dunn fdn rt thinking

see main

not related to tim dunn tx fracker xian wacko?

reason fdn

Advancement of Right Thinking

color below see bak

might have to promote the sombitch: national parks

fidelity also has fdn? genre or just hedge/equity?

evil but no wrong:

website:

http://dunnfoundation.org/index.htm

Location:

Wilmington, DE

Tax ID:

65-0415977

Tax-Exempt Status:

501(c)(3)-PF :{:(style="box-sizing:border-box;display:inline-block;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-stretch:normal;text-rendering:auto;-webkit-font-smoothing:antialiased"):}:

Budget (2016):

Revenue: $11,551,689

Expenses: $339,232

Assets: $123,378,379

Formation:

1993

Type:

Classical Liberal Grantmaking Foundation

https://www.influencewatch.org/non-profit/dunns-foundation-for-the-advancement-of-right-thinking/

Dunn Foundation (formerly Dunn’s Foundation for the Advancement of Right Thinking) is a family foundation based in Delaware that makes grants to right-of-center organizations that advance libertarian principles of free enterprise, smaller government, deregulation, private property rights, and individual liberty. [1] It also supports organizations that fight government overreach and corruption. [2]

The name of the foundation was changed from Dunn’s Foundation for The Advancement of Right Thinking to The Dunn Foundation in 2016. [3] The Foundation was founded by investor William Dunn, a free-market advocate who sits on the boards of a number of libertarian organizations[4]; his wife Rebecca, also a free-market activist, is a trustee of the Dunn Foundation. [5]

Overview

The Dunn Foundation (formerly known as Dunn’s Foundation for The Advancement of Right Thinking) was founded in the early 1990s in Florida by William A. Dunn to provide grants to organizations that promote classical liberal values of individual liberty, small government, and free enterprise. [6]

Grants are focused in the United States yet some grantees work globally to disseminate the organization’s principles abroad. Research on economic policy and the dissemination of the findings in furtherance of the organization’s principles, legal challenges to onerous government policies, fighting against government corruption, and the education of the nation’s youth are key areas supported by Dunn Foundation grants.

The Dunn Foundation supports a number of free-market policy and advocacy organizations such as Students for Liberty, Political Economy Research Center, Institute for Justice, Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, Pacific Legal Foundation, Foundation for Government Accountability, Foundation for Equal Rights in Education, Cato Institute, and Atlas Economic Research Foundation. [7]

Trustees

William A. “Bill” Dunn, co-founder and Trustee Emeritus, holds a Ph.D. in Physics and made his fortune by founding DUNN Capital Management in 1974. DUNN holds in excess of $1 billion in assets under its management. [8] Dunn has written that he was motivated to engage in free-market advocacy after reading works by the novelist and philosopher Ayn Rand. [9] He holds or has held board positions at Cato Institute, the Reason Foundation, Property and Environment Research Center, and the Competitive Enterprise Institute. [10]

Trustee Rebecca Walter Dunn is a board member of Cato Institute, the James Madison Institute, and, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education. With her husband Bill she established the Dunn Libertarian Leadership Project at Cato. She has been a community volunteer for over 40 years and has been in public policy for the past 20 years. [11]

Thomas E. Beach founded Beach Investment Counsel and serves as chairman of the Reason Foundation and on the board of Commonwealth Foundation, DonorsTrust, and Pennsylvania Lumberman’s Mutual Insurance Company. He has served as Chairman of the Property and Environment Research Center and as trustee of Eisenhower Fellowships, and, The Haverford School. [12]

David E Dreyer, a trustee, is general counsel at DUNN Capital Management. [13]

Funding

The Foundation is funded by William A. and Rebecca Dunn and the sale of the foundation’s own assets; the foundation holds $87, 955,839 in assets as of 2018. [14] Via the sale of assets that yielded $25,821,003[15] it declared a loss of $21,994,003[16] which resulted in a reduction of assets from $107,367,239 at the start of the year. [17] It distributed $4,501,000 in grants in 2018[18] with operating and administrative expenses of $549,892 [19] and paid $353,785 in taxes on various financial transactions. [20] It pays no salaries but did pay $182,856 for outside professional help for financial management and administrative support. [21]

Friday, December 4, 2020

Contact: David Armiak, david@prwatch.org

MADISON, WI – The Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) filed a lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in federal court on Thursday, December 4, 2020, for illegally withholding tax documents for five right-wing funders.

CMD filed the complaint after exhausting every option to obtain grant lists from tax filings from the IRS, and argues that the agency’s actions have violated the Administrative Procedure Act and the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

In June 2020, CMD submitted a FOIA request seeking missing Part XV, “Grants and Contributions Paid During the Year or Approved for Future Payment,” from 23 tax returns from the nine right-wing funders. In October 2020, the IRS produced some of the attachments without explanation in a response to CMD, but not all. A few days later, CMD received another letter from the IRS stating that, “the Disclosure Specialist properly denied your requests.”

CMD is filing suit to obtain the Part XV section for the following:

Asness Family Foundation (2016 990 Form, 2017 990 Form, 2018 990 Form)
Barbara and Barre Seid Foundation (2016 990-PF Form, 2018 990-PF Form)
Dunn Foundation (2014-PF Form)
Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund (2013 990 Form, 2014 990 Form, 2015 990 Form)
The Randolph Foundation (2018 990-PF Form)

CMD’s December 3 lawsuit follows an April 20 lawsuit against the IRS for failing to produce 2018 tax records for 18 right-wing groups that it claimed did not exist. In May, the IRS informed CMD’s counsel, Courtney T. DeThomas from Davis Wright Tremaine LLP, that it would not contest CMD’s request for records and provided all but one of the filings. “The IRS’s response to CMD’s FOIA requests points to a pattern of arbitrary and capricious procedural dodges that undermines the core principles of government transparency that are enshrined in the law,” said Ms. DeThomas.

srcwtch

William A. Dunn, Dunn Capital Management, Inc., Stuart, Florida.

"Dunn owns a successful capital management firm in Stuart, Florida, and actively supports free market ideas. He is also on the board of directors of the Reason Foundation and the Competitive Enterprise Institute."^[1]

Additional board memberships:

Director, Property and Environment Research Center
Director, Cato Institute

His Dunn's Foundation for the Advancement of Right Thinking has supported the Mackinac Center for Public Policy.

Content of redundant William Dunn page: Bill Dunn’s "formal education was in theoretical physics. He then spent two years teaching and researching physics and seven years conducting operations research and systems analysis studies for the U.S. government. By 1974, Dunn had educated himself in the technical trading of futures (commodities) portfolios. He then formed DUNN Capital Management and began trading for clients in October of 1974. He moved the company headquarters from Washington, D.C., to Stuart, Fla., in 1980. DUNN currently manages over $1 billion for institutional and individual clients from around the world. DUNN’s composite track record spans a period of over 30 years and has achieved a return of over 20% per annum, net of all fees and expenses. Dunn is actively involved with a number of libertarian organizations around the country, and his wife, Rebecca, also supports many of these as well as other local civic organizations." [1]

[hide]

1 Articles and resources

Articles and resources

References

:{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px, 1px, 1px, 1px);overflow:hidden;user-select:none;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:↑ Directors, Property and Environment Research Center, accessed June 13, 2010.

External resources

External articles

Categories:

https://feaweb.org/_data/files/ALEC/Progress_Fl_ALEC_Report_2013.pdf

see JMI and

The James Madison Institute and the Foundation for Government Accountability are part of the State Policy Network, a Koch-funded, ALEC-allied organization whose members provide the appearance of “independent” voices advocating for ALEC’s corporate agenda. The notion that these groups are independent actors couldn’t be further from the truth. • JMI: The James Madison Institute has been a member of ALEC and was introduced as a “new member” at ALEC’s Education Task Force May 2012 meeting in Charlotte, NC. JMI’s anti-public school agenda links back to ALEC and Jeb Bush’s Foundation for Excellence in Education (FEE)8 , and includes increased charter school funding, unaccountable private school vouchers, parent-trigger and more. Dr. Matthew Ladner, senior advisor of policy and research at FEE recently received a “Lifetime Bunkum Award” from the National Education Policy Center at the University of ColoradoBoulder for promoting false and misleading information in pushing ALEC’s school choice agenda9 . • FGA: The Foundation for Government Accountability has been active in ALEC: o In December 2011, FGA’s founder Tarren Bragdon gave a presentation touting legislative changes to ALEC’s Health and Human Services Task Force: “Florida’s Healthcare Reforms: Success in the Sunshine State” at the ALEC conference in Scottsdale10, Arizona, in 2011. Bragdon, a Maine politician, created FGA in 2011 because “You have to be based out of an area where you can raise money, and Naples is a very generous community. And it's also a very free-market, right-of-center politically oriented place11.” o In November 2012, FGA’s new addition Joyce Errecart gave a presentation on “Tangible Personal Property Business Taxes” to ALEC’s Tax and Fiscal Policy Task Force at the November 2012 conference in Washington, DC. Errecart is actually a Vermont lawyer and 8 Source: PR Watch. Taxpayer-Enriched Companies Back Jeb Bush's Foundation for Excellence in Education, its Buddy ALEC, and Their "Reforms", November 28, 2012: http://www.prwatch.org/news/2012/11/11883/taxpayerenriched-companies-back-jeb-bushs-foundation-excellence-education-its-bu 9 Source: Florida Times-Union. Florida education policy advisor given "Bunkum Award", May 31, 2012: http://jacksonville.com/opinion/blog/479262/teresa-stepzinski/2012-05-31/florida-education-policy-advisorgiven-bunkum-award 10 Source: PR Watch. Inside ALEC: Naked Contempt for the Press and Public in Scottsdale, January 11, 2012: http://www.prwatch.org/news/2012/01/11230/inside-alec-naked-contempt-press-and-publicscottsdale#sthash.LCkZLYID.dpuf 11 Source: Naples Daily News. Maine man: Young political upstart from New England starts Naples-based think tank, October 17, 2011: http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2011/oct/17/maine-man-politics-upstart-TarrenBragdon-florida/

...

Conservative think tanks in Florida like JMI and FGA promote policies that protect their wealthy right-wing donors, not middle class Floridians, and the case of William Dunn offers a prime example. Both JMI and FGA have strong connections toWilliam A. Dunn, who owns an investment firm (Dunn Capital Management) in Florida and also runs a right-wing foundation (Dunn’s Foundation for the Advancement of Right Thinking). William Dunn serves on the FGA’s board of directors. In addition, his wife, Rebecca, is a member of JMI’s board of directors and Dunn’s foundation has given at least $335,000 to JMI between 2002 and 2011, making it one of JMI’s largest known sources of income. Dunn’s foundation has given millions to other right-wing groups in Florida and around the United States, including the Franklin Center, FreedomWorks, the Cato Institute, the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, the Mackinac Center, the State Policy Network, the National Taxpayers Union, the Heartland Institute, the American Enterprise Institute, and the Reason Foundation. William Dunn has also served on the boards of the Reason Foundation, Competitive Enterprise Institute, and the Cato Institute, alongside representatives of the Kochs or the Kochs themselves. Dunn and offshore accounts: Dunn Capital Management’s website reveals that clients have a program option called “offshore funds,” although only those with a username and password can access information about the program. Typically, offshore funds are a way to avoid paying taxes that might otherwise be due to support the American government; although the true nature of Dunn’s off shoring of funds is secret and unknown. Dunn’s Net Worth is Reportedly $80 Million, Stands to Benefit from JMI & FGA Policies: In 2009, Institutional Investor reported William Dunn’s net worth at $80 million. Not surprisingly, Dunn has used his influence to fund think tanks in Florida (JMI & FGA) that promote policies that would help his bottom line: • Deregulation of Wall Street/Investment Firms: JMI calls for less government regulation and oversight both for Wall Street investment firms and the economy overall in Government Policies Encouraged Wall Street’s Risky Business (September 2008) and Beware When Government Runs Both Politics And The Economy (2009). • Repeal of the Estate Tax: JMI promotes Florida’s repeal of the Estate Tax, a tax that largely affects the very wealthy, and calls on Congress to do the same in its 2010 report: “Florida Has A Huge Stake In The ‘Death Tax’ Debate.” • Lowering Taxes: JMI and FGA have also released dozens of reports aimed at lowering taxes, often for the wealthiest in Florida, including: o JMI 2005, “Low Taxes Can Keep Florida’s Economy Humming” o JMI 2007, “The Case for Florida to Enact A Taxpayer Protection Amendment” o FGA 2012, “FGA helps move Florida one step closer toward job-creating business tax relief” o FGA 2012, “Making Florida the Tax Haven of the South

8/12/2015

Their latest target is one of our most successful parks programs, the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF). LWCF has helped protect everything from the Grand Canyon to local ballparks, but after 50 years of ensuring access to outdoor recreation areas for all Americans, LWCF is set to expire. We need Congress to reauthorize it or we risk losing these treasured opportunities for future generations.

And it won’t be easy. While fringe Republicans in Congress try to siphon away money for parks to pay for their own pet projects, new attacks by Koch brothers-backed groups are putting LWCF’s renewal at even greater risk.

If you've ever visited a national park or played at a local baseball diamond in your neighborhood, tell Congress today: Reauthorize and fully fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund before it’s too late »

The good news is that renewing LWCF has bipartisan support. LWCF protects and maintains America’s parks without a penny from taxpayers, and since its establishment 50 years ago, LWCF has helped fund tens of thousands of projects in every state across the country.

However, new Koch-backed groups are trying to prevent its renewal entirely. The Property and Environment Research Center (PERC), one of these groups funded by the fossil fuel industry, has launched efforts to undermine LWCF. If PERC and the Koch brothers have their way, new parks could lose their funding and be vulnerable to development — and no one wants unrestricted access to public lands more than the fossil fuel industry.

donor trust 14%

scaife 7%, bradley 5 plus 1% ed, koch 5, howard charatible fdn 4, john w pope 4, searle 4, templeton 4%, dunn's fdn for the adv of rt thinking 2%,smith richardson 2, vanguard 2, ...annenbeg kohler 2, Lilly 2%

William A. Dunn, Dunn Capital Management, Inc., Stuart, Florida.

Additional board memberships:

Director, Property and Environment Research Center
Director, Cato Institute

His Dunn's Foundation for the Advancement of Right Thinking has supported the Mackinac Center for Public Policy.

Content of redundant William Dunn page: Bill Dunn’s "formal education was in theoretical physics. He then spent two years teaching and researching physics and seven years conducting operations research and systems analysis studies for the U.S. government. By 1974, Dunn had educated himself in the technical trading of futures (commodities) portfolios. He then formed DUNN Capital Management and began trading for clients in October of 1974. He moved the company headquarters from Washington, D.C., to Stuart, Fla., in 1980. DUNN currently manages over $1 billion for institutional and individual clients from around the world. DUNN’s composite track record spans a period of over 30 years and has achieved a return of over 20% per annum, net of all fees and expenses. Dunn is actively involved with a number of libertarian organizations around the country, and his wife, Rebecca, also supports many of these as well as other local civic organizations." [1]

Contents [hide]

1 Articles and resources

Articles and resources

References

↑ Directors, Property and Environment Research Center, accessed June 13, 2010.

External resources

External articles

Categories:

Environment

- United States

Foundation for Individual Rights in Education or FIRE is a group which claims to "defend and sustain individual rights at America's increasingly repressive and partisan colleges and universities." It is an advocate on such issues as "free speech" codes, religious liberty, due process for students, allocation of funding for student organizations, and defense against ideological indoctrination. FIRE is a major proponent of the intellectual diversity movement which aims to dismantle the so-called liberal bias in higher academia.

FIRE produces many Guides for students on their issues, including one on first-year orientation and "Thought Reform on Campus."

FIRE also has a legal network which connects students who feel their rights have been violated by faculty or administrators with attorneys specializing in FIRE's major talking points.

Thor Halvorssen "was the first Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of FIRE." [1]

Contents [hide]

Funding

"FIRE’s Guides to Student Rights on Campus are made possible by contributions from thousands of individual donors and by grants from:"

According to Media Transparency's profile, FIRE has also received grants from:

Prometheus Civic Technologies (ProCiv)

edit

Prometheus Civic Technologies, FPC, is a California Flexible Purpose Corporation. The company builds software to reduce the burden of government on the people. Founded in 2012, the company is currently in stealth mode.

Recent Milestones

edit

Prometheus Civic Technologies (ProCiv) received $1.19M in Series A funding. (4/10/12)

Posted 7/6/12 at 10:58am

Prometheus Civic Technologies (ProCiv) added Mike Matz as CTO. (1/3/12)

Posted 7/6/12 at 11:47am

Prometheus Civic Technologies (ProCiv) added Matt Harrison as President. (1/3/12)

Posted 7/6/12 at 10:58am

Prometheus Civic Technologies (ProCiv) added Justin Hartfield as Vice President. (1/3/12)

Posted 7/6/12 at 11:48am

Read more: http://www.crunchbase.com/company/prometheus-civic-technologies-prociv#ixzz2oF1VJr4m

Mr. Milloy and Mr. Borelli (and Mrs. Borelli too, via her husband) have worked together and in parallel since at least 1993, manipulating science to serve their ideological and political ends. During that time they’ve been funded by Philip Morris, Exxon Mobile, and some of the largest conservative foundations in the United States.

But while they may not have worked alongside each other for much of that period, they do now: Mr. Milloy and Mr. Borelli are not only co-directors of the FEEI, but they’re both advisers for their politically conservative mutual fund,the Free Enterprise Action Fund (**FEAFund**).

As advisers to the FEAFund, Mr. Milloy and Mr. Borelli split a 1.25% commission. According to the FEAFund’s annual report for 2006, the commission was just over $75,000. While this is a significant amount of money, it’s in addition to the $355,000 Mr. Milloy earned via FEEI and to the estimated $130,000 earned annually by the law and business consulting firm “Steven J. Milloy Inc.” (data available from Manta.com). When combined, Mr. Milloy’s approximately $500,000 income would be more than sufficient for him to “self-fund” both JunkScience.com,DemandDebate.com, and all his other web projects out of his own personal wealth. Whether he actually does so is an open question.

As mentioned above,Mr. Milloy earned a hefty “consulting fee” from CFIS that was largely paid by ExxonMobil. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to dig deeper into “Steven J. Milloy Inc.” to find out whom Mr. Milloy’s legal and consulting clients are. At least, not yet. But because it’s federal law that the identities of a mutual fund’s principle investors are public information, and because I hadn’t ever seen these investors detailed during my research, I chose totrack down the main sponsors of Mr. Milloy’s FEAFund. Their backing is what enables Mr. Milloy to earn an advisory commission on the FEAFund’s assets, and as such they qualify as indirect backers of Mr. Milloy’s efforts via JunkScience.com and DemandDebate.com.

As of April 1, 2007, SEC documents show that there were eight investors who held more than 5% of the Free Enterprise Action Fund, of which seven held 9% or greater. These seven are William Dunn (19%), Arthur Dantchik (10%), Thomas L. Phillips(10%), Robert A. Levy (10%), the Claws Foundation (9%), The Randolph Foundation (9%), andDonors Capitol Fund(9%). These seven investors control a combined total of 76% of the total assets of the fund.

The largest shareholder, William Dunn of Stuart, Florida, is the director of Dunn Capitol Management and the founder of Dunn’s Foundation for the Advancement of Right Thinking. William A. Dunn of Stuart, Florida is also a director of the Competitive Enterprise Institute. In addition, he is a Director and a member of the Board of Trustees for the Reason Foundation and a Director of the :{Property and Environment Research Center:(style="background-color:#fff200;"):}:(PERC). If you’ll recall from yesterday’s post, Mr. Milloy’s associate Kenneth P. Green (currently of the American Enterprise Institute) used to work for the Reason Foundation and Mr. Milloy himself works with the Competitive Enterprise Institute.

Dunn’s Foundation for the Advancement of Right Thinking gave away over $3 million in grants in 2004 alone, with much of that money going to organizations associated in some way with Mr. Milloy or people he knows: $445,000 to the CEI, $370,000 to the Institute for Justice (see Arthur Dantchik below), $370,000 to PERC, $308,000 to the Reason Foundation, $185,000 to the Cato Institute, and $25,000 to the AEI. Some of the other backers for both the CEI, PERC, and Reason Foundation have been the Charles G. Koch and the David H. Koch Charitable Foundations. The Charles G. Koch foundation funds the CEI and PERC to the tune of almost $60,000 and $15,000 respectively. The David H. Koch foundation granted $315,000 to the CEI between 1995 and 2001 and over $1.5 million to the Reason Foundation between 1986 and 2001.

The next largest shareholder in the FEAFund is Arthur Dantchik of Bela Cynwyd, Pennsylvania. Mr. Dantchik is one of the founders of the Susquehanna Investment Group and is a Director for the Institute for Justice. He works with fellow FEAFund shareholder and Cato Institute director/senior fellow Robert A. Levy (see below) at the aforementioned Institute for Justice. In addition, he is on the board of directors for another FEAFund shareholder, the Claws Foundation. According to Claws Foundation’s 2006 IRS Form 990-PF, one of Mr. Dantchik’s fellow Claws Foundation directors is a co-founder of the Susquehanna Investment Group and director of the Cato Institute, Jeffrey Yass. The other director of the Claws Foundation is Alan P. Dye, a director ofFreedom House and legal counsel to the Ron Paul for President campaign. The Claws Foundation itself is not a political organization – it exists largely to fund medical research.

Since 1999, Mr. Dantchik has given over $263,000 to conservative causes, including approximately $22,000 to 2004 congressional candidates outside of his own state of Pennsylvania. Mr. Dantchik’s Institute for Justice has received a total of $265,000 in donations from the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation from 1986 through 2005, another $1.35 million from the David H. Koch Charitable Foundation between 1995 and 2001, and over $1.1 million from the Sarah Scaife Foundation between 1992 and 2005. The Institute for Justice also received over $2 million from The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation between 1992 and 2005, a massive conservative foundation that has also given extensively to the AIE (over $17 million between 1987 and 2005), the National Center for Policy Analysis (nearly $1.5 million), the Reason Foundation (nearly $1 million), the Cato Institute (about $860,000), the CEI (about $770,000), PERC (about $600,000), and the Thomas L. Phillips’ Philips Foundation (about $560,000), all between the mid 1980s and 2005.

Thomas L. Phillips, creator of the Thomas L. Phillips Revocable Trust of McLean, Virginia, is another principle investor. Mr. Phillips has donated some money to local McLean, VA political races and is the CEO of Phillips International, the parent company to the Phillips Foundation, Eagle Publishing, and Healthy Directions LLC(formerly Phillips Health). The Phillips Foundation is a non-profit foundation that offers journalism fellowships for journalists “who share the Foundation’s mission to advance constitutional principles, a democratic society and a vibrant free enterprise system,” with special fellowships for writing on the environment from a free-market perspective. Most of the Phillips Foundation trustees are associated with Phillips International in some way. Thomas Phillips is obvious, but the president of conservative uber-publisher Regnery Publishing, Alfred S Regnery, is another trustee, as is Eagle Publishing director Thomas A. Fuentes. Eagle Publishing is the parent company for Regnery Publishing, the publisher of the “Politically Incorrect Guides” and books like Unfit for Command and Men in Black. Eagle Publishing also publishes the Evans-Novak Political Report, conservative “news” source Human Events (which counts Ann Coulter as the legal affairs editor and Ms. Coulter, Newt Gingrich, Pat Buchanan, Robert Novak, Sen. James Imhoffe, Rush Limbaugh, Phyllis Schlafly, Michelle Malkin, Bill O’Reilly, and other conservative luminaries as commentators), and runs the Conservative Book Club. In addition, Mr. Phillips has given significant support to the National Conservative Campaign Fund (NCCF), a group whose directors and advisory board are composed of Phillips and most of the rest of the leaders of the Phillips Foundation. Mr. Phillips’ connections at the NCCF are good enough to have had Vice PresidentDick Cheney to come over for an NCCF reception at the Phillips’ home.

Mr. Phillips has donated over $124,000 in support of conservative causes and elections since 1996, and his National Conservative Campaign Fund has given approximately $532,000 to Republican candidates since the 2000 election cycle (Source: Opensecrets.org). In 2006, the Phillips Foundation raised $68,000 from Phillips International, $10,000 from Foundation trustee Robert Novak, and $5,000 from the Randolph Foundation, another significant investor in the Mr. Milloy’s FEAFund, and it has also received over $107,000 from the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation from 2002 to 2005.

http://www.scholarsandrogues.com/2007/11/28/we-berate-you-deride-a-look-at-steven-j-milloys-current-affiliates-and-backers/

As I mentioned above, the Randolph Foundation is another significant investor in Mr. Milloy’s FEAFund.Randolph Foundation trustee James Q. Wilson is also Chairman of the AEI’s Council of Academic Advisers. The Randolph Foundation is a relatively new conservative foundation, so there’s not a lot of information on them available, but the 2005 Form 990 shows that the Foundation is a significant donor to the AEI ($50,000) and the CEI ($18,000) and, as mentioned above, a minor donor to the Phillips Foundation.

And while we’re on the topic of the AEI, we should probably point out that another major conservative fund, theSarah Scaife Foundation, gave the AEI $575,000 in 2006, along with $60,000 for the Cato Institute, $350,000 for the CEI, $125,000 for the National Center for Policy Analysis (where Mr. Milloy’s associate and AEI “briber”Ken Green is an environment expert), and another $125,000 to the Reason Foundation.

The second to last of the major investors is Robert A. Levy LLC, a business founded of Silver Spring Maryland. Robert A. Levy, formerly of Silver Spring and presently residing in Florida, is the Senior Fellow in Constitutional Studies and a member of the Board of Directors at the Cato Institute. Mr. Levy gaveCongressional testimony regarding the :{global tobacco settlement:(style="background-color:#ffff66;"):}:, specifically suggesting that the settlement was “a shameful document, extorted by public officials who have perverted the rule of law to tap the deep pockets of a feckless and friendless industry.” Given that Mr. Levy still works for the Cato Institute with Dr. Michael Gough, and Dr. Gough is associated with Mr. Milloy through CFIS, it’s not unreasonable that Mr. Levy would be in a position to become a major shareholder in the FEAFund.

The last major investor is Donors Capital Fund (DCFund), a large fund associated with Donors Trust, a group that professes to be “the sole donor-advised plan dedicated to promoting a free society and serving donors who serve that purpose.” Several of the directors of DCFund have connections to groups that are related to Mr. Milloy directly or through other avenues. For example, two of the directors are associated with the American Enterprise Institute, namely AEI’s President, Christopher DeMuth, and Steven F. Hayward, the F.K Weyerhaeuser Fellow in Law and Economics. DCFund co-founder and Executive Director Whitney L. Ball once served as the Director of Development for the Cato Institute, is presently associated with The Philanthropy Roundtable and, via that association is also connected to Philanthropy Roundtable Vice-Chairman and Randolph Foundation director Heather R. Higgins. Director Walter H. Mellor is the co-founder and President of the Institute for Justice, the same organization that fellow FEAFund principle investor Arthur Dantchik is a director of. The President of Donors Trust, Kimberly O. Dennis, is also the Executive Director of the Searle Freedom Trust, is Secretary for the Philanthropy Roundtable, and is a Director of PERC alongside fellow FEAFund principle investor William Dunn.

In addition to all the personal connections between the various investors and the DCFund, the DCFund has also granted a total of $23,000 to the AEI, $44,000 to the Cato Institute, $36,000 to the Reason Foundation, and $12,000 each to the CEI and Institute for Justice in 2006 alone (from the 2006 Form 990).

These connections are what I could find via the various foundations’ websites and public FEC, SEC, and IRS documents. However, over the years there have been many more connections between Mr. Milloy and various corporations, conservative individuals, and conservative foundations. Given Mr. Milloy’s history of working for businesses who want to discredit profit-suppressing scientific data and his connections throughout the entire conservative money machine, it’s probably reasonable to guess that his financial backers for any particular project are the groups or individuals with the most to lose – ExxonMobil and Shell Oil vs. global heating, Philip Morris vs. second-hand tobacco smoke, Monsanto et al vs. Horizon Organic, etc.

Mr. Milloy’s connections to the tobacco lawsuits in the 1990s as an official supplier of deceit and “junk science” casts a long shadow over his credibility, but he could have escaped that shadow by now if he had ever chosen to do so. Instead, Mr. Milloy continues to associate with purveyors of scientific propaganda and disinformation such as Kenneth Green of the AEI, Thomas and Deneen Borelli of the National Center for Public Policy Research, Michael Gough of the Cato Institute, and both the Competitive Enterprise Institute and Fox News in toto. In addition, via what little we’ve been able to glean about who funds Mr. Milloy’s various websites and institutes, it’s obvious that he’s continued a pattern of working for corporations (and their direct representatives) who have a vested interest in manipulating and distorting science to their particular ends. As such, even ifDemandDebate.com’s survey of the IPCC “scientific consensus” were scientific, Mr. Milloy’s history and associations make him a dubious source for anything resembling real science, his publication of the ironically-titled JunkScience.com notwithstanding.

It’s important to understand that Mr. Milloy’s connections with the AEI, CEI, Cato Institute, Reason Foundation, and through them to the Randolph Foundation, Philanthropy Roundtable, Donors Capital Fund and Trust, the Phillips Foundation, PERC, et al doesn’t mean that Mr. Milloy is the guiding force behind these connections. He is a single thread, albeit an important one, in an intricate tapestry of denial and misrepresentation of science in the service of conservative ideology. Through the deep pockets of his various corporate and conservative supporters over the years, he’s become a very effective conservative soldier in the war for the minds, and votes, of the people.

Mr. Milloy’s connections and access to money fostered over years make him a very effective conservative soldier in the culture wars. And he’s not alone – the very same people who back Mr. Milloy also back Ken Green, Tom and Deneen Borelli, Michael Gough, John Yoo, C. Boyden Gray,to name just a few. Backed by money from corporations and wealthy conservative foundations, Mr. Milloy and his ilk attempt to use propaganda to further their own ideological ends, in this case by fostering a false sense of scientific uncertainty over global heating when in fact there is a great deal of certainty about the science of global heating. And they won’t go away just because President Bush leaves office in January 2009 – they have too much to lose, ideologically and financially, to just roll over and go away when their favorite President has finished his second term.

Next time you read about something from JunkScience.com, DemandDebate.com, StopLabelingLies.com, the Competitive Enterprise Institute, or watch Steve Milloy on Fox News, remember who the source is.

Monday: DemandDebate.comâ€™s survey on the scientific consensus surrounding global heating

Yesterday: A closer look at the background of Steven J. Milloy, executive director of DemandDebate.com

Many of the sources below were created specifically to enable citizens and patriots like all of us to track the influence of money on politics at all levels. They are relatively simple to use and enable anyone who is concerned about the corrupting influence of money on politics to hold their various political representatives’ feet to the proverbial fire. I used each of them repeatedly and regularly in the process of researching this series.

Finances

According to a January 26, 2006 report in the Chicago Tribune, "The fund's advocacy stance boils down to opposing many of the things supported by traditional 'social investment funds,' because issues like global warming or corporate governance distract business from its real role of operating in the best interests of shareholders." However, its performance as an investment has been less than stellar.

The Tribune called it the "Stupid Investment of the Week ... Strip away the rhetoric, and you're getting a very expensive, underperforming index fund, while Milloy and partner Thomas Borelli get a platform for raising their pet issues. ... An expense ratio capped at 2 percent--ridiculously high for a portfolio of corporate giants--makes stock market returns unrealistic. From inception on March 1 of last year through Dec. 31, Free Enterprise Action returned 2.32 percent; the S&P 500 returned 4.72 percent. That's ugly."^[3]

In 2006, the Independent noted that: "The fund has about $6m (£4m) under management at the moment but claims to be growing fast" and "is supported by a network of right-wing think-tanks including the Heritage Foundationand the Cato Institute."^[4]

Personnel

Contact details

Free Enterprise Action Fund

P.O. Box 182490

Columbus, OH 43218-2490

Phone: 301-258-2852

Email: media AT freeenterpriseactionfund.com

Web: http://www.freeenterpriseactionfund.com

Other SourceWatch resources

CSR Watch.com

Sources

↑ Kate Sheppard, "Thank You for Global Warming," Mother Jones, November 22, 2010
↑ "How to Stop Climate Change Legislation in the US", Steven Milloy, March 2008.
↑ http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-0601260062jan26,1,7543219.story
↑ http://news.independent.co.uk/business/news/article356920.ece

External links

Larry Kudlow, "Steven Milloy of the Free Enterprise Action Fund discusses his organization's work against corporate social responsibility", Kudlow & Company, CNBC, March 28, 2005.
Kathleen Rhodes, "Free Enterprise Mutual Fund Seeks to Counter Leftist Influence", CNSNews.com, March 28, 2005.
"Free Enterprise Action Fund Requests Audit Committee Review of JP Morgan Chase Capitulation to Social Activist Demands: Action Fund Management, LLC, the investment adviser to the Free Enterprise Action Fund, called for the Audit Committee review", Media Release, April 26, 2005.
Free Enterprise Action Fund, "Free Enterprise Action Fund Prospectus and Privacy Policy", May 1, 2005.
Chuck Jaffe, "When Making Money Takes Back Seat to Advocacy," Chicago Tribune, January 26, 2006.
Simon English, "Tell Lord Browne that we are coming," The Independent (UK), April 10, 2006.
Amity Shlaes, "Mr. Immelt, Explain Yourself, Fund Says", Bloomberg.com, April 5, 2006.
Daniel Gross, "Thank You for Investing: A Very Curious Right-Wing Mutal Fund," Slate.com, May 4, 2006.

Published: 10 April 2006

Categories:

Lawmaking Under the Influence of Very Special Interests

UnderstandingtheroleofFlorida“think tanks”indrivingaKoch-fueled, ALEC-alliedcorporateagenda.

Introduction

This new report, “Lawmaking under the Influence of Very Special Interests – Understanding the role of Florida ‘think tanks’ in driving a Koch-fueled, ALECallied corporate agenda,” describes how an out-of-state agenda is peddled in Tallahassee by local special interest groups with close ties to the controversial American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), whose financial backers seek to move cookie-cutter legislation in Florida and other states. The James Madison Institute is part of one of ALEC’s major partners, the “State Policy Network,” which helps push ALEC’s national corporate-driven agenda as “conservative” policies through the states. SPN was founded in 1991, and today it has member think tanks in all 50 states. In Florida two of the most prominent of these groups are The James Madison Institute (JMI) and the Foundation for Government Accountability (FGA).

This report follows up on a report issued last year by Progress Florida, the Center for Media and Democracy, Florida Watch, People for the American Way, and Common Cause titled “ALEC in Florida.” That report chronicled the undue influence ALEC – a shadowy out-of-state corporate front group – holds over public policy in the Sunshine State. Among the key findings in this report: JMI1 and FGA2 claim to be independent local voices even though they are cogs in the State Policy Network, a Koch-funded, nationally-driven, ALEC-allied network of groups that push a cookie cutter agenda in statehouses across the country. JMI, FGA and other State Policy Network member groups routinely advocate for a national agenda driven by out-of-state corporate actors. • Despite claiming to focus on statewide concerns, JMI and FGA often push for the same policies as national right-wing organizations such as ALEC.

• The James Madison Institute has received more than $1 million from Koch-funded organizations, and has consistently advocated for policies that protect the Kochs’ bottom line rather than the best interests of Floridians. • These so-called “independent” voices push ALEC’s right-wing agenda regardless of the best interests of Floridians, while providing cover that helps insulate ALEC and SPN’s CEO backers against public scrutiny. The coordinated agenda that JMI, FGA, and ALEC press for is resulting in devastating consequences for Florida, among them: o Attacking health care expansion despite Florida having the 2nd highest percentage (24.8%) of uninsured residents among US states, including an estimated half a million Florida children who lack coverage – the fourth highest rate of uninsured children (12.5%) in the country.3 o A polluter-driven agenda that ignores scientific facts about climate change and sea level rise, even though Florida has the second most coastline in the nation4 and despite scientific predictions that South Florida – and Miami in particular

– 1 Source: James Madison Institute, About Us: http://www.jamesmadison.org/about/about.html 2 Source: Foundation for Government Accountability, About Us: http://www.floridafga.org/about-us/ 3 Source: U.S. Census Small Area Health Insurance Estimates, 2011, https://www.census.gov/did/www/sahie/data/interactive/#view=data&utilBtn=&yLB=0&stLB=0&aLB=0&sLB=0&iL B=0&rLB=0&countyCBSelected=false&insuredRBG=pu_&multiYearSelected=false&multiYearAlertFlag=false 4 Source: Wikipedia. List of US States by Coastline: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_by_coastline will be devastated by rising sea levels;5 and pushes for expanded offshore drilling despite the need to protect Florida’s tourism-driven economy and the ongoing negative consequences of the 2011 BP Gulf oil disaster. o

Harming Florida’s fiscal health by further reducing the state’s corporate tax rate, which already ranks among the lowest in the country, with a flat rate at 5.5%. 6 As of 2011, more than 98% of Florida business paid no income taxes at all. 7 o Efforts to weaken the retirement security of Florida’s workers by forcing them into 401k-style retirement plans that increase risks and that take fees from workers’ retirement funds. o Numerous other attacks on workers and the middle class, including efforts to block minimum wage increases and deny critical employment benefits such as earned sick time, as well as attacks on the ability of workers to effectively organize in unions via ALEC’s so-called “Paycheck Protection Act.” • FGA is part of a national network of right-wing policy organizations, was founded by conservative activists from Maine, and is only based in Florida because their corporate backers planted them here. • FGA’s government affairs director helps operate a Maine-based lobbying firm, through which he has taken thousands of dollars from health care providers that accept Medicaid, stimulus, and other government funds. Meanwhile, FGA has actively pushed for a Medicaid privatization scheme that critics say boosts corporate profits at the expense of patient care. • So-called “conservative” think tanks, like JMI and FGA, promote policies that protect their wealthy right-wing donors, not middle class Floridians. For example, both JMI and FGA have strong connections to wealthy investment banker and special interest group funder William A. Dunn. Not surprisingly, these groups have pushed legislation intended to

5 Source: Rolling Stone. Goodbye Miami:

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/why-the-city-of-miami-isdoomed-to-drown-20130620?link=mostpopular3 6 Source: Tax Policy Center. State Corporate Income Tax Rates for 2013: http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/taxfacts/Content/PDF/state_corporate_income.pdf 7 Source: Orlando Sentinel, Guess how few Florida businesses pay corporate taxes?, May 8, 2011: http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2011-05-08/news/os-scott-maxwell-corp-taxes-scam- 050820110507_1_corporate-taxes-income-taxes-corporate-tax-rates

benefit Dunn’s bottom line, including tax breaks for the wealthy and the deregulation of Wall Street.

https://feaweb.org/_data/files/ALEC/Progress_Fl_ALEC_Report_2013.pdf

Who's Financing the 'Super PACs' - Graphic - NYTimes.com

www.nytimes.com/.../01/.../super-pac-donors.html

The New York Times

:{May 7, 2012 - The Times is tracking :{donors:(style="font-weight:bold"):}: to “super PACs” as they filed regular reports with the Federal ... Founder of Tiger :{Management:(style="font-weight:bold"):}:, a hedge fund. ... Investor and former top executive at Bain :{Capital:(style="font-weight:bold"):}:, the private equity firm Mr. ...... in Washington founded by Charles G. :{Koch:(style="font-weight:bold"):}: and Edward H. Crane. ... :{William:(style="font-weight:bold"):}: A. :{Dunn:(style="font-weight:bold"):}:.:(style="overflow-wrap:break-word"):}:

Reason Foundation - SourceWatch

www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Reason_Foundation

:{May 1, 2014 - In SourceWatch, key articles on the Kochs include: :{Koch:(style="font-weight:bold"):}: Brothers, :{Koch:(style="font-weight:bold"):}:... :{William:(style="font-weight:bold"):}: A. :{Dunn:(style="font-weight:bold"):}:, chairman of the board; :{Dunn Capital Management:(style="font-weight:bold"):}:; ...:(style="overflow-wrap:break-word"):}:

Foundation for Government Accountability - SourceWatch

www.sourcewatch.org/.../Foundation_for_Government_Accountability

:{Nov 13, 2013 - Franklin received :{DonorTrust's:(style="font-weight:bold"):}: second-largest :{donation:(style="font-weight:bold"):}: in 2011. ... Charles :{Koch:(style="font-weight:bold"):}:, one of the billionaire brothers who co-own :{Koch:(style="font-weight:bold"):}: Industries, sits ... of the Board, Cato Institute); :{William:(style="font-weight:bold"):}: A. :{Dunn:(style="font-weight:bold"):}: (:{DUNN Capital Management:(style="font-weight:bold"):}:) ...:(style="overflow-wrap:break-word"):}:

:{[PDF]:(style="font-weight:bold;cursor:auto;margin:0px 3px 0px 0px;float:left"):}:Understanding the role of Florida “think tanks”

https://feaweb.org/_.../Progress_Fl_ALEC_...

Florida Education Association

:{The James Madison Institute has received more than $1 million from :{Koch:(style="font-weight:bold"):}:-‐funded organizations, and ... wealthy right-‐wing :{donors:(style="font-weight:bold"):}:, not middle class Floridians. For example ... Florida's Think Tanks and :{William Dunn:(style="font-weight:bold"):}: . ..... :{Dunn:(style="font-weight:bold"):}: and offshore accounts::{Dunn Capital Management's:(style="font-weight:bold"):}: website reveals that clients have a program.:(style="overflow-wrap:break-word"):}:

[:{

}::{

}:[DOC]](http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:Bku-9IJ8rjsJ:https://feaweb.org/_data/files/ALEC/Progress_Fl_ALEC_Report_2013.pdf+&cd=4&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us)Project #1: Corporate Interests and Charter Schools [.docx]

https://www.clarku.edu/.../AC-MappingInterestsinCharte...

Clark University