The Independence Institute doesn’t want Colorado voters to know who’s footing the bill for its anti-Referendum C ads.
It’s no wonder. There’s an out-of-state stench to the money sources we do know about in the various “no on C” campaigns.
First, there was the $100,000 check sent to “If C Wins, You Lose” from gubernatorial candidate Marc Holtzman’s father. The money from the elder Holtzman’s company, Jewelcor Management of Pennsylvania, helped pay for anti-C television ads featuring, who else, his son.
Now we learn of another $140,000 coming in from an East Coast anti-tax group run by a former Virginia governor. Holtzman’s current campaign manager, Dick Leggitt, just so happened to run the campaign of former Gov. James Gilmore III back in 1997. How convenient.
The outside money goes hat in hand with all of the outside influence we’ve been seeing from the anti-C campaign. Former Texas Congressman Dick Armey has come to town to tell Coloradans how they should vote, along with another Washington lobbyist, Grover Norquist. These fine folks all have one thing in common: they don’t have to live with the consequences if C and D fail.
Lawyers for the Independence Institute have asked an administrative law judge to postpone a hearing about its funding until after the Nov. 1 election. Their argument is that the institute’s radio spots were educational, not advocacy ads – thus legal under Colorado’s campaign finance laws.
If you believe that, listen to the ads. While they don’t explicitly say vote “no,” with their breathless and erroneous claims of a “forever tax hike” they don’t have to.
If you still believe that, listen to institute chief Jon Caldara debate the governor or the speaker of the House. There’s no mistaking the advocacy in his voice.
Caldara – president of the Independence Institute – refuses to name his donors. We urge him to do so, as did Gov. Bill Owens. Coloradans deserve to know who’s filling the trough.
Caldara’s “Vote No; It’s Your Dough” committee, organized to fight the referendum, has taken in more than $125,000 – with fully $100,000 coming from the wallet of Ed McVaney, former chairman of J.D. Edwards.
But, again, who’s bankrolling the Independence Institute?
The battle over Referendum C is a costly one, and the result will affect Colorado for years to come. Voters have a right to know who the players are on both sides.
