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mac
Joined: 07 Mar 1999
Posts: 17747
Location: Berkeley, California
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 Posted: Wed Oct 15, 2014 11:52 am Post subject: |
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I keep trying to find out who the big 100 are. Not successful so far, but the Koch's are definitely there, and trying to hide the strings they manipulate. Here's a commentary that shows that the Koch's along outspent the top ten unions:
| Quote: | The Wall Street Journal’s Kimberley Strassel either has no understanding of campaign finance, or is willfully misleading her readers. In either case, her column today about the Koch brothers’ political spending — which parrots a meme that has bounced around conservative blogs and websites like a bad chain e-mail — gets the facts about Koch spending versus union spending completely wrong.
In her column, “The Really Big Money? Not the Kochs,” Strassel cites a Center for Responsive Politics list to claim that unions “collectively spent $620,873,623 more than Koch Industries” on political races. Of course, if you actually visit this page on the CRP website, the list runs below a disclaimer noting that it does not include certain Super PAC spending or most undisclosed dark money spending, the preferred route for the Koch brothers for decades. In fact, the CRP site notes that union spending might appear inflated since unions traditional PAC spending is coupled with outside Super PAC spending. For the purposes of this chart, union spending is inflated compared to the giving of companies like Koch or Super PAC donors like Sheldon Adelson.
For the last election, Koch PAC spent $4.9 million in disclosed contributions (figures that appear on the chart referenced by Strassel). But they also spent over $407 million on undisclosed campaign entities, which does not show up in the CRP chart.
Republic Report broke down the figures for the last election and found that Koch groups alone spent more than double the combined political spending (including to undisclosed group) for the top ten unions combined. The chart includes union spending on dark money Democratic groups and Koch spending on dark money groups like Americans for Prosperity. See below:
(the table won't copy in here)
This undisclosed campaign system is nothing new for the Koch brothers. In 1995 and 1996, Koch set up a shell company called Triad Management to spend millions in secret money to help the Republican Party. Of course, this type of spending never shows up in databases like the one cited by Strassel.
All NRLB-regulated unions, on the other hand, disclose every outside payment. Payments that cannot be found through the FEC can be found on a database maintained by the Labor Department. Individuals and corporations are under no such similar disclosure rules. The Koch money identified recently by the Washington Post, the $407 million, relates only to they money filtered through foundations and nonprofits. The money Koch spends as a corporate entity, which it has in the past, may have gone unreported.
- See more at: http://www.republicreport.org/2014/unions-koch/#sthash.udKxZhum.dpuf
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mac
Joined: 07 Mar 1999
Posts: 17747
Location: Berkeley, California
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| Posted: Fri Oct 31, 2014 4:19 pm Post subject: |
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Because I'm retired, I usually don't drive my car except to my windsurfing launch. Even so, it has been impossible to not notice the attack ads against three Richmond politicians. It comes as no surprise to find out, when the reports under State campaign regulation are filed, that such attacks are funded by Chevron. Through a front called "Moving Forward", which has 99.7% of its funding from Chevron, they have attacked sitting City council members. This is the result of Citizens united, and the ongoing efforts of the oil industry to lie, cheat and steal their way out of health regulations. How much money?
For their preferred Mayoral candidate, Chevron has spent over $456,000--so far. He has raised $19,624. They've spent more than a quarter million attacking each of the 3 candidates they disagree with.
Now I'm actually running a campaign for a small, non-partisan measure in Berkeley. We've spent about $15,000, and at that level cannot even afford a city-wide mailing. But the tortured reasoning of the Citizens United Court results in the voices of most citizens being drowned out. When we found ourselves with enough money to actually run a few ads in the news outlets, we found that the ad space had all been bought up by corporate America.
Mrgybe must be so proud. |
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swchandler
Joined: 08 Nov 1993
Posts: 10588
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| Posted: Fri Oct 31, 2014 10:24 pm Post subject: |
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In Santa Barbara County, it's Measure P. Passage of Measure P would ban new cyclic steam injection, acidizing and fracking projects in the county's unincorporated areas. The focus is protecting our water supply and its quality into the future.
The war chests for the No on P versus the Yes on P positions are $5.8 million to $352,000 respectively. With so much money involved, you can only imagine how many No on P ads have been churning in the media and through the mail. It's completely over the top, and all truth has been lost. Needless to say, the measure doesn't stand a chance in hell of passing. |
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