The financial transactions between Michael Cloud and Carla Howell have become the source of an audit discussion headed up by Aaron Starr and his audit committee. Here is some background .
Date: Fri, Dec 6, 2013 at 4:17 AM
To: Geoffrey Neale <[email protected]>, William Redpath <[email protected]>, Geoff Neale <[email protected]>, [email protected], Tim Hagan <[email protected]>, [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected],[email protected], [email protected], [email protected], Vicki Kirkland <[email protected]>, [email protected],[email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], Jim Lark <[email protected]>, [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], Paulie Cannoli <[email protected]>Hi Geoff,Attached is my invoice for my May to December 2012 Fundraising, Marketing,
Writing, and other services.$400,798 that I raised and brought in to the National Libertarian Party –
PLUS news releases, promo, and other creative services.See you in Dallas.Warmly,Michael Cloud
Michael Cloud Invoice May-Dec 2012
Libertarian Party Fundraising Letters
Appeal | Drop Date | Description | Gross Revenue |
1206 RE | 07/02/12 | Renewal Letter | $ 13,195.00 |
1207 HO | 08/06/12 | Don’t let this hold back.. | $ 33,261.00 |
1209 HO | 09/13/12 | Urgent Libertarian Message | $ 19,684.00 |
1210 HO | 10/04/12 | If all americans knew | $ 16,646.00 |
1210-2 HO | 10/30/12 | Is this the ..Good News..? | $ 11,461.00 |
1211 HO | 11/26/12 | foot stompin, smil making.. | $ 12,079.00 |
1212 HO | 12/31/12 | You gotta see this: can’t fail | $ 16,595.00 |
| FUNDS RAISED | $ 122,921 | ||
$ (7,000.00) | |||
= | $ 115,921.00 | ||
| Commission = | x | 15% | |
| $1000/letter + | = | $ 17,388.00 | |
| (Net-1000)*15% | $ 7,000.00 | ||
= | $ 24,388.00 | ||
Libertarian Party Fundraising Emails
Topic | Email Date | Revenue |
| Hope and Possibility for Liberty – A Christmas Message to You | 17-Dec-12 | $570 |
| Was 2012 the best year ever for our Libertarian party candidates? | 07-Dec-12 | $365 |
| A Whole Lotta Shakin Goin On | 29-Nov-12 | $16 |
| Only 24 Hours Left for You to Help GOTV | 05-Nov-12 | $2,231 |
| Last 4 Days ‘til Election | 01-Nov-12 | $1,730 |
| Urgent Libertarian message- last 7 days election Day | 29-Oct-12 | $2,690 |
| Breaking News LP Candidates + New Polls Reveal + What Rs Are Saying Privately | 12-Oct-12 | $5,159 |
| Libertarian Party Fights Back Against NEW Republican Party Attacks | 09-Oct-12 | $1,695 |
| Amazing impact of petition to include gov. GJ in debates | 02-Oct-12 | $8,530 |
| The LP strikes back | 28-Sep-12 | $17,272 |
| Ron Paul’s race is over – but his mission lives on! – Tom P’s Paul Fest list | 25-Sep-12 | $3,313 |
| I’ve got to get this off my chest before I explode | 07-Sep-12 | $7,430 |
| Republicans trying to knock GJ off ballot in PA | 21-Aug-12 | $7,973 |
| Last call to get LP in on Tampa Ron Paul festivals. Need your help now! Half Michael/Half Carla | 20-Jul-12 | $3,305 |
| Matching phone solicitation | $10,000 | |
| Follow up to BA Matching email of 6/25 | 27-Jun-12 | $13,052 |
| Ballot Access ALERT: Libertarian Votes On the Line | 18-May-12 | $11,157 |
| FUNDS RAISED | $96,488 | |
10% | ||
| COMMISSION | $9,649 |
News Releases
Topic | Post Date | |
| 1,139,562 Votes for Gov. Gary Johnson. Record-Setting L… | 07-N0v-12 | $500 |
| A Vote you’ll never regret | 06-Nov-12 | $500 |
| Vote LP or Please don’t vote | 05-Nov-12 | $500 |
| Why No True Libertarian Vote Romney | 12-Oct-31 | $500 |
| An Open Letter to the Commission on Presidential Debates | 01-Oct-12 | $500 |
| Gov. Johnson could cost Romney 5 states | 13-Aug-12 | $500 |
| ObamaCare ruling | 28-Jun-12 | $500 |
| Rand Paul Betrays His Father’s Principles Half Michael Half Carla | 08-Jun-12 | $250 |
$3,750.00 |
LP News Review & Editorial Services
Issues II, III, and IV – 3 issues @ $500 ea. = $1,500
Miscellaneous Services and Charges
Item | Post Date | |
| Editing for H1206 ARF – BA Alert | 20-Jun-12 | $250 |
| Ron Paul Festival Flier/Email Half Carla/Half Michael | 15-Aug-12 | $250 |
| $500 |
LP National Convention Promos, Marketing, & Sales Emails
Topic | Post Date | |
| Libertarian Party’s National Convention May 3-6 in Las Vegas | 30-April-12 | $750 |
| Gold Packages sold out; 22 Silver Package left; More LP… | 27-April-12 | $750 |
| Libertarian Party’s National Convention this May in Las Vegas | 13-April-12 | $750 |
| How Many LP Candidates do You Want to Elect? | 19-April-12 | $750 |
| Mark Hinkle, LP National Chair, 4 Reasons Why to Attend | 29-Mar-12 | $750 |
| Ruth Bennett, Convention Chair, Invitation to Attend | 21-Mar-12 | $750 |
| David Bergland Wants You to Come to the LP Convention | 15-Mar-12 | $750 |
| “9 Reasons Why Libertarians Like You Are Going,,,” | 8-Mar-12 | $750 |
| “Why Is This Year’s 40th Anniversary Libertarian National Convention Unlike Any Other In LP History?” | 28-Feb-12 | $750 |
| Why Haven’t You Been Told These Things About the Libertarian National Convention this May 2-6?” | 22-Feb-12 | $750 |
| “Why you? Why are you getting this first?” – Libertarian Party | 14-Feb-12 | $750 |
| Total | $8,250.00 | |
Billed to the Libertarian Party | Zero – $0.00 |
Generated $170,846 in Paid Convention Packages
Fees and Charges for 2012
| Fundraising Letters RAISED $122,921 | $24,388 | |
| Fundraised Emails RAISED $107,363 | $9,649 | |
| LP News review & editorial services | $1,500 | |
| News Releases | $3,750 | |
| Misc. | $500 | |
| Total | $39,787 | |
| Billed For |
| $38,800 |
I think everyone should have the opportunity to get a commission for raising money for the LP. Let the cream rise to the top.
I have not seen an email proposing that Neale tried to persuade Starchild to silence himself.
Paulie
Strike two! 😉
…Fantastic?
Yup that was Paulie’s link — and how Cloud discusses he had done work form May forward, yet his newest invoices have charges from before May…
(facepalm)
I stand by my first assessment:
I think it is obvious to anyone who is looking at this that the most likely scenario is:
Cloud did some work.
Cloud wanted to be paid.
Cloud made up a number of how much money he and Carla would afford to pay from the treasury at the moment.
Now people are trying to create an alternate reality that matches it.
There is an F word for this type of conduct.
It was Starchild talking about how Geoff Neale even tried to get the lawyer to get Starchild to shut up, but he told us anyway? That Starr pointed out that Michael Could had said in May of 2012 in revealing any conflicts of interest with being on the LNC that he planned to do some work with the LP in the future, yet later on provided an invoice that he’d already started doing work before that?
Anyway, I’ve gotta go to dinner. Alan is standing with with his keys. I’ll post it as an article if I can find it.
Was it this?
https://independentpoliticalreport.com/2013/11/updates-on-libertarian-national-committee-bylaws-and-platform-committees-budget-and-audit/#comment-865086
I’m looking for the email with the info on it. If anyone has it, can you please email it to me? I’m leaving for a couple hours, but I think it should be posted, since this invoice has appeared.
Which email are you talking about? You can at least post it as a comment, which would not keep it from being posted as an article later.
I am very curious. Starchild’s emails are often very thoughtful.
I imagine readers are preparing to die of curiosity. George
Starchild sent out some amazing info that you will find particularly intering, George, if you haven’t seen the email. I think it needs to be posted here, possibly as its own article. Michael Clous had a reason to submit this “updated” invoice.
Nothing in the post is from Neale. There is a very brief intro from Jill in italics, followed by an email from Cloud TO Neale and others.
Thanks. I couldn’t tell if at some point Cloud stopped and Neale started again.
The whole thing is a copy and paste of Michael Cloud’s email, so presumably he wrote it himself.
On rereading this, who wrote the last five lines of the original post?
Clarification: There are several payments. The payments to which I was referring were commissions. Others were flat fees.
Paulie, I think you said it backwards. That payment is a commission. The number for the amount Cloud raised came from the LNC.
The LNC credits Cloud with raising 100% of all convention revenues.
We have a Treasurer. We have a CEO, the national Chair. These events happened on their watch.
According to the information in the post above he is taking credit for 100% of all convention revenues, as far as anyone has been able to determine.
How does Michael Cloud get credited with Convention Fundraising? This number wouldn’t include any attendance revenue would it? If so It’s ridiculous that he get credit for raising that money, I mean come on guys
LOL, YMMV.
But I do think that claiming that 100% of the revenue was due to his efforts kind of strains credulity. At least some of the money would have come in with no letter at all, just a return contribution slip. How much? Hard to say.
I can say that I would have gone to the convention without his promotion of it. But it is possible he convinced me to get an upgraded package. Or maybe I would have gotten that anyway as well.
I’m less offended by Mr. Cloud getting paid to write fundraising letters and more offended by the fact anyone got paid to write those damned things. Seriously, most of them make me reconsider my membership in the LP more than anything.
Buchman and Starchild at Phoenix airport … on the way to change planes to aborted LNC meeting
Paul said: “Starchild objected.”
OK, one person objected to your removal from the Ballot Access Committee. Thanks, Starchild.
Where was everyone else on the LNC? Why was this travesty allowed to stand? Why didn’t anyone else point out the blatant hypocrisy and double standard here? Doesn’t it seem like a stupid move to remove the person with the most knowledge about ballot access from the Ballot Access Committee?
It’s not like Paul was even really going to profit from being on the committee. He would have only been paid on signatures that he personally collected, and he was not advocating being paid anything outside of what are considered to be standard rates on petition drives (and the LP usually gets a good deal on ballot access compared to the amount of money that a lot of groups pay out, and I can back this statement up with plenty of verifiable evidence). He also was not advocating doing any work that does not need to be done anyway.
It seems pretty stupid to me to knock the person with the most knowledge about ballot access who is on the LNC off of the LNC’s Ballot Access Committee, especially when there have been and currently are other people on the LNC who also do paid contracting work for the party.
Unfortunately, from the tone of most LNC comments I believe the floor fee will pass. But we’ll see.
I hope the LNC will consider the financial hardship imposed now those board members who where already in transit or at the location when they canceled the meeting.
I agree with Starchild that more documentation is needed about the activities of the LNC, and measure the results.
I agree with Wes that the LNC can be replaced with an organization that will behave and perform as the members expect and that achieves or common goals.
The ball is now in the LNC side of the court – all that can be done now is to see how they play this out.
He did, but he was already in Phoenix to switch planes by then. He wasn’t the only one.
Starchild, you did get the message that the meeting was postponed due to weather, right?
I think there is one thing we should all keep in mind… the real assets of the Libertarian Party are not in the possession of the LNC Inc… they are in the people in all the various state and local affiliates and the ballot access (and local knowhow of how to obtain it), our candidates, etc.
The actual national organization can be fairly easily replaced, to be quote honest, provided that its only one major function that it does that is important is replaced by some national organization/pac/group/etc. — obtaining ballot access in those difficult states and continuing the fight.
Those of us in states, like say Oregon, who have full time ballot access and have it easy, benefit greatly from all 49 of the other states having ballot access … and we all have a vested interest in making that happen.
That “need” is the one thing that holds many of us hostage to the ill behavior of the people in the LNC Inc … but it is not that difficult to replace if we all agree to accomplish this goal another way.
We, the various state affiliates, do not need the LNC Inc … and I believe we are getting close to the point where the organization, and the costs of trying to reform it, has a cost that is much greater than the benefit of allowing it to continue.
Is it time for the LNC Inc to go and another legal structure used to fulfill its purpose? Maybe not quite yet … but if we aren’t there we are close, and I am not seeing out of the current LNC board what I need to see to think we are turning it around.
Sitting here in the Phoenix airport reading… Good points Andy and George. Too bad we don’t keep better track of our convention details.
I’ve advocated having a standard form to fill out immediately after each convention listing stuff like the breakdown of how much money was made (or lost), how many people attended, how many delegates, what the venue’s requirements were, who the speakers were, what they talked about, what they were paid or comped if anything, etc.
Maintaining this kind of data on our website on an ongoing basis, easily searchable by year, would give convention planners, and LP members, some very useful benchmarks for planning or considering future conventions.
It is a bit odd that we don’t have an LNC fundraising committee, isn’t it?
Perhaps not having a committee allows some individuals to work on it without the oversight or accountability of a formal committee structure?
Of course the committees that do exist often aren’t very transparent in their operations either. At least they all appear to be listed on one page on the website now, with their current members — but there is no contact information listed for those members, no descriptions of what the committees do, when/how they conduct meetings, etc.
Don’t worry Nick … you can tell the campaign manager for the Johnson campaign to spike ballot access in a state just for political points in a absolutely pointless pissing match and not even get censured.
Paulie might get promoted for this!
Great, now Paulie will be forced to resign for revealing the content of executive session.
Hah, you fools think I’m exaggerating. My evil plan is working! BWAHAHAHAHA!
paulie
Please do not distract from all the evils that the LNC actually does do … we want to be sure they get credit for them.
Did you know that we sacrifice and eat human infants during LNC executive sessions? True story. Oops, I hope I don’t get in trouble for telling you that!
Matt, I appreciate the reality check, and I might ordinarily agree with you, but Carla Howell was being paid as our Executive Director, and Michael Cloud was hardly a volunteer if he accepted almost $39,000.
Sorry Matt… when you become chairperson of a state that watched as the former LNC chair misappropriated $5000, and all but 5 members of the LNC voted lock step in support of him, to pay the your state’s general counsel for the republican party to do one sided legal research to initate an attempted coup to put a puppet GOP regime into power, I will believe you have more credibility to hold your opinion that they are good people.
Until then I will regard you as naive political roadkill.
Cloud and Howell may be guilty of improper record keeping. However, the implication that they were stealing from the LP seems highly unlikely to be correct.
As to this idea that the LNC is made up of a bunch of “crooks and scoundrels”…… it’s so ridiculous that I don’t even know where to start. I don’t agree with lots of things that the LNC does. But, that doesn’t make the members bad people. The reality is, the LNC is made up of a bunch of VOLUNTEERS, that are trying to do what they think is right. What they’re doing may not always be the right thing. But, I see zero evidence that there is anyone on the LNC that is intentionally trying to screw things up, steal stuff, lead the party in a way that they believe is bad, or anything else of the sort.
With that said, this is a political party, so some politics should be expected.
Many of the region reps are the same as last term. And Mark Hinkle is back on the LNC in a different capacity. So only about half the committee is different than last term.
LP Observer
We have more crooks and scoundrels than we have seats at the table, so the delegates keep cycling through them hoping something will change.
Does that remind you of anything?
Well, the 2012 National Convention elected these people to the LNC. Just about all the sitting members got thrown out, except Bill Redpath and Wayne Root. So has anything changed?
This is SOOO not okay with me! Starchild has shared a bit more of Aaron’s concerns, which I’ll post later today if no one gets to it first. Anything other than total transparency on this issue will not be acceptable!!! What the heck were Mr. Cloud and Carla thinking?? Or were they even thinking at all?
There is an F word for this type of conduct
Fabulous?
I think it is obvious to anyone who is looking at this that the most likely scenario is:
Cloud did some work.
Cloud wanted to be paid.
Cloud made up a number of how much money he and Carla would afford to pay from the treasury at the moment.
Now people are trying to create an alternate reality that matches it.
There is an F word for this type of conduct.
LOL
FYI LNC meeting has now been officially rescheduled, same place, next weekend.
Bruce was looking for a good accountant to do his complex tax return. He walked into a prospective accountant’s office and the accountant went over the services he could provide to Bruce. Before Bruce left, he wanted to test the accountants number skills so he said: “If you can tell me what 10,472 times 7 is without using a calculator, I will hire you today.” The accountant said: “I can make the number whatever you want it to be.”
George
You are pointing out something that is scaring the hell out of me. If what you are saying is true, and I have all the reasons to believe you are telling me the truth, then there is a major con job being pulled on the LNC, or the entire LNC board is engaged in fraud.
Either way, heads should roll.
Not seeing one at http://www.lp.org/bylaws-mandated-committees nor have I ever heard of one during my time on the LNC or the prior 5 years observing the LNC.
The LNC does not have a fundraising committee? Not that I do not know the answer?
Well, he’s not on the fundraising committee…although if we had one, I would think he should be on it. The IT committee had actual or potential IT vendors on it, which did not seem to phase the LNC too much. And as Andy points out, Ms. Visek has been a ballot access vendor, although not nearly on the same scale as me. Also, I have done thousands of volunteer signatures myself as well, including in Illinois.
Starchild objected.
Readers will note that the “201[2] convention brought in $170,514” as its total income. See Liberty for America, libertyforamerica.com, November issue, typo in year corrected here.
“$170,514” is exactly equal to the amount Mr Cloud raised.
Mr Cloud is being credited with having brought in every single penny of income from the convention. That’s incredible!
This talk of Michael Cloud being an LNC member and also working as a paid fundraising contractor for the LNC raises an interesting question, and that is why is it OK for him to be both an LNC member and a paid contractor for the party, but it was not OK for Paul to be on the LNC’s ballot access committee due to him sometimes working as a paid petition circulator for the party (at least this was the excuse given for him being removed from the Ballot Access Committee)?
The Ballot Access Committee consisted of Paul, Bill Redpath, and Diana Visek, however, Paul was quickly removed from the Ballot Access Committee before he even really had a chance to do anything after Diana Visek made an objection to Paul being on the committee due to him sometimes working as a paid petitioning contractor for the party, even though Ms. Visek worked as paid petitioning contractor for the party in her home state of Illinois. Mr. Redpath made no comment either way about Paul being on the committee, at least not publically, but making no comment certainly did not work in Paul’s defense, nor did it do anything to point out the hypocrisy in the fact that the LNC has other board members – such as Mr. Cloud – who also work as paid contractors for the party.
I guarantee everyone here that Paul knows more about ballot access than anyone on the LNC, including Bill Redpath. The only person in the Libertarian Party who knows as much about ballot access as Paul is myself. The Libertarian Party’s real ballot access experts are myself, Paul, and Richard Winger (Richard Winger knows the most about the law, and the court rulings in regard to ballot access).
I find it to be rather disgusting that the most knowledgeable person about ballot access on the LNC was removed from the Ballot Access Committee on a flimsy pretext with no objection, especially since the reason given does not stand up to any intellectual scrutiny, and is in fact quite hypocritical given that the LNC has other members who also work as paid contractors for the party.
Paul being removed from the Ballot Access Committee turned the Ballot Access Committee into a joke, and the fact that nobody objected to this or bothered to point out the blatant hypocrisy in regard to this is disgusting.