FreedomWorks and their Oregon Franchisees

Jump to Comments

In Part I ["Freedomworks’ Little Frankenstein Lab: Oregon"  31 October 2009], we learned that FreedomWorks has been extraordinarily active in Oregon (a smallish state on the West Coast, population approx. 3 million) for many years now. And we learned that in FreedomWorks’ 2008 tax return, their highest paid outside contractors were in Oregon, as was the Oregon State Director, who was paid more than the Oregon governor to engage in what is “private legislation.”

Eastern Oregon

And we learned that they won’t tell us WHO is behind them.

Oregon conservatives launch nonprofits to push initiatives

By Dee Lane, The Oregonian
August 01, 2009, 10:00AM

“Day refused to say who is giving money to Common Sense …”

Ochoco Mountains

And we learned that I’ve been on vacation, and am posting photos FROM our “staycation” in the Oregon high county so you can see the state that FreedomWorks’ shadowy masters are trying to buy. We pick up the story of Mannix, Walker and Day.

Part ii

There was a good reason that Kevin Mannix, Russ Walker and Ross Day began their new ballot initiative company. From the Stop Ballot Fraud website:

• 2004. Arno signature gathers are accused of misleading voters in order for them to sign a regulatory takings initiative (Measure 37) by calling it an eminent domain issue. Arno claims it gives its circulators a pitch sheet and does not take responsibility for what individuals come up with to say on their own. (“Rouge of the Week: Arno Political Consulting.” Willamette Week. February 25, 2004. Link)

• 2006. Oregon Elections Division told Arno that its method of compensating petition carriers for several Oregon initiatives including TABOR and term limits appears to violate the state ban on paying per signature. Elections Division received complaints about Arno’s payment structure, under which someone who collects 13-16 signatures per hour gets $17 per hour while someone who collects 31-45 signatures gets $43 an hour. (“State questions signature gathering” Albany Democrat Herald. June 22, 2006. Link)

• 2006. It is uncovered that Arno is paying homeless people to gather signatures for the TABOR initiative. Don McIntire, the head of the Taxpayer Association of Oregon and a chief petitioner on the TABOR initiative, said his campaign wasn’t liable for the way his signatures were gathered and claimed that he made Arno sign an agreement that they wouldn’t pay per signature. As a result of the scandal, Arno declared it won’t be back in Oregon on account of the ban on pay per signature law. (“The Price of Democracy.” Portland Mercury. July 13, 2006. Link)

Near the Strawberrey Mountains

I covered Arno at the very beginning of my investigation in 2006, “Part II. Kids! Make BIG Money as a Political Consultant!” StopBallotFraud is being entirely TOO kind. My original report noted at the beginning:

2005 had been a lucrative year for Arno Political Consultants. In California alone, they’d pocketed a cool $3.78 million dollars as one of the two subcontractors for Arnold Schwarzenegger’s “back door the legislature” ballot initiatives, run by a shadowy group of Schwarzenegger cronies and operatives calling itself Citizens to Save California….*

[* Mr. Arno corresponded regarding my reporting, and his "response" is a revealing view of the inside of Mr. Arno's mind. The entire Howie Rich Series is HERE.]

Arno’s signature gathering operation had been a fixture in the Oregon ballot measure machine for years. When, after years of abuse and fraud, Oregon reformed its petition gathering laws in 2005, to make it illegal to pay petition gatherers by the signature, Arno tried it for one cycle and checked out during that cycle, as I reported

There is one final grace note. According to a report aired on Oregon Public Broadcasting, Michael Arno says that he’s not going to do business in Oregon anymore. Complying with the law costs too much money, he said.

Thus, after a dispirited and disorganized 2008 cycle, Mannix, Walker and Day decided to open their “one stop” “Vote Oregon” (Officially, “Voice of the Electorate,” which is probably snazzy in a state whose road construction warning signs screech in black and red: “ABRUPT EDGE.”) Or, V.O.T.E.

Ha ha. If you have an Orwellian turn of mind, of course. V.O.T.E. exists to TELL the electorate what to say, Edgar Bergen to We The People’s  Charlie McCarthy. Or, more likely, Mortimer Snerd.

According to the Oregon Corporation Division, one ROSS ALAN DAY registered VOICE OF THE ELECTORATE LLC on 03-09-2009. According to the Oregonian, the principals are (descriptions, however, are mine and NOT the Oregonian’s):

• Kevin Mannix, former Democrat, former state GOP chairman, GOP gubernatorial candidate, former GOP attorney general candidate, former state senator, former successful petitioner, specializing in punitive “three strikes” style gimmick measures and building new prisons.
• Russ Walker, long time Oregon Freedomworks director, and Oregon Citizens for a Sound Economy director back before OCSE became Freedomworks.
• Ross Day, former Oregonians In Action attorney, having joined in 2003, former legislative assistant to State Representative Roger Beyer, former legislative assistant to Congressman Jim Bunn. An author of Oregon’s Measure 37, which pretty much upended Oregon’s land use and planning laws via the ballot initiative; cause of continuing ruckus to this very day.

Near Halfway, Oregon

And what a successful undertaking it’s been!

According to the Oregon Secretary of State’s online OreStar system, on July 7, 2009, four companies each ponied up $25,000 and the Orwellian-named company “Voice of the Electorate” of Mannix, Walker and Day took a $100,000 draw for the fledgling new limited liability company.

The intermediary “Committee” is the Madison Avenuedly Monikered [MAM] new p0litical committee “Oregonians Against Job Killing Taxes” ID # 13851.

Or OAJKT for short. Pronounced OY-jack’t or the Australian for “hijacked.”

As of October 26, they had received $1,243,172.98 in contributions and spent $950,424.24. This leaves them with a cash balance to play with (before the special election in January  of $292,748.74.

Click for a larger (readable) version

It wasn’t so very long ago that an entire ballot measure wouldn’t spent that remainder amount on both sides of an issue. A floodtide of cash has swept into our elections, and Mannix, Ross and Day are positioning themselves to be the recipients of a goodly chunk of that change. Look at this:

click for readable July 7 contributions

And notice how V.O.T.E. (haha) begins at the very front of the July 7 gold rush with an amended $100,000 expenditure, i.e. cash payout.

Not bad for one’s first day in business. And look at those four $25,000 PACS. Generally, it’s a good inductive reasoning to note that when you have a pattern of exactly four contributors of $25K  (in transaction sequential order, like checks: 582556,7,8,9) that fund a $100K payout on the same day, it wasn’t accidental.

582556 View Transaction         07/07/2009
Original         Oregonians Against Job-Killing Taxes (13851)
Oregon Restaurant PAC (193)
Cash Contribution       $25,000.00

582557 View Transaction     07/07/2009
Original     Oregonians Against Job-Killing Taxes (13851)
Oregonians for Affordable Housing (2069)
Cash Contribution     $25,000.00

582558 View Transaction     07/07/2009
Original     Oregonians Against Job-Killing Taxes (13851)
Oregon Automobile Dealers Association
- Political Action Committee (133)
Cash Contribution     $25,000.00

582559 View Transaction     07/07/2009
Original     Oregonians Against Job-Killing Taxes (13851)
Oregon Local Grocery Committee (152)
Cash Contribution     $25,000.00

586242 View Transaction     07/07/2009
Amended Oregonians Against Job-Killing Taxes (13851)
Voice of the Electorate, LLC
Cash Expenditure     $100,000.00

Oregon’s  Wallowa Mountains

The point here is not that there is some grand conspiracy shown by these numbers. The point is please note the high degree of organization and the lucrative nature of the deal for our brand new company, V.O.T.E.

Here’s the further cash payouts to Mannix, Walker and Day:

582556 View Transaction         07/07/2009
Original         Oregonians Against Job-Killing Taxes (13851)
Oregon Restaurant PAC (193)
Cash Contribution       $25,000.00

582557 View Transaction     07/07/2009
Original     Oregonians Against Job-Killing Taxes (13851)
Oregonians for Affordable Housing (2069)
Cash Contribution     $25,000.00

582558 View Transaction     07/07/2009
Original     Oregonians Against Job-Killing Taxes (13851)
Oregon Automobile Dealers Association
- Political Action Committee (133)
Cash Contribution     $25,000.00

582559 View Transaction    07/07/2009
Original     Oregonians Against Job-Killing Taxes (13851)
Oregon Local Grocery Committee (152)
Cash Contribution     $25,000.00

586242 View Transaction     07/07/2009
Amended     Oregonians Against Job-Killing Taxes (13851)
Voice of the Electorate, LLC
Cash Expenditure     $100,000.00

The Wallowas some more

And then, seventeen days later, another 100 G’s:

586218 View Transaction         07/24/2009
Original      Oregonians Against Job-Killing Taxes (13851)
Voice of the Electorate, LLC
Cash Expenditure       $100,000.00

Here’s an interesting one. Same day, two transactions:

593719 View Transaction         08/11/2009
Original    Oregonians Against Job-Killing Taxes (13851)
Voice of the Electorate, LLC
Cash Expenditure       $100,000.00

593900 View Transaction     08/11/2009
Original    Oregonians Against Job-Killing Taxes (13851)
Oregon Bankers Association
Cash Contribution     $100,000.00

Lumber country

And these:

596882 View Transaction         08/26/2009
Amended       Oregonians Against Job-Killing Taxes (13851)
Voice of the Electorate, LLC
Cash Expenditure       $100,000.00

603950 View Transaction         09/11/2009
Original         Oregonians Against Job-Killing Taxes (13851)
Voice of the Electorate, LLC
Cash Expenditure       $75,000.00

Cattle Country

Our 9-11 payout? another additup wonder:

603933 View Transaction         09/11/2009
Original         Oregonians Against Job-Killing Taxes (13851)
Weyerhauser Company
Cash Contribution       $50,000.00

603649 View Transaction         09/10/2009
Original         Oregonians Against Job-Killing Taxes (13851)
Associated Oregon Industries PAC (10)
Cash Contribution       $25,000.00

Hamburger on the hoof

And, the last payout from “Oregonians Against Job-Killing Taxes”:

610651 View Transaction         09/25/2009
Original         Oregonians Against Job-Killing Taxes (13851)
Voice of the Electorate, LLC
Cash Expenditure       $75,000.00

610651 View Transaction
Aggregate      :       $550,000.00

9-25 … September 25th. Why does that date ring a bell? Oh yeah!

That was the day that all the signatures were turned in (and the last payment date for Voice of the Electorate, LLC.)

WOW! Oregon tax referendum drive nets 125,000 signatures!
by In the news
Friday, September 25. 2009
Taxpayer Association of Oregon breaking news,

Picture: Grassroots coordinator Paulette Pyle speaks in front of a massive stack of referendum petition boxes. Left is Ross Day of Common Sense for Oregon. On the right is Russ Walker (Freedomworks) and Andrew Over (State Director Oregon GOP).

The Stop Job Killing Taxes campaign turned in an incredible 129,500 signatures (petition 301) and 126,183 (petition 302) which is more than double the needed requirement….

In my math, that means that (making the relatively safe assumption that essentially the same persons signed both petitions), rounding up to 130,000 signatures for $550,000, gives you $4.23 per signature at BEST (and assuming that all those “volunteers” touted in the article didn’t contribute ANY petitions:

Russ Walker spoke on how over 10,000 Freedomworks volunteers helped circulate petitions and created a flood of volunteer signatures.” [...]

Pretty good when you can start a company that hires mostly homeless and those dwelling on the bottom rungs of our social ladder and see half a million dollars of “gross” flow through your doors. But not unusual for Mannix, Walker and Day, each of whom is used to receiving six figures of purely political cash per annum (as noted in part i).

Fall in Oregon’s high country

Yes, felons and highly questionable petition gatherers were hired. It was reported, then pooh pooh’ed. As it just about ALWAYS is. HERE, HERE*, HERE and HERE.

[*Hilariously, when accused of what THEY accuse ACORN of, the "rationale" is rather shameless. The same argument would be sneered at from here to doomsday if it were made on ACORN's behalf.]

Now, the other interesting thing that jumps out at you is a familiar pattern to me. Here’s a listing of several consecutive August contributions and expenditures (I’ve streamlined it a bit):

Ralph Saperstein LLC ** $500.00
Oregon Trucking Assn. ** $200.00
Associated General Contractors of America, Inc. ** $92.45
Weyerhauser Company ** $90.00
Central Oregon Builders Association ** $1,650.00
Legislative Advocates, Inc ** $550.00
Oregon Restaurant Association ** $400.00
K C Printing ** Cash Expenditure $1,750.00
Public Affairs Counsel ** Cash Expenditure $13,083.00
Silver Butte Timber Co. ** $3,800.00
Herbert Lumber Co. ** $250.00
Cascade Timber Consulting, Inc ** $12,000.00
Hull-Oaks Lumber Co. ** $1,100.00
Smith & Wirth Inc ** $250.00
Lone Rock Timber Management Co. ** $10,500.00
Miscellaneous s $100 and under ** $100.00
Voice of the Electorate, LLC ** Cash Expenditure $100,000.00
Alliance – PAC (4797) ** $20,000.00
Public Affairs Counsel ** Cash Expenditure $478.99
Valley Mailing Service ** Cash Expenditure $2,579.00
Associated Oregon Industries PAC (10) ** 27,500.00
Timothy P Boyle ** 10,000.00
K C Printing  ** Cash Expenditure $1,112.00
Oregon Association of Realtors ** $100.00
Oregon Farm Bureau Federation ** $1,473.00
NW Food Processing Association ** $320.00
Marketing Communications Services, Inc. ** Cash Expenditure $10,000.00

See it? Contributions over $10,000 are big. So, the $100,000 draw by V.O.T.E. jumps out at you. The other thing that jumps out is that there are virtually NO individual contributors. All businesses. And as you look at the various pages, you note that they seem bundled. Lots of the same industry, different industries in different periods. Oil, timber, etc.

Well, meet Lori Hardwick Fundraising, Inc. of Portland, Oregon. In 2008, according to the December 2008 issue of Politics Magazine, her clients were:

Lori Hardwick Fundraising, Inc

R[epublican]- fundraising
John McCain, OR, U.S. Pres. ———-L[ost]
Gordon Smith (in), OR, U.S. Sen. —-L[ost]
Dino Rossi, WA, Gov. ——————L[ost]

Curiouser and curiouser, as Alice was wont to say. Oregon’s OreStar again:

Tran Start Date = 09/01/2008, Tran End Date = 11/03/2009,

Contributor/Payee Name starts with Lori Hardwick Fundraising, Inc,

09/04/2009 ** Original
Oregonians Against Job-Killing Taxes (13851)
Lori Hardwick Fundraising, Inc.
Cash Expenditure ** $105.86

09/04/2009 ** Original
Oregonians Against Job-Killing Taxes (13851)
Lori Hardwick Fundraising, Inc.
Cash Expenditure ** $12,000.00

08/07/2009 ** Original
Oregonians Against Job-Killing Taxes (13851)
Lori Hardwick Fundraising, Inc.
Cash Expenditure ** $12,000.00

07/15/2009 ** Original
Oregonians Against Job-Killing Taxes (13851)
Lori Hardwick Fundraising, Inc.
Cash Expenditure ** $12,000.00

Aggregate = $36,105.86

Not a bad chunk of change for three months’ work in an off year for a company specializing in “fundraising” — i.e. asking corporate donors for political contributions to a committee created specifically to overturn the budget (taxes, in other words) of Oregon in the middle of a financial catastrophe.

Getting to know the locals

In 2004, Hardwick made a nice chunk of change, according to the Center for Public Integrity:

Consultant: Lori Hardwick Fundraising Inc.
Amount received in 2003-2004: $87,293

Candidate/Committee Amount 2003-2004
Zupancic, Jim (R-OR-05) House   —– $59,555
Bush, George W.    (R) ——————–$14,988
Republican National Committee ——- $7,500
Progress For America Voter Fund —– $5,250

It sure looks like a stealth Republican legislature, using that famous Golden Rule of Politics, He Who Has the Gold Makes the Rules.

As I’ve noted before, this is one of those uncomfortable places where democracy and capitalism are utterly at ODDS with each other. Remember, if you would, that capitalism and democracy are not necessary to one another. Capitalism functions quite nicely under fascism, and under a modified communism, as we’re seeing in China and Vietnam.

Smack dab in the center of Oregon

The elected representatives of Oregon met in biennial legislative session in January, and now well-paid, well-financed operatives have been hired and well-paid to engage in what amounts to virtually anarchist legislation.

But my point is that there is now so much political cash in little Oregon that some are making very good wages for doing the bidding of anyone who’ll cross their palm with a coin. (But red or blue, please. No crossing over.)

But I am getting a bit off track. (Still, you need to see how much cash is sluicing around, and how it’s channeled hither and yon.)

I haven’t even brought up the biggest single recipient of FreedomWorks Inc.’s 2008 501(c)4 (the political twin to FreedomWorks Foundation’s 501(c)3 “charitable” group that gave Kevin Mannix $171,000 for “legal services” in 2008.

Small town Oregon

When it came to their Oregon operation, FreedomWorks decided to “let George do it.”

Meet George. George Advertising, that is:

click for larger

[Click here to download the Freedomworks Inc. 2008 tax return pdf.]

Who is George? Gladja asked. Answers in the next installment.

Now, for those who wonder if the cameo appearance on the Rachel Maddow Show yesterday was a coincidence, I can only say that I sent a copy of part I to them Friday, and that they quoted the 2006 Oregonian story that I spent an hour being interviewed by the Oregonian’s investigative team about before they ran it. Don’t know.

Howie “Mr. Burns” Rich makes it onto Rachel Maddow’s show

Here’s the relevant transcript:

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MADDOW: Killed before it even reached the ballot in Missouri, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, Ohio, and Oklahoma in 2006. Killed at the ballot in Maine, Oregon, and Nebraska the same year. The one time it passed in Colorado back in 1992, the results for the state were so disastrous that succeeding votes and executive acts rolled it back.

They repealed it. It’s called TABOR. It means the Taxpayer Bill of Rights. It has a really snappy name, but it’s sort of a bad idea. And it’s back now. In Maine tomorrow, voters will be asked, do you want to change the existing formulas that limit state and local government spending and require voter approval by referendum for spending over those limits and for increases in state taxes?

The question made it on the ballot thanks in large part to a conservative nonprofit group called Maine Leads. It was started two years ago, courtesy of funds from the National Taxpayers’ Union, the National Tax Limitation Committee, and the Sam Adams Alliance. None of which are actually from Maine.

The initiative has also got the support of the grand pappy of TABOR, Grover Norquist, who says that the Maine TABOR will sort of be a spark to other states and if it passes, quote, “it becomes a stronger sell in Arizona and Washington and Oregon and Florida.”

They want to try to pass these all over the country. Washington state has already had its own TABOR style measure on the ballot for tomorrow, it’s I-1033. It would limit state revenues so they, quote, “do not exceed inflation and population growth.”

Initiative 1033 is mainly sponsored by long-time local right-wing activist Tim Eyman. The man who funded these measures in many states in 2006 — well, we don’t know if he’s funding this year until campaign disclosures are made at the end of the year-is a guy named Howie Rich.

Howie Rich? Good question. Here’s Rich from New York City real estate. That’s how. And according to The Oregonian Mr. Rich funneled more than $7.3 million into various ballot measures in various states, mainly pro property rights, antigovernment initiatives.

The return on his investment in TABOR so far has been bumpkins. [sic ... the word was bupkis]

Voters have rejected all of these proposals….

Sadly, like virtually all of the mainstream media, they still think Howie spent his own money. Research says differently. It was three mystery entities … whose identity we STILL don’t know:

“Trio of Secret Donors Accounted for 99% of $5.4 Million in Contributions to “Grassroots” Organization … “

Maybe Howie could tell us when he isn’t threatening people.

On the way to Hell’s Canyon

Courage.

1 Comment

Filed under Uncategorized