Please tweet and FB. I think the State Attorneys General and the Federal Election Committee need our help exposing Dark money. There's money for state coffers to be found in this pursuit. California just dropped $16,000,000 into its General fund because of shady Koch Cabal Dark Money.
For those of you dropping in for the first time, the text in brown or orange are links. Just click on the colored text to view.
Below you will find
Some possible Koch Cabal $$ hanky panky;
A list of Koch Cabal $$ funneling organizations including their EIN#s needed to find their tax returns,
Instructions on finding Koch Cabal Dark Money used to sway Ballot Measures;
Instructions on how to research Koch Cabal 990 Tax Returns to find $$ funneled into your state; and
A compilation of all the War on Error Koch Cabal diaries with some great articles by others as well. Within this list you will find instructions for other tools to use in your pursuit of exposing the Koch Cabal.
Has the Koch Cabal poured money to sway the outcome of Measures/Referendums for your state? More than likely dark money is at play in your state. You can check
here to find out.
There is Dark Money thwarting the democratic process in your State. You can find it by following the instructions below.
I want to invite you to NOT be overwhelmed with this elephant: The Koch Cabal. We can each take a look at Ballot Measures within our own states and find the Dark Money being used. Yours can be a small bite; however, if we each take a small bite and share what we find, we can put this Koch Cabal elephant together, present the information to our State Attorneys General, Congress members, and those responsible for campaign financing laws within our states.
This is a war between the 1% trying to use hundreds of millions of dollars, possibly $Billions, to thwart the will of us, the 99%. So, please try using the instructions below to find the Koch Cabal Dark Money used over the past few years in your state and EXPOSE IT. You can send me a message with links if you find some, if you don't feel up to posting a diary, K?
The clock is ticking. 2014 is approaching. We need to expose and educate voters in our area as soon as possible. I promise you, those you share what you find will be repulsed. No one that I have talked to in my uber conservative area likes this Koch Cabal interference one bit.
That said, Politico has provided us with a treasure trove of Koch Cabal organizations receiving over $200 million dollars from Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce, Inc., a 501(c)(6) in 2011.
Politico and others didn't provide a link to the tax return mentioned, so I did some sleuthing. The first item I looked for was the EIN number for Freedom Partners. Neither Foundation or Guidestar have a tax return listed. That's odd. Undetered I used Google Search which is my last resort and found a better article that expands the Politico article WITH a link to the tax return.
I found the Freedom Partners EIN #: 45-3732750 and the 2011 Tax Return for all to see. Click here to view.
New List of the Dark Money Shell Game Groups Connected to the Kochs
Today, the Koch-funded "Freedom Partners," which secretly distributed $250 million during the 2012 election season, posted its first federal tax report which uncloaked several Koch-related entities that were previously unknown.
You may recall that the NYTimes followed the money and found that the Koch Cabal money was behind the recent government shutdown. You will find the article link in this diary:
Pictorial Response to Today's NYTimes Koch Brothers Exposé w/IRS Research Instructions ADDED
One of the biggest sources of conservative money is Freedom Partners, a tax-exempt “business league” that claims more than 200 members, each of whom pays at least $100,000 in dues. The group’s board is headed by a longtime executive of Koch Industries, the conglomerate run by the Koch brothers, who were among the original financiers of the Tea Party movement. The Kochs declined to comment.
Let's take a look at Freedom Partners. Click
here for the interactive version.
Freedom Partners funds the Chamber of Commerce and all the FAUX GRASS ROOTS anti-Obamacare, small government, anti-social justice groups out there including the Tea Party and the growing Libertarian movement. INCLUDING GENERATION OPPORTUNITY that is presently trying to convince college students to NOT sign up for Obamacare and the 60 Plus Association, the Koch Cabal's anti-Social Security and Medicare arm that claims to be non-partisan.
Mark Short is listed as the President, but let's be clear.
Richard Fink is the Koch Brothers key man.
It is important to note that Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce, Inc is a 501(c)(6) - Business League. You can see this on their 2011 990 Tax Return here. This classification, according to this IRS document are:
Chamber of commerce. A chamber of commerce usually is composed of the merchants and traders of a city.
Board of trade. A board of trade often consists of persons engaged in similar lines of business. For example, a nonprofit organization formed to regulate the sale of a specified agricultural commodity to assure equal treatment of producers, warehouse workers, and buyers is a board of trade.
Chambers of commerce and boards of trade usually promote the common economic interests of all the commercial enterprises in a given trade community.
I'll let the tax lawyers figure out if Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce, Inc aka
Association for American Innovation, Inc. is operating properly within IRS guidelines.
That said, it is becoming more and more important to the democratic process for us each to take some interest in digging and finding the Dark Money operating in our states. I have talked to a broad spectrum of people and, without hesitation, they are all appalled that Dark Money is at work in our state politics. People don't like this at all.
So, if you are interesting in finding the Dark Money in your state, helping your Attorney General and those responsible for campaign finance laws, or in helping others expose Dark Money, it is helpful to have the EIN #s for the Dark Money entities.
Here is a great list of Koch Cabal organization WITH their EIN #s taken from the Freedom Partners 2011 990 Tax Return. This is where I found the following information.
Use these organization names and EIN#s in your research. I would also prompt you to contact your State Attorney General's office and ask for a law to be passed requiring EIN #s for out-of-state donations to be included in the "List of Donors" so citizens can track the money.
Also, and I could be wrong, but I think the 501(c)(6) organizations, who rely heavily on membership fees have to list their donors. If we could get our hands on Freedom Partners membership list, we would know which corporations provided how much of the $256 million dollars. One might suspect Koch industries because the Koch right hand man, Richard Fink, is involved with Freedom Partners.
Here's how Freedom Partners revenue flowed in. From their 2011 tax return
Here you go. There are six pics.
Happy Hunting
Pic 1
Pic 2
Pic 3
Pic 4
Pic 5
Pic 6
If the California Attorney General, Kamala D. Harris, who recently caught the Koch Cabal red handed and fined them $16 million which was directly deposited into the California General Fund, is wondering where that money was funneled from, I think the answer is in this diary.
The above shows that Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce, Inc granted $104,678,000 to the Center to Protect Patient Rights (CPPR) which had to pay a portion of a $1,000,000 fine for it's part in the California referendums case you can read about in the diary cited in the paragraph above and which states on its 2011 990 Tax Return a total grant revenue of only $25,318,576. I'm not a tax expert, but those numbers don't jive at a glance. If you live in California, please do share this with AG Harris.
In this diary you will find easy instructions on how to take those EIN#s above and found out how those organizations spent their money. The foundations.org site is searchable. Happy 990 Tax Return Hunting:
Koch Cabal Can't Hide - Searchable IRS Forms Online! w/Instructions
Here are four short videos instructing you on how to find the Dark Money funneled into your State's BALLOT MEASURES over the past few years. Oddly, 2009 seems to be missing but maybe that is just my state.
It will take only 5 minutes to watch these instructions.
Before watching the instructions, I recommend opening up another screen and bringing up this link first - Follow the Money. You can follow the instructions and find Dark Money as you watch the video. Here's Follow the Money's mission statement, an invitation for you to Follow the Money:
Mission
The National Institute on Money in State Politics is the only nonpartisan, nonprofit organization revealing the influence of campaign money on state-level elections and public policy in all 50 states. Our comprehensive and verifiable campaign-finance database and relevant issue analyses are available for free through our Web site FollowTheMoney.org. We encourage transparency and promote independent investigation of state-level campaign contributions by journalists, academic researchers, public-interest groups, government agencies, policymakers, students and the public at large.
You will also find written instructions
here.
Youtube link if you can't view here.
Youtube link if you can't view here.
Youtube link if you can't view here.
Youtube link if you can't view here.
Yes, this is a retrospective tool; however, it is so important to find, learn about, and share with others how your state's democratic process is being thwarted by $Billionaires and their Koch Cabal cohorts.
Happy Hunting. You CAN find the Koch Cabal dark money in your state and local elections. Just use the instructions above.
The US has created 1,342 Billionaires. Here are their names
Full List: U.S. Billionaires Of 2013
__________
3 YEARS OF RESEARCH:
Here are the Koch Cabal diaries I have posted, listed in order of date submitted. There is a lot of rich information in these diaries as well as in the comments for each:
January, 2011 Psst, Koch Heads: Want a Better High or Low, Whatever?
2011 - 80 Years of Planning: The Kochs + The Family + Birchers = No Democracy
Updated the 2011 Article here Exposé - 80 Years of Planning: The Kochs + The Family + Birchers = TEA PARTY Disinformation Machine
A MUST READ: Living Under Fascism by Davidson Loehr, 2004
Koch Cabal CHARTS: ALEC's Top Ten Original Corporate Donors
Updated w Charts: Koch Brothers Target DailyKos With "Facts" Website
Koch Brothers Influence Peddling Exposed - Blockbuster Journalism
The Koch Club: Charts to Support American University's Blockbuster Exposé
Top Ten Koch Facts by Robert Greenwald
Where do Rand Paul, Ralph Reed, and David Koch Connect?
INSIDER Proof: Tea & Libertarian Parties ARE The John Birch Society (oh, btw, WalMart's Walton Foundation began advertising on NPR in my area this week)
ATTN: Researchers - List of MAJOR Conservative Foundations & Non-Profits
Koch Brothers Influence Peddling , Is Your Alma Mater on the List?
WATCH: The Billionaires Tea Party - Full Documentary Here
The Contango Game: How Koch Industries Manipulates The Oil Market For Profit
Are you getting catfished by the Koch Brothers?
Where do Right Wingers Get Their Crazy Fears? I found RW Disinformation Mecca Today!
Pictorial Response to Today's NYTimes Koch Brothers Exposé w/IRS Research Instructions ADDED
Koch Cabal Can't Hide - Searchable IRS Forms Online! w/Instructions - See Goldwater Institute's Role
CHILLING Exposé: Ted Cruz & his Dominionist Roots
GOP OWNS SHUT DOWN - GOP H. Res. 368 in Pictures - VanHollen States "Democracy Has Been Suspended"
2009 The KOCH Cabal Launched Nationwide non-profit News Bureau: Franklin Center
Koch Cabal $12Million SECRET News Bureau
Koch Cabal Dirty Pool: Affiliate Files IRS Complaint Against Enroll America
Bill Moyers: Koch Cabal is Shadow Party
Chris Hedges: The Idiots Who Rule America
A VICTORY: Koch Cabal Caught Red Handed by CA AG! Fined $16Million
Instructions: How You Can Find KOCH CABAL DARK MONEY Used in Your State using Follow the Money website
Koch Cabal Exposé Bonanza: You've Got to See This New Tax Return! Follow the $$
IRS Complaint Filed Against Key Koch Cabal Money Funnel
"2014 Liberal Dark Money Dominates" is an Incomplete, Misleading Statement
DOUBLE WOW!! www.StinkTanks.org PERFECTLY Exposes Koch Cabal $$ used IN EACH STATE in USA
Want to Know WHO Spent $35 Million to Fund NYState's Manhattan Institute
FOLLOWING INFORMATION AND/OR ARTICLES NOT WRITTEN BY WAR ON ERROR
KOCHS EXPOSED
Source Watch Koch Brothers
Charles and David Koch Rolling Stones
Who Can Stop the Koch Brothers From Buying the Tribune Papers? Unions Can, and Should - Rolling Stones
Global Warming's Denier Elite - Rolling Stones
The Koch Brothers – Exposed! - Rolling Stones
A Federal Budget Crisis Months in the Planning - NYTimes
Kochs Deny Pushing for Shutdown Over Health Law- NYTimes
THE KOCH BROTHERS IN CALIFORNIA?- Jane Meyer, The New Yorker
The billionaire brothers who are waging a war against Obama. - Jane Meyer, The New Yorker
KOCH PLEDGE TIED TO CONGRESSIONAL CLIMATE INACTION - Jane Meyer, The New Yorker
Public television’s attempts to placate David Koch. Jane Meyer, The New Yorker
Ted Cruz, Michael Needham and Koch Brothers: Shutdown's chief enforcers
A Look at the Koch Brothers Dark-Money Network
Great video about the Calfornia Victory over the Koch Cabal
If you have any articles you would like included in the above, just drop the link below.
I think it's time to compile all the evidence about the Koch Cabal.