Name funders of political attack ads

Monitor staff

Last modified: 10/10/2010 12:00:00 AM

Unless they're quicker on the draw with a TV remote than Billy the Kid was with a gun, most viewers have already seen advertisements sponsored by political advocacy groups attacking candidates for office. Usually those candidates are Democrats.



This year, a flood of money that could top a half-billion dollars is putting enormous power over election outcomes in the hands of billionaires and corporate interests. Even worse, in many cases voters will never know who's funding the groups, since some nonprofits under IRS and Federal Election Commission rules do not have to disclose donor names. The ads were made possible by a January Supreme Court ruling and earlier lower court decisions that made it easier and less unseemly for wealthy individuals and corporations to contribute large sums to support or defeat candidates.



The Supreme Court is unlikely to reverse itself anytime soon on the ruling that says corporations have the same free speech rights as people. But putting an end to clandestine campaign contributions is possible. Congress, with a bill called the Disclose Act, nearly succeeded.



The act would have required corporations, unions, organizations and nonprofits to disclose spending and the source of their funds. It passed the House but failed in the Senate by one vote, largely for want of Republican support. Passage might be possible after the midterm election. Voters who don't want their voice drowned out by corporations and billionaires should demand that their congressional delegation vote Yes when the act comes up again.



Outside groups have spent some $3.6 million on New Hampshire races so far. Most of that money has gone to attack Democratic Senate candidate Paul Hodes and increase the odds that former attorney general Kelly Ayotte will claim the seat being vacated by Sen. Judd Gregg. One ad, paid for by a nonprofit group called American Crossroads, portrays Hodes as a big-spending pork-barrel candidate. It ends with the Union Leader statement, "The guy just can't tell the truth."



American Crossroads, and its sister organization, Crossroads GPS, were established by Karl Rove and other top Republican operatives. Both can raise unlimited amounts of money, but Crossroads GPS is a 501(c)(4) corporation and doesn't have to disclose the names of its individual or corporate donors. American Crossroads does.



According to Salon.com, four billionaires contributed the bulk of the money initially raised by the group: Bradley Wayne Hughes, chairman of Public Storage Inc.; Harold Simmons, a major backer of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth ads that attacked Sen. John Kerry; Robert Rowling of Dallas, whose company owns Gold's Gym and Omni Hotels, and Trevor Rees Jones, president of Chief Oil & Gas, a Dallas company.



Democratic Gov. John Lynch has been targeted in ads by a group called Americans for Job Security. That group received a big contribution from a billionaire Robert Ziff, whose father built the Ziff-Davis publishing empire, and other wealthy individuals. Lynch has also been attacked in ads paid for by Americans for Prosperity, an advocacy group backed by a foundation created by billionaire David Koch of Koch Industries, a privately held company that among other business activities makes Dixie Cups.



Nonprofits like those created by Rove are already influencing the 2010 elections. Unchecked by the requirement that the names of donors to many such groups be made public, that influence will grow to dominate America's elections. For now, passage of the Disclose Act is the best barrier to that happening.





