webodec3ARCHIVEPreview
Open in TheBrain

AFF am fut bak HVJT

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">bad format main</font><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">not to be confused with America's Fut Fund?</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">almost all koch $</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">took out mark udall? raga2</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">ca primary 2018 [also dem superpac funding gop guy?!)</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">https://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/gop-group-jumps-in-to-try-to-shut-dems-out-of-key-california-house-races</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A&nbsp; Republican super PAC is launching a last-minute effort to boost a handful of House GOP candidates in southern California. The goal is to block Democrats from getting a candidate into the general election in some key House races.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The American Future Fund, an Iowa-based GOP group, has dropped almost $700,000 to boost four GOP candidates in three districts, according to documents filed with the Federal Election Commission on Wednesday.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Their goals are to elevate some flagging Republicans and try to help them make the November ballot in districts that are key to Democrats’ hopes of winning the House this fall.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">California’s “jungle” primary system allows the top two vote-getters to advance to the general election, regardless of party. That’s led to concerns among Democrats that their candidates could split the Democratic vote, allowing Republicans to finish in the top two spots in some congressional races and immediately costing them chances at a handful of winnable seats in the state.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">National Democrats have been spending heavily to try to avoid that scenario.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Republicans had been surprisingly quiet in their response, considering how with some effort now they could guarantee victory in a few key House battles — as well as save themselves a lot of money in November in the expensive districts. But this buy suggests things may be starting to shift.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The GOP super-PAC’s buy includes almost $500,000 on advertising, direct mail and door-to-door voter outreach to boost Rocky Chavez and Diane Harkey, a pair of Republican candidates running for the seat currently held by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), who is retiring. That race is one in which both parties worry they might get shut out and fail to get a candidate through to the November election, though Democrats are more alarmed at the prospect.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The group is also spending $100,000 to boost Scott Baugh, a Republican running against controversial Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA). That district is the one where Democratic concerns about being shut out, given their own crowded field, are most acute.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The GOP group is also chipping in about $100,000 to boost Young Kim, the GOP front-runner in the crowded race to replace retiring Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA).</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The efforts for Kim and Harkey began last week, but this is the first evidence that the group’s push is to block Democrats out in some of these districts, rather than help out particular GOP candidates. The group didn’t respond to requests for an explanation of their strategy.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Republicans had expressed growing frustration that their party wasn’t doing more to meddle in these primaries to ensure the best results. Democrats already have spent millions on the races.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Issa told TPM on Tuesday, before these ads had become public, that House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s Democrats were doing a better job organizing in the state, even in traditionally conservative enclaves like his district.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Pelosi naturally gets us better. That’s not to say anything against Steve,” Issa said, referring to National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Steve Stivers (R-OH). “It’s just that the observation in my district is the Democrats are playing a game that could well get one of their candidates in that otherwise wouldn’t if both sides were playing.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Other Republicans have also griped about the lack of national intervention to help them.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“You wish the party would recognize this opportunity and lift us up,” GOP strategist John Thomas, who’s working with candidate Shawn Nelson in Royce’s district, told TPM. “They just don’t understand the top-two dynamic.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Democrats have been spending heavily against Nelson and Bob Huff to avoid them getting into the runoff with Kim, the GOP front-runner, and Republicans still have done little in response to help them.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">But the American Future Fund’s late intervention could help move the ball back in Republicans’ direction in these key seat</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">New tax filings obtained by OpenSecrets Blog suggest that, of all the still-existing groups that have been exiled from the Koch network, American Future Fund has been the most successful at surviving — mostly, it appears, as a (c)(4)-for-hire, functioning as a conduit for establishment-leaning groups like Crossroads GPS, the granddaddy of politically active nonprofit groups that don’t disclose their donors.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Make American Future Fund Great Again</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Trump campaign’s statement alleges that American Future Fund “unlawfully coordinated with lightweight Senator Marco Rubio on these misleading commercials.” The release doesn’t offer evidence to back up the charge, and the Trump campaign didn’t respond to requests from OpenSecrets Blog to elaborate. If true, the coordination of strategy between the Florida senator’s campaign operation and AFF would be a violation of federal election laws, which require groups like AFF to act independently of candidates.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Coordinated or not, AFF’s pattern of ad buys does lend some credence to the idea that the group is at least acting as ground support for the Rubio campaign. AFF has spent more than any other nondisclosing “dark money” group in the election so far, $4.9 million, and often on targets other than Trump. Days before the Iowa caucuses, AFF put $1.5 million into ads attacking Gov John Kasich of Ohio, another GOP White House hopeful,&nbsp; as a supporter of Common Core and a “cheerleader for Medicaid expansion” under the Affordable Care Act.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">About two weeks later, in the run-up to the New Hampshire primaries, AFF spent another $1.5 million accusing Texas Sen. Ted Cruz for being weak on national security.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">And with outlays of $1.9 million on a series of ads hitting Trump, Rubio is the only one of the remaining GOP presidential contenders who hasn’t been attacked by AFF. He also happens to be the establishment’s favored candidate to lead the party into the November election.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Moving Closer to the Establishment</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">American Future Fund was one of the first politically active nonprofits on the scene after the Supreme Court’s 2007 decision in FEC v. Wisconsin Right to Life, which freed up 501(c) organizations to make electioneering communications — so-called “issue ads” run shortly before an election that often look like outright political ads. In the four elections from 2008 to 2014, AFF — and groups to which it funneled money via grants — spent more than $40 million bolstering Republican candidates.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Until late 2012, the vast majority of the group’s receipts — more than $77 million — flowed from donor hubs in the Koch network.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">That changed after AFF was called out, with two other Koch network groups, in a cash shuffle that California regulators labeled “campaign money laundering.” Higher-ups in the Koch network — even more hush-hush then than it is now — weren’t pleased with all the attention the legal proceedings in California brought to their operations, and AFF and the two other groups involved were in effect thrown out in the cold.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Of the three organizations, though, AFF appears to have been the most successful in finding new sources of funds to keep its doors open. Revenues are less than they were in the days when Koch money was plentiful — about $6.9 million in 2014 — but the group managed to bring in about twice as much in 2013 and 2014 as American Encore, previously known as the Center to Protect Patient Rights; that organization, once the hub of Planet Koch, boasted receipts of more than $247 million over four years.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">American Encore has found a second life as a sort of public relations outfit supporting Arizona Governor Doug Ducey.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">But AFF — which has no employees and just two board members who each, according to the group’s filing, spend three hours per week on AFF business — appears to have become something of a dark money mercenary, a vehicle for political ads on behalf of donors who don’t want their involvement to be public.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">North Carolina’s highs…</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In the final days of the 2014 midterms, a series of web ads came out supporting longshot Libertarian Senate candidate Sean Haugh. The ads played on the sound of Haugh’s last name — which sounds remotely like the word “high” if you are, indeed, high. The ad showed young people holding signs saying, “Get High, Get Haugh,” with slogans like “More weed, Less War.” FEC documents show that the campaign cost $420,000 — get it? — and AFF was footing the bill.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Haugh himself wasn’t too happy, tweeting “While I appreciate the support, I now have a whole new reason to despise Koch brothers & their dark money.” Haugh could be excused for associating AFF with the Kochs, given that the only available information at the time — past tax filings from AFF and other Koch groups — showed overwhelming linkage.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">It turns out that none of the core Koch organizations funded AFF in 2014. But another group with a big stake in the outcome of the Senate election in North Carolina did. Crossroads GPS, a politically active nonprofit linked to the GOP establishment, gave $2 million to American Future Fund, tax documents filed last year show.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Crossroads GPS was heavily invested in the Carolina race to unseat incumbent Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan. The group ultimately spent $4.9 million supporting her opponent Thom Tillis, and the OpenSecrets Blog found last fall that GPS had provided nearly the entire budget of another nonprofit, Carolina Rising — which effectively spent close to 100 percent of that money supporting Tillis.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">While Haugh wasn’t right about AFF being a Koch group anymore, he was right about one thing. GPS and AFF were probably using him to draw younger, more liberal voters away from Hagan.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“It’s all kind of surreal, frankly,” Haugh told NPR. “Obviously they want to try to use me to siphon votes away from Kay Hagan and maybe swing the election to Thom Tillis.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">GPS, then, funded two groups, including AFF, that mounted campaigns benefiting Tillis. GPS’ multifarious show of force ushered Tillis into the winners circle in 2014, helping swing the Senate into GOP control.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">While GPS was its largest single supporter in 2014, AFF received more than $1 million apiece from two other donors; those three contributions made up 64 percent of AFFs revenue in 2014, according to the group’s latest tax filing.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">One of those other donors, providing $1.35 million, was the Judicial Crisis Network (JCN), as OpenSecrets Blog has reported — which itself is entirely funded by another shadowy group called the Wellspring Committee. JCN and AFF, along with an AFF subsidiary called The Progress Project, then put $1.8 million into the Republican Attorneys General Association.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">But, while electing conservative attorneys general around the country has been a focus of JCN’s efforts, it hasn’t been the only one. The group has spent heavily in judicial races over the last two cycles — including more than $600,000 in the lead-up to Arkansas’ court elections last week, in which JCN’s favored candidate was the victor. After the voting was done, Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) said that, “regrettably, a winner in yesterday’s campaign was dark money.” The group has also launched a “seven figure television, radio and digital advertising campaign” praising several Republican senators in tight re-election battles for promising to block consideration of any Supreme Court nominee submitted by the Obama administration to fill the late Associate Justice Antonin Scalia’s seat.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">…and Puerto Rico’s lows</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Back in 2014, AFF rounded out its year with an ad campaign that had nothing to do with attorneys general or the congressional midterms, paying for a series of ads in Politico and the Wall Street Journal accusing the Democratic governor of Puerto Rico, Alejandro Garcia Padilla, of being a part of a “Culture of Corruption.” The ads were conspicuously timed to run just before a lawsuit brought by Doral Financial Group was to go to court, OpenSecrets Blog reported last year. Doral Financial Group won its suit, receiving a $230 million tax refund from the struggling Puerto Rican government, which is teetering on the brink of bankruptcy.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">When AFF reported all of this spending to the IRS, it counted $3.4 million as “political expenditures” — just shy of the 49 percent limit the agency imposes on the political activity of social welfare groups. That’s assuming that AFF’s other expenditures on things like “production/writing” or “survey research” was for actual social welfare programs rather than supporting the group’s political agenda. And a larger question is whether the group provides an excessive private benefit to a candidate or party, in this case the Republican party.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Its unlikely that the IRS will ever answer that question, though, as it only audits seven out of each 1,000 returns filed every year.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The picture that has emerged of American Future Fund, post Koch, is one of a group that is something of a hired gun, where AFF — in the mold of other groups like Americans for Job Security — does the dirty work of others, particularly if it helps the GOP establishment.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“With the advent of the Internet…”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2016/03/exiled-from-koch-orbit-american-future-fund-turns-to-gop-establishment-for-cash/</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">jcn 990</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">American Future Fund</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">----------------------------------------</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">400 Locust #300 Des Moines Iowa 26-0620554 501c4 $1 , 350, 000 $0 nla n/a general operations</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">BUSTED, fine</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">7/16</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2016/07/fec-dark-money-fine-shows-limits-of-disclosure-again/</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">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></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">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></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">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></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">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></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">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></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">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></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">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></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">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></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">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></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">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></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">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></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">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></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">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></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">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></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">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></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">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></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">gps dark $</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">GPS is worth highlighting for two reasons. First, because of the magnitude of its spending: Crossroads GPS has spent more in the last three election, just in terms of FEC reported spending, than all liberal nondisclosing groups combined have spent in every election since 2000. Second, unlike nearly every other group that has pushed the limits of nonprofit political activity, GPS has yet to receive recognition from the IRS as a social welfare organization. It has now been waiting well over five years for an official determination from the IRS, so the question remains whether it will ultimately get away with its activities thus far or have its application denied by the IRS.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">No matter how that pans out, the folks at GPS have already found a way around the IRS application process by taking over a defunct nonprofit called Alliance for America’s Future. It has been rechristened One Nation, and it has already begun spending millions in the 2016 elections, none of which it has reported to the FEC.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">2014</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Koch-backed American Future Fund is running a series of web-only ads urging Wisconsin stoners not to vote for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mary Burke, but instead to support the Libertarian Party candidate, Robert Burke. The ads feature caricatures of potheads urging viewers to "get Burke, get blazed," and to "light it up, take a puff, and vote for Robert Burke."</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">pro publ koch network</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Center to Protect Patient Rights<span style="white-space:pre"> </span>$49,182,409</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce<span style="white-space:pre"> </span>$13,600,000</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">GRANTS FROM THIS ORGANIZATION TO:</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The 60 Plus Association<span style="white-space:pre"> </span>$4,550,000</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">California Future Fund for Free Markets<span style="white-space:pre"> </span>$4,080,000</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Citizen Awareness Project<span style="white-space:pre"> </span>$1,500,000</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Ending Spending<span style="white-space:pre"> </span>$525,000</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Progress Project<span style="white-space:pre"> </span>$455,000</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Hispanic Leadership Fund<span style="white-space:pre"> </span>$20,000</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=American_Future_Fund</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">American Future Fund is a 501(c)(4) conservative nonprofit largely dedicated to running television and web ads that promote conservative causes and influence elections. Like many (c)(4) groups, the Fund has been very secretive about who controls or manages it. AFF was founded in 2008 by Nick Ryan, who worked as an advisor on Rick Santorum's 2012 presidential campaign as well as founded the pro-Santorum Super PAC, Red White and Blue Fund. Their records indicate that they were incorporated by Alex N. Vogel and his wife, Jill Holtzman Vogel, who together run the consulting agency Holtzman Vogel. The first president of the group, Nicole Schlinger, was the former executive director of the Iowa Republican Party.[1] According to NPR, a large number of AFF's leadership were members of Mitt Romney's 2008 failed campaign for president.[2]</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The American Future Fund received $1.1 million from the Center to Protect Patient Rights in 2011 after getting $1.3 million in 2009 and $11.7 million in 2010.[3]</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[hide]&nbsp;</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">1 Influencing the 2012 Election</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">1.1 Influencing the 2012 Presidential Election</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">1.2 Influencing Arizona House Races</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">1.3 Influencing California House Races</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">1.4 Influencing the Nevada Senate Race</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">1.5 Influencing the North Dakota Senate Race</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">1.6 Influencing the New Mexico Senate Race</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">1.7 Influencing the Wisconsin Senate Race</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">2 Prior Political Activity</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">2.1 2010</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">2.2 2008</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">3 Ethanol Ties</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">4 Funding</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">5 Leadership</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">6 External links</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">7 References</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Influencing the 2012 Election</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">AFF's outside expenditures in the 2012 election totaled more than $25 million, with more than $11 million going to support Republican Mitt Romney in his presidential bid, or to defeat Democratic Incumbent President Barack Obama.[4] In addition, the American Future Fund also ran ads targeting Democrats in close U.S. Senate and House Races. The sections below detail Patriot Majority's involvement in races in the 2012 election, along with examples of ads they have aired against candidates in those races. At the end of each section, a short summary lists every major ad buy the group made in that particular race.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Influencing the 2012 Presidential Election</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"Fed Up"</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">AFF was very active in the early part of the 2012 election cycle, stating that "Conservative and free market principles will be under direct attack in America".[5] On January 23rd, they ran "The Real State of the Union", an attack ad that aired just before Barack Obama's actual state of the union address.[6]. The ad attack Obama for failing to cut the deficit and increase the supply of renewable energy, despite the fact that both were largely the fault of republicans in congress. A second ad, which aired in February, attacked Obama, claiming that "His White House is Full of Wall Street Bankers."[7] Several news sources including Factcheck.org have pointed out that the ad greatly exaggerates the number and imporance of Wall street bankers in the Obama White House.[8] Later in the campaign, AFF began airing ads in support of Mitt Romney and his nominee for Vice President, congressman Paul Ryan.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Real State of the Union: January 15th, 2012: $150,000 [1]</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Obama's Wall Street: February 27th, 2012: $4 Million [2]</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">On the Hook: April 24th, 2012: $2 Million [3]</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">What's at Stake: August 4th, 2012: $10,000 [4]</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Young Guns: August 13th, 2012: $23,000 [5]</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Blame: August 20th, 2012: $692,497 [6]</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Janesville: September 13th, 2012: $200,000 [7]</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Janesville(rebuy): September 13th, 2012: $796,075 [8]</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Promises: September 25th, 2012: $500,000 [9]</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Promises (web ads): September 25th, 2012: $694,300 [10]</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Confidence: September 29th, 2012: $260,7000 [11]</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Janesville(web ad): October 1st, 2012: $482,615 [12]</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Four Years(online ad):October 1st, 2012: $500,000 [13]</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Heartbeat: October 1st, 2012: $100,000 [14]</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Out of Time: October 4th, 2012: $120,000 [15]</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Security: October 8th, 2012: $347,000 [16]</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Security(online): October 8th, 2012: $342,000 [17]</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Laugh: October 12th, 2012: $358,000 [18]</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Fed Up: October 16th, 2012: $1 million [19]</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Real Solutions: October 16h, 2012: $630,000 [20]</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A New Path: October 22nd, 2012: $545,000 [21]</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Hands: October 26th, 2012: $769,000 [22]</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Real Solutions(rebuy): October 29th, 2012: $227,328 [23]</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Party Line: October 30th, 2012: $400,000 (estimate)[24]</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Worried: October 30th, 2012: $400,000 (estimate)[25]</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Everyday: October 30th, 2012: $400,000 (estimate)[26]</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Real Solutions (rebuy): October 30th, 2012: $487,257 [27]</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A New Path(rebuy): October 31st, 2012: $1.9 million [28]</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Obama Receipt: November 1st, 2012: $120,000 [29]</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Assorted Web Ad Buys: November 2nd, 2012: $433,336 [30]</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Delphi: November 4th, 2012: $1 million [31]</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Influencing Arizona House Races</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"Changed"</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">During the 2012 election cycle, the American Future Fund spent almost $1.4 million influencing U.S. House races in Arizona's 1st and 9th Congressional Districts. In the 1st district, they spent $1 million supporting Republican hopeful Jonathan Paton, or attacking his rival, Democrat Ann Kirtpatrick, in the 9th district, they spent $300,000 attacking Democrat Kyrsten Sinema.[9] 1st Congressional District</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Walk: October 1st, 2012: $411,000 [32]</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Fought: October 1st, 2012: $169,000 [33]</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Listening: October 21st, 2012: $500,000 [34]</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">9th Congressional District</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Changed: September 18th, 2012: $308,250 [35]</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Influencing California House Races</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"Changed"</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">the American Future Fund invested at least $500,000 in a single attack ad against Democrat Julia Brownley, who was running for congress in California's 26th District. Their ad attacked Brownley for voting her staff pay raises instead of cutting spending. [10]</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Raises: October 25th, 2012: $500,000[36]</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Influencing the Nevada Senate Race</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"Battle Born"</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">After the presidential race, American Future Fund's largest single investment in 2012 concerned the Nevada Senate Race between Republican Dean Heller and Democratic Incumbent Shelly Berkley. The American Future Fund spent $1.3 million in the Arizona senate race.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Battle Born: August 24th, 2012: $427,000 [37]</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Battle Born (rebuy): November 4th, 2012: $750,000 [38]</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Influencing the North Dakota Senate Race</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"Tomorrow"</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In North Dakota, the American Future Fund ran a single ad attacking incumbent Senator Heidi Heitkamp, and supporting her opponent, Republican Rick Berg.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Choice: August 20th, 2012: $163,000 [39]</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Influencing the New Mexico Senate Race</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"Tomorrow"</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In New Mexico, the American Future Fund sunk at least $435,000 into defeating Democrat Martin Heinrich. They also ran at least one ad they did not disclose spending for.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">the Heinrich Report: May 1st, 2012: $100,000 [40]</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Frustrating: August 9th, 2012: Cost of ad not disclosed</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Tomorrow: August 23rd, 2012: $335,000 [41]</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Influencing the Wisconsin Senate Race</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"Paper"</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The American Future Fund spent at least $260,000 opposing the election of Democratic Senator Tammy Baldwin, who was running against former governor Tommy Thompson to fill a seat vacated by Democrat Herb Kohl. On October 26th, they ran a thirty-second ad targeting Baldwin for her support for the EPA's Boiler Maximum Achievable Control Technology (MACT) rule, which the AFF claimed destroyed jobs by forcing paper manufacturers to conform to burdensome regulations. A key claim in the ad comes from an Op-Ed article by Jeff Landin of the Wisconsin Paper Council, who used figures from a 2010 study commissioned by the American Forest and Paper Association and Fisher International, a consulting and information services firm to the pulp and and paper mill industry. Laurie Johnson of the Natural Resources Defense Council has criticized the study for exhibiting "a lack of understanding of even introductory-level economics." [11] The AFF also spent at least $98,000 on a single ad supporting the election of Wisconsin Billionaire Eric Hovde, who was running in the Wisconsin Republican Primary. FEC Filings state that they produced and aired an ad called "Changed" in support of Hovde, but the ad does not appear to exist online. The AFF disclosed spending the money on August 8th, 2012.[12]</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">What the Wisconsin Flag Thinks of Tammy Baldwin: August 20th, 2012: no spending disclosed for this ad</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Paper: October 26th, 2012: $520,000 [42] (the AFF classifies $260,000 as spent opposing Baldwin, and $260,000 as spent opposing Obama)</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Prior Political Activity</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">2010</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In the 2010 election cycle directed its efforts at 14 "liberal" politicians that sat on committees with jurisdiction over energy and agricultural policy.[13]</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">AFF has also actively campaigned vigorously against Obama's health care reforms. It created several ads targeting the bill, many of included factual inaccuracies.[14]</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In total, AFF spent over 26 million dollars in 2010.[15] According to Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, 7.3 million was spent advocating for the "election or defeat of candidates for federal office"[16]</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The American Future Fund took at least 4.5 million dollars from PhRMA in 2010. [17]</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">2008</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In 2008, paid for advertising supporting Minnesota Republican Senator Norm Coleman, who at the time was the co-chair of the Senate Biofuels caucus. In the same year, the group released a radio advertisement criticizing the Indy Racing League for its decision to use Brazilian sugar-based ethanol for its cars.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Ethanol Ties</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">AFF was started in 2008 with seed money from Bruce Rastetter, co-founder and CEO of Hawkeye Energy Holdings, a large Iowa-based ethanol company.[18] According to the New York Times, in the 2010 elections, "hints of a possible agenda emerge from a look at the politicians on the American Future Fund's hit list. Most have seats on a handful of legislative committees with a direct say in the ethanol industry."[18] Founder Nick Ryan's Concordia Group also counts a number of ethanol industry clients.[18]</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Funding</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In 2008, its founding year, AFF is alleged to have receive $7.5 million in donations. [13] In the 2010 election cycle, AFF admitted to spending $25 million. [19]</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Although AFF does not disclose its funders, contributions from at least three nonprofit organizations were revealed because they must disclose the identity of their grant recipients. The shadowy dark money conduit the Center to Protect Patient Rights gave AFF $1.1 million in 2011, $11.7 million in 2010 (about half their total budget), and $1.3 million in 2009.[20] The group also received over $2.4 million[20] in 2010 from the right-wing legal group American Justice Partnership, a Michigan-based 501(c )(4) affiliate of the National Organization of Manufactureres and who list its "partners" as including groups like the American Legislative Exchange Council and the Heritage Foundation.[21] Also in 2010, the trade association Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, or PhRMA, gave AFF $300,000.[22]</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">CPPR is run by Sean Noble, who Politico described as a Koch Operative [43], Nobel was hired by the Kochs to coordinate with other conservative superPACs to target Democratic representatives in 2010. [23]</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Leadership</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Sandra Greiner, a Republican state legislator in Iowa and farmer, is the current president of the AFF. [24]</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The following individuals have held leadership positions within the AFF:[25]</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Nicole Schlinger</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Tim Albrecht</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Lisa Lisker</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Jan Van Lohuizen</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Ed Tobin</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Ben Ginsberg</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Larry McCarthy</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Phil Musser</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">External links</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Cara Parks, Let the Attack Ads Roll! Your guide to the shady 527s who will be playing a major role in this year's presidential campaign, The New Republic, June 12, 2008.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Will Evans, Profile: American Future Fund, NPR, August 20, 2008</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Campaign Cash: American Future Fund, Washington Post, 2010</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">References</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">↑ IRS, Exhibits in complaint against the American Future Fund, organizational website, February 1st, 2011.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">↑ Will Evans, Profile: American Future Fund, NPR, accessed February 29th, 2012.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">↑ Viveca Novak, Center to Protect Patient Rights Gave Millions in 2011 to Outside Spenders in Election, Open Secrets, Accessed 12/17/2012.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">↑ Viveca, Novak, Center to Protect Patient Rights Gave Millions in 2011 to Outside Spenders in Election, Open Secrets, Accessed 12/17/2012.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">↑ American Future Fund, About Us organizational website, Accessed February 29th, 2012.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">↑ American Future Fund, The real state of the union, video upload, uploaded January 23, 2012.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">↑ American Future Fund, Obama's Wall Street, video upload, uploeaded February 24th, 2012.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">↑ Factcheck.org, Obama white house full of wall street executives, organizational website, Accessed February 29th, 2012.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">↑ Opensecrets.org: Outside Spending Profile for Arizona's, First and Ninth congressional districts, Accessed January 8th, 2012.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">↑ Opensecrets.org Outside Spending Report, California's 26th District, organizational website, Accessed January 9th, 2012.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">↑ Sara Jerving, Koch-Linked Group launched Ad targeting Tammy Baldwin for Paper Jobs, PRWatch.org, October 26th, 2012.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">↑ FEC: Independent Expenditure Report, American Future Fund, organizational report, Submitted August 8th, 2012.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">↑ 13.0 13.1 Jim Rutenberg, Don Van Natta, and Mike McIntire, Offering Donors Secrecy, and Going on Attack, New York Times, October 11, 2010.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">↑ Fackcheck.org, Future Fund’s Faulty Fusillade, organizational website, March 19, 2010.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">↑ Viveca Novak and Robert Maguire, Dark Money Train Open Secrets, Accessed February 29th, 2012.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">↑ Citizens for Ethics, CREW asks IRS to Investigate American Future Fund, organizational website, February 1th, 2011.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">↑ Michael Beckel, drug lobby gave 9.4 million to nonprofits that spent big on the 2010 election, Nation of Change, accessed February 29th, 2012.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 Jim Rutenberb, Don Van Natta Jr., Mike McIntire,"Offering Donors Secrecy, and Going on an Attack",New York Times, October 11, 2012.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">↑ Factcheck.org, American Future Fund, organizational website, September 18, 2011.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">↑ 20.0 20.1 Open Secrets, "Top Organizations Disclosing Donations to American Future Fund", Center for Responsive Politics, Accessed January 14, 2012.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">↑ American Justice Partnership, Our National Partners, organizational website, accessed January 14, 2012.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">↑ Viveca Novak and Robert Maguire,Donors to GOP's Nondisclosing Nonprofits Travel in Familiar Networks, Center for Responsive Politics, February 27, 2012.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">↑ Lee Fang, Koch Operative Steered $55 Million To Front Groups Airing Ads Against Democrats; Ads Assailed Candidates Over Abortion, 9/11, Medicare, Republic Report, May 19th, 2012.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">↑ Fackcheck.org, American Future Fund, organizational website, September 18, 2011.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">↑ Will Evans, Profile: American Future Fund, National Public Radio, August 20, 2008.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">This page was last modified on 23 May 2013, at 15:21.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">http://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/detail.php?cmte=American+Future+Fund&cycle=2010</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The GOP nonprofits -- American Action Network, which spent $26 million on ads in the 2010 mid-term elections; Crossroads GPS, which spent $16 million; and the American Future Fund, which laid out $9.6 million -- are all organized under section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code. They and the individuals who run them have strong ties to some of the same political networks, research by OpenSecrets Blog shows.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">One of the previously unreported donor groups, according to forms filed by nonprofit groups with the Internal Revenue Service, is the Republican Jewish Coalition, which gave $4 million in 2010 to Crossroads GPS -- perhaps the most well-known of the outside spending groups that were running ads in the 2010 cycle, with ties to GOP strategist Karl Rove.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Crossroads GPS launched several ads critical of President Obama as well as of Missouri Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill just this month. In December, it spent $1.1 million spent on ads eviscerating four Democratic Senate candidates, including McCaskill and two other incumbents. The super PAC American Crossroads -- of which Crossroads GPS is an offshoot with a different corporate form -- has raised more than $23 million in this cycle and has said it plans a major ad barrage against Obama.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">----</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">News broke this afternoon that the American Future Fund -- a Super PAC affiliated with the Koch Brothers – has just put $4 million from secret donors behind Prop 32.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">If any doubts remained about who is truly behind Prop 32, we now know with absolute certainty. It’s been reported that this organization is tied to the Koch Brothers and Karl Rove, and was originally bankrolled by an oil company CEO from Iowa. But since Super PACs aren’t required to disclose their donors, we’ll never know where it all came from.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Look what just arrived in the Friday-afternoon-news-dump: A $4 million contribution to Prop 32, which the unions are freaked out about because it would limit labor’s chief weapon for influencing the state’s politics – political donations – by preventing unions from using automatic payroll deductions from their members.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The same restriction would apply to corporations, but as the League of Women Voters said — this measure wouldhurt one side more than the other for reasons explained there.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">So what’s the connection between the donor — the Des Moines, Iowa-based American Future Fund — and the billionaire conservative financiers the Koch brothers? Because of opaque campaign finance laws, tracing the money is a challenge. Politico makes the case here.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">According to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics, the connection is the Center to Protect Patient Rights:</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Based in Arizona, CPPR provided large grants (in 2010) to a cluster of well-known conservative organizations that operate under section 501(c)(4) of the tax code, which classifies them as “social welfare” groups and allows them to keep their funding sources from public view. Politics is not supposed to be their primary purpose, although critics say many of the organizations have stretched the rules too far. American Future Fund received the largest grant from CPPR, a total of $11.7 million for ‘general support.’”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">As the LA Times reported earlier this year:</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Kochs have several ties to the center. It is run by Sean Noble, a Phoenix-based GOP consultant who is a key operative in the Kochs’ political activities, as first noted by the investigative blog Republic Report. One of the center’s original directors, Heather Higgins, is chairwoman of the Independent Women’s Forum, which has received funding from a Koch-controlled foundation. And Cheryl Hillen, a Connecticut-based consultant who raised $2.6 million for the center, was director of fundraising for the Koch-backed Citizens for a Sound Economy.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Californians should be on high alert: shadowy out-of-state front groups like the ‘American Futures Fund’ don’t swoop into California elections unless they have a very specific agenda,” said the anti-Prop 32 spokesperson Brian Brokaw.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Now, don’t cry too hard for the unions — they are unlikely to be outspent on Prop 32. Before Friday’s money drop, according to the nonpartisan Maplight.com’s latest compilations, anti-Prop 32 forces have raised more than $28 million — or SEVEN TIMES as a much as the pro-32 side. Virtually all the opposition money is coming from unions.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Prop 32 spokesperson Jake Suski said that the campaign “(wasn’t) aware and have nothing to do with this committee.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">But if Prop 32 aims to reduce the influence of special interest (corporate and union) money in politics, doesn’t this fly in the face of that?</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Prop 32 goes as far as the Constitution allows to reduce special interest influence over elected officials,” Suski said. “Prop 32 cuts the money tie between politicians and their corporate and union donors, while ensuring employees’ political contributions are made voluntarily.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">This week, the dark money group American Future Fund (AFF) launched a misleading ad attacking Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Tammy Baldwin for supporting legislation that would allegedly shut down eleven paper mills and lay off 7,500 paper workers in the state, ignoring Baldwin's negotiations to protect Wisconsin jobs that might be affected by the rule and her strong record on trade policy and manufacturing.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Koch Linked Group Launches Ad That Targets Tammy Baldwin on Paper Jobs</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">by Sara Jerving — October 26, 2012 - 5:13pm</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Topics: Labor</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Share/Save Share this</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">This week, the dark money group American Future Fund (AFF) launched a misleading ad attacking Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Tammy Baldwin for supporting legislation that would allegedly shut down eleven paper mills and lay off 7,500 paper workers in the state, ignoring Baldwin's negotiations to protect Wisconsin jobs that might be affected by the rule and her strong record on trade policy and manufacturing.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The ad refers to Baldwin's vote against an effort to block the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Boiler Maximum Achievable Control Technology (MACT) rule, which would tighten the pollution standards for industrial, non-utility, coal boilers. However, it relies on sloppy data and fails to acknowledge Baldwin's efforts to protect Wisconsin manufacturing jobs, particularly in the paper industry.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">According to the EPA, the MACT standards, currently undergoing interagency review, "are meant to protect Americans from mercury, soot, lead and other harmful pollutants released by boilers and incinerators that can lead to developmental disabilities in children, as well as cancer, heart disease, aggravated asthma and premature death."</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A key claim in the ad comes from an Op-Ed article by Jeff Landin of the Wisconsin Paper Council, who used figures from a 2010 study commissioned by the American Forest and Paper Association and Fisher International, a consulting and information services firm to the pulp and and paper mill industry. The ad extrapolates findings of the industry study which noted "at risk jobs" in the Midwest from the regulation. The study, according to Dr. Charles Kolstad, Chair of the Department of Economics at the University of California at Santa Barbara, "purports to estimate the increased costs borne by the industry from the proposed regulation, the number of mills that may be shut‐down from the rule, and the number of jobs that may be lost from the rule. Unfortunately, the methodology is fundamentally flawed in many respects; thus the results reported are useless." He added that "If I were grading this, I would give it an F. The economics is all wrong (lack of an incidence analysis or acknowledgement of its importance; failure to draw on the relevant literature), which of course would be my main concern." Laurie Johnson of the Natural Resources Defense Council echoed this statement: "a cursory examination reveals gross exaggeration of compliance costs and employment impacts, and a lack of understanding of even introductory-level economics."</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The ad also does not note that Baldwin met with EPA's Lisa Jackson this spring to press for an extension to implementing this rule so that paper companies in Wisconsin and elsewhere can spread the associated costs of the rule over time, a move requested by the industry. The EPA is now in the process of updating the rule based on analysis of data and input from states, environmental groups, industry, lawmakers and the public. According to the EPA, the "proposed changes would achieve extensive public health protections while increasing the rule's flexibility, which would cut the cost of implementation by nearly 50 percent from the original 2010 proposed rule. The boiler standards are currently undergoing interagency review led by the Office of Management and Budget."</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The ad is attacking one of Baldwin's strengths, her voting records on manufacturing issues. Baldwin has voted against every major job-killing free trade agreement proposed by any administration, Republican or Democrat. She introduced and passed the CHEATS Act which works to protect the state from unfair trade policies with China, by allowing the U.S. to impose duties to offset subsidized Chinese imports. According to the Economic Policy Institute, Wisconsin lost over 52,000 jobs from unfair trade policies with China. The Chinese government provided $33.1 billion in subsidies to its paper industry form 2002 to 2009, making it the world's largest producer of paper and paper products.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">AFF is organized as a 501(c)(4) nonprofit, which does not disclose its donors despite being largely dedicated to running television and web ads that promote right-wing causes and influence elections. The group is currently running pro-Romney ads in Wisconsin, and spent over $4 million in California in support of the anti-union Proposition 32.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A large percentage of their 2010 funds came from a single source, the Center to Protect Patients' Rights (CPPR), another 501(c)(4) which made massive donations in support of various conservative groups for the midterm elections. The Center gave AFF $12 million, about half of their total budget for that year. CPPR is run by Sean Noble, who Politico described as an operative of the billionaire Koch brothers. Nobel was hired by the Kochs to coordinate with other conservative Super PACs to target Democratic representatives in 2010. One of Koch's subsidiaries, Georgia-Pacific, is a lead manufacturer of paper products in Wisconsin, including consumer tissue, towel and wiper products, corrugated packaging, and hardboard.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">raga 2</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Crossroads GPS Might Soon Be Off the Hook for 2010, 2011 Spending</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">April 8, 2015 | On April 13, one of the largest and most controversial political groups of the post-Citizens United era will celebrate an important anniversary: The three-year statute of limitations will expire for statements made by Crossroads GPS on tax returns covering its first 18 months, making it nearly impossible for the group to be penalized for activity it reported in…</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Read more...</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">OpenSecrets.org Unveils New Section on Expenditures</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">February 11, 2015 | We have no idea how many jobs are generated by federal elections, but we do know that some individuals and firms make a very good living from modern political campaigns. In fact, we can tell you just how well certain media companies, consultants, pollsters and others in the “election-industrial complex” are doing. In the 2014…</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Read more...</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">American Future Fund Draws Nearly All Revenues From Two Koch-Linked Groups</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">December 9, 2013 | American Future Fund's money in 2012 came almost exclusively from the Center to Protect Patient Rights and Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce -- two organizations that have been linked to the Koch brothers.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Read more...</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Shadow Money Magic: Five Easy Steps That Let You Play Big in Politics, Hide Your Donors and Game the IRS – Step 2</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">April 16, 2013 | The IRS and the FEC use different dictionaries when it comes to "political" spending by tax-exempt nonprofits -- and they don't talk to each other. That's partly why those groups often report different numbers to each of the two agencies: there's plenty of wiggle room to re-define expenditures. An average person's understanding of what's political doesn't count for much in this terrain of technicalities.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Read more...</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Mystery Health Care Group Funneled Millions to Conservative Nonprofits</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">May 18, 2012 | A secretive, well-funded group provided $44 million in 2010 to a host of 501(c)(4) groups, many of which were among the most active in airing ads attacking Democrats in the midterm elections. The Center to Protect Patient Rights was the source of more than half the budget of the group American Future Fund, for example. The Center's role in funding the groups has not previously been reported.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Read more...</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div></div>