Americans for Honesty on Issues is a

Houston, Texas Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

based

527 group A 527 organization or 527 group is a type of U.S. tax-exempt organization organized under Section 527 of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code (). A 527 group is created primarily to influence the selection, nomination, election, appointment or defeat ...

that had spent over one million dollars on television advertisements, critical of Democratic Party candidates, in advance of the 2006 United States general election."As Election Nears, Groups Plan Negative Ads"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', 2006-10-11 527 groups are tax-exempt organizations that participate in political activities, typically via

soft money The financing of electoral campaigns in the United States happens at the federal, state, and local levels by contributions from individuals, corporations, political action committees, and sometimes the government. Campaign spending has rise ...

contributions, which have no legal limit. By United States federal law, they are not allowed to coordinate their efforts with

political campaign A political campaign is an organized effort which seeks to influence the decision making progress within a specific group. In democracy, democracies, political campaigns often refer to election, electoral campaigns, by which representatives a ...

Backers

* Sue Walden, a Houston business owner, is the president of Americans for Honesty on Issues. Walden was a lobbyist for

Enron Enron Corporation was an American Energy development, energy, Commodity, commodities, and services company based in Houston, Texas. It was led by Kenneth Lay and developed in 1985 via a merger between Houston Natural Gas and InterNorth, both re ...

and is considered a close ally of the former

House Majority Leader Party leaders of the United States House of Representatives, also known as floor leaders, are congresspeople who coordinate legislative initiatives and serve as the chief spokespersons for their parties on the House floor. These leaders are el ...

Tom DeLay Thomas Dale DeLay (; born April 8, 1947) is an American author and retired politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives. A Republican Party (United States), Republican, DeLay represented Texas's 22nd congress ...

, who was forced to resign from Congress amid ethics scandals. Walden has been a Minor League Pioneer fundraiser for

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

, raising $43,000. and was an adviser to

Kenneth L. Lay Kenneth Lee Lay (April 15, 1942 – July 5, 2006) was an American businessman and political donor who was the founder, chief executive officer and chairman of Enron. He was heavily involved in Enron's accounting scandal that unraveled in 2001 ...

, the former chief executive of

. *

Bob J. Perry Bobby Jack Perry, known as Bob J. Perry (October 30, 1932 – April 13, 2013), was a Houston, Texas homebuilder, owner of Perry Homes, and major contributor to a number of politically oriented 527 groups, such as the Swift Vets and POWs for Truth a ...

, a Houston construction firm owner, appears to be the sole funder of AHI. Perry was the major funder of

Swift Boat Veterans for Truth Swift Vets and POWs for Truth, formerly known as the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth (SBVT), was a political group ( 527 group) of United States Swift boat veterans; former prisoners of war of the Vietnam War, formed during the 2004 president ...

, who ran a campaign against

John Kerry John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician, and diplomat who served as the 68th United States secretary of state from 2013 to 2017 in the Presidency of Barack Obama#Administration, administration of Barac ...

in the 2004 election. He also is the majority funder of the

Economic Freedom Fund The Economic Freedom Fund (EFF) is a 527 group started in 2006 by Bob J. Perry, with a $5 million donation. Only one person is officially associated with the group: Charles H. Bell Jr., a lawyer from California, who is the general counsel for the ...

"New Front-Group Alert - Americans for Honesty on Issues"
Patriot Project website, 2006-10-20 and has donated $5,000,000 to the

Free Enterprise Fund Stephen Moore (born February 16, 1960) is an American economist, writer, and conservative television commentator. He co-founded and served as president of the Club for Growth from 1999 to 2004. Moore is a former member of the ''Wall Street Journ ...

."Builder's $8 million tops GOP donor list"
''Houston Chronicle'', 2006-10-17, page A1

References

527 organizations Non-profit organizations based in Texas {{US-org-stub

Backers

See also

References