 |
|
|
|
||
|
<% dim printurl
Version |
|
April
26, 2002 8:45 a.m. |
|
eople
for the American Way, the liberal interest
group that has spearheaded some of the most intensely partisan attacks
on President Bush's judicial nominees, has received financial support
from several of the nation's top-tier media organizations, including the
New York Times Company, Time, Inc., and CBS.
Annual reports from People for the American Way have listed those companies — along with other media organizations like NBC, Disney (parent company of ABC), and America Online — among its financial supporters. It appears that the media corporations, some of which operate their own charitable foundations, did not make direct contributions to People for the American Way, but instead purchased tables — for $500 to $600 per seat — at the group's annual fundraising dinners in New York City.
A spokeswoman for the New York Times says the New York Times Company Foundation bought tables at People for the American Way fundraisers in 1998, 2000, and 2001. The 1998 dinner, which honored Times chairman emeritus Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Sr., was also something of a celebration of First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, whose husband was at the time trying unsuccessfully to fend off impeachment in the Monica Lewinsky matter. "Several hundred admirers in formal wear cheered when the first lady arrived at their cocktail hour," said an Associated Press account of the dinner at the Waldorf-Astoria hotel. "The audience was obviously enamored of Mrs. Clinton." (The dinners have frequently been celebrations of liberal politics; the year before the first lady's appearance, for example, the event featured filmmaker Michael Moore as its host.)
A spokesman for Time, Inc. says the company last contributed to a People for the American Way dinner in late 2000 but has since changed its policy about participating. "We determined that for news organizations such as ours, it would not be appropriate for us to do that, so we stopped doing it," spokesman Peter Costiglio says. "We made a determination that this was not something we should support on a regular basis."
A CBS spokesman says the network also purchased seats for the 2000 dinner. Officials point out that CBS has had a long and close relationship with Norman Lear, the legendary television producer who founded People for the American Way in 1981. "We love Norman dearly," says network executive vice president Marty Franks. "After all, he did produce one of the most popular shows [All in the Family] in the history of CBS." But Franks, who earlier in his career served in top positions with the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and the staff of Vermont Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy, says CBS at times finds itself at odds with Lear and People for the American Way over issues affecting the entertainment industry, and in fact bought tickets to the dinner because it was honoring Motion Picture Association of America head Jack Valenti. "We tend to give to more traditional charitable organizations," says Franks.
TAX-EXEMPT
LOBBYISTS
The statement
of purpose for People for the American Way says the group "organizes
and mobilizes Americans to fight for fairness, justice, civil rights and
the freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution." In Washington in recent
months, People for the American Way has worked closely with Democrats
on the Senate Judiciary Committee to oppose Bush White House judicial
nominations. The group scored a high-profile success with the defeat of
the nomination of Charles Pickering to a place on the Fifth Circuit Court
of Appeals, and it is likely to launch similar campaigns against other
Bush judicial choices in coming months. For example, People for the American
Way chief Ralph Neas recently referred to appeals-court nominee Miguel
Estrada as a "Latino Clarence Thomas," suggesting the group
will wage a fierce battle to stop that nomination.
Although Neas engages in sharply partisan political activity, he presides over an organization that is both a lobbying group and a "nonpartisan" tax-exempt charity. The lobbying side, People for the American Way, is a so-called 501(c)(4) organization — named for the section of the Internal Revenue Service code that provides for such groups — and is legally allowed to engage in partisan political activity. But the other half of People for the American Way, the People for the American Way Foundation, is a 501(c)(3) organization, meaning it is allowed to receive tax-deductible charitable donations but is prohibited by law from engaging in partisan political work.
Both sides of the organization take in impressive amounts of money from direct contributions and fundraising dinners like those attended by major media organizations. According to tax records for the year 2000, People for the American Way received $5,140,131 in contributions, while the People for the American Way Foundation took in $7,469,722 — for a total of $12,609,853 in one year alone.
It appears there is significant overlap between People for the American Way's partisan and nonpartisan sides. Neas's salary, for example, is paid by both the main group and the foundation. In 2000, he received $79,556 in salary from People for the American Way, the political arm, and $119,335 from the People for the American Way Foundation, the nonpartisan arm. The salary of People for the American Way's number-two officer, Carol Blum, was also divided between the two parts of the organization.
While it is true that People for the American Way does engage in some nonpartisan projects — like the purchase and exhibition of a 1776 copy of the Declaration of Independence — the group's aggressive attacks on the Bush administration suggests that the line between partisan and nonpartisan can sometimes be quite blurry. It is perhaps that mixing of the partisan and nonpartisan that led Time, Inc. to stop purchasing tables at People for the American Way fundraisers. But it appears that Time's decision is the exception, rather than the rule, concerning media support of People for the American Way.