More than half of the CTIA’s grants were directed to MyWireless.org, a subsidiary nonprofit. According to its tax return, the subsidiary funneled a sizable amount of the $1.24 million it received from CTIA to conservative dark money organizations. MyWireless.org gave $85,000 to the Free State Foundation, a conservative research organization with ties to ALEC; $25,000 to the Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity, a Chicago-based, Koch-funded project; and $10,000 to the State Policy Network, an Arlington, Va., nonprofit described by the Center for Media and Democracy’s SourceWatch as an umbrella group that acts as “the tip of the spear of far-right, nationally funded policy agenda in the states that undergirds extremists in the Republican Party.” NCTA gave an additional $15,000 to the State Policy Network and another $135,000 to the Free State Foundation, tax records show.
Research Cited
Net Neutrality Fight Made Allies of Wireless Industry, Conservative Dark Money Organizations
More than half of the CTIA’s grants were directed to MyWireless.org, a subsidiary nonprofit. According to its tax return, the subsidiary funneled a sizable amount of the $1.24 million it received from CTIA to conservative dark money organizations. MyWireless.org gave $85,000 to the Free State Foundation, a conservative research organization with ties to ALEC; $25,000 to the Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity, a Chicago-based, Koch-funded project; and $10,000 to the State Policy Network, an Arlington, Va., nonprofit described by the Center for Media and Democracy’s SourceWatch as an umbrella group that acts as “the tip of the spear of far-right, nationally funded policy agenda in the states that undergirds extremists in the Republican Party.” NCTA gave an additional $15,000 to the State Policy Network and another $135,000 to the Free State Foundation, tax records show.
Teen Vaping Rates Surge as Portland Vape Store Owner Fights New Regulations
Bates’ suit, announced last week, is being backed by the Goldwater Institute, a conservative think tank based in Arizona. According to the political funding watchdog website SourceWatch, Goldwater Institute has backed pro-vaping measures in the past, and has accepted donations from Altria, formerly known as Phillip Morris Global Tobacco, which sells Marlboro cigarettes as well as vape products.
Public School Conundrum
The Detroit News recently reported the states with the largest percentages of charter school closures since 2000: Kansas (77 percent); Iowa (73 percent); Ohio (58 percent); Wisconsin (43 percent); Virginia (40 percent); Washington, D.C. (39 percent); Arizona (39 percent); Florida (38 percent); Missouri (34 percent); and New Jersey (34 percent).
Mass. Fiscal Social Justice Claims Ring Hollow
MassFiscal is tied to other right-wing organizations. For instance, in its latest lawsuit it is represented by the Goldwater Institute of Arizona. The Center for Media and Democracy classifies Goldwater as “a right-wing advocacy group” with ties to the Koch brothers. One recent board member is Rebekah Mercer, whose billionaire family funded Donald Trump as well as Steve Bannon’s Breitbart News. Trump ally Christopher Ruddy calls Rebekah Mercer “the First Lady of the alt-right.”
Smith Should Rethink ALEC Ties
ALEC drew scrutiny recently when white supremacist David Horowitz was given a platform to speak at the Aug. 2018 New Orleans convention. Horowitz knew he was among friends as he pushed for an Article V convention in order to embed his racist agenda in our Constitution. In response, The Center for Media and Democracy, with a coalition of 78 organizations, sent a letter to 20 of ALEC’s biggest corporations asking them to drop their memberships in the corporate bill-mill.
The GOP’s Plot to Destroy Our Democracy Is Coming into View
Mary Bottari, director of the Center for Media and Democracy’s Real Economy Project, lives in Wisconsin and has been participating in the protests this week. In an interview, she shared with me her shock at how brazenly and quickly the state’s Republicans moved to roll back gubernatorial power. “We’re still sorting through what the heck happened in the middle of the night,” she said. In addition to the bills, the GOP-dominated Legislature also rammed through a whopping 82 appointments by Walker of people to head various boards and agencies.
Wisconsin GOP Engages in Naked Power Grab
Wisconsin’s Republicans are sore losers. The GOP-dominated state government engaged in a brazen power grab this week working feverishly over several days and into the night on Tuesday to pass a sweeping set of bills by early Wednesday curbing the power of incoming Democratic elected officials. They faced thousands of protesters who marched, chanted, rallied, and denounced the GOP’s moves outside the State Capitol.
Wisconsin GOP Hopes to Pull Rug Out From Under New Governor, Rig Key Supreme Court Election in Lame Duck Session
On his way out the door, Scott Walker and GOP cronies mull a lame duck session to manipulate Supreme Court elections for partisan advantage.
Diehards Stick with Koch-Backed Lobby Amid Corporate Exodus
The three-day meeting comes as ALEC has shed 113 corporate members, as well as 19 non-profits since 2012, according to the Center for Media and Democracy, a non-profit watch dog group that tracks ALEC. ALEC disputes the timing of those departures.
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“They are taking positions out of the main stream that are uncomfortable for a lot of corporations,” said Arn Pearson, the Center for Media and Democracy’s executive director. “It gets embarrassing for them to [be] associated with those far-right positions.”