Saturday, August 21, 2004

Monster 527 Organizations

Q. How does John Kerry know that the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth -- the one and only 527 organization that has come out with ads opposed to Kerry-- are funded by Republicans?

A. Because all the 527 organizations that support Kerry are funded by Democrats!

Let's take a look, shall we? (link: Blogs for Bush)

On the Republican Side:
  • Bob Perry, who has given to given to multiple Republican causes and campaigns (including campaigns for Bush), is the Swift Boat Vet's largest donor, contributing $100,000.
    One Hundred Thousand... Big deal.

On The Democratic Side:

Looking at the top forty-nine 527 organizations, we find

  • The Joint Victory Campaign. The sole purpose of this organization is to raise funds for the number two ranked Media Fund and number three ranked America Coming Together. Both organizations are dedicated to defeating George Bush. This organization sports no less than thirty-three individuals who have given more money than Bob Perry, twelve who have given at least one million dollars, with the largest contributor shelling out $7.75 million. George Soros has given more than $4.5 million to this organization.
  • The Media Fund. This "Anybody but Bush" group has put together and paid for multiple TV ads that play in the battle-ground states. They are funded to the tune of over $28 million, almost half of which comes from the number one ranked Joint Victory Campaign. More than $5.5 million has come from employee unions.
  • America Coming Together. Also against Bush, also helped by the Joint Victory Campaign, also a baby of George Soros ($5 million) and Peter Lewis (almost $3 million).
    #4 & #5: The Service Employees International Union and the American Federationn of State/County/Municiple Employees More than $16 and $13 million respectively. Both are unions and hence partisan Democratic fronts.
  • Those are just the first five of the forty-nine. More staggering is when we step back and look at the forest, not the trees. Of the top forty-nine 527 organizations:
    -Forty one (84%) are supported by Democrats and push Democrat causes.
    -Only five are supported by Republicans and push Republican causes.
    -Three are issue or industry oriented (like Peter Lewis' Marijuana Policy Project).
    -The Democrat funding totals $176 million compared to the Republican funding of$10.8 million.
    By Kerry's measure, each of the organizations that support Democrat causes are Democratic Front groups, doing the dirty work that Kerry is too cowardly to do.

These 527 groups are one of the unintended consequences of the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform bill. Rather than improve the campaign financing situation in this country, this bill has created monsters in deadly combat with each other, pouring huge amounts of money into the campaign pot and battling for the public's attention (see graphic below).


2 comments:

Melissa said...

Hmmm. Maybe the reason that Kerry has garnered 84 percent of top funding groups is because more of the populace wants to see Kerry in the Oval office. Doesn't smell bad to me. Also, moveon.org and the media fund never deny being funded by liberals--it's an obvious known fact that has never been disputed, but rather, is an example of a proud united cause. This is political action at its best.

Unlike the SBV, who claim to be in no relation whatsoever to the Republican party. Funding is one issue of relation, which is of less concern than motivational relations. Even motive doesn't seem to matter much--it is usually easy to decipher-- this group of liberals wants to oust this conservative, or this group of conservatives wants to get rid of a liberal. But the SBV maintain that they have NO relation with the Republican party, in an attempt to make their slander seem less aimed at political motives and more aimed at simply telling the truth because it needs to be heard. This is the deceit of the SBV. They are claiming to be something they are not. They are inextricably linked with the Republican party. In my own town this weekend, 2 SBV veterans cancelled their speaking arrangements when hundreds of flyers promoting the event were found in the Republican party headquarters.

Why don't they just admit it? They are a conservative group with political aims who want to get rid of Kerry. Big deal! What are they afraid of? Why are they hiding behind a false label? They lose credibility by doing so.

PS--What's wrong with unions being partisan democratic fronts? Hell yeah, they're democrats. They know what's good for them.

Anonymous said...

I think the SBVT don't care about Bush getting elected particularly. They care about Kerry NOT getting elected. This is payback, pure and simple, for Kerry's behavior toward his fellow Vietnam veterans after the war. I think that if Kerry had not made his Vietnam service the centerpiece of his campaign, most of those veterans would have stayed quiet (as they had for 35 years).

As for your other comments: the 527's are the result of a campaign finance reform that was supposedly going to rid us of this kind of "soft money". Personally, I believe in free speech and think anyone should be allowed to form a group and advertise whatever the hell they want during elections. But you can't have it both ways. You can't sit around and smirk when your side bashes the President, then whine and file lawsuits and tell the President to "make it stop" when his side bashes you. Kerry and Edwards are even worse than "girly men" they are total wimps.