Automated phone call: "Pro-lifers" hard at work in Oregon.

[Radio_Lady]

Yesterday, I received an automated telephone call from out-of-state (Area Code 1-571-522-1332) from someone called "Gail Attlebury" (not sure of that name-- she just says it once). The call is about signing petitions available from their office called "Protect Our Teen Daughters." They want us to call to 1-503-390-3645 to get involved.

This is trying to get a ballot measure to advise parents prior to an abortion if a child is underage. It's clearly Step 1 in trying to overturn a woman's right to choose here in Oregon.

Here's their web site:

www.protectourteendaughters.com

I'd like your ideas both locally and NATIONALLY on how we can work against this group.

If you have anything to add, please post here.

Thanks.

Radio_Lady

(Permission to cross-post in Oregon forum)

[kevinmc]

1. I live in CA ......

and got the same call yesterday ..... I heard the first part and hung up.

[proud patriot]

9. I live in Cali and have recieved the same phone call

x(

[MissB]

2. That name sounds very familiar for some reason.

Probably an old Lon Mabon buddy.

[Rocket Surgeon]

4. What has happened to ole' Lon lately?

I've been out of the state for seven years. The last I heard he got some jail time for some tax evasion thing.

[proud2BlibKansan]

3. The BIG problem with this

is if a girl is molested by her father, she should be able to choose abortion without his permission.

[smtpgirl]

5. 571 area code is Northern VA

Chantilly
Centreville
Sterling
Ashburn
Fairfax

[Mabus]

7. About 571-522-1332 and what to do about it

It looks like it is a professional political polling company from Braddock, Virigina. Best tactic: don't attack the message, go after the astroturf group that is paying for it. Stir up a fuss about advocacy campaigns and demand (if there isn't) that advocacy campaigns must report their membership and source of financing to the state where they are operating. I helped do it locally and it resulted in an ethics investigation where the group involved had to reveal its membership list (actually it was one (fall) guy) and its finances.

Anyway here's what I found on the phone number. It apparently belongs to a group called CAZ.

Edition of April 7, 2006
Residents Wary of Biased Survey
By Leah M. Burfield Send Mail to Writer
Observer Staff Writer
On March 13, Rebekah Wood received a strange phone call. An automated telephone survey asked her questions about Herndon's upcoming elections for mayor and town council.
Although Wood has a Herndon address and a 20170 zip code, she does not live within the Town of Herndon limits, therefore making her ineligible to vote in town elections.
When the phone call was received, the name "CAZ" appeared on her caller ID with a 571-522-1332 number. Although she knew right away that the survey was not real, Wood decided to stay on the line.

rest of the article at: http://www.observernews.com/stories/current/news/040706/survey.shtml

# Muffet Says:
February 15th, 2006 at 2:03 pm
They conducted the “poll” here in Cincinnati, too. The caller ID was from Braddock, Virginia. 571-522-1332. It was a pre-recorded message.
# Laura Says:
February 20th, 2006 at 1:51 pm

571.522.1332 has been showing up on my callerID here in Indianapolis for the past week. Along with the number, the name shows as CAZ. Pre-recorded messages on my voicemail stating it is a public survey and they may call back.
# Megan Says:
February 21st, 2006 at 12:52 pm

571-522-1332 has also showed up on my phone this week twice. No messages. I googled it and got this site. I’m in eastern Pennsylvania and we have a do not call register.
# Rick Says:
February 21st, 2006 at 2:55 pm

The phone number “[phone]″ is based in Braddock, VA and the registered carrier is Verizon Virginia, Inc. However, due to number portability, some numbers have been transferred to a new service provider other than the registered carrier.

This is the info I have found.
Message (as mentioned earlier: “This is a public survey call. We may call back later.”
more comments at http://www.brewedfreshdaily.com/2006/02/15/law-dork-give-and-take-push-and-poll/

A couple of years ago, two months before the city commissioner elections, a lot of people in town got calls from a company called Datar and Associates doing polling on everything from gay marriage to where our town should move the public library. And then, the weekend before the election some mysterious postcards were sent out targeting the strongest progressive candidate. One of the postcards had a picture of the Golden Gate Bridge and asked if we wanted to turn our town into another San Francisco. It was pretty pathetic stuff.

Right after the polling calls started we (my friends and I) made a fuss. We wrote letters to the editor, made phone calls and posted on local forums. We wanted to know who was paying for these calls since some of the questions concerned issues involved in the upcoming elections. The local newspaper did nothing except to say they couldn't locate the company. Well I found it. It was in Florida. I called and asked about their services: how much, what kind of packages did they offer and a list of their former customers or people I could call to find out about them. At first they were pretty nice and then they said they would get back to me, they never did. Since they weren't going to cooperate I started digging locally. I went to the courthouse and pulled the first round of candidate campaign records (including expenses). Surprisingly there were no expenses from any of the candidates that reported using the Florida company. Later, when the postcards showed up the weekend before the election I got together with some friends and called for an investigation. To make a really long story short I helped lobby the state's Governmental Ethics office to do an investigation. If someone is doing phone calls on political issues they should have to file a PAC report but to our chagrin we found the laws in Kansas to be really lax on issue advocates having to file finance reports. We did get a favorable ruling on the postcards which, in my mind, because of their content, seemed related to the push polling. Anyway, the ethics commission found in our favor concerning the postcards, i.e., the guy who mailed the postcards had to reveal that he was behind it and he had to disclose how he financed it (http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2005/apr/22/group_behind_schauner/).

The original complaint, about the phone calls, was deemed to be advocacy related and therefore not really regulated here in Kansas but we got people talking about requiring regulation of advocacy issues. It has come up in the state legislature since then but has been defeated by the GOP. But it is out there. Don't attack the message, go after the astroturf group that is paying for it. It helps remind people that the GOP doesn't want transparency in campaign and advocacy financing.

[Gloria]

6. I'm waiting for NARAL to stop admiring Joe Lieberman and start

some phone calling itself.

Seem to always be a day late and a dollar short....

[Radio_Lady]

8. Is NARAL doing anything?

I've heard from the Pro-Lifers a few times by mail.

I don't even know how they got my name or address. It must be off the residents list or something else benign.