Progress For America
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Progress for America (PFA) (a
501(c)(4) A 501(c) organization is a nonprofit organization in the Law of the United States#Federal law, federal law of the United States according to Internal Revenue Code (26 U.S.C. § 501(c)). Such organizations are exempt from some Taxation in the Un ...
) and its affiliate Progress for America Voter Fund (PFA-VF) (a
527 committee 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 ...
) are national tax-exempt organizations in the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
. PFA was established in 2001 to support George W. Bush's "Agenda for America". The PFA Voter Fund, which was set up in 2004, raised US$38 million in support of Bush's 2004 election bid.


History

PFA was registered as a 501(c)(4) group in February 2001 by Tony Feather, a political director of the Bush-Cheney 2000 campaign and partner at
DCI Group DCI Group is an American public relations, lobbying and business consulting firm based in Washington, D.C. The company was founded in 1996 as a consulting firm, and has since expanded its practice to become a public affairs company offering a ra ...
as well as at the affiliated telemarketing and fundraising firm of Feather Larson Synhorst-DCI (FLS-DCI). Feather set up PFA as a "grassroots organization that mobilizes the public to contact their members of Congress about pending legislation and to write local newspapers to publicize the White House's agenda," the Center for Public Integrity wrote in 2002. During the first part of the Bush administration, it led campaigns to support tax cuts, conservative judicial appointments and energy legislation. Feather told ''The Washington Post'' in August 2002 that PFA was simply a vehicle for building grassroots support for Bush administration policies. However others said it was intended to accept
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 ...
donations which political parties were barred from accepting starting in 2002. Feather left PFA in 2003 after receiving a legal opinion that his involvement with it and the Bush-Cheney campaign could violate regulations barring coordination between the entities.


PFA spin-offs and projects


Progress for America Voter Fund

On July 21, 2004, complaints were filed with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) by Democracy 21, the Campaign Legal Center, and
OpenSecrets OpenSecrets is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that tracks and publishes data on campaign finance and lobbying, including a revolving door database which documents the individuals who have worked in both the public sector an ...
. The Complaints charged that Progress for America Voter Fund (PFA-VF) was illegally raising and spending soft money to influence the 2004 presidential elections. On February 28, 2007, the
Federal Election Commission The Federal Election Commission (FEC) is an independent agency of the United States government that enforces U.S. campaign finance laws and oversees U.S. federal elections. Created in 1974 through amendments to the Federal Election Campaign ...
(FEC) reached a settlement with Progress for America related to its activities in 2004. In the 2004 election cycle, the Fund had raised US$45 million. Under the terms of the settlement, PFA-VF did not admit to any wrongdoing, and agreed to pay US$750,000 and to register as a political committee if it undertakes any activities similar to those in 2004. The FEC stated: "Over US$41 million of those funds consisted of excessive contributions from individuals, while over US$2 million came from sources prohibited from making contributions . . . ."


Ashley and friends

PFA-VF spent US$14.2 million on ad time for "Ashley's Story", which ran on cable stations and in nine key states. According to USA Today, the ad was supported by ashleysstory.com, as well as "e-mails, automated phone calls and 2.3 million brochures" mailed to voters.


Push for privatized Social Security

After winning re-election in 2004, Bush emphasized changes in
Social Security Welfare spending is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifically to social insurance ...
as a major domestic goal of his second term. He called for partial privatization of the system. PFA "has estimated it will spend US$20 million promoting private accounts. It has run a series of ads on cable television, including a spot that invokes the legacy of Democratic President Franklin Roosevelt, who signed the legislation creating the retirement system", the ''Houston Chronicle'' reported in February 2005. In late February 2005, the ''Houston Chronicle'' reported that Texas A&M University economics professor Thomas R. Saving had joined up with Progress for America as an advisor and spokesman. Saving, however, is serving as one of seven trustees for the
Social Security Administration The United States Social Security Administration (SSA) is an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government that administers Social Security (United ...
, raising questions about potential conflicts of interest between his advocacy work at PFA and his role as a Social Security "trustee". Saving is also a fellow at the
National Center for Policy Analysis The National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA) was a non-profit American think tank whose goals were to develop and promote private alternatives to government regulation and control. Topics it addressed include reforms in health care, taxes, So ...
. According to the ''Chronicle'', former US Treasurer Rosario Marin joined PFA as an advisor as well. "I'm interested in the issues and I'm working on them and I'll continue to work on them", Saving told the ''Chronicle''. "I already do an awful lot of speeches about Social Security and Medicare."


Federal judicial battles

In May 2005, PFA began running ads targeted at pressuring Republicans Senators into supporting a ban on Senate filibusters for judicial nominations. ''Associated Press'' reported that PFA would spend US$350,000 on "radio ads on Christian stations" and US$1.5 million on television ads to be run in Alaska, Arkansas, Maine, North Dakota, Nebraska and Rhode Island as well as nationally. In June 2005, ''The Hill'' reported that PFA intended to "spend at least US$18 million on the expected fight to replace William Rehnquist, chief justice of the US Supreme Court". PFA's campaign would include "national cable-news and broadcast-television ads in targeted states. The group will also coordinate grassroots organizers and public-relations specialists in eighteen states, including states represented by centrist Republican senators such as Arizona, Maine and Oregon" ''The Hill'' wrote. The groups will also use phone-bank and direct-mail in its campaign. "Before Senate confirmation of Owen and Brown, PFA claims to have helped generate nearly 80,000 telephone calls supporting their nominations", ''The Hill'' reported. PFA will work closely with the Judicial Confirmation Network and the
Committee for Justice The Committee for Justice is a Northern Ireland Assembly committee established to advise, assist and scrutinise the work of the Department of Justice and the Minister of Justice (currently Naomi Long). The Committee undertakes a scrutiny, policy ...
on the campaign. On June 22, 2005, PFA issued a press release announcing a US$700,000 campaign in anticipation of a Supreme Court Justice vacancy during the Court's summer break. The campaign included buys on big newspapers' internet websites, and a roll-out of a new website: upordownvote.com.


Iraq War advertising campaign

Starting in 2006, Progress for America began an ad campaign in support of the
Iraq War The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with 2003 invasion of Iraq, the invasion by a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition, which ...
, with a US$1 million ad campaign in Minnesota.{{cite web, url=http://www.truthout.org/article/tv-ads-push-iraq-war-support, title=TV Ads Push Iraq War Support, last=Mike Dorning, date=28 February 2006, publisher=
The Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN radio and WGN tel ...
, access-date=9 March 2010
Progress for America spokesman Stuart Roy said the group purchased "a saturation buy" in Minnesota and said that bolstering support for the war now "will be a major focus, if not the major focus of Progress for America". These ads often feature war veterans speaking in support for the war and for then President Bush.


References


External links


Official website"Progress for America"
OpenSecrets.org. *Nicholas Confessore

''Washington Monthly'', May 1, 2004. *Glen Justice and Jim Rutenberg,

, ''The New York Times'', September 25, 2004, A10. *Glen Justice,

, ''The New York Times'', September 25, 2004, A10. *Thomas Edsall,
After Late Start, Republican Groups Jump Into the Lead
, ''Washington Post'', October 17, 2004, page A17. *Laura Miller

''PR Watch'', 2005 (Vol. 12, No. 1). * Glen Justice

''New York Times'', February 17, 2005. 527 organizations 501(c)(4) nonprofit organizations