Disclosure: I work with the Yes on Prop 93 Campaign. This is also available in orange.

There’s already a Howie Rich exposed website, so the Contra Costa Times will have to just stick with the site they have now.  In today’s paper (reg req’d), Steven Harmon goes into a little bit more about the mysterious initiative funder:

Just a few days after Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner’s widely heralded takeover of the No on Proposition 93 campaign, a Virginia-based nonprofit organization quietly chipped in $1.5 million to the cause.

The group, U.S. Term Limits, spends considerable effort and money across the country trying to fend off attempts to weaken term limits laws, such as Prop. 93 — which will appear on the February ballot — in California. And the group tries to do so while steering clear of the limelight, which is precisely how Howard “Howie” Rich prefers it. (CCTimes 11/19/07))

More over the flip.

Mr. Rich has tentacles all over the right-wing infrastructure. He helped fund Proposition 90. He’s funded TABOR initiatives all over the country, from areas as disparate as Maine and Oregon. He’s a coast-to-coast equal opportunity “libretarian” funding machine.  In other words, the man fights anything that makes government effective:

  “You have a group of wealthy radical activists who see no role for government,” Wilfore said. Their measures would “bankrupt state government and give special rights to developers. … And it’s brought to you by a network of Libertarian Party activists who want to eliminate government.”

And if that wasn’t enough, he won’t just disclose that he, a wealthy New York real estate developer, is funding these measures. He desperately maintains his privacy, and hides from the sunshine that is required by good government. He uses front groups, like U.S. Term Limits, and other nonprofits to push his agenda.

Rich, who would only agree to be interviewed via e-mail, said he uses nonprofit groups to protect donors fearful of being stalked by entrenched interests threatened by anti-government ballot initiatives.

“It’s safe to say that an organization dedicated to imposing term limits on politicians has a lot of powerful politicians and interest groups interested in threatening and intimidating potential supporters,” he wrote. “I have no intention of subjecting anyone to that abuse and we have gladly complied with all laws.”

He has no intention of sharing just who is providing money for Prop 93, or any of his other initiatives. It is clear that we need to reform the system to stop organizations from hiding information about their funders, but it is also equally clear that those who involve themselves in political actions must understand why transparency is important. How are we to understand the true purpose of these initiatives or of those fighting against propositions if we do not understand who is funding the effort?  If money is speech, surely the speakers understand that they should not yell from behind a mask.  But, Mr. Rich is interested in protecting his friends from the consequences of their actions, not the effectiveness of our political system. Transparency is key to understanding our political process, and there are few involved in the political process that are as opposed to that transparency as Howie Rich.