\u2014 from Robert Reich’s Substack<\/a><\/i><\/b> <\/p>\n Friends,<\/p>\n The statements seem as belligerent as Pete Hegseth on a bad hair day. <\/p>\n \u201cWe are preparing for the next war that is coming,\u201d says<\/a> Jonathan Cowan. <\/p>\n Cowan is president of Third Way, described by The<\/em> New York Times<\/em> as a \u201cleading centrist Democratic group.\u201d Cowan\u2019s Third Way is preparing a $15 million war chest to \u201cdiscredit democratic socialism.\u201d <\/p>\n Pointing to Dr. Abdul El-Sayed\u2019s victory in the Michigan Senate primary last week, Cowan warns that \u201cit is deeply troubling to see radical, far-left candidates winning in places that are potential presidential swing states.\u201d<\/p>\n Well, I find it deeply troubling that faux centrist groups are declaring war on progressives in the pages of The<\/em> New York Times, <\/em>without the Times<\/em> revealing who they really are.<\/p>\n If you bother to look at the funding sources of Third Way \u2014 those that have been made public, that is (Third Way is structured as a 501(c)(4) social welfare organization that\u2019s not legally required to publicly disclose its donors) \u2014 you\u2019ll find a Star Wars cantina of billionaire megadonors, Fortune 500 CEOs, corporate dark money bundlers, and giant corporations.<\/p>\n Odd that The<\/em> New York Times<\/em> chooses to describe Third Way as a \u201cleading Democratic centrist group\u201d without revealing that it\u2019s simply a Trojan Horse for corporate America. <\/p>\n Third Way senior vice president Matt Bennett has even conceded<\/a> that \u201cthe majority\u201d of Third Way\u2019s donor support comes from the group\u2019s board of trustees, most of whom are from the finance sector. (That\u2019s the same Matt Bennett, by the way, who helped stage the infamous \u201cDukakis in a tank\u201d photo-op that helped sink Dukakis\u2019s 1988 presidential campaign<\/a>.)<\/p>\n Here\u2019s Third Way\u2019s Board of Trustees (the most recent list available):<\/p>\n Oh, and Third Way\u2019s honorary co-chairs have included West Virginia\u2019s former Sen. Joe Manchin<\/a> and Arizona\u2019s former Sen. Kyrsten Sinema<\/a>. Enough said about its governing structure. <\/p>\n In 2020, Third Way claimed that Bernie Sanders\u2019s Medicare for All plan would add more than $13 trillion to the federal deficit, although most other analyses \u2014 including one by the Koch-funded Mercatus Center \u2014 found that Sanders\u2019s plan would save trillions while providing healthcare to millions of uninsured Americans.<\/p>\n Well, of course<\/em> Third Way attacked Bernie\u2019s plan. Among Third Way\u2019s donors<\/a> are pharmaceutical giant Amgen, pharmacy benefit manager CVS Health (which acquired health insurance giant Aetna in late 2018), and health products and drug company Baxter International.<\/p>\n Other corporate donors to Third Way are or have been members of the GOP-aligned American Legislative Exchange Council<\/a> (ALEC), a corporate bill mill that links lobbyists with state lawmakers. Amgen, Baxter Healthcare, CVS Caremark, DuPont, and trade groups the Consumer Technology Association and NCTA – The Internet and Television Association are members. <\/p>\n Third Way donors have also given money to the Republican Attorneys General Association, which helps elect Republicans who fight federal environmental and other regulations<\/a>. Among them, Entergy, Facebook, Google, and Reynolds American, according to tax records.<\/p>\n Christopher Leonard, author of Kochland<\/a><\/em>, revealed that Koch Industries secretly funded a report by Third Way<\/a> intended to promote the Republican free trade agenda to Democrats.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!w3DM!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F76eea58f-3797-4c10-80d7-fda217e151d7_768x512.avif\")
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