The New Rightwing Media...it is a propaganda mill

Decades of Contributions to Conservatism
By Ira Chinoy and Robert G. Kaiser
Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, May 2, 1999; Page A25

Over the past four decades Richard Mellon Scaife has contributed to hundreds of different organizations that in different ways have been pursuing the same goal: spreading the conservative faith while encouraging implementation of conservative policies.

Listed on this page are Scaife's "Top 40," the 40 conservative institutions, organizations and academic programs that have received the most grants from his trusts and foundations. Some of these grants went to support conservative scholars at programs affiliated with universities; others helped action-oriented groups promoting conservative policies, laws or judicial precedents.

Scaife's conservative causes can be divided into five broad categories, described below. Some groups fit into more than one category - the Heritage Foundation, for example, is a classical think tank sponsoring research; an activist organization promoting ideas on Capitol Hill and in the media; and a publisher, putting out its own conservative journal, Policy Review, every other month.

More details about Scaife's philanthropy can be found in the database The Washington Post assembled to record nearly 40 years of gifts made by the foundations and trusts Scaife has controlled. They can be found on the Internet at www.washingtonpost.com.

Activist Conservative Think Tanks

These are the groups that Scaife money has supported most generously. They tend to be aggressive, adept at public relations and often effective at promoting their agendas. David Abshire, a founder and longtime president of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, described CSIS as action-oriented, not "book-based." The Heritage Foundation spread its word through short policy papers, news releases and seminars designed to fill the needs (but not overburden the schedules) of Capitol Hill aides and reporters.
Sometimes think tanks can seize on an idea and push it onto the national agenda. One example is the success of the Cato Institute in promoting the idea of replacing Social Security with a privatized national pension system.

Scaife has been donating to big think thanks for four decades, but he recently launched a new kind of policy group in Pittsburgh, the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy, which describes itself as "devoted exclusively to the study of local issues" in western Pennsylvania. In just five years it has become a forceful advocate for conservative alternatives to traditional city and county policies in areas ranging from education to trash removal and economic development.

The institute earned political influence by leading a campaign against a proposed half-penny increase in the sales tax to finance civic improvements, including new stadiums for the Steelers and Pirates. To the surprise of Pittsburgh's traditional ruling circles, voters defeated the tax in a November 1997 referendum. The losers blamed a public relations campaign orchestrated by Jerry Bowyer, president of the institute, which opposed the referendum as a fat cats' use of tax money for inappropriate purposes.

Bowyer has cast himself as an effective gadfly, appearing regularly on talk shows - including four he hosts himself - to promote his agenda of more privatization, more reliance on "faith-based social service organizations" to deliver help to the needy. He is now accepted as a civic leader in Pittsburgh. Just six years ago he was leading the National Reform Association, a branch of the Calvinist Reformed Presbyterian Church, crusading for creation of a "theocracy" in America - "Christocracy, the rule of Christ over the nation," he called it once.

Propagating the Faith

From his first years as a benefactor to the right, Scaife has supported educational activities of many kinds to popularize favored ideas or philosophies. For example, Scaife has given more than $8 million since 1970 to support the "law and economics" movement, which has left a deep imprint on American legal education and jurisprudence. The law and economics program at the University of Chicago and a famous program founded at the University of Miami and now part of the George Mason University Law School in Fairfax have received millions from Scaife. The founders of law and economics saw it as a crusade to bring the rigors of economic analysis to the law. Its early promoters were conservatives, many associated with the economics department at the University of Chicago. Over the years it has won broad acceptance in the legal profession as a sensible addition to legal education. The law and economics programs Scaife has supported retain a strong free-market bias friendly to business. Hundreds of federal judges have attended seminars - often in resort surroundings - on topics involving the interaction between law and the marketplace.
Another form of proselytizing is conducted by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) , founded in 1973 by Paul Weyrich. ALEC's members are predominantly conservative state legislators. The organization provides training, information and draft legislation to make them more effective. Of the country's 6,500 state legislators, 3,000 belong to ALEC, including dozens of leaders of state legislatures and senates. Twelve sitting governors are ALEC graduates, as are 77 members of Congress. The group's first president was a then-member of the Illinois House named Henry Hyde.

ALEC makes a mark with its model legislation. The last time it counted (1995-96), 132 ALEC bills were enacted in various states, from charter school legislation to pro-business bills on environmental and regulatory topics. Many states used its version of welfare reform legislation.

ALEC is unabashedly pro-business. Its expert task forces, which write the model legislation, are composed of legislators and business representatives. About two-thirds of ALEC's $6 million budget comes from corporate contributions.

Scaife has given ALEC more than $2 million since 1975, keeping the group alive in its early years. Now his donations ($75,000 last year) are an insignificant part of its budget.

Conservatism on Campus

Scaife's trusts and foundations have given at least $146 million to university programs over the last 40 years - the equivalent of $373 million in inflation-adjusted dollars. At least two-thirds of that was directed to supporting conservative intellectuals and funding research on topics of deep interest to conservatives.
Scaife has given tens of millions to favored academic departments, from the George Mason University department of economics (a bastion of free-market economic theory) to a now-defunct security studies program at New York University.

An organization dedicated to protecting conservative faculty members and critiquing politically correct academic behavior, the National Association of Scholars, has received at least $2.9 million since 1988. The Federalist Society, the home of conservatism in the nation's law schools and now a society uniting practicing lawyers and judges on the right, has received at least $1.5 million since 1984.

The Intercollegiate Studies Institute, founded in 1953 (first president: William F. Buckley Jr.) sustains an elaborate conservative network on America's college campuses. Through an organization called the Collegiate Network, ISI pays nearly all the costs of conservative publications on 60 campuses, from the well-known Dartmouth Review to the Sprigg Street Gazette at Southeast Missouri State University. ISI gives fellowships for graduate studies to promising young conservative scholars. Former fellows include Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia; Edwin J. Feulner Jr., president of the Heritage Foundation; Rep. David M. McIntosh (R-Ind.); author Dinesh D'Souza and William Kristol, editor of the Weekly Standard.

ISI has a budget of about $5 million. Scaife's three principal foundations gave it and its affiliate, the Collegiate Network, $880,000 last year. Since the early '60s the two have been granted more than $7 million from Scaife sources.

'Public Interest' Law Firms

The Scaife trusts and foundations were instrumental in launching the conservative public interest law movement. Like many of the institutions on the right, these were created as mirror images of more liberal groups - the American Civil Liberties Union, the Natural Resources Defense Council and local activist law firms sponsored by the Legal Services Corp.
Scaife's first grants in this area were made in 1974 to the Pacific Legal Foundation. In its early years Scaife kept the PLF alive. Since the mid-'70s more than $20 million in Scaife money has gone to the conservative public interest law movement "on behalf of a market-oriented economics system, traditional property rights and limited government," in the words of an internal memo written by a Scaife aide in December 1980.

As the oldest and one of the biggest of these enterprises, the PLF now has a full-time staff of 18 attorneys and a budget of $5 million a year. It has won numerous big cases in California, including decisions upholding ballot initiatives ending state aid to illegal immigrants, banning affirmative action and replacing bilingual education with immersion in English. It is active in the property rights area and has won cases limiting the states' ability to regulate or expropriate private property. In Keller v. California State Bar, the PLF established a legal precedent that California lawyers could challenge the use of their dues to the state bar for political purposes.

The Southeastern Legal Foundation, another longtime Scaife beneficiary, won the Supreme Court case forbidding the Census Bureau from using a count of the population based on sampling techniques to allocate seats in the House of Representatives. Last October, it filed a motion in the Arkansas Supreme Court's committee on professional conduct seeking Bill Clinton's disbarment for lying under oath.

Minding the Media


Scaife has been subsidizing publications and broadcasts supporting conservative positions since his first grant to the American Spectator magazine in 1970. The Spectator has been the biggest recipient of this kind - $3.2 million for the magazine, plus nearly $2.3 million for the Arkansas Project. Scaife ended grants to the Spectator in 1997.
Scaife has supported the Public Interest and the National Interest, both associated with Irving Kristol, the neo-conservative intellectual; the New Criterion, a cultural review edited by Hilton Kramer, former New York Times art critic; Reason, the organ of the libertarian Reason Foundation; and Commentary, the monthly magazine of the American Jewish Committee, edited for years by Norman Podhoretz. All of these are published by tax-exempt, nonprofit foundations, so they are eligible to receive grants from Scaife's foundations. Scaife also gave money to Encounter magazine, once supported indirectly by the CIA. Altogether these publications have received nearly $10 million.

Scaife undertook one unusual media enterprise in his own name. In 1968, he agreed to replace John Hay Whitney, last owner of the New York Herald Tribune, as the head of the parent firm of Forum World Features, a London-based news agency that received subsidies and guidance from the CIA. The proprietor of Forum, Brian Crozier, has said he was introduced to Scaife by the CIA. Scaife has never spoken about this.

Scaife money has helped fund television documentaries on the economics of Milton Friedman, the guru of the monetarist school of free-market economics, and on Cold War themes. Scaife has supported creation of conservative textbooks and curricula for schools.

Scaife has had a long interest in groups that monitor and criticize the news media. He funded Gen. William C. Westmoreland's unsuccessful libel suit against CBS News. He has granted about $2 million to Accuracy in Media, a conservative critic of mainstream news media, since 1977. The Media Institute is another watchdog group he has backed.

In 1994-95 he gave $330,000 to the Western Journalism Center, which shared his skepticism about how former White House deputy counsel Vincent W. Foster Jr. died. But the center was cut off. "I have no idea why," said Joe Farah, president of the center. "The only explanation I ever got from [Scaife aide] Dick Larry was that they didn't have any more money. It didn't have the ring of truth."


© Copyright 1999 The Washington Post Company

By my count, "Jeff Gannon" is now at least the sixth "journalist" (four of whom have been unmasked so far this year) to have been a propagandist on the payroll of either the Bush administration or a barely arms-length ally like Talon News while simultaneously appearing in print or broadcast forums that purport to be real news. Of these six, two have been syndicated newspaper columnists paid by the Department of Health and Human Services to promote the administration's "marriage" initiatives. The other four have played real newsmen on TV. Before Mr. Guckert and Armstrong Williams, the talking head paid $240,000 by the Department of Education, there were Karen Ryan and Alberto Garcia. Let us not forget these pioneers - the Woodward and Bernstein of fake news. They starred in bogus reports ("In Washington, I'm Karen Ryan reporting," went the script) pretending to "sort through the details" of the administration's Medicare prescription-drug plan in 2004. Such "reports," some of which found their way into news packages distributed to local stations by CNN, appeared in more than 50 news broadcasts around the country and have now been deemed illegal "covert propaganda" by the Government Accountability Office.

The money that paid for both the Ryan-Garcia news packages and the Armstrong Williams contract was siphoned through the same huge public relations firm, Ketchum Communications, which itself filtered the funds through subcontractors. A new report by Congressional Democrats finds that Ketchum has received $97 million of the administration's total $250 million P.R. kitty, of which the Williams and Ryan-Garcia scams would account for only a fraction. We have yet to learn precisely where the rest of it ended up...

The pre-fab "Ask President Bush" town hall-style meetings held during last year's campaign (typical question: "Mr. President, as a child, how can I help you get votes?") were carefully designed for television so that, as Kenneth R. Bazinet wrote last summer in New York's Daily News, "unsuspecting viewers" tuning in their local news might get the false impression they were "watching a completely open forum." A Pentagon Office of Strategic Influence, intended to provide propagandistic news items, some of them possibly false, to foreign news media was shut down in 2002 when it became an embarrassing political liability. But much more quietly, another Pentagon propaganda arm, the Pentagon Channel, has recently been added as a free channel for American viewers of the Dish Network. Can a Social Security Channel be far behind?

It is a brilliant strategy. When the Bush administration isn't using taxpayers' money to buy its own fake news, it does everything it can to shut out and pillory real reporters who might tell Americans what is happening in what is, at least in theory, their own government. Paul Farhi of The Washington Post discovered that even at an inaugural ball he was assigned "minders" - attractive women who wouldn't give him their full names - to let the revelers know that Big Brother was watching should they be tempted to say anything remotely off message.

Grant Data Matrix

Recipients by amount
granted by the
Scaife Foundations (aggregated - Sarah Scaife, Scaife Family, Allegheny and Carthage Foundations)

For years:

1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003

Name Total
Heritage Foundation, The 20,696,640
Free Congress Foundation, Inc. 15,662,000
Institute for Foreign Policy Analysis, Inc. 9,411,000
Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace 8,818,900
Judicial Watch 7,740,000
Center for Strategic and International Studies 7,603,000
Intercollegiate Studies Institute, Inc. 7,529,800
Carnegie Institute 7,176,375
Brandywine Conservancy, Inc. 6,442,000
Landmark Legal Foundation 5,510,000
Center for the Study of Popular Culture 5,425,000
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research 5,326,000
Social Philosophy and Policy Foundation 4,575,000
American Spectator Educational Foundation, Inc. 4,144,000
National Association of Scholars, Inc. 4,006,000
Tufts University 3,950,000
University of Pittsburgh 3,938,622
Washington Legal Foundation 3,870,000
University of Chicago 3,735,800
Carnegie Mellon University 3,731,000
University of Virginia Law School Foundation 3,634,000
Capital Research Center 3,600,000
Extra Mile Education Foundation 3,572,000
Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, Inc. 3,443,000
Center for Security Policy 3,351,000
Maldon Institute, The 3,335,000
Accuracy in Media, Inc. 3,225,000
Hudson Institute, Inc. 3,004,000
Foundation for Cultural Review, Inc. 2,966,000
Pacific Legal Foundation 2,930,000
George Mason University Foundation, Inc. 2,890,000
Allegheny Institute for Public Policy 2,821,000
New York University 2,782,000
Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation 2,709,000
National Strategy Information Center, Inc. 2,563,000
Bowling Green State University 2,515,500
National Gallery of Art 2,500,000
Ethics and Public Policy Center, Inc. 2,485,000
Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies, The 2,405,000
National Center for Neighborhood Enterprise 2,401,000
Citizens for a Sound Economy Foundation 2,335,000
George C. Marshall Institute 2,312,500
Political Economy Research Center, Inc. 2,292,000
Duquesne University 2,211,000
University of Virginia 2,191,208
Boston University (Boston) 2,165,000
Collegiate Network, Inc. 2,115,000
Claremont Institute for the Study of Statesmanship and Political Philosophy 2,100,000
Pacific Research Institute for Public Policy 2,072,000
Federation for American Immigration Reform 2,004,500
Pepperdine University 1,950,000
Phipps Conservatory, Inc. 1,921,000
Cato Institute 1,872,500
Institute on Religion and Democracy, Inc. 1,860,000
Reason Foundation 1,843,500
Institute for Research on the Economics of Taxation 1,830,000
Atlas Economic Research Foundation 1,825,000
National Center for Policy Analysis 1,760,000
George Mason University 1,731,000
American Bar Association Fund for Justice and Education 1,725,000
Center for Individual Rights, The 1,689,000
Pittsburgh Symphony 1,675,000
Southeastern Legal Foundation 1,650,000
Smith College 1,648,000
Goodwill Industries of Pittsburgh 1,620,500
Freedom House, Inc. 1,620,000
California University of Pennsylvania 1,610,000
Independent Women's Forum 1,600,000
Children of Alcoholics Foundation, Inc. 1,568,020
Commonwealth Foundation for Public Policy Alternatives 1,552,000
Jamestown Foundation 1,545,000
Institute on Religion and Public Life, Inc. 1,535,000
Competitive Enterprise Institute 1,525,000
American Legislative Exchange Council 1,510,000
Institute for Contemporary Studies 1,505,500
Salvation Army 1,465,000
Foundation for American Communications 1,415,000
Atlantic Legal Foundation 1,340,000
Foundation for Research on Economics and the Environment (FREE) 1,335,000
Southwest Missouri State University 1,334,000
Institute for Health Freedom 1,300,000
National Fatherhood Initiative 1,290,000
Housing Opportunities, Inc. 1,275,000
Foreign Policy Research Institute 1,265,000
National Taxpayers Union Foundation 1,235,000
World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh 1,213,000
Foundation for California University of Pennsylvania 1,210,000
Gateway Rehabilitation Center 1,150,000
Boys and Girls Clubs of Western Pennsylvania 1,119,300
Center for Media and Public Affairs, Inc. 1,072,000
Defenders of Property Rights 1,065,000
United Way of Allegheny County 1,010,000
Magee-Women's Health Foundation 1,000,000
Allegheny Conference on Community Development 977,000
Center for Immigration Studies 961,000
Media Research Center, Inc. 952,000
Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh Foundation, The 950,000
Institute for Humane Studies 950,000
University of Rochester 937,000
National Institute for Public Policy 935,000
American Jewish Committee 935,000
Johns Hopkins University -- SAIS 922,000
Western Pennsylvania Conservancy 908,000
American Foreign Policy Council 905,000
Michigan State University 895,000
Institute for Justice 880,000
National Legal and Policy Center 877,000
Harvard University 874,000
Law and Economics Center 860,000
Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow 860,000
National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship 825,000
American Civil Rights Institute 825,000
National Center for Public Policy Research, Inc. 825,000
Nantucket Atheneum 820,000
ACTION-Housing, Inc. 800,000
New England Legal Foundation 795,000
California, University of, Los Angeles (UCLA) 785,000
Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy, The 781,125
Rockford Institute 775,000
Johns Hopkins University 761,000
Pennsylvania Railway Museum Association, Inc. 730,600
Safe Streets Alliance 725,000
Carnegie Library of Homestead 709,675
River City Brass Band 701,500
Americans for Tax Reform Foundation 700,000
American Academy for Liberal Education 685,000
Foundation Endowment 680,000
Christian Appalachian Project 675,000
University of South Carolina 672,000
Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh 651,000
Three Rivers Employment Services 650,000
Statistical Assessment Service 650,000
Mount Vernon Ladies Association of the Union 650,000
New Citizenship Project, Inc. 647,400
Media Institute 645,000
California, University of, Berkeley 639,951
High Frontier 635,000
Civic Light Opera 625,000
Equal Opportunity Foundation 620,000
Mercy Hospital 613,000
American Defense Institute, Inc. 610,000
Women's Center and Shelter of Greater Pittsburgh 610,000
National Affairs, Inc. 610,000
American Council for Drug Education 606,000
Pennsylvania Trolley Museum, Inc. 604,340
Americans Back In Charge 600,000
Counterterrorism & Security Education and Research Foundation 600,000
Institute for American Values 580,000
George Washington University 575,000
Acton Institute For The Study of Religion and Liberty 565,000
CONTACT Pittsburgh, Inc. 563,000
Youth Opportunities Unlimited, Inc. 561,900
National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. 557,000
ETV Endowment of South Carolina, Inc. 550,000
Alaska Pacific University 550,000
Institute for Educational Affairs 540,000
Youth Guidance 530,000
National Organization on Disability 520,000
Make A Wish Foundation of Western Pennsylvania 511,300
American Family Foundation 510,000
Clemson University Foundation 510,000
Enterprise and Education Foundation 503,000
Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf 500,000
Institute for Advanced Strategic and Political Studies 500,000
American Bar Association Fund for Public Education 480,000
Institute for Policy Innovation 470,000
Braddock's Field Historical Society 465,000
Patrick Henry Center for Individual Liberty 460,000
Pittsburgh Mercy Foundation 451,325
Outside In School of Experiential Education, Inc. 450,000
UCLA Foundation 450,000
Pittsburgh Leadership Foundation 442,500
Tax Foundation 440,000
Lincoln Institute of Public Opinion Research 435,000
Vintage 428,000
National Defense University Foundation, Inc. 426,000
National Center for Juvenile Justice 425,000
Capital Legal Foundation 425,000
Hazelden Foundation 415,000
Light of Life Rescue Mission, Inc. 410,000
Committee on the Present Danger 410,000
Allegheny Youth Development 408,600
St. Francis General Hospital 400,000
Family House Incorporated 400,000
Betty Ford Center at Eisenhower, The 395,200
Center for Security Studies 382,000
Clemson University 378,500
Corporation for Educational Radio and Television 375,000
North County Humane Society 375,000
Children's Educational Opportunity (CEO) Foundation America 375,000
Education Policy Institute 372,500
Mid-America Institute for Public Policy Research 371,000
Pittsburgh Project, The 365,000
Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh 365,000
Invest-In-America National Council, Inc. 355,000
St. Francis Health Foundation 354,425
Beginning With Books, Inc. 350,000
Puppies Behind Bars, Inc. 350,000
Milton and Rose D. Friedman Foundation 350,000
Center for Peace and Freedom 345,000
Bethlehem Haven of Pittsburgh 340,000
Pennsylvania State University 338,500
Heartland Institute 335,000
Historical Society (Philadelphia, PA) 335,000
Brownsville Area Revitalization Corporation 334,800
United States Global Strategy Council 330,000
Center for the Study of the Presidency 325,000
Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, Inc. 325,000
Rutgers University 325,000
Criminal Justice Legal Foundation 325,000
Northside Tenants Reorganization 310,000
Frick Art & Historical Center 310,000
Geneva College 307,000
Easter Seal Society of Butler County 301,000
City of Pittsburgh 300,000
Hosanna House Inc. 300,000
Bidwell Training Center 300,000
Ligonier Valley Library Association 300,000
Environmental Literacy Council 300,000
Cinema Foundation, Inc., The 300,000
American Civil Rights Union 300,000
Shady Side Academy 300,000
One Nation/One California Research and Education Fund 300,000
One to One Citizen Advocacy, Inc. 295,000
Animal Rescue League of Western Pennsylvania, Inc., The 295,000
Historic Red Clay Valley, Inc. 290,000
National Kidney Foundation of Western Pennsylvania, Inc. 290,000
Greater Pittsburgh Literacy Council 290,000
Strength, Inc. 290,000
Claremont McKenna College 289,800
Komen, Susan G. Foundation, Inc. 288,235
Make A Wish Foundation of Western Pennsylvania 286,800
Western Pennsylvania Family Center 285,000
Asticou Terraces Trust 275,000
Garfield Jubilee Association, Inc. 275,000
Fraser Institute, The 275,000
Three Rivers Rowing Association 275,000
KCET Television 275,000
Philanthropy Roundtable 265,000
Toward Tradition 260,000
National Forum Foundation 260,000
Neighborhood Housing Services 260,000
Evergreen Freedom Foundation 260,000
Defense Forum Foundation, Inc. 260,000
Sewickley Academy 258,000
Mountain States Legal Foundation 255,000
Adoptive Family Rights Council 254,000
Big Brothers & Big Sisters of Greater Pittsburgh, Inc. 253,180
Harmarville Foundation, Inc. 250,000
Mineral Information Institute 250,000
Americans for Effective Law Enforcement 250,000
Pine Manor College 250,000
Peggy Adams Animal Rescue League of Palm Beaches 250,000
Verland Foundation, Inc. 250,000
Foundation for Teaching Economics 245,000
Community Outreach Ministries, Inc. 240,000
United States Industrial Council Educational Foundation 235,000
Lutheran Service Society of Western Pennsylvania, Inc. 235,000
USS Constitution Museum Foundation, Inc. 232,500
Foundation for Economic Education 231,500
Washington University 230,000
Easter Seal Society of Allegheny County 230,000
Vanderbilt University 228,400
East Liberty Development, Inc. 225,000
Golden Key National Honor Society 225,000
Saint Vincent College 225,000
Center for Education Reform 223,600
Just Say No Foundation 221,000
Greater Pittsburgh Guild for the Blind 215,000
Postman, Inc., The 211,290
Pacific Academy for Advanced Studies 210,000
Western Pennsylvania School for the Blind 210,000
Women for Freedom 209,500
Mt. Ararat Community Activity Center 205,000
American Council on Science and Health 205,000
Corporation for Owner-Operator Projects 205,000
Committee for the Free World, Inc. 205,000
Kansas University Endowment Association 200,000
Empower America 200,000
American Studies Center, The 200,000
American Council of Trustees and Alumni 200,000
Whidbey Island Films 200,000
National Center for Victims of Crime, The 200,000
Institute for Philosophical and Social Research 200,000
National Results Council, The 200,000
Hill House Association, The 200,000
Renaissance Center 200,000
Pittsburgh Board of Public Education 200,000
Whale's Tale 200,000
Holy Family Home 200,000
Magee Womens Hospital 198,150
Downtown Management Organization, The 190,000
Texas A&M University 187,500
Ellis Memorial and Eldredge House, Inc. 185,000
Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank 185,000
Teen Challenge of Western Pennsylvania 182,000
Railroader's Memorial Museum 181,000
Forbes Health Foundation 180,000
Clare Boothe Luce Policy Institute 180,000
Free Enterprise Partnership 180,000
Mary and Alexander Laughlin Children's Center 180,000
Mid-Atlantic Legal Foundation 180,000
Association of Literary Scholars and Critics 180,000
Commonwealth Education Organization 180,000
Parent and Child Guidance Center 180,000
Women's Freedom Network 175,000
America's Survival, Inc. 170,000
Caron Foundation 170,000
Jefferson Center for Character Education 166,800
Three Rivers Adoption Council 165,000
Of the People Foundation 165,000
All Creatures Sanctuary, Inc. 161,800
Tutwiler Community Education Center 160,000
Children Requiring a Caring Kommunity 155,000
Naval War College Foundation, Inc. 152,000
Ellis School 151,050
Fund for Animals, Inc., The 151,000
Boys Club of America 150,000
Boy Scouts of America, Greater Pittsburgh Council 150,000
Diversity Alliance for a Sustainable America 150,000
Council for Basic Education 150,000
Cities In Schools, Inc. 150,000
Thoreau Institute, The 150,000
Public Research, Syndicated 150,000
Independence Dogs, Inc. 150,000
Lord's Place, Inc., The 150,000
Manchester Citizens Corporation, The 150,000
Georgetown University 147,000
Lifesteps, Inc. 145,000
Foundation for the Advancement of Monetary Education, Ltd. 145,000
Pacific Forum 145,000
Best Friends Foundation 140,000
United States Strategic Institute 140,000
Shadow Financial Regulatory Committee 135,000
Frontiers of Freedom Institute 135,000
Galen Institute, Inc. 135,000
Womansplace 135,000
University of Toronto 130,000
Mel Blount Youth Home of Pennsylvania 127,000
Point Park College 125,000
Christian Life Skills, Inc. 125,000
Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry 125,000
National Legal Center for The Public Interest 125,000
Freedom Alliance 125,000
Pittsburgh Center for the Arts 120,000
East Liberty Family Health Care Center, Inc. 120,000
Ligonier Valley School District 120,000
South Side Local Development Company 117,000
National Kidney Foundation 116,000
Critical Review Foundation, Inc. 115,000
DePaul Institute 114,000
Better Government Association, Inc 112,000
CareBreak 110,000
Rangeley Foundation 105,000
Spina Bifida Association of Western Pennsylvania 105,000
Golden Triangle Radio Information Center 105,000
Schenley Heights Community Develoment Program 105,000
Coalition for Christian Outreach, The 105,000
LaRoche College 104,000
National Council for Adoption 104,000
University of South Carolina Educational Foundation 100,000
University of Texas at Arlington 100,000
Hosanna Industries, Inc. 100,000
Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars 100,000
Epiphany Catholic Church 100,000
Center for a Free Cuba 100,000
Drug Free America Foundation, Inc. 100,000
George C. Marshall Foundation 100,000
University of Southern California 100,000
Wheaton College 100,000
Enterprise Corporation of Pittsburgh 100,000
Gallatin Writers, Inc. 100,000
Canterbury Place 100,000
US 100,000
Presbyterian Association on Aging, Inc. 100,000
Foundation for Democratic Education, Inc. 100,000
American Compass, The 100,000
Rosie's Place, Inc. 100,000
Children's Place and Connor's Nursery, Inc. 100,000
Children's Institute of Pittsburgh, The 100,000
Mackinac Center for Public Policy 100,000
Center for Market Processes, Inc 100,000
Saint Vincent Archabbey 100,000
California, University of, Irvine 100,000
Marriage Savers, Inc. 100,000
Manchester Craftsmen's Guild 100,000
Planned Parenthood of Western Pennsylvania, Inc. 100,000
Morley Publishing Group 100,000
Women's Shelter of Lawrence County 100,000
Kiskiminetas Springs School 100,000
I Have a Dream Foundation of Pittsburgh 100,000
Westgate Village Resident Council, Inc., The 99,600
Ocean Impact Foundation 98,000
Pittsburgh Model Railroad Historical Society 96,000
Glen Montessori School, The 95,000
Pennsylvania Association of Nonprofit Organizations 95,000
Phoenix House Foundation 95,000
Alice Lloyd College 95,000
City of Greensburg 93,120
Christmas in April Pittsburgh, Inc. 93,000
University of Utah 91,520
American Society of Addiction Medicine, Inc. 91,500
Boys & Girls Clubs of America 90,000
Foundation for Abraxas 90,000
Killick, Inc., 88,000
Villanova University 85,300
City Mission 85,000
Public Policy Education Fund, Inc. 85,000
Family Resources 85,000
Mom's House, Inc. of Pittsburgh 84,500
Westmoreland Museum of Art 83,500
Homestead of Nantucket 83,000
Coalition for Local Sovereignty 80,000
Assistance Dogs of America, Inc. 80,000
International Projects Assistance Services 80,000
University of Wisconsin, Madison 75,500
Pilgrim Project 75,000
Americans Against Discrimination and Preferences, Inc. 75,000
Sequoia Institute 75,000
Center for Judicial Studies 75,000
Mon Yough Riverfront Entertainment & Cultural Council 75,000
Glade Run Foundation 75,000
Louise Child Care Center 75,000
Visiting Nurse Foundation 75,000
Institute for International Studies 75,000
Nantucket Conservation Foundation, Inc. 75,000
Grove City College 75,000
Penn's Southwest Association 75,000
Bethany Christian Services 73,500
California, University of, San Diego 71,500
Economic Education for Clergy, Inc. 71,000
National Rural Alcohol and Drug Abuse Network, Inc. 70,000
Westmoreland Fayette Historical Society 70,000
Issues and Views Open Forum Foundation, Inc. 70,000
Thomas Jefferson Research Center 70,000
Fayette County Society Prevention Cruelty to Animals 67,500
American Legal Foundation 66,500
St. Francis Medical Center 66,325
Pressley Ridge Schools 65,000
New York Law School 61,000
National Flag Foundation 60,000
Incarnation Children's Center 60,000
American Literary Society 60,000
University of Hull American Foundation 60,000
University of San Diego 60,000
Association of American Educators Foundation 60,000
Women's Christian Renewal, Inc. 60,000
Mont Pelerin Society, The 60,000
Corporation for Maintaining Editorial Diversity in America 60,000
First Principles, Inc. 60,000
St. Luke's Roosevelt Hospital Center 60,000
Corporate Collection, The 60,000
Boston College 56,920
Ryerss Farm for Aged Equines 56,000
100 Black Men of Western Pennsylvania, Inc. 55,000
Diocese of Pittsburgh 55,000
Southside Local Development Company 52,000
North Side Christian Health Center 50,000
Orr, William and Mildred Compassionate Care Center 50,000
Paws With a Cause 50,000
Allegheny County Court Appointed Special Advocate Program 50,000
St. Paul's Episcopal Church 50,000
US - NumbersUSA 50,000
FreedomWorks 50,000
First Step Recovery Homes, Inc. 50,000
Allegheny County Association for Children with Learning Disabilities 50,000
Claremont Graduate University 50,000
Mountain Maternal Health League Planned Parenthood 50,000
Allegheny County, Office of the District Attorney 50,000
Pennsylvania Economy League, Inc. 50,000
Center for the Study of Carbon Dioxide and Global Change 50,000
Young Men's Christian Association 50,000
Walnut Street Theatre 50,000
Pennsylvania District Attorney's Institute 50,000
British American Arts Association, Inc. 50,000
Institute for Political Economy 50,000
Campus Coalition for Democracy 50,000
Coalition for Addictive Diseases in Southwestern Pennsylvania 50,000
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 50,000
American Red Cross 50,000
Nantucket Boys and Girls Club, Inc. 50,000
Chartiers Nature Conservancy, Inc. 50,000
Covenant House of Florida, Inc. 50,000
Bishop's Education Fund 50,000
Hoyt Family Foundation 50,000
Carriage House Children's Center Inc. 50,000
Girls Hope of Pittsburgh, Inc. 50,000
Freedom Federation, Inc. 50,000
Sharing and Caring, Inc. 50,000
John Bartram Association, The 50,000
Pennsylvanians for Effective Government Education Committee 50,000
Pittsburgh Vision Services 50,000
Friends of George C. Marshall, Inc., The 50,000
Laughlin Children's Center 50,000
Citizens Committee for the Pro-Democratic Coalition in Central America 50,000
Capital Center for the Arts 50,000
Dole Foundation 45,000
Interfaith Re-Employment Group 45,000
National Hemophilia Foundation, Inc. 45,000
Riding for the Handicapped of Western Pennsylvania, Inc. 45,000
Try Again Homes, Inc. 45,000
Wilkinsburg School District 41,000
Institute for Research, Education and Training in Addictions 40,000
American Security Council Foundation 40,000
Catholic University of America 40,000
Discovery Institute for Public Policy 40,000
National Endowment for Democracy 40,000
Global Foundation, Inc. 40,000
America's Future Foundation 40,000
Midway Boys Club 40,000
Braddock Housing Task Force 40,000
Philadelphia Society, The 40,000
Presbyterian SeniorCare 40,000
Nurturing Network, Inc. 40,000
Pittsburgh Hearing, Speech and Deaf Services 35,000
Church of the Good Sheperd 35,000
Taxpayers' Foundation 35,000
West Branch Drug and Alcohol Abuse Commission 35,000
Great Harbor Collection, Inc. 35,000
Center for the Study of Public Choice Foundation 35,000
Cornell University 34,700
Three Rivers Center for Independent Living 34,000
Minority Aviation Education Association 32,000
Wilkinsburg Community Ministry 30,000
Gwen's Montessori School, The 30,000
Pittsburgh Civic Garden Center 30,000
American Association for Small Property Ownership 30,000
Gwen's Montessori School, Inc. 30,000
Pittsburgh Psychoanalytic Foundation 30,000
Institute for the Study of the Americas 30,000
Indiana University of Pennsylvania 30,000
American Foundation for Resistance International 30,000
Ladew Topiary Gardens, Inc., The Trustees of the 30,000
Keystone Oaks School District 30,000
League for Industrial Democracy 28,000
Rankin Christian Center 26,000
Community Design Center of Pittsburgh, Inc. 25,500
American Trust for Oxford University 25,000
Research Center for Government Financial Management 25,000
Westmoreland Trust 25,000
Trinity Cathedral 25,000
Lafayette College 25,000
Lawyers for the Republic, Inc. 25,000
GREATER PITTSBURGH OFFICE OF PROMOTION 25,000
City Theatre Company 25,000
Animal Care of Westmoreland County 25,000
Aquidneck Island Land Trust 25,000
Ligonier Borough Volunteer Hose Company No. 1 25,000
Helen Dwight Reid Educational Foundation 25,000
Mid-America Legal Foundation 25,000
Perry Hilltop Assocation for Successful Enterprises, Inc. 25,000
Pro Demca 25,000
International Rescue Committee, Inc. 25,000
Union Gospel Mission 25,000
Student Conservation Association, Inc. 25,000
George Junior Republic 25,000
Safe Xchange/Supervised Visitation Center, The 25,000
Onala Club 25,000
Gratitude Guild, Inc. 25,000
Center for New Black Leadership 25,000
UPG Foundation 25,000
Former Agents of the FBI Foundation 25,000
American Tort Reform Foundation 25,000
Society for the Education of Physicians and Patients 25,000
Soldiers' and Sailors' Memorial Hall and Museum Trust, Inc. 25,000
Institute for Functional Medicine 25,000
Interfaith Committee on Housing, Inc. 25,000
American Chestnut Foundation 25,000
Open Doors for the Handicapped 25,000
National Association for Children of Alcoholics 25,000
Claremont University Center 25,000
Winnie Palmer Nature Reserve 25,000
International Institute for Economic Research 25,000
Institute for Humane Studies (Menlo Park) 25,000
Indiana University 25,000
Riverview Children's Center 25,000
City of Williamsport 25,000
Three Rivers Youth 25,000
Maryland Historical Society 23,000
Florida State University 22,500
Beaver Area School District 20,000
National Academy of Social Insurance 20,000
Westmoreland County Food Bank 20,000
Chemical People Institute 20,000
Sabre Foundation, Inc. 20,000
US - ProEnglish 20,000
Operation Outward Reach 20,000
Gilda's Club Western Pennsylvania 20,000
Animal Rescue Force, Inc. 20,000
National Ovarian Cancer Coalition, Inc. 20,000
Washington Family Council 20,000
Mel Blount Youth Home of Washington County, Inc. 20,000
Braille Club of Palm Beach County, Inc. 20,000
Nantucket Sustainable Development Corporation 20,000
Pennsylvania Junior Academy of Science 20,000
Holy Trinity School 20,000
St. Paul of the Cross Retreat Center 20,000
Kelly Anne Dolan Memorial Fund 20,000
Business and Industrial Development Corporation 20,000
National Council of Jewish Women 20,000
Drug Connection, The 20,000
South Hills Interfaith Ministries 18,600
Lemington Home for the Aged 18,000
Wright State University Foundation 16,500
United States Naval Academy Alumni Association 16,000
Garden Club of McKeesport, The 15,000
Books for Kids Foundation, The 15,000
Go Greensburg Community Development Corporation 15,000
Venango Area Riding For the Handicapped Inc. 15,000
Center for Public Philosophy 15,000
European American Institute for Security Research 15,000
National Association for Olmsted Parks 15,000
Arsenal Family and Children's Center 15,000
Alexis de Tocqueville Institution 15,000
Western Pennsylvania Humane Society 15,000
Second Step Program, Inc. 15,000
American Society of Local Officials, The 15,000
Girl Scouts 15,000
Monroeville Council of Senior Citizens 15,000
Holy Rosary Academy 13,220
University of Texas at Austin 12,800
Lincoln Highway Heritage Corridor 12,500
Universities Field Staff International 12,000
Borough of Glassport 12,000
Western Pennsylvania Model Railroad Museum 12,000
Texas Research Society of Alcoholism 12,000
First Presbyterian Church 11,000
Humane Society of Westmoreland County 10,000
Crime Prevention Offices of Western Pennsylvania 10,000
Action for Animals, Inc. 10,000
Church of the Holy Cross 10,000
Broadhead Manor Resident Council 10,000
Executive Council on Foreign Diplomats 10,000
Eastside Alliance 10,000
Western Pennsylvania Hospital 10,000
Catholic Home Bureau 10,000
Children's Home of Pittsburgh 10,000
Fineview Citizens Council 10,000
Vernon Johnson Institute 10,000
Pennsylvania American Legion Housing for Homeless Veterans 10,000
Johnstown Flood Museum Association 10,000
The MS Awareness Foundation 10,000
Allegheny Land Trust 10,000
National Strategy Forum 10,000
Ligonier Township Volunteer Fire Company No. 1 10,000
National Horse Show Foundation 10,000
All of Us Inc. 10,000
Neighborhelp IV 10,000
Community College of Allegheny County Educational Foundation 10,000
Holy Family Foundation 10,000
Community Foundation of Westmoreland County, The 10,000
Apollo United Presbyterian Church 10,000
Meyersdale Area Historical Society 10,000
St. Peter's Child Development Centers 10,000
Winston Churchill Travelling Fellowships Foundation 10,000
Reformed Presbyterian Women's Association 10,000
Operation Dig, Inc. 10,000
American Geological Institute 10,000
Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution, Inc. 10,000
Covenant Presbyterian Church 10,000
Executive Service Corps of Western Pennsylvania 10,000
Cornerstone Church of Muskegon 9,500
Ligonier Valley Historical Society 9,300
Brown University 8,200
Community Counseling & Resource Center 7,500
Community Involvement Foundation 7,000
Morehouse School of Medicine 6,000
Mexican War Streets Society, Inc., The 5,000
Johnstown Area Heritage Association 5,000
Neighborhood House Club 5,000
Pittsburgh Irish and Classical Theatre, Inc. 5,000
University of Pennsylvania 5,000
Mars Area History and Landmark Society 5,000
Unity Church of Christianity 5,000
New York Zoological Society 5,000
Loyalhanna Watershed and Environmental Association, Inc. 5,000
Northeastern Educational Television of Ohio, Inc. 5,000
Pittsburgh Architects Workshop, Inc. 5,000
Palm Beach Cat Rescue and Humane Society, Inc. 5,000
Beanies for Preemies, Inc. 5,000
Navy League of the United States 5,000
Connecticut Association of Scholars 5,000
Carnegie Council on Ethics and International Affairs 5,000
Up With People 5,000
Reedsville Evangelical Lutheran Church 5,000
Allegheny County Literacy Council 5,000
John Locke Institute 5,000
Greyhound Welfare Foundation 5,000
Sunlight, Inc., The 5,000
Animal Guardians 4,500
Associated Artists of Pittsburgh 4,000
Harmarville Rehabilitation Center, Inc. 3,000
New England Institute of Alcohol Studies, Inc. 3,000
University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire 2,500
Homestead Carnegie Library 2,500
Ligonier Valley Association of Churches 2,500
Wilkinsburg Commission Inc. 2,500
Harundale Youth Center, Inc. 2,500
Central Northside Reading is Fundamental 2,200
Blatent Image Gallery 2,000
American Daffodil Society 1,000
Transamerica Bike Relay, Inc. 1,000
South Hills Chorale 1,000
Total Granted: $396,683,216

The American Enterprise describes itself as "fiercely independent" and boasts that "we gather the best and brightest writers and thinkers -- from wherever. We don't have a party line -- just a requirement for non-wishy-washy, tightly reasoned, bravely honest arguments. We believe that being well-informed is more important than being proselytized." In the article, which is about a former opponent of the U.S.-led war in Iraq who now supports it, Gannon is identified as the "Washington bureau chief for Talon News." Karl Zinsmeister, J.B. Fuqua Fellow at AEI, has served as editor-in-chief of The American Enterprise since 1994.

Scholars and fellows at AEI include former House of Representatives Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA); author, National Review contributing editor and former George W. Bush speechwriter David Frum; Lynne Cheney, wife of Vice President Dick Cheney; and author John R. Lott Jr., who has been criticized for using disputed research, embellishing his credentials, and writing under a pseudonym to respond to criticism of him, as Media Matters has noted.

(Reading from the other side of the planet, so I don't know most of the media names mentioned ....)

Outrageous stuff.
And terribly depressing.

Lola:-

You're having us on.

bm

Townhall.com

Townhall.com, the "mother" of all serious conservative websites, started but in 1993 as a project of William F. Buckley's National Review magazine and the Heritage Foundation. Now solely a project of the Heritage Foundation, Townhall.com claims to be "the nation's leading online service for conservative ideas and information, uniting over 55 conservative think tanks, grassroots organizations, publishers, and publications at one Internet address."

Townhall.com links to right-wing think tanks and policy centers such as Americans for Tax Reform, Capital Research Center, Federalist Society, Mackinac Center, and the Texas Public Policy Foundation; key religious right groups such as the Christian Coalition, Concerned Women for America, Family Research Council, and the Traditional Values Coalition; and a small sampling of periodicals, including the National Review, Weekly Standard, Human Life Review, and two Unification Church-supported publications, Washington Times Weekly and World & I.

Jonathan Garthwaite, the Heritage Foundation's director of online communications, oversees the development of the organization's web projects and supervises a seven-person Internet staff. He won't reveal his budget, but acknowledges that Heritage gives substantial support to the site.
Garthwaite emphasizes the necessity of "sparking innovation," and recognizes that updating the site, adding new features, and marketing it broadly are all essential aspects of his work.

A notable recent addition is the RightPages Internet Guide, an extremely useful directory to a host of conservative sites. It is broken down by areas of interest: books and publishing, election and campaigns, government, news and media, business and marketing, entertainment and arts, issues and advocacy, and research and resources.

Garthwaite says Heritage measures the success of Townhall.com by the level of feedback it gets from people posting on message boards and sending email, by comments from people involved in the policy-making process, and by the site's traffic. With a claimed 20 million hits a month, Townhall.com seems to be satisfying its audience.

PolicyBot

If the name of the game is influencing public policy and shaping the political debate, then the Heartland Institute (www.heartland.org) has created a perfect vehicle for accomplishing these goals. It's PolicyBot, "the world's fastest, most complete, most reliable, and easiest-to-use source of public policy solutions."

Writing an op-ed piece and looking for research to blow a hole in the theory of global warming? Need supportive statistics to argue for more prisons and the efficacy of "three strikes" initiatives? Searching for model legislation that pushes privatization at the state and local levels? Concerned about budget and tax issues, civil rights, health care policy, or education? Documentation on all these issues and much more is available online at Heartland's PolicyBot.

Founded in 1984 by Joseph Bast, the conservative, free-market, tax-exempt Heartland spent its early years as a no-frills research organization applying "cutting-edge research to state and local public policy issues"--but not really distinguishing itself. Then in 1996, Heartland created a new program that immediately moved it to the head of the class: If ever the trendy phrase "just-in-time" delivery had meaning, it was illustrated by Heartland's PolicyFax project. It linked conservative advocacy with state-of-the-art technology to become the right's leading information clearinghouse. Now, like many other political organizations, Heartland is moving its voluminous document retrieval service online.

PolicyBot provides access to more than 7,000 public policy documents from 300-plus think tanks, policy institutes, and industry associations. The documents, which usually provide a healthy dose of statistics, range from three to 15 pages and are succinct summaries of complex research. The environment section alone lists hundreds of articles covering a broad range of issues including air quality, chemicals, endangered species, energy, environmental justice, forestry, free-market environmentalism, global climate change, ozone depletion, regulatory reform, and sustainable development. The Web Gateway section allows you to link to participating organizations.

Every elected official in the United States (regardless of position), significant media workers, and researchers from the other think tanks used to receive Heartland's catalog and updates free. In place of the bulky 300-plus-page catalog, Heartland now blast-faxes issue-oriented alerts to its mailing list on a daily basis. It also makes its other serial publications--School Reform News and Intellectual Ammunition--available online.

The last weeks of 2004 saw several explicit warnings from the antiwar Right about the coming of an American fascism. Paul Craig Roberts in these pages wrote of the "brownshirting""Today's Conservatives are Fascists." Pointing to the justification of torture by conservative legal theorists, widespread support for a militaristic foreign policy, and a retrospective backing of Japanese internment during World War II, Raimondo raised the prospect of "fascism with a democratic face." His fellow libertarian, Mises Institute president Lew Rockwell, wrote a year-end piece called "The Reality of Red State Fascism," which claimed that "the most significant socio-political shift in our time has gone almost completely unremarked, and even unnoticed. It is the dramatic shift of the red-state bourgeoisie from leave-us-alone libertarianism, manifested in the Congressional elections of 1994, to almost totalitarian statist nationalism. Whereas the conservative middle class once cheered the circumscribing of the federal government, it now celebrates power and adores the central state, particularly its military wing."