BIG MONEY IN POLITICS? Romanoff Knows All About It…Until He Runs For Office Opposing It

Published on March 25, 2013 by

Andrew Romanoff, the likely Democratic nominee for the 6th Congressional District, and failed U.S. Senate primary contender in 2010, talked to Denver Westword on Friday about his upcoming campaign and had some interesting things to say. In particular it was his bloviating about special interests that caught our attention, as we thought that trope had been trampled pretty effectively last go-round.

 “I see folks in Washington forgot the people who sent them there…

“…Special interests have enough politicians on their payroll already…

“I don’t think you should have to sell your house to serve in the House… There’s something wrong about a system that says, ‘Only millionaires need apply.”

OK, maybe Andrew Romanoff (D-Renting) got a bulk rate discount on campaign clichés. Maybe he’s really a starry-eyed amateur who thinks he can raise money for his campaign by ringing a bell outside a Whole Foods Market. Or, just maybe he’s picked a really ironic campaign platform to challenge Rep. Mike Coffman. Why is it ironic?

Hmmm, let us count the ways:

(1) Four millionaires bought Romanoff a really nice gavel in 2005. The Gang of Four (Tim Gill, Pat Stryker, Jared Polis, Rutt Bridges) weren’t exactly average lefties who dropped some coins in Romanoff’s campaign jar after he spoke at their Common Cause chapter meeting. They dropped millions and bought him the Legislature.

He can’t pretend he wasn’t there.

According to Rob Witwer/Adam Schrager’s The Blueprint, Romanoff accompanied Rep. Alice Madden on a fundraising pitch to Pat Stryker and Al Yates in October 2003. Did he oppose big money in politics at that meeting? Who “sent him” to the Speaker’s chair, and does he remember them?

(2) Only millionaires need apply to run for Congress? Maybe if you’re a Democrat. It worked for Jared Polis. It worked for whats-his-name…ahem, Michael Bennet [clearly Romanoff is still sore about that one]. But can you bang the class warfare drum against Mike Coffman — a lifelong military grunt who served in both Iraq wars?

In fact, let’s compare Romanoff’s race to become Speaker of the House to Coffman’s last Congressional race and see who is really a man of the people. According to OpenSecrets.org: 

• Average individual contribution to Coffman for Congress in 2012: $1,100

• Average individual contribution to Romanoff’s State House 527, Alliance for Colorado Families, in 2004: $42,888.

(3) It’s likely Andrew would have needed to sell his house to run for CD 6 anyway, as his former Denver domain didn’t reside in CD6.

(4) No one said it better than Romanoff’s former Democrat opponent, Michael Bennet, in 2010, with this ad pointing out that not only has Romanoff taken gobs of money from special interest Political Action Committees (PACs), but he was running his own PAC until four months after he entered the U.S. Senate race. There’s a word that comes to mind here…

 

PAC POISON: Ed Perlmutter Has Taken Nearly A Million Dollars In Union PAC Money Since 2008

Published on June 6, 2012 by

In the wake of the crushing defeat of union asset Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett in Wisconsin last night we thought we would take a look at Colorado's very own union asset, Congressman Ed Perlmutter. According to OpenSecrets.org, Perlmutter has received nearly a million dollars — $903,500 to be exact — from special interest labor union Political Action Committees (PACs) since 2008.

For comparison, Denver Congresswoman Diana DeGette has taken in only $100,000 more from union PACs, but she has been in office ten years longer than Perlmutter. Broken down annually, Perlmutter is averaging over $225,000 in union PAC cash per year, compared to DeGette who averages slightly less than $73,000.

Consider it visually:

Considering 57% of Perlmutter's donations so far this cycle have come from special interest PACs, it's fair to say Perlmutter's political life is tied at the hip to union interests. Perlmutter's opponent, Golden businessman Joe Coors Jr, has taken less than 1% in PAC donations, from all industries. 

Remind us, Allison Sherry, whose source of campaign donations matter most.

Voters rejected the pernicious influence of labor unions in politics last night in Wisconsin. In five months, Colorado voters will have the chance to do the same. 


 

REPRESENTING THE 99%: Ed Perlmutter Dropped Nearly $24,000 On Vail Trips This Last Quarter

Published on April 17, 2012 by

Ed Perlmutter likes to paint himself as the man of the people, while his campaign and allies hypocritically rip on Joe Coors Jr for belonging to the same country club that Perlmutter did (at least until his wife won the membership in their divorce). Now the Perlmutter "man of the people" image is coming under scrutiny.

The most recent Federal Election Commission (FEC) filing for Perlmutter's fundraising in the first quarter of 2012 shows nearly $24,000 spent on multiple swanky trips to Vail, including over $9,000 spent just at the Four Seasons.

Those are just the kind of trips that the hard working citizens of Jefferson County take all the time. Who in JeffCo isn't a preferred guest at the Four Seasons in Vail?

Digging into Coors's and Perlmutter's fundraising reports is illuminating.

Liberals are crying about Coors donating to himself, though you won't hear a peep about that when Jared Polis does it. Which is shocking considering Coors donated about $200k to his campaign, whereas Polis wrote himself checks totaling over $7 million.

Yet when you actually look at where the donations come from it begins to develop a narrative Democrats in Colorado aren't going to like.

From individuals, Coors raised $230,730. Perlmutter raised only $161,788. So where did Perlmutter get all of his money?


Special interest PACs.

Perlmutter got $202,000 from PACs. Coors got $1,000.

In fact, this cycle Perlmutter has raised more money from PACs ($714,793) than he has individuals ($531,618)!

Normally incumbents draw more from PACs than challengers, but in Colorado all Democrat Congressional candidates rely on special interest money.

Take Sal Pace. In his first fundraising quarter, PACs represented 23% of his total. For Brandon Shaffer, it was 22%. Joe Miklosi took the prize with 36% of his funds coming from PACs. 

When those three Democrats' opponents were challengers themselves what they raised from PACs represented less than 0.5% (Tipton), 3% (Gardner) and 0.8% (Coffman).

The question worth asking is why do Perlmutter and Democrats rely so heavily on special interest money?

 
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