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Americans for Prosperity

January 01, 1970

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]

Americans for Prosperity
PredecessorCitizens for a Sound Economy
FormationMarch 10, 2004; 20 years ago (2004-03-10)[1]
TypeNonprofit political advocacy group
75-3148958[2]
Legal status501(c)(4)[2]
HeadquartersArlington, Virginia[2]
Membership
2.3 million (2013)[3]
Emily Seidel[4]
Board chair
Mark Holden
AffiliationsAmericans for Prosperity Foundation,
PDIST LLC[2]
Revenue (2018)
$96.5 million[4]
Websiteamericansforprosperity.org

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]

AFP edit

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.[71][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

  • Alex Hertel-Fernande. 2019. State Capture: How Conservative Activists, Big Businesses, and Wealthy Donors Reshaped the American States – and the Nation. Oxford University Press.

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "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.
  2. ^ a b c d "Form 990: Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax". Americans for Prosperity. Guidestar. December 31, 2014.
  3. ^ 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.
  4. ^ 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.
  5. ^ a b "About Americans for Prosperity: Our Mission". Retrieved July 11, 2015.
  6. ^ "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.
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External links edit

 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Americans for Prosperity.
  • Americans for Prosperity website
  • Americans for Prosperity Foundation website
  • Tax information on Americans for Prosperity, Pro Publica
  • Tax information on Americans for Prosperity Foundation, Pro Publica
  • Nicholas Confessore, "Rand Paul and Wealthy Libertarians Connect as He Weighs Running," The New York Times, April 24, 2014 (profile article on Frayda Levin)
  • Americans for Prosperity at Ballotpedia

38°53′30″N 77°05′07″W / 38.8918°N 77.0854°W / 38.8918; -77.0854

January 01, 1970
americans, prosperity, founded, 2004, libertarian, conservative, political, advocacy, group, united, states, affiliated, with, brothers, charles, koch, late, david, koch, koch, family, primary, political, advocacy, group, been, viewed, most, influential, ameri. 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 Americans for ProsperityPredecessorCitizens for a Sound EconomyFormationMarch 10 2004 20 years ago 2004 03 10 1 TypeNonprofit political advocacy groupTax ID no 75 3148958 2 Legal status501 c 4 2 HeadquartersArlington Virginia 2 Membership2 3 million 2013 3 President CEOEmily Seidel 4 Board chairMark HoldenAffiliationsAmericans for Prosperity Foundation PDIST LLC 2 Revenue 2018 96 5 million 4 Websiteamericansforprosperity wbr org 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 Contents 1 Background founding and growth 2 Leadership structure and funding 2 1 AFP 2 2 AFP Foundation 2 3 AFP Action 2 4 Transparency 2 5 Funding 3 Tea Party and 2010 midterm election 4 Labor law 4 1 Wisconsin collective bargaining 4 2 Michigan right to work 5 Obama reelection 6 Programs and advocacy 6 1 Energy and environment 6 2 Health care and 2014 midterm 6 3 Fiscal policy advocacy 6 4 Other policy advocacy 6 5 Annual events 7 Election related activities 8 Further reading 9 See also 10 References 11 External linksBackground founding and growth editAmericans 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 editTim 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 AFP edit 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 71 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 amp 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 nbsp 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 editAFP 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 editAFP 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 editEnergy 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 nbsp 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 nbsp 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 nbsp 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 editIn 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 editAlex Hertel Fernande 2019 State Capture How Conservative Activists Big Businesses and Wealthy Donors Reshaped the American States and the Nation Oxford University Press See also edit nbsp Conservatism portal Donors Trust Mark Block former AFP Wisconsin state director Political activities of the Koch brothersReferences 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 Pettersson Edvard 17 February 2015 Koch Group Gets to Keep Donors Secret in California Lawsuit Bloomberg com Bloomberg Retrieved 27 April 2015 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 Citizen Koch Motion picture a b c Seitz Wald Alex September 24 2013 David Koch Seeded Major Tea Party Group Private Donor List Reveals National Journal Retrieved March 20 2015 But a donor list filed with the IRS labeled not open for public inspection from 2003 the year of AFP s first filing lists David Koch as by far the single largest contributor to its foundation donating 850 000 Following Koch on the AFP Foundation donor list are a number of corporations including State Farm which gave 275 000 1 800 Contacts which donated 80 000 and Johnson amp Johnson and Shaw Industries which each gave 50 000 a b c Levy Pema September 24 2013 Money In Politics The Companies Behind David Koch s Americans For Prosperity International Business Times Retrieved March 20 2015 David Koch was the top contributor providing 850 000 But a number of major American companies also gave hundreds of thousands to the upstart conservative group At the top of the corporate list is insurance giant State Farm which gave 275 000 followed by much smaller donations from 1 800 Contacts which gave 80 000 and Johnson amp Johnson and Shaw Industries which each gave 50 000 Smith Joanna August 1 2009 Big money fuels health battle U S attack ad linked to brothers who spend a fortune lobbying for libertarian agenda Toronto Star Toronto Ontario p A6 Retrieved March 30 2015 Charles Koch is a director at the Claude R Lambe Charitable Foundation which is a major benefactor of the Americans for Prosperity Foundation According to IRS documents the Lambe foundation gave a total of just over 3 17 million in grants to the Americans for Prosperity Foundation from 2005 to 2007 to cover general operating costs Allen Mike Vandehei Jim September 11 2013 Exclusive The Koch brothers secret bank Politico Retrieved April 22 2015 The group Freedom Partners and its president Marc Short serve as an outlet for the ideas and funds of the mysterious Koch brothers Blumenthal Paul September 18 2014 Koch Central Bank Freedom Partners Distributed Millions In Dark Money In 2013 Huffington Post retrieved April 22 2015 Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce the central hub of the political empire of the billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch reported raising 57 5 million in 2013 and disbursing 41 7 million to organizations in the Koch network Freedom Partners founded under the radar in 2011 emerged in 2012 as the main bank for Koch related political operations Confessore Nicholas September 13 2013 Tax Filings Hint at Extent Of Koch Brothers Reach The New York Times Retrieved April 26 2015 Freedom Partners as the group is now known is playing a bigger role for the Kochs as the brothers seek a tighter rein over the advocacy groups and political organizations that their donor network finances and expand their involvement in Republican political causes a b Maguire Robert Novak Viveca November 15 2013 Americans for Prosperity Helped Churn Koch Linked Money opensecrets org OpenSecrets Retrieved November 17 2013 In previous years AFP has been the beneficiary of grants from CPPR to the tune of 4 2 million a b Clifton Eli November 3 2014 Who Else Is in the Koch Brothers Billionaire Donor Club The Nation Retrieved April 25 2015 a b Sturgis Sue March 8 2012 INSTITUTE INDEX The money behind Americans for Prosperity Institute for Southern Studies Archived from the original on 2015 05 18 Retrieved April 26 2015 Severson Kim December 11 2012 G O P s Full Control in Long Moderate North Carolina May Leave Lasting Stamp The New York Times Retrieved April 25 2015 Hansen Bundy Benjy Kroll Andy January 2014 The Family That Gives Together Mother Jones Retrieved August 27 2015 Novak Viveca Maguire Robert March 5 2012 Koch Connected Group Shows Holes in Disclosure Requirements OpenSecrets Retrieved May 20 2015 Levinthal Dave May 30 2013 Tobacco giant funded conservative nonprofit Center for Public Integrity Retrieved April 26 2015 Salant Jonathan D March 29 2012 Chevron Merck Disclose Funding to 2010 Attack Ad Groups Bloomberg News Retrieved April 25 2015 Patel Julie November 20 2013 Dark money groups give big to similar nonprofits Center for Public Integrity Retrieved April 25 2015 Beckel Michael November 10 2014 Koch backed nonprofit raised 44 million in 2013 Center for Public Integrity Retrieved April 26 2015 Abowd Paul February 14 2013 Koch funded charity passes money to free market think tanks in states NBC News Center for Public Integrity Retrieved March 11 2015 Goldenberg Suzanne February 14 2013 How Donors Trust distributed millions to anti climate groups The Guardian Retrieved March 5 2015 Weigel David May 11 2010 Koch Industries distances itself from tea parties The Washington Post Retrieved June 3 2015 a b c Fang Lee 2013 The Machine A Field Guide to the Resurgent Right New York The New Press ISBN 978 1595586391 Hogberg David February 20 2015 Anti Stimulus Protests Sprout Up Investor s Business Daily Retrieved April 28 2015 Kromm Chris October 12 2010 Art Pope and the Corporate Takeover of Democracy The Huffington Post Retrieved June 3 2015 Schultz Zac April 16 2011 Sarah Palin Travels To Madison Madison Wisconsin WMTV Retrieved May 8 2012 Conservative Group Pushes to Enlist Thousands After Obama Suggests It s Foreign Influenced Fox News August 12 2010 Retrieved May 1 2015 Weigel David March 1 2012 Behind the Cato Koch Kerfuffle Slate Retrieved March 24 2015 a b Welch Chris June 4 2012 Crunch time for recall volunteers CNN Retrieved May 27 2015 Snow Hopkins Christopher Mahanta Siddhartha Poulson Theresa February 4 2010 12 Tea Party Players To Watch A List Of Some Of The Most Influential And Talked About Groups In The Grassroots Uprising National Journal Retrieved April 17 2015 The top national players in the tea party The Washington Post September 26 2010 Retrieved April 17 2015 Fresh off big primary wins national tea party groups are refocusing their energy on November A guide to five groups that influence the movement a b Bykowicz Julie February 17 2015 Scott Walker Is King of Kochworld Bloomberg News Retrieved April 20 2015 Cooper Michael Greenhouse Steven February 27 2011 Unions debate what to give to save bargaining The New York Times p A1 Retrieved May 1 2015 Fram Alan April 30 2014 Senate Republicans block Democratic push to raise minimum wage PBS NewsHour PBS Associated Press Retrieved April 25 2015 Kaplan Rebecca April 30 2014 Minimum wage bill dies in Senate CBS News Retrieved April 25 2015 Roarty Alex June 16 2014 A Conservative Juggernaut s Long Game The Atlantic Retrieved May 29 2015 Zernike Kate March 5 2011 Wisconsin s Legacy of Labor Battles The New York Times Wisconsin gov caught in prank by caller posing as donor USA Today Associated Press February 23 2011 Retrieved April 20 2015 Stern Andrew February 26 2011 Analysis Koch brothers a force in anti union effort Reuters Retrieved May 11 2015 Erickson Doug Seely Ron March 7 2011 Pro Walker bus tour ends in Madison as protests at Capitol continue Wisconsin State Journal Retrieved April 20 2015 a b Hirschkorn Phil Cordes Nancy June 7 2012 A record amount of money spent on Wisconsin recall CBS News Retrieved April 20 2015 Kertscher Tom June 20 2012 Billionaire Koch brothers gave 8 million to Wisconsin Gov Scott Walker recall campaign Dem chair says PolitiFact Retrieved May 29 2015 Kaufman Dan May 24 2012 How Did Wisconsin Become the Most Politically Divisive Place in America The New York Times Magazine Retrieved May 29 2015 Glauber Bill March 9 2012 Capitol rally to mark one year since Act 10 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Retrieved March 30 2015 Beard John May 27 2014 Americans for Prosperity spending big in new ad touting Walker Madison Wisconsin WGEM TV WKOW Archived from the original on 2015 05 29 Retrieved 2015 05 28 Johnson Shawn May 27 2014 Americans For Prosperity Buys Airtime For New Political Ad Wisconsin Public Radio Retrieved April 20 2015 Rucker Philip December 7 2012 In Michigan heart of organized labor Republicans push to limit union power The Washington Post Retrieved May 3 2015 a b Fang Lee December 8 2012 Pro Right to Work Groups In Michigan Outspend Union Counterparts The Nation Retrieved May 3 2015 a b c d Gardner Greg December 6 2012 Koch Brothers Americans for Prosperity are leading the charge for Snyder s Right to Work bill Lansing State Journal Detroit Free Press Retrieved May 3 2015 a b Kroll Andy December 11 2012 Americans for Prosperity Lures Michigan Right to Work Fans With Gas Cards Free Food Mother Jones Retrieved May 4 2015 a b Sargent Greg February 27 2014 How Americans for Prosperity s Obamacare attacks could backfire on GOP The Washington Post Retrieved May 4 2015 Nichols John December 6 2012 GOP Koch Brothers Sneak Attack Guts Labor Rights in Michigan The Nation Retrieved May 4 2015 a b Oosting Jonathan December 11 2012 Michigan right to work Tensions rise as Americans For Prosperity tent falls outside Capitol Booth Newspapers Retrieved May 4 2015 a b Michigan legislators defy unions OK right to work Fox News Associated Press December 7 2012 Archived from the original on 2012 12 16 Retrieved May 4 2015 Montopoli Brian December 10 2012 Obama takes on union fight in Michigan CBS News Retrieved May 4 2015 Riley Theresa December 11 2012 How Michigan s Right To Work Law Came to Be Moyers amp Company Public Affairs Television Retrieved May 5 2015 Montopoli Brian December 11 2012 Right to work signed into law in Michigan CBS News Retrieved May 4 2015 Oosting Jonathan November 1 2014 Michigan Political Points Americans for Prosperity touts common ground with Gov Rick Snyder Booth Newspapers Retrieved May 4 2015 Boorstin Julia November 8 2011 Record Political Ad Spending Powered by Special Interests CNBC Retrieved April 30 2015 a b c Parker Ashley July 27 2014 Outside Money Drives a Deluge of Political Ads The New York Times Retrieved April 30 2015 Barker Kim August 13 2012 Two Dark Money Groups Outspending All Super PACs Combined ProPublica Retrieved April 26 2015 Two conservative nonprofits Crossroads GPS and Americans for Prosperity have poured almost 60 million into TV ads to influence the presidential race so far outgunning all super PACs put together new spending estimates show Mason Melanie August 7 2012 By urging Obama s defeat Koch group keeps donors hidden Los Angeles Times Retrieved May 8 2015 Gold Matea August 24 2012 Americans for Prosperity steps up campaign against Obama Los Angeles Times Retrieved May 8 2015 Ashkenas Jeremy Ericson Matthew Parlapiano Alicia Willis Derek 2012 Non profit Americans for Prosperity The New York Times a b Schouten Fredreka August 23 2012 Koch brothers non profit hits the ground in swing states USA Today Retrieved March 24 2015 Bathon Michael October 17 2012 Solyndra Lenders Ahead of Government Won t Recover Fully Bloomberg Business Retrieved November 14 2014 Mullins Brody January 14 2012 Americans for Prosperity to Air Ads Slamming Obama s Ties to Solyndra The Wall Street Journal Washington Wire blog Retrieved July 22 2015 One of the largest of these independent conservative groups an organization called Americans for Prosperity will launch next week what is perhaps the biggest attack on Mr Obama so far in the 2012 election campaign Beginning Monday Americans for Prosperity will air ads criticizing the president s handling of Solyndra the solar energy firm that went bankrupt after receiving grants from the government Richert Catharine September 25 2012 Wealthy outside political groups find a home in Minnesota Minnesota Public Radio Retrieved March 24 2015 a b O Connor Emma October 9 2012 Pay Like It s 2009 Illinois Gas Station Offers Pre Obama Gas Prices The nationwide Obama s Failing Agenda Tour is offering drivers cheap 2009 gas prices to protest the President s energy policies Time Retrieved June 1 2015 Farnam T W October 1 2012 Americans for Prosperity puts big money on legislative races in Arkansas The Washington Post Retrieved June 1 2015 Holland Steve April 29 2011 Republicans jockey for position in New Hampshire Reuters O Brien Michael May 2 2011 Romney will sit out first Republican presidential debate The Hill Retrieved March 23 2015 a b Mencimer Stephanie January 30 2012 Koch Funded Group Paying Tea Partiers to Collect Voters Personal Info Mother Jones Retrieved March 23 2015 Pilkington Ed October 18 2012 Koch backed activists use power of data in bid to oust Obama from White House The Guardian Retrieved March 24 2015 Classified a non profit social welfare organisation AFP is legally obliged to project itself as a non partisan campaign that neither endorses nor opposes candidates for public office Vogel Kenneth P October 10 2011 Karl Rove vs the Koch brothers Politico Retrieved March 24 2015 Fish Sandra August 12 2014 Americans for Prosperity Koch brothers advocacy gets local in Colorado Al Jazeera Retrieved May 11 2015 AFP and the Kochs are strong supporters of oil and gas development and strong opponents of regulation especially environmental restrictions a b Dennison Mike May 30 2009 Montana Republicans join fight against Obama health care reforms Missoulian Missoula Montana p A1 Dryzek John S Norgaard Richard B Schlosberg David 2011 The Oxford Handbook of Climate Change and Society Oxford University Press p 154 ISBN 978 0199683420 a b c Holmberg Eric Fernandez Campbell Alexia July 1 2013 Koch Climate pledge strategy continues to grow Investigative Reporting Workshop American University School of Communication Archived from the original on 2015 04 02 Retrieved March 23 2015 a b c Buchwalter Ben Gloudeman Nikki August 19 2009 Town Hall Protests Astroturf 2 0 Mother Jones Retrieved May 11 2015 How the Koch brothers screwed over the climate even more than you know Grist org July 2 2013 Retrieved February 2 2016 Mayer Jane July 1 2007 Koch Pledge Tied to Congressional Climate Inaction The New Yorker Retrieved March 23 2015 Andrew Ross Bird on Fire Lessons From the World s Least Sustainable City New York Oxford University Press 2011 p 152 Broder John M October 20 2010 Climate Change Doubt Is Tea Party Article of Faith The New York Times Retrieved March 24 2015 Parenti Christian April 15 2010 The Case for EPA Action The Nation Retrieved March 24 2015 Bartels Lynn August 24 2011 Big Oil drama returns to Colorado left right argue about energy and Grandma The Denver Post Retrieved April 22 2015 Smith Ben June 6 2011 Right aims to pin pump pain on W H Politico Retrieved April 22 2015 Political Stunt Offers Gas at 1 84 Per Gallon NBC News October 16 2012 Retrieved May 4 2014 Allen Jeremy October 1 2012 Hundreds line up for 1 84 gas at Mt Morris Township gas station as part of political attention getter Booth Newspapers Retrieved May 4 2015 Davenport Coral December 5 2013 Large Companies Prepared to Pay Price on Carbon The New York Times Retrieved June 2 2015 Barron Lopez Laura February 13 2015 Americans for Prosperity launch push for White House to sign Keystone bill The Hill Retrieved May 13 2015 Katz Jonathan M September 19 2014 A Kansas twister Wind energy politics complicate governor s race Al Jazeera America Retrieved May 6 2014 Hamburger Tom December 8 2014 Conservative groups seek limits during lame duck on wind energy subsidies The Washington Post Retrieved May 6 2015 Halper Evan April 14 2014 Koch brothers big utilities attack solar green energy policies Los Angeles Times Retrieved March 24 2015 Niquette Mark May 20 2014 Ohio Poised to Break From U S Push for Renewable Energy Bloomberg Business Retrieved May 11 2015 Gallucci Maria May 6 2015 Renewable Energy Kansas Gov Brownback Pushes Plan To Weaken State Mandate Texas North Carolina Advance Similar Bills International Business Times Retrieved May 11 2015 Tracy Ryan July 17 2013 Green Energy Mandates Find Improbable Allies The Wall Street Journal Retrieved May 11 2015 Davenport Coral October 30 2014 Why Republicans Keep Telling Everyone They re Not Scientists The New York Times Retrieved March 20 2015 Lazarus David 2009 08 09 Healthcare debate framed by fear mongering ads Los Angeles Times Retrieved 2010 10 21 Marlowe Lara November 12 2011 The billionaire brothers bankrolling the get Obama out campaign The Irish Times Dublin Retrieved March 30 2015 Eggen Dan August 31 2009 Bus Tour Campaign Style Events to Promote Health Care Reform The Washington Post Retrieved March 30 2015 Group protests Obama s push for health care reform Time Warner Cable News July 22 2009 Archived from the original on 2015 04 02 Retrieved March 30 2015 Americans for Prosperity protest the President s health care plan Wilmington North Carolina WECT August 7 2009 Stolberg Sheryl Gay October 18 2013 States Are Focus of Effort to Foil Health Care Law The New York Times Retrieved October 19 2013 Hulse Carl Parker Ashley March 20 2014 Koch Group Spending Freely Hones Attack on Government The New York Times Retrieved April 30 2015 The Kochs with billions in holdings in energy transportation and manufacturing have a significant interest in seeing that future government regulation is limited Dionne Jr E J March 23 2014 The next health care debate The Washington Post Retrieved April 30 2015 Sargent Greg March 21 2014 The real goal of all those anti Obamacare ads The Washington Post Retrieved April 30 2015 Pear Robert March 9 2012 White House Works to Shape Debate Over Health Law The New York Times Retrieved March 30 2015 Bland Scott March 15 2015 Americans for Prosperity President GOP Budget Could Blow Their Majority Up National Journal Retrieved May 13 2015 Schouten Fredreka September 19 2013 Koch backed group launches new attack on health care law USA Today Retrieved April 30 2015 a b Hulse Carl January 15 2014 Ads Attacking Health Law Stagger Outspent Democrats The New York Times Retrieved April 30 2015 Reston Maeve May 20 2014 10 million ad campaign joins avalanche of anti Obamacare ads Los Angeles Times Retrieved April 30 2015 a b Woods Ashley February 20 2014 Obamacare Attack Ad May Actually Expose Obamacare Success Story The Huffington Post Retrieved March 31 2015 a b c New AFP ad ObamaCare victim Not Backing Down from Shameful Peters Tactics Americans for Prosperity March 4 2014 Archived from the original on May 18 2015 Retrieved May 15 2015 Beckel Michael September 4 2014 GOP s Senate hopes energized by Koch network ad blitz Center for Public Integrity Retrieved May 2 2015 Reston Maeve October 25 2014 In key election states conservative groups build a ground game Los Angeles Times Retrieved May 11 2015 Dark Money Spending Three Times More Than at Same Time in 2012 Cycle CRP Testifies OpenSecrets April 30 2014 Retrieved May 8 2015 a b Wyatt Edward April 6 2010 US court curbs FCC authority on Web traffic The New York Times p A1 Retrieved May 1 2015 No Stimulus Petition Illustrates Public Anger Over Plan The Wall Street Journal February 9 2009 Retrieved April 25 2015 Weiner Rachel March 13 2009 Americans For Prosperity No Stimulus Petition Circulated The Huffington Post Retrieved April 25 2015 Kerpen Phil Berkland Adam December 5 2011 It s Time for Congress to Stop Paying People Not to Work Fox News Retrieved May 1 2015 Given Casey December 10 2013 The Economic Follies of Extending Unemployment Insurance Americans for Prosperity Archived from the original on 2015 04 10 Retrieved May 1 2015 Klein Naomi 2014 This Changes Everything Capitalism vs the Climate Simon amp Schuster ISBN 978 1451697384 Fang Lee December 22 2012 David Koch Now Taking Aim at Hurricane Sandy Victims The Nation Retrieved April 29 2015 Americans for Prosperity NJ Director Disagrees with 60B Sandy Aid Changes to Gun Control Laws NJTV December 17 2012 Retrieved April 29 2015 Kumar Anita February 5 2009 Legislators Targeted On Smoking Ban The Washington Post Retrieved June 1 2015 Emerling Gary March 2 2009 Smoking ban battle could flare anew The Washington Times Retrieved June 1 2015 Kavoussi Bonnie March 4 2013 Americans For Prosperity Sequestration Will Help Economy The Huffington Post Retrieved April 25 2015 Phillips Tim February 28 2013 Sequestration will restore balance Opposing view USA Today Retrieved April 25 2015 Farnam T W February 14 2013 Americans for Prosperity campaigns to let the sequester take effect in March The Washington Post Retrieved April 25 2015 Gold Matea February 28 2013 Conservative groups urge GOP to let budget cuts go forward Los Angeles Times Retrieved April 25 2015 Matthews Laura December 12 2013 House Passes Bipartisan Budget Deal International Business Times Retrieved April 25 2015 Burlij Terence December 11 2013 Budget deal breaks through partisan gridlock PBS NewsHour PBS Rothschild Scott July 22 2008 Group against taxes seeks pledges from candidates Lawrence Journal World Lawrence Kansas Retrieved May 18 2015 All Taxpayers Pay When Politicians Raise Tobacco Taxes for Bigger Government Says Americans for Prosperity KOTV DT November 17 2006 Retrieved June 1 2015 North John May 11 2012 Proposition 29 could raise 735M Opponents question fund use Sacramento California ABC News Retrieved June 1 2015 Carroll Rory June 4 2012 Tobacco companies blitz airwaves to block California tax on cigarettes The Guardian Retrieved June 1 2015 Smith Brandon March 7 2013 Tea Party Group Advocating For Pence Tax Cut WTIU Retrieved May 5 2015 Harbin Hanson Christine August 8 2014 The House should vote to kill the death tax The Hill Americans for Prosperity Retrieved June 5 2015 White Joseph B October 10 2011 Is Span Plan a Bridge Too Far The Wall Street Journal Retrieved April 19 2015 Christoff Chris September 16 2011 Detroit Span Owner Keeps Canada Crossing With Koch Aid Bloomberg Business Retrieved April 19 2015 1B Windsor Detroit Bridge Deal Struck CBC News June 15 2012 Retrieved June 15 2012 Nocera Joe July 14 2014 Helping Big Companies Compete The New York Times Retrieved May 10 2015 Eric Bradner 13 July 2014 2014 s sleeper issue A bank nobody s heard of POLITICO Weisman Jonathan March 9 2015 Tea Party Divided by Export Import Bank The New York Times Retrieved May 17 2015 Kroll Andy August 15 2011 How the Koch Brothers Backed Public School Segregation Mother Jones Retrieved May 13 2015 Mayer Jane October 10 2011 State for Sale The New Yorker Retrieved May 13 2015 Fang Lee November 16 2011 How Online Learning Companies Bought America s Schools The Nation Retrieved June 2 2015 a b John Letzing Net neutrality under fire from conservative group MarketWatch RELEASE Internet Freedom Coalition Opposes the Left s Campaign to Regulate the Internet Internet Freedom Coalition April 26 2010 Retrieved May 10 2015 Coalition Members Internet Freedom Coalition Retrieved May 1 2015 Jones Kuper January 22 2014 Net Neutrality Court Ruling Americans for Prosperity Archived from the original on April 27 2015 Retrieved May 7 2015 Byers Alex May 16 2014 What happens next on net neutrality Politico Retrieved May 5 2015 Ashley Parker and Maggie Haberman September 6 2016 With Koch Brothers Academy Conservatives Settle In for Long War NYT Retrieved September 7 2016 Leary Alex 5 February 2023 Billionaire Charles Koch Backed Group Will Push GOP to Move Past Donald Trump Wall Street Journal Retrieved 2023 03 18 Dry Rachel October 1 2007 An insider s guide to the upcoming week The Washington Post p A 2 It s the first Defending the American Dream Summit put on by the Americans for Prosperity Foundation and Mitt Romney Rudy Giuliani John McCain Fred Thompson Sam Brownback and Ron Paul are to speak Parker Ashley January 20 2015 Koch Primary Tests Hopefuls In the G O P The New York Times Retrieved March 23 2015 Vargas Jose Antonio July 18 2008 In Texas the Right Boots Up to Gain Strength Online The Washington Post Retrieved April 17 2009 Schatz Amy July 18 2008 In Online Politicking Republicans Play Catch Up The Wall Street Journal Dupuy Tina June 18 2011 Conservative Fun with Andrew Breitbart et al at Right Online The Atlantic Retrieved May 10 2015 Gallagher John June 7 2011 Conservative group Fake eviction notices were meant to startle people Detroit Free Press Gannett Retrieved April 21 2015 Catanese David 2011 08 01 AFP Wisconsin ballots have late return date Politico Retrieved 2012 05 03 Opoien Jessica August 2 2011 Unofficial absentee ballot mailings raise voter intimidation issues in Wisconsin recall elections Isthmus Madison Wisconsin Retrieved March 21 2015 Sargent Greg August 5 2011 Americans for Prosperity sent misleading absentee ballot far more widely than previously known Washington Post Retrieved 21 November 2011 Catanese David August 2 2011 Americans for Prosperity Wrong date a printing mistake Politico Retrieved March 24 2015 Roth Zachary September 29 2014 Koch group investigated for faulty mailers MSNBC Retrieved March 21 2015 McConnell Jim November 20 2013 Voter shaming tactics spark angry backlash Chesterfield Observer Chesterfield County Virginia Archived from the original on 2015 04 02 Retrieved March 23 2015 Monfort Ashley November 8 2013 Public voter report card upsets eastern Henrico neighborhood Richmond Virginia NBC Retrieved March 23 2015 Brantley Max October 22 2014 Koch group mailing a voter history report card Arkansas Times Cancer patient defends ObamaCare criticism after Dem goes after ad Fox News February 24 2014 Kessler Glenn February 20 2014 A hard hitting anti Obamacare ad makes a claim that doesn t add up The Washington Post Retrieved March 30 2015 Schultz Marisa March 11 2014 Policy for patient in ad 1K cheaper The Detroit News Klug Fritz March 16 2014 Michigan Delegation Julie Boonstra star of Americans for Prosperity ad to pay less after Affordable Care Act MLive Media Group Retrieved March 31 2015 Hulse Carl March 3 2014 Conservative Group Counters Criticism of Ad Against Health Law The New York Times Retrieved March 31 2015 Whitaker Morgan April 23 2014 Conservative group under fire for latest anti Obamacare ad MSNBC Retrieved March 31 2015 Nyden Paul J April 22 2014 Voters getting misleading info from group Tennant says The Charleston Gazette Retrieved March 23 2015 Albright Amanda September 25 2014 NC residents mailed incorrect voter registration information The News amp Observer Raleigh North Carolina Retrieved March 22 2015 Bonner Lynn September 29 2014 NC elections board investigating AFP s error filled mailer to voters The News amp Observer Raleigh North Carolina Retrieved March 22 2015 Albright Amanda September 26 2014 AFP says administrative errors behind mistakes in voter registration forms The News amp Observer Raleigh North Carolina Retrieved March 22 2015 Nirappil Fenit September 6 2017 s Koch group launches ad campaign against Democrat Northam in Virginia governor s race The Washington Post Retrieved October 11 2017 DeWitt Ethan June 26 2018 N H AG investigating Americans for Prosperity nonprofit status during campaign season Concord Monitor Retrieved July 5 2018 Maggie Serverns June 7 2019 Koch network floats backing Democrats in revamp of influence operation Politico Retrieved June 7 2019 Collins Eliza 11 March 2023 Kari Lake Is Considering Senate Run Making Some Republicans Nervous Wall Street Journal Retrieved 2023 03 17 Kelly Matthew October 29 2023 Wu says Wichitans want a leader they can be proud of She s ready to get back to the basics The Wichita Eagle Retrieved November 7 2023 Nikki Haley A Proven Leader Who Will Deliver on Her Promises and Restore the American Dream afpaction com Americans for Prosperity Action November 28 2023 Retrieved March 18 2024 Picciotto Rebecca February 25 2024 Billionaire backed Koch network halts Nikki Haley campaign funding after South Carolina loss CNBC Retrieved March 18 2024 Allison Natalie February 25 2024 Koch network stops expending on Nikki Haley s presidential campaign Politico Retrieved March 18 2024 External links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Americans for Prosperity Americans for Prosperity website Americans for Prosperity Foundation website Tax information on Americans for Prosperity Pro Publica Tax information on Americans for Prosperity Foundation Pro Publica Nicholas Confessore Rand Paul and Wealthy Libertarians Connect as He Weighs Running The New York Times April 24 2014 profile article on Frayda Levin Americans for Prosperity at Ballotpedia 38 53 30 N 77 05 07 W 38 8918 N 77 0854 W 38 8918 77 0854 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Americans for Prosperity amp oldid 1219168145, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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