Astroturfing – A professional political campaign disguised as a ‘grassroots’ uprising (astroturf is artificial grass). Also used to claim that a political opponent’s supporters are motivated not by honest philosophical disagreement but by coarse opportunism. [….]

Brace yourselves. The right wingnut surrogate attack mail piece deluge has started. A piece attacking Jason Kander (D) (and President Barack Obama) paid for by the astroturf group Americans for Prosperity arrived in yesterday’s mail:

The “B” side of an Americans for Prosperity funded mail piece attacking Jason Kander (D).

Apparently they believe President Obama is less popular than George W. Bush (r) at the same point in his presidency.

The “A” side of an Americans for Prosperity funded mail piece attacking Jason Kander (D).

Because in the entire era before Obamacare our health insurance premiums never went up. They must really believe almost everyone is stupid. They may be right.

The “paid for” disclaimer is for Americans for Prosperity. The return address is for Americans for Prosperity – Missouri. A lobbying principal’s search at the Missouri Ethics Commission yields:

Principal
AMERICANS FOR PROSPERITY – MISSOURI 1301 VANDIVER DR STE Q COLUMBIA, MO 65202 [….]
Lobbyist
Jeremy Cady PO Box 1634 Jefferson City, MO 65102 [….]

Same address as the return address on the mailing.

Right, a real grassroots organization needs a professional lobbyist? How quaint.

And, from the Federal Election Commission:

SCHEDULE 5-E
ITEMIZED INDEPENDENT EXPENDITURES
FILING FEC-1097771 [pdf]

Committee: AMERICANS FOR PROSPERITY
To Address Expenditure Description Date of Public Distribution/Dissemination Support/Opposed Amount Extended Calendar YTD Per Election for Office Sought

Staff Salaries 08/31/2016 In OPPOSITION to JASON KANDER [$]2432.30 2432.30 AMERICANS FOR PROSPERITY 1310 N Courthouse Rd Ste 700 ARLINGTON, Virginia 22201

Canvassing Expenses 08/31/2016 In OPPOSITION to JASON KANDER [$]326.00 2758.30 The Singularis Group P.O. Box 9265 Shawnee Mission, Kansas 66201

Mailer (Kander Obamacare) 09/02/2016 In OPPOSITION to JASON KANDER [$]29[,]828.10 32586.40 United States Postal Service 475 L’Enfant Plaza Sw Washington, DC 20260

Postage for Mailer (Kander Obamacare) 09/02/2016 In OPPOSITION to JASON KANDER [$]86[,]033.57 118619.97

Total of Itemized Independent Expenditures = [$]118[,]619.97

[emphasis added]

That’s a total of $118,619.97.

Where did they get the money?:

Americans for Prosperity
Americans for Prosperity is a right-wing political advocacy group founded by billionaire brothers David and Charles Koch, the owners of Koch Industries.[1]

AFP serves as the Kochs’ “grassroots” operation, also known as astroturf. AFP spends millions on TV ads in election cycles. In the 2012 election cycle, it was a key component of the Kochs’ $400 million political network, receiving large portions of its money from Koch-linked dark money groups like Freedom Partners, American Encore, and Donors Trust. AFP’s budget, which comes from the Koch family foundations and other unknown sources, surged from $7 million in 2007 to $40 million in 2010 to $115 million in 2012. [2] According to the Center for Public Integrity, Americans for Prosperity “spent a staggering $122 million (in 2012) as it unsuccessfully attempted to defeat President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats,” including $83 million on “communications, ads, and media.”[3]

AFP’s messages are in sync with those of other groups funded by the Kochs and the Kochs’ other special interest groups that work against progressive or Democratic initiatives and protections for workers and the environment. Accordingly, AFP opposes labor unions, health care reform, stimulus spending, and any effort to combat climate change including President Obama’s 2015 Clean Power Plan….

A right wingnut funded and operated Washington, D.C. “astroturf” entity has already spent $118,619.97 to dump an attack mail piece to prop up Roy Blunt (r) in Missouri. The symmetry would be ironic, if irony wasn’t already dead.

Americans For Prosperity released their 2015 Missouri Scorecard today in order to let Missourians know which Republicans in the Missouri House toe the Koch Brothers line best, bester and bestest. Surprisingly, Republican lawmakers have to be sitting on the really, really hard rightwing bench to earn a high mark – to their lasting credit, Democrats in the lege almost all have an “F” grade.

The relatively low marks for some GOP pols probably reflect the fact that the AFP has figured out that, despite years of AFP-friendly GOP legislative control, things aren’t heading in the right direction in our state:

15 years into the 21st century, Missouri continues to lag behind the rest of the nation when it comes to economic growth, job creation and GDP. Every citizen deserves an opportunity to thrive and to chase their dreams right here in the Show Me State.

But that is not happening. Missouri ranks 42nd in economic outlook, 47th in GDP, and is experiencing a population decline as our neighbors, recent college graduates, friends and family move to states where there is greater opportunity.

The 2015 legislative session missed a real opportunity to end the failed status quo or put Missouri on a long-term path for growth

Sadly, it’s the GOP and those mostly AFP-friendly policies that are arguably responsible for the status quo that the document laments. But, according to the AFP, the sad condition of the state is owing to the fact that their allies aren’t “pure” enough when it comes to AFP orthodoxy, hence the “D” and “C” grades for numerous hard-core GOPers. The scorecard identifies 20 “key” votes, mostly but not exclusively dealing with tax policy and regulation, and in order to earn an “A” grade, the individual Representative must have voted AFP preferences at least 90% of the time.

It will be interesting to see just what effect the tough grading scale has on Missouri’s GOP legislators. The Koch-controlled organization spends big to support those who adhere to the party line. In 2014 ABC News rreported that “Americans for Prosperity [is] poised to be the most influential conservative group in the nation this year, and among the most influential and heaviest spending across the political spectrum this year.”

The AFP has already had an outsize influence in the state – its greenback speech may be at least partly responsible for the GOP legislative takeover itself. It was the AFP that shoved the ignorati out in force to fight against Obamacare. The oganization is probably largely to blame when we reflect on the state of healthcare for Missouri’s poorest, given the skill with which it whipped up its supporters and the AFP-inspired fervor that has kept our lege from expanding Medicaid with Obamacare dollars.

When we reflect on the ideologically fervid idiocy of a legislature that refuses federal Medicaid expansion dollars or, to cite another example, refuses to raise one of the lowest gas taxes in the nation in order to deal with a demonstrable transportation infrastructure crisis – all big baddies for the AFP – the dire state outcomes the scorecard enumerates may emanate from AFP influence rather than the other way around. It seems that the AFP won’t be happy until we follow the example of Kansas, which has gone the whole 100 AFP yards, becoming all Koch, all the time, and has, consequently, gone down the prosperity tubes.

How do we reward lawmakers who scored “C” or lower? There’s lots of Republicans who considered their constituents and got lower scores – a responsible attitude which should be encouraged. Not everybody in GOP-land has gone totally over the edge though most are teetering.Can they be shored up and kept on the side of common sense? I’d like to see a progressive legislative scorecard that makes the case for real growth and which rewards the hard legislative work involved in making life better for everyday Missourians instead of adding to the wealth of big political spenders. If we don’t take Missouri back, Kansas, here we come.

*Last paragraph slightly revised for clarity (10/17/15)

Remember Americans for Prosperity (AFP), the infamous Koch founded and funded organization that, among other achievements, got the Tea Party organized and on track? Want to know just which legislators in Missouri are most in tune with AFP goals? Well, you need wait no longer. The AFP has just issued a scorecard for the 112th Congress.  The grades received by Missouri legislators, listed below (name, party and grade), is about what one would expect:

Roy Blunt (R): B

Claire McCaskill (D): D

Todd Akin (R): A+          

Russ Carnahan (D): F                          

Wm. Lacy Clay (D): F

Emanuel Cleaver (D): D-  

Jo Ann Emerson (R) B      

Sam Graves (R): B        

Vicky Hartzler (R): B  

Billy Long (R): B  

Blaine Leutkemeyer (R): B

If you want a vote breakdown, check out AmericansforProsperity.org/Scorcard. According to the DailyKos’ Meteor Blades:

AFP chose to grade congressmembers based on their votes on repealing President Obama’s new healthcare law, blocking the Environmental Protection Agency from regulating greenhouse gases, supporting the demolition document known as the Paul Ryan budget, ending ethanol subsidies and several Congressional Review Act resolutions as well as the fiscal year 2012 appropriations bills.

This rationale explains just why Republicans get high marks and Democrats get low marks – as a progressive, I’d be very disturbed if any Democrats scored higher than they did. That said, I do have to admit that I was surprised that most of Missouri’s GOP legislators can’t get better than B grades – only uber-winger Akin qualifies for an A grade (A+ actually). They sure talk a good game and one would have expected that they would reap a bigger reward. Perhaps ethanol subsides plays a role in their scores? Also of interest is the fact that no matter how far right she tries to list, poor Claire McCaskill can’t do better than a D. I would have pegged her at C- (for centrist wannabe) myself – if only because of her efforts on behalf of Big Coal.

Yesterday I was chatting with a nurse who was setting me up for a minor procedure at a local hospital.  She said she was originally from Oklahoma and still had family there.  So I used that opening to mention the drought, the heat wave and climate change.  Every chance I get I bring up the odd coincidence that Texas and Oklahoma are getting the worst climate related damage since the dust bowl days and, as it happens, the Congressmen from Oklahoma and Texas are the ones who do the bidding of the “global warming hoax” beneficiaries.  Of course, they owe their political careers to oil barons, so what else can they say about the polar ice cap melting other than it’s a “hoax”?

I generalized that the men in Congress have done a lot of damage to all of us hoping the nurse would agree.  And she did.

Then she said, “And how about that president of ours?  He won’t even say the pledge of allegiance, and, when he does, he uses the wrong hand.”

OMG, how do we counteract simplistic thinking like that?  And this is an RN who had to have some post high school education.  She seemed bright and alert, good at her job and someone who would NOT be taken in by the lies generated by American Crossroads, ALEC, Americans for Prosperity and all the “defeat Obama whatever the cost” crowd.

Yet here she was – miss middle America. Totally convinced that the President of the United States won’t say the pledge of allegiance to the United States of America.   How can anyone juggle those two things cognitively?

I took a deep breath and told her that the photo online a few months ago was a fake.  I explained that nowadays anyone clever enough can make a fake photo or video.  She agreed that that was possible but didn’t seem to apply that piece of information to the Obama Left Hand Pledge photo.

Not being sure if she was even open for information that might mess up her hard core dislike of the President, I explained that photos like that are made up by people who hate Obama because he is trying to protect programs like Social Security and Medicare, and those people want to destroy those programs.  HELLO?  Medicare?  Hospital?  Nurse?   Income?

I don’t know what else to do but keep telling the truth about the Obama haters and sharing facts about what is going on.  Truth? Facts? No thanks, it’s time for my coffee break.  Have a nice day.  

Via ThinkProgress’s Wonk Room:

Fifty senators – 46 Republicans and four Democrats – recently voted to deny the science of global warming and permanently ban limits on the carbon pollution that threatens the health of children and seniors. Not surprisingly, the Koch-backed Americans for Prosperity group lent its voice in support of Sen. Mitch McConnell’s (R-KY) dirty-energy amendment.

A ThinkProgress analysis finds that the senators voting for McConnell’s amendment raked in $1.8 million dollars from Koch Industries over the course of their careers. Not only did these senators ignore the will of 71 percent of voters who support the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to restrict emissions, but they put the 15 million people with asthma in their states at risk by voting to stop the EPA from limiting carbon pollution.

And guess which Missouri senator is prominent among those who make up what ThinkProgress calls the “Koch Head Caucus,” the “top ten recipients of Koch cash in the U.S. Senate”? If you guessed Senator Roy Blunt, you would be correct. Blunt has pulled in $96,700 in Koch subsidies – a sum that was evidently sufficient to tip the scales against the needs of the 511,717 Missourians who suffer from asthma. For some reason, Missouri voters saw fit to move Blunt from the House to the Senate, and now, apparently, it’s time for Daddy Blunt to resume doing business as usual in his new storefront.

Remember during the Senate campaign, when everything that might have disadvantaged Blunt’s corporate patrons was dubbed “job-killing” – no matter how tenuous the connection to jobs? I wonder how long we’ll have to wait to hear him express any concern about conditions that are potentially human-killing?  

In spite of the claims of grass-roots angst bubbling up unassisted, it’s old news that the Tea Party was brought into being through the ministrations of a few corporate front organizations, prominent among them Americans for Prosperity (AFP). The AFP’s ties to the billionaire Koch brothers have been well documented, most recently in Jane Mayer’s excellent New Yorker article.  Mayer quotes conservative think tanker, Bruce Bartlet, to the effect that the Kochs, one-time John Birchers, have invested in the Tea Party as a vehicle for creating an ostensibly libertarian movement that, incidentally, also serves the Kochs bottom line:

… With the emergence of the Tea Party, he said, “everyone suddenly sees that for the first time there are Indians out there-people who can provide real ideological power.” The Kochs, he said, are “trying to shape and control and channel the populist uprising into their own policies.

The Kochs’ man in Missouri, the State Diretor of the Missouri branch of Americans for Prosperity (AFP-MO) until his resignation in July, has been none other than one-time speaker Pro Tem of the Missouri House, Carl Bearden. The term-limited Bearden resigned prematurely from the House shortly after being accused of ethical lapses. He immediately joined the lobbying firm Pelopidas LLC, or as Bearden put it, an “influence management firm” in which he would play a “main role.”

When Bearden joined Pelopidas, he also he also “officially became the lobbyist for retired billionaire Rex Sinquefield,” a major Pelopidas client whose hobby is trying to buy Missouri’s government. Sinquefield, via Pelopidas, has focused on gutting public education and cutting taxes for the wealthy in Missouri, goals not incompatible with the Kochs’. Consequently, it’s not surprising that the AFP-MO, under the leadership of Pelopidas’ Bearden,  has used Pelopidas’ “grassroots and coalition building” services. One cannot be blamed for concluding that Carl Bearden unites the wider goals of the Kochs with Sinquefield’s specifically Missouri focus.

One offspring of that union is the Missouri Tea Party. It’s no secret that Bearden was instrumental in organizing and publicizing Tea Party rallies, as well as promoting the Tea Party presence at Town-Halls held by Democratic congress people – complete with astroturf talking points and strategies for how to “artificially inflate your numbers.” Last spring, when Claire McCaskill, looking at what she took to be the writing on the wall, declared “I absolutely empathize with the Tea Party,” the grafitti that got her so flustered was put there by Carl Bearden.

So what, conservatives chime at this point, don’t liberal advocacy groups like MoveOn.org promote progressive events. Don’t they take money from unions, wealthy liberals, even – gasp – from financier George Soros? And haven’t they played a big part in organizing progressives around issues? Unfortunately, for the “balanced” presentation favored by trad media types, the parallels aren’t really that parallel:

–One would be hard-put to find many liberal advocacy group whose raison d’etre can be linked to their donors’ bottom line as is demonstrably the case with the Koch brothers and the AFP. (See also the Mayer article and here.)

—Contrary to groups funded by the Kochs, for example, the lines between donors and liberal advocacy groups are usually highly transparent.

–Finally, although folks may disagree with progressive positions, no liberal advocacy groups have, to my knowledge, tried to pawn off false information in order to whip up their membership. I know of no liberal equivalence to last summer’s “death panels” (the claim made here at an AFP sponsored meeting), or no spurious science intended to plant doubt about proven anthropogenic climate change. Just listing all the lies promulgated by conservative “think tanks, etc. could serve as the focus of a very long post all by itself.

Manufactured though the Tea Party phenomena may be, it is undeniable that many of the participants are totally genuine. These are the angry and frightened individuals who see a changing world and cannot deal with the anxiety and insecurity it generates, as well as those generally unstable individuals who populate any fringe movement. Those recruited to the Tea Party are ripe for exploitation, and in Carl Bearden, the AFP found the right guy to to take advantage of the situation.  

Right wingnuttia has started their air campaign against Representative Ike Skelton (D). I saw this particular ad on television this evening:

Announcer: Thirty-four years ago Rocky was in movie theaters, Missouri’s economy was humming along, and Ike Skelton first went to Washington. Today Skelton supports the Pelosi agenda ninety-five percent of the time. Under their control spending has skyrocketed, the defecit has tripled, and nearly one in ten Missourians are unemployed. Now they want to pass a new energy tax which could cost a Missouri family thousands. Tell Skelton he works for Missouri, not Nancy Pelosi.

[Paid for by Americans for Prosperity]

Apparently, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D) is the personification of evil.

Uh, I was around for the Reagan and Daddy Bush administrations. All hype, no substance, and the economy sucked (except for people in certain tax brackets). It took Bill Clinton to turn it around.

And who was the President from January 2001 to January 2009 who left the big mess? Just asking.

The listing for “Americans for Prosperity” with the Federal Election Commission:

Committee ID: C30001051

AMERICANS FOR PROSPERITY

2111 WILSON BLVD STE 350

ARLINGTON, VA 22201

Treasurer Name:

Committee Designation:   (N/A)

Committee Type:   N/A

“Americans for Prosperity” filed [pdf – click on “Filed Documents”] paperwork with the Missouri Secretary of State’s office on March 26, 2010 as a “Foreign Nonprofit Corporation”. The officers and board, as reported in the filing:

Art Pope, Chairman

Frayday Levy, Director

James C. Miller, Director

Jim Stephenson, Director

Tim Phillips, President

John Flynn, Secretary

John Flynn, Treasurer

I tried scraping around to find an IRS 990 form and have had no luck yet. Chalk that one up to my Internets searching skills.

I did find this interesting little snippet of information at the Missouri Ethics Commission:

LOBID:L002591

Lobbyist’s Name Carl Bearden

Principal(s) listed by Lobbyist

Principal Name/Address/Phone   Status   Date Added   Date Deleted

AMERICANS FOR PROSPERITY AND FOUNDATION

912 EAST BROADWAY

COLUMBIA MO

D 11/9/2007 7/3/2010

That’s interesting. And what happened on July 3, 2010?

An “Americans for Prosperity Foundation” filed [pdf – click on “Filed Documents”] an annual report with the Missouri Secretary of State’s office on September 11, 2009. The officers and board:

David Koch

Art Pope

Richard Fink

Walter Williams

Debra Gail Humphreys

Tim Phillips, President

John Flynn, Secretary

John Flynn, Treasurer

Well, there are a few names in common.

The 2008 IRS 990 [pdf] form for the Americans for Prosperity Foundation is chock full of interesting information:

1 Briefly describe the organization’s mission or most significant activities Educate citizen leaders on ensuring economic freedom and opportunity.

8 Contributions and grants (Part VIII, line 1h)

Prior Year 5,476,046.

Current Year 7,500,059.

15 Salaries, other compensation, employee benefits (Part IX, column (A), lines 5-10)

Prior Year 2,124,037.

Current Year 2,234,014.

19 Revenue less expenses. Subtract line 18 from line 12

Prior Year -1,072,849.

Current Year -684,765.

4a (Expenses $ 3,048,529. including grants of $ 0) National office – educate citizens in support of restraining federal government growth, and returning government to its constitutional limits.

4b (Expensses $ 3,870,879. including grants of $ 0) State chapters – educate citizens in support of restraining state government growth, and returning government to its constitutional limits. State chapters are located in Kansas, Texas, North Carolina, California, Ohio, Illinois, Wisconsin, Oklahoma, Virginia, Colorado, Oregon, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, Florida, Georgia, North Dakota, South Dakota, South Carolina, Arizona, Louisiana, and New Hampshire.

Schedule A, Part II, Support Schedule for Organizations Described in Sections 170(b)(1)(A)(iv) and 170(b)(1)(A)(vi)

1 Gits, grants, contributions and membership fees received. (Do not include ‘unusual grants.’)

(a) 2004  1,140,151.

(b) 2005  3,349,739.

(c) 2006  3,954,449.

(d) 2007  5,476,046.

(e) 2008  7,500,059.

(f) Total  21,420,444.

Schedule M, Non-Cash Contributions

4 Books and publications 14,078. Fair market value

9 Securities-Publicly traded 260,614. Fair market value

Schedule O, Supplemental Information to Form 990

Pt VI-A, Line 2 One board member is an employee of a company owned more than 35% by another board member.

[emphasis added]

I wonder, has anything in Representative Ike Skelton’s (D) political career ever not appeared to be all about following the Constitution? Just asking.  

I used to admire the gentleman who challenged Todd Akin’s lies about the Employee Free Choice Act at Akin’s town hall last April. But now I know that he was a piker. He got himself escorted from the room. Republicans are being trained in effective harassment techniques, and they wouldn’t be subjected to any such indignity. The Democrat’s mistake was that he spoke logically and at some length about why Akin’s claims were lies. I managed to find him with my camcorder. I can never locate the Republican loudmouths because they yell one obnoxious sentence and then sit down.

Aside from the fact that such behavior comes more or less naturally to them, they are actually being coached to do that. Here’s the memo via Think Progress from the astroturf group, Americans for Prosperity. (You gotta love the irony in the title: “Best” Practices?)

Rocking the Town Halls–Best Practices

   – Artificially Inflate Your Numbers: “Spread out in the hall and try to be in the front half. The objective is to put the Rep on the defensive with your questions and follow-up. The Rep should be made to feel that a majority, and if not, a significant portion of at least the audience, opposes the socialist agenda of Washington.”

   – Be Disruptive Early And Often: “You need to rock-the-boat early in the Rep’s presentation, Watch for an opportunity to yell out and challenge the Rep’s statements early.”

   – Try To “Rattle Him,” Not Have An Intelligent Debate: “The goal is to rattle him, get him off his prepared script and agenda. If he says something outrageous, stand up and shout out and sit right back down. Look for these opportunities before he even takes questions.”

Democrats usually object to Republican lies with facts. Logic. Civility. Tsk. How hopelessly old school. Russ Carnahan and Claire’s staffer, Michelle Sherod, having experienced Americans for Prosperity tactics first hand, can tell you how town hall activism is done in 2009.

Unfortunately, HCAN may also soon find itself on the business end of these tactics. HCAN would like to arrange its own town hall with a McCaskill staffer, much like the AFP one last Monday, to express support for healthcare reform. Good luck if you try it, because the bullyboys will show up, and they’re not going to behave the way liberals did at the AFP event.

A UK educational website about Nazi Germany observes that: “Extremists [Nazis] continued to disturb meetings of opposing political groups.”

I’m just sayin’.

And an afterthought: The local point man for Americans for Prosperity is Carl Bearden, who, before the Monday event, twittered a link to a site that advises making your point “Nicely. Politely. With a smile.” I don’t know whether Bearden didn’t get the latest AFP memo, but it sure looks like plenty of others did. Or maybe he only advises making nicey-nice when the event is sponsored specifically on behalf of his group.

( – promoted by Clark)

Americans for Prosperity (aka teabaggers, aka Carl Bearden) is convening a town hall in St. Louis this coming Monday night, the 27th, to talk about why they’re opposed to the clean energy bill. Claire McCaskill’s district staff will attend and represent her views.

One can only speculate about whether the atmosphere will be staid, window-rattling, or something in between. I figure to hear at least one participant claim that “cap and tax” will cost every American family $3100 a year. As if. And someone is likely to cite info from the Wall Street Journal’s answer to the CBO assertion that it will cost more like $175 per family.

But what I really hope I hear is some sane questions and observations by people from our side of the equation who attend and speak their minds: who debunk the $3100 claim, who point out that national security demands we turn to a green economy, and, finally, who mention that it might be nice to save the planet. (Come prepared with stats to refute silly claims that the planet is actually cooling.)

I’ll be there to film it. If they let me in. I hope some of you will show up as well. MO Votes Conservation is urging people on its e-mail list to do so, and Claire’s staff would appreciate the support, especially if this turns out to be a wild ride.

Here are the details:

When:

Monday, July 27, 2009, 7-8pm

Where:

St. Louis Community College – Forest Park Campus

Highlander Lounge

5600 Oakland Ave.

St. Louis, MO 63110

Here is a map of the campus.  The meeting is in the Student Center.  For more information or to RSVP contact Vanessa at vcrawford@movotesconservation.org.