Backers of Ads Skirt Rules on Disclosure

SHOW OF SUPPORT: The New Majority, an organization at the core of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s reelection campaign, has partly funded TV spots via the U.S Chamber of Commerce, a business group. Chamber officials would not say how much the ads cost. (www.uschamber.com)

Look what our Governator is getting from his friends. This is off the Los Angeles Times:

SACRAMENTO — A television ad campaign portrayed as an independent effort to help Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has been bankrolled partly by a group with deep ties to his political operation.

An official with the New Majority, a Southern California Republican group at the core of Schwarzenegger's fundraising apparatus, said its members have given about $1 million to the Washington, D.C., business group that is the public face of the ads: the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

By pumping the ad money through the chamber, well-heeled New Majority members have bypassed requirements that their donations be publicly disclosed. And they skirted the strict contribution limits — $22,300 each for the June 6 primary and again for the November general election — that would apply if they had donated directly to Schwarzenegger.

The chamber, which has put out the commercials in what it calls an "independent issue advocacy program," is not required to report where the funding comes from or adhere to donation limits.

Disclosure would be required after April 22, within 45 days of the primary. The ads stopped running late last week, and it is unclear whether more are planned.

The latest spot that ran statewide featured reminders of Gray Davis' governorship and the exhortation "Remember?," coupled with upbeat images of Schwarzenegger.

Chamber officials would not say how much the ads cost. But Andy Gharakhani, executive director of the New Majority's Los Angeles chapter, characterized the group's contribution as "significant."

The New Majority includes wealthy businesspeople, Schwarzenegger campaign aides and gubernatorial appointees.

The group's membership director is Renee Croce, who is also finance director of one of Schwarzenegger's main fundraising committees. She works out of a Santa Monica building that Schwarzenegger owns and where he keeps an office.

Of course, the New Majority won't disclose how much they have given to Schwarzenegger's campaign fund. But further down in the Times article, there is a nice little number to chew on:

Gharakhani said the New Majority has donated about $10 million overall to the governor's campaign causes, beginning with his push for after-school programs when he was a private citizen in 2002.

Paul Folino, chairman and chief executive of Emulex, a high-tech company, chairs the New Majority's Orange County chapter. He has donated $1.3 million to Schwarzenegger's political funds over the last four years, state records show. Folino did not return calls for comment.

Another New Majority founder is billionaire Donald Bren. Bren is chairman of the Irvine Co., an Orange County real estate firm that has put $410,000 toward Schwarzenegger's political goals in the last two years.

So this was the man who said he was going to clean up Sacramento, and get rid of the corruption of the Davis government. And what our Governator doing--he's playing dirty in the same campaign corruption game as his predecessor. Yes, Virginia--the crap goes on. You just got to love politics and the corruption of big money in the system.