Richard Berman
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For television producer Richard Keith "Rick" Berman, see Rick Berman.
Richard Berman is the executive director of the Center for Consumer Freedom, a lobby group representing the interests of the food, alcohol and tobacco industries, and the president of Berman & Company.
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[edit] 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, he worked as a labor law attorney for Bethlehem Steel, and from 1969 to 1972, he served as a corporate lawyer for Dana Corporation, an automotive parts company in Toledo, Ohio. From 1972 to 1974, he was employed as labor law director of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington, D.C.
He 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. He served as executive vice president of Pillsbury Restaurant Group from 1984 to 1986. In 1986, he formed Berman and Company.
His résumé includes work for Beverage Retailers Against Drunk Driving (BRADD), where he argued for "tolerance of social drinking;" [citation needed] 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." [citation needed]
Today, Berman describes himself as a social liberal and an economic conservative.
[edit] Groups run by Berman
- The Center for Consumer Freedom (CCF) The CCF criticizes activist groups who target smoking, fastfood, or alcohol. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have been the targets of attacks by CCF.
- The American Beverage Institute (ABI) The ABI fights laws designed to curb drunk driving, in part by arguing 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 argues that an increasing the minimum wage for waiters and waitresses above $2.13 per hour would help 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 (New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post) to blame trade unions for the bankruptcies of American industries.
