“There aren’t a lot of functioning democracies around the world that work this way where you can basically have millionaires and billionaires bankrolling whoever they want, however they want, in some cases undisclosed. What it means is ordinary Americans are shut out of the process.” Barack Obama, White House press conference, Oct 2013.
Breitbart London, James Delingpole reporting:
“Yes, indeed. But the millionaires and billionaires doing the damage are Obama’s allies on the liberal-left, not his enemies on the right. So says a devastating report published today by the US Senate Committee on the Environment and Public Works.
The report details how an elite group of rich liberal donors such as Tom Steyer and Hank Paulson – “the Billionaire’s Club” – is directing and controlling the far-left environmental movement, “which in turn lobbies and controls major policy decisions and lobbies on behalf of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).”
“Even more unsettling, a dominant organization in this movement is Sea Change Foundation, a private California foundation, which relies on funding from a foreign company with undisclosed donors. In turn, Sea Change funnels tens of millions of dollars to other large but discreet foundations and prominent environmental activists who strive to control both policy and politics.”
Sea Change Foundation Expose – (Breitbart London)
The scale of the conspiracy “by a small group of powerful and active millionaires and billionaires who exert tremendous sway over a colossal effort” is so vast, the [Senate Committee] report admits, that it has barely been able to scratch the surface.”
According to The Washington Free Beacon,
“The report, released on Wednesday by the Republican staff of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, dubs this network the “Billionaire’s Club.”
The club, it says, is “adept at converting charitable donations into political outcomes by taking advantage of loopholes in the tax code. Numerous examples raise questions as to whether the charitable donations are indirectly supporting political activity.”
Three groups form the Billionaire’s Club’s fundraising and coordination apparatus: the Environmental Grantmakers Association, the Democracy Alliance, and the “Invest/Divest movement,” which seeks to pressure financial institutions to “green” their investment portfolios.
Each is integral to the funding strategy detailed in the report. The network funnels money from “charitable” foundations, often through 501(c)(3) “educational” nonprofit groups, to activist organizations that attempt to influence legislation, elections, regulatory actions, or public perception on major environmental issues.
The club’s activities are frequently shielded from public scrutiny due to their use of non-profit tax designations that do not require the public disclosure of donors.”
Where have we heard THAT before?
“Groups such as the Democracy Alliance, which operates as an informal collaborative network between wealthy liberal donors and major left-wing organizations, reveal as little as possible about their work coordinating fundraising and advocacy.
While opacity in its operations is in itself legally permissible, the EPW report notes, the Billionaire’s Club may run afoul of federal laws governing non-profit groups to the extent that the “educational” organizations DA and other Club players launder those funds for eventual use by affiliated lobbying and advocacy outfits.”
And it isn’t just “environmental” efforts that are funded:
“Washington Free Beacon reporting on the alliance has revealed a network of 153 liberal groups that received $69 million from DA donors last year.
Those funds are passed on to groups in two categories of DA support: “aligned network” organizations, and a larger “progressive infrastructure.” Supported groups include 501(c)(3) educational groups, 501(c)(4) “social welfare” non-profits, and political independent expenditure groups commonly known as super PACs.
“These entities propagate the false notion that they are independent, citizen-funded groups working altruistically,” EPW’s report states.
“In reality, they work in tandem with wealthy donors to maximize the value of the donors’ tax deductible donations and leverage their combined resources to influence elections and policy outcomes, with a focus on the EPA.”
Of course, as you might suspect, there is evidence of collusion between groups like the Billionaires’ Club and, primarily, the EPA. As the Daily Caller reports:
“This report proves that the Obama EPA has been deliberately staffed at the highest levels with far-left environmental activists who have worked hand-in-glove with their former colleagues,” reads the committee’s report. “The green-revolving door at EPA has become a valuable asset for the far-left and their wealthy donors. In addition to providing insider access to important policy decisions, it appears activists now at EPA also funnel government money through grants to their former employers and colleagues.”
Republicans have been criticizing the seemingly increasing level of collusion between the EPA and environmentalists for years now, after dozens of “sue and settle” lawsuits have been filed and emails have been uncovered showing EPA officials using private email accounts to correspond with activists.
The New York Times reported earlier this month that a report written by long-time environmental lobbyists with the Natural Resources Defense Council was used as a “blueprint” by EPA officials when writing controversial regulations to cut carbon dioxide emissions from existing power plants.
The Times reported that by “late 2012… [NRDC lobbyists] had finished their proposal and began to travel across the country to present it to state regulators, electric utilities, executives and anyone else they expected to have a hand in shaping the rules.” The lobbyists also “briefed Mr. Goffman [the EPA’s top clean air lawyer] and Mr. Obama’s senior climate adviser at the time, Heather Zichal” on their plan to cut power plant emissions.
According to The Hill,
Cause of Action, a conservative group that has fought for the government to take action against environmental tax-exempt groups, welcomed the report.
“While the IRS seems to be over-inclusive in auditing legitimate nonprofits that differ politically from the administration, they have been under-inclusive in their oversight of politically favored groups who are actually abusing the law,” Dan Epstein, the group’s director, said in a statement.
“What EPW’s report shows is the environmental movement is following the very model President Obama criticized, manipulating the tax code in the process, with no repercussion from the IRS.”
Read More:
U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, REPORT: The Chain of Environmental Command – More Information About the report, and a link to the PDF report itself:
Senate Report
Breitbart London
The Washington Free Beacon
Daily Caller
Fox Nation
The Hill
Sourcewatch: Democracy Alliance
GuideStar: Sea Change Foundation
