Seattle Times - "'Grassroots' -- rooted in Washington, D.C." - Calls Out The Astroturf! - Must Read!

[TomCADem]

A rare news story that actually calls out secret fundraising groups like American Crossroads, which purport to be grass roots organizations, but are simply fronts for Karl Rove and friends to funnel corporate money into political races.

http://www.seattlepi.com/connelly/428307_JOEL13.html?source=mypi

A believer in grassroots politics since high school, I perked up at a flier in my mailbox from "Crossroads Grassroots Policy Strategies" and its homespun message directed to the Evergreen State:

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Then I checked the return address: This "Grassroots" group is headquartered at 1401 New York Ave. N.W., Washington, D.C., 2005.

It just happens to be the address of American Crossroads, a political group inspired by Washington, D.C., insiders Karl Rove and former Republican National Chairman Ed Gillespie. Its day-to-day operations are run by Steven Law, former general counsel to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

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Crossroads Grassroots Policy Strategies is, under the U.S. Code, a "social welfare" organizations. Hence, it does not need to disclose donors. I can never find out who paid for the flier in my Whidbey mailbox.