Tillman, J

=see januscrowdskout big data=<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Think_Freely_Media">https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Think_Freely_Media</a>Think Freely Media (TFM) is a right-wing 501(c)3 media organization. According to its website, the organization believes: "Individual freedom and free enterprise are the greatest forces for good ever created in the human sphere. The world has lost sight of that. We use our resources to help bring these ideas back into the light. We extend our counsel, grants, and programs to promote and help like-minded organizations to do the same."<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Think_Freely_Media#cite_note-tfm-1" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[1]</a>TFM was established in 2009 by <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=John_Tillman" title="John Tillman" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">John Tillman</a>, Chairman of the Board at TFM and CEO of the <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Illinois_Policy_Institute" class="mw-redirect" title="Illinois Policy Institute" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Illinois Policy Institute</a>. Think Freely Media is an <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=SPN_Members" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url("data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns=%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22 width=%2212%22 height=%2212%22%3E %3Cpath fill=%22%23fff%22 stroke=%22%2336c%22 d=%22M1.5 4.518h5.982V10.5H1.5z%22/%3E %3Cpath fill=%22%2336c%22 d=%22M5.765 1H11v5.39L9.427 7.937l-1.31-1.31L5.393 9.35l-2.69-2.688 2.81-2.808L4.2 2.544z%22/%3E %3Cpath fill=%22%23fff%22 d=%22M9.995 2.004l.022 4.885L8.2 5.07 5.32 7.95 4.09 6.723l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z%22/%3E %3C/svg%3E"); padding-right: 13px;">associate member of the State Policy Network</a>, a web of state pressure groups that denote themselves as "think tanks" and drive a right-wing agenda in statehouses nationwide.<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Think_Freely_Media#cite_note-2" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[2]</a><div id="toc" class="toc" style="border: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); background-color: rgb(248, 249, 250); padding: 7px; display: table; zoom: 1;"><ul style="margin: 0.3em 0px 0.5em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: none; list-style-type: none;"><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-1" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Think_Freely_Media#News_and_Controversies" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">News and Controversies</a><ul style="margin: 0px 0px 0.5em 2em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: none; list-style-type: none;"><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-2" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Think_Freely_Media#Gave_Zero-Interest_Loan_to_Private_Company_tied_to_John_Tillman" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">1.1Gave Zero-Interest Loan to Private Company tied to John Tillman</a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-3" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Think_Freely_Media#Great_Communicators_Summit" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">1.2Great Communicators Summit</a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-4" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Think_Freely_Media#Great_Communicators_Tournament" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">1.3Great Communicators Tournament</a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-5" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Think_Freely_Media#Brief_Attempt_At_Hispanic_and_Latino_Outreach" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">1.4Brief Attempt At Hispanic and Latino Outreach</a></li></ul></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-6" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Think_Freely_Media#Funding" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">2Funding</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-7" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Think_Freely_Media#Core_Financials" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">3Core Financials</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-8" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Think_Freely_Media#Personnel" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">4Personnel</a><ul style="margin: 0px 0px 0.5em 2em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: none; list-style-type: none;"><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-9" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Think_Freely_Media#Staff" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">4.1Staff</a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-10" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Think_Freely_Media#Board_of_Directors" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">4.2Board of Directors</a></li></ul></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-11" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Think_Freely_Media#Contact_Details" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">5Contact Details</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-12" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Think_Freely_Media#Articles_and_Resources" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">6Articles and Resources</a><ul style="margin: 0px 0px 0.5em 2em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: none; list-style-type: none;"><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-13" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Think_Freely_Media#IRS_Form_990s" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">6.1IRS Form 990s</a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-14" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Think_Freely_Media#Related_SourceWatch" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">6.2Related SourceWatch</a></li></ul></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-15" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Think_Freely_Media#References" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">7References</a></li></ul></div><h2 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); line-height: 1.3;">News and Controversies</h2><h3 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.6;">Gave Zero-Interest Loan to Private Company tied to John Tillman</h3>In February 2018, U.S. Rep. Dan Lipinski asked the <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Internal_Revenue_Service" title="Internal Revenue Service" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Internal Revenue Service</a> to investigate whether a series of financial deals improperly benefited TFM Board Chair John Tillman and other leaders of the Illinois Policy Institute. Tillman allegedly took advantage of tax exemptions for non-profits to improperly channel money to for-profit businesses. ProPublica Illinois and the Chicago Sun-Times pointed out that Think Freely Media gave a zero-interest $49,400 loan to <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Crowdskout" title="Crowdskout" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Crowdskout</a>, a for-profit company. Think Freely Media also gave $60,000 in interest-bearing loans to Crowdskout and gave grants to nonprofit organizations that hired Crowdskout.<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Think_Freely_Media#cite_note-3" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[3]</a>In an editorial, the Chicago Sun-Times stated that the abuse of tax exemptions by Tillman and the Illinois Policy Institute should be investigated by the <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=FBI" class="mw-redirect" title="FBI" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">FBI</a>.<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Think_Freely_Media#cite_note-4" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[4]</a><h3 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.6;">Great Communicators Summit</h3>In October 2019, TFM held its inaugural "Great Communicators Summit" as part of <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=State_Policy_Network" title="State Policy Network" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">State Policy Network</a>'s annual meeting.<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Think_Freely_Media#cite_note-5" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[5]</a> According to TFM's website, "This summit is tailored to CEOs and leaders of free market policy organizations. We will bring together exciting speakers who will talk about the latest ways they've been successful using marketing to advance the movement."<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Think_Freely_Media#cite_note-gcs-6" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[6]</a>The 2019 Great Communicators Summit featured, among others, <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Atlas_Network" title="Atlas Network" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Atlas Network</a> Vice President of Communications Melissa Mann and Executive Vice President of <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Foundation_for_Economic_Education" title="Foundation for Economic Education" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Foundation for Economic Education</a> Richard Lorenc.<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Think_Freely_Media#cite_note-gcs-6" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[6]</a><h3 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.6;">Great Communicators Tournament</h3>Since 2014, TFM has held the Great Communicators Tournament, a video submission contest "to identify and promote individuals who can effectively and persuasively discuss and defend the free market and the benefits of individual freedom."<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Think_Freely_Media#cite_note-gct-7" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[7]</a> In 2019, <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Students_for_Liberty" title="Students for Liberty" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Students for Liberty</a>, <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Young_Americans_for_Liberty" class="mw-redirect" title="Young Americans for Liberty" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Young Americans for Liberty</a>, and <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=State_Policy_Network" title="State Policy Network" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">State Policy Network</a> all hosted semi-final contests, the winners of which advanced to a final tournament at the <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Atlas_Network" title="Atlas Network" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Atlas Network</a> Liberty Forum. In 2018 and 2017, the <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Foundation_for_Economic_Education" title="Foundation for Economic Education" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Foundation for Economic Education</a> (FEE) hosted a Great Communicators Tournament semi-final at its "FEEcon" event.<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Think_Freely_Media#cite_note-8" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[8]</a><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Think_Freely_Media#cite_note-9" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[9]</a><h3 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.6;">Brief Attempt At Hispanic and Latino Outreach</h3>In an attempt to reach the Hispanic community in the U.S. with its right-wing ideology, Think Freely Media launched Think Freely Latino in February 2017. Think Freely Latino was described as "an outreach vertical specifically designed to engage U.S. Hispanic and Latino audiences in a meaningful, culturally relevant, and aspirational conversation about how to best empower individuals to thrive, succeed, and make a positive impact in their communities."<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Think_Freely_Media#cite_note-10" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[10]</a> Sandra Pedroarias, former deputy director and acting director of the Office of International Women’s Issues, Democracy and Global Affairs at the U.S. Department of State and former senior advisor to the U.S. Treasurer at the U.S. Department of the Treasury, led the organization.Think Freely Latino followed the lead of other right-wing groups targeting Latinos such as the Kochs' <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Libre_Initiative" class="mw-redirect" title="Libre Initiative" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Libre Initiative</a> in trying to promote charter schools, privatized healthcare, and free market capitalism to Hispanics.Think Freely Latino's website announced "the board and leadership of Think Freely Media (TFM) made the decision to conclude TFM’s Hispanic and Latino outreach project, including Think Freely Latino, at the end of 2017."<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Think_Freely_Media#cite_note-11" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[11]</a><h2 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); line-height: 1.3;">Funding</h2>Think Freely Media does not disclose its donors, but some of its funding sources are known through other sources' tax filings. TFM's known funders include:<ul style="margin: 0.3em 0px 0.5em 1.6em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url("data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns=%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22 width=%225%22 height=%2213%22%3E %3Ccircle cx=%222.5%22 cy=%229%22 r=%222.5%22 fill=%22%23222%22/%3E %3C/svg%3E"); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=DonorsTrust" title="DonorsTrust" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">DonorsTrust</a> gave <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/DonorsTrust_and_Donors_Capital_Fund_Grant_Recipients" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url("data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns=%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22 width=%2212%22 height=%2212%22%3E %3Cpath fill=%22%23fff%22 stroke=%22%2336c%22 d=%22M1.5 4.518h5.982V10.5H1.5z%22/%3E %3Cpath fill=%22%2336c%22 d=%22M5.765 1H11v5.39L9.427 7.937l-1.31-1.31L5.393 9.35l-2.69-2.688 2.81-2.808L4.2 2.544z%22/%3E %3Cpath fill=%22%23fff%22 d=%22M9.995 2.004l.022 4.885L8.2 5.07 5.32 7.95 4.09 6.723l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z%22/%3E %3C/svg%3E"); padding-right: 13px;">$915,000</a> 2012-2017.</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Ed_Uihlein_Family_Foundation" title="Ed Uihlein Family Foundation" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Ed Uihlein Family Foundation</a> gave <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Contributions_of_the_Ed_Uihlein_Family_Foundation" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url("data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns=%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22 width=%2212%22 height=%2212%22%3E %3Cpath fill=%22%23fff%22 stroke=%22%2336c%22 d=%22M1.5 4.518h5.982V10.5H1.5z%22/%3E %3Cpath fill=%22%2336c%22 d=%22M5.765 1H11v5.39L9.427 7.937l-1.31-1.31L5.393 9.35l-2.69-2.688 2.81-2.808L4.2 2.544z%22/%3E %3Cpath fill=%22%23fff%22 d=%22M9.995 2.004l.022 4.885L8.2 5.07 5.32 7.95 4.09 6.723l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z%22/%3E %3C/svg%3E"); padding-right: 13px;">$1.85 million</a> from 2014-2016.</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Illinois_Policy_Institute" class="mw-redirect" title="Illinois Policy Institute" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Illinois Policy Institute</a> gave $1,111,332 from 2012-2017.</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=JM_Foundation" title="JM Foundation" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">JM Foundation</a> gave $40,000 in 2016.</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Lynde_and_Harry_Bradley_Foundation" title="Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation</a> gave <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Contributions_of_the_Bradley_Foundation" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url("data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns=%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22 width=%2212%22 height=%2212%22%3E %3Cpath fill=%22%23fff%22 stroke=%22%2336c%22 d=%22M1.5 4.518h5.982V10.5H1.5z%22/%3E %3Cpath fill=%22%2336c%22 d=%22M5.765 1H11v5.39L9.427 7.937l-1.31-1.31L5.393 9.35l-2.69-2.688 2.81-2.808L4.2 2.544z%22/%3E %3Cpath fill=%22%23fff%22 d=%22M9.995 2.004l.022 4.885L8.2 5.07 5.32 7.95 4.09 6.723l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z%22/%3E %3C/svg%3E"); padding-right: 13px;">$750,000</a> from 2014-2016.</li></ul><h2 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); line-height: 1.3;">Core Financials</h2><big>2018</big><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Think_Freely_Media#cite_note-12" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[12]</a>:<ul style="margin: 0.3em 0px 0.5em 1.6em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url("data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns=%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22 width=%225%22 height=%2213%22%3E %3Ccircle cx=%222.5%22 cy=%229%22 r=%222.5%22 fill=%22%23222%22/%3E %3C/svg%3E"); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Total Revenue: $1,633,437</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Total Expenses: $777.188</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Net Assets: $948,148</li></ul>Grants Distributed<ul style="margin: 0.3em 0px 0.5em 1.6em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url("data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns=%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22 width=%225%22 height=%2213%22%3E %3Ccircle cx=%222.5%22 cy=%229%22 r=%222.5%22 fill=%22%23222%22/%3E %3C/svg%3E"); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Palmetto_Promise_Institute" title="Palmetto Promise Institute" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Palmetto Promise Institute</a>: $15,000</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Yankee_Institute_for_Public_Policy" title="Yankee Institute for Public Policy" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Yankee Institute for Public Policy</a>: $15,000</li></ul><big>2017</big><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Think_Freely_Media#cite_note-13" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[13]</a>:<ul style="margin: 0.3em 0px 0.5em 1.6em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url("data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns=%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22 width=%225%22 height=%2213%22%3E %3Ccircle cx=%222.5%22 cy=%229%22 r=%222.5%22 fill=%22%23222%22/%3E %3C/svg%3E"); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Total Revenue: $1,639,498</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Total Expenses: $1,518,362</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Net Assets: $91,799</li></ul><big>2016</big><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Think_Freely_Media#cite_note-14" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[14]</a>:<ul style="margin: 0.3em 0px 0.5em 1.6em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url("data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns=%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22 width=%225%22 height=%2213%22%3E %3Ccircle cx=%222.5%22 cy=%229%22 r=%222.5%22 fill=%22%23222%22/%3E %3C/svg%3E"); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Total Revenue: $1,034,377</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Total Expenses: $1,844,391</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Net Assets: -$29,337</li></ul>Grants Distributed<ul style="margin: 0.3em 0px 0.5em 1.6em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url("data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns=%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22 width=%225%22 height=%2213%22%3E %3Ccircle cx=%222.5%22 cy=%229%22 r=%222.5%22 fill=%22%23222%22/%3E %3C/svg%3E"); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=DonorsTrust" title="DonorsTrust" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">DonorsTrust</a>: $100,000</li></ul><big>2015</big><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Think_Freely_Media#cite_note-15" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[15]</a>:<ul style="margin: 0.3em 0px 0.5em 1.6em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url("data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns=%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22 width=%225%22 height=%2213%22%3E %3Ccircle cx=%222.5%22 cy=%229%22 r=%222.5%22 fill=%22%23222%22/%3E %3C/svg%3E"); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Total Revenue: $1,396,996</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Total Expenses: $1,173,757</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Net Assets: $874,590</li></ul>Grants Distributed<ul style="margin: 0.3em 0px 0.5em 1.6em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url("data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns=%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22 width=%225%22 height=%2213%22%3E %3Ccircle cx=%222.5%22 cy=%229%22 r=%222.5%22 fill=%22%23222%22/%3E %3C/svg%3E"); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Acton_Institute" title="Acton Institute" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Acton Institute</a>: $25,000</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Mackinac_Center_for_Public_Policy" title="Mackinac Center for Public Policy" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Mackinac Center for Public Policy</a>: $30,000</li></ul><big>2014</big><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Think_Freely_Media#cite_note-16" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[16]</a>:<ul style="margin: 0.3em 0px 0.5em 1.6em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url("data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns=%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22 width=%225%22 height=%2213%22%3E %3Ccircle cx=%222.5%22 cy=%229%22 r=%222.5%22 fill=%22%23222%22/%3E %3C/svg%3E"); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Total Revenue: $1,125,056</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Total Expenses: $1,037,676</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Net Assets: $557,438</li></ul>Grants Distributed<ul style="margin: 0.3em 0px 0.5em 1.6em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url("data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns=%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22 width=%225%22 height=%2213%22%3E %3Ccircle cx=%222.5%22 cy=%229%22 r=%222.5%22 fill=%22%23222%22/%3E %3C/svg%3E"); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=DonorsTrust" title="DonorsTrust" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">DonorsTrust</a>: $300,000</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Oklahoma_Council_of_Public_Affairs" title="Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs</a>: $100,000</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Liberty_Justice_Center" title="Liberty Justice Center" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Liberty Justice Center</a>: $25,000</li></ul><big>2013</big><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Think_Freely_Media#cite_note-17" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[17]</a>:<ul style="margin: 0.3em 0px 0.5em 1.6em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url("data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns=%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22 width=%225%22 height=%2213%22%3E %3Ccircle cx=%222.5%22 cy=%229%22 r=%222.5%22 fill=%22%23222%22/%3E %3C/svg%3E"); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Total Revenue: $765,308</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Total Expenses: $253,641</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Net Assets: $470,058</li></ul>Grants Distributed<ul style="margin: 0.3em 0px 0.5em 1.6em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url("data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns=%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22 width=%225%22 height=%2213%22%3E %3Ccircle cx=%222.5%22 cy=%229%22 r=%222.5%22 fill=%22%23222%22/%3E %3C/svg%3E"); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Commonwealth_Foundation" title="Commonwealth Foundation" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Commonwealth Foundation</a>: $25,000</li></ul><big>2012</big><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Think_Freely_Media#cite_note-18" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[18]</a>:<ul style="margin: 0.3em 0px 0.5em 1.6em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url("data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns=%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22 width=%225%22 height=%2213%22%3E %3Ccircle cx=%222.5%22 cy=%229%22 r=%222.5%22 fill=%22%23222%22/%3E %3C/svg%3E"); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Total Revenue: $685,038</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Total Expenses: $726,747</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Net Assets: -$41,609</li></ul><h2 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); line-height: 1.3;">Personnel</h2>As of February 2020:<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Think_Freely_Media#cite_note-tfm-1" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[1]</a><h3 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.6;">Staff</h3><ul style="margin: 0.3em 0px 0.5em 1.6em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url("data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns=%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22 width=%225%22 height=%2213%22%3E %3Ccircle cx=%222.5%22 cy=%229%22 r=%222.5%22 fill=%22%23222%22/%3E %3C/svg%3E"); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Eric Tubbs, President</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Mike Demkovich, Senior Advisor</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Karen Lindberg-Ventura, External Relations Officer</li></ul><h3 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.6;">Board of Directors</h3><ul style="margin: 0.3em 0px 0.5em 1.6em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url("data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns=%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22 width=%225%22 height=%2213%22%3E %3Ccircle cx=%222.5%22 cy=%229%22 r=%222.5%22 fill=%22%23222%22/%3E %3C/svg%3E"); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=John_Tillman" title="John Tillman" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">John Tillman</a>, Chairman</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Eric Tubbs, Secretary/Treasurer</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Barry Burdiak</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Scott Barbee (<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Atlas_Network" title="Atlas Network" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Atlas Network</a> board member as of 2016)</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Carol Winfrey</li></ul><h2 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); line-height: 1.3;">Contact Details</h2>Think Freely Media
1101 K Street, NW
Suite 810
Washington, DC 20005
Phone: 202-838-3175
Email: hello@thinkfreelymedia.org
Facebook: <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.facebook.com/thinkfreelymedia" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url("data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns=%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22 width=%2212%22 height=%2212%22%3E %3Cpath fill=%22%23fff%22 stroke=%22%2336c%22 d=%22M1.5 4.518h5.982V10.5H1.5z%22/%3E %3Cpath fill=%22%2336c%22 d=%22M5.765 1H11v5.39L9.427 7.937l-1.31-1.31L5.393 9.35l-2.69-2.688 2.81-2.808L4.2 2.544z%22/%3E %3Cpath fill=%22%23fff%22 d=%22M9.995 2.004l.022 4.885L8.2 5.07 5.32 7.95 4.09 6.723l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z%22/%3E %3C/svg%3E"); padding-right: 13px;">@thinkfreelymedia</a>
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<h2 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); line-height: 1.3;">Articles and Resources</h2><h3 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.6;">IRS Form 990</h3><div>=</div><div><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/John_Tillman">https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/John_Tillman</a></div><div>
</div><div>Since 2007, John Tillman has been chairman and CEO of the <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Illinois_Policy_Institute" class="mw-redirect" title="Illinois Policy Institute" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">Illinois Policy Institute</a> (IPI), a conservative think tank which describes itself as an "independent organization generating public policy solutions aimed at promoting personal freedom and prosperity in Illinois."<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/John_Tillman#cite_note-1" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[1]</a><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/John_Tillman#cite_note-ROE-2" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[2]</a></div>Tillman is accredited with "leading the re-launch" of IPI. He also holds various other titles with "liberty" and "free-market" groups. Some of which are associated with the <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=State_Policy_Network" title="State Policy Network" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">State Policy Network</a> (SPN).<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/John_Tillman#cite_note-3" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[3]</a><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/John_Tillman#cite_note-4" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[4]</a> Tillman himself has been honored by both SPN and the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).He lives in Chicago.<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/John_Tillman#cite_note-ROE-2" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[2]</a><div id="toc" class="toc" style="border: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); background-color: rgb(248, 249, 250); padding: 7px; display: table; zoom: 1;"><ul style="margin: 0.3em 0px 0.5em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: none; list-style-type: none;"><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-1" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/John_Tillman#News_and_Controversies" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">News and Controversies</a><ul style="margin: 0px 0px 0.5em 2em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: none; list-style-type: none;"><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-2" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/John_Tillman#Opposition_to_J.B.Pritzker" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">1.1Opposition to J.B. Pritzker</a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-3" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/John_Tillman#Relationship_to_Anti_Union_Lawsuits" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">1.2Relationship to Anti Union Lawsuits</a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-4" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/John_Tillman#Relationship_with_Bruce_Rauner" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">1.3Relationship with Bruce Rauner</a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-5" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/John_Tillman#Ethically_Questionable_Dealings" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">1.4Ethically Questionable Dealings</a></li></ul></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-6" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/John_Tillman#Titles_and_Compensation_as_a_leader_of_Right_Wing_Organizations" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">2Titles and Compensation as a leader of Right Wing Organizations</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-7" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/John_Tillman#Ties_to_SPN" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">3Ties to SPN</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-8" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/John_Tillman#Ties_to_ALEC" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">4Ties to ALEC</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-9" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/John_Tillman#References" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">5References</a></li></ul></div><h2 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); line-height: 1.3;">News and Controversies</h2><h3 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.6;">Opposition to J.B. Pritzker</h3>An opinion piece under Tillman's name was published in The Chicago Tribune in opposition to Illinois Democratic gubernatorial candidate J.B. Pritzker around one month prior to the election. Tillman, who is described as " a small business owner [and] CEO of the Illinois Policy Institute" cites "people who study policy, such as those at the Illinois Policy Institute," to claim that Pritzker's policy agenda would "require nearly doubling Illinois’ personal income tax to almost 10 percent."Tillman says that if Pritzker wins Democrats will take control of the state government, which is "a choice Illinois voters can’t afford to make come Nov. 6." He advocates for re-electing Gov. <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Bruce_Rauner&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Bruce Rauner (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Bruce Rauner</a> due to the incumbent's "demonstrated commitment to blocking tax hikes and restraining spending rather than increasing it faster than taxpayer incomes."<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/John_Tillman#cite_note-5" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[5]</a><h3 style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.6;">Relationship to Anti Union Lawsuits</h3>Tillman's <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Liberty_Justice_Center" title="Liberty Justice Center" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Liberty Justice Center</a> worked with the <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=National_Right_to_Work_Legal_Defense_Foundation" title="National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation</a> to "represent Mark Janus" in <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Janus_vs.AFSCME,U.S.Supreme_Court_Case" title="Janus vs. AFSCME, U.S. Supreme Court Case" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Janus v. AFSCME</a>, the Supreme Court Case argued before the Supreme Court on February 26, 2018. Mark Janus was a child support worker for the State of Illinois who did not want to pay the agency fees (also known as fair share fees) required to compensate the union representing Illinois state workers for the cost of his representation. This case is part and parcel of a coordinated legislative and legal strategy to dismantle unions being advanced in a systematic manner by an interlocking group of right-wing funders and state-based groups.A report from the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) on those who side with the plaintiff in <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Janus_vs.AFSCME,U.S.Supreme_Court_Case" title="Janus vs. AFSCME, U.S. Supreme Court Case" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Janus v. Janus v. AFSCME Council 31</a> found "Janus, and the two fair share cases that preceded it, did not grow from an organic, grassroots challenge to union representation. Rather, the fair share cases are being financed by a small group of foundations with ties to the largest and most powerful corporate lobbies. These organizations and the policymakers they support have succeeded in advancing a policy agenda that weakens the bargaining power of workers. In Janus, these interests have focused their attack on public-sector workers—the workforce with the highest union density."<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/John_Tillman#cite_note-EPI-6" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[6]</a>LJC represented Mark Janus pro bono. EPI investigated who funds LJC and the associated IPI, "a review of LJC and IPI’s 990s provides a limited view of their financial profile, but it is clear that they survive off of the same core group of corporate-backed organizations that contribute to many political and legal fights against unions. <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Donors_Trust" class="mw-redirect" title="Donors Trust" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Donors Trust</a>, the <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Lynde_and_Harry_Bradley_Foundation" title="Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation</a>, the <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Ed_Uihlein_Family_Foundation" title="Ed Uihlein Family Foundation" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Ed Uihlein Family Foundation</a>, <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=William_A._Dunn" title="William A. Dunn" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Dunn’s Foundation for the Advancement of Right Thinking</a>, and the <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Charles_Koch_Institute" title="Charles Koch Institute" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Charles Koch Institute</a> have supported the Illinois Policy Institute and Liberty Justice Center."<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/John_Tillman#cite_note-EPI-6" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[6]</a>LJC is a part of the "a small group of people working for deep-pocketed corporate interests" which CMD's Mary Bottari outlined in her "Behind Janus: Documents Reveal Decade-Long Plot to Kill Public-Sector Unions" piece for In These Times. She writes, "those same people cheer “defunding” and “bankrupting” unions to deal a “mortal blow” to progressive politics in America." <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/John_Tillman#cite_note-7" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[7]</a>Following the ruling in the Janus case, the plaintiff was announced as "Senior Fellow" at IPI.<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/John_Tillman#cite_note-8" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[8]</a><h3 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.6;">Relationship with Bruce Rauner</h3>The Chicago Sun-Times once described Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner and Tillman as "close friends and ideological soul mates." But, following the ProPublica and The Chicago Sun-Times investigation, Rauner said he was "very troubled, very troubled by what I’ve learned" and said he would not contribute financially to Tillmans projects anymore.<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/John_Tillman#cite_note-9" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[9]</a>The Sun-Times once quoted a source saying "that Tillman 'clearly has the ultimate influence [on the governor] at this point.'" Chicago Magazine said "to many, it appears that Tillman tells the governor not only what to think but whom to hire."<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/John_Tillman#cite_note-cm-10" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[10]</a>Tillman disputes characterizations of him having significant influence of Rauner, telling Chicago Magazine stating that their relationship is one where they share a "passion of trying to help the people of Illinois have better lives," and that they "talk a lot [with one another]."<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/John_Tillman#cite_note-cm-10" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[10]</a><h3 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.6;">Ethically Questionable Dealings</h3>Tillman was able to increase his own bottom line, parlaying a small-government message into growing paychecks for himself and other top staff members" according to a joint investigation from ProPublica and The Chicago Sun-Times. "Through an often-dizzying series of transactions Tillman and his associates have moved millions of dollars around five interconnected nonprofits they run -- while steering money to for-profit ventures they have a stake in and growing their paychecks." The investigation remarked that Tillman's "transactions raise ethical questions and could violate the federal tax code for nonprofits." <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/John_Tillman#cite_note-pp1-11" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[11]</a>This incident lead to many critiques. A former financial supporter of IPI and current Republican Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner vowed to cut ties with the organization. "I’m very troubled, very troubled by what I’ve learned. And I certainly would not give them any more money," said Rauner.<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/John_Tillman#cite_note-12" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[12]</a> The Chicago Sun-Times editorial board wrote, "the arrangements smell, and we urge state Sen. Chris Nybo, a Republican, to follow through on his threat to push for investigations by the FBI and the IRS ... we have to wonder why the Illinois Policy Institute and the others nonprofits still qualify for tax-exempt status. Intentional or not, this looks like tax-dodging"<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/John_Tillman#cite_note-13" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[13]</a> U.S. Rep. Dan Lipinski called upon the Internal Revenue Service to investigate IPI. <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/John_Tillman#cite_note-14" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[14]</a><h2 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); line-height: 1.3;">Titles and Compensation as a leader of Right Wing Organizations</h2>Tillman holds these titles at various organizations:<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/John_Tillman#cite_note-pp-15" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[15]</a><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/John_Tillman#cite_note-16" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[16]</a><ul style="margin: 0.3em 0px 0.5em 1.6em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" csvg="Csvg" width="%225%22" height="%2213%22%3E" ccircle="Ccircle" cx="%222.5%22" cy="%229%22" r="%222.5%22" fill="%22%23222%22/%3E" c="C" e="E" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Founder and Director of the <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Liberty_Justice_Center" title="Liberty Justice Center" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Liberty Justice Center</a> (LJC)</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Founder, Chairman, and CEO of the <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Government_Accountability_Alliance&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Government Accountability Alliance (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Government Accountability Alliance</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Founder and Chairman of <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Think_Freely_Media" title="Think Freely Media" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Think Freely Media</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Founder, and former Director/President of <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Illinois_Opportunity_Project&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Illinois Opportunity Project (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Illinois Opportunity Project</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Chairman of the board at <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Franklin_News_Foundation" title="Franklin News Foundation" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Franklin Center for Government Public Integrity</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Part Owner at <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Crowdskout_LLC&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Crowdskout LLC (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Crowdskout LLC</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Owner at <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Leadership_Consulting_LLC&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Leadership Consulting LLC (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Leadership Consulting LLC</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Majority Owner at <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Waldo_Group/Waldo_Holdings_LLC&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Waldo Group/Waldo Holdings LLC (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Waldo Group/Waldo Holdings LLC</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Founder of <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Illinois_policy&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Illinois policy (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Illinois policy</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Founder of "the Great Communicators Tournament" project</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Founder of <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Illinois_Liberty_Political_Action_Committee&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Illinois Liberty Political Action Committee (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Illinois Liberty Political Action Committee</a></li></ul>According to a ProPublica investigation, "Tillman collected pay that was often well above how comparable organizations in other states compensated their leaders." In 2013, Tillman's income was reported as $485,411. In 2014 - $398,414. In 2015 - $366,631. ProPublica did not state his 2016 compensation, but according to a diagram included int the story it appears to have been around $300,000. His compensation from 2013-2015 "exceeded the pay of top executives at other, similar organizations."<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/John_Tillman#cite_note-pp-15" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[15]</a><h2 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); line-height: 1.3;">Ties to SPN</h2>Tillman is the founder and director of LJC. According to the <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=State_Policy_Network" title="State Policy Network" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">State Policy Network</a>, "the Liberty Justice Center [is] the litigation partner of the State Policy Network affiliate Illinois Policy Institute." <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/John_Tillman#cite_note-17" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[17]</a>Amicus briefs in the Janus case were filed by the following SPN associates and affiliates:<ul style="margin: 0.3em 0px 0.5em 1.6em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" csvg="Csvg" width="%225%22" height="%2213%22%3E" ccircle="Ccircle" cx="%222.5%22" cy="%229%22" r="%222.5%22" fill="%22%23222%22/%3E" c="C" e="E" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=James_Madison_Institute" title="James Madison Institute" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">James Madison Institute</a>, <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Mackinac_Center" class="mw-redirect" title="Mackinac Center" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Mackinac Center</a>, The <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Buckeye_Institute" class="mw-redirect" title="Buckeye Institute" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Buckeye Institute</a>, <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Freedom_Foundation" title="Freedom Foundation" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Freedom Foundation</a>, "Brief of <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Pacific_Legal_Foundation" title="Pacific Legal Foundation" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Pacific Legal Foundation</a>, <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Goldwater_Institute" title="Goldwater Institute" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Goldwater Institute</a>, The <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Fairness_Center" title="Fairness Center" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Fairness Center</a>, <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Empire_Center_for_Public_Policy" title="Empire Center for Public Policy" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Empire Center for Public Policy</a>, <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Pioneer_Institute" class="mw-redirect" title="Pioneer Institute" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Pioneer Institute</a>, <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Reason_Foundation" title="Reason Foundation" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Reason Foundation</a>, Individual Rights Foundation, and <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Yankee_Institute_for_Public_Policy" title="Yankee Institute for Public Policy" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Yankee Institute for Public Policy</a>," <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Competitive_Enterprise_Institute" title="Competitive Enterprise Institute" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Competitive Enterprise Institute</a> and The Fairness Center</li></ul><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Franklin_News_Foundation" title="Franklin News Foundation" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">The Franklin Center</a>, where Tillman is the Chairman of the board, is a state affiliate of the <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=State_Policy_Network" title="State Policy Network" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">State Policy Network</a>. <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Think_Freely_Media" title="Think Freely Media" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Think Freely Media</a> is also a part of SPN.In 2011, Tillman received the "Roe Award." SPN's "prestigious award" "pays tribute to those in the state public-policy movement whose achievements have greatly advanced the free-market philosophy. It recognizes leadership, innovation and accomplishment." SPN president <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Tracie_Sharp" title="Tracie Sharp" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Tracie Sharp</a> said of Tillman that he has "a passion for liberty, a willingness to work for it, and noteworthy achievement in turning dreams into realities."<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/John_Tillman#cite_note-ROE-2" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[2]</a><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=State_Policy_Network" title="State Policy Network" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">SPN</a> is a web of right-wing “think tanks” and tax-exempt organizations in 50 states, Washington, D.C., Canada, and the United Kingdom. As of August 2020, SPN's membership totals 162. Today's SPN is the tip of the spear of far-right, nationally funded policy agenda in the states that undergirds extremists in the Republican Party. SPN Executive Director <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Tracie_Sharp" title="Tracie Sharp" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Tracie Sharp</a> told the Wall Street Journal in 2017 that the revenue of the combined groups was some $80 million, but a 2019 analysis of SPN's main members IRS filings by the Center for Media and Democracy shows that the combined revenue is over $120 million.<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/John_Tillman#cite_note-18" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[18]</a> Although SPN's member organizations claim to be nonpartisan and independent, the Center for Media and Democracy's in-depth investigation, "<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.alecexposed.org/w/images/2/25/SPN_National_Report_FINAL.pdf" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: url(" https="https" upload.wikimedia.org="upload.wikimedia.org" wikipedia="wikipedia" commons="commons" icons-mini-file_acrobat.gif="Icons-mini-file_acrobat.gif" right="right" center="center" no-repeat="no-repeat" padding-right="padding-right" px="px">EXPOSED: The State Policy Network -- The Powerful Right-Wing Network Helping to Hijack State Politics and Government</a>," reveals that SPN and its member think tanks are major drivers of the right-wing, <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=SPN_Ties_to_ALEC" title="SPN Ties to ALEC" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">American Legislative Exchange Council</a> (ALEC)-backed corporate agenda in state houses nationwide, with deep ties to the <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Koch_brothers" class="mw-redirect" title="Koch brothers" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Koch brothers</a> and the national right-wing network of <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=SPN_Funding" title="SPN Funding" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">funders</a>.<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/John_Tillman#cite_note-19" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[19]</a>In response to CMD's report, SPN Executive Director <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Tracie_Sharp" title="Tracie Sharp" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Tracie Sharp</a> told national and statehouse reporters that SPN affiliates are "fiercely independent." Later the same week, however, The New Yorker's <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Jane_Mayer" title="Jane Mayer" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Jane Mayer</a> caught Sharp in a contradiction. In her article, "<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2013/11/is-ikea-the-new-model-for-the-conservative-movement.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" csvg="Csvg" width="%2212%22" height="%2212%22%3E" cpath="Cpath" fill="%22%23fff%22" stroke="%22%2336c%22" d="%22M9.995" h5.982v10.5h1.5z="h5.982V10.5H1.5z" e="E" h11v5.39l9.427="H11v5.39L9.427" l-1.31-1.31l5.393="l-1.31-1.31L5.393" l-2.69-2.688="l-2.69-2.688" l4.2="L4.2" z="z" l.022="l.022" l8.2="L8.2" l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z="l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z" c="C" padding-right="padding-right" px="px" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data">Is IKEA the New Model for the Conservative Movement?</a>," the Pulitzer-nominated reporter revealed that, in a recent meeting behind closed doors with the heads of SPN affiliates around the country, Sharp "compared the organization’s model to that of the giant global chain IKEA." She reportedly said that SPN "would provide 'the raw materials,' along with the 'services' needed to assemble the products. Rather than acting like passive customers who buy finished products, she wanted each state group to show the enterprise and creativity needed to assemble the parts in their home states. 'Pick what you need,' she said, 'and customize it for what works best for you.'" Not only that, but Sharp "also acknowledged privately to the members that the organization's often anonymous donors frequently shape the agenda. 'The grants are driven by donor intent,' she told the gathered think-tank heads. She added that, often, 'the donors have a very specific idea of what they want to happen.'"<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/John_Tillman#cite_note-20" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[20]</a>A set of <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/842271-spn-budget-proposals-state-by-state.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" csvg="Csvg" width="%2212%22" height="%2212%22%3E" cpath="Cpath" fill="%22%23fff%22" stroke="%22%2336c%22" d="%22M9.995" h5.982v10.5h1.5z="h5.982V10.5H1.5z" e="E" h11v5.39l9.427="H11v5.39L9.427" l-1.31-1.31l5.393="l-1.31-1.31L5.393" l-2.69-2.688="l-2.69-2.688" l4.2="L4.2" z="z" l.022="l.022" l8.2="L8.2" l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z="l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z" c="C" padding-right="padding-right" px="px" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data">coordinated fundraising proposals</a> obtained and released by <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=The_Guardian" title="The Guardian" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">The Guardian</a> in early December 2013 confirm many of these SPN members' intent to change state laws and policies, referring to "advancing model legislation" and "candidate briefings." These activities "arguably cross the line into lobbying," The Guardian notes.<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/John_Tillman#cite_note-21" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[21]</a><h2 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); line-height: 1.3;">Ties to ALEC</h2>The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) lauded Tillman as "one of the nation’s most prominent leaders of a state-based think tank" and accredited him with "transform[ing] what many wrote off as a blue state into a place ripe for free market reform."<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/John_Tillman#cite_note-ALEC-22" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[22]</a>Tillman was a speaker at the 2016 annual ALEC meeting. During his speech commended <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Lisa_Nelson" title="Lisa Nelson" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Lisa Nelson</a>, telling her "You really have done an extraordinary job... many of us in Illinois watch what you have done with ALEC and admire it very much, congratulations....<div>
</div><div>=</div>=ref
<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/25/business/economy/labor-court-conservatives.html">https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/25/business/economy/labor-court-conservatives.html</a>?smid=tw-shareBehind a Key Anti-Labor Case, a Web of Conservative DonorsBy NOAM SCHEIBER and KENNETH P. VOGELFEB. 25, 2018
In the summer of 2016, government workers in Illinois received a mailing that offered them tips on how to leave their union. By paying a so-called fair-share fee instead of standard union dues, the mailing said, they would no longer be bound by union rules and could not be punished for refusing to strike.“To put it simply,” the document concluded, “becoming a fair-share payer means you will have more freedom.”The mailing, sent by a group called the Illinois Policy Institute, may have seemed like disinterested advice. In fact, it was one prong of a broader campaign against public-sector unions, backed by some of the biggest donors on the right. It is an effort that will reach its apex on Monday, when the Supreme Court hears a case that could cripple public-sector unions by allowing the workers they represent to avoid paying fees.One of the institute’s largest donors is a foundation bankrolled by Richard Uihlein, an Illinois industrialist who has spent millions backing Republican candidates in recent years, including Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas and Gov. Bruce Rauner of Illinois.Tax filings show that Mr. Uihlein has also been the chief financial backer in recent years of the Liberty Justice Center, which represents Mark Janus, the Illinois child support specialist who is the plaintiff in the Supreme Court case.And Mr. Uihlein has donated well over $1 million over the years to groups like the Federalist Society that work to orient the judiciary in a more conservative direction. They have helped produce a Supreme Court that most experts expect to rule in Mr. Janus’s favor.The case illustrates the cohesiveness with which conservative philanthropists have taken on unions in recent decades. “It’s a mistake to look at the Janus case and earlier litigation as isolated episodes,” said Alexander Hertel-Fernandez, a Columbia University political scientist who studies conservative groups. “It’s part of a multipronged, multitiered strategy.”In doing so, these donors have not just brought labor to the brink of crisis but threatened the Democratic Party as well.Amid changes in the campaign finance landscape and the decline of private-sector unions, the party and its candidates have increasingly relied on major public unions for funding, including hundreds of millions of dollars in direct and indirect spending during the 2016 presidential cycle. Those unions include the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, whose Council 31 is the defendant in the Janus case.Mark Janus, the plaintiff in a Supreme Court case challenging mandatory union fees, at the Illinois State Capitol. Credit Whitney Curtis for The New York TimesA recent paper by Mr. Hertel-Fernandez and two colleagues may foretell what Democrats can expect if Mr. Uihlein and his fellow philanthropists succeed. It found that the Democratic share of the presidential vote dropped by an average of 3.5 percentage points after the passage of so-called right-to-work laws allowing employees to avoid paying union fees. That is larger than Democrats’ margin of defeat in several states that could have reversed their last three presidential losses.And that is clearly on the mind of Republicans. In a recent interview, the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, acknowledged the potential of the Janus case to hurt Democratic fund-raising for the coming midterm elections. “In states where they got rid of the automatic deduction and employees figured they could keep their own money, they did,” he said. “So it could have an impact.”Conservative groups aren’t alone in locking arms to advance an ideological agenda. For decades, liberal donors and foundations, sometimes working together through coalitions like the Democracy Alliance, have promoted liberal goals in a variety of ways. Some backed groups, like the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and the GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders, that used litigation to move American society leftward.But the extent of the coordination on the right often dwarfs liberal efforts. Especially on the state level, conservative groups are “doing different things, mobilizing different constituencies,” Mr. Hertel-Fernandez said. “But they’re all working with one another. You don’t see the same thing on the left.”As the percentage of unionized private-sector workers has collapsed in recent decades, public-sector unions, which have held steady in the mid-30s since the early 1980s, have increasingly become a target.Conservatives chafe at the unions’ political influence, which they believe not only props up the Democratic Party but also drives up government spending and skews public policy on issues like education.In 2011, Wisconsin rolled back the right of most public unions to bargain over anything other than wages and eliminated the requirement that nonmembers pay fees. The portion of unionized public-sector workers in the state plummeted from half to just over one-quarter within five years.In seeking to produce similar results nationally, conservative donors have created a symbiosis between groups aiming to overturn Supreme Court precedent favorable to unions and groups that take advantage of those rulings to drain unions of members.The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation of Wisconsin, which had over $800 million in assets in 2016, has funded both kinds of organizations.In a 2014 case brought by a group that had received more than $1 million in contributions from the Bradley Foundation, the Supreme Court ruled that home-care aides and other “partial-public employees” paid through Medicaid could not be forced to pay fair-share fees if they left their unions. Unions say these fees, typically about 80 percent of standard dues, are necessary to compensate them for representing nonmembers in bargaining and grievance proceedings.A fund-raising solicitation from the Illinois Policy Institute, one of several groups that have fueled efforts to weaken public-sector unions.Then in 2016, the court heard a case, Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association, that could have struck down fair-share fee requirements for all public employees represented by unions in more than 20 states, including California, Illinois and New York. The case was brought by a group that has received millions of dollars from the Bradley Foundation.During 2015 and 2016, the foundation also substantially increased its contributions, totaling well over $1 million, to groups like the Independence Institute of Colorado and the Freedom Foundation of Washington State. Those groups have used such tools as direct mail, phone calls and door knocking to persuade public-sector workers to give up union membership.Richard Graber, the chief executive of the Bradley Foundation, said the foundation avoided short-term tactical considerations in its giving. But he acknowledged that the increase was driven partly by the recent Supreme Court developments, which promised to make such opt-out campaigns more compelling for union members. (Some conservative groups are currently raising money for even more ambitious opt-out campaigns to take advantage of a favorable ruling this year.)Our columnist Andrew Ross Sorkin and his Times colleagues help you make sense of major business and policy headlines — and the power-brokers who shape them.In February 2016, the month after the Supreme Court heard the Friedrichs case, Justice Antonin Scalia died, depriving conservatives of a decisive fifth vote to strike down mandatory union fees. That gave the Liberty Justice Center, backed by Mr. Uihlein, a chance to try again.Few philanthropists have funded a more sweeping assault on labor than Mr. Uihlein, who with his wife, Elizabeth, founded a Wisconsin-based shipping supply company called Uline.Mr. Uihlein is an ardent conservative who considers many Republican office holders too moderate on fiscal and social issues, according to those who know him.“It’s not just politics for him,” said his friend Leonard A. Leo, the Federalist Society executive vice president, who declined to offer specifics on Mr. Uihlein’s views. “I think he is philosophically attuned to conservative ideas,” added Mr. Leo, whom the Trump White House enlisted to shepherd the Supreme Court nomination of Neil M. Gorsuch, Justice Scalia’s successor.The Uihleins have spent tens of millions of dollars over the past decade supporting Republican candidates and committees. That includes contributions to super PACs backing the 2016 presidential campaigns of Mr. Walker and Mr. Cruz, and at least $250,000 to help Mr. Walker survive a 2012 recall election. (Mr. Uihlein did not respond to a request for comment.)The Uihleins appear to be preoccupied with state employee pensions and the unions that negotiate them.“Bruce is the only one in the race who isn’t beholden to public-sector unions,” Mr. Uihlein said of Mr. Rauner, the year before his 2014 election as Illinois governor, in an interview with Crain’s Business Chicago. The Uihleins gave more than $2.5 million to his campaign.Justice Neil Gorsuch speaking in November before the Federalist Society, which seeks a judiciary aligned with conservative values. He filled the Supreme Court seat vacated by Justice Antonin Scalia, who died in 2016. Credit Sait Serkan Gurbuz/Associated PressMr. Rauner has been a major ally in the fight against public-sector unions. Shortly after taking office in 2015, he challenged the constitutionality of mandatory union fees in federal court.By the time a judge ruled that Mr. Rauner lacked standing for his lawsuit, the Illinois Policy Institute, which drew more than one-third of its $5.8 million in revenue that year from Mr. Uihlein’s foundation, had found a viable plaintiff to replace him: Mark Janus. The Liberty Justice Center and the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, which Mr. Uihlein also contributes to, represented Mr. Janus in court.Since then, the policy institute has sought to persuade state employees to leave their union through its mailing campaign. It said it had obtained employees’ names through Freedom of Information Act requests.Mr. Rauner’s administration has amplified the institute’s message, and vice versa. In an August 2016 email to state workers, the administration highlighted a benefit of giving up union membership and urged workers to visit a website that would help them do so. The policy institute soon promoted the same website and provided similar guidance in its mailings to state workers.Mr. Uihlein’s foundation has supplemented these efforts by supporting a nonprofit called Think Freely Media, which uses storytelling techniques to champion free-market ideas, including right-to-work laws. The Uihlein foundation contributed more than $1.5 million to Think Freely from 2014 to 2016, the last year for which tax records are available.At the center of this network is a longtime conservative activist named John Tillman, who serves as the chief executive of the Illinois Policy Institute as well as the chairman of the Liberty Justice Center and Think Freely Media.In an interview, Mr. Tillman, who managed a call center earlier in his career and talked up his “marketing-centric approach” to promoting free enterprise, said the institute is fighting the enormous power of union leaders but is not anti-union per se.“In the late 1800s, early 20th century, business owners had all the power, and workers had very little power,” he said. “Unions and collective bargaining emerged as a way to level the playing field. I think it was an amazing story of success.”But in other contexts, Mr. Tillman has been less conciliatory.In a fund-raising solicitation by the policy institute in December, Mr. Tillman claimed credit for helping more than 2,600 workers leave their union, resulting in a loss of $1.2 million in union revenue.“It’s time for Illinois to throw off the shackles of big labor and big government,” he wrote.“When you and I look around Illinois and see the devastation the union-dominated status quo has inflicted,” he continued, “we simply have no choice.”Follow Noam Scheiber and Kenneth P. Vogel on Twitter: @noamscheiber, @kenvogel==IPI CEO John Tillman. President of  the village of Golf, Illinois and go-to guy for Chicago reporters.

The Illinois Policy Institute is a right-wing anti-union front group

for the Illinois Republican Party Tea Party branch, parading as a think

tank.

During the Chicago teachers strike you couldn’t turn on your

television without seeing the guy who owns IPI, CEO John Tillman on a

panel or being interviewed. Even more than the Mayor or CPS board

President David Vitale (or the invisible CEO JC Brizard), Tillman became

the voice of the other side.

How?

The IPI played the Chicago reporters like a cheap piano.

A social media marketing blog, <a href="http://thefrontierlab.org/_blog/The_Frontier_Report_Blog/post/IPI_leverages_teachers_strike_to_crush_it_on_social_media/">The Frontier Lab</a>, reports.

<h3>Over the past month, IPI had been aggressively using social media to

capitalize on a local story that garnered national attention: the

Chicago Teachers Union strike.</h3>

<h3>Ryan Green, IPI’s Director of Digital Strategy, said that as a

result of their activity during this period, they have been able to

maintain a 40 percent increase in web traffic and an additional 2,000

followers on their organization’s twitter account. Perhaps even more

important, many of the additional followers are, according to Green,

“outside the echo chamber.”</h3>

<h3>Rather than simply pointing to policy papers, Green pursued an

aggressive and carefully crafted strategy to harness the news cycle, he

employed a tactic called “day parting,” where different content is

delivered at various times throughout the day. “It’s the way people

naturally consume content,” according to Green. “In the mornings, we

went for lighter, more positive content, but nighttime, or 8pm to 11pm,

was the best during the strike. I looked for highly retweetable content

and delivered what the media wasn’t.”</h3>

<h3>It turns out, the media was paying attention at that time as well.

“The media caught on, and we learned that they were retweeting at that

time–and that same content was making its way into news stories the next

day.” ESCALATOR</h3>

</blockquote>

IPI CEO Tillman doesn’t live in Chicago, of course. <a href="http://www.illinoispolicy.org/news/article.asp?ArticleSource=405">He is “President” of Golf, Illinois</a>, and former head of Americans for Limited Government.

<blockquote>After all, I’m the president of Golf, a very small

village north of Chicago with 453 people, 171 homes and a volunteer

government, We have a police force, a part-time village administrator,

and well, that’s about it.</blockquote>

What an obvious go-to guy for any reporter who is interested in good Chicago schools.