The shame of secret political donors
http://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-mh-donors-20131025,0,4792238.story#axzz2ilW9MaEx
"Thanks to the tenacity of the Fair Political Practices Commission, the names are now dribbling out of the campaign donors who hid behind layers of illegal secrecy to conceal their support for an anti-union measure and a desperately needed tax increase on last year's California ballot.
As one might expect, it's a disgraceful roster of billionaires intent of pulling up the ladder of advancement behind them. Charles Schwab. Eli Broad. B. Wayne Hughes (founder of Pubic Storage). The owners of The Gap. Sheldon Adelson of the Las Vegas Sands.
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Are you having trouble following this? That's exactly what the donors hoped. In any case, SBAC used the donation to fight Gov. Brown's ultimately successful tax increase ballot initiative and to support Proposition 32. Prop 32, which failed, aimed to drive unions out of politics, leaving the field free for people like, well, Sheldon Adelson, Charles Schwab, and B. Wayne Hughes.
Shortly after announcing its settlement with CPPR and ARL (including the payment of $1 million in fines), the FPPC lowered the boom on the SBAC, informing it that the law now requires that it fork over the $11 million it received through this daisy chain.
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More at link about busting the secret money trail used to turn an election.
Great reporting