JEANNE CUMMINGS EXCLUSIVE -

- "New Dem. money group to take on GOP" - Bill Burton:

 "The days of a double standard are over" -- "Democrats with ties to the Obama White House on Friday are launching a two-pronged fundraising effort aimed at countering deep-pocketed GOP groups in 2012 - and adopting some of the same policies on unlimited, secret donations that President Barack Obama himself has long opposed ... The two groups, Priorities USA and Priorities USA Action, aim to raise $100 million to defend Obama's re-election from an expected onslaught of attack ads from similar Republican outside money organizations activated in the 2010 midterms ... The Priorities companion committees will have one that discloses donors - and one that doesn't, a practice Obama hammered during last year's election cycle as undermining the democratic process. The Priorities group also is jettisoning an Obama rule aimed at limiting the influence of special interests by welcoming unlimited contributions from lobbyists, labor unions, corporations, and political action committees - sources that are still banned from giving to the president's re-election campaign ...

"'While we agree that fundamental campaign finance reforms are needed, Karl Rove and the Koch brothers cannot live by one set of rules as our values and our candidates are overrun with their hundreds of millions of dollars,' said Bill Burton, a former White House spokesman and co-founder of the organization. 'We will follow the rules as the Supreme Court has laid them out, but the days of a double standard are over' ... [The] leadership team includes Burton, a former deputy White House press secretary; Sean Sweeney, who was a senior adviser to former White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, and former Clinton political strategist Paul Begala. Geoff Garin, who was a senior adviser to Hillary Clinton's 2008 campaign, is also among the group's top strategists and will be its lead polling expert.

"Among the group's first donors are Ellen Malcolm, the wealthy founder of the pro-abortion rights group Emily's List; Harold Ickes, a former Clinton adviser; Jon Youngdahl, a Service Employees International Union political strategist. They also include Jay Dunn, a long-time party fundraiser; Greg Speed, a long-time progressive advocate and media consultant; and Rob McKay, a major Democratic donor who is head of the McKay Family Foundation. The influential SEIU, one of the nation's largest labor unions, also is among the first donors to the joint effort. Hollywood producer Jeffrey Katzenberg donated to the effort and has agreed to help raise money for the committees. ... Priorities USA will be registered under the tax code as a social welfare group, which means it does not have to disclose its donors, according to a memo outlining the effort. Crossroads GPS is registered under the same tax code.'