Richard Berman

Richard Berman is the executive director of the Center for Consumer Freedom, a group which represents the interests of the food, alcohol and tobacco industries. He is also the president of Berman & Co, a company that made has made millions of dollars in compensation as a consultant to nonprofit groups set up and run by Berman. (Washington Post). Image File history File links RickBerman. ... Image File history File links RickBerman. ... The Center for Consumer Freedom (CCF), formerly called the Guest Choice Network, is a non-profit U.S. advocacy group funded by the food, alcohol, and tobacco industries, and more than 1,000 concerned individuals, according to its website. ... Berman and Company is a public affairs firm owned by lobbyist Rick Berman. ...

Richard Berman founded and runs a quartet of tax-exempt food, tobacco, and beverage industry groups. These nonprofit organizations hire Berman as executive director. Berman then uses his own privately owned public relations company to do work for the nonprofit organization. It has been alleged that Berman channels between 49 and 79 percent of the donations given to these nonprofit groups into his own pocket.[1]

Groups run by Berman

• The Center for Consumer Freedom (CCF) The CCF attacks anyone who criticizes smoking, fast­food, or alcohol from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) to Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

• The American Beverage Institute (ABI) The ABI fights laws designed to curb drunk driving‹in part by claiming that even a blood alcohol level of 0.08 is within the realms of responsible, social drinking.

• The Employment Policies Institute (EPI) The EPI is opposed to raising the minimum wage, particularly in the labor-intensive restaurant industry. It promotes the highly controversial concept that an increased minimum wage would drive the poor and uneducated out of the job market.

• The Center for Union Facts (CUF), an organization that on February 13, 2006, ran full-page ads in major print media outlets (NY Times, WSJ, the Washington Post) to blame unions for the bankruptcies of American industries.

According to Melanie Sloan of the Committee for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), (as heard on the Al Franken show, Air America, 2/21/06) Berman's organizations are not valid 501(c)(3) charitable organizations because Berman, acting as executive director, hires himself out as a lobbyist (he has a separate lobbying firm, Berman & Co) to influence legislation.[2] CREW has written to Senators Chuck Grassley and Max Baucus, ranking members of the Senate Finance Committee, asking for an investigation into the validity of the tax-exempt status of Berman's organizations. The American Beverage Institute is a restaurant industry trade group. ... Melanie Sloan is the Executive Director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. ... Charles Ernest Chuck Grassley (born September 17, 1933) is the senior United States Senator from Iowa. ... Max Sieben Baucus (born December 11, 1941) is the senior United States Senator from Montana and is a member of the Democratic Party. ... The U.S. Senate Committee on Finance (or, less formally, Senate Finance Committee) is a standing committee of the United States Senate. ...

Life and career

Berman grew up in New York City. His father ran gas stations and car washes, and Berman did general labor on weekends and summers while he was growing up. From 1967 to 1969, Berman worked as a labor law attorney for Bethlehem Steel. From 1969 to 1972, he served as a corporate lawyer for Dana Corporation, an automotive parts company in Toledo, Ohio. Nickname: The Big Apple, The Capital of the World Official website: City of New York Government Counties (Boroughs) Bronx (The Bronx) New York (Manhattan) Queens (Queens) Kings (Brooklyn) Richmond (Staten Island) Mayor Michael Bloomberg (R) Geographical characteristics Area Total 468. ... 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar (the link is to a full 1967 calendar). ... 1969 (MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1969 calendar). ... The Bethlehem Steel Corporation was the second largest steel producer in the United States, after US Steel but it is now part of the International Steel Group (ISG). ... 1969 (MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1969 calendar). ... 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1972 calendar). ... Dana Corporation is an auto parts and systems company currently being reorganized under Chapter 11 bankruptcy law. ... Nickname: The Glass City, T-Town Official website: http://www. ...

From 1972 to 1974, Berman was employed as labor law director of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington, D.C. In this role, Berman claimed that he "argued against unnecessary regulation of [the] hospitality industry." However, he is known to have submitted an amici curiae brief opposing a decision to grant health care coverage to pregnant women. 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1972 calendar). ... 1974 (MCMLXXIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (the link is to a full 1974 calendar). ... The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is the worlds largest not-for-profit business federation, representing 3,000,000 businesses 2,800 state and local chambers 830 business associations They are staffed with policy specialists, lobbyists and lawyers. ... ... Definition and Explanation: Amicus curiæ (Latin for friend of the court; plural amici curiæ) briefs are legal documents filed by non-litigants in appellate court cases, which include additional information or arguments that those outside parties wish to have considered in that particular case. ...

Berman moved into the food and beverage industry in 1975 under the mentorship of Norman Brinker, founder and owner of the Steak & Ale chain of restaurants. Berman started a government affairs program, launched his first PAC for Brinker, and worked there until 1984. In 1995, Berman and Brinker were identified as the special-interest lobbyists who donated the $25,000 that caused House Speaker Newt Gingrich to be hauled before the House Ethics Committee for influence peddling. Berman served as executive vice president of Pillsbury Restaurant Group from 1984 to 1986. In 1986, he formed Berman and Company. 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1975 calendar). ... 1984 (MCMLXXXIV) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Newt Gingrich Newton Leroy Gingrich, (born June 17, 1943) is an American politician who is best known as the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1995 to 1999. ... The Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, often known simply as the Ethics Committee, is one of the committees of the United States House of Representatives. ... 1984 (MCMLXXXIV) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Berman and Company is a public affairs firm owned by lobbyist Rick Berman. ...

Berman’s résumé also includes his work for Beverage Retailers Against Drunk Driving (BRADD), where he argued for "tolerance of social drinking;" the Minimum Wage Coalition to Save Jobs; and the Employment Policies Institute (EPI), created in 1991 to argue "the importance of minimum wage jobs for the poor and uneducated." 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Today, Berman describes himself as a social liberal and an economic conservative.

External links

• Washington Post article
• Richard Berman's Public Face, from ConsumerDeception.com
• Berman's History, from ConsumerDeception.com
• SourceWatch article on Richard Berman