ALG has very few donors
Via Postman on Politics comes new information about the financial backing behind Americans for Limited Government, Howie Rich's group.
From the Center for Public Integrity's Taking Initiatives Accountability Project:
It also could have been donated by fellow billionaire travelers in the "destroy all government" pseudo-libertarian movement, some of whom have vested business interests in Washington state.
The point, again, is that we simply have no idea. If anyone ever found out who donated the money, and published that information, I'm sure the Pulitzer people would be suitably impressed. Not trying to be flippant, either; it would be a real tough nut to crack. But it would be a valuable public service.
From the Center for Public Integrity's Taking Initiatives Accountability Project:
Americans for Limited Government, the tax-exempt organization that bankrolled a series of controversial ballot initiatives this year, raised 99 percent of its $5.4 million in total contributions in 2005 from just three donors, the Center for Public Integrity has learned.That's some kind of movement the Farm Bureau got in bed with on I-933. Money equals speech in this country, but you shouldn't be able to hide behind anonymity. ALG's money could have come from magic unicorns, the Russian mob or people who collected eleventy billion soda cans; the point is we don't know.
The number of ALG’s major donors in 2005, but not their identities, was disclosed in financial statements obtained by the Center.
New York political activist Howard Rich, the organization’s high-profile chairman, did not respond to the Center’s requests for information about ALG’s financial affairs, including a question about how much of his own money, if any, he has given to the group. Rich has repeatedly declined to disclose the identities of donors to ALG and eight other tax-exempt organizations that share common management.
It also could have been donated by fellow billionaire travelers in the "destroy all government" pseudo-libertarian movement, some of whom have vested business interests in Washington state.
The point, again, is that we simply have no idea. If anyone ever found out who donated the money, and published that information, I'm sure the Pulitzer people would be suitably impressed. Not trying to be flippant, either; it would be a real tough nut to crack. But it would be a valuable public service.
