Dark Money Corrupts Elections

The Center for Public Integrity analyzed the IRS forms of a number of non-profit politically involved groups, and these fat cats are pouring hundreds of millions into lobbying, attack ads and funding their political agenda, including grants to groups ranging from ALEC to Give Missourians a Raise, a union-backed group that successfully fought to raise the state’s minimum wage.  Here is what they found.

The Advocacy Fund, a left leaning group connected to the Tides Foundation, gave $7.7 million in grants to more than 50 groups.  The American Petroleum Institute, received $165.4 million in dues in 2012. That includes $98.4 million for political or lobbying expenses — the highest amounts in five years, based on the organization's previous IRS filings.  Americans for Prosperity, backed by oil moguls David and Charles Koch, reported spending $33.5 million on political campaign activities, $83 million in advertising and promotion and $3 million on travel in 2012. Club for Growth
During the fiscal year ending June 2012, the group spent more than $1 million on two contractors in Bethesda, Md., for media and research purposes; $1.4 million on legislative involvement and policy advocacy; $941,000 on issue advocacy; and $244,000 on "independent express advocacy."  Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, a drug industry trade association, doled out $18.1 million in grants, including some to politically active “dark money” groups. It awarded $1.5 million to American Action Network; $75,000 to Heritage Action for America; $25,000 to American Commitment; and roughly $250,000 each to the American Legislative Exchange Council, Americans for Tax Reform and Freedom Path Inc. Another $50,000 went to American Justice Partnership, the third largest donor to the Republican State Leadership Committee.  The Republican Jewish Coalition spent $6.6 million on “advertising and promotion.” Of that amount, FEC records indicate $4.6 million went toward ads urging voters to oust Obama, which was nearly 46 percent of its overall spending last year.  The U.S. Chamber of Commerce spent $53.9 million on political campaign activities — more than it spent in at least five years. The group also reported spending $57 million on advertising and promotion, $9.1 million on travel and $5.4 million in compensation for its president, Thomas Donohue.  The U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform — it also doesn’t disclose its members — received $39.8 million in dues, mostly from 21 groups that paid more than $1 million each. Of this money collected, $32.2 million was for lobbying or political expenses including $3.7 million to the Republican State Leadership Committee and $1 million each to the Republican Governors Association and the Florida Jobs PAC.  YG Network, the nonprofit arm of the “Young Guns” empire spent nearly $3 million on political advertisements expressly calling for the election of Republican candidates or the defeat of Democratic ones, according to filings with the FEC. 

Picking our Pockets

Move over too big to fail banks, there's another monopoly in town that has jacked up the cost of living to new heights, I'm talking internet monopoly here.  The Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) has published an article on its blog that points out that the companies dominating the internet broadband market (AT&T, Concast, Time Warner Cable, Verizon, et al) are selling internet internet access for about $500 / Year while it costs them less than $100 / subscriber, making a tidy 80% gross margin on that service.

How do they manage to keep this racket going?  Why the American way, they hire hundreds of lobbyists and partner with ALEC to buy protection against competition.  They do this with the Municipal Telecommunications Private Industry Safeguards Act the model legislation that outlaws communities efforts to build their own broadband networks, because that would be infringing on "Free Enterprise".  Such measures have now passed in 19 states, including our neighbors in Washington State. This is the worst of crony capitalism at work.
 

Ag Gag and ALEC

The Title sounds like cartoon characters, but it isn't a funny story.  ALEC is the acronym for a conservative business-dominated group called the American Legislative Exchange Council.  They sponsor model legislation written up by their multinational "Sponsors" and attempt to get their laws passed at the State Level.  They are very well funded and their membership roster is a who's who of the conservative power elite in the US.

What about Ag Gag?  I don't know who dreamed up the name, but it is an insidious piece of model legislation aimed at protecting criminal behavior in the Agricultural industry.  It is called the Animal and Ecological Terrorism Act and it's goal is to define anybody taking pictures of animal cruelty perpetuated by any company in the food industry as "terrorists", who can them be prosecuted as criminals.

ALEC has been successful in getting this cancerous legislation passed in 9 States (FL, IL, IN, IA, MN, MO, NY, TN and UT).  If you snap a picture or secretly take a video of animal cruelty at a food producer or animal-research location, you are a criminal.  Some of its corporate sponsors are Pfizer, Wyeth, GlaxoSmithKline, PhRMA, Boehringer Pharmaceuticals, and the National Pork Producers Council.

Learn more about ALEC on this excellent site.

Update 5/14/2013  TN Gvernor Bill Haslam has vetoed the Ag Gag bill passed by the Tennessee Legislature, but only because he thought the bill as written couldn't stand challenges.  The Republicans who wrote the bill promise to have a new improved bill next year.

Lobbyists protecting criminals

The meat / poultry industry is constantly rocked by animal welfare investigators taking videos of blatant animal abuse, unsafe food handling and criminal cover-ups.  So what does industry do about this?  Why they do the natural thing, they try to pass laws against the whistle-blowers and concerned citizens by making it illegal to take photographs at a farming operation, that's what they do.

They have their Lobbyists getting bills introduced to protect the criminals.  Some make it a crime for someone such as an animal welfare advocate to lie on an application to get a job at a plant.

Bills pending in California, Nebraska and Tennessee require that anyone collecting evidence of abuse turn it over to law enforcement within 24 to 48 hours — which advocates say does not allow enough time to document illegal activity under federal humane handling and food safety laws.  In Indiana, Arkansas and Pennsylvania it would be a crime to make videos at agricultural operations.  The legislation is being pushed by the corrupt business lobby at ALEC, the agency that makes legislators get aligned with mega corporations wishes.  ALEC has labeled those who interfere with animal operations "terrorists," though a spokesman said he wishes now that the organization had called its legislation the "Freedom to Farm Act" rather than the "Animal and Ecological Terrorism Act."

Disgusting is the only word that comes to my mind.