To the Editor:
No, Senator Franken does not oppose "free speech"
An ad opposing Senator Al Franken has begun airing on local television claiming that he "opposes free speech." It is sponsored by "American Encore," a group registered with the IRS as a "501(c)(4)" organization. Mr. Franken expressed concern that, since the Citizens United ruling which lifted spending constraints on political campaigns, money has poured into such 501(c)(4) "social welfare" organizations for the sole reason that these organizations — once the domain of garden clubs and civic drives — do not have to disclose their donors.
The ad claims Senator Franken opposes "free speech." This is untrue. Organizations have always been free to "speak" as 527 "political" organizations. But 527 groups must, under current law, disclose their donors. Since the Supreme Court's Citizens United ruling, an oil company can now give large donations to a 501(c)(4) organization to run anti-EPA ads without having to inform the public that it has certain vested interests. Often these groups have unfamiliar but pleasant-sounding names like "American Encore" or "Americans for Prosperity." But behind these pleasant names, hundreds of millions of dollars from wealthy individuals and corporations with vested interests are now able to hide. Such speech is anything but "free"; it is, in fact, very expensive.
[more below the squiggle]
The question each of us must ask is: do we want huge amounts of anonymous "dark money" dominating our elections, or do we have a right to know who is behind political spending? The issue is not "free speech" but rather "anonymous free speech." For questioning the wisdom of allowing wealthy donors to hide from public scrutiny, Senator Franken deserves praise, not an onslaught of negative ads paid for by exactly such anonymous donors.
Sincerely,
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If any group is running ads against Dems in your area based on the IRS "scandal," please feel free to use this letter as a template. I tried to keep it straightforward. The IRS matter is complex, so much so I think the ad would fail to make its point to the uninitiated. But for those steeped in the Fox News "scandals," the dog whistles are there. American Encore, according to the Washington Times, is planning to spend $10M nationwide and $250K against Senator Franken on IRS-related ads.