Donors As Beneficiaries
posted on: Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Donors As Beneficiaries
By Gary Snyder
A recent article brings to our attention, once again, that corporate citizens and other donors are generously giving to charities that benefit political insiders and ostensibly, themselves.. The New York Times cites among others, the support for the symphony orchestra in Johnston, Pa, the beloved charity of Representative John Murtha.
There is typically a close relationship between the contributor and the politician. In this case, the major sponsors to the Congressman’s charity are two giant defense contractors ---General Dynamics and Northrop Grumman. Murtha’s Congressional committee hands out lucrative defense contracts.
There are other types of relationships. Representative Joe Barton, a Texan established a charitable foundation and hands out grants within his district. An influential member of the Committee on Energy and Commerce, the Joe Barton Family Foundation has a big donor, a major nuclear energy company, Exelon Corporation. The congressman’s daughter-in-law is the executive director of the foundation.
Over the years, we’ve seen U.S. Representative Alan Mollohan use donors and federal dollars--- at least $202 million--- to fund five nonprofits in Mollohan’s district, most of which were under his control. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer has joined in steps to clean up pork barrel spending…apparently everybody else’s. The congressman has tucked $96 million worth of pet projects into next year's federal budget, including $450,000 for a campaign donor's foundation. Hoyer inserted into a 2008 education-spending bill for InTune Foundation Group, who’s Web site describes it as a music-education nonprofit group.
We’ve seen this practice at all levels of government. For example, Pennsylvania State Senator Vincent J. Fumo use of money from a nonprofit for personal and political purposes with some $17 million is in question.
Another example is Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, of California, who set up a little-known nonprofit group that has paid for many of his international trips. Donations paid for his and aides' journeys to Israel, China, Japan, Canada and Europe on trips, described by the governor's office as trade missions, costing hundreds of thousands of dollars. Schwarzenegger solicited the $435,000 in gifts for the protocol foundation at a fundraiser. Only after ongoing inquiries did the Governor revealed for the first time the names of donors to the secretive nonprofit group.
The practice of unregulated contributions is pervasive. The one bad deed deserves another axiom seems to apply to the cozy relationship between politicos and their corporate and lobbying donors and benefactors. This seedy practice certainly needs further scrutiny.
Gary R. Snyder is the author of Nonprofits: On the Brink. His email is gary.r.snyder@gmail.com; website: www.garyrsnyder.com, phone: 248.324.3700.Labels: accountability, Philanthropy's role in society, regulation, transparency
By Gary Snyder
A recent article brings to our attention, once again, that corporate citizens and other donors are generously giving to charities that benefit political insiders and ostensibly, themselves.. The New York Times cites among others, the support for the symphony orchestra in Johnston, Pa, the beloved charity of Representative John Murtha.
There is typically a close relationship between the contributor and the politician. In this case, the major sponsors to the Congressman’s charity are two giant defense contractors ---General Dynamics and Northrop Grumman. Murtha’s Congressional committee hands out lucrative defense contracts.
There are other types of relationships. Representative Joe Barton, a Texan established a charitable foundation and hands out grants within his district. An influential member of the Committee on Energy and Commerce, the Joe Barton Family Foundation has a big donor, a major nuclear energy company, Exelon Corporation. The congressman’s daughter-in-law is the executive director of the foundation.
Over the years, we’ve seen U.S. Representative Alan Mollohan use donors and federal dollars--- at least $202 million--- to fund five nonprofits in Mollohan’s district, most of which were under his control. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer has joined in steps to clean up pork barrel spending…apparently everybody else’s. The congressman has tucked $96 million worth of pet projects into next year's federal budget, including $450,000 for a campaign donor's foundation. Hoyer inserted into a 2008 education-spending bill for InTune Foundation Group, who’s Web site describes it as a music-education nonprofit group.
We’ve seen this practice at all levels of government. For example, Pennsylvania State Senator Vincent J. Fumo use of money from a nonprofit for personal and political purposes with some $17 million is in question.
Another example is Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, of California, who set up a little-known nonprofit group that has paid for many of his international trips. Donations paid for his and aides' journeys to Israel, China, Japan, Canada and Europe on trips, described by the governor's office as trade missions, costing hundreds of thousands of dollars. Schwarzenegger solicited the $435,000 in gifts for the protocol foundation at a fundraiser. Only after ongoing inquiries did the Governor revealed for the first time the names of donors to the secretive nonprofit group.
The practice of unregulated contributions is pervasive. The one bad deed deserves another axiom seems to apply to the cozy relationship between politicos and their corporate and lobbying donors and benefactors. This seedy practice certainly needs further scrutiny.
Gary R. Snyder is the author of Nonprofits: On the Brink. His email is gary.r.snyder@gmail.com; website: www.garyrsnyder.com, phone: 248.324.3700.
Labels: accountability, Philanthropy's role in society, regulation, transparency
posted by Gary at
2:37 PM
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