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Americans for Prosperity

konservative Interessensvertretung mit Sitz in Arlington, Virginia, USA
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Vorlage:Infobox Organization

Americans for Prosperity (AFP) is a political advocacy group headquartered in Arlington, VA. AFP’s stated mission is “educating citizens about economic policy and mobilizing those citizens as advocates in the public policy process.”[1] The group played a major role in the Republicans’ 2010 takeover of the House of Representatives,[2] and has been called “one of the most powerful conservative organizations in electoral politics.”[3]

Background

AFP was founded in 2004 when Citizens for a Sound Economy (CSE) split into FreedomWorks (formerly Citizens for a Sound Economy) and the Americans for Prosperity Foundation (formerly the Citizens for a Sound Economy Foundation). Dick Armey, who had become chair of CSE in 2003 after retiring from Congress,[4], remained chairman of FreedomWorks, while David H. Koch remained chairman of the AFP Foundation. Like CSE, AFP was founded with the support of David H. Koch and Charles G. Koch, both of Koch Industries.[5][6][7]

Mission

AFP describes its mission as educating citizens about economic policy and mobilizing them as advocates of lower taxes and limited government. The organization focuses on eight issue areas: budget and spending; taxes; property rights; health care and entitlements; banking and financial services; labor, education, and pensions; energy and environment; and technology.[8]

Leadership and structure

Like its predecessor, Citizens for a Sound Economy, and other advocacy groups (for example, the National Taxpayers Union and American Cancer Society), Americans for Prosperity consists of two separate entities: Americans for Prosperity (a 501(c)(4) organization established in 2004) and the Americans for Prosperity Foundation (a 501(c)(3) organization established in 1984.

On the national level, AFP is led by its president, Tim Phillips. From 2003-2007, AFP was led by Nancy Pfotenhauer, the chief lobbyist for Koch Industries from 1996-2001. Other current executive staff include Chief Operating Officer Tracy Henke, Vice President of Policy Phil Kerpen, and Vice President of State Operations Alan Cobb. Art Pope,[9][10] James C. Miller, James E. Stephenson, and Frayda Levy serve on the board of directors.

As of March 2012, AFP had 1.9 million members.[11] AFP had its headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, which oversees 35 state chapters.[12]

Funding

In its 2007 annual tax return, the AFP Foundation reported revenue of $5.7 million with expenditures of nearly $6.8 million. Of these expenditures, $2.1 million went to national office operations and $2.9 went to the state-based chapters. By 2010, AFP’s and the AFP Foundation’s combined budget was $40 million.[13]

Based on the AFP Foundation's financial operations and programs, the independent nonprofit review organization, Charity Navigator, gave it a three-star rating out of four stars and 58 out of a possible 60 points.[14]

According to AFP, 90,000 people across 50 states have donated to AFP or the AFP Foundation.[15]

Events

Since 2007, the AFP Foundation has hosted the “Defending the American Dream Summit,” which is now the second largest annual gathering of conservatives in Washington, DC (the first is the Conservative Political Action Conference). Topics have included government spending and taxation, health care reform legislation, economic policy, and proposed energy legislation. Presidential candidates who attended the inaugural event included Rudy Giuliani, Mike Huckabee, John McCain, Ron Paul, Sam Brownback, Mitt Romney, and Fred Thompson. 2,000 people attended the 2011 summit.[16]

To "send a message to the bureaucrats that energy rationing will kill jobs, raise taxes, and crush our freedoms,”[17] AFP created the Cost of Hot Air Tour, a nationwide tour that included webcasts from the United Nations meetings COP15 in Copenhagen in 2009[18] and COP16 in Cancun in 2010.

In 2008, in the same city (Austin, Texas) and at the same time (July) as the liberal Netroots Nation conference, AFP hosted RightOnline, a conference of conservative bloggers and activists that aimed to develop conservative social media strategies.[19][20] RightOnline has since become an annual event, with 1,500 attendees in 2011.[21]

In 2011, in conjunction with Sarah Palin,[22], AFP helped lead a counterprotest in Madison, Wisconsin, where Governor Scott Walker's budget and labor-law initiatives had drawn considerable opposition in the streets. AFP’s president, Tim Phillips, said Walker’s proposed cuts were necessary and "represented the start of a much-needed nationwide move to slash public-sector union benefits."[23] After the budget reforms in Wisconsin passed, the AFP Foundation initiated an advertising and town-hall effort called “It’s Working!” to promote them.[24]

Also in 2011, AFP sponsored the first debate among the Republican presidential candidates in New Hampshire. Candidates who participated included Mitt Romney, Tim Pawlenty, Michele Bachmann, Rick Santorum, and Herman Cain.[25]

AFP has announced that it intends to participate in a rally protesting the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act during the Supreme Court's oral arguments regarding the constitutionality of the law.[26]

Programs

No Climate Tax Pledge

Americans for Prosperity circulated a pledge to government officials affirming that they will not increase taxes to deal with climate change.[27]

As of August 2010, more than 600 lawmakers and candidates, primarily Republicans, had signed the pledge. Prominent signers include Senators Pat Roberts and Roger Wicker; U.S. Representatives Michele Bachmann, John Carter, Jeff Flake, Jim Jordan, Doug Lamborn, Lynn Westmoreland, Phil Gingrey, Tom Price, Fred Upton, Candice Miller, Bill Huizenga, Justin Amash, Tim Walberg, and Rocky Raczkowski; and candidates Jack Hoogendyk, Dan Benishek, Pete Olson, and Greg Davis.[28]

Patients United Now

In May 2009, Americans for Prosperity launched Patients United Now, which on its website describes itself as a project offering information for those opposed to "a government takeover of the United States health care system." On the site, the organization expresses its support for "health care reform focused on delivering affordable, quality choices to all Americans" and its conviction that a government involvement in healthcare can lead to "delaying - and denying - critical treatments."[29]

A subsequent series of television ads opposing the Democratic health-care reform proposals was launched by the Patients United Now organization. One ad features a Canadian woman identified as "Shona Holmes" who says she was denied brain tumor surgery and was ultimately treated in the U.S. Columnist David Lazarus of the Los Angeles Times wrote that a single-payer Canadian-style insurance system is not part of any leading reform proposal as the ad suggests.[30] Amy Menefee, a spokeswoman for Patients United Now, replied by saying that "The point of the ad is to show the extremes where things could go. This would be a bigger role for government than we've ever seen. It's a power grab in this area of the economy."[30]

Activities

During the 2010 election cycle, Americans for Prosperity claims to have spent $40 million dollars on rallies, phone banks, and canvassing.[31] One beneficiary was Morgan Griffith (R-VA). Americans for Prosperity supported the campaigns of five of the six Republican members who were elected to the United States Senate for the first time in 2010.[31] Of twelve Republicans newly appointed to the House Energy and Commerce Committee, nine signed a pledge distributed by Americans for Prosperity to oppose greenhouse gas regulation.[31]

In June 2011, Americans for Prosperity placed a handful of fake eviction notices on people's doors in the Delray neighborhood of Detroit. The group's state director said that the intent was to get peoples' attention and to startle residents into lobbying against the building of the Detroit River International Crossing bridge because, as the flyer stated, "their properties could be taken by the Michigan Department of Transportation to make way for the New International Trade Crossing bridge project."[32]

According to Politico, in August 2011 Americans for Prosperity "sent absentee voter applications instructing voters to return the paperwork two days late in at least two recall elections."[33] In addition, the PO Box that was listed on the "Ballot Application" is the address of an anti-abortion group, Wisconsin Family Action, as opposed to an official state address.[33] AFP responded, claiming that the misleading date was the result of a mistake and "was only intended for voters in the two districts where Democrats are set to face recalls on a later date, August 16th."[34]

In 2011, AFP said that it will review payments it had made to Mark Block's Prosperity USA, which is alleged to have made improper payments to the Herman Cain presidential campaign, 2012.[35][36][37] As a tax-exempt charity, Prosperity USA is not allowed to donate money or services to a political campaign.[38]

Criticism

In August 2010, the Democratic Party and the Obama White House complained that AFP and the AFP Foundationas are a de facto political action group, thus violating their tax-exempt status.[39] Said President Obama, "Right now all around this country there are groups with harmless-sounding names like Americans for Prosperity, who are running millions of dollars of ads against Democratic candidates all across the country. And they don't have to say who exactly the Americans for Prosperity are. You don't know if it's a foreign-controlled corporation. You don't know if it's a big oil company, or a big bank."[40] The administration later called AFP a “special-interest front group run by the oil billionaire Koch brothers,” who it said are “obsessed with making Barack Obama a one-term president.”[26] In response, AFP President Tim Phillips called the idea that AFP is taking money from foreign sources “ludicrous.”[41] He also noted that following the President’s statement, AFP saw an increase in financial contributions, explaining that “they know if the president of the United States is attacking you because you’re opposing his agenda, you’re probably doing something that’s effective.”[41]

Also in August 2010, thr Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) filed a complaint against AFP for running political advertisements that allegedly constitute intervention in political campaigns. A spokesman for the AFP Foundation said the DCCC complaint was a "nuisance complaint to intimidate" and was without merit.[42] On May 6, 2011, the Federal Election Commission dismissed the complaint.[43]

See also

References

Vorlage:Reflist

Vorlage:Koch family Vorlage:Tea Party movement

  1. ↑ About Americans for Prosperity
  2. ↑ "Cato Institute Is Caught in a Rift Over Its Direction," New York Times, March 6, 2012
  3. ↑ "Behind the Cato-Koch Kerfuffle," Slate, March 1, 2012
  4. ↑ Dick Armey to lead Citizens for a Sound Economy. 8. Januar 2003;.
  5. ↑ Kate Zernike: Secretive Republican Donors Are Planning Ahead. In: New York Times. 19. Oktober 2010 (nytimes.com).
  6. ↑ Jane Mayer: The billionaire Koch brothers’ war against Obama. The New Yorker, 7. Januar 2009, abgerufen am 21. Oktober 2010.
  7. ↑ Peter Overby: Who's Raising Money For Tea Party Movement? 19. Februar 2010;: „David Koch has directly taken credit for founding Americans for Prosperity, saying, "Five years ago my brother Charles and I provided the funds to start the Americans for Prosperity."“
  8. ↑ About Americans for Prosperity. Abgerufen am 9. März 2012.
  9. ↑ "The knight of the right" by Rob Christensen, Jan 29,2006 The News & ObserverVorlage:Toter Link/!...nourl (Seite nicht mehr abrufbar, festgestellt im Oktober 2010.)
  10. ↑ "Advocate to some, bully to others, Pope brews discord" by Rob Christensen, Jan 29,2006 The News & ObserverVorlage:Toter Link/!...nourl (Seite nicht mehr abrufbar, festgestellt im Oktober 2010.)
  11. ↑ Tim Phillips, New York Times, March 3, 2012, accessed Mar 2012. Charitynavigator.org, abgerufen am 18. März 2012.
  12. ↑ About Americans for Prosperity.
  13. ↑ Nonprofit Report for Americans for Prosperity Foundation
  14. ↑ Charity Navigator, rating of AFP Foundation, accessed Aug 2011. Charitynavigator.org, abgerufen am 11. August 2011.
  15. ↑ Americans for Prosperity by the Numbers - Yahoo! News
  16. ↑ Occupiers Attack Defending the American Dream Summit.
  17. ↑ Hot Air Tour Live from Cancun. Americans for Prosperity, abgerufen am 25. Januar 2011.
  18. ↑ Hot Air Tour. Hot Air Tour, abgerufen am 29. August 2010.
  19. ↑ Jose Antonio Vargas: In Texas, the Right Boots Up to Gain Strength Online, The Washington Post, July 18, 2008. Abgerufen im April 17, 2009 
  20. ↑ Amy Schatz: In Online Politicking, Republicans Play Catch-Up In: The Wall Street Journal, July 18, 2008 
  21. ↑ Conservative Fun with Andrew Breitbart et al. at Right Online - Tina Dupuy - Politics - The Atlantic.
  22. ↑ UPDATE: Sarah Palin Travels To Madison.
  23. ↑ Lipton, Eric, "Billionaire Brothers’ Money Plays Role in Wisconsin Dispute", The New York Times, February 21, 2011 (February 22, 2011 p. A16 NY ed.). Retrieved 2011-02-22.
  24. ↑ Capitol rally to mark one year since Act 10 - JSOnline. JSOnline, abgerufen am 28. März 2012.
  25. ↑ Americans For Prosperity Dinner live blog - Political Intelligence - A national political and campaign blog from The Boston Globe - Boston.com. Boston Globe, abgerufen am 28. März 2012.
  26. ↑ a b Robert Pear: White House Works to Shape Debate Over Health Law In: New York Times, March 9, 2012 
  27. ↑ Group against taxes seeks pledges from candidates, Lawrence Journal, July 22nd, 2008
  28. ↑ Pledge Takers. No Climate Tax, abgerufen am 29. August 2010.
  29. ↑ About Patients United Now. Patientsunitednow.com, abgerufen am 21. Oktober 2010.
  30. ↑ a b Healthcare debate framed by fear-mongering ads. Los Angeles Times, 9. August 2009, abgerufen am 21. Oktober 2010.
  31. ↑ a b c Tom Hamburger, Kathleen Hennessey, Neela Banerjee: Koch brothers now at heart of GOP power In: Los Angeles Times, Tribune Company, 6. Februar 2011 
  32. ↑ John Gallagher, Conservative group: Fake eviction notices were 'meant to startle people' Detroit Free Press Jun. 7, 2011
  33. ↑ a b Jessica Opoien: Unofficial absentee ballot mailings raise voter intimidation issues in Wisconsin recall elections. Abgerufen im November 2011.
  34. ↑ Greg Sargent: Americans for Prosperity sent misleading absentee ballot far more widely than previously known. In: Washington Post. Abgerufen am 21. November 2011.
  35. ↑ Stone, Peter H. "Koch-related group is reviewing financial transactions with Cain aide's charity." iWatch News, 3 November 2011.
  36. ↑ Bice, Daniel. "State firm's cash to Herman Cain may breach federal campaign, tax laws." Journal Sentinel, 30 October 2011.
  37. ↑ Benjamin, Mark. "The Other Cain Scandal: Campaign Transactions May Have Broken Federal Law." Time Magazine, 1 November 2011.
  38. ↑ Eggen, Dan. "Herman Cain campaign’s financial ties to Wisconsin charity questioned." Washington Post, 31 October 2011.
  39. ↑ Remarks by the President at a DNC Finance Event in Austin, Texas
  40. ↑ Felicia Sonmez: Who is "Americans for Prosperity"? In: Washington Post, August 26, 2010 
  41. ↑ a b Alex Pappas: Americans for Prosperity cashing in on Obama attacks on them. In: Daily Caller. Yahoo! Inc, abgerufen im Dezember 2011.
  42. ↑ John D. McKinnon and Martin Vaughan: Democrats Criticize Group Over Attack Ads, Tax Violations In: The Wall Street Journal, August 28, 2010 
  43. ↑ www.FEC.gov/press/press2011/20110506_digest.shtml
  44. ↑ Keith Walker: Tito the Builder considering state politics, insidenova, April 14, 2011. Abgerufen im April 18, 2011 
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