NRCC Business Advisory Council Scam

If you read my blog, you know it's no secret that I'm a proud Texas Democrat. Today I received an email from our Denton County Democratic Party's Executive Director Jace Reeder, stating that I had received a strange barely intelligible voicemail from the NRCC (National Republican Congressional Committee) - something about a press release.

Now, I'm a bit of a muckraker at times, so I racked my brain trying to think whether I had inquired about some piece of bullcrap or not. More interesting to me was why on earth would anyone call me there. My phone number is in the book. It's on my business cards. Even my party business cards list my personal phone numbers.

Anyhow, I dialed the number: 1-877-213-0603, and surely enough it was the NRCC. Conversation went something like this:

Her: "NRCC, how may I help you".
Me: "Yeah, I got this call today on voicemail and it was something about a press release"
Her: "I can help you with that. What is your name?"
Me: "Steve Southwell"
Her: "S-O-U-T-H-W-E-L-L?"
Me: "yes - what's this about?"
Her: "Oh - this is strange. You're listed as working for the Denton County Democratic Party?"
Me: "Um - yeah. What may I ask is this NRCC?"
Her: "It's the National Republican Congressional Committee. We were actually calling to talk to you about a press release we were sending out regarding our Business Advisory Council. Don't know how you got on this list".
Me: "hmm... "

So I found the So-called "Business Advisory Council" and it confirmed my suspicions about just how dumb Republican leadership considers their constituency to be. Basically, they have this solicitation for money in return for the hollow honor of being an "honorary chairman". I'm not making this shit up.

So just to see who might have fallen for this line of bull, I went searching the net for resumes with "Business Advisory Council" What I found more interesting was this Washington Post article about the scam FROM 2003!:

Flesch, the owner of Executive Limousine in Princeton Junction, N.J., said he was at first intrigued and honored. His small company had been hammered by the decline in business travel after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, and the caller played off that, saying he had been chosen for weathering the "adversity of 9-11."

But when he was asked to contribute to pay for the ad, he was incredulous, and refused. A few weeks later, when he was sent what he thought was a copy of the Wall Street Journal ad, including the newspaper's masthead, he became suspicious, he said. When he received his award invitation and was told the cost, he was incensed.

"I said: 'You're telling me you want me to pay $5,000 to go to a dinner to accept my award? I think you're scamming us,' " he said.

It is not just some recipients who are angry. Lawyers for Dow Jones & Co., owner of the Wall Street Journal, contacted NRCC officials before Christmas to ask them to stop using the Journal masthead, saying they were "misstating a connection between the award and the Wall Street Journal," said Brigitte Trafford, a Dow Jones spokeswoman. Flesch said he received his "Wall Street Journal" ad fax this month. Trafford said Dow Jones lawyers would be back in contact with the NRCC.

Apparently the Republicans have been doing this for years, and have been warned and threatened with legal action. So, 4 years later they're trying the same bullsh**? Come on guys, are things really so bad at the GOP that you have to resort to this type of fundraising? Can't you think of something more original? There's always the oil companies...

Update - 6/26/07 - Stupid morons called AGAIN at the Democratic headquarters for me. It would seem that Republican Congressman Tom Cole's office doesn't have the updated list of potential suckers - er... Republcans.