Tag: Americans for Prosperity

Conservative groups target swing Democrats in fight against infrastructure plan and taxes

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Americans for Prosperity travels to Iowa, takes aim at Cindy Axne

Tim Phillips, who runs the conservative group Americans for Prosperity, is going on the road to fight major elements of President Joe Biden’s infrastructure plan and the potential tax increases to help fund it. 

He’ll be in Iowa on Monday, seeking to put pressure on Democratic Rep. Cindy Axne, who represents the southwest section of the state. 

The stop in Des Moines is a sign of what’s to come across the country as the Biden administration and congressional Democrats craft a $2 trillion infrastructure-jobs-tax package. Americans for Prosperity’s burgeoning campaign is just one slice of a broader, emerging push among conservative policy groups and political networks focused on Democratic lawmakers in swing districts.   Continue reading.

Paulsen’s Lies Not Limited to TV: Debunked Claims Hit Mailboxes Too

A dark secret: Paulsen and his special interest patrons are waging a disinformation campaign in MN03 mailboxes

EXCELSIOR, MN – Congressman Erik Paulsen’s coordinated negative television campaign has earned him unprecedented scrutiny from local fact checkers, but another tactic has earned him less scrutiny, with dozens of special interest-funded mailers containing the same objectively false claims landing in mailboxes across the Third District.

“Voters in Minnesota’s Third District have been subjected to a barrage of objectively false claims on TV and in their mailboxes thanks to Erik Paulsen and his special interest funders,” said Zach Rodvold, campaign manager for Phillips for Congress. “The pieces are too numerous to track, and have no regard for fact or truth — oftentimes coming from dark money groups who operate with no transparency. Congressman Paulsen and his special interest patrons have shown an unrelenting commitment to buying this election, and embracing Donald Trump’s propensity for lies and personal slander on the campaign trail as much as they have his policies in Washington.”

Congressman Paulsen has raised over $2.7 million from PACs – the fourth most of anyone in Congress – and used the money to run an unprecedentedly negative campaign that has been called inappropriate, reckless, false, distorted, not even in the same time zone as truth, extremely misleading, just plain false, and wildly out of context by independent journalists, community leaders, sexual harassment survivors, and Democrats, independents, and Republicans alike. While the TV ads have been the subject of scrutiny by independent fact checkers, hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of deceptive direct mail has gone unnoticed.

Here are just some of the outrageous claims being delivered to mailboxes across the district:

Continue reading “Paulsen’s Lies Not Limited to TV: Debunked Claims Hit Mailboxes Too”

Koch network launches super PAC ahead of midterm elections

The following article by Jonathan Easley was posted on the Hill website September 10, 2018:

Credit: Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce

The political network backed by billionaire activist Charles Koch launched a new super PAC on Monday to elect candidates that share their conservative and libertarian-leaning values.

Americans for Prosperity (AFP), the political arm of the Koch network, has created AFP Action, which will coordinate with Libre Action, an Hispanic outreach super PAC, and Concerned Veterans for America Action to “advocate for candidates who share our commitment to breaking internal and external barriers that prevent people from realizing their full potential.”

The new super PAC will be able to draw on a deep network of wealthy conservative and libertarian donors, although officials declined to say how much the group intends to spend ahead of the 2018 midterm elections.

View the complete article here.

Conservative Groups Seeking Support for Tax Cuts Find It a Hard Sell

The following article by Jeremy W. Peters was posted on the New York Times website December 6, 2017:

So far, Americans for Prosperity and its field staff and volunteers have visited more than 41,000 homes and made 1.1 million phone calls. Credit Cassi Alexandra for The New York Times

MIAMI — A dozen high school students working for Americans for Prosperity, the conservative political network funded by Charles G. and David H. Koch, fanned out across the Little Havana neighborhood one day last week to make the case that the Republican tax bill was something to get excited about.

“We believe it’s time to fix our broken tax code and let families keep more of what they earn,” Barbara D’Ambrosio, a sophomore, dutifully told an elderly woman who answered the door in her slippers. After she finished her script, Barbara glanced up from the iPad she was carrying and asked if the woman would kindly call her senators to urge them to support the tax bill, which was hours away from being approved by the Senate.

The woman stared at her silently for a moment. Then she nodded, politely but unconvincingly. Continue reading “Conservative Groups Seeking Support for Tax Cuts Find It a Hard Sell”