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Anti-Worker TABOR Measures Wither and Howie Rich EXPOSED |
About a month ago, we told you how out-of-state, extremist-conservative and anti-union groups are pumping money and effort into several state ballot initiatives such as those that would restrict how states raise and spend money. If passed, such measures could cripple services such as law enforcement, fire protection, education and other public services.
These so-called TABOR measures—misleadingly and cynically labeled as Taxpayers’ Bill of Rights—are on the ballots in Oregon, Maine and Nebraska.
But the effort to pass TABOR bills is sputtering, as courts and state election officials are taking a closer look at the movement’s tactics as activists groups expose the behind-the-scenes players.
Earlier this month, TABOR initiatives in Montana, Nevada and Michigan were tossed from the ballots when judges or state agencies found various state laws were violated—including fraud in gathering signatures—by the groups trying to get the issues qualified for a spot on the ballot. Wisconsin working families helped stop a TABOR-like bill there this spring.
Recently, the folks over at the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center have pulled back the curtain on one of the leading, but more shadowy figures in the TABOR game—New York millionaire Howie Rich.
The just-launched www.howierichexposed.com follows the money, exposes the tactics and names the players Rich uses to advance this extremist agenda—that along with TABOR includes special rights for developers and attacks on the judiciary.
On the money issue, HowieRichExposed says:
Howie Rich from New York City likes to filter his money through a confusing maze of organizations. The most prominent of these is a group known as Americans for Limited Government, or ALG. Howie Rich is the Chairman of the ALG Board of Directors.
ALG’s recent fundraising history is like a riddle that goes something like this: How does an organization take in $800,000 one year, then spend approximately $11,000,000 just one year later? (And that’s just the amount that can be traced.) Where did that $10,000,000+ come from? And why can’t anyone find out where it came from?
…There is a lot the public doesn’t know about where Howie’s money is moving, or how Howie’s money could end up changing state laws all over the country. It’s time to demand answers.
Along with detailed exposés, HowieRichExposed also offers activists opportunities to fight back, and includes links to stop TABOR campaigns, derail special developer rights and defend the judicial system. In addition, the site includes research and commentary from other blogs and groups.
Last week, Ed Muir at AFT’s NCLBlog posted a detailed piece that links the TABOR movement and groups out to undermine public education through private school vouchers and other gimmicks. Fascinating reading about the tangled extremist Web.
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