FoxPAC -- Fox News hosts and contributors raise big bucks for GOP

From Media Matters:

Fox News hosts and contributors continue to raise money for Republican candidates and causes using political action committees, 527 and 501(c)4 organizations.

SarahPAC -- over $2.5 million raised in 2010 election cycle

"SarahPAC believes the Republican Party is at the threshold of an historic renaissance that will build a better future for all." According to OpenSecrets.org, based on FEC filings, Fox News contributor and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's SarahPAC has raised $2,532,598 in the 2010 election cycle. SarahPAC has contributed $44,500 to federal candidates (89% to Republicans, 0% to Democrats).

SarahPAC has contributed to the Republican campaigns of Reps. Michele Bachmann (MN) and Roy Blunt (MO), and to Sens. John McCain (AZ) and Lindsey Graham (SC), among others.

The SarahPAC website states:

SarahPAC believes the Republican Party is at the threshold of an historic renaissance that will build a better future for all. Health care, education, and reform of government are among our key goals.

Gingrich's American Solutions for Winning the Future -- over $14 million raised in 2010 cycle

Gingrich's 527 "easily outpac[ed] the fundraising efforts" of Palin. Fox News contributor and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (GA) is chairman of 527 organization American Solutions for Winning the Future. Based on the group's filings with the IRS, OpenSecrets.org found that the American Solutions 527 has raised $14,494,782 in the 2010 election cycle.

Gingrich also reportedly "recently started a PAC called American Solutions, but it was only functioning for a few days last year." According to FEC filings, American Solutions PAC donated at least $1,000 to the Scott Brown for U.S. Senate Committee.

On AmericanSolutions.com, Gingrich writes that the group is a "unique tri-partisan organization designed to rise above traditional gridlocked partisanship, to provide real, significant solutions to the most important issues facing our country."

In a January 30 article, Politico reported:

Newt Gingrich's political group raised nearly $6.4 million in the second half of 2009, easily outpacing the fundraising efforts of potential rivals for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination Sarah Palin, Mitt Romney and Tim Pawlenty.

Of course, American Solutions for Winning the Future, the group headed by former House Speaker Gingrich, has a distinct advantage over those fronted by former Govs. Palin of Alaska, Romney of Massachusetts and current Minnesota Gov. Pawlenty -- which raised a combined total of $4.3 million in the second half of last year.

American Solutions is a so-called 527 group, allowing it to accept unlimited donations from individuals and corporations, while the others' groups are political action committees, which are limited to maximum donations of $5,000 per-person-per-year. Though PACs are able to make contributions to federal campaigns, while 527s can't, both types of groups can be used to pay for staff, consulting, polling, fundraising, office space and travel, all things that can help ambitious politicians lay the groundwork for presidential campaigns.

According to a report filed Friday night with the Internal Revenue Service, American Solutions relied on some huge donations to pull in $6,360,032 between July 1 and Dec. 31.

Huck PAC -- over $1 million raised in 2010 election cycle

Huckabee "formed HuckPac to assist Republicans running for office nationwide." According to OpenSecrets.org, based on FEC filings, Fox News host and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee's Huck PAC has raised $1,096,845 in the 2010 election cycle. Huck PAC has contributed at least $19,000 to congressional candidates, all of them Republican.

His Fox News bio states that "Huckabee recently formed HuckPac to assist Republicans running for office nationwide."

In 2009, Huckabee repeatedly used Fox News to fundraise for his PAC on-air. On December 21, 2009, Washington Post media critic Howard Kurtz reported that "Fox executives told Huckabee to stop plugging [his] Web site on the air after learning that it linked to his political action committee, which the network deemed a conflict of interest."

Rove's American Crossroads 527 has reportedly already "received commitments of almost $30 million"

Rove's new Republican 527 reportedly "expected to play a big role in helping the GOP." In a March 31 post, National Journal reporter Peter H. Stone reported that Fox News contributor Karl Rove and Republican strategist Ed Gillespie are promoting a new 527 group called American Crossroads. Stone wrote that the group "has been assembled quietly but is expected to play a big role in helping the GOP improve their fortunes in congressional contests this fall." Stone also reported that the group has "received commitments of almost $30 million and is seeking to raise a total of some $60 million to help dozens of Senate and House incumbents and challengers this fall."

From Stone's March 31 post on the National Journal's blog, Under the Influence:

Big time donors fretting about Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele's troubles are helping fuel early fundraising success for a new 527 group being promoted by GOP uber strategists Ed Gillespie and Karl Rove.

The duo, capitalizing on upbeat expectations about GOP congressional prospects this year, spent time in Texas about a month ago. They visited with several of the state's super rich political donors and came away with a sizeable pledge from Dallas billionaire Harold Simmons, who was a big bundler in 2008 for the presidential campaign of Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. The new 527 group, American Crossroads, has been assembled quietly but is expected to play a big role in helping the GOP improve their fortunes in congressional contests this fall.

GOP operatives say that having Gillespie, the former chairman of the Republican National Committee, and Rove, the ex political guru to the George W. Bush administration, pitching donors is a potent combo. "Ed's got the better rap and Karl's got the better rolodex," says a GOP lobbyist familiar with the new venture.

Gillespie has indicated that he won't be formally affiliated with the 527, but acknowledged that he's hitting up contributors for it. "I've supported the idea of a 527," Gillespie told National Journal. "I've encouraged people to support entities like American Crossroads." Rove did not return a phone call seeking comment about his efforts.

So far, the new soft-money group, American Crossroads, has received commitments of almost $30 million and is seeking to raise a total of some $60 million to help dozens of Senate and House incumbents and challengers this fall, say three sources familiar with the new 527. In contrast, at the start of January, the Republican National Committee had only $8.4 million in the bank compared with the $22.8 million it had on had a year earlier when Steele was elected chairman.

Dick Morris uses website and Fox News appearances for raising money to defeat Democrats

Fox News contributor and Republican pollster Dick Morris has frequently encouraged viewers to visit his website to learn how to effectively defeat Democrats and health care reform.

• Morris' website contains numerous fund solicitations for the League of American Voters, a conservative 501(c)4 group that employs Morris as a chief strategist.

• During the January 11 edition of Fox News' Hannity, Morris urged viewers to "go to DickMorris.com ... to help elect [Scott] Brown," because if "we win this fight, then there'll never be another victory for Obama." DickMorris.com also included a fundraising plea "to help us raise $300,000 for a last minute media buy to push Brown and the Republicans to victory." The fundraising link went to a contribution page for the League of American Voters.

• In a February 26 email to DickMorris.com subscribers, Morris wrote that the League of American Voters has "raised $200,000 in the past three days" to run ads in the districts of "marginal Democrats who voted for healthcare last time."

• Between October 27, 2008, and November 17, 2008, Morris mentioned GOPTrust.com during at least 13 Fox News appearances and asked viewers to "give funds to GOPTrust.com," the website of the National Republican Trust PAC, without disclosing that the organization had paid $24,000 to a company apparently connected to him.

Hannity has long history of raising money for right-wing candidates and causes

Amidst criticism, Fox News prevented host Sean Hannity from taping his April 15 show at a Cincinnati Tea Party event that charged admission and had "all proceeds" benefitting the organization. However, Hannity has a long history of raising money for Republican interests.

• Hannity reportedly has helped former Fox News host and current Ohio Republican gubernatorial candidate John Kasich raise money.

• Hannity was also the keynote speaker at a fundraising dinner for the National Republican Congressional Committee in March.

• Hannity helped raise money for former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani's (R) 2008 presidential campaign.

• Hannity raised campaign money for Jeanine Pirro's 2006 U.S. Senate campaign in New York, pledging a "maximum" contribution to her bid and asking listeners to donate as well.

Santorum's America's Foundation -- over $1.2 million in 2010 election cycle

Santorum is chair of PAC that helps candidates and causes committed to "conservative principles." Fox News political analyst and former Sen. Rick Santorum is chairman of America's Foundation PAC, "the political action committee of former Senator Rick Santorum" that's "committed to helping candidates and causes who share Senator Santorum's commitment to conservative principles."

OpenSecrets.org found that, based on FEC filings, America's Foundation has raised $1,249,091 in the 2010 election cycle. America's Foundation has contributed $19,000 to Republican congressional candidates.*

On the February 16 edition of Fox News' On the Record, Santorum touted the prospects of Rep. Mark Kirk's (R-IL) Senate campaign and attacked his Democratic opponent. But Santorum did not note that America's Foundation has contributed to Kirk's campaign.

*An earlier version of this item said that America's Foundation had contributed $5,000 to the campaign of Sen. Arlen Specter (D-PA). In fact, America's Foundation reported that Specter's campaign had returned $5,000 that the PAC previously donated.

GOP operatives crash the tea party

By KENNETH P. VOGEL

Just days after the first widespread tea party demonstrators hit the streets a year ago Thursday, Joe Wierzbicki, a Republican political consultant with the Sacramento firm Russo Marsh + Rogers, made a proposal to his colleagues that he said could “give a boost to our PAC and position us as a growing force/leading force as the 2010 elections come into focus.” The proposal, obtained by POLITICO, was for a nationwide tea party bus tour, to be called the Tea Party Express, which over the past seven months has become among the most identifiable brands of the tea party movement. Buses emblazoned with the Tea Party Express logo have brought speakers and entertainers to rallies in dozens of small towns and big cities, including one in Boston on Wednesday that will feature former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. Aided by campaign-style advance work and event planning, slick ads cut by Russo Marsh, impressive crowds and a savvy media operation, the political action committee run by Wierzbicki, Russo Marsh founder Sal Russo and a handful of other Republican operatives has also emerged as among the prolific fundraising vehicles under the tea party banner. Known as Our Country Deserves Better when it was founded during the 2008 election as a vehicle to oppose Barack Obama’s campaign for president, the PAC saw its fundraising more than quadruple after it took the Tea Party Express public in July, raising nearly $2.7 million in roughly the following six months, compared with less than $600,000 in the preceding six months, according to Federal Election Commission filings. Its fundraising success has made the PAC — which formally filed with the FEC in October to change its name to “Our Country Deserves Better PAC–TeaPartyExpress.org” — a power player in the tea party and beyond, airing hundreds of thousands of dollars in ads supporting Republican campaigns such as Scott Brown’s successful special election for Senate in Massachusetts and blasting Democratic ones, such as Senate Majority Leader Reid’s reelection bid in Nevada. And that fundraising success has also meant a brisk business for Russo March, which essentially runs the PAC. In that capacity, Russo Marsh and a sister firm called King Media Group have received $1.9 million of the $4.1 million in payments made by the committee — a financial relationship that is not uncommon between political action committees run by consultants and their consulting firms. But the Tea Party Express’s high profile has angered tea party leaders who are suspicious of its big payments to Russo Marsh, view the bus tours as distractions from meaningful grass-roots organizing headed into the 2010 midterm elections and say the Republican ties of both the firm and PAC are wrong for a movement that has prided itself on independence from the political establishment and has fiercely rejected what it sees as GOP efforts to co-opt it.

“We’ve worked hard to distance ourselves from the Tea Party Express because of their close affiliation with the Republican Party, the Republican establishment and their PAC,” said Debbie Dooley, a national coordinator for the Tea Party Patriots, a national umbrella group of local activists. The Patriots have supported a strict nonpartisan posture but also have struggled to raise money, and Dooley contends that’s partly because of Tea Party Express. “When people donate to Tea Party Express, they think that they are donating to a tea party, because they don’t read the fine print at the bottom of their e-mails that says it is a PAC,” she said. “And that hurts the local grass-roots tea party organizers, since a lot of that is actually taking some money away from them.” Adds Ned Ryun, president of American Majority, a nonprofit group that trains local tea party organizers: “I’m concerned that they’re using (Tea Party Express) as a marketing gimmick to line the pockets of consultants instead of actually helping the tea party movement. People are already pretty fired up, so enough protesting and rallying — they need to be empowered to go back and organize their communities.” In a draft of his proposal last April, Wierzbicki seemed to anticipate some of the criticism, broaching the idea of recruiting Eric Odom and Michael Patrick Leahy, among the organizers of the April 15, 2009, rallies, or FreedomWorks, the Washington-based nonprofit that has helped organize local tea party groups and events across the country. “We can probably pull off a phenomenally successful tour without these big-ego establishment types,” Wierzbicki wrote in his proposal, cautioning his colleagues that in any effort to woo them “We have to be very, very careful about discussing amongst ourselves anyone we include ‘outside of the family’ because quite frankly, we are not only not part of the political establishment or conservative establishment, but we are also sadly not currently a part of the ‘tea party’ establishment.” Wierzbicki posited that his PAC’s lack of establishment tea party backing could be offset by winning over “local tea party leaders and grass-roots conservatives” and also by generating buzz including “mentions and possibly even promotion from conservative/pro-tea party bloggers, talk radio hosts, Fox News commentators, etc…” And the PAC’s focus had to change to reflect the tea party movement. Wierzbicki told POLITICO that Our Country Deserves Better did this primarily by eschewing some of the national security and social issues on which it focused during the campaign in favor of a narrower concentration on the fiscal issues that unite much of the tea party movement. But he defends the PAC as having “a commitment to honoring the principles of the tea party movement.” “There is an integrity to the work we do with Tea Party Express,” said Wierzbicki, asserting the Express adheres to the five principles emblazoned on the side of its bus, which he summarized as “end the bailouts, lower taxes, stop government-run health care, end the out-of-control deficits and reduce the size and intrusiveness of the federal government.” Before its tea party days, however, the PAC aired ads praising Palin, both during and after her unsuccessful GOP vice presidential campaign, “for serving the people of America with a servant’s heart,” standing up to “the liberal media” and teaching her son about “the honor and valor of serving in our nation’s armed forces.”

Other Our Country ads aggressively attacked Obama, sometimes using themes Palin’s running mate, Republican presidential candidate John McCain, had declared out of bounds. One reminded voters of “hateful sermons from Obama's pastor for over 20 years,” while footage played featuring former Obama pastor Rev. Jeremiah Wright preaching the words “God damn America!” Russo — who helped elect former Govs. George Deukmejian of California and George Pataki of New York, among other Republicans, and helped engineer the recall of Democratic California Gov. Gray Davis — said he was actually planning to shutter Our Country Deserves Better after the 2008 election, “but so many people were telling us that somebody had to stay active and do something. So we decided that we would do that, but we weren’t clear on exactly what we would do.” When the tea party movement picked up steam, Russo said, it made sense for the PAC to join in. “We had a good running start,” he said. Russo brought with him some of old tricks. The bus tour, for example, mirrored the cross-country “Stop Obama Tour” in which a bus emblazoned with pictures of McCain and Palin flanking the Our Country Deserves Better PAC logo, stopped at 30 pro-McCain/Palin rallies during the final two weeks of October 2008. And then, as now, a substantial portion of the PAC’s spending goes through Russo Marsh and, to a lesser extent, through King Media. The PAC paid Russo Marsh $135,000 in consulting fees and commissions, $400,000 for e-mail and Web newsletters and at least $650,000 to produce and place television advertisements. Though some of those sums reflect payments for e-mail address list rentals and television airtime that were passed along to list vendors and television stations, respectively, many of the blast e-mails and television ads served to drum up more attention and cash for the PAC, even as they also touted Republican candidates or attacked Democratic ones. “Go to OurCountryPAC.org and help us defeat Nancy Pelosi’s Democrats,” one pre-tea party PAC ad instructed viewers. A more recent offering urged viewers to “Join the Tea Party Express as we send Bart Stupak packing for an early retirement. Log on to TeaPartyExpress.org as we fight to defeat Bart Stupak.” Kelly Eustis, who was fired from his job as the Our Country Deserves Better’s political director in October, said the PAC — and particularly the Tea Party Express aspect of it — “is keeping the firm afloat.” Eustis, who started his own PAC and also has been retained to do fundraising consulting for rival tea party groups, said that while he was at Our Country Deserves Better, his colleagues regarded the tea party as “a brand name. We stole the brand name to make money.” And he charged Russo and Wierzbicki with “basically hijacking the movement for their personal and business gains without regard for real tea party activists.” Russo countered “we’re hardly making any money at all. I’m a cause-oriented person. This is not a lucrative business proposition. It’s a cause for me. I believe in what I’m doing.” As for the bus tours, Russo said “they work for us. It’s a great vehicle to go to a lot of places and get a lot of people involved and engaged. I am proud of what we do. Who else goes out there and motivates people and insinuates involvement and activity and actually is making a difference in what is going on?”

Report: Palin has raked in $12 million since July

By John Byrne

Since leaving her post as Alaska's governor last July, Sarah Palin has earned a whopping $12 million, according to a new estimate published Tuesday by ABC News.

The estimate says it draws on "publicly available records and news accounts," but doesn't offer a detailed accounting. ABC reporter Matthew Mosk says much of her earning power has come from her TV, book deals and scheduled speaking appearances.

For her speaking gigs, Palin has received as much as $200,000 a pop, making the $12 million figure seem eminently more plausible. Last October, Palin also received a $1,250,000 retainer for publication of her memoir "Going Rogue" from HarperCollins, which doesn't include royalties she's been paid since the book's publication last December.

While governor of Alaska, Palin earned a (relatively measly) $125,000 annual salary. By contrast, Palin now earns as much in a single day: she's said to be accruing a nearly $200,000 honorarium for speaking to a hospital fundraiser in Toronto on Thursday.

The $12 million estimate for the past nine months is "conservative," Mosk averred. The sum would be more than 100 times her gubernatorial salary.

"The actual number is probably much higher, but is hard to quantify because Palin does not publicize her earnings, and has managed to keep a lid on reliable figures for her earnings from a multi-year contract with Fox News and a second book deal with HarperCollins," Mosk wrote.

An unnnamed Palin spokeperson told ABC that Palin's income statements are not for public consumption.

Palin "is now a private citizen," the aide purportedly said. "As a result, her fees and earnings are private."

The aide isn't quoted as disagreeing with ABC's estimate.

During her vice presidential run, Palin and her husband reported $166,080 in taxable income and more than $1 million in assets as of 2007. Most of Palin's earned income came from her salary as governor.

M.C.L comment: Damn!! it's hasn't been a year since Red Queen resigned from her job as governor and she made that much money off stupid people. I can see why Glenn Beck try to out douchebag him self everyday, the crazy and hateful the rhetoric is the more his bank account increase.

Beck admits he doesn’t give ‘a flying crap about the political process. … We’re an entertainment company.’

By Zaid Jilani Fox News host Glenn Beck’s media “empire” is the cover story of the newest issue of Forbes Magazine. In the story, Beck reveals that his media company Glenn Beck Inc. made $32 million in revenue in the period between March 2009 and March 2010. The host also explains that he sees himself much more as an entertainer than a political activist, saying that he doesn’t “give a flying crap about the political process”:

With a deadpan, Beck insists that he is not political: “I could give a flying crap about the political process.” Making money, on the other hand, is to be taken very seriously, and controversy is its own coinage. “We’re an entertainment company,” Beck says.

“I don’t necessarily believe that [what Beck says] is reflective of his own personal politics — I don’t even know if he has personal politics,” Michael Harrison, the publisher of Talkers magazine tells Forbes. “I see him as a performer.” This isn’t the first time Beck has suggested he isn’t as radically conservative as he seems. In February he told USA Weekend that “you’d have to be an idiot” to “not notice the temperature change” caused by global warming, and that he thinks mankind may play a signficant role in the phenomenon. Beck has previously described himself as “a rodeo clown” and conceded, “If you take what I say as gospel, you’re an idiot.”

M.C.L Comment: You see that right wing lurkers and tea baggers Glenn Beck doesn't give a flying crap, now I'm not against people making money off a stupid people. But In Glenn Beck's case he's making money off making people violent to others, the dude that killed the cops in Pennsylvania was a Glenn Beck fanboy and the holocaust museum shooter posted segment from Glenn Beck's Fox News show on his website.

And whenever Beck is confronted by the actions of his fanboys, he simply tells the audience don't act out and throw his fanboys under the bus. We know what would happen if a liberal talk show host acted or say the things about George W. Bush as Glenn Beck has said about President Obama they would be out of a job or worst facing legal problems.

Sarah Palin Defends Her Role As A Tea Party Profiteer, Announces Her Involvement In Another Scam

By Lee Fang Yesterday, ThinkProgress reported on the rise of “Tea Party Profiteers” — Republican operatives who are exploiting the tea party movement to make money and funnel volunteers to Republican campaigns. The profiteers tap into legitimate feelings of anger and distrust among many struggling Americans, but then steer people into organizations set up to make money off of them.

Sarah Palin has been under fire for demanding fees of at least $100,000 for her speeches to tea party groups. Defending her role as a profiteer, Palin wrote in USA Today yesterday afternoon that she would continue to participate in the scandal-plagued Tea Party Convention — a for-profit venture demanding a $550 ticket price and featuring a Madison Avenue fashion firm selling tea party jewelry — this weekend. Palin said her $120,000 payment for speaking at the convention will “go right back to the cause.” But just as she promised not to profit off her appearance this weekend, she announced her participation in another Republican tea party scam:

But participation won’t be limited to those in Nashville who have a ticket. It’s much bigger than that. [...] I will not benefit financially from speaking at this event. My only goal is to support the grassroots activists who are fighting for responsible, limited government — and our Constitution. In that spirit, any compensation for my appearance will go right back to the cause. [...] This weekend, it’s Nashville, but in March, I’ll head to Searchlight, Nev., for the kickoff rally at the Tea Party Express III.

The “Tea Party Express III” is a gimmick of the Republican public relations firm Russo, Marsh and Rogers (RMR). RMR has worked on several stealth campaigns for Republican clients, including the underhanded push to recall Gov. Gray Davis (D-CA). The Tea Party Express, which RMR staffers operate, has proved to be a cash cow for RMR — in 2009 alone, it plunged at least $1,025,559 of money it raised back into RMR’s coffers. Last summer, Alex Brant-Zawadzki reported that consultants for RMR conspired to plan a tea party Caribbean cruise. According to e-mails obtained by Brant-Zawadzki, the consultants planned to raise $200,000 for the cruise, then “pocket the [remaining] $150,000 in profit.”

Palin is the epitome of a Tea Party Profiteer. After abruptly resigning as Governor of Alaska, Palin has aggressively sold her ghost-written book, signed up as a paid pundit on Fox News, and made hundreds of thousands through paid speeches. Although the original Boston tea party protested the hegemony of the London-based East India Trading over the colonies, Palin has spent most of her political career defending multinational corporations and was dumbfounded when asked a simple question about the founding fathers. Palin portrays herself as a humble public servant and an admirer of the American revolution, but it appears she is simply out to make money and amass personal power.