Dig deeper to find real identity

In a recent Fence Post letter about public pensions, I noticed the sender was the executive director of a group named Public Notice in Arlington, Va.

The generic name of the group and the fact that it is in Virginia piqued my curiosity about why such a group would be so interested in Illinois legislation.

A simple Internet search found pretty much what I expected. Public Notice is a Republican/Libertarian leaning group founded as an LLC. It is tax-exempt because it does not back specific candidates — only issues. It is free to legally accept corporate funds without disclosing its donors publicly. It has run multimillion dollar ads, some containing false claims according to factcheck.org.

Gretchen Hamel, the executive director, has a background working for several Republican politicians. I somehow doubt that the funding comes from grassroots people.

There is a lesson to be learned. I urge everyone to dig below the surface of the information from high-sounding, generically named groups. Fact-check what they say. Same goes for all those many-forwarded email messages you receive.

I do wish something would be done about the tax-exempt status of these groups. Because they are tax-exempt I am, in effect, funding the spread of the baloney and falsehoods many are spreading.

Virginia Newquist

Elgin