American Action Network
32 tags 4 22
mirrors
malek dead 2026
HAS ITS OWN DARK $ SUPERPAC, CLF
see Malek pow
formed days after citizens united, nixon malex dirty tricks
target pelosi ems tax and spend, dereg
neg ads on mod moc in swing states?
ntbcw/ am 1st variants
CBG
massive pharma $
OHIO FIRSTENERGY HIMMELSTEIN FUCKERY
primary fuckery 1 22 mofo, evil pending
American Action Network
API $
aa forum is sis c3 c4
mfers running for office
bak 2?
html Ballooned
Loser: Big Tech and A.I. Industry
Tech giants Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and Meta lobbied in favor of a controversial provision in the House-passed version of the megabill that would have prohibited state attempts to regulate A.I. for a decade, according to the Financial Times. A group called the A.I. Competition Center, formed last year by a Big Tech-funded trade group, argued to lawmakers that regulation would cause the U.S. to be outpaced by China. Trump megadonor Marc Andreessen, joined by artificial intelligence firms OpenAI and Anduril, also lobbied intensely for the A.I. moratorium that the House included in its legislative package. In the Senate, though, the provision was struck in a 99-1 overnight vote before the chamber passed the reconciliation bill.
To push the megabill through the Senate, deep-pocketed conservative advocacy groups spread out at least $8.2 million in ad buys across congressional districts, according to research last month from the watchdog group AccountableUS. At the end of May, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce announced a “comprehensive advocacy blitz” promoting the bill’s tax policies after the House passed its version, and the “dark money” group American Action Network planned a $4.2 million ad buy after being bankrolled with millions of dollars from lobbying groups like PhRMA in recent years. Those campaigns are on top of the nearly $19.8 million that the Chamber spent lobbying the government in the first quarter of this year, making it the top overall lobbying spender in Washington, D.C. The group’s disclosures mentioned lobbying on the expiration of tax provisions from the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act among scores of other issues.
More Perfect Union4? 26
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Congressional Leadership Fund (CLF) is a Super PAC dedicated to electing Republicans to the U.S. House of Representatives.[1] The Super PAC, which is closely linked to former House Speaker John Boehnerand House GOP leadership, was founded in 2011 and spent nearly $10 million in the 2012 cycle electing Republican candidates.[2] Following Boehner's resignation from the U.S. Congress and the election of Paul D. Ryan as Speaker of the House, Congressional Leadership Fund has become closely linked to Ryan.[3] The Super PAC is currently headed by Corwin Albert "Corry" Bliss who serves as Executive Director to both CLF and the linked American Action Network.
2010 tp wave origin? mirror?!
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0510/36841_Page3.html *Rove, GOP secretly plot vast network to reclaim power * By: Mike Allen and Kenneth P. VogelMay 6, 2010
The Republican Party’s best-connected political operatives have quietly built a massive fundraising, organizing and advertising machine based on the model assembled by Democrats early in the decade, and with the same ambitious goal — to recapture Congress and the White House.The new groups could give Republicans and their allies a powerful campaign apparatus separate from the Republican National Committee. Karl Rove, political architect of the Bush presidency, and Ed Gillespie, former Republican Party chairman, are the most prominent forces behind what is, in effect, a network of five overlapping groups, three of which were started in the past few months.The operating assumption of Rove, Gillespie and the other organizers is that despite the historical dominance of Republican fundraising and organizing, the GOP has been outmaneuvered by Democrats and their allies in recent years, and it is time to strike back.“Where they have a chess piece on the board, we need a chess piece on the board,” said Gillespie, who is involved in all five groups in roles ranging from chairman to informal adviser. “Where they have a queen, we shouldn’t have three pawns.”The network, which doesn’t have a name, attempts to replicate the Democracy Alliance, an umbrella group — founded in 2005 and funded by George Soros and other billionaires — and to borrow tactics from liberal groups established to help Democrats regain power after eight years of the Bush administration. Two organizers of the Republican groups even made pilgrimages earlier this year to pick the brain of John Podesta, the former Clinton White House chief of staff who, in 2003, founded the Center for American Progress and was a major proponent of Democrats developing the kind of infrastructure pioneered by Republicans.Rove, currently on a book tour, has provided “a laying-on of hands” for the groups — as one organizer put it — by encouraging major Republican donors to support them as part of the GOP’s path to revival. “Karl has always said: People call us a vast right-wing conspiracy, but we’re really a half-assed right-wing conspiracy,” he said. “Now, he wants to get more serious.”While separate, the five entities are so closely related that three share an 11th-floor office near the White House. The groups are: *American Crossroads *American Crossroads — designed to counter spending by labor and progressive groups, including the AFL-CIO, Service Employees International Unit and MoveOn.org — will focus on voter contact with the potential to move into ground game and turnout efforts. Organized under the tax code as a Section 527 organization, meaning it can spend directly on political activity, it’s set an ambitious budget of $52 million and says it’s already received commitments for $30 million of that.Its president and CEO is former top U.S. Chamber of Commerce executive Steven Law; its political director is veteran GOP operative Carl Forti. The chairman is Mike Duncan, former RNC chairman; the treasurer is Jo Ann Davidson, former RNC co-chairwoman; and the secretary is Jim Dyke, former RNC communications director.To try to avoid undercutting RNC Chairman Michael Steele, who has alienated some givers, Duncan tells prospective donors that the party structure is “an important part of winning” and that he is looking for people who “want to go above and beyond.”*American Action Network*American Action Network, modeled on the Center for American Progress, will conduct polling in key races, and plans to put up TV advertising since it is allowed to engage in explicit political activity as a group organized under Section 501c(4) of the tax code. Former Sen. Norm Coleman of Minnesota is the CEO; Fred Malek, a longtime top GOP financier, is chairman; andRob Collins, a former top aide to House Minority Whip Eric Cantor, is president. Board members include former U.S. Sens. George Allen and Mel Martinez and former House Reps. Tom Reynolds, Jim Nussle and Vin Weber. *American Action Forum *American Action Forum, a policy institute linked to the American Action Network,also will mirror CAP.Coleman is also chairman of this group, which as a501c(3) organization, is prohibited from directly endorsing or opposing candidates. Douglas Holtz-Eakin, a former Congressional Budget Office director and campaign adviser to Sen. John McCain, is the president. Board members includeformer Govs. Jeb Bush of Florida and Tom Ridge of Pennsylvania.*Resurgent Republic * Resurgent Republic co-founded a year ago by Gillespie and Republican pollster Whit Ayres, says in its official description that it is “modeled on Democracy Corps, which has made important contributions to the public debate from the left and has proven to be a valuable resource for labor unions, environmentalists and liberal congressional leaders.” The group has released a series of polls and offers itself as a message-testing laboratory to help GOP lawmakers develop policies. *The Republican State Leadership Committee * The Republican State Leadership Committee, which focuses on down-ballot races for statewide and legislative offices, raised $22 million in the last campaign cycle. Gillespie took over as chairman earlier this year. Its goal is to raise at least $50 million to $70 million to influence congressional elections this fall and to road-test an agenda for a future Republican House and, ultimately, a Republican president.Colemanrecalled in an interview that he admired the left’s financial prowess so much that until recently, he gave potential donors copies of “The Argument,” a book by Matt Bai that chronicles progressives’ rising financial power.“This is what the left does — we need to do it on the right,” Coleman said he told people. Democrats say the new GOP network has the potential to tip Republicans back into the House majority, since the formal party structures will burn through money as they struggle to compete in a record number of House seats. Maryland Rep. Chris Van Hollen, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said he is worried about the groups as a potential “conduit for a lot of special-interest money to flow into campaigns.”The Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission opened possibilities for groups like American Crossroads, American Action Network and others backed by corporations, unions or huge donors to be more aggressive in supporting or opposing candidates. Democrats in Congress are pushing legislation that would curtail its effects, but right now the decision is emboldening donors - particularly on the right - who had grown reluctant to open their wallets to outside groups, said Charlie Spies, a GOP campaign finance attorney on Resurgent Republic’s legal advisory board.“It sent out a message to donors that it’s OK to engage again,” said Spies. Organizers say another reason the GOP’s “donor community” and “political investors” are ready to step up their giving: Republicans had opposed the McCain-Feingold campaign-finance law and therefore were slow to adapt their structures to what it permitted. But Democrats weren’t shy and got a huge head start. “It’s time for us to accept and embrace it and stop getting outspent,” Gillespie said. “It’s the law of the land, and it’s not going away.” Because the groups are registered only with the Internal Revenue Service and not the Federal Election Commission, they can accept so-called soft money — that is, contributions not subject to FEC donation limits or source restrictions forbidding cash from corporations or unions. “There are a lot of people who were very active in the Bush years who are going to get active with these groups, just because of the leadership of the groups,” said one major GOP fundraiser, or “bundler.” According to its first report to the IRS, American Crossroads’ first gift was a check for $250,000 fromB. Wayne Hughes of Lexington, Ky., the chairman of Public Storage. The American Action groups and Resurgent Republic are not required to disclose individual donors. Tom Matzzie, a Democratic operative specializing in independent group activity, said MoveOn, which he effectively ran during the 2006 Democratic takeover of Congress, has been successful because big contributions and high-priced consultants have taken a backseat to small donors and grassroots activists.By contrast, conservatives’ repeated attempts to copy MoveOn have been “huge donor-driven TV ad operations run by consultants,” Matzzie said, asserting Republicans “tend to keep the creativity all isolated to a few elites whereas the MoveOn model allowed a good idea to come from anywhere including the membership.” The idea for a federally focused “527” started over breakfast at the Mayflower Hotel last year. Gillespie was looking to stay involved in politics after his White House years. Law, then the U.S. Chamber’s chief legal officer, mused as he complained about Republicans’ inability to match the spending of Democratic-friendly political groups: “I really think we’ve got to do something to offset this.” Law said that he had studied MoveOn and America Coming Together, which relied on a combination of union funding and huge contributions from Soros and other activists. “Democrats have had tremendous success in building enduring and fairly large and sophisticated third-party organizations that have a major impact on politics,” Law said. “On the Republican side, it’s mostly been small, ad hoc efforts that tend to pop up and then disappear from cycle to cycle.” Democratic strategist James Carville said the GOP’s extra-party machine is emerging now largely for the same reason the Democrats’ did. “There’s nothing that makes people hungry like being out of power and out of government,” Carville said. “When you’re in government, all of the big operatives have good jobs or they’re working for some lobbying firm and making $3 million a year, while the other guys don’t have anything to d Podesta didn’t return an email seeking comment about conservative efforts to mimic his group, but Malek said that after American Action Network formed, “Podesta being the class act that he is, called Norm Coleman and congratulated him and welcomed him to the battle.” --
https://publicintegrity.org/politics/nonprofit-profile-american-action-network/
no lnx many
2013
Nonprofit profile: American Action Network
by Rachael Marcus
June 21, 2012
Reading Time: 4 minutes
Transparency grade: ND
Read how we came up with this grade.
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Type of organization: 501(c)(4)
Employer Identification Number: 27-0730508
Supports: Conservative candidates
Location: Washington, D.C.
Founded: July 23, 2009
Website: americanactionnetwork.org
Social media: Facebook page, Twitter profile, YouTube channel
Finances:
For the group’s fiscal year that ran from July 1, 2010, through June 30, 2011:
Total Revenue: $27 million
Total Expenses: $24 million
Net assets: $3.1 million
IRS Form 990 filing: 2010
Principals:
Norm Coleman (co-founder, chairman): Coleman was a Republican U.S. senator from Minnesota from 2003 to 2009 and also previously served as mayor of St. Paul, Minn.
Douglas Holtz-Eakin (co-founder): Holtz-Eakin is also the president of American Action Forum, AAN’s associated 501(c)(3) nonprofit. He was the director of the Congressional Budget Office from 2003 to 2005 and served as economic adviser to the presidential campaign of Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.
Brian Walsh (president): As former political director for the National Republican Congressional Committee, Walsh helped the GOP take control of the U.S. House of Representatives in 2010.
Fred Malek (co-founder): Malek is also chairman of American Action Forum. He served under President Richard Nixon as White House personnel chief during Watergate and was deputy director of the Committee to Reelect the President, often referred to as CREEP.
Profile:
American Action Network advocates for limited government, a strong national defense and “American exceptionalism,” according to its website.
In 2010, American Action Network spent nealry $19 million on political ads in 2010, making it the second-most politically active nonprofit that year behind the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Ahead of the 2012 election, the group spent more than $11 million on ads that expressly advocated for the election or defeat of federal candidates, again ranking it as one of the most politically active nonprofits. Nearly all of that spending has been on ads against Democrats or supporting Republicans.
Billionaire Kenneth Langone, a prominent New York venture capitalist and co-founder of Home Depot, sits on the board of American Action Network, as does Fred Malek, a co-founder of the group and a top GOP fundraiser. Meanwhile, former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour is an adviser to American Action Network, and Jeb Bush, the former Republican governor of Florida, is a board member of the associated foundation, American Action Forum.
The anti-regulatory American Action Forum was notably the recipient of a sizeable grant from a pro-environmental group in 2011, as the Center for Public Integrity reported.
While nonprofits like American Action Network need not publicly disclose their donors, an investigation by the Center for Public Integrity revealed that the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, better known as PhRMA, gave $4.5 million to the group in 2010, which accounted for close to 15 percent of its income that year.
The Center for Responsive Politics also uncovered several other donors to the group including the Republican Jewish Coalition ($4 million), Crossroads GPS ($500,000) and the American Natural Gas Alliance ($35,000). In 2010, Crossroads and American Action Network shared office space in Washington, D.C.
In March 2012, election watchdogs Democracy 21 and the Campaign Legal Center filed a complaint against American Action Network with the Internal Revenue Service, urging it to investigate the organization’s tax-exempt status. The letter, which also called for investigations into Crossroads GPS, Priorities USA and Americans Elect, argued these groups are abusing their tax-exempt status by keeping their donors secret but engaging substantially in elections activities.
In June, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington also filed a complaint with the IRS and the Federal Election Commission on similar grounds.
American Action Network and its sister super PAC, the Congressional Leadership Fund, launched an ad blitz in September targeting races in Illinois, Minnesota and California, places that were key to retaining a Republican majority in the House but didn’t have strong state-level parties, as the Center for Public Integrity noted at the time.
See more data on American Action Network at OpenSecrets.org.
Advertisements:
“Secrets” attacked tea party candidate Dan Liljienquist, the challenger to GOP establishment favorite Sen. Orrin Hatch, Utah.
“Rise of the Obamavilles,” a stylized, old-timey ad, painted the Occupy movement camps as “Obamavilles,” created by the president’s irresponsible leadership.
“Neighbor,” which debuted in September, opposed astronaut Jose Hernandez, a Democrat, in California’s 10th District. This ad was part of the Congressional Leadership Fund-American Action Network ad blitz.
For more ads, see American Action Network’s YouTube channel.
Last updated: Jan. 22, 2013
https://americanindependent.com/american-action-network-ad-climate-change-joe-biden-socialist-wish-list-hurricane-tax-lizzie-fletcher/
no lnx vid
New GOP ad falsely claims climate change plan will result in 'hurricane tax' for Texans
By Josh Israel -September 23,2021
A new American Action Network ad invokes climate-fueled storms while calling a bill that addresses them a 'socialist wish list.'
A new ad from a right-wing dark money group invokes the names of three recent hurricanes that caused massive flooding in and around Houston, Texas. At the same time, it urges viewers to oppose President Joe Biden's $3.5 trillion investment plan to address the climate change that is fueling storms like these.
The ad, posted online Wednesday by the American Action Network, is aimed at constituents of Rep. Lizzie Fletcher (D-TX), whose competitive 7th Congressional District includes parts ofHouston and its suburbs.
The ad features a narrator speaking over storm images. "Rita. Ike. Harvey. Names that haunt Houston. All leading to high insurance premiums that continue to rise.
"Now, liberals in Washington want to spend $3 trillion on a socialist wish list, funded by taxes that could make it even more expensive to insure your home. You'd pay more to protect your home so they can fund their socialist pet protects. Call Lizzie Fletcher.Tell her to vote against the hurricane tax."
The three hurricanes each caused significant damage to the Greater Houston area over the past 15 years. Experts say they were worsened by climate change and that global warming will make future storms like those more intense and more frequent.
"Communities all along the Gulf Coast need to adapt to a world where the heaviest rains are more than we have ever seen," Pennsylvania State University meteorologist David W. Titley told the New York Times in 2017 following Hurricane Harvey. He noted that "while a storm of Harvey's strength is still rare, it's not as rare as it once was."
The American Action Network, founded in 2010 and chaired by former Republican Sen. Norm Coleman of Minnesota, is a dark-money 501(c)(4) tax-exempt group that has spent millions of dollars attacking Democrats and supporting Republican candidates. It opposes environmental regulations and promotes unfettered continued use of fossil fuels.
The group opposes Biden's Build Back Better agenda,which would roll back some of the tax cuts that the richest Americans and corporations received under then-President Donald Trump's 2017 Tax Cut and Jobs Act and invest billions of dollars in climate change, clean energy, and caregiving infrastructure.
The so-called "socialist pet protects" in the plan include funds to "create good-paying, union jobs, establish an energy efficiency and clean energy standard, expand and extend clean energy and electric vehicle tax credits, and enlist a new Civilian Climate Corps" to address climate change immediately, along with financing and tax cuts to lower housing costs and "bolster affordable and resilient housing, supporting the construction or rehabilitation of more than two million homes."
In small print at the bottom of the screen, the American Action Network ad sources its claims of a "hurricane tax" to conservatives who oppose the bill's proposed corporate tax hikes. Their argument is that if Congress raises the tax rates for corporations, insurance companies would then simply pass on those costs to homeowners by raising their premiums.
But even if that is true, their analyses do not take into account another major provision in the legislation: tax cuts for middle- and lower-income Americans. Congress' nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation predicted last week that Biden's plan would cut federal taxes overall for every group earning $200,000 a year or less. Those earning $1 million or more would see a tax increase of about 10.6%.
Biden warned on Sept. 7, after Hurricane Ida caused dozens of deaths, that without major investment things would be even more dire in the future. "Climate change poses an existential threat to our lives, to our economy," he said. "And the threat is here; it's not going to get any better. The question: Can it get worse? We can stop it from getting worse."
Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.
American Action Network Has Been Funded By Corporate
Contributions Such As PhRMA
SUMMARY: American Action Network “has been one of the most prominent nonprofits for funneling dark
money.” While it is likewise unclear exactly who funds AAN, it is clear that AAN receives a significant amount
of money from special interests.
• Between 2009 and 2017, AAN received $12 million from Pharmaceutical Research & Manufacturers of
America (PhRMA), the top lobbying group for the pharmaceutical industry.
• Over the same timeframe, AAN received $3.3 million from the health insurer Aetna.
• In 2017 alone, AAN also received a combined $6.8 million between contributions from Business
Roundtable and the Retail Industry Leaders Association. AAN has also received considerable funding
from oil and gas industry groups such as American Natural Gas Alliance and American Petroleum
Institute, receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars from 2010-2012 alone.
• PhRMA was reported to have contributed $4.5 million to AAN in 2019, making it their top political
recipient.
• AAN has yet to release info on their 2020 spending to the FEC.
American Action Network Received Millions Of Dollars From Special
Interests
American Action Network Has Not Revealed Its Contributions For The 2020 Cycle
American Action Network Did Not Disclose Its 2020 Spending To The FEC. “AAN, a 501(c)(4) nonprofit
aligned with Republican House leadershipthat does not disclose its donors, did not disclose any of its
spending to the FEC during the 2020 election cycle.” [Open Secrets, 5/13/21]
Lack Of Disclosure Came As The Group Spent Over 49 Million Into Political Ads And Made $26 Million
In Contributions ToSuper PAC Congressional Leadership Fund.“American Action Network, Republican
House leadership’s 501(c)(4) nonprofit that has disclosed none of its donors or spending to the FEC, has
poured over $9 million into political advertising boosting GOP congressional candidates and more than $26
million into political contributions to the Congressional Leadership Fund, House Republicans’ super PAC that
shared staff and resources with American Action Network.” [Open Secrets, 10/30/20]
American Action Network Received Millions Of Dollars In Contributions From
PhRMA, Top Lobbying Group For Pharmaceutical Industry
2019: PhRMA (Pharmaceutical Research And Manufacturers Of America) Contributed $4.5 Million To
AAN In 2019, Making IT PhRMA’s Top Political Contributions
p2
PhRMA Contributed $4.5 Million To AAN In 2019, Making It Their Top Political Recipient. “The American
Action Network is pouring millions of dollars into a TV, digital advertising and phone campaign attacking House
Democrats’ proposal to lower prescription drug costs. […] The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers
of America, the largest U.S. pharmaceutical trade association, gives millions of dollars to AAN annually and
donated $4.5 million in 2019 — PhRMA’s top political donation that year.” [Open Secrets, 5/13/21]
2009-2017: AAN Received $12 Million In Contributions From Pharmaceutical Research &
Manufacturers Of America
2009 To 2017: AAN Received $12 Million In Contributions From Pharmaceutical Research &
Manufacturers Of America. “AAN has never publicly disclosed who funds its operation but its tax filings and a
report by the nonpartisan organization Issue One gives clues as to how it goes about raking in the cash. The
tax document shows that the nonprofit often uses a firm called LPC 25 to help raise funds. […] An Issue One
investigation identified 23 donors that represent only 13% of its funding from 2009 to 2017, including $12
million from the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, $4 million from the Republican
Jewish Coalition and $3.3 million from health insurer Aetna. A list of AAN donors constructed by MapLight, a
nonpartisan research organization that tracks the influence of money in politics, shows that in 2017 the
Business Roundtable gave $6 million and the Retail Industry Leaders Association contributed $800,000.”
[CNBC, 5/23/19]
• Pharmaceutical Research & Manufacturers (PhRMA) Of America Were Top Pharmaceutical
Industry Lobbying Group. “In 2010, before the Affordable Care Act was passed by Congress, the
pharmaceutical industry’s top lobbying group was a very public supporter of the measure. It even
helped fund a multimillion-dollar TV ad campaign backing passage of the law. But last year, when
Republicans mounted an aggressive effort to repeal and replace the law, the group made a point of
staying outside the fray. ‘We’ve not taken a position,’ said Stephen Ubl, head of the organization, the
Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, known as PhRMA, in a March 2017
interview.” [Washington Post, 7/30/18]
2016: American Action Network Received $6.1 Million From Pharmaceutical Research &
Manufacturers Of America, AAN’s Single Biggest Grant That Year
2016: PhRMA Contributed $6.1 Million To AAN. ““Urge him to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act
now,” one ad running in early 2017 advised viewers to tell their congressman. That and similar material
(including robocalls) paid for by the American Action Network ran numerous times last year in 75 congressional
districts. […] PhRMA was one of AAN’s biggest donors the previous year, giving it $6.1 million, federal
regulatory filings show. And PhRMA had a substantial interest in the outcome of the repeal efforts. Among
other actions, the GOP-backed health bill would have eliminated a federal fee paid by pharmaceutical
companies, one estimated at $28 billion over a decade.” [Washington Post, 7/30/18]
• Washington Post: “PhRMA’s $6.1 Million, Unrestricted Donation To AAN Was Its Single-biggest
Grant In 2016, Dwarfing Its $130,000 Contribution To The Same Group The Year Before.”
“PhRMA’s $6.1 million, unrestricted donation to AAN was its single-biggest grant in 2016, dwarfing its
$130,000 contribution to the same group the year before. Closely associated with House Republicans
— AAN has a former Republican senator and two former Republican House members on its board —
the group backed the failed GOP health bill intended to replace the Affordable Care Act. It also
supported the successful Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, which reduced corporate taxes by hundreds
of billions of dollars over a decade.” [Washington Post, 7/30/18]
2010-2014: American Action Network Received $6,200,000 In Contributions From Pharmaceutical
Research & Manufacturers Of America
p3
2010: Pharmaceutical Research & Manufacturers Of America Contributed $4.5 Million To American
Action Network. [Opensecrets, Accessed 3/11/21]
2012: Pharmaceutical Research & Manufacturers Of America Contributed $1,575,000 To American
Action Network. [Opensecrets, Accessed 3/11/21]
2014: Pharmaceutical Research & Manufacturers Of America Contributed $125,000 To American Action
Network. [Opensecrets, Accessed 3/11/21]
2009-2017: AAN Received $3.3 Million From Health Insurer, Aetna
2009 To 2017: AAN Received $3.3 Million In Contributions From Health Insurer, Aetna. “AAN has never
publicly disclosed who funds its operation but its tax filings and a report by the nonpartisan organization Issue
One gives clues as to how it goes about raking in the cash. The tax document shows that the nonprofit often
uses a firm called LPC 25 to help raise funds. […] An Issue One investigation identified 23 donors that
represent only 13% of its funding from 2009 to 2017, including $12 million from the Pharmaceutical Research
and Manufacturers of America, $4 million from the Republican Jewish Coalition and $3.3 million from health
insurer Aetna. A list of AAN donors constructed by MapLight, a nonpartisan research organization that tracks
the influence of money in politics, shows that in 2017 the Business Roundtable gave $6 million and the Retail
Industry Leaders Association contributed $800,000.” [CNBC, 5/23/19]
2010-2012: American Action Network Received $285,000 In Contributions From Oil And Gas Industry
Organizations
2010: American Natural Gas Alliance Contributed $35,000 To American Action Network. [Opensecrets,
Accessed 3/11/21]
2012: American Petroleum Institute Contributed $250,000 To American Action Network. [Opensecrets,
Accessed 3/11/21]
2017: AAN Received A Combined $6.8 Million From Business Roundtable And Retail Industry
Leaders Association
2017: AAN Received $6 Million In Contributions From Business Roundtable. “AAN has never publicly
disclosed who funds its operation but its tax filings and a report by the nonpartisan organization Issue One
gives clues as to how it goes about raking in the cash. The tax document shows that the nonprofit often uses a
firm called LPC 25 to help raise funds. […] An Issue One investigation identified 23 donors that represent only
13% of its funding from 2009 to 2017, including $12 million from the Pharmaceutical Research and
Manufacturers of America, $4 million from the Republican Jewish Coalition and $3.3 million from health insurer
Aetna. A list of AAN donors constructed by MapLight, a nonpartisan research organization that tracks the
influence of money in politics, shows that in 2017 the Business Roundtable gave $6 million and the Retail
Industry Leaders Association contributed $800,000.” [CNBC, 5/23/19]
2017: AAN Received $800,000 In Contributions From Retail Industry Leaders Association. “AAN has
never publicly disclosed who funds its operation but its tax filings and a report by the nonpartisan organization
Issue One gives clues as to how it goes about raking in the cash. The tax document shows that the nonprofit
often uses a firm called LPC 25 to help raise funds. […] An Issue One investigation identified 23 donors that
represent only 13% of its funding from 2009 to 2017, including $12 million from the Pharmaceutical Research
and Manufacturers of America, $4 million from the Republican Jewish Coalition and $3.3 million from health
insurer Aetna. A list of AAN donors constructed by MapLight, a nonpartisan research organization that tracks
the influence of money in politics, shows that in 2017 the Business Roundtable gave $6 million and the Retail
Industry Leaders Association contributed $800,000.” [CNBC,
...
2017: American Action Network Reported $51 Million In Contributions With $16 Million Coming From A Single “Mysterious Unnamed Donor” American Action Network Received $51 Million In Contributions With $16 Million Coming From A “Mysterious Unnamed Donor.” “Conservative nonprofit dark money group American Action Network dramatically increased its media spending during the tax reform debate of 2017 and the buildup to the 2018 congressional midterm elections, according to a tax filing provided to CNBC. […] A big chunk of the $51 million in contributions and grants the group received came from a mysterious unnamed donor who gave $16 million..501(c)(4)s are not legally required to disclose their donors” [CNBC, 5/23/19] endit
Also lining up behind the effort was the American Action Network, a major conservative nonprofit advocacy group, with $7.9 million in ads. PhRMA gave the American Action Network $4.5 million in 2019, along with $75,000 to the 60 Plus Association, according to tax filings.
AHA note // direct mail dark posts neg ads
ref
no lnx
Pharmaceutical industry likely to shatter its lobbying record as it works to shape Democrats’ spending bill
A years-long battle over prescription drug prices reaches its apex as the industry spends tens of millions to alter the plan.
By Yeganeh Torbati and Jonathan O'Connell
November 5, 2021
In September, Rep. Andy Kim (D-N.J.) began noticing mailers arriving at homes across his district, including his own and that of his parents, with an alarming message. The mailers alleged that Kim was intent on preventing Medicare patients from getting the drugs they needed.
That was news to Kim, who has made lowering seniors’ health-care costs and expanding their access to Medicare a signature issue. The mailer, along with a slew of digital ads and text messages, was sponsored by a group called A Healthy Future, LLC, and claimed that Kim and other New Jersey Democrats wanted to cut off “access to lifesaving medicines” and shift Medicare money into other social safety-net programs.
Soon after the mailers landed in New Jersey mailboxes, Kim’s office began receiving calls from puzzled constituents.
“I’ve been attacked before, but I’ve never seen one as egregious as this one in terms of ‘Andy Kim’s trying to cut Medicare,’” Kim said. “That’s just so absurd, and I actually think that has affected how the district has responded.”
Watershed or watered down? Democrats’ drug pricing deal leaves many unsatisfied.
Kim was certain the attacks were coming from the pharmaceutical industry, but it was hard for him to be sure. A Healthy Future’s website includes no contact information, and a message to its Facebook page went unanswered. But a nonprofit group called A Public Voice listed A Healthy Futureas being under its control in its 2018 and 2019 tax filings and described the LLC’s primary activity as “supporting a vibrant health care system.”
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A Healthy Future and its anonymous funders, it turned out, had fought previous efforts in Washington to reduce the cost of prescription drugs. According to Google digital ad data, A Healthy Future also paid for ads in fall 2020 arguing against a Trump administration attempt to address prescription drug costs.
Brian Newell, a spokesman for PhRMA, the pharmaceutical industry’s chief lobbying arm, when asked whether the organization had ever had any financial or other relationship with A Healthy Future or A Public Voice, said: “Like most industries and associations, PhRMA engages with groups and organizations that have a wide array of opinions and priorities, including those who do not want the government to come between patients and their medicines.” DENIAL NON-DENIAL ~ WATERGATE b&wOODWARD
The ads targeting Kim and others were one strand of a massive, months-long advertising, lobbying and political donation blitz undertaken by the pharmaceutical industry and its allies, perhaps the strongest of all corporate voices in Washington, to kill a Democratic proposal to lower the cost of prescription drugs by empowering the federal government to negotiate their prices.
That provision to control drug prices became a focal point of the $1.75 trillion spending package Democrats are trying to move through Washington. The measure was in, then out, then watered down, going through a fierce ping-pong of backroom negotiations that is likely to continue once the Senate considers the bill in coming weeks.
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Pharmaceutical industry lobbyists defended their effort, alleging that the Democrats’ proposal would stifle research. They also said many other groups poured millions of dollars into the other side of the debate.
“As we’ve said repeatedly, our advocacy has focused on delivering solutions that will lower what patients pay out of pocket for prescription medicines, while opposing reforms that would ultimately leave patients trapped in a broken insurance system, restrict access to lifesaving medicines, and destroy the development of new treatments,” Newell said.
The influence campaign at times worked through groups whose funding sources are hidden. At least 20 different advertisements were run on television and online across the country. The advertisements were augmented by a campaign byPhRMA, which spent nearly $23 million on lobbying through the first nine months of 2021, according to data compiled by OpenSecrets, which tracks corporate spending and political influence. That puts PhRMA on track this year to beat its own spending recording of $29.3 million in 2019.
“The intensity right now of K Street and the deployment of lobbying and dark money is extraordinary,” said Nick Penniman, chief executive of Issue One, which advocates for transparency in Washington. “It is a frenzied state right now.”
The intense effort is reflective of just how much many companies have at stake in the Democrats’ evolving tax-and-spending bill. This article, which is based on interviews, documents and lobbying and ad spending data, offers a window into the efforts one sector took to shape the bill, much of which was crafted in secret.
The drug pricing provision agreed to by House Democrats this week does not go as far as many Democrats including Kim had hoped. But it still delivers reforms that could cut costs for millions of Americans bycapping out-of-pocket spending for seniors at $2,000 a year, capping insulin costs, preventing price increases that exceed the rate of inflation, and allowing Medicare to begin negotiating prices for some drugs.
“What we’re trying to do is defying one of the most powerful special-interest lobby groups in Washington, D.C.,” Kim said. “The fact that we were able to get something that will meaningfully help people was important.”
Other industries, including tobacco and electric vehicles, have worked aggressively to pare down or reshape parts of the bill in their favor, too. But the effort to fight back on drug-price increases stands out because of the enormous scope of the campaign waged by the pharmaceutical industry and its allies, which have derailed similar proposals for the past two decades, despite how popular many of the changes are with voters, according to polling data.
“They’re the Goliath,” said Sheila Krumholz, executive director of OpenSecrets. She said that aside from theU.S. Chamber of Commerce, of which pharmaceutical firms are members, the industry had spent more than any other by a wide margin so far this year, deploying so many lobbyists — 1,600 — that they outnumber members of Congress 3 to 1.
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The industry made $90.6 million of political contributions during the 2020 election cycle, according to OpenSecrets,61 percent of that to Democratic candidates and groups.
The industry’s focus on drug pricing has increased dramatically in recent years as the issue became more top-of-mind for voters. In 2012, lobbyists registered to work on the issue of “drug prices” 69 times for 20 different clients. In 2021 so far, they have filed to lobby on the issue 1,192 times for 242 different clients, according to OpenSecrets data.
While the industry lobbies on many different issues in a given year, the Democratic bill H.R. 3 that would have given the government more expansive power to negotiate drug prices was the bill PhRMA cited most often for lobbying; the bill appeared in its reports 35 times so far this year, OpenSecrets found.
Research by Patients for Affordable Drugs Now, which advocates for lower prices, found that PhRMA and its allies spent at least $26.5 million on television and digital ads attacking proposals on price negotiations between July and early November. That included $2.7 million spent by PhRMA, but also $4.5 million in ads by the 60 Plus Association, which bills itself as a conservative version of AARP anddid not respond to a request for comment.
Also lining up behind the effort was the American Action Network, a major conservative nonprofit advocacy group, with $7.9 million in ads. PhRMA gave the American Action Network $4.5 million in 2019, along with $75,000 to the 60 Plus Association, according to tax filings.
Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) holds one of Congress’s most competitive seats, having wrested it from Republican control in 2018 and narrowly winning reelection in 2020. She shaped her campaign around a platform of tackling rising health-care costs and has maintained focus on that issue, inviting a Type 1 diabetes patient with sky-high insulin costs to be her guest at the 2020 State of the Union address.
According to data tracked by Patients for Affordable Drugs Now, the American Action Network funded an ad in Slotkin’s district starting in August that accuses Democrats of pushing a “socialisthealth-care plan to control what medicines you can get.”
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Her office is now accustomed to fielding calls from constituents who see ads like that one on television, Slotkin said.
“We can really tell the first couple of days those ads run because that’s when we’ll see a spike in the number of people calling our office,” she said. “We literally write a response that our staff can use to forcefully push back and try to contradict the purposeful misinformation.”
Asked about the accuracy of the advertisement targeting Slotkin, American Action Network spokesman Calvin Moore reiterated its message, saying such proposals amount to “socialist price controls” that could limit development of new prescription drugs. “Stifling innovation to this degree has profound consequences,” Moore said.
Many of the backers of these efforts are difficult to identify because of rules allowing anonymous funding of political groups. A Public Voice, which described itself on its 2018 and 2019 tax forms as the “direct controlling entity” of A Healthy Future, is based in Thornville, Ohio.It listed nearly $5 million in contributions in 2018, though it declined to name its donors, and spent the money on consulting, marketing and funding conservative causes across the country. That year, its donations included $240,000 to Fund for a Working Congress, a political action committee that supported Republican candidates, and $370,000 to Ohio First PAC, which supported a challenge by Republican James B. Renacci against Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio).
A voice mail left at a number listed on tax filings for A Public Voice received no response. Documents filed with the state of Ohio show that the entity originally formed in 2012 as Protect Your Vote Ohio and show its registered agents as lawyers with Langdon Law, a Cincinnati-area law firm known as a nexus for “dark money” groups on the right.
David Langdon of Langdon Law did not respond to an email and voice mail requesting comment.
The approximately 20 digital and television video ads compiled by Patients for Affordable Drugs Now and reviewed by The Washington Post warned viewers about an array of crises that could befall them should Congress allow Medicare to negotiate prices for drugs, among them that the industry could no longer develop new medications, that the government would limit access to prescriptions, that Medicare would be cut or that millions of jobs would be lost.
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“They call it negotiation, but it really means government decides what medicines I can get,” says “Sue,” awoman labeled in one ad as a diabetic from Ohio.
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“Imagine a future in which a vaccine for covid-19 was never discovered,” says a voice in another spot.
Pro-industry advertising ran during opinion shows on Fox News, CNN and MSNBC, as well as during college football games, according to the advertising data firm iSpot.tv.
Once the drug cost proposal was added to President Biden’s larger legislative package, some advertising took direct aim at Democrats’ spending priorities. One claimed the proposal called for “gutting Medicare” in exchange for “pie-in-the-sky special-interest kickbacks.” It depicts House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) riding atop an animated unicorn, she and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) sliding down rainbows, and Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) at a dessert buffet. Another depicts the proposal as a shell game that “loots Medicare.”
Jayapal says Democrats almost have the votes to pass Build Back Better
Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) described her frustration with lengthy negotiations on the Build Back Better act in an interview with The Washington Post Nov. 5. (Zach Purser Brown/The Washington Post)
Previous presidents, including Barack Obama and Donald Trump, vowed to pass bills to lower prescription drug costs, only to see their efforts die on Capitol Hill, in part because of a relentless lobbying blitz.
When Montana’s Brian Schweitzer ran for Senate in 1999, he elevated his long-shot campaign by busing senior citizens to Canada so they could illegally buy drugs at lower prices.
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He got his first taste of the pharmaceutical lobby shortly afterward, when he said television ads started attacking him for trusting medicines made in other countries. He said in his case, the attacks helped make his political career. “Virtually everybody in America has a friend or family member who is taking that expensive medicine,” he said.
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Rep. Susan Wild (D-Pa.) holds anothercompetitive seat, representing an Allentown, Pa., district that narrowly favored Biden in the 2020 election. She said that as she began supporting drug price reform early in her career, lobbyists began relentlessly calling her office, even though she had vowed not to take corporate PAC donations.
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“If they’re calling me nonstop, imagine what they’re doing to those who actually do take their money,” she said.
During the most recent negotiations, Wild began receiving automated emails from constituentsworried they wouldn’t be able to get their medicines if the government could negotiate prices. But on Sunday she joined 14 colleagues from other competitive districts, including Kim and Slotkin, to urge Democratic leadership to deliver on their promise to reduce drug prices.
She said she knows what comes next.
“I am quite certain that because I have been so outspoken on this issue, that I am going to face an attack ad,” Wild said. “I have an idea for what it could be, but I don’t want to tell you in case they see it. I don’t want to give them any ideas.”
https://www.opensecrets.org/political-action-committees-pacs/C90011230/summary/2020
| Official PAC Name: | AMERICAN ACTION NETWORK INC | Location: | WASHINGTON , DC 20006 | Industry: | ; | Treasurer: | FEC Committee ID: C90011230 | hardly any data?! 2018 | Bera, Ami | CA | D | House | $326,250 | $0 | $326,250 | Bergman, John | MI | R | House | $15,000 | $15,000 | $0 | Bonoff, Terri | MN | D | House | $336,250 | $0 | $336,250 | Caforio, Bryan | CA | D | House | $326,250 | $0 | $326,250 | Costello, Ryan | Costello, Ryan |
2016
American Natural Gas Alliance  | 12/31/10 | $35,000 | American Action Network (04) |
|---|---|---|---|
Crossroads GPS | 05/31/11 | $500,000 | American Action Network (04) |
Marcus Foundation  | 12/31/10 | $100,000 | American Action Forum (03) |
Mississippi Common Trust Fund  | 06/30/11 | $50,000 | American Action Forum (03) |
Mississippi Common Trust Fund  | 06/30/10 | $50,000 | American Action Forum (03) |
Pharmaceutical Research & Manufacturers of America  | 12/31/10 | $4,500,000 | American Action Network (04) |
Republican Jewish Coalition  | 12/31/10 | $4,000,000 | American Action Network (04) |
Robert K Steel Family Foundation  | 04/30/10 | $50,000 | American Action Forum (03) |
Wellspring Cmte  | 12/31/10 | $305,500 | American Action Network (04) |
American Action Network  | 06/30/12 | $1,550,000 | American Action Forum (03) |
Annual Fund  | 06/30/12 | $100,000 | American Action Network (04) |
Donors Trust  | 12/31/11 | $80,000 | American Action Forum (03) |
Donors Trust  | 12/31/11 | $70,000 | American Action Forum (03) |
Americans for Job Security  | 10/31/12 | $25,000 | American Action Network (04) |
Alliance for Quality Nursing Home Care  | 12/31/12 | $250,000 | American Action Network (04) |
American Petroleum Institute  | 12/31/12 | $250,000 | American Action Network (04) |
Pharmaceutical Research & Manufacturers of America  | 12/31/12 | $75,000 | American Action Forum (03) |
Pharmaceutical Research & Manufacturers of America  | 12/31/12 | $1,500,000 | American Action Network (04) |
Motion Picture Assn of America  | 12/31/12 | $25,000 | American Action Network (04) |
Reducing America's Taxes Equitably  | 12/31/11 | $100,000 | American Action Forum (03) |
American Action Network  | 06/30/13 | $500,000 | American Action Forum (03) |
Property Casualty Insurers Assn of America  | 12/31/13 | $25,000 | American Action Network (04) |
Online Consumers Network  | 12/31/12 | $100,000 | American Action Network (04) |
American Action Network  | 06/30/14 | $300,000 | American Action Forum (03) |
Pharmaceutical Research & Manufacturers of America  | 12/31/14 | $125,000 | American Action Forum |
os 2012
american Natural Gas Alliance  | 12/31/10 | $35,000 | American Action Network (04) |
|---|---|---|---|
Crossroads GPS  | 05/31/11 | $500,000 | American Action Network (04) |
Marcus Foundation  | 12/31/10 | $100,000 | American Action Forum (03) |
Mississippi Common Trust Fund  | 06/30/11 | $50,000 | American Action Forum (03) |
Mississippi Common Trust Fund  | 06/30/10 | $50,000 | American Action Forum (03) |
Pharmaceutical Research & Manufacturers of America  | 12/31/10 | $4,500,000 | American Action Network (04) |
Republican Jewish Coalition  | 12/31/10 | $4,000,000 | American Action Network (04) |
Robert K Steel Family Foundation  | 04/30/10 | $50,000 | American Action Forum (03) |
Wellspring Cmte  | 12/31/10 | $305,500 | American Action Network (04) |
American Action Network  | 06/30/12 | $1,550,000 | American Action Forum (03) |
Annual Fund  | 06/30/12 | $100,000 | American Action Network (04) |
Donors Trust  | 12/31/11 | $80,000 | American Action Forum (03) |
Donors Trust  | 12/31/11 | $70,000 | American Action Forum (03) |
Americans for Job Security  | 10/31/12 | $25,000 | American Action Network (04) |
Alliance for Quality Nursing Home Care  | 12/31/12 | $250,000 | American Action Network (04) |
American Petroleum Institute  | 12/31/12 | $250,000 | American Action Network (04) |
Pharmaceutical Research & Manufacturers of America  | 12/31/12 | $75,000 | American Action Forum (03) |
Pharmaceutical Research & Manufacturers of America  | 12/31/12 | $1,500,000 | American Action Network (04) |
Motion Picture Assn of America  | 12/31/12 | $25,000 | American Action Network (04) |
Reducing America's Taxes Equitably  | 12/31/11 | $100,000 | American Action Forum (03) |
American Action Network  | 06/30/13 | $500,000 | American Action Forum (03) |
Property Casualty Insurers Assn of America  | 12/31/13 | $25,000 | American Action Network (04) |
Online Consumers Network  | 12/31/12 | $100,000 | American Action Network (04) |
American Action Network  | 06/30/14 | $300,000 | American Action Forum (03) |
Pharmaceutical Research & Manufacturers of America  | 12/31/14 | $125,000 | American Action Forum (03) |
NEW off bs 4 22
https://americanactionnetwork.org/
ENERGY18 January 2012
NEWS RELEASE: COLEMAN: FOREIGN COMPETITORS CHEERING OBAMA REJECTION OF KEYSTONE PIPELINE
WASHINGTON –Senator Norm Coleman, Chairman of the American Action Network, today released the following statement in response to President Obama’s decision to reject the Keystone XL pipeline:
“The Obama job killing machinehas struck again and the president’s politically-motivated decision to reject the Keystone XL pipelinewill have major ramifications both domestically and abroad,” said Coleman. “The facts are clear: the pipeline would create thousands of jobs at zero cost to taxpayers, China is cheering rejection of the pipeline so it can gain a foothold in North American energy production, rising Middle East tensions again threaten the stability of the global oil supplyand Canadian tar sands will be developed with or without us.
“Not only is this a loss for unemployed Americans and our economy, this represents a big win for foreign competitors who will use the oil under far less stringent environmental guidelines than are in place here. As he has done time and time again, the president chose politics over doing the right thing for Americans desperate for work, and a country that is eager to secure our energy independence from hostile regions of the world.”
The American Action Network is a 501(c)(4) ‘action tank’that will create, encourage and promote center-right policies based on the principles of freedom, limited government, American exceptionalism, and strong national security. The American Action Network’s primary goal is to put our center-right ideas into action by engaging the hearts and minds of the American people and spurring them into active participation in our democracy.
American Action Network is a 501(c)(4) ‘action tank’ that will create, encourage and promotecenter-right policies based on the principles of freedom, limited government, American exceptionalism, and strong national security. The American Action Network’s primary goal is to put our center-right ideas into action by engaging the hearts and minds of the American people and spurring them into active participation in our democracy.
America is a nation that has always favored individuals’ enterprises instead of government solutions. To remain a worldwide leader for ideas, investment and innovation, America must continue to offer thebest combination of economic freedom and pro-growth, smart regulation. American Action Network will support policies that will make America safe and secure; where choices in education, health care and retirement abound; where taxes are fair and comprehensible; and where government is smaller and smarter with a focus on core functions.
To accomplish these goals, the American Action Network will work in close cooperation with like-minded organizations, like our sister organization, the American Action Forum, to magnify our combined efforts and policies. In addition, we will support and promote center-right policies that connect with the challenges and hopes of our fellow citizens in a real and meaningful way.
Mission: Our primary goal is to put center-right ideas into action by engaging the hearts and minds of the American people and spurring them into active participation in our democracy.
The American Action Network is an independent nonprofit 501(c)(4) organization, and it is not affiliated with or controlled by any political candidate, party, or officeholder. The Network welcomes supporters of its center-right values and policy proposals regardless of party affiliation, and looks forward to working with legislators, government officials, and advocates of either party who are willing to advance policies consistent with the Network’s principles.
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Dan Conston
President of American Action Network
Board Members of the American Action Network
Norm Coleman
Senator Norm Coleman
Chairman, American Action Network and Of Counsel, Hogan Lovells US LLP
Isaac Applbaum
Founding General Partner, Opus Capital
Rick Berg
Real Estate Entrepreneur
Governor Luis Fortuño
Former Governor of Puerto Rico, Partner of Steptoe,Member of the Corporate, Securities & Finance Group and the Government Affairs and Public Policy Group
Dylan Glenn
Managing Director, Guggenheim Advisors
Barry Jackson
Strategic Advisor, Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck
Jeff Larson
CEO, Roosevelt Group
Thomas Reynolds
Congressman Tom Reynolds
Senior Strategic Advisor,Holland and Knight LLP
Congressman Vin Weber
Partner, Mercury
4 22 random BS
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TAXES & REGULATIONS
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JOBS & ECONOMY
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New AAN Ad: Pelosi Wins. Middle Class Loses.
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TAXES & REGULATIONS
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“The largest tax and spending increase in half a century”
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24 August 2021
AAN Slams “Moderates” For Folding To Pelosi On $3.5 Trillion Socialist Spending Plan
American Action Network released the following statement slamming the 10 “moderate” Members of the House of Representatives for folding to Pelosi, betraying their promises to their constituents, and voting to advance Pelosi’s $3.5 trillion socialist wish list. AAN has been up in 39 districts with a $5 million issue advocacy and advertising campaign to stop […]
13 August 2021
House members revolt after AAN hits the airwaves
Well that was quick. This morning, 9 House Democrats are “threatening mutiny” over Speaker Pelosi’s $3.5 trillion liberal spending bill, just 48 hours after American Action Network took to the airwaves with $5 million+ in TV advertising in their districts, warning their constituents about the impact of the dangerous plan. All of which is to […]
11 August 2021
AAN Unveils $5 Million+ Issue Advocacy Campaign Opposing Pelosi’s Reconciliation Bill
American Action Network announced it will spend north of $5 million on a new issue advocacy and advertising campaign to stop the $3.5 trillion “reconciliation” proposal Nancy Pelosi announced earlier this week, with huge tax hikes, wasteful spending, and a socialist takeover of the prescription drug market. AAN’s new campaign will run across 39 Congressional Districts in total with television and […]
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big Pharma bankrolled conservative groups that pushed industry message to Trump, tax returns show
Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, the pharmaceutical industry’s largest trade association, gave millions of dollars in grants to a number of conservative groups that pushed industry-friendly policies to the Trump administration and congressional lawmakers, new tax returns reveal. Read More
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pharmaceutical industry’s largest trade association gave millions of dollars in grants to a number of conservative groups that pushed industry-friendly policies to the Trump administration and congressional lawmakers, new tax returns obtained by OpenSecrets reveal.
The influential Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, which represents the most powerful drug companies in the country, is already one of the top lobbying spenders. But the group also extends its reach to influential conservative groups that are aligned with drugmakers against controls on drug prices.
Among its top recipients was the American Action Network, which received $2.5 million last year. The conservative “dark money” group, which took in $10 million from PhRMA since 2016, has consistently advocated policies favored by drugmakers.
In August, the American Action Network announced a $2.5 million ad campaign to fight “socialist” price controls in Medicare Part D,a proposal strongly opposed by the pharmaceutical industry. In June, the group announced a $3 million ad campaign to support President Donald Trump’s proposed drug rebate rule that favored pharmaceutical companies over insurers and pharmacy benefit managers. The Trump administration pulled the proposal in July.
Among other conservative groups PhRMA gave to last year are Consumer Action for a Strong Economy ($170,000), FreedomWorks ($100,000), Taxpayers Protection Alliance ($65,000), Institute for Policy Innovation ($35,000) and the Competitive Enterprise Institute ($25,000). Each of those groups signed on to a November 2018 letter opposing the Trump administration’s proposed rule to create price controls for drugs administered under Medicare Part B.
Numerous conservative groups that received funding from the pharmaceutical industry ran ads urging Trump not to embrace “socialist” price controls. FreedomWorks has run digital ads urging the rejection of “the socialist rate-setting scheme” and is fighting for PhRMA-favored provisions in Trump’s proposed trade deal. The conservative Heritage Action for America, which received $37,500 from PhRMA last year, ran ads urging members of Congress to reject the price control measure, also adopting the “socialist” branding.
The Coalition for Affordable Health Coverage, which received $725,000 from PhRMA between 2017 and 2018, took part in a July meeting with White House officials to push back on drug price controls.
PhRMA has consistently lobbied against price controls on drugs, a proposal that would deal serious damage to major drugmakers’ profits. The Trump administration insists it wants to lower drug prices, but its plans face strong opposition from conservative groups and Republican allies in Congress.
During a July Senate Finance Committee hearing on drug pricing bills, all but one Republican voted for an amendment that would prohibit the Trump administration from implementing one of its key goals, an international price index to set drug costs. Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), once a supporter of a similar price control model, voted for the amendment and told reporters the pharmaceutical industry had “better ideas.”
In a statement provided with the group’s tax returns, PhRMA spokeswoman Holly Campbell said the industry faced “a number of challenging issues with significant ramifications for the future of biopharmaceutical innovation” in 2018.
“PhRMA used its resources to advance practical policy solutions that will lower medicine costs for patients,” Campbell said, adding that the group “worked to oppose harmful proposals that threaten patient access to treatment and hinder the development of new medicines.”
The trade group’s strategy of funding conservative forces isn’t new. In 2017, PhRMA gave millions to conservative groups, including $2.5 million to pro-Trump “dark money” group America First Policies, OpenSecrets reported.
The American Conservative Union, which received $150,000 from PhRMA in 2017, has also come out against industry-opposed measures, urging lawmakers not to adopt “socalist policies” that would cap the price of some drugs.
These conservative groups are naturally aligned with the pharmaceutical industry on such issues. But PhRMA has also given to influential organizations that might not have the same incentives to back drugmakers.
This summer, the National Sheriff’s Association, which represents thousands of elected sheriffs, ran a six-figure television ad campaign urging Trump to reject proposals opposed by the pharmaceutical industry, OpenSecrets reported. Specifically, the group tried to argue that allowing the importation of generic prescription drugs from Canada presented a safety risk.
Bloomberg later revealed that the cash-strapped trade group received at least $900,000 in grants from the Partnership for Safe Medicines, a nonprofit funded by PhRMA.
PhRMA’s 2018 tax returns reveal that it gave more than $8.5 million to theAddiction Policy Forum and an affiliated group, organizations that aim to fight the opioid epidemic. The group announced last year it would accept funding from PhRMA, which drew controversy from addiction advocates. The group gave nearly $14.5 million to the RX Abuse Leadership Initiative, which is working with law enforcement to fight the opioid epidemic.
The group chipped in $175,000 toRetireSafe, a GOP-linked seniors group that opposes House Democrats’ drug pricing package.
In addition to giving to conservative groups, PhRMA gave more than $1.4 million to Center Forward and $50,000 to Third Way Foundation, organizations that push center-left policies, underscoring the drug industry’s widespread attempts to influence policy.
PhRMA brought in a record $459 million in revenue last year, up slightly from its 2017 haul. Drugmakers are facing tremendous pressure from Washington lawmakers as they fight drug pricing proposals from congressional Democrats and the Trump administration. That’s while also pushing for an industry-friendly trade deal, handling the ramifications of the opioid crisis, combating state-level efforts to reduce drug prices and preparing for Democratic presidential candidates’ proposals to take on the pharmaceutical industry.
mma
https://www.mediamatters.org/blog/2019/03/18/Dont-believe-right-wing-media-when-they-say-the-Green-New-Deal-would-cost-93-trillion/223140
no lnx twt
Don’t believe right-wing media when they say the Green New Deal would cost $93 trillion
Politico calls the analysis "bogus," and even its lead author won't defend it
Blog ››› March 18, 2019 EVLONDO COOPER
Melissa Joskow / Media Matters
Right-wing media outlets have repeatedly asserted that the Green New Deal would come with the absurd price tag of "$93 trillion" or "$94 trillion," uncritically repeating claims from a back-of-the-envelope, deeply flawed analysis produced by the American Action Forum, a conservative think tank. Politico recently determined that the $93 trillion figure was "bogus," and quoted the lead author of the AAF analysis, Douglas Holtz-Eakin, admitting that he had no idea how much it would cost to implement the Green New Deal.
American Action Forum has ties to the fossil fuel industry
The American Action Forum, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, and its 501(c)(4) “sister organization,” the American Action Network (AAN), have been funded by a who’s who of the polluter syndicate.
AAN has received at least $250,000 from the American Petroleum Institute, a trade association for the oil industry that has donated to groups in the Koch network. And AAN has received at least $35,000 from the American Natural Gas Alliance, a pro-fracking gas industry trade group. Dow Chemical has given at least $250,000. AAN has also been funded by other Koch-connected groups such as Americans for Job Security, Donors Trust, and the Wellspring Committee. It's gotten money from Karl Rove's Crossroads GPS too. AAN has in turn donated millions to AAF.
Though some information about its funding has been made public, AAN has generally refused to disclose its donors. In 2014, MSNBC called AAN a "dark money power player," noting that it had been running numerous attack ads against Democratic candidates. FactCheck.org noted that same year that AAN has spent tens of millions of dollars supporting Republican candidates.In 2018, a watchdog group filed suit against AAN for violating campaign finance laws and abusing its nonprofit status.
AAF's Green New Deal cost analysis is problematic from top to bottom
Considering the think tank’s connections to the fossil fuel industry, it’s not surprising that the American Action Forum’s report found the Green New Deal untenable. What is surprising is how flippant Holtz-Eakin, president of AAF and former head of the Congressional Budget Office, was about the rigor of the analysis he co-authored. When challenged about the accuracy of the report’s claim that the Green New Deal would cost some $93 trillion over 10 years, Holtz-Eakin told Politico, “Is it billions or trillions? Any precision past that is illusory.”
The Green New Deal resolution introduced by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) on February 7 is just a broad, 14-page outline of goals with no policy specifics, so determining a price tag was a fanciful exercise. AAF's claims of a $92.9 trillion total cost, or $653,000 per household, have no basis in reality. As Politico reporter Zack Colman put it:
When they set out to put a price tag on the Green New Deal last month, Holtz-Eakin and his associates had no real policy or plan to evaluate, so they made one up to perform back-of-the-envelope calculations.
…
And the AAF study does not distinguish between government and private-sector spending, nor does it attempt to quantify the benefits of reducing pollution or other policies. For example, Stanford University civil and environmental engineering professor Mark Jacobson estimated that eliminating the electricity sector’s carbon emissions would avoid $265 billion in annual U.S. damages beginning in 2050.
Colman also pointed out that more than $80 trillion of the alleged $93 trillion total cost would come from implementing a jobs guarantee and universal health care -- policy ideas that have no direct relation to greening the economy, even though they are in the Green New Deal resolution.
Politico declared that the $93 trillion figure is "bogus" -- or, in an earlier version of the article published behind a firewall, "essentially vapor."
The fact-checking project PolitiFact also found the $93 trillion figure to be untrustworthy, calling it "only about as strong as a clothespin in high wind." It noted that "the [AAF] report itself is full of assumptions, qualifiers and caveats," and when a fact-checker reached out to Holtz-Eakin, the AAF president "made it clear to us that the report aims to provide very rough estimates on a plan that’s only partially developed." PolitiFact rated as "false" this claim from Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA): "At $93 trillion, the Green New Deal would cost more than the entire recorded spending of the U.S. since the Constitution went into effect in 1789."
Other journalists have also pointed out major problems with the AAF analysis. Paul Blest at Splinter noted that AAF used cost estimates for a universal jobs program ("$6.8 trillion to $44.6 trillion") and universal health care ("$36 trillion") that are vastly higher than estimates produced by other think tanks. AAF also failed to account for how much money programs like universal health care could save. According to Blest:
[AAF's] ballpark estimate on a federal jobs guarantee has a range of $38 trillion. The centrist Brookings Institution’s estimate last year, by the way, put the high end on a job guarantee at $543 billion a year, or $5.4 trillion over 10 years.
On Medicare for All, too, the AAF’s number is substantially higher than previous estimates. The libertarian Mercatus Center’s estimate set out to prove last year that Medicare for All would bankrupt the country, and inadvertently found that Medicare for All would eventually save about $2 trillion in national health expenditures. Even Mercatus, however, put the cost of Medicare for All at $32.6 trillion over 10 years.
The ClimateDenierRoundup column at Daily Kos pointed out another problem with AAF's jobs-program estimates:
The jobs price tag is wrong because it’s double counting: many of those jobs would be created by the other parts of the GND. Improving energy efficiency and building a clean energy economy will create a lot of jobs, which are counted in the GND’s green policy price tag tally. But then AAF simply counts those jobs again in the jobs guarantee portion, as though none of those promised jobs would be used to put the green in the Green New Deal.
Green New Deal sponsor Markey called out major flaws in the report too, starting with the basic premise: "Putting a price on a resolution of principles, not policies, is just Big Oil misinformation." Markey pointed out that AAF calculated the cost of "policies that aren't even in the resolution," such as eliminating air travel:
Ed Markey
@SenMarkey
The AAF analysis of the #GreenNewDeal spends some time doing basic multiplication on the impact of making all air travel unnecessary, a concept mentioned nowhere in the resolution text.
Ed Markey
@SenMarkey
Any so-called "analysis" of the #GreenNewDeal that includes artificially inflated numbers that rely on lazy assumptions, incl. about policies that aren’t even in the resolution is bogus. Putting a price on a resolution of principles, not policies, is just Big Oil misinformation.
Markey also noted that AAF did not provide any support for its cost estimate for a low-carbon electricity grid.
Ed Markey
@SenMarkey
Another example, the $5.4 trillion it estimates to transition our electric grid comes seemingly from thin air, as NO SOURCES are documented for their generation cost assumptions.
Ed Markey
@SenMarkey
The AAF analysis of the #GreenNewDeal spends some time doing basic multiplication on the impact of making all air travel unnecessary, a concept mentioned nowhere in the resolution text. https://twitter.com/SenMarkey/status/1100099740316942336 …
As The New York Times recently put it, "For now it’s impossible to pin down dollar figures on the plan." FactCheck.org agreed, writing that "the experts we spoke to said it’s not possible to put a specific price tag on the Green New Deal."
Perhaps most egregiously, AAF’s analysis of the Green New Deal completely ignored the enormous cost of not fighting climate change. Just last year, climate disasters and extreme weather events cost the U.S. an estimated $91 billion. According to the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a 1.5 C rise in the global average temperature would cost $54 trillion. Things only get more expensive (and catastrophic) from there. According to Axios:
You think $54 trillion is a lot? That number comes from research that also says that a 2.0°C increase will cause $69 trillion of damage, and a 3.7°C increase will cause a stunning $551 trillion in damage.
$551 trillion is more than all the wealth currently existing in the world, which gives an indication of just how much richer humanity could become if we don't first destroy our planet.
Current policies in place around the world have us on track for about 3.3 C of warming by 2100 if we don't dramatically change course.
AAF's analysis also ignored the significant economic benefits that would come from taking addressing climate change. "Bold climate action could deliver at least US$26 trillion in economic benefits through to 2030, compared with business-as-usual," according to a recent report from the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate.
Fox News and other right-wing outlets have been hyping the $93 trillion figure
Right-wing media have been heavily citing the AAF report since its release on February 25 -- and they have often used the $93 trillion figure without noting that it's at the top end of a range AAF provided. Fox News has been particularly eager to amplify the huge estimate. Hosts and guests have cited price tags between $91 trillion and $94 trillion on Fox News shows includingFox & Friends, The Greg Gutfeld Show, and Watters’ World, and on Fox Business Network shows including Varney & Co., Trish Regan Primetime, Making Money with Charles Payne, and Sunday Morning Futures withMaria Bartiromo. Sean Hannity has cited the AAF report at least three times on his Fox News show. He typified Fox's incurious reporting on AAF’s analysis during the March 5 episode of Hannity:
SEAN HANNITY (HOST): They are going to eliminate fossil fuels, gas, and oil. They're going to destroy the lifeblood of our economy. They're going to get rid of planes, mandate you rebuild your home. Who's paying for that? The estimates now are as high as $94 trillion in 10 years --that's their proposal.
Many other right-wing media outlets have also uncritically amplified AAF's enormous estimate, including The Daily Caller, The Daily Wire, and the Washington Free Beacon.
Some Republican politicians such as Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso have also latched onto the $93 trillion estimate and publicized it through mainstream and right-wing media. Barrasso issued a press release with the figure, wrote an opinion piece about it for USA Today, and made an appearance on Fox News to promote it. During Barrasso’s interview on Fox's America's Newsroom, co-host Sandra Smith falsely claimed that “the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office” was behind the $93 trillion figure and Barrasso failed to correct her error. (Fox & Friends co-host Ainsley Earhardt also falsely credited the report to the CBO.) From the February 28 episode of America’s Newsroom:
SANDRA SMITH (HOST): The Green New Deal, all the rage on the left. But a new study finds that it comes with a staggering price tag: the plan estimated to cost is as much as $93 trillion. That breaks down to $600,000 per household. Those are some big numbers. Joining us now, Sen. John Barrasso, a Republican from Wyoming who chairs the Committee on the Environment and Public Works. Been hearing you talk a lot about this, sir, and this price tag. It is a lofty one. This is the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office that did a study on this and came up with those numbers: $93 trillion, $600,000 per household. What do you think?
SEN. JOHN BARRASSO:Well, this Green New Deal is a big green bomb that will blow a hole in our strong economy. It will destroy the energy independence we now have from foreign countries. It will destroy what we’ve been doing to actually lower emissions. The cost to families -- electricity alone would go up by about $3,600 per family, per year.This is something, Sandra, that we cannot as a nation afford. The economy can't afford it. Our nation can’t survive it.
Some Fox News personalities and Republican politicians, includingPresident Donald Trump, have cited an even larger unsubstantiated figure for Green New Deal costs: $100 trillion. As Dave Anderson recently reported for the Energy and Policy Institute, that number originated from a flippant Twitter thread by a Manhattan Institute senior fellow. The Manhattan Institute has been funded by ExxonMobil, and the chair of its board is also the CEO of a hedge fund that is the top shareholder in Peabody Energy, a major coal company. The $100 trillion figure was mentioned by Fox host Charles Payne during an interview with EPA chief Andrew Wheeler on March 4 on Your World with Neil Cavuto, and it was also cited on other Fox programs and right-wing sites like Townhall.
Right-wing echo chamber amplifies misinformation by design
The spread of the $93 trillion figure is a textbook example of how the right-wing media sphere disseminates misinformation to stymie climate action (and the spread of the $100 trillion figure too, for that matter). Conservative media outlets have been freaking out about the Green New Deal since even before the resolution was unveiled. AAF rushed out a quickie estimate of its potential costs that even its lead author won't robustly defend. Surely the think tank knew that its ready-made, sky-high number would be quickly picked up and regurgitated by conservative commentators, writers, and politicians -- and it was. It is not likely to matter that AAF's report has been called out as “bogus” and poked full of holes. You can expect right-wing media to keep on promoting it.
Short Link
http://mm4a.org/4Br
Posted In
Environment & Science, Climate Change
Network/Outlet
Fox News, Fox Business
Person
Donald Trump, Douglas Holtz-Eakin, Ed Markey, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Sean Hannity, John Barrasso, Sandra Smith
Show/Publication
Hannity, Politico, Daily Kos, Splinter, FOX & Friends, The Five, Your World with Neil Cavuto, Greg Gutfeld Show, Watters' World, Varney & Co., Trish Regan Primetime, Making Money with Charles Payne, Sunday Morning Futures, The Daily Caller, The Daily Signal, The Washington Free Beacon, Townhall
Stories/Interests
Climate Change
==
2/18 voodoo tax cut
with midterm elections on the horizon and congressional majorities up for grabs, outside groups have jumped at the opportunity to control messaging on tax reform — the one piece of major legislation passed by Congress in 2017.
Corry Bliss, executive director of conservative group American Action Network(AAN), said selling the landmark legislation to voters should be Republicans’ top priority in the coming months.
“Every member of the Republican Party should be spending all of their time selling the tax plan,” Bliss told The Washington Post. “Everything else is a waste of time and money.”
Conservative groups have done their best to corner the market on tax messaging based on pure volume and size of expenditures, but liberal groups too have asserted themselves since the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act’s enactment in late December.
On Jan. 2, the liberal coalition Tax March released TV ads in 23 Republican-held congressional districts — 14 of which Hillary Clinton carried in 2016 —admonishing representatives for their support of a bill they claim “raises taxes on 36 million middle class families.” Tax March has promised to double its spending from last year to $10 million on the issue in 2018 as a part of its Not One Penny campaign.
Not to be outdone, AAN launched its own ads the next day in 23 districts, thanking Republican representatives who voted for the bill, which ads published on their YouTube page claim “will save a typical family more than $2,000.” AAN, which pumped millions of dollars into the bill’s passage, plans to spend another$10 million defending it.
Republican megadonors Charles and DavidKoch are promising the financial support of their powerful political machine. Four Koch-funded groups —Freedom Partners, Americans for Prosperity, The Libre Initiative, and General Opportunity — have already announced their intentions.
According to a release on the Freedom Partnerswebsite, the four groups “will be participating in a full scale nationwide education campaign” to “demonstrate the tremendous benefits of pro-growth tax reform and show how this plan is directly helping Americans improve their lives.”
The Kochs have promised to spend up to $400 million on the looming midterm election, CNBC reported recently. That’s roughly 60 percent more than they said they dedicated to the 2016 cycle when they focused on down-ballot races instead of throwing their support behind Donald Trump.
The brothers, whose organizations spent $20 million in support of the tax bill’s passage last year, announced at a recent donor summit that they will allocate another $20 million to promote its perceived benefits to an electorate that remains skeptical.
According to the results of a Pew Research survey released last week, just 37 percent of Americans approve of the tax bill compared to 46 percent who disapprove. It also found that 29 percent of adults believe the overhaul will have “mostly positive” effects on themselves and their families in the coming years compared to 27 percent who anticipate “mostly negative” effects.
In a number of critical districts, it’s not just middle class voters who are concerned with the implications of the overhaul. Wealthier households in more affluent districts will be hit with the downsizing of key tax breaks such as the mortgage interest and state and local tax deductions (SALT).
Graeme Boushey, political science professor at the University of California Irvine in the state’s 45th District, said this poses an interesting dilemma for some Republicans.
“For many Republican voters, this has been an objective — something they’ve desired for a very long time,” Boushey said. “But it’s intermingled with the concern that they will be personally injured by the bill.”
Republican congresswoman Mimi Waters, who represents the 45th District, voted in favor of the bill. Boushey said that, in defending Waters’s vote, GOP tax messaging in the district will have to appeal to voters’ belief that the overhaul will benefit the country at large.
According to the Pew survey, 35 percent of adults expect the overhaul to have “mostly positive” effects on the country at large compared to 40 percent who anticipate “mostly negative” effects.
Landmark legislation is oftentimes mired by unfavorable public perceptions. The Affordable Care Act, which passed in 2010, was largely unpopular during President Obama’s tenure. It has enjoyed its highest levels of support only since Obama left office, in the wake of Republican attempts to repeal it.
Boushey said there are striking political parallels between the passage of the Affordable Care Act — commonly known as Obamacare — and the passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. He cited the pressure placed on both parties to enact landmark legislation on ideological principles when in control of the White House and both chambers of Congress.
“This is very similar to the Democrats’ ACA vote,” Boushey said. “Once in 40 years, you get a chance with unified government to enact a sacred cow for the party — pass tax reform here. I think for some of these representatives, there’s a consequences-be-damned attitude to it, even if they know it’s going to cost them in their election.”
Republicans drastically outspentDemocrats on healthcare messaging after the passage of Obamacare — using it as a valuable piece of political propaganda even in 2016 when many congressional leaders were elected on promises of repeal and replace. Sensing the potential for a Democratic wave election this year that could threaten congressional majorities, Republicans cannot afford to let the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act follow the same trajectory.
With millions being poured into TV ads, some groups are resorting to more out-of-the-box methods of messaging. The Job Creators Network is embarking on a nationwide bus tour to sing the praises of the bill, and Democratic leaders are hosting teach-ins to convey its perceived pitfalls to constituents.
==
FEC v CREW
When Weintraub suggested that Hunter could have adjusted the commission’s April 12 public meeting to accommodate her trip to Lithuania for an elections conference, Hunter would have none of it.
“Absolutely outrageous!” Hunter shot back, noting that the four commissioners, including Weintraub, voted to simply cancel the agency’s meeting for lack of a quorum. Hunter later questioned the point of Weintraub’s sojourn, which Weintraub defended as an opportunity to “advance democracy.”
Republicans Hunter and Petersen on Thursday also issued a scathing rebuttal to Weintraub’s decision this month to “break glass in case of emergency” and not vote to further defend the FEC in federal court — a highly unusual occurrence — in the lawsuit CREW v. FEC.
They lambasted Weintraub, a Democrat, for seeking “to remove the commission from its enforcement role” and “attempting to obstruct routine commission operations.” Weintraub’s actions “raise questions of bias and/or prejudgment, which, in turn, implicate serious questions of due process.”
Weintraub argued she had no choice but to take such action and effectively invite government reform advocacy group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington — in 2012, it filed an FEC complaint accusing the conservative “dark money” group American Action Network of operating as a political committee and illegally withholding the identities of its funders — to sue the American Action Network directly. Weintraub said she didn’t trust her Republican colleagues to enforce campaign disclosure laws.
“Over a difficult and frustrating decade at the commission, I have seen colleagues with a deep ideological commitment to impeding this country’s campaign-finance laws erode the public’s right to free, fair, and transparent elections,” Weintraub wrote.
The situation could send a bad message to other political actors, CREW litigation counsel Stuart McPhail said.
“People may feel that there’s no cop on the beat and that they don’t have to follow the law,” he said.
==
TRUMP inauguration
AMERICAN ACTION NETWORK
$1,000,000 12/20/2016
:{
}:
1747 PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE NW
WASHINGTON DC 20006 A nonprofit issue advocacy group based in Washington, D.C. which promotes center-right public policy. Launched in 2010 by Fred Malek, a veteran Republican money-manwho served as co-finance chair for Sen. John McCain’s 2008 presidential bid; chaired by Norm Coleman, the former Minnesota senator, and ex-GOP-congressmen Vin Weber, Jim Nussle, and Tom Reynolds sit on the board. AAN’s president, Brian Walsh, is a former political director of the NRCC.
==
one case, Marion Forcht of Corbin, KY donated $50,000 to the president’s inaugural committee. His wife Terry also donated $50,000. Forcht owns Forcht Insurance Agency, with an estimated annual revenue of $134,500. In another, “GLM Development” donated $100,000 to the president—with an estimated revenue of $146,000. In yet another, Isabel T. John of Englewood, NJ donated $400,000. The problem? There’s no record she exists.
As the Intercept reports, Trump’s inaugural committee claimed it received $25,000 from NASA mathematician and physicist Katherine Johnson—a claim her power of attorney denies.
The Intercept also notes the filings reveal a $1 million donation from American Action Network, which NBC describes as a “dark money power player”—an organization used to funnel money to campaigns while masking the identity of the donor. It also lists a $300,000 donation from Bennett LeBow, a businessman who partnered with Trump on a failed Moscow real estate venture.
Wilkie, with the help of a Twitter call to action, transferred the inaugural committee’s FEC filing to an open-source spreadsheet. Volunteers are working to verify the identities of Trump’s donors, and leaving comments on the document.
==
good-government group has won its case against the Federal Election Commission for negligence in enforcing campaign finance laws against two conservative political groups that have ties to billionaire industrialists and conservative juggernauts Charles and David Koch and that were active in several Southern states.
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) filed a complaint with the FEC in 2012 against Americans for Job Security and the American Action Network for failing to register as political committees while financing $27.6 million worth of political ads during the 2010 elections. AJS is an anti-union 501(c)6 nonprofit trade association based in Virginia, while AAN is a 501(c)4 "social welfare"nonprofit based in Washington, D.C.
After the FEC dismissed the suit, CREW sued the regulatory body itself.
This week a federal judge ruled that the FEC was "arbitrary and capricious" when it dismissed CREW's complaint against the groups and will need to reconsider it. The ruling could dramatically change how the FEC investigates nonprofits that spend on politics and consequently increase election-spending transparency.
"The case sees through the problematic tactic of using bogus 'issue ads' that are clearly political in an attempt to evade transparency and accountability," CREW Communications Director Jordan Libowitz told Facing South.
To avoid violating their nonprofit status, the primary purpose of trade organizations and social welfare groups must not be political activity. Unlike the 527 political committees known as super PACs that have strict political disclosure requirements, trade organizations and social welfare groups are not required to disclose their donors except when reporting political expenditures that explicitly support or oppose a candidate for office and, in some cases, expenditures on so-called "electioneering" ads that run close to an election and criticize or support candidates without asking citizens to vote for or against them.
In 2010, AJS spent $9.5 million on political ads benefiting Republican candidates including considerable amounts on U.S. House and Senate races in the South: nearly $1.7 million in North Carolina, close to $900,000 in Arkansas, over $500,000 in Virginia, and smaller sums in Florida, Georgia and Kentucky.
Of that amount, $4.6 million went toward electioneering communications.Though political ads amounted to nearly 77 percent of AJS's 2010 spending, it did not register as a political committee with the FEC.
AJS's income that year included $4.8 million from the Center to Protect Patient Rights, an Arizona-based social welfare nonprofit that served as a key funding source for the Koch political operation, and $3 million from the Wellspring Committee, which has funded Koch-backed political groups including Americans for Prosperity.
:{
That same year, AAN spent at least $18.1 million on ads targeting 29 races, with $13.7 million of that going towards electioneering communications. Though the ad buys constituted nearly 67 percent of the group's spending from 2009 to 2010, it did not register as a political committee or reveal who funded the ads}:.
AAN spent millions on Southern races for U.S. House and Senate, including nearly $2.3 million in Virginia, over $500,000 in West Virginia, and close to $190,000 in Arkansas, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. AAN received over $300,000 from the Wellspring Committee in 2010 and donated $200,000 to the Center to Protect Patient Rights in 2011, according to Conservative Transparency.
In 2011 and 2012, CREW filed complaints against AJS and AAN for failing to report numerous electioneering communications to the FEC and not registering as political committees.
The FEC's own Office of General Counsel found that both groups had broken campaign finance law. But in the summer of 2014, the FEC — by law a six-member body evenly divided between Republicans and Democrats — gridlocked as it often does, with the three Republicans asserting in both cases that electioneering communications should not be considered when judging how much of an organization's work is political.
The case against the FEC
The FEC's dismissal of CREW's complaints didn't stop the watchdog from continuing its fight. In August 2014, CREW sued the FEC for failing to enforce campaign finance law against AAN and AJS.
"Due to the FEC's inaction, AAN and AJS have become a template for political groups to hide political spending," CREW's complaint stated.
AAN and AJS still have not registered as political groups. AAN has continued to spend on elections, funneling millions of dollars into politics in 2012 and 2014; so far this election cycle the group has documented over $600,000 of ad spending on U.S. House races. AJS spent nearly $16 million in 2012 but hasn't reported any federal ad buys since then.
Last December, CREW filed a motion for summary judgment against the FEC. On Sept. 19, U.S. District Court Judge Christopher Cooper ruled that "the controlling commissioners relied on a faulty legal premise in applying the 'major purpose' test … The commissioners' decisions were thus 'contrary to law.'"
The judge ordered the FEC to reconsider the complaints within 30 days. The FEC has the option to appeal the ruling.
"We are very hopeful that all of the FEC commissioners will take the court's decision to heart, find the ads in question to clearly be political ads, and accordingly determine that AAN and AJS had a major purpose to affect elections and must disclose their donors," said CREW's Libowitz. "If somehow three commissioners again prevent meaningful enforcement, CREW will consider whether additional legal action is appropriate."
Judge Cooper's ruling is a watershed moment for campaign finance law as the definition of "political activity" will now include electioneering communications. This new definition is expected to either force numerous organizations to significantly decrease their political activity or to register as political groups, thus increasing transparency of their ads and donors.
Libowitz said the decision "sends a strong signal" that the FEC needs to enforce the law and has energized his group to ramp up its watchdog efforts.
"Now that we have seen clearly that courts will compel the FEC to do its job even over the opposition of obstructionist commissioners, we will redouble our efforts to find serious violations and ensure that they are adequately addressed," he said.
(To comment on or to share this story, click here.
==
2/15
mcconnell staff network
When Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy cast the deciding vote to gut a century of campaign finance law, he assured the public that the unlimited corporate spending he was ushering in would “not give rise to corruption or the appearance of corruption.” Because those authorized to give and spend unlimited amounts were legally required to remain independent of the politicians themselves, Kennedy reasoned, there was no cause for concern.
Just five years later, in a development that may be surprising only to Justice Kennedy, the Supreme Court’s 2010 decision is reshaping how, how much and to whom money flows in Washington.
How the flood of money released by Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission has changed elections has been the subject of much discussion, but the decision’s role in allowing that same money to soak the legislative process has largely gone unreported. According to an extensive review of public documents held by the FEC, the U.S. Senate and the Internal Revenue Service, as well as interviews with lobbyists and policymakers, Kennedy's allegedly independent spending has become increasingly intertwined with lobbying and legislation -- the precise appearance of corruption campaign finance laws were meant to curb.
Politically active nonprofits, known as "dark money"groups for their ability to shield the identity of donors, and super PACs, which take unlimited sums of money but must disclose donors, have become dominated by lobbyists and other political operatives with close ties to leaders in Congress. Meanwhile, businesses with issues before Congress are pumping increasingly more money into the lobbyist-connected organizations.
The Supreme Court initially established a narrow definition of corruption in the 1970s, but Citizens United used it to blow open the gates that had been holding back corporate money. The 2010 decision came as the U.S. legislative system had evolved into a near parliamentary system of party-line voting and expansive party networks extending seamlessly from the Capitol to party headquarters to lobbying firms to outside political groups. Most top congressional legislators now have "leadership teams" -- informal but internally recognized groups of aides-turned-lobbyists who help raise funds.
To the lobbyists working in the system he helped create, Kennedy’s vision of political spending is unrecognizable. "I think Justice Kennedy's view on this was naive at best," one lobbyist told The Huffington Post, reflecting a rare bipartisan consensus. "People are going to do what's allowed under the law."
The Supreme Court majority’s casual dismissal of the possibility that the Citizens United ruling could lead to corruption or the appearance of corruption was necessary from a judicial perspective. Citizens United and a subsequent lower court ruling essentially hold that the First Amendment prevents the government from restricting political spending independent of the candidates and parties. Yet the courts had long recognized Congress’ authority to regulate the financing of campaigns and the lobbying process in order to maintain the citizens’ trust in a democratic government. Where the choice had been between the sanctity of elections on the one hand and an unfettered interpretation of the First Amendment on the other, the courts chose to protect elections -- because without a trusted government, there is no First Amendment to speak of.
Kennedy and the other four justices, therefore, had to insist that independent political spending could not lead to corruption or the appearance of corruption -- no threat of corruption meant no congressional authority to regulate that spending.
It is difficult, however, to look closely at the way laws are being made today without acknowledging at least an appearance of corruption. Congressional aides to whom HuffPost spoke all said that their own members of Congress were certainly not influenced in an untoward way by the corporate funds pumped into efforts to re-elect them, but that it was easy to see why the public might assume that to be the case. Five years later, the judicial logic of Citizens United has unraveled.
Political advisers closely associated with House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) serve as both operatives on their behalf and lobbyists for corporate clients with business before Congress. The clients are encouraged to give generously to super PACs associated with the respective lawmakers, according to lobbyists familiar with the widespread strategy.
Trevor Potter, one of the top election lawyers in the country whose clients include Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and comedian Stephen Colbert, warns that this arrangement creates exactly the appearance of corruption that courts have used to justify campaign finance limits.
“It does make a significant difference to have lobbyists involved because then you have the very lobbyists who seek official action from the members being the conduits to the money,” Potter said. “It makes them valuable to their clients because they have a good relationship with the member, and they have a tight relationship with the member because they have access to the money from their clients.”
They're making use of the opportunity. A connected super PAC and nonprofit manned by lobbyists tied to Boehner have collectively received millions from interests in the insurance, drug, energy and other industries. Big-money groups associated with McConnell have been funded by coal companies, insurers and hospitals. Mining and gambling businesses have given directly to the super PAC associated with Reid, which is staffed by two Reid confidantes, one of whom advises the lobby shop that represents those companies while she also prepares to run the senator's 2016 re-election bid. All these companies have hired lobbyists who are connected to those same lawmakers as well as to the big-money groups and who are also working on issues over which Congress has much sway. The groups they fund have spent big to put and keep Boehner, McConnell and Reid in the driver’s seat.
Tony Podesta, a Democratic super lobbyist with the Podesta Group, told HuffPost that he has encouraged his corporate clients to give to super PACs and dark money nonprofits. “It’s unfortunate that we have the decision Citizens United, but as long as that’s the law of the land, then Democrats and Republicans are both active in these kinds of endeavors,” he said.
Speaker John Boehner has close ties to the American Action Network, a dark money nonprofit, and the Congressional Leadership Fund, a super PAC. These groups raise funds from clients of lobbyists looking to increase their own influence.
In the House of Representatives, Speaker Boehner maintains a tight network of former aides who have decamped to K Street. Through these aides, he is tied to a dark money nonprofit and related super PAC that have spent millions to help him become speaker and to maintain and expand his GOP majority. The House leadership's agenda regularly aligns with that of the clients of the lobbyists who give to these groups.
The two outside groupsin the middle of Boehner’s web are the American Action Network, a 501(c)(4) nonprofit that does not have to disclose its donors, and the Congressional Leadership Fund, a super PAC operating under AAN’s umbrella.
The board of directors of AAN and Congressional Leadership Fund is lined with lobbyists and influencers includingBrownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck strategic adviser Barry Jackson, a former chief of staff to Boehner who left his office in 2012. Brownstein’s profile of Jackson, who is not registered to lobby, focuses heavily on his congressional and executive branch connections and experience without mention of any particular policy expertise.
Also, Brownstein Hyatt employed former Boehner aide Marc Lampkin as managing director of its Washington lobbying office. His firm bio declares him to be a proud member of “Team Boehner," and he is widely seen as one of the speaker's closest advisers. He is also a lobbyist for a number of interests that contribute to super PACs and nonprofits that help Republicans in elections.
The Apollo Education Group, which owns and operates the for-profit University of Phoenix, has donated $50,000 to the Congressional Leadership Fund since 2012 while employing Lampkin to lobby on behalf of such schools. Boehner and his House Republicans have long been staunch supporters of for-profit universities. In recent years, they have fought back against federal regulations to rein in that industry, which relies hugely on its students receiving federal grants and taxpayer-backed loans while it fails to graduate those same students.
The CEO of pharmaceutical giant Abbott Laboratories, another Lampkin client, gave $50,000 to the Congressional Leadership Fund in 2012. Boehner recently inaugurated a new Abbott factory in his congressional district while opposing changes to tax laws that allowed Abbott to purchase an overseas competitor in 2014 and turn itself into a multinational corporation to avoid U.S. tax payments (the tactic, known as an inversion, has come under increasing scrutiny).
Lampkin and another former Boehner aide, Sam Geduldig, have both registered to lobby for the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America, a trade group for large insurance companies that has given $185,000 to outside groups supporting Republicans since 2012. PCI’s contributions include $25,000 each to the Congressional Leadership Fund and AAN.
The insurers group also pumped funds into the dark money network run by Steven Law, a member of McConnell’s inner circle and a former general counsel at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. PCI gave $75,000 to Crossroads GPS and $25,000 to the Kentucky Opportunity Coalition. Both groups are run by Law and spent millions to re-elect McConnell in 2014. PCI also put money into super PACs supporting two Republicans first elected to the Senate this past November: Joni Ernst of Iowa and David Perdue of Georgia. Their seats were among the handful McConnell needed his party to win in order for him to take the Senate’s top spot.
"PCI participates in the political process like many others and supports pro business and pro property & casualty organizations,” Marguerite Tortorello, PCI's senior vice president for public affairs, said in a statement.
Shortly after the 2014 election, the two top priorities of the insurers group and the broaderinsurance industrywere rolled into one: A provision to roll back capital standards placed on insurance companies by the Dodd-Frank financial reform law was attached to the reauthorization of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act. Although that bill stalled last year, the new Congress in January passed a terrorism insurance reauthorization with the capital standards rollback attached -- with bipartisan support. An amendment from Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) to strip the rollback measure failed.
The inability to pass legislation was a hallmark of the last Congress. But one area where lawmakers forced swift action wound up being profitable for the super PACs and nonprofits that support them.
In April 2013, the Federal Aviation Administration announced that it would be furloughing air traffic controllers throughout the year due to the automatic budget cuts brought about by sequestration. This would have led to flight delays, lost profits for the airline industry and lost wages for controllers and pilots. Within a week of the announcement, Congress passed legislation to ease the sequester cuts at the FAA.
== https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/American_Action_Network
American Action Network is not required to disclose its donors, but documents filed with the Internal Revenue Service indicate it has received funds from the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, the Republican Jewish Coalition, the American Natural Gas Alliance and Crossroads GPS.
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American Action Network (AAN) is a "501(c)4" Washington, D.C.-based "action tank" created in February 2010 after the U.S. Supreme Court's Citizens United decision permitted corporations to spend unlimited money influencing elections. AAN is expected to spend $25 million during the 2010 midterm elections on advertisements attacking Democratic candidates, but as a 501(c)(4), the American Action Network does not have to disclose its donors.[1] The organization is run by Republican political operatives (including engineers of Nixon's illegal and unethical campaign activities) and billionaires (some of whom personally benefitted from the Wall Street bailout).]
Organizers have described the group as a center-right version of the Center for American Progress, ^[2]^ but rather than working on policy analysis, it has just been spending large sums of money running ads attacking Democrats.
American Action Network is linked to**Karl Rove**'s**American Crossroads**PAC;[3]in fact, they share office space.[4]
See also: American Crossroads
Political Attack Ads Without Transparency
In its efforts to "create, encourage and promote center-right policies based on the principles of freedom, limited government, American exceptionalism, and strong national security," AAN is expected to spend $25 million dollars influencing the 2010 Congressional mid-term elections,[3] particularly on opposing Democrats in Senate races in Wisconsin, New Hampshire, Washington, and Florida.
However, as a 501(c)(4) nonprofit, AAN is not required to disclose its donors, and can legally operate under a veil of secrecy.
Thanks to the U.S. Supreme Court's January 2010 Citizens Uniteddecision, groups like American Action Network can legally advocate for or against political candidates without restrictions on the amount of money they can raise from individuals and corporations. And thanks to the Court's 2007 FEC v. Wisconsin Right to Life decision, "independent" groups organized under 501(c) of the tax code can run "issue-oriented" political ads without disclosing their the individuals and corporations who fund their efforts.
Despite the donors' anonymity, the AAN's board membership may provide some insight into the group's motivations, and provide voters some insight into who is trying to influence them (see the "Leadership" section, below).
Fred Wertheimer of Democracy 21, a nonpartisan campaign-finance-reform group, tells TIME Magazine that "shadow Republican groups formed by longtime party officials and party operatives are raising and spending hundreds of millions of dollars in this election ... most of which is going to come in the form of secret undisclosed contributions."[4]
501(c)(4): Primary Purpose Non-Political, to Advance Social Welfare?"
According to the New York Times, "[t]he rule of thumb . . . is that more than 50 percent of a 501(c)(4)’s activities cannot be political;."[5] however, a 501(c)(4) is permitted to "intervene in political campaigns as long as its primary purpose is the promotion of social welfare." Based on the GOP credentials of AAN's leadership and how the group has spent its money, it is certainly debatable whether the American Action Network's primary purpose is to promote "social welfare," and less than 50% of its activities are focused on campaign efforts, or whether its primary mission is to defeat Democrats and elect Republicans.
The distinctions between 501(c)(4)s, Political Action Committees, 527s, and other political groups are explained in this New York Times graphic.
AAN's Efforts to Avoid Disclosure to the Federal Elections Commission
In addition to not disclosing funders, AAN tries to avoid reporting its spending to the Federal Elections Commission (FEC). According to the Washington Independent, "[T]he American Action Network filed an independent expenditure report with the FEC Aug. 5 indicating that it is spending nearly $435,000 for cable television and radio ads in the New Hampshire campaign for an open U.S. Senate seat. The report listed no donations funding this spending ... The American Action Network has indicated on its website that it also sponsored ad campaigns focused on Senate races in Washington state and Florida; however, it filed no reports with the FEC on its spending in those states. The group indicated in press releases that it considered its efforts in these races to be “issue advocacy” not subject to any FEC reporting rules."[6]
2010 Midterm Election Activities
In the 2010 midterm elections, American Action Network is spending $25 million opposing Democrats in Senate races in Wisconsin, New Hampshire, Washington, and Florida. AAN is also running nearlyidentical ads praising GOP incumbents Dave Reichert of Washington and Pat Tiberi of Ohio, and has also helped Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.
The group has spent over $750,000 in Washington Stateopposing Patty Murray,[7] $900,000 against Paul Hodes in New Hampshire,[8] and $750,000 to target Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold. [8]
Criticism of AAN Attack Ads
Media Matters has repeatedly criticized AAN attack ads, calling them "stripped of the facts," "chock full of falsehoods," "bogus," and "deceptive."
In a commentary article, theNashua Telegraph described AAN as a "pro-fossil fuel group" and reports the group spent$450,000 on TV and radio ads attacking U.S. Representative Paul Hodes for his vote for the American Clean Energy and Security Act. The ads also support Kelly Ayotte, Hodes’ leading opponent to fill Senator Judd Gregg’s Senate seat. The commentary called the ads run by AAN "grossly and dangerously misleading."[9]
AAN's Connection with American Crossroads PAC and Republican Governors Association
In a September 2010 article, TIME Magazine reports that AAN and Karl Rove's American Crossroads (which plans to spend $50 million influencing elections) share an office space, and that the groups are coordinating with right-wing organizations like the Republican Governors Association.[4] According to TIME, [Coordination] can be as simple as picking up the phone and calling a friend. Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour, the current chairman of the RGA, is an adviser to the AAN. The RGA, in turn, is on pace to spend even more than American Crossroads this year — at least $65 million and perhaps far more — in an effort that will be coordinated with Law’s group. A key RGA fundraiser is Fred Malek, a top GOP moneyman who is also on the board of the AAN. (Gillespie has joined Malek on at least one fundraising trip to New York for their respective outfits.) To make things really easy, Gillespie, Malek, Barbour, Law, Coleman and several other Republican fundraisers gather regularly to coordinate strategy. The attendees, who first convened at Karl Rove’s home, even have a nickname for themselves: the Weaver Terrace group, named for the Washington street on which Rove lives."[4]
{{ 4/22 update
2015-2016 Election Cycle
$3 Million Ad Campaign to Support Republicans in 70 Districts
"New Day - Mick Mulvaney"
AAN announced the launch of a $3 million ad campaign supporting House Speaker Paul Ryan and "Freedom Caucus" Republican members of Congress in 70 districts, Politico reported in December 2015. The campaign was set to target "conservative primary voters" and to include digital ads, print ads, and mailings, as well as television ads in 12 districts (see right), and would cover "nearly 30 percent of the House Republican Conference." Politico reported that the campaign was a shift from earlier AAN ads attacking Republicans over Department of Homeland Security Funding.[8]
2015 Attacks on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
"Denied"
During the Republican Presidential Debate on November 10, 2015, AAN aired an ad, titled "Denied", attacking the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The CFPB is the brainchild of U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren. It was enacted in the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Bill. By 2015, the CFPB had already collected $170 million on behalf of consumers from the big banks and other financial firms.
Warren is featured in the AAN attack ad which portrays the CFPB as a Soviet-style, paper-pushing bureaucracy. The real agenda behind the ads is to smear the CFPB as it cracks down on forced corporate arbitration clauses contained in many consumer contracts that are closing off access to justice through class-action lawsuits.[9] A November 2015 front page New York Times expose showed "how corporations across the spectrum of the American economy — phone companies, credit card providers, nursing homes — use mandatory arbitration to circumvent the court system and derail legal claims alleging predatory lending, wage theft, discrimination and other violations."[9] The U.S. Department of Justice is recommending new regulations to rein in forced arbitration, while the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is pushing back.[9]
2012 Election Activities
In the 2012 elections, AAN principally spent in the House races, they also invested heavily in the Senate primary in Indiana, taking out ads against Richard Mourdock.[10] In July 2012, they announced they would devote a minimum of $10 million to establish a legislation-focused ground game in a number of states where there are competitive House races, but state parties with little ability to provide lift.[4] The group considers states where the party is weak but have races key to holding and expanding the Republican hold of the House as "orphan states."[4] In total, the American Action Network spent about $11.6 million influencing house elections in the 2012 election cycle. ^[11]^ The sections below detail the AAN's spending in each race.
Three Stooges Ads In early July, the American Action Network began running ads throughout California and New York, targeting Democratic congressmen in both states for supporting the 2010 affordable care act, sections of which were recently defined as a tax increase by the supreme court. The ads attacked congressmen Bill Owens, Tim Bishop, and Louis Slaughter in New York, and Lois Capps, John Garamendi and Jerry McNerney in California. These ads were ostensibly "issue ads" and their cost was never reported. Both ads feature the congressmen and shots from old "Three Stooges" films....more ads]}}
Leadership
Although the American Action Network is not required to disclose the corporations and individuals who provide its funding, its board includes billionaire Republicans who have bankrolled many GOP campaigns, and who are affiliated with some of the wealthiest corporations in the country. Some of the board members include:
Robert Steel
Robert Steel was Vice Chairman of Goldman Sachs for 30 years, then served with Henry Paulson at the U.S. treasury and mismanaged the financial crisis, then headed to Wachovia, where he used his Treasury connections to negotiate a sweet merger with Wells Fargo, who then accepted $25 Billion in taxpayer-funded TARP dollars. He was called one of "America's Ten Most Corrupt Capitalists" by AlterNet.[10]
- While at Goldman Sachs, Steel co-headed the firm’s equities and trading business with Goldman CEO Lloyd C. Blankfein, who sold securities designed to fail (and will still receive a $100 million bonus this year).
For more information on the role Goldman Sachs has played in the financial disaster, check out our Goldman Sachs entry.
- Steel served as co-chair of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce anti-regulation crusade before being appointed Under Secretary for Domestic Finance under Henry Paulson in George W. Bush's Treasury Department, where he served from 2006-2008. Paulson and Steel had a "Batman-and-Robin-like relationship," according to the Washington Post.[11]
- Steel departed from Treasury just before the Wall Street meltdown, and took the helm at Wachovia. As Wachovia was failing, Steel used his connections at Treasury to negotiate a merger with Wells Fargo, which then was bailed out by taxpayers, taking $25 Billion in TARP funds. Steel served on the board of Wells Fargo until July 2010, when he headed off for a post with the city of New York.
For more information about Robert Steel and his illicit dealings, please see our Robert Steel entry.
Fred Malek
AAN Chair Fred Malek was President Richard Nixon's White House personnel chief during the Watergate scandal, "and helped dispense patronage for major Nixon donors as well as serving as deputy director of CREEP" (the Committee to Re-Elect the President). ^[12]^ CREEP employed money laundering in its political activities, and was directly and actively involved in the Watergate scandal.[13] "Malek is perhaps most famous for his central role in responding to Nixon's request for a count of Jews employed in the Bureau of Labor Statistics."[14]
- Malek engineered Nixon's "Responsiveness Program," which aimed to politicize the executive branch and take advantage of the power of the incumbency to direct federal resources towards ensuring Nixon's re-election.[15] ^[13]^ This included The "Responsiveness Program" was censured by the Senate Watergate Committee. The committee found that the program was aimed at influencing decisions concerning government "grants, contracts, loans, subsidies, procurement and construction projects," decisions regarding "legal and regulatory actions," and even personnel decisions that affected protected "career positions" -- all to advance Nixon's reelection.[16]
- In 1971, the Washington Post reported that Malek had ordered the FBI to conduct an investigation of then-veteran CBS correspondent and Nixon critic Daniel Schorr.[16]
- Malek was known as "the hatchet" in the Nixon administration "because of his alleged ruthlessness in paring the workforce and ousting those deemed disloyal to the Nixon administration."[16]
- "Malek is perhaps most famous for his central role in responding to Nixon's request for a count of Jews employed in the Bureau of Labor Statistics."[17] "Less than two months later, two senior BLS officials who were Jewish were moved out of their jobs to less visible posts. Malek acknowledges carrying out the disgusting hunt for Jews, but he denies having anything to do with the transfers."[16] However, a recently released memo suggests that he may be lying.
- Malek was nominated to govern the U.S. Post Office by Ronald Reagan in 1982, but failed to achieve Senate confirmation not only because of his role in the Responsiveness Program, but also because he made conflicting statements under oath about his role in the program. ^[16]^
- George H.W. Bush appointed Malek to head the Republican National Committee in 1988, but he was forced to resign after Bob Woodward followed up on his Watergate reporting and reminded America about Malek's BLS "jew-count." ^[18]^
- Malek's net worth is reportedly $250 million.
- Malek paid a $100,000 fine to the Securities and Exchange Commission in a case involving a fraudulent pension fund scheme. He was John McCain's National Finance Committee co-chair in the 2008 election. He served as a director of Fannie Mae during the period in which CEO Franklin Raines was forced out by regulators and when Raines left the federal mortgage guarantor with a pension worth over $100,000 a month and over $5 million in stock options. Malek made his initial fortune as CEO of Marriott Hotels and is part of the Carlyle Group. He is also a George W. Bush crony who was part of the syndicate that bought the Texas Rangers, one of Bush's failed businesses. His reputation has been tainted by evidence he carried out some of President Nixon's dirty work in identifying Jewish federal employees, resulting in his resignation as Deputy Chairman of the Republican National Committee, even though he was George H.W. Bush's pick for that post back in 1988.
Kenneth G. Langone
Kenneth Langone is worth $1 billion, is listed as the 347th richest man in the U.S, and is affiliated with a number of corporations that have influenced or interfered with elections.
- Langone co-founded ChoicePoint, a "'data-mining" company that collects personal information it then sells to the government and businesses. Among other scandals, ChoicePoint was embroiled in the 2000 Presidential election debacle in Florida-- a ChoicePointsubsidiary ("DBT Online") provided Florida with a list of felons for the state to drop from the election rolls; however, 8000 of those names (most of whom were African-American and Hispanic, and likely Democratic voters) were not actually felons, and were thus prohibited from exercising their legal right to vote. The names were provided under a $4 million no-bid contract to Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris, who also declared George W. Bush the winner of Florida by 1,784 votes. Bush officially became president after five conservative justices on the U.S. Supreme Court stopped the vote recount-- a couple thousand voters turned away could have been the difference, even without the flawed butterfly ballot that added up for Pat Buchanan.[19] The U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division identified problems with ChoicePoint's methodology in its report on the 2000 elections. ^[20]^
- Langone also co-founded the home-remodeling store Home Depot, which was rewarded by Bush/Cheney for its top employees' big donations to the GOP. Home Depot got a $48 million tax break in the Bush/Cheney energy bill (lifting a tariff on Chinese-made ceiling fans), and George W. Bush used the store as the PR backdrop for a speech about the economy.
C. Boyden Gray
C. Boyden Gray, an heir to the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company fortune, has played a key role in many right-wing groups like Citizens for a Sound Economy, which was founded by the Koch Brothers, and is on the Board of Directors of FreedomWorks, the beltway group behind the Tea Party movement.[21] Gray has helped orchestrate everything from the big business attack on the EPA's regulation of air quality standards to the effort to pack the courts with right-wing ideologues through his attack machine, the "Committee for Justice."[22]
Board
- Fred Malek, Chairman, Network Board, and Chairman, Thayer Capital Partners
- Senator Norm Coleman, CEO, American Action Network and Forum
- Senator George Allen, President, George Allen Strategies, LLC.
- Isaac Applbaum, founding General Partner, Opus Capital
- Maria Cino, Vice President of Government Affairs, Pfizer Inc.
- Dylan Glenn, Senior Vice President, Guggenheim Advisors
- Ambassador Boyden Gray, former U.S. Ambassador to the European Union
- B. Wayne Hughes, Jr., Founder and Senior Vice President of American Commercial Equities Inc.
- Ken Langone, Founder and Chairman, Invemed Associates LLC
- Senator Mel Martinez, Chairman of Florida, Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean, JPMorgan Chase
- Congressman Jim Nussle, President and CEO, The Nussle Group
- Congressman Tom Reynolds, Senior Strategic Policy Advisor, Nixon Peabody
- Ambassador Gregory Slayton, President and CEO, NRX Global
- Congressman Vin Weber, Managing Partner, Clark and Weinstock
Contact
American Action Network
1401 New York Ave., NW
Suite 1200
Washington, DC 20005
References
- ↑ AAN entry at FactCheck.Org, accessed September 17, 2010.
- ↑ Jackie Calmes, "G.O.P Group to Promote Conservative Ideas," The New York Times (February 3, 2010), http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/04/us/politics/04conservative.html
- ↑ ^3.0^ ^3.1^ Dan Eggen, "Interest Groups Prepared to Spend Record Amounts in 2010," Washington Post (June 3, 2010), http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/02/AR2010060204451.html
- ↑ ^4.0^ ^4.1^ ^4.2^ ^4.3^ The New GOP Money Stampede, Michael Crowley, Sept. 16, 2010, TIME Magazine, accessed September 19, 2010.
- ↑ Michael Luo and Stephanie Strom, Anonymous Donors Play Big Role in Midterms, New York Times, Sept. 20, 2010.
- ↑ Jesse Zwick New ‘Independent Expenditure Committees’ Disclose Little to FEC, Washington Independent, August 12, 2010
- ↑ Jonathan Martin, Group Uses "Tennis Shoes" Against Murray", POLITICO, July 13, 2010.
- ↑ ^8.0^ ^8.1^ American Action Network spending, Washington Post "Campaign Cash," accessed October 6, 2010.
- ↑ Jim Rubens, Charlie Niebling Latest anti-Hodes ads are grossly misleading, Guest Commentary, August 29, 2010.
- ↑ America's Ten Most Corrupt Capitalists, Alternet.Org, May 21, 2010, accessed September 20, 2010.
- ↑ In Times of Crisis, Treasury's No. 2 Plays a Pivotal Role, David Cho, Washington Post, Feb. 12, 2008.
- ↑ Return of the Secret Donors, New York Times, Oct. 16, 2010.
- ↑ ^13.0^ ^13.1^ Committee for the Re-Election of the President Collection: Frederic Malek Papers, Nixon Presidential Library and Collection, accessed October 18, 2010.
- ↑ American Action Network: Who's Putting Up the Money?, Talking Points Memo, Feb. 8, 2010.
- ↑ Senate Watergate Report, "The Responsiveness Program" - The Administration's Basic Plan to Employ Federal Resources to Affect the 1972 Presidential Election, 1974.
- ↑ ^16.0^ ^16.1^ ^16.2^ ^16.3^ ^16.4^ Fred Malek, Then and Now, Colbert I. King, Washington Post, Feb. 4, 2006, accessed October 18, 2010.
- ↑ American Action Network: Who's Putting Up the Money?, Talking Points Memo, Feb. 8, 2010.
- ↑ Fred Malek's Anti-Semitic Past Makes Him Unfit to Chair a State Government Panel, Timothy Noah, SLATE, May 21, 2010.
- ↑ Florida's flawed voter-cleansing program, Salon, 4 December 2000, retrieved Sept. 18, 2010.
- ↑ [www.usccr.gov/pubs/vote2000/report/ch5.htm Voting Irregularities in Florida During the 2000 Presidential Election], Civil Rights Commission Report on 2000 Florida Elections.
- ↑ FreedomWorks bio, FreedomWorks.org, accessed September 19, 2010.
- ↑ See, e.g. Charles William Pickering, A Price Too High: The Judiciary In Jeopardy, Stroud & Hall Publishers, 2007.
Retrieved from "http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=American_Action_Network"
Categories: Front groups | Politics (U.S.) | Right wing
http://www.prwatch.org/news**/2010**/09/9407/which-millionaire-fat-cats-are-backing-american-action-networks-ads-attacking-sen-
new right-wing group, "American Action Network," has entered the 2010 election with
attacking SenatorRussell Feingold of Wisconsin.The American Action Network (AAN) was created by right-wing politicians and their funders around the time the Supreme Court issued the Citizens United decision that expanded corporate rights to allow them to spend more money than ever influencing elections. AAN does not disclose its funding sources for the $25 million it plans to spend this fall, but its board is filled with politicians and millionaire businessmen on the right.
The ad is grossly misleading and blames Senator Feingold for the federal deficit, with the tag line "18 years, 9 trillion more in debt." The ad ignores the budget surplus created in the Clinton Administration during Senator Feingold's first terms in the Senate, and the squandering of that surplus through President George W. Bush's economic policies and wars. And then it tries to blame Feingold for the deficit increases through the Wall Street bailout that was led by President Bush and his Treasury Secretary, Henry Paulson, even though Senator Feingold voted consistently, not once but twice, against the Wall Street bailout and voted not once but twice to end the TARP. He also pressed Congress expressly to use the TARP funds to pay down the deficit. (For more information on the true cost of the Wall Street Bailout check out our Wall Street Bailout Cost Table.)
Exposing Those Responsible for the Attack Ads
So who is really behind these grossly misleading attack ads? The AAN does not disclose the names of the companies and individuals bankrolling it, but its board includes big spenders who have bankrolled many GOP campaigns. Some of these fat cats are affiliated with some of the wealthiest corporations in the country, likeGoldman Sachs, Home Depot, and ChoicePoint. This is big money in a race that already pits multi-millionaire Ron Johnson up against one of the least wealthy U.S. Senators, who does not have the deep pockets to finance his own race. Here is just a sample of the multimillionaire businessmen behind the attack ads and some of the companies they are affiliated with:
* Kenneth G. Langone He's worth $1 billion and is listed as the 347th richest man in the U.S. Here are some of the companies he has been affiliated with:
** Home Depot--Langone co-founded this home-remodeling store, one of the nation's largest retailers, whose top employees have given millions to the GOP and which, among other things, got a $48 million tax break in the Bush/Cheney energy bill (lifting a tariff on Chinese-made ceiling fans), and was also rewarded by Bush, who used the store as the PR backdrop for a speech about the economy.
** ChoicePoint--Langone co-founded this "'data-mining" company (mining your data to market to the government and businesses), which among other scandals was embroiled in the 2000 election debacle in Florida under a $4 million no-bid contract to give Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris a list of 8,000 names of people to drop from the election rolls who were supposedly felons, who turned out not to be. You probably recall that Harris declared Bush the winner of Florida by 1,784 votes and five right-wing judges on the Supreme Court stopped the recount, making Bush president--so a couple thousand voters turned away could have been the difference, even without the flawed butterfly ballot that added up for Pat Buchanan. You may not recall how ChoicePoint contributed to the election of Bush through its faulty list. And you might not have known that ChoicePoint executives like Langone and (now deceased) Rik Rozar gave hundreds of thousands to the GOP. (I have testified in favor of Senator Feingold's efforts to protect Americans from unwarranted data-mining by the FBIthrough National Security Letters and I have flagged the FBI's lucrative contracts with ChoicePoint.)
* C. Boyden Gray, heir to the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company fortune. Boyden has played a key role in most of the well-financed right-wing groups like Citizens for a Sound Economy, founded by the Koch Brothers and related to the beltway gang behind the Tea Party, FreedomWorks. Gray has helped orchestrate everything from the big business attack on the EPA's regulation of air quality standards to the effort to pack the courts with right-wing ideologues through his attack machine, the "Committee for Justice." When I worked as a staffer in the Senate, I helped fight Gray's efforts to use smear campaigns to pack the courts; and Gray's group was one of the recipients of files of mine and my colleagues taken by Republican political operatives. If you're disgusted with the Supreme Court decisions of right-wing ideologues like John Roberts and Clarence Thomas, you can thank Gray for helping them secure lifetime jobs as judges.
* Fred Malek, whose net worth is reportedly $250 million and who paid a $100,000 fine to the Securities and Exchange Commission in a case involving a fraudulent pension fund scheme. He was John McCain's National Finance Committee co-chair in the 2008 election. He served as a director of Fannie Mae during the period in which CEO Franklin Raines was forced out by regulators and when Raines left the federal mortgage guarantor with a pension worth over $100,000 a month and over $5 million in stock options. Malek made his initial fortune as CEO of Marriott Hotels and is part of the Carlyle Group. He is also a George W. Bush crony who was part of the syndicate that bought the Texas Rangers, one of Bush's failed businesses. His reputation has been tainted by evidence he carried out some of President Nixon's dirty work in identifying Jewish federal employees, resulting in his resignation as Deputy Chairman of the Republican National Committee, even though he was George H.W. Bush's pick for that post back in 1988.
* Robert Steel, former Vice Chairman of Goldman Sachs and former co-head of the firm's equities and trading business with Lloyd C. Blankfein, Goldman's CEO who sold securities designed to fail (and yet Blankfein is poised to receive up to a $100 million bonus this year). Steel also served as co-chair of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce anti-regulation crusade before being appointed Under Secretary for Domestic Finance under Henry Paulson in George W. Bush's Treasury Department. He bailed out right before the Wall Street meltdown. He then took the helm at Wachovia which was then consumed as it was failing by Wells Fargo, which then took $371.5 million in TARP funds to be bailed out by taxpayers. And then he headed off for a post with the city of New York. (For more information on the role Goldman Sachs has played in the financial disaster, check out our articles on the firm in SourceWatch.)
These are just some of the multimillionaires backing new political attack ads to try to influence the outcome of the mid-term elections. Regardless of how one views Senator Feingold's record in the Senate, it is right to ask questions about who is spearheading attack ads, what their records are and what their real agenda is.
==
Hightower:
2) AMERICAN ACTION NETWORK--$26,088,031. Formed within days of the Citizens Uniteddecision, AAN was a major force in six senate races and 28 house races last year, including the defeat of progressive champion Sen. Russ Feingold. Using undisclosed corporate money, its hall-of-shame campaign tactics were epitomized by a TV ad asserting that"convicted rapists can get Viagra paid for by the new health care bill."
Brand-name corporations would never let their logos be attached to such a false and scurrilous claim, but now they're able to pay AAN to do the dirty work while they escape accountability. The cowards used the "Viagra for rapists" ad against at least four Democrats--two of whom were defeated.
AAN is connected. Its president, Douglas Holtz-Eakin, was a McCain-Palin adviser and chief of staff to new House majority leader Eric Cantor, and its CEO is former Senator Norm Coleman (defeated in 2008 by Al Franken). Board members include such multimillionaires as Robert Steel, a top Goldman Sachs executive who served in George W's Treasury Department. Steel's policies helped cause the Wall Street collapse before he jumped to Wachovia Bank, where he engineered a merger with Wells Fargo, which took a $25 billion bailout from us taxpayers; Fred Malek, former CEO of Marriott Hotels, a longtime GOP fundraiser and functionary--he earned the nickname "the Hatchet" in Nixon's sleazy administration, and was John McCain's finance co-chair in 2008; and Kenneth Langone, who co-founded Home Depot and later founded ChoicePoint, an infamous data- mining corporation that helped Bush-Cheney grab Florida's electoral votes and the presidency in 2000.
http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/12/super-pacs-501-c-groups-chart
This is the first story in an exclusive series about the funding behind politically active nonprofit organizations that do not publicly disclose their donors.
Several nonprofit organizations that don't disclose their donors but have been deeply involved in partisan politics during the last several years have received multimillion-dollar contributions from groups that are familiar players in Republican circles.
The GOP nonprofits -- American Action Network, which spent $26 million on ads in the 2010 mid-term elections; Crossroads :{GPS:(style="background-color:#ffff66;"):}:, which spent $16 million; and the American Future Fund, which laid out $9.6 million -- are all organized under section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code. They and the individuals who run them have strong ties to some of the same political networks, research by OpenSecrets Blog shows.
One of the previously unreported donor groups, according to forms filed by nonprofit groups with the Internal Revenue Service, is the Republican Jewish Coalition, which gave $4 million in 2010 to Crossroads GPS -- perhaps the most well-known of the outside spending groups that were running ads in the 2010 cycle, with ties to GOP strategist Karl Rove.
Crossroads GPS launched several ads critical of President Obama as well as of Missouri Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill just this month. In December, it spent $1.1 million spent on ads eviscerating four Democratic Senate candidates, including McCaskill and two other incumbents. The super PAC American Crossroads -- of which Crossroads GPS is an offshoot with a different corporate form -- has raised more than $23 million in this cycle and has said it plans a major ad barrage against Obama.
RJC gave another $4 million in 2010 to American Action Network, which shares office space in Washington, D.C. with Crossroads GPS.
RJC also shares two board members with American Action: Fred Malek, a former Nixon administration official, and former GOP Sen. Norm Coleman, who is American Action'sboard chairman.
For all the talk about super PACs this election season -- their influence in keeping some candidates afloat, their ability to accept unlimited contributions from almost any source, the handful of millionaires and billionaires who are their primary funders -- they are not at the top of transparency advocates' list of horrors. That's because super PACs have to disclose their donors to the public.
But 501(c)(4) groups can keep their donors hidden from public view, leaving voters in the dark about who is behind them and the millions they spend on advertisements promoting or attacking candidates. While they are supposed to function as social welfare groups, they can get involved in politics as long as they limit their political activity to less than half of their operations. But "social welfare" is loosely defined, and the groups have thus far escaped much scrutiny by the IRS.
The chart below shows 2010 donations to Crossroads GPS, American Action Network and the American Future Fund from RJC and two other groups that reported grants to the 501(c)(4)s in their IRS form 990 filings. Groups have not yet filed returns showing 2011 activity.
| Organization | Crossroads GPS | American Action Network | American Future Fund | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican Jewish Coalition | $4,000,000 | $4,000,000 | $0 | $8,000,000 |
| PhRMA | $0 | $4,500,000 | $300,000 | $4,800,000 |
| American Justice Partnership | $0 | $0 | $2,400,000 | $2,400,000 |
Jim Joseph, a tax partner at the law firm Arnold & Porter, noted that the identities of individuals and corporations who donate to the 501(c)(4) groups such as Crossroads GPS are still a mystery; those donors file tax returns that don't require them to disclose such contributions publicly. However, the forms filed by nonprofits, such as RJC, who give to the groups require them to list the grants.
And the information can be revealing. The board of RJC is loaded with major Republican donors -- figures such as Las Vegas casino owner Sheldon Adelson, who, with his wife, gave $10 million in January to Winning Our Future, the super PAC supporting Newt Gingrich in the race for the GOP presidential nomination. Hedge fund executive Paul Singer gave $1 million to the super PAC that's played a key role in Mitt Romney's bid for the White House, Restore Our Future, while RJC's chairman, David Flaum, has given $100,000 to the same group. Yet another board member Lewis Eisenberg, an adviser to private equity firmKohlberg Kravis Roberts,has donated $25,000 to Restore Our Future. Lobbyist Wayne Berman, who also sits on RJC's board, has bundled $358,000 for Romney's campaign this cycle.
The mission statement of RJC -- which is itself a (c)(4) group and can thus keep its donors' names private -- says that it is "committed to building a strong, effective and respected Jewish Republican voice in Washington and across the country."
RJC itself spent $24,000 attacking Democrat David Weprin in a special election in New York's 9th congressional district last year. The Republican, Bob Turner, won the seat in an upset. Several days ago, it began airing an ad critical of President Obama's Israel policy. Tag line: "Call President Obama. Tell him not to slash funding for Israel's missile defense."
American Action Network also received a $4.5 million grant in 2010 from PhRMA, the brand-name pharmaceutical makers' trade group, IRS forms indicate, and PhRMA gave another $300,000 to the American Future Fund. The latter group continues to be very active, announcing a new anti-Obama ad today that it says it will spend $4 million to air in nine states.
American Future Fund also received a 2010 gift of $2.4 million from the American Justice Partnership,according to the IRS. AJP was established by the National Association of Manufacturers to "battle greedy trial lawyers' scam lawsuits and win legal reform fights in states all across the country," according to its website.
Correction: The table in the original version of this story showed the PhRMA gave $4.5 million to Crossroads GPS. PhRMA gave $4.5 million to American Action Network, not to Crossroads. The text of the story is accurate, and the table has been corrected.
http://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/detail.php?cmte=American+Action+Network&cycle=2010 3/12
JT
Yet, hundreds of these (c)(4)s – mostly right-wing – are flagrantly violating the tax law by operating primarily as political fronts for funneling secret corporate donations into raw, partisan campaigns. How did they get their privileged status as charities? By outright lying to the IRS, then defying the agency to stop them as they dump millions of corrupt dollars into our elections.
For example, American Action Network, a (c)(4) created by Wall Street lobbyists, has spent two-thirds of its revenue on elections, including putting up $745,000 from secret donors to elect Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin. How ironic, then, that Johnson is now one of the tea party mad dogs howling at IRS officials. It’s scandalous, Johnson shrieks, that some tea party groups have not been given (c)(4) status, because IRS agents have had the temerity to question whether the groups actually are charitable enterprises – or just rank political outfits fraudulently posing as charities.
Tea Party groups should not be singled out for IRS scrutiny, but neither should they be allowed to cheat by shamefully masquerading as Little Sisters of the Poor. That’s the real scandal.
"Groups Targeted By I.R.S. Tested Rules on Politics," The New York Times, May 27, 2013.
"Five 501(c)(4) Groups That Might Have Broken the Law," www.thenation.com, May 21, 2013.
"Dubious Dealing of Tea Party Groups Could Have Drawn IRS Scrutiny," www.motherjones.com, May 17, 2013
"Whose Welfare?" The New York Times, June 4, 2012.
American Action Network Launches New Issue Advocacy Campaign in Florida
Urges Floridians to Sign a Petition at www.changingcharlie.com Asking Gov. Charlie Crist to Oppose the Obama Agenda and Job Killing Taxes
WASHINGTON, D.C.-- The American Action Network started a new television and internet issue advocacy campaign today with an ad today called “Tattoo.” The ad highlights Governor Charlie Crist’s flip-flopping on important policies that directly affect Florida’s families and small businesses. The ad encourages Floridians to sign a petition urging Gov. Crist to commit to the policies and take the actions as Governor that will create jobs in a state that suffers from 11.7% unemployment.
“The Network’s education effort is a call to action for the citizens of Florida that smaller government, lower taxes and jobs creation are the key to a stronger America. Floridians have the power and ability to take back control of their government and the policies that are negatively impacting their everyday life—they just need to get involved,” said Norm Coleman, CEO of the American Action Network.
“We are asking for the citizens of Florida to sign a petition asking Governor Charlie Crist to stand up to the Obama agenda and stop supporting job killing taxes,” said Rob Collins, President of the American Action Network. “During these challenging times policymakers must resolutely stand by the time tested center-right principles of lower taxes, smaller government and real job creation.”
View the ad here: http://www.changingcharlie.com
...
- After
Charlie Crist then broke his pledge not to raise taxes:
“The $65 billion-plus fiscal year FY2010 budget Crist signed requires a $1 per pack cigarette tax increase estimated to cost the taxpayers of Florida $2 billion over the next two years. In addition to the tobacco tax increase, the budget requires an estimated $800 million in ‘fee’ increases, many of which are actually mislabeled tax increases. Because of this, in signing the bill, Gov. Crist broke the Pledge he made during his gubernatorial campaign to ‘oppose and veto any and all tax increases.’ (Americans For Tax Reform Press Release, May 27, 2009; http://www.atr.org/taxpayers-disappointed-crist-pledge-violation-a3319)
“The budget relies on a $1 per pack increase in the cigarette tax and a $900 million infusion of new cash from expanding gambling at the Seminole casinos and parimutuels across the state.
[Crist] said that he doesn't consider the cigarette tax a broad-based tax. ‘I view it more of a health issue than a tax issue,’ he said. ‘Ronald Reagan used to say if you want to kill smoking. Tax it. Maybe it wouldn't be bad if we killed smoking and saved a lot of lives.’” (Miami Herald Blog, “Naked Politics,” May 27, 2009, By Mary Ellen Klas;
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/nakedpolitics/2009/05/crist-signs-budget-...)
Crist Support of an Energy Tax
Gov. Crist Signs Legislation for Florida’s Cap-and-Trade Program:
“On June 25, 2008, Governor Charlie Crist signed into law House Bill 7135, enacting several new energy and climate change policies. The policies include the Florida Climate Protection Act, which authorizes the Department of Environmental Protection to develop an electric-utility greenhouse gas (GHG) cap-and-trade program.” (Pew Center on Global Climate Change, “Florida Utility-Sector Greenhouse Gas Cap-and-Trade Program,” http://www.pewclimate.org/node/6020)
“Governor Charlie Crist today announced that California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger will provide a keynote address tomorrow during the 2008 Serve to Preserve Florida Summit on Global Climate Change, June 25-26, 2008, in Miami. Governor Crist kicked off the summit with a keynote address during breakfast entitled ‘Green Technology Drives Green Economies.’ Following his remarks, Governor Crist signed House Bill 7135, the most comprehensive energy and economic development legislation in Florida’s history.” (Governor Charlie Crist Press Release, June 25, 2008, “GOVERNOR CRIST ANNOUNCES CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER AS KEYNOTE SPEAKER AT SERVE TO PRESERVE SUMMIT,”http://www.flgov.com/release/10074)
President Obama’s Cap-and-Trade Program Raises Energy Taxes:
“The Obama administration has privately concluded that a cap and trade law would cost American taxpayers up to $200 billion a year, the equivalent of hiking personal income taxes by about 15 percent.
“A previously unreleased analysis prepared by the U.S. Department of Treasury says the total in new taxes would be between $100 billion to $200 billion a year. At the upper end of the administration's estimate, the cost per American household would be an extra $1,761 a year.”
… “The document written by [Treasury Department’s Judson] Jaffee includes this line: ‘It will raise energy prices and impose annual costs on the order of XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX.’ The Treasury Department redacted the rest of the sentence with a thick black line.” (CBSNews.com, September 15, 2009, “Obama Admin: Cap And Trade Could Cost Families $1,761 A Year,” By Declan McCullagh;http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504383_162-5314040-504383.html)
Gov Crist Supported the Stimulus Bill Then Denied He Ever Did
- Crist Supports Stimulus Bill:
“‘We know that it's important that we pass a stimulus package,’ Florida's popular Republican governor said amid "Yes, we can!" cheers as he introduced the Democratic president.” (St. Petersburg Times, February 11, 2009, “Crist, Obama Join to Promote Stimulus,” by Adam C. Smith;http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/state/article974949.ece)
"It's going to help [Floridians'] children. It's going to help their traffic situation. It's going to help produce more jobs here in the Sunshine State. That's a perspective that I have to have as, in essence, the CEO of Florida. And that's why I support it." (MSNBC, February 3, 2010, “Hardball with Chris Matthews”)
“Dear Mr. President, We are writing to express our support for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), which passed last week int eh House and is under consideration currently in the Senate.” (Letter to President Obama, February 3, 2010;http://flarecovery.com/_resources/browse/file/2.3.2009_Potus_Fed_Stimulu...)
- Crist Denies He Supported Stimulus Bill:
WOLF BLITZER: “ Do you have any regrets about endorsing the economic stimulus package?”
CRIST: “Well, I didn’t endorse it. I — you know, I didn’t even have a vote on the darned thing.” (CNN, November 4, 2009, “Situation Room,” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkPwJeGEI68)
Watchdog Group Says Crist “Appears to be Trying to Rewrite History”
“Facing a primary challenge from the conservative wing of the Republican Party, Crist appears to be trying to rewrite history. But there are mountains of evidence that he not only supported the stimulus, he sang its praises.” (Politifact.com, November 5, 2009, “Charlie Crist says he didn't endorse stimulus bill,” By Aaron Sharockman; http://www.politifact.com/florida/statements/2009/nov/05/charlie-crist/c...)
Ballooned the deficit as a result of the stimulus bill
“On Friday, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) said this year’s budget deficit is now nearly $1.7 trillion, more than $400 billion larger than it forecast two months ago. Next year’s deficit will be nearly $1.1 trillion, $430 billion more than its prior forecast. And that doesn't count President Obama’s budget plans to cut taxes and increase spending.
“Although the deepening recession is partly to blame for the increase, the nonpartisan CBO says the increases are largely due to the sharp rise in spending (think fiscal stimulus package) and the higher cost of saving the financial system.” (Christian Science Monitor, March 20, 2009, “CBO: US deficit ballooning to record $1.7 trillion,” By Ron Scherer; http://www.csmonitor.com/Money/2009/0320/cbo-us-deficit-ballooning-to-re...)
The American Action Network is a 501(c)(4) ‘action tank’ that will create, encourage and promote center-right policies based on the principles of freedom, limited government, American exceptionalism, and strong national security.
For more information, please visit our Web site http://www.americanactionnetwork.org