Coalition to Protect Patient Rights

<p>===

romney and BO both backed Clean Coal?</p>

<p>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>DCI Group's<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><span style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Andrea Saul</span></b></font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">However, a slap from the Senate did not stop DCI Group from continuing to specialize in anti-climate science messaging. DCI Group continues to hire and train professional climate change deniers. One such DCI Group alumnus, Andrea Saul, became candidate Mitt Romney’s press secretary during the 2012 presidential election, and helped push Romney’s anti-climate science positions. While at DCI, she wrote and distributed pres releases attacking legitimate climate science. Another DCI Group alumnus, Bob Paduchik, is now a Vice President of the coal front group called Americans for Clean Coal Electricity (ACCCE).</font>

==</p>

<div class="row clearfix" style=" list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; overflow: visible; width: 230px;"><a itemprop="author" href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-blumenthal" class="float_left arial_14 bold color_222222 line_height_normal" rel="author" style=" list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-decoration: none; overflow: visible; outline: 0px; line-height: normal; font-size: 14px; font-family: Arial; float: left; color: rgb(34, 34, 34) !important; font-weight: bold !important;">Paul Blumenthal</a></div>

<p style=" list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; overflow: visible;"><a href="mailto:paulblumenthal@huffingtonpost.com" style=" list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-decoration: none; overflow: visible; color: rgb(76, 76, 76); outline: 0px;">paulblumenthal@huffingtonpost.com</a></p>

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<h1 class="title-news" style=" list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 20px 0px 0px; border: 0px; overflow: visible; color: rgb(17, 17, 17); line-height: 36px; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif;"><font size="4">'Dark Money' Group In Arizona Discloses Donors As Other 'Dark Money' Groups</font></h1>

<p style=" list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; overflow: visible; color: rgb(153, 153, 153); text-indent: 1.5em; font-size: 11px; text-align: justify;"><span class="posted-and-updated" style=" list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; overflow: visible; font-size: 12px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0) !important; text-indent: 0px !important;">Posted: <span itemprop="datePublished" style=" list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; overflow: visible;">11/05/2012 1:48 pm EST</span> Updated: <span itemprop="dateModified" style=" list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; overflow: visible;">11/05/2012 3:04 pm EST</span></span></p>

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<p style=" list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; overflow: visible; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); text-indent: 1.5em; font-size: 15px; text-align: justify; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; line-height: 21px;">WASHINGTON -- A "dark money" non-profit that funneled $11 million into two ballot initiative fights in California revealed to the state's campaign finance oversight board that it had received the money after the funds passed through the hands of two other "<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/02/dark-money-2012-election-400-million_n_2065689.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular" target="_hplink" style=" list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; overflow: visible; outline: 0px; color: rgb(0, 136, 195) !important; text-indent: 0px !important;">dark money</a>" groups.

California's Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) revealed that the Arizona-based Americans for Responsible Leadership <a href="http://www.fppc.ca.gov/press_release.php?pr_id=766" target="_hplink" style=" list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; overflow: visible; outline: 0px; color: rgb(0, 136, 195) !important; text-indent: 0px !important;">received the $11 million from the Center to Protect Patients' Rights</a>, which originally received the money from the non-profit Americans for Job Security.

A press release from the FPPC called the scheme, "the largest contribution ever disclosed as campaign money laundering in California history."

"In California, money laundering is a crime," FPPC chair Ann Ravel told The Huffington Post. "It's a misdemeanor and so it can be charged this way."

"Dark money" groups are organized as either social welfare nonprofits under section 501(c)(4) of the tax code. Since these groups qualify for tax-exempt status, they are also exempt from disclosing their donors, which political committees are required to do.

Ravel explained that the attorney general's office would be responsible for bringing criminal charges, or that civil charges could be brought, resulting in a fine of equal value or in excess of the amount laundered, in this case $11 million.

"We're definitely going to pierce through [these non-profits] and find out what we can and take appropriate actions," Ravel said.

California Attorney General Kamala Harris, who would be responsible for starting any criminal inquiry, said previously, "This case is simply about protecting the transparency and integrity of elections in California."

The Center to Protect Patients' Rights is a well-known pass-through for "dark money" in elections with connections to the billionaire Koch brothers. A<a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2012/05/cppr.html" target="_hplink" style=" list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; overflow: visible; outline: 0px; color: rgb(0, 136, 195) !important; text-indent: 0px !important;">report by the Center for Responsive Politics</a> found that the group, "gave more than $44 million in 2010 to other tax-exempt groups, many of which spent millions on TV ads attacking Democrats running for the House and Senate and have begun spending for the same purpose this year."

<b><font color="#ff0000">Americans for Job Security</font></b><font color="#333333"> is a corporate-backed "issues advocacy" group that has been running political advertisements since it was founded in 1997. The group reportedly was founded by a $1 million contribution from the American Insurance Association. In 2007, the Federal Election Commission (FEC) found that AJS had </font><a href="http://eqs.sdrdc.com/eqsdocsMUR/10044273664.pdf" target="hplink" style=" color: rgb(0, 136, 195) !important; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; overflow: visible; outline: 0px; text-indent: 0px !important;">violated campaign finance laws</a><font color="#333333"> by not registering as a political committee, which would require it to disclose its donors, but Republican commissioners </font><a href="http://www.factcheck.org/2010/08/americans-for-job-security/" target="hplink" style=" color: rgb(0, 136, 195) !important; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; overflow: visible; outline: 0px; text-indent: 0px !important;">forced a deadlock vote</a><font color="#333333"> on enforcement of the violation.</font>

AJS has ties to Karl Rove and was founded by Republican power players Mike Dubke and Dave Carney. The pair now run Crossroads Media, which handles the advertising operations for Rove’s American Crossroads, the biggest gun in the massive campaign arsenal that Rove assembled in 2010. Americans for Job Security, meanwhile, is currently led by a young operative named Stephen DeMaura, who physically works out of Crossroads Media's Alexandria office.

In a lawsuit against the FEC, Rep. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland names AJS as a major recipient of undisclosed corporate cash.

But that’s about as much as anyone knows about AJS. “We don’t have clients. We have members,” said AJS head DeMaura. “Like all organizations of our type, we’re not required to disclose or discuss our members.”

The contributions into California were intended to influence two top priorities of conservative activists both inside and outside the state. Americans for Responsible Leadership passed the contributions it received to a campaign to defeat Proposition 30, which would raise taxes, and to support Proposition 32, which would ban unions from making payroll deductions for political contributions.

California's Supreme Court took the unprecedented step of forcing Americans for Responsible Leadership to disclose its donor list in a 7-0 vote on Sunday.

Aside from sending $11 million to California for the ballot initiatives campaigns, Americans for Responsible Leadership has also <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/recips.php?cmte=Americans+for+Responsible+Leadership&cycle=2012" target="_hplink" style=" list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; overflow: visible; outline: 0px; color: rgb(0, 136, 195) !important; text-indent: 0px !important;">spent $2.5 million on federal election races</a>. Almost all of that was spent on phone calls targeting President Barack Obama.

Another "dark money" group, Western Tradition Partnership, was <a href="http://www.propublica.org/article/dark-money-groups-donors-revealed" target="_hplink" style=" list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; overflow: visible; outline: 0px; color: rgb(0, 136, 195) !important; text-indent: 0px !important;">forced to disclose its donors</a> by a court in Montana. That disclosure was forced after a joint ProPublica/Frontline report showed that the group may have lied to both Montana courts and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in its application for tax-exempt status.</p>

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<div>mysterious conservative group that funded many politically active nonprofits in 2010 gave away nearly $15 million in 2011 to a range of groups that spent heavily airing ads in the most recent election cycle, documents obtained by the Center for Responsive Politics show.

The filings indicate that the<b> <span style=" color: #ED1C24;">Center </span>to Protect Patient Rights, the head of which has links to David and Charles Koch</b>, brought in $25.3 million in contributions last year, and spent $23.2 million.

That includes $14.8 million in grants it gave to 19 groups, according to CPPR's IRS Form 990 tax return. The group gave out more than <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2012/05/cppr.html">$44 million</a> in grants in 2010, as the Center for Responsive Politics was the first to report earlier this year. The decline is likely due to the fact that 2011 was not an election year.

Among the grantees was the <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/detail.php?cmte=American+Future+Fund">American Future Fund</a>, which received $1.1 million from CPPR in 2011 after getting $1.3 million in 2009 and $11.7 million in 2010.

AFF's outside expenditures in the 2012 election totaled more than $25 million, with more than $11 million going to support Mitt Romney in his presidential bid, or to defeat President Barack Obama.

Besides AFF, five other conservative groups received grants of more than $1 million from CPPR last year: <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/detail.php?cmte=Concerned+Women+for+American+Legislative+Action">Concerned Women for America</a>, <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/detail.php?cmte=60+Plus+Assn">60 Plus Association</a>, Free Enterprise America, <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/detail.php?cmte=American+Commitment">American Commitment</a>, and the <b>Coalition</b> to Protect Patient Rights.

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<div id="more" class="asset-more">All but one of CPPR's recipient groups are 501(c)(4) organizations under the tax code. Such groups are defined as "social welfare" organizations and aren't supposed to be primarily political. Many, however, laid out millions in the 2012 election cycle for various types of outside spending, freed to do so in part by the Supreme Court's 2010 <i>Citizens United</i> decision.

The fact that the organizations don't have to disclose the names of their donors made them attractive repositories for contributions from individuals and corporations wanting to have an impact on the elections without having their roles known.

Among other groups given grants by CPPR,<b> Free Enterprise America, which received the largest amount at $3.6 million, is also the most mysterious recipient. It doesn't appear to have a website, and little is known about it. Its address in Phoenix, however, is the same as that of DC London, a political consulting firm.

</b>

And another group, American Commitment, received a grant of $1.6 million from CPPR and paid out nearly $1.9 million in outside spending in 2012, much of it to <b>support Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) in his bid for an open Senate seat. </b>Flake prevailed, getting about 50 percent of the vote. American Commitment's address in Washington is shared with a consulting firm called DC London.

DC London is run by Sean Noble, who happens to be on American Commitment's board -- and is also the president and executive director of CPPR. In fact, DC London and another Noble consulting firm, Noble & Associates, were paid a total of $3.1 million by CPPR in 2011, far outstripping the $340,000 that Noble & Associates was paid by the group in 2010. (DC London received no payments from CPPR in 2010.)

Noble is tied to the Koch brothers. He spoke at a 2010 meeting of wealthy conservatives that they sponsored, making a presentation with the head of <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/detail.php?cmte=Americans+for+Prosperity">Americans for Prosperity</a>, a group co-founded by David Koch to which CPPR has also given money. A former policy strategist for AFP now heads CPPR grantee American Commitment.

The <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/recips.php?cmte=C90011685&cycle=2012">60 Plus Association</a>, which bills itself as a "conservative alternative" to the American Association of Retired Persons, received $2.4 million from CPPR in 2011. The group spent $4.4 million in the current election cycle. More than half of that, $2.7 million, went to support Romney.

60 Plus also received $2.6 million from CPPR in 2009, and $9 million in 2010.

Concerned Women for America Legislative Action Committee, which received nearly $1.5 million from CPPR, spent $405,000 in the 2012 cycle at the federal level, split precisely in two -- <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/recips.php?cmte=C90013962&cycle=2012">half to support</a> Mia Love, a Republican, for a Utah House seat, and half to oppose Jim Matheson, the incumbent Democrat seeking re-election to the same seat. Matheson won.

CPPR gave Concerned Women for America a small grant of $4,500 in 2010.

The similarly-named <i>Coalition</i> to Protect Patients Rights, which received nearly $1.6 million from CPPR (as well as $1.9 million in 2009 and $205,000 in 2010), opposed overhaul of the health care system. Its web page <a target="blank" href="http://www.protectpatientsrights.org/">currently says</a> that it has "ended its work." According to its most recent Form 990, obtained by OpenSecrets Blog, the Coalition paid Mentzer Media $1.4 million in 2011 for "media strategy and ad buy." That expenditure along accounted for nearly all of the Coaltion's spending in 2011, and all of the money it received from CPPR. Though it has never reported any spending on federal candidates to the Federal Election Commission, the Coalition was listed as one of the groups mounting an attack against Ohio<b> Democratic Senate candidate </b><a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/races/summary.php?id=OHS1&cycle=2012"><b>Sherrod Brown</b></a><b>, </b>according to the <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/09/sherrod-brown-crossroads-gps-1-million-ad-campaign_n_1660470.html" target="blank">Huffington Post</a>; Brown won his race. 

Two other groups that received money from CPPR in 2011 drew attention this year when the California Fair Political Practices Commission accused one of them of "money laundering" because it passed money through the other two. An organization that was working for one California ballot initiative and against another accepted $11 million from something called Americans for Responsible Leadership, which was forced by state regulators and the courts to reveal that the money actually came from another group, <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/detail.php?cmte=Americans+for+Job+Security">Americans for Job Security</a>, which passed it through CPPR on its way to its final destination.

Americans for Responsible Leadership received $902,000 from CPPR in 2011; Americans for Job Security got $17,000 -- though it received $4.8 million in 2010. AJS spent $15.9 million on independent expenditures in the recent election.

Nine people or entities made CPPR's spending possible, giving the group contributions that ranged from $15,000 up. The largest contribution was a whopping $14.3 million; CPPR received two other donations that were in the millions.

Americans for Prosperity's 2011 grant came to $129,000; it had been given $4.1 million in 2009 and 2010 combined. AFP racked up one of the biggest outside spending totals in the 2012 cycle -- about $39 million.

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<div><i>-- Robert Maguire contributed to this story. </i></div>

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<h4 class="entry-categories-header">Categories<span class="delimiter">:</span></h4>

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<a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2012/12/nonprofit-funneled-money-to-kochs-voter-database-effort-other-conservative-groups.html?utm_source=CRP+Mail+List&utm_campaign=ad4bb1ae38-Newsletter_12_21_2012&utm_medium=email">http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2012/12/nonprofit-funneled-money-to-kochs-voter-database-effort-other-conservative-groups.html?utm_source=CRP+Mail+List&utm_campaign=ad4bb1ae38-Newsletter_12_21_2012&utm_medium=email</a></p>

Themis was a daughter of Heaven and Earth, the goddess of divine law and order in Greek mythology.

More prosaically, <b>Themis is also the name of a voter database project spearheaded by David and Charles Koch</b>, the conservative billionaires of <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/summary.php?id=D000000186">Koch Industries</a>, early in the 2010 midterm election cycle. The idea was to reach GOP and libertarian voters more systematically and efficiently, to catch up with the voter <b>microtargeting</b> strategies Democrats had been developing over several years.

And even more matter-of-fact are the names of some of the entities that have funded the conservative endeavor -- a collection of organizations that would be at home in a bowl of alphabet soup. Their existence has not been reported previously. 

The heart of this network is TC4, a 501(c)(4) tax-exempt organization founded in 2009. According to its first tax filing, covering the period Aug. 28, 2009 through June 30, 2010, TC4 -- which had one trustee and a single key employee -- made a grant of $2.5 million to Themis Trust.

That wasn't all. TC4 sent Themis more contributions, though they were disguised. In its most recent IRS Form 990 tax return, which covers the 12 months ending midway through 2011, TC4 lists a grant of $2.5 million to something called STN LLC and one of $1.8 million to DAS MGR LLC. Both are affiliates -- or in the formal jargon of tax law, "disregarded entities" -- of Themis.

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<div>But it appears that TC4 wasn't just about funneling money to the Themis project. Over the less than two years covered by tax forms filed by TC4, the organization gave large grants to other conservative 501(c)(4) groups that worked to help Republicans in the 2010 and 2012 elections, including the <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/detail.php?cmte=60+Plus+Assn">60 Plus Association</a>, <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/lookup2.php?strID=C00375865&cycle=2012">Concerned Women for America</a>, <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/summary.php?id=D000024789">Citizens Against Government Waste</a> and <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/detail.php?cmte=American+Commitment">American Commitment</a>.</div>

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Other groups that received millions of dollars are parts of better-known groups, but legally distinguished from them. And still other organizations have proven ciphers thus far. In total, according to IRS forms filed thus far by the group, TC4 has given away more than $36.5 million.

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<div>The existence of TC4 and its role in sending funds to other, politically active nonprofits has been hidden until now in part because 501(c)(4) groups -- which all of the recipients of TC4's grants are -- are not required to disclose the names of their donors, a fact that OpenSecrets Blog has covered extensively in its <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/news/reports/moneytrail.php" style=" text-decoration: underline;">Shadow Money Trail</a> series. Nonprofits must list only those to whom they <i>give</i> grants, making it hard to connect the dots when the starting point is the recipient organization.</div>

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<div>Nondisclosing groups -- those that don't identify their donors, almost all of them 501(c)(4)s -- played a huge role in the 2012 elections, accounting for <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/summ.php?cycle=2012&chrt=V&disp=O&type=U" style=" text-decoration: underline;">more than $311 million</a> in outside spending that was reported to the Federal Election Commission. (More was spent that fell outside reporting requirements.)</div>

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<div>The groups aren't supposed to be primarily involved in politics. But so many of them have been so active on this front since the Supreme Court's 2010 <i>Citizens United</i> decision that the IRS should be conducting audits, said Marcus Owens, a Washington tax lawyer who formerly headed the Exempt Organizations division of the federal agency. </div>

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<div>Many of the groups, in his view, "most certainly would merit investigation," Owens said -- including TC4.</div>

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<div><b><font class="Apple-style-span" style=" font-size: 1.25em;">Bare-bones info</font></b></div>

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<div>Exactly what part TC4 may have played in funding groups between mid-2011 and this year's election is currently unknown, because the IRS doesn't require nonprofits to file their 990s until many months after the end of their fiscal years. TC4's return showing any grants it gave in late 2011 and early 2012 won't be available until the spring of 2013. And documents showing its activity running up to Nov. 6 will remain out of public view until the following spring, 2014.  </div>

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In many ways, TC4 appears to function like the <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2012/05/cppr.html">Center to Protect Patient Rights</a> (CPPR) -- another large tax-exempt group that has few programs of its own and practically no staff, but through which millions of dollars flow to conservative, politically active nonprofits.

In its <a target="_blank" href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/494933-tc4-2010.html">first tax form</a>, covering the period Aug. 28, 2009 until June 30, 2010, TC4 listed just two individuals as working for the group: Michael Hartz, a Chicago lawyer who is TC4's unpaid trustee, and Gretchen Hamel, who is identified as the "Program Leader" and was paid about $52,000. TC4's stated purpose was, "[g]rant making, research, analyze, report on, make publicly available matters useful and beneficial to the community, which focus on the advancement of free markets, liberty and individual freedoms."

By the time of TC4's second, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/494931-tc4-2011.html">most recent filing</a>, covering the 12 months ending June 30, 2011, Hartz's name is the only one listed (other than that of a tax preparer). 

Despite the Chicago connection, and its Indianapolis accountant, the address given for TC4 on tax forms is that of a UPS mailbox in Alexandria, Va. <i>OpenSecrets Blog</i> left repeated messages for Hartz, but he did not return the calls.

<div>

</div>

TC4 reported about $46 million in revenue in its first two years, mostly in year one. The funds that came almost entirely from investment income, rather than from contributions and grants as was the case with CPPR. Most of its grant-making came in the second year, when it used money it had banked to provide funds to 13 organizations, a big increase from the previous year when it made only two grants. During the two years, nearly $37 million went out the door in grants. In fact, in its second 990, the group told the IRS that "during the current fiscal year, TC4 ceased all non-grant making programs and focused solely on the grant making activities centered around the same initiatives."

In spite of the technical differences in their funding streams, though, TC4 and CPPR together gave grants to some of the same politically active nonprofits -- five of them received a total of $33.1 million from the two major donor groups, according to 990s the pair have filed.

<div>

</div>

<div>Concerned Women for America, 60 Plus Association and American Commitment are all easily recognizable conservative groups. That's not true of another organization that received $892,000 from TC4. Incorporated in Delaware in 2010, PRDIST LLC is actually a subsidiary -- or another "disregarded entity" -- of Americans for Prosperity, the 501(c)(4) co-founded by David Koch. AFP let loose more than $35 million in outside spending in the 2012 election, nearly all of which was used to attack President Barack Obama.

And another multimillion-dollar grantee of both TCR and CPPR also has a complicated structure. POFN LLC, another Delaware corporation formed close to the same time as PRDIST LLC, received more than $8 million from the groups. It turns out to be a subsidiary of a nonprofit called SGC4 Trust, of which Gretchen Hamel -- the only employee TC4 has yet listed on its tax forms -- is the sole trustee.

<a target="blank" href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/494934-sg-c4-trust.html">SGC4 Trust</a>, according to tax documents, does business under the name <a target="blank" href="http://thepublicnotice.org/">Public Notice</a> -- a group of which Hamel is the executive director. A project of Public Notice is called <a target="_blank" href="http://www.bankruptingamerica.org/">Bankrupting America</a>, which highlights government spending and regulation as the cause of the nation's fiscal woes.

Hamel did not respond to multiple messages left by <i>OpenSecrets Blog</i>.

Below is a table showing organizations that received money from both CPPR and TC4 Trust from 2009 until the end of 2010 (in TC4's case, mid-2011). The total comes to more than $41 million.

<a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/news/assets_c/2012/12/cppr.tc4-10214.html" onclick="window.open('http://www.opensecrets.org/news/assets_c/2012/12/cppr.tc4-10214.html','popup','width=449,height=134,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0'); return false"><img src="/2a93b904-9661-5bf7-8513-8682298a5036.jpg"/></a>TC4's grantees in its second year, in addition to the groups already named, were Eleventh Edition LLC; Freedom Club; the Center for Shared Services; TRGN LLC; and Generation Opportunity. Little or no public information exists for some of those organizations. </div>

<div>

</div>

<div>In its first year, other than Themis, TC4 gave money to just one other organization -- an LLC that, like many of its other grantees, has a name that is a jumble of letters. However, the name is smudged on the scanned copy of the 990 that <i>OpenSecrets Blog</i> has seen, though there are indications it may be connected to American Commitment.</div>

<div>

</div>

<div><b><font class="Apple-style-span" style=" font-size: 1.25em;">Disregarded, but not forgotten</font></b>

"Disregarded entities" could be considered something like subsidiaries or affiliates of their parent organizations. They are not required to file separate federal tax returns. But in other ways they are treated as legally separate from the parent, and are sometimes used to protect the parent company from liability. </div>

<div>

</div>

<div>And, perhaps more importantly in this case, disregarded entities can give grants under their own names to other groups, and the recipients need only list those disregarded entities -- not their parent organizations -- as donors. </div>

<div>

</div>

<div>That helps provide an additional layer of anonymity to any person or organization concerned, for whatever reason, about being identified as a donor.</div>

<div>

</div>

<div>The usefulness of these layers of cloaks to those fighting disclosure was apparent recently when the California Fair Political Practices Commission ordered an Arizona 501(c)(4) group, Americans for Responsible Leadership, to name its donors. Under court order, it did so, but little was unmasked. The group got its money from CPPR, which had received it from Americans for Job Security; both are also 501(c) organizations, and whoever or whatever was the original source of the funds remained hidden. The frustrated state agency called it a plain case of "money laundering."

<b><font class="Apple-style-span" style=" font-size: 1.25em;">The Koch connections</font></b>

Links between many of the grantor and grantee groups and the Kochs are numerous and multilayered. For instance, Hamel, who ran TC4 in its first year and then became head of Public Notice, which received money from both of the larger groups, was a presenter at the 2010 edition of the brothers' annual gathering of conservative donors and groups.

Also at that meeting with Hamel -- a former Bush administration spokeswoman and frequent guest on Fox News -- were Sean Noble and Heather Higgins, two of the original board members of CPPR. Yet another of the original CPPR board members, Eric Novack, was a senior fellow at the Kochs' Americans for Prosperity.

American Commitment, which also received money from the two large donor groups, was originally headed by CPPR president Noble. Later, Phil Kerpen took over; Kerpen is on the board of Koch-funded Americans for Prosperity, which also was sent checks from the two major groups. The 60 Plus Association, the largest recipient of funds from TC4 and CPPR together and a big outside spender in 2010 ($7.1 million) and 2012 (4.4 million), is frequently reported to be on the receiving end of Koch money.  

As for Themis, its 2010 revenue was $7.7 million, tax documents show. The three grants from TC4 total $6.8 million, almost all of its income. According to <a target="blank" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/nov/07/koch-brothers-database-2012-election"><i>The Guardian</i></a> newspaper, the Kochs set up Themis "with $2.5m of their seed money," which could correspond with TC4's first, $2.5 million grant to Themis. The organization's data work played a role in helping Wisconsin's Republican Gov. Scott Walker beat back a recall attempt earlier this year, <a target="blank" href="http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0612/77453_Page2.html"><i>Politico</i> </a>reported, noting that Koch strategists discussed investing as much as $20 million in Themis. Its unknown whether the additional funds materialized, in part because the 990s that might provide clues have not been filed yet.

Themis' tax documents list a Paul W. Brooks as the sole trustee, which is the same name as that of a former Koch Industries senior vice president. Messages left for him were not returned. The group's chief operating officer, Ben Pratt, is a former Koch Industries executive, as well.

</div>

<div>

Groups that are granted 501(c)(4) tax status by the IRS are supposed to be focused on "social welfare" causes; politics can't take up more than half their resources, as the rules have been interpreted over the years. Perhaps to reassure regulators that it is hewing to the law, TC4's most recent 990 contains a statement that reads, "Each grant recipient is required to sign a grant agreement, which among other things...provides that the grant funds shall not be used for political activity."

But tax attorney Owens is skeptical that the statement is a lock against all such activity by grantees. "My reaction is that we're not able to see the actual grant agreements. We don't know whether they require the recipients to report back" how they used the money, "or what the agreements provide if there is a violation of the terms. And we don't know how they define 'political.'"</div>

<div>

And the language may not keep organizations from using money received from TC4 to give to still other politically active nonprofits, for instance -- which groups like Karl Rove's Crossroads GPS <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2012/04/for-friends-crossroads-helps-with-t.html">don't appear to consider</a> political spending.

There are still a number of mysteries about where how all the money in the TC4 and CPPR networks moves around, and at whose behest. </div>

<div>

</div>

<div>But if it's not already perfectly clear that all the secrecy is no accident, a Salvador Dali quote on the <a target="_blank" href="https://ben-pratt.squarespace.com/blog/2012/12/15/its-not-guns-you-should-be-afraid-of">personal blog</a> of Themis COO and former Koch Industries executive Ben Pratt sums it up nicely: "The secret of my influence has always been that it has remained a secret."

<i><font style=" font-size: 0.8em;">Images: David Koch via <a target="blank" href="http://www.hrc.org/blog/entry/david-koch-supports-marriage-equality">hrc.org</a>; Gretchen Hamel via <a target="blank" href="http://www.bankruptingamerica.org/bios/gretchen-hamel/">bankruptingamerica.org</a>; Sean Noble via <a target="blank" href="http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=2572066&authType=NAME_SEARCH&authToken=4Ng&locale=en_US&srchid=0c386d04-4ffc-4a82-a1b1-9f4f79f45afc-0&srchindex=3&srchtotal=305&goback=.fps_PBCK_sean+noble11111121_Y111_false_1_R151151_true222222222222222222222&pvs=ps&trk=pp_profile_photo_link">Linkedin.com</a>.</font></i>

</div>

<p>

<b>CA money laundering <a href="http://www.prwatch.org/node/11845">http://www.prwatch.org/node/11845</a></b>

<p>The <b>Coalition to Protect Patients' Rights</b> (CPPR) is an anti-health reform group that claims to be a "nonpartisan, grassroots coalition of patients, healthcare professionals, advocacy groups, and engaged citizens who are concerned about the current healthcare debate going on in Washington." CPPR is managed by the Republican lobbying firm <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/DCI_Group" title="DCI Group">DCI Group</a>, a grassroots consulting firm that has previously been used by <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Philip_Morris" title="Philip Morris" class="mw-redirect">Philip Morris</a> and <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/R.J._Reynolds" title="R.J. Reynolds" class="mw-redirect">R.J. Reynolds</a> to help form fake "grassroots" <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Smokers_Rights_Groups" title="Smokers Rights Groups">smokers' rights groups</a> to help defeat smoking bans. DCI has worked for health insurance companies in the past: In 2002, the <i>American Prospect</i> reported that DCI had been hired by a group called the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Health_Benefits_Coalition" title="Health Benefits Coalition">Health Benefits Coalition</a>, a trade association of for-profit health maintenance organizations (HMOs) who were trying to “thwart congressional action on the patients’ bill of rights.”</p>

<p>

DCI Group staffers have acknowledged that they do in fact coordinate PR for the CPPR.<sup id="cite_ref-0" class="reference"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Coalition_to_Protect_Patients%27_Rights#cite_note-0">[1]</a></sup> CPPR should not be be confused with <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Conservatives_for_Patients_Rights" title="Conservatives for Patients Rights">Conservatives for Patients Rights</a>, a different front group organized by <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Rick_Scott" title="Rick Scott">Rick Scott</a> to oppose health care reform. CPPR has been engaged in organizing lobbying efforts to oppose health care reform and publishing op-eds across the country that contain misinformation about the public option.<sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Coalition_to_Protect_Patients%27_Rights#cite_note-1">[2]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Coalition_to_Protect_Patients%27_Rights#cite_note-2">[3]</a></sup>

CPPR seeks to prevent the U.S. Congress from including a “public option” in the health reform legislation.<sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Coalition_to_Protect_Patients%27_Rights#cite_note-3">[4]</a></sup></p>

<tr>

<td>

<h2>Contents</h2>

<ul>

<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-1"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Coalition_to_Protect_Patients%27_Rights#Financing_Right-Wing_Groups_Through_the_Center_to_Protect_Patient.27s_Rights.3F"><span class="tocnumber">1</span> <span class="toctext">Financing Right-Wing Groups Through the Center to Protect Patient's Rights?</span></a></li>

<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-2"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Coalition_to_Protect_Patients%27_Rights#Sourcewatch_resources"><span class="tocnumber">2</span> <span class="toctext">Sourcewatch resources</span></a></li>

<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-3"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Coalition_to_Protect_Patients%27_Rights#External_resources"><span class="tocnumber">3</span> <span class="toctext">External resources</span></a></li>

<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-4"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Coalition_to_Protect_Patients%27_Rights#References"><span class="tocnumber">4</span> <span class="toctext">References</span></a></li>

</ul>

</td>

</tr>

</tbody></table>

<h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Financing_Right-Wing_Groups_Through_the_Center_to_Protect_Patient.27s_Rights.3F">Financing Right-Wing Groups Through the Center to Protect Patient's Rights?</span></h2>

<p>The Coalition to Protect Patient's rights may be the same group as the similarly-named <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Center_to_Protect_Patients%27_Rights" title="Center to Protect Patients' Rights">Center to Protect Patients' Rights</a>, whose records are stored at the same Glendale, Ariz., address by a woman who describes herself as an employee of DCI Group, a lobbying firm practiced in manufacturing "grassroots" campaigns for the tobacco industry and others that has handled public relations for the Coalition. In 2010, the CPPR made a round of massive donations to some of the most prominent right-wing profit political groups, most of which oppose the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Affordable_Care_Act&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Affordable Care Act (page does not exist)">Affordable Care Act</a>, higher taxes on the wealthy, or abortion. As a 501(c)4 nonprofit organization, the CPPR does not have to disclose its donors, the source of this money. However, it must disclose its donations. The table below lists every organization given money by the CPPR <sup id="cite_ref-4" class="reference"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Coalition_to_Protect_Patients%27_Rights#cite_note-4">[5]</a></sup></p>

<ul>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/American_Future_Fund" title="American Future Fund">American Future Fund</a> $11,685,000</li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/60_Plus_Association" title="60 Plus Association">60 Plus Association</a> $8,990,000</li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Americans_for_Limited_Government" title="Americans for Limited Government">Americans for Limited Government</a> $5,585,000</li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Americans_for_Job_Security" title="Americans for Job Security">Americans for Job Security</a> $4,828,000</li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Americans_for_Tax_Reform" title="Americans for Tax Reform">Americans for Tax Reform</a> $4,189,000</li>

<li>Revere America $2,300,000</li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Americans_for_Prosperity" title="Americans for Prosperity">Americans for Prosperity</a> $1,924,000</li>

<li>US Health Freedom Coalition $1,430,000</li>

<li>Susan B Anthony $1,025,000</li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Club_for_Growth" title="Club for Growth">Club for Growth</a> $690,000</li>

<li>Americans United for Life Action $559,000</li>

<li>The Institute for Liberty $457,000</li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/American_Energy_Alliance" title="American Energy Alliance">American Energy Alliance</a> $250,000</li>

<li>Freedom Vote $200,000</li>

<li>Protect Your Vote $100,000</li>

<li>Hispanic Leadership Fund $47,000</li>

<li>Americans United for Life $45,000</li>

<li>Tea Party Patriots $30,000</li>

<li>Common Sense Issues Coalition $25,000</li>

<li>Common Sense Issues $10,000</li>

<li>Concerned Women 4 America $4,500</li>

</ul>

<h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Sourcewatch_resources">Sourcewatch resources</span></h2>

<ul>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Astroturf" title="Astroturf">Astroturf</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Grassroots" title="Grassroots">Grassroots</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Americans_for_Prosperity" title="Americans for Prosperity">Americans for Prosperity</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Patients_First" title="Patients First">Patients First</a></li>

</ul>

<h2><span class="mw-headline" id="External_resources">External resources</span></h2>

<h2><span class="mw-headline" id="References">References</span></h2>

<li id="cite_note-0"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Coalition_to_Protect_Patients%27_Rights#cite_ref-0">↑</a> <span class="reference-text">Lee Fang, <i>Think Progress</i> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://thinkprogress.org/2009/07/28/cppr-dci-astroturf/">EXCLUSIVE: Infamous Astroturf Lobbying Firm Behind New Anti-Health Reform Group</a>, July 28, 2009</span></li>

<li id="cite_note-1"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Coalition_to_Protect_Patients%27_Rights#cite_ref-1">↑</a> <span class="reference-text">Peter H. Stone, <i>National Journal</i> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/xyw60c00">Tobacco CEOs start working the hill/Let the good times roll</a> Magazine article. March 21, 1998. Bates No. 2077315833/5834</span></li>

<li id="cite_note-2"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Coalition_to_Protect_Patients%27_Rights#cite_ref-2">↑</a> <span class="reference-text">Lee Fang, <i>Think Progress</i> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://thinkprogress.org/2009/07/28/cppr-dci-astroturf/">EXCLUSIVE: Infamous Astroturf Lobbying Firm Behind New Anti-Health Reform Group</a>, July 28, 2009</span></li>

<li id="cite_note-3"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Coalition_to_Protect_Patients%27_Rights#cite_ref-3">↑</a> <span class="reference-text">Coalition to Protect Patients' Rights <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.protectpatientsrights.org/about/?id=28">Who We Are</a>, Web page, accessed August 20, 2009</span></li>

<li id="cite_note-4"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Coalition_to_Protect_Patients%27_Rights#cite_ref-4">↑</a> <span class="reference-text">Vivica Novak and Robert Macguire: <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2012/05/cppr.html">Mystery Health Care Group Funneled Millions to Conservative Causes</a>, Opensecrets.org, Accessed Monday October 1st, 2012</span></li>

</ol>

</div>

<div id="mw-normal-catlinks" class="mw-normal-catlinks"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Special:Categories" title="Special:Categories">Categories</a>:

<ul>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Category:Front_groups_portal" title="Category:Front groups portal">Front groups portal</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Category:Tobaccowiki" title="Category:Tobaccowiki">Tobaccowiki</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Category:Stubs" title="Category:Stubs">Stubs</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Category:Health_Policy_%28U.S.%29" title="Category:Health Policy (U.S.)">Health Policy (U.S.)</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Category:Grassroots" title="Category:Grassroots">Grassroots</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Category:Lobbying" title="Category:Lobbying">Lobbying</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Category:Public_relations" title="Category:Public relations">Public relations</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Category:Tobacco_industry" title="Category:Tobacco industry">Tobacco industry</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Category:Tobacco_industry_strategy" title="Category:Tobacco industry strategy">Tobacco industry strategy</a></li>

</ul>

</div>

<p>

<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Coalition_to_Protect_Patients%27_Rights">http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Coalition_to_Protect_Patients%27_Rights</a></p>

<p>

<p>

<a href="http://www.mercurynews.com/elections/ci_21932215/fppc-releases-names-donors-who-made-secret-11">http://www.mercurynews.com/elections/ci_21932215/fppc-releases-names-donors-who-made-secret-11</a></p>

<p>

SACRAMENTO -- Ending some but not all of the mystery behind an anonymous $11 million donation, an Arizona group revealed under court order Monday that the money it pumped into California's ballot wars was funneled through two groups -- one tied to David and Charles Koch, the billionaire brothers who have played a huge role in spreading anonymous political cash around the country.

The two conservative groups, Americans for Job Security and the Center to Protect Patient Rights, are part of a tangled web of so-called dark donors who operate largely out of public view, shielded by their status as nonprofit advocacy groups that are supposedly not involved primarily in politics.</p>

<p>

While the groups have been identified, however, individual donors who have bankrolled them remain a mystery.

But "this isn't going to stop here," said Ann Ravel, chairwoman of the Fair Political Practices Commission, the state's political watchdog. "They admitted to money laundering. We agreed to do this without an audit because we wanted to get information to the public before the election. But we in no way agreed this would preclude further action."

The FPPC determined that the Arizona group, Americans for Responsible Leadership, had violated California campaign law.

Money laundering -- sending money through multiple sources to conceal the original donor -- is a misdemeanor. But a conspiracy to commit money laundering is a felony.

<p>

Like the first version, DISCLOSE 2.0 requires that once an outside spending group has spent a certain amount, it must report the identity of each contributor who gave $10,000 or more. Groups must “stand by” their ads, the same way candidates do. And corporations, unions and other organizations that file annual financial reports must include their campaign-related spending.

In 2010, the Chamber was one of 113 organizations to lobby the bill and by far the largest. In 2010, it spent $100.2 million on lobbying. The 2012 bill hasn’t attracted nearly as much attention, due no doubt to its almost certain failure thanks to Republican opposition. The Chamber is again leading the fight. It sent a <a href="https://www.wewear.org/assets/1/16/050912SenateDiscloseAct.pdf">letter</a>, signed by 124 organizations, to the Senate in May voicing its opposition.

Among the signers were the Associated Builders and Contractors and several of its local chapters, Edison Electric Institute and the Wichita Independent Business Association, whose board of directors includes <b>Koch Industries’ vice president </b>of government and public affairs, Mark Nichols.

...

<span id="mn_Global"><span id="mn_Article">he FPPC or the state Attorney General's Office will pursue criminal charges.</span></span></p>

<p>

The donation, the largest anonymous contribution to a ballot measure campaign in California history, was made to the Small Business Action Committee, a conservative PAC running a campaign for Proposition 32, the measure that would curb labor's ability to collect political cash, and against Proposition 30, Gov. Jerry Brown's tax-hike initiative.

"This money is so dirty it had to be laundered five times -- and it still stinks," said Brown, who had made it a rallying cry in his campaign to "unmask" the donors.

Election financing experts said if the groups had gotten away without disclosure, it would have set back the national movement for effective disclosure.

"Now California can be seen as a model that others use to fix their own systems," said Rick Hasen, an election law professor at UC Irvine. "This was a test case for (big donors) to see what they could get away with. And it was a successful defensive action against the flow of dark money."</p>

<p>

Ravel said Phoenix-based <b>Americans for Responsible Leadership </b>conceded it was the intermediary and not the true source of the contribution. The source was actually Americans for Job Security, which then passed the money through a second intermediary, the Center to Protect Patient Rights, she said.

In its settlement letter, an attorney for the Arizona group said neither it nor the Center to Protect Patient Rights "admit any wrongdoing" and they reserve the right to contest any further action.

<b>Americans for Job Security has been described by the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics as "pro-Republican," "pro-business" and "established to directly counter labor's influence." It was founded in 1997 by Michael Dubke and David Carney, </b>the same two GOP strategists who formed Crossroads Media, which runs advertising for American Crossroads, GOP uber-strategist Karl Rove's Super PAC.</p>

<p>

In September, Americans for Job Security spent $8 million in ads in the swing states of Florida, Iowa, North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia and Colorado blasting President Barack Obama for what it said was his failure to turn the economy around.

The Center to Protect Patient Rights, also based in Arizona, is run by Sean Noble, an operative of the Koch brothers, who are worth a combined $50 billion, according to Forbes. Noble, a GOP strategist, was hired in 2010 to coordinate the Koch brothers' distribution of millions of dollars to dozens of entities. He has been a member of a group, called the Weaver Terrace Group -- dubbed Rove's "Fight Club" -- that meets regularly to plot campaign financing strategies, said Viveca Nova, a spokeswoman for the Center for Responsive</p>

</div>

<p>Politics.</p>

<p>

Noble admitted in a letter to the FPPC that the Center to Protect Patient Rights received $11 million from Americans for Job Security.

This wasn't a new arena for the Center to Protect Patient Rights. It acted as a pass-through to distribute $44.6 million to other nonprofit groups in 2010, and $10.8 million the year before, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

"What you get are layers upon layers of groups that don't have to disclose their donors," Nova said. "What California did to reveal these ties is unusual, though it only tells you so much. But it does give more illustration about how the money is being passed around."

California Attorney General Kamala Harris said: "One thing is clear -- further investigation is necessary to determine whether there have been any violations of state law, be they civil or criminal. This thing ain't over. It's not over on Election Day. We are committed to going forward and figuring out what happened."

The revelation came after a 7-0 decision by the state Supreme Court on Sunday ordering attorneys for Americans for Responsible Leadership to immediately hand over documents related to the $11 million donation to the California business PAC.

After turning to the U.S. Supreme Court seeking another delay, attorneys backed down. Rather than hand over all emails and communications between the Arizona group and the California PAC, however, they settled on providing the name of the group that provided the money.

The Arizona group is a 501(c)4 nonprofit advocacy organization, which under IRS rules does not have to reveal donors' names. These groups have become prominent in this election cycle as hundreds of millions of dollars in political cash was unleashed by the U.S. Supreme Court's 2010 Citizens United decision to allow unlimited corporate spending in campaigns.

As corporations and wealthy individuals became more involved, they have sought to keep their names concealed and have found the nonprofit groups an effective conduit to wielding influence without the potential backlash from consumers. They have spent one-fourth of all campaign cash this year, according to ProPublica, an independent investigative group.

Contact Steven Harmon at 916-441-2101. Follow him at <a href="http://Twitter.com/ssharmon">Twitter.com/ssharmon</a>. Read the Political Blotter at

<b>News broke this afternoon that the American Future Fund -- a Super PAC affiliated with the Koch Brothers – has just put $4 million from secret donors behind Prop 32.

</b> 

If any doubts remained about who is truly behind Prop 32, we now know with absolute certainty. It’s been reported that this organization is tied to the Koch Brothers and Karl Rove, and was originally bankrolled by an oil company CEO from Iowa. But since Super PACs aren’t required to disclose their donors, we’ll never know where it all came from.

Look what just arrived in the Friday-afternoon-news-dump: A <a target="top" href="http://cal-access.sos.ca.gov/PDFGen/pdfgen.prg?filingid=1689692&amendid=0">$4 million contribution </a>to Prop 32, which the unions are<a target="top" href="http://www.sfgate.com/politics/joegarofoli/article/Calif-Prop-32-in-unions-crosshairs-3718306.php"> freaked out about </a>because it would limit labor’s chief weapon for influencing the state’s politics – political donations – by preventing unions from using automatic payroll deductions from their members.

The same restriction would apply to corporations, but as the League of Women Voters said — this measure would<a target="_top" href="http://www.sfgate.com/politics/joegarofoli/article/Calif-Prop-32-in-unions-crosshairs-3718306.php">hurt one side more</a> than the other for reasons explained there.

So what’s the connection between the donor — the Des Moines, Iowa-based American Future Fund — and the billionaire conservative financiers the Koch brothers? Because of opaque campaign finance laws, tracing the money is a challenge. Politico m<a target="_top" href="http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0612/77453.html">akes the case here.</a>

According to <a target="_top" href="http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2012/05/cppr.html">the nonpartisan Center for Responsive </a>Politics, the connection is the Center to Protect Patient Rights:</p>

<p>“Based in Arizona, CPPR provided large grants (in 2010) to a cluster of well-known conservative organizations that operate under section 501(c)(4) of the tax code, which classifies them as “social welfare” groups and allows them to keep their funding sources from public view. Politics is not supposed to be their primary purpose, although critics say many of the organizations have stretched the rules too far. American Future Fund received the largest grant from CPPR, a total of $11.7 million for ‘general support.’”</p>

</blockquote>

<p>As the LA Times <a target="_top" href="http://articles.latimes.com/2012/may/28/nation/la-na-secret-money-20120528">reported earlier this year</a>:</p>

<p>The Kochs have several ties to the center. It is run by Sean Noble, a Phoenix-based GOP consultant who is a key operative in the Kochs’ political activities, as first noted by the investigative blog Republic Report. One of the center’s original directors, Heather Higgins, is chairwoman of the Independent Women’s Forum, which has received funding from a Koch-controlled foundation. And Cheryl Hillen, a Connecticut-based consultant who raised $2.6 million for the center, was director of fundraising for the Koch-backed Citizens for a Sound Economy.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>“Californians should be on high alert: shadowy out-of-state front groups like the ‘American Futures Fund’ don’t swoop into California elections unless they have a very specific agenda,” said the anti-Prop 32 spokesperson Brian Brokaw.

===

<a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/clientsum.php?id=D000048467&year=2010">http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/clientsum.php?id=D000048467&year=2010</a>

===

<strong><span style=" font-size: 16pt; font-family: ;">Media Memo: Who is Funding Health Reform Opponent Dr. <span class="SpellE">Palmisano's</span> Visits with NH Media Today? (<em>Hint: Billionaire Brothers</em>)</span></strong></p>

<p>

<em><span style=" font-size: 14pt; font-family: ;">Background information on the anti-reform doctor secretly bankrolled by Koch brothers to oppose health reform law</span></em></p>

<p>

<span style=" font-size: 12pt; font-family: ;">CONCORD, NH - </span><span color="#DEFAULT" style=" font-size: 12pt; font-family: ;">Dr. Donald <span class="SpellE">Palmisano</span> </span><span style=" font-size: 12pt; font-family: ;">is the head of the Coalition to Protect Patients' Rights, an anti-health care reform organization managed by the <b>right-wing lobbying firm DCI Group</b>. Selling himself as a spokesperson for the coalition and the former president of the </span><span color="#DEFAULT" style=" font-size: 12pt; font-family: ;">American Medical Association, what the good doctor won't say is who is funding his trip or how his own views differ from the official position of the AMA.</span>

<strong><span style=" font-size: 12pt; font-family: ;">According to SourceWatch.org<sup>1</sup>:</span></strong></p>

<p>

<span style=" font-size: 12pt; font-family: ;">"The <span>Coalition to Protect Patients' Rights</span> (CPPR) is an anti-health reform group that claims to be a "nonpartisan, grassroots coalition of patients, healthcare professionals, advocacy groups, and engaged citizens who are concerned about the current healthcare debate going on in Washington." CPPR is managed by the Republican lobbying firm <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=DCI_Group" target="blank"><span style=" color: #0c2da0; text-decoration: none;">DCI Group</span></a>, a grassroots consulting firm that has previously been used by <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Philip_Morris" target="blank"><span style=" color: #0c2da0; text-decoration: none;">Philip Morris</span></a> and <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=R.J.Reynolds" target="blank"><span style=" color: #0c2da0; text-decoration: none;">R.J. Reynolds</span></a> to help form fake "grassroots" <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Smokers_Rights_Groups" target="blank"><span style=" color: #0c2da0; text-decoration: none;">smokers' rights groups</span></a> to help defeat smoking bans. DCI has worked for health insurance companies in the past: In 2002, the <em>American Prospect</em> reported that DCI had been hired by a group called the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Health_Benefits_Coalition" target="blank"><span style=" color: #0c2da0; text-decoration: none;">Health Benefits Coalition</span></a>, a trade association of for-profit health maintenance organizations (HMOs) who were trying to "thwart congressional action on the patients' bill of rights."</span>

<strong><span style=" font-size: 12pt; font-family: ;">In July 2009, <span class="GramE">Think</span> Progress reported that Dr. </span></strong><span class="SpellE"><strong><span style=" font-size: 12pt; font-family: ;">Palmisano</span></strong></span><strong><span style=" font-size: 12pt; font-family: ;"> was inappropriately using his former position with the American Medical Association to attack health reform efforts:</span></strong></p>

<p>

<span style=" font-size: 12pt; font-family: ;">"Although the American Medical Association has endorsed the House health reform bill with a public option, <span class="SpellE">Palmisano</span> has been using his title as a former AMA president to smear reform."<sup> 2</sup></span>

<strong><span style=" font-size: 12pt; font-family: ;">Just a few weeks ago the American Medical Association continued its support of the law by hailing the Supreme Court ruling upholding the Affordable Care Act as a victory: </span></strong></p>

<p>

<span style=" font-size: 12pt; font-family: ;">"Supporters of the ACA, including the American Medical Association, applauded the court's ruling. The AMA "has long supported health insurance coverage for all, and we are pleased that this decision means millions of Americans can look forward to the coverage they need to get healthy and stay healthy," AMA President Jeremy A. Lazarus, MD, said in a statement. "The AMA remains committed to working on behalf of America's physicians and patients to ensure the law continues to be implemented in ways that support and incentivize better health outcomes and improve the nation's health care system." </span><sup><span style=" font-size: 8pt; font-family: ;">3</span></sup>

<span style=" font-size: 12pt; font-family: ;">A feature article in a Florida newspaper, titled "Secrecy Marks Center Bankrolling Conservative Attack on Democrats" drew connections between </span><span class="SpellE"><span style=" font-size: 12pt; font-family: ;">Palmisano's</span></span><span style=" font-size: 12pt; font-family: ;"> group and <b>Charles and David H. Koch</b>, conservative billionaire brothers known for funding corporate-benefitting Astroturf campaigns. According to the reporters, the Koch brothers' Center to Protect Patient Rights</span><sup><span style=" font-size: 8pt; font-family: ;">4</span></sup><span style=" font-size: 12pt; font-family: ;">:

</span> </p>

<p>

<span style=" font-size: 12pt; font-family: ;">" ... gave more than $2 million to the similarly named Coalition to Protect Patients' Rights, a Virginia-based nonprofit formed in spring 2009 ... The center provided 80 percent of the coalition's budget; nearly all went to <b>DCI and Direct Response </b>for consulting and voter contact. DCI Group spokesman Craig Stevens said the firm did not set up the center or know where the coalition got its money. <span style=" text-decoration: underline;">New Orleans surgeon Donald <span class="SpellE">Palmisano</span>, former president of the American Medical Association and the public face of the coalition, also said he did not know the source of funding. "I'm just the spokesperson," <span class="SpellE">Palmisano</span> said</span>."</span>

<strong><span style=" font-size: 12pt; font-family: ;">Granite State Progress issued the following statement from Executive Director Zandra Rice Hawkins:</span></strong>

<span style=" font-size: 12pt; font-family: ;">"Dr. <span class="SpellE">Palmisano</span> should be honest about who is funding his opposition to providing families and small businesses with free preventive care and protecting them from insurance company abuses. The more people learn about the benefits of the health law, the more they like it. <span class="SpellE">Palmisano</span> is part of a calculated Astroturf campaign to <span class="SpellE">miseducate</span> people about the health law because they want to undermine public support. <span class="GramE">It's</span> dirty politics and <span class="SpellE">Palmisano</span> should be honest about who he is and who he really represents."</span>

<span style=" text-decoration: underline;"><span style=" font-size: 8pt; font-family: ;">Citations:</span></span>

<sup><span style=" font-size: 8pt; font-family: ;">1 </span></sup><span style=" font-size: 8pt; font-family: ;">SourceWatch.org, accessed 7/12/12, http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Coalition_to_Protect_Patients%27_Rights</span>

<sup><span style=" font-size: 8pt; font-family: ;">2 </span></sup><span class="SpellE"><span style=" font-size: 8pt; font-family: ;">ThinkProgress</span></span><span style=" font-size: 8pt; font-family: ;">, <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/2009/07/28/cppr-dci-astroturf/" target="_blank"><strong><span style=" color: windowtext; text-decoration: none;">7/28/09</span></strong></a></span>

<sup><span style=" font-size: 8pt; font-family: ;">3 </span></sup><span style=" font-size: 8pt; font-family: ;">American Medical News, 6/28/12, http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2012/06/25/gvse0628.htm</span></p>

<h1 style=" margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><sup><span style=" font-size: 8pt;">4 </span></sup><span style=" font-size: 8pt; font-weight: normal;">Secrecy Marks Center Bankrolling Conservative Attack on Democrats, 5/29/12, http://www.theledger.com/article/20120529/NEWS/120529273?p=1&tc=pg</span></h1>

Coalition to Protect Patient Rights

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