Campaign ads mask sponsors' identities / LJWorld.com

Archive for Sunday, October 29, 2006

Campaign ads mask sponsors’ identities

October 29, 2006

Topeka — Americans for Prosperity launches an ad campaign opposing taxes. Just a grass-roots group trying to help the Kansas working class, right? Wrong.

The Republican State Leadership Committee slams Democratic attorney general candidate Paul Morrison's support of a Kansas criminal justice bill. Just a committee concerned about Kansas prison sentences, right? Wrong.

Kansans for Consumer Privacy Protection mails cards criticizing Republican Atty. Gen. Phill Kline over the increase in crime. Just an organization worried about crime, right? Wrong.

The groups taking over campaign ads in Kansas are not what they appear to be. And finding out who they are is sometimes impossible.

"In an ideal world, the voters ought to be able to know who is paying for these ads, but that is not always the case," said Brooks Jackson, director of the nonpartisan and nonprofit FactCheck.org, which monitors political ads and statements nationally as part of the Washington, D.C.-based Annenberg Public Policy Center.

Americans for Prosperity has been on the political scene in Kansas for several years.

In a new television ad, it criticizes the state of the Kansas economy and describes itself as a grass-roots organization that stopped a $1 billion tax increase.

What it doesn't say is that Americans for Prosperity was founded by billionaire David Koch, executive vice president and a board director for Koch Industries, based in Wichita. Koch was the Libertarian Party candidate for vice president of the United States in 1980 and a well-known backer of anti-tax efforts.

And the group doesn't have to reveal who has financed its efforts.

Under state law, groups must disclose where they receive and how they spend funds and whether they expressly advocate the election or defeat of a clearly identified candidate.

Americans for Prosperity's ads don't qualify because they don't say how people should vote.

When asked whether it would be the right thing to reveal who is bankrolling AFP, the group's Kansas leader, Alan Cobb, said in an e-mail, "Will the LJW send me your advertiser and subscribers list?"

Republican committee

Another group has parachuted into Kansas from Washington, D.C., to hammer Morrison in his race against Kline for attorney general.

The Republican State Leadership Committee has run television ads and produced mailings that blasted Morrison over support of state legislation that it said showed Morrison was soft on crime.

But rather than a crime-fighting group, the RSLC is one of the richest political fundraising machines in the nation, funded by a who's who list of corporations, including energy, pharmaceutical, telecommunications, insurance and banking interests. These interests are often fighting in states to limit their liabilities in consumer protection complaints.

Kline's consumer protection office returned $375,000 to consumers in 2004, a steep drop from what was collected by former Atty. Gen. Carla Stovall Steckline.

Morrison has stated the group has spent $1 million in Kansas against him. Its expenditures will be reported Monday.

Consumer privacy

Another group emerged in the attorney general's race with mailings that say that while Kline was seeking medical records from abortion clinics, crime was on the rise.

But like Americans for Prosperity, Kansans for Consumer Privacy Protection won't have to reveal its source of funds because it didn't expressly tell readers to vote for a particular candidate.

The group, however, shares the same office address as ProKanDo, a political action committee run by George Tiller, the Wichita doctor who specializes in late-term abortions.

Tiller has been a vocal critic of Kline, who has launched a secret investigation into Tiller's clinic and one operated by Planned Parenthood.

Jackson, with FactCheck.org, said voters have to beware when it comes to campaign ads.

"A lot of people have the false notion that they are sophisticated enough that these ads don't affect them," he said.

But, he said, studies from the 2004 presidential election between John Kerry and George Bush show that large numbers of voters "believed the crap fed to them by the Kerry campaign and the Bush campaign."

Carol Williams, executive director of the Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission, said she would like to see Kansas law changed to require the issue advocacy groups to reveal where their money is coming from.

"We want disclosure, and we are not getting it with these third-party groups," Williams said. "This truly has everything to do with the election."

The Ethics Commission next month will consider whether to recommend the Legislature approve a bill that would require financial disclosure by the issue advocacy groups.

Past attempts to do this, however, have been bottled up by political wrangling, she said.

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oldgoof 6 years, 6 months ago

great article.

james dick 6 years, 6 months ago

It should be a no-brainer that whomever is attempting to influence public policy, especially elections, should do so PUBLICLY! Anyone who contributes money to influence public policy should be known well in advance of elections - records should always be open and all required public disclosers should be timely.

roger_o_thornhill 6 years, 6 months ago

Anyone who believes anything on TV without knowing of it elsewhere is a knucklehead. These are the types who is responsible for people running these kind of ads. If you know anyone like this, please smack them in the back of the head. This is the only thing that will help.

merrill 6 years, 6 months ago

How about no more special interest funding of anything related to a politcal campaign? Good job Scott.

The Kansas Chamber of Commerce is also one to beware. If they are receiving tax dollars I say cut them off. Kansas Club for Growth also beware as Club for Growth is based out of DC initiated by a former Brownback chief of staff.

Baille 6 years, 6 months ago

So what is the scorecard in Kline now? Unethical conduct in Alpha, legal lightweight in Limon and in the mandated reporter opinion, glory hound in the fishing inquisition, endangerer of churches, and now political whore - bought and paid for the the RSLC.

"But rather than a crime-fighting group, the RSLC is one of the richest political fundraising machines in the nation, funded by a who's who list of corporations, including energy, pharmaceutical, telecommunications, insurance and banking interests. These interests are often fighting in states to limit their liabilities in consumer protection complaints.

"Kline's consumer protection office returned $375,000 to consumers in 2004, a steep drop from what was collected by former Atty. Gen. Carla Stovall Steckline."

Phill Kline: the posterboy for everything that is wrong with the modern Republican Party, which is in danger of becoming nothing more than a champion for big centralized government and corporate interests.

Barclay 6 years, 6 months ago

Fortunately, Kansas Democrats have never been guilty of this.

justthefacts 6 years, 6 months ago

Don't quote me, but I am pretty sure that under General R.T. Stephan the consumer protection division's numbers were in the millions.

poolside 6 years, 6 months ago

Commercials test our powers of independent thinking every day. It is time to start passing the test. We need to vote our conscience based on facts researched, not brightly colored ads with catchy music.
We need to shop our conscience too. Think of how different that would make our politics!

yourworstnightmare 6 years, 6 months ago

Snoop-dog Kline (or should I say Snoopp-Dogg Phill) is hilarious. Very effective. Lee Atwater would be proud.

Baille said: "...the modern Republican Party, which is in danger of becoming nothing more than a champion for big centralized government and corporate interests."

Too late. Already there.

ReturnedKansan 6 years, 6 months ago

Maybe I missed it but I did't see an online chat with Paul Morrison posted.

Could it be that Paul Morrison was afraid to do an online chat with all you bloggers? But that doesn't make any sense - considering how pro-Morrison the majority are...

What kind of questions from voters could Morrison be afraid to answer? What is he hiding?

Or maybe he doesn't care what voters are thinking? Or maybe he doesn't respect Kansas voters? He really doesn't have any reason to - voters appear to have accepted all his midleading information as fact....

too bad he didn't think your questions were important enough to spend an hour doing an online chat...

at least Phill Kline wasn't afraid to answer your questions....

kugrad 6 years, 6 months ago

Another Kline dirty trick; several weeks ago I took a phone "survey" which turned out to be push-polling by the Kline campaign. Of course, whether they actually paid for what I believe to be illegal push-polling I can't say, but only Kline stood to benefit from the push-polling.

For those who don't know what push-polling is; that is when someone calls to take a survey and asks several normal questions, but also asks questions like "on a scale of 1 to 10 with 1 being not important and 10 being very important, would it affect your decision in the upcoming race to know that Paul Morrison was unfaithful to his wife and was guilty of sexual harrassment in the workplace?" The idea is to plant the seed without making the accusation directly. Bush used this against McCain, and McCain's failure to withdraw his support from Bush after this tactic was used shows why he would also be a weak president, but I digress. The point is, here is another bottom-feeder tactic employed by the Kline campaign and/or Kline supporters.

johngalt 6 years, 6 months ago

Great response from the AFP guy.

The newspapers get so high and mighty, why don't they disclose their information like their subscriber list?

rhd99 6 years, 6 months ago

The Sponsors' identities being masked, Huh? Well, When MUD is thrown into their face, like it will be for KLINE, the mystery will be over, won't it? November is around the corner, time to VOTE KLINE & other LOSERS OUT!

Baille 6 years, 6 months ago

"It's official, Kansas: Kline is endorsing Morrison.

"But don't get the wrong idea.

"The Kline in question is Phil Kline, a longtime Republican state legislator - not Phill Kline, the incumbent Kansas attorney general who is battling Democratic challenger Paul Morrison for re-election. Phil Kline announced Friday he was backing Morrison in the Nov. 7 election, saying the Democrat's "character and proven legal experience in the largest county in the state makes him the superior choice.''

"The two Klines served together in the Kansas House beginning in 1993. To avoid confusion, other lawmakers began calling Phil Kline "One L,'' "Large'' or "Classic'' Kline. Phil Kline, who retired from the Legislature in 2001, is 6-foot-4 and walked on to the University of Kentucky basketball team as a freshman in 1940."

Capital-Journal, October 29, 2006

Agnostick 6 years, 6 months ago

Interesting...

http://www.factcheck.org/article460.html

Agnostick agnostick@excite.com

laughingatallofu 6 years, 6 months ago

Ya know what?

I'm surprised that anyone even read this article, let alone responded to it. Did the LJW do us a favor by writing this article? I think not. Poor journalism at its best.

Most people don't give a rat's butt-hole who financed a particular ad. In fact, I'm sure, by now, most people have tuned out all of the political ads.