BOSTON - Today, U.S. Senator Scott Brown released the following statement on reports that $275,000 of taxpayer money has been spent to register welfare recipients to vote:
“I want every legal vote to count, but it’s outrageous to use taxpayer dollars to register welfare recipients as part of a special effort to boost one political party over another. This effort to sign up welfare recipients is being aided by Elizabeth Warren’s daughter and it’s clearly designed to benefit her mother’s political campaign. It means that I’m going to have to work that much harder to get out my pro-jobs, pro-free enterprise message.”
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
Massachusetts Has Sent Out Voter Registration Letters To Nearly 500,000 Welfare Recipients. “The state has mailed out voter registration letters to nearly 500,000 welfare recipients, in a push sparked by a group led by former ACORN bigwigs that critics say is a naked bid to boost Democrats at the polls in November. (Chris Cassidy and Hillary Chabot, “Welfare voter push has GOP crying foul,” Boston Herald, 8/8/12)
The Registration Drive Will Cost Massachusetts Taxpayers $275,844. “The deal requires state officials to contact the 477,944 welfare recipients who were on the books between June 1, 2011 and May 31, 2012. The mailings will cost the state $275,844.”(Chris Cassidy and Hillary Chabot, “Welfare voter push has GOP crying foul,” Boston Herald, 8/8/12)
The Lawsuit Was Filed By New England United for Justice (NEU4J), Working In Concert With Demos, A Liberal Think-Tank. “NEU4J worked in concert with Demos, a liberal group leading a national charge to enroll welfare recipients. Demos – which was started in the 1990s and lists Barack Obama on its founding board of directors – has sued nine states, including the battlegrounds of Ohio, Pennsylvania and Nevada, according to Demos lawyer Lisa Danetz. (Chris Cassidy and Hillary Chabot, “Welfare voter push has GOP crying foul,” Boston Herald, 8/8/12)
Elizabeth Warren’s Daughter, Amelia Warren Tyagi, Is The Chair Of Demos’ Board Of Trustees. (http://www.demos.org/board-
Four Demos Board Members Have Contributed To Warren’s Campaign. Arnie Miller – $500 – 12/14/11; Benjamin Taylor – $500 – 11/3/11; Adele Simmons – $1,000 – 3/19/12; Miles Rapoport- $200 – 1/30/12 (Federal Election Commission Records)
Another Demos Board Member, Gina Glantz, Works For The Service Employees International Union (SEIU), Which Has Contributed $10,000 to Warren. (Federal Election Commission Records)
Demos Funder George Soros Hosted A Fundraiser For Warren. “Elizabeth Warren is expected in New York tonight at an all-star gathering of what I’ve been calling the post-Obama left – a generation of officials, broadly in sympathy with the Occupy Wall Street movement, who believe Obama has been too soft on the banks and are out to fix it. And the hosts of the event are a who’s who of New York’s liberal finance scene: Financier George Soros, Sarah and Victor Kovner, Gail Furman, Anne Hess, and Patricia Duff among them.” (Ben Smith, “Schneiderman, Soros raising for Warren,” Politico, 10/19/11)
Soros And His Family Have Contributed A Total Of $11,500 To Warren. (Federal Election Commission Records)
