Arizona

Unions Face Off With Koch Group Over Arizona Bills

Nick R. Martin | February 29, 2012, 5:45AM

A protest against bills introduced in Arizona to restrict the rights of unions. Feb, 9, 2012. (Jack Kurtz/ZUMA Press)

The battle over government employee unions in Arizona is far from finished.

As Republican lawmakers marched forward Tuesday on a bill that was previously thought to be dead, two major national groups on opposite sides of the issue were calling in reinforcements.

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Americans For Prosperity

Koch-Backed AFP Admits To Posting Fake Eviction Notices On Detroit Homes 'To Startle People'

Jillian Rayfield | June 8, 2011, 12:35PM

The Koch-backed group Americans For Prosperity admitted to posting fake eviction notices on numerous Detroit homes Monday in order to "startle people" about a bridge project that the group opposes.

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Koch Industries

Obama Admin Statements On Koch Industries Tax Status Under Review

Ryan J. Reilly | October 6, 2010, 12:44PM

The White House and David Koch

Statements made by a senior Obama administration official about the tax status of Koch Industries -- a company whose majority owners are major funders of the Tea Party-supporting group Americans for Prosperity -- are under review by the Treasury Inspector General for the Tax Administration, which oversees the activities of the IRS.

The review, focusing on whether any Obama administration official improperly accessed and disclosed private tax information, was started at the request of Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and six other Republican senators.

The statements under question were made back in August, when a senior administration official talked about Koch Industries on a briefing with reporters. "In this country we have partnerships, we have S corps, we have LLCs, we have a series of entities that do not pay corporate income tax," said the senior administration official. "Some of which are really giant firms, you know Koch Industries is a multibillion dollar businesses."

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Dick Armey

History Lessons With Dick Armey: Tea Parties Predate Obama, Clarence Thomas Was 'Lynched'

Megan Carpentier | October 2, 2010, 3:00PM

Dick Armey, FreedomWorks chairman

Speaking to a largely unfriendly -- and often openly hostile -- audience at The New Yorker Festival's Tea Party panel on Saturday morning, former House Majority Leader and current FreedomWorks Chairman Dick Armey attempted to explain to those in attendance the true origins of the tea party and why so many people seem to be so angry right now. And, despite sharing the stage with Harvard history professor and author Jill Lepore, CNBC's Rick Santelli and Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY), he openly attempted to rewrite more than a little history to fit his preferred narrative.

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voter fraud

As Billboards Pop Up In Wisconsin, Tea Party And GOP Accused Of Voter Suppression

Ryan J. Reilly | September 23, 2010, 1:10PM

The Wisconsin Republican Party claims to have shelved an elaborate plan to coordinate with other conservative groups to root out purported voter fraud in the state's upcoming election.

The original plan, which was revealed in a document obtained and made public by a progressive group in the state, would have designated Tea Party groups as investigators in the field looking for fraudulent registrations -- looking through the white pages to authenticate voter addresses, pulling up homes on Google Maps and even driving by houses and apartments to conduct visual checks.

Under an earlier draft of the plan, Tea Party volunteers would then send complete reports to a Wisconsin GOP official, and were instructed to delete all copies of the data and required to sign a confidentiality notice.

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Citizens United

DCCC Accuses Americans For Prosperity of Violating Tax Law (VIDEO)

Ryan J. Reilly | August 30, 2010, 8:37AM

Democrats are charging that Americans for Prosperity, a 501(c)(3) group with ties to the Tea Party, is violating its tax-exempt status by running ads that are "political in nature" and cross the line into political campaigning.

AFP is the subject of a complaint about ads in Kansas, Missouri and Michigan filed by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee with the IRS, the New York Times reported Friday. A copy of the complaint was provided to the Times.

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Koch Industries

Koch Industries: We Don't Fund Tea Parties (Except For The Tea Parties We Fund)

Justin Elliott | April 15, 2010, 9:48AM

Koch Industries Executive Vice President David Koch and Tea Party protesters

Koch Industries, a major backer of myriad right-wing causes, issued an unsolicited statement last night in advance of Tax Day claiming it has never provided funding "specifically to support the tea parties." But when TPMmuckraker followed up, a spokeswoman acknowledged that Koch funds one of the most prominent national groups that organizes ... tea parties.

"Because you have covered tea parties in the past and we imagine you will cover tomorrow's Tax Day Tea Party in DC, we want to reiterate some important facts," wrote Melissa Cohlmia, the company's director of communication, in the email Wednesday evening.

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Goldwater Institute

Group That May Bring Health-Care Lawsuit Is Backed By Big-Name Conservative Funders

Zachary Roth | April 7, 2010, 11:14AM

Gov. Jan Brewer (R-AZ)

A conservative think tank that's funded by several prominent backers of right-wing causes may bring a lawsuit over health-care reform on behalf of the governor of Arizona.

The Goldwater Institute has offered to bring the suit for free, and Gov. Jan Brewer is considering the offer, a spokeswoman for the institute told TPMmuckraker.

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