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Meet Jerry Perenchio. He’s a National Finance Co-Chair of the McCain 2008 campaign and the billionaire founder of Spanish-language media conglomerate, Univision. He also heads up a charitable foundation that has showered gobs of money on extremist green lobbying groups. Take open-borders zeal, add campaign finance hypocrisy, mix with eco-radicalism, and presto:

The perfect, multiculti-profiteering McCain money buddy.

Here’s his official bio on the McCain website:

Since 1992, A. Jerrold Perenchio has been the chairman and chief executive officer and controlling shareholder of Univision Communications Inc., the largest Spanish-language communications company in the United States. From 1973 until the partners sold the company to Coca-Cola in 1985, Mr. Perenchio was a partner and chief executive officer of Tandem Productions and T.A.T. Communications and a partner of Norman Lear and Alan D. Yorkin. Following his graduation from UCLA, Mr. Perenchio served three years in the United States Air Force as an officer and pilot. After his Air Force service, Mr. Perenchio started his business career as a talent agent, first with Music Corporation of America then formed his own company, Chartwell Artists, which was the fifth largest talent agency in the world representing such stars as Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor, Marlon Brando, Andy Williams, Elton John, Johnny Mathis, as well as many others. Mr. Perenchio is currently a trustee of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and chaired the $200 million fundraising effort for the new Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in west Los Angeles. Mr. Perenchio has been a lifelong Republican and was a major contributor and fundraiser for George W. Bush, as well as other candidates of the Republican Party.

Now, let’s review what the McCain campaign bio didn’t mention.

Jerry Perenchio is the man who poured millions of dollars into fighting the California movement to teach schoolchildren English. Does John McCain share Perenchio’s zealous opposition to pro-English immersion initiatives? If he doesn’t, why does he have the nation’s leading opponent of pro-English immersion initiatives serving in the prestigious position of national campaign finance co-chair?

Perenchio aggressively bankrolled opposition to Prop. 227, which dismantled “bilingual education”–the oxymoronic program that holds foreign-language-speaking students hostage and forces them to maintain their native tongues instead of transitioning to English as quickly as possible–in 1998. He donated millions directly to the opponents and also donated millions of dollars in anti-227 “public service announcements” on Univision railing that “The dreams of millions of Hispanic families are being destroyed.” Despite Perenchio’s massive campaign to prop up language segregationism, the pro-English Prop. 227 won in a landslide:

Overcoming huge opposition, Proposition 227, the “English for the Children” initiative, won a landslide 61% victory at the polls. The measure dismantling California’s 30-year-old system of bilingual education for limited English children had consistently demonstrated widespread public appeal during its yearlong campaign, and was able to sustain that support against powerful political opposition by election day..

“We overcame enormous odds to win this victory,” declared Ron Unz, the Silicon Valley entrepreneur who chaired the 227 campaign. “Our initiative was opposed by the President of the United States. It was opposed by the Chairman of the state Republican Party and the Chairman of the state Democratic Party. It was opposed by all four candidates for Governor, Democrat and Republican alike. It was opposed by nearly all the state’s major newspapers and virtually every educational organization, large union, and establishment group. Our only strong support came from the people of California, but that was enough for victory.”

In the final weeks of the campaign, Republican billionaire A. Jerrold Perenchio, owner of the Univision Spanish-language television network, provided millions of dollars in cash and free air-time to the No on 227 campaign, which overall outspent the Yes campaign by a ratio of 20 to 1 in advertising. Despite this financial mismatch Proposition 227 passed by one of the widest margins in recent history, winning a larger percentage of the vote than any contested initiative since Proposition 13 in 1978.

Election results show that the measure carried 56 of California’s 58 counties. Campaign finance reports indicate that the Yes campaign spent about $550,000 (excluding signature-gathering costs), of which some $200,000 was spent on advertising, while the No campaign raised and spent $4.5 million, including nearly $4 million on advertising and voter contact. In addition, Mr. Perenchio’s television network provided an estimated $1 to 2 million in free air time for anti-227 editorials.

Perenchio also donated to opponents of Prop. 187, the California measure banning social services to illegal aliens. And he has given money to many soft-on-illegal immigration Democrats. In fact, before jumping ship to Arnold Schwarzenegger’s gubernatorial campaign, he was the largest individual campaign donor to Gray Davis–contributing at least $500,000 to the liberal Democrat. When voters demanded Davis’s recall after he pushed driver’s licenses for illegal aliens (among other failed policies), Perenchio chipped in another $50,000 to help Davis supporters fend off the measure. He also gave generously to Bill Richardson’s campaigns–$100,000 from him another $50,000 from his wife for the New Mexico Democrat governor’s failed presidential bid last year, plus about $167,000 from Perenchio and one of his companies to Richardson’s 2002 campaign.

Perenchio plays both sides.

And so does McCain. As the Washington Post reported last February, Perenchio is one of the elite donors McCain signed up to his presidential campaign finance committee–after crusading against Perenchio’s soft-money contributions:

Just about a year and a half ago, Sen. John McCain went to court to try to curtail the influence of a group to which A. Jerrold Perenchio gave $9 million, saying it was trying to “evade and violate” new campaign laws with voter ads ahead of the midterm elections.

As McCain launches his own presidential campaign, however, he is counting on Perenchio, the founder of the Univision Spanish-language media empire, to raise millions of dollars as co-chairman of the Arizona Republican’s national finance committee.

…Many of the top fundraisers that have signed up for John McCain’s presidential campaign have deep ties to the “soft-money” donations to political parties and 527 nonprofit political groups that McCain has fought to end.

SOFT-MONEY DONATIONS SINCE THE 1998 ELECTION
A. Jerrold Perenchio, chairman of the Spanish-language media giant Univision and a McCain national finance co-chairman: $11.3 million

Perenchio is also the president of the Chartwell Foundation. The Chartwell Foundation gave $100,000 to the McCain-founded Reform Institute (where McCain’s open borders Hispanic outreach director Juan Hernandez happens to serve as a Senior Fellow) under shady circumstances. As the WaPo noted, McCain co-chaired the Reform Institute in his drive to end big-money donations–while at the same time chairing the Senate Commerce Committee, which regulates broadcasters including Perenchio’s Univision, which had many issues pending before the government. Many other donors to the Reform Institute similarly sought legislative favors from McCain.

Yep. I spy with my little eye something that rhymes with schmypocrite.

With a green tint, to boot.

The Chartwell Foundation, turns out, is a major funder of fear-mongering environmental groups:

Funding To Activist Groups Total Donated Time Frame
Natural Resources Defense Council $90,000.00 1995 – 1999
Environmental Media Association $30,000.00 1997 – 2000
American Oceans Campaign $25,000.00 1996 – 1996

Not to mention a generous donor to Planned Parenthood and open-borders L.A. mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

Remind me again which party’s presidential nomination John McCain is running for?

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Update: Karl at Protein Wisdom compiles a long list of Jerry Perenchio’s Democrat beneficiaries.

Update: The New York Times roots for McCain and his “moderate” views on immigration. Three GOP polls in Florida show it too close to call in Florida. John Fund spotlights McCain’s criticism of Supreme Court justice Samuel Alito for wearing his conservatism on his sleeve. John McCain, on the other hand, prefers to wear his conservatism where the sun don’t shine. Juan Hernandez and Jerry Perenchio? Si! Sam Alito? No!

Update: Mark Krikorian puts heat on Juan Hernandez.

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