Tagged: WTP

Posted: November 29, 2010 at 7:31 am

Bought, but by Whom?

Who are the moneybags that own the new Republican legislature? For starters, at least a half-million dollars was spent by a group called Western Tradition Partnership was directly Republican legislative candidates to help them get elected in 2010. Let’s assume that 20 races were targeted by these funds. That’s $25,000 per race. To put that in perspective, I’m told the average legislative candidate in Montana usually raises $10-15 grand for his or her own campaign.

Western Tradition Partnership is a group founded by his Royal Shadiness John Sinrud. We know this because an investigation by Dennis Unsworth, the Political Practices Commissioner, uncovered a power-point presentation belonging to a WTP operative, showing some sort of flow-chart of money and some rough calculations and budget items, and indicating a plan to spend half a million bucks in Montana on legislative races. What we don’t know is who funds the Western Tradition Partnership, though we may soon find out. At the end of Unsworth’s investigation, he found WTP guilty of breaking Montana campaign laws by not revealing where its money comes from. WTP claimed, in its defense, that its hundreds of negative mailers and other advertisements, blasted out during the closing weeks of the campaign and trashing democratic legislative candidates in every way imaginable, was not “campaign related” activity but rather “issue advocacy”. “Issue-related” organizations can set themselves up as non-profit entities under federal law. This means they can hide their donors as long as each donor gives less than $25,000. The only thing they may not do is “directly advocate” for or against a candidate.

The Commissioner’s ruling, however, means that the state of Montana has found that the WTP’s activity crosses the line from issue-advocacy to campaign activity under state law. So we may yet see the WTP’s books as the State of Montana continues its prosecution of these jerks. That would be a fun thing. We will then know who, exactly, owns the new Republican legislature.

Right now WTP has taken the offensive, suing the State, the Attorney General, and just about everyone else, claiming that Unsworth had no power to investigate them and claiming that Montana’s campaign finance laws are unconstitutional. Bullock should step up and slam these A-holes.

Posted: October 31, 2010 at 11:36 am

A Giant Handicap for State Democrats

The sad reality of the 2010 Montana elections is this: if the Dems can keep control of either chamber of the state legislature, it will be an astounding triumph.

Why? Put aside the obvious reason that Obama and the Washington Dems have offered very little in the way of persuasive rhetoric in defense of the big ticket items like health-care, stimulus and bailout. Put aside the enthusiasm gap. Put aside the frenzy of excitement among TEA-trash. In Montana, there is a far more disturbing obstacle: the millions of dollars in right-wing corporate money that has stealthily infiltrated the 2010 legislative races, unmatched by any such funds from the left.

Let’s look at some of the totals. First, there is the CI-105 group, run by GOP operative Chuck Denowh. This groups has spent $1.9 million, all raised from the National Realtors Association. These funds have been used to run TV ads for months, and the number of commercials that have aired is staggering, surpassing the amount of TV that is purchased by a major US Senate campaign. The commercials are ostensibly to promote the CI-105 constitutional amendment. But they are basically generic commercials for republican legislators. The ads falsely say that “Helena” is trying to raise taxes, which is basically a way to get people to vote for a Republican legislator since many Montana voters don’t know that Democrats, not Republicans, have delivered the largest tax cut in the history of the state.

To this whopping $1.9M, add a hundred or so thousand more from Chuck Denowh’s other two shady groups, the Better Goverment PAC and the Jobs for Montana PAC, also funded in whole or in part by corporate cash to the tune of hundreds of thousands, according to their Oct c-6 reports. Then you have an undetermined number of local groups that seem also to be controlled or influenced in some fashion by Denowh, such as the Flathead Business and Industry Council which has dropped a ton of money in select local races like that of Joe Brenneman, a commissioner from the Flathead who Denowh is trying to unseat to clear the way for abolishing all zoning in Flathead County.

Nauseous yet? We aren’t done. Throw in Erik Iversen’s Montana Business Leadership Council, which has made huge media buys around the state, for an undisclosed sum. And then add the Western Tradition Partnership. We don’t know how much they spent, but they said a few months back that they would be spending at least $500,000 this election cycle in Montana, most of it raised from out-of-state corporations, mostly energy companies who want environmental regulations defeated.

Grand total? An estimated $3-5 million. Why can’t I give you an exact tally? Because several of these groups have simply refused to disclose the amounts and sources of their funding. The Western TP and Iversen’s MBLC take advantage of a federal tax loophole to evade reporting, by claiming to be involved principally in “educational” activity, not “political” activity.

Tell that to Will Hammerquist, who had this mailer from WTP dropped on him today. WTP NEG (Fortunately, it appears that a moron, possibly John Sinrud who founded WTP and is now active in Flathead politics, designed this mailer. It is silly, over-the-top and largely illiterate, so it probably has no effect at all, especially this late in the game.)

Anyway, if you add it all up, Republican groups spent $3,000,000 this cycle conservatively and maybe as much as $5,000,000, the overwhelming majority of it being spent on activity designed to influence legislative races. It is virtually all corporate money, the majority of which comes from out of state. At least a million of it, maybe more, is mystery money, about which we will never be able to learn the amounts, the sources, or even the races on which the money was expended. Unfortunately, the Democrats in Montana don’t have access to this type of soft corporate money.

True, there are unions and wealthy individual donors, and environmental advocacy groups. But but none can, or will, write a two million dollar check in the blink of an eye. Not even close. There is no corporate interest that wholly owns the Democratic party in the way that the GOP is owned by entire corporate sectors. That’s a good thing. But it makes this season an uphill climb.

Posted: October 30, 2010 at 8:34 am

In Spite of Ruling that It Broke Montana Laws, Sinrud’s Western Traditions Partnership Keeps Attacking Democrats

The Billings Gazette reported this week that John Sinrud’s so-called “Western Tradition Partnership” broke state law and should have to pay a civil fine because it failed to report its donors and register as a political action committee.

As previously reported by The Gazette State Bureau, in two years of investigation, Unsworth’s office uncovered evidence that Western Tradition Partnership had been involved in 19 Montana legislative races in 2008 and that it had a budget of $660,000.

As the Havre Daily News reported, Unsworth ruled that:

The evidence shows that WTP’s ultimate purpose in Montana in 2008 was not to discuss issues, but to directly influence candidate elections through surreptitious means.

According to Unsworth, the group planned to spend $537,000 on targeted Montana elections this year. Here’s what they’re spending on. Would you call this advocating for issues or electoral work?

This flyer from Sinrud’s so-called “Western Tradition Partnership” suggests Sheila Hogan will stop that darling little princess from becoming a doc, because her Mommy and Daddy will be forced spend all their dough on the utility bill, instead of saving it for her college. I guess this is because Hogan might like to see some effort on renewable energy.

This “organization’s” address is 2020 Pennsylvania Ave N.W. #186, Washington D. C. 20006. Not exactly a grassroots local citizens group concerned about legislative races in Whitefish or Polson, or Jefferson County.

Posted: September 20, 2010 at 12:41 pm

In Tune with Montana Values?

Hardly. John Sinrud’s Western Traditions Partnership is so out of touch with Montana that they sent a Montana candidate their survey for the Colorado state legislature. That’s embarrassing. If they don’t even know what western state is which, they’re probably not the go-to group for western policy.