The digital ink was barely dry on this post when what to my wandering eyes did appear but a mysteriously funded left-leaning campaign finance “reform” group attacking AFP-NH for what amounted to following Campaign Finance Laws.
Open Democracy(OD) is a left-leaning affair pushing the left-leaning policy ideas of leftists activist groups and just happens to be an issues advocacy group just like AFP. But Open Democracy supports forced union dues and opposes right to work so when AFP asked voters to ask some useful idiots in the NH House (who happen to be Republicans) about their opposition to Right to Work, OD yelled ‘fire’ in a crowded campaign finance reform move theater.
“Granite Staters are tired of having out-of-state organizations tell us how we should vote,” Zink said. “It’s even more offensive when the group sidesteps political disclosure laws by calling themselves a nonprofit organization.”
AFP didn’t side step anything but if that’s how you want to play it lets explore some ‘unprincipled’ side-stepping.
Open Democracy/NHRebellion comingle with radical left-wing organizations posing as non-profits welding millions (if not hundreds of millions) in every election cycle without a word about THAT big money because it is ideologically aligned.
Open Democracy and NH Rebellion also have no problem with out-of-state students performing the ultimate out-of-state in-kind campaign ‘contribution’ by casting votes that actually decide New Hampshire elections (instead of voting absentee from the address their out-of-state-tuition bill goes to because UNH does not recognize them as a resident of the state).
Open Democracy/NH Rebellion’s calls for transparency do not extend to any of the groups with which it aligns or its own donors. All of whom march lockstep for the progressive purpose of using campaign finance reform to stifle Freedom of speech or more specifically the speech of political opponents.
Open Democracy/NH Rebellion is silent on behemoth corporate media monopolies with billion dollar budgets and multi-million dollar payrolls trolling the public with slanted partisan political propaganda under the guise of a special press exception – except (I suspect) for Fox News.I’m willing to bet they oppose that exercise of the free press.
Open Democracy/NH Rebellion are partisan swamp rats posing as a grassroots campaign finance reform advocacy group. Incumbent protection agents. Their advocates are progressives, the candidates they prefer support liberal policy. Which makes Open Democracy’s tagline, ‘An Open Voice for All’ so ridiculous as to be insulting.
The sorts of reforms they favor make it more difficult for small groups to express political opinions. They favor legal firms, lobbyists, Unions, and Large corporations who are equipped to dance around the Rube Goldbergian Legal maze erected in the name of campaign finance reform. Organizations that can also afford the time and effort to meet challenges and even pay fines for “illegal” activity that allows them a degree of speech and access prohibited by the reforms to everyone else.
In short, the campaign finance reform movement is about protecting the speech of corporatist big players, big money, and a favorable corporate media.
McCain Feingold was the gold standard for stopping upstart political speech from penetrating the bureaucracy they had erected to protect the ruling class. Open Democracy, NHRebellion, and the Swamp Rat ruling class infrastructure want that Free Speech Border Wall back.
As for transparency, if it meant protecting speech that would be great but it does not. The same ruling class superstructures that would win should any group like Open Democracy get its way are equally adept at using the maze of rules and traps they created to avoid any real accountability.
Out in the real world small business owners, local commercial organizations, private groups, small non-profits, and even citizen groups will be unable to speak. Those that dare should expect the protected class of speakers to use their wealth and resources to spark “investigations,” not because they may have forgotten to cross a ‘T’ or dot an ‘I’ but to send a message to others. Exercising your right to political speech comes with a price paid to lawyers to defend yourself, even from spurious claims with no bearing.
And it will work.
While McCain Feingold was in force former Democrat State Party Chair Kathy Sullivan became infamous for sending letters to the state Attorney General questioning the political speech of opponents – which was anyone who said anything with enough force that might matter to which she objected. “They need to be investigated!”
Sound familiar?
This should too. From 2012-2016 NH Rebellion received $780,000.00 dollars to advance the liberal campaign finance agenda. We have no idea who donated the money but I bet you their 990 most of it is from outside the state and almost all of it came from Liberal donors or Liberal groups. They’ve clearly got access to ruling class resources, not that they’d need them.
But we don’t need to know any of that because the campaign finance laws make it legal for them to hide it while they point fingers.
And yes, AFP can do that too, but whatever you may think of AFP or its donors they aren’t the ones trying to use the government to shut down speech they don’t agree with.
That would be Open Democracy.
If you want to give them the clicks here is the She doth protest too much email and their letter to the NH AG.
