Am Solutions for Winning the Future

===

see // to don'tgo odom
<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Newt_Gingrich">https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Newt_Gingrich</a>
<h2 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); line-height: 1.3;">"Following Newt's Money"</h2><dl style="margin-top: 0.2em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><dd style="margin-left: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.1em; margin-right: 0px;">"I raised so much money over the years, from so many different people that ... I don't owe anyone."—Newt Gingrich, quoted by MotherJones.<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Newt_Gingrich#cite_note-Mojo-16" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[16]</a></dd></dl>"Far from owing no one, House Speaker Newt Gingrich has built his power base through a series of dubious transactions that look like political paybacks. At the center of Newt's political machine is <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/GOPAC" title="GOPAC" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">GOPAC</a>, which has raised and spent more than $8 million since 1991 while skirting the federal election laws governing <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/PAC" class="mw-redirect" title="PAC" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">PACs</a> to avoid naming its donors."<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Newt_Gingrich#cite_note-Mojo-16" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[16]</a>In August 2010, Salon.com released their findings on who is funding Gingrich's primary political committee, a 527 group called <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/American_Solutions_for_Winning_the_Future" title="American Solutions for Winning the Future" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">American Solutions for Winning the Future</a>. Salon found a significant chunk of the group's funding comes from oil and gas and coal companies, according to the its IRS filings. American Solutions has run national TV ads opposing <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Cap-and-trade" class="mw-redirect" title="Cap-and-trade" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">cap-and-trade</a> bills.<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Newt_Gingrich#cite_note-je-17" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[17]</a>According to Salon, American Solutions has taken in over $20 million as of the 2010 election cycle. Here are some of the group's biggest funders:<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Newt_Gingrich#cite_note-je-17" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[17]</a><ul style="margin: 0.3em 0px 0.5em 1.6em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url("data:image/svg+xml,%3C%3Fxml version=%221.0%22 encoding=%22UTF-8%22%3F%3E%0A%3Csvg xmlns=%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22 version=%221.1%22 width=%225%22 height=%2213%22%3E%0A%3Ccircle cx=%222.5%22 cy=%229.5%22 r=%222.5%22 fill=%22%2300528c%22/%3E%0A%3C/svg%3E%0A");"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/American_Electric_Power" title="American Electric Power" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">American Electric Power</a>: CEO Michael Morris of the Ohio-based power company gave $100,000 in 2009. Along with electricity, the company operates the nation's largest power transmission network, operating over much of the East Coast and Midwest.</li></ul><ul style="margin: 0.3em 0px 0.5em 1.6em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url("data:image/svg+xml,%3C%3Fxml version=%221.0%22 encoding=%22UTF-8%22%3F%3E%0A%3Csvg xmlns=%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22 version=%221.1%22 width=%225%22 height=%2213%22%3E%0A%3Ccircle cx=%222.5%22 cy=%229.5%22 r=%222.5%22 fill=%22%2300528c%22/%3E%0A%3C/svg%3E%0A");"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Arch_Coal" title="Arch Coal" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Arch Coal</a>: Based in St. Louis, Arch boasts it provides 16 percent of America's coal supply from 11 mining complexes around the country, making it the second largest coal producer in the country. It gave Gingrich $100,000.</li></ul><ul style="margin: 0.3em 0px 0.5em 1.6em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url("data:image/svg+xml,%3C%3Fxml version=%221.0%22 encoding=%22UTF-8%22%3F%3E%0A%3Csvg xmlns=%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22 version=%221.1%22 width=%225%22 height=%2213%22%3E%0A%3Ccircle cx=%222.5%22 cy=%229.5%22 r=%222.5%22 fill=%22%2300528c%22/%3E%0A%3C/svg%3E%0A");"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Devon_Energy" title="Devon Energy" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Devon Energy</a>: An Oklahoma-based oil and gas production company that gave American Solutions $250,000.</li></ul><ul style="margin: 0.3em 0px 0.5em 1.6em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url("data:image/svg+xml,%3C%3Fxml version=%221.0%22 encoding=%22UTF-8%22%3F%3E%0A%3Csvg xmlns=%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22 version=%221.1%22 width=%225%22 height=%2213%22%3E%0A%3Ccircle cx=%222.5%22 cy=%229.5%22 r=%222.5%22 fill=%22%2300528c%22/%3E%0A%3C/svg%3E%0A"); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Plains_Exploration_and_Production" class="mw-redirect" title="Plains Exploration and Production" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Plains Exploration and Production</a>: A Houston-based oil and gas company that operates in the Gulf gave $100,000.</li></ul><ul style="margin: 0.3em 0px 0.5em 1.6em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url("data:image/svg+xml,%3C%3Fxml version=%221.0%22 encoding=%22UTF-8%22%3F%3E%0A%3Csvg xmlns=%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22 version=%221.1%22 width=%225%22 height=%2213%22%3E%0A%3Ccircle cx=%222.5%22 cy=%229.5%22 r=%222.5%22 fill=%22%2300528c%22/%3E%0A%3C/svg%3E%0A"); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Workforce_Fairness_Institute" title="Workforce Fairness Institute" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Workforce Fairness Institute</a>: A Washington, D.C.-based anti-union pressure group that gave $150,000 to Gingrich's organization this cycle. Its website says it is "funded by and advocates on behalf of business owners who enjoy good working relationships with their employees, and would like to maintain those good relationships without the unfair interference of government bureaucrats, union organizers and special interests." <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Mark_McKinnon" title="Mark McKinnon" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Mark McKinnon</a>, longtime GOP operative and Bush aide, has been a spokesman for the institute.</li></ul><ul style="margin: 0.3em 0px 0.5em 1.6em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url("data:image/svg+xml,%3C%3Fxml version=%221.0%22 encoding=%22UTF-8%22%3F%3E%0A%3Csvg xmlns=%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22 version=%221.1%22 width=%225%22 height=%2213%22%3E%0A%3Ccircle cx=%222.5%22 cy=%229.5%22 r=%222.5%22 fill=%22%2300528c%22/%3E%0A%3C/svg%3E%0A"); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Hubbard_Broadcasting" title="Hubbard Broadcasting" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Hubbard Broadcasting</a>: <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Stanley_Hubbard&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Stanley Hubbard (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Stanley Hubbard</a>, a billionaire GOP donor from Minnesota, gave Gingrich's group $100,000. He owns radio and TV stations in several states.</li></ul><ul style="margin: 0.3em 0px 0.5em 1.6em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url("data:image/svg+xml,%3C%3Fxml version=%221.0%22 encoding=%22UTF-8%22%3F%3E%0A%3Csvg xmlns=%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22 version=%221.1%22 width=%225%22 height=%2213%22%3E%0A%3Ccircle cx=%222.5%22 cy=%229.5%22 r=%222.5%22 fill=%22%2300528c%22/%3E%0A%3C/svg%3E%0A"); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Sheldon_Adelson" title="Sheldon Adelson" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Sheldon Adelson</a>, the bingo parlor mogul, contributed $5 million to Gingrich's SuperPAC.<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Newt_Gingrich#cite_note-18" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[18]</a></li></ul>===

<strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">A<a class="gray" href="http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/2008/07/29/newt-aswf-billionaires" target="blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">merican Solutions for Winning the Future</a><span style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; display: inline !important; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">, a 527 political organization chaired by <a class="gray" href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Newt_Gingrich" target="blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Newt Gingrich</a><span style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; display: inline !important; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">, has been fighting clean energy for several years. <a class="gray" href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Peabody_Energy" target="blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;">Peabody Energy</a><span style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; display: inline !important; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">, the world's largest coal company and one of the groups biggest backers, has <a class="gray" href="http://www.opensecrets.org/527s/527cmtedetail_contribs.php?ein=205457079&cycle=2008" target="blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">contributed $250,000</a><span style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; display: inline !important; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> in the most recent 2010 election cycle to support American Solutions' activities.<span style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; display: inline !important; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> The oil and gas company Devon Energy also contributed <a class="gray" href="http://www.opensecrets.org/527s/527cmtedetail_contribs.php?cycle=2010&ein=205457079" target="blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">$250,000</a><span style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; display: inline !important; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">, while Arch Coal, the utility American Electric Power and oil services company Plains Exploration and Production <a class="gray" href="http://www.opensecrets.org/527s/527cmtedetail_contribs.php?cycle=2010&ein=205457079" target="blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">gave $100,000</a><span style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; display: inline !important; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> each. Recently, <a class="gray" href="http://mediamattersaction.org/blog/201004290004" target="blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Media Matters</a><span style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; display: inline !important; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> reported the group <span style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; display: inline !important; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">tried to downplay the impact of the Gulf oil disaster oil by claiming natural oil leaks in the Gulf are greater than the blown oil well in the Gulf.<span style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; display: inline !important; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> But as the oil spews into the ocean at a rate many times higher than first estimated, no oil-whether man made or natural-is good for the ocean environment. The Gingrich group also has been attacking the American Power Act as a gas tax that would hurt the economy, a specious claim <a class="gray" href="http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/ljohnson/new_study_predicts_increased_e.html" target="blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">debunked</a><span style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; display: inline !important; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> by the recent economic report by the Peterson Institute. In 2009, American Solutions ran a <a class="gray" href="http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/paltman/behind_the_wingnut_attacks_on.html" target="blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">misleading TV advertisement</a><span style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; display: inline !important; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> against the<a class="gray" href="http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-h2454/show" target="blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">American Clean Energy and Security Act</a><span style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; display: inline !important; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> shortly before it was passed by the US House in June, <a class="gray" href="http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/paltman/behind_the_wingnut_attacks_on.html" target="blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">organized an email-drive</a><span style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; display: inline !important; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> targeting members of Congress and <a class="gray" href="http://www.americansolutions.com/take-action/2009/06/complete-the-5-for-5-stop-the-energy-tax-challenge.php" target="blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">continues to collect signatures and mobilize</a><span style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; display: inline !important; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> its followers to oppose clean energy and climate legislation.

===

American Solutions for Winning the Future (ASWF) is a <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=527_committees" title="527 committees">527 PAC group</a> which describes itself as a "citizen action network" with the expressed goal "to create the next generation of solutions that will ensure that the United States remains the safest, freest, and most prosperous country in the world." The group claims to be "non-partisan" and is headed by former Republican speaker <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Newt_Gingrich" title="Newt Gingrich">Newt Gingrich</a>.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=American_Solutions_for_Winning_the_Future#cite_note-0" title="">[1]</a>

The group has launched a petition promoting expanding oil and gas exploration in the U.S.

On its website, it states that the petition is to "petition the U.S. Congress to act immediately to lower gasoline prices (and diesel and other fuel prices)* by authorizing the exploration of proven energy reserves to reduce our dependence on foreign energy sources from unstable countries".<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=American_Solutions_for_Winning_the_Future#cite_note-1" title="">[2]</a>

More recently, ASWF has been soliciting contributions for the purpose of derailing the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Employee_Free_Choice_Act" title="Employee Free Choice Act">Employee Free Choice Act</a> which would allow company employees to form a union through a petition method in addition to the established method of an election through secret ballots.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=American_Solutions_for_Winning_the_Future#cite_note-2" title="">[3]</a> The solicitations falsely imply that the "card" method supplants the secret ballots when it is an additional method.[<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=SourceWatch:Citation_needed" title="SourceWatch:Citation needed">citation needed</a>]

<h2>Contents</h2>

[<a class="internal" id="togglelink">hide</a>]</div>

<ul>

<li class="toclevel-1"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=American_Solutions_for_Winning_the_Future#Peabody_funding_and_support_for_coal">1 Peabody funding and support for coal</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-1"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=American_Solutions_for_Winning_the_Future#Funding">2 Funding</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-1"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=American_Solutions_for_Winning_the_Future#Funding_breakdown">3 Funding breakdown</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-1"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=American_Solutions_for_Winning_the_Future#Staff">4 Staff</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-1"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=American_Solutions_for_Winning_the_Future#Contact_details">5 Contact details</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-1"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=American_Solutions_for_Winning_the_Future#Resources_and_articles">6 Resources and articles</a>

<ul>

<li class="toclevel-2"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=American_Solutions_for_Winning_the_Future#Related_SourceWatch_articles">6.1 Related SourceWatch articles</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-2"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=American_Solutions_for_Winning_the_Future#References">6.2 References</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-2"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=American_Solutions_for_Winning_the_Future#External_articles">6.3 External articles</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-2"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=American_Solutions_for_Winning_the_Future#External_resources">6.4 External resources</a></li>

</ul>

</li>

</ul>

</td></tr></tbody></table>

<h2>Peabody funding and support for coal</h2>

As of July 1, 2008, <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Peabody_Energy" title="Peabody Energy">Peabody Energy</a> was the fourth largest contributor to ASWF, donating $275,000.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=American_Solutions_for_Winning_the_Future#cite_note-3" title="">[4]</a>

ASWF's “Platform Of The American People” includes support for increasing coal use in the United States:<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=American_Solutions_for_Winning_the_Future#cite_note-4" title="">[5]</a>

<dl>

<dd>

<ul>

<li>To combat the rising cost of energy and reduce our dependence on foreign energy sources, we support the United States using more of its own domestic energy resources, including the oil and coal it already has here in the U.S.</li>

</ul>

</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>

<ul>

<li>We believe the United States should increase its use of coal because it is a domestically available energy source, is less expensive than imported foreign oil, and new technologies have dramatically reduced emissions from burning coal, as well as making it much less harmful to the environment.</li>

</ul>

</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>

<ul>

<li>We believe that if research indicates we could build clean coal plants in the United States with no carbon emissions, it would be important to build such plants as rapidly as possible.</li>

</ul>

</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>

<ul>

<li>We believe in using United States domestic energy sources such as clean coal and oil, even if it means drilling off our coasts and in Alaska, as well as offering tax credits for American businesses that develop new energy sources.</li>

</ul>

</dd>

</dl>

<h2>Funding</h2>

In August 2010, Salon.com released their findings on who is funding <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Newt_Gingrich" title="Newt Gingrich">Newt Gingrich</a>'s American Solutions. Salon found a significant chunk of the group's funding comes from oil and gas and coal companies, according to the its IRS filings. American Solutions has run national TV ads opposing <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Cap-and-trade" title="Cap-and-trade" class="mw-redirect">cap-and-trade</a> bills.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=American_Solutions_for_Winning_the_Future#cite_note-je-5" title="">[6]</a>

According to Salon, American Solutions has taken in over $20 million as of the 2010 election cycle. Here are some of the group's biggest funders:<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=American_Solutions_for_Winning_the_Future#cite_note-je-5" title="">[6]</a>

<ul>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=American_Electric_Power" title="American Electric Power">American Electric Power</a>: CEO Michael Morris of the Ohio-based power company gave $100,000 in 2009. Along with electricity, the company operates the nation's largest power transmission network, operating over much of the East Coast and Midwest.</li>

</ul>

<ul>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Arch_Coal" title="Arch Coal">Arch Coal</a>: Based in St. Louis, Arch boasts it provides 16 percent of America's coal supply from 11 mining complexes around the country, making it the second largest coal producer in the country. It gave Gingrich $100,000.</li>

</ul>

<ul>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Devon_Energy&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Devon Energy (page does not exist)">Devon Energy</a>: An Oklahoma-based oil and gas production company that gave American Solutions $250,000.</li>

</ul>

<ul>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Plains_Exploration_and_Production&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Plains Exploration and Production (page does not exist)">Plains Exploration and Production</a>: A Houston-based oil and gas company that operates in the Gulf gave $100,000.</li>

</ul>

<ul>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Workforce_Fairness_Institute" title="Workforce Fairness Institute">Workforce Fairness Institute</a>: A Washington, D.C.-based anti-union pressure group that gave $150,000 to Gingrich's organization this cycle. Its website says it is "funded by and advocates on behalf of business owners who enjoy good working relationships with their employees, and would like to maintain those good relationships without the unfair interference of government bureaucrats, union organizers and special interests." <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Mark_McKinnon" title="Mark McKinnon">Mark McKinnon</a>, longtime GOP operative and Bush aide, has been a spokesman for the institute.</li>

</ul>

<ul>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Hubbard_Broadcasting" title="Hubbard Broadcasting">Hubbard Broadcasting</a>: <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Stanley_Hubbard&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Stanley Hubbard (page does not exist)">Stanley Hubbard</a>, a billionaire GOP donor from Minnesota, gave Gingrich's group $100,000. He owns radio and TV stations in several states.</li>

</ul>

<ul>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Sheldon_Adelson" title="Sheldon Adelson">Sheldon Adelson</a>: ranked #6 of the world's billionaires in 2007, gave $1 million back in 2006.</li>

</ul>

<h2>Funding breakdown</h2>

Total receipts reported for 2008 were $22,722,547. Top Contributors for 2008 based on IRS records ,<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=American_Solutions_for_Winning_the_Future#cite_note-6" title="">[7]</a>

<dl>

<dd>1. <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Las_Vegas_Sands" title="Las Vegas Sands">Las Vegas Sands</a> $5,000,000</dd>

<dd>2 Real Estate Developer $1,100,800</dd>

<dd>3 Retired $872,596</dd>

<dd>4 American Financial Group $650,000</dd>

<dd>5 Peabody Energy $275,000</dd>

<dd>6 Crow Holdings $250,000</dd>

<dd>6 Marcus Foundation $250,000</dd>

<dd>6 Devon Energy $250,000</dd>

<dd>9 Station Casinos $249,999</dd>

<dd>10 Saunders, Karp & Megrue $200,000</dd>

<dd>11 Worldwide Assets $180,000</dd>

<dd>12 Real Estate Investor $176,000</dd>

<dd>13 Self-Employed $162,069</dd>

<dd>14 International Speedway $157,000</dd>

<dd>15 Windway Capital $130,000</dd>

<dd>16 Hubbard Broadcasting $101,000</dd>

<dd>16 Private Investor $101,000</dd>

<dd>18 Clarium Capital $100,000</dd>

<dd>18 Godley Management $100,000</dd>

<dd>18 Cintas Corp $100,000</dd>

</dl>

<h2>Staff</h2>

Senior leadership:

<ul>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Dan_Varroney&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Dan Varroney (page does not exist)">Dan Varroney</a>, Chief Operating Officer</li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Vince_Haley&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Vince Haley (page does not exist)">Vince Haley</a>, Vice President of Policy, Advocacy, and Communications</li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Becky_Burkett&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Becky Burkett (page does not exist)">Becky Burkett</a>, Vice President & Chief Development Officer</li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Paige_Bray&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Paige Bray (page does not exist)">Paige Bray</a>, Vice President and Comptroller</li>

</ul>

Additional staff listed on the staff information page <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=American_Solutions_for_Winning_the_Future#cite_note-7" title="">[8]</a> of the ASWF website.

<h2>Contact details</h2>

1425 K Street, NW Suite 750

Washington, DC 20005

Phone: (202) 355-9470

Fax: (202) 355-9471

Email: info AT americansolutions.com

Web: <a href="http://www.americansolutions.com" class="external free" title="http://www.americansolutions.com" rel="nofollow">http://www.americansolutions.com</a>

<h2>Resources and articles</h2>

<h3>Related SourceWatch articles</h3>

<ul>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Newt_Gingrich" title="Newt Gingrich">Newt Gingrich</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Oil_industry" title="Oil industry">Oil industry</a></li>

</ul>

<h3>References</h3>

<li id="cite_note-0"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=American_Solutions_for_Winning_the_Future#cite_ref-0" title="">↑</a> <a href="http://www.americansolutions.com/About/" class="external text" title="http://www.americansolutions.com/About/" rel="nofollow">"AboutAmericanSolutions"</a>, American Solutions website, accessed August 2008.</li>

<li id="cite_note-1"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=American_Solutions_for_Winning_the_Future#cite_ref-1" title="">↑</a> <a href="http://www.americansolutions.com/" class="external text" title="http://www.americansolutions.com/" rel="nofollow">"Fuel the movement: Sign the petition"</a>, American Solutions website, accessed August 2008.</li>

<li id="cite_note-2"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=American_Solutions_for_Winning_the_Future#cite_ref-2" title="">↑</a> American Solutions for Winning the Future, <a href="http://www.americansolutions.com/" class="external text" title="http://www.americansolutions.com/" rel="nofollow">"Freedom Not Fear"</a>, American Solutions for Winning the Future website, accessed March 2009.</li>

<li id="cite_note-3"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=American_Solutions_for_Winning_the_Future#cite_ref-3" title="">↑</a> Brad Johnson, <a href="http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/2008/07/30/aswf-peabody-coal-cash/" class="external text" title="http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/2008/07/30/aswf-peabody-coal-cash/" rel="nofollow">"Newt's American solutions Is a Front Group for King Coal,"</a> The Wonk Room, July 30, 2008</li>

<li id="cite_note-4"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=American_Solutions_for_Winning_the_Future#cite_ref-4" title="">↑</a> Brad Johnson,<a href="http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/2008/07/30/aswf-peabody-coal-cash/" class="external text" title="http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/2008/07/30/aswf-peabody-coal-cash/" rel="nofollow">"Newt's American solutions Is a Front Group for King Coal,"</a> The Wonk Room, July 30, 2008</li>

<li id="cite_note-je-5">↑ <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=American_Solutions_for_Winning_the_Future#cite_ref-je_5-0" title="">6.0</a> <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=American_Solutions_for_Winning_the_Future#cite_ref-je_5-1" title="">6.1</a> Justin Elliott, <a href="http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2010/08/10/whos_giving_to_newt_gingrich/" class="external text" title="http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2010/08/10/whos_giving_to_newt_gingrich/" rel="nofollow">"Who's funding Newt Gingrich?"</a> Salon, August 10, 2010.</li>

<li id="cite_note-6"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=American_Solutions_for_Winning_the_Future#cite_ref-6" title="">↑</a> <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/527s/527cmtedetail_contribs.php?cycle=2008&ein=205457079" class="external text" title="http://www.opensecrets.org/527s/527cmtedetail_contribs.php?cycle=2008&ein=205457079" rel="nofollow">"ASWF 2008 Top Contributors"</a>OpenSecrets website, accessed March 2010.</li>

<li id="cite_note-7"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=American_Solutions_for_Winning_the_Future#cite_ref-7" title="">↑</a> <a href="http://www.americansolutions.com/staff.php" class="external text" title="http://www.americansolutions.com/staff.php" rel="nofollow">"Staff - AmericanSolutions"</a>, American Solutions website, accessed March 2010.</li>

</ol>

<h3>External articles</h3>

<ul>

<li>Marianne Lavelle, "<a href="http://www.grist.org/article/mixing-oil-and-politics-is-formula-for-newts-solutions/" class="external text" title="http://www.grist.org/article/mixing-oil-and-politics-is-formula-for-newts-solutions/" rel="nofollow">Gingrich’s 527 group is a major player in this year's elections</a>", Center for Public Integrity/Grist, September 12, 2008.</li>

<li>Kenneth P. Vogel, "<a href="http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1010/43688.html" class="external text" title="http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1010/43688.html" rel="nofollow">Newt Gingrich's $4 million tops 2012 field</a>", Politico, October 16, 2010.</li>

</ul>

<h3>External resources</h3>

<div id="mw-normal-catlinks"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Special:Categories" title="Special:Categories">Categories</a>: <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Category:Coal_Issues" title="Category:Coal Issues">Coal Issues</a> | <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Category:Energy" title="Category:Energy">Energy</a> | <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Category:Climate_change" title="Category:Climate change">Climate change</a> | <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Category:All_articles_with_unsourced_statements" title="Category:All articles with unsourced statements">All articles with unsourced statements</a> | <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Category:Articles_with_unsourced_statements" title="Category:Articles with unsourced statements">Articles with unsourced statements</a> | <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Category:Politics_%28U.S.%29" title="Category:Politics (U.S.)">Politics (U.S.)</a> | <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Category:Coal_lobby" title="Category:Coal lobby">Coal lobby</a></div></div>

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=American_Solutions_for_Winning_the_Future

===

American Solutions for Winning the Future is a 527 group that's been on the scene since 2007. Last year ASWF fought to expand offshore drilling with a campaign dubbed "Drill, Baby, Drill." The campaign was supported by members of Congress and Eric Odom, a Sam Adams Alliance staffer who publicized the movement on Twitter via the #DontGo hashtag as well as through a now-defunct website. Last year Gingrich and ASWF lobbied on behalf of the coal industry, advocating for tax breaks for coal companies. Such acts directly benefited Peabody Coal, the world's largest private-sector coal company, which has donated at least $500,000 to ASWF in 2008 and 2009.

---

hnson on Apr 7, 2012 at 12:15 pm

JR: Brad Johnson, one of the country’s best climate bloggers, is leaving the ThinkProgress team. He will be missed. His knowledge of and passion for the subject is unmatched. That’s why I reposted virtually everything he ever wrote. The good news is he’ll still be working on climate issues and still be a guest blogger for Climate Progress. We need his voice!

Here is his farewell <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/green/2012/04/06/459129/reporting-from-the-front-lines-of-the-climate-fight/">TP Green</a> blog post from yesterday. Please join me in wishing him the best of luck

Today is my last day at ThinkProgress, after four exciting years of reporting on the front lines of climate and energy politics. The experience has taken me from <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/green/2010/05/07/174666/biloxi-naacp-oilpocalyspe/">Biloxi</a> to <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/tag/copenhagen/">Copenhagen</a>, from <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/green/2011/06/03/236305/mitt-romney-reducing-global-warming-pollution-is-important/">New Hampshire</a> to <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/security/2010/12/05/133420/cancun-climate-talks/">Cancun</a>. I’ve gotten to publish guest bloggers from <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/green/2009/06/21/174359/kerry-climate-threat/">John Kerry</a> to <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2009/01/16/172553/van-jones-three-principles/">Van Jones</a>, from <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/green/2011/05/19/175031/alberta-wildfire-tar-sands/">Bill McKibben</a> to <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/green/2008/06/07/174049/wired-ignorant-libertarianism/">Paulina Borsook</a>. And I’ve been privileged to share my own perspective on this special moment in history.

Here are some of the highlights of that work:

Exposing The Koch Brothers. One of my proudest achievements was in starting the national conversation on the corrupting influence of the Koch brothers on our politics. I was the first ThinkProgress writer to start investigating the Kochs in 2008, exposing McCain spokeswoman Nancy Pfotenhauer and Americans For Prosperity president Tim Phillips as Koch operatives. I covered the extremist <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/green/2008/10/10/172409/extending-the-nightmare/">AFP summit</a> and AFP’s <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/green/2009/02/11/174247/koch-billionaire-ads/">goofy climate-denial ads</a>. When Lee Fang joined ThinkProgress in 2009, he took the lead in investigating how the Kochs manipulated <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2009/04/09/37433/lobbyists-planning-teaparties/">Tea Party activists</a> and <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/green/2009/07/30/174390/oil-funding-everyone/">DC politics</a> as the puppetmasters of American conservatism, kindling their fame. In 2010, I even hosted a conversation about the Kochs with AFP staffer <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/green/2010/10/25/174825/afp-climate-deniers/">Phil Kerpen</a> at the Center for American Progress.

Supporting Climate Hawks. The best moments of the climate fight have been interviewing <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/tag/climate-hawks/">climate hawks</a> such as <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/green/2009/09/27/174440/clinton-climate-initiative/">Ira Magaziner</a>, <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/green/2011/04/18/174996/dechristopher-chamber-crimes/">Tim DeChristopher</a>, <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/green/2012/03/26/432617/the-20-trillion-carbon-bubble-interview-with-john-fullerton-part-one/">John Fullerton</a>, <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/green/2011/03/10/174941/stern-interview-world-war-iii/">Nicholas Stern</a>, NOAA Administrator Dr. <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/green/2011/10/25/350682/jane-lubchenco-exclusive-we-dont-fully-understand-the-consequences-of-drilling-the-arctic/">Jane Lubchenco</a>, <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2011/04/29/162480/climate-science-tornadoes/">Kevin Trenberth</a>, <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/green/2011/09/20/324324/gavin-newsom-at-cgi-choose-between-fuels-from-hell-and-renewable-jobs-economy/">Gavin Newsom</a>, Bangladesh Environment Minister <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/green/2010/12/07/174861/bangladesh-vs-inhofe/">Hasan Mahmud</a>, Rep. <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/green/2010/03/10/173170/inslee-unleash-economy/">Jay Inslee</a>, <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/green/2011/09/15/320480/exclusive-look-behind-climate-reality-maggie-fox-on-glaciers-people-and-climate-action/">Maggie Fox</a>, Dr. <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/green/2010/12/04/174857/pachauri-ipcc-volunteers/">Rajendra Pachauri</a>, Dr. <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/green/2010/07/07/174738/runaway-climate-likely/">Markus Reichstein</a>, C40 Climate Leadership Group manager <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/green/2011/05/31/231675/c40-summit-megacity-mayors-leading-the-fight-for-sustainable-survival/">Simon Reddy</a>, African environmental activist <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/green/2010/12/08/174862/benin-crushed-climate/">Mawusé Hountondji</a>, and Tulane University student <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/green/2011/04/17/174993/power-shift-bp-flashmob/">Stephanie Stefanski</a>:

How Carbon Cash Polluted Climate Legislation. Unfortunately, the effort to achieve Barack Obama’s promised goal of strong climate change legislation was hobbled by the U.S. Senate from the start of his presidency, when enough Democrats voted with Republicans to preserve the power of the <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/green/2009/04/02/172693/senate-lies-green-economy/">filibuster</a> over any kind of clean-energy legislation whatsoever. Along with <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/green/2010/05/12/174670/kerry-lieberman/">detailed analysis</a> of the provisions of <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/green/2009/03/31/172686/green-economy-legislation/">several</a> <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/green/2010/03/18/174599/kerry-graham-lieberman-rumors/">iterations</a> of climate legislation, I investigated how the carbon pollution industry manipulated Congress through <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/green/2009/05/12/172770/dirty-energy-committee/">campaign contributions</a>, <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/green/2010/03/26/174601/aeeg-pollutocrats/">powerful</a> <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/green/2010/03/11/174589/negotiating-with-deniers/">lobbying</a>, paid-for <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/green/2009/11/09/174481/finance-witness-rehash/">witnesses</a>, and <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2009/08/05/54769/perriello-women-seniors/">dirty tricks</a>.

Sen. Scott Brown Begs David Koch For Money. At the public dedication of MIT’s David H. Koch Integrative Cancer Institute in 2011, Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA) effusively thanked conservative billionaire David Koch for supporting his election in 2010 and made a plea for help in his re-election campaign next year. David Koch directly gave the National Republican Senatorial Committee $30,400 in November 2009, and the Koch Industries PAC threw in $15,000 to NRSC plus $5,000 more directly to Brown right before Brown’s special election. In a conversation I recorded on camera, Brown thanked Koch and his wife Julia for their support, saying “<a href="http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2011/03/07/149006/scott-brown-david-koch-money/">I can certainly use it again</a>.”

The Billionaires Behind Drill-Baby-Drill. The <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/green/2008/08/01/174107/mccain-aswf-pioneers/">same old men</a> that propelled George W. Bush into office in 2000 and 2004 were behind Newt Gingrich’s multimillion-dollar front group, American Solutions for Winning the Future (ASWF), which capitalized on the energy crisis caused by the Bush presidency to promote a “Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less” campaign. I uncovered the <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/green/2008/07/29/174099/newt-aswf-billionaires/">seven right-wing billionaires</a>, headed by casino kingpin Sheldon Adelson, bankrolling this “non-partisan” organization:

brad johnson, ex of TPM, lots of good coverage

<a href="http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2012/04/07/460161/a-farewell-to-brad-reporting-from-the-front-lines-of-the-climate-fight/">http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2012/04/07/460161/a-farewell-to-brad-reporting-from-the-front-lines-of-the-climate-fight/</a>

nson on Jul 29, 2008 at 11:13 am

The same old men that propelled George W. Bush into office in 2000 and 2004 are behind Newt Gingrich’s multimillion-dollar front group, American Solutions for Winning the Future (ASWF). ASWF has capitalized on the energy crisis caused by the Bush presidency to promote a “Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less” campaign. Although the campaign’s priorities are just a rebranding of an oil-company agenda, ASWF’s well-funded drill-drill-drill message has achieved significant success, with <a href="http://www.americansolutions.com/Blog/Read.aspx?guid=7d925d3d-2bf1-4521-9b1b-20e72f8011d2">1.3 million people</a> signing their petition:

We, therefore, the undersigned citizens of the United States, petition the U.S. Congress to act immediately to lower gasoline prices (and diesel and other fuel prices) by authorizing the exploration of proven energy reserves to reduce our dependence on foreign energy sources from unstable countries.

</blockquote>

The Wonk Room has covered in depth how the “solutions” promoted by “environmentalist” Newt Gingrich: <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/wonkroom/tag/offshore-drilling/">increased offshore drilling</a>, <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/wonkroom/tag/oil-shale/">oil shale mining</a>, <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/wonkroom/2008/04/28/velshi-coal-solution/">coal-to-liquids</a>, and <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/wonkroom/2008/07/08/velshi-oil-sands/">tar sands</a> — would be ecological disasters without economic benefit, except for Big Oil executives and their even wealthier investors. That group has likewise prospered richly under Bush, while the rest of the nation falls into disrepair.

So who is behind ASWF? The key funder is right-wing casino kingpin Sheldon Adelson, who has pumped over $3 million into the organization since its beginning in 2006. Adelson is flanked by 56 other such donors who have given at least $10,000. Donors can give unlimited amounts to this 527 corporation, making it an ideal mechanism for the superrich to influence the presidential season. In the first of a Wonk Room series, we discuss the seven right-wing billionaires bankrolling this “non-partisan” organization:

<h2 style="text-align: left;">The ASWF Billionaires</h2></center>

<h2>SHELDON ADELSON</h2>

Net Worth: $26.0 billion

Donations to ASWF: $3,066,340

Bush Pioneer</div>

The Casino Kingpin

BACKGROUND: The <a href="http://www.forbes.com/lists/2006/54/biz_06rich400_Sheldon-Adelson_ER9O.html">third richest man in America</a>, Adelson made his first millions with the dot-com trade show Comdex, then purchased the Las Vegas Sands Hotel and Casino, tearing it down to construct the Venetian in 1999. Since he took the Sands Corporation public in 2004 and began establishing casinos for the Asian market in Macao, his wealth has ballooned at a rate of “<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/17/business/17adelson.html">almost $1 million an hour</a>” to $26 billion, mostly in China. A major GOP donor, Adelson sits on the board of the “conservative <a href="http://rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/7485.html">Republican Jewish Coalition</a>.” Armed with, in his language, a “<a href="http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/06/30/080630fa_fact_bruck?currentPage=all">big pair of brass monkeys</a>,” Adelson “is fiercely opposed to a two-state solution” in Israel. In addition to supplying over $3 million to ASWF, Adelson co-founded Freedom’s Watch, a “<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/30/us/politics/30watch.html?pagewanted=2">big neoconservative slush fund</a>” with ties to the American Enterprise Institute.

QUOTES:

“You know, I am the richest Jew in the world.” [New Yorker, <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/06/30/080630fa_fact_bruck?currentPage=all">6/30/08</a>]

“We’re the largest investor of any kind in the history of China.” [New Yorker, <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/06/30/080630fa_fact_bruck?currentPage=all">6/30/08</a>]

On AIPAC’s support for aid to Palestinians: “If someone is going to jump off a bridge, it is incumbent upon their friends to dissuade them.” [Jewish Telegraphic Agency, <a href="http://jta.org/cgi-bin/iowa/breaking/105347.html">11/15/07</a>]

“Why is it fair that I should be paying a higher percentage of taxes than anyone else?” [New Yorker, <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/06/30/080630fa_fact_bruck?currentPage=all">6/30/08</a></blockquote>

<h2>CARL LINDNER</h2>

Net Worth: $2.3 billion

Donations to ASWF: $650,000

Bush Pioneer</div>

The Banana Republican

BACKGROUND: Carl Lindner, Jr., “a Cincinnati businessman with international interests ranging from banking to bananas, is <a href="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/president/players/lindner.html">one of the nation’s wealthiest men</a>” and “gives heavily to political campaigns.” He built a dairy empire into the holding company American Financial Group, making <a href="http://www.forbes.com/lists/2006/54/biz_06rich400_Carl-Henry-Lindner-Jr-family_S22J.html">giant profits</a> off the <a href="http://law.jrank.org/pages/3505/Charles-Keating-Trials-1991-99.html">savings and loan industry</a>, <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/news/special_reports/coinop_congress/96mojo_400/lindner.html">junk bonds</a>, and Chiquita Brands International Inc., where he “oversaw the payment of roughly <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/07/02/mccain-fundraiser-oversaw_n_110354.html">$1.7 million to a Colombian paramilitary group</a>.” Using political connections in the 1990s, “Lindner opened European markets for Chiquita bananas,” but “it <a href="http://www.commoncause.org/site/pp.asp?c=dkLNK1MQIwG&b=196963">came at a high cost</a>: more expensive goods for American citizens; the threat of fewer jobs in industries that buy American-manufactured steel; and certain economic instability for Caribbean and African nations and its citizens.”

<h2>GEORGE ARGYROS</h2>

Net Worth: $1.7 billion

Donations to ASWF: $25,000

Bush Pioneer</div>

Mr. Ambassador

BACKGROUND: Making a fortune in <a href="http://www.eltoroairport.org/news/latimes51098-argyros.html">Orange County real estate</a>, Argyros diversified into interests such as the Seattle Mariners, the Apria home health-care giant, and the investment firm Westar Capital. Argyros’s real estate company, Arnel Management Co., <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2001/11/spain.html">gouged thousands of tenants out of millions of dollars</a> in security deposits and illegal fees. After raising $30 million for George W. Bush’s election, Argyros was appointed ambassador to Spain in 2001, despite <a href="http://www.ocweekly.com/features/features/lost-in-translation/20160/">not even speaking</a> the language.

QUOTES: On the unpopularity of the Bush administration in Spain: “It’s not always easy when people aren’t in agreement with all the questions, but they’ll never be in agreement with everything — not even my wife.” [El País, <a href="http://www.ocweekly.com/features/features/lost-in-translation/20160/">2/6/04</a>]

“It’s an especially opportune time for exporters, since the U.S. is essentially on sale because of the low dollar.” [Orange County Business Journal, 3/04]

“The bombings, which were tragic in Spain, on that Thursday of March 11, certainly had an effect on the elections in Spain. And that was the intended purpose of the bombings. The timing could not have been better as far as the Al Qaeda is concerned.” [Fox News, 6/23/05]

<h2>STANLEY STUB HUBBARD</h2>

Net Worth: $1.6 billion

Donations to ASWF: $100,000</div>

The TV Guy

BACKGROUND: The Hubbard Broadcasting Company, founded by Stanley E. Hubbard in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota, has become a television giant under the stewardship of his son, <a href="http://global.forbes.com/lists/2007/54/richlist07_Stanley-Stub-Hubbard_YQ5W.html">Stanley S.</a>, who spent the 1980s working to make digital satellite television a reality. He dominates Twin Cities <a href="http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2006/11/03/hatchreact/">politics and media</a>, calling up news anchors if he disagrees with their coverage, and his corporation, which owns the Reelz channel, is a consistent <a href="http://blog.aflcio.org/2008/03/09/union-members-tell-hubbard-broadcasting-stop-crushing-the-american-dream/">enemy of unionization</a>.

QUOTES:

“You know, blacks obviously are just as good as whites and they need to hear that . . . I think Jesse Jackson is the single worst enemy of the black people. If he didn’t have people thinking they weren’t good enough, he wouldn’t have any followers.” [Corporate Report Minnesota, 1/91]

“If I couldn’t work here, I would do anything. I would work at anything. My wife and I talk about it, if we couldn’t be here, we would be hired help. . . . I would be a butler and she would be a maid. We don’t have a problem, but so many do when it comes to finding good help. I think we would know how to treat people.” [Corporate Report Minnesota, 1/91]

“Well, I think the thing [my father] taught me and taught all of us, more than anything else, was integrity, that the number of the byword in this world is integrity. You tell the truth, you don’t lie, you don’t cheat.” [CNN, 6/24/96]

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</a>

<h2>PETER THIEL</h2>

Net Worth: $1.2 billion

Donations to ASWF: $100,000</div>

The Techno-Libertarian

BACKGROUND: A self-described “staunch libertarian” who made his first millions as a co-founder of Pay Pal, 40-year-old Stanford-educated Peter Thiel has become a hedge fund billionaire by <a href="http://www.1440wallstreet.com/index.php/site/comments/2007_man_of_the_year_peter_thiel/">betting on rising oil prices</a> and investing in dot-coms such as Facebook and LinkedIn. In the words of Wired journalist Alexis Madrigal, Thiel supports a “<a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=90664406">deep, crazy future</a>, where you would be able to do whatever you want — radical freedom — the Internet as tool to absolutely transform both your body and the government.”

QUOTES:

“In the culture, everything’s forced toward a shorter time horizon. As a libertarian, I tend to blame the government for a lot of this, because socialized welfare, socialized health care, and socialized retirement programs all encourage people not to think about the future.” [Reason Magazine, <a href="http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1568/is_1_40/ai_n25354620/print?tag=artBody;col1">5/1/08</a>]

</blockquote>

</a>

<h2>RICHARD T. ‘DICK’ FARMER</h2>

Net Worth: $1.0 billion

Donations to ASWF: $100,000

Bush Pioneer</div>

The Right-Wing Rag Man

BACKGROUND: Cincinnati’s other billionaire, Dick Farmer owns Cintas Corporation, the “<a href="http://www.forbes.com/lists/2007/10/07billionaires_Richard-Farmer_BUQ3.html">nation’s largest uniform rental company</a>.” With deep ties to Washington conservatives, Cintas has successfully fought <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A31714-2004May16.html">environmental</a> and <a href="http://www.cintasexposed.org/">labor regulations</a> for its industrial laundries. However, its continued <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/11/business/11cintas.html">union-busting</a>, <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/06/13/BA8F118ET1.DTL">labor abuses</a> and even postal fraud are costing the corporation <a href="http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2006/1211/120_print.html">millions in fees</a>. In the 2000 election cycle, “Farmer gave <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/news/special_reports/mojo_400/15_farmer.html">$721,000 to the Republicans</a>, making him the second-largest individual donor to the GOP.”

QUOTES:

“I don’t expect any special treatment when I give my money. All I want is decent government.” [Cincinnati Enquirer, <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/news/special_reports/mojo_400/15_farmer.html">1997</a>]

“If you think I’m giving money to get access to [President Bush], you’re crazy. I’m just trying to get the right guy elected. That’s all I care about.” [Washington Post, <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A31714-2004May16.html">3/17/04</a>]</blockquote>

<h2>ROGER MILLIKEN</h2>

Net Worth: $1.0 billion

Donations to ASWF: $10,000

GOPAC</div>

The Globalist Protectionist

<h1 class="asset-name" style="">Gingrich’s American Solutions Reborn as Nonprofit</h1>

<div class="asset-meta"> By <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org">Robert Maguire and Viveca Novak</a> on March 15, 2013 3:03 PM

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<div>When Newt Gingrich’s fundraising <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/527s/527cmtes.php?level=C&cycle=2010">powerhouse</a>, American Solutions for Winning the Future, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.publicintegrity.org/2011/08/26/5994/527-group-waned-after-gingrich-campaign-imploded-june">shut down</a> in 2011, it didn't disappear. It turns out that it just went through metamorphosis.

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<div>Gingrich -- who speaks at CPAC tomorrow morning -- left American Solutions to <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/pres12/summary.php">run for president</a>, and its fundraising dried up. Apparently the group decided that the time was ripe for a <a target="_blank" href="http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0511/54844.html">rechristening</a> as a "social welfare" group, or 501(c)(4), under the tax code, according to reports to the IRS that were recently released. The new group would not have to file regular, timely reports detailing its receipts and expenditures, as it did in its incarnation as a 527 organization. In fact, it would not have to disclose its donors at all.  </div>

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<div>The new social welfare group has precisely the same mission as the old 527. It claims to be a "tri-partisan citizen action network creating the next generation of solutions that will ensure that the United States remains the safest, most free and prosperous country in the world." ("[M]ost free" was “<a target="_blank" href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/619317-american-solutions-for-winning-the-future-527-2011.html">freest</a>” on the old group's forms.)

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<div>But if the 527 was having trouble raising money without Gingrich, there’s no indication that the new version of the group is doing any better. It raised just $500,000 in 2011, spending roughly $106,000. However, since social welfare organizations report their financial information almost a year after the spending actually takes place, the public will probably have to wait until the fall of this year to learn how the new group did in 2012.

The <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/527s/527cmtedetail.php?ein=205457079&cycle=2010">old American Solutions</a> raised more than $50 million in four years, much of which went to pay Gingrich's travel expenses and otherwise boost his political profile.

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<div>Gingrich has always had a penchant for war metaphors, and the American Solutions’ spartan <a target="_blank" href="http://americansolutions.com/">website</a> carries on in that vein. It invokes language about  battle plans, foot soldiers, kicking butt and taking no prisoners.  </div>

But the site doesn’t do much to convince anyone the group is dedicated to social welfare, as the law says it must be in order to claim 501(c)(4) status. Not only has its mission remained unchanged, but the very first sentence at the top of the American Solutions page warns that "failure of conservatives to learn from election failures can be hazardous to our nation's health...and our children's wealth!”  For a group that is not supposed to have politics as its primary purpose, the words suggest that American Solutions has a strong political component. 

Many 501(c)(4) groups were actively involved in the 2012 elections, directly supporting or attacking candidates through independent expenditures. "Shadow money" groups -- most of them having the same tax status as American Solutions -- reported spending <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/summ.php?cycle=2012&chrt=V&disp=O&type=U">more than $300 million </a>overall.

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In transitioning to its new format, the organization changed leadership. Gregg Phipps, the custodian of records for the similarly-named super PAC <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/detail.php?cmte=C00507525&cycle=2012">Winning Our Future</a>, an ostensibly independent group created to promote Gingirch's presidential candidacy in the 2012 election, has stepped in to lead the 501(c)(4), according to the latter <a target="_blank" href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/619318-american-solutions-for-winning-the-future-501-c.html#document/p1/a95718">group's filing</a>. Joe Gaylord, a political consultant and longtime top Gingrich lieutenant who had been chairman of the old American Solutions, is a board member.

Casino mogul Sheldon Adelson, an ardent Gingrich supporter, was the biggest contributor to American Solutions when it was a 527, giving it $7 million. Likewise, Adelson and his wife Miriam were by far the biggest donors to Winning Our Future, the super PAC, in the 2012 cycle, <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/contrib.php?cmte=C00507525&cycle=2012">kicking in $16 million</a> on their way to giving close to $100 million to outside spending groups leading up to the election.

We won't know how much Adelson might be contributing to the reborn group, since it won't have to identify its donors.

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<li class="entry-tag"><a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/MT/mt-search.cgi?blog_id=8&tag=American%20Solutions&limit=20&IncludeBlogs=8" rel="tag">American Solutions</a>,</li>

<li class="entry-tag"><a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/MT/mt-search.cgi?blog_id=8&tag=American%20solutions%20for%20winning%20the%20future&limit=20&IncludeBlogs=8" rel="tag">American solutions for winning the future</a>,</li>

<li class="entry-tag"><a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/MT/mt-search.cgi?blog_id=8&tag=gregg%20phipps&limit=20&IncludeBlogs=8" rel="tag">gregg phipps</a>,</li>

<li class="entry-tag"><a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/MT/mt-search.cgi?blog_id=8&tag=joe%20gaylord&limit=20&IncludeBlogs=8" rel="tag">joe gaylord</a>,</li>

<li class="entry-tag"><a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/MT/mt-search.cgi?blog_id=8&tag=miriam%20adelson&limit=20&IncludeBlogs=8" rel="tag">miriam adelson</a>,</li>

<li class="entry-tag"><a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/MT/mt-search.cgi?blog_id=8&tag=Newt%20Gingrich&limit=20&IncludeBlogs=8" rel="tag">Newt Gingrich</a>,</li>

<li class="entry-tag"><a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/MT/mt-search.cgi?blog_id=8&tag=robert%20maguire&limit=20&IncludeBlogs=8" rel="tag">robert maguire</a>,</li>

<li class="entry-tag"><a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/MT/mt-search.cgi?blog_id=8&tag=shadow%20money%20trail&limit=20&IncludeBlogs=8" rel="tag">shadow money trail</a>,</li>

<li class="entry-tag"><a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/MT/mt-search.cgi?blog_id=8&tag=sheldon%20adelson&limit=20&IncludeBlogs=8" rel="tag">sheldon adelson</a>,</li>

<li class="entry-tag"><a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/MT/mt-search.cgi?blog_id=8&tag=viveca%20novak&limit=20&IncludeBlogs=8" rel="tag">viveca novak</a>,</li>

<li class="entry-tag"><a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/MT/mt-search.cgi?blog_id=8&tag=winning%20our%20future&limit=20&IncludeBlogs=8" rel="tag">winning our future</a></li>

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BACKGROUND: Milliken is a “<a href="http://www.forbes.com/lists/2008/10/billionaires08_Roger-Milliken_YHKA.html=RM">billionaire</a> <a href="http://www.knowitall.org/legacy/laureates/Roger%20Milliken%20.html">textile magnate</a> from South Carolina, founding member of the conservative movement, and patron of right-wing causes for almost 50 years” — from William F. Buckley and Barry Goldwater to Richard Nixon and Newt Gingrich. Fiercely anti-union and proud of his company’s “<a href="http://www.milliken.com/hr/wwwmlkn.nsf/WebAllDocs/72007C26ED1717C685256BE9005984F4?OpenDocument">culture of secrecy</a>,” Milliken also is famously protectionist. In 1994, Milliken funneled over <a href="http://www.thenation.com/doc/19991122/paulsen">$2 million to Pat Buchanan</a> to fight the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade and aid his 1996 run. However, as Ryan Lizza wrote in the New Republic, “Although Milliken is the chairman of the Crafted With Pride in the USA Council, the union and business coalition that has spent millions on ads suggesting that imports are hurting the economy, for decades now he has <a href="http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=3982">bought only foreign-made machinery</a> to produce his American textiles.”

Am Solutions for Winning the Future

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