The Times-Tribune story tried to figure out who was behind CFIF.
Founded in 1998, the center had ties to the now-defunct National Smokers Alliance created and funded by Philip Morris, the nation's No. 1 cigarette manufacturer, and received $5 million from the alliance when it was dissolved in 2001, the newspaper reported.
American Target Advertising, a Virginia company owned by Richard Viguerie, the political direct-mail expert and longtime conservative activist, was a fundraiser for the center as recently as last year, according to a disclosure report it filed in Washington state.
Attorneys for the state attorney general's office and the Department of State sued the center in Commonwealth Court a few days before the election. They argued that the ad violated the state Election Code ban on corporate contributions to candidates and that the center failed to register as a political group and disclose the source of its funding.
Senior Judge Barry F. Feudale Jr. declined to halt the ad. He said it did not mention that Lally-Green was a candidate or urge voters to elect her, and therefore did not constitute the "express advocacy" that the U.S. Supreme Court allows states to regulate.
Media Transparency says that a group called the Carthage Foundation gave $125,000 to CFIF in 2005. http://www.mediatran... The Carthage Foundation is controlled by billionaire weirdo/adulterer Richard Mellon Scaife, so one can guess what other groups might be supporting it. It also explains why CFIF, an Alexandria-based group, would be interested in a Pennsylvania race. Source Watch has a little more information on the group, but not much that is enlightening (except for its tobacco funding). http://www.sourcewat...
CFIF proclaims it stands for individual freedom. I wonder what its position is on gay rights, freedom of choice, and prohibitions against illegal wiretapping.
In any event, this is a group that is obviously ashamed of its funding sources (much like related groups like Grover Norquist's Americans for Tax Reform). Interestingly, such groups are all for transparency in government spending (a goal I agree with them on). http://www.atr.org/c...
Let's keep an eye out on CFIF. No telling when it'll act as a conduit for campaign ads in the guise of "issues ads" in Virginia again. And I don't mind if they do spend money - I'd just like to know who's behind it. Because democracy shouldn't be controlled by the highest bidder.