Teresa Heinz Kerry's Radical Giving ( $140 mill a year to left leaning groups)

[Omaha Steve]

http://townhall.com/columnists/BillSteigerwald/2009/02/12/teresa_heinz_kerrys_radical_giving

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Teresa Heinz Kerry, the Heinz ketchup heiress and Pittsburgh 's most generous left-wing philanthropist, is very hands-on when it comes to deciding who gets a slice of the $140 million in charity that three Heinz Endowments dispense every year.

In his new booklet, "Teresa Heinz Kerry's Radical Gifts," Ben Johnson documents how the wife of Sen. John Kerry (and the late Sen. John Heinz) shares the Heinz family's wealth with a collection of left-wing groups and morally challenged cultural organizations that many Americans would find outrageous or appalling.

Johnson is the managing editor of FrontPageMag.com and author of "57 Varieties of Radical Causes: Teresa Heinz Kerry's Charitable Giving." That 2004 work, a prequel to his forthcoming one, did what the mainstream media did not do when Teresa Heinz Kerry and her husband were trying to win the White House. It documented the highly politicized, partisan and often self-serving tax-exempt giving of Teresa Heinz Kerry. I talked to Johnson by telephone on Tuesday:

Q: What do the Heinz Endowments say they are?

A: The Heinz Endowments say that they are charitable organizations based in Western Pennsylvania with the intention to aid the citizens of the entire area. So they are purely charitable organizations motivated by their love of mankind.

Q: What do you contend they really are, based on your research?

A: Over the course of two books, there is no denying that many of their grants do in fact benefit Pennsylvania in general, and I wouldn't dispute that that's the case. However, many of their grants are overtly partisan or go to groups of a decidedly radical nature. For instance, to give what seems to be the most egregious example, in 2004 Teresa Heinz Kerry gave $250,000 to help fund the Democratic National Convention that nominated her husband.

Q: And endowments are not supposed to be giving money to the Communist Party, the Democratic Party, the Republican Party -- any party, right?

A: That's right. By the way, they didn't give the money directly to a political party; they gave it to a group called Boston 2004. The Federal Elections Commission had made a loophole, which Teresa Heinz Kerry exploited, which said that organizations that fund political conventions are not motivated by politics, they are motivated by a love of the city that is hosting the convention. So this was merely a huge act of civic pride on her part to engage in this. She gave $250,000 -- which went to pamper Democratic National Convention attendees -- that bestowed coffee, trinkets, tickets for stage shows, tickets to exclusive events that only high-dollar donors were invited to.

And of course, it helped launch her husband in the national consciousness and herself, because you'll remember she gave that rambling speech in prime time in 2004 that was not well received at the national convention.

FULL story at link.

[Mass]

1. Any reason you post a RW rag?

[emulatorloo]

2. TOWNHALL.COM - you gotta be kidding me!!!!!!!! = Rightwing Echo Chamber

I mean c'mon, that site is for wingnuts and dittoheads who mainline the koolaide.

[babylonsister]

3. morally challenged cultural organizations?

Sure. :eyes:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Townhall.com

Townhall.com is a web-based publication primarily dedicated to conservative United States politics. It was previously operated by the Heritage Foundation, but is now owned and operated by Salem Communications. Townhall.com, which publishes daily, features more than 80 columns (both syndicated and exclusive) by writers such as Dennis Prager, Neal Boortz, Ann Coulter, Dinesh D'Souza, Larry Elder, Jonah Goldberg, Rebecca Hagelin, Paul Jacob, Paul Kengor, David Limbaugh, Michelle Malkin, Robert Novak, Thomas Sowell, Jacob Sullum, Mike Adams, Matt Lewis, Amanda Carpenter, Fred Thompson, Jeb Bush, and Cal Thomas. It also publishes news from the Associated Press. Its columnists often appear as guest commentators on C-SPAN, MSNBC, CNN, and the FOX News Channel. Townhall.com has become one of the top sites for grassroots activism and blogging for American conservatism. Top Arizona blogger and columnist, Gayle Plato-Besley,attributes Townhall.com with jumpstarting local activism: " It's through this venue that state and local political assembly and vital discourse occurs; it's an example of the First Amendment in action."

[emulatorloo]

4. kind of odd the Wingnuts are hauling out an attack on Teresa Heinz Kerry

maybe they got caught in a time warp or something.

[babylonsister]

5. The wingnuts have nothing positive to say about their party,

so they're reduced to this foaming at the mouth. So sad.

[Mass]

6. All these people (writer, columnist) are from Pittsburg !

[Rabrrrrrr]

7. The left needs to start stealing their language. Let's use "radical rightwing"

and "organizations that much of America find immoral and unethical" and "groups that are repugnant to the values of Americans" and "morally challenged" and so forth.

Shit like that.

[sandnsea]

8. Teresa Heinz, "Radicalizing" A Town Near You

I responded to this claptrap months ago.

"The right just can’t get enough of whipping on Teresa Heinz Kerry. To hear their caterwauling, you would think she was another Granny D, ready to get out her walking stick and hoof it across the country in her Chanel espadrilles. Here’s this petite and graceful woman who barely speaks above a whisper, now deemed a raving anarchist to the ridiculous right; ridiculous because you certainly can’t call yourself rabid while you’re going after a seventy year old grandmother.

The most recent hit on the “left-wing philanthropist” comes in a book called “Radical Gifts”, which follows the equally charming “57 Varieties of Radical Causes” from the same author. And while one would like to think that outlandish claims that are found in this book would only circulate in the bowels of the basement brigade, Bill Steigerwald of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review proved his complete lack of a shred of decency by actually granting an interview with the guy.

The writer’s diatribe is based on a somewhat peculiar accusation that the Heinz Foundation shows “no diversity” in the organizations they choose to fund. I always find it comical when our right wing defenders of freedom react in disdain when someone makes a free choice to believe differently than they do. Teresa Heinz doesn’t have to have diversity in funding, she isn’t the government.

Now wait until you find out what Teresa and some of the “Hate America Left” organizations are up to. First off, of all things, she is trying to “radicalize the state of Pennsylvania”. Well, we knew she was ambitious! But you will never believe the devious means she is using. She is actually supporting groups who promote democracy by running successful campaigns that “increased voter registration (and) increased voter turnout.” Look Out Pennsylvania! And do you know why she was doing this – why to support her husband’s run for President in 2008. Yes the Radical Ms. Heinz is so stupid that her strategic plan to win the 2008 election was to pour money into a state that her husband had already proven he could win."

MORE:


http://www.lightupthedarkness.org/blog/?p=123

[Omaha Steve]

9. It's a juxtaposition

I enjoyed reading the article. I love that she gives to LEFT good causes. How did everybody miss that? It was a pat on her back to me. I was doing research about the follow up post on Rush from today's show.

[emulatorloo]

11. Townhall owner = Salem Communications = specialist in evangelical Christian and

Conservative Talk Radio.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salem_Communications

Surely you can find a source about THK's giving that has not been run through the wingnut filter.

[underpants]

10. Townhall damn well knows about "The Fours Sisters"

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/underpants/93