1/12/01 4:45 p.m.
Follow the Money
Anti-Ashcroft groups are wards of the state.

By NR’s John J. Miller & Ramesh Ponnuru

iberal groups opposing the nomination of John Ashcroft for Attorney General receive about $45 million in government funding annually, according to an analysis by the Capital Research Center.

There are, of course, dozens of left-wing interest groups lobbying to defeat Ashcroft. The Capital Research Center — a vital organization that examines who funds what — took a close look at 18 of them, including the Feminist Majority Foundation, NAACP, National Education Association, NOW Legal Defense & Education Fund, and Planned Parenthood.

Here is another lesson on the dangers of funding the Left. There are restrictions on how government dollars are used, and lobbying is generally considered off-limits. But all money is fungible, which means a job-training grant to the AFSCME Training & Education Institute frees up funds for other things — such as targeting the conservative nominee of a Republican administration.

The government-funding figures are almost certainly higher than what the Capital Research Center actually reports, because there are more than 18 groups gunning for Ashcroft, and the center’s own data on the 18 groups it studied are admittedly incomplete. The 1999 numbers, for example, don’t include information on five of the groups in question, and listed simply as “unknown.”

What’s clear is that the smearing of John Ashcroft — at least a big chunk of it — is an operation underwritten by American taxpayers.

Note: An earlier version of this Washington Bulletin contained an error. This one has been corrected.