Barack Obama.

The Apollo Alliance is also helping to shape public policy. They brag about it on their website. They helped write the Stimulus Bill that Obama signed into law in January 2009. That bill promised federal money for renewable energy research, green jobs, and clean energy programs. The chairman of the Apollo Alliance said, “The recovery bill represents the focused work of labor, business, environmental and social justice organizations who developed a clear strategy about where the nation needed to go, and worked together to achieve it.”[iii] If they helped write the Stimulus Bill. What else are they trying to push through Congress?

Even Senator Harry Reid acknowledged the Apollo Alliance’s involvement with this bill. “We’ve talked about moving forward on these ideas for decades. The Apollo Alliance has been an important factor in helping us develop and execute a strategy that makes great progress on these goals and in motivating the public to support them.”[iv]

Congress is currently debating Cap and Trade, even though you will not hear about in the major news organizations. Cap and trade imposes a punitive tax on corporations and businesses for CO2 emissions. It will also be another green jobs bill, meaning that it will promote clean energy by funding and establishing green jobs. What really happens is that environmental groups get federal money and never see any jobs produced.  Who do you think will benefit from this bill? The Apollo Alliance. They have probably even helped write it. Many of their own people are a part of Obama’s administration and they continue to lobby Congress for money.

The health care bill that Obama has been promoting and demanding has been strongly influenced by SEIU. SEIU has helped write portions of it. They also have close ties to Apollo and ACORN. It is safe to assume that Apollo will be granted money in this bill along with SEIU and ACORN.

The Apollo Alliance is an organization that seems to have endless amounts of money and an incredible amount of influence on the federal government. The point is, Obama has too many ties to radical groups like Apollo Alliance, ACORN, Center for American Progress, and SEIU. Apparently all of his campaign promises about no lobbyists, no special interest groups were all a bunch of lies.