Drowning in Junk Mail – This Month in Junk Mail – July, 10 pieces

I have been in contact with a few reporters in the last few months. One of them was finally able to squeeze me in one of their pieces.

When Will Tucker from Open Secrets called me, and told me who was going to be the focus of his write up, I was tickled. He chose Scott B. Mackenzie. Mr. Mackenzie and ForthRight Strategy have got to be the biggest villains in direct mail. The republican establishment has gone as far to say that if you use them to run your direct mail campaign that you will not be backed by the national party.

The best part of being mentioned in Mr. Tucker’s piece is, a few days after it went live, I was contacted by Mr. Mackenzie. He offered to take her off all of his client’s mailing lists. I sent a reply so fast I think I burned some internet servers.


All 10 pieces of junk mail

This month she only got 10 pieces of junk mail. Last July she got about 220 pieces of junk mail.


3 from Citizen Guardian

The clear winner for the month was Citizen Guardian. 3 pieces came in July. This is very, very, bad. Junk mail from them should have stopped in June. I will talk about my fight with Citizen Guardian and Engage Direct Mail in another post. Let’s just say it got real.

Citizen Guardian phone number (202) 469-3433 and (540) 630-6400 leave a message, and email info@CitizenGuardian.org no reply. Citizen Audit page, Open Secrets page. Their mail is made by Engage Direct Mail Opt-out here and email info@uscomplianceservices.com. Junk mail from them should stop in October.


Second Amendment Foundation

Second Amendment Foundation, Wiki page, run by Alan Gottlieb. SourceWatch page for Mr. Gottlieb. Great article about Alan GottliebCharity Navigator page. Opt-out here: Call (425) 454-7012 or email info@saf.org. It will take 90 days to be dropped from their mailing list.


Ben Carson Carson America

Dr. Ben Carson we really should stop meeting like this. What if Rand Paul catches us together?

Official campaign websiteBallotpedia page, Open Secrets page, P2016 page.

Ben Carson Lithograph

Oh Ben you dream boat, sending little old me photos for my scrapbook. It reminds me of Judy Garland singing to Clark Gable:

Here Ben I wrote this for you:

Dear Dr. Carson,

I am writing this to you
And I hope that you will read it so you’ll know
My stomach feels so queasy
When the mail you send is sleazy
Every time I see you in my mailbox
And I am getting out the Maalox.

You made me donate to you,
I didn’t wanna to do it, I didn’t wanna to do it
You made me donate to you,
And all the time you knew it, even when I said “Just screw it”.

You say Obamacare is an awful thing,
A doctor like yourself shouldn’t say anything!

Fox News is a joke,
But I didn’t want to tell you, you don’t want to hear me tell you.
I thought you’d have a clue,
Yes, I do, deed I do, you know I do.

You’ve separated twins and you have held a human brain,
But donors to your campaign are still insane.

You made me donate to you!

To opt-out: the Contact page has a webmail form. Don’t even bother, all that happens is you are put on their email spam list. I wound up tweeting to @Mike_Murray_ his Senior Advisor, whatever that means. I know what you are asking “Why that guy, he isn’t even listed on the Ballotpedia page?” Well he just also happens to be President and CEO of TMA Direct, a direct marketing agency. If nothing else he should know how to get someone off a mailing list. Twitter .

Update: Ben how could you cheat on me like this? I thought we had something special 😦


NAACP

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Wiki page, Charity Navigator page. To opt-out: call (877) NAACP98 that is (877) 622-2798, or the national office (410) 580-5615, or the membership hotline (866) 636-2227.


Homeowner Rights Law Group

Homeowner Rights Law Group (800) 969-4754. This is connected to the mess dealing with the reverse mortgage. Get scammed by a reverse mortgage? We can get you of it. I am not in charge of the reverse mortgage. I just stop the junk mail.


Sweepstakes Clearinghouse

Sweepstakes Clearinghouse 2000 E Lamar Blvd Ste 600 Arlington TX 76006

Are you kidding me? Another one! I have been trying to stop these guys for over a year now. How many ways to I have to tell you to stop? I have all ready taken them to step 2 for a Form 1500. This one came on the heals of last month’s mailpiece so fast that I haven’t had time to send the other one out.


American Bill Money

American Bill Money

American Bill Money PO Box 4008, Portsmouth VA 23701 (757) 455-3551 Ripoff Report page. This is your basic postcard chain letter pyramid scam. Do not bother calling. They will refuse to remove you from their mailing lists. They do not take responsibility for what their clients do. Fill out a Form 1500 to make them stop.


Young America's Foundation Reagan Ranch

Reagan Ranch from the Young Americas Foundation Wiki page Source Watch page Charity Navigator page. Contact page and call 1-800-USA-1776. Their mail is made by HSP Direct and Eberle Associates

Hay! Do you remember that cool calendar we send you last month?

Reagan Ranch from Young America's Foundation

Do I? Of course I do! I love photos of Ronnie!

Well, we want money for sending it to you. The money will go to kids or something so they learn all about St. Ronnie.

Young America's Foundation Reagan Ranch

“Please let me know today that your 2016 Reagan Ranch Calendar arrived. While your calendar was a free gift, I sincerely hope you will consider a generous gift to honor Ronald Reagan.”

Send us money or we will send you more photos of Ronnie looking like a fly pimp.


Huge thanks to my mom for helping with the Ben Carson song.

Drowning In Junk Mail – How to Stop Junk Mail from the Top 10 Republican Candidates for President

Update: I have a new post on how to stop junk mail for the final 2 candidates: Trump and Clinton.

Fox News was very late in telling everyone who was going to be at the first Republican debate. I can understand, this is the first time over one billion trilliony people have tossed their hat in the ring, to run for president. Fox has narrowed it down to the top 10 men who want the Republican nomination.

All of these people are thirsty for money to run their campaigns. The best way to get all the money they need, is to become friends with the Koch brothers. After that the best way is to send direct mail to people who have sent money to other campaigns in the past.

This is not the first step you should take to stop junk mail invading your house. Please follow my instructions for how to put a shield around your mailbox first. Or contacting these people will do you no good. They buy and trade so many mailing lists, it is like playing wack-a-mole unless you put up a strong shield first.

I am linking to Ballotpedia, and P2016 because they list the team that is running the campaign. If you are ignored after calling and emailing, get loud. Put your request to be taken off a candidate’s mailing list on Twitter, where everyone can see it. Tweet at the campaign and to the people running it. I find tweeting at them to be more effective than posting on the Facebook page for the campaign.


Trump 1

Donald Trump, official campaign websiteBallotpedia page, Open Secrets page, P2016 page. He is the most classy, phenomenal, fantastical presidential candidate of all time.  I didn’t think he was going to raise money for his campaign, mostly because he has more money than God. But just like everyone else he is.

To Opt-out: the Contact page has a webmail form and a phone number (646) 736-1779. Twitter .

Be on the look out for PACs using The Donald to raise money. They are not connected to him in any way.  I mean even less connected than most PACs to their candidates. They are Make America Great AgainCitizens for Restoring USA, MAGAPAC2016 (This website is now dead but the internet never forgets), and Hispanic Citizens for Trump.


Jeb! 1

Jeb Bushofficial campaign websiteBallotpedia page, Open Secrets page, P2016 page. He is the son of a former president, and the brother of a former president.

To Opt-out: the Contact page has an email Info@Jeb2016.com. Twitter 

The PACs that are backing Bush are:

Right to Rise Super PAC, Contact page with webmail. Email info@righttoriseusa.org. Twitter .

Right to Rise Policy Solutions, Contact page with webmail. Email info@rtrpolicy.com.

Vamos for Jeb 2016. At the bottom  of the Get Involved page there is a webmail form. Twitter .

Millennials for Jeb a project of Millennials Rising PAC At the bottom of the About page they have the emails of the entire team working for the PAC. I would email Founder & Executive Director: Lucas Agnew lucas@millennialsrisingpac.com to get off the mailing list.


Walker 1

Scott Walkerofficial campaign websiteBallotpedia page, Open Secrets page. P2016 page. He is the Governor of Wisconsin.

To Opt-out: the Contact page, has an email swinfo@scottwalker.com or call (608) 446-7258. Twitter .


Mike Huckabee

Mike Huckabeeofficial campaign websiteBallotpedia page, Open Secrets page, P2016 page. He is a bass player and Fox News talking head.

To Opt-out: the Contact page has a webmail form, the only email is for the press. If you get no response from the webmail, I recommend tweeting at the campaign . Sarah Huckabee Sanders is his daughter and campaign manager give her a tweet also .

The PACs that are backing Huckabee are:

America Takes Action No contact information given on website.

HuckPAC The Contact page has a webmail form.

Pursuing America’s Greatness The Contact page has a webmail form.


Ben Carson website

Ben Carsonofficial campaign websiteBallotpedia page, Open Secrets page, P2016 page. Ben is my junk mail boyfriend. Ben and I go way back. I remember the days when other people were asking for money for him. Now he is all grown up and asking for money for himself. Sniff, Sniff, they grow up so fast.

To Opt-out: the Contact page has a webmail form. Don’t even bother, all that happens is you are put on their email spam list. I wound up tweeting to @Mike_Murray_ his Senior Advisor, whatever that means. I know what you are asking “Why that guy, he isn’t even listed on the Ballotpedia page?” Well he just also happens to be President and CEO of TMA Direct, a direct marketing agency. If nothing else he should know how to get someone off a mailing list. Twitter .

The PACs that are backing Carson are:

One Vote PAC The Contact page has a webmail form and an email address Info@onevotepac.org. It also has the contact information for the Executive Director Andy Yates’s phone number (704) 727-8092 and email address andy@reddomegroup.com.

2016 Committee AKANational Draft Ben Carson for President Committee (Run Ben, Run) The Contact page has a webmail form and an email address info@2016Committee.org and a phone number (202) 760-2795.

USA First PAC The Contact page has a webmail form. Twitter .


Cruz 1

Ted Cruz, official campaign websiteBallotpedia page, Open Secrets page, P2016 page. He is a United States Senator from Texas.

To Opt-out: the Contact page, has a phone number (713) 353-4330 Twitter  , go ahead and tweet at them both. They are both active.

The PACs that are backing Cruz are:

Jews for Cruz FEC Tells ‘Jews for Cruz’ PAC to Change Its Name, and not for the reason you think.

Jobs, Growth & Freedom Fund The Contact page has an email address info@jobsgrowth.org and a fax number (512) 487-5024.

Keep the Promise PAC Because whenever I go fishing off a dock with my family, I make sure my 2 little girls are in brand new matching outfits. Contact page

Stand for Principle PAC The Contact us link auto opens your email program. Here is the address info@standforprinciple.com.

Cruzaders PAC The Contact page has a webmail form, and an email address info@jointhecruzade.com.


Rubio 1

Marco Rubioofficial campaign website (AAhhh!! FU infinite scroll 😡 How can I get to the bottom, where all the important info is, if infinite scroll keeps pushing it down?), Ballotpedia page, Open Secrets page, P2016. He is a United States Senator from Florida.

To Opt-out: the Contact page has an email contact@marcorubio.com. Twitter .

The PACs that are backing Rubio are:

Students for Rubio No Contact information. Twitter 

Reclaim America PAC their website is down. So I will link to their Open Secrets page instead.

Conservative Solutions PAC The Contact page has a webmail form.

Conservative Solutions Project email address team@conservativesolutionsproject.com.


Rand Paul 1

Rand Paulofficial campaign website (he sure likes that counter at the top of the page. When he launched the website he was counting up all the money that people had donated to him.), Ballotpedia page, Open Secrets page, P2016.  He is a United States Senator from Kentucky. And one of the mascots for this blog.

To Opt-out: the Contact page has a webmail form and a phone number (202) 735-5323. This is hidden at the bottom of  the Privacy Policy page Info@RandPaul.com. Twitter  tweet at them both, they are both active.

The PACs that are backing Paul are:

America’s Liberty PAC The Contact us link has a webmail form and an email address info@americaslibertypac.com and a phone number (703) 291-3450.

Forever Free PAC The Contact page has a webmail form. Emailsupport@foreverfreepac.com and phone number 941-896-7770.

Human Action/ Draft Rand Paul for President 2016. The Contact page has a webmail form.

Rand PAC 2016 At the bottom of the Donate page there is an email donations@randpac.com.

Ready For Rand PAC The Contact page has a webmail form. Twitter .

Reinventing A New Direction PAC, No website so here is a link to their Open Secrets page.


Christie

Chris Christieofficial campaign website (OMG, who designed this website?! Giant auto-play video at the top? Fire them now.), Ballotpedia page, Open Secrets page, P2016. He is the Governor of New Jersey.

To Opt-out: Again hidden on the Privacy Policy page “You may opt out of any future contacts from us at any time by contacting us via the email address given on our website: info@chrischristie.com”. Twitter .

The PACs that are backing Christie are:

America Leads again with the auto play video.  No contact information. Twitter .

Leadership Matters for America This email address is at the bottom of the page info@leadershipmattersforamerica.org.


John Kasich

John Kasichofficial campaign websiteBallotpedia page, Open Secrets page P2016 page. He is the Governor of Ohio. You can’t win the electoral collage without Ohio. He may have all ready won the presidency, and we just don’t know it yet.

To Opt-out: the Contact page has a webmail form, and an email info@johnkasich.com. Twitter .

The PACs that are backing Kasich are:

New Day For America  The Contact page has a webmail form and an email info@newdayforamerica.com address and a phone number (614) 500-3295.

Balanced Budget Forever The Contact page has an email info@balancedbudgetforever.com and a phone number (614) 769-7852.

That is the top 10. Do you want me to do the other 7? Ask me to do it in the comments.

Drowning in Junk Mail – This Month in Junk Mail – June, 11 pieces

All 11 pieces of junk mail for the month of June

Sorry I’m a little late in posting this. I am sure all of you are on the edge of you seats wondering how much junk mail she got in the month of June. She only got 11 pieces in the entire month. That is less than what she was getting in one day a year ago. Last June she got over 380 pieces of junk mail.

The junk mail train has pulled into the station
Train post mark

Grab your favorite piece of junk mail
Ronald Reagan reading junk mail

Let’s run down the junk mail jerks for the month of June
All 11 pieces of junk mail for the month of June


Public Advocate of the United States

Hon. Eugene Delgaudio Public Advocate of the United States, Wiki page, Rational Wiki page, Open Secrets page, Citizen Audit page. Daily Kos blog about corruption charges. Opt out here and call (703) 845-1808 also email eugene@joineugene.com Their fundraiser is Saber Communications. I called (540) 371-7077 but was dumped from the call. Open Secrets page, Slate article that talks about Saber Communications and it’s president Mike Rothfeld.


Jim Gilchrist's Minuteman Project

Minuteman Project, Wiki page, Charity Navigator page, Open Secrets page, Citizen Audit page. Opt-out here JimGilchrist@MinutemanProject.com (949) 587-5199. Also contact Howie Morgan, National Political Director howie@netdoor.com (662) 832-8882


Drug Policy Alliance

Drug Policy Alliance Wiki page, Charity Navigator page. Opt-out here and call (212)613-8040. There fundraiser is AB Data


Citizen Guardian

Citizen Guardian phone number (202) 469-3433 and (540) 630-6400 leave a message, and email info@CitizenGuardian.org no reply. Citizen Audit page, Open Secrets page. Their mail is made by Engage Direct Mail Opt-out here and email info@uscomplianceservices.com. Her name was removed 3/27/2015. It takes 12 weeks to be cycled out of the system. Which means that Citizen Guardian junk mail should stop the second week in June. I received this on June 9th. Ya know, in the second week of June. This had better be the last one. (It wasn’t, but that is for next month.)


Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence

Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun ViolenceWiki  page, Charity Navigator page, SourceWatch page. Opt-out here and call (202) 370-8123


Conservative Strike Force

Conservative StrikeForceOpen Secrets page. Opt-out here info@conservativestrikeforce.com and call (888) 295-6480, mailbox was full. Also opt-out from ForthRight Strategy AKA Base Connect.

Oh no! The FEC is hot on their money trail. They “failed to correctly report payments to Strategic Campaign Group, Inc. and Active Engagement LLC, two firms among the group’s largest payees. Strategic Campaign Group partially owns and controls Conservative Strikeforce, according to a lawsuit filed last year.”

Strategic Campaign Group info@strategiccampaigngroup.com 443-569-5900 Active Engagement LLC founded by Richard Norman Contact page


Law Enforcement Action Network

Law Enforcement Action Network Opt-out here, and call (703)807-1875 Charity Navigator page, zero stars 67% of budget spent on fundraising. Their fundraiser is Eberle Associatescontact page.

From the Daily Kos: Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund – an illegal scam?


Sweepstakes Clearinghouse Department of Notifications

Sweepstakes Clearing House 2000 E Lemar Blvd Arlington TX 76006. I sent in a form 1500 last June. They have gone to Step 2 already. I will resend Step 2 with a note that it is from last year.


Save Jerusalem

Save Jerusalem, Run by Mike Evens opt-out here and call (800) 636-4992. Junk mail from them should have stopped in April. I called them again emphasizing that she is dead.


Population Connection

Population Connection info@populationconnection.org 800-767-1956 Wiki page Charity Navigator page. They use Mal Warwick for fundraising. And Public Interest Communications for telemarketing. That deal didn’t work out to well. At the end of  2013 they owed Public Interest Communications $15,852.


Reagan Ranch from Young America's Foundation

Reagan Ranch from the Young Americas Foundation Wiki page Source Watch page Charity Navigator page. Contact page and call 1-800-USA-1776. Their mail is made by HSP Direct and Eberle Associates

Let’s take a closer look at the calendar that came with this mailpiece:

Reagan Ranch from Young America's Foundation
Most calendars list holidays or phases of the moon. I have seen themed calendars that have niche holidays like “national pet a cat day”. This calendar has the important days in Ronnie’s life. For example October 27 Ronald Reagan delivered his “A Time for Choosing” speech in 1964.


All ready to go

Here are the 3 pre-paid envelopes stuffed up like a Thanksgiving turkey and the one form 1500 going to New York.

Drowning in Junk Mail – This Week in Junk Mail One Piece

I am going to start winding down this blog. I am regularly getting 1-2 pieces a week now. I will make this a monthly blog. I will still update the Facebook page. And if I find a good topic to write about I will post to this blog.

If you get a piece of junk mail you think I would like to talk about email a photo at darthjenni@gmail.com.


Freedom Watch

Freedom Watch

This week’s junk mail is from Larry Klayman’s Freedom WatchWiki page, Source Watch page,

Freedom Watch

Back in February Larry promised that his junk mail would stop in 60 days. It is now the end of May. I estimated that junk mail from Freedom Watch should have stopped well over a month ago. I sent an email to leklayman@gmail.com, no response. I called (310) 595-0800 mail box was full. I called (310) 770-9712 and left a voice mail. I called (352) 274-9359 and left a voice mail there also. I will Tweet this to @freedomwatchweb, I will tag them on Facebook. I do not know how many more ways to tell them to stop sending junk mail to a person who died 3 months ago.

If she wasn’t dead I would send another complaint to the DMA, and contact my state’s attorney general.

Drowning in Junk Mail – This Week in Junk Mail 2 pieces

The FTC has shut down one of the big scam charity rings. Cancer Fund of America, Cancer Support Services, Breast Cancer Society and Children’s Cancer Fund of America were all run by James Reynolds, his family and friends. Cancer Fund of America is #2 on the Tampa Bay Time’s America’s Worst Charities list. If you are getting calls and junk mail from scam charities file a complaint with the FTC.

Annette Bosworth has been found guilty on all charges in her nominating petitions fraud thing. She was out of the country when people were signing petitions to get her nominated for office. “Each of the 12 felony charges carries a maximum sentence of two years in prison and/or a $4,000 fine. Convictions could also jeopardize Bosworth’s medical license.” Sentencing is on July 1.


Back to my everyday fight

All 2 pieces

Only 2 pieces this week.

Online Ed Real Estate Continuing Education
Online Ed Real Estate Continuing Education (503) 670-9278

She was a realtor for over 40 years. They are just pulling her information from the state database. I will not be able to stop junk mail like this.


Citizen Guardian

Citizen Guardian phone number (202) 469-3433, and email info@CitizenGuardian.org Citizen Audit page, Open Secrets page.

These jackasses I can stop. Their mail is made by Engage Direct Mail Opt-out here and email info@uscomplianceservices.com. I emailed them again last week and supposedly her name was removed 3/27/2015. And it takes 12 weeks to be cycled out of the system. Which means that Citizen Guardian junk mail should stop the second week in June. The only problem is I contacted these people a year ago. That is a long 12 weeks.


			

Drowning in Junk Mail – This Week in Junk Mail, 5 pieces

Well that streak ended quickly. It was a nice 10 day vacation from junk mail.

From the where are they now file is Annette Bosworth. This week her election law violations trial starts. The Argus Leader has a nice wrap up of everything that has happened so far. It all boils down to

Bosworth attested to personally gathering signatures when she was on a publicized medical mission trip in the Philippines. She also attested to gathering signatures on some Hutterite colonies, but residents interviewed said she was not there when they signed.

Good luck Annette, I hope you still have money left over from your senate campaign to pay for your lawyers. Oh wait you don’t. You used Forthright Strategy and they left you $33,000 in debt. Even though they raised over $2 million for you.


Constitution Watchdogs a project of the Committee for Justice

Constitution Watchdogs a project of Committee for Justice, Charity Navigator page. Opt-out here info@CommitteeforJustice.com and call (202) 270-7748. Their direct mail fundraiser is Morgan Meredith Contact page (703) 467-9341


Citizen Guardian

Citizen Guardian run by James Carney. Citizen Audit page, Open Secrets page. Opt-out here: (202) 469-3433, and email info@CitizenGuardian.org. Also opt-out through Engage Direct Mail info@uscomplianceservices.com. It takes 12 weeks to be dropped from their mailing list. I contacted them the first time in March. I have to wait until June for them to stop.


MIO Frontiers USA

MIO Frontiers. Charity Navigator page. Opt-out here: info@frontiersusa.org and call 800-462-8436. Their goal is to convert Muslims into Christians. Yah, good luck with that guys.


Pheasants Forever

Pheasants Forever Wiki page Charity Navigator page. Opt-out here: contact@PheasantsForever.org and call (877) 773-2070.


Sweepstakes & Contests from Guardian Entertainment Group

Sweepstakes & Contests from Guardian Entertainment Group

Sweepstakes & Contests Entry Report by Guardian Entertainment Group PO Box 422 Old Bethpage NY 11804. This address also uses the names “North American Prize Compiling” and “American Reporting Center”. Ug these guys again. This piece of junk mail has been like a nat for the past year. I can’t stop this mailpiece. They aren’t selling anything, asking for money, or having a sweepstakes, so I can’t use a form 1500 to make them stop. If she hadn’t died I would file a complaint with the DMA. If that didn’t work I would file a complaint with my state attorney general.


One pre-paid envelope ready to go

One pre-paid envelope ready to go.

Drowning in Junk Mail – This Week in Junk Mail, Zero pieces

P5110002

For the first time in over a year the person who’s junk mail I am trying to stop, has gone 10 days with no junk mail.

Hv3Nu

She died in February. For the past 3 months I have told all of her junk mailers that she is dead. Phone calls, emails, notes in pre-paid envelopes. I think it may have soaked into their computer databases that she won’t be sending them any more money.

If this keeps up for a month, I will declare victory over junk mail.

Drowning in Junk Mail – This week in Junk Mail 1 piece from Citizen Guardian

Update: This wound up being one of the hardest groups to stop. I had to file a complaint with the DMA.


One!! 1! Only one piece this week!

celebrate

I am on count down right now. The longest I have gone in the past year with out junk mail for her has been 8 days. 8 post office delivery days. This piece came on April 28. That is 4 days so far. When I can go a month without junk mail for her I will consider this project done.


Who was the lucky winner this week? Our old friends James Carney and Citizen Guardian phone number (202) 469-3433, and email info@CitizenGuardian.org

Citizen Guardian junk mail

I found 2 addresses for them:

  • PO Box 96302 Washington DC 20090
  • 300 New Jersey Avenue, NW, Suite 900 Washington, DC 20001 This location is owned by Carr Workplaces. It is a rent an office space business. They can provide anything from a mailing address to a fully furnished office.

Citizen Audit page, Open Secrets page.

Their fundraiser is called Greenmail, but the address 880 N. East St. Frederick, MD 21701 is for Name Exchange. They are a mailing list rental firm. chris@nameexchange.us (301) 695-6140

Citizen Guardian junk mail

This week Citizen Guardian is not only trying to repeal Obama care, they want a “Constitutional Amendment to prohibit any federal control of health care”. I guess this means they also want to stop Medicare, Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), the Department of Defense TRICARE, the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) program, and the Indian Health Service (IHS) program.

Citizen Guardian junk mail

Here is another version of the straw poll included in the mailpiece. I just want to point out the first question:

1. Scientific polls show the majority of Americans are strongly opposed to the passage of the massive 2 trillion dollar Federal Health Care Reform Bill “ObamaCare” but politicians in Congress passed it anyway.
Did you support the passage of the Federal Obamacare bill?

There is no such thing as a “Scientific poll” every poll is manipulated so that the poll taker gets the answer they want. Scientific American talking about polling. Questions to ask about a political poll.

Citizen Guardian junk mail

“Please be as generous as you can in this critical national grassroots effort.. Thank you!”

Grassroots? Really? When is $5 million a “grassroots effort”? This mailpiece, and the people who made it are ridiculous. They could save a lot of time, money, and trees, if they were more like the scamers. Just sent a postcard asking for money. I would respect them more if they were more upfront. Just come out and say it: “I want your money.” You know that when the little old lady fills out the straw poll, and carefully folds it into the envelope, it just lands in the trash when the person in the mailroom rips it open looking for the check she sent.

Drowning in Junk Mail – How to Research Who Makes the Junk Mail

For anyone who stumbles on this post, please read how this fits into my over all strategy for stopping junk mail. This is not the first step. This is for groups who will not stop sending junk mail after being repeatedly asked to do so.

I have gotten a couple of requests asking how I find who is behind the junk mail. This takes a little foot work, and a little Google-fu to get what you are looking for.


For Charities, 501(c)3:

Sign up for Charity Navigator and Guidestar. They both have the IRS 990’s for charities. But they only give you access to the documents if you sign up. I like Charity Navigator better, but sometimes only Guidestar will have the documents you are looking for.

Look up the charity who’s junk mail you want to stop. In this case I have picked United States Justice Foundation in Charity Navigator.

Look past the 1 star rating and click on the IRS (Forms 990) tab

USJF 1

Scroll down to the bottom of the page where the links to the PDF’s are. The IRS documents will always be out of date. In this case the newest 990’s are from 2013. You just have to hope that they haven’t changed fundraisers.

17322097291_d865a9694e_o

This is the first page of the PDF. It gives all the vitals, address, phone number, who is in charge.

USJF 3


This is when you start scrolling.

This is what you are looking for.

USJF 4


Section B. Independent Contractors. This is for independent contractors that received over $100,000 in compensation. There are only 5 spaces. This is only the top 5 independent contractors that got over $100,000. In this case they are all for direct marketing. Sometimes they list printers, or the delightfully vague “consulting”.

They are:

Keep scrolling

USJF 5


Supplemental Information Regarding Fundraising or Gaming Activities. This is the other section where you will find fundraisers. In this case it is their biggest fundraiser Richard Norman Company. Who they paid over $200,000 in 2013.


For Political Action Committees, PACs, 501(c)4, Dark Money groups:

Open Secrets used to be my goto for documents, but they aren’t consistent with giving a link to IRS documents for every group. Now I use Citizen Audit for looking up IRS documents for PACs.

Citizen Audit is very easy to use

Citizen Audit

Just type in the group you are looking for and click “Search”. It will appear under the search bar.

Click through to the group’s page.

Citizen Audit 2


Scroll down a little and look for the “See PDF” for the newest IRS 990. It is the same form that charities use.


IRS 990’s only ask for the top 5 independent contractors that received over $100,000 in compensation. The FEC wants all of a PAC’s expenses. Every pen and pencil, every taxi ride, every stamp for every envelope.

For FEC documents you have to go to the official FEC.gov. This website is AWFUL. No really, it is as bad as any geocities site from 1995. I am just going to link to the search page to save your brain from the terribleness of this website.

Candidate and Committee Viewer search

Type in the candidate or PAC you want to look up.

This is the page for Ryan Zinke the house representative for Montana. He was sending my gal junk mail. She was in California.

FEC


You want to click on the operating expenditures link. A note about the FEC website: NEVER, EVER use the search bar in the top right corner. It will plunge you in to the worst garbage search of all time.

These are the expenditures for team Zinke. It goes on, and on. Page after page. Click the “Purpose” bar to put the expenditures in alphabetical order. You are looking for key words like: Printing, Postage, Direct Mail, Marketing, Fundraising, Caging, List Rental

FEC 2

FEC 3


Capitol Caging corp: Caging fees. Open Secrets page

FEC 4


Forthright Strategy: creative fees, I am cheating with this one I already know who Forthright Strategy is.

FEC 5


Legacy List Marketing: List Rental
O’Neill Marketing Co: List Rental

FEC 6


CMS – Consolidated Mailing Services: Printing
Donor Bureau: Printing

I may not call the 2 company’s who do printing. Unless they keep popping up over and over with other PACs


So what do you do with this information? Look up each fundraiser in Google, go to their website, then email them and give them a phone call. They maybe confused. Tell them all about your junk mail problems until they take you off their mailing list. They may ignore you. Take note of the lack of response and move on to the next fundraiser. When the junk mail doesn’t stop, and you file your formal complaint with the DMA and your state’s attorney general, mention the lack of help you got from each company.