Free Republic

...As with so many marginal ideas, this one is coming out of California. A proposed bill there would have required foundations with more than $250 million in assets to report the racial, gender and sexual orientation of their board members, staffs and grantees. The bill's sponsors recently agreed to drop the issue in return for a political payoff of millions of dollars from 10 of the state's biggest charities...

A Model of Christian Charity Now the onely way to avoyde this shipwracke and to provide for our posterity is to followe the Counsell of Micah, to doe Justly, to love mercy, to walke humbly with our God, for this end, wee must be knitt together in this worke as one man, wee must entertaine each other in brotherly Affeccion, wee must be willing to abridge our selves of our superfluities, for the supply of others necessities, wee must uphold a familiar Commerce together in all meekenes, gentlenes, patience and liberallity, wee must delight in eache other, make others Condicions...

Congressional Republicans should introduce legislation requiring that foundations associated with politicians -- such as the Clinton Foundation -- to publicly disclose their donors or lose their non-profit status. Dick Morris and Eileen McGann wrote about the Clinton Foundation in a recent column "Bill Clinton: Rogue co-president in waiting" http://jewishworldreview.com/0208/morris020408.php3 .

Prominent charitable foundations are advancing a liberal policy agenda at odds with the intentions of their founders, according to the author of a new book on the subject. Speaking at the Heritage Foundation late last week, Phil Kent, author of "Foundations of Betrayal: How the Liberal $uper-Rich Undermine America," said foundations formed by what he called "the captains of capitalism" - including Henry Ford, Andrew Carnegie, and John D. Rockefeller - have strayed far from their original missions. Today they comprise an "invisible government" that is undermining the United States by "altering our culture," he charged. Kent singled out the...

Created by Capitalists, Foundations Serve Left-Wing Agenda By Matt Carrothers May 14, 2007 Ford. Rockefeller. Carnegie. MacArthur. Pew. Hewlett. The names read like a roll call of American history’s industrial titans, financial wizards and innovators of technology. Most of them were politically conservative. All of them thrived in America’s free market economy. These captains of capitalism share another legacy – the charitable foundations that bear their respective names. Today they would barely recognize the foundations they established, which are now the leading contributors to socialist, environmental and multicultural causes. Author Phil Kent’s latest book, Foundations of Betrayal: How the Liberal...

PATNA, India — The drug that could have cured Munia Devi through a series of cheap injections was identified decades ago but then died in the research pipeline because there was no profit in it. So Mrs. Devi lay limp in a hospital bed here recently, her spleen and liver bulging from under her rib cage as a bilious yellow liquid dripped into her thin arm. The treatment she was receiving can be toxic, and it costs $500. But it was her best hope to cure black fever, a disease known locally as kala azar, which kills an estimated half-million...

By Robert MacMillan NEW YORK (Reuters) - Billionaire investor Warren Buffett is donating a total of $37 billion -- most of his personal fortune -- to a foundation started by Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates and to several family foundations, making it the largest-ever individual charitable gift in the United States. Buffett, 75, is the chief executive of investment firm Berkshire Hathaway. He is worth an estimated $44 billion, according to Forbes magazine, making him the second-richest man behind Gates, who is worth about $50 billion. The $37 billion comprises about 85 percent of Buffett's fortune. In a letter to the...

At a party in Washington, I once listened as a clueless couple, high-powered liberals both, descanted on their desire to know "more blacks and gays." An African-American child happened to be sitting on the porch with us. It was a golden opportunity for the couple to realize half their goal, but they ignored her. Why not simply speak to the girl and get the ball rolling? I wondered. But now I realize that the pair was an ideal candidate to participate in one of the Ford Foundation's "Difficult Dialogues." The program, which was announced earlier this month, actually pays colleges...

Wal-Mart, Ford Motor Co., AT&T, and Fannie Mae are among the major U.S. corporations whose foundations fund the liberal groups now waging war against Samuel Alito's nomination. The left-wing Coalition for a Fair and Independent Judiciary has launched a series of advertisements aimed at defeating Alito. The group describes itself as “a national coalition of public interest organizations,� and includes NARAL Pro-Choice America, the NAACP, the National Organization of Women, and Americans United for Separation of Church and State among others. The Alliance for Justice, People For the American Way, and the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights head the Coalition....

Hey Gang : Let’s Start a Web Site ! (A Cynical Look at Internet Foundations ) Let’s say we’ve got a message to put across – on the Web. We’re not completely sure what we want to say – and won’t know until we see who is willing to come up with the money. Should we make it Liberal ? Nah. That’s been done to death. Besides,Liberals are generally cheapskates ! Ditto for Conservatives. All the corporate funding is pretty well spoken for. Libertarian sounds attractive – mostly because nobody can really define what Libertarians stand for . Like the...

At least eighty wealthy liberals have each pledged $1 million or more to the newly established Democracy Alliance to fund a network of progressive think tanks and advocacy groups, the Washington Post reports. The goal of the alliance, which was founded last spring, is to foster the development of liberal and left-leaning institutions that can counter the influence of established conservative think tanks such as the Heritage Foundation, the Hoover Institution, the American Enterprise Institute, and the Cato Institute. According to alliance officials, many liberal groups are too focused on promoting an agenda that was enacted when Democrats enjoyed majorities...

July 4th is more than a time to celebrate America’s birthday by grilling hot dogs and buying on credit. It is an opportunity to reflect upon the deeds of our founding fathers and to consider the means by which we might continue to guard those essential freedoms that we associate with happiness. Over two centuries ago, these men sacrificed their lives, their families, their homes to create conditions by which every American has a chance to better himself, to determine his own fate, to pursue happiness on his own terms, and most importantly, or simply to be left alone. In...

The Canadian government has put nearly $9 billion into "foundations" that are beyond the reach of the auditor general. Given the corruption that exists in other government programs that ARE in sight of the auditor general we must recognize the likelihood that these funds may be subject to government misuse too. Please sign this petition urging Paul Martin to open these foundations to the auditor general... http://www.petitiononline.com/cdsmith/petition.html

It’s times like these that I miss my country most. Holidays like Memorial Day, the Fourth of July and Thanksgiving remind me that once upon a time (long ago, in a galaxy far, far away), I had a country. It was called America. Perfect? Absolutely not. Nothing is in this world. But it represented something noble, brave and fine. Even if they couldn’t quite articulate it, Americans understood what America meant – and cherished it. Once, we knew our nation’s history. Once we spoke a national language. Once we controlled our borders. Once we knew what treason was and how...

The news media's treatment of foundation involvement in public policy may have changed forever on March 17. That was the day the New York Post published "Buying 'Reform': Media Missed Millionaires' Scam," an account by one of its columnists, Ryan Sager, of the massive spending by several mainstream foundations to secure passage of the 2002 overhaul of campaign-finance laws and to keep the issue alive. Mr. Sager told his readers he had discovered "an immense scam perpetrated on the American people by a cadre of left-wing foundations and disguised as a 'mass movement.'" Foundations like Ford, Open Society, Carnegie, Joyce,...

WASHINGTON -- What are the biggest charity abuses in America? The answers coming from witnesses testifying at a Senate hearing last Tuesday pointed to practices by nonprofit, tax-exempt groups that are technically legal but violate the spirit of private charity. Those answers are wrong. The biggest abuse is nonprofits that deliberately and habitually break the law. The Senate Finance Committee is currently investigating practices of groups that enjoy exemption from taxation under section 501(c)(3) of the IRS Code. In the past few years, more and more news stories have detailed the questionable practices of nonprofits, from huge CEO compensation packages...

Corporate tax collections in Montana are up 50 percent in the most recent year, but evidently that’s not enough for State Senator Jim Elliott. He wants more revenue and he wants to find it by examining the tax return of every company filing in Montana.1 Senator Elliott has filed a lawsuit to force the Montana Department of Revenue to disclose corporate tax returns for those corporations with over $1 million in Montana sales. Apparently he does not trust the Montana Department of Revenue to do its job, because he wants to use this information to determine whether corporations are evading...

CAMPAIGN-FINANCE reform has been an immense scam perpetrated on the American people by a cadre of left-wing foundations and disguised as a "mass movement." But don't take my word for it. One of the chief scammers, Sean Treglia, a former program officer of the Pew Charitable Trusts, confesses it all in an astonishing videotape I obtained earlier this week. This is an amazing story. I combined part of Ryan Sager's editorial and the transcript of the tape. The tape — of a conference held at USC's Annenberg School for Communication in March of 2004 — shows Treglia expounding to a...

While the Democrats' party leaders flummox around trying to decide why they lost the November election and what to do about it, a number of their allies on the left have been working steadily and stealthily to do nothing less than bend to their will that cornerstone of American capitalism -- the corporation.

The United Nations With World War II still being fought, delegates from the United States and twenty-five other nations met and issued a "Declarations of the United Nations," the first official use of the term "United Nations." In 1943 representatives of the USSR, Great Britain, Nationalist China, and the United States met in Cairo, Egypt where plans were laid for the creation of a world organization. Another high level conference was held in Tehran, where Joseph Stalin was brought into the planning. In 1944 the initial drafts of the UN Charter was drafted at Dumbarton Oaks in Washington DC. Finally,...

"Charitable" Foundations: ATMs for the Left "Charitable" Foundations: ATMs for the Left By Ben Johnson FrontPageMagazine.com | March 2, 2004 One of the unlamented developments of this election year is the Democratic Party’s retreat to the Left. Although the media claim the party's voters have learned their lesson by settling for the “electable” John F. Kerry, a cursory examination of the Democrats shows they remain animated by anti-Bush furor. The party rank-and-file may have decided they prefer the sing-song cadences of John Kerry or the charming drawl of John Edwards to the red-faced shrieks of Howard Dean, but the message...

In recent debates concerning "gay marriage" and "civil unions" I believe conservatives have made three equally dangerous errors. First, I believe some have ignored the religious foundation of marriage. Marriage between only a man and woman is not the traditional view. It is the universal and eternal view. This is so because God made it so at the beginning of creation: "For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife." Not only did God himself invent and institute marriage between a man and wife, but he also mentions fathers and mothers from the...

By John Berlau © 2004 Insight/News World Communications Inc. Though President Bush constantly is criticized and attacked by Democratic partisans for pursuing policies that benefit "the wealthy," why are so many of what would be considered America's superrich his political opponents? In addition to the Hollywood mega-elite, which since the death of Sam Goldwyn have opposed the GOP mainly for cultural reasons, billionaire businessmen have stepped forward calling for the defeat of Bush or his policies. Most prominent has been speculator George Soros, who has pledged to raise $75 million to defeat Bush, given millions to Democratic Bush-bashing groups such...

Friday, December 5, 2003, Wall Street Week on PBS -- Nelson W. Aldrich, Jr. wrote the book. He is, it seems shocked at the gap between the rich and the poor. He said on PBS’s Wall Street Week Without Louis Rukeyser, that he hoped the new rich kids would turn out more like the 1910 generation, aware of the responsibility that being rich puts on them. What is this “responsibility?” Why, giving the money to foundations. Now, we know the difference between WSW with Louie and WSW without Louie. It is the difference between a capitalist and a Bolshevik who...

Nonprofit Watchdog Files IRS Complaint Against Greenpeace, Seeks Federal Probe - Greenpeace Violates Tax Laws PipeLineNews.org - A nonprofit watchdog group today filed a complaint with the Internal Revenue Service against Greenpeace on Monday, urging the agency to investigate the environmental organization. In a report entitled ``Green-Peace, Dirty Money: Tax Violations in the World of Non-Profits,'' Public Interest Watch detailed how Greenpeace -- one of the nation's most recognizable and visible non-profits -- is knowingly and systematically violating U.S. tax laws. At the heart of the matter is the way in which Greenpeace's complex corporate structure masks its misuse of...

Foundations Paying Millions of Dollars to Their Own Well-To-Do Trustees Instead of Charities, Study Shows 8/29/03 3:42:00 PM -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To: National Desk Contact: Pablo Eisenberg of the Center for Public and Nonprofit Leadership at the Georgetown Public Policy Institute, 202-362-0256, e-mail: pseisenberg@erols.com WASHINGTON, Aug. 29 /U.S. Newswire/ -- A new study analyzing the tax returns of 238 foundations has revealed that in a single year, they spent nearly $45 million on "trustee fees" -- the vast bulk of which go to their own predominately wealthy boards of directors rather than to the charitable causes they were set up to...

<p>In the days after Sept. 11, 2001, Sami Omar al-Hussayen led fellow Muslims as they joined an emotion-charged candlelight march remembering the dead. The Saudi graduate student in computer science at the University of Idaho helped organize a blood drive for victims. He issued a press release on behalf of the Muslim Students Association, stating that the small town of Moscow's Muslims "condemn in the strongest terms possible what are apparently vicious acts of terrorism against innocent citizens."</p>

12 Journalists Get Michigan Fellowships twelve American journalists have been awarded fellowships for the coming academic year by the University of Michigan's Knight-Wallace Fellows program. While on leave from their news organizations, the fellows will work on projects of their choosing and receive stipends of $55,000. The group is the 31st to receive fellowships from the university. The program, formerly known as the Michigan Journalism Fellows, was renamed last year after a $1 million gift from the CBS News correspondent Mike Wallace and his wife, Mary, and a $5 million matching grant from the John S. and James L. Knight...

<p>NEW YORK - The U.S. House is considering a bill that could force the nation's foundations to give away more of their money to charity each year, creating a potential windfall of billions of dollars for nonprofit groups.</p> <p>The bill has created a furor in the philanthropic world, with foundations warning that they could be forced to squander their assets and spend themselves out of existence.</p>

<p>The American antiwar movement is decked out with all the elements of the counterculture, but it is getting some very establishment funding.</p> <p>In a few months, foundations and donors have kicked in millions of dollars to help antiwar groups stage demonstrations, take out expensive newspaper and TV ads, maintain Web sites, hire and pay staff, and lease office space in high-rent New York, Washington and San Francisco locales.</p>

Pay Much Attention To That Man Behind The Curtin ! Of all the bizzare spectacle's that I've been privileged to watch on C-SPAN The Reparations Rally on the Washington Mall was by far the straw that broke this camel's back. If you think that the motley collection of far left third world radical's where up to putting on this Extravganza of the Bizzare, you haven't been paying attention, and need to be Illuminated. As is the case with most of the trial bulloon's, they seem absurd, if not down right commical, but rest assured,there are powerful forces behind the scene's...

Conservatives' Billions Fuel Leftist EstablishmentWes Vernon, NewsMax.comThursday, Aug. 8, 2002 WASHINGTON – Huge left-wing foundations, created with the money provided by pioneering conservative entrepreneurs, are driving the agenda in the U.S., and by extension, through much of the world. And a CEO who has studied the problem says it is time to act. The "liberal establishment” did not just appear out of thin air, says Neal B. Freeman, founder and CEO of the Blackwell Corp., a television production company with a broad range of client services. Just as the left is better than conservatives at gut-fighting street-smarts politics, so...

July 25 — There may be a big deal stirring in candy land. The trust that controls Hershey Foods Co., an American icon that is the nation’s largest candy and chocolate maker, is exploring a sale of the company, it said in a press release Thursday. Sources familiar with the matter said such a deal could fetch more than $10 billion. For years, the storied company has been a bystander during a food-industry consolidation, widely regarded as untouchable because of the trust’s loyalty to its mission and its hometown of Hershey, Pa. But now tumult in the corporate world has...

"The ultimate problem of all education is to coordinate the psychological and the social factors. ... The coordination demands that the child be capable of expressing himself, but in such a way as to realize social ends." – John Dewey Foundations offer financial and institutional support for a few good causes. On the other hand, most of their efforts in eugenics, population control, education and environmentalism are elitist. Very often they are also counterproductive and do nothing for ordinary citizens – but they do a whole lot for elites and the expansion of the state. It wouldn't be so bad...