They Lie: Don't believe the polls...

actually, don’t believe 99% of what you read or hear.

No funny kitteh pictures today, friends.  This is serious and important information.  

From Zero Hedge:   New Podesta Email Exposes Playbook For Rigging Polls Through “Oversamples”

Earlier this morning we wrote about the obvious sampling bias in the latest ABC / Washington Post poll that showed a 12-point national advantage for Hillary.  Like many of the recent polls from Reuters, ABC and The Washington Post, this latest poll included a 9-point sampling bias toward registered democrats. 

“METHODOLOGY – This ABC News poll was conducted by landline and cellular telephone Oct. 20-22, 2016, in English and Spanish, among a random national sample of 874 likely voters. Results have a margin of sampling error of 3.5 points, including the design effect. Partisan divisions are 36-27-31 percent, Democrats – Republicans – Independents.”

Of course, while democrats may enjoy a slight registration advantage of a couple of points, it is nowhere near the 9 points reflected in this latest poll. 

Meanwhile, we also pointed out that with huge variances in preference across demographics one can easily “rig” a poll by over indexing to one group vs. another.  As a quick example, the ABC / WaPo poll found that Hillary enjoys a 79-point advantage over Trump with black voters.  Therefore, even a small “oversample” of black voters of 5% could swing the overall poll by 3 full points.  Moreover, the pollsters don’t provide data on the demographic mix of their polls which makes it impossible to “fact check” the bias…convenient.  READ THE REST

Now check out this email re: payments to Fund for America:  source Wikileaks

Note the 45K payment to Atlas through Fund for America.  Earlier leaked emails suggest that Podesta didn’t want to use Atlas, and yet a payment was made to them.  Note also an undisclosed amount to American Express.  Why would Fund for America be making a payment to Amx? 

Who is Fund for America, and who is Atlas?

To make your life easier, I swiped the entire article on Fund for America from Source Watch and posted it below.  I certainly hope they forgive me.

And Atlas?  It took me awhile to find them as the full name is The Atlas Project.

From their website:

The Atlas Project provides an interactive platform for political research and data that helps the progressive community make smart, effective, and cost-efficient decisions on electoral and issue advocacy campaigns. We rely on a team of political and data analysts who have a proven track record of developing customized, actionable research to help meet our clients’ needs. 

Founded in 2004 by Mary Beth Cahill, Steve Rosenthal and Michael Whouley, the Atlas Project’s mission is to arm campaigns and progressive organizations with the insight, analysis and tools to help avoid costly missteps and make better strategic decisions, in addition to serving as the institutional memory for progressives.  Source

Dear America, 
We’re dealing here with corruption, money laundering, and inconvenient deaths at a level never before witnessed in this country.   

More:

Michael Snyder:  Are The Polls Rigged Against Trump? All Of These Wildly Divergent Surveys Cannot Possibly Be Correct

Gateway Pundit:  ACTUARIAL ANALYSIS REVISITED: New Information Supports Trump Win and Possible Landslide

Jack Cashill:  Think You Know How Bad the Clintons Are? 

Gateway Pundit:  LEAKED CLINTON INTERNAL DOCUMENT: Discourage Trump Supporters with Bogus Polls and Declaring Election Over

Gateway Pundit:  CONFIRMED: Early Voting Data Shows Trump Lead – Ignore Trolls Who Say Otherwise

From: Source Watch:

The Fund for AmericaThe Fund for America, a 527 political action committee, was established November 7, 2007, to “accept and disburse funds in order to create a lasting progressive majority voice in public affairs.”^[1]
On March 6, 2008, NPR reported that The Fund for America gave Campaign to Defend America, an incarnation of Americans Against Escalation in Iraq, a million dollars to run an anti-McCain TV advertisement. “Leading the Campaign to Defend America are key figures from the more famous group MoveOn.org. They declined or ignored several requests for interviews this week. … Last year (sic), some wealthy Democrats organized the Democracy Alliance to focus their money. One result is the Fund for America, essentially a pot of money for pro-Democratic organizations. … The Fund for America has said it is building a kitty of $100 million. There’s a conservative counterpart — Freedom’s Watch. Its leaders have used $250 million as a target.” [1]

On March 17, 2008, the Associated Press reported the Fund for America has “a goal of raising $100 million” to elect Democrats in 2008″ and “was set up last year by John Podesta, a former chief of staff for President Clinton; Anna Burger, the secretary-treasurer of the Service Employees International Union; and Rob McKay, a California philanthropist. Among its donors are multimillionaire financier George Soros, who gave it $2.5 million last year, and the SEIU, which also contributed $2.5 million last year, according to Fund for America’s IRS records. The fund has helped finance another new nonprofit group, the Campaign to Defend America, which already has run anti-McCain ads. [2]
OfficersAccording to the organizational document filed with the IRS,^[1] the following are officers for the Fund:

• John Podesta, Director
• Rob McKay, Director, Secretary/Treasurer (President, The McKay Foundation, Chair of Democracy Alliance, and prominent Democratic donor)
• Anna Burger, Director (SEIU top-ranking officer, Vice Chair of Democracy Alliance)

Staff

• Amy Dacey, Executive Director [[3]

March, 2008, Center for Investigative Reporting Flow ChartFundersOn March 5, 2008, the Center for Investigative Reporting listed the following funders of The Fund for America: “Lee Fikes: President of the Bonanza Oil Co. and president and CEO of the Leland Fikes Foundation in Dallas … ; Sacramento Street Partners: Rob McKay, secretary-treasurer of the Fund for America, is a partner in Sacramento Street Partners; Donald Sussman: Chairman of Trust Asset Management LLP, a hedge-fund management firm in the Virgin Islands. … ; Service Employees International Union (SEIU) … ; AKT Investments: A Sacramento, Calif., development firm. Its chairman is Angelo Tsakopoulos, a longtime Democratic donor and fundraiser for John Kerry in 2004. The Tsakopoulos family has long supported the Clintons; George Soros: The hedge-fund trader and investor is a financial anchor of the Democratic Party and the progressive movement. Soros gave more than $25 million in 2003-2004, including $7.5 million to America Coming Together and $12 million to the Joint Victory Campaign 2004, which in turn gave to other liberal political groups. [4]
LeadersOn March 5, 2008, the Center for Investigative Reporting listed the following leaders of The Fund for America: “John Podesta, director: CEO of the Center for American Progress, a think tank which he launched with others to develop and promote progressive ideas. The CAP Action Fund is the group’s advocacy arm and belongs to the anti-Iraq war coalition. Podesta previously served as chief of staff to President Bill Clinton. Rob McKay, secretary-treasurer: McKay is a partner in Sacramento Street Partners and heir to the Taco Bell fortune. He is also head of the Democracy Alliance and president of the The McKay Foundation; John Stocks, director: Stocks is the deputy executive director of the National Education Association, the nation’s largest union and a powerful force in the Democratic Party. Anna Burger, director: Burger is the secretary-treasurer at SEIU, the No. 2 job at the union. She is also chair of the Change to Win labor federation, a coalition of SEIU and six other unions that was formed in 2005 as a breakaway group from the AFL-CIO. Amy K. Dacey, executive director: Dacey is a former adviser to Anna Burger.” [5]]
Contact information555 13th Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20004
ResourcesRelated SourceWatch articles

• Campaign to Defend America
• Rob McKay

References

1. Political Organization Notice of Section 527 Status/Initial Notice: The Fund for America, IRS.gov, November 6, 2007. Employer ID# 45-0579508.

External articles

• John Stauber, The Progressive Movement is a PR Front for Rich Democrats, March 15, 2013, CounterPunch.
• Cara Parks, Let the Attack Ads Roll! Your guide to the shady 527s who will be playing a major role in this year’s presidential campaign, The New Republic, June 12, 2008.
• Jim Kuhnhenn, Liberals to Spend $150 Million on ’08, Associated Press, March 18, 2008.
• Independent Group Airs Anti-McCain Ad, National Public Radio, Morning Edition, March 6, 2008.
• Chris Cillizza, Dacey To Head Democratic Soft Money Group], Washington Post Online, December 6, 2007.
• Mary Katherine Ham, “Let the Swiftboating Begin!” Townhall.com, November 12, 2007.
• Jason Rhyne, “Moving On: Former Clinton chief of staff eyes $100m PAC,” The Raw Story, November 12, 2007.