Hypocrisy

We love it when liberals (or is it "progressives" now?) wrap themselves in the very 1st Amendment that they've been busy shredding. Fortunately, they're generally wearing a skin-tight outfit made of hypocrisy beneath.

The issue that has the left in a twist is the potential inclusion of language in the Albuquerque City Charter that would require non-profits -501(c3)s - to register as Measure Finance Committees when engaging in electioneering in a municipal election. The amendment was brought up by Charter Task Force member Chuck Gara at the April 2nd meeting.

The amendment was an attempt to level the playing field by requiring political non-profits who want to play in city elections to live up to the same standards that political parties, advocacy groups, and private citizens have to live by. Currently, non-profits like Eli Lee's Center for Civic Policy use their non-profit status to shield their activities and their donors from the public.

[Sidebar]
Ironically, Eli Lee himself sits on the charter task force - which explains some of the histrionics over at New Mexico for Democrats (read it here). Lee is the behind the scenes power that gave us people like Debbie O'Malley, Martin Heinrich, Eric Griego (twice now), and the Albuquerque Un-Ethical and Hidden Elections Ordinance.
[End Sidebar]

These are the same groups that we told you about last year (read it here and here). They use tax deductible donations to fuel a political artillery barrage targeting opposing candidates. Democrats - particularly the far left wing of the party - used non-profits to great effect in the 2008 election.

Eli Lee and his non-profits were part of a scheme hatched in 2007 by the Proteus Fund. The objective was to use closely related - in fact, incestuous - non-profits to pursue liberal causes, develop far left candidates, and target candidates who oppose their agenda. Take a moment and read the report for yourself. It gives you an idea of how political operatives think and how successful political strategies are born (read it here).

The New Mexico Center for Civic Policy currently has six employees, including executive director Eli Lee. New Mexico operates with a strong staff-driven model and has a three-person board for its c-3 organization and a three-person board for its c-4. One of the c-3 board members is from a partner organization and two of the c-4 members are from partner organizations. The others are chosen for what they bring as individual leaders of community and state organizations.

- State Strategies Fund Report

At least a few of the non-profits that are a part of Lee's political scheme are Common Cause, Conservation Voters New Mexico, League of Young Voters, SAGE Council, and Southwest Organizing Project. These groups engage in coordinated political activity. They have become New Mexico's 527 organizations and one of the causes that they are most proud of championing is "clean campaign" laws (even they add quotes).

All of this is part of their plan... it's all in there. Gara's amendment is a threat to their scheme and their hidden donors and activities, a threat to their power. Lee and his non-profits don't want to play by the rules. They want to continue to exercise their 1st Amendment right to free speech while denying every other group theirs.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

- 1st Amendment to the United States Constitution

As you might have guessed we're big proponents of the 1st Amendment. The beauty of this particular Constitutional provision is that its prohibition against abridging the freedom of speech cuts both ways. It protects equally the people, politicians, pornographers, and preachers. You might not like what some person or group has to say, but the 1st Amendment protects their right to say it.

Provisions that require groups to register with the city in order to express their opinion are patently unconstitutional. Sure, that goes for Lee's non-profits but it also applies to the older parts of the city's election code that already restricts every other group that wishes to express their opinion in a city election.

Lee's non-profits and their allies on the left have a point, but instead of working to fix the Constitutional problems with Charter as it exists they're targeting a measure that makes everyone play by the same rules. Of course, leveling the playing field would take away the advantages non-profits currently enjoy. It's hypocritical, and it's a double standard. And it's why the founders created the 1st Amendment in the first place.

The City of Albuquerque Charter has some Constitutional problems. The task force should be working to fix those problems. It would help if Eli Lee and his non-profits would stop trying to protect their own power and start working to protect everyone's Constitutionally protected freedom of speech.

Hiding

Last week the Attorney General came to an agreement with New Mexico Youth Organized not to enforce the Secretary of State's order to disclose donor information like every other lobbying organization is required by law to do (ABQ Journal - Subscription).

The office reached an agreement with attorneys for the nonprofit New Mexico Youth Organized allowing the group to hold off on filing while its attorneys fight the order in court, Attorney General's Office spokesman Phil Sisneros said Friday.

-Albuquerque Journal - Subscription

It strikes us as interesting that these groups who claim that support open and ethical elections (meaning taxpayer funded candidates) work so hard to keep their supporters hidden behind the iron curtain of a 501(c)(3). The Secretary of State and AG are simply requiring that these groups - whose primary function is electioneering - to reveal who their supporters are.

(Sidebar)
This type of shroud is one of the main objections we have to the Albuquerque Open and Ethical Elections ordinance (taxpayer financed elections). Candidates for office fund their ambitions with taxpayer money while shrouding their associations behind a curtain of money provided at taxpayer expense. This election scheme is neither open nor ethical.
(End Sidebar)

As odd as it sounds, we don't have any problem with groups lobbying their legislators. Our system was designed to specifically allow groups of people to band together to petition their government. We generally don't agree with the types of things that NMYO, SWOP, The Center for Civic Policy, and others lobby for but we defend their right to do so. However, their non-profit status should not be a shield that allows them to protect their supporters and thus their political associations any more than lobbyists for oil companies should be allowed to withhold their benefactors.

These non-profit political organizations have a lot of questions to answer - chief among them is why are they hiding and who?

It's a Duck

There's an old saying that if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck chances are... The Albuquerque Journal reported Tuesday that after consulting with Attorney General Gary King, Secretary of State Mary Herrera has determined "[i]t appears that New Mexico Youth Organized is operating as a political committee for purposes of the (state) Campaign Reporting Act." (ABQ Journal - Subscription)

NMYO is just one of the non-profit organizations that have an affiliation with lobbyist and political consultant Eli Lee. These groups - Clearly New Mexico, 1 Sky New Mexico, Center for Civic Policy, New Mexico Youth Organized - are just a few non-profits whose only mission is political advocacy and they accomplish their goals through tax exempt donations from undisclosed donors.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

-1st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution

These lobbyist organizations argue that they are simply engaging in constitutionally protected freedom of association and freedom of speech. In fact, we'd agree with them. In our opinion their activities are fully protected by the Constitution. It's not the groups lobbying or their "educational" activities that are at issue here - it's their ability to operate outside New Mexico campaign reporting laws.

It's hard to understand how these organizations are allowed to operate as non-profits in the first place. They admit to mailing "educational" pieces targeting specific legislators. If your local church were to engage in similar activities their 501c(3) status would be yanked faster than you could say "amen."

More importantly, these early expenditures benefit specific candidates - favored candidates like Eric Griego, Tim Keller, and Elanor Chavez - by preparing the electoral battlefield. They attempt to shape issues and tear down the opposition. After all, there are only two reasons that people vote for a candidate - they either love one of the candidates or hate the other one.

(Sidebar)
You may have noticed that last week our friends Hal and Bob got new sponsors. They were originally paid for by Eli Lee's Center for Civic Policy last week these same ads were sponsored by 1sky New Mexico and New Energy Economy. If there was any doubt that these organizations are acting in concert the ad's sponsor swap exposes the behind the collusion.
(End Sidebar)

There are two questions here. The first is whether or not these organizations should be allowed to continue to operate as 501c(3) non-profit organizations - a question for the IRS. The second is whether or not they should be allowed to continue to operate outside New Mexico campaign reporting law.

We'd argue that that since their primary function is lobbying either the public or the legislature they shouldn't be considered non-profit and therefore ineligible to receive tax deductible donations. Obviously, if their main function is issue advocacy - no matter what the issue is - these non-profit organizations need to abide by New Mexico law.

Eye Told You: Exposing the Weeds in the Grassroots

A couple of weeks ago we told you about the infestation of the New Mexico's political Bluegrass by political action groups posing as non-profits. We likened the infestation of the grassroots to that of the Bermuda trying to take over our Bluegrass lawn (read it here).

Last Friday, the first few shoots of that weed were exposed when three Democratic Legislators - Sen. Shannon Robinson, Sen. James Taylor, and Rep. Dan Silva - filed a lawsuit alleging illegal political activity involving one Eli Il Young Lee. According to the suit, Lee's Center for Civic Policy and the League of Young Voters New Mexico (now New Mexico Youth Organized) funneled money to six other non-profit organizations for the purpose of defeating both the targeted candidates and New Mexico Campaign Disclosure laws.

The lawmakers, all Democrats, allege in the lawsuit a "secret campaign" among opponents Eric Griego, Tim Keller and Eleanor Chavez to distribute literature, make phone calls to voters and funnel at least $180,000 of undisclosed campaign funds using local nonprofits.

- ABQ Journal (Subscription)

The game being played by Lee and his cohorts is to use non-profits like Lee's Center for Civic Policy to send out hit, uh... "educational" mail pieces and to provide other campaign services that target politicians who won't play ball with them.

Officials for the Center for Civic Policy said in May they had sent out literature for the Legislative Accountability Project in conjunction with several other nonprofits, including the SouthWest Organizing Project.

They said they sent the materials out as mailers starting after the end of the last legislative session as educational materials for voters based on the legislators' voting records, not as campaign materials intended to unseat lawmakers.

- ABQ Journal (Subscription)

The problem is that the mailers can't help but be coordinated since all of the players are associated with one another.

According to the lawsuit (it's posted on Haussamen here), candidates Tim Keller, Eleanor Chavez and Eric Griego (a long time Soltari client) shared a campaign manager, Neri Holguin. Holguin is a former employee of Eli Lee at Soltari and is the current Treasurer for Conservation Voters Alliance of New Mexico.

Meanwhile Keegan King another former Soltari employee runs New Mexico Youth Organized, is employed by 1Sky New Mexico where Lee is a "consultant," and is Executive Director of New Energy Economy, Inc. Another respondent, Javier Benavidez is the Executive Director of Conservation Voters Alliance and an employee of 1Sky New Mexico - again, where Lee is a "consultant."

You already need a score card to keep track of all of the players, their non-profits, and their entanglements and we haven't even gotten to the other non-profits like Southwest Organizing Project, ACORN (like they've ever been above board), or the role that Congressional Candidate Martin Heinrich played as an advisor to New Mexico Youth Organized when the illicit campaign cash was being meted out.

The filing further alleges that the non-profits were used to raise and funnel tax deductible contributions to the three campaigns, along with providing manpower for get out the vote efforts. The candidates are alleged to have full knowledge of the contributions and in fact are purported to have approved individual mail pieces distributed by the non-profit organizations.

The lawsuit truly does read like a who's who of far left activists and political groups and even names George Soros as a funding source. We'd like to say that we were shocked about former Councilor Heinrich's involvement, but like Eric Griego he has a long standing relationship with Lee through Soltari.

Folks, these guys are not the United Way or your local church. They're using multiple non-profits as a front for professional political activism and allegedly funneling tax deductible donations to illegally alter the outcomes of elections. In the final analysis, Lee and his cronies are no better than the corporate lobbyists that they attack in their "Hal and Bob" ads. In fact, they're probably a hell of a lot worse considering that these political "non-profits" purport to be supporting the grassroots when they're actually choking them out.

Bermuda in the Grassroots

Bermuda grass - it's the bane of our existence. If you've ever owned a property where some fool has planted the stuff at anytime in the history of man you'll understand that getting it out of your beautiful Bluegrass is damn near impossible. This "grass" - that should really be classified as a weed - sends out coarse tendrils right along the ground. They go through just about anything rooting themselves and creating cells of Bermuda along the way.

Each cell then sends out its own tendrils that root in more places spreading out at an unimaginable pace. It's an ugly coarse grass that hurts when you walk on it barefoot and gets denser over time choking out the grass around it. It reminds us of Aspen groves where each seemingly individual tree is connected to a single organism. Only Bermuda grass is as ugly as Aspens are beautiful and it hides in the grass that it is destroying.

You're probably wondering what grass has to do with, well... anything. There's Bermuda grass hiding among the Bluegrass of New Mexico. And just like the plant version each of the cells are connected.

What got us thinking about this was the series of ads being run on 770 KKOB by the Center for Civic Policy. You know the ones, Big Oil Bob and Healthcare Hal. The spots are a childish attempt to characterize corporations involved in producing energy and providing access to healthcare as selfish and greedy.

(Sidebar)
Businesses operate on profit. When profit is removed from the equation there's little reason to perform a task. You wouldn't work for nothing and we know that we wouldn't. Nationalizing (or as Rep. Maxine Waters - D California says "socialize") either industry will remove the incentive for companies to run efficiently, to produce more, better, and cheaper products to compete with other private companies. Government regulation is largely responsible for both crisis's and groups like the Center for Civic Policy are largely responsible for the regulation.
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Despite immediately dismissing the spots for their idiocy of message and poor production value, we were curious about this Center for Civic Policy. It turns out they're a 501(c)(3) connected to Clearly New Mexico which is a 501(c)(4) by the name of the Center for Civic Action. Both groups are run by one Eli Il Yong Lee. Mr. Lee is also listed as a consultant for 1Sky a global warming scare group. In addition, Mr. Lee is the CEO and President of Soltari a political consulting firm for liberal candidates in small elections.

Eli Lee is in turn connected with Matt Brix Executive Director of Common Cause. Mr. Brix is a registered lobbyist for both of Lee's non-profits and listed as employed by them along with Common Cause on the Secretary of State's website.

So far, we have four apparently independent organizations with different names but similar if not identical agendas. They are all cross employed with each other and have the ability to take tax exempt donations to fund those salaries. They're professional advocates that rely on charitable donations and scare tactics for their livelihood.

More importantly, the groups are clearly involved in coordinated political activity. How could they not be when they share leadership and salaries? Plus, they create an echo chamber by making the public think that the same opinions are coming from different organizations.

Look... we don't care that they advocate for positions and candidates that we vehemently disagree with. It's their Constitutional right to lobby government and speak out on any topic they choose. We'd defend that right at all costs because we benefit from those same protections.

Our problem is the hypocrisy involved. These groups rail against "corporate special interests" while creating a multi-cell lobbying group, run by them, for them and their financial gain, and with their own set of special interests. It's disingenuous, it's hypocritical, it's deceptive and it's just like the damn Bermuda grass hiding in our yard.