Citizens United Fallout: Billionaires for Bush Buying Congress

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The alleged conservative "grassroots" movement is really just a few dozen ultra-conservative billionaires who have decided to purchase Congress in the wake of Citizens United v. FEC. Take these self-interested billionaires out of the equation and the political narrative of this election would be entirely different.

Politico reported Thursday that Karl Roves super-PAC American Crossroads raised $15 million in September and early October, with nearly half of that coming from one donor: Texas homebuilder Bob Perry, the man behind Swift Boat Veterans for Truth (they lied, everyone agrees) in 2004.Texas builder gives Crossroads $7M . Other contributors:

Robert Rowling, CEO of TRT Holdings, the owner of Gold’s Gym and another long-standing GOP underwriter, donated more than $2 million through both his corporate and personal accounts.

Alliance Resource Group, which has interests in the coal industry in Tulsa,  provided another $2 million, according to Federal Election Commission reports released Wednesday.

And B. Wayne Hughes of Public Storage in Lexington, Ky., gave an additional $1 million.

When combined, those three individuals and two corporations donated $12 million – or more than two-thirds – of American Crossroads’ donations between Sept. 1 and Oct. 13.

American Crossroads and its partner organization, American Crossroad GPS, which is organized under a different tax code so it can keep its donors secret, have pledged to spent $65 million to oust the Democratic majorities in Congress.

Although the structures of the Crossroads organization make it difficult to track their donors, the latest report makes it clear that there has been an increase in the number of corporations jumping into the political scene since the U.S. Supreme Court lifted a ban on business giving in its Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission.

In addition to Alliance Resources and TRT Holdings, American Crossroads reported corporate donations from Universal Health Care, which gave $25,000; MDI Imaging, which donated more than $73,000; and Weaver Popcorn of Indianapolis, which cut a check for $250,000.

However, most of the GOP corporate money is believed to be moving through the Crossroad Grassroots group, so that it isn’t disclosed publicly.

That helps explain why American Crossroads donations are dominated by a roster of familiar names to campaign finance insiders.

Perry, a longtime Republican donor, gave the organization $7 million in incremental installments from Sept. 1 to Oct. 13. Perry is most noted for his financing of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, which in 2004 launched a campaign to undermine Democratic presidential nominee Sen. John Kerry and his Vietnam War military record.

* * *

After donating $2 million on Sept. 20, Perry wrote another $2 million check on Oct. 4, and again on Oct. 5, and he followed those up with a $1 million on Oct. 12 – the day before Rove took the airwaves to crow about the burst in small donors to American Crossroad.

In addition to Perry, Crossroads officials said they have received $50,000 from Donald Trump, the New York entrepreneur and television personality who just two years ago donated money to the Democratic presidential bid of Hillary Clinton before switching to Republican John McCain in the general election.

The rise of Perry as American Crossroads biggest donors is a bit of a Republican reunion.

Two other major donors to American Crossroads are Harold Simmons, who cut two $1 million checks from his corporate accounts to support the group, and Carl Linder, who also tapped his business account at American Financial Group to donate about $400,00 to the group.

As is the case with Perry, both men were also donors to the anti-Kerry Swift Boat Veterans for Truth campaign.

In addition, Simmons was the major underwriter for the American Issues Project, an independent group that ran commercials trying to tie President Obama with Bill Ayers, a former member of the Weather Underground organization that claimed responsibility for a dozen bombings in the 1970s.

The New York Times today takes a closer look at "Swiftboat" Bob Perry in Bob Perry, Longtime G.O.P. Donor, Adds Millions:

When Bob Perry, a wealthy home builder from Texas, emerged six years ago as a prime financer of the Swift Boat Veterans attack ads against Senator John Kerry, the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee, the political strategist Karl Rove was there to vouch for Mr. Perry.

* * *

Now Mr. Rove and his party are benefiting from his old friend’s largess once again, as new federal disclosure reports this week showed that Mr. Perry has given $7 million since September to American Crossroads, the conservative group Mr. Rove helped start. Mr. Perry was the group’s biggest donor.

Mr. Perry, 77, has long been a major donor to Republican candidates, with significant contributions to George W. Bush's campaigns for Texas governor and his presidential races, as well as to Republican groups and causes. But his donations to American Crossroads, which has been become a major force this election season in pushing Republican candidates, along with $4 million to the Republican Governors Association this year[.]

Continue reading Bob Perry, Longtime G.O.P. Donor, Adds Millions.