http://www.newsobserver.com/2010/09/05/663302/money-and-rhetoric-from-the-right.html

Where did the new controversial Wake School board come from?

Quote :

"And he can't be accused of having his head in the policy wonk clouds - not when he regularly pours money into Republican Party coffers, including $15,000 that helped get four conservatives elected last fall to the Wake County school board."

Where did the new GOP legislature come from?
http://wunc.org/programs/news/archive/NLL110110_MONEY.mp3/view?searchterm=%22art%20pope%22

Quote :

"Pope [and his family foundation have] has spent more than $2 million this year backing conservative groups like [Civitas,] Civitas Action, Americans for Prosperity, and Real Jobs NC. Pope's company has given 200 thousand dollars so far this election cycle to Real Jobs NC, and 190 thousand to Civitas Action. Pope personally has given about 75 thousand dollars directly to candidates and committees."

You'll notice the overlap with the Pope Civitas organization.


How the money is being spent:
http://bluenc.com/impact-outside-spending-nc-2010-elections

Quote :

"Based on our review of the public data currently available, the NCFEF has determined that well over $2.3 million was spent by outside groups in state legislative races during 2010. ... These funds were spread among 34 legislative campaigns, and the bulk of it (over 90 percent) was spent to the benefit of Republican candidates."

http://ncfef.org/NCFEF_News/Entries/2010/11/23_Outside_Spending_Impacts_2010_Elections_in_N.C..html

And there are all the main orgs that Pope funneled money through as the biggest donors in the election cycle:


Another organization tie:
http://www.southernstudies.org/2011/01/nc-groups-backed-by-top-political-benefactor-push-to-kill-state-campaign-finance-reforms.html

Quote :

"As Facing South revealed last October, since 1994 the Locke Foundation has received over 80 percent of its funding from one single source: A family foundation run by Raleigh retail magnate and leading Republican donor Art Pope. Indeed, between 1994 and 2008, Pope's foundation showered more than $14.5 million on the group (the foundation's records for 2009 and 2010 are not available). Pope also sits on the Locke Foundation's board of directors. Art Pope was also the single most influential campaign benefactor in North Carolina's historic 2010 state elections. As Facing South was the first to document, three outside groups backed by Art Pope, combined with personal contributions from Pope family members, spent over $2.2 million targeting 22 key state races in 2010, playing a decisive role in the GOP's capture of the house and senate chambers."

Pope Civitas Action, Americans for Prosperity, Real Jobs NC, and the Locke Foundation all sound like different groups which made up a lot of the political donations in the last campaign, but looking at it from one step removed and its easy to see how they are much the same.

Pope pays for the GOP to win campaigns for the general assembly, and then the general assembly leaders hire directly from a Pope foundation using public funds.
http://www.news-record.com/blog/53964/entry/108384

Quote :

"Tillis is also making two hires out of the network of conservative groups funded by former Rep. Art Pope and others: Chris Hayes (policy adviser) of the Civitas Institute and Jason Kay (general counsel) of the Institute for Constitutional Law."

http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/01/12/915108/wake-board-may-drop-accreditation.html

The new school board that was put in place may be losing accreditation for their actions. Additionally you'll notice this:

Quote :

"In addition to student assignment, AdvancED has raised questions about the board's hiring of attorney Thomas Farr as special interim counsel, the use of the conservative-leaning Civitas Institute to train board members, the cost of ending mandatory year-round schools and the cost of not building a high school on Forestville Road."

Yeah, lets require that we pay Pope to train board members, then Pope can use that same money to in the next round of elections to get even more people he supports on the board.

My main beef though is the effort to destroy campaign finance reform efforts, public finance campaign pilot efforts, push Voter ID laws which inevitably restricts voting, probably reductions n funding for early voting will come up at some point, and any other effort to control and limit voting.

http://bluenc.com/nc-groups-backed-top-political-benefactor-push-kill-state-campaign-finance-program

Quote :

"As Facing South also reported, Art Pope's family foundation provides almost all -- over 97 percent -- of the income of the Civitas Institute, the sister group to Civitas Action. Given these facts, one can understand why Republicans and the Locke Foundation appear to prefer Pope-funded elections to publicly-funded ones -- it certainly worked for them in 2010."

In the NPR credibility thread I made this comment about WUNC:

It looks like Laura Leslie was nudged out of WUNC for covering who was really making the big political donations in the last round of statewide elections. Flew too close to the sun I guess.

Quote :

"In other words, Art Pope got his knickers in a knot because a reporter dared to tell the truth about his toxic influence, so he threw his considerable weight around the WUNC newsroom. As a result, someone at the station changed a perfectly accurate story to accommodate his wishes."

http://www.newsobserver.com/2010/09/05/663302/money-and-rhetoric-from-the-right.html

And sometimes the money comes directly from Variety Wholesalers rather than through one of the groups Pope runs:

Quote :

"It turns out that Variety Wholesalers has given the group $100,000 - a nice gesture indeed by the customers of Roses and other stores under the Pope umbrella"

Quote :

"Americans for Prosperity has as a national director none other than the ubiquitous Art Pope of Raleigh, head of Variety Wholesalers (owners of Roses, Maxway, Super 10 and other bargain-oriented retail chains)."

So just remember, the next time you shop at Roses, those profits may go towards things like Wake County School Board elections.

1/12/2011 5:31:49 PM

I haven't been in a Roses in so long . . . . . .

[Edited on January 12, 2011 at 5:40 PM. Reason : no plans to visit on anytime soon either]

1/12/2011 5:40:22 PM

Well its a little broader than just Roses. Its a lot of cheap stuff stores mostly across NC and the southeast. Variety Wholesalers includes Roses, Bargain Town, Maxway Stores, Super 10, Bargain Town, Bill's Dollar Store, Value Mart, Treasure Mart, Super Dollar, Eagles, and Popes.

1/12/2011 5:57:20 PM

Most of the Roses shut down more than 10 years ago… i haven’t seen one in ages.

1/12/2011 7:45:29 PM

guess i'll just keep going to target

1/12/2011 8:36:20 PM

what exactly is your point here? OH NO!!! a citizen gets involved in government! you act like this is the first time some rich guy has tried to influence politics.

1/14/2011 11:43:44 AM

Quote :

"what exactly is your point here? OH NO!!! a citizen gets involved in government! you act like this is the first time some rich guy has tried to influence politics."

Imagine he was using his money to ram through massive hikes in income tax for the upper brackets, expansions of welfare, and to install socialists throughout local government.

Are we talking your language yet?

1/14/2011 12:06:24 PM

yeah. we would call that guy George Soros. what's your point?

1/14/2011 12:23:18 PM

Yeah, rich people throwing their weight around isn't anything new. In fact, it's what defines our entire, corrupt system.

1/14/2011 1:00:01 PM

Quote :

"yeah. we would call that guy George Soros. what's your point?"

The point is not that this is new or shocking, the point is to inform and resist I take it.

1/14/2011 1:38:27 PM

The vast bulk of the fliers sent out by Real Jobs NC were out and out lies.

1/14/2011 3:32:23 PM

that pretty much describes every political flier ever

1/14/2011 7:26:31 PM

Quote :

"Most of the Roses shut down more than 10 years ago… i haven’t seen one in ages."

This is slightly off-topic, but there is a new Roses that recently opened in Cary at South Hills Mall. It's a damn fine place to get stuff cheap.

1/16/2011 2:49:46 PM

http://www.mgt.ncsu.edu/index-exp.php/news/article/economic-policy-and-the-economic-crisis-is-topic-of-feb.-15-pope-lecture/

Its almost time for the annual Pope lecture!

I imagine one of his organizations has to be paying to get things named after him. Interesting that he funds the people into office who are pro-cutting NCSU's budget (by 15 million) and at the same time having to rely on his family more for funding.

Privatization & corporate sponsorship of education FTL.

1/28/2011 11:57:05 PM

Hardly the first time that Pope Citivas has found poll results that line up with their financial interests:

http://www.democracy-nc.org/downloads/MisleadingCivitasPolls-Feb-3-2011.pdf

Quote :

"Misleading Polls from the Pope Civitas Institute The John W. Pope Civitas Institute is publicizing a new opinion poll designed to bring attention to their perspective on key issues, in this case election-related policies [see notes 1 and 2 below]. It’s a formula that works well for them, with some media reporting the poll’s findings as an accurate reflection of what North Carolinians believe. But surveys can be manipulated to get a desired outcome in a number of ways - for example, by cherry picking the respondents or by using loaded wording in a question. The recent Pope Civitas Institute poll appears to suffer from both problems. The poll taken January 19-20 yielded two press releases, and in each release Pope Civitas claims that “All respondents were part of a fully representative sample of registered voters in North Carolina.” But the crosstabs [see note 3] reveal that some subgroups of registered voters are under-represented in the survey, while others are over-represented. For example: • African Americans make up 21.6% of registered voters in North Carolina (as of January 1, 2011), but they are only 16.0% of the Pope Civitas survey respondents. • Republicans are 31.6% of registered voters but 34.0% of the respondents. • Seniors age 66 and up are 17.5% of registered voters, but 23.3% of those included in the poll’s findings. • In contrast, young people age 18 to 25 are 11.4% of registered voters, but only 7.3% of the respondents. In other words, the survey substantially under-represents black voters and overrepresents elderly voters. Republicans are also over-represented and the Democrats selected are much older and whiter (and likely more conservative) than the actual profile of registered Democrats in North Carolina. It is simply misleading to present the poll as “fully representative sample of registered voters in North Carolina.”"

Quote :

"The questions asked in the poll also seem calculated to distort an honest survey of public opinion. >> A question about North Carolina’s new law that allows teenagers to pre-register to vote but not vote at an earlier age is stated as: “Would you support or oppose a proposal to allow 16 and 17 year olds to register to vote?” There’s nothing indicating that the teenager is not allowed to vote at an earlier age, or that the law was designed to help them pre-register when they visit the DMV at age 16 and take Civics in the 10th grade. The legislation had broad bipartisan support in the General Assembly and became effective January 1, 2010. Perhaps the heavy opposition expressed by those surveyed would have changed if the question’s wording read: “Would you support or oppose a proposal to keep the voting age in North Carolina at 18 but allow 16 and 17 year olds to pre-register to vote when they sign up for a driver’s license?”"

As for the new voter licensing that the NC GOP is pushing, I think this is all the more evidence that they are pushing to limit how open voting access is for political advantages, rather than for more noble purposes.

I only gave a few examples, but the link goes on and on to show how the Pope organization asks questions to find answers that align with Pope's political/financial interests, then report them to the media as fact.

2/3/2011 10:07:27 PM

A slightly amusing sign someone got a shot of at the rally in raleigh today:



[Edited on February 13, 2011 at 1:59 AM. Reason : .]

2/13/2011 1:59:26 AM

That sign is awesome!

I definitely wanna boycott Pope's stores, but I already don't shop at them.

2/13/2011 6:34:42 AM

"NC teachers to boycott Art Pope businesses"
http://www.maconnews.com/news/564-nc-teachers-to-boycott-art-pope-businesses

Quote :

"Art Pope is the president of Variety Wholesalers, Inc., and a director of the conservative political advocacy group, Americans for Prosperity. Pope is also a major supporter of the Civitas Institute, and he holds a seat on the boards of directors for the John Locke Foundation, the Atlas Economic Research Foundation and the North Carolina Retail Merchants Association. Variety Wholesalers is the parent group to a number of popular stores in the state such as Roses, Maxway, Value Mart, Super 10 and Super Dollar (though not Dollar General), among others owned by Variety Wholesalers Inc. On Tuesday, Brian Lewis, the government liaison for the NCAE, confirmed the association's plans to call for a boycott. Nearly 1,200 delegates from every part of the state participated in the annual convention in Raleigh where the boycott was voted on. Lewis said a formal announcement of the boycott is will be made on Thursday."

Quote :

"Since the beginning of the current session of the North Carolina General Assembly, educators around the state have been actively speaking out for education in the face of threats of cutting the state's education budget by as much as 15 percent. The Wear Red campaign has helped the movement gain visibility, and the North Carolina Association of Educators have vowed to continue the campaign until education funds are protected. The banner above, made by the local NCAE chapter has been circulating the district for weekly photo ops. On Feb. 14, teachers and staff at East Franklin showed their colors."

3/27/2011 9:49:56 PM

Most North Carolinians can't boycott Pope...he owns the only store in the town.

3/27/2011 10:15:34 PM

HOW DARE REPUBLICANS DO THE SAME THING DEMOCRATS DO AND USE THEIR MONEY TO INFLUENCE POLITICS!!!

3/27/2011 10:16:18 PM

Funny how there's been almost no discussion on how two major liberal donors committed millions of dollars via one-man SuperPACs to the VA governor's race. I wonder why... I guess it's only evil when the Popes or Kochs do it, right?

11/8/2013 11:30:17 PM

^ maybe in your head

11/9/2013 1:12:04 AM

either of those doners named Budget Director of Virginia?

11/9/2013 10:31:43 AM

Or because this is an NC centric message board

11/9/2013 12:32:11 PM

You liberals love to boycott you some business don't you.

Worked out really fucking well for Chick-fil-a

How come nobody here complains about Soros?

11/9/2013 1:09:19 PM

Quote :

"DONERS"

11/9/2013 9:02:36 PM

^^ You're an idiot. Boycotting is the free market solution to influence companies to be more socially responsible. You should be whole-heartedly endorsing it's use.

11/9/2013 10:59:07 PM

^^ glad to see that you honed in on a hungover typo as opposed to the post

bravo

11/10/2013 2:21:51 AM

I just think its silly, that's all. You never answered my question though. I don't see anybody complaining about the billions of dollars that are pumped into the well oiled machine that is the democratic party.

Yet when some rich righties try to influence local elections with their money, you get bent all out of shape. What's good for the goose is good for the gander.

I may be an idiot but my vote counts just as much as yours, unless you're voting more than once.

11/11/2013 7:20:46 AM

Bloomberg's PAC's participation in VA has been well covered by the media and plenty of GOP paid for ads. People aren't as upset because his PAC just doesn't do as much shitty stuff as Koch. People aren't upset at the Koch brothers because they are spending money, people are upset because they are spending money on terrible things.

It's just not equivalent, its not a scandal.

11/11/2013 8:11:40 AM

nope, youre wrong.

try again.

11/11/2013 8:35:42 AM

nope

11/11/2013 8:36:53 AM

In keeping with the spirit of this thread, Where does funding for Democracy NC come from? I can't seem to find any information about funding sources on their website.

http://www.democracy-nc.org/

11/11/2013 10:43:07 AM

Z. Smith Reynolds
http://zsr.org/


[Edited on November 11, 2013 at 10:57 AM. Reason : largest donor]

11/11/2013 10:56:14 AM

^ Thanks. I'm curious as to why Democracy NC doesn't seem to advertise their primary source of funding on their own website. It seems to me the author of this thread is very concerned about a lack of transparency on the part of Art Pope's various groups, but not so much concerned about transparency when it comes to the group that contributes to his livelihood.

11/11/2013 11:13:43 AM

conservative bloggers have been watching, researching, and digging for scandals in Democracy NC for years. feel free to dig around yourself though:

http://www.secretary.state.nc.us/csl/ProfCSL.aspx?PitemId=6796313
http://www.wral.com/asset/news/state/nccapitol/2013/03/08/12199267/Democracy_NC_2011_IRS_990.pdf\

11/11/2013 11:30:35 AM

Thanks again for the information, but not interested in any scandals. Just interested in the author's concern over transparency when it comes to Pope, but seemingly not when it comes to ZSR and Democracy NC.



[Edited on November 11, 2013 at 11:42 AM. Reason : the author of this thread - Supplanter]

11/11/2013 11:36:28 AM

which author?

11/11/2013 11:37:28 AM

The Rethug is talking about Supplanter.

11/11/2013 12:21:09 PM

i don't think that the OP is a non-partisan voice.

11/11/2013 12:22:00 PM

My apologies for not using the proper TWW vocabulary, it's part of the problem with being more of a lurker than a full time poster. I take it OP stands for original poster or the equivalent of author? And Rethug I'm guessing stands for Republican?

^ And I further apologize if it's understood that certain posters are partisan and other TSB'ers are well aware of their partisan slant and already take it into account when reading/responding to posts from said posters.

11/11/2013 1:25:08 PM

It seems you're not familiar with the concept of thread titles either.

11/11/2013 1:57:36 PM

While we're slightly on this R vs D subject, I think republicans, democrats, and whatever party label you want to have can all go fuck yourselves.

Those "leaders" have done a great job a pigeonholing almost every issue and the vast majority of voters. Nearly ever major issue is now cast in almost just 2 categories - republican view and democrat view; and the population just blindly follows their party leaders on what to say and how to feel. Do yourselves a favor (for those of you following "the leader") and start thinking for yourselves.

11/11/2013 2:21:39 PM

so you support additional gun control now?

11/11/2013 2:29:12 PM

define "additional gun control"

and I didn't say that some of your views couldn't align with a party. I'm saying people should have their own views and where it lies along party lines is where it lies. Too many people just take their party's stance, because, well gosh darn, their party is always correct!

11/11/2013 2:31:29 PM

background checks for all purchases

11/11/2013 2:32:12 PM

if by purchase you mean a permanent trade or cash transfer*, then yes. and I have always supported such an idea, though not when attached to other controls, such as registration; and I also would like to see any current tracking via checks/forms removed as a part of expanding background checks.

*does not include family gifts, temporary transfers, etc. Not to say that these transactions may skirt other applicable laws - it should be the "sellers" duty to ensure the recipient is legal to take ownership - either by familiarity, or if they wish, via a self-opted background check

[Edited on November 11, 2013 at 2:37 PM. Reason : .]

11/11/2013 2:35:34 PM

You guys should make more threads about Art Pope and the Kochs.

Fucking obsessed IMO.

11/11/2013 8:43:57 PM

this thread is almost 3 years old and isn't a page long.

11/12/2013 9:53:05 AM

Art Pope is a fantastic name IMO.

11/12/2013 10:03:41 AM