Advocates tweet donor disclosure debate

President Obama said on Thursday that AFP has been funding negative election ads without disclosing who pays for them.

“If you’re in a battleground state right now, you are being bombarded with negative ads every single day and nobody knows who’s paying for these ads,” he said. 

“They‘ve got these names like Americans for Prosperity or Moms for Motherhood. Actually, that last one I made up,” he said. “They’ve got these innocuous-sounding names and we don‘t know where this money’s coming from. I think that is a problem for democracy,” 

Americans for Prosperity has argued that Obama’s remarks insult millions of voters who align themselves with its causes.  

Below is the debate between Karr and Kerpen.

Karr: “New documentary shows how Americans for Prosperity used big oil money to fake grassroots revolution: http://twurl.nl/0srcwx #astroturf”

Kerpen: “@TimKarr Wait, I thought you called me a telecom front? Now it’s oil?”

Karr: “kind of depends on the AFP campaign, no?”

Kerpen: “No. Nobody from the fundraising department tells me what to work on. It is my own assessment of the threat levels.”

Karr: “So then why not simply disclose all of AFP’s funders. You’ve clearly nothing to hide.”

Kerpen: “Wish I could. They want their privacy protected for fear of retribution, which is understandable (and law since NAACP v. Alabama).”

Karr: “How convenient. Always enjoy our Tweet a Tetes.”

Kerpen: “Decidedly inconvenient, actually.”