Paul Jacob, one of the chief strategists behind the recent flood of libertarian ballot measures, was just indicted on felony charges -- and unless you live in Oklahoma, you didn't read about it.

The charge? Conspiracy to defraud the state. But if you do a Google News search, you won't find any coverage outside that state -- even though Jacob's groups operate all over the country.

Jacob is one of the key players in the rapidly accelerating movement to pass cookie-cutter, far right bills by initiative and referendum all over the country. Spending caps that kill schools and other vital services, term limits for judges and state legislators, the destruction of land use regulation…and that's just the beginning.

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The right-wing has a very powerful and discrete set of channels set up to deliver money instantly around the country wherever it is needed.  That is key to its electoral dominance, and we have to figure out how to expose this financial skeleton and stop it.  Much of it is in the states, and one key sign that you're dealing with very powerful right-wing interests that are funneling money is accounting irregularities.  Two examples have come up recently.

If you don't know the name Howie Rich, you should.  He's a billionaire real estate mogul in New York City that runs a network of organizations pushing TABOR and anti-government initiatives all over the country, focusing on the West.  Though his name isn't well-known, Rich essentially controls California politics, and he does it with a maze of organizations that use shady accounting.  The Ballot Initiative Strategy Center is asking very legitimate questions, such as how his organization Americans for Limited Government took in $800,000 one year and spent $11,000,000 the next.  Just look through the nest of shell organizations; it's really nasty, and a good example of how right-wing billionaire ideologues are creating national machines to push narrow destructive agenda items by corrupting state governments.

Of course, sometimes the money channels flow through well-established state channels.  If you're interested in political machines and you haven't read this article from Colorado Confidential, it's worth reading.  The article traces money flows into and out of a right-wing 527 called Trailhead, which looks like a political slush fund for the Republican Governor Bill Owens, right-wing mega-donor and former Senate candidate Pete Coors, and former gubernatorial candidate Bruce Benson.  At this point, the story is just about sloppy accounting, but it's amazing how often sloppy accounting correlates with illegal use of 'walking around money' to pay off influentials or corporate money laundering.  It's not clear what's going on in this case in Colorado, but it does look like Pete Coors, Bill Owens, and Bruce Benson have become so accustomed to power that they have a basic contempt for the law.  

I don't really have anywhere to take this, really.  Both of these networks intersect in Colorado, which is a place of resurgent progressive strength.  We need to figure out how to create a penalty for right-wing billionaires who corrupt our politics with these shell games.  

Update: There's more sloppiness from right-wing non-profits in Minnesota.

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