Secrecy and the Democracy Alliance

In his August 2007 book The Argument: Billionaires, Bloggers, and the Battle to Remake Democratic Politics, New York Times Magazine feature writer Matt Bai describes a scene from the first meeting of the Democracy Alliance at The Boulders in April 2005:

"Although they were gathering, in part, to promote a more open and transparent government, the donors and their advisers met in an atmosphere of intense secrecy. Hulking security guards blocked the rooms. The staff disposed of sensitive documents with rented shredders. No proof of the meeting -- not even the fancy loose-leaf binders or the tote bags they came in--was to be left behind." (p. 97)

In A New Alliance of Democrats Spreads Funding, Washington Post reporters Jim Vandehei and Chris Cillizza reported:

"The group requires nondisclosure agreements because many donors prefer anonymity, Wade added. Some donors expressed concern about being attacked on the Web or elsewhere for their political stance; others did not want to be targeted by fundraisers.

"Like a lot of elite groups, we fly beneath the radar," said Guy Saperstein, an Oakland lawyer and alliance donor. But "we are not so stupid though," he said, to think "we can deny our existence."

Return to homepage

Return to Table of Contents

Click on a link below to find out what leftist billionaires are planning in your state:

Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware District of Columbia Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming