Watchdogs Blast Business Coalition
From an Illinois Campaign for Political Reform press release:
"...some of the state's most influential business lobbies believeCanary is refering to the continued refusal of a business-backed political front group to release the names of donors who funneled over half a million dollars into Judge Lloyd Karmeier's election effort, despite ICPR's insistance that the disclosures are required by law.
they have something to hide from the public and are willing to go to great lengths to keep their secret" - Cindi Canary, ICPR
A trial lawyer-backed group formed months later to support Gordon Maag's election just disclosed its donors and expenses, settling a complaint before the State Board of Elections. ICPR wants the Illinois Coalition for Jobs, Growth and Prosperity to do the same, but they won't budge.
Given that we already know that the Coalition was formed by the Illinois Business Roundtable, Illinois State Chamber of Commerce, Illinois Manufacturers' Association, Illinois Civil Justice League and the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, you do have to wonder exactly who the donors are that they are hiding, but the public has a right to know.
Why? Because Justice Karmeier just ruled in favor of State Farm from the bench -- was State Farm funneling money into his campaign? If the Coalition won't disclose the names, how can we know this time, and what about when Karmeier rules on tobacco lawsuits, asbestos cases, or other tort and consumer protection issues?
More on this next week.
1 comments:
Does this bear any resemblance to this?
"A Front Group?"
Last week, I saw a long comment thread over at IlliniPundit's blog that made me curious.
It seems that the website for SaveOurPensions.org was designed by one Edward Marshall, which also happens to be the name of a Senate Republican staffer. Was there a connection, a commenter wanted to know.
Save Our Pensions describes itself as "a growing coalition of pension system members, taxpayers and concerned legislators – legislators who voted against the pension raid – who are working for real and meaningful changes to protect future benefits and assure that future generations will not be driven into bankruptcy to pay for today’s excesses."
Among other things, the group has a petition demanding that the second year of the pension skim be halted.
The organization has sent out a ton of e-mails to university employees in the Champaign area, according to some of IlliniPundit's commenters.
A commenter claiming to be from Save Our Pensions wrote in IP"s comment section, "To date, over 1,000 individuals have taken the time to sign and return our petitions. We appreciate the many individuals who have gone to the trouble to do so." The commenter also admitted to sending thousands of unsolicited e-mails "to those who we feel will be interested." The commenter did not divulge where or how the organization obtained the e-mail addresses or its funding.
As it turns out, Save Our Pensions' Ed Marshall is also the Senate Republicans' Ed Marshall, according to a spokesperson for Senate Republican Leader Frank Watson. The spokesperson also confirmed that the SGOPs had given Save Our Pensions a little startup money, "maybe less than $100 for PO Box rental" out of campaign funds. The spokesperson denied that the organization was a "front group." The pension skim was passed without a single Republican vote in either chamber and the House and Senate Repubs have been complaining about it ever since.
Marshall also runs his own web consulting firm. I haven't been able to reach him yet, but maybe he'll see this and contact me to explain exactly how Save our Pensions is being funded and how its money is being spent and whether any of its culled lists are being shared or sold.
Stay tuned."
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