Der Robenfuhrer Cardinal O’Malley donated $200 to anti-gay hate group in 2006

[Ian David]

Cardinal O’Malley donated $200 to VoteOnMarriage.org in 2006

Issue Date: 1/25/2007, Posted On: 1/24/2007

Cardinal O’Malley donated $200 to VoteOnMarriage.org in 2006
Ethan Jacobs
[e-mail]

How much does it cost to take marriage rights away from same-sex couples in Massachusetts? For VoteOnMarriage.org it cost nearly $390,000 in 2006, according to newly filed reports with the state Office of Campaign and Political Finance (OCPF). VoteOnMarriage.org also made use of more than $60,000 in in-kind donations, which are non-cash goods and services that have a cash value, and most of those donations came from VoteOnMarriage.org’s sister organization, the Massachusetts Family Institute (MFI). All told, VoteOnMarriage.org mounted a $450,000 campaign to try to pass its amendment to ban same-sex marriage, and in the wake of the Legislature’s preliminary approval of that amendment Jan. 2 it appears to be money well spent.

The report shows that while much of VoteOnMarriage.org’s funding comes from donors living in Massachusetts, the organization also received substantial support from Focus on the Family, the Colorado Springs-based religious right powerhouse led by James Dobson. In 2006 Focus donated nearly $75,000 to VoteOnMarriage.org. And the Citizens for Community Values (CCV), a conservative Christian organization based out of Ohio that is one of Focus on the Family’s local family policy councils, donated $50,000 to VoteOnMarriage.org.

VoteOnMarriage.org also received more than $40,000 in donations from the Coalition for Marriage, which was the primary organization in 2004 pushing for an earlier marriage amendment in Massachusetts. The Coalition, according to its website, is a 501(c)4 tax exempt organization, and its member organizations include all of the prominent partners in the VoteOnMarriage.org coalition, including MFI, the Massachusetts Catholic Conference, Catholic Citizenship, Massachusetts Citizens for Life, and the state council of the Knights of Columbus, among other organizations. VoteOnMarriage.org itself is also listed as a member of the Coalition. It is unclear from the OCPF report whether the donations from the Coalition came from those member organizations or from private donors to the Coalition.

Over the course of last year VoteOnMarriage.org spent much of its money trying to reach voters through advertising. More than one quarter of all the money spent by the organization in 2006, $100,000, went towards radio advertising, including more than $40,000 on WBZ and more than $20,000 on WRKO. VoteOnMarriage.org spent nearly $20,000 on newspaper advertising with major buys in the Eagle Tribune, the Patriot Ledger, and the Community Newspaper Company papers. The organization also spent thousands of dollars mobilizing supporters and reaching out to voters through robocalls and mailings.

VoteOnMarriage.org also spent nearly $2000 last year chartering buses to bring its supporters from outside the Boston area to the State House for each of the ConCons. During each of the ConCons the crowds on those buses often provided the critical mass of VoteOnMarriage.org supporters at the State House.

One interesting tidbit from the OCPF report: among the list of VoteOnMarriage.org donors was Cardinal Sean O’Malley himself, who contributed $200 to the marriage amendment effort.

More:
http://baywindows.com/ME2/Audiences/dirmod.asp?sid=008EC9FBCFF24AD18614290016BE1303&nm=Current+Issue&type=Publishing&mod=Publications%3A%3AArticle&mid=8F3A7027421841978F18BE895F87F791&AudID=0813BC739F2044E5A03DCF2DE3FDF7C9&tier=4&id=863AD98DCB2A419287BE3947EABEE442




See related thread:

A very few large donors financing most of Massachusetts anti-gay campaign
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=221&topic_id=47725&mesg_id=47725


Cross-posting in Massachusetts Forum.

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