Orlando small biz group protests NFIB "I Built My Business" tour: wearing Karl Rove masks! (pic) [View all]

[nashville_brook]

Last edited Sat Nov 17, 2012, 08:19 PM - Edit history (1)

If you haven't noticed already this election season, small businesses are the babies that every candidate wants to kiss. The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) exploits this trope with reckless abandon on their "I Built My Business" bus tour through swing states where they campaign exclusively for Republicans like "Taliban" Daniel Webster (who defeated Alan Grayson in 2010). As a matter of fact, when it comes to Republicans, no one is too far right for the NFIB, as they also endorse and donate to Todd "Legitimate Rape" Akin and Richard "Rape is God's Gift" Mourdock.

What's important to know though, is that the NFIB is engaging in identity theft, claiming that they represent small business when in reality they're advocating for policy that isn't in the interest of the vast majority of small business owners. Instead they represent the interests of big money donors like Karl Rove's Crossroads GPS.


The real face of NFIB

And so, Community Business Association of Florida held a counter-event at the NFIB campaign stop in Orlando today with throngs of rowdy protesters holding Karl Rove masks chanting "Who fibs? N-FIB!" And, "when the workers who built this are under attack, what do we do? Stand up, fight back!"

Here's a pic from the protest -- Orlando stepped up to the plate in a big way with the ONLY counter-protest so far along the whole NFIB tour.




Community Business Association came to tell NFIB that Halloween is over, and it's time to take off the mask. The NFIB calls itself “the voice of small business.” But the facts run counter to this claim. As documented by the Center for Media and Democracy at NFIBexposed.org, NFIB is intensely partisan, takes millions in hidden donations and is under a congressional investigation and an IRS inquiry.

• NFIB is a partisan political group: A 2009 survey of small business owners found that “33 percent of the respondents identified themselves as Republicans and 32 percent called themselves Democrats. Twenty-nine percent said they were independent or claimed no party affiliation.” However, OpenSecrets.org data shows that in the 2012 election cycle, 98 percent of NFIB’s PAC contributions have gone to Republican candidates.

• NFIB is a conduit for big secret donors: In 2010, Karl Rove’s Crossroads GPS made a $3.7 million grant to NFIB. That same year, NFIB reported spending $3.1 million on ads through Crossroads Media, LLC (Crossroads GPS’s main media firm). In early 2012, NFIB established a new entity, “NFIB, The Voice of Free Enterprise,” to accept donations from people and groups who are not small business owners. Of NFIB’s $3.3 million in outside spending in the 2012 cycle so far, $1.9 million is through this new entity funded by non-small business owners.

• NFIB has come under congressional investigation: Earlier this year, NFIB came under scrutiny from Congress for the millions of dollars in hidden money it was receiving. Leaders in Congress demanded that NFIB disclose its donors and membership size, which had been inflated in years past. NFIB refused and Congressman Raul Grijalva sent a letter to the IRS questioning the group’s tax-exempt status.

• NFIB endorses Todd Akin while touting support for women small business owners: NFIB’s website highlights its “PowHER” campaign to recruit women business owners to join the organization, advertising that a portion of their dues will support breast cancer awareness. However, a portion of these dues also support the election of Todd “legitimate rape” Akin in the Missouri Senate race. NFIB endorsed Akin on October 22, even as many mainstream GOP groups continue to stay out of the race after his remarks about rape.


Learn more at http://nfibexposed.org/