The Congressional moratorium on offshore drilling is set to lapse, and Newt Gingrich's astroturf group, American Solutions for Winning the Future, is riding high:
Las Vegas casino tycoon Sheldon Adelson upped his ante in former House Speaker Newt Gingrich's unregulated issues-advocacy group in August, with a $750,000 donation that helped propel the organization to the No. 2 fundraising spot among so-called 527 political groups this election season. ...When added to the Center for Responsive Politics' pre-August tally for the group, the new contributions bring American Solutions' total haul to more than $16 million this election season. Only the Service Employees International Union's issues-advocacy arm has raised more ...
Thing is, SEIU filed as a campaign committee with the Federal Election Commission, which means it faces legal donation limits. The "nonpartisan" *coughbullshitcough* American Solution faces no such restrictions. That's why Adelson has been able to give them $5.4 million. Indeed, the donor list is a who's-who of right-wing tycoons, a real inspiring grassroots story:
In August, about 50 percent of American Solutions' contributions came from Adelson and six other donors who have given thousands to GOP candidates, PACs, or committees this election season. Checks for $25,000 each came from Virginia real estate developer Guiseppe Cecchi; Larry Franklin, chief executive of the Harte-Hanks marketing firm, San Antonio; Houston Harte, vice chairman of Harte-Hanks; and Ken Langone of New York, a venture capitalist, co-founder of Home Depot and former New York Stock Exchange director. Florida real estate developer Mel Sembler, a long-time GOP fundraiser, doubled his giving to American Solutions with a $10,000 donation in August.
Winning the death of the moratorium will only be the first of Gingrich's efforts. You can expect his group to lead the fight against climate legislation in coming years.
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Comments
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GreyFlcn Posted 8:43 am
25 Sep 2008
If the Democrats sat there and did nothing, then offshore drilling 3 miles off the coast would automatically be legal on January 1st.
To reinstate the drilling ban Democrats would need to pass a new bill banning it.
And that would include getting 1/3rd of Senate Republicans to agree with the ban. Which would be virtually impossible.
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So as a compromise, Dems allowed drilling 100 miles offshore, and 50 miles offshore if the state agrees to it.
It ain't perfect, but it's a hell of lot better than what would have happened if the Dems weren't able to pass a bill.
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(P.S. The Dems also got the Renewable Energy Tax Credits renewed as well out of all this.)
-David Ahlport
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