Air Products Feels the Joementum

Julian Sanchez | August 4, 2006

TPM Cafe's Election Central has an amusing story about a man named Richard Goodstein who showed up with a gaggle of Lieberman supporters to heckle Great Lefty Hope Ned Lamont when the Senate hopeful made an appearance at a local diner recently. As it turns out, he's a registered lobbyist in D.C.—though he hung up on EC before they could ask him about his connection to the Lieberman campaign.

Still, we can try a little dot-connecting of our own, no? Goodstein seems to make his living off just a couple major clients: the printer company Lexmark and Pennsylvania-based Air Products and Chemicals, which among other things is a major supplier to the semiconductor industry. Air Products' former chairman, Howard Wagner, now sits on the board of Lieberman's second largest donor, Connecticut-based United Technologies (though boards are such a musical-chairs affair that this probably doesn't mean much in itself). More to the point, Joe Lieberman has been one of the most vocal supporters in the Senate of government subsidies to and partnerships with the semiconductor industry, which (through its trade association) gave the Senator an award for his efforts on their behalf back in 2001. The company has also been expanding its nanotechnology division, another hobbyhorse of Lieberman's. The top press release on the front page of Air Products' site right now is an announcement of a profitable licensing deal with the University of Connecticut for a technology that will help in the development of next-generation video displays. So it certainly makes sense that Goodstein's main client would have an interest in keeping Lieberman, whose pet issue happens to be their industry, in office. [Cross-posted @ NftL.]

Comments

|8.4.06 @ 7:03PM|#

When you started to describe donors, boards, and random companies, I was afraid I was going to need crayons and butcher paper to follow the money. For the sake of my mind on a Friday afternoon, I'm glad it got simpler.

|8.4.06 @ 8:15PM|#

The rent-a-mob is a continuing feature of Democratic politics. I've usually seen it when the audience of an open forum is packed by allies of the leftmost position by The Usual Subjects: ACORN, Citizen Action, various activist unions such as the Machinists or the SEIU (janitors, et al), enviro groups and - ghu help you if these guys show up - the publik skool teechurs unions. I spoke in front of a gathering like that once. It was held in a good-sized hall in the basement of a neighborhood church. Half the crowd was bused in by some Pinko Dogooders Alliance or other, all wearing the same T-shirts, and waving pre-printed signs. They actually hissed the speakers, like me, that they didn't like. I felt sorta like Snidely Whiplash. I think I broke their heads a bit, though. They must have thought me some species of conservative, and booed my comments on economic policy and taxes. They were pleasantly surprised by my comments on foreign policy and several social issues. No matter, as they were there to back Their Gal and make it seem to the TV cameras that she had the best support.

Perhaps if I lived in Christian Coalition Country I'd see some mob behavior from the right-wingers.

Kevin

|8.4.06 @ 8:35PM|#

If Lieberman was a Democrat, kevrob, there would have been more than one person, and they would have been from Connecticut.

|8.4.06 @ 8:39PM|#

joe writes: "If Lieberman was a Democrat, kevrob, there would have been more than one person, and they would have been from Connecticut."

To be fair, Lieberman's flunkies packed the burger joint. The lobbyist was supposedly especially loud and aggressive, but there were plenty of others playing along. I doubt any of them came from Connecticut.

aspendougy|8.4.06 @ 9:37PM|#

Hmmm..........government subsidies for the semi-conductor industry. After all, poor guys don't make hardly anything in the private sector......oh, well yes they do actually.......if you can get paid not to grow wheat, who knows? .......... maybe someday you can get paid not to make nano-chips

|8.4.06 @ 9:48PM|#

kevrob, yes, here in God's Crimson Country, the right wing does do the Insta-Crowd thing. I used to be an officer in the state chapter of NARAL. We did several big events here in Austin while I was an officer and the wingnuts always had a presence to heckle. We used to adopt particular protesters and pledge donations based on how many times we saw particular ones.

|8.4.06 @ 9:58PM|#

I'm surprised there haven't been any comments that it's natural for Lieberman to be so closely linked to an industry involved in hot air and blowing smoke.

|8.5.06 @ 1:08AM|#

Thought so, Karen.

If I were a local TV news director, I'd instruct all the camera crews who covered demos to get some wide-angle B-roll of the march from a block away, in addition to all the usual closeups of chanting and shouting. In my neck of the woods, various causes are strange attractors for The Same Seven Nutbars on a regular basis. Of course, who makes up The Seven depends on the issue. :)

Kevin

|8.5.06 @ 1:29PM|#

I'm shocked there is politics going on here.

|8.5.06 @ 3:38PM|#

Yet another example of the truth that; so often we need to follow the money to understand the real reasons for what's going on in politics.

Joe Lieberman has been one of the most vocal supporters in the Senate of government subsidies to and partnerships with the semiconductor industry...

There is a strog case that Joe Lieberman is the senate's most pronounced enemy of individual liberty. He gets F's from the NTU for his big spending voting record:

http://www.ntu.org/main/components/ratescongress/details_all_years.php3?senate_id=21

He's a big war-hawk and pro-interventionist in the Mid-east. And, as evidenced by his support of government subsidies to and partnerships with the semiconductor industry, the obnoxious liberal is anti-capitalism.

|8.5.06 @ 8:47PM|#

I attended the Friday Greenwich event where Goodstein and his Liebergoons (about 30-50 of them, mostly ages 14-17, almost all paid off although all claimed to be volunteers but none could say where they stood on an issue) attempted to bully the crowd + ambush Lamont's family.

Fortunately, a bunch of us were there to put our bodies in the way of these Liebergoons (cowards at heart) but Lamont is going to need some offical police protection very soon because the Liebergoons are looking for violence.

|8.5.06 @ 11:23PM|#

Pinko Dogooders Alliance?

OMG - that MUST be my next t-shirt project.

Beware the PDA!

|8.6.06 @ 12:50AM|#

big dave from queens,

Wow, that sounds terrible-real thug politics from the Lieberman campaign. How do you know that almost all of the Liebergoons were paid?

Good luck in your efforts to preserve civility in that election.

|8.6.06 @ 3:11AM|#

Doc Faustus:

I've got a PayPal account ready to accept royalties. :)

Kevin

|8.6.06 @ 3:24AM|#

Hey, I'm tempted to send Kevin some money just cuz of his vast and interesting cultural historical knowledge.

Jeez, what's getting into me? I better step away from my computers.

|8.6.06 @ 4:48AM|#

If this does not show that LIEBERMAN is taking a page from KARL ROVES play book and that Lieberman is truly a REPUBLICAN asskissing,suck-up,lao-dog,quissling,vichy,REPUBLICAN. Not a thing will ever make the PEOPLE believe. This is how the Republicans act, they are not FOR THE CONSTITUTION, or BILL OF RIGHTS, THEY are for the BIG COMPANYS AND SUPER RITCH.

|8.6.06 @ 5:10AM|#

Harold D. Cole,

You can say that Lieberman is a Bushite, (Hell, as truly bad as that is, Lieberman's not even that good) or a neocon. But he has no traditional, small government Republican values.

|8.6.06 @ 1:57PM|#

Israel kept withholding money that was owed to the Palestinians, denying electricity, water, food, and medicine, assassinating and imprisoning and bombing elected officials and innocent people in the Gaza Strip and West Bank, and were still illegally holding Hezbollah prisoners of war for 28 years.

|8.7.06 @ 9:53AM|#

Lieberman has many connecions with lobbyists. His wife is a lobbyist for drug comanies, and Lieberman is very helpfull to their interests. The media would have you believe that the only problem the Democrats have with Lieberman, is the Iraq War. That is totally false. The guy is a whore and a bum, and it has finally caught up with him. Lets hope the next 'victims' of rath by real Democrats will be phonies like Bayh, Biden, Feinstein, and Hillary.

|8.7.06 @ 9:53AM|#

Lieberman has many connecions with lobbyists. His wife is a lobbyist for drug comanies, and Lieberman is very helpfull to their interests. The media would have you believe that the only problem the Democrats have with Lieberman, is the Iraq War. That is totally false. The guy is a whore and a bum, and it has finally caught up with him. Lets hope the next 'victims' of rath by real Democrats will be phonies like Bayh, Biden, Feinstein, and Hillary.

|8.7.06 @ 9:53AM|#

Lieberman has many connecions with lobbyists. His wife is a lobbyist for drug comanies, and Lieberman is very helpfull to their interests. The media would have you believe that the only problem the Democrats have with Lieberman, is the Iraq War. That is totally false. The guy is a whore and a bum, and it has finally caught up with him. Lets hope the next 'victims' of rath by real Democrats will be phonies like Bayh, Biden, Feinstein, and Hillary.

|8.7.06 @ 10:17AM|#

Psst.

Joe Lieberman is Lao dog.

Pass it on.