Oh, THAT vast right wing conspiracy

Bill Steigerwald writes a column for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. I wouldn't call him a reporter. I guess he might qualify as a commentator. His articles get printed in the local Ely Times. This last column was a new low for him. He interviewed Steven J. Milloy, from JunkScience.com.

JunkScience.com is actually quite an appropriate name for Steven J. Milloy's website. Want to know what the spin doctors are up to? Want to see how they intend to keep those illegitimate corporate profits coming in? Just visit JunkScience.com to read all the vicious personal attacks on real science. (Remember, real scientists don't gutter talk like that.)

JunkScience.com is supported by the Cato Institute.

The Cato Institute claims to be libertarian. But since 1996, the organization's financing has changed. Today, most of its financial support comes from “entrepreneurs,” securities and commodities traders, and corporations such as, Exxon Mobil, General Motors, Honda, RJ Reynolds, Toyota, Volkswagon, and The American Petroleum Institute.

The American Petroleum Institute spent $4 million to lobby the federal government in 2007, according to lobbying disclosure forms. “The trade group lobbied on various appropriations bills, and on oil taxes and fees, chemical plant security, price gouging, international investment, and more.” reports the Associated Press. “Besides Congress, the American Petroleum Institute lobbied the departments of Defense and State, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Internal Revenue Service.”

Steven J. Milloy claims to be a libertarian. But real libertarians struggle for INDIVIDUAL freedoms, not corporate anarchy. A true libertarian would be appalled at our addiction to fossil fuels – and would be trying to get people to generate our own power. (Individual freedom means not having to slave to pay your energy bill. And libertarianism does not mean distorting the truth so that the powers that be can keep raking in our money.)

JunkScience.com is also supported by the Competitive Enterprise Institute.

The Competitive Enterprise Institute is an advocacy (lobbying) group based in Washington DC. They challenge government regulations – that, of course effect big corporations. They push property rights as a solution to environmental problems, oppose US fuel efficiency standards, and have been a booster for the drug industry. Some of their financial support has come from Amoco, Ford, Philip Morris, Pfizer, and Texaco.

Prior to launching JunkScience.com, Steven J. Milloy worked for Multinational Business Services, the Philip Morris tobacco company's primary lobbyist in Washington with respect to secondhand cigarette smoke. He subsequently went to work for the Advancement of Sound Science Coalition, a Philip Morris front group.


Steven J. Milloy is a fake and a liar – who takes money to confuse people. He works for Fox News, the least respected television “news” organization in the country.


So, why would Bill Steigerwald want to interview a guy whom he admits associates “with “think” tanks that accept oil and/or tobbacco money?” Face it. These propaganda pundits are just quoting each other to make it seem like somebody important agrees with them.