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76 lines
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76 lines
4.0 KiB
Plaintext
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The BIRCH BARK BBS / 414-242-5070
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America's Future, Inc., Behind The Headlines, May 1996
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Big Business Is Promoting Socialism
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-----------------------------------
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by F.R. Duplantier
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You'd think that Big Business interests would support free
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enterprise, but the bulk of their annual corporate giving goes to
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nonprofit groups promoting increased regulation and higher taxes.
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An expert on corporate philanthropy claims that "corporate
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America is funding its enemies." Austin Fulk of the Capital
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Research Center reports that "many corporations give away their
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investors' dollars to special interest advocacy groups that favor
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irresponsible government policies harmful to a corporation's own
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best interests." In a recent issue of Human Events, Fulk charges
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that "big business is undermining American values by freely
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contributing to tax-exempt groups that work against a free and
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competitive market." He points out that "tax-exempt groups
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receiving the biggest share of corporate charitable dollars
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repeatedly offer status quo proposals to solve America's most
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pressing problems: racial quotas, increased welfare and
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entitlement programs, higher taxes and more government spending,
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command-and-control environmental laws, and regulations on
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employers."
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More than 300 nonprofit advocacy groups got contributions from
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America's top 250 corporations in 1993, but only 35 of those
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groups received more than $250,000 apiece. Austin Fulk reports
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that nearly two-thirds of these 35 groups "favor the liberal,
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tried-and-failed policies of bureaucratic government. Groups such
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as the Nature Conservancy, the NAACP, the Center for Community
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Change, and Planned Parenthood get big corporate grants."
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Liberal groups with a Big-Government bias aren't the only
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beneficiaries of corporate largesse, however. "Corporations not
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only fund groups working against the general interests of
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business, but some also support radical activist groups that are
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principled opponents of America's enterprise tradition," says
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Fulk. "Corporate funding, even in small amounts, affects the
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fortunes of radical activists far out of proportion to the actual
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dollar amount. A corporate gift lends respectability to radical
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groups. It gives them a credential so that they can ask other
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corporations, individuals, and grantmaking foundations for
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funding."
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Donations to nonprofit groups that promote big government also
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undermine the work of legitimate charities. "Private charities
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have a record of effectively delivering services," says Fulk.
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"But too often their work is overshadowed by failed government
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programs that perpetuate the social problems they were supposed
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to address. The mission of charity is hurt when government
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programs replace private programs, and when taxpayer funding
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replaces private contributions and individual voluntarism."
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Austin Fulk of the Capital Research Center urges American
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investors to hold corporate management responsible for foolish
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and self-defeating philanthropy. If managers can't make
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charitable contributions wisely, they should make none at all.
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"Corporate managements do shareholders and the nation a grave
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disservice when they fund leftist advocacy groups," says Fulk.
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"If the welfare state is to be replaced by an opportunity
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society, support for nonprofit institutions must become more
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discerning. Individuals as well as corporations must champion
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charities and advocacy groups that encourage self-reliance. And
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they must refuse support to nonprofit groups that draw strength
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from government."
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America's Future, 7800 Bonhomme, St. Louis MO 63105
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Phone: 314-725-6003 Fax: 314-721-3373
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