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SW: →astroturfing the judiciary: adding links
==astroturfing the judiciary==
The <i>Seattle Post-Intelligencer</i>'s [[Joel Connelly ]] [http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/connelly/284607_joel11.html wrote] September 11, 2006, that in Washington state "an outfit called" [[CHANGEPAC]] —"which is listed as a sponsor of personal attack ads running against Washington State Supreme Court Chief Justice [[Gerry Alexander ]] and touting his challenger, [[John Groen]]"—"reported a huge $400,000 donation from the Building Industry Association of Washington." The "$400,000 check did not travel far", Connelly wrote, as the "BIAW and ChangePac can be found at the same Olympia post office box."
:The [http://www.networksolutions.com/whois/results.jsp?whoistoken=0 domain] / [http://www.votingforjudges.org website] VOTINGFORJUDGES.ORG calls itself "An information resource for Washington voters." As of September 8, 2006, CHANGEPAC (PO Box 1909, Olympia) had received an estimated $600,000 in revenues, with $400,000 attributed to donations on September 1, 2006, by the [[Building Industry Association of Washington ]] (PO Box 1909, Olympia). "Advocacy" total expenditures to date are $336,704.82, with $291,377.09 spent on John Groen and $45,327.73 on Stephen Johnson. [http://www.votingforjudges.org/finance/itstime.html]
On the east coast, Connelly writes, an additional $320,000 was spent "on anti-Alexander ads ... aired by a group identified as 'Americans Tired of Lawsuit Abuse'," which "gives an address in Virginia and is the spawn of the [[American Tort Reform Association]]."
:Americans Tired of Lawsuit Abuse WA PAC, with an Alexandria, Virginia, address, also links with VOTINGFORJUDGES.ORG. It shows a single contribution of $355,000.00 from Americans Tired of Lawsuit Abuse, also located in Alexandria, Virginia [http://www.vpap.org/donors/pac_soo.cfm?ComID=05-100&FmKey=ORP000240881]. "Advocacy" expendures total $320,000.00: $80,000.00 to support John Groen and $240,000.00 to support Stephen Johnson in Washington. [http://www.votingforjudges.org/finance/tired.html]
Other ads attacking Washington state "Supreme Court Justice [[Tom Chambers ]] and backing challenger [[Jeanette Burrage]]" were "placed by a committee named [[Citizens for Judicial Integrity]]," Connelly wrote. "Public Disclosure Commission records reveal that the 'citizens" group has a single contributor:" On August 25, 2006, it received $72,000 from a political committee called [[Constitution First PAC]], which "also has a limited list of contributors."
Richard Roesler, staff writer for the ''Spokesman Review'', [http://www.spokesmanreview.com/blogs/olympia/archive.asp?postID=3945 wrote] August 31, 2006, in the ''Eye on Olympia'' Blog that CIJ, which had then been "formed just a week ago", was bankrolling the ads with $72,000 it had raised "in just a few days", with all the money coming "from yet another week-old [[political action committee]]: the Constitution First PAC", in turn supported by "just three donors: $50,000 from [[Sabre Venture]], Inc. of Poulsbo and $12,500 each from [[J.R. Sherrard ]] and [[A.L. Sherrard]], also both of Poulsbo. (The Sherrards also donated the maximum $1,400 each to Burrage's regular campaign fund.)"
==Telecom astroturf==
