George Soros "bought and paid for Democrat Party- We ow

http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/indi ... ?indid=977

Soros assembled a team of wealthy Democrat donors to help him push two of his pet issues -- gun control and marijuana legalization -- by funneling large amounts of cash to some 527s that were committed to those particular objectives.

The financial contributions that Soros and his fellow donors made to these 527s greatly exceeded the sums which campaign finance laws would have permitted them to give to any political candidate, political party, or Political Action Committee (PAC).

By funding the 527s, Soros et al were helping them promote messages and worldviews that were consistent with those of leftist politicos; as such, the funders were indirectly but quite substantially helping candidates of the left. In a sense, Soros and his fellow donors effectively laundered their political contributions through Section 527 groups, which were dubbed "stealth PACs" by the media of that time.

Having experienced this success in 2000, Soros moved to exploit the power of 527s on a much larger scale during the 2004 election cycle.

Toward that end, he was a key force in the creation of the so-called "Shadow Party" in 2003.

This term refers to a nationwide network of unions, non-profit activist groups, and think tanks whose agendas are ideologically to the left, and which are engaged in campaigning for the Democrats.

This network's activities include fundraising, get-out-the-vote drives, political advertising, opposition research, and media manipulation.

According to Richard Poe, co-author (with David Horowitz) of the book The Shadow Party:

"The Shadow Party is the real power driving the Democrat machine. It is a network of radicals dedicated to transforming our constitutional republic into a socialist hive.

The leader of these radicals is ... George Soros. He has essentially privatized the Democratic Party, bringing it under his personal control.

The Shadow Party is the instrument through which he exerts that control....

It works by siphoning off hundreds of millions of dollars in campaign contributions that would have gone to the Democratic Party in normal times, and putting those contributions at the personal disposal of Mr. Soros.

He then uses that money to buy influence and loyalty where he sees fit. In 2003, Soros set up a network of privately-owned groups which acts as a shadow or mirror image of the Party.

It performs all the functions we would normally expect the real Democratic Party to perform, such as shaping the Party platform, fielding candidates, running campaigns, and so forth. However, it performs these functions under the private supervision of Mr. Soros and his associates.

The Shadow Party derives its power from its ability to raise huge sums of money. By controlling the Democrat purse strings, the Shadow Party can make or break any Democrat candidate by deciding whether or not to fund him. During the 2004 election cycle, the Shadow Party raised more than $300 million for Democrat candidates, prompting one of its operatives, MoveOn PAC director Eli Pariser, to declare, 'Now it's our party. We bought it, we own it.…'"

In a November 11, 2003 interview with Laura Blumenfeld of the Washington Post, Soros described how he had jump-started the Shadow Party during the summer of 2002 by summoning a team of political strategists, activists, and Democrat donors to his Southampton beach house in Long Island.

The attendees included:
Morton H. Halperin (Director of Soros' Open Society Institute);
John Podesta (Democrat strategist and former Bill Clinton chief of staff); Jeremy Rosner (Democrat strategist and pollster, and ex-foreign policy speechwriter for Bill Clinton);
Robert Boorstin (Democrat strategist and pollster);
Carl Pope (America Coming Together co-founder, Democrat strategist, and Sierra Club Executive Director);
Steve Rosenthal (Labor leader, CEO of America Coming Together, and former advisor to Clinton Labor Secretary Robert Reich);
Peter Lewis (major Democrat donor and insurance entrepreneur);
Rob Glaser (major Democrat donor and Silicon Valley pioneer);
Ellen Malcolm (co-founder and President of America Coming Together and founder of Emily's List);
Rob McKay (major Democrat donor); and
Lewis and Dorothy Cullman (major Democrat donors).

At that meeting, Soros laid out his plan to unseat incumbent President George W. Bush.

http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/indi ... ?indid=977