Couldn’t resist the obscure title. Anyway, a reader flagged this issue for me, and I’m kind of creeped out by all the donations going from All Children Matter to Indiana Republicans. But these folks aren’t local, they spread their money around the country. The organization is funded by Dick DeVos out of the DeVos Amway fortune (and, to some extent, apparently the Wal-Mart fortune.) All Children Matter is devoted to privatizing our educational system through use of vouchers and similar schemes or, to use their characterization, offering “school choice.”
First, I’m a little leerie, perhaps unjustifiably so, of the connection between Amway — a business that apparently has characteristics similar to a cult — and educating our children. Second, the amount of money going into Indiana campaigns is remarkable. I previously mentioned $50,000 going to Tom Dermody.
But it looks like ACM is spreading it around liberally. (Oh, and hey, what do you know? They are affiliated with social conservative election law attorney James Bopp, Jr.). In the 12 key house races that Mary Beth Schneider called Hot races:
District 17, Steve Heim $1,000.00 from All Children Matter
District 20 Tom Dermody $53,000.00
District 21 Jackie Walorski $1,000.00
District 30 John Smith $4,500.00 on 10-13-2006
District 31 Tim Harris $1,000.00 on 10-03-2006
District 33 Bill Davis $1,000.00 on 10-10-2006
District 46 Vern Tincher report not online
District 52 Martin Stutzman report not online
District 64 Troy Woodruff $1,750.00 in three payments
District 69 Billy Bright $20,000.00 on 10-25-06……yes 20 grand!
District 70 Christopher Byrd $500.00 on 10-12-2006
District 86 Kathy Densborn $2,000.00 on 10-12-2006
During the period between April 8, 2006 to October 13, 2006, they donated $258,000. Some of the other larger donations: Brian Bosma received $5,000; Bob Behning received $2,500; Our friends at Faulkner strategies — the folks who get so much money from Jackie Walorski — received $26,507; Our other friends — the PAC for the Indiana Chamber of commerce — received $9,400; Jeff Brantley (not familiar with this name) received $17,000 or more; about $50,000 went to advertising through a direct mail outfit called Majority Communications out of Columbus, Ohio; and another media buy went through a D.C. media outfit by the name of Strategic Media Services, Inc at an expense of $20,000.
So, what do you think? Have they bought themselves some school privatization in 2007?
Update All Children Matter appears to be involved in some of the nasty mailers Matt Tully complained about that were sent out on behalf of Katheryn Densborn in her bid to unseat David Orentlicher.
Amway has had its sales tactics questioned from time to time too.
I think it’s the 21st Century, and long past the time we should be putting up with this sort of thing. It’s not just that I’m opposed to what the euphemistically-named ACM is up to (it’s the public schools, not charters, and god knows not private schools, which educate “All” children), or that I want nothing to do with Amway or Wal*Mart. It’s that I’m sick of having legislators who blithely pocket $20 grand when that sort of money would make a real difference in the education, nutrition, or health care of children in need.
At this rate, in ten years’ time inner-city districts like IPS will be rusting hulks, our 400 local charter schools will have nowhere to dump all the discipline problems and the developmentally disabled children they now toss back, and Major Moves money, if any, will be going towards the creation of the 431 Skyway so Carmel HS can build a new domed stadium underneath it.
I love any posting that contains “Amway” and “Cult” in the same phrase.
I shouldn’t be surprised that there’s a connection to Amway and the Christianization, er, I mean, privatization of public schooling.
Doug, I thought it was funny that Tully didn’t know who the All Children Matter PAC was? It’s his job to know who’s throwing the largest sum of money around in these key races.
Yeah, I was kind of hoping that I hadn’t heard of these folks because the journalists knew who they were, were more knowledgeable than me, and concluded that they were just a run of the mill PAC, nothing to worry about. That doesn’t seem to be the case.
Is there a reason the ‘obscure title’ has an unnecessary “are” in it?
Yup. That’s almost the whole point of the phrase. Check out this link for the explanation.