tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post6226635561292595150..comments2024-03-28T05:57:30.673-05:00Comments on Althouse: Another political letter tapping public information to shame and intimidate.Ann Althousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01630636239933008807noreply@blogger.comBlogger100125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-3604599793246366602012-06-04T15:56:11.075-05:002012-06-04T15:56:11.075-05:00I have had a couple of studies undergo the review ...I have had a couple of studies undergo the review at my University and it can be very exacting.<br />We have a mixed group comprised of a lawyer, a medical doctor a senior member of sponsored research and several more all whom have done studies before.<br />Usually we get hammered on informed consent so I do not see how they got the study approved in that study members are not volunteers to the study.<br />Part of the format looks like one used for random surveys but that is not often seen being done by students?<br />Next he is a PhD candidate and so his research should be supervised by his committee chair unless it is not part of his PhD research. Usually a PhD candidate has no extra time for any outside work so this raises several big flags in my mind.Rich Ehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01810503852401263596noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-5120463737217610292012-06-04T02:11:49.241-05:002012-06-04T02:11:49.241-05:00I'm beginning to think Greater Wisconsin Polit...I'm beginning to think Greater Wisconsin Political Fund is a political troublemaker. Either that or their study is to discover how much paranoia and political distrust has been sown in the state of Wisconsin since the Walker business began after Nov., 2010. My GWPF circular was headlined "Scott Walker won in 2010 because too many people stayed home!" My name was at the top and a group of assumed neighbors without phone #s, and whether they voted on Nov. 8 or Nov. 10th (?!), but with addresses. The headline suggests it is a democratic circular, but I'm democratic and I'm suspicious. I checked the names of the others and their addresses. I don't want to call them because I don't want to urge anyone but Dems to vote. I don't know that these folks ARE dems. If this is NOT a dem voter list, then I won't help. I don't want a large turnout for the GOP, would prefer instead one for the dems. Six of the 13 names with addresses don't have phone #s in the phone book. It would be easy to determine I was a Dem because I've contributed to Dem campaigns. So maybe a GOP spoiler is trying to put me up to calling Republican faithful to the polls on Tuesday, June 5th. I don't believe this is a real study, but I believe the net effect could DAMAGE GENUINE GET OUT THE VOTE EFFORTS BY DEMOCRATS, which is the circular's intention. I saw some google gibberish suggesting some of the family that once owned Schlitz beer contributed to the Fund that sent this. The Harvard tag seems to be unlikely too. I say it is intended to foil real Democratic get out the vote efforts because, despite the claims on this blog, I see no buried attempt to foil the GOP get out the vote movement here, despite the claims made in blog comments. This first class mail circular reminds me of the bogus, fact-free online Emails circulated by the Far Right Noise Machine on the Internet. I conclude this is an attempt to foil a Democratic Get Out the Vote plan in the last moments before the Wisconsin election Tuesday, June 5th. Will the Journal-Sentinel try to unmask the perpetrators? Probably not. I urge those receiving this missive to hold onto it as a keepsake to see what develops, but don't do anything about it. And DON't TAKE IT SERIOUSLY EITHER! Mike Rice aka Ida Tarbell in JSonline comments, 1671 crescent lane, apt 3, Sparta, Wisconsin 54656 6083015227 P.S. My nephew Nate had Althouse as a Prof in Law School at UWMike Ricehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06262011292029160220noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-25027989764331015042012-06-03T21:22:18.590-05:002012-06-03T21:22:18.590-05:00This reminds me of the recent tactic some anti-gun...This reminds me of the recent tactic some anti-gun types are using against people with Concealed carry licenses for weapons. Some journalists are requesting the entire list of ccl names from local police in order to publish them. Now this is a public record but the intent of a ccl is to quietly work with the authorities to prove you are a law abiding citizen who will be responsible with a deadly weapon. Publishing the names of battered women, ex-police officers and others with a license does not seem to have any other purpose than to discourage people from getting one. Like publishing the names of people convicted of driving drunk or arrested as a john.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-71619560463224784652012-06-03T18:04:38.676-05:002012-06-03T18:04:38.676-05:00I got a similar letter from the Greater Wisconsin ...I got a similar letter from the Greater Wisconsin Political Fund yesterday only not listing contributions but voting history. My daughter was listed at the top of the list of 14 of my neighbors who had voted in the last 2 elections, showing she had not. Then they remind that after this election, public records will tell everyone who voted and who didn't.<br /><br />At the top of the letter in tiny type is the United Steel Workers Local 318 logo. We are in a very active recall process funded by local and national unions so they must think this letter will encourage voters to support liberal Tom Barrett who is trying to unseat Scott Walker.<br /><br />Idiots all.Erichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04259415757357845045noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-58105243957176000152012-06-03T14:18:16.952-05:002012-06-03T14:18:16.952-05:00Perhaps we just need to cut to the chase and start...Perhaps we just need to cut to the chase and start painting big yellow GOP symbols on Republican homes and businesses...richard mcenroehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10659450906647134430noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-59360724054610600242012-06-03T12:48:14.547-05:002012-06-03T12:48:14.547-05:00Clearly also the reporting floor for contributions...Clearly also the reporting floor for contributions needs to be raised substantially. Perhaps $10K.caseym54https://www.blogger.com/profile/03452934303641667027noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-62361048906555596122012-06-03T12:46:17.493-05:002012-06-03T12:46:17.493-05:00Clearly there needs to be a federal civil rights l...Clearly there needs to be a federal civil rights law preventing the use of public election information to threaten or harass. In California this came to a head with picketing of businesses where one or more employees contributed to Prop 8.caseym54https://www.blogger.com/profile/03452934303641667027noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-66632041886737801492012-06-03T12:16:54.193-05:002012-06-03T12:16:54.193-05:00Why should the vote be anonymous when there is so ...Why should the vote be anonymous when there is so much at stake. I.e., union pension benefits SACRED!!!Alexhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11205752419540502278noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-55392410625240514682012-06-03T12:15:45.751-05:002012-06-03T12:15:45.751-05:00Donations are one thing. Ballots should be secret...Donations are one thing. Ballots should be secret from ones neighbors. "We know whether you voted last summer " letters are something else again .SarahWhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04557172584578880603noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-71105722187559438192012-06-03T12:11:25.840-05:002012-06-03T12:11:25.840-05:00I'm a Harvard honors graduate, and stopped don...I'm a Harvard honors graduate, and stopped donating to the place years ago, including to my class for the 50th reunion I chose not to attend with Barney Frank. The University is running on empty. "Veritas," indeed. What a farce.Tulsa Jackhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00552077293513157458noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-33754295251157663272012-06-03T11:10:04.728-05:002012-06-03T11:10:04.728-05:00The reader cited in the post said - "I have n...The reader cited in the post said - "I have not gone to their website for fear of tracking, etc." .<br />I hate to see "fear" being a factor here.<br />Some thoughts -<br />1) you're already being "tracked" in some sort of way,<br />2) use the library computer to check out the web site, and<br />3) set up your computer (or have a friend help you) with an extension on your browser to prevent tracking. I use one from abine.com but there's others available.Mark Wiehenstroerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00365368531831105591noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-61087311667423877852012-06-03T10:59:34.666-05:002012-06-03T10:59:34.666-05:00It's a good question, Paco.
IANAL, but maybe ...It's a good question, Paco.<br /><br />IANAL, but maybe there could be a provision allowing a contributor to opt out of the default mode of having his information published. In such cases, the information would still be available but only through a FOIA request for each person.<br /><br />That way, it wouldn't be cost-effective to deal in wholesale info gathering, but people who were likely to be big-money contributors could still be monitored.Chip S.https://www.blogger.com/profile/13210586187250159751noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-38644316703582013792012-06-03T10:47:02.193-05:002012-06-03T10:47:02.193-05:00Understood, Chip. My spouse and I get into convers...Understood, Chip. My spouse and I get into conversations where I pop off something that seems like a brilliant insight, and she pauses and gives me that irritated look and replies, "That's what I <i>just said</i>." I guess I'm starting to do it to everyone now.<br /><br />I will not attempt to claim Larry's good point for myself -- or, at least, what I think is Larry's good point -- which is, most here agree that this counts as an intimidatory douchebag tactic, but could/would you modify the law to make it illegal? I don't see how you can.Paco Wovéhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00053886112561036768noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-40590898508642284852012-06-03T10:26:11.610-05:002012-06-03T10:26:11.610-05:00Democrats call for "public financing" of...Democrats call for "public financing" of campaign or much stricter contribution limits, and have talked about amending the constitution if necessary.<br /><br />The most common Republican retort: allow unlimited contributions as long as there is "disclosure".<br /><br />But that means THIS.RedTea BlueWatershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03569512770663350050noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-87458449908942610712012-06-03T10:19:54.003-05:002012-06-03T10:19:54.003-05:00it would be very useful for some people to know if...<i>it would be very useful for some people to know if this sort of mass mailing does indeed modify political donation behavior.</i><br /><br />That's precisely my point, Paco. The people for whom that's useful information are political operatives--by definition. There's no other reason to spend the money and effort on something like this.<br /><br />Harvard's econ department is surprisingly non-lefty overall. It's shocking to me that it would let its name be attached to a piece of schlock like this.Chip S.https://www.blogger.com/profile/13210586187250159751noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-26797561932021477452012-06-03T10:09:37.426-05:002012-06-03T10:09:37.426-05:00arrrggh. "...if they don't work..."arrrggh. "...if <i>they</i> don't work..."Paco Wovéhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00053886112561036768noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-51471085190829745772012-06-03T10:08:37.869-05:002012-06-03T10:08:37.869-05:00"IMO, this project isn't policy research,...<i>"IMO, this project isn't policy research, it's a consulting gig for political operatives."</i><br /><br />I suspect it's both. After all, it would be very useful for some people to know if this sort of mass mailing does indeed modify political donation behavior. You don't want to put a lot of effort into attempts to intimidate voters if they doesn't work, right? <br /><br />So this is step 1: take a random group of voters and try to intimidate them. Step 2 will be re-analyzing the same voters' donation behavior in the next few election cycles and see if that behavior has been altered to a statistically significant degree.Paco Wovéhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00053886112561036768noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-8836302603008956352012-06-03T09:46:20.786-05:002012-06-03T09:46:20.786-05:00Hmm, seems the most obvious conclusion to draw fro...Hmm, seems the most obvious conclusion to draw from the content of the letter is that they want the recipient to give more money to Republicans! Just look at the amounts in the column.Donald Sensinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01395472322281027191noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-42035873393827799472012-06-03T09:31:40.697-05:002012-06-03T09:31:40.697-05:00FYI, I did a couple of searches on 2008 cycle Hahv...FYI, I did a couple of searches on 2008 cycle Hahvard donations<br /><br />30-1 funding for Obama over McCain<br /><br />954 records for Obama<br />23 for McCain (must be those wealthy GOP types)The Drill SGThttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16394309533144027391noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-3057884962828856422012-06-03T09:22:54.467-05:002012-06-03T09:22:54.467-05:00@ConTeach--Sites like spokeo are also just repacka...@ConTeach--Sites like spokeo are also just repackaging publicly available information about people. And yet lots of people are sufficiently bothered by spokeo that they go to the trouble of opting out.<br /><br />Yes, lots of information about you is "easily available" in the sense that someone determined to find it can do so. But that's a long way from having information about you mass-mailed to people who wouldn't otherwise have bothered to seek it. <br /><br />As far as "intimidation" goes, read the stated purpose of this research project. Its intent is to estimate the effect of this type of information propagation on your subsequent behavior. And if you don't find the wording and the graphic design of this "survey instrument" intimidating, your receptors aren't nearly as sensitive as many peoples'.<br /><br />Now ask yourself: What is the point of such a study? It does not ask how the <i>current</i> degree of availability of info availability affects people's behavior--which would be an interesting policy question. Instead it examines the impact of something that has not been done before--and would likely only ever be done an organized political group.<br /><br />IMO, this project isn't policy research, it's a consulting gig for political operatives.Chip S.https://www.blogger.com/profile/13210586187250159751noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-979669712322493792012-06-03T09:21:24.287-05:002012-06-03T09:21:24.287-05:00Thanks Althouse for the mention. I'll put it ...Thanks Althouse for the mention. I'll put it on my CV :)<br /><br /><br /><i>A Conservative Teacher said... <br />And information on who donates to candidates and how much they donate is also easily found on opensecrets.org, probably as a result of the campaign finance legislation passed in the last couple years.</i><br /><br />Addresses are not available at opensecrets. You need to datamine or buy lists from political researchers/parties.<br /><br /><br />As many of us have said, the purpose of the research is to learn how to suppress political speech.The Drill SGThttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16394309533144027391noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-28557897826469186672012-06-03T09:12:12.307-05:002012-06-03T09:12:12.307-05:00"The empirical tests included in the research..."The empirical tests included in the research design will shed light on the advantages and disadvantages of alternative disclosure policies, which we believe is a very important issue."<br /><br />-- Well, that must mean they have a list of the randomized people who received mailings. I want to review their results, so I've emailed them asking for the list of the recipients of the letters so that we can determine if they are adequately randomized, along with verifying that the information they received is valid.Matt Sablanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15885240752820005149noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-50083808136529473672012-06-03T08:42:09.426-05:002012-06-03T08:42:09.426-05:00Back down a bit people.
Information on whether so...Back down a bit people.<br /><br />Information on whether someone voters or not is easily available, and pretty much every candidate who is running for election already has it and uses it to target mailings, door-to-door, etc.<br /><br />And information on who donates to candidates and how much they donate is also easily found on opensecrets.org, probably as a result of the campaign finance legislation passed in the last couple years.<br /><br />There is no 'intimidation' in having this information. Now, if it is being used to 'intimidate' you, that's a different story- but I didn't see a whole lot of evidence of that in your post.<br /><br />Calm down people.A Conservative Teacherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14310613238755513162noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-50193610501746965232012-06-03T08:13:25.801-05:002012-06-03T08:13:25.801-05:00Never in my life did I think I would see tactics l...Never in my life did I think I would see tactics like this used in a political contest. In <i>America</i>! We are being turned into a banana republic by the very people we trusted to represent us.RebeccaHhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15113907852048577121noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-19910696609222609752012-06-03T07:59:49.722-05:002012-06-03T07:59:49.722-05:00My first thought was that this couldn't possib...<i>My first thought was that this couldn't possibly pass human subjects review, because you cannot possibly get informed consent from participants. By merely opening the letter, you're participating. ... Usually human subjects reviews are *brutal.* </i><br /><br />Indeed. This was my thought as well. If all the paperwork isn't there and the i's aren't dotted/t's aren't crossed with any human subject project your research program can get shut down. I can't imagine how this one qualifies. Are they not subject to the same rules the medical side is?Shannahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15709594638793030086noreply@blogger.com