There's a little irony in this. San Francisco was the first home of the Cato Institute, founded in 1977 by various Libertarians orbiting one another while laying track for their ill-advised takeover of the National Libertarian Party. In those days, Howie Rich of New York was, for lack of better description, a Libertarian political operative, assigned to run low-level campaigns inside the party. His wing of the Libertarian "movement" oversold its prospects in the 1980 presidential election, and the fallout from it led to a real falling-out, with Rich colleague Eric O'Keefe deposed as national party director and Cato pulling up stakes for Washington, D.C. So it is pure poetry that among all the possible national media outlets choosing to investigate and lay bare Rich's strategery - his attempt to strangle state governments across the country with a so-called Taxpayer Bill of Rights - it's the San Francisco Chronicle that does it.
And how.
Chronicle reporter Patrick Hoge has been doing homework. "A network of tax-exempt advocacy groups -- all with ties to a New York real estate investor -- is funneling millions of dollars to the campaign for a California property rights measure in a way that cloaks the identity and number of financial supporters," he begins here http://www.sfgate.com/.... "The intricate financial web is the source of nearly all the money used to promote Proposition 90, an initiative on the November ballot aimed in part at curbing the power of government to seize private property. The financing network has spent more than $14.6 million around the country since late last year on 20 initiative drives, most concerning property rights and taxes."
"The man at the center of this national effort is Howie Rich, a wealthy libertarian who believes in limited government and has long used tax-exempt groups to promote his favored candidates and political beliefs -- property rights, term limits, tax cuts and school vouchers, among others. The practice of using tax-exempt groups to fund campaigns has been criticized by some political-finance experts as opaque and deceptive. Unlike other political organizations, advocacy groups don't have to disclose their donors."
Hoge should be proud of himself for scoring a coup that PBS NOW and the Washington Post failed to get: conversation with Howie Rich himself!
"In interviews and e-mails to The Chronicle, Rich said the groups help protect people who think like him, people who want to cut government powers but fear retribution if their names are published in public campaign-finance disclosure reports. `If you are advocating change, those currently in power often do not take it sitting down,' Rich said. `That is why most groups do not disclose their donors -- it is truly a First Amendment concern'."
And Hoge regurgitates, as he must, some of the minutiae of the measures themselves, which I'll let you read for yourself. The money shot of his report is found in, well, the money shot, which he and the kind folks at the Chronicle offer in the form of a great chart, suitable for coloring, and featuring a Wall Street Journal-esque line drawing of Rich himself at the center. You'll want to print this one and stick it on the fridge for future reference, such as when the Rich network returns with fiery vengeance in the 2007 and 2008 election cycles: http://www.sfgate.com/....
In California alone, "campaign records show that nearly $3.4 million out of $3.6 million raised in support of Prop. 90 came via five entities that Rich either leads or has helped fund in the past. Another $200,000 came from Howard Ahmanson Jr., a Southern California conservative activist."
They include :
" -- $1.5 million from Rich's Fund for Democracy, which he describes simply as "a trust.'' The organization is not incorporated and has no publicly stated aim.
"-- $1 million from Americans for Limited Government, a tax-exempt advocacy group that Rich runs. The group's stated purpose is to promote smaller government, according to tax documents.
"-- $600,000 from Montanans In Action, a tax-exempt group incorporated in December that received seed money from Americans for Limited Government. A Montana attorney is fighting to get the donors' names disclosed.
"-- $220,000 from the Club for Growth State Action, a tax-exempt group of which Rich is a director. The group promotes "economic growth, limited government and minimal taxation," according to documents.
"-- $50,000 from Colorado At Its Best, a tax-exempt group of which Rich is a director. Documents state the group's goal is to affect policy on `education, government operations and efficiency and representative democracy'."
Like a lot of other people, Hoge smelled tax implications in all this behind-the-scenes moving of money among non-profits and charities. So he called the IRS. "An IRS spokesman declined to discuss any specific tax-exempt groups or possible investigations," he writes, adding that "...a report issued in July by George Washington University's Campaign Finance Institute found that the IRS does little to regulate the advocacy groups. The report said the IRS does not effectively monitor the groups' reports, which can be vague or misleading."
"Stephen Weissman, an associate director of the university institute, said the advocacy groups should be required to disclose donors when giving to ballot initiatives. `If people (voters) are being asked to support something, they ought to know who is asking them,' Weissman said."
Hoge quotes Ned Wigglesworth, a policy advocate for California Common Cause: "A lot of times (the groups) are just used as part of an elaborate money-laundering scheme to hide the true involvement of donors. Donors want to back an effort anonymously and make that very clear to the organizations they donate to and cater their donating accordingly."
Hmm... didn't Trevis Butcher say something like that in his debate on Yellowstone Public Radio?
"Craig Holman, a lobbyist for campaign-finance group Public Citizen, agreed. Public Citizen has urged the IRS to investigate such advocacy groups. `There is something dirty about this activity. We don't have a chance to find out who's paying for this,' Holman said."
You're right about the "dirty" business," Craig. Even Laird Maxwell called it "dark work."
Speaking of Maxwell, Hoge mentions him too, and his blushing new bride as well!
"In the case of Rich's network, it's common for his associates to be intricately involved. Laird Maxwell, for example, chairs America At Its Best. Maxwell's wife, Lori Klein, once did fundraising work for Rich's U.S. Term Limits, and she is sponsoring a Rich-backed property rights initiative in Arizona."
Heh heh, I love this part: "Maxwell says he's just a simple Idaho `cowboy,' but the political contributions he was involved in this year alone have been anything but simple."
That cracks me up: Laird, a simple Idaho cowboy. Like he's got spurs, like he rides an old paint and leads an old Dan, and he's goin' to Montan' for to throw the houlihan... Horse pucky, Laird. Simple cowboys don't writes check for hundreds of thousands of bucks. But I understand. Where I come from, we got what call themselves "gentlemen farmers" too, who own half the county and hire men to oversee the migrant labor, but who've never seen their own fields from the seat of a tractor. Simple Idaho cowboy, for sure.
Yeah, Hoge liked that one too: "According to campaign finance reports, America At Its Best got $2.8 million from two Rich-led entities -- Americans for Limited Government and the Fund for Democracy -- and then donated $640,000 to a Missouri group called Missourians in Charge, which in turn received $1.65 million from the Fund for Democracy. America At Its Best, which has not filed recent tax forms that would explain the group's mission, will not disclose any individual donors."
In fact, Hoge thought that was pretty doggone weird business for a simple Idaho cowboy. "What's weird about it?'' Maxwell asked him. "When you're engaged in a battle, you need to move this way or that way."
Battle, he says. Last time simple Idaho cowboys engaged in "battle," it seems to me a bunch of indigenous Americans lost blood and family members.
And, to further push the spotlight away from his own organizations, Rich pulls a sleight-of-hand on Hoge and produces a scapegoat from behind the reporter's left ear: "Sadly, union officials and fans of big government know they can't debate the issues at hand, and they also know that voters and taxpayers aren't with them,'' Rich tells Hoge. "They're terrified that they will lose the power that they currently hold over -- and the money they soak from -- the taxpayers.''
Ah, the taxpayers.
Undaunted by the magic, Hoge asks who funds Rich's organizations.
Rich tells him, Hoge writes, "that his network is funded by thousands of individual donors from across the country. But that's impossible to prove without disclosing the donor lists, something Rich refuses to do. Critics say Rich is trying to create the illusion of grassroots support. An example: The November ballot identified Prop. 90's sponsor as Anita Anderson, a Potrero Hill resident who once worked for Rich's wife, Andrea Rich, at a libertarian book publishing company. Anderson said in an interview that she supports the measure but has had little involvement in the campaign."
Real grassroots, folks, those are real grassroots.
And hey! Hoge finds a trail of money leading back to Grover Norquist, too!
"Rich isn't the only person to use advocacy groups for political purposes. Republican insider Grover Norquist heads the advocacy group Americans for Tax Reform, which has financially supported some of Rich's efforts, documents show. He defended the use of such tax-exempt groups, arguing that left-leaning groups -- including unions -- also contribute to political campaigns. `The difference is they steal their money (from union members), and we get ours voluntarily,' he said."
Is the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center a union? I was not aware of it, but Rich fingers it as one example of these thieving progressives whose operations are no different from his own.
So Hoge called them. "Kristina Wilfore, a spokeswoman for the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center, said comparing her group to Rich's operations is `offensive.' The center will identify its major donors but won't detail how much the donors gave. Wilfore said the group has only given about $60,000 to five initiatives, including efforts to increase the minimum wage and clean-energy measures. Wilfore said the center's major donors include the Tides Foundation, Service Employees International Union, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and the National Education Association."
"I welcome a comparison between the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center and Howard Rich," Wilfore said. "We're not dumping money into shell organizations."
Hmm: $60,000 to five do-good initiatives like raising the minimum wage and finding sources of clean energy, versus... wow, Hoge figures it's more than $14 million now.
From Howie Rich's Americans For Limited Government: $1 million to California, $1 million to Oregon; $793,000 to Nevada; $892,000 to Arizona; $455,000 to Oklahoma; $260,000 to Washington; $20,000 to Maine; and $462,000 to Colorado AND $2.43 million to America At Its Best, the account overseen by Laird Maxwell in Idaho.
From Howie Rich's Fund For Democracy: $1.5 million to California; $1.65 million to Missouri; $237,000 to Idaho; $34,500 to Arizona, and $400,000 to America At Its Best.
From Howie Rich's Club For Growth State Action: $220,000 to California and $50,000 to America At Its Best.
From Laird Maxwell's America At Its Best: $1.82 million to Nebraska; $640,000 to Missouri; and $100,000 to Idaho.
From Howie Rich's U.S. Term Limits: $1.78 million to Oregon and $50,000 to Missouri.
From the Legislative Education Action Drive, which Howie Rich founded: $70,000 to Oklahoma.
From the Colorado Club for Growth, which Hoge calls "the local affiliate of a Rich-led group": $200,000 to Oklahoma.
From Colorado At Its Best, of which Hoge says Howie Rich is a director: $512,000.
From Montanans In Action, overseen by Trevis Butcher: $795,000 to Montana and $600,000 to California.
Wow.
For those slow on the `rithmetic, like me, Hoge pulls out his calculator and sums things up.
California got $3.37 million for Rich's ballot measure on property rights. Oregon got $2.78 million for Rich's ballot measures on TABOR and term limits. Missouri got $2.34 million for Rich's ballot measures on TABOR and "takings." Nebraska got $1.82 million for Rich's ballot measures on TABOR and that nutty `Terri Schiavo" amendment. Arizona got $926,500 for Rich's ballot measure on "takings." Montana got $820,000 for Rich's trio of ballot measures: TABOR, recall of judges and "takings." Nevada got $793,000 for Rich's TASC (a clone of TABOR) and "takings." Oklahoma got $725,000 for Rich's ballot measures on TABOR and "takings." Colorado got $462,000 for Rich's ballot measure to recall judges. Idaho got $337,000 for Rich's "takings" measure. Washington got $260,000 for Rich's "takings" measure there.
And Maine, poor Maine, got only $20,000 for Rich's TABOR ballot measure there. It would seem, constant reader, that Mary Adams and the Maine Heritage Policy Center work cheap. Or that Mainers are easily suckered, and I don't want to believe that Mainers are easily suckered, because Mainers are good people.
Ask the city council of Presque Isle, which is bound to take a position on TABOR at its next meeting, according to Rachel Rice here
http://www.bangornews.com/....
Ask Mainer Ron Bilancia of Brewer, who has paid close attention to what TABOR did to Colorado and writes about it here http://morningsentinel.mainetoday.com/....
Ask the school board members of Union No. 42 and Community School District No. 10 who met in Readfield and adopted a resolution against TABOR, according to Elizabeth Comeau here http://kennebecjournal.mainetoday.com/...
Ask Melissa Graves of Winslow, whose husband is a career firefighter and whose family will likely be among the first hit by TABOR's negative effects, she writes here http://morningsentinel.mainetoday.com/.... God bless you and your family, Melissa.
Ask Jeanne Davis of Augusta, who did her own homework to catch up with Howie Rich's "dark work" before Patrick Hoge published his article; she offers her findings here http://kennebecjournal.mainetoday.com/....
Ask Cynthia Heron of Caribou, who worries about what will happen to public services in rural communities like hers if TABOR is adopted, she writes here http://bangordailynews.com/....
In fact, so many real Mainers refuse to be suckered by Rich's TABOR ploy that it begins to smell fishy when someone blocks the school board in Solon from voicing its own opinion, as reporter Larry Grard explains happened here http://morningsentinel.mainetoday.com/.... There's a story to be told, if Grard wants to dig it up.
That's the news of the day, friends. And here are the folks who brought it to you:
CALIFORNIA
http://www.sfgate.com/...
Reporter Patrick Hoge, "Mogul's network bankrolls Prop. 90: Web of advocacy groups funnels millions to pass property rights initiative
http://www.sfgate.com/...
MAINE
http://bangordailynews.com/...
Mainer Cynthia Heron, "Other views on TABOR"
http://morningsentinel.mainetoday.com/...
Mainer Ron Bilancia, "Some facts regarding TABOR in Colorado"
http://kennebecjournal.mainetoday.com/...
Mainer Jeanne Davis, "TABOR as a grassroots enterprise a farce"
http://morningsentinel.mainetoday.com/...
Mainer Melissa Graves, "TABOR will force cuts that won't be helpful"
http://morningsentinel.mainetoday.com/...
Reporter Larry Grard, "Board neutral on Taxpayer Bill of Rights"
http://kennebecjournal.mainetoday.com/...
Reporter Elizabeth Comeau, "School district opposes TABOR"
http://www.bangornews.com/...
Reporter Rachel Rice, "Presque Isle mulls budget, TABOR"
IDAHO
http://kvoa.com/...
Associated Press, "Big-government foes seeking campaign records around West"