Where does Progress for America get all this money to run

[sunnystarr]

this many ads pushing Bush's Social InSecurity on CNN and other stations? I thought TV ads were really expensive. If they aren't why aren't opponents to Bush's latest bs able to run ads telling people the truth?

[aden_nak]

1. A few thoughts.

1) Ads are expensive. Maybe we need to follow the money on Progress for America and see who is filling their coffers.
2) What opponents? What group has come out vocally against Bush's Social Security Disintigration Program that has buckets of cash lying around that they are willing to spend on a purely public relations issue, as opposed to an actual campaign?

[sunnystarr]

3. From their website:

"Progress for America, Inc. ("PFA") is a diverse coalition of concerned citizens, businesses, nonprofit organizations and community leaders who promote public policies that improve the lives of every American. PFA promotes nonpartisan policies that stimulate the economy, reduce tax burdens on American families and businesses, and encourage free trade. These policies create more jobs for American workers, more exports for American farmers, and higher living standards for American families. PFA also promotes policies that reform and improve education, and market-based reforms for the nation’s energy policy to reduce our dependence on foreign oil.

PFA is organized as a nonprofit corporation and exempt from federal income tax under section 501 (c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code. It will maintain a field team across the country to facilitate grassroots lobbying, issue advocacy and educational programs and activities. These programs and activities include direct mail, newspaper, radio and television advertisements, and web sites designed to enhance the knowledge of the general public on issues of importance to the organization. PFA also pursues its goals through a combination of earned media outreach, local press conferences, and community and editorial board briefings.

Heading into the next legislative session and beyond, it has become apparent that liberal special interest groups are forming organizations whose single goal is to attack and defame the issue agenda of President George W. Bush and other leaders who are working to enact conservative, common sense public policies that benefit all Americans. PFA is an issue advocacy/grassroots organization committed to keeping the issue record straight and serves as a conservative “Issue Truth Squad.” It is the only such organization in the country!"
http://www.progressforamerica.com/pfa/wrapper.jsp?PID=1101-110

So what makes them any different than the multitude of organizations fighting for Democratic values and issues? How does one find out exactly who is behind a 501(c)?

edited to ad link

[Carolab]

2. Dunno, but if you want to fund a program that is FIGHTING their efforts.

Go to www.ourfuture.org

EXCELLENT CAMPAIGN against social security "piratization".

[sunnystarr]

4. Thanks for the excellent site, but are there any who are planning

to counter those ads on TV? I'm still suspicious about the funding for the PFA group.

[Carolab]

5. Don't know about other groups fighting it but AARP just came out against.

Yes, AARP (never mind that they gave support to the crap Medicare reform; maybe they've learned their lesson).

[MARALE]

6. here from open secrets

Progress for America
Top Contributors, 2004 Cycle

RETURN TO TOP 50 LIST

Top Contributors

Ameriquest Capital $5,000,000

AG Spanos Companies $5,000,000

Chartwell Partners/Jerry Perenchio $4,000,000

Amway/Alticor Inc $4,000,000

Perry Homes $3,000,000

Rocking W Ranch $2,600,000

BP Capital $2,500,000

Retired $2,198,430

Elliott Assoc $1,500,000

American Financial Group $1,500,000

Palmetto Partners/Houston Texans $1,250,000

Omni Hotels $1,000,000

Contran Corp $1,000,000

TRT Holdings $1,000,000

Ware Family Office $550,000

Crow Holdings $500,000

Boston Scientific Corp $500,000

Mt Vernon Investments $500,000

Public Storage Inc $500,000

Yancey Brothers $500,000

Trust Co of the West $300,000

Saunders, Karp & Megrue $300,000

Sanford C Bernstein & Co $250,000

JW Childs Assoc $250,000

Pimco Funds $250,000

Datatel Inc $250,000

United Dairy Farmers $250,000

Chesapeake Energy $250,000

BZ Productions $225,000

Real Estate Developer $202,250

Mathew & Assoc $200,000

Crown American Realty Trust $150,000

Kingdon Capital Mgt $150,000

US Smokeless Tobacco $150,000

Foundation To Protect America's Future $120,000

Pilgrim'S Pride Corp $100,000

Rooney Holdings Inc $100,000

Elliot Management Corp $100,000

Pence Friedel Development $100,000

Delphi Financial Group $100,000

Courson Oil & Gas $100,000

Entrepreneurial Capital Corp $100,000

Cintas Corp $100,000

Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale & Dorr $100,000

Oracle Corp $100,000

Kleiner, Perkins et al $100,000

John Templeton Foundation $100,000

Rhein Interests Inc $100,000

Trammell Crow Residential $100,000

[librechik]

7. Perry Homes: Rich Perry, moneyman for SBVT?

all the financial corporations on the list--guess they're expecting fat fees for investing those private accounts!

[Maat]

9. I was waiting for somebody to come up with this list.

Thanks. And guess who owns the Rocking W Ranch? Why it is none other than Sam Walton's daughter. Taking together with her brother's contribution (he's the honcho at Wal-Mart), those Walton kids have given an awful lot of money to Bush and his 527 pals. Additionally, it is Wal-Mart policy not to stock Plan B. And Wally-Mart wants to tell us what to read - "America the Book" is not stocked there (on purpose).

I feel so guilty - I do have Charger season tickets, and Spanos is their owner. I like to think that since they don't make very much of a profit on the team, my payments wind up with the City of San Diego - that went Kerry!

Forgive me, Oh DU Gods and Goddesses, for I have sinned (giving some $ to the Spanos family).

To be fair, good things I have done (on edit):
(1) I no longer shop at Wal-Mart,
(2) I spend most of my $ at CostCo, and
(3) I am getting rid of an MBNA Visa I had.

[sunnystarr]

10. That's a staggering list of donations ...

WASHINGTON, November 3, 2004 — Section 527 organizations supporting President Bush spent nearly $30 million on broadcast ads in the final three weeks of the election —from Oct. 13 through Election Day— triple the amount spent by similar groups supporting Sen. John Kerry.
....
Progress for America Voter Fund was the largest of these groups, spending $16.7 million during the last three weeks of the election—$6.5 million more on advertising than all the Democratic 527s put together.
http://www.public-i.org/527/report.aspx?aid=421

They spent 16.7 million out of about 43 million in a 3 week pre-election day period and who knows how much before that. The array of corporatations is mind-boggling. How in the world are we gonna beat the amount of corporate propaganda that sells us down the river?

[Carolab]

11. IOW, the usual suspects.

Amway, Perry, et al

[punpirate]

8. PFA has an interesting history...

... and a not too pretty one, I might add. One of its honchos is James Francis, Jr., I think, who was the guy who led Bush's "Pioneers" campaign fund.

They were the ones who also ran an ad in many swing states that questioned Kerry's ability to fight terrorism by flashing images of Osama bin Laden during film of Kerry.

It also might have had something to do with promoting the Swift Boat Liars' campaign.

There's also been some unverified speculation that Roger Stone, the guy some say was the go-between giving Bill Burkett the Bush AWOL memos, has some connection to PFA, but most of that is just bloggers' hypothesizing. The MSM never really picked up the story and did any serious investigation of it.

PFA has lots of juice behind it, so they probably don't need any monetary help from the White House. However, if I wanted to do a story on the Bushies' dirty tricks, they'd be one of the groups I'd want to look at....

Cheers.