Political advocacy group
Americans for Prosperity
(
AFP
), founded in 2004, is a
libertarian conservative
political
advocacy group
in the
United States
affiliated with brothers
Charles Koch
and the late
David Koch
.
[6]
As the Koch family's primary political advocacy group, it has been viewed as one of the most influential American conservative organizations.
[7]
[8]
After the 2009 inauguration of President
Barack Obama
, AFP helped transform the
Tea Party movement
into a political force. It organized significant opposition to Obama administration initiatives such as
global warming
regulation, the
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
, the expansion of
Medicaid
, and economic stimulus. It helped turn back
cap and trade
, the major environmental proposal of Obama's first term. AFP advocated for limits on the
collective bargaining
rights of
public-sector trade unions
and for
right-to-work laws
and opposed raising the federal
minimum wage
. AFP played an active role in achieving the Republican majority in the
House of Representatives
in 2010 and in the
Senate
in 2014.
In the
2014 midterm election
cycle, AFP led all groups other than
political action committees
(PACs) in spending on political television advertising. AFP's scope of operations has drawn comparisons to
political parties
. AFP, an
educational social welfare organization
, and the associated
Americans for Prosperity Foundation
, a
public charity
, are
tax-exempt
nonprofits
. As a tax-exempt nonprofit, AFP is not legally required to disclose its donors to the general public;
[9]
the extent of its political activities while operating as a tax-exempt entity has raised concerns among some
campaign finance
watchdogs as to the
transparency
of its funding.
Background, founding, and growth
[
edit
]
Americans for Prosperity was founded in 2004 when internal rivalries caused a split in the conservative political advocacy group
Citizens for a Sound Economy
(CSE),
[10]
creating Americans for Prosperity and
FreedomWorks
.
[7]
[11]
AFP's founding was funded by businessmen and philanthropist brothers
David H. Koch
and
Charles Koch
, of
Koch Industries
.
[10]
[12]
[13]
[14]
The Americans for Prosperity Foundation is the Koch brothers' primary political
advocacy group
.
[8]
[15]
[16]
According to a spokesperson from Koch Industries, the Koch companies do not direct the activities of AFP.
[10]
AFP's original stated mission was "educating citizens about economic policy and mobilizing citizens as advocates in the public policy process".
[17]
Its current stated mission is "to mobilize citizens to advocate for policies that cut red tape and increase opportunity, put the brakes on government overspending, and get the economy working for hard workers ? not special interests".
[5]
It is focused on "fiscal responsibility," and in particular on cutting taxes, reducing regulation of business, and limiting the power of the courts.
[18]
According to
FactCheck.org
, "AFP seeks to support free markets and entrepreneurship by advocating lower taxes and limited government spending and regulation."
[9]
Its leaders view the organization as a counterbalance to the progressive movement's unions and activist organizations.
[19]
According to
NBC News
,
The New York Times
and others, some of AFP's policy positions align with the business interests of the Koch brothers and Koch Industries, including its support for rescinding energy regulations and environmental restrictions; expanding domestic energy production; lowering taxes; and reducing government spending, especially
Social Security
,
Medicare
, and
Medicaid
.
[20]
[21]
[22]
From 2004 to 2007, AFP was led by
Nancy Pfotenhauer
.
[23]
[24]
In 2005, the Kochs hired political strategist
Tim Phillips
to work at AFP.
[25]
AFP had a staff of 116 employees in September 2012,
[26]
and the next year it had chapters in 34 states and reported a membership of 2.3 million.
[3]
In June 2014, it had 240 employees in 32 states.
[27]
AFP has been active in national, state,
[3]
[28]
[29]
and local elections.
[30]
[31]
AFP registered to
lobby
in 2014.
[32]
According to
FactCheck.org
, by 2011, AFP had "emerged as one of the most influential conservative issue advocacy groups on the national and state political scene".
[9]
[33]
The
Los Angeles Times
said AFP performed roles typical of national and state political parties.
[34]
ABC News
said in August 2014 that AFP was "poised to be the most influential conservative group in the nation this year, and among the most influential and heaviest spending across the political spectrum this year and into the looming presidential race".
[35]
As of mid-September 2018, AFP has become one of just 15 groups that account for three-quarters of the anonymous cash following the 2010 Supreme Court decision
Citizens United v. FEC
, which paved the way for
dark money
to flow into U.S. elections.
[36]
[37]
In 2023 in Wyoming,
Tyler Lindholm
formed the 36th state chapter of Americans for Prosperity.
[38]
[39]
Leadership, structure and funding
[
edit
]
Tim Phillips
was the president of AFP and the AFP Foundation from 2006 to 2021, when he was forced to resign.
[4]
AFP has been called both the political and educational arm of the AFP Foundation. AFP and the AFP Foundation share offices and staff.
[40]
[41]
[42]
As of 2014, New Jersey businesswoman Frayda Levin chaired the board of directors of AFP.
[43]
Other directors include Pfotenhauer, former U.S. government official and economist
James C. Miller III
, James E. Stephenson, and Mark Holden.
[44]
AFP files with the
Internal Revenue Service
(IRS) as a
501(c)(4)
nonprofit, tax-exempt, social welfare organization,
[45]
and contributions to it are not tax-deductible. AFP is legally required to operate as nonpartisan: it may not endorse or oppose political candidates, its primary purpose may not be political,
[3]
[9]
[46]
it must be primarily engaged in social welfare activities,
[27]
[47]
and no more than half its expenditures may be political.
[46]
[48]
AFP Foundation
[
edit
]
David H. Koch
chaired the
board of directors
of the AFP Foundation.
[49]
Other directors include Pfotenhauer, economist
Walter E. Williams
, Debra Humphreys, and Cy Nobles.
[10]
[50]
The AFP Foundation is an associate member of the
State Policy Network
, a national network of free-market oriented think tanks.
[51]
[52]
As a
501(c)(3)
non-profit, tax-exempt charity, contributions to the AFP Foundation are tax deductible, and such charities are largely prohibited from political activity.
[9]
[23]
[46]
AFP Action
[
edit
]
Americans for Prosperity Action is a
super PAC
that supports conservative candidates. It spent more than $47 million to support or oppose candidates in 2020 elections.
[53]
Transparency
[
edit
]
Tax-exempt, nonprofit charitable organizations such as AFP are generally not required to disclose their contributors, unlike
political action committees
.
[46]
[54]
[55]
Some campaign finance
watchdogs
and Democrats have criticized AFP for what they perceive to be its funding of political activities from undisclosed sources.
[56]
For example, the
Sunlight Foundation
and others have accused non-disclosing political groups like AFP of filing for nonprofit status solely to invoke the right to hide their donors.
[48]
[57]
President Obama, speaking at a
Democratic National Committee
fundraising dinner in August 2010, criticized AFP for its political spending and non-disclosure of donors.
[23]
[58]
[59]
The
Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee
filed a complaint with the IRS charging that the AFP Foundation had funded political advertisements in violation of the law applicable to the foundation's tax-exempt classification. AFP responded that the charges were without merit.
[60]
[61]
AFP President
Tim Phillips
later suggested that the reason for the Democrats' filing of the complaint was simply that they were scared of the impact the organization was having.
[62]
In 2010 and 2011, AFP reported to the IRS that it was not involved in political activities.
[63]
Questioned by a reporter before the
2012 Wisconsin recall elections
, AFP's Wisconsin director said AFP was educating the public and not engaging in political activity.
[64]
[65]
[66]
In 2014, an AFP spokesperson said AFP had the right to keep its donors private, citing
NAACP v. Alabama
, a 1958
Supreme Court
ruling that protected
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
(NAACP) donors from potential harassment.
[67]
In 2014, Phillips said that protecting donors' identities was prudent given the Obama administration's ideology-based
IRS targeting
of citizens.
[68]
[69]
[70]
The AFP Foundation said its supporters have received serious threats. In February 2015, a federal judge granted the Foundation's motion for a preliminary injunction staying
California Attorney General
Kamala Harris
's request for the names and addresses of Foundation donors, pending resolution of the legality of the request.
[72]
Funding
[
edit
]
While AFP does not disclose its funding sources, some supporters have acknowledged their contributions and
investigative journalism
has documented others. AFP has been funded by the Kochs and others.
[9]
[13]
[19]
[45]
[73]
At AFP's 2009 Defending the Dream summit, David Koch said he and his brother Charles provided the initial funding for AFP.
[74]
[75]
[76]
In initial funding, David Koch was the top contributor to the founding of the AFP Foundation at $850,000.
[77]
[78]
Several American companies also provided initial funding of the AFP Foundation, including $275,000 from
State Farm Insurance
and lesser amounts from
1-800 Contacts
, medical products firm
Johnson & Johnson
, and carpet and flooring manufacturer
Shaw Industries
.
[77]
[78]
Later grants from the
Koch family foundations
include $1 million in 2008 to AFP from the
David H. Koch Charitable Foundation
[13]
and $3 million between 2005 and 2007 to the AFP Foundation from the
Claude R. Lambe Charitable Foundation
,
[79]
controlled by Charles Koch.
[13]
Other grants from Koch-related funding sources include $32.3 million in 2012 and $1.5 million in 2013 from
Freedom Partners
[80]
[81]
[82]
and $4.2 million through 2011 to the AFP Foundation from the
Center to Protect Patient Rights
.
[83]
Between 2003 and 2012, the AFP Foundation received $4.17 million from the
John William Pope Foundation
, chaired by AFP director Pope, the largest identifiable donor to the AFP Foundation.
[84]
[85]
[86]
In 2011, the AFP Foundation received $3 million from the foundation of the family of billionaire
Richard DeVos
, the founder of
Amway
, making the DeVos family the second largest identifiable donor to the AFP Foundation.
[84]
[87]
In 2010, AFP received half a million dollars from the
Bradley Foundation
.
[85]
[88]
AFP received smaller grants in 2012 from tobacco company
Reynolds American
and in 2010 and 2012 from the
American Petroleum Institute
.
[89]
[90]
[91]
[92]
The
donor-advised fund
Donors Trust
granted $11 million to AFP between 2002 and 2010 and $7 million to the AFP Foundation in 2010.
[93]
[94]
Tea Party and 2010 midterm election
[
edit
]
Sarah Palin
at the Americans for Prosperity-run Wisconsin 2011 Tax Day
Tea Party
Rally on April 16, 2011.
AFP helped transform the nascent
Tea Party movement
into a political force.
[77]
[78]
AFP supported the Tea Party movement by obtaining permits and supplying speakers for rallies.
[95]
AFP helped organize and publicize a "Porkulus"-themed protest on the state capitol steps in Denver, Colorado on February 17, 2009, in conjunction with Obama signing the
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
.
[96]
: 31
[97]
Within hours of
CNBC
on-air editor
Rick Santelli
's
remarks
on February 19, 2009, that criticized the Act and called for a "Chicago tea party," AFP registered and launched the website "TaxDayTeaParty.com," calling for protests against Obama.
[96]
: 32
AFP had a lead role in organizing Taxpayer Tea Party rallies in
Sacramento
,
Austin
, and
Madison
in April 2009.
[15]
[98]
AFP was one of the leading organizers of the September 2009
Taxpayer March on Washington
, also known as the "9/12 Tea Party," according to
The Guardian
.
[7]
On April 16, 2011, former Republican vice presidential candidate
Sarah Palin
was the keynote speaker at an AFP annual tax day tea party rally at the state capitol in
Madison, Wisconsin
.
[76]
[99]
In the
2010 midterm elections
, AFP played a major role in achieving a
Republican
majority in the
U.S. House of Representatives
. AFP supported tea party groups, purchased political advertisements,
[56]
and sponsored a nationwide bus tour themed "November is Coming" to recruit organizers and
canvassers
.
[100]
AFP helped Tea Party groups organize voter registration drives.
[12]
An AFP website offered "Tea party
Talking Points
." The organization provided Tea Party activists with education on policy, training in methods, and lists of politicians to target.
[10]
In October 2010, AFP sponsored a workshop on the political use of the internet at a Tea Party convention in Virginia.
[73]
AFP said it spent $40 million on rallies, phone banks, and canvassing during the 2010 election cycle. Of the six freshman Republican members of the
House Committee on Energy and Commerce
in 2010, five benefited from AFP advertisements and grassroots activity.
[40]
David Weigel
wrote in
Slate
that AFP "in the Tea Party era evolved into one of the most powerful conservative organizations in electoral politics."
[101]
AFP and the Tea Party share many of the same principles.
[102]
In 2010, AFP was one of the most influential organizations in the Tea Party movement, and the largest in terms of membership and spending.
[103]
[104]
According to
Bloomberg News
, with AFP the Koch brothers "harnessed the Tea Party's energy in service of their own policy goals, including deregulation and lower taxes....As the Tea Party movement grew in the aftermath of Obama's election, the Kochs positioned Americans for Prosperity as the Tea Party's staunchest ally".
[105]
Labor law
[
edit
]
AFP advocates for a reduction in
public sector union
benefits and pensions, in conjunction with curtailments of public sector
collective bargaining
rights.
[74]
[106]
AFP has opposed raising the
minimum wage
.
[107]
[108]
Wisconsin collective bargaining
[
edit
]
AFP's activities in Wisconsin developed the state into the nation's foremost conservative-progressive battleground,
[19]
[109]
[110]
and AFP used tactics in Wisconsin that were applied in later campaigns.
[26]
AFP has been a major supporter of Republican Wisconsin Governor
Scott Walker
.
[30]
In 2009 and 2010, AFP helped raise the statewide profile of Walker, then
Milwaukee County
county executive
, by inviting him to address its rallies.
[105]
In 2011, when Walker's agenda of reduced spending, cuts to union benefits, and limits on public-sector collective bargaining drew thousands in opposition to the streets around the state capitol in
Madison
, AFP bussed in hundreds to counter-protest.
[41]
AFP spent $320,000 on television advertisements and sponsored a website and bus tour themed "Stand Against Spending, Stand With Walker",
[64]
[65]
[111]
[112]
[113]
and spent a total of $7 million in support of Walker.
[114]
AFP spent $3 million in opposition to the
recall campaign against Walker
in 2011?2012 and sent 75 trained
canvassers
to Wisconsin.
[114]
[115]
[116]
After the passage of Walker's signature legislation, the
2011 Wisconsin Act 10
, which limited
collective bargaining
rights for most public employees, AFP ran advertisements and held town-hall meetings with the theme "It's Working Wisconsin!"
[117]
[118]
Days before the recall election, AFP sponsored a ten-city bus tour themed "A Better Wisconsin."
[64]
[102]
In the context of Walker's 2014 re-election campaign, AFP purchased television issue advertisements in support of Act 10.
[119]
Michigan right-to-work
[
edit
]
Americans for Prosperity's Wisconsin campaign curtailing collective bargaining rights and turning back a recall demonstrated to AFP that similar efforts could succeed in Michigan.
[120]
A top priority of AFP in Michigan was
right-to-work legislation
, which prohibited employers from deducting union dues from employee pay checks and prohibited labor contracts from excluding non-union members.
[121]
[122]
[123]
AFP had opposed Michigan Governor
Rick Snyder
, a Republican, on a number of issues, including the Detroit River International Crossing Bridge project, an expansion of
Medicaid
funded by the federal
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
, and a road bill which raised taxes.
[122]
[124]
AFP coordinated support for right-to-work in Michigan.
[122]
[125]
The AFP Foundation produced a 15-page booklet titled
Unions: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: How forced unionization has harmed workers and Michigan.
AFP's website urged members to gather at the state capital in
Lansing
on December 6, 2012, and some three hundred protestors showed up.
[122]
AFP bussed in activists
[121]
and offered supporters $25 gas cards, free lunch, and drinks.
[123]
AFP reserved space and erected a large heated tent near the Capitol steps for supporters.
[126]
On the morning of December 6, during a
lame duck
session of the Republican-controlled Michigan legislature, Snyder called a joint press conference with the legislative leadership to announce fast-track right-to-work legislation. The legislation passed both houses of the Michigan legislature that day, as protesters and counterprotesters demonstrated outside.
[127]
Michigan state police responded. AFP said protesters tore down the AFP tent. No arrests were made.
[126]
On December 10, President Obama visited
Daimler AG
's
Detroit Diesel
factory in
Redford, Michigan
, and told employees the legislation was about the "right to work for less money."
[128]
[129]
Snyder signed the legislation on December 11.
[127]
[130]
In 2014, Snyder ran for reelection and AFP posted an online advertisement praising his legislative record.
[131]
Obama reelection
[
edit
]
AFP ran an early television advertising campaign opposing Obama's reelection.
[132]
[133]
An August 2012
ProPublica
analysis of broadcast television political advertising purchases by category showed that two nonprofit organizations, AFP and
Crossroads GPS
, combined, outspent all other categories, including political parties,
political action committees
,
super PACs
, unions, and trade associations.
[134]
While previously AFP had run
issue advertising
that opposed Obama's programs, in August 2012 the organization shifted to
express advocacy
, which explicitly called for his defeat.
[135]
[136]
[137]
That month, AFP spent $25 million on television commercials against Obama. AFP said the goal of the commercials was to educate voters.
[138]
AFP raised $140 million in the 2012 election cycle, and it spent $122 million, more than in all the previous eight years since its founding. The organization spent more than $33.5 million on television advertisements opposing Obama's reelection.
[3]
[26]
[83]
In 2011 and 2012, AFP spent $8.4 million in
swing states
on television advertisements denouncing a loan guarantee the Department of Energy had made to
Solyndra
, a manufacturer of solar panels. Solyndra was the first recipient of such a guarantee under the
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
, and the company went bankrupt.
[139]
In January 2012,
The Wall Street Journal
said AFP's Solyndra campaign was "perhaps the biggest attack on Mr. Obama so far in the 2012 election campaign."
[140]
AFP sent a bus on a nationwide tour condemning Obama's economic policies called the "Obama's Failing Agenda Tour."
[141]
[142]
[143]
In April 2011 in New Hampshire, AFP sponsored an informal gathering of five Republican presidential candidates, including
Mitt Romney
,
Tim Pawlenty
,
Michele Bachmann
,
Rick Santorum
, and
Herman Cain
.
[144]
[145]
AFP offered Tea Party groups $2 for every new AFP member their volunteers signed up at polling places in the February 2012
Florida
Republican primary.
[146]
AFP employed methodologies developed in its efforts to thwart the
recall
of Wisconsin governor
Scott Walker
, including deploying a
smartphone
application called "Prosperity Knocks" to canvassers.
[26]
AFP canvassers utilized "Themis", an online voter database of millions of Americans.
[147]
[146]
[148]
Phillips said that AFP's canvassing support application offered field operatives the previous voting history of voters integrated with
census
data and consumer data including purchases, magazine subscriptions, and favorite websites.
[138]
Programs and advocacy
[
edit
]
Energy and environment
[
edit
]
AFP supports oil and gas development and opposes regulation, including environmental restrictions.
[149]
The AFP Foundation opposed Obama's efforts to address
global warming
.
[150]
AFP was important in creating the Tea Party movement and in encouraging the movement to focus on
climate change
.
[151]
AFP helped defeat proposed U.S. legislation embracing
cap and trade
, a market-based approach to control
pollution
by providing
economic
incentives
.
[25]
[152]
In August 2009,
Mother Jones
magazine identified cap and trade as one of the key domestic policy goals of the Obama administration, and identified AFP as one of the most prominent groups in opposition.
[153]
In 2008, AFP circulated the No Climate Tax Pledge to government officials at the federal, state, and local levels, a pledge to "oppose any legislation relating to climate change that includes a net increase in government revenue."
[152]
[154]
[155]
By July 2013, 411 lawmakers and candidates, including a quarter of U.S. Senators and more than a third of U.S. Representatives, primarily Republicans, had signed the pledge.
[152]
Of the twelve Republicans on the
House Energy and Commerce Committee
in 2011, nine signed the pledge.
[34]
AFP held more than eighty events in opposition to cap and trade,
[10]
including the nationwide Hot Air Tour, which involved floating hot air balloons in protest of what AFP described as "global warming alarmism."
[23]
AFP raised a balloon in Phoenix, Arizona, in fall 2008
[156]
and also over
Al Gore
's house in Tennessee.
[25]
AFP described cap and trade as "the largest excise tax in history." AFP sponsored a Regulation Reality Tour to foment opposition to
climate change
legislation and federal regulation of
carbon emissions
.
[157]
The tour involved fake "carbon cops" with badges in green
Smart cars
with flashing lights who wrote citations for "carbon crimes" like running a lawn mower.
[158]
In 2011, AFP launched a Running on Empty website and national tour featuring a 14-foot inflatable gas pump intended to link rising gas prices to the Obama administration's environmental regulations and to promote
offshore drilling
for oil.
[159]
[160]
Long lines formed in several states in 2012 when AFP offered drivers gas discounted to the price in effect when Obama took office.
[142]
[161]
[162]
In 2012, AFP campaigned against Republican political candidates who acknowledged the science of climate change.
[163]
AFP advocates for the construction of the proposed
Keystone XL Pipeline
. In February 2015, AFP organized supporters to telephone the
White House
urging Obama to sign legislation authorizing the project.
[164]
AFP led an effort to repeal a federal
tax credit
for
wind power
.
[165]
[166]
In Kansas, Ohio, North Carolina, and other states, AFP campaigned to overturn
renewable portfolio standards
, state laws that mandated a percentage of the state's electricity come from
renewable resources
.
[167]
[168]
[169]
[170]
AFP announced plans to oppose Republican candidates who support a
carbon tax
in the 2016
presidential primaries
.
[171]
Health care and 2014 midterm
[
edit
]
AFP president Tim Phillips speaking at an AFP health care rally next to the
United States Capitol
in October 2009
AFP has described itself as the nation's largest grassroots champion for health care freedom.
[9]
In August 2009,
Mother Jones
magazine identified health care reform as one of the key domestic policy goals of the Obama administration, and identified AFP as one of the most prominent groups in opposition.
[153]
AFP sponsored two other groups advocating against the Obama administration's proposed
health care reform
, Patients United Now and Patients First.
[153]
In May 2009, AFP launched Patients United Now, which opposed a
single-payer health care system
and a government-funded
health insurance
option. It purchased television advertisements warning of "government-controlled health care" or a "Washington takeover" of health care.
[150]
In one Patients United Now television advertisement, a Canadian woman,
Shona Holmes
, said she could not get timely treatment in Canada and ultimately was treated in the U.S.
[172]
Patients United Now staged more than three hundred rallies to oppose the Obama administration's proposed
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
(ACA).
[10]
[173]
In summer 2009, Patients First sponsored a six-week "Hands Off My Health Care" bus tour.
[174]
Hands Off My Health Care events included rallies protesting against the health care plan and collected signatures in an effort to raise awareness about free-market-based health care reforms.
[175]
[176]
After the
ACA
became law, AFP worked for its repeal
[3]
and campaigned to block states from accepting federal funds made available under the law to expand
Medicaid
. State legislators who supported Medicaid expansion were targeted, including Republican Virginia state senators
Emmett Hanger
and
John Watkins
. AFP bussed in volunteers to a hearing in the state capital and to call constituents, distribute flyers, and send mailings.
[177]
AFP campaigned against Medicaid expansion in Michigan, Louisiana, and Nebraska
[124]
and helped defeat Medicaid expansion in Florida. AFP president Phillips said AFP advocated for repeal of the ACA to keep the issue "in front of the public" and to use the threat of a
presidential veto
to portray Obama as "unwilling to take some reasonable commonsense reforms."
[19]
Phillips told
The New York Times
that a broader goal of AFP's anti-ACA advertising spending was to present the ACA as a "social welfare boondoggle" which would foster opposition to spending on climate change.
[178]
[179]
[180]
In March 2012, AFP, with support from the California-based
Tea Party Express
, organized a rally at the Capitol during the
Supreme Court
's oral arguments regarding the constitutionality of the ACA.
[181]
AFP played a major role in the
2014 midterm elections
,
[47]
helping Republicans achieve a majority in the U.S. Senate.
[182]
AFP targeted legislators who had supported the ACA four years earlier.
[133]
AFP's first campaign advertisement aired in September 2013,
[183]
and by January 2014 the organization had spent $20 million,
[184]
by May, $35 million,
[185]
and by July, $44 million,
[133]
amounts unprecedented so early in a political campaign cycle.
[19]
Senators targeted
Kay Hagan
,
Mary Landrieu
,
Mark Begich
, and
Jeanne Shaheen
, all Democrats.
[184]
In early 2014, AFP ran nationwide advertisements featuring stories about people whose health care, according to the ads, had been compromised by the ACA, whom AFP termed "ObamaCare victims."
[186]
[187]
Between January 1, 2013, and August 31, 2014, in the campaign to control the Senate, AFP aired more than 27,000 television advertisements, about one in every 16 ads.
[188]
AFP was one of the leading spenders on political advertising in 2014.
[189]
AFP lead all non-
political action committees
in terms of spending on television air time for political advertisements in the 2014 election cycle through April.
[190]
Fiscal policy advocacy
[
edit
]
AFP advocates
limited government
.
[191]
Within two days of Obama's inauguration in January 2009, AFP launched a television advertising campaign and a website, "nostimulus.com", that featured an online "No Stimulus" petition addressed to U.S. senators, notifying them that the vote on Obama's first major legislative initiative, the
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
, would be included in AFP's congressional rankings and urging a "no" vote. The petition characterized the Act as "dramatically increasing federal debt and spending...under the pretense of stimulus or recovery." Internet traffic overwhelmed the website, but it was unable to prevent passage in the legislature and a petition to repeal the act.
[96]
: 109
[192]
[193]
In 2011, AFP opposed the extension of
unemployment benefits
, writing that unemployment benefits increase unemployment.
[194]
[195]
In late 2012, AFP opposed a proposed federal relief bill after
Hurricane Sandy
, the second-costliest hurricane in U.S. history.
[196]
[197]
AFP's New Jersey director questioned the federal government's role in natural disaster relief, saying it should be limited to the repair of federal buildings.
[198]
AFP opposed smoking bans in Texas and Virginia.
[24]
[199]
[200]
Michele Bachmann
speaking at the "Cut the spending now" rally at the
United States Capitol
in Washington, D.C., on April 6, 2011 sponsored by Americans for Prosperity.
"Government overspending is the greatest threat to economic prosperity," according to AFP.
[201]
[202]
In 2013, AFP launched a "Spending Accountability Project" which supported letting the $85 billion in
automatic cuts
to
federal
spending required by the
budget sequestration
take effect.
[203]
[204]
AFP opposed the
Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013
, also known as the
Ryan
-
Murray
deal, which proposed $40 billion in spending in excess of the sequestration. AFP said the deal was "not just bad policy, it is bad politics" and noted the loss of the "hard-won bipartisan spending limits set by the sequester."
[205]
[206]
AFP advocates lower taxes.
[9]
[207]
AFP opposed a 2006 cigarette tax hike in Indiana
[208]
and helped fund the "No on 29" effort in opposition to
California Proposition 29 (2012)
, which would have placed a $1
excise tax
on tobacco products to fund smoking medical research and smoking cessation.
[24]
[209]
[210]
In 2013 in Indiana, AFP ran a television advertising campaign in support of Governor
Mike Pence
's ten percent state
income tax
cut.
[211]
AFP advocates for the repeal of the
estate tax
, which it calls the "
death tax
".
[212]
AFP advocates for
free market
solutions.
[27]
In 2011, AFP sent mailings and funded radio advertisements criticizing the proposed construction of the
Gordie Howe International Bridge
, a publicly financed project that would compete with the nearby privately owned
Ambassador Bridge
linking Detroit, Michigan, with Windsor, Ontario; AFP charged that the project would be a waste of taxpayer money if toll revenues did not cover debt service.
[213]
[214]
The bridge will be funded by Canada, and paid back with toll revenues.
[215]
AFP advocated the dissolution of the
Export-Import Bank of the United States
.
[216]
[217]
[218]
Other policy advocacy
[
edit
]
AFP opposes consideration of race and economic class in the assignment of students to schools. According to AFP's North Carolina state director, in 2009 AFP did voter education and supplied volunteers in
school board-elections
in
Wake County, North Carolina
. Wake County includes the state capital,
Raleigh
, and has the 18th-largest school district in the U.S. AFP supported a slate of candidates that opposed
desegregation busing
, which AFP has called "forced busing."
[31]
[219]
[220]
AFP ran phone banks and canvassed in another school board election in
Kenosha, Wisconsin
, in 2014.
[30]
AFP helped organize rallies in favor of
virtual
and
charter schools
.
[221]
AFP is a member of the Internet Freedom Coalition, which opposes
net neutrality
.
[222]
[223]
[224]
AFP's vice president for policy
Phil Kerpen
chaired the Coalition.
[222]
AFP supported January 2014's federal appeals court ruling against the
Federal Communications Commission
's authority to enforce net neutrality.
[191]
[225]
AFP urged Congress to legislatively preempt regulation of the internet.
[226]
In 2016, AFP sponsored the "Grassroots Leadership Academy", a training program designed to help build a conservative movement in response to the rise of
Trumpism
.
[227]
In February 2023, the group hardened its stance against Trump, saying it would work to support a different Republican presidential nominee and that "we need to turn the page on the past".
[228]
Annual events
[
edit
]
Political commentator
Mark Levin
at a Defending the American Dream event in 2007
In 2007, AFP began hosting a yearly Defending the American Dream Summit, now the second-largest annual gathering of conservatives in Washington, D.C.
[61]
[229]
[230]
In conjunction with the July 2008
Netroots Nation
conference in Austin, Texas, AFP hosted RightOnline, a conference of conservative
bloggers
and activists that aimed to develop conservative social media strategies,
[231]
[232]
which became an annual event.
[233]
Election-related activities
[
edit
]
In June 2011, AFP placed fake
eviction notices
on doors in
the Delray neighborhood
of Detroit, stating that homes might be taken to make way for the
Detroit River International Crossing
project.
[234]
In August 2011, AFP mailed absentee voter applications to
Democratic
voters in at least two
recall elections in Wisconsin
that included a filing deadline two days after the election. The return envelopes were addressed to an "Absentee Ballot Application Processing Center" with the post office box number of Wisconsin Family Action, a socially conservative group, rather than to the clerk's office.
[235]
[236]
Responding to charges of
voter suppression
, AFP said the incorrect date was a "printing mistake" and was intended only for voters in the two districts where Democrats are set to face recalls on a later date.
[237]
[238]
The state board of elections opened an investigation.
[239]
In 2013 in Virginia and 2014 in Arkansas, the AFP Foundation mailed "voter history report cards," which included the public-record voting history of both the addressee and its neighbors.
[240]
[241]
[242]
A 2014 television advertisement targeting Democratic U.S. Senate candidate
Gary Peters
of Michigan for his support of the
Affordable Care Act
featured leukemia patient Julie Boonstra, who said she could no longer afford the cost of her treatment after the ACA.
[186]
[187]
[243]
The Washington Post
reported that the advertisement had "significant factual errors and/or obvious contradictions."
[244]
Boonstra would save at least $1,000 a year under the ACA, according to
The Detroit News
.
[245]
[246]
AFP aired another television advertisement in which Boonstra said Peters was trying to silence her.
[187]
[247]
AFP apologized for another television advertisement that criticized the ACA and Democratic Senator
Mark Udall
, a candidate for reelection, using images of a somber Obama and Udall from their visit to
Aurora, Colorado
, in the wake of
the mass shooting
there.
[248]
In April 2014, AFP mailed voters in at least eight West Virginia counties material that may have led them to believe they were ineligible to vote in an upcoming primary election. The mailings, received just before the deadline to update voter registration, included registration cards and prepaid return envelopes addressed to county clerks, with a message cautioning voters that if they did not update their voter registration, they might lose their right to vote in the upcoming primary election. AFP's West Virginia director said the mailings were a non-partisan,
get out the vote
effort targeting unregistered voters.
[249]
In September 2014, AFP was investigated by the state board of elections of North Carolina after the state Democratic Party filed a complaint regarding an AFP voter registration mailing labelled "official application form" containing inaccurate information including an incorrect filing deadline five days before the actual deadline.
[250]
[251]
AFP stated the mistakes in the North Carolina mailings were "administrative errors."
[252]
In 2017, AFP ran ads attacking Virginia Democratic candidate for governor
Ralph Northam
.
[253]
In 2018, the New Hampshire attorney general's office began investigating the nonprofit status of AFP after a group of Republican representatives accused the conservative activist group of improperly wading into state elections. The investigation is ongoing.
[254]
The organization said that it may support Democrats in the
2020 United States elections
as part of a broader effort to adjust its strategy.
[255]
In March 2023, the group said it was opposing Trump's reelection as president and was seeking an alternative to
Kari Lake
in her 2024 Senate run.
[256]
The group supported
Lily Wu
's successful campaign for
mayor of Wichita, Kansas
, in the
November 2023 election
. Wu had completed an associate program at the Charles Koch Institute.
[257]
On November 28, 2023, the group announced its support for
Nikki Haley
in her
campaign
for the
Republican Party
's nomination for
president of the United States
in the
2024 United States presidential election
.
[258]
On February 25, 2024, after she lost the primary in her home state, the group cut funding to Haley's campaign.
[259]
[260]
Further reading
[
edit
]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"
Americans for Prosperity
[
permanent dead link
]
".
District of Columbia Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs
.
Government of the District of Columbia
. Accessed on June 20, 2016.
- ^
a
b
c
d
"
Form 990: Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax
".
Americans for Prosperity
.
Guidestar
. December 31, 2014.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
Beckel, Michael (November 14, 2013).
"Americans For Prosperity Spent Record Cash In 2012"
.
The Huffington Post
.
Center for Public Integrity
. Retrieved
March 24,
2015
.
- ^
a
b
c
Stanley-Becker, Isaac (December 1, 2021).
"Longtime president of Koch-backed Americans for Prosperity is forced out"
.
Washington Post
. Retrieved
December 4,
2021
.
- ^
a
b
"About Americans for Prosperity: Our Mission"
. Retrieved
July 11,
2015
.
- ^
"How the Koch brothers built the most powerful rightwing group you've never heard of"
.
The Guardian
. 2018-09-26.
ISSN
0261-3077
. Retrieved
2018-09-26
.
- ^
a
b
c
Pilkington, Ed (September 18, 2009).
"Republicans steal Barack Obama's internet campaigning tricks"
.
The Guardian
. Retrieved
April 5,
2015
.
- ^
a
b
Vogel, Kenneth P.
(May 9, 2014).
"Koch brothers' Americans for Prosperity plans $125 million spending spree"
.
Politico
. Retrieved
May 6,
2015
.
The Koch brothers' main political arm intends to spend more than $125 million this year on an aggressive ground, air and data operation benefiting conservatives, according to a memo distributed to major donors and sources familiar with the group. The projected budget for Americans for Prosperity would be unprecedented for a private political group in a midterm, and would likely rival even the spending of the Republican and Democratic parties' congressional campaign arms.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
"Americans for Prosperity"
.
FactCheck.org
. October 10, 2011
. Retrieved
April 22,
2015
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
Mayer, Jane
(August 30, 2010).
"Covert Operations: The billionaire brothers who are waging a war against Obama"
.
The New Yorker
. Retrieved
March 20,
2015
.
- ^
Theda Skocpol; Vanessa Williamson (2012).
The Tea Party and the Remaking of Republican Conservatism
. US: Oxford University Press. pp.
104
?.
ISBN
978-0199832637
.
- ^
a
b
Zernike, Kate
(October 19, 2010).
"Secretive Republican Donors Are Planning Ahead"
.
The New York Times
. Retrieved
December 21,
2014
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
Cohen, Rick (September 15, 2010).
"The Starfish and the Tea Party, Part II"
.
Nonprofit Quarterly
.
Institute for Nonprofit News
. Retrieved
June 18,
2015
.
The Koch family does show up as a major funder of another of the national Tea Party infrastructure, Americans for Prosperity.
- ^
Roberts, Robert North; Hammond, Scott John; Sulfaro, Valerie A. (2012).
"Americans for Prosperity"
.
Presidential Campaigns, Slogans, Issues, and Platforms: The Complete Encyclopedia
. Greenwood Press.
ISBN
978-0313380938
. Retrieved
July 8,
2015
.
Americans for Prosperity Foundation (AFP) is an antitaxation advocacy group founded in 2004 and financed by David and Charles Koch, the billionaire brothers who own Koch Industries of Wichita, Kansas.
- ^
a
b
Goldman, Andrew (July 25, 2010).
"The Billionaire's Party: David Koch is New York's second-richest man, a celebrated patron of the arts, and the tea party's wallet"
.
New York magazine
. Retrieved
March 25,
2015
.
AFPF is now Koch's primary political-advocacy group.
- ^
Kroll, Andy (November 6, 2014).
"2014: The Year of Koch"
.
Mother Jones
. Retrieved
May 9,
2015
.
The Koch brothers' flagship organization, Americans for Prosperity, had an equally stellar Election Day.
- ^
"About Americans for Prosperity"
. Retrieved
March 9,
2012
.
- ^
Meyer, D. S., and A. Pullum.
"The Tea Party and the Dilemmas of Conservative Populism,"
in
Understanding the Tea Party Movement,
edited by D. S. Meyer and N. Van Dyke. (London: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 2014), p. 89.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
Roarty, Alex (June 12, 2014).
"Americans for Prosperity Is Just Getting Started"
.
National Journal
. Retrieved
May 1,
2015
.
- ^
Caldwell, Leigh Ann (January 15, 2015).
"Koch-backed Group Vows To Hold GOP's Feet To The Fire"
.
NBC News
. Retrieved
August 24,
2015
.
Americans for Prosperity, which spent more than $100 million in the 2014 election in efforts to help elect Republicans, is vowing to hold Republicans accountable now that they have control of both bodies of Congress. The group, financed largely by conservative entrepreneurs Charles and David Koch, promised Thursday at the National Press Club to expand its reach and influence in 2015 by pushing its core legislative policies of repealing the Affordable Care Act, rolling back energy regulations, expanding domestic energy production, reducing taxes and reining in government spending, especially Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid ? all efforts that would financially benefit the Koch brothers' sprawling business entities.
- ^
Fang, Lee
(January 25, 2015).
"Americans for Prosperity's legislative agenda is just Koch Industries' corporate wish list"
.
Salon
.
Republic Report
. Retrieved
August 24,
2015
.
Americans for Prosperity, the grassroots organizing group founded by billionaire industrialists Charles and David Koch, spent $125 million in the midterm elections last year. Now, they're calling in their chips. At the National Press Club yesterday, AFP president Tim Phillips and several officers with the group laid out their agenda. The group is calling for legalizing crude oil exports, a repeal of the estate tax, approval of the Keystone XL pipeline, blocking any hike in the gas tax, a tax holiday on corporate profits earned overseas, blocking the EPA's new rules on carbon emissions from coal-burning power plants, and a repeal of the Affordable Care Act, along with a specific focus on the medical device tax. The announcement was touted by NPR as a "conservative agenda for Congress." But it's also a near mirror image of Koch Industries' lobbying agenda. Koch Industries ? the petrochemical, manufacturing and commodity speculating conglomerate owned by David and Charles ? is not only a financier of political campaigns, but leads one of the most active lobbying teams in Washington, a big part of why the company has been such a financial success.
- ^
Van Dyke, Nella; Meyer, David S (2014).
Understanding the Tea Party Movement
.
Ashgate Publishing
. p. 177.
ISBN
978-1409465225
. Retrieved
August 24,
2015
.
When faced with the charge that the Tea Party movement really represents only the interests of its generous benefactors, the Koch brothers, Tea Partiers like to cite George Soros, the billionaire currency speculator who has bankrolled political efforts for civil liberties generally. The easy equivalence is deceptive; it's hard to see how decriminalizing drugs, for example, serves Soros's business interests in the way relaxing environmental regulations supports the Kochs' businesses; the scope and scale of the Tea Party's dependence on large capital may indeed be unique.
- ^
a
b
c
d
Sonmez, Felicia (August 26, 2010).
"Who is Americans for Prosperity?"
.
The Washington Post
. Retrieved
March 23,
2015
.
AFP's previous president, Nancy Pfotenhauer, left to become an adviser to Sen. John McCain's (R-Ariz.) presidential bid. (Pfotenhauer had previously worked as a lobbyist for Koch Industries.)
- ^
a
b
c
Fallin, Amanda; Grana, Rachel; Glantz, Stanton A. (February 8, 2013).
"
'To quarterback behind the scenes, third-party efforts': the tobacco industry and the Tea Party"
.
Tobacco Control
.
23
(4): 322?331.
doi
:
10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2012-050815
.
PMC
3740007
.
PMID
23396417
.
- ^
a
b
c
Rutenberg, Jim (October 17, 2014).
"How Billionaire Oligarchs Are Becoming Their Own Political Parties"
.
The New York Times Magazine
. Retrieved
March 23,
2015
.
The Kochs hired Phillips in 2005 to make Americans for Prosperity into a force that could defeat liberalism and elect true free-market conservatives
- ^
a
b
c
d
Peter Wallsten; Tom Hamburger (September 20, 2012).
"Conservative groups reaching new levels of sophistication in mobilizing voters"
.
The Washington Post
. Retrieved
2012-09-21
.
- ^
a
b
c
Gold, Matea (June 18, 2014).
"An expanding Koch network aims to spend $300 million to shape Senate fight and 2016"
.
The Washington Post
. Retrieved
April 22,
2015
.
- ^
Wilson, Reid (July 18, 2014).
"Americans for Prosperity to add offices in 2 new states"
.
The Washington Post
. Retrieved
May 11,
2015
.
- ^
Bland, Scott (March 20, 2014).
"Americans for Prosperity Now Going After Democratic Governors"
.
National Journal
. Retrieved
May 11,
2015
.
- ^
a
b
c
Smith, Deneen (March 24, 2014).
"Americans for Prosperity throws its weight into Kenosha Unified School Board race"
.
Kenosha News
. Archived from
the original
on 2015-04-23
. Retrieved
April 22,
2015
.
- ^
a
b
Adler, Ben (January 21, 2011).
"Weak Tea Party Connection to Wake County, N.C., School Board"
.
Newsweek
. Retrieved
May 13,
2015
.
- ^
Wilson, Megan R. (February 19, 2014).
"Americans for Prosperity registers to lobby"
.
The Hill
. Retrieved
May 17,
2015
.
- ^
Kroll, Andy (September 3, 2012).
"Americans for Prosperity Chief: We Don't Know If $27 Million in Anti-Obama Ads Has Any Effect"
.
Mother Jones
. Retrieved
June 5,
2015
.
AFP is one of the most powerful political players in national conservative politics.
- ^
a
b
Hamburger, Tom; Hennessey, Kathleen; Banerjee, Neela (February 6, 2011).
"Koch brothers now at heart of GOP power"
.
Los Angeles Times
. Retrieved
May 11,
2015
.
- ^
Good, Chris (August 29, 2014).
"No Strategy"
.
The Note
.
ABC News
. Retrieved
June 1,
2015
.
- ^
Fredreka Schouten (September 12, 2018).
"Exclusive: Three-quarters of the secret money in recent elections came from 15 groups"
.
USAToday.com
. Retrieved
September 13,
2018
.
- ^
Dark Money Illuminated.
Issue One
- ^
Taylor, Emilee (2023-01-11).
"Americans for Prosperity to Open Wyoming Chapter in 2023"
.
Americans for Prosperity
. Retrieved
2023-03-19
.
- ^
Orr, Jimmy (2023-01-11).
"Former Legislator Tyler Lindholm To Launch Americans For Prosperity Chapter in Wyoming - Cowboy State Daily"
.
cowboystatedaily.com
. Retrieved
2023-03-19
.
- ^
a
b
Hamburger, Tom; Kathleen Hennessey; Neela Banerjee (2011-02-06).
"Koch brothers now at heart of GOP power"
.
Los Angeles Times
. Archived from
the original
on February 17, 2011
. Retrieved
2011-02-06
.
- ^
a
b
Lipton, Eric (February 21, 2011).
"Billionaire Brothers' Money Plays Role in Wisconsin Dispute"
.
The New York Times
. p. A16
. Retrieved
March 23,
2015
.
- ^
Abowd, Paul (June 21, 2012).
"Nonprofit profile: Americans for Prosperity"
.
Center for Public Integrity
. Retrieved
April 28,
2015
.
- ^
Confessore, Nicholas (August 30, 2014).
"Kochs' Network Wrestles With Expectations for Presidential Primaries"
.
The New York Times
. Retrieved
April 26,
2015
.
- ^
"Directors"
. Americans for Prosperity
. Retrieved
2016-08-11
.
- ^
a
b
Ballhaus, Rebecca (September 25, 2014).
"Mystery Money: Your Guide to Campaign Finance in 2014"
.
The Wall Street Journal
. Retrieved
June 7,
2015
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
Luo, Michael; Strom, Stephanie (September 21, 2010).
"Donor Names Remain Secret As Rules Shift"
.
The New York Times
. p. A1
. Retrieved
March 23,
2015
.
They include 501(c)(4) "social welfare" organizations, like Crossroads, which has been the top spender on Senate races, and Americans for Prosperity, another pro-Republican group that has been the leader on the House side; 501(c)(5) labor unions, which have been supporting Democrats; and 501(c)(6) trade associations, like the United States Chamber of Commerce, which has been spending heavily in support of Republicans. Charities organized under Section 501(c)(3) are largely prohibited from political activity because they offer their donors tax deductibility....The elections commission could, theoretically, step in and rule that groups like Crossroads GPS should register as political committees, which would force them to disclose their donors.
- ^
a
b
Gold, Matea (February 12, 2014).
"IRS plan to curb politically active groups is threatened by opposition from both sides"
.
The Washington Post
. Retrieved
May 28,
2015
.
- ^
a
b
McGrath Goodman, Leah (September 30, 2014).
"As Dark Money Floods U.S. Elections, Regulators Turn a Blind Eye"
.
Newsweek
. Retrieved
June 7,
2014
.
- ^
Kroll, Andy; Schulman, Daniel (February 5, 2014).
"The Koch Brothers Left a Confidential Document at Their Donor Conference"
.
Mother Jones
. Retrieved
March 23,
2015
.
- ^
"Board of Directors"
. Americans for Prosperity Foundation. Archived from
the original
on 2015-05-18
. Retrieved
2016-08-11
.
- ^
Kopan, Tal (November 13, 2013).
"Report: Think tanks tied to Kochs"
.
Politico
. Retrieved
February 24,
2015
.
- ^
"Directory SPN Members"
.
State Policy Network
. Archived from
the original
on March 18, 2015
. Retrieved
March 23,
2015
.
- ^
"Americans for Prosperity Action Outside Spending"
. Open Secrets
. Retrieved
February 6,
2023
.
- ^
Drutman, Lee (July 16, 2012).
"Dark money in the 2012 elections (so far)"
.
Sunlight Foundation
. Retrieved
June 7,
2015
.
- ^
Novak, Viveca (July 19, 2012).
"Midwestern Bank PAC Funds Kochs' Americans for Prosperity"
.
OpenSecrets
. Retrieved
June 7,
2015
.
- ^
a
b
Lichtblau, Eric (March 6, 2012).
"Cato Institute Is Caught in a Rift Over Its Direction"
.
The New York Times
. Retrieved
March 24,
2015
.
- ^
Engler, Alex (September 25, 2012).
"Dark Money Organizations Change Strategies to Keep Donors Secret"
.
Sunlight Foundation
. Retrieved
June 2,
2015
.
- ^
Johnson, Eliana (September 2, 2014).
"Obama's Bete Noire"
.
National Review
. Retrieved
March 21,
2015
.
As the 2010 midterms approached, President Obama warned his supporters about groups with "harmless-sounding names like Americans for Prosperity." "They don't want you to know who the Americans for Prosperity are, because they're thinking about the next election," he said.
- ^
Parti, Tarini (May 13, 2013).
"Koch-backed group links itself to IRS scandal"
.
Politico
. Retrieved
May 29,
2015
.
In 2010, Obama called out Americans for Prosperity and similar groups for their spending activities without financial disclosure. "Right now all around this country there are groups with harmless-sounding names like Americans for Prosperity, who are running millions of dollars of ads against Democratic candidates all across the country," Obama said at an Aug. 2010 fundraiser. "And they don't have to say who exactly the Americans for Prosperity are," he added. "You don't know if it's a foreign-controlled corporation. You don't know if it's a big oil company, or a big bank. You don't know if it's a insurance company that wants to see some of the provisions in health reform repealed because it's good for their bottom line, even if it's not good for the American people."
- ^
Lichtblau, Eric (August 27, 2010).
"Group Is Accused on Tax Exemption"
.
The New York Times
. Retrieved
March 23,
2015
.
- ^
a
b
Schouten, Fredreka (August 27, 2010).
"Democrats file IRS complaint against Americans for Prosperity"
.
USA Today
. Retrieved
May 10,
2015
.
- ^
Lichtblau, Eric (2010-08-27).
"Americans for Prosperity Foundation Accused of Abusing Tax-Exempt Status"
.
The New York Times
.
ISSN
0362-4331
. Retrieved
2016-01-29
.
- ^
Lehmann, Evan (October 12, 2011).
"As Anti-Climate Group's Activities Rise, So Do Questions About Its Secret Finances"
.
The New York Times
.
ClimateWire
. Retrieved
May 11,
2015
.
- ^
a
b
c
Kroll, Andy (May 28, 2012).
"Americans for Prosperity: Our Pro-Walker Bus Tour Has Nothing to Do With Recall"
.
Mother Jones
. Retrieved
April 20,
2015
.
- ^
a
b
Foley, Micheal (May 23, 2012).
"Americans For Prosperity Bus Tour to Stop in Hudson on June 1"
.
Patch Media
. Retrieved
April 21,
2015
.
We're not dealing with any candidates, political parties or ongoing races," Hilgemann said. "We're just educating folks on the importance of the reforms.
- ^
Maddow, Rachel
(May 30, 2012).
"AFP fails the straight-face test"
.
The Rachel Maddow Show
.
MSNBC
. Retrieved
May 29,
2015
.
We're not dealing with any candidates, political parties, or ongoing races
- ^
Alpert, Bruce (September 6, 2014).
"Americans for Prosperity on why it keeps donors secret and SEC won't appeal Stanford ruling: On the Hill"
.
The Times-Picayune
. Retrieved
27 April
2015
.
- ^
"AFP's Tim Phillips on Harry Reid, GOP Senate Chances and Disclosing Donors"
.
The Wall Street Journal
. August 11, 2014
. Retrieved
May 10,
2015
.
- ^
"Tim Phillips (political strategist)"
.
Newsmakers
.
C-SPAN
. August 8, 2014
. Retrieved
May 10,
2015
.
- ^
Confessore, Nicholas (October 10, 2014).
"Secret Money Fueling a Flood of Political Ads"
.
The New York Times
. Retrieved
June 3,
2015
.
"Given the record of this administration in using regulatory agencies like the I.R.S. in a retaliatory fashion, then it's understandable that there's concern about disclosure from a lot of individuals," said Tim Phillips, the president of Americans for Prosperity, a conservative organization that combines field efforts with large advertising campaigns.
- ^
Americans for Prosperity v. Kamala Harris
(California Central District Court February 23, 2015),
Text
.
- ^
a
b
Pilkington, Ed (October 13, 2010).
"Americans For Prosperity sponsors Tea Party workshop"
.
The Guardian
. London
. Retrieved
March 24,
2015
.
- ^
a
b
Overby, Peter (February 25, 2011).
"Billionaire Brothers In Spotlight In Wis. Union Battle"
.
NPR
. Retrieved
May 13,
2015
.
The Koch brothers provided the seed money for Americans for Prosperity a decade ago ? and more than $1 million overall.
- ^
Overby, Peter (February 19, 2010).
"Who's Raising Money For Tea Party Movement?"
.
National Public radio
.
'Five years ago my brother Charles and I provided the funds to start the Americans for Prosperity. And it's beyond my wildest dreams how the AFP has grown into this enormous organization,' David Koch said
- ^
a
b
Lessin, Tia
and
Deal, Carl
(2013).
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External links
[
edit
]
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First generation
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Second generation
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Third generation
| |
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Fourth generation
|
- Elizabeth Koch
: 1976
- Chase Koch
: 1977
- Wyatt : 1986
- William: 1997
- Charlotte: 1996
- Robin: 1999
- Kaitlin: 2006
- David Jr.: 1998
- Mary Julia: 2001
- John: 2006
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Major companies
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Other organizations
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See also
| |
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Issues
| | |
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History
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People
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Organizations
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Related topics
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38°53′30″N
77°05′07″W
/
38.8918°N 77.0854°W
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38.8918; -77.0854