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With the COPE vote bearing down this week, the astroturf groups are busy sprouting plastic dandelion blooms. Consumers for Cable Choice, which has been pushing their deceptive marketing campaign since last June, today claimed to have sent a petition to Congress on behalf of one million Americans. This is pretty creative math for an organization with 1200 individual supporters and 71 organizations. Apparently they tally up all the members of each organization and count them as petition signatories too (with Women Impacting Public Policy providing a whopping 505,000 count alone). One wonders if the same people behind C4CC also counted votes in Ohio and Florida.

Consumers for Cable Choice is known to have received telco money (AT&T/SBC and Verizon) and their web site does read like a telco press release. It's difficult to source the actual PR firm running the show though, their web domain registration is protected by a proxy service that cloaks the actual registrar.

from: PR Newswire

C4CC Delivers Petition on Behalf of 1 Million+ Americans; Calls on Congress to Enact Cable Reform This Year

Tuesday June 6, 11:29 am ET

WASHINGTON, June 6 /PRNewswire/ -- As the U.S. House of Representatives prepares for Friday's floor vote on the Communications Opportunity, Promotion, and Enhancement Act of 2006, Consumers for Cable Choice (C4CC) today delivered a petition on behalf of more than a million Americans who want to see the bill pass this year.
"Americans clearly want competitive choice of cable television providers, and it's high time they had it," said C4CC president Robert K. Johnson.

Those signing the petition include elderly Americans who are fighting for reasonable cable rates; small business operators and farmers who are struggling to get the communications tools they need to succeed in the global marketplace; minorities who want to put their consumer dollars to work for them; and individual Americans who just want a fair break.

"Our opponents on this issue are the incumbent cable companies whose poor performance and abusive rate hikes brought these diverse groups together," Johnson said. "Studies show that competition drives down price, and that if competition were in force right now, Americans would save more than $8 billion this year alone. What are we waiting for?"

Among the groups signing on behalf of their memberships include:
* Women Impacting Public Policy (WIPP)
* League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC)
* National Black Chamber of Commerce (NBCC)
* Alliance for Rural Television, a coalition of 12 agricultural groups
(ART)
* California Small Business Association (CSBA)
The petition drive, launched on the C4CC Web site last month, has been signed by 71 organizations and more than 1,200 individuals without group affiliation. C4CC conservatively estimates that members represented by the groups plus the individuals comprise more than 1 million people.

WIPP President Barbara Kasoff signed the C4CC petition on behalf of the national bi-partisan public policy organization. "Our 505,000 members across the nation believe competition in the cable industry would be good for business, good for families and good for the marketplace," Kasoff said.

LULAC President Hector Flores, who signed the petition representing his 115,000 members, said Latinos are among the biggest consumers of video communications, yet have little influence in the current monopolistic regulatory structure. "We see competition as a way to leverage our value and encourage better programming, better price and more inclusiveness," he said.

Larry Mitchell, spokesperson for the Alliance for Rural Television and CEO of the American Corn Growers Association, said rural Americans have been ignored by cable companies, which could have delivered high-speed communications services to the countryside long ago.

"We need competitors fighting for our business as much - and probably more - than urban America," Mitchell said. "Our 750,000 members are fully behind cable franchise reform because companies competing for customers will see us as an important customer base."

NBCC President Harry C. Alford said his members are eager to see competition because they believe it will spur cable providers to offer small business the same kinds of high-speed communications services corporate America has received for years. "Our members operate large and small businesses, and they all need access to affordable, reliable communications services," he said.

Betty Jo Toccoli, CSBA, said small business needs every communication tool available if they are to survive in today's economy. "Competition in the communications marketplace will ensure we get those tools," she said.

The C4CC petition drive will continue, as will a letter-writing campaign, until Congress enacts a pro-consumer, pro-competition cable bill, Johnson said. Consumers using the C4CC Web site have already sent more than 36,000 letters to Capital Hill calling for pro-consumer, pro-competition legislation, he said.

About Consumers for Cable Choice, Inc.

C4CC is a national alliance of consumer advocacy groups and individuals committed to promoting maximum choice for consumers in cable, video and broadband services. C4CC uses education and grassroots advocacy to call for a deregulated and pro-consumer cable television market that stimulates fair price, more choices and better service options.

About Women Impacting Public Policy

http://www.wipp.org/

WIPP is a national bi-partisan public policy organization representing more than 505,000 women that advocates for and on behalf of women and minorities in business, strengthening their sphere of influence in the legislative process of our nation, creating economic opportunities and building bridges and alliances to other small business organizations.

About LULAC

http://www.lulac.org/index.html

LULAC is the largest and oldest Hispanic organization in the United States and has approximately 115,000 members throughout the U.S. and Puerto Rico. LULAC advances the economic condition, educational attainment, political influence, health and civil rights of Hispanic Americans through community- based programs operating at more than 700 LULAC councils nationwide.

About the National Black Chamber of Commerce

http://www.nationalbcc.org/

The National Black Chamber of Commerce is dedicated to economically empowering and sustaining African American communities through entrepreneurship and capitalistic activity within the United States and via interaction with the Black Diaspora. It represents 95,000 Black owned businesses and provides an advocacy that reaches all 1 million Black owned businesses.

About Alliance for Rural America

ART is a coalition of national farm and rural organizations working together to educate members of Congress and the Federal Communications Commission about the impact of the digital television transition on America's farm families, and empower its constituents to participate fully in the digital transition process to ensure they won't be left behind. Members include the American Corn Growers Association, the National Farmers Organization, the National Farmers Union, the National Grange, the Soybean Producers of America, Women Involved in Farm Economics, the American Agriculture Movement, the National Association of Farmer Elected Committees, the Federation of Southern Cooperatives, the Rural Coalition, 1890's Council of Presidents and the League of Rural Voters.

About the California Small Business Association

http://www.csba.com/

CSBA includes more than 200,000 members and serves as a federal and state legislative liaison and conducts research to help its members identify their needs, determine solutions and grow their businesses.

C4CC Media Contact:
Cheryl Reed
(317) 205-9690
cherylreed@synergy-mg.com

Source: Consumers for Cable Choice