In September , the IRS sent an "adverse determination" letter to Crossroads GPS, which the Center for Responsive Politics describes as a "scathing assessment" that largely rejected the group's claims that its ads were educational:. Crossroads GPS protested the determination with hundreds more pages filed in November and February While its chairman had previously filed comments in opposition to proposed IRS rules that would have clarified what constitutes political speech, in their arguments to the IRS Crossroads GPS lawyers "lamented, at length and multiple times, that the IRS 'facts and circumstances test' lacked clarity, and therefore the group could not reasonably be punished for interpreting the law as it had.
In November , the IRS approved its tax-exempt status. The IRS did not examine whether the organization's activities were primarily benefiting a small, private group, rather than promoting general social welfare.
The IRS also did not examine public statements by Crossroads GPS officials about the organization's purpose, such as political director Carl Forti's statement in , "You know, disclosure was very important to us, which is why the [super PAC] was created.
In , legal staff at the FEC had found evidence that Crossroads GPS "probably violated campaign finance rules with its political spending in the midterm elections" and recommended an investigation, according to The Washington Post.
The members of FEC were deadlocked over the issue. Like all c 4 organizations, Crossroads GPS is not required to disclose donor information.
Virtually all funding for American Crossroads , its sister organization, comes from a small number of billionaires including Harold Simmons , the owner of Contran Corporation , and Texas Homebuilder Bob Perry , according to data collected by the Center for Responsive Politics. Due to the U. Supreme Court's January Citizens United decision, groups like American Crossroads and Crossroads GPS can legally advocate for or against political candidates without restrictions on the amount of money they can raise from individuals and corporations.
Due to the Court's FEC v. Wisconsin Right to Life decision, "independent" groups organized under c of the tax code like Crossroads GPS can run "issue-oriented" political ads without disclosing their donors. As a nonprofit c 4 organization, Crossroads GPS is not required by the IRS to disclose its donors, as such organizations are intended to "promote social welfare.
Although Crossroads GPS does not disclose the identity of its donors thanks to its nonprofit status, it must disclose the amounts of its largest donations in its year-end IRS filing. Crossroads GPS has worked to get around the problem of excessive political activity in part by transferring funds to other dark money nonprofits that run ads in elections. This shell game-like activity is apparently defined as "social welfare" that allows Crossroads to claim that its primary purpose is not campaign intervention.
The organization was created to elect Republicans and defeat Democrats. However, the Center for Responsive Politics calculated that at least 65 percent of Crossroads GPS' spending in went to "media firms that specialize in the production of political ads," suggesting that spending to influence elections likely made up more than half of the group's spending that year.
Crossroads GPS reported the following grants in [20]. Senate against incumbent Sen. Kay Hagan, a Democrat. In late , Crossroads GPS began a national ad campaign targeting Obama's spending record and involvement with solar company Solyndra. A national cable ad aired on December 21th, followed by a second ad in early which specifically targeted Missouri, Minnesota, Michigan, and Arizona.
Crossroads ran ads throughout accusing President Obama of not doing enough to cut spending, decrease the deficit, and create jobs. Almost every GPS attack ad invoked this theme. As a c 4 , many of Crossroads' attack ads were ostensibly "issue based" and did not directly advocate for the election or defeat of a candidate. Some of GPS's largest ad buys used this format. In , they began an active "New Majority Agenda" campaign to create a Republican-Controlled senate [51] Crossroads GPS ads generally instruct the viewer to tell their Senator to support this "New Majority Agenda", and attack the target for supporting the Affordable Care act or the stimulus.
Because Crossroads GPS does not have to report how it spends its money, and its press releases often discuss several ads buys at once, it is difficult to know how much Crossroads GPS has spend influencing each election. The sections below detail Crossroads GPS's involvement in key senate races in the election, along with examples of ads they have aired against candidates in those races.
At the end of each section, a short summary lists every major ad buy the group made in that particular race. The ad highlighted "silly spending" in the stimulus. They support radical redistribution of wealth and violence. The source for the ad's "radical redistribution of wealth" claim comes from an article critical of the protests in the Wall Street Journal by pollster Douglas Schoen. The ad quotes the Schoen article over the image of a sign that says "fight for socialism, abolish capitalism," apparently implying that the Occupy protesters were socialists and Warren was one of them.
However, a section of the Schoen poll not superimposed over the "socialist" image showed an even number of protesters identified with the socialist and libertarian parties. These folks were out in the scorching heat because they believe that American democracy is about every citizen having a voice in government. Not about how many dollars a person real or corporate can spend on TV and radio ads.
At our destination, all one had to do was look around to see what real democracy looks like. Democracy is those who cared about their country enough to brave the heat for a chance to shout in the streets that people, not corporations, should have the power in our system. The Crossroads groups have become a symbol of how corporate money undermines democracy. This group of passionate men and women clearly understood the corrupting impact of big money on our political system. When big banks and multinational oil conglomerates help get members of Congress and the president elected, the resulting policies, not surprisingly, are tailored to help those corporate campaign funders.
The public is left out. That means our environment is more polluted, our jobs are shipped offshore, our food is less safe, our financial system is not safeguarded from risky speculation and so much more.
Federal Election Commission. We see these measures as a foundation for returning our democracy back to where it belongs—with the people. The march made clear that momentum is growing. Find out how you can take back our democracy by visiting DemocracyIsForPeople. Protecting Democracy [1] American democracy is in jeopardy, from the disastrous Citizens United ruling that flooded our politics with corporate cash to the immoral assault on voting rights.
Get Corporate Money Out of Politics. Fight Pharma Greed. Win Medicare for All. Our Mission. Climate Roadmap for U. Subscribe to the Supreme Court Conference Preview. Share Facebook Twitter Email. Relevant News Public Citizen celebrates 40 years of progress! October 21,
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