Dark Money

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• SOURCE: The Progressive
  1/3/2023
  

  Despite Aggressive Rebrand, Charles Koch is Still Fighting Against Democracy

  by Nancy MacLean and Lisa Graves

  The media have latched on to Charles Koch's recent expressions of regret over partisanship. But this is a rebranding, not a redirection. 

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• SOURCE: Made By History at the Washington Post
  9/28/2022
  

  Does History Show a Remedy for Dark Money?

  by Bo Blew

  Until 1969's Tax Reform Act, private foundations allowed the rich to influence policy and avoid taxation with haphazard oversight by the states. The new generation of independent political action groups needs similar federal oversight.

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• SOURCE: Truthout
  6/28/2022
  

  Dark Money Fuels Anti-Choice Assault in State Houses

  by Julia Peck, Evan Vorpahl & Alyssa Bowen

  Dark money groups are ready to flood state legislative, judicial and attorney general races with cash and supply their allies with model legislation to take immediate advantage of the opening created by the Dobbs decision. The state-level war over abortion rights is on. 

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• SOURCE: Truthout
  4/25/2022
  

  The Dark Money Behind KBJ Attacks Is Coming for Public Schools

  by Alyssa Bowen

  "Dark Money" organizations allow a small group of elite families to use their wealth to control the content of education around the country. 

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• SOURCE: The New Yorker
  8/2/2021
  

  The Big Money Behind the Big Lie

  by Jane Mayer

  The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, based in Wisconsin, is a key connection between past reactionary movements and contemporary efforts to sow doubt about the integrity of elections and potentially place partisan Republicans in charge of counting future votes. 

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• SOURCE: NBC News
  6/15/2021
  

  Critical Race Theory Battle Invades School Boards — with Help from Conservative Groups

  "The growth of school board-focused groups has coincided with a broader conservative effort to make critical race theory a national referendum on the discussion of race in America."

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• SOURCE: The Atlantic
  4/8/2021
  

  The Man Who Waited 50 Years for This Moment

  Fred Wertheimer has been battling the influence of money in politics since the 1970s. Writer George Packer asks if, at age 82, he will finally match his ideas to the political moment. 

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• SOURCE: Made By History at the Washington Post
  3/3/2021
  

  The Far Right’s Big Money Strategy Has Poisoned Our Politics

  by Marc C. Johnson

  The 1976 Supreme Court decision in Buckley v. Valeo ruled that spending money to influence a campaign is free speech, launching the era of big money in politics long before the much-maligned decision in Citizens United v. FEC. 

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• SOURCE: The New Republic
  11/17/2020
  

  Charles Koch Got the Free-Market Dystopia He Wanted. Now He’d Like Your Approval

  "The problem isn’t simply which horses a newly contrite Charles Koch chooses to back, but the extent to which his extreme wealth and his commitment to a system that enshrines the power of the rich has shaped the entire racetrack."