The group sent out “several thousand” high-qualityfull-color mailings, set up three different robocalls, aired radio ads,sponsored two rallies and paid for a live operator to call county residents andthen connect them to their supervisor if they supported CRG’s position.
The multimedia blitz must have cost a bundle for the“grassroots, all-volunteer” organization. One very conservative estimate by amedia strategist puts the figure at tens of thousands of dollars.
But the public will never know the exact price tagof CRG’s advocacy on the budget—or who paid for it—because the group isn’trequired to disclose its financial activities on this issue.
“I thinkpeople want to know where the money is coming from for a lot of good reasons,but also a lot of bad reasons so they can harass those contributors,” said CRGPresident Chris Kliesmet. “If my ideological competition is not going to showme theirs, I’m not going to put myself and the people I represent at acompetitive disadvantage. We’re going to play hard. We’re going to play as hardas the rules allow.”
‘Issue’ Groups Not Required to DiscloseFinances
The CRG, like many advocacy groups, is really anumbrella organization that includes separate entities for tax and messagingpurposes. Some of these entities must fully disclose their contributors andexpenditures, while others don’t have to reveal anything at all.
The CRG Network, the umbrella group, “is composed ofthree separate and distinct organizations each with a specific mission,” itsWeb site states.
One entity is CRG Advocates Inc., an “issueadvocacy” unit—technically called an IRS 501c(4)—that doesn’t seek to influenceelections, but rather voters’ and lawmakers’ actions on specific issues. Thegroup can get heavily involved in issues central to its mission, but it doesnot have to reveal its donors or spending. It may accept contributions fromindividuals or corporations.
In contrast, entities that seek to influenceelections—such as a political action committee (PAC)—have to reveal all oftheir financial activities to the public.
CRG has a PAC, too, called CRG Network PAC, which iscompletely transparent. Although one of its required reports from 2008 has notbeen filed, according to its most recent campaign finance report, the CRGNetwork PAC had $5,096 on hand.
Since the CRG’s recent activities targeted abudget—not a candidate or an election—it channeled all of its fund-raising andspending for the effort through its “issue” group, CRG Advocates.
Kliesmetsaid that he would not disclose CRG Advocates’ financial details.
“I willdisclose [our donors] when I am legally obligated to disclose [them] and if I’mon an equal footing with my ideological competitors,” Kliesmet told the Shepherd. “I’ll show you mine if youshow me yours.”
The CRGNetwork’s third entity, the nonprofit Citizens for Responsible GovernmentFoundation Inc., is its educational arm. According to its IRS filings, thefoundation trains people on how to conduct recall efforts and make open recordsrequests; it also created an online tool to track government vendor expenses.
Thefoundation’s most recent tax filing found online (from 2007) shows that it had$34,409 on hand, although no donors were disclosed on the IRS 990-EZ tax form.Kliesmet said early seed money for the foundation came in part from theNational Taxpayers Union.
MilwaukeeCounty Supervisor Theo Lipscomb, who has been a target of CRG’s attention,questioned the group’s financial sources and actions.
“The CRG isnot a grassroots movement,” Lipscomb said. “They are a well-financed politicaloperation that is attempting to impose extreme policies through a coordinatedcampaign of misinformation.”
Promoting Walker as Cure
Kliesmet said that the CRG had been rather quiet in Milwaukee Countyuntil Walkerproposed his budget.
CRG sent two mailers urging support for Walker’s zero-percent taxincrease budget. The first mailing, sent days before the CRG’s Serb Hall rally,which Walker attended, is printed on heavy card stock, folds multiple times,and is in full color—not an inexpensive flier by any means.
Its text and tone portray Walker as the cure for all of the county’sproblems:
“Taxes and spending just continue to climb…” thepiece begins. It then lists problems against a dark brick background withMilwaukee County Board Chairman Lee Holloway’s photo. On the third page there’sa photo of a white fist, a sign saying “Take back Milwaukee County”and the message “It is time to do something to make our politicians listen…”
On the next page there appears “The solution… ScottWalker’s common sense budget” and more text. The background is light, with agiant silver arrow pointing to Walker’sphoto. Next to his photo the mailing states: “Enough is enough! Milwaukee County belongs to the taxpayers, not thepoliticians.” It invited residents to CRG’s Oct. 4 rally at Serb Hall.
The brochure also includes detachable postcards, oneto mail to “Citizens for Responsible Government” so the recipient can be addedto the group’s mailing list, and another to be sent to the resident’ssupervisor, urging them to support Walker’s budget.
The mailer’s return address states “Paid for byCitizens for Responsible Government.” Its “network” logo appears nearby.
But, technically, “Citizens for ResponsibleGovernment” is not the name of its issue advocacy entity—“CRG Advocates” is.
Race-Baiting?
Kliesmet said the CRG’s issue advocacy entity, CRGAdvocates, paid for the mailing. As a 501c(4) that solely advocates for issues,not elections, CRG Advocates doesn’t have to disclose its donors orexpenditures.
Kliesmet said that in addition to printing andlayout, the group paid for a mailing list as well so it could be sent to peoplenot on its own membership mailing list. Kliesmet said that “several thousand”of these pieces were mailed throughout the county.
South Shore Supervisor Patricia Jursik blasted themailing as “race-baiting.”
“It absolutely makes Holloway look like he’s from anevil empire, and that raised fist—it’s way over the top, in my opinion,” Jursiksaid.
Kliesmet defended the message and tone. He said thatit’s only natural to show what is being rejected in a dark, foreboding manner,while what is being supported is portrayed in a bright, cheery way. He saidpeople would read into the message what they will, although he didn’t think itwas race-baiting.
“I think LeeHolloway has been a thorn in our side since the day he became chairman,”Kliesmet said. “I’m sorry—a child can yell that there’s a monster under the bedand the adults can come in and turn the lights on and say there’s no monster,but if that child wants to see a monster there’s going to be a monster there.Does that mean you can never put a white person and a black person together ona brochure?”
That mailingwas only CRG’s opening salvo on the budget.
The group’sless elaborate second mailing invited recipients to its Nov. 14 “Rally withTaxpayers” at the Italian Community Center, whichpromised appearances by Walker, WISN-AM’s Vicki McKenna and WTMJ-AM’s James T.Harris. Photos of Holloway and Walker are also shown. The mailing doesn’t statewho is sponsoring the rally, although the return address states “paid for byCRG Advocates.”
Kliesmetsaid CRG Advocates also paid for the two rallies, radio ads on conservativetalk shows, three different robocalls (two featuring Kliesmet and one featuringWTMJ’s Harris) and phone operators who would transfer CRG sympathizers directlyto the offices of their supervisors.
In additionto its work on the 2010 county budget, CRG Advocates also sent out amulti-piece mailing on the city’s proposed rental property inspection program.
The CRG Network PAC has announced it would provideassistance and financial support to two just-launched anti-tax PACs in Glendale and in South Milwaukeeand Cudahy.
