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Overview:

United Seniors Association (USA) Stated Purpose: Expand retirement and investment freedom, economic freedom, and health freedom for senior Americans and generations to come. Tax Status: 501(c)(4) Political Orientation: Republican Profile: September 2004 — United Seniors Association, which spent an estimated $13.6 million to influence at least 25 U.S. Senate and House races in 2002, has been active in at least 17 contests so far in 2004, including spending at least $370,500 to help Rep. Jim Gerlach (R-Pa.) and at least $141,000 to assist Rep. Phil Crane (R-Ill.).1 United Seniors Association (USA) burst onto the soft money scene in 2002, when it spent $18.6 million on advertising, according to its filing with the IRS.2 Some of its expenditures paid for issue advocacy communications in the summer of that year while Congress was debating a Medicare prescription drug bill, as chronicled in this Public Citizen report: United Seniors Association: Hired Guns for PhRMA and Other Corporate Interests. But USA reserved the majority of its advertising budget for the two months before Election Day. USA ran advertisements supporting 19 House candidates and six U.S. Senate candidates during those two months. Sixteen of the 19 House candidates supported by USA were Republicans; of those,15 were involved in races deemed "competitive" by political handicapper Charlie Cook. USA ran ads in six of that fall's 34 U.S. Senate contests, including six of the seven contests that Cook rated most competitive.3 4 In each Senate contest, USA either praised Republicans or criticized Democrats.5 USA was founded by Richard Viguerie, a conservative who pioneered the art of using direct mail pitches to solicit small political contributions.6 But the group has grown increasingly reliant on large donors in recent years. USA, which had 2001 revenue of $8.6 million, posted $25.4 million in revenue in 2002; of that $20.1 million came from a single donor, according USA's filing with the IRS.7 The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), the trade association of the brand name pharmaceutical industry, said it gave "an unrestricted educational grant" to USA in 2002.8 9 Because most of USA's ads emphasized prescription drugs, it is likely that PhRMA was the $20.1 million contributor. In 2001, USA reported to the IRS that it received a $1.5 million contribution from PhRMA.10 USA reported $18.6 million in expenditures for "radio/TV placements" in 2002. 11 Researchers at the Wisconsin Advertising Project, the foremost academic research program assessing the political content of television ads, concluded that 72.9 percent of USA's television advertisements included in the Project's database in 2002 were intended to influence the outcomes of elections.12 USA reported zero political activity in its 2002 IRS filing, as it had in previous years and did again in 2003.13 In effect, the group claimed that none of its ads were intended to influence the outcomes of elections.14 USA's officers and consultants are steeped in Republican politics. Its president is Charles Jarvis, who served in the Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations. Members of its board of directors have included Jack Abramoff, who is among the foremost fundraisers for the Republican Party and a top fundraiser for President Bush, and Craig Shirley, a Republican operative whose involvement with soft money political spending dates back to at least 1988, when he played a leading role in creating the "Willie Horton" political ad. USA's lobbyist, David Keene, is chairman of the American Conservative Union, and previously worked for Vice President Spiro Agnew, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and Bob Dole.15 1   News stories and conversations with reporters and campaign officials in the targeted districts, Sept. 2004. 2   United Seniors Association 990 form, 2002. 3   The Cook Political Report, Oct. 4, 2002. 4   The Cook Political Report, Oct. 20, 2002. 5   Public Citizen's analysis of data contained in the New Stealth PACs database. Data collected from groups' Web sites and annual tax forms, press reports, academic papers on activities of independent political groups and interviews by Public Citizen research staff. 6   Erik Eckholm, "Fear In The Mail," New York Times, Nov. 12, 1992. 7   United Seniors Association 990 forms, 2000-2002. 8   Public Citizen Interview with USA Spokesman Jeff Trewhitt in "United Seniors Association: Hired Guns for PhRMA and Other Corporate Interests," Public Citizen Report, July 2002. 9   Tom Hamburger, "Drug Industry Ads Aid GOP," Wall Street Journal, June 18, 2002. 10   United Seniors Association 990 forms, 2000-2002. 11   United Seniors Association 990 form, 2002. 12   "2002 Spending By Groups Which Had 527s," Wisconsin Advertising Project, June 23, 2004. 13   United Seniors Association 990 forms, 2000-2002. 14   IRS Form 990 Instructions, Line 81, 2003. (Available at www.irs.gov.) 15   Public Citizen's analysis of data contained in the New Stealth PACs database. Data collected from groups' Web sites and annual tax forms, press reports, academic papers on activities of independent political groups and interviews by Public Citizen research staff.