Monday, October 22, 2007
If you're stunned that Richard Mellon Scaife failed to sign a prenuptial agreement with his second wife, imagine how these groups feel. A look at some of the Pittsburgh billionaire's favorite causes and what he's given them from 1985 through 2006:
Heritage Foundation, $23 million
Conservative think tank. Proponent of small government, strong national defense and traditional values.
Free Congress Research and Education Foundation, $17.9 million
Conservative think tank. Mission statement includes these questions: "Will America return to the culture that made it great, our traditional, Judeo-Christian, Western culture? Or will we continue the long slide into the cultural and moral decay of political correctness?"
Institute for Foreign Policy Analysis, $11.5 million
Think tank associated with Fletcher School of Diplomacy at Tufts University.
Hoover Institution, $9.7 million
Think tank of conservative and libertarian scholars, affiliated with Stanford University. Recently named Donald Rumsfeld "a distinguished visiting fellow."
Center for Strategic and International Studies, $8.8 million
Bipartisan think tank, focused on international affairs. Trustees include Henry Kissinger and Zbigniew Brzezinski.
Intercollegiate Studies Institute, $8.8 million
Founded in 1953 to "educate for liberty." Goal is to promote conservative principles among the best and brightest college students. First president: William F. Buckley Jr.
Judicial Watch, $8.3 million
Super-litigious D.C. "watch dog institution" best known for peppering the Clinton administration with more than a dozen lawsuits. Founder Larry Klayman once sued his mother.
Landmark Legal Foundation, $7 million
Conservative public advocacy group. Favorite target: teachers unions. Recently tried to nominate Rush Limbaugh for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Brandywine Conservancy, $6.9 million
Land conservation and preservation group in Pennsylvania.
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, $6.7 million
Right-leaning Washington think tank. Scholars and fellows include Lynne Cheney, Richard Perle and Newt Gingrich.
Scaife is also reportedly a major donor to the Anglican Communion Network, a theologically conservative organization founded in 2004 to fight the ordination of gay bishops in the Episcopal Church in the United States of America.
Source: MediaTransparency.org
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