Big, Very Rich and Dangerous: Time to Rein in Private Charitable Foundations

American Thinker ^ | 12/11/2016 | Clarice Feldman

[RKV]

A few years ago, Mark Steyn sagely observed, “In America today, few activities are as profitable as a ‘nonprofit.’” Nothing warrants changing that assessment now. President-elect Trump has a lot on his plate if he plans to turn around the ship of state. But if it’s not too presumptuous, I’d like to add one more item to his agenda: a substantial rewrite of the laws respecting our tax-exempt sector, reining in private foundations.

[WildHighlander57]

If one is going to do a RICO suit, fraud is one of the crimes in the list that, if two are present, then the RICO charge can be laid.

[WildHighlander57]

If one is going to do a RICO suit, fraud is one of the crimes in the list that, if two are present, then the RICO charge can be laid.

[Liz]

N-i-c-e deconstruction.

[RKV]

A thoughtful response thank you. I benefited from a Carnegie funded library when I was young and growing up i the San Joaquin Valley of California. It really did make a difference in my intellectual development. That said, I’m going to differ from you just a bit in that my experience suggests to me that rules will be worked around and we just need to end the practice of having non-profits. This may seem a big step (closing the monasteries in England by Henry VIII is comparable I think) but I’m not sure that the species can be “saved.” I do see many good points in what you suggest if we chose to let these institutions survive.

[Liz]

.....prime example of the foundation skim was the xlintonista’s russian/uranium deal where donations were funneled though Clinton crony Frank Giustra's Canadian tax free foundation (w/no FOI) to the xlintonista foundation for $100mm or so......

Trump admin to pressure foreign states to probe Clinton Foundation (targeting Haiti and Columbia)

Foreign governments began turning off money spigots to the scandal-scarred Clinton Foundation; it received millions from dozens of foreign governments including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the Netherlands, Canada, Sweden and Ireland.

TO DATE:

<><> French federal comptrollers began following a trail of tens of millions in government money that ended up in Clinton Foundation coffers, according to a document reviewed by The NY Post.

<><> The Australian government announced that it would end its decade-long affiliation with the Clinton Foundation — amounting to as much as $25 million, according to the foundation’s Web site. (an Aussie paper reported three hundred million sent to the Clintons).

<><> Norway is also scaling back; donations reached $25 million in 2015.

A source close to Pres-elect Trump's transition team indicated plans to pressure its yet unnamed US ambassadors to suggest foreign governments probe its ­Clinton Foundation financial dealings. “Haiti and Colombia will be key diplomatic posts because of all the money ­involved,” said the source.

Recently leaked ­e-mails indicate “Friends of Bill” Clinton may have been given priority from the State Department as it prepared to spend some $10 billion in aid after a 2010 devastating earthquake in Haiti. The State Dept denied any special treatment.

Canadian mining magnate Frank Giustra (he facilitated the sale of US uranium deposits), pledged $100 million to the Clinton Foundation in 2005 and later benefited from the foundation’s philanthropic work in Columbia where Giustra acquired large parcels of land and set up an oil business, ­according to watchdog groups. (hat tip NY POST)

[Liz]

Email leaves an embedded paper trail....saved by every ISP it passes through.

[thinden]

A source close to Pres-elect Trump's transition team indicated plans to pressure its yet unnamed US ambassadors to suggest foreign governments probe its ­Clinton Foundation financial dealings. “Haiti and Colombia will be key diplomatic posts because of all the money ­involved,” said the source.

wow! this is great news to me.

[Liz]

Here's Hillary, Amb Pickering (a Republican said he voted for Hillary, )and, left, Frank Giustra, Prez Bill's crony.

Meet billionaire Frank Giustra. He's a mining expert......
he facilitated the takeover of US uranium assets....
he received your tax dollars from Hillary's State Dept.

Canadian mining magnate Frank Giustra is one of the Clinton Foundation’s largest donors.

Giustra's $100 million contributions go directly:

<><> (1) to the tax-exempt Clinton Foundation, and,

<><> (2) to the Canada-based "Clinton-Giustra Enterprise Partnership."

The "Clinton-Giustra Enterprise Partnership" in turn sends money to
the Clinton Foundation...(according to Canadian tax records researched by
"Clinton Cash" author Schweizer).

DATA Sources: Clinton Foundation, CGEP (Canada);
Canadian tax records; compiled by Alberto Cuadra and
Rosalind Helderman May 3 at 8:11 PM

ARTICLE LINK http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/wealthy-canadian-helps-fund-the-clinton-foundation/2015/05/03/f855ea22-f1ea-11e4-90bc-afe06f530791_graphic.html

[SES1066]

If Henry Ford and the Family principals who set up the Ford Foundation were able to comment on the same, those comments would probably be unprintable! This is the problem with these long-term foundations, their founder’s intentions get hijacked by trustees and administrators that ‘evolve’!

[ptsal]

Take the tax incentives out of their business plan.

If it is a charity, be a charity.

Most of these outfits are just scams with busy-body staffers creating more toxic CO2.

[RKV]

My sense is that the costs of the present arrangement are greater than the benefits so a restructuring is in order. Personally I’d suggest a take no prisoners approach - my contention is that if the ideas are good and the implementation is economical, then people will continue to contribute to the cause. See the Boy and Girl Scouts for example. Great institutions (and I’m less sanguine about the Girl Scouts btw, but both do good). Let’s make it simple and tax them all. Yes it will reduce the money available for their missions and some charities will fail. So be it. Better than what we have now. I recognize that some will not agree with me.

[shhrubbery!]

I run a tiny non-profit. It is completely apolitical.

Even so, it took the IRS eighteen months to grant us 501(c)(3) status under Director of Exempt Organizations, Lois Lerner! I often wondered if the long wait had something to do with my being a conservative.

Re charitable foundations, like Ford, Pew etc: They tend to drift leftward, even if their founders were not leftists.

Iirc John M. Olin, knowing this, wrote a "self-destruct" clause into his foundation's documents. So his foundation disbursed his money to conservative causes for a few years - then dissolved itself before it could be taken over by leftists.

[Texas Eagle]

Care to divulge the name and purpose of your non-profit? It may be something Mrs. Eagle and I would contribute to.

[Liz]

Some observers inside Germany believe the German government has some explaining to do for the donation that appears under the heading “Donors and Grantors”.“Why does a Ministry supports the election campaign of a U.S. presidential candidate?” blogged Vera Lengsfeld — former civil rights activist and German parliamentarian. “It seems German taxpayers unwittingly financed Hillary Clinton’s election campaign.”

===========================================

Looks like global donors are going to drop the hammer on the Clintons. Many govt officials are questioning why their governments gave big buck tax dollars to the Clintons.......IN SECRET.

TO DATE:

<><> French federal comptrollers began following a trail of tens of millions in government money that ended up in Clinton Foundation coffers, according to a document reviewed by The NY Post.

<><> The Australian government announced that it would end its decade-long affiliation with the Clinton Foundation — amounting to as much as $25 million, according to the foundation’s Web site. (an Aussie paper reported three hundred million sent to the Clintons).

<><> Norway is also scaling back; donations reached $25 million in 2015.

=================================================

A source close to Pres-elect Trump's transition team indicated plans to pressure its yet unnamed US ambassadors to suggest foreign governments probe its ­Clinton Foundation financial dealings. “Haiti and Colombia will be key diplomatic posts because of all the money ­involved,” said the source.

Recently leaked ­e-mails marked FOB “Friends of Bill”, indicate Clinton insiders may have been given priority from the State Department as it prepared to spend some $10 billion in aid after a 2010 devastating earthquake in Haiti. The State Dept denied any special treatment.

Canadian mining magnate Frank Giustra (he facilitated the sale of US uranium deposits), pledged $100 million to the Clinton Foundation in 2005 and later benefited from the foundation’s philanthropic work in Columbia where Giustra acquired large parcels of land and set up an oil business, ­according to watchdog groups. (hat tip NY POST)

[RKV]

It is my sincere hope that Mr. and Mrs. Clinton will be tried, convicted and jailed for their crimes. Not holding my breath on this one, but it’s a tantalizing prospect. Especially if the evidence came from outside the DOJ and was made public by foreign governments. They got shook down and now they want a refund since. Delicious. And I suggest the Obamas get audited every year from now they are dead.

[i_robot73]

>
At best most “non profits” are benign lazy entities that accomplish a smidgen of what for profit entities do. At worst, they are tax dodging/money raising schemes for con artists.
>

Goose...gander. (C) should, at the least, be consistent. Either it is lawful (see DJ ‘tax free’ years) or it is not. If the latter, blame the IRS, DoJ, CIA, etc. If the former, then Congress (change the LAW).

[i_robot73]

>
The IRS has affirmed that the biggest money-laundering, tax evasion frauds are one Foundation writing a check to another Foundation.

The criminal MO to skim off tax-free money for themselves: The recipient Foundation takes a cut and deposits the rest of the donation offshore for the donor Foundation to use later.......all tax-free.
>

If illegal, what’s the prosecution vs. win rate? I’d bet $ to donuts it’s more akin to ‘lock up the small potatoes and let the big fish go’

[thinden]

this is “Real News”!

thanx for posting, Liz.

[thinden]

I’ll tell you another crooked scam that should be shut down immediately is the state department’s “millenium fund” (or whatever it’s called.

900 million to rebuilt ME mosques?
90 million to help educate morrocan school girls

been abused badly by hildabeast, obammy, & moochelle.

[Liz]

FREEPER ACTION---Obama gave Mrs O $100 million tax dollars from the State Dept's Millennium Challenge Corporation on her visit to Morocco, to "teach Muslim girls". The 100 million tax dollars are to be held by, and doled out by, the post-presidency tax-exempt Obama Foundation.

A new era in looting and pillaging the US Treasury has been set.

LOOK AT THAT SMILE Michele, her daughters and her mother in
Morocco's palace. 100 million dollars to spend when she and Mr O
get back to Chicago

=========================================

Obama recently gave Michelle 100 million tax dollars to give to Morocco to "teach Muslim girls (NOTE Morocco previously scored a State Dept compact worth almost a billion dollars to increase literacy).

The tax money to Michele came from a State Dept agency under Hillary's control---the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC)

=============================================

FREEPER ACTION PROJECT--DO THIS NOW: demand the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) books be opened. We demand to know the financial details and the scope and dimension of individuals connected to these outrageous State Dept giveaways....govt parasites profiting at taxayers' expense.

CONTACT CONGRESS HERE---http://www.contactingthecongress.org/

Americans must demand to see fund solicitation letters coming out of Obama's tax-exempt presidential foundations and his Chicago library fund.

Are any of his WH comments used to forward his policy being regurgitated in fund solicitation latter

Americans demand to know if US govt policy is being wrongly used....in an effort to raise tax-free money for the Obamas.