Rove and his Billionaires - yes, he has a small pack of them

[ensho]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/23/support-for-karl-roves-am_n_657257.html


Support For Karl Rove's American Crossroads Group Comes Almost Entirely From Billionaire Donors


Salon:

Virtually all of the $4.7 million raised by Karl Rove's new conservative outfit was contributed by just four billionaires, three of whom are based in Dallas, Texas, and two of whom made their fortune in the oil and gas industry.
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yellow tape should surround the American Crossroads Group warning people that neo cons are within

[global1]

1. This 2010 Election Should Be - As S. Sherrod Says - About The Haves & The Have Nots.....

there's more of us have nots and if we voters are given that plain truth - we can out vote them no matter how much money they have. The message that goes out has to be as simple as that. Haves & Have Nots. And people if you want to get your country back - you have to vote for the Dems to keep them in power or things will get even worse than the 8 years of G.W. Bush and Company. This is the message that needs to be put out by the Dems. No splinter issues. Nothing complicated. Just Have and Have Nots. It's not racial. It's not about pro-life and pro-choice. It's not about taxes. It's about Haves and Have Nots.

[UTUSN]

2. K&R #6 for, ya beat me to it. I had it all in my Clipboard ready to post.

I would have punched up the thread title to: "KKKarl's 4 donors gave 97% to his Rethug fundraising" or something. So, here are the highlighted articles, the second one describing his SECRET DONOR outlet.

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http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2010/07/23/rove_group_billionaire_donors/index.html

"Grassroots" Rove-linked group funded almost entirely by billionaires

.... And despite the group's description of itself as "grassroots," Salon's review of its IRS filings show that four billionaires have contributed 97 percent of the $4.7 million it has raised to date. There are no limits on how much corporations, unions, and individuals can donate to 527 groups. Here's a guide to American Crossroads' four donors:

* Trevor Rees-Jones, president of Dallas-based Chief Oil and Gas, gave a $1 million donation to American Crossroads just as the group was starting in April. That's small money for Rees-Jones, who, Forbes estimated in 2009, amassed a $1.5 billion fortune investing in gas prospects around America. He has also been a big donor to John McCain and the Texas Republican Party, Politico reported.

* Bradley Wayne Hughes, chairman of Public Storage Inc, is American Crossroads' biggest donor, contributing $1.55 million to date. Hughes founded Public Storage in 1972 and the company has grown into a self-storage behemouth with over 2,000 locations. Worth $3.9 billion, he lives in Lexington, KY, where he actively raises thoroughbred horses at Spendthrift Farm. (Hughes' son, B. Wayne Hughes Jr., is on the board of former Senator Norm Coleman's new conservative group, the American Action Network.)

* A company called Southwest Louisiana Land LLC donated $1 million to American Crossroads in June. It turns out Southwest, which doesn't have much of a public footprint, is owned by Dallas billionaire investor Harold Simmons -- no stranger to conservative causes. Since the 1980s, he has ponied up for everthing from Oliver North's defense fund, to Newt Gingrich's PAC, to the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth in 2004, to the American Issues Project, a group that ran ads attempting to tie Obama to Bill Ayers in 2008 (Simmons was the sole funder of the Ayers effort, giving nearly $3 million.) Simmons is worth $4.5 billion.

* TRT Holdings, owned by Dallas' Robert Rowling, gave American Crossroads $1 million. Rowling, whose firm owns Omni Hotels and Gold's Gym, got started at his father's successful company, Tana Oil & Gas. He's now worth $4.4 billion. In 2004 Rowling gave $1 million to Progress for America, an outside group backing President Bush's reelection. ....



http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=F270355A-18FE-70B2-A8218F1828357F70

Rove-linked group uses secret donors to fund attacks

By: Kenneth P. Vogel

.... American Crossroads was incorporated under Section 527 of the Internal Revenue Service code, which requires it to disclose its contributions and expenditures on a monthly basis, but also gives it more flexibility in terms of how it can spend its cash, including allowing it to spend most of its money on ads attacking or supporting candidates.

American Crossroads GPS, on the other hand, is incorporated under Section 501(c)4, which requires it to spend the bulk of its cash focusing on issues, but frees it from having to disclose the names of its donors. In fact, it won’t be required to publicly report any of its finances until at least May 2011. ....

But a veteran GOP operative familiar with the group’s fundraising activities said the spin-off was formed largely because donors were reluctant to see their names publicly associated with giving to a 527 group, least of all one associated with Rove, who Democrats still revile for his role in running former President George W. Bush’s political operation.

GPS’s concept paper says that if it meets its fundraising goals, it will spend $18 million on “issue advocacy,” $15 million on “targeted grassroots advocacy,” $3 million on “issue research,” $2 million on polling and $5 million buying, renting and enhancing lists. ....

That effort is focused on seven states - Colorado, Florida, Missouri, New Hampshire, Nevada, Ohio and Washington - according to a new website unveiled Tuesday. ....


CLARIFICATION: This story was updated to include this quotation from American Crosswords GPS spokesman Jonathan Collegio: “Crossroads GPS does not invest in opposition research.”




http://gawker.com/5595071/karl-roves-big-fundraising-total-comes-from-four-billionaires

Karl Rove's Big Fundraising Total Comes From Four Billionaires

How did American Crossroads, Karl Rove's "grassroots" fundraising operation, suddenly leap from $200 in monthly donations to a total of $4.7 million? Apparently 97% comes from four billionaires. A Republican Congress better reward them with some top-notch ponies!
Send an email to Jim Newell, the author of this post, at [e-mail].

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[UTUSN]

6. Kick!1 Since I was so restrained in not Duping!1 Plus, I am not SELF-kicking!1 n/t

[Bitwit1234]

3. Isn't there a limit as to how much a person

even if the republican members of the supreme court voted a corporation into the "person" category, can give. I thought each one could only give $2,500 to a campaign.

[Overseas]

4. K&R. Exposing more Republican "grass roots" activism-- driven by billionaires.

Republicans have so many billionaires ready to fund Republican campaigns to further increase the gap between rich and poor, even though that means fewer of us can go to Gold's Gym or buy their products.

Wish they heard the same story I had that when Ford was criticized for paying his workers too much he said he wanted them to be able to purchase the products they made.

Instead we got all that disgusting right wing posturing about unemployment insurance making workers lazy.

[Scuba]

5. So 4 billionaires are manipulating the rest of us. Shameful that we let them. n/t