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</b></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b>Pharmaceutical industry likely to shatter its lobbying record as it works to shape Democrats’ spending bill</b></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b>A years-long battle over prescription drug prices reaches its apex as the industry spends tens of millions to alter the plan.</b></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">By Yeganeh Torbati and Jonathan O'Connell&nbsp;</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b>November 5, 2021&nbsp;</b></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b>In September, Rep. Andy Kim (D-N.J.) began noticing mailers arriving at homes across his district, including his own and that of his parents, with an alarming message. The mailers alleged that Kim was intent on preventing Medicare patients from getting the drugs they needed.</b></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">That was news to Kim, who has made lowering seniors’ health-care costs and expanding their access to Medicare a signature issue. The mailer, along with a slew of digital ads and text messages, was sponsored by a group called A Healthy Future, LLC, and claimed that Kim and other New Jersey Democrats wanted to cut off “access to lifesaving medicines” and shift Medicare money into other social safety-net programs.</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Soon after the mailers landed in New Jersey mailboxes, Kim’s office began receiving calls from puzzled constituents.</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b>“I’ve been attacked before, but I’ve never seen one as egregious as this one in terms of ‘Andy Kim’s trying to cut Medicare</b>,’” Kim said. “That’s just so absurd, and I actually think that has affected how the district has responded.”</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Watershed or watered down? Democrats’ drug pricing deal leaves many unsatisfied.</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Kim was certain the attacks were coming from the pharmaceutical industry, but it was hard for him to be sure. A Healthy Future’s website includes no contact information, and a message to its Facebook page went unanswered. But a nonprofit group called&nbsp;<b>A Public Voice listed A Healthy Future&nbsp;</b>as being under its control in its 2018 and 2019 tax filings and described the LLC’s primary activity as “supporting a vibrant health care system.”</span></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</span></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">A Healthy Future and its anonymous funders, it turned out, had fought previous efforts in Washington to reduce the cost of prescription drugs. According to Google digital ad data, A Healthy Future also paid for ads in fall 2020 arguing against a Trump administration attempt to address prescription drug costs.</span></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Brian Newell, a spokesman for PhRMA, the pharmaceutical industry’s chief lobbying arm, when asked whether the organization had ever had any financial or other relationship with A Healthy Future or A Public Voice, said: “Like most industries and associations, PhRMA engages with groups and organizations that have a wide array of opinions and priorities, including those who do not want the government to come between patients and their medicines.” DENIAL NON-DENIAL ~ WATERGATE b&wOODWARD</span></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The ads targeting Kim and others were one strand of a massive, months-long advertising, lobbying and political donation blitz undertaken by the pharmaceutical industry and its allies, perhaps the strongest of all corporate voices in Washington, to kill a Democratic proposal to lower the cost of prescription drugs by empowering the federal government to negotiate their prices.</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b>That provision to control drug prices became a focal point of the $1.75 trillion spending package Democrats are trying to move through Washington.</b>&nbsp;The measure was in, then out, then watered down, going through a fierce ping-pong of backroom negotiations that is likely to continue once the Senate considers the bill in coming weeks.</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</span></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Pharmaceutical industry lobbyists defended their effort, alleging that the Democrats’ proposal would stifle research. They also said many other groups poured millions of dollars into the other side of the debate.</span></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">“As we’ve said repeatedly, our advocacy has focused on delivering solutions that will lower what patients pay out of pocket for prescription medicines, while opposing reforms that would ultimately leave patients trapped in a broken insurance system, restrict access to lifesaving medicines, and destroy the development of new treatments,” Newell said.</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The influence campaign at times worked through groups whose funding sources are hidden. At least 20 different advertisements were run on television and online across the country. The advertisements were augmented by a campaign by<b>&nbsp;PhRMA, which spent nearly $23 million on lobbying through the first nine months of 2021, according to data compiled by OpenSecrets, which tracks corporate spending and political influence. That puts PhRMA on track this year to beat its own spending recording of $29.3 million in 2019.</b></span></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“The intensity right now of&nbsp;<b>K Street</b>&nbsp;and the deployment of lobbying and dark money is extraordinary,” said Nick Penniman, chief executive of Issue One, which advocates for transparency in Washington. “It is a frenzied state right now.”</span></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The intense effort is reflective of just how much many companies have at stake in the Democrats’ evolving tax-and-spending bill. This article, which is based on interviews, documents and lobbying and ad spending data, offers a window into the efforts one sector took to shape the bill, much of which was crafted in secret.</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The drug pricing provision agreed to by House Democrats this week does not go as far as many Democrats including Kim had hoped. But it still delivers reforms that could cut costs for millions of Americans by<b>&nbsp;capping out-of-pocket spending for seniors at $2,000 a year, capping insulin costs, preventing price increases that exceed the rate of inflation, and allowing Medicare to begin negotiating prices for some drugs.</b></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">“What we’re trying to do is defying one of the most powerful special-interest lobby groups in Washington, D.C.,” Kim said. “The fact that we were able to get something that will meaningfully help people was important.”</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Other industries, including tobacco and electric vehicles, have worked aggressively to pare down or reshape parts of the bill in their favor, too. But the effort to fight back on drug-price increases stands out because of the enormous scope of the campaign waged by the pharmaceutical industry and its allies, which have derailed similar proposals for the past two decades, despite how popular many of the changes are with voters, according to polling data.</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“They’re the Goliath,” said Sheila Krumholz, executive director of OpenSecrets. She said that aside from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, of which pharmaceutical firms are members, the industry had spent more than any other by a wide margin so far this year, deploying so many lobbyists — 1,600 — that they outnumber members of Congress 3 to 1.</span></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</span></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The industry made $90.6 million of political contributions during the 2020 election cycle, according to OpenSecrets,<b>&nbsp;61 percent of that to Democratic candidates and groups.</b></span></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b>The industry’s focus on drug pricing has increased dramatically in recent years as the issue became more top-of-mind for voters. In 2012, lobbyists registered to work on the issue of “drug prices” 69 times for 20 different clients. In 2021 so far, they have filed to lobby on the issue 1,192 times for 242 different clients</b>, according to OpenSecrets data.</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">While the industry lobbies on many different issues in a given year, the Democratic bill H.R. 3 that would have given the government more expansive power to negotiate drug prices was the bill PhRMA cited most often for lobbying; the bill appeared in its reports 35 times so far this year,</span>&nbsp;OpenSecrets found.</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Research by Patients for Affordable Drugs Now, which advocates for lower prices, found that PhRMA and its allies spent at least $26.5 million on television and digital ads attacking proposals on price negotiations between July and early November.&nbsp;</span><b style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">That included $2.7 million spent by PhRMA, but also $4.5 million in ads by the </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">60 Plus Association,</span></b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">&nbsp;which bills itself as a conservative version of AARP and<b style="">&nbsp;did not respond to a request for comment.</b></span></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Also lining up behind the effort was th<b>e American Action Network,&nbsp;</b>a major conservative nonprofit advocacy group, with $7.9 million in ads. PhRMA gave the American Action Network $4.5 million in 2019, along with $75,000 to the 60 Plus Association, according to tax filings.</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><b>Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) holds one of Congress’s most competitive seats,</b>&nbsp;having wrested it from Republican control in 2018 and narrowly winning reelection in 2020. She shaped her campaign around a platform of tackling rising health-care costs and has maintained focus on that issue, inviting a Type 1 diabetes patient with sky-high insulin costs to be her guest at the 2020 State of the Union address.</span></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">According to data tracked by Patients for Affordable Drugs Now, the American Action Network funded an ad in Slotkin’s district starting in August that accuses Democrats of pushing a&nbsp;<b>“socialist&nbsp;</b>health-care plan to control what medicines you can get.”</span></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">
</span></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Her office is now accustomed to fielding calls from constituents who see ads like that one on television, Slotkin said.</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">“We can really tell the first couple of days those ads run because that’s when we’ll see a spike in the number of people calling our office,” she said. “We literally write a response that our staff can use to forcefully push back and try to contradict the purposeful misinformation.”</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b>
</b></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b>Asked about the accuracy of the advertisement targeting Slotkin, American Action Network spokesman Calvin Moore reiterated its message, saying such proposals amount to “socialist price controls” that could limit development of new prescription drugs. “Stifling innovation to this degree has profound consequences,”</b>&nbsp;Moore said.</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Many of the backers of these efforts are difficult to identify because of rules allowing anonymous funding of political groups. A Public Voice, which described itself on its 2018 and 2019 tax forms as the “direct controlling entity” of&nbsp;<b>A Healthy Future, is based in Thornville, Ohio.&nbsp;</b>It listed nearly $5 million in contributions in 2018, though it declined to name its donors, and spent the money on consulting, marketing and funding conservative causes across the country. That year, its donations included $240,000 to&nbsp;<b>Fund for a Working Congress, a political action committee that supported Republican candidates, and $370,000 to Ohio First PAC, which supported a challenge by Republican James B. Renacci against Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio).</b></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">A voice mail left at a number listed on tax filings for A Public Voice received no response. Documents filed with the state of Ohio show that the e<b>ntity originally formed in 2012 as Protect Your Vote Ohio and show its registered agents as lawyers with Langdon Law, a Cincinnati-area law firm known as a nexus for “dark money” groups on the right.</b></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">David Langdon of Langdon Law did not respond to an email and voice mail requesting comment.</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The approximately 20 digital and television video ads compiled by Patients for Affordable Drugs Now and reviewed by The Washington Post warned viewers about an array of crises that could befall them should Congress allow Medicare to negotiate prices for drugs, among them that the industry could no longer develop new medications, that the government would limit access to prescriptions, that Medicare would be cut or that millions of jobs would be lost.</span></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</span></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“They call it negotiation, but it really means government decides what medicines I can get,” says “Sue,” a<b>&nbsp;woman labeled in one ad as a diabetic from Ohio.</b></span></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">
</span></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">“Imagine a future in which a vaccine for covid-19 was never discovered,” says a voice in another spot.</span></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b>Pro-industry advertising ran during opinion shows on Fox News, CNN and MSNBC, as well as during college football games, according to the advertising data firm iSpot</b>.tv.</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Once the drug cost proposal was added to President Biden’s larger legislative package, some advertising took direct aim at Democrats’ spending priorities. One claimed the proposal called for “gutting Medicare” in exchange for “pie-in-the-sky special-interest kickbacks.” It depicts House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) riding atop an animated unicorn, she and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) sliding down rainbows, and Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) at a dessert buffet. Another depicts the proposal as a shell game that “loots Medicare.”</span></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Jayapal says Democrats almost have the votes to pass Build Back Better</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) described her frustration with lengthy negotiations on the Build Back Better act in an interview with The Washington Post Nov. 5. (Zach Purser Brown/The Washington Post)</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b>Previous presidents, including Barack Obama and Donald Trump, vowed to pass bills to lower prescription drug costs, only to see their efforts die on Capitol Hill, in part because of a relentless lobbying blitz.</b></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><b>When Montana’s Brian Schweitzer</b>&nbsp;ran for Senate in 1999, he elevated his long-shot campaign by busing senior citizens to Canada so they could illegally buy drugs at lower prices.</span></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</span></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">He got his first taste of the pharmaceutical lobby shortly afterward, when he said television ads started attacking him for trusting medicines made in other countries. He said in his case, the attacks helped make his political career. “Virtually everybody in America has a friend or family member who is taking that expensive medicine,” he said.</span></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</span></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><b>Rep. Susan Wild (D-Pa.)</b>&nbsp;holds another<b>&nbsp;competitive seat, representing an Allentown, Pa.</b>, district that narrowly favored Biden in the 2020 election. She said that as she began supporting drug price reform early in her career, lobbyists began relentlessly calling her office, even though she had vowed not to take corporate PAC donations.</span></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</span></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“If they’re calling me nonstop, imagine what they’re doing to those who actually do take their money,” she said.</span></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">During the most recent negotiations, Wild began receiving&nbsp;<b>automated emails from constituents&nbsp;</b>worried they wouldn’t be able to get their medicines if the government could negotiate prices.&nbsp;<b>But on Sunday she joined 14 colleagues from other competitive districts, including Kim and Slotkin, to urge Democratic leadership to deliver on their promise to reduce drug prices.</b></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">She said she knows what comes next.</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">“I am quite certain that because I have been so outspoken on this issue, that I am going to face an attack ad,” Wild said. “<b>I have an idea for what it could be, but I don’t want to tell you in case they see it. I don’t want to give them any ideas.”</b></div></div></div><p><span style="color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: georgia, " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" /></p><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">----</font></div></div><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">=</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/60_Plus_Association">https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/60_Plus_Association</a></font></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit;"><font face="Times New Roman" style="" size="4"><b style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">60 Plus Association</b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">&nbsp;describes itself as "a non-partisan seniors advocacy group with a free enterprise, less government, less taxes approach to seniors issues" and lists ending the </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">federal estate tax and saving <b>Social Security </b>for the young as its top priorities.</span><sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/60_Plus_Association#cite_note-1" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[1]</a></sup><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">&nbsp;It was founded in 1992 and is registered as a&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/501(c)(4)" title="501(c)(4)" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">501(c)(4)</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">&nbsp;non-profit with the Internal Revenue Service.</span><sup id="cite_ref-GuideStar2006_2-0" class="reference" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/60_Plus_Association#cite_note-GuideStar2006-2" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[2]</a></sup><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">&nbsp;Between 2010 and 2012, it received more than $42 million from organizations, most of which are </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">affiliated with the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Koch_brothers" title="Koch brothers" class="mw-redirect" 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;">Koch brothers</a>, including&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Freedom_Partners" title="Freedom Partners" 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;">Freedom Partners</a>&nbsp;</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">and&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/American_Encore" title="American Encore" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">American Encore</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">.</span><sup id="cite_ref-Conservative_Transparency_3-0" class="reference" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/60_Plus_Association#cite_note-Conservative_Transparency-3" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[3]</a></sup></font></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><div id="toc" class="toc" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249); padding: 7px; display: table; zoom: 1;"><div id="toctitle" style="direction: ltr; text-align: center;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><ul style="list-style-type: none; margin: 0.3em 0px 0.5em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: none;"><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-1" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/60_Plus_Association#F.E.C.Fines_60_Plus_Association" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.5em;">1</span><span class="toctext" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit;">F.E.C. Fines 60 Plus Association</span></font></a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-2" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/60_Plus_Association#Ties_to_the_Koch_Brothers" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.5em;">2</span><span class="toctext" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit;">Ties to the Koch Brothers</span></font></a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-3" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/60_Plus_Association#2014_Election_Activity" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.5em;">3</span><span class="toctext" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit;">2014 Election Activity</span></font></a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-4" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/60_Plus_Association#Influencing_the_2012_Election" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.5em;">4</span><span class="toctext" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit;">Influencing the 2012 Election</span></font></a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-5" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/60_Plus_Association#Finances" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.5em;">5</span><span class="toctext" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit;">Finances</span></font></a><ul style="list-style-type: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 2em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: none;"><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-6" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/60_Plus_Association#Funding_Sources" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.5em;">5.1</span><span class="toctext" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit;">Funding Sources</span></font></a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-7" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/60_Plus_Association#Budget" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.5em;">5.2</span><span class="toctext" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit;">Budget</span></font></a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-8" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/60_Plus_Association#Pharmaceutical_Industry_Money" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.5em;">5.3</span><span class="toctext" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit;">Pharmaceutical Industry Money</span></font></a></li></ul></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-9" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/60_Plus_Association#Opposing_2010_Healthcare_Reform" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.5em;">6</span><span class="toctext" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit;">Opposing 2010 Healthcare Reform</span></font></a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-10" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/60_Plus_Association#Positions_on_Energy_and_the_Environment" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.5em;">7</span><span class="toctext" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit;">Positions on Energy and the Environment</span></font></a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-11" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/60_Plus_Association#Response_to_Hurricane_Katrina" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.5em;">8</span><span class="toctext" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit;">Response to Hurricane Katrina</span></font></a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-12" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/60_Plus_Association#Ties_to_Right-Wing_Direct_Mail_Firm" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.5em;">9</span><span class="toctext" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit;">Ties to Right-Wing Direct Mail Firm</span></font></a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-13" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/60_Plus_Association#Public_Relations" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.5em;">10</span><span class="toctext" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit;">Public Relations</span></font></a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-14" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/60_Plus_Association#Lobbying_and_Political_Donations" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.5em;">11</span><span class="toctext" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit;">Lobbying and Political Donations</span></font></a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-15" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/60_Plus_Association#Personnel" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.5em;">12</span><span class="toctext" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit;">Personnel</span></font></a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-16" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/60_Plus_Association#Contact_Information" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.5em;">13</span><span class="toctext" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit;">Contact Information</span></font></a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-17" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/60_Plus_Association#Articles_and_Resources" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.5em;">14</span><span class="toctext" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit;">Articles and Resources</span></font></a><ul style="list-style-type: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 2em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: none;"><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-18" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/60_Plus_Association#Related_SourceWatch_articles" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.5em;">14.1</span><span class="toctext" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit;">Related SourceWatch articles</span></font></a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-19" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/60_Plus_Association#References" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.5em;">14.2</span><span class="toctext" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit;">References</span></font></a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-20" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/60_Plus_Association#External_Resources" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.5em;">14.3</span><span class="toctext" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit;">External Resources</span></font></a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-21" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/60_Plus_Association#External_Articles" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.5em;">14.4</span><span class="toctext" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit;">External Articles</span></font></a></li></ul></li></ul></div><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><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(170, 170, 170); line-height: 1.3;"><span class="mw-headline" id="F.E.C.Fines_60_Plus_Association"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">F.E.C. Fines 60 Plus Association</font></span></h2><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>The F.E.C. fined the 60 Plus Association for breaking federal disclosure rules</b>.<sup id="cite_ref-nyt_4-0" class="reference" style="line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/60_Plus_Association#cite_note-nyt-4" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[4]</a></sup>&nbsp;According to the&nbsp;<i>New York Times</i>,</font></p><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;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">"The F.E.C. found that&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Sean_Noble" title="Sean Noble" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Sean Noble</a>, a political consultant then working with the Kochs, had closely directed the spending of the grants by the other organizations, even picking the races where ads were to be run. That violated federal rules requiring organizations to identity the source of any money earmarked for a political expenditure, the commission determined."<sup id="cite_ref-nyt_4-1" class="reference" style="line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/60_Plus_Association#cite_note-nyt-4" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[4]</a></sup></font></dd></dl><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">The Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics, the organization that filed the complaint which resulted in the fine, reported that the 60 Plus Association will have to pay $50,000 in penalties.<sup id="cite_ref-5" class="reference" style="line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/60_Plus_Association#cite_note-5" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[5]</a></sup>&nbsp;The other "former" Koch groups fined are&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Americans_for_Job_Security" title="Americans for Job Security" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Americans for Job Security</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/American_Future_Fund" title="American Future Fund" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">American Future Fund</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-nyt_4-2" class="reference" style="line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/60_Plus_Association#cite_note-nyt-4" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[4]</a></sup></font></p><table style="vertical-align: top; background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249); border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170);"><tbody><tr><th style="background: rgb(222, 21, 13); border: 1px solid rgb(198, 19, 12); text-align: left; padding: 0.2em 0.4em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Koch Wiki</font></th></tr><tr><td style=""><div style="padding: 2px 5px;"><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Koch_brothers" title="Koch brothers" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Koch brothers</a>&nbsp;--&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/David_H.Koch" title="David H. Koch" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">David</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Charles_G.Koch" title="Charles G. Koch" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Charles</a>&nbsp;-- are the right-wing billionaire co-owners of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Koch_Industries" title="Koch Industries" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Koch Industries</a>. As two of the richest people in the world, they are key funders of the right-wing infrastructure, including the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/American_Legislative_Exchange_Council" title="American Legislative Exchange Council" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">American Legislative Exchange Council</a>&nbsp;(ALEC) and the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/State_Policy_Network" title="State Policy Network" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">State Policy Network</a>&nbsp;(SPN). In SourceWatch, key articles on the Kochs include:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Koch_Brothers" title="Koch Brothers" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Koch Brothers</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Koch_Industries" title="Koch Industries" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Koch Industries</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Americans_for_Prosperity" title="Americans for Prosperity" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Americans for Prosperity</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/American_Encore" title="American Encore" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">American Encore</a>, and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Freedom_Partners" title="Freedom Partners" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Freedom Partners</a>.</font></p></div></td></tr></tbody></table><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(170, 170, 170); line-height: 1.3;"><span class="mw-headline" id="Ties_to_the_Koch_Brothers"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Ties to the Koch Brothers</font></span></h2><div class="thumb tright" style="clear: right; float: right; margin: 0.5em 0px 1.3em 1.4em; width: auto; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="thumbinner" style="min-width: 100px; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); padding: 3px; background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249); text-align: center; overflow: hidden; width: 502px;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/File:A_Maze_of_Money.png" class="image" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><img alt="" src="https://www.sourcewatch.org/images/thumb/5/5d/A_Maze_of_Money.png/500px-A_Maze_of_Money.png" width="500" height="458" class="thumbimage" srcset="/images/thumb/5/5d/A_Maze_of_Money.png/750px-A_Maze_of_Money.png 1.5x, /images/thumb/5/5d/A_Maze_of_Money.png/1000px-A_Maze_of_Money.png 2x" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); vertical-align: middle;" /></font></a><div class="thumbcaption" style="border: none; line-height: 1.4em; padding: 3px; text-align: left;"><div class="magnify" style="float: right; margin-left: 3px; margin-right: 0px;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/File:A_Maze_of_Money.png" class="internal" title="Enlarge" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent), url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="version" d="D" encoding="encoding" utf-8="UTF-8" standalone="standalone" no="no" f="F" e="E" a="A" csvg="Csvg" http="http" fwww.w3.org="Fwww.w3.org" f2000="F2000" fsvg="Fsvg" viewbox="viewBox" width="width" height="height" cg="Cg" id="id" magnify-clip="magnify-clip" fill="fill" fff="fff" stroke="stroke" cpath="Cpath" bigbox="bigbox" m1.509="M1.509" h10.99v7.919h-10.99z="h10.99v7.919h-10.99z" smallbox="smallbox" m-1.499="M-1.499" h5.943v4.904h-5.943z="h5.943v4.904h-5.943z" fg="Fg" display="display" block="block" text-indent="text-indent" px="px" white-space="white-space" nowrap="nowrap" overflow="overflow" hidden="hidden" user-select="user-select" none="none" xmlns="xmlns" xmlns:data="data" /></div><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/File:A_Maze_of_Money.png" class="internal" title="Enlarge" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent), url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="version" d="D" encoding="encoding" utf-8="UTF-8" standalone="standalone" no="no" f="F" e="E" a="A" csvg="Csvg" http="http" fwww.w3.org="Fwww.w3.org" f2000="F2000" fsvg="Fsvg" viewbox="viewBox" width="width" height="height" cg="Cg" id="id" magnify-clip="magnify-clip" fill="fill" fff="fff" stroke="stroke" cpath="Cpath" bigbox="bigbox" m1.509="M1.509" h10.99v7.919h-10.99z="h10.99v7.919h-10.99z" smallbox="smallbox" m-1.499="M-1.499" h5.943v4.904h-5.943z="h5.943v4.904h-5.943z" fg="Fg" display="display" block="block" text-indent="text-indent" px="px" white-space="white-space" nowrap="nowrap" overflow="overflow" hidden="hidden" user-select="user-select" none="none" xmlns="xmlns" xmlns:data="data"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Koch network was one of the biggest political operations in 2012 and worked largely outside the campaign finance system, raising at least $407 million.&nbsp;<i>Source: Robert Maguire with the Center for Responsive Politics.</i></font></a></div></div></div><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/File:A_Maze_of_Money.png" class="internal" title="Enlarge" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent), url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="version" d="D" encoding="encoding" utf-8="UTF-8" standalone="standalone" no="no" f="F" e="E" a="A" csvg="Csvg" http="http" fwww.w3.org="Fwww.w3.org" f2000="F2000" fsvg="Fsvg" viewbox="viewBox" width="width" height="height" cg="Cg" id="id" magnify-clip="magnify-clip" fill="fill" fff="fff" stroke="stroke" cpath="Cpath" bigbox="bigbox" m1.509="M1.509" h10.99v7.919h-10.99z="h10.99v7.919h-10.99z" smallbox="smallbox" m-1.499="M-1.499" h5.943v4.904h-5.943z="h5.943v4.904h-5.943z" fg="Fg" display="display" block="block" text-indent="text-indent" px="px" white-space="white-space" nowrap="nowrap" overflow="overflow" hidden="hidden" user-select="user-select" none="none" xmlns="xmlns" xmlns:data="data"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">As a&nbsp;</font></a><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/501(c)(4)" title="501(c)(4)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">501(c)(4)</a>&nbsp;nonprofit, the 60 Plus Association is not required to disclose its donors. However, 60 Plus has received funding from organizations with links to the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Koch_brothers" title="Koch brothers" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Koch brothers</a>. According to its own tax filings,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Freedom_Partners" title="Freedom Partners" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Freedom Partners</a>&nbsp;reported giving $15.7 million to 60 Plus in 2012. The Koch-linked organization&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/American_Encore" title="American Encore" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">American Encore</a>&nbsp;(formerly known as the Center to Protect Patient Rights) reported giving $2,6 million to 60 Plus in 2012, $2.4 million in 2011 and $9 million in 2010.<sup id="cite_ref-Conservative_Transparency_3-1" class="reference" style="line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/60_Plus_Association#cite_note-Conservative_Transparency-3" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[3]</a></sup></font></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">The&nbsp;<i>New York Times</i>&nbsp;reported on July 13, 2016 that the Koch brothers have cut ties with the 60 Plus Association.<sup id="cite_ref-nyt_4-3" class="reference" style="line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/60_Plus_Association#cite_note-nyt-4" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[4]</a></sup></font></p><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(170, 170, 170); line-height: 1.3;"><span class="mw-headline" id="2014_Election_Activity"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">2014 Election Activity</font></span></h2><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
Despite 60 Plus receiving funding from the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Koch_brothers" title="Koch brothers" class="mw-redirect" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Koch brothers</a>, an anonymous official with the Koch-funded&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Freedom_Partners" title="Freedom Partners" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Freedom Partners</a>&nbsp;group admitted to&nbsp;<i style="">Politico</i>&nbsp;that they were not informed about the ad and were frustrated by it.<sup id="cite_ref-8" class="reference" style="line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/60_Plus_Association#cite_note-8" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[8]</a></sup>In April 2014, the 60 Plus Association made a $1.6 million TV and radio ad purchase attacking seven senators on the Senate Banking Committee for supporting a measure to scrap Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac, including&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Joe_Manchin&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Joe Manchin (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Joe Manchin</a>&nbsp;(D-WV),&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Mark_Warner" title="Mark Warner" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Mark Warner</a>&nbsp;(D-VA),&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Kay_Hagan" title="Kay Hagan" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Kay Hagan</a>&nbsp;(D-NC),&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Mike_Crapo&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Mike Crapo (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Mike Crapo</a>&nbsp;(R-ID),&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Dean_Heller&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Dean Heller (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Dean Heller</a>&nbsp;(R-NV),&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Mark_Kirk&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Mark Kirk (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Mark Kirk</a>&nbsp;(R-IL), and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Jerry_Moran&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Jerry Moran (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Jerry Moran</a>&nbsp;(R-KS).<sup id="cite_ref-6" class="reference" style="line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/60_Plus_Association#cite_note-6" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[6]</a></sup>&nbsp;While the ad stated the plan amounted to a "takeover of the mortgage industry",&nbsp;<i>Politico</i>&nbsp;reported that the plan "represents a centrist approach in which the government will still play a role in supporting the mortgage market but less of one than it does today."<sup id="cite_ref-7" class="reference" style="line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/60_Plus_Association#cite_note-7" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[7]</a></sup></font></p><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(170, 170, 170); line-height: 1.3;"><span class="mw-headline" id="Influencing_the_2012_Election"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Influencing the 2012 Election</font></span></h2><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
while the Plus Association claims to be non-partisan, it endorses almost exclusively Republican candidates, and generally runs attack ads aimed at Democrats. During the 2012 Election cycle, the 60 Plus Association focused mostly on Senate races, attacking Tim Kaine of Virginia with a $770,000 ad campaign in late August.<sup id="cite_ref-9" class="reference" style="line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/60_Plus_Association#cite_note-9" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[9]</a></sup>&nbsp;The group also made ad buys totaling $1 million against Democrats&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Sherrod_Brown&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Sherrod Brown (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Sherrod Brown</a>&nbsp;in Ohio, and $1.1 million against&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Bill_Nelson&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Bill Nelson (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Bill Nelson</a>&nbsp;in Florida. The group also ran a $545,000 ad campaign against Democrat Tammy Baldwin in Wisconsin.<sup id="cite_ref-10" class="reference" style="line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/60_Plus_Association#cite_note-10" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[10]</a></sup>&nbsp;Their ads generally target the candidate for supporting the Affordable Care Act, which they claim robs medicare of hundreds of billions of dollars, putting seniors at risk (when in fact the medicare "cuts" are a cost-saving measure supported by many Republicans, including the 2012 Republican ticket of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Mitt_Romney" title="Mitt Romney" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Mitt Romney</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Paul_Ryan&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Paul Ryan (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Paul Ryan</a>).&nbsp;<sup id="cite_ref-11" class="reference" style="line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/60_Plus_Association#cite_note-11" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[11]</a></sup></font></p><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); clear: both;"><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(170, 170, 170); line-height: 1.3;"><span class="mw-headline" id="Finances"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
Funding SourcesFinances</font></span></h2><div class="thumb tright" style="clear: right; float: right; margin: 0.5em 0px 1.3em 1.4em; width: auto; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="thumbinner" style="min-width: 100px; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); padding: 3px; background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249); text-align: center; overflow: hidden; width: 302px;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/File:W-kochnetwork.jpg" class="image" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><img alt="The $400 million Koch network." src="https://www.sourcewatch.org/images/thumb/d/d6/W-kochnetwork.jpg/300px-W-kochnetwork.jpg" width="300" height="413" class="thumbimage" srcset="/images/thumb/d/d6/W-kochnetwork.jpg/450px-W-kochnetwork.jpg 1.5x, /images/thumb/d/d6/W-kochnetwork.jpg/600px-W-kochnetwork.jpg 2x" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); vertical-align: middle;" /></font></a><div class="thumbcaption" style="border: none; line-height: 1.4em; padding: 3px; text-align: left;"><div class="magnify" style="float: right; margin-left: 3px; margin-right: 0px;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/File:W-kochnetwork.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent), url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="version" d="D" encoding="encoding" utf-8="UTF-8" standalone="standalone" no="no" f="F" e="E" a="A" csvg="Csvg" http="http" fwww.w3.org="Fwww.w3.org" f2000="F2000" fsvg="Fsvg" viewbox="viewBox" width="width" height="height" cg="Cg" id="id" magnify-clip="magnify-clip" fill="fill" fff="fff" stroke="stroke" cpath="Cpath" bigbox="bigbox" m1.509="M1.509" h10.99v7.919h-10.99z="h10.99v7.919h-10.99z" smallbox="smallbox" m-1.499="M-1.499" h5.943v4.904h-5.943z="h5.943v4.904h-5.943z" fg="Fg" display="display" block="block" text-indent="text-indent" px="px" white-space="white-space" nowrap="nowrap" overflow="overflow" hidden="hidden" user-select="user-select" none="none" xmlns="xmlns" xmlns:data="data" /></div><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/File:W-kochnetwork.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent), url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="version" d="D" encoding="encoding" utf-8="UTF-8" standalone="standalone" no="no" f="F" e="E" a="A" csvg="Csvg" http="http" fwww.w3.org="Fwww.w3.org" f2000="F2000" fsvg="Fsvg" viewbox="viewBox" width="width" height="height" cg="Cg" id="id" magnify-clip="magnify-clip" fill="fill" fff="fff" stroke="stroke" cpath="Cpath" bigbox="bigbox" m1.509="M1.509" h10.99v7.919h-10.99z="h10.99v7.919h-10.99z" smallbox="smallbox" m-1.499="M-1.499" h5.943v4.904h-5.943z="h5.943v4.904h-5.943z" fg="Fg" display="display" block="block" text-indent="text-indent" px="px" white-space="white-space" nowrap="nowrap" overflow="overflow" hidden="hidden" user-select="user-select" none="none" xmlns="xmlns" xmlns:data="data"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The $400 million Koch network uses a maze of nonprofit groups and LLCs to conceal donations and campaign activity
<i>Source: Robert Maguire with the Center for Responsive Poliics. Matea Gold and Cristina Rivero/The Washington Post.</i></font></a></div></div></div><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/File:W-kochnetwork.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent), url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="version" d="D" encoding="encoding" utf-8="UTF-8" standalone="standalone" no="no" f="F" e="E" a="A" csvg="Csvg" http="http" fwww.w3.org="Fwww.w3.org" f2000="F2000" fsvg="Fsvg" viewbox="viewBox" width="width" height="height" cg="Cg" id="id" magnify-clip="magnify-clip" fill="fill" fff="fff" stroke="stroke" cpath="Cpath" bigbox="bigbox" m1.509="M1.509" h10.99v7.919h-10.99z="h10.99v7.919h-10.99z" smallbox="smallbox" m-1.499="M-1.499" h5.943v4.904h-5.943z="h5.943v4.904h-5.943z" fg="Fg" display="display" block="block" text-indent="text-indent" px="px" white-space="white-space" nowrap="nowrap" overflow="overflow" hidden="hidden" user-select="user-select" none="none" xmlns="xmlns" xmlns:data="data"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The 60 Plus Association is a 501(c)4 nonprofit organization, meaning it does not have to disclose its donors despite spending millions to influence elections. Some of its donors have been discovered by analyzing their IRS filings. The organization has received millions from organizations linked to the billionaire industrialist&nbsp;</font></a><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Koch_brothers" title="Koch brothers" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Koch brothers</a>.</font></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Out of the disclosed contributions to the group in the 2011-2012 fiscal year, $2.4 million came from the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Koch_brothers" title="Koch brothers" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Koch-backed</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Center_to_Protect_Patient_Rights" title="Center to Protect Patient Rights" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Center to Protect Patient Rights</a>&nbsp;(now known as&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/American_Encore" title="American Encore" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">American Encore</a>), and $15.7 million from&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Freedom_Partners" title="Freedom Partners" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Freedom Partners</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-Politico_12-0" class="reference" style="line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/60_Plus_Association#cite_note-Politico-12" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[12]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-Conservative_Transparency_3-2" class="reference" style="line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/60_Plus_Association#cite_note-Conservative_Transparency-3" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[3]</a></sup></font></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">In 2010, its largest known donor was the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Center_to_Protect_Patient_Rights" title="Center to Protect Patient Rights" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Center to Protect Patient Rights</a>, another 501(c)4 that acted as a conduit for around $55 million in secret funding distributed to other nonprofit groups that attacked Democrats in the 2010 elections. The CPPR gave the 60 Plus Association $8.9 million in 2010, well over half the group's 2010 operating budget.<sup id="cite_ref-13" class="reference" style="line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/60_Plus_Association#cite_note-13" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[13]</a></sup></font></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Other known donors to the 60 Plus Association include the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/American_Petroleum_Institute" title="American Petroleum Institute" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">American Petroleum Institute</a>&nbsp;($25,000 in 2011) and the Karl Rove's political vehicle&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Crossroads_GPS" title="Crossroads GPS" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Crossroads GPS</a>($50,000 in 2012).<sup id="cite_ref-14" class="reference" style="line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/60_Plus_Association#cite_note-14" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[14]</a></sup></font></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">In a&nbsp;<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32372208/" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="version" d="D" encoding="encoding" utf-8="UTF-8" standalone="standalone" no="no" f="F" e="E" csvg="Csvg" http="http" a="A" fwww.w3.org="Fwww.w3.org" f2000="F2000" fsvg="Fsvg" width="width" height="height" cpath="Cpath" fill="fill" fff="fff" stroke="stroke" m1.5="M1.5" h5.982v10.5h1.5z="h5.982V10.5H1.5z" m5.765="M5.765" h11v5.39l9.427="H11v5.39L9.427" l-1.31-1.31l5.393="l-1.31-1.31L5.393" l-2.69-2.688="l-2.69-2.688" l4.2="L4.2" z="z" m9.995="M9.995" l.022="l.022" l8.2="L8.2" l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z="l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z" padding-right="padding-right" px="px" xmlns="xmlns" xmlns:data="data">segment on her August 10, 2009 show</a>, MSNBC's Rachel Maddow discussed the 60 Plus Association's ties to the GOP, disgraced lobbyist&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Jack_Abramoff&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Jack Abramoff (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Jack Abramoff</a>&nbsp;and the lobbying group&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Bonner%26_Associates" title="Bonner & Associates" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Bonner & Associates</a>"<sup id="cite_ref-15" class="reference" style="line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/60_Plus_Association#cite_note-15" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[15]</a></sup></font></p><h3 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom: none; line-height: 1.6;"><span class="mw-headline" id="Budget"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Budget</font></span></h3><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The 60 Plus Association has grown considerably in recent years:</font></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">For fiscal year 2011 (July 2011-June 2012), the 60 Plus Association reported $11.8 million in revenue and $11.6 million in expenses, with assets totaling $1.2 million.<sup id="cite_ref-16" class="reference" style="line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/60_Plus_Association#cite_note-16" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[16]</a></sup>&nbsp;It paid&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Mentzer_Media&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Mentzer Media (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Mentzer Media</a>&nbsp;$6.1 million for media services.</font></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">For fiscal year 2010, 60 Plus reported $16,009,993 in revenue and $15,532,676 in expenses. They listed their largest single program expense as $13,444,014 toward "Providing Educational Awareness about the effect of Health Care Reform for seniors"&nbsp;<sup id="cite_ref-17" class="reference" style="line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/60_Plus_Association#cite_note-17" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[17]</a></sup></font></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">For fiscal year 2008, 60 Plus reported $1,919,575 in revenue and $2,624,432 for expenses (including $441,180 for administrative costs).<sup id="cite_ref-IRS2008_18-0" class="reference" style="line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/60_Plus_Association#cite_note-IRS2008-18" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[18]</a></sup></font></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">For fiscal year 2006, 60 Plus reported $303,275 in assets, $1,897,258 in income and $1,811,895 in expenses. The organization's single biggest expense was "postage and shipping," at $473,996. The same year, 60 Plus reported $15,196 in income from list rental.<sup id="cite_ref-GuideStar2006_2-1" class="reference" style="line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/60_Plus_Association#cite_note-GuideStar2006-2" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[2]</a></sup></font></p><h3 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom: none; line-height: 1.6;"><span class="mw-headline" id="Pharmaceutical_Industry_Money"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Pharmaceutical Industry Money</font></span></h3><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">The 60 Plus Association is described in an article posted November 1, 2009 on FireDogLake.com as a Big Pharma&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Front_group" title="Front group" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">front group</a>. FireDogLake reported that the group has "ties to the national GOP" and is heavily "funded by the pharmaceutical industry." The 60 Plus Association is reported to have been a front for Big Pharma since its inception.<sup id="cite_ref-19" class="reference" style="line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/60_Plus_Association#cite_note-19" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[19]</a></sup>&nbsp;The 60 Plus Association has championed the pharmaceutical industry in mass mailings, press releases, lobbying and law suits since its inception. It was one of three associations that backed the "<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Astroturf" title="Astroturf" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">astroturf</a>" issue ads of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Citizens_for_Better_Medicare" title="Citizens for Better Medicare" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Citizens for Better Medicare</a>&nbsp;(a drug industry front group) during the 2000 elections.</font></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">In 2002, 60 Plus fought state legislation that would create formularies, or lists of preferred, lower-cost prescription drugs for Medicaid patients. 60 Plus fought "such legislation in Minnesota and New Mexico," with assistance from the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Bonner%26_Associates" title="Bonner & Associates" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Bonner & Associates</a>&nbsp;firm, which specializes in&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Astroturf" title="Astroturf" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">astroturf</a>&nbsp;lobbying. "The firm's paid callers, reading from scripts that identified them as representatives of 60 Plus, urged residents to ask their governors to veto the legislation. Pharmaceutical giant&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Pfizer" title="Pfizer" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Pfizer</a>&nbsp;Inc. later said it had paid Bonner & Associates to make the calls," reported AARP.<sup id="cite_ref-AARP_20-0" class="reference" style="line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/60_Plus_Association#cite_note-AARP-20" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[20]</a></sup>&nbsp;At the time, 60 Plus president Jim Martin denied "anyone was misled. 'The callers had an outline,' said Martin. 'This is an important issue that impacts people's health.'"&nbsp;<sup id="cite_ref-21" class="reference" style="line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/60_Plus_Association#cite_note-21" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[21]</a></sup></font></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">"In its 2001 fiscal year, 60 Plus got a total of $275,000 from PhRMA (the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Pharmaceutical_Research_and_Manufacturers_of_America" title="Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America</a>), CBM (<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Citizens_for_Better_Medicare" title="Citizens for Better Medicare" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Citizens for Better Medicare</a>) and three drug companies (<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Merck" title="Merck" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Merck</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Pfizer" title="Pfizer" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Pfizer</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Wyeth-Ayerst&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Wyeth-Ayerst (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Wyeth-Ayerst</a>) plus another $300,000 from Hanwha International Corp., the U.S. subsidiary of a Korean conglomerate with chemical and pharmaceutical interests -- amounts that made up about 29 percent of its revenue," reported&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/AARP" title="AARP" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">AARP</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-AARP_20-1" class="reference" style="line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/60_Plus_Association#cite_note-AARP-20" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[20]</a></sup></font></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">60 Plus supported a lawsuit by&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Pharmaceutical_Research_and_Manufacturers_of_America" title="Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">PHARMA</a>&nbsp;against the state of Maine (in a "friend of the court" brief) for daring to try to pass a law that will authentically reduce prices for Medicare drugs by allowing the state to buy in bulk directly from manufacturers. It has also joined a lawsuit against the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Federal_Communications_Commission" title="Federal Communications Commission" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Federal Communications Commission</a>&nbsp;regarding campaign reform (specifically in support of soft money for issue ads).</font></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In the 2002 election campaigns, 60 Plus paid for issue ads on local radio and TV stations across the country saying that local Republican candidates "care for seniors" so much that they "passed a prescription drug bill" that "saved us from an inept government bureaucracy meddling with health plan benefits."</font></p><h2 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); line-height: 1.3;"><span class="mw-headline" id="Opposing_2010_Healthcare_Reform" style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="">Opposing 2010 Healthcare Reform</font></span></h2><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Television ads claiming that the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Barack_Obama" title="Barack Obama" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Obama administration</a>&nbsp;plans to fund healthcare reform on the "backs of seniors" started appearing in August 2009 in California markets, including Los Angeles. The televised ad makes the following claims among others: "Congress plans to cut 500 Billion from Medicare," "Seniors May Lose Their Own Doctors," and "The Government, Not Doctors Will Decide if Older Patients are Worth the Cost," The ad ends by saying "Tell Congress, Don't pay for Health Care Reform on the backs of Our Seniors. They've sacrificed enough." The ads clearly state "Paid for by 60 Plus Association" and display the www.60Plus.org website at the end.<sup id="cite_ref-22" class="reference" style="line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/60_Plus_Association#cite_note-22" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[22]</a></sup></font></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The ads claims that the Affordable care act makes massive cuts to Medicare and weaken the institution, a claim that has become a favorite line of attack for the organization, and the Republican Party as a whole. It has been refuted by numerous fact-checking organizations including&nbsp;<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://politicalcorrection.org/factcheck/200908080001" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="version" d="D" encoding="encoding" utf-8="UTF-8" standalone="standalone" no="no" f="F" e="E" csvg="Csvg" http="http" a="A" fwww.w3.org="Fwww.w3.org" f2000="F2000" fsvg="Fsvg" width="width" height="height" cpath="Cpath" fill="fill" fff="fff" stroke="stroke" m1.5="M1.5" h5.982v10.5h1.5z="h5.982V10.5H1.5z" m5.765="M5.765" h11v5.39l9.427="H11v5.39L9.427" l-1.31-1.31l5.393="l-1.31-1.31L5.393" l-2.69-2.688="l-2.69-2.688" l4.2="L4.2" z="z" m9.995="M9.995" l.022="l.022" l8.2="L8.2" l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z="l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z" padding-right="padding-right" px="px" xmlns="xmlns" xmlns:data="data">Media Matters</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2010/sep/20/60-plus-association/medicare-cuts-health-care-law-will-hurt-seniors-sa/" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="version" d="D" encoding="encoding" utf-8="UTF-8" standalone="standalone" no="no" f="F" e="E" csvg="Csvg" http="http" a="A" fwww.w3.org="Fwww.w3.org" f2000="F2000" fsvg="Fsvg" width="width" height="height" cpath="Cpath" fill="fill" fff="fff" stroke="stroke" m1.5="M1.5" h5.982v10.5h1.5z="h5.982V10.5H1.5z" m5.765="M5.765" h11v5.39l9.427="H11v5.39L9.427" l-1.31-1.31l5.393="l-1.31-1.31L5.393" l-2.69-2.688="l-2.69-2.688" l4.2="L4.2" z="z" m9.995="M9.995" l.022="l.022" l8.2="L8.2" l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z="l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z" padding-right="padding-right" px="px" xmlns="xmlns" xmlns:data="data">Politifact</a></font></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">
60 Plus has rallied against previous healthcare reform efforts. In 1999, it claimed that the</span><span style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Clinton_Administration" title="Clinton Administration" class="mw-redirect" style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background="background" none="none" text-decoration-line="text-decoration-line">Clinton Administration</a><span style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">'s effort to provide a prescription drug benefit to Medicare beneficiaries" was "socialized medicine." 60 Plus' Roger Zion told the</span><span style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">&nbsp;</span><i style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">National Journal</i><span style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">, "We have the best Medicare system in the world, and these people want to destroy it." He also claimed that the "prescription drug benefit would cripple pharmaceutical research and ultimately undermine the quality of health care in the United States."</span><sup id="cite_ref-24" class="reference" style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" line-height="line-height" em="em" unicode-bidi="unicode-bidi" isolate="isolate" white-space="white-space" nowrap="nowrap"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/60_Plus_Association#cite_note-24" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[24]</a></sup><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">In 2009, 60 Plus also sent out mailings warning "that the proposed Medicare changes will mean 'longer wait times at hospitals and doctors offices, less money for new treatments, restrictions on care, prescriptions and what's best for you -- the patient!'"<sup id="cite_ref-23" class="reference" style="line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/60_Plus_Association#cite_note-23" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[23]</a></sup></font></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">60 Plus was a member of "<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Citizens_for_Better_Medicare" title="Citizens for Better Medicare" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Citizens for Better Medicare</a>," an industry-backed effort opposing&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Medicare" title="Medicare" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Medicare</a>&nbsp;reform that spent tens of millions of dollars on ad campaigns in 1999 and 2000. Other "Citizens" members included the Seniors Coalition, United Seniors Association,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Pharmaceutical_Research_and_Manufacturers_of_America" title="Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">PHARMA</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/National_Association_of_Manufacturers" title="National Association of Manufacturers" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">National Association of Manufacturers</a>&nbsp;and the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/U.S.Chamber_of_Commerce" title="U.S. Chamber of Commerce" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">U.S. Chamber of Commerce</a>. A "Citizens" press release from September 2000 stressed "the need to add a private sector-based prescription drug benefit to Medicare," rather than a public -- or, as the press release called it -- a "big government plan" that would supposedly cause "many patients and senior citizens [to] lose their current private prescription drug coverage, have their access to the life saving medicine jeopardized by bureaucrats and see important drug research reduced."<sup id="cite_ref-25" class="reference" style="line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/60_Plus_Association#cite_note-25" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[25]</a></sup></font></p><h2 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); line-height: 1.3;"><span class="mw-headline" id="Positions_on_Energy_and_the_Environment" style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="">Positions on Energy and the Environment</font></span></h2><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The 60 Plus association is a member of the "Cooler Heads" coalition, a network of climate change denial groups that includes&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Americans_for_Prosperity" title="Americans for Prosperity" 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;">Americans for Prosperity</a>, the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/George_C.Marshall_Institute" title="George C. Marshall Institute" 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;">George C. Marshall Institute</a>, and the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Heartland_Institute" title="Heartland Institute" 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;">Heartland Institute</a>.&nbsp;<sup id="cite_ref-26" class="reference" style="line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/60_Plus_Association#cite_note-26" 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;">[26]</a></sup>The coalition is managed and financed by the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Competitive_Enterprise_Institute" title="Competitive Enterprise Institute" 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;">Competitive Enterprise Institute</a>. The 60 Plus Association has spoken out against EPA efforts to regulate greenhouse gas producers numerous times: "going forward all nominees to the EPA will be thoroughly vetted on their views," Jim Martin, chairman of the organization suggested in 2012, "to ensure that environmental extremists and disciples of the phony global warming agenda do not serve within its walls."&nbsp;<sup id="cite_ref-27" class="reference" style="line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/60_Plus_Association#cite_note-27" 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;">[27]</a></sup>. The 60 Plus association also opposes any attempt to regulate offshore drilling&nbsp;<sup id="cite_ref-28" class="reference" style="line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/60_Plus_Association#cite_note-28" 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;">[28]</a></sup>&nbsp;or decrease energy subsidies.&nbsp;<sup id="cite_ref-29" class="reference" style="line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/60_Plus_Association#cite_note-29" 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;">[29]</a></sup></font></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">In 2010 and 2012, the 60 Plus Association received $25,000 in donations from the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/American_Petroleum_Institute" title="American Petroleum Institute" 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 Petroleum Institute</a>, a powerful consortium of American fossil fuel companies and lobbies&nbsp;<sup id="cite_ref-30" class="reference" style="line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/60_Plus_Association#cite_note-30" 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;">[30]</a></sup></font></p><h2 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); line-height: 1.3;"><span class="mw-headline" id="Response_to_Hurricane_Katrina" style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="">Response to Hurricane Katrina</font></span></h2><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">In September 2005, 60 Plus was part of a consortium of conservative groups -- along with the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/National_Tax_Limitation_Committee" title="National Tax Limitation Committee" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">National Tax Limitation Committee</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/American_Conservative_Union" title="American Conservative Union" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">American Conservative Union</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Americans_for_Tax_Reform" title="Americans for Tax Reform" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Americans for Tax Reform</a>&nbsp;-- to call for "a measured response to [Hurricane]&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Hurricane_Katrina" title="Hurricane Katrina" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Katrina</a>&nbsp;... and a continuation of sound tax and regulatory policies."<sup id="cite_ref-31" class="reference" style="line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/60_Plus_Association#cite_note-31" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[31]</a></sup>&nbsp;Under the banner of the "Tax Cut Working Group coalition," the groups "urged&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/George_W.Bush" title="George W. Bush" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">President Bush</a>&nbsp;and Congress to emphasize private sector initiatives in the hurricane relief effort, and not abandon his agenda of tax relief in the wake of the disaster caused by Hurricane Katrina." The coalition's open letter on the matter stated, "While Katrina's effects have been vivid and widespread, this event should not serve as an excuse to change national policy priorities, nor to further dissipate the federal treasury. ... On-going tax rate reductions and Social Security reform should not be sacrificed on the altar of Katrina or 'deficit reduction.'"<sup id="cite_ref-32" class="reference" style="line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/60_Plus_Association#cite_note-32" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[32]</a></sup></font></p><h2 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); line-height: 1.3;"><span class="mw-headline" id="Ties_to_Right-Wing_Direct_Mail_Firm" style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="">Ties to Right-Wing Direct Mail Firm</font></span></h2><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">60 Plus chair&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/James_L.Martin" title="James L. Martin" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">James L. Martin</a>&nbsp;worked for Republican direct mail guru&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Richard_Viguerie" title="Richard Viguerie" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Richard Viguerie</a>. "It has been reported that the group's contract with Viguerie's firm allows it to use 60 Plus's contributor list 'in any manner, for any purpose, for its own account,' at least until 2003," reported AARP. In 1994, Viguerie "helped 60 Plus raise $1.3 million, but the organization was left with less than $93,000 after paying fees and expenses (including postage) to Viguerie's operation."<sup id="cite_ref-AARP_20-2" class="reference" style="line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/60_Plus_Association#cite_note-AARP-20" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[20]</a></sup></font></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">"The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Seniors_Coalition" title="Seniors Coalition" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Seniors Coalition</a>, 60/Plus and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/USANext" title="USANext" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">USA</a>&nbsp;all have faced controversy because of their connections to Viguerie," the&nbsp;<i>National Journal</i>&nbsp;reported in 1995. "The Virginia-based direct-mail impresario helped launch all three groups, securing unusually tight control over their mailing lists. ... A federal grand jury in New York City began a probe of Viguerie in 1993, after The New York Times ran an article detailing how he had profited from his work for seniors' groups. ... Why set up three seniors' groups that share much of the same conservative philosophy? Critics say it was for one reason: to put more money in Viguerie's pockets. But leaders of USA and 60/Plus say they are proud of their association with Viguerie, who continues to handle their mailings. ... 'He's the finest, most decent human being I've ever known,' [60 Plus' James] Martin said of Viguerie. Martin proudly points to a passage in Viguerie's 1980 book, The New Right: We're Ready to Lead, that cites Martin as 'one of the conservative movement's foremost direct-mail copywriters.'"<sup id="cite_ref-33" class="reference" style="line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/60_Plus_Association#cite_note-33" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[33]</a></sup></font></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Yet, according to&nbsp;<i>Target Marketing</i>, the "main provisions of an agreement between the charity 60/Plus Association and direct marketing" meant that, "[u]nder the terms of the contract, Viguerie, a for-profit agency, took in money while the non-profit 60/Plus went deeper into debt, presumably with most of that debt accruing to Viguerie & Associates."&nbsp;<sup id="cite_ref-34" class="reference" style="line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/60_Plus_Association#cite_note-34" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[34]</a></sup></font></p><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(170, 170, 170); line-height: 1.3;"><span class="mw-headline" id="Public_Relations"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Public Relations</font></span></h2><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Hugh_C.Newton&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Hugh C. Newton (page does not exist)" 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;">Hugh C. Newton</a>&nbsp;served as a public relations consultant to 60 Plus. Newton -- who ran his own PR firm,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Hugh_C.Newton%26_Associates_Inc.&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Hugh C. Newton & Associates Inc. (page does not exist)" 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;">Hugh C. Newton & Associates Inc.</a>, also worked for the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/National_Right_to_Work_Committee" title="National Right to Work Committee" 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;">National Right to Work Committee</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Heritage_Foundation" title="Heritage Foundation" 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;">Heritage Foundation</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Liberty_Foundation&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Liberty Foundation (page does not exist)" 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;">Liberty Foundation</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Reader%27s_Digest" title="Reader's Digest" class="mw-redirect" 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;">Reader's Digest</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Amway" title="Amway" class="mw-redirect" 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;">Amway</a>&nbsp;Corp. and the predecessor of the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Pharmaceutical_Research_and_Manufacturers_of_America" title="Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America" 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;">Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America</a>.&nbsp;<sup id="cite_ref-35" class="reference" style="line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/60_Plus_Association#cite_note-35" 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;">[35]</a></sup></font></p><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(170, 170, 170); line-height: 1.3;"><span class="mw-headline" id="Lobbying_and_Political_Donations"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Lobbying and Political Donations</font></span></h2><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">As of July 7, 2014, the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Political_action_committee&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Political action committee (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">political action committee</a>&nbsp;associated with 60 Plus had donated $8,500 to congressional campaigns for the 2014 midterms, entirely to Republican candidates or organizations.<sup id="cite_ref-36" class="reference" style="line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/60_Plus_Association#cite_note-36" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[36]</a></sup>&nbsp;It had also spent $247,723 on independent expenditures, most of it against Republican candidates. During the 2012 election cycle, it made $26,000 in campaign contributions, all to Republicans and spent $4,615,892 on outside spending, with about 70% going toward Republicans and the remainder attacking Democrats.</font></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">The group spent $4.4 million in the 2012 election cycle. More than half of that, $2.7 million, went to support&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Mitt_Romney" title="Mitt Romney" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Mitt Romney</a>.&nbsp;<sup id="cite_ref-37" class="reference" style="line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/60_Plus_Association#cite_note-37" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[37]</a></sup></font></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">60 Plus used to have a different PAC called the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Senior_Power_Campaign_Committee&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Senior Power Campaign Committee (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Senior Power Campaign Committee</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-Lobbyists_38-0" class="reference" style="line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/60_Plus_Association#cite_note-Lobbyists-38" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[38]</a></sup>&nbsp;That PAC, also called "Gray PAC," last reported financial activity in the 2004 election cycle.&nbsp;<sup id="cite_ref-39" class="reference" style="line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/60_Plus_Association#cite_note-39" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[39]</a></sup>&nbsp;It was most active in the 2000 election cycle, when it reported raising $246,514 and spending $231,203. The PAC donated $46,666 to federal candidates, 98% of which went to Republicans. It contributed more than $2,000 to Republican Senate candidates&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Rick_Santorum&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Rick Santorum (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Rick Santorum</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Rod_Grams&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Rod Grams (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Rod Grams</a>, and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Slade_Gorton" title="Slade Gorton" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Slade Gorton</a>; and to Republican House candidates&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/E.Clay_Shaw_Jr." title="E. Clay Shaw Jr." class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">E. Clay Shaw Jr.</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=James_E.Rogan&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="James E. Rogan (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">James E. Rogan</a>, and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Steven_T.Kuykendall&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Steven T. Kuykendall (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Steven T. Kuykendall</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-40" class="reference" style="line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/60_Plus_Association#cite_note-40" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[40]</a></sup></font></p><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(170, 170, 170); line-height: 1.3;"><span class="mw-headline" id="Personnel"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Personnel</font></span></h2><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">The 60 Plus Association disclosed the following officers and directors in its 2011-2012 IRS 990 filing:<sup id="cite_ref-41" class="reference" style="line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/60_Plus_Association#cite_note-41" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[41]</a></sup></font></p><ul style="margin: 0.3em 0px 0.5em 1.6em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="version" d="D" encoding="encoding" utf-8="UTF-8" f="F" e="E" a="A" csvg="Csvg" http="http" fwww.w3.org="Fwww.w3.org" f2000="F2000" fsvg="Fsvg" width="width" height="height" ccircle="Ccircle" cx="cx" cy="cy" r="r" fill="fill" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" xmlns="xmlns" xmlns:data="data"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=James_Martin&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="James Martin (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">James Martin</a>&nbsp;- Chairman, paid $179,500 in fiscal year 2011. Martin claims to have given "<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/George_W.Bush" title="George W. Bush" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">George W. Bush</a>&nbsp;his first political job ... way back in 1967."&nbsp;<sup id="cite_ref-42" class="reference" style="line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/60_Plus_Association#cite_note-42" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[42]</a></sup>&nbsp;Martin also "credits himself" with coming up with the phrase "death tax," as part of efforts to repeal the estate tax.&nbsp;<sup id="cite_ref-43" class="reference" style="line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/60_Plus_Association#cite_note-43" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[43]</a></sup></font></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Amy_Noone_Frederick&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Amy Noone Frederick (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Amy Noone Frederick</a>- President, paid $150,692 in fiscal year 2011</font></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=L._Prather_McKinnon&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="L. Prather McKinnon (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">L. Prather McKinnon</a>&nbsp;- Director</font></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Randy_Randall&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Randy Randall (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Randy Randall</a>&nbsp;- Director</font></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Gary_Hoitsma&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Gary Hoitsma (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Gary Hoitsma</a>&nbsp;- Director</font></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Bill_Card&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Bill Card (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Bill Card</a>&nbsp;- Director</font></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Jim_Minarik&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Jim Minarik (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Jim Minarik</a>&nbsp;- Director</font></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Robert_Martin&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Robert Martin (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Robert Martin</a>&nbsp;- Director</font></li></ul><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The group's national spokesperson is singer&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Pat_Boone&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Pat Boone (page does not exist)" 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;">Pat Boone</a>.&nbsp;<sup id="cite_ref-44" class="reference" style="line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/60_Plus_Association#cite_note-44" 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;">[44]</a></sup></font></p><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(170, 170, 170); line-height: 1.3;"><span class="mw-headline" id="Contact_Information"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Contact Information</font></span></h2><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">60 Plus Association
515 King Street
Suite 315
Alexandria, Virginia 22314</font></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Phone: (703) 807-2070
Fax: (703) 807-2073</font></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Website:&nbsp;<a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="http://www.60plus.org/" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="version" d="D" encoding="encoding" utf-8="UTF-8" standalone="standalone" no="no" f="F" e="E" csvg="Csvg" http="http" a="A" fwww.w3.org="Fwww.w3.org" f2000="F2000" fsvg="Fsvg" width="width" height="height" cpath="Cpath" fill="fill" fff="fff" stroke="stroke" m1.5="M1.5" h5.982v10.5h1.5z="h5.982V10.5H1.5z" m5.765="M5.765" h11v5.39l9.427="H11v5.39L9.427" l-1.31-1.31l5.393="l-1.31-1.31L5.393" l-2.69-2.688="l-2.69-2.688" l4.2="L4.2" z="z" m9.995="M9.995" l.022="l.022" l8.2="L8.2" l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z="l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z" padding-right="padding-right" px="px" word-wrap="word-wrap" break-word="break-word" xmlns="xmlns" xmlns:data="data">http://www.60plus.org</a>
Email: info AT 60plus.org</font></p><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(170, 170, 170); line-height: 1.3;"><span class="mw-headline" id="Articles_and_Resources"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Articles and Resources</font></span></h2><h3 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom: none; line-height: 1.6;"><span class="mw-headline" id="Related_SourceWatch_articles"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Related SourceWatch articles</font></span></h3><ul style="margin: 0.3em 0px 0.5em 1.6em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="version" d="D" encoding="encoding" utf-8="UTF-8" f="F" e="E" a="A" csvg="Csvg" http="http" fwww.w3.org="Fwww.w3.org" f2000="F2000" fsvg="Fsvg" width="width" height="height" ccircle="Ccircle" cx="cx" cy="cy" r="r" fill="fill" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" xmlns="xmlns" xmlns:data="data"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Koch_Brothers" title="Koch Brothers" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Koch Brothers</font></a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Koch_Family_Foundations" title="Koch Family Foundations" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Koch Family Foundations</font></a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Americans_for_Prosperity" title="Americans for Prosperity" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Americans for Prosperity</font></a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Freedom_Partners" title="Freedom Partners" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Freedom Partners</font></a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Cato_Institute" title="Cato Institute" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Cato Institute</font></a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Heritage_Foundation" title="Heritage Foundation" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Heritage Foundation</font></a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Koch_Universities" title="Koch Universities" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Koch Universities</font></a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Koch_Network" title="Koch Network" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Koch Network</font></a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Knowledge_and_Progress_Fund" title="Knowledge and Progress Fund" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Knowledge and Progress Fund</font></a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/American_Encore" title="American Encore" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">American Encore</font></a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/DonorsTrust" title="DonorsTrust" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">DonorsTrust</font></a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Donors_Capital" title="Donors Capital" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Donors Capital</font></a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/60_Plus" title="60 Plus" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">60 Plus</font></a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Generation_Opportunity" title="Generation Opportunity" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Generation Opportunity</font></a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Astroturf" title="Astroturf" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Astroturf</font></a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Astroturf_Marketing" title="Astroturf Marketing" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Astroturf Marketing</font></a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Citizens_for_Better_Medicare" title="Citizens for Better Medicare" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Citizens for Better Medicare</font></a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Front_groups" title="Front groups" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Front groups</font></a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Health_care" title="Health care" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Health care</font></a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Pfizer_Inc" title="Pfizer Inc" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Pfizer Inc</font></a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Pharmaceutical_industry" title="Pharmaceutical industry" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Pharmaceutical industry</font></a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Pharmaceutical_Research_and_Manufacturers_of_America" title="Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America</font></a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/United_Seniors_Association" title="United Seniors Association" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">United Seniors Association</font></a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Richard_Viguerie" title="Richard Viguerie" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Richard Viguerie</font></a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Senior_Coalition" title="Senior Coalition" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Senior Coalition</font></a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/USANext" title="USANext" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">USANext</font></a></li></ul><h3 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom: none; line-height: 1.6;"><span class="mw-headline" id="References"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">References</font></span></h3><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"></font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><a href="https://shadowproof.com/2009/11/01/big-pharma-front-group-60-plus-scaring-seniors-with-2m-ad-buy/">https://shadowproof.com/<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">2009</span>/11/01/big-pharma-front-group-60-plus-scaring-seniors-with-2m-ad-buy/</a></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>In a new&nbsp;<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3TTcbYggfg" style="box-sizing: border-box; background: transparent; text-decoration-line: none;">television ad</a>&nbsp;out this week, the group “60 Plus” asserts that seniors would lose access to doctors, treatments, and life-saving drugs if the Democratic health care plan is adopted.</b> The group, with ties to the national GOP and almost fully funded by the pharmaceutical industry, is&nbsp;<a href="http://www.60plus.org/news.asp?DocID=532" style="box-sizing: border-box; background: transparent; text-decoration-line: none;">pumping $2 million dollars</a>&nbsp;into airing the ad in eight states, including Alaska, Arkansas, Connecticut, Louisiana, Maine, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The ad includes the standard scare tactics about proposed cuts to Medicare “to pay for a plan that could lead to a government takeover of health care.” An older man pleads at the end of the ad, “Don’t make us pay for health care reform by cutting Medicare. We’ve sacrificed enough.” The ad targets individual Senators in those eight states, Democrats and Republicans who are potential swing votes on health care. This is an extension of ads from 60 Plus that started back in August. They’ve also sent out mailers to seniors featuring similar dire warnings.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Not mentioned in the ad is the makeup of the organization&nbsp;<a href="http://www.60plus.org/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background: transparent; text-decoration-line: none;">60 Plus</a>, a kind of conservative counter to the AARP. Among their past contributions to the national debate are advocacy against the “death tax” and for “saving Social Security,” which they label as their top priorities. And their&nbsp;<a href="http://www.60plus.org/about.asp" style="box-sizing: border-box; background: transparent; text-decoration-line: none;">website</a>&nbsp;claims that 60 Plus is “a non-partisan seniors advocacy group.” But the ties to national Republicans and industry lobbyists are numerous, as the Center for Media and Democracy’s&nbsp;<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=60_Plus_Association" style="box-sizing: border-box; background: transparent; text-decoration-line: none;">Sourcewatch</a>&nbsp;has detailed.<span id="more-151628" style="box-sizing: border-box;" /></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">According to Sourcewatch, Jim Martin, the President of 60 Plus, has a long affiliation with the Republican Party and “claims to have given then-‘Texas Gov. George W. Bush his first political job … way back in 1967.’</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> ” The PR contact on the&nbsp;</span><a href="http://www.60plus.org/news.asp?DocID=532" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;">press release touting their latest ad</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">&nbsp;is</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> Carl Forti, the former communications director for the National Republican Congressional Committee, national political director for Mitt Romney’s 2008 Presidential campaign, and the executive VP at FreedomWatch, which has been active in the tea party movement and the anti-health care town hall meetings back in August. Forti now runs&nbsp;<a href="http://www.blackrockgrp.com/teambio.php" style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;">the Black Rock Group</a>, which he founded.&nbsp;</span><a href="http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0609/23511.html" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;">This Politico article</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">&nbsp;details Forti and Black Rock’s key involvement in trying to exploit a loophole in FEC rules to basically gut campaign finance law and allow “individual corporations to coordinate with no restrictions their own advertising and direct mail attacks on candidates.”</span></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">And that really looks like what 60 Plus is already doing, to some extent. 60 Plus has been a front group for the pharmaceutical industry since its inception. It was part of a coalition called&nbsp;<a href="http://www.citizen.org/congress/reform/drug_industry/contribution/articles.cfm?ID=4538" style="box-sizing: border-box; background: transparent; text-decoration-line: none;">Citizens for Better Medicare</a>financed mainly with pharma money, which spent around $65 million dollars during the 2000 elections. That relationship has only expanded from there, with 60 Plus aiding fights at the state and national level for the drug lobby. From Sourcewatch:</font></p><blockquote style="box-sizing: border-box; letter-spacing: 1px; line-height: 25px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><b style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">In 2002, 60 Plus fought state legislation that would create formularies, or lists of preferred, lower-cost prescription drugs for Medicaid patients.</b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> 60 Plus fought “such legislation in Minnesota and New Mexico,” with assistance from the </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Bonner & Associates</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> firm, which specializes in astroturf lobbying. “The firm’s paid callers, reading from scripts that identified them as representatives of 60 Plus, urged residents to ask their governors to veto the legislation. Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc. later said it had paid Bonner & Associates to make the calls,” reported AARP. At the time, 60 Plus president Jim Martin denied “anyone was misled. ‘The callers had an outline,’ said Martin. ‘This is an important issue that impacts people’s health.'”</span></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>“In its 2001 fiscal year, 60 Plus got a total of $275,000 from PhRMA </b>(the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America), CBM (Citizens for Better Medicare) and three drug companies (Merck, Pfizer and Wyeth-Ayerst) plus another $300,000 from Hanwha International Corp., the U.S. subsidiary of a Korean conglomerate with chemical and pharmaceutical interests — amounts that made up about 29 percent of its revenue,” reported AARP.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">60 Plus supported a lawsuit by Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America against the state of Maine (in a “friend of the court” brief) for daring to try to pass a law that will authentically reduce prices for Medicare drugs by allowing the state to buy in bulk directly from manufacturers. It has also joined a lawsuit against the Federal Communications Commission regarding campaign reform (specifically in support of soft money for issue ads).</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In the 2002 election campaigns, 60 Plus paid for issue ads on local radio and TV stations across the country saying that local Republican candidates “care for seniors” so much that they “passed a prescription drug bill” that “saved us from an inept government bureaucracy meddling with health plan benefits.”</font></p></blockquote><p style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Bonner and Associates</b>, you recall, is the group which&nbsp;<a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/astroturf-king-jack-bonners-long-history-deceitful-grassroots-lobbying" style="box-sizing: border-box; background: transparent; text-decoration-line: none;">sent fake letters to members of Congress opposing climate and energy legislation</a>, the recent subject of a Congressional investigation.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">In a sense, 60 Plus exists in a long continuum with other conservative movement front groups and recipients of corporate money. They&nbsp;<a href="http://www.stealthpacs.org/profile.cfm?org_id=27" style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;">date back</a>&nbsp;to direct-mail guru Richard Viguerie, and they have ties to conservative movement types like Jack Abramoff,</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> according to&nbsp;</span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XChjPdm470&feature=player_embedded" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;">this report by Rachel Maddow</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">. They have multiple connections to GOP lobbyists and movement types, including&nbsp;</span><a href="http://seminal.shadowproof.wpengine.com/diary/7223" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;">the former head of the Virginia Republican Party</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">. And in an amusing additional bit of information, the current national spokesman for 60 Plus is Republican activist and <b>alleged entertainer Pat Boone.</b></span></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">But clearly, the wing of the conservative movement funding 60 Plus and directing its attacks is the pharmaceutical lobby.&nbsp;<a href="http://bulletin.aarp.org/yourworld/politics/articles/pulling_strings_from.html" style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;">AARP</a>&nbsp;did the definitive work on this subject a few years back, finding that “virtually all of (60 Plus’) largest contributions in recent years have come from the same source—the nation’s pharmaceutical industry.”</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> In 2002, 60 Plus received 91% of its total revenue – $11 million dollars – from&nbsp;</span><a href="http://www.stealthpacs.org/profile.cfm?org_id=27" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;">one undisclosed donor</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">, which the Washington Post&nbsp;</span><a href="http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1P2-405298.html" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;">reported</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">&nbsp;lined up perfectly with “an unrestricted educational grant” to 60 Plus from PhRMa, the drugmaker lobby group. Jim Martin, the 60 Plus President, has acknowledged in interviews that it received money from pharmaceuticals, saying “I wish it was more.”</span></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A call to <b>Carl Forti, </b>the spokesman for the new 60 Plus ad, was not returned.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"></font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">w/ alford ~ solar florida</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article69246732.html</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
<span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1476545070640_8217" style="">Percent

margin needed to pass Florida's Amendment 1, a ballot measure that

investor-owned utilities are promoting as pro-solar but that opponents

say aims to protect the utilities' monopoly and slow the state's

transition to solar power: <b><a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="https://ballotpedia.org/Florida_Solar_Energy_Subsidies_and_Personal_Solar_Use,Amendment_1%282016%29">60</a></b>

Amount raised by Consumers for Smart Solar, the group promoting Amendment 1: <b><a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="http://www.citizen.org/documents/big-business-ballot-bullies-corporate-money-report.pdf">more than $21.5 million</a></b>

Percent of that amount which came from big utilities and other

companies whose bottom lines would be hurt by encouraging consumers to

switch to solar power: <b><a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/curtissilver/2016/10/10/florida-amendment-1-solar-power/#4f4a5adf5fe5">80</a></b>

Amount contributed to the <a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QXIcwN3iS0">deceptive pro-Amendment 1 campaign</a> by Duke Energy alone: <b><a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="http://www.citizen.org/documents/big-business-ballot-bullies-corporate-money-report.pdf">more than $5.7 million</a></b>

Amount contributed by Florida Power and Light, which is owned by Florida-based NextEra Energy: <b><a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="http://www.citizen.org/documents/big-business-ballot-bullies-corporate-money-report.pdf">almost $5.5 million</a></b>
<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><b>

Amount contributed by the 60 Plus Association</b>, a conservative political

advocacy group that's received tens of millions of dollars from

organizations associated with the brothers that run the Koch Industries

oil and chemical conglomerate: <b><a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="https://ballotpedia.org/Florida_Solar_Energy_Subsidies_and_Personal_Solar_Use,Amendment_1_%282016%29#Campaign_finance">over $1.4 million</a></b></span>

Factor by which the amount raised by Consumers for Smart Solar exceeds

total funds raised by the grassroots opposition campaign group,

Floridians for Solar Choice, a politically diverse coalition <a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="https://ballotpedia.org/Florida_Solar_Energy_Subsidies_and_Personal_Solar_Use,Amendment_1%282016%29#Campaign_finance">that includes</a> the League of Women Voters, the Sierra Club, the Christian Coalition and various Republican groups: <b><a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="https://ballotpedia.org/Florida_Solar_Energy_Subsidies_and_Personal_Solar_Use,Amendment_1%282016%29">10</a></b>

Number of professional signature-gathering firms the utility-backed

campaign hired in order to get its measure on this year's ballot: <b><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QXIcwN3iS0">2</a></b>

Date on which Florida Supreme Court Justice Barbara Pariente, in her

dissent from the 4-3 decision allowing Amendment 1 to appear on the

ballot, warned that the initiative was a "wolf in sheep's clothing": <b><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://efactssc-public.flcourts.org/casedocuments/2015/2150/2015-2150_disposition_134770.pdf">3/31/2016</a></b>

Date on which the Clear Language Institute, a nonprofit that promotes

using easy-to-understand language in legislation, bestowed its first

"Deceptive Language Award" on the pro-Amendment 1 group for misleading

voters: <b><a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="https://www.facebook.com/230394176414/photos/a.10153757493471415.1073741826.230394176414/10153757491721415/?type=3&theater">10/2/2016</a></b>

Florida's ranking among states for solar energy potential: <b><a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="https://mic.com/articles/152600/florida-amendment-1-what-you-need-to-know-about-the-state-s-vote-on-solar-energy#.PHtXlNzRo">3</a></b>

Its ranking among states for installed solar capacity: <b><a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="https://mic.com/articles/152600/florida-amendment-1-what-you-need-to-know-about-the-state-s-vote-on-solar-energy#.PHtXlNzRo">14</a></b>

Number of electricity customers in Florida: <b><a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="http://blog.cleanenergy.org/2016/08/31/utility-backed-amendment-1-blocks-the-sun/">9 million</a></b>

Number of rooftop solar systems in the state: <b><a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="http://blog.cleanenergy.org/2016/08/31/utility-backed-amendment-1-blocks-the-sun/">fewer than 12,000</a></b>

Date on which early voting begins in Florida: <b><a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="http://www.mypalmbeachpost.com/news/news/state-regional-govt-politics/florida-voters-to-decide-utility-backed-solar-ener/nskcd/">10/24/2016</a></b>

In a recent poll, percent of likely Florida voters who said they planned to vote for Amendment 1: <b><a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="http://polls.saintleo.edu/proposed-amendments-retain-the-favor-of-florida-voters-in-latest-saint-leo-survey/">84</a></b></span></font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">BUSTED fine, noble</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">7/16</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2016/07/fec-dark-money-fine-shows-limits-of-disclosure-again/</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">This week, the Federal Election Commission did the unthinkable. The agency most frequently characterized by its constant, crippling deadlock levied a substantial fine against three large politically active nonprofit groups.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">The decision also required the groups to amend past FEC filings to disclose who provided their funding. But because the source was, itself, another nondisclosing group, the public has learned very little.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">The fine — first made public by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), which originally brought the complaint in 2014 — totaled $233,000 split among three groups:Americans for Job Security, American Future Fund, and the 60 Plus Association.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">The penalty now ranks among the top 25 highest total fines ever brought by the FEC, and the largest ever brought for activity in a post-Citizens United election, according to this list of cases maintained by the FEC.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">The violations at the heart of the enforcement action stretch all the way back to the 2010 midterms and the Tea Party wave that flipped the House into GOP control. The complaint centers on a group called the Center to Protect Patient Rights (CPPR), a 501(c)(4) social welfare organization, now called American Encore, which at the time was the hub of the Koch donor network.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">CPPR didn’t report any political spending to the FEC in 2010, but it did send $25.5 million to the three other groups, who together reported spending tens of millions of dollars supporting Republican House candidates.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Normally, AJS and the other organizations wouldn’t have to report that CPPR was the source of funds for the ads; disclosure would only be required if the grants were “earmarked” for specific expenditures in specific races. Such earmarking is rare, which is why 501(c) groups almost never disclose their donors — and, hence, are referred to as “dark money” groups.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">The FEC found, however, that the operative running CPPR, Sean Noble, was engaged in the selection of which races should be targeted, and his firm, Noble Associates, was sub-contracted to “produce and develop” some of the ads. Noble’s substantial involvement in content selection for the ads and race targeting was sufficient grounds for the FEC to find that the contributions should have been disclosed as if they were earmarked.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">The involvement of Noble Associates also highlights the close ties between Noble’s firms and the groups he runs, an intertwining that in the past has led to allegations that he has profited handsomely from the political activities of his nonprofits.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">The CREW complaint itself only materialized in 2014 because Noble described the set-up in detail for the National Review. By then, Noble’s propensity to chat about his activities and get his groups into very public disputes with regulators had already led the Kochs to cut him loose.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">While the three recipient groups will have to pay fines — $50,000 for 60 Plus Association, $140,000 for American Future Fund, and $43,000 for Americans for Job Security — they are getting what amounts to a pass on their disclosure. The conditions of their conciliation state that they must amend their FEC filings to identify CPPR as a donor in 2010, but that has long been public. When OpenSecrets Blogfirst discovered CPPR in 2012, we reported its contributions to these and other groups.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">The FEC’s donor reporting enforcement in this instance amounts to little more than a nondisclosure disclosure, because while the groups that ran the ads must reveal CPPR as their donor, CPPR doesn’t have to reveal the sources of its own funds. The individuals or organizations that kept it in business as a major distributor of cash in the Koch network are still not known beyond what OpenSecrets Blog has been able to ferret out.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">While Noble’s ties to the Koch network at the time are clear, it is impossible to specify to what extent the Kochs themselves funded the group or who else in their orbit may have provided the money.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">The lack of information becomes all the more stark when one considers that the FEC’s decision has no bearing on the 2012 election, by which point CPPR was part of a network that raised more than $400 million and was responsible for at least 1 in 4 dark money dollars spent.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">CPPR and its grantees aren’t the first to manage to keep their donors secret despite forced disclosure, and they won’t be the last. The dark money churn — basically, the transfer of assets among connected groups to provide multiple layers of anonymity — is what keeps a lot of these groups in business. The FEC’s action this week, while important, proves the strategy works.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Tags: 60 Plus Association, American Future Fund, Americans for Job Security, center to protect patient rights,cppr, dark money, fec, Robert Maguire, Sean Noble, Shadow Money Trail</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p /><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">=</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">teamed with koch and alec and rove in 2014</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">eg</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p style="border: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; line-height: 22.4px; background-color: rgb(238, 238, 238);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Arizona Speaker of the House&nbsp;<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Arizona_ALEC_Politicians" target="blank" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Andy Tobin</a>&nbsp;(R-1), who has had a seat on ALEC's anti-worker rights&nbsp;<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Commerce,Insurance_and_Economic_Development_Task_Force" target="blank" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Commerce, Insurance, and Economic Development Task Force</a>, ran for the first U.S. House district seat against Democrat Ann Kirkpatrick, whom&nbsp;<em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Politico</em>&nbsp;<a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2014/11/2014-house-elections-112430.html" target="blank" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">called</a>&nbsp;"one of the most endangered Democratic incumbents in the country." Having raised only about a third of what Kirkpatrick did, to the aggravation of GOP strategists, Tobin received millions in support from&nbsp;<a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/races/indexp.php?cycle=2014&id=AZ01&spec=N" target="blank" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">outside groups</a>&nbsp;-- as did Kirkpatrick. The race was&nbsp;<a href="http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/arizona/politics/2014/11/02/arizona-house-races-expensive-ever/18366121/" target="blank" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">one of the most expensive</a>&nbsp;in the country. At the end of a tight race, and according to unofficial number reported by&nbsp;<a href="http://knau.org/post/early-results-show-kirkpatrick-leading-tobin-cd-1-race" target="blank" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">NPR affiliate KNAU</a>, Kirkpatrick looks to be out in front, although the race has not yet been called.</font></p><p style="border: 0px; margin: 1em 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 22.4px; background-color: rgb(238, 238, 238);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Also in Arizona, ALEC state Senator&nbsp;<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Arizona_ALEC_Politicians" target="blank" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Michele Reagan</a>&nbsp;(R-8) ran for Secretary of State against Democrat Terry Goddard. Both Reagan and Goddard ran for the state's top elections post on pledges to expose "dark money." But the last few weeks of the race saw&nbsp;<a href="http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/arizona/politics/2014/10/31/secretary-state-rivals-outline-plans-expose-dark-money/18260751/" target="blank" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">hundreds of thousands</a>&nbsp;spent on ads attacking Democrat Goddard by the <b>Koch-affiliated&nbsp;<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/60_Plus_Association" target="blank" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">60 Plus Association</a></b>, which does not reveal its donors. Reagan refused to condemn the expenditure,&nbsp;<a href="http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/arizona/politics/2014/10/31/secretary-state-rivals-outline-plans-expose-dark-money/18260751/" target="blank" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">according to</a>&nbsp;the&nbsp;<em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Arizona Republic</em>. Goddard ran with funding from Arizona's public campaign-finance program, which meant he agreed not to fundraise from private sources. The outside spending by the Koch-tied group eclipsed the money to which he had access. Reagan&nbsp;<a href="http://www.azfamily.com/news/election/Goddard-Reagan-square-off-for-secretary-of-state-281546911.html" target="_blank" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">won the election</a>.</font></p><p><span style="line-height: 22.4px; background-color: rgb(238, 238, 238);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">- See more at: http://www.prwatch.org/node/12654#sthash.DkN3oZ13.dpuf</font></span></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">=</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">&nbsp;<span style="line-height: 20px;">This Virginia-based nonprofit has been billed as a conservative alternative to the AARP. Like the American Future Fund, it is a top recipient of Koch network cash. 60 Plus spent more than $4.6 million on the 2012 elections, nearly $3 million of it toward supporting Mitt Romney. So far, the association has spent more than $500,000 on the 2014 midterms.</span></font></p><ul class="list-unstyled" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; list-style: none; line-height: 20px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Received money from:</font></span><li style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><a href="http://assets.motherjones.com/interactives/projects/features/koch-network/shell19/index.html?initialWidth=960&childId=graphic#" data-target="Center to Protect Patient Rights (now known as American Encore)" class="donor-link" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial;">Center to Protect Patient Rights (now known as American Encore)</a>&nbsp;$16,659,723</font></li><li style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><a href="http://assets.motherjones.com/interactives/projects/features/koch-network/shell19/index.html?initialWidth=960&childId=graphic#" data-target="Freedom Partners" class="donor-link" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial;">Freedom Partners</a>&nbsp;$15,660,000</font></li><li style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><a href="http://assets.motherjones.com/interactives/projects/features/koch-network/shell19/index.html?initialWidth=960&childId=graphic#" data-target="TC4 Trust" class="donor-link" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial;">TC4 Trust</a>&nbsp;$4,061,000</font></li><li style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><a href="http://assets.motherjones.com/interactives/projects/features/koch-network/shell19/index.html?initialWidth=960&childId=graphic#" data-target="Free Enterprise America" class="donor-link" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial;">Free Enterprise America</a>&nbsp;$840,000</font></li></ul><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">==</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">stone hell:</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">&nbsp;</font>

<span style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 22.75px; orphans: auto; text-align: left; 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);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">There was an ominous detail, picked up only in “Swindle” by Ames, that the positioning of Johnson as a vote splitter was part of a long term project of a faction on the right. “Our America Initiative”, Johnson’s election organization, was registered in March 2010, and it was registered by Maureen Otis, who specializes in far right groups and causes. She was the legal contact for the anti-immigrant Declaration Alliance, whose website delcared “the United States of America is under relentless attack by foreign invaders who neither obey our laws nor honor our institutions”, she was the legal contact for Californians for Population Stabilization, a group opposed to legal immigration to California, she was the legal contact for True the Vote, a ballot security group that was almost entirely white, which operated in black and latino voting precincts in 2012.&nbsp;</font></span>

<span style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 22.75px; orphans: auto; text-align: left; 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);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">&nbsp;</font></span>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><span style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 22.75px; orphans: auto; text-align: left; 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);">All these and other details I already wrote about in a post also spurred on by the<span class="Apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span></span><i style="font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 22.75px; orphans: auto; text-align: left; 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);">NSFW Corp</i><span style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 22.75px; orphans: auto; text-align: left; 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);"><span class="Apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span>piece,<span class="Apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span></span><a href="http://italkyoubored.wordpress.com/2012/12/28/maureen-otis-a-mystery-inside-a-mystery/" sl-processed="1" style="text-decoration: underline; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 22.75px; orphans: auto; text-align: left; 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);">“Maureen Otis: A Mystery Inside a Mystery”</a><span style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 22.75px; orphans: auto; text-align: left; 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);">, about Otis and the unreported shadow money so ubiquitous in politics now. When I wrote that, however, there were a few subtle details I missed. Maureen Otis is the legal contact for the </span><span style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 22.75px; orphans: auto; text-align: left; 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);"><b>60 Plus Association and USA Next, two grassroots senior advocacy groups that are nothing of the kind, getting almost all of their funding from big pharma and industry</b></span><span style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 22.75px; orphans: auto; text-align: left; 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);">. They may be the only seniors organizations to fight<span class="Apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span></span><i style="font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 22.75px; orphans: auto; text-align: left; 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);">against</i><span style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 22.75px; orphans: auto; text-align: left; 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);"><span class="Apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span>price caps on medication for seniors. They might be the only seniors organizations to advocate for burial of nuclear waste in Nevada, and offshore oil drilling, thanks to donations from the respective industries. Those details I did not miss, and gave mention in “Mystery Inside a Mystery”. What I missed is that United Seniors Association was</span><span style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 22.75px; orphans: auto; text-align: left; 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);"><b> founded by Richard Viguerie and re-organized by J. Curtis Herge.</b></span><span style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 22.75px; orphans: auto; text-align: left; 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);"> That J. Curtis Herge also incorporated the 60 Plus Association. J. Curtis Herge, the same man who incorporated the New York Institute for Law and Society, which attacked the Mohawks as drug dealers and human traffickers in newspaper ads, a smear campaign which Trump and Stone had to apologize for (see<span class="Apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span></span><a href="http://italkyoubored.wordpress.com/2014/02/05/roger-stone-pretty-reckless-is-going-straight-to-hell-part-five/" sl-processed="1" style="text-decoration: underline; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 22.75px; orphans: auto; text-align: left; 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);">“Roger Stone: Pretty Reckless Is Going Straight To Hell Part Five”</a><span style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 22.75px; orphans: auto; text-align: left; 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);">). J. Curtis Herge, who gets a mention in Stone’s memoir: “In 1972 I was assigned to work for J. Curtis Herge, an affable and capable attorney from Nixon, Mudge, Rose, Gutherie and Alexander, Nixon’s starchy Wall Street firm. Herge had done advance work for Nixon in 1968 and 1970.” I missed that nuance, and I missed another one. I first came across the excellent piece,<span class="Apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span></span><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/08/national-womens-history-museum_n_1408662.html?view=print&comm_ref=false" sl-processed="1" style="text-decoration: underline; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 22.75px; orphans: auto; text-align: left; 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);">“National Women’s History Museum Makes Little Progress After 16 Years”</a><span style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 22.75px; orphans: auto; text-align: left; 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);">, because I was looking up the various organizations for which Maureen Otis is the legal representative. In 2008, Maureen Otis was the legal contact listed for the National Women’s History Museum</span><a id="bkfrftnote219" name="bkfrftnote219" style="text-decoration: underline; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 22.75px; orphans: auto; text-align: left; 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 href="http://italkyoubored.wordpress.com/2014/02/15/roger-stone-pretty-reckless-is-going-straight-to-hell-part-eight/#ftnote219" sl-processed="1" style="text-decoration: underline; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 22.75px; orphans: auto; text-align: left; 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);">²¹⁹</a><span style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 22.75px; orphans: auto; text-align: left; 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);">.</span></font>

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<div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">still kickin 2014</font></div>

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http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2013/09/a-story-on-politicos-website.html

Much of the funding for some of the largest conservative dark money groups in 2012 came from a previously little-known group that was started by and is to some degree bankrolled by the billionaire Koch brothers, according to a story on <a target="_blank" href="http://www.politico.com/story/2013/09/behind-the-curtain-exclusive-the-koch-brothers-secret-bank-96669.html">Politico</a>'s website today.

Freedom Partners, a 501(c)(6) business partnership, made grants totaling $236 million since it was founded in November, 2011.

Almost half of that -- $115 million -- went to the <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/nonprof_contrib.php?id=264683543">Center to Protect Patient Rights</a>, a group that has no activities of its own other than giving grants to other politically active tax-exempt organizations. That's more than CPPR's budget in all years combined since it was established in 2009. It's run by Sean Noble, a political consultant and Koch operative.

CPPR has given grants to some of the same groups that, according to Politico, Freedom Partners gave funds to last year, such as the conservative seniors' group <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/detail.php?cmte=C90011685&cycle=2012">60 Plus Association</a>, which also has Koch connections. CPPR gave 60 Plus $14 million over three years.

</font><div id="more" class="asset-more"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Freedom Partners sent $15.7 million to 60 Plus in 2012 alone.

And 60 Plus -- which has also&nbsp;<a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/contrib.php?cmte=60+Plus+Assn&cycle=2012">received donations</a>&nbsp;from the American Petroleum Institute, the Karl Rove-affiliated Crossroads GPS, and another Koch-connected group that does nothing but give out grants, TC4 Trust -- reported spending more than $4.6 million in the 2012 federal elections, much of it to support GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney.

CPPR has not yet filed its tax forms covering 2012 with the IRS, so it's not yet known what groups it provided funds to last year -- or how much of its total revenue was covered by the $115 million from Freedom Partners.

Until now,&nbsp;<a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2012/05/cppr.html">CPPR</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2012/12/nonprofit-funneled-money-to-kochs-voter-database-effort-other-conservative-groups.html">TC4 Trust</a>&nbsp;-- which were both uncovered last year by&nbsp;<i>OpenSecrets Blog&nbsp;</i>-- were believed to be the main "shadow money mailboxes" (having no activities of their own other than giving grants) on the right. As of last year, Freedom Partners, the only significant group in the network that is not a 501(c)(4), has taken the lead.&nbsp;

But the fact that it's heavily funding CPPR means that the latter group continues playing a major role in the network -- with an additional curtain of secrecy hiding its donors.&nbsp;

<a target="_blank" href="http://freedompartners.org/us/">Freedom Partners</a>&nbsp;was started as the Association for American Innovation in December 2011. Its president, Marc Short, has overseen the Koch brothers' political efforts for some time. The Kochs, who run an industrial conglomerate based in Wichita, have been deeply involved in Republican politics for years and sponsor an annual strategy session for groups and donors on the right.&nbsp;

Short told Politico that Freedom Partners has about 200 donors each paying at least $100,000 each. One donor gave $25 million.

The California Fair Political Practices Commission has been&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="http://www.fppc.ca.gov/press_release.php?pr_id=766">trying</a>&nbsp;to pierce the veil hiding donors to several tax-exempt nonprofits that contributed money to one another -- one of which was CPPR -- before ultimately giving it to a group working on ballot measures in the state last year. And attorneys general in other states, such as New York, also have been attempting to force such groups to identify their donors.&nbsp;

The use of a 501(c)(6) like Freedom Partners could help keep dark money stay dark. Business associations may not fall within the charitable trust jurisdiction of state attorneys general, so the arrangement could help stymie states' efforts to shed some light on who is behind the organizations. Neither (c)(4) groups nor (c)(6)s are supposed to be primarily political, but both types have asserted that providing grants to other organizations -- even if those groups spend some of their resources on political ads -- is not political activity.

Other groups that received major funding from Freedom Partners in 2012, Politico reported, include the&nbsp;<a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/detail.php?cmte=American+Future+Fund&cycle=2012">American Future Fund</a>, which received $13.6 million. AFF reported to the Federal Election Committee that it spent $25.4 million on ads benefiting conservative candidates in that election cycle.&nbsp;

<a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/detail.php?cmte=Americans+for+Prosperity&cycle=2012">Americans for Prosperity</a>, a group that was started by the Koch brothers, got $32.3 million; it spent $36.4 million in outside spending during the 2012 elections, according to FEC reports it filed.&nbsp;

Themis Trust, a voter database spearheaded by the Kochs that was initially funded through TC4 Trust,&nbsp;<a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2012/12/nonprofit-funneled-money-to-kochs-voter-database-effort-other-conservative-groups.html">received $5.8 million</a>.

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<div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Follow Viveca on Twitter: <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/vjn">@VJN</a></font></div>

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Total Independent Expenditures: $4,615,892

&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;For Democrats: $0

&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Against Democrats: $1,424,605

&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;For Republicans: $3,191,287

&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Against Republicans: $0

Total Electioneering Communications: $0

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<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">AC GPS: &nbsp;<span style="line-height: 20.2031px;">The political director of American Crossroads is Carl Forti, a veteran operative specializing in running independent expenditure campaigns. Forti ran an $80 million operation at the NRCC in 2006. The Crossroads family that Forti runs has spent $26 million on independent expenditures so far this cycle.</span></font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">&nbsp;</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>Forti</b>&nbsp;also runs the communications strategy firm Black Rock Group with Michael Dubke. Dubke also operates the organization Crossroads Media, which is not directly associated with the Crossroads family. Crossroads Media, however, is the media company for the Crossroads family and has received $20.89 million from American Crossroads and Crossroads GPS for media and advertising services.</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Dubke is also connected to another big independent expenditure operator on the Republican side<b>, Americans for Job Security.</b>&nbsp;Dubke helped found Americans for Job Security and served as executive director and then president from 1997 to 2007.</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">&nbsp;</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>Americans for Job Security operates out of the same office as Crossroads Media and the Black Rock Group</b>and is currently run by Stephen DeMaura, the 25-year old former executive director of the New Hampshire Republican Party. DeMaura is the only employee of the group. Crossroads Media has received $2.95 million from Americans for Job Security for media services in the 2010 midterms. This group has spent $4.39 million on independent expenditures so far this election.</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">&nbsp;</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Forti, the political director for the Crossroads family, also handles the PR and media profile of The&nbsp;<b>60-Plus Association.</b>&nbsp;The 60-Plus Association was founded in 1992 as a conservative counter to a perceived liberal bias in the group senior citizen advocacy group AARP. So far, The 60-Plus Association has spent more than $5 million on independent expenditures.</font>

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<a href="http://blog.sunlightfoundation.com/2010/10/21/hydra-of-independent-groups-fuels-republican-side/"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" color="#000000">http://blog.sunlightfoundation.com/2010/10/21/hydra-of-independent-groups-fuels-republican-side/</font></a>

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