Is Howie Rich "monitoring" everyone?

This blogger's friend got a letter from Howie Rich himself earlier this month.

A friend recently received the following letter. He's only given financially to two politically oriented organizations. He checked with the other and their donor lists are confidential. He believes his name was obtained from public records of Obama donors.

Americans For Limited Government Foundation
www.getliberty.org
9900 Main Street
Fairfax, VA 22031
Phone: 703.383.0880
Fax: 703.383.5288
info@getliberty.org

Dear Mr. [redacted],

Recently a new left-wing organization announed that it would be targeting donors to conservative, free-market organizations. The major press announcement stated that the organization intended to engage in such activities as "public exposure," having "watchdog groups digging through the lives" of these individuals, and "possible legal trouble."

As someone who has been put through that abuse over the years, I can tell you from first-hand experience that it is not fun and not something to take lightly. I have supported groups and efforts that I believe will push back against the radical agenda of the Left. And, I have paid the price for it, in attacks, slurs and threats.

As a donor to one or more of these organizations and efforts, you have been able to engage in these activities without notice, operating in relative obscurity. I am writing to inform you that this will no longer be the case.

Your name has been put in our database. We are monitoring all reports of a wide variety of leftist organizations. As your name appears in subsequent reports, it is our intent to publicize you involvement in your local community. Should any of these organizations be found to be engaged in illegal or questionable activity, it is our intent to publicize your involvement with those activities. You should know that instances of coordinated voter fraud are surfacing all across America and investigations into possible criminal coordination are underway.

For your review, I have enclosed a memorandum from our legal counsel.

Sincerely,
Howard Rich
Chairman

Some news outlets found out about the letter too and reported that thousands of donors to various political campaigns have gotten one. In one report, the Online Journal identified Howie Rich as "an extreme right-wing libertarian."

(WMR) -- Although right-wing Republican groups have been reported targeting and intimidating potential Democratic voters across the United States, especially in Florida, Alabama, Wisconsin, and Michigan, WMR has now learned that the right-wing is now trying to intimidate donors to the Democratic Party. WMR has obtained a copy of an undated letter sent by Americans for Limited Government Foundation Chairman Howard Rich. Rich is an extreme right-wing libertarian and New York real estate magnate who also heads the organization “U.S. Term Limits.”
...
However, it is Rich who has run afoul of the law in the past. In 2006, Rich’s Americans for Limited Government was forced to move its headquarters from Chicago because it could not comply with Illinois charity laws. On December 18, 2006, the Center for Public Integrity reported, “Americans for Limited Government spent at least $8 million in 2006 pushing ‘regulatory takings’ initiatives and other ballot measures across the country. The organization faced public scrutiny in failing to disclose its donors or activities through a network of interconnected, tax-exempt entities. On Sept. 15, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan notified ALG that its registration under the state’s charitable solicitation laws was ‘delinquent and not in good standing’ and would be canceled in 30 days if it failed to file a complete annual report, including an audit by a certified public accountant, as required by law.

“Madigan sent identical warnings to ALG’s affiliate, Americans for Limited Government Foundation, but neither organization responded to the warnings, leading to the Illinois Attorney General Office’s cancellation of their registrations as charitable organizations. Rich recently was described by The Wall Street Journal as ‘a publicity-shy, libertarian-leaning businessman who has become the go-to man for supporters of conservative ballot initiatives.’ ALG had operated from offices in Illinois since 2002, but just after the November 7 elections it quietly changed its address to the Virginia residence of one of its officers. At the same time, ALG created two new tax-exempt groups, the Sam Adams Alliance and the Sam Adams Foundation, which occupy its former Chicago address.”

Rich sits on the board of the right-wing Cato Institute, and runs, along with his wife Andrea, the Center for Independent Thought. Rich’s operations have been linked to those of Americans for Tax Reform head Grover Norquist, a very close friend, according to our sources, of Karl Rove.

Rich donates money to right-wing Republican candidates via a network of front companies and various corporate officials using the same Manhattan address of 73 Spring Street, Room 408.

Corporate contrivances listed at the Manhattan address include Dayrich LLC, Bradford Management of NY, Ltd., 51 First Avenue LLC, 470 W 166 LLC, Spring, Inc., West 14 & 18 LLC, Springrich Limited Partnership, Stilrich LLC, Bayrich LLC, 123 Lasalle Associates, Silver & Silver Properties LLC, 188 Claremont LLC, 4220 Broadway LLC, 4220 Broadway Inc., 405 49 Associates, Rich & Rich LLC, 332 E 11 LLC, 123 Lasalle Inc., Secure Data LLC, Rich & Rich Associates, Newrich LLC, Rich Acquisitions, Rosemeade Investors LLC, Streetrich LLC, and Spooner LLC.

Rich’s recipients include Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK), Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC), Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-CO), Rep. Ric Keller (R-FL), Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX), Sen. John Sununu (R-NH). Texas Democratic Representative Henry Cuellar has also received campaign cash from Rich.

Elections & Voting

New Yorker has history in Alaska, too

The Howie Rich who was mentioned by Cindi Ross Scoppe in The State on May 13 was mentioned also by a reporter in Alaska's Anchorage Daily News last winter, on January 9, more than a week before Joey Millwood's public forum on immigration in Landrum. A former Alaska state representative named Dick Randolph told the Daily News that he was "contacted by an associate of his old friend, New York land developer Howie Rich" about leading a ballot initiative campaign there.

On January 20, a writer in the Juneau Empire explained the initiative and the relationship between Randolph and Rich:

For example, two initiatives before us are the Clean Elections Initiative and the Anti-Corruption Act. On the surface, both initiatives appear to be like-minded efforts, but in reality they are diametrically opposed. Clean Elections proposes greater public funding/participation in future elections while the anti-corruption effort clearly prohibits this objective. Even more disconcerting are allegations that the anti-corruption folks are claiming their effort is a substitute for the Clean Elections Initiative. If so, it is clearly not. But the bigger issue lies in the existing disclosure rules. The sponsors of the Clean Elections Initiative have voluntarily disclosed their funding sources, while the anti-corruption campaign folks will not - their right under existing law until the initiative is certified.

What is known is that the anti-corruption campaign has at least indirect ties to Howard Rich, a New York real estate developer. This tie stems from former state Rep. Dick Randolph, who has lent his name to the anti-corruption effort. Both men are friends and devoted libertarians. Unfortunately, Rich is infamous for funding stealth citizen initiatives in other Western states. Nearly all have failed, but more importantly, some have been thrown out by the courts due to "persuasive patterns of wrong doing and fraud."

While there is no proof of wrong doing in Alaska, we cannot afford to be blindsided again. Full disclosure of the funding behind initiatives from the get-go would go a long way in letting citizens decide whether proposed initiatives can pass the common "smell" test.

And, back in the original Anchorage Daily News article, Randolph confirmed part of that information.

Randolph said he knew Rich as a prominent member of the national Libertarian Party. Today, Rich is better known for his controversial role in quietly paying for initiative efforts in Western states, according to a series of news reports over the past two years.

"Clean elections, anti-corruption initiatives aren't the same critter - 1 seeks, 1 bans public campaign money"
Anchorage Daily News (AK) - January 9, 2008

An author named Melinda Pillsbury-Foster knows more about their relationship. In the late 1970s, she writes,

in Alaska, a state with a population of only one million and an unusual set of circumstances due to the Alaska Pipe Line things had been developing. They continued to develop, but in very different directions. Several people had been elected to the state legislature as Libertarians. No matter what the size of the legislative body this was a major accomplishment.

It began with a guy named Dick Randolph, who had served two terms as a Republican state legislator in 1974 and 1974. After that he dropped out and did some thinking. Then he ran again, but this time as a Libertarian, in 1980 and then in 1982. This caused an explosion of popularity for Libertarianism in the Far North. Dick was the kind of guy who was well liked and thought of in his community. Dick encouraged another Libertarian, Ken Fanning, to run in his district in 1982 and Fanning squeaked in, too. Then Randolph decided to run for governor as a Libertarian in 1984. He lost, naturally. But Alaskans were happy that Randolph had managed to rescind the state income tax. It looked like anything was possible.

Another writer named Murray Rothbard was editor of the Libertarian Forum, the monthly newsletter of the Libertarian Party in the 1980s. Rothbard explained the relationship between Howie Rich and Dick Randolph in February 1983, when he listed several Libertarian Party activists who had created their own organization within the party. Rothbard called this organization the "Crane Machine," named for its leader, Ed Crane.

Rothbard wrote that Howie Rich "ran the disastrous Guida campaign for national chair in 1981, the equally disastrous Randolph campaign in 1982, and the likewise disastrous Northrup for Governor campaign in New York in 1982."

Of Randolph, Rothbard wrote, "A special category for the straw boss of the Alaska LP. Formerly State Rep, ran disastrous campaign for Governor in 1982. Turned his entire campaign over to the Crane Machine. One has the feeling, however, that Dick could someday leave the Machine. Is rumored to be suffering from revolt within Alaska LP."

Rothbard's notes say that a man named Kent Guida, a former businessman from Maryland, "ran the calamitous Randolph campaign under Rich's supervision." Another Libertarian, Eric O'Keefe, had been the national director of the Libertarian Party, but "when ousted, went to Alaska to help Guida run the Randolph fiasco."

Rothbard ties all of these men together under the leadership of Ed Crane, and he describes Crane this way:

The Big Boss: capo di tutti capi. Main power base: Head of the Cato Institute, which moved from San Franciso to Washington, D.C. early in the Reagan Administration to be close to the Corridors of Power. Also, Boss of: Libertarian Review Foundation, and its publications Inquiry and Update; National Taxpayers Legal Fund; and the Crane Machine in the Libertarian Party. Formerly, boss of Students for a Libertarian Society, and formerly, National Chairman of the LP. Managed the LP presidential campaigns in 1976 and 1980.