Americans For Job Security Rebuffs Disclosure Requirements

Now, as Kenneth Doyle at BNA Money and Politics reports (subscription required), AJS is crossing over from its usual fare of sponsoring “issue ads” to begin funding a number of “express advocacy” messages — i.e. ones that call explicitly for the defeat of Democratic House candidates, like Reps. Rick Boucher (D-Va.) and Heath Shuler (D-N.C.). It has since filed three “independent expenditure” reports, as required, with the FEC for about $3.75 million worth of ads, but the reports list “.00” in the box for reporting “total contributions” received to pay for the group’s ads.

A key statement issued by the FEC’s three Republican commissioners in August indicated that a contribution had to be disclosed only if it was explicitly linked by the contributor to a specific ad. The statement was issued in an enforcement matter involving the conservative group Freedom’s Watch, which sponsored millions of dollars worth of ads in the 2008 campaign. (2829 Money & Politics Report, 8/19/10).

The organization says it does not disclose its membership because “too often politicians or the media define an organization or message not by the merits of the argument, but rather by the perception of the people associated with it. We would rather the people decide on merits instead of name-calling.”