coloradans for econ growth

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"></font><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">http://www.denverpost.com/2007/04/08/end-of-the-trail-for-state-gop-group/</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</font></div><div><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.25em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; line-height: 28px; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; color: rgb(26, 26, 26);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The Trailhead Group, the organization Republicans had hoped would help propel them back into power last fall, has closed up shop.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.25em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; line-height: 28px; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; color: rgb(26, 26, 26);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Founded in 2005 by former Gov. <span style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 700; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Bill Owens</span>, <span style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 700; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Bruce Benson</span> and <span style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 700; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Pete Coors</span>, Trailhead was created to counter the “Democrat millionaires,” as they’re known in GOP circles, who provided millions to 527 campaign groups in 2004 to help their party win control of the Colorado statehouse.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.25em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; line-height: 28px; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; color: rgb(26, 26, 26);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Trailhead raised $5.2 million last year, but was criticized privately by some Republicans for spreading the money too thin and targeting the wrong races.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.25em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; line-height: 28px; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; color: rgb(26, 26, 26);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">GOP insiders say they’re considering their next moves, but the idea is to create new groups that will draw in other wealthy GOP donors. Meanwhile, Trailhead’s former director, <span style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 700; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Alan Philp</span>, has landed a gig with GOP presidential candidate <span style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 700; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Mitt Romney</span>‘s campaign in Boston. His official title is “idea factory director,” which means he will coordinate policy and issues.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.25em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; line-height: 28px; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; color: rgb(26, 26, 26);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Owens portrait ready</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.25em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; line-height: 28px; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; color: rgb(26, 26, 26);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Former Gov. <span style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 700; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Bill Owens</span>‘ official portrait is finished and high-dollar donors invited to a gala fundraiser May 22 will get the first peek. Money raised will go to the University of Denver Center for Public Policy and Contemporary Issues, where Owens was appointed a senior fellow in January.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.25em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; line-height: 28px; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; color: rgb(26, 26, 26);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Lots of heavyweights are listed on the host committee, including Gov.<span style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 700; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"> Bill Ritter</span>, Democratic legislative leaders <span style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 700; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Andrew Romanoff</span>and <span style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 700; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Joan Fitz-Gerald</span>, attorney<span style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 700; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"> Steve Farber</span>, Sens. <span style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 700; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Wayne Allard</span>and <span style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 700; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Ken Salazar</span>, and Colorado’s entire congressional delegation.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.25em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; line-height: 28px; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; color: rgb(26, 26, 26);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">....</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.25em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; line-height: 28px; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; color: rgb(26, 26, 26);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">=</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.25em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; line-height: 28px; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; color: rgb(26, 26, 26);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.25em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; line-height: 28px; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; color: rgb(26, 26, 26);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.25em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit;"><font color="#1a1a1a" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="line-height: 28px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">http://www.denverpost.com/2006/07/17/gop-puts-500000-in-states-guv-race/</span></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.25em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit;"><font color="#1a1a1a" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="line-height: 28px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">may 2006</span></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.25em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit;"><font color="#1a1a1a" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="line-height: 28px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</span></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.25em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit;"><font color="#1a1a1a" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="line-height: 28px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"></span></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.25em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit;"><font color="#1a1a1a" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="line-height: 28px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The Republican Governors Association has pumped $500,000 into Colorado’s gubernatorial race, considered by political analysts to be one of the most competitive in the country.</span></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.25em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit;"><font color="#1a1a1a" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="line-height: 28px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</span></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.25em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit;"><font color="#1a1a1a" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="line-height: 28px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The governors group donated the money to Trailhead Group LLC, an independent political committee that said it will use the money to help GOP candidate Bob Beauprez.</span></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.25em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit;"><font color="#1a1a1a" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="line-height: 28px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</span></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.25em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit;"><font color="#1a1a1a" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="line-height: 28px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">“We are going to be aggressive to support Bob Beauprez and the RGA is part of our team and excited about investing,” said Alan Philp, executive director of Trailhead.</span></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.25em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit;"><font color="#1a1a1a" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="line-height: 28px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</span></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.25em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit;"><font color="#1a1a1a" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="line-height: 28px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Beauprez, a congressman, faces Democrat Bill Ritter, a former Denver district attorney. Under campaign finance laws, Trailhead cannot contribute any of the RGA money directly to Beauprez. It can, however, spend it on radio and TV ads, campaign mailings and get-out-the-vote efforts supporting him.</span></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.25em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit;"><font color="#1a1a1a" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="line-height: 28px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</span></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.25em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit;"><font color="#1a1a1a" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="line-height: 28px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The group recently made hundreds of thousands of robocalls to voters statewide criticizing Ritter’s position on immigration. And two weeks ago, the group put up a radio ad suggesting that as prosecutor, Ritter was soft on crime because he plea-bargained 97 percent of his cases.</span></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.25em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit;"><font color="#1a1a1a" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="line-height: 28px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</span></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.25em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit;"><font color="#1a1a1a" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="line-height: 28px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The contribution was revealed Monday in Trailhead’s quarterly disclosure to the IRS. The group has raised a total of $1.6 million, according to the filing.</span></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.25em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit;"><font color="#1a1a1a" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="line-height: 28px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</span></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.25em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit;"><font color="#1a1a1a" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="line-height: 28px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The RGA is committed to keeping the governor’s job in Republican hands, said Phil Musser, the group’s executive director.</span></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.25em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit;"><font color="#1a1a1a" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="line-height: 28px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</span></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.25em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit;"><font color="#1a1a1a" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="line-height: 28px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The RGA donation equals almost a quarter of what Beauprez has raised to date. Beauprez on Monday reported he raised $2.1 million through July 12. Ritter collected about $2 million in the same period.</span></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.25em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit;"><font color="#1a1a1a" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="line-height: 28px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</span></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.25em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit;"><font color="#1a1a1a" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="line-height: 28px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Trailhead was created by Republican Gov. Bill Owens, beer magnate Pete Coors and Denver businessman Bruce Benson as a counteroffensive to a group of well-heeled Democrats who funneled millions into independent groups that targeted battleground legislative races in 2004. Trailhead is a so-called 527 group, named after the applicable section of the tax code, which permits it to use a loophole in campaign finance laws to legally raise and spend soft money. State law limits contributions from individuals and political committees to candidates and sets donation limits from political parties to candidates. Independent committees such as 527s aren’t subject to those restrictions.</span></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.25em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit;"><font color="#1a1a1a" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="line-height: 28px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</span></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.25em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit;"><font color="#1a1a1a" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="line-height: 28px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</span></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.25em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit;"><font color="#1a1a1a" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="line-height: 28px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">“They can raise and spend vast amounts of money on attack ads and voter-mobilization efforts,” said David Fine, a lawyer at Kelly Haglund Garnsey & Kahn LLC in Denver.</span></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.25em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit;"><font color="#1a1a1a" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="line-height: 28px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</span></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.25em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit;" /><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.25em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit;"><font color="#1a1a1a" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="line-height: 28px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Other contributors to Trailhead in the second quarter of this year included former University of Denver chancellor Dan Ritchie, $25,000; Haselden Construction, $100,000; former Colorado U.S. Sen. Bill Armstrong, $2,500; and the Colorado Leadership Fund, $50,000.</span></font></p></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
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</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b>c for change</b> : http://classic.followthemoney.org//database/StateGlance/iespender.phtml?ie=11403</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">salem comm</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">--</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">https://www.opensecrets.org/527s/527cmtedetail.php?ein=205537417</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">1 mil 2006</font></div><div><span style="line-height: 24px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> Identification Number (EIN): #205537417</font></span></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></div><div><table class="datadisplay" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; margin: 0.5em 0px 35px; padding: 0px; width: 630px; line-height: 24px; background: rgb(224, 230, 236);"><tbody><tr><td style="padding: 5px; vertical-align: top;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Aspect Energy</font></td><td class="number" style="padding: 5px; text-align: right; vertical-align: top;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">$450,000</font></td></tr><tr style="background-color: rgb(240, 243, 246);"><td class="center" style="padding: 5px; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">2</font></td><td style="padding: 5px; vertical-align: top;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Chx Llc</font></td><td class="number" style="padding: 5px; text-align: right; vertical-align: top;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">$150,000</font></td></tr><tr><td class="center" style="padding: 5px; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">3</font></td><td style="padding: 5px; vertical-align: top;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Senate Majority Fund</font></td><td class="number" style="padding: 5px; text-align: right; vertical-align: top;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">$125,000</font></td></tr><tr style="background-color: rgb(240, 243, 246);"><td class="center" style="padding: 5px; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">4</font></td><td style="padding: 5px; vertical-align: top;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Medallion Enterprises</font></td><td class="number" style="padding: 5px; text-align: right; vertical-align: top;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">$100,000</font></td></tr><tr><td class="center" style="padding: 5px; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">4</font></td><td style="padding: 5px; vertical-align: top;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Trailhead Group</font></td><td class="number" style="padding: 5px; text-align: right; vertical-align: top;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">$100,00</font></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">--</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="line-height: 18.2px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">ere's room for 25 large </span><span style="font-weight: bold; line-height: 18.2px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">jets</span><span style="line-height: 18.2px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">. Cranberg and his wife, Susan Marsh, provide the majority of financing for all XJet projects through their private investing firm, </span><span style="font-weight: bold; line-height: 18.2px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">CHx</span><wbr style="line-height: 18.2px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><span style="line-height: 18.2px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> ...</span></font></div><div><span style="line-height: 18.2px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></span></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" /><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Denver Business Journal</font></font></font></font></font></font></font></div><div>
</div><div>Luxury aviation company XJet, which on July 10 opened the first phase of a $25 million, 100,000-square-foot fixed-base operation at Centennial Airport, has applied to build a similar facility at Chicago Executive Airport.</div><div>
</div><div>It's part of an ambitious two-year growth plan by XJet founder and CEO Josh Stewart, who recently visited Dubai and Hong Kong and who has targeted Dallas and Geneva for company growth as well.</div></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">=</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">chx capital:</font></div><div><table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="gsc-resultsHeader" style="width: 650px; clear: both; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><tbody><tr><td class="gsc-twiddleRegionCell gsc-twiddle-opened" style="width: 488px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /><div class="gsc-twiddle" style="position: static; margin-top: 4px; display: inline; cursor: pointer; background-image: url(" www.google.com="www.google.com" uds="uds" css="css" arrow_open.gif="arrow_open.gif" background-position="background-position" px="px" background-repeat="background-repeat" no-repeat="no-repeat"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /></font></font></font></font></font></font></div></td><td class="gsc-configLabelCell" style="text-align: right; width: 162px;" /></tr></tbody></table><div class="gsc-results gsc-webResult" style="padding: 0px; width: 643.5px; zoom: 1; margin-bottom: 10px; position: static; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="gsc-webResult gsc-result" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; zoom: 1; padding: 0.25em; position: static; border: 1px solid rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="gs-webResult gs-result" style="width: 42em; padding: 2px 0px; position: static;"><table class="gsc-table-result" style="border-spacing: 0px; width: 546px;"><tbody><tr><td class="gsc-table-cell-snippet-close" style="vertical-align: top; width: 544px;"><div class="gs-title gsc-table-cell-thumbnail gsc-thumbnail-left" style="vertical-align: top; position: static; height: 1.25em; overflow: hidden; text-decoration: underline;"><a class="gs-title" href="https://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/induscode.php?id=E1500&year=2009" target="top" dir="ltr" data-cturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/induscode.php%3Fid%3DE1500%26year%3D2009&sa=U&ved=0ahUKEwi_9Jeb7qjOAhXpKcAKHQ4JAPUQFggEMAA&client=internal-uds-cse&usg=AFQjCNHRIrSb2wvD2wfzKZY1bgmoOPsuKA" data-ctorig="https://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/induscode.php?id=E1500&year=2009" style="cursor: pointer; height: 1.25em; overflow: hidden;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Lobbying Spending Database Alternate energy production ...</font></a></div><div class="gs-bidi-start-align gs-snippet" dir="ltr" style="position: static;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">233 South Wacker <b>LLC</b>, -, $380,000 ... <b>CHX</b> Capital, -, $110,000 ... Green Rock Energy <b>LLC</b>, -, $160,000 ... Hydrogen Energy International <b>LLC</b>, -, $150,000.</font></div><div class="gsc-url-bottom" style="position: static;"><div class="gs-bidi-start-align gs-visibleUrl gs-visibleUrl-long" dir="ltr" style="position: static; overflow: hidden; word-break: break-all;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">https://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/induscode.php?id=E1500...</font></div></div><div class="gs-per-result-labels" url="https://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/induscode.php?id=E1500&year=2009" style="position: static;" /></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><div class="gsc-expansionArea" style="position: static;"><div class="gsc-webResult gsc-result" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; zoom: 1; padding: 0.25em; position: static; border: 1px solid rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="gs-webResult gs-result" style="width: 42em; padding: 2px 0px; position: static;"><table class="gsc-table-result" style="border-spacing: 0px; width: 546px;"><tbody><tr><td class="gsc-table-cell-snippet-close" style="vertical-align: top; width: 544px;"><div class="gs-title gsc-table-cell-thumbnail gsc-thumbnail-left" style="vertical-align: top; position: static; height: 1.25em; overflow: hidden; text-decoration: underline;"><a class="gs-title" href="http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/indusclient.php?year=2007&id=E07" target="top" dir="ltr" data-cturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/indusclient.php%3Fyear%3D2007%26id%3DE07&sa=U&ved=0ahUKEwi_9Jeb7qjOAhXpKcAKHQ4JAPUQFggGMAE&client=internal-uds-cse&usg=AFQjCNHOe_3SiSqM0D-gNVht6ut1-Vp_yg" data-ctorig="http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/indusclient.php?year=2007&id=E07" style="cursor: pointer; height: 1.25em; overflow: hidden;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Lobbying Spending Database Misc Energy, 2007</font></a></div><div class="gs-bidi-start-align gs-snippet" dir="ltr" style="position: static;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Poet <b>LLC</b>, $321,897 .... Ut-Battelle <b>Llc</b>, $80,000 ... <b>CHX</b> Capital, $65,000 ... Hydrogen <b>Llc</b>, $56,000 ... Achates Power <b>LLC</b>, $30,000 ... Energy <b>LLC</b>, $20,000.</font></div><div class="gsc-url-bottom" style="position: static;"><div class="gs-bidi-start-align gs-visibleUrl gs-visibleUrl-long" dir="ltr" style="position: static; overflow: hidden; word-break: break-all;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">www.opensecrets.org/lobby/indusclient.php?year=2007&id=E07</font></div></div><div class="gs-per-result-labels" url="http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/indusclient.php?year=2007&id=E07" style="position: static;" /></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><div class="gsc-webResult gsc-result" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; zoom: 1; padding: 0.25em; position: static; border: 1px solid rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="gs-webResult gs-result" style="width: 42em; padding: 2px 0px; position: static;"><table class="gsc-table-result" style="border-spacing: 0px; width: 546px;"><tbody><tr><td class="gsc-table-cell-snippet-close" style="vertical-align: top; width: 544px;"><div class="gs-title gsc-table-cell-thumbnail gsc-thumbnail-left" style="vertical-align: top; position: static; height: 1.25em; overflow: hidden; text-decoration: underline;"><a class="gs-title" href="http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/induscode.php?year=2008&id=E1500" target="top" dir="ltr" data-cturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/induscode.php%3Fyear%3D2008%26id%3DE1500&sa=U&ved=0ahUKEwi_9Jeb7qjOAhXpKcAKHQ4JAPUQFggIMAI&client=internal-uds-cse&usg=AFQjCNF4nvUG0VZyt6sgJMCy4RsCZPsbvQ" data-ctorig="http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/induscode.php?year=2008&id=E1500" style="cursor: pointer; height: 1.25em; overflow: hidden;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Lobbying Spending Database Alternate energy production ...</font></a></div><div class="gs-bidi-start-align gs-snippet" dir="ltr" style="position: static;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Industry lobbying profile, 2008.</font></div><div class="gsc-url-bottom" style="position: static;"><div class="gs-bidi-start-align gs-visibleUrl gs-visibleUrl-long" dir="ltr" style="position: static; overflow: hidden; word-break: break-all;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">www.opensecrets.org/lobby/induscode.php?year=2008&id...</font></div></div><div class="gs-per-result-labels" url="http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/induscode.php?year=2008&id=E1500" style="position: static;" /></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><div class="gsc-webResult gsc-result" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; zoom: 1; padding: 0.25em; position: static; border: 1px solid rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="gs-webResult gs-result" style="width: 42em; padding: 2px 0px; position: static;"><table class="gsc-table-result" style="border-spacing: 0px; width: 546px;"><tbody><tr><td class="gsc-table-cell-snippet-close" style="vertical-align: top; width: 544px;"><div class="gs-title gsc-table-cell-thumbnail gsc-thumbnail-left" style="vertical-align: top; position: static; height: 1.25em; overflow: hidden; text-decoration: underline;"><a class="gs-title" href="http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/firmlbs.php?id=D000021966&year=2007" target="top" dir="ltr" data-cturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/firmlbs.php%3Fid%3DD000021966%26year%3D2007&sa=U&ved=0ahUKEwi_9Jeb7qjOAhXpKcAKHQ4JAPUQFggKMAM&client=internal-uds-cse&usg=AFQjCNEOYl_PeYfuibewv875too-COU0DA" data-ctorig="http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/firmlbs.php?id=D000021966&year=2007" style="cursor: pointer; height: 1.25em; overflow: hidden;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Lobbying Spending Database-Dutko Worldwide, 2007</font></a></div><div class="gs-bidi-start-align gs-snippet" dir="ltr" style="position: static;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>CHX</b> Capital · City of Sandy, OH · CompTel · Consumer Electronics Assn ... Alvarez & Marsal · Global Demandwith (Global Demandwidth)* Globalcast <b>LLC</b></font></div><div class="gsc-url-bottom" style="position: static;"><div class="gs-bidi-start-align gs-visibleUrl gs-visibleUrl-long" dir="ltr" style="position: static; overflow: hidden; word-break: break-all;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">www.opensecrets.org/lobby/firmlbs.php?id=D000021966&year...</font></div></div><div class="gs-per-result-labels" url="http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/firmlbs.php?id=D000021966&year=2007" style="position: static;" /></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><div class="gsc-webResult gsc-result" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; zoom: 1; padding: 0.25em; position: static; border: 1px solid rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="gs-webResult gs-result" style="width: 42em; padding: 2px 0px; position: static;"><table class="gsc-table-result" style="border-spacing: 0px; width: 546px;"><tbody><tr><td class="gsc-table-cell-snippet-close" style="vertical-align: top; width: 544px;"><div class="gs-title gsc-table-cell-thumbnail gsc-thumbnail-left" style="vertical-align: top; position: static; height: 1.25em; overflow: hidden; text-decoration: underline;"><a class="gs-title" href="http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/induscode.php?year=2006&id=E1500" target="top" dir="ltr" data-cturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/induscode.php%3Fyear%3D2006%26id%3DE1500&sa=U&ved=0ahUKEwi_9Jeb7qjOAhXpKcAKHQ4JAPUQFggMMAQ&client=internal-uds-cse&usg=AFQjCNGYyj-YcqyMYK20pFuBitUEsB0DxA" data-ctorig="http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/induscode.php?year=2006&id=E1500" style="cursor: pointer; height: 1.25em; overflow: hidden;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Lobbying Spending Database Alternate energy production ...</font></a></div><div class="gs-bidi-start-align gs-snippet" dir="ltr" style="position: static;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>CHX</b> Capital, -, $115,000 ... Envires <b>LLC</b>, -, $100,000 ... Hydrogen <b>Llc</b>, -, $120,000 ... IDACORP Inc, IdaTech <b>LLC</b>, $120,000. Imperium ... Poet <b>LLC</b>, -, $120,000.</font></div><div class="gsc-url-bottom" style="position: static;"><div class="gs-bidi-start-align gs-visibleUrl gs-visibleUrl-long" dir="ltr" style="position: static; overflow: hidden; word-break: break-all;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">www.opensecrets.org/lobby/induscode.php?year=2006&id...</font></div></div><div class="gs-per-result-labels" url="http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/induscode.php?year=2006&id=E1500" style="position: static;" /></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><div class="gsc-webResult gsc-result" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; zoom: 1; padding: 0.25em; position: static; border: 1px solid rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="gs-webResult gs-result" style="width: 42em; padding: 2px 0px; position: static;"><table class="gsc-table-result" style="border-spacing: 0px; width: 546px;"><tbody><tr><td class="gsc-table-cell-snippet-close" style="vertical-align: top; width: 544px;"><div class="gs-title gsc-table-cell-thumbnail gsc-thumbnail-left" style="vertical-align: top; position: static; height: 1.25em; overflow: hidden; text-decoration: underline;"><a class="gs-title" href="https://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/indusclient.php?id=E07&year=2008" target="top" dir="ltr" data-cturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/indusclient.php%3Fid%3DE07%26year%3D2008&sa=U&ved=0ahUKEwi_9Jeb7qjOAhXpKcAKHQ4JAPUQFggOMAU&client=internal-uds-cse&usg=AFQjCNGnE_VpzapOTFwd1FhQyNy_tZeRmA" data-ctorig="https://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/indusclient.php?id=E07&year=2008" style="cursor: pointer; height: 1.25em; overflow: hidden;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Lobbying Spending Database Misc Energy, 2008</font></a></div><div class="gs-bidi-start-align gs-snippet" dir="ltr" style="position: static;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Poet <b>LLC</b>, $520,000. M&M Energy ... Sustainable Forestry Management <b>LLC</b>, $310,000. Renewable Energy Group ... Corp, $170,000. <b>CHX</b> Capital, $170,000.</font></div><div class="gsc-url-bottom" style="position: static;"><div class="gs-bidi-start-align gs-visibleUrl gs-visibleUrl-long" dir="ltr" style="position: static; overflow: hidden; word-break: break-all;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">https://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/indusclient.php?id=E07&year...</font></div></div><div class="gs-per-result-labels" url="https://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/indusclient.php?id=E07&year=2008" style="position: static;" /></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><div class="gsc-webResult gsc-result" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; zoom: 1; padding: 0.25em; position: static; border: 1px solid rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="gs-webResult gs-result" style="width: 42em; padding: 2px 0px; position: static;"><table class="gsc-table-result" style="border-spacing: 0px; width: 546px;"><tbody><tr><td class="gsc-table-cell-snippet-close" style="vertical-align: top; width: 544px;"><div class="gs-title gsc-table-cell-thumbnail gsc-thumbnail-left" style="vertical-align: top; position: static; height: 1.25em; overflow: hidden; text-decoration: underline;"><a class="gs-title" href="http://www.opensecrets.org/industries/lobbying.php?cycle=2008&ind=E1500" target="top" dir="ltr" data-cturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.opensecrets.org/industries/lobbying.php%3Fcycle%3D2008%26ind%3DE1500&sa=U&ved=0ahUKEwi_9Jeb7qjOAhXpKcAKHQ4JAPUQFggQMAY&client=internal-uds-cse&usg=AFQjCNExtAP_oGmKUs3ZYHh04XQgOyT78A" data-ctorig="http://www.opensecrets.org/industries/lobbying.php?cycle=2008&ind=E1500" style="cursor: pointer; height: 1.25em; overflow: hidden;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Alternative Energy Production & Services: Lobbying, 2008</font></a></div><div class="gs-bidi-start-align gs-snippet" dir="ltr" style="position: static;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>CHX</b> Capital, -, $170,000. Clean Coal ... Hydrogen <b>Llc</b>, -, $40,000. IDACORP Inc, IdaTech<b>LLC</b>, $70,000 ... Sustainable Forestry Management <b>LLC</b>, -, $310,000.</font></div><div class="gsc-url-bottom" style="position: static;"><div class="gs-bidi-start-align gs-visibleUrl gs-visibleUrl-long" dir="ltr" style="position: static; overflow: hidden; word-break: break-all;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">www.opensecrets.org/industries/lobbying.php?cycle=2008&ind...</font></div></div><div class="gs-per-result-labels" url="http://www.opensecrets.org/industries/lobbying.php?cycle=2008&ind=E1500" style="position: static;" /></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><div class="gsc-webResult gsc-result" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; zoom: 1; padding: 0.25em; position: static; border: 1px solid rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="gs-webResult gs-result" style="width: 42em; padding: 2px 0px; position: static;"><table class="gsc-table-result" style="border-spacing: 0px; width: 546px;"><tbody><tr><td class="gsc-table-cell-snippet-close" style="vertical-align: top; width: 544px;"><div class="gs-title gsc-table-cell-thumbnail gsc-thumbnail-left" style="vertical-align: top; position: static; height: 1.25em; overflow: hidden; text-decoration: underline;"><a class="gs-title" href="http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/indusclient.php?year=2004&id=E07" target="top" dir="ltr" data-cturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/indusclient.php%3Fyear%3D2004%26id%3DE07&sa=U&ved=0ahUKEwi_9Jeb7qjOAhXpKcAKHQ4JAPUQFggSMAc&client=internal-uds-cse&usg=AFQjCNFq9KI_bzlActDoj6xe_ypRJNr_jQ" data-ctorig="http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/indusclient.php?year=2004&id=E07" style="cursor: pointer; height: 1.25em; overflow: hidden;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Lobbying Spending Database Misc Energy, 2004</font></a></div><div class="gs-bidi-start-align gs-snippet" dir="ltr" style="position: static;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Ut-Battelle <b>Llc</b>, $120,000. Pacific World History ... <b>CHX</b> Capital, $20,000. Clean Water ... Corp, $20,000. Envires <b>LLC</b>, $20,000 ... Invenergy <b>LLC</b>, $0. Invensys, $0 .</font></div><div class="gsc-url-bottom" style="position: static;"><div class="gs-bidi-start-align gs-visibleUrl gs-visibleUrl-long" dir="ltr" style="position: static; overflow: hidden; word-break: break-all;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">www.opensecrets.org/lobby/indusclient.php?year=2004&id=E07</font></div></div></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div></div></div></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">--</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">medallion</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" /><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Members Of The Koch Network Have Claimed The Kochs’ Work Was Inspired</font></font></font></font></div><div>By Catholicism…</div><div>
</div><div><b>John And Carol Saeman, Financial Contributors To Freedom Partners:</b> Pope Francis’s Call For The Rich To Help</div><div>The Poor Inspired Us To Support “The Nonprofit Community Associated With Charles And David Koch.”</div><div>According to an opinion by financial contributors to Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce, John Seamen -president of</div><div>Medallion Enterprises- and Carol Saeman for the Washington Post, “When we met Pope Francis, it was immediately evident</div><div>that he exemplifies Christian charity. We have been particularly moved by his statement , ‘The Pope has the duty, in Christ’s</div><div>name, to remind the rich to help the poor, to respect them, to promote them.’ These words, which may come to define</div><div>Francis’s papacy, remind all Catholics that what Pope Saint John Paul II called the ‘preferential option for the poor’ is at the</div><div>heart of Christian teaching […]But Pope Francis’s words have also led us to support a group outside the church: the nonprofit</div><div>community associated with Charles and David Koch, including Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce.” [John and Carol</div><div>Saeman – Washington Post, 11/28/14]</div><div>
</div><div>Saemans: We Have Seen The Kochs “Demonstrate A Deep Concern For The Least Fortunate.” According to an</div><div>opinion by financial contributors to Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce, John Seamen -president of Medallion</div><div>Enterprises- and Carol Saeman for the Washington Post, “In 25 years of knowing Charles and his wife, Liz, and in more</div><div>recent interactions with David and his wife, Julia, we have seen them demonstrate a deep concern for the least fortunate.”</div><div>[John and Carol Saeman – Washington Post, 11/28/14]</div><div>
</div><div>Saemans: The Koch Nonprofits “Bear The Common Mission Of Advancing Free Enterprise” Which Reflects The</div><div>“Conviction That Limited Government Is Most Conducive To Lifting People Out Of Poverty.” According to an</div><div>opinion by financial contributors to Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce, John Seamen -president of Medallion</div><div>Enterprises- and Carol Saeman for the Washington Post, “The nonprofits associated with the Kochs, which bear the common</div><div>mission of advancing free enterprise and free societies, reflect our shared conviction that limited government is most</div><div>conducive to lifting people out of poverty. The two of us, along with hundreds of other philanthropists and businesspeople,</div><div>support their efforts.” [John and Carol Saeman – Washington Post, 11/28/14]</div><div>
</div><div>Saemans: The Kochs “Are Fighting To Replace This Broken System With A Limited, Responsible Government.</div><div>They Oppose The Cronyism And Corporate Welfare That Prop Up The Rich At The Expense Of The Poor.”</div><div>According to an opinion by financial contributors to Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce, John Seamen -president of</div><div>Medallion Enterprises- and Carol Saeman for the Washington Post, “We support the Kochs’ efforts because they are fighting</div><div>to replace this broken system with a limited, responsible government. They oppose the cronyism and corporate welfare that</div><div>prop up the rich at the expense of the poor. They encourage personal responsibility, ethical business practices and community</div><div>engagement. Indeed, given what we have seen, we believe the Kochs are doing more to help the poor than the ‘social justice’</div><div>campaigners who so often attack them.” [John and Carol Saeman – Washington Post, 11/28/14]</div><div>
</div><div>Tim Busch: Capitalism Fits With Catholicism “Better Than Any Other Economic System” In Part Because “It Is</div><div>Also The Single Most Effective Means Of Alleviating Poverty.” According to an opinion by Tim Busch for the Wall</div><div>Street Journal, “The encyclical, along with the resulting body of literature from successive popes, lays out the qualities that</div><div>must be present in a just economic system. Among other things, the list includes the protection of private property and human</div><div>freedom, a concern for the common good, and, most important, a deep respect for human dignity and a ‘preferential option’</div><div>for the poor. Capitalism meets these criteria better than any other economic system. It is also the single most effective means</div><div>of alleviating poverty. In the past 20 years alone, it has lifted more than a billion people out of extreme poverty, according to</div><div>the Economist. It is also single-handedly responsible fo...</div><div>
</div><div>CATHOLIC SCHOLAR MICHAEL WINTERS: KOCHS’ AGENDA IS NOT “THE</div><div>LEAST BIT CONSISTENT” WITH CHURCH TEACHINGS ON SOCIAL JUSTICE</div><div>Michael Sean Winters For The National Catholic Reporter: The Koch Brothers’ Political Agenda Is Not “The Least</div><div>Bit Consistent With What The Catholic Church Teaches About Social Justice.” According to an opinion by Michael</div><div>Sean Winters for the National Catholic Reporter, “In this case, however, two Catholic philanthropists, John and Carol</div><div>Saeman, do their best to make the case that their charitable donations to the Catholic Church are akin to their donations to</div><div>‘the nonprofit community associated with Charles and David Koch, including Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce.’ The</div><div>Saemans’ speak of ‘our shared conviction that limited government is most conducive to lifting people out of poverty’ and they</div><div>claim that ‘Catholic teaching supports our conviction.’ In this great, free country of ours, the Saemans are free to think what</div><div>they want, and to spend their money as they wish. They are not entitled to claim the mantle of Catholic teaching for the</div><div>conviction that the Koch brothers’ political agenda is the least little bit consistent with what the Catholic Church teaches about</div><div>social justice.” [Michael Sean Winters – National Catholic Reporter, 12/2/14]</div><div>
</div><div>Winters: “The Charity To Which We Are Called Is Directly Opposed To The Dominant Capitalist, Consumer</div><div>Culture The Koch Brothers And Their Friends Champion.” According to an opinion by Michael Sean Winters for the</div><div>National Catholic Reporter, “Let me stipulate, for the sake of argument, that the Saemans are generous, good-hearted people</div><div>and that we should all commend them for their charitable donations. They note that when they met the pope, he spoke about</div><div>the importance of charity. Indeed, as we all know, Pope Benedict XVI introduced the idea of charity as integral to Catholic</div><div>Social Teaching in his masterful encyclical Caritas in Veritate. But, for both Pope Benedict and Pope Francis, charity has a</div><div>deeper meaning than writing tax deductible checks at year’s end. Charity is not a privatized activity of the rich, but a</div><div>disposition of the heart and mind that should infuse both individual and societal behavior. Charity does not displace or replace</div><div>justice in Benedict’s or Francis’ writings, but actually increases the demands on us all, urging us to not only work for social</div><div>justice but to insist that the poor and the marginalized deserve more than justice. They deserve our love as well as our work</div><div>for a more just society. In the writings of both Pope Benedict and Pope Francis, the charity to which we are called is directly</div><div>opposed to the dominant capitalist, consumer culture the Koch brothers and their friends champion. This could not be more</div><div>clear in Francis’ apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, released one year ago.” [Michael Sean Winters – National Catholic</div><div>Reporter, 12/2/14]</div><div>
</div><div>Winters: The Saemans’ Washington Post Op-Ed “Has An Orwellian Quality To It. The Words Of Pope Francis Are</div><div>Gutted Of Their Obvious Meaning And Made To Justify A Libertarian Agenda.” According to an opinion by Michael</div><div>Sean Winters for the National Catholic Reporter, “The whole article by the Saemans has an Orwellian quality to it. The words</div><div>of Pope Francis are gutted of their obvious meaning and made to justify a libertarian agenda. Words like ‘limited government’</div><div>mean something different to a libertarian than they do to most people. President Obama is not without his faults, but he is</div><div>hardly a totalitarian. The Koch brothers and the ‘nonprofit community’ with which they are associated focuses on destroying</div><div>the Affordable Care Act, they are opposed to environmental regulations, they have led the charge on anti-immigrant laws like</div><div>Arizona’s SB 1070 and on efforts in multiple states to make it harder for poor people and minorities to vote.” [Michael Sean</div><div>Winters – National Catholic Reporter, 12/2/14]</div><div>
</div><div>Winters: “To Believe That The Teachings Of The Church Can Be Reconciled With The Koch Brothers’ Agenda Is</div><div>Alice In Wonderland-Quality Foolishness.” According to an opinion by Michael Sean Winters for the National Catholic</div><div>Reporter, “Certainly in Catholic Social Teaching, health care is a right and, following the principle of subsidiarity, if other</div><div>social actors have repeatedly failed to provide it, the government must step in and do so. We can argue about the method,</div><div>about this legislative action or that government regulation, but nowhere on the Koch agenda does one see any demonstrable</div><div>effort to propose a real alternative to the ACA. Certainly, in the social doctrine of Pope Benedict, concern for environmental</div><div>protection was dynamically embraced and brilliantly rooted in aspects of Christian scholarship that had not previously been</div><div>used to address that issue. We all know Pope Francis’ commitment to immigrants and his repeated, explicit denunciations of a</div><div>‘culture of exclusion.’ If I were looking for a particular example of a ‘culture of exclusion,’ I would point to the Koch’s efforts</div><div>at making it more difficult to vote. It is repugnant in the extreme. To believe that the teachings of the church can be</div><div>reconciled with the Koch brothers’ agenda is Alice in Wonderland-quality foolishness.” [Michael Sean Winters – National</div><div>Catholic Reporter, 12/2/14]</div><div>
</div><div>Winters: The Koch Agenda Is ...</div></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"></font></div><div><table id="vendors_table" class="datadisplay" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; margin: 0.5em 0px 35px; padding: 0px; width: 630px; line-height: 24px; background: rgb(224, 230, 236);"><tbody><tr><td style="padding: 5px; vertical-align: top;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">BB&T Corp</font></td><td class="number" style="padding: 5px; text-align: right; vertical-align: top;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">$400,000</font></td></tr><tr style="background-color: rgb(240, 243, 246);"><td style="padding: 5px; vertical-align: top;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Mentzer Media Services</font></td><td class="number" style="padding: 5px; text-align: right; vertical-align: top;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">$355,135</font></td></tr><tr><td style="padding: 5px; vertical-align: top;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Targeted Creative Communications</font></td><td class="number" style="padding: 5px; text-align: right; vertical-align: top;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">$277,201</font></td></tr><tr style="background-color: rgb(240, 243, 246);"><td style="padding: 5px; vertical-align: top;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Progress Colorado</font></td><td class="number" style="padding: 5px; text-align: right; vertical-align: top;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">$106,100</font></td></tr><tr><td style="padding: 5px; vertical-align: top;"><b><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">FLS Connect</font></b></td><td class="number" style="padding: 5px; text-align: right; vertical-align: top;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">$69,941</font></td></tr></tbody></table><table id="expends_table" class="datadisplay" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; margin: 0.5em 0px 35px; padding: 0px; width: 630px; line-height: 24px; background: rgb(224, 230, 236);"><caption style="font-weight: bold; text-align: left; padding: 2px 5px 5px 2px; margin: 0px; white-space: nowrap;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Expenditures by Category</font></caption><thead><tr style="background-color: rgb(240, 243, 246);"><th style="padding: 3px; text-align: center; background: rgb(153, 153, 153);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Sector</font></th><th style="padding: 3px; text-align: center; background: rgb(153, 153, 153);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Category</font></th><th style="padding: 3px; text-align: center; background: rgb(153, 153, 153);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Total</font></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td rowspan="1" style="padding: 5px; vertical-align: middle; background-color: rgb(240, 243, 246);"><em><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Administrative</font></strong></em></td><td style="padding: 5px; vertical-align: top; background-color: rgb(240, 243, 246);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Rent, utilities & office expenses</font></td><td class="number" style="padding: 5px; text-align: right; vertical-align: top; background-color: rgb(240, 243, 246);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">$397</font></td></tr><tr style="background-color: rgb(240, 243, 246);"><td rowspan="1" style="padding: 5px; vertical-align: middle; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><em><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Media</font></strong></em></td><td style="padding: 5px; vertical-align: top; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Broadcast ads</font></td><td class="number" style="padding: 5px; text-align: right; vertical-align: top; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">$291,206</font></td></tr><tr><td rowspan="1" style="padding: 5px; vertical-align: middle; background-color: rgb(240, 243, 246);"><em><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Contributions</font></strong></em></td><td style="padding: 5px; vertical-align: top; background-color: rgb(240, 243, 246);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Contributions to committees</font></td><td class="number" style="padding: 5px; text-align: right; vertical-align: top; background-color: rgb(240, 243, 246);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">$533,764</font></td></tr><tr style="background-color: rgb(240, 243, 246);"><td rowspan="1" style="padding: 5px; vertical-align: middle; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><em><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Strategy & Research</font></strong></em></td><td style="padding: 5px; vertical-align: top; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Polling & surveys</font></td><td class="number" style="padding: 5px; text-align: right; vertical-align: top; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">$36,415</font></td></tr><tr><td rowspan="2" style="padding: 5px; vertical-align: middle; background-color: rgb(240, 243, 246);"><em><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Unclassifiable</font></strong></em></td><td style="padding: 5px; vertical-align: top; background-color: rgb(240, 243, 246);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Unclassifiable printing & shipping</font></td><td class="number" style="padding: 5px; text-align: right; vertical-align: top; background-color: rgb(240, 243, 246);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">$96,441</font></td></tr><tr style="background-color: rgb(240, 243, 246);"><td style="padding: 5px; vertical-align: top;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Unclassifiable consulting</font></td><td class="number" style="padding: 5px; text-align: right; vertical-align: top;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">$19,32</font></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">http://www.coloradoindependent.com/4415/<b>tax-exempt-group-funds-massive-attack-ad-buy-against-udall</b></font></div><div><h1 style="margin: 0px 0px 0px -6px; padding: 10px 10px 10px 14px; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 41px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 546.766px; letter-spacing: -1px !important; background: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Tax-exempt group funds massive attack ad buy against Udall</font></h1><div class="author-date-social" style="margin: 0px 0px 0px -6px; padding: 8px 14px; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 20px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 543px; position: relative; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="author" style="margin: 0px 20px 0px 0px; padding: 4px 0px; border: 0px; border-image-source: initial; border-image-slice: initial; border-image-width: initial; border-image-outset: initial; border-image-repeat: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="http://www.coloradoindependent.com/author/jkosena" style="text-decoration: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; outline: none; transition-property: color; transition-duration: 0.25s; transition-timing-function: linear;">Jason Kosena</a> </span>
<span class="calendar" style="margin: 0px 20px 0px 0px; padding: 4px 0px; border: 0px; border-image-source: initial; border-image-slice: initial; border-image-width: initial; border-image-outset: initial; border-image-repeat: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">July 31, </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">2008</span></span></font></div></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font><div><p style="margin: 0px 15px 5px 0px; padding: 5px 0px; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 24.7px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Well-known Republican operatives in Denver are behind a shadowy 501c(4) group called <a title="Coloradans for Economic Growth" href="http://cegnow.org/" style="text-decoration: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; outline: none; transition-property: color; transition-duration: 0.25s; transition-timing-function: linear;">Coloradans for Economic Growth</a> that launched a<a title="a $670,562 negative ad blitz" href="http://www.fec.gov/finance/disclosure/ec_table.shtml" style="text-decoration: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; outline: none; transition-property: color; transition-duration: 0.25s; transition-timing-function: linear;">$670,562</a> negative ad blitz against Democratic U.S. Senate candidate <a title="Rep. Mark Udall" href="http://www.markudall.com/" style="text-decoration: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; outline: none; transition-property: color; transition-duration: 0.25s; transition-timing-function: linear;">Rep. Mark Udall</a> that began airing last week, according to electioneering reports filed with the Federal Election Commission on Saturday. </font></p><p style="margin: 0px 15px 5px 0px; padding: 5px 0px; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 24.7px; vertical-align: baseline;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The group, a registered 501c(4) nonprofit, is run by Denver-based GOP heavyweight and <b>former legislator Cliff Dodge, </b>along with Margo Branscomb, executive director of the pro-charter and school voucher group Foundation for Academic Innovation, and Michele Austin, an operative and delegate to the Republican National Convention in Minnesota this year. </font></p><p style="margin: 0px 15px 5px 0px; padding: 5px 0px; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 24.7px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">All three have ties to Udall’s Republican opponent, former Congressman <a title="Bob Schaffer" href="http://www.bobschafferforsenate.com/" style="text-decoration: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; outline: none; transition-property: color; transition-duration: 0.25s; transition-timing-function: linear;">Bob Schaffer,</a> including through his former boss,<b> Aspect Energy CEO Alex Cranberg</b>. Schaffer resigned as Aspect’s vice president for international business development December 31, 2007 to run for the Senate.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 15px 5px 0px; padding: 5px 0px; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 24.7px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Schaffer, Cranberg, Austin and Branscomb have also worked together in previous election cycles through a tangled web of activities that funneled money to each others’ organizations in order to support Republican candidates and conservative issues.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 15px 5px 0px; padding: 5px 0px; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 24.7px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The group, which offers an email address as its only form of contact, did not return requests for comment, including identifying its donors or whether it plans additional high-dollar negative campaigns to benefit Schaffer through the November election. An email to Dodge and calls to a listed number for Austin were not answered Wednesday afternoon. </font></p><p style="margin: 0px 15px 5px 0px; padding: 5px 0px; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 24.7px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"It’s kind of like going to a baseball game in a small town; you know who is going to be there because it’s the same old guys there every time," said John Straayer, a political science professor at Colorado State University. "If you look at that group of folks, Cranberg and Schaffer and the others, it’s the charter school, (school) voucher group in Colorado, the K-12 folks that [have] been in the same network for some time and now one of their own is running in a campaign."</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 15px 5px 0px; padding: 5px 0px; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 24.7px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In politics, though, there is a large difference between people who know each other campaigning for the same person or cause and direct collusion between a nonprofit entity and the campaign of a political associate within the same network.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 15px 5px 0px; padding: 5px 0px; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 24.7px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"This is not a uniquely Republican or Democratic phenomenon," Straayer said. "This is what the politically active and politically sensitive people who can afford it do on both sides and 2008 is no different." </font></p><p style="margin: 0px 15px 5px 0px; padding: 5px 0px; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 24.7px; vertical-align: baseline;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Coloradans for Economic Growth (CFEG) emerged in May, when the group ran TV ads promoting Schaffer as a renewable energy stalwart who pushed for clean energy while in Congress from 1998 to 2002</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> representing CD 4. The group’s latest ad buy, a television commercial that went on the air in the Denver metro market, is scheduled to run through Aug. 7 and <b>attacks Udall for "raising taxes nearly 50 times" and for siding with "extremist groups."</b></span></font></p><blockquote style="margin: 40px auto; padding: 0px 0px 0px 23px; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 17px; vertical-align: baseline; quotes: none; width: 530.531px; background: url(" assets="assets" image="image" line-rep-bq.jpg="line-rep-bq.jpg" repeat-y="repeat-y" rgb="rgb"><p style="margin: 0px 15px 5px 0px; padding: 0px 0px 5px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 21px; vertical-align: baseline;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">SCRIPT:</b> “You might think you might know where Mark Udall stands, but you don’t know Udall. Udall voted for higher taxes at least 50 times. Udall is fighting for the biggest tax increase in history. Udall stood with extremist groups. And voted to block bipartisan energy reforms that could lower gas prices. If you think you know where Mark Udall stands, then you don’t know Udall. Call Mark Udall, tell him to stop raising taxes and start standing for Colorado. Coloradans for Economic Growth is responsible for the content of this advertising.”</font></p></blockquote><p style="margin: 0px 15px 5px 0px; padding: 5px 0px; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 24.7px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">FEC dcouments add detail</font></b></p><p style="margin: 0px 15px 5px 0px; padding: 5px 0px; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 24.7px; vertical-align: baseline;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">CFEG registered with the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office on May 7, listing </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Scott Gessler, another longtime GOP activist and attorney with the Denver law firm Hackstaff & Gessler, as the registered agent. But CFEG offers no further contact information <a title="via its Web site" href="http://cegnow.org/" style="text-decoration: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; border-image-source: initial; border-image-slice: initial; border-image-width: initial; border-image-outset: initial; border-image-repeat: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; outline: none; transition-property: color; transition-duration: 0.25s; transition-timing-function: linear;">via its Web site</a>, other than an email address.On the CFEG website, Schaffer is the only person identified by the group as an "outstanding leader."</span></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 15px 5px 0px; padding: 5px 0px; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 24.7px; vertical-align: baseline;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Documents filed last Saturday with the FEC identify Dodge, Branscomb and Austin as the record holders of the nonprofit organization. The filings show the bulk of the $670,562 went to a Dallas firm operated by Republican strategist Scott Howell to purchase the media buy and for production costs of the commercial. Howell, who has been involved in past campaigns of</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> Sens. George Allen of Virginia and John Thune of South Dakota, is <a title="has worked with Dick Wadhams" href="http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2006/01/george_allen_building_a_team_f.html" style="text-decoration: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; border-image-source: initial; border-image-slice: initial; border-image-width: initial; border-image-outset: initial; border-image-repeat: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; outline: none; transition-property: color; transition-duration: 0.25s; transition-timing-function: linear;">connected to Dick Wadhams</a>, the Colorado Republican Party chairman and Schaffer’s campaign manager, who once served as Allen’s chief of staff a</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">nd as the campaign manager for the senator’s failed 2006 reelection campaign.</span></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 15px 5px 0px; padding: 5px 0px; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 24.7px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><p style="margin: 0px 15px 5px 0px; padding: 5px 0px; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 24.7px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Although CFEG ran pro-Schaffer commercials in May and June on Denver television stations, it was not required to file an FEC electioneering report because the FEC only requires nonprofit 501c(4) groups to disclose electioneering activity within 30 days of a primary election or within 60 days of the general election. With Colorado’s primaries on Aug. 12, the anti-Udall ads last week fell within the 30-day window, thus requiring a report.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 15px 5px 0px; padding: 5px 0px; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 24.7px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The CFEG filing did not include a donor list for the $670,562 and likely won’t have to under federal law. FEC officials, who would not comment directly on the CFEG filing, confirmed such groups are required to itemize donors that give more than $1,000 so long as the money was solicited to be used for the specific electioneering in question. </font></p><p style="margin: 0px 15px 5px 0px; padding: 5px 0px; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 24.7px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Same crew active in 527s</font></b></p><p style="margin: 0px 15px 5px 0px; padding: 5px 0px; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 24.7px; vertical-align: baseline;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">CFEG is the latest 501c(4) nonprofit to hit the radar screen this election cycle. Over the past two cycles, and amid tightening campaign finance requirements, such groups, as well as 527 committees, have emerged as a popular way for groups to attack or promote candidates and issues. While nonprofits like the Coloradans for Economic Growth are not required to identify donors, with limited exceptions, the same is not true for the 527 committees.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 15px 5px 0px; padding: 5px 0px; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 24.7px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">527 committees — named for the federal tax code under which they are required to file — also provide deep pocket contributors a convenient way to advocate for or against a campaign or candidate while avoiding state and federal contribution limits. 527 groups must list financial donors.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 15px 5px 0px; padding: 5px 0px; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 24.7px; vertical-align: baseline;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Over the years, Schaffer, who is currently on the State Board of Education, has worked closely with Gessler, including serving as the secretary and treasurer of his 527 group <a title="Coloradans for Change" href="http://forms.irs.gov/politicalOrgsSearch/search/Print.action?formId=23111&formType=E71" style="text-decoration: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; border-image-source: initial; border-image-slice: initial; border-image-width: initial; border-image-outset: initial; border-image-repeat: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; outline: none; transition-property: color; transition-duration: 0.25s; transition-timing-function: linear;">Coloradans for Change</a> that operated in 2006.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 15px 5px 0px; padding: 5px 0px; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 24.7px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Coloradans for Change campaigned heavily for conservative issues and<a title="which collected $600,000" href="http://www.opensecrets.org/527s/527cmtedetail_donors.php?cycle=2006&ein=205537417" style="text-decoration: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; outline: none; transition-property: color; transition-duration: 0.25s; transition-timing-function: linear;">collected $600,000</a> from Cranberg, Schaffer’s former boss. In addition, Cranberg donated heavily to the <a title="Trailhead Group" href="http://www.opensecrets.org/527s/527cmtedetail.php?ein=202834139&cycle=2008" style="text-decoration: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; outline: none; transition-property: color; transition-duration: 0.25s; transition-timing-function: linear;">Trailhead Group,</a> the wealthiest and most prominent Republican 527 committee of 2006 in Colorado, which was founded by beer magnate <b>Pete Coors, former Gov. Bill Owens and current University of Colorado President Bruce Benson</b>. The Trailhead Group does not appear to be operational this year. </font></p><p style="margin: 0px 15px 5px 0px; padding: 5px 0px; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 24.7px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In 2006, Cranberg, Coloradans for Change and Trailhead all donated to yet another 527 group, the <a title="Colorado Leadership Fund" href="http://www.opensecrets.org/527s/527cmtedetail.php?ein=841664434&cycle=2006" style="text-decoration: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; outline: none; transition-property: color; transition-duration: 0.25s; transition-timing-function: linear;">Colorado Leadership Fund,</a> that listed Austin as the contact. This year Austin appears as one of the three record holders of<a title="Coloradans for Economic Growth" href="http://cegnow.org/" style="text-decoration: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; outline: none; transition-property: color; transition-duration: 0.25s; transition-timing-function: linear;">Coloradans for Economic Growth</a>, the group that is currently running ads attacking Udall. </font></p><p style="margin: 0px 15px 5px 0px; padding: 5px 0px; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 24.7px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Cranberg is also the connection between Branscomb and Schaffer. Branscomb is the treasurer and marketing director for the Alliance for Choice in Education, a pro-school voucher organization founded by Cranberg that has promoted conservative education issues in Colorado. </font></p><p style="margin: 0px 15px 5px 0px; padding: 5px 0px; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 24.7px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"I don’t think it’s that unusual," said Straayer, the CSU professor.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 15px 5px 0px; padding: 5px 0px; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 24.7px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"You can’t stop water from running downhill and you can’t stop people on both sides from doing what it takes to get their message out. Because most of the independent expenditures are used for negative attack ads, the 527s and other groups can have an impact on an election though and can help to shape the particular race in question."</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 15px 5px 0px; padding: 5px 0px; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 24.7px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/11/montana-american-tradition-partnership-funders</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>A Dark Money Group's Sketchy Origins Emerge</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>
</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">More details trickle out about the big donors behind a Montana-based nonprofit that's fighting election spending limits.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">BY PAUL ABOWD, CENTER FOR PUBLIC INTEGRITYNOV. 2,<b> 2012</b> 6:08 AM</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">This story also appears on the website of the Center for Public Integrity.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A secretive nonprofit group that wants to nullify Montana's campaign finance laws received a $300,000 donation from an anti-union organization aligned with a Colorado furniture executive, an Internal Revenue Service document shows.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">American Tradition Partnership, a pro-energy group known for successfully suing Montana to force it to abide by the US Supreme Court's Citizens United ruling, has also sued the state to protect the identity of its donors—who have funded the ATP's attack mailers in state races.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">An IRS document obtained by the Center for Public Integrity indicates one of its early donors was a nonprofit 501(c)(4) called <b>Coloradans for Economic Growth</b>, which <b>spent millions of dollars from undisclosed sources to support a failed 2008 ballot initiative that would have made Colorado a "right-to-work" state</b>.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Among the initiative's supporters was Jacob Jabs, president and CEO of American Furniture Warehouse. A 2008 letter to the IRS signed by former ATP employee Athena Dalton said Jabs was the "primary donor" and had promised to give $300,000 to ATP, but only if the<b> IRS expedited its approval of ATP's application for tax-exempt status.</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Jabs has denied knowing anything about the group or giving it any money.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The appeal apparently worked. Three days later, the IRS approved the application.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>
</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>ATP's 2008 donors list shows a $300,000 contribution from Coloradans for Economic Growth, but makes no mention of any donation from Jabs.</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Dalton did not return numerous calls. According to a report by ProPublica, a nonprofit investigative news organization, Jabs said he contacted Dalton earlier this October and she told him that ATP officials had instructed her to use Jabs' name in the letter.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">One of those officials was <b>Christian LeFer</b>, who was also director of Montana Citizens for Right to Work at the time. LeFer declined to comment on whether he told Dalton to use Jabs' name or not.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>In a previous interview with the Center, LeFer said that "ATP and RTW [Right to Work] have nothing to do with each other," and that "I know of no shared funds" between the groups.[see wife 500K]</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">An IRS document indicates one of ATP's early donors was a nonprofit that spent millions of dollars from undisclosed sources to support a ballot initiative that would have made Colorado a "right-to-work" state.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Donald Ferguson, ATP's spokesman</b>, <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">did not respond</span> to a request for comment.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Coloradans for Economic Growth was a major force behind the state's anti-union ballot initiative, shelling out almost $3.4 million in 2008 to groups that campaigned for the law's passage.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Such laws, which exist in 23 states, allow employees at union shops to forego paying union dues.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Jabs appeared in TV commercials as an unofficial spokesman for the cause, and gave at least $20,000 to groups mobilizing support for the ballot issue.</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Jabs did not return calls for comment.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">At a 2008 press conference, Jabs announced he would be<b> backing the anti-union referendum to "frankly hurt the pocketbooks of the unions so they don't have the millions and millions and millions and millions and millions of dollars to spend."[on campaigns?]</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">ATP's other early funders listed on the IRS document include<b> New Leadership Colorado.</b> The nonprofit also contributed to anti-union groups in 2008, and gave $45,000 to ATP.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Coloradans for Economic Growth and New Leadership Colorado are both listed as "delinquent" for failing to file annual reports with the Colorado secretary of state and have faded from public view. They were both registered in 2008 at Hackstaff Law of Denver, Colorado. The law firm's address is the same one listed on ATP's corporate registration.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Hackstaff is the former firm of <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler, who represented ATP </span>in a lawsuit challenging campaign finance laws in the Colorado city of Longmont in 2009 before he won public office.</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A third nonprofit, Virginia-based Conservative Action League gave $40,000 to ATP, and has given smaller grants to Montana's right-to-work group, which until recently was headed by ATP's LeFer.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>LeFer said he's a "consultant" to ATP, but documents obtained by PBS Frontline show that he wrote fundraising strategy memos to ATP staff under the title of "Director Strategic Programming."</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In a 2009 memo, LeFer writes that ATP's fundraising program "was designed by the same people who designed the multimillion-dollar personal-visit style" strategy used by "Club for Growth, the National Right to Work Committee, and other pro-business / limited government interests."</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The group garnered support from two corporate executives early on: Montana's Ray Thompson gave $10,000 and Tulsa millionaire Norm Asbjornson gave $50,000.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Thompson is a tea party supporter who lent his corporate jet to a group called <b>Tea Party Patriots in 2010 for their "grassroots" tours</b>, according to Mother Jones. He sold his small manufacturing company for $364 million in 2009, and now runs a diner and grocery store in <b>Kalispell, Montana.</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Asbjornson is the founder of<b> AAON</b> Inc., a heating and air conditioning company based in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He is from Montana and remains a major donor to Republican candidates in the state this year.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">He gave $10,000 to the state Republican Party and $5,000 to Denny Rehberg's US Senate bid. He gave a smaller amount to Steve Daines' run for Montana's lone US House seat.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Last summer, he gave $55,000 to the Romney Victory Fund, a joint fundraising committee that supports GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">He has also supported the tea party candidacy of Ted Cruz, the GOP's nominee for US Senate from Texas. In 2010, he gave money to tea party-endorsed Sharron Angle's unsuccessful bid for US Senate in Nevada.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A list of ATP's targeted donors from 2009 obtained by Frontline includes representatives of oil, gas, and mining interests. It also lists Asbjornson as a "top priority" to return to after his 2008 contribution.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Neither donor could be reached for comment.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>This year, ATP has launched mailers attacking Montana Attorney General Steve Bullock's bid for governor. Bullock has represented the state in court during ATP's campaign finance challenges in Montana.</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">He is neck-and-neck in state polls with Republican Rick Hill, who supports right-to-work laws. Bullock says he would veto any such measure passed by the Legislature.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Center for Public Integrity is a nonprofit, independent investigative news outlet. For more of its stories go here.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><b style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">501(c)(4) group called Coloradans For Economic Growth</font></b></div><div><b style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></b></div><div><b style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /></b><div style="font-weight: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><b style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><b style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><b style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><b style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><b style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><b style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><b style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><b style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><b style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><b style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><b style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><b style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><b style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><b style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><b style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><b style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><b style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb">why is breitbart stranahan covering lefer?!</b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></font></b></font></font></div><div style="font-weight: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div style="font-weight: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">http://leestranahan.com/why-did-allison-lefer-send-500000-to-the-national-right-to-work-committee/</font></font></div><div style="font-weight: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div style="font-weight: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Why Did Allison LeFer Send $500,000 To The National Right to Work Committee?</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">by Lee Stranahan | Feb 4, <b>2014 </b>| Staffergate | 2 comments</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Try to put yourself in the grand jury’s place. Does what you’re about to see look suspicious?</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">I’ve written about Christian LeFer, the National Right to Work Committee lobbyist who worked in Colorado and Montana and was involved in election shenanigans there : read this article</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">I’ve also written about the disturbing way so many of the people involved in the NRTW scandal involved their wives, like disgraced former Iowa State Senator Kent Sorenson.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">This involvement can lead to legal trouble for the wives, too. Right now up in Montana, Rep. Mike Miller is facing legal trouble and so is his wife, thanks to the involvement of Christian LeFer. LeFer got the Republican and his wife involved in the National Right to Work Committee ‘mail program’ that involved illegal writing, printing and mailing of campaign letters.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In order to try and hide the illegal activity, Christian LeFer set up a front group called Western Traditions Partnership. He manipulated college students with promises that working with him would be good for their resumes and that he’d handle everything.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">And of course, Christian LeFer used his wife Allison, too.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Even though Christian LeFer has tried to deny his involvement with Western Traditions Partnership as law enforcement started to look into it, guess who was the signee on the group’s bank account?</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">If you guessed Christian LeFer, you’re giving him too much credit for personal responsibility.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">No, it’s Allison LeFer who’s on the hook according to Western Traditions Partnership’ bank records.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">And there were some VERY strange transactions — like the time<b> half a million dollars came into the account from a 501(c)(4) group called Coloradans For Economic Growth</b>…</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">And then a couple of days later,<b> $500,000 went out to the National Right to Work Committee.</b></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Right now, a grand jury in Montana is weighing evidence. What would you think?</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">See for yourself.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">images of docs]</font></font></div></div><div style="font-weight: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div style="font-weight: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></font></div><div style="font-weight: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" line-height="line-height" px="px"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></font></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" line-height="line-height" px="px"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" line-height="line-height" px="px"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Anti-union Group Worked to Influence Elections in 5 States</b></font></font></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" line-height="line-height" px="px"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Organization offered candidates a "deadly effective" series of seven custom-written letters</font></font></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" line-height="line-height" px="px"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" line-height="line-height" px="px"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">BY MATT VOLZ, ASSOCIATED PRESS // FEB 17, 2016 // </font></font></div></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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