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Jill Holtzman Vogel

Jill Holtzman Vogel

GOP Lawyer's Latest Gambit: Anti-HCR Bill In Virginia


Virginia State Sen. Jill Holtzman Vogel (R-Winchester)

A Republican state legislator with close ties to the GOP operatives behind a slew of hardball tactics has sponsored and helped pass a bill -- almost certainly unconstitutional -- that prohibits the federal government from forcing the state's citizens to buy health insurance.

The Virginia legislature last week passed legislation, based on a model created by the American Legislative Exchange Council, that declares unconstitutional any effort to require citizens to buy health insurance -- as the health-care reform measures passed by both chambers of the U.S. Congress would do. In the state Senate, the effort was led by Sen. Jill Vogel.

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Topics: Alex Vogel, Health Care, Jason Torchinsky, Jill Holtzman Vogel, Robo-calls, Voting, voter fraud

American Future Fund

GOP Group Undermining Robo-Call Laws Has Ties To DCI

American Future Fund (AFF), the shadowy conservative advocacy group that's working to undermine state laws against robo-calling, has ties to DCI Group, a Republican lobbying firm with a reputation for dirty tricks and shady clients. And a closer look at AFF suggests the group has been designed to carry out political attacks while escaping scrutiny from the press and public.

AFF paid $249,000 last year to McKenna & Associates for fundraising work, according to a copy of AFF's 990 form for 2008 that was obtained by TPMmuckraker. The Arlington, Virginia-based firm is run by Andrew McKenna, a GOP operative and former senior vice-president of DCI Group. McKenna did not immediately respond to TPMmuckraker's request for comment.

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Topics: Alex Vogel, American Future Fund, Astroturf, Chuck Grassley, FLS Connect, Health Care, Jill Holtzman Vogel, Lobbyists

Jill Hotlzman

Shadowy GOP-Linked Group Plans Barrage Of 2010 Robo-Calls

A shadowy conservative group with ties to the operatives behind a host of GOP dirty tricks is working to undermine state restrictions on political robo-calls, as it gears up to unleash a barrage of such calls in 2010 races.

Last month, American Future Fund Political Action (AFFPA) informed the FEC that it's planning robo-calls in congressional races. Jason Torchinsky, a lawyer for AFFPA, wrote that the group "wishes to distribute pre-recorded telephone calls ... as part of a nationwide program of political outreach." The calls, wrote Torchinsky, "will expressly advocate the election or defeat of one or more clearly identified candidates for Federal office."

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Topics: Alex Vogel, American Center for Voting Rights, American Future Fund, Jason Torchinsky, Jill Holtzman Vogel, Jill Hotlzman, Voting, voter fraud

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