October, 14 2010, 01:07pm EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Sam Husseini, (202) 347-0020; or David Zupan, (541) 484-9167
* Public Citizen: Rove Breaking the Law * Spoof Corporate Money Ads
WASHINGTON
ROBERT WEISSMAN, via Angela Bradbery
KEVIN ZEESE
President of Public Citizen, Weissman said today: "American Crossroads and Crossroads GPS [created by Republican strategists Karl Rove and Ed Gillespie] are this year's poster children for everything wrong with our campaign finance system in the wake of the Supreme Court's decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. The decision paved the way for unlimited corporate spending on elections, and more generally signaled that Wild West rules now prevail for elections. Yet Crossroads GPS manages to transgress the modest rules still in place, failing to register with the Federal Election Commission as a political committee. We need the FEC to act to redress this apparently wrongful activity. More than that, we need Congress to pass the DISCLOSE Act, so we know which corporations and billionaires are behind the attack ads now polluting our airwaves. We need Congress to pass the Fair Elections Now Act, to replace the private election financing system now poisoning our democracy. And we need a constitutional amendment to overturn the Citizens United decision and get corporate money out of elections."
Zeese, attorney and spokesperson for Protect Our Elections, added: "This is the first election since Citizens United allowed unlimited spending by corporations on elections. They have abused this already too broad power by misusing the tax laws and avoiding campaign finance laws. It is a violation of federal election laws to launder anonymous donations for electioneering activity through nonprofit groups that are allowed to receive anonymous contributions only if their primary purpose is non-electoral activity." See full statement: Citizen.org
ERIC HENSAL
WILLIAM KLEIN
Earlier this year, Murray Hill Inc. became the first corporation to run for Congress. Klein is Murray Hill's campaign manager; Hensal is its "designated human" representative. Their campaign announcement video was widely covered in the media.
Now, Murray Hill is running ads for other candidates. See news release
Ads are available online
A nationwide consortium, the Institute for Public Accuracy (IPA) represents an unprecedented effort to bring other voices to the mass-media table often dominated by a few major think tanks. IPA works to broaden public discourse in mainstream media, while building communication with alternative media outlets and grassroots activists.
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