Influence Alley

More than 200 artists have joined forces with Yoko Ono and her son, Sean Lennon, to urge Gov. Andrew Cuomo, D-N.Y., not to allow fracking in the state. Their new group, Artists Against Fracking, put out a new spot today urging clean energy development in the Empire State. 

Cliff talk was still a popular subject among the ads, but the Transaction Account Guarantee also earned some time in the sun. The Senate is expected to begin debating the measure today. The Credit Union National Association had a spot railing against the TAG Program, which it calls “another TARP handout” for now-thriving banks. The Independent Community Bankers of America, on the other hand, ran a spot advocating for passage of the TAG extension, which would help community banks, credit unions, farmers, municipalities, hospitals and retailers, according to its ad.

On the subject of the fiscal cliff, Fight Fraud First! emphasized that waste and abuse in entitlement programs should be the first things cut in efforts to reduce federal spending. Independent Sector also put out a new spot begging Congress not to push charities over the cliff, listing hundreds of nonprofits that worry the grand bargain could include a cap on charitable deductions.

Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals also put out a new ad Monday encouraging donations, and the Delegation of the European Union to the United States highlighted its Nobel Peace Prize win in two new spots Monday. The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget ran another in a long series of ads that highlight citizens’ concerns with the growing national debt.

Those with continuing ads, per Kantar Media’s Washington Eye, include the American Petroleum Institute, the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, the Delegation of the European Union to the United States, Goldman Sachs, Hologic, Janssen Biotech, the Nazarbayev Center, Whirlpool and WTOP-Radio.