National women’s organization claims no money from Koch brothers, as accused in special State Senate election

Says Susan Bonilla campaign received the same funding from the Koch Brothers as does IWV: zero

WASHINGTON, DC – Independent Women’s Voice (IWV) would like to correct the record as certain false statements about IWV, that were deliberately not checked with us for accuracy, are being floated in a desperate bid to create an issue where there is none.

Those false statements are that

a) IWV is a Koch proxy group and receives funding from the Kochs.

b) IWV made a TV ad buy in the May 19th CA SD-7 special election.

c) IWV is violating its non-profit status by making a political expenditure.

None are true. Sadly those special interests – the same ones that wanted the BART strike and prefer sex-offender teachers over children, and who are supporting Assembly member Susan Bonilla — want headlines and a bogeyman in order to distract from themselves and their opposition to Steve Glazer’s independence from such interests.

What Koch Funding?

In the summer of 2009, IWV received funds from the Center to Protect Patient’s Rights (CPPR) to do education on the health care issue as it affected women, particularly women with cancer.

That 2009 funding was reported on CPPR’s 2010 filings and is the basis for claiming that IWV is a Koch entity, since CPPR eventually seems to have become a vehicle for Koch funding.

But CPPR did not become a Koch entity until sometime in at least 2010, when its director started working for the Kochs, well after IWV’s work was done and complete.

IWV, a 501(c)(4) advocacy organization, contrary to allegation, has never received any funding from the Koch’s or from any Koch-related entities. We wouldn’t mind receiving some, but we don’t seem to be their cup of tea.

What TV buy?

As for the short video we made to shine some light on Susan Bonilla’s track record, there is no TV buy – the distribution is simply digital. Oh, and if you want to read why we support Steve Glazer, (think anti-special interests and fiscal responsibility), you can see that too.

What rule violations?

IWV is a 501(c)(4) advocacy organization, and as such is permitted to make political expenditures. We are not a Single Purpose Committee, much as the Bonilla campaign might wish we were. We care about ethics and about fiscal sanity, and so are working, independent of any campaign, to educate people both for Steve Glazer and against Susan Bonilla and the special interests she represents – all while accurately and scrupulously following the laws as established by the Fair Political Practices Commission.

It is sad that the Bonilla campaign is so desperate for sympathy and attention, and so short of an appealing track record, that they would manufacture wholesale charges to throw at Independent Women’s Voice. Really, isn’t it time politics got out of that gutter?

Independent Women’s Voice is a 501(c)(4) nonpartisan, nonprofit organization for mainstream women, men and families dedicated to promoting limited government, free markets, and personal responsibility. IWV is an affiliate organization of the Independent Women’s Forum. For more information visit www.iwvoice.org.

See the news released from Bonilla’s campaign regarding their complaint against IWV, here.


6 Comments to “National women’s organization claims no money from Koch brothers, as accused in special State Senate election”

  1. Ron Rabatsky says:

    If you are talking about ties between IWF and the Koch Brothers, taking its word for it is not a very responsible way to go.

    from Sourcewatch:

    The Independent Women’s Forum is an anti-feminist organization predominantly funded by right-wing foundations, including the Sarah Scaife Foundation, the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, and the Koch brothers’ Claude R. Lambe Foundation.

    ——
    The IWF originally grew out of a group called “Women for Clarence Thomas,” formed to support Clarence Thomas, then a nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court, against allegations of sexual harassment. It has vocally opposed the Violence Against Women Act.

    In an editorial, the New York Times called the IWF “a right-wing public policy group that provides pseudofeminist support for extreme positions that are in fact dangerous to women.

    —–
    IWF has received funding from several sources with ties to the Koch brothers. The Koch family foundations donated $844,115 to IWF between 1998 and 2012, the most recent year for which records are available. DonorsTrust and Donors Capital Fund have contributed over $2.1 milliion to IWF since 2010.

    Heather Higgins, the chair of IWF’s board of directors, has attended at least one Koch network summit meeting. Former IWF president Nancy Pfotenhauer worked for Koch Industries and has attended multiple Koch network meetings. Pfotenhauer currently sits on the board of Americans for Prosperity, a key organization in the Kochs’ political network.

    ——–
    Founded by Rosalie Gaull (Ricky) Silberman in 1992, the IWF grew out of the ad hoc group, Women for Judge Thomas.

    While claiming to challenge “radical feminists,” IWF primarily targets mainstream feminists and feminist organizations, as exemplified by such figures as Hillary Rodham Clinton and such groups as the American Association of University Women.

    IWF is a secular counterpart to Religious Right women’s groups like Eagle Forum and Concerned Women for America, but these groups often work together. People for the American Way describe IWF as a group that “opposes affirmative action, gender equity programs like Title IX, and the Violence Against Women Act.”

    ————-
    According to data collected by Media Matters’ Conservative Transparency Project, IWF received $16,009,294 in foundation grants between 1994 and 2012. The top ten overall contributors to IWF are:[1]

    Randolph Foundation: $3,779,850 (1998-2012)
    DonorsTrust: $3,594,104 (2002-2012)
    Sarah Scaife Foundation: $1,900,000 (1999-2007)
    Donors Capital Fund: 1,640,000 (2012)
    Claude R. Lambe Charitable Foundation: $835,000 (1998-2010)
    John M. Olin Foundation: $776,000 (1995-2002)
    Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation: $580,000 (1995-2008)
    Castle Rock Foundation: $400,000 (1998-2011)
    Jaquelin Hume Foundation: $375,000 (1999-2009)
    William H. Donner Foundation: $308,157 (1998-2009)

    —————–
    Directors Emerritae include Lynne Cheney (wife of Dick Cheney) and Wendy Gramm (wife of ex TX SAenator Phil Gramm) as well as Nancy Nancy Pfotenhauer.

    • Jerry Hyde says:

      Invaluable information for Women and their families!
      You have to wonder why women in America can never get #Equal_Pay and #Equal_Rights, this article goes a long way toward answering that question? Thank you very much. I copied and pasted to my facebook page and will get this information to all who will listen!
      Thanks #HydeBlizzardbox, Jerry Hyde*

    • patrick lynch says:

      Thanks again to Ron, your vigilance as always is golden to the revolution against the oblivious stultified by life long propaganda…we lament the current state of our countrymen and their ability to form rational critical thought to question the myths and magic imposed upon the public narrative by the agenda driven. the oppressed are confined to a daily routine that doesn’t allow for the necessary leisure to develop a good understanding of the political force that is arrayed against them. Ron Rabatsky deserving of our approbation is tireless in disseminating relevant information about the subversion of just law to suit the interest of profit over our countrymen. the john Birch society has a long sordid and treasonous history along with the Koch libertarian mythical economic delusion. our Democracy is a mirage created by the interests of concentrated wealth… the solution sadly is revolution …only time will determine it’s desperate outcome ….remain always indefatigable for what is right and just…solidarity my countrymen

  2. Lynda Lawson says:

    Excellent reply Ron, and as always the facts speak for themselves. IWF can not change the actual facts. The fact is they are tied to Koch’s and do receive Koch and other Koch entity money. They also deceive women, and do not support women’s rights or equality. Many of these 501C groups should be exposed, and investigated for their ties, by the IRS for the frauds they are.They are manipulating women who may falsely assume IWF “supports women”.

  3. Publisher says:

    Please see the news release from Bonilla’s campaign regarding their complaint against IWV, here: http://antiochherald.com/2015/05/p16372/
    Our apologies for not seeing it in our email before seeing and posting the one from IWV.
    Allen Payton, Publisher.

    • marion tierney says:

      this report is exactly why the Stephenapolous contribution is a joke. millions from GOP to GOP groups and they go after George?
      why doesnt joe scarborough talk about that???

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