The New Soft Money by Bill Allison
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Transcript of The New Soft Money by Bill Allison
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THE NEW SOFT MONEY Citizens United, 527s, 501(c)s and the Rise of Super PACs
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PRIOR TO CITIZENS UNITED…
¢ Outside groups certainly spent money
¢ Some had as much impact as Super PACs � Swift Boat Vets � Moveon.org – Bush not
on our side � PVF: Ashley’s Story � NSP: Willie Horton
¢ First three done through “527 committees”
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AFTER CITIZENS UNITED….
¢ Restrictions lifted on express advocacy
¢ Groups that can spend unlimited funds… � Super PACs (new!) � Labor Unions (new!) � Corporations (new!) � 501(c)4s (new!) � 501(c)6s (new!)
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WHO DISCLOSES WHAT
¢ Super PACs: � Disclose all donors
¢ Sometimes, though, donors are C4s
¢ C4s don’t disclose their donors
� Disclose expenditures ¢ Ad buys (TV, radio,
online) ¢ Phone banks, GOTV
� List candidate, state � Who they support or
oppose
¢ C4s, C6s, labor unions � Don’t disclose donors � Disclose expenditures
¢ Ad buys ¢ Phone banks, GOTV
� Candidate supported or opposed UNLESS
� Run issue ads ¢ Disclosed only within
30 days of a primary or 60 days of general
¢ Lists candidate mentioned
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THE OLD RULES ABOUT “ISSUE ADS” STILL APPLY…
¢ Under Citizens United � Anyone can run express
advocacy � “Vote for, vote against”
¢ Despite that, we see most C4s and C6s � Run issue ads � Mention federal
candidates � “Tell Joe Smith you
don’t want higher taxes”
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A NOTE ON ELECTIONEERING…
¢ There is a ton of spending that does NOT show up in FEC files
¢ The only way to track it is to go to the public files the FCC requires broadcasters to maintain
¢ Sunlight is part of a coalition of groups trying to get these forms online
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HERE’S WHAT ONE LOOKS LIKE (THERE IS NO STANDARD FORMAT FOR THESE)
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QUICK PLUG…
¢ If you want more information on the FCC project, please contact me and/or Kathy Kiely—
¢ We’d be thrilled to have your help
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SO WHAT DATA ARE AVAILABLE?
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THERE’S LOTS, AND SUNLIGHT MAKES IT AVAILABLE IN MULTIPLE FORMATS…
¢ New and improved tracker shows… � All Super PACs � All independent
expenditures � All federal
candidates & races with IE spending
� All electioneering communications
� And much, much more!
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PROVIDES SUMMARIES FOR CANDIDATES
¢ How much spent � IEs � Electioneering
¢ Links to other data � Comparison to
other candidates
� Candidate profile on Influence Explorer
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DATA PULLED STRAIGHT FROM FEC, AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD
¢ Download � Independent
expenditures � Donors to a
super PAC or all super PACs
� Donors and Expenditures by state
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GET TO RAW FEC FILINGS FROM THE SITE
¢ Helps you… � Find out what
kind of group it is � Find its address,
treasurer, etc. � See more details
than we provide � All data from the
FEC files are available for download from our site
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LET’S TAKE A LOOK AT CHAMBER OF COMMERCE…
¢ Committee type “E”
¢ Means it only does issue ads
¢ Note that all filings are electioneering communications
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IMPORTANT POINT ABOUT BUSINESS
¢ Try to maintain low political profile
¢ Work through trade groups
¢ The bigger the better ¢ Trade groups operate
� At federal level � At state level � At local level
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FIND OUT WHICH TRADE GROUPS BUSINESSES YOU COVER BELONG TO
¢ Trade groups don’t have to release lists of their members
¢ Generally, though, if you ask about one or two companies, they will answer
¢ At federal level, HLOGA requires disclosure of trade group members if… � Company contributes more than $5,000 and… � Helps select lobbyists � Helps set legislative priorities � Helps organize ad hoc coalitions � Serves on committees w/in trade group that do any of
the above
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TRADE GROUPS ARE HUGE POLITICAL PLAYERS
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THERE ARE SEVERAL DIRECTORIES OF TRADE ASSOCIATIONS
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LOOK UP THEIR 990S ON GUIDESTAR.ORG
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See how much they spend on political activity…
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boards of directors…
¢ Extensive lists ¢ They are usually
company execs ¢ Sometimes
lobbyists ¢ Boards drawn
from members ¢ Good way of
seeing who’s involved
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Check to see if a trade group has a federal PAC…
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GET TOTALS SPENT, DONORS, ETC.
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OPENSECRETS.ORG PAGES LINK TO FEC REPORTS
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FEC HAS A COMPLETE LIST OF THESE COMMITTEE CODES
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LET’S LOOK AT A SUPER PAC
¢ Committee type “O” ¢ Means it’s a super
PAC ¢ We have an address
(Sacramento? For Hoosiers?)
¢ We have a treasurer’s name
¢ Forms filed include statement of organization, quarterly report, etc.
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LET’S LOOK AT THE STATEMENT OF ORGANIZATION
¢ Page one: Boiler plate letter saying they’re a super PAC
¢ All super PACs file this
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MOVING ON TO PAGE TWO…
¢ Address of committee
¢ Email & website (if there is one—often there is)
¢ Treasurer’s name
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MOVING ON TO PAGE THREE…
¢ Tells you what kind of committee it is
¢ Tells you if it supports one or multiple candidates
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MOVING ON TO PAGE FOUR
¢ Gives you the phone number of the treasurer
¢ With a lot of these shadowy groups, that’s going to be your first point of contact
¢ Sometimes they list two or three individuals
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AND HERE’S A 24-48 HOUR NOTICE
¢ Candidate name ¢ Amount spent ¢ Race, and whether
they supported or opposed named candidate
¢ Also can see who made the ad buy
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ALL ACCESSIBLE THROUGH THE FOLLOW THE UNLIMITED MONEY TRACKER
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Also has a page for “organizational donors” (includes companies, nonprofits, unions, etc.)
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For the most part, it’s rich people giving to super PACs
¢ Sheldon Adelson ¢ Harold Simmons ¢ Bob Perry ¢ Jeffrey Katzenberg ¢ Jerry Perenchio ¢ Peter Thiel ¢ Foster Friess ¢ Even most
corporate donors are companies controlled by these individuals
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BUSINESSES CONTINUE TO OPERATE THROUGH 501C4 AND C6 ORGANIZATIONS
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SO WHAT DO YOU DO ABOUT THE 501Cs?
¢ Here’s a recent electioneering communication ¢ Run by a group called Freedom Path ¢ Let’s dig deeper
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WE TELL YOU THEY’RE NOT A SUPER PAC
¢ When it’s a super PAC, we tell you
¢ When it’s not, we leave that space blank
¢ So what kind of group is Freedom Path?
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FIRST CLUE
¢ Go to the FEC filings
¢ It’s a type “E” committee
¢ Like Chamber of Commerce
¢ It’s a group (other than PACs) making electioneering communications
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LET’S LOOK AT A FILING
¢ We get an address ¢ The custodian of
records (who looks like she does FEC compliance for a living)…
¢ You also get the date the ad ran,
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ON PAGE TWO…
¢ Lists of people sharing control
¢ Plus their addresses
¢ And employer and occupation
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NOTE THAT WE CAN LOOK THESE PEOPLE UP IN OPENSECRETS.ORG
¢ Using main search on home page
¢ Bensing a revolver
¢ Bensing a lobbyist
¢ Bensing working for four PACs
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WE CAN SEE HE USED TO WORK FOR JOHN ENSIGN…
¢ Now works for SBC Strategic Consulting
¢ Used to work for November Inc., another lobbying firm
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INTERESTS HE REPRESENTS
¢ Oooh, Ultimate Fighting Championship!
¢ State of Nevada ¢ Other
companies…
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…AND THE PACS HE SERVES AS TREASURUER
¢ All four are Super PACs
¢ Freedom Path Action Network sounds a lot like Freedom Path
¢ Check to see if there are super PACs with names similar to the group you’re looking at
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BACK TO THE FEC DISCLOSURE
¢ Money spent ¢ What they’re buying ¢ Federal candidates
mentioned ¢ Yellow: Who’s being
paid � Note that with ad
buys, most of the money will go to TV, radio, etc.
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GOOGLING FREEDOM PATH…
¢ In this case, we’re lucky
¢ They have a page telling us they’re a c4
¢ So we know what it is and who’s behind it
¢ What we don’t know is who contributes
¢ Always worth pointing which groups don’t disclose donors
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IRS SOI HAS A LIST OF ALL TAX- EXEMPT ORGS…
¢ Organized by state and region
¢ Has c3s, c4s, c5s, c6s…c25s
¢ Lists income, expenditures and assets from most recent 990
¢ Has address of group & contact name
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FOR NEW GROUPS…
¢ Some 501c4s and c6s will be created in the weeks to come
¢ They won’t have 990s available ¢ Check on their status with the IRS by calling
1-877-829-5500 ¢ It can be a 10- to 15-minute wait ¢ You can also contact Jim Willis at SOI for help
on exempt org data ¢ [email protected]