Our-Republic is a special way of raising money for candidates called a “conduit.” It makes contributing to candidates as easy as going to a mall. You register in the donations “store” and then make your donations to the candidates you want to donate to and in the amounts you want to donate. You can leave comments about who Our-Republic should include and what we need to improve. We don’t take one cent that you donate to candidates. Our-Republic accounts to each donor with emails letting you know the status of your donation and every cent we receive and pass through as directed by “We the People.”
· Our-Republic can empower everyday citizens to become the largest special interest in the United States. Because conduits like Our-Republic don’t lobby and don’t direct or control donations, any affiliation you, as a donor, might have with a partisan individual , group or committee that inspired you to donate is lost. The result is that the Our-Republic candidates and campaigns are only indebted to you, the citizens that make up “We the People,” for the funding they receive.
· Our-Republic’s focus on Americans supporting groups candidates from everywhere in the United States is a perfect reflection of our national realization that every election in the United States is just as important to me and our whole country as the elections in my state.
· Our-Republic allows political action committees, non-connected committees, political groups, tea parties, non-campaign associations and non-candidate individuals such as journalists and bloggers of all kinds to leverage the loyalty in their contact lists, their email lists, their membership lists and their followers and friends in social media into more campaign contributions to a body of candidates than is possible in any other way.
· If a candidate has a campaign contribution limit or cap and donors direct more money to the candidate than the limits, a supreme court decision has determined that conduits like Our-Republic may spend that excess money on the donor’s behalf in the form of hard money electioneering advertisements for that candidate they directed their donation to.
Any candidate proposed for listing by Our-Republic or by you, the donors, that is a conservative running in a primary to become a Republican Party candidate or in running in a general election as a Republican Party candidate and that has:
· Passed the iCaucus vetting (endorsement not necessary),
· Signed the Contract from America, or
· Publicly affirmed the Glen Beck 912 Pledge.
Only individual United States citizens – no businesses, corporations, committees, or unions of any type may donate through Our-Republic. That is why you must fill in your occupation and employer when you donate.
· You are responsible to make sure that your donations to each candidate and the sum or total of all your campaign donations made anywhere, not just on Our-Republic, are within your personal contribution limits. You agree, by donating that no-one From Our-Republic has directed your donation towards any candidate and that the information you provide is true.
· Federal elections (President, Senate, US House of Representatives – Congress) Each United States citizen may donate up to $2,400 to any candidate during the primary election and another $2,400 again in the general election. The total of all an individual citizen’s contributions to candidates within the two years, 2009 and 2010, must be less than $45,600. For details see the Federal Election Commission: http://www.fec.gov/info/contriblimits0910.pdf
· State Elections (Governor, State Legislatures and other statewide elective offices) States commonly place limits on contributions to candidates from various sources, and also on contributions to political action committees (PACs) and political parties. Just six states - Illinois, Missouri, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah and Virginia - place no limits on contributions at all. To find your state’s limits, please go to the National Conference of State Legislatures website: http://www.ncsl.org/Portals/1/documents/legismgt/limits_candidates.pdf
· Local Elections (County, City, Town, School Boards, Water Authorities, etc.) Local governments may also place contribution limits on candidates running for local or regional elective office. Contact your local government for those limits.
· You agree, by donating, to hold harmless and indemnify each candidate, campaign organization and Our-Republic (including the Kenneth Happel, the individual acting as conduit, and the Vista Tea Party Patriots that operate the Our-Republic website) against any damages caused by your donation being found illegal. This means you agree not to sue us, to help defend us and shield us from damages for any sort if we are sued all or in part because of your contribution or donation.
· Our-Republic may not direct or control your donation in any way. Our-Republic offers you multiple candidate opportunities and may not direct or control which candidate you should donate to. Our-Republic may not direct or control much you should donate in total or separately to any specific candidate.
· Our-Republic and anyone associated with its governance may not coordinate Our-Republic’s activities with any candidate or campaign.
· Our-Republic and anyone associated with its governance may not be:
o Be an employee or full time volunteer of any candidate or campaign listed by Our-Republic,
o Be an individual authorized by the candidate or his campaign to raise money on behalf of the candidate,
o Be a political committee affiliated or connected with the candidate or campaign as defined by the Code of Federal Regulations,
o Be a commercial fundraising firm authorized to raise money for the candidate. No one associated with the governance of Our-Republic may be a paid employee or a full time volunteer of any of the candidates or campaigns.
· Donate to more than one candidate (we recommend at least three)
· To donate select a candidate. Select a state flag. Select a candidate from that state. Set the quantity (Qty) to the number of dollars you wish to donate. The minimum donation is $1.00. To donate five dollars set the quantity to five (5). To donate a hundred dollars set the quantity to 100. Then select the “Add To Cart” button.
· If you want to donate to another candidate, select “Continue Shopping” and you will be returned to the state flags.
· When you have made all your donations, select “Checkout”. Fill in your personal information and check the box that says “Donated By The Same As Billing Address.”
· Make sure your order summary (on the right) is correct. If for any reason the order summary does not reflect the result you expected, select “Edit” under the order summary and you will be returned to your shopping car.
· If you are done filling in your information and the order summary is correct, select “Continue” and check the full size invoice. If you want to change anything select “Edit”, otherwise select “Next.”
· At the top of this next page is a button that takes you to PayPal where you can pay with a PayPal Account, any Credit Card or an electronic Check. When you have made your donation payment, you will be returned to Our-Republic’s thank you page.
Our-Republic is a special type of non-connected political committee called a “conduit” as defined by Title 11, Chapter 1, Section 110.6, Earmarked Contributions and all the associated laws, regulations and conditions that apply to being a conduit.
This means that contributions directed by the donor to be transferred through Our-Republic’s conduit to a candidate or campaign are not counted as contributions from Our-Republic. Therefore, we can funnel much more money to a given candidate than a PAC or other type of political committee.
We are governed by FEC regulations as an unregistered and unconnected 527 committee. We may register at some point, but unless we raise and donate $1000.00 as a 527, there is no regulatory need to register. We do have to file schedule A and Schedule B forms with the FEC for each donation.
We have to complete Schedule A and Schedule B forms when donations exceed a total of $100.00. We send you an e-copy of our database listing of all donations, donor information and PayPal reconciliations. Once you have acknowledged receipt of the list and accepted it, we instruct PayPal to email you a check for the total amount from that period and that is accounted for in the database listing.
PayPal e-Checks are an email that is sent to the treasurer with a link to the PayPal site. The treasurer follows the link and exceutes the transfer.
The listing is our Schedule A attachment. The check to your campaign is reported as a part of the content of our Schedule B filing. We are over cautious and record occupation and employer for all donors, even if they have not yet donated $200.
Retrieved from http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/cfr_2009/janqtr/11cfr110.6.htm
[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 11, Volume 1]
[Revised as of January 1, 2009]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 11CFR110.6]
[Page 175-176]
TITLE 11--FEDERAL ELECTIONS
CHAPTER I--FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION
PART 110_CONTRIBUTION AND EXPENDITURE LIMITATIONS AND PROHIBITIONS--
Table of Contents
Sec. 110.6 Earmarked contributions (2 U.S.C. 441a(a)(8)).
(a) General. All contributions by a person made on behalf of or to a
candidate, including contributions which are in any way earmarked or
otherwise directed to the candidate through an intermediary or conduit,
are contributions from the person to the candidate.
(b) Definitions. (1) For purposes of this section, earmarked means a
designation, instruction, or encumbrance, whether direct or indirect,
express or implied, oral or written, which results in all or any part of
a contribution or expenditure being made to, or expended on behalf of, a
clearly identified candidate or a candidate's authorized committee.
(2) For purposes of this section, conduit or intermediary means any
person who receives and forwards an earmarked contribution to a
candidate or a candidate's authorized committee, except as provided in
paragraph (b)(2)(i) of this section.
(i) For purposes of this section, the following persons shall not be
considered to be conduits or intermediaries:
(A) An individual who is an employee or a full-time volunteer
working for the candidate's authorized committee, provided that the
individual is not acting in his or her capacity as a representative of
an entity prohibited from making contributions;
(B) A fundraising representative conducting joint fundraising with
the candidate's authorized committee pursuant to 11 CFR 102.17 or
9034.8;
(C) An affiliated committee, as defined in 11 CFR 100.5(g);
(D) A commercial fundraising firm retained by the candidate or the
candidate's authorized committee to assist in fundraising; and
(E) An individual who is expressly authorized by the candidate or
the candidate's authorized committee to engage in fundraising, and who
occupies a significant position within the candidate's campaign
organization, provided that the individual is not acting in his or her
capacity as a representative of an entity prohibited from making
contributions.
(ii) Any person who is prohibited from making contributions or
expenditures in connection with an election for Federal office shall be
prohibited from acting as a conduit for contributions earmarked to
candidates or their authorized committees. The provisions of this
section shall not restrict the ability of an organization or committee
to serve as a collecting agent for a separate segregated fund pursuant
to 11 CFR 102.6.
(iii) Any person who receives an earmarked contribution shall
forward such earmarked contribution to the candidate or authorized
committee in accordance with 11 CFR 102.8, except that--
(A) A fundraising representative shall follow the joint fundraising
procedures set forth at 11 CFR 102.17.
(B) A person who is prohibited from acting as a conduit pursuant to
paragraph (b)(2)(ii) of this section shall return the earmarked
contribution to the contributor.
(c) Reporting of earmarked contributions--(1) Reports by conduits
and intermediaries. (i) The intermediary or conduit of the earmarked
contribution shall report the original source and the
[[Page 176]]
recipient candidate or authorized committee to the Commission or the
Secretary of the Senate, as appropriate (see 11 CFR part 105), and to
the recipient candidate or authorized committee.
(ii) The report to the Commission or Secretary shall be included in
the conduit's or intermediary's report for the reporting period in which
the earmarked contribution was received, or, if the conduit or
intermediary is not required to report under 11 CFR part 104, by letter
to the Commission within thirty days after forwarding the earmarked
contribution.
(iii) The report to the recipient candidate or authorized committee
shall be made when the earmarked contribution is forwarded to the
recipient candidate or authorized committee pursuant to 11 CFR 102.8.
(iv) The report by the conduit or intermediary shall contain the
following information:
(A) The name and mailing address of each contributor and, for each
earmarked contribution in excess of $200, the contributor's occupation
and the name of his or her employer;
(B) The amount of each earmarked contribution, the date received by
the conduit, and the intended recipient as designated by the
contributor; and
(C) The date each earmarked contribution was forwarded to the
recipient candidate or authorized committee and whether the earmarked
contribution was forwarded in cash or by the contributor's check or by
the conduit's check.
(v) For each earmarked contribution passed through the conduit's or
intermediary's account, the information specified in paragraph
(c)(1)(iv) (A) through (C) of this section shall be itemized on the
appropriate schedules of receipts and disbursements attached to the
conduit's or intermediary's report, or shall be disclosed by letter, as
appropriate. For each earmarked contribution forwarded in the form of
the contributor's check or other written instrument, the information
specified in paragraph (c)(1)(iv) (A) through (C) of this section shall
be disclosed as a memo entry on the appropriate schedules of receipts
and disbursements attached to the conduit's or intermediary's report, or
shall be disclosed by letter, as appropriate.
(2) Reports by recipient candidates and authorized committees. (i)
The recipient candidate or authorized committee shall report each
conduit or intermediary who forwards one or more earmarked contributions
which in the aggregate exceed $200 in any calendar year.
(ii) The report by the recipient candidate or authorized committee
shall contain the following information:
(A) The identification of the conduit or intermediary, as defined in
11 CFR 100.12;
(B) The total amount of earmarked contributions received from the
conduit or intermediary and the date of receipt; and
(C) The information required under 11 CFR 104.3(a) (3) and (4) for
each earmarked contribution which in the aggregate exceeds $200 in any
calendar year.
(iii) The information specified in paragraph (c)(2)(ii) (A) through
(C) of this section shall be itemized on Schedule A attached to the
report for the reporting period in which the earmarked contribution is
received.
(d) Direction or control. (1) A conduit's or intermediary's
contribution limits are not affected by the forwarding of an earmarked
contribution except where the conduit or intermediary exercises any
direction or control over the choice of the recipient candidate.
(2) If a conduit or intermediary exercises any direction or control
over the choice of the recipient candidate, the earmarked contribution
shall be considered a contribution by both the original contributor and
the conduit or intermediary. If the conduit or intermediary exercises
any direction or control over the choice of the recipient candidate, the
report filed by the conduit or intermediary and the report filed by the
recipient candidate or authorized committee shall indicate that the
earmarked contribution is made by both the original contributor and the
conduit or intermediary, and that the entire amount of the contribution
is attributed to each.
[54 FR 34113, Aug. 17, 1989 and 54 FR 48580, Nov. 24, 1989; 61 FR 3550,
Feb. 1, 1996]