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Name:
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BAJ
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He takes a FIRM stand....
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7/20/2004 1:58:58 PM
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I guess it all comes down to who you want to believe.
From Urban Legends: http://urbanlegends.miningco.com/library/bl_teresa_heinz_kerry.htm ...The second half, alleging that Mrs. Kerry has used her vast wealth to support extremist causes — including groups that foster terrorism — through donations to an organization called the Tides Foundation, is false.
While it is a fact that the Heinz Endowments, of which Teresa Heinz Kerry is the chairman, has granted upwards of $8 million through the Tides Center and Tides Foundation since 1994 to fund high school career programs, environmental protection projects and the like in Pennsylvania (see complete list of grants), those funds were not shared by any other causes or organizations connected with Tides, according to administrators.
Heinz Endowments President Maxwell King explains it thus:
First, by legally binding contract, every penny of Heinz’s support to Tides has been explicitly directed to specific projects in Pennsylvania. It cannot legally be redirected and is the exact opposite of fungible. Second, the Tides Center is a provider of management and administrative services, and we have used it only for those services, not to advance Tides’ grantmaking agenda. Foundations from all across the country-many, like Heinz, with strong centrist agendas-use these services to incubate an array of nonprofit programs. So does the federal government. It is no more accurate to suggest that Heinz supports every one of these programs than it is to suggest that someone who contributes to a specific group through the United Way supports the agenda of every other United Way beneficiary.
Third, the projects we have supported through Tides speak for themselves. They include programs to test the career readiness of area high school students, protect Pittsburgh’s environment and retain young people in our region-hardly an extremist agenda.
Fourth and finally, information about every one of our Tides-related grants is and always has been readily available in our public filings, annual reports and here on our web site. Far from being secretive, we have been consistently open in detailing the nature of our grants to Tides and every other organization we fund.
The Truth About Heinz and Tides
A statement from Heinz Endowments President Maxwell King.
In recent weeks, The Heinz Endowments has been accused of using its funding of the Tides Center of Western Pennsylvania to advance a laundry list of partisan causes and fringe political groups. This accusation is simply wrong.
It originated in an opinion column written by a researcher for the conservative, Washington, D.C.-based Capital Research Center. The crux of CRC’s argument is that money directed by the Endowments to Tides is "fungible." By supporting projects through Tides, CRC alleged that Heinz has secretly funneled money to every other organization that has ever received funding through Tides Center and the separate Tides Foundation.
Since first being published in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, CRC’s accusation has been picked up and expanded in opinion pieces in a number of newspapers, including the Wall Street Journal, the New York Post and the Washington Times. But not even these publications have leveled this allegation in actual news stories.
The reason why is obvious: The charge does not stand up to objective scrutiny. Four facts undercut it completely. First, by legally binding contract, every penny of Heinz’s support to Tides has been explicitly directed to specific projects in Pennsylvania. It cannot legally be redirected and is the exact opposite of fungible.
Second, the Tides Center is a provider of management and administrative services, and we have used it only for those services, not to advance Tides’ grantmaking agenda. Foundations from all across the country-many, like Heinz, with strong centrist agendas-use these services to incubate an array of nonprofit programs. So does the federal government. It is no more accurate to suggest that Heinz supports every one of these programs than it is to suggest that someone who contributes to a specific group through the United Way supports the agenda of every other United Way beneficiary.
Third, the projects we have supported through Tides speak for themselves. They include programs to test the career readiness of area high school students, protect Pittsburgh’s environment and retain young people in our region-hardly an extremist agenda.
Fourth and finally, information about every one of our Tides-related grants is and always has been readily available in our public filings, annual reports and here on our web site. Far from being secretive, we have been consistently open in detailing the nature of our grants to Tides and every other organization we fund.
Throughout its 63-year history, The Heinz Endowments has scrupulously observed both the letter and the spirit of the law barring foundations from partisan activity. That hasn’t changed. These accusations to the contrary are rooted in politics, not fact. They do a disservice to Howard Heinz Endowment chairman Teresa Heinz Kerry, whose stewardship of the Heinz family’s generous philanthropic legacy has been exemplary, and to our 16 other board members and 31 staff. Together, we remain committed to upholding the high ethical standards and proud traditions of one of America’s most respected charitable foundations.
To learn more, please click on the links below:
A complete list of Heinz Endowments grants to Tides and the projects they supported: http://www.heinz.org/files/HP_Digit.pdf
CRC’s original allegation as published in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review on Dec. 14, 2003 - The Heinz Endowments have teamed with a secretive left-wing group: http://www.heinz.org/files/TR-12-14-03.pdf
The Endowments’ response as published in the Dec. 14th Tribune-Review column, Neither extreme nor secretive: http://www.heinz.org/files/HEresponsetoTR-12-21-03.pdf
The Endowments’ response to the Dec. 14th Tribune-Review column, as submitted: http://www.heinz.org/files/HEresponsetoTR-12-21-03assubmitted.pdf
A second column, Playing Ketchup , published in National Review Online and the Tribune-Review, building on the allegation: http://www.heinz.org/files/TR-1-30-04.pdf
The Endowments’ unpublished response to the National Review Online (and the Tribune Review): http://www.heinz.org/files/HEresponsetoNRO2-4-04.pdf
A Tribune-Review editorial published March 12, 2004, Follow the Money, criticizing the Endowments for attempting to respond to the allegations: http://www.heinz.org/files/TR-3-12-04.pdf
The Endowments’ second response , also never published: http://www.heinz.org/files/HEresponsetoTR3-15-04.pdf
The New York Post’s editorial (Mrs.) Kerry’s Cash Connection, published March 9, 2004: http://www.heinz.org/files/NYP3-9-04.pdf
The Endowments’ response: http://www.heinz.org/files/HEresponsetoNYP3-9-04.pdf
The Wall Street Journal editorial, The Politics of 9/11 , published March 10, 2004: http://www.heinz.org/files/WSJ-3-10-04.pdf
The Endowments’ unpublished response: http://www.heinz.org/files/HEresponsetoWSJ-3-11-04.pdf
The Washington Times’ editorial, Active measures , published March 10, 2004: http://www.heinz.org/files/WT3-11-04.pdf
The Endowments’ response, Donations aren’t fungible, published March 13, 2004: http://www.heinz.org/files/HEresponsetoWT3-13-04.pdf
A Pittsburgh Post-Gazette report, Right zooms in on Heinz on where the attacks are coming from, published March 7, 2004: http://www.heinz.org/files/PPG-3-7-04.pdf
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s editorial, Dishing the dirt, published
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