Pulling Strings from Afar - Page 2

[Guest guest]

http://www.aarp.org/bulletin/departments/2003/consumer/0205_consumer_2.html

Pulling Strings from AfarDrug Industry Finances Nonprofit Groups That Claim to

Speak for Older Americans

By Bill Hogan

February 2003

 

Page 1 2

 

 

 

 

 

 

Records obtained by the Bulletin show that the pharmaceutical industry has been

a formidable financial force behind United Seniors Association, the Seniors

Coalition and 60 Plus Association.

 

In 2001, for example, United Seniors took in a total of more than $3.1 million

from PhRMA and CBM, amounting to more than 36 percent of its revenue for the

year. In 2000 the Seniors Coalition got nearly $2.1 million from PhRMA and

nearly $170,000 from CBM, amounting to more than 17 percent of its revenue. In

its 2001 fiscal year, 60 Plus got a total of $275,000 from PhRMA, CBM and three

drug companies (Merck, Pfizer and Wyeth-Ayerst) plus another $300,000 from

Hanwha International Corp., the U.S. subsidiary of a Korean conglomerate with

chemical and pharmaceutical interests—amounts that made up about 29 percent of

its revenue.

 

" We're not a front for anybody, " James L. Martin, the chairman of 60 Plus, told

the Bulletin. " I get money from lots of sources. I've received money from the

pharmaceuticals—I wish it was more. "

 

Records obtained by the Bulletin show that the pharmaceutical industry has been

a formidable financial force behind United Seniors Association, the Seniors

Coalition and 60 Plus Association.

 

TROJAN HORSES?

All three organizations are rooted in the ultraconservative political movement

and have frequently veered sharply from issues related to aging and older

Americans.

 

Charles Jarvis, the chairman, president and CEO of United Seniors, is a former

executive vice president of Focus on the Family, the Colorado-based organization

run by conservative activist James Dobson.

 

In taking the helm of United Seniors, Jarvis succeeded Sandra L. Butler, a

former Viguerie executive who remained on as the organization's highest-paid

director in 2000.

 

United Seniors announced in November 2001 that it was backing a plan " to allow

more production of domestic energy in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. "

Its news release did not mention the organization's receipt of more than

$181,000 from Anchorage-based Arctic Power, which has promoted drilling in the

refuge.

 

Jarvis did not respond to the Bulletin's request for an interview.

 

The Seniors Coalition was formed in 1990 by Viguerie and Dan C. Alexander, a

Mobile, Ala., school board official who had been convicted of extorting

kickbacks on school construction projects and later served four years of a

12-year prison term. For some of the time Alexander was in prison, he and his

wife drew $23,000 a month in " consulting " fees from the Seniors Coalition while

their teenage daughter served as its president.

 

In a news release issued in November 2002, the Seniors Coalition claimed " four

million members, " but the federal tax return it filed for 2000 identified PhRMA

as its biggest donor and listed no revenue from " membership dues and

assessments. "

 

John Powell, the organization's chief operating officer, declined to be

interviewed by the Bulletin.

 

Martin of 60 Plus worked for Viguerie for four years, and it has been reported

that the group's contract with Viguerie's firm allows it to use 60 Plus's

contributor list " in any manner, for any purpose, for its own account, " at least

until 2003.

 

The relationship goes back a long way. In 1994, for example, Viguerie helped 60

Plus raise $1.3 million, but the organization was left with less than $93,000

after paying fees and expenses (including postage) to Viguerie's operation.

 

The organization said in a 2001 news release that it is " supported by

contributions from individual members—not corporations, " though financial

records obtained by the Bulletin show sizable corporate contributions—and no

dues-paying members.

 

Like its counterparts, 60 Plus often takes positions on issues that have few if

any direct connections to older Americans. Last year, for example, Martin

endorsed the controversial Yucca Mountain site in Nevada " as an appropriate and

safe site for storing used nuclear fuel. "

 

THE SAME OLD SNAKE OIL?

In the mid-1990s, then-Sen. David Pryor, D-Ark., chairman of the Special

Committee on Aging, blasted the Viguerie-connected nonprofit organizations as

" fright factories, " advising those who received their fundraising solicitations

" to keep their wallets closed unless they know exactly who is behind them. "

 

Indeed, the solicitations have often been laced with " histrionic and

demonstrably false assertions, " as a study team at the University of

Pennsylvania once put it. " The politicians in Washington have 'stolen' the

Social Security Trust Fund, " blared one fundraising letter from United Seniors.

" That's right. Every penny is gone! "

 

The organizations also ran into trouble by using envelopes with official looking

symbols and language that seemed designed to make recipients believe they were

urgent government documents.

 

Now, nearly 10 years later, some of the same issues have resurfaced with respect

to the fundraising solicitations of United Seniors. The Social Security

Administration recently secured a cease and desist order against the

organization for mailings the government alleges are designed to " mislead the

public into believing the mail is officially sent or approved by the Social

Security Administration. " United Seniors has appealed the order.

 

Bill Hogan is a contributing writer in Washington, D.C.

 

Page 1 2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gettingwell- / Vitamins, Herbs, Aminos, etc.

 

To , e-mail to: Gettingwell-

Or, go to our group site: Gettingwell

 

 

 

 

Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now