Strategists of the Democratic Party led by Robby Mook, president of the House Majority Political Action Committee (PAC), quietly formed a non-profit organization in March of this year. The main purpose of which is to broadcast actions taken and undertaken by the House Democrats. The new organization called House Majority Forward will serve as an affiliate of the House Majority PAC.
Through publicity launched by way of TV and digital advertisements, House Majority Forward will disseminate to the American public, information about important progressive legislations accomplished by House Democrats; and of how they were held up by the Republican-controlled Senate led by Senate President Mitch McConnell.
According to documents gathered by political news website POLITICO, the new nonprofit group is registered with the state regulators of North Carolina as a 501(c)(4) organization. Its aim is to raise $20 million this year, of which half ($10 million), will be used to run advertising blitz promulgating House Democrat agenda; with particular focus on White House investigations and resolutions put forward by a group of outspoken freshmen.
Inaugural TV and Digital Ad to Rollout on August 08, 2019
The House Majority Forward’s first ad features a female working out in a darkened gym. She pummels a punching bag while a narrator goes through the motion of ticking House Bills embodying resolutions that Include a proposal to
- Address Climate Change
- Close Gender Pay Gap
- Increase Minimum Wage
- Lower drug prices
- Expand gun control laws
- Provide a way for qualified undocumented immigrants to obtain U.S. citizenship
- Impose restrictions on secret money in politics, known as “dark money”
The narrator continues by saying
“The new Democratic majority in the House of Representatives is proving they are up to the challenge.” “But Mitch McConnell has blocked every one of these important bills from getting a vote in the Senate.”
As a 501(c)(4) non-profit organization, this new House Majority Forward group is one of such organizations allowed to receive funds known in the political arena. as “dark money”
Democratic Strategists Decide to Harness “Dark Money”
Although one of the resolutions filed by House Democrats is the move to curtail secret or dark money coming in for political purposes, proponents of the House Majority Forward say they have no issues in using “dark money” to support House legislators proposing to move dark money out of the political arena.
What is Dark Money?
Dark Money is money donated for political spending but without requiring the recipient organization to disclose the name of the donor who contributed the funds. Basically, this applies to 501(c)(4) nonprofit organizations, but not to political nonprofits like the traditional Political Action Committees (PACs) organized by political parties.
However, PACs are also open to receiving “dark money” since they are allowed to receive contributions coming from shell corporations and other political parties that mask their true owners or organizers. That is why House Democrats have introduced a bill proposing ‘dark money’ restrictions.
