Chavez Inc!

[Joanne98]

http://www.dailykos.com/

Shocker: GOP PACs used as slush funds! Mercy me!
by Kagro X
Mon Aug 13, 2007 at 09:22:21 AM PDT
The Washington Post stumbles onto the trail of "Chavez Inc."

In the years since she was forced to pull her nomination as Bush's labor secretary after admitting payments to an illegal immigrant, Chavez and her immediate family members have used phone banks and direct-mail solicitations to raise tens of millions of dollars, founding several political action committees with bankable names: the Republican Issues Committee, the Latino Alliance, Stop Union Political Abuse and the Pro-Life Campaign Committee. Their solicitations promise direct action in the "fight to save unborn lives," a vigorous struggle against "big labor bosses" and a crippling of "liberal politics in the country."

That's not where the bulk of the money wound up being spent, however. Of the $24.5 million raised by the PACs from January 2003 to December 2006, $242,000 -- or 1 percent -- was passed on to politicians, according to a Washington Post analysis of federal election reports. The PACs spent even less -- $151,236 -- on independent political activity, such as mailing pamphlets.

Instead, most of the donations were channeled back into new fundraising efforts, and some were used to provide a modest but steady source of income for Chavez and four family members, who served as treasurers and consultants to the committees. Much of the remaining funds went to pay for expenses such as furniture, auto repairs and insurance, and rent for the Sterling office the groups share. Even Chavez's health insurance was paid for a time from political donations.

"I guess you could call it the family business," Chavez said in an interview.

As the Post notes, there's nothing illegal about this.

But...

"Nobody is looking at these," said Melanie Sloan of the group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. "It would be nice to know if other people are doing what Ms. Chavez is doing."

They are, Melanie.

In fact, what anyone who keeps digging will quickly discover is that it's an extremely popular Republican pastime. For years, it's been the way Pat Buchanan has sustained himself (and his sister Bay). And it's how Newt Gingrich (who has always lived off his own "Newt Inc." network) funds his jet-setting, speech-giving lifestyle.

The basic scam is a simple one: You start with a small mailing list, put together an urgent appeal explaining how your newly-formed PAC with the Respectable Sounding Name is "leading the fight" for/against some crap or other, and solicit donations. The money you rake in goes to pay for the production of the mailing pieces, postage, etc., and what's left over goes toward renting a better list for the next round of mailings. By the second or third pass, you're taking in enough to pay your "consultants" for the great advice he or she gave you on how to raise money with direct mail.

And if those "consultants" just happen to be you, your spouse, and each of your kids, well, so much the better for you! You're the model of entrepreneurialism and efficiency! Congratulations. Why not give yourself a raise?

Over the past five years, Chavez's family members have been directly paid $261,237 from the PACs, according to FEC reports. In 2001, the PACs paid Christopher Gersten $77,190, her son Pablo $25,344 and her son David $9,687.

Chavez and her immediate family members also earned income from executive positions they held in their nonprofit foundations, such as One Nation Indivisible and Stop Union Political Abuse. Her salary from her Center for Equal Opportunity foundation ranged from $125,000 to $136,250 between 1997 and 2003 and was $70,313 in 2004, the last year for which records are available.

Expect (not) to hear more about such networks if and when Newt throws his (necessarily enormous) hat in the ring.
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