Shadowy rightwing group attacking League of Woman Voters

We already know corporate money has fueled the attack on real health care reform by financing attacks on Democratic Congressman and paid huge expensive buses for fake demonstrations, but now they are going after an organization that is synonymous with fair elections and unbiased voted education, The League of Women Voters (LWV).

The LWV is under attack by a conservative “nonprofit” shadow group launched less than two months ago under a very similar name, the League of American Voters. The LWV wants to protect its good name earned from 90 years of nonpartisan voter education, and it is demanding the fake corporate lobbying group stop running a "misleading" TV ad and have called on it to "cease and desist from using a name" that is "so deceptively similar" to its own. LWV, which endorses health care reform and a public insurance option, has been hearing from members who had confused the conservative group with the nonpartisan league.

“We are still exploring what legal avenues we might have if they decide not to honor our request to cease and desist," said Mary Wilson, president of the League of Women Voters, in a press release. Wilson's group hand-delivered its letter because it could learn virtually nothing about the new group from its Web site.

The deceptive lobbying group shares the exact address and suite number on 12th Street in downtown Washington as Americans for Tax Reform, and the communications director for this new shadow group claims there is "no affiliation" and that his group is only a tenant. Americans for Tax Reform is a rightwing an anti-tax group that is aggressively lobbying to block health care changes, and it is headed by well-known conservative activist Grover Norquist.

The League of Women Voters is a nonpartisan political organization with more than 150,000 members and supporters nationwide that has fought since 1920 to improve our systems of government and impact public policies through citizen education and advocacy. Its simple mission is to encourage informed and active participation in government, work to increase understanding of major public policy issues and influences public policy through education and advocacy.