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Washington, D.C. — A new analysis from government watchdog Accountable.US reveals that several of the groups behind ads attacking President Biden’s Build Back Better plan have received massive financial support from fossil fuel and pharmaceutical interests that do not have Americans’ best interest at heart. Despite these ads claiming to represent and advocate for mom-and-pop small businesses and average consumers, the watchdog found that the groups funding these ads include conservative dark money and big industry-funded organizations that are more interested in maintaining their industries’ bottom lines than in investments to support working- and middle-class families.
In addition, Accountable.US found that One Nation, a group that went on air just this week with a $10 million advertising campaign targeting the Build Back Better plan, has been tied to late right-wing mega-donor Sheldon Adelson and the energy industry, and that its board of directors includes a former Pfizer lobbyist who sat on the board of the Chamber of Commerce.
“Big industry front groups are getting a jump on Halloween, masquerading as advocates for everyday families while they’re really fighting to keep billion-dollar corporations from paying their fair share,” said Kyle Herrig, president of Accountable.US. “Any lawmaker that is a target of this smear campaign need only look at the mountain of polling to know the American people are fully behind Biden’s plan to finally make corporations contribute to investments that will lower costs and build a stronger economy for all.”
The report comes as Democratic lawmakers work to push through President Biden’s broadly popular Build Back Better agenda, which would make much-needed investments in climate change and support for American families including childcare, education, jobs, and lower prescription drug costs.
KEY POINTS FROM THE INTERCEPT’S REPORTING ON THE FINDINGS:  
  • “Major trade associations like Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, or PhRMA, and the American Petroleum Institute, along with a web of conservative and dark-money groups tied to former President Donald Trump, congressional Republicans, and the Koch network, are funding ads and lobbying against the package. According to new research from the nonpartisan watchdog group Accountable.US, at least 13 conservative and dark-money groups have spent millions on ads and lobbying efforts since April.”
  • “On Wednesday, One Nation, a dark-money group with ties to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Pfizer, launched a $10 million ad campaign against the package. One Nation President Steven Law, McConnell’s top lieutenant outside the Senate, said ‘infighting’ over the package ‘has created opportunities to weaken or stop it.’”
  • “When the Save America Coalition launched last month, it pledged “to defeat Biden’s reconciliation efforts.” It is led by the America First Policy Institute and includes several dark-money and corporate interest groups like FreedomWorks and the Texas Public Policy Foundation, a group funded by the Koch brothers. Trump Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe and former Energy Secretary Rick Perry, well known for his close relationship with the oil and gas industry as governor of Texas, run the institute’s policy areas on national security and ‘energy independence.’”
  • “Corporate executives want to avoid taxes, shirk responsibility for the climate crisis, and maintain their profits, Congressional Progressive Caucus Whip Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., said in a statement to The Intercept. ‘It is shameful, but not surprising, that some of the most well-funded and criminal corporate lobbyists in the world are doing everything in their power to kill the President’s agenda.’”
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