Cross Posted at
Square State
Hat tip to TakeBacktheHouse at Square State and Erin Rosa, who explores the connection at Colorado Confidential.
Since 2000, Colorado Representative Tom Tancredo has happily continued to accept campaign contributions from John Tanton, from Petoskey, MI. And just who is Tanton? He's the publisher of the "Social Contract Press", whose editor is none other than Wayne Lutton. Lutton has come under the scrutiny of the Center for New Community, a civil rights watchdog group, for his open ties to the white nationalist movement.
Tanton has plenty of connections to Colorado. In addition to contributing to Tancredo, Tanton's organization, U.S. Inc., has been filling the coffers of the anti-immigration movement in Colorado, better known as Defend Colorado Now. Defend Colorado Now is the organization that recently attempted to add a ballot initiative to Colorado's elections in November to cut off illegal immigrants from all non-emergency taxpayer-funded public services.
On June 12, 2006, the Colorado Supreme Court issued a ruling against the DCN initiative, stating the initiative was not a single subject. Governor Owens proceeded to call an emergency special session of the Colorado legislature to attempt to force the issue onto the ballot. Several anti-immigration measures were passed in emergency session, ensuring the initiative will not appear on the November ballot.
According to CNC,
The largest single contributor to-date to Defend Colorado Now is a shadowy anti-immigrant foundation from Michigan run by the grandfather of the modern anti-immigrant movement. U.S. Inc. is a financial umbrella organization for a number of anti-immigrant, population reduction, and conservationist groups run by John Tanton. Since its creation in the 1980s the organization has contributed to some of the most extreme grassroots anti-immigrant groups, including the California Coalition to Reform Immigration and Voice of Citizens Together/American Patrol.
The Petoskey, Michigan-based U.S. Inc. has contributed $48,000.00 to Defend Colorado Now since March 2005.
Make no mistake where Defend Colorado Now's sentiments lie. Fred Elbel, President of Defend Colorado Now, made his feelings clear back in 2004 when he failed to place anti-immigration candidates on the national Sierra Club board,
"Damned right. I hate 'em all - negroes, wasps, spics, eskimos, jews, honkies, krauts, ruskies, ethopans, pakis, hunkies, pollocks and marxists; there are way too many of them. I'm all for trout, elephants, bacteria, whales, wolves, birds, parrot fish, deciduous foliage and mollusks. Time to rebalance the planet, bleeding heart liberals be damned. [sic]"
Defend Colorado Now and single-issue Representative Tancredo continue to declare that their rabid stance on immigration has nothing to do with race.
Unfortunately, donations from hate groups speak louder than words.