Adam Smith Fdn

not to be confused with adam smith inst in london (JA)

=actual guy
adam smith and the birth of the free mkt ilan ziv<a href="https://kpfa.org/episode/rising-up-with-sonali-may-24-2017/">https://kpfa.org/episode/rising-up-with-sonali-may-24-2017/</a>cortez gambler, hopelessly in deby, so rolled dice on expedition; charged men for all including medical care, cut them out of spoils, they were going to kill him but he made them governors and gave then 10 yrs to extract.silver --> demand for uk wool, --> enclosure --> poor ppl in cities --> labor mktfarmers aren't really consumers: make own food and fun.----hmn<a href="http://exiledonline.com/recovered-economic-history-everyone-but-an-idiot-knows-that-the-lower-classes-must-be-kept-poor-or-they-will-never-be-industrious/">http://exiledonline.com/recovered-economic-history-everyone-but-an-idiot-knows-that-the-lower-classes-must-be-kept-poor-or-they-will-never-be-industrious/</a>freedom pac?
2014 Smith Foundation <div data-canvas-width="132.00000000000003" style="left: 157.668px; top: 368.262px; font-size: 20px; font-family: monospace; transform: scaleX(1);">P O Box 21 </div><div data-canvas-width="287.9999999999999" style="left: 157.668px; top: 389.362px; font-size: 20px; font-family: monospace; transform: scaleX(1);">Jefferson City, MO 65102
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                <div class="careof"><font size="4">Contact: Thomas J Shupe Jr</font></div><font size="4">===<br /><a href="http://littlesis.org/org/52342/Adam_Smith_Foundation">http://littlesis.org/org/52342/Adam_Smith_Foundation</a><br /><br /></font><div id="relationship_tabs_content">

Leadership & Staff  

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<a title="view profile" href="http://littlesis.org/person/52343/John_Elliott">John Elliott</a>

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<a title="view profile" href="http://littlesis.org/person/52344/Thomas_J_Shupe%2C_Jr">Thomas J Shupe, Jr</a>

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<a title="view profile" href="http://littlesis.org/person/52345/William_Clark_Hardin_IV">William Clark Hardin IV</a>

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<a title="view profile" href="http://littlesis.org/person/52346/Kurt_Killen">Kurt Killen</a>

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</div>=

<a>Samuel Graves</a><a>
Mitt Romney</a><a>
Blaine Luetkemeyer</a><a>
John McCain
</a><a>Roy Blunt
</a><a>David W Fischer
</a><a>Patrick Joseph Toomey
</a><a>James Demint
</a><a>Rick Perry</a><a>
Steven E Ehlmann</a></div>

<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Smith_Foundation">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Smith_Foundation</a>

This article concerns the Adam Smith Foundation based in the state of Missouri in the United States, as opposed to the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Adam_smith_foundation_%28glasgow%29&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Adam smith foundation (glasgow) (page does not exist)">Adam Smith Foundation</a> based at the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Glasgow" title="University of Glasgow">University of Glasgow</a> in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scotland" title="Scotland">Scotland</a>.

The Adam Smith Foundation is a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/501%28c%29%284%29" title="501(c)(4)" class="mw-redirect">501(c)(4)</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conservative" title="Conservative" class="mw-redirect">conservative</a>

advocacy organization that focuses on the issues of right to work,

education reform, balanced budget amendment, judicial reform, and tax

reform.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Smith_Foundation#cite_note-1">[1]</a>

<h2>Contents</h2>

</div></div><div id="toc" class="toc">

<ul><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-1"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Smith_Foundation#Organization">1 Organization</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-2"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Smith_Foundation#Objectives">2 Objectives</a>

<ul><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-3"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Smith_Foundation#Judicial_Reform">2.1 Judicial Reform</a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-4"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Smith_Foundation#Right_to_Work">2.2 Right to Work</a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-5"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Smith_Foundation#Tax_Reform">2.3 Tax Reform</a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-6"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Smith_Foundation#Education_Reform">2.4 Education Reform</a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-7"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Smith_Foundation#Smaller_Government">2.5 Smaller Government</a></li></ul>

</li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-8"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Smith_Foundation#Criticism">3 Criticism</a>

<ul><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-9"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Smith_Foundation#Involvement_with_California.27s_Proposition_23">3.1 Involvement with California's Proposition 23</a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-10"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Smith_Foundation#Fight_against_the_Missouri_Plan">3.2 Fight against the Missouri Plan</a></li></ul>

</li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-11"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Smith_Foundation#References">4 References</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-12"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Smith_Foundation#External_links">5 External links</a></li></ul>

</div>

<h2>Organization</h2>

The Adam Smith Foundation was formed as a nonprofit corporation in the State of Missouri on February 21, 2007. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Smith_Foundation#cite_note-2">[2]</a> Jo Mannies, in a blog entry in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Louis_Post_Dispatch" title="St. Louis Post Dispatch" class="mw-redirect">St. Louis Post Dispatch</a>, noted that the organization was founded by a group of Missouri Republican activists.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Smith_Foundation#cite_note-3">[3]</a>

The President of the Adam Smith Foundation is William Clark "Buddy" Hardin IV of St. Charles, Missouri.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Smith_Foundation#cite_note-4">[4]</a> The Twitter handle for the Adam Smith Foundation is @adamsmithfndn.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Smith_Foundation#cite_note-5">[5]</a>

<h2>Objectives</h2>

<h3>Judicial Reform</h3>

The Adam Smith Foundation opposes the process by which Missouri's

appellate judges are appointed, believing it gives too much influence to

plaintiffs' attorneys. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Smith_Foundation#cite_note-6">[6]</a> This process is known as the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missouri_plan" title="Missouri plan" class="mw-redirect">"Missouri Nonpartisan Court Plan,"</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Smith_Foundation#cite_note-7">[7]</a> and the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missouri_Plan" title="Missouri Plan">Missouri Plan</a>. Shortly after its launch the Foundation sponsored a series of radio ads<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Smith_Foundation#cite_note-8">[8]</a> and billboards critical of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missouri_Plan" title="Missouri Plan">Missouri Plan</a> method for the nonpartisan selection of judges.

<h3>Right to Work</h3>

The Adam Smith Foundation supports "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right_to_Work" title="Right to Work" class="mw-redirect">Right to Work</a>," the principle that employees should not be forced to join unions or to pay union dues.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Smith_Foundation#cite_note-9">[9]</a>

<h3>Tax Reform</h3>

The Adam Smith Foundation believes in low taxes and making sure that

the government lives within its means. In an Op-Ed piece published in

the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southeast_Missourian" title="Southeast Missourian">Southeast Missourian</a>,

John Elliott, the President of the Adam Smith Foundation, argued that

the recent state surplus should be given back to the public either

through tax cuts or through a large refund.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Smith_Foundation#cite_note-10">[10]</a>

In an op-ed printed in the St. Louis Business Journal, former

Foundation Secretary Tom Shupe Jr. argued that the earnings tax levied

in the cities of St. Louis and Kansas City should be repealed, writing,

"I think it is time we get rid of the unnecessary burden of an earnings

tax and get our state back on the track to prosperity."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Smith_Foundation#cite_note-11">[11]</a>

<h3>Education Reform</h3>

The Adam Smith Foundation supports efforts to expand <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/School_choice" title="School choice">school choice</a>, the concept of providing tax credits as a means of improving education opportunities to students.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Smith_Foundation#cite_note-12">[12]</a>

<h3>Smaller Government</h3>

One of the Foundation's stated goals is to promote smaller

government, noting that they "will push for efforts to rein in

regulatory growth and fight government overreach."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Smith_Foundation#cite_note-13">[13]</a>

In 2009, the Foundation stood against the Affordable Care Act and

instead advocated for a market-based approach to healthcare reform. The

organization's former Secretary, Tom Shupe, wrote, "Why not focus on

making the existing system better by letting doctors and other health

care professionals, not politicians, tell us what works?"<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Smith_Foundation#cite_note-14">[14]</a>

In 2010, the Foundation attracted attention by contributing nearly half a million dollars to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Proposition_23_%282010%29" title="California Proposition 23 (2010)">California's Proposition 23</a>

effort, which would have suspended stricter greenhouse gas emissions

standards until California's unemployment rate dropped below 5.5% for a

full year. The Foundation's Executive Director said that the Foundation

contributed to the effort over fears that stricter air quality standards

in California would have an impact on Missouri, remarking, "Craziness

out in California will have an impact here in Missouri."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Smith_Foundation#cite_note-15">[15]</a>

In 2013, the Foundation was opposed to efforts that would have

changed franchise law in Missouri to protect one company's market share.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Smith_Foundation#cite_note-16">[16]</a>

<h2>Criticism</h2>

<h3>Involvement with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Proposition_23_%282010%29" title="California Proposition 23 (2010)">California's Proposition 23</a></h3>

The Adam Smith Foundation's contribution of $498,000 in support of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Proposition_23_%282010%29" title="California Proposition 23 (2010)">California's Proposition 23</a>

led to questions from members of the press. Columnist Michael Hiltzik

of The Los Angeles Times interviewed both Foundation president John

Elliott and its executive director, James Harris, regarding the

contributions, writing, "Harris and Elliott both went out of their way,

curiously, to mention the effect environmental regulations have on coal.

'Anything to do with energy affects Missouri, No. 1 because we rely

heavily on coal,' Elliott said. Harris observed, 'We in Missouri

generate 80% of our electricity from coal.'"<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Smith_Foundation#cite_note-17">[17]</a>

SFGate published a similar story questioning the contribution, writing

that the organization's then-President "said the money came from about

10 individuals and described them as 'an alliance of like-minded

individuals who had this issue as an interest.'" <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Smith_Foundation#cite_note-18">[18]</a>

<h3>Fight against the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missouri_Plan" title="Missouri Plan">Missouri Plan</a></h3>

In 2007, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Springfield_News-Leader" title="Springfield News-Leader">Springfield News-Leader</a>

ran a column accusing the foundation of engaging in a misleading

billboard campaign regarding their perception that use of the Missouri

Plan had allowed for the appointment of "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Activist_judges" title="Activist judges" class="mw-redirect">activist judges</a>."

The column noted that the billboards prompted between 25 and 40 calls

to a Springfield attorney who is a member of the state's Appellate

Judicial Commission, which is in charge of choosing nominees for the

state's Supreme Court and appellate courts. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Smith_Foundation#cite_note-19">[19]</a>

<h2>References</h2>

<ol class="references"><li id="cite_note-1">
</li></ol></div><div id="bodyContent" class="mw-body-content"><li id="cite_note-1"> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.adamsmithfoundation.com">The Adam Smith Foundation</a></li>

<li id="cite_note-2">
</li><li id="cite_note-2"> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://bsd.sos.mo.gov/Common/CorrespondenceItemViewHandler.ashx?IsTIFF=true&filedDocumentid=4472473&version=1">Missouri Secretary of State Business Filings</a></li>

<li id="cite_note-3">
</li><li id="cite_note-3"> <cite class="citation web">Jo Mannies (2007-08-15). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20071014170623/http://www.stltoday.com/blogs/news-politicalfix/2007/08/adam-smith-group-launching-radio-ads-against-judges">"Adam Smith group launching radio ads against judges"</a>. St. Louis Post Dispatch. Retrieved 2015-04-09.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AAdam+Smith+Foundation&rft.au=Jo+Mannies&rft.btitle=Adam+Smith+group+launching+radio+ads+against+judges&rft.date=2007-08-15&rft.genre=unknown&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fweb.archive.org%2Fweb%2F20071014170623%2Fhttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.stltoday.com%2Fblogs%2Fnews-politicalfix%2F2007%2F08%2Fadam-smith-group-launching-radio-ads-against-judges&rft.pub=St.+Louis+Post+Dispatch&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook" class="Z3988" /></li>

<li id="cite_note-4">
</li><li id="cite_note-4"> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://bsd.sos.mo.gov/Common/CorrespondenceItemViewHandler.ashx?IsTIFF=true&filedDocumentid=10114583&version=1">Missouri Secretary of State Nonprofit Corporation Details</a></li>

<li id="cite_note-5">
</li><li id="cite_note-5"> <cite class="citation web"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://twitter.com/AdamSmithFndn">"Adam Smith Foundation Twitter page"</a>. Retrieved 2015-04-10.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AAdam+Smith+Foundation&rft.btitle=Adam+Smith+Foundation+Twitter+page&rft.genre=unknown&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2FAdamSmithFndn&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook" class="Z3988" /></li>

<li id="cite_note-6">
</li><li id="cite_note-6"> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.adamsmithfoundation.com/press_detail.php?id=2">Adam Smith Foundation - "Missouri Compromised"</a></li>

<li id="cite_note-7">
</li><li id="cite_note-7"> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.courts.mo.gov/page.asp?id=297">Missouri Nonpartisan Court Plan</a> Your Missouri Courts</li>

<li id="cite_note-8">
</li><li id="cite_note-8"> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.missourinet.com/gestalt/go.cfm?objectid=AD8639ED-D659-7DCE-CD707F1396AA625D">Missourinet: Quiet Process of Choosing Supreme Court Judge Anything But</a></li>

<li id="cite_note-9">
</li><li id="cite_note-9"> <cite class="citation web"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.adamsmithfoundation.com/unions.php">"Standing Against Forced Unionization"</a>. www.adamsmithfoundation.com. The Adam Smith Foundation. Retrieved 2015-04-10.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AAdam+Smith+Foundation&rft.atitle=Standing+Against+Forced+Unionization&rft.genre=unknown&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.adamsmithfoundation.com%2Funions.php&rft.jtitle=www.adamsmithfoundation.com&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal" class="Z3988" /></li>

<li id="cite_note-10">
</li><li id="cite_note-10"> John Elliott. "Excessive Tax Haul Belongs to the People." <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southeast_Missourian" title="Southeast Missourian">Southeast Missourian</a> July 21, 2007.</li>

<li id="cite_note-11">
</li><li id="cite_note-11"> <cite class="citation web">Shupe, Jr., Tom (September 26, 2010). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/stories/2010/09/27/editorial4.html">"The earnings tax: An unnecessary burden"</a>. www.bizjournals.com/stlouis. St. Louis Business Journal.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AAdam+Smith+Foundation&rft.atitle=The+earnings+tax%3A+An+unnecessary+burden&rft.aufirst=Tom&rft.aulast=Shupe%2C+Jr.&rft.date=2010-09-26&rft.genre=unknown&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bizjournals.com%2Fstlouis%2Fstories%2F2010%2F09%2F27%2Feditorial4.html&rft.jtitle=www.bizjournals.com%2Fstlouis&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal" class="Z3988" /></li>

<li id="cite_note-12">
</li><li id="cite_note-12"> <cite class="citation web"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.adamsmithfoundation.com/education.php">"Education Reform"</a>. www.adamsmithfoundation.com. The Adam Smith Foundation. Retrieved 2015-04-10.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AAdam+Smith+Foundation&rft.atitle=Education+Reform&rft.genre=unknown&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.adamsmithfoundation.com%2Feducation.php&rft.jtitle=www.adamsmithfoundation.com&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal" class="Z3988" /></li>

<li id="cite_note-13">
</li><li id="cite_note-13"> <cite class="citation web"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.adamsmithfoundation.com/governmentOverreach.php">"Fighting Government Overreach"</a>. www.adamsmithfoundation.com. The Adam Smith Foundation. Retrieved 2015-04-10.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AAdam+Smith+Foundation&rft.atitle=Fighting+Government+Overreach&rft.genre=unknown&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.adamsmithfoundation.com%2FgovernmentOverreach.php&rft.jtitle=www.adamsmithfoundation.com&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal" class="Z3988" /></li>

<li id="cite_note-14">
</li><li id="cite_note-14"> <cite class="citation web">Shupe, Jr., Tom (September 4, 2009). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.semissourian.com/story/1567639.html">"Opinion: What did they expect?"</a>. www.semissourian.com. Southeast Missourian.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AAdam+Smith+Foundation&rft.atitle=Opinion%3A+What+did+they+expect%3F&rft.aufirst=Tom&rft.aulast=Shupe%2C+Jr.&rft.date=2009-09-04&rft.genre=unknown&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.semissourian.com%2Fstory%2F1567639.html&rft.jtitle=www.semissourian.com&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal" class="Z3988" /></li>

<li id="cite_note-15">
</li><li id="cite_note-15"> <cite class="citation web">Meinzer, Melissa (August 11, 2010). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://blogs.riverfronttimes.com/dailyrft/2010/08/why_do_missouri_conservatives_care_about_california_law.php">"Why Do Missouri Conservatives Care About California Law?"</a>. www.dailyrft.com. Riverfront Times. Retrieved 2015-04-10.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AAdam+Smith+Foundation&rft.atitle=Why+Do+Missouri+Conservatives+Care+About+California+Law%3F&rft.aufirst=Melissa&rft.aulast=Meinzer&rft.date=2010-08-11&rft.genre=unknown&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fblogs.riverfronttimes.com%2Fdailyrft%2F2010%2F08%2Fwhy_do_missouri_conservatives_care_about_california_law.php&rft.jtitle=www.dailyrft.com&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal" class="Z3988" /></li>

<li id="cite_note-16">
</li><li id="cite_note-16"> <cite class="citation web">Hennessy, William (April 22, 2013). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://hennessysview.com/2013/04/22/the-gop-missouri-legislature-is-about-to-give-a-monopoly-to-a-major-democrat-donor/">"The GOP Missouri Legislature Is About To Give A Monopoly To A Major Democrat Donor"</a>. www.hennessysview.com. Hennessy's View. Retrieved 2015-04-09.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AAdam+Smith+Foundation&rft.atitle=The+GOP+Missouri+Legislature+Is+About+To+Give+A+Monopoly+To+A+Major+Democrat+Donor&rft.aufirst=William&rft.aulast=Hennessy&rft.date=2013-04-22&rft.genre=unknown&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fhennessysview.com%2F2013%2F04%2F22%2Fthe-gop-missouri-legislature-is-about-to-give-a-monopoly-to-a-major-democrat-donor%2F&rft.jtitle=www.hennessysview.com&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal" class="Z3988" /></li>

<li id="cite_note-17">
</li><li id="cite_note-17"> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://articles.latimes.com/2010/aug/13/business/la-fi-hiltzik-20100813">Trying to shed light on a shadowy figure in Proposition 23 battle</a> Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, August 13, 2010</li>

<li id="cite_note-18">
</li><li id="cite_note-18"> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.sfgate.com/green/article/Missouri-conservative-group-fights-for-Prop-23-3256632.php">Missouri conservative group fights for Prop. 23</a> Wyatt Buchanan, SFGate.com, August 8, 2010</li>

<li id="cite_note-19">
</li><div class="reflist" style="list-style-type: decimal;"><ol class="references"><li value="19" id="cite_note-19"> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://archive.news-leader.com/article/20070805/COLUMNISTS20/708050368/Adam-Smith-Foundation-trying-hoodwink-voters">Column: Adam Smith Foundation Trying to Hoodwink Voters</a> Springfield News-Leader, August 4, 2007</li></ol>

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<h2>External links</h2><div id="mw-content-text" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr" lang="en">

<ul><li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.adamsmithfoundation.com/">The Adam Smith Foundation website</a></li><li><a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_15010938">[1]</a> San Jose, CA Mercury News: "Opponents of California global warming law turn in signatures for November measure"</li><li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://articles.latimes.com/2010/aug/13/business/la-fi-hiltzik-20100813">Los Angeles Times</a> "Trying to shed light on a shadowy figure in Proposition 23 battle"</li></ul>

</div>

    <div id="catlinks" class="catlinks" data-mw="interface"><div id="mw-normal-catlinks" class="mw-normal-catlinks"><font size="4"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:Category" title="Help:Category">Categories</a>: </font><ul><li><font size="4"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Political_advocacy_groups_in_the_United_States" title="Category:Political advocacy groups in the United States">Political advocacy groups in the United States</a></font></li><li><font size="4"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Foundations_based_in_the_United_States" title="Category:Foundations based in the United States">Foundations based in the United States</a></font></li><li><font size="4"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:501%28c%29%284%29_nonprofit_organizations" title="Category:501(c)(4) nonprofit organizations">501(c)(4) nonprofit organizations</a></font></li></ul></div></div></div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">

<div class="mod-latarticlesarticlepagebreadcrumb mod-articlepagebreadcrumb mod-breadcrumb" id="mod-breadcrumb"><a href="http://articles.latimes.com/">s</a>→<a href="http://articles.latimes.com/keyword/business">Business</a></div>

</div>

<h1>Trying to shed light on a shadowy figure in Proposition 23 battle</h1>

<h2>The Adam Smith Foundation in Missouri has donated $498,000 to support the ballot measure that would suspend the state's climate-change law, but attempts to ferret out the real sources prove futile.</h2>

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<div class="mod-latarticlesarticlebyline mod-articlebyline" id="mod-article-byline">August 13, 2010|Michael Hiltzik</div>

Since last spring, the outstanding riddle of the campaign for Proposition 23 has involved one of its leading donors, the mysterious <a href="http://adamsmithfoundation.com/index.php">Adam Smith Foundation</a> of Jefferson City, Mo.

<a href="http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-hiltzik-20100727%2C0%2C1359956.column">Proposition 23</a> is the November ballot initiative aimed at overthrowing AB 32, the state's pioneering regulation of emissions of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide. Most of the money pushing the initiative has come from the oil industry, the primary target of AB 32.

</div>

</div>

And most of those donors are out in the open, appearing by name in campaign disclosures — they include Tesoro Corp. ($525,000), Valero Energy Corp. (more than $4 million so far) and Occidental Petroleum Corp. ($300,000).

One can't say the same about the backers of the Adam Smith Foundation, which contributed $498,000 to the <a href="http://www.yeson23.com/">Yes on 23</a> folks back in April. You might think this signified that the foundation had a pantload of cash to throw around, but no. On Dec. 31, four months before making the contribution, it had $109 in its bank account.

Who put up the money for the Proposition 23 donation remains a mystery, although the opposition side suggests that it came from the coal and utility industries.

Should we care about such anonymity? Of course we should.

There's nothing wrong with anonymity — in its place. For instance, many people engage in discourse and commerce on the Internet anonymously (assuming the websites they're dealing with have any scruples) for sound personal reasons.

Political campaigns are a different story. When money comes into an election by the carload, in a quantity that might help swing the result, it's not only useful for the public to know the source — it's essential. That's especially true when the motivations of the putative source are ambiguous.

In that vein, let's take a look at the Adam Smith Foundation.

The organization was established in 2007 by a group of conservative political activists, some of whom were associated with former <a href="http://www.firedupmissouri.com/roe_harris_adam_smith_foundation">Missouri Gov. Matthew Blunt</a> (whose father is Roy Blunt, the former House Republican leader currently running for U.S. Senate).

Its guiding spirit is <a href="http://www.thejharriscompany.com/staff.php">James Harris,</a> a political consultant in the Missouri capital, who says he was driven to found the group by "a need to have right-of-center organizations to counter the aggressive policies of the left, radicals like George Soros, and their ideas that are truly in contradiction to free markets."

<h1 class="entry-header"><a rel="bookmark" title="Michael Hiltzik: Adam Smith Foundation, meet Adam Smith" href="http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/money_co/2010/08/michael-hiltzik-adam-smith-foundation-meet-adam-smith.html">Michael Hiltzik: Adam Smith Foundation, meet Adam Smith</a></h1>

<a href="http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/money_co/2010/08/michael-hiltzik-adam-smith-foundation-meet-adam-smith.html">http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/money_co/2010/08/michael-hiltzik-adam-smith-foundation-meet-adam-smith.html</a>

<div class="time" style=" margin-bottom: 8px;">August 14, 2010 | 10:54 am</div>

In the Woody Allen movie <a target="_blank" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091167/">"Hannah and her Sisters,"</a> the dour character played by Max von Sydow remarks, "If Jesus Christ ever came back and saw what was going on in his name, he'd never stop throwing up."

You could easily drop Adam Smith's name into that line. As my Sunday column observes, the latest outfit to appropriate the name of the 18th century Scottish philosopher is the Adam Smith Foundation, a front group for right-wingers operating out of Missouri.

Smith's landmark work, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.econlib.org/library/Smith/smWN.html">"The Wealth of Nations,"</a> is a beacon for conservative activists, especially those who haven’t read it. They think of Smith’s economics as beginning and ending with the laissez-faire tenet that all government interference in the market, like taxation, is bad. But as the conservative intellectual Garry Wills has written, that merely confines Smith in “the prison of his popular reputation as the rationalizer of greed.”

Why did the promoters of the foundation choose Smith as their mascot? "He's the person who's viewed as the founder of capitalism," its president, John Elliott, told me, "and most of our efforts are about the free market and supply-side economics." Its founder, James Harris, told me he and his chums were kicking around possible names, and he remembered that he had acquired an Adam Smith tie at some conservative/libertarian event.

The historical Smith -- not the cartoon Smith of Elliott and Harris -- emerged from the mainstream of Enlightenment philosophy, and "The Wealth of Nations" is part of a vast intellectual undertaking that strove to encompass all of human nature. It's too easy to forget that his first major work was "The Theory of Moral Sentiments," an examination of fellow-feeling and the spirit of cooperativeness.

You won’t find any of Smith’s words on the foundation’s website, as far as I can tell, except for a single anti-tax quote taken out of context from "The Wealth of Nations": "There is no art which one government sooner learns of another than that of draining money from the pockets of other people.” It's unsurprising that you won't find this other quote, found in the same section of the same book: "The subjects of every state ought to contribute towards the support of the government, as nearly as possible, in proportion to their respective abilities."

Oh, Adam Smith, the mischief done in your name!

The column begins below.

And most of those donors are out in the open, appearing by name in campaign disclosures — they include Tesoro Corp. ($525,000), Valero Energy Corp. (more than $4 million so far) and Occidental Petroleum Corp. ($300,000).

One can't say the same about the backers of the Adam Smith Foundation, which contributed $498,000 to the <a href="http://www.yeson23.com/">Yes on 23 </a>folks back in April. You might think this signified that the foundation had a pantload of cash to throw around, but no. On Dec. 31, four months before making the contribution, it had $109 in its bank account.

</blockquote>

...

<div class="mod-latarticlesarticletext mod-articletext" id="mod-a-body-first-para">I asked him why the foundation got involved in California. "When you look at — no offense — liberal politicians out there running California into the ground, often crazy radical ideas start in California and start moving," he said. (No offense, but the environmental program that Proposition 23 would overturn is a pet project of our Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.)</div>

</div>

"California has some pretty crazy lawmakers who want to attack families' and individuals' opportunities to provide for themselves, and these are disastrous ideas," Harris continued. "We want to make sure these types of ideas out West do not take hold.

I'm not so convinced the foundation's interest is so principled. Until now, it confined itself to a couple of local issues in Missouri. It spent $4,000 last year to support a proposal to kill the state's nonpartisan judge-selection process in favor of one subject to more political wrangling, and $2,500 to defeat a 63-cent tax levy in a local school district. The year before that it raised $30,000, made a single $2,000 grant, and spent $22,500 on professional fees and payments to "independent contractors."

The foundation's president, John Elliott, told me the Proposition 23 campaign is its first venture outside Missouri. He said the money for the donation came from "fewer than 10 individuals, not industry or corporations." He said the foundation's involvement in the California campaign was initiated by the donors, not the foundation's four-member board.

Who in Missouri could have an interest in killing a California greenhouse gas program? Harris and Elliott both went out of their way, curiously, to mention the effect environmental regulations have on coal. "Anything to do with energy affects Missouri, No. 1 because we rely heavily on coal," Elliott said. Harris observed, "We in Missouri generate 80% of our electricity from coal."

The No on 23 campaign points out that Ohio-based <a href="http://www.ohiovalleycoal.com/index.shtml">Murray Energy</a> Corp., which bills itself as the nation's largest privately owned coal company, has contributed $30,000 to the Proposition 23 campaign. It also turned up the fact that several utilities are clients of a <a href="http://www.inside-info.com/content.cfm%3Fid=2008">marketing and website design firm</a> run by Elliott and his wife.

When I asked Elliott about that, he repeated that the money funneled to Proposition 23 "is not industry money, it is not corporation money."

Elliott and Harris refused to identify the donors by name, citing the anonymity granted to donors of tax-exempt foundations under section 501(c) 4 of federal tax law. Lobbying organizations subject to that section are tax-exempt, but donations to them generally aren't tax-deductible.

As it happens, the foundation's tax-exempt status has been questioned by state Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) and Assembly Speaker John Perez (D-Los Angeles). Earlier this month, they asked U.S. Atty. Gen. Eric Holder to investigate whether the foundation abused its tax exemption by contributing to the Proposition 23 campaign.

-----

James Harris has been a political strategist for several years and has worked on campaigns at the local, state, and national levels. He founded The J. Harris Company, LLC, to specialize in general political consulting, corporate and governmental relations, and grassroots solutions.

Most recently Harris served as an international election observer in Mongolia working to ensure fairness in their presidential election. This past year Harris managed the only successful statewide campaign in Missouri for Lt. Governor Peter Kinder. He also worked as an advisor to Congressman Blaine Luetkemeyer (MO-9) and served as his transition director. In addition, Harris served on the national finance committee for U.S. Senator John McCain’s presidential campaign. Before starting the company, Harris was appointed by Governor Blunt to serve as his Director of Boards and Commissions during his transition period in 2004. In this position, Harris oversaw more than 200 boards for which the Missouri Governor is the appointing authority. In addition to these appointments, Harris made all recommendations for judicial appointments. Through Governor-Elect Blunt's transition, Harris oversaw the initial hiring and placement for the administration as well as working with various task forces to select members of the Governor’s cabinet. During his tenure, more than 700 individuals were appointed by the governor to state boards and commissions.

In 2004, Harris was recruited to serve as Political Director on Matt Blunt's gubernatorial campaign. Harris hired and managed the field staff, created a grassroots organization around the state, assembled coalitions, identified county coordinators, worked on voter registration and identification. In November 2004, Blunt was elected by winning 101 of 114 counties—with overwhelming performance in many out-state counties. In his election night victory speech, Governor-Elect Blunt thanked Harris first for building an exceptional grassroots organization. Prior to working for Governor’s campaign, Harris was Chief of Staff to Congressman John Carter (TX-31) after managing Carter’s successful campaign in an eight way Republican primary.

Harris has a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Finance from Saint Louis University. Harris resides in Jefferson City, Missouri with his wife Jillian and their daughter Margaux.

</div>

<center><a href="http://www.thejharriscompany.com/content/JamesDF.jpg">High resolution portrait</a></center>

</div>

<h1 class="staff_name">Jillian C. Harris</h1>

Prior to starting her own government relations and political fundraising firm, Harris began her lobbying career in Missouri working for several clients as a member of the Jefferson City firm Patek & Associates. She also managed the fundraising and grassroots operations of Election Day Enterprises, LLC, a campaign consulting and fundraising firm in Jefferson City.

During that tenure, she helped obtain $1 million in additional funding for the UMKC School of Dentistry for additional clinical staffing and $250,000 in funding for Dental Hygienist Distance Learning Committee. In her efforts for Southeast Missouri State University, she worked to secure $17.2 million to fund renovation and construction of an addition at their River Campus, $4.5 million to build their business incubator facility, and over $2.6 million for a new autism center. Harris also coordinated statewide communications and grassroots efforts with The Direct Impact Company in an effort to assist Sikorsky Corporation with the promotion of their new VH-92 presidential demonstrator helicopter. Further, she organized facility tours and briefings for several HealthSouth surgery centers with key leaders of both legislative chambers as well as intensive life sciences briefings with more than 30 members of the General Assembly at the Stowers Institute.

Harris has experience working on behalf of Republican candidates throughout the state of Missouri. In 2008 Harris led the fundraising operations of Congressman Blaine Luetkemeyer, Senators Bill Stouffer and Jane Cunningham, as well as Representatives Mark Bruns and Mike Lair. In the 2006 election cycle, she coordinated fundraising for Senators Norma Champion and Brad Lager. In 2004, she handled fundraising efforts for Senators Chuck Gross, Charlie Shields, David Klindt, Bill Stouffer, and Chuck Purgason and for Representatives Tom Dempsey and Brad Lager. She also assisted in fundraising and grassroots efforts for Governor Matt Blunt and the Missouri Republican Party. Also during the 2004 election cycle, Harris served as a political consultant to the Committee to Improve Missouri’s Roads and Bridges, which passed Constitutional Amendment 3 with notable success. Past municipal clients include the cities of Riverside and Excelsior Springs.

Previously Harris worked as an intern in the Virginia General Assembly for Senate President Pro Tem and Appropriations Chair John Chichester assisting in his constituent services, legislative tracking, and scheduling needs. She returned to Missouri in 2003 to serve in the office of then Secretary of State Matt Blunt’s Chief Deputy.

Harris graduated magna cum laude from the University of Richmond, Virginia with a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Studies with a Concentration in World Politics and Diplomacy and a minor in Anthropology.

</div>

elliot has website 404 http://www.inside-info.com/content.cfm%3Fid=2008

works: http://www.inside-info.com/

clients are electric utilities

Domain Name: INSIDE-INFO.COM

Registrar: NETWORK SOLUTIONS, LLC.

Whois Server: whois.networksolutions.com

Referral URL: http://www.networksolutions.com

Name Server: NS1.LNHI.NET

Name Server: NS2.LNHI.NET

Status: clientTransferProhibited

Updated Date: 04-oct-2006

Creation Date: 16-sep-1997

Expiration Date: 15-sep-2011

</pre>

<pre>Domain Name: ADAMSMITHFOUNDATION.COM

Registrar: GODADDY.COM, INC.

Whois Server: whois.godaddy.com

Referral URL: http://registrar.godaddy.com

Name Server: NS57.1AND1.COM

Name Server: NS58.1AND1.COM

Status: clientDeleteProhibited

Status: clientRenewProhibited

Status: clientTransferProhibited

Status: clientUpdateProhibited

Updated Date: 19-feb-2009

Creation Date: 12-feb-2007

Expiration Date: 12-feb-2011

===
blog

</pre><h3 class="postTitle" id="a2359925">

      
      
      
      
      
      
        Missouri's Adam Smith Foundation raises eyebrows with $500K donation to stop tougher California pollution laws

      
    </font></h3>

    
      <h4 class="postedBy"><font size="4">
        
        Posted
        
          
          By <a href="http://www.pitch.com/kansascity/ArticleArchives?author=2125654" rel="author">Ben Palosaari</a>
        
        
          
            on <span class="postTime">Mon, Aug 30, 2010</span> at <span class="postTime"> 3:55 PM</span></font>
          
        
      </h4>

      
        
        
        <div class="contentImageRight" style="width:160px;">              
              
                <font size="4"><span class="clicktozoom">click to enlarge</span>
                <a href="http://media2.fdncms.com/pitch/imager/springfields-adam-smith-foundation-found-plenty-of-cash-for-a-california-c/u/original/2574834/bills.jpg" class="zoomable" rel="contentImg_gal-2359925" title="Springfield's Adam Smith Foundation found plenty of cash for a California cause."><img src="http://media2.fdncms.com/pitch/imager/springfields-adam-smith-foundation-found-plenty-of-cash-for-a-california-c/u/story/2574834/bills.jpg" alt="Springfield's Adam Smith Foundation found plenty of cash for a California cause." height="144" width="160" /></a></font>
              
            
            
            
              
              <ul style="width:160px;overflow:hidden;margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto;"><li class="imageCaption"><font size="4">
                      Springfield's Adam Smith Foundation found plenty of cash for a California cause.
                    </font></li></ul>
            
            
                   
            </div><p><font size="4">The Adam Smith Foundation, a conservative,

Jefferson City-based political nonprofit started by some of Matt Blunt's

pals in 2007, just wrote a $498,000 check to California political cause

Yes On 23, which is trying to stop California's tougher pollution

regulations. Now a whole lot of people are asking questions of Adam

Smith.

The mystery at the center of the uproar is why a

political group that has never engaged in any action beyond the state

border is suddenly sending oodles of cash out west.

          
          
            <font size="4"><a name="more" /><a name="more">
            </a></font><p><font size="4"><a name="more"><br />Yes On 23 is a campaign group stockpiling money to

promote Proposition 23, which would delay and alter the state's tough

pollution laws soon to</a>

take effect. It's a favorite cause of oil and coal companies because AB 32,

the law Yes On 23 wants to deep-six, puts strict regulations on

emissions, which energy companies (and people who enjoy electricity in

their homes) kinda put out a lot of. Los Angeles Times columnist Micheal

Hiltzik started asking questions a couple of weeks ago, and he

<a name="more">found some </a><a href="http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-hiltzik-20100813,0,1163344.column">interesting</a>

stuff.

It seems highly suspicious that a foundation with barely

had enough cash to stuff a piggy bank -- $109.09 -- last December, only

four months before jettisoning the $498,000. Hiltzik implies that the

coal industry's smeary black fingerprints are all over this

money.

But the Adam Smith Foundation doesn't have to say who donated

the cash because the foundation is a 501(c)4. Their president, John

Elliott, did tell Hiltzik (and later, the <a href="http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/article_4fe07474-8717-5fce-bfb8-e6521aad53eb.html">St.</a><a href="http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/article_4fe07474-8717-5fce-bfb8-e6521aad53eb.html">

</a><a href="http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/article_4fe07474-8717-5fce-bfb8-e6521aad53eb.html">Louis Post-Dispatch</a>) that the dough destined for Sacramento came

from "fewer than 10 individuals, not industry or corporations." Maybe

some of their loaded friends got juicy Christmas bonuses.

But it

also seems odd that the folks at Adam Smith scrounged up half a mil for a

cause that has nothing to do with Missouri, while their in-state

generosity hasn't approached the levels of cash Yes On 23 stuffed its

coffers with. According to IRS filings, the group dished out grants

totaling $0,  $2,000, and $6,500 in 2007, 2008 and 2009 respectively. At

its peak, the foundation had revenues of $58,350 back in 2007.

Further

more, Elliott says this is the first time that the Adam Smith Foundation

has ventured beyond the Show Me State to take political action. Hiltzik

summarizes the alarming situation aptly: "...the Adam Smith

Foundation looks like a bunch of (no offense!) nobodies

who couldn't find California with a road map until some people rolled up

with a tub filled with dollars but without the courage to donate the

money under their own names."

And politicians in California are leery of Yes On 23's

Springfield-sent cash infusion. State Senate President Pro-Tem Darrell

Steinberg and Assembly Speaker John Perez are trying to get the feds

involved. They've asked Attorney General Eric Holder to look into

whether the Adam Smith Foundation broke the law by contributing big

money to Yes On 23. 501(C)4 organizations are only allowed to contribute to causes directly related to their core

missions.

Depending on how one reads the foundation's self-described

purpose-- "promoting conservative principles and individual liberties

in Missouri" -- those last two words could cause them a lot of trouble if Holder comes sniffing around.<pre> </pre>

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