| By now, you may have heard about GiveItBack.com, a shadowy rightwing group with connections to Sideshow Scott Sales (ironic given that Scott Sales' own plan [Editors Note: Does Scott Sales have a plan?] doesn't meet the org's standards of rebating half the surplus to Montana residents [Editor's Note: Assuming, of course, that GiveItBack.com uses the term 'Montana Citizen' to mean 'Montana resident' -- people who are, in fact, citizens of the United States]).
The guy behind the org is a Bozemanite who works for RightNow Technologies. His entire operation is shady. Unfortunately, you wouldn't really know that from reading this story, for example.
Here are some questions I'd be asking this outfit if I was a reporter covering this, rather than simply writing a puff piece that they've got ads on the air (which is exactly what Daines was hoping for):
- Where's the money coming from? TV is not cheap and money doesn't just come in in droves when you launch a website (trust me, I know). Someone's financing this. Who?
- Why do the ads single out the Governor? Neither party, from what I can tell, has put forth a plan that fits the framework of the "organization" -- the Dems don't rebate enough, the GOP gives too much to non-Montana residents. Meanwhile, the tax decisions right now are really in the hands of the legislature, so why target the Governor? None of it makes any sense (Editor's Note: Unless the entire thing is a giant attempt to help Daines' buddy Scott Sales and his partners-in-crime Jon Sonju and Bob Lake get away with their shady moves to help protect tax shelters for non-residents).
- Where's the Bipartisan? Steve Daines has claimed that the effort is getting support from both sides of the aisle, but he has donated exclusively to Republicans (and mostly wingnut Republicans to boot). So where's the bipartisan? Even a mediocre astroturf operation will find someone to label with a big D to show their broad support.
- Where are the members? GiveItBack.com is registered as a Public Benefit Corporation with Members and says on its website that it is tax-exempt under section 501c4. Those organizations need to have members. Who are GiveItBack.com's members? How many does it have? How do you become one? What powers do members have? Who is on the board of directors? (This last piece should have to be filed with the Secretary of State, I think)
- Is GiveItBack.com properly filed? So far, all they've done is launch a giant astroturf lobbying effort. According to MCA 5-7-102, lobbying is "the act of promoting or opposing official action by any public official." An organization engaging in such activity must, under 5-7-208, "file with the commissioner a report of payments made for the purpose of lobbying." Part of that report (I know, 'cause I fill 'em out) is a report of earmarked contributions for lobbying. That's a good thing, since if GiveItBack.com is getting fat checks from Grover Norquist's Americans for Tax Reform (or from some similar outfit) to run anti-Schweitzer ads, Montanans have a right to know about it. At this point, GiveItBack.com is not filed with the Commissioner of Political Practices (based on a search of that office's online reports). Now, I'm not an attorney, but my reading of that law says that paying large sums to run a massive astroturf lobbying operation means that you got to report what it is you're doing and who, if anyone, is funding it.
That's just a start, but it's a good one.
I just signed up for updates from GiveItBack.com.
By the way, David Crisp does a nice job explaining the underlying idiocy of the organization's stance. He's right, too. If this is the level of thinking at the top levels of RightNow, I won't be buying stock. Unfortunately, Crisp refers to GiveItBack.com as a "group," which it is legally, but that pretends that it has some large presence. I'd really doubt it and I'd want to see some hard numbers before I wrote it up. |
