LdC: August 2009

National Organization for Marriage (NOM) 2007 Tax Return (Form 990)

National Organization for Marriage Inc. Tax Return for the 2007 calendar year (beginning June 1 and ending December 31).

Note the $166K paid to Common Sense America, a 501(c)(4) chaired by NOM's executive director, Brian Brown.

Common Sense America's address is listed as a PO Box in this Form 990. An online search quickly turns up a familiar street address:

20 Nassau St, Princeton, New Jersey.

Download NOM's 2007 Form 990 from Scribd

Update: NOM's 2008 return is now available here.

Some background on the activities of Common Sense America in New Jersey in 2007: here.

To date, [Common Sense America] has not disclosed their Board of Directors, how they are funded, or how they are spending their financial resources ...

Hmmmm.

Now I'm all keen to do a side-by-side comparison of CSA's and NOM's 2007 returns.

But until CSA's return from that year becomes available, the $166K listed in NOM's return raises more questions than it answers.

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If you haven't already, please be sure to check out Justin McLachlan's two latest entries.

Meanwhile, Matt Algren flags another discrepancy.

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Oh, and just for fun, follow this link: http://www.CommonSenseUS.org/ ...

It's a contact form for Common Sense America on a page titled "The National Organization for Marriage" with site design courtesy of someone from The Manhattan Institute.

Trifecta!

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And add CommonSenseUS.org to the list of sites that share the same admin/tech email contact:

www.networksolutions.com/whois-search/nomcalifornia.org

www.networksolutions.com/whois-search/gaysdefendmarriage.com

www.networksolutions.com/whois-search/marriagedebate.com

www.networksolutions.com/whois-search/iMAPP.org

Wow, they're keeping Lisa Webb pretty busy over there.

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Sheesh, how did I forget about this photo?

With apologies to Tolkien fans ...

Brian Brown is the Lord of the (NOM) Rings.

One office door to rule them all:

Photo Credit: Danielle Truszkovsky

• National Organization for Marriage

• Marriage PAC NJ

• Common Sense America

• Common Sense PAC NJ

ATTN Post Office: Please deliver mail to all these organizations here, 20 Nassau Street, Suite 242, Princeton, NJ 08542

ATTN Brian Brown: Please keep your Common Sense America tax returns handy, thanks!!

Weekend Video Roundup: BYU-Hawaii, Utah Gov. Herbert, SLC ordinance, ELCA

Kicking things off with a dose of schadenfreude: BYU-Hawaii earns three years of probation, a public reprimand and censure from the NCAA. Any student athletes who might be impacted by BYU-H's administrative incompetence have my sympathies, but I happened to catch the BYU-H news right after watching the new Utah governor's first press conference, and so schadenfreude it is. A couple of gems from Gov. Gary Herbert's presser:

"Personally, what I believe is probably irrelevant to what the government should be involved with ..."

A worthy principle that Herbert invokes to explain his support for allowing science into Utah public schools, but one which he promptly sets aside when the discussion turns to anti-discrimination ordinances:

"We don't have to have a rule for everybody to do the right thing. We ought to just do the right thing because it's the right thing to do and we don't have a law that punishes us if we don't."

That's certainly an interesting position for a government official to take. I wonder if Gary has bothered to call Utah's legislators to let them know they won't be needing to come in for work, considering that Utah is now going to be run on the honor system.

And I wonder if Gov. Herbert caught this report on his local FOX13: Candice Metzler's experience highlights the challenges faced by LGBT workers, who, in Utah, are not protected against discrimination in the workplace by local, state or federal laws.

In any case, a reminder of why Herbert got it right with regards to leaving personal religious belief out of public policy: Evangelical Lutheran Church Pastor Anita Hill celebrates her first Sunday under the new ELCA policy. Our religious beliefs, doctrines, practices and policies are varied and mutable, Governor Herbert. That you and most other LDS insist on pretending otherwise as a marker of your faith and loyalty is unremarkable and understood. What is remarkable, and tragic, is that you seem oblivious to and unbothered by your responsibility as an elected official to protect the basic interests of ALL of your constituents.

Hey, NOM, you don't find your new H Street DC office a bit ... crowded?

Check out the paperwork National Organization for Marriage's Brian Brown filed recently in Iowa:

I'd been wondering where NOM had set up shop in DC, and now, I guess we know:

1100 H Street, NW, Suite 700, Washington, DC 20005

Considering the slew of orgs that already share that same address, I'm wondering where Brian will fit his desk?

A quickly drawn up (no doubt incomplete) list of Suite 700 denizens includes:

1) The Witherspoon Institute

2) The Coalition of Americans for Research Ethics

3) Capital City Partners, LLC

4) DeNukeIran.com

5) American Principles Project

6) Americans to Ban Cloning

7) American Principles in Action

Not only is your office crowded, Brian, but you're now sharing a phone and fax number with ALL of these folks? Good grief.

Office: 202-347-6840
Fax: 202-347-6849

Anyways, I'll be popping round soon to pick up a copy of NOM's 2007 and 2008 IRS Form 990, and we'll talk then. This DC office is your main office, right? Per your comments to DC's MetroWeekly: "There is an office in Princeton, but we're moving our main office here ... We will be moving employees down here. Right now, I'm the main employee located here. Maggie Gallagher is also coming down."

See ya' soon, bunch!

P.S. Prior to our chat, two items for your consideration, Brian: (1) and (2).

Re the second item, yes, as time goes by, taking the David Parker approach to making requests is beginning to appeal to me.

P.P.S. That $86,080 NOM expenditure paid for this Stephen Burgmeier ad:

He he ... just kidding. Here's the Iowa ad NOM bought:

The hirsute look is back. Affirmed!

P.P.P.S. Why isn't Orson Scott Card listed as a board member on the NOM site?

I mean, these non-Mormon board members all get their names listed: Neil Corkery, Chuck Stetson, Ken Von Kohorn, Luis Tellez ... but no Orson. Why?

"No on 1" Protect Maine Equality | Meet Ron Schwizer and Doug Kimmel

Check out this wonderful report by Scott Sassone of Portland's WCSH6: Wedding Anniversary Sparks Gay Marriage Debate.

Paul Hogarth explains Why Maine Matters. Louise @ Pam's House Blend: Maine Couple Celebrates 40th Anniversary

And then catch our double feature: Ron Schwizer and Doug Kimmel describing their forty years together + the new Maine Equality ad Together:

Bonus clip for those, like me, who missed Netroots Nation:

And for the benefit of any who might be wondering what Rick Delano is going on about below in comments, here's NOM's new Iowa ad:

Backgrounder from desmoinesdem at MyDD:

"Voters will elect a new state representative for Iowa House district 90 in a special election on September 1. The southeastern Iowa district leans slightly Democratic in terms of voter registration, but political scientists have found that special elections and by-elections often favor opposition parties, whose supporters are more motivated to turn out. (Democrats control both chambers of the Iowa legislature as well as the governor's chair.)

Neither Republican Stephen Burgmeier nor Democrat Curt Hanson has highlighted same-sex marriage rights during the brief campaign in district 90, but a major advertising campaign funded by the National Organization for Marriage is likely to put the issue front and center during the final stretch.

...

Chase Martyn of Iowa Independent posted yesterday that the National Organization for Marriage "has purchased $86,060 worth of television and radio ads" to help Burgmeier. That is a major ad buy for an Iowa legislative district. Martyn uploaded an independent expenditure report (pdf file) that the group filed with the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board, but that document didn't include information about the content or placement of the ads.

...

If Burgmeier is successful on September 1, expect his campaign strategy to be copied in competitive legislative districts next year. Republican candidates can focus on economic issues while outside groups pay for ads attacking gay marriage."

10 days until first election tests marriage equality in Iowa

A "Perfect Storm" of Bad PR for the LDS (Mormon) Church

Check out Jennifer Dobner's latest (excellent) AP piece: Gay marriage fight, "kiss-ins" smack Mormon image.

A couple of video clips for context and then excerpts from Ms. Dobner's article below.

The first clip is the latest from FOX13, which has done an outstanding job (imho) with their local Utah coverage.

The second clip is Jan Shipps, a highly-respected (non-Mormon) scholar of Mormon history.

Unlike the LDS leadership, which, as FOX13 reports, has stated it will not be commenting on the latest SLC Kiss-In, I've got a comment: I'd like to congratulate the organizers of The Great Nationwide Kiss-In, David Badash and David Mailloux, for a job well done. You made the right call and kept it positive.

Dr. Shipps called it a "Perfect Storm" of bad PR for the LDS church post-Prop 8. This weekend sure seems like a "Perfect Storm" of good vibes for the rest of us.

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) – The Mormon church's vigorous, well-heeled support for Proposition 8, which banned gay marriage in California last year, has turned the Utah-based faith into a lightning rod for gay rights activism, including a nationwide "kiss-in" Saturday.

The event comes after gay couples here and in San Antonio and El Paso, Texas, were arrested, cited for trespassing or harassed by police for publicly kissing. In Utah, the July 9 trespassing incident occurred after a couple were observed by security guards on a downtown park-like plaza owned by the 13 million-member Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The court case was dismissed, but the kiss sparked a community backlash and criticism of the church.

...

National organizers say Saturday's broadly held gay rights demonstrations were not aimed specifically at the Mormon church. But observers say the church's heavy-handed intervention into California politics will linger and has left the faith's image tarnished.

"What I hear from my community and from straight progressive individuals is that they now see the church as a force for evil and as an enemy of fairness and equality," said Kate Kendell, executive director of the San Francisco-based National Center for Lesbian Rights. Kendell grew up Mormon in Utah. "To have the church's very deep and noble history telescoped down into this very nasty little image is as painful for me as for any faithful Mormon."

Troy Williams, who is gay and grew up Mormon, said ending the tension between gays and the church requires mutual acceptance and understanding.

"For both sides to peaceably coexist, we're all going to have to engage in some very deep soul searching," said Williams, a Salt Lake City-area activist and host of a liberal radio talk show.

Church insiders say Prop. 8 has bred dissent among members and left families divided. Some members have quit or stopped attending services, while others have appealed to leadership to stay out of the same-sex marriage fight.

...

The church has actively fought marriage equality legislation across the U.S. since the early 1990s and joined other faiths in asking Congress for a marriage amendment to the Constitution in 2006.

Last year at the urging of church leaders, Mormons donated tens of millions of dollars to the "Yes on 8" campaign and were among the most vigorous volunteers. The institutional church gave nearly $190,000 to the campaign — contributions now being investigated by California's Fair Political Practices Commission.

After the vote, many gay rights advocates turned their anger toward the church in protests and marches outside temples that singled out Mormons as the key culprits in restricting the rights of gay couples.

That constituted a setback for the faith, argued Jan Shipps, a professor of religious history and a Mormon expert from Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.

Mormonism, Shipps said, has struggled with its image since its western New York founding in 1830 for a host of reasons, including polygamy.

...

Church representatives don't discuss public relations strategies or challenges publicly, but at a semiannual conference in April, church President Thomas S. Monson seemed to be clearly feeling a post-Prop. 8 sting.

In an era of "shifting moral footings," Monson said, "those who attempt to safeguard those footings are often ridiculed, picketed and persecuted."

That argument doesn't wash for Linda Stay, whose ancestors were early Mormon converts. Stay said she was doubly transformed by Prop. 8. She and her husband, Steve, finally quit the church — along with 18 other family members and a few close friends — and became gay right activists.

The St. George woman's family, which includes two gay children, will play a central role in a documentary film, "8: The Mormon Proposition" currently in production. Stay's son, Tyler Barrick, married his boyfriend in San Francisco on June 17, 2008, the first day gay marriage was legal in California.

Miami-area filmmaker Reed Cowan said the Stays' story is a painful representative of many Latter-day Saint families, including his own, that needed to be told.

"It used to be that I could defend my church and my heritage, but what they did here, they crossed the line and they made it very hard to defend their actions," said Cowan, whose family has cut him off since he began work on the film.

With the gay rights fight far from over, some believe Prop. 8 could continue to frustrate the church's image for years to come, much like polygamy — the church's own one-time alternative form of marriage — and a policy on keeping black men out of the priesthood, issues that have lingered years after the practices were abandoned.

...

If you haven't yet, please go read the whole story.

Or, go check out the new LDS Newsroom Blog ... I'm curious whether the LDS Newsroom launched its new blog pretty much for the sole purpose of responding to Dobner's AP piece? Regardless, whoever's running the show at LDS Public Affairs is certainly making some interesting decisions. This comment sounds about right:

The LDS Church editorializing by pointing to blog posts they think say it better than they could themselves? "Heh, yeah. What she said." Did you read what she said? You want this non-Mormon blogger to be your surrogate voice? Can of @#$% worms? These guys are losing it.

Be sure to read the GetReligion post the LDS Newsroom blog links to. It's a doozy. I wonder if the blogmeisters over at LDS Public Affairs bothered to read the latest advice from Elder M. Russell Ballard about how Mormons should conduct themselves online? Elder Ballard begins:

“In our interactions with others are we expecting always to have to defend ourselves? If so, I think we need to make a course correction.” Elder Ballard said. “It is inconsistent with where we are today as a Church and as a great body of followers of Jesus Christ.”

Elder Ballard referred to recent research that suggested Mormons can sometimes appear defensive to those who are not members of the Church. The study said that when Mormons are explaining their beliefs, they couch their language in terms that suggest they are expecting criticism.

The LDS leadership had to pay a researcher to deliver this insight? Oh my.

Letter to Maine Election Officials: Watch Out for Money Laundering by NOM & Others

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | August 13, 2009 | Contact: Fred Karger | 619-592-2008

Letter Sent to Maine Election Officials
Warning of Money Laundering by
National Organization for Marriage (NOM) & Others

LOS ANGELES, CA / AUGUSTA, ME – Californians Against Hate founder Fred Karger sent a letter today warning top Maine election officials of possible money laundering by opponents of same-sex marriage.

The organization trying to overturn Maine’s same-sex marriage law, Stand for Marriage PAC, recently turned in 100,000 signatures to place the question on the November ballot. These gay marriage foes hope to repeal LD 1020 -- the law passed by the Legislature and signed by the Governor allowing same-sex marriage in Maine.

Of the $343,689.50 raised to pay the Brighton, Michigan-based National Petition Management, Inc. to collect the signatures, only $400, or a mere 0.1% of that total came from individuals. The remaining $343,289.50 was given by various religious organizations and James Dobson’s Focus on the Family. The National Organization for Marriage (NOM) gave nearly half of that total, $160,000. The remainder came from Catholic organizations ($150,000) and James Dobson’s Focus on the Family ($31,000).

“It sure looks like they are trying to hide the donors in their latest effort to strip away marriage equality,” said Fred Karger. “There is no way these organizations like NOM and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland had all this money sitting in their treasuries (except for possibly Focus on the Family). They went out and raised it expressly for this campaign. It’s very expensive to hire these signature gathering firms to collect 100,000 signatures in a short period of time.”

Let the Money Laundering Begin

NOM is a Mormon Front Group

There is an ongoing investigation into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon Church) by the California Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC Case #08/735). The FPPC is looking into both the Church’s lack of reporting its non-monetary contributions to Prop 8, and also whether NOM was, in fact, established as a front group by the Salt Lake City-based Mormon Church. The Mormon Church has used this tactic in several states beginning in Hawaii in 1996.

Warning Maine Officials

In a letter to Jonathan Wayne, Executive Director of the Maine Commission on Governmental Ethics and Elections Practices (letter copy below), Karger warned of suspected money laundering by the major donors to Stand for Marriage PAC.

It raises the question: are they directing all contributions to their existing organizations, who in turn then give the money to Stand for Marriage PAC?” Karger asked in today’s letter. “We are very familiar with how this coalition operates, and we want to warn the political leadership and the residents of Maine to beware."

The coalition has also hired the highly-regarded Schubert Flint campaign management firm of Sacramento, California.

Who are the Victims Here?

These major backers of Stand for Marriage PAC will do their best to play the poor victim. They like to say that their contributors are being targeted simply because they give money to “preserve marriage.” That’s what they did in California after running a very nasty campaign and spending $40 million to take away marriage equality from millions of Californians.

Let’s be clear: they are NOT the victims here. The Mormon Church and its coalition have qualified and passed Constitutional Amendments in 30 states to yank away civil rights from gay and lesbian Americans.

The Mormons began this fight in 1988. They have been destroying lives, intimidating people and demonizing an entire class to solidify their base and raise millions and millions of dollars.

After two decades of assaulting the LGBT Community, we are now fighting back with our talent, our numbers, our friends, our money and our purchasing power. They are not the victims in this equation, and even the best PR by all of their consultants cannot rewrite history.

Our hope is that as young people discover that they are LGB or T, they do not feel any less of a person because Maggie Gallagher (NOM $160,000 to the Maine campaign), Bishop Richard Malone (Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland, ME $100,000 to the Maine campaign) Knights of Columbus (Catholic Church’s Political Arm $50,000 to the Maine campaign) or James Dobson (Focus on the Family $31,000 to the Maine campaign) gave so very much money to bully them and take away their rights.

Copy of Letter To Maine Election Officials

August 13, 2009

Mr. Jonathan Wayne
Executive Director
Maine Commission on Governmental Ethics and
Elections Practices
135 State House Station
Augusta, Maine 04333

Re: Money Laundering -- Stand for Marriage PAC

Dear Mr. Wayne:

We have reviewed the very first finance report which was recently filed by Stand for Marriage PAC, the group trying to repeal Maine’s same-sex marriage law.

It appears that there are already questionable activities.

Stand for Marriage PAC reported raising $343,689.50 during the period April 1 to July 5, 2009. We found it very suspicious that of that total, only $400 was given by individuals. The balance of $343,289.50 was contributed by various religious organizations and James Dobson’s Focus on the Family.

That means that individual contributions to repeal gay marriage in Maine are only 0.1% of the total raised.

Are the proponents trying to hide the identities of those contributing to their campaign? Are they directing all contributions to existing organizations, who then gave the money to Stand for Marriage PAC? This appears to be the case.

If this is true, would it not be considered money laundering?

We have been very active and have closely tracked all the money that was raised to pass Proposition 8 in California last year. Californians Against Hate was the first to uncover the vast involvement in the election by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon Church). Our extensive research revealed that the Mormon Church had its members in California and around the country give approximately 75% of the $40 million that was raised to pass Prop 8.

On November 13, 2008, just nine days after the election, we filed a complaint with the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC), your counterpart in California. Our complaint alleged that the Mormon Church had spent a tremendous amount of money in non-monetary contributions that they never reported, which is required under California election law.

We submitted evidence supporting our claim that the Mormon Church ran out-of-state phone banks, produced 27 slick commercials (that ranged from 30 seconds to 8 minutes long) and put them on their elaborate web site Preserving Marriage.org for all to see. We also asked the Commission to investigate the Mormon Church for busing people from Utah to California for precinct walking, sending out extensive direct mail and numerous other activities.

Eight days later, the FPPC announced that they were launching an unprecedented investigation into the Mormon Church (Case # 08/735) as a result of our complaint.

On March 19, 2009, we filed a supplemental complaint with the FPPC. We received hundreds of secret Mormon documents that show exactly how involved the Mormon Church has been throughout the country in fighting same-sex marriage. The documents reveal how the Church established front groups to wage their battles and shield the Church from any negative publicity.

We believe that the Mormon Church established the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) in May of 2007 for the express purpose of qualifying Proposition 8 for the California ballot. This was done in conjunction with leading Catholic organizations such as the Knights of Columbus, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and James Dobson’s Focus on the Family.

It is no coincidence that these are the exact same groups that are funding and leading the effort to repeal Maine’s recently passed same-sex marriage law.

We believe that only Focus on the Family had money in its treasury. The other groups raised money expressly for the campaign to hire the professional signature gathering firm to qualify the referendum.

They are trying to hide the true identities of those contributing to the campaign.

It certainly sounds like money laundering to us. We hope that your office will investigate the genuine sources of the funds contributed to Stand for Marriage PAC.

The Mormon Church appears to be using the National Organization for Marriage to fight same-sex marriage all over the Northeast.

They admitted as much in a Washington Post story on May 29, 2009. A spokeswoman in Salt Lake City declined to say whether the Church is involved in debates going on in the Northeast except to say that “... leaders remain intent on preserving the divine institution of marriage between man and woman. The faith holds that traditional marriage transcends this world and is necessary for the fullness of joy in the next life."

It sure sounds like the Mormon Church is involved to us.

On our web site, Mormongate.com, we describe the formation of NOM. This was done at the very highest level of the Mormon Church – the President and the 12 Apostles.

You can see exactly how they operated in Hawaii in order to skirt state election laws there. They funneled money through Hawaii’s Future Today, which they established to fund that state’s campaign to ban same-sex marriage.

In the near future, we will be releasing other official Mormon documents that explain how this happened in other states.

If we can be of any assistance in your efforts to monitor Stand for Marriage PAC, please do not hesitate to call upon us.

Best regards,

Fred Karger
Founder
Californians Against Hate
www.CaliforniansAgainstHate.com
619-592-2008

cc: Attorney General Janet Mills

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SaveLiam.org : Help bring Liam Gabriele McCarty home to his father

An old friend from New York has launched SaveLiam.org:

On March 5, 2007, five-year-old Liam McCarty, a United States citizen, was kidnapped from his home in Manhattan and taken to Rome, Italy, where he has been languishing in an Italian orphanage: