John McCain is the Mastermind behind 9/11!!

[Accountable]

McCain asked about PNAC and 9/11 at town hall

07/10/2008 @ 9:46 am

Filed by David Edwards and Muriel Kane

During a town hall event in Portsmouth, OH on Wednesday, John McCain was asked by a member of the audience whether his links to the parent organization of the Project for a New American Century explain why he has been reluctant to support calls for a new investigation of 9/11.

Advertisement

The questioner began, "I was curious about a document. Back in September of 2000, the Project for a New American Century, or PNAC, whose members included Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Jeb Bush and Paul Wolfowitz, wrote a document entitled 'Rebuilding Americans Defenses.'"

As McCain turned and paced away from him, the questioner continued, "In it, they state, quote, "The process of transformation, even if it bring revolutionary change, is likely to be a long one, absent some catastrophic and catalyzing event like a new Pearl Harbor."

"Now, many Americans believe that that 'new Pearl Harbor' event took place on 9/11," the questioner went on, as McCain grimaced slightly. "And according to a recent New York Times and CBS News poll, 84% of Americans believe that there were some criminal elements of our government involved in 9/11."

Calls of disapproval began to arise from the audience, but the questioner shot back, "Hold on!" and continued asking McCain, "Can you tell us about your role as -- hold on -- as president of the 'New Citizen Project,' founded in 1994, which served as a chief fund-raising and parent organization to PNAC? And is this one of the factors that has made you so reluctant to support the victims' family members and first responders who are begging for a new investigation into 9/11?"

The boos became louder at that point, and McCain grimaced again, turned his back and walked away, but the questioner insisted, "It's a serious question."

"I have a serious answer, sir," McCain replied, "and that is that it was Joe Lieberman and I -- a Democrat -- that sponsored the legislation for the 9/11 Commission. ... And very frankly, the administration was not, shall I say, enthusiastic about the establishment of that commission. ... I am proud of what the 9/11 Commission did. I am proud that we have enacted many of the reforms ... that they recommended. And I will stand by their recommendations and their conclusions, as will the overwhelming majority of Americans."

"It's a free country," McCain concluded. "You are free to disagree with their conclusions. But I am proud to have been one of those who was, along with Joe Lieberman, responsible for the establishment of the 9/11 Commission."

http://rawstory.com//printstory.php?story=11092

New Citizenship Project

From SourceWatch

Jump to: navigation, search

New Citizenship Project (also New Citizenship Project, Inc.) is a non-profit organization funded by large right-wing foundations. Founded in 1994, NCP initiated the Project for the New American Century, one of the key behind-the-scenes architects of the Bush administration's foreign policy. According to his senate biography, John McCain served as a president of NCP, "an organization created to promote greater civic participation in our national life."[1]

NCP shares the same address and suite as PNAC. According to NCP's listing in The Right Guide, NCP and the Philanthropy Roundtable share the same phone number. The Philanthropy Roundtable's office is on the same floor of the same office building as PNAC and NCP.

In 1996, the Council on Crime in America, another NCP project, authored a report The State of Violent Crime in America which was published by the Heartland Institute. The Council., which appears to have only been briefly active in 1996, was chaired by former "Drug Czar" William Bennett and former Attorney General Griffin Bell. McCain also served on the Council.[2]

per [3]

Chairman: William Kristol

President: Gary J. Schmitt

The watchdog group "Media Transparency, the Money Behind the Media"[4], reports 47 grants totalling $2,722,900 given to the New Citizenship Project from 1994 through 2001.

Funding sources appear to be exclusively from three far right-wing neo-conservative think tank funders:

The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation of Milwaukee, Wisconsin[5]: This is the primary sponsor of the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), which was the recipient of over a million dollars in 2001 alone. "By way of a program known as the New Citizenship Project, Inc., PNAC Project for the New American Century received hundreds of thousands of dollars from the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation."[6]

John M. Olin Foundation, Inc. of New York[7]: This foundation grew out of a family manufacturing business (chemical and munitions) and funds right-wing think tanks like the American Enterprise Institute, the Heritage Foundation, the Manhattan Institute for Public Policy Change, and the Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace.[8]

Scaife Foundations -- Sarah Mellon Scaife Foundation[9] and Scaife Family Foundation[10] -- in New York: These foundations are financed by the Mellon industrial, oil, and banking fortune.[11]

The John M. Olin Foundation, Inc. listed grants in 1997 show the subtitle for The New Citizenship Project as the "Project for the Next American Century." It clearly appears that the origninal 1994 PNAC concept has become the current Project for the New American Century.[12]

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?ti ... ip_Project

The Project for the New American Century (PNAC) is a neo-conservative think tank with strong ties to the American Enterprise Institute. PNAC's web site says it was "established in the spring of 1997" as "a non-profit, educational organization whose goal is to promote American global leadership."

PNAC is an American neoconservative think tank based in Washington, D.C., co-founded as "a non-profit educational organization" by William Kristol and Robert Kagan in early 1997. The PNAC's stated goal is to promote American global leadership. Fundamental to the PNAC are the views that "American leadership is both good for America and good for the world" and support for "a Reaganite policy of military strength and moral clarity." It has exerted strong influence on high-level U.S. government officials in the administration of U.S President George W. Bush and strongly affected the Bush administration's development of military and foreign policies, especially involving national security and the Iraq War

PNAC's policy document, "Rebuilding America's Defences," openly advocates for total global military domination. Many PNAC members hold highest-level positions in the George W. Bush administration.

Writing in the Sociological Quarterly, David Altheide and Jennifer Grimes argued that "PNAC, working with a compliant news media, developed, sold, enacted, and justified a war with Iraq."

Regardless of PNAC's actual role in shaping policy, the group was arguably the most effective proponent of neoconservative ideas during the period between President Bill Clinton's second administration and the 2003 invasion of Iraq. PNAC's 1997 "Statement of Principles" set forth an ambitious post-Cold War agenda for foreign and military policy that William Kristol and Robert Kagan, both founding members of the group, described as "neo-Reaganite."

Before establishing PNAC, neoconservatives and their allies among hardline nationalists, including Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney, began aggressively promoting a number of ideas that could replace the militant anti-communism that had guided U.S. policy during the later part of the Cold War. A key step in this process was the founding in 1995 of the Weekly Standard by two scions of the neoconservative movement—William Kristol and John Podhoretz. Together with Fred Barnes, a former correspondent for the New Republic, they secured funding from media mogul Rupert Murdoch to support what would ultimately prove to be a highly successful enterprise. The magazine quickly replaced Commentary as the mouthpiece of the neoconservatives, and after George W. Bush's election was widely regarded as a must-read inside the Beltway.

Upset over the failure of the first President Bush to oust Saddam Hussein, neoconservatives had long been agitating for more aggressive U.S. action, penning numerous articles on the subject, creating pressure groups like the revived Committee for Peace and Security in the Gulf (whose members included Abrams, Khalilzad, Perle, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, Douglas Feith, John Bolton, and David Wurmser), and attracting other factions on the Republican establishment to the cause.

Robert B. Zoellick the eleventh president of the World Bank is found among the signators as well as his predecessor Paul Wolfowitz, scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, who resign in return for softening the charge that he had engaged in misconduct.

PNAC's staff and directors as of mid-2007 included William Kristol (chairman), Robert Kagan, Bruce Jackson, Mark Gerson, Randy Scheunemann, Ellen Bork (deputy director), Gary Schmitt (senior fellow), Thomas Donnelly (senior fellow), Reuel Gerecht (director of the Middle East Initiative), Timothy Lehmann, (assistant director), and Michael Goldfarb (research associate).



An initiative of the New Garret Terrien Project, New Citizenship Project a 501(c)(3) organization headed by William Kristol (Chairman) and Gary Schmitt (President), the Project for the New American Century is funded in part by such organizations as the Sarah Scaife Foundation, the John M. Olin Foundation and the Bradley Foundation.

Some Swedish names found signing PNAC letters are Carl Bildt, Urban Ahlin, Anders Ã…slund, Gunilla Carlsson.

http://thinktank-watch.blogspot.com/200 ... ntury.html

American Enterprise Institute

From SourceWatch

Jump to: navigation, search

This article is part of the Tobacco portal on Sourcewatch, sponsored by the American Legacy Foundation. Help expose the truth about the tobacco industry.

The American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research (AEI) is an extremely influential, pro-business right-wing think tank founded in 1943 by Lewis H. Brown. It promotes the advancement of free enterprise capitalism[1], and succeeds in placing its people in influential governmental positions. It is the center base for many neo-conservatives.

Contents [show]

1 History

2 Work on issues

2.1 Iraq

2.2 Tobacco issues

3 Case Studies

3.1 NGO Watch

3.2 Casting Doubt on Global Warming

4 Officers

5 Personnel

6 Current list of Scholars and Fellows

7 Alumni

8 Connections

9 Funding

10 Contact Information

11 Publications

12 Resources

12.1 Related SourceWatch articles

12.2 References

12.3 Profiles

12.4 External articles



[edit]History

Originally set up as a spokesperson for big business and the promotion of free enterprise, the AEI came to major national prominence in the 1970s under the leadership of William Baroody, Sr.[2], during which time it grew from a group of twelve resident "thinkers" to a well-funded organization with 145 resident scholars, 80 adjunct scholars, and a large supporting staff. This period of growth was largely funded by the Howard Pew Freedom Trust [1].

Ronald Reagan said of the AEI in 1988:

"The American Enterprise Institute stands at the center of a revolution in ideas of which I, too, have been a part. AEI's remarkably distinguished body of work is testimony to the triumph of the think tank. For today the most important American scholarship comes out of our think tanks – and none has been more influential than the American Enterprise Institute."

In 1986, the Olin and Smith Richardson foundations withdrew their support from AEI because of substantive disagreement with certain of its policies, causing William Baroody, Jr.[3][4][5] to resign in the ensuing financial crisis. Following criticism by conservatives that the AEI was too centrist, it moved its programme further to the right and became more aggressive in pursuing its public policy goals. [2]

[edit]Work on issues

[edit]Iraq

More recently, it has emerged as one of the leading architects of the Bush administration's foreign policy. AEI rents office space to the Project for the New American Century, one of the leading voices that pushed the Bush administration's plan for "regime change" through war in Iraq. AEI reps have also aggressively denied that the war has anything to do with oil.

[edit]Tobacco issues

In 1980, the American Enterprise Institute for the sum of $25,000 produced a study in support of the tobacco industry titled, Cost-Benefit Analysis of Regulation: Consumer Products. The study was designed to counteract "social cost" arguments against smoking by broadening the social cost issue to include other consumer products such as alcohol and saccharin. The social cost arguments against smoking hold that smoking burdens society with additional costs from on-the-job absenteeism, medical costs, cleaning costs and fires.[3] The report was part of the global tobacco industry's 1980s Social Costs/Social Values Project, carried out to refute emerging social cost arguments against smoking.

[edit]Case Studies

[edit]NGO Watch

In June 2003, AEI and another right-wing group, the Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies, launched a new website NGOWatch.org/NGOwatch.org to expose the funding, operations and agendas of international NGOs, and particularly their alleged efforts to constrain U.S. freedom of action in international affairs and influence the behavior of corporations abroad. [4] AEI states that "The extraordinary growth of advocacy NGOs in liberal democracies has the potential to undermine the sovereignty of constitutional democracies, as well as the effectiveness of credible NGOs."[5] Ralph Nader responds with "What they are condemning, with vague, ironic regulatory nostrums proposed against dissenting citizen groups, is democracy itself." [6]

[edit]Casting Doubt on Global Warming

In February 2007, The Guardian (UK) reported that AEI was offering scientists and economists $10,000 each, "to undermine a major climate change report" from the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). AEI asked for "articles that emphasise the shortcomings" of the IPCC report, which "is widely regarded as the most comprehensive review yet of climate change science." AEI visiting scholar Kenneth Green made the $10,000 offer "to scientists in Britain, the US and elsewhere," in a letter describing the IPCC as "resistant to reasonable criticism and dissent." [7]

The Guardian reported further that AEI "has received more than $1.6m from ExxonMobil, and more than 20 of its staff have worked as consultants to the Bush administration. Lee Raymond, a former head of ExxonMobil, is the vice-chairman of AEI's board of trustees," added The Guardian. [8]

[edit]Officers

Christopher DeMuth - President. Researches government regulation. He has been president of AEI since 1986.

David Gerson - Executive Vice President

Jason Bertsch - Vice President, Marketing

Henry Olsen III - Vice President, National Research Initiative

Danielle Pletka - Vice President, Foreign and Defense Policy Studies. Research areas include the Middle East, South Asia, terrorism, and weapons proliferation.

[6]

[edit]Personnel

Douglas J. Besharov, Resident Scholar and a Professor in the School of Public Affairs at the University of Maryland.

Robert H. Bork, Senior Fellow and rejected Reagan Supreme Court nominee.

Karlyn Bowman, Resident Fellow.

Montgomery Brown, publication staff member.

Virginia Bryant, publication staff member.

Kathryn Burrows, publication staff member.

Lynne Cheney, the wife of U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney, is an AEI senior fellow.

Richard Cohen penned a vociferous response to Dennis Kucinich's assertion that the war is about oil.

Jon Entine is an adjunct fellow at AEI

Diana Furchtgott-Roth, Resident Fellow and co-author of Women's Figures.

Michael Fumento works at AEI.

Reuel Marc Gerecht Resident Fellow

Newt Gingrich, Senior Fellow and former Speaker of the House [1995-1999].

Jeane J. Kirkpatrick, Senior Fellow

Kenneth Krattenmaker, publication staff member.

Michael Ledeen, former consultant to the NSC and to the U.S. State and Defense Departments his latest book is entitled, "The War against the Terror Masters."

Juyne Linger, editor.

John R. Lott, Jr. is a relentless opponent of gun control and the author of a book titled "More Guns, Less Crime."

Michael Novak, neoconservative Catholic who strongly favors capitalism and criticizes liberation theology and liberal Catholic initiatives

Norman J. Ornstein, Resident Scholar

Richard Perle a vocal media supporter of the US-Iraq war.

Lee Raymond, CEO of ExxonMobil, is the vice chair of AEI's board of trustees.

Harlan Crow, Dallas real estate magnate, serves on AEI's board of trustees

Nazanin Samari, Research Assistant.

Leigh Tripoli

Ben J. Wattenberg, Senior Fellow and host of the PBS series Think Tank.

Roger Bate, visiting fellow

Bill Thomas, visiting fellow and former member of Congress considered "an expert on a wide array of tax, trade and healthcare issues during his 14 terms in the House and six years as chairman of the powerful Ways and Means panel" [9]

[edit]Current list of Scholars and Fellows

(Data June, 2007 from AEI. Links after each name are to their AEI personal Bio page)

Gerard Alexander; Democracy; Democratization; American government; Government spending - [10]

Joseph Antos; Medicare; Health care policy; Private health insurance - [11]

Leon Aron; Russian domestic politics and foreign policy; Russia-U.S. relations - [12]

Claude Barfield; Economics; International trade policy; Science policy; Technology policy; The functioning of the GATT/WTO system - [13]

Roger Bate; Performance & effectiveness of USAID, World Bank, Millennium Challenge Corporation, and NGOs in Africa and the developing world; International environmental and health agreements (industrial chemicals, climate change, and water); Water policy in developing countries; Genetically modified organisms and pesticide policy; Health policy and endemic diseases in developing countries (AIDS and malaria) - [14]

Walter Berns; Political philosophy; Constitutional law; Legal issues - [15]

Douglas J. Besharov; Education (vocational, high-school counseling, Affirmative Action, and student aid); Poverty (trends, causes, and remedies); Welfare reform (job training and program evaluation); Families (marriage, divorce, same-sex marriage, and nonmarital births); Child abuse/child welfare (foster care and delinquency); Preschool and child care (Head Start); Race and ethnicity (Affirmative Action and black middle class) - [16]

Edward Blum; Civil rights policy; Affirmative action; Multiculturalism; Redistricting; Voting rights - [17]

Dan Blumenthal; China; Taiwan; East Asia; U.S.-China relations - [18]

John R. Bolton; Foreign Policy; International Organizations - [19]

Karlyn H. Bowman; Public opinion/polls; U.S. politics; Media - [20]

Arthur C. Brooks; Culture, politics, and economic life in America; Social entrepreneurship ; Philanthropy - [21]

John E. Calfee; Advertising; U.S. Food and Drug Administration policies; Health care policy; Pharmaceuticals; Tobacco; Tort liability system - [22]

Charles W. Calomiris; Financial markets; International trade and finance; Monetary policy; Banking regulation; Corporate finance - [23]

Lynne V. Cheney; Culture; Education - [24]

Steven J. Davis; Impact of taxes on work and leisure time; Labor market issues; Job creation, employment and unemployment - [25]

Mauro De Lorenzo; Chinese overseas investment; Refugee and humanitarian policy; East and Central Africa (Rwanda, Congo, Burundi, Uganda); Development Aid - [26]

Christopher DeMuth; Government regulation; Law and economics; Environmental policy; Liability reform - [27]

Thomas Donnelly; Defense; National security - [28]

Nicholas Eberstadt; Infant mortality and health disparities in the United States; Economics; Economic development policy; Foreign and Defense; Poverty; Foreign aid; Korea; East Asia; Russia and other former Soviet republics; Social and Political; Demographics; Health and mortality in foreign locales (including HIV/AIDS) - [29]

Mark Falcoff; Latin America - [30]

John C. Fortier; Elections; Congress; Continuity of government; Election reform, presidential succession, and disability; The Electoral College; The presidency - [31]

Ted Frank; Liability reform; Law and economics; Constitutional law; Medical malpractice; Antitrust policy; Regulation through litigation; Intellectual property - [32]

David Frum; Canadian politics; U.S. politics; Bush administration - [33]

David Gelernter; American history; Religion, culture, and science - [34]

Reuel Marc Gerecht; Afghanistan; Iran; Intelligence; Middle East; Terrorism; Central Asia/former Soviet Union - [35]

Newt Gingrich; Health care policy; Military; U.S. politics; Information technology - [36]

James K. Glassman; Social Security; Economics; Technology and politics; Federal budget; Interest rates; Stock market; Taxes; Education - [37]

Jack Landman Goldsmith; International law (treaties and war powers); Sovereignty; Intelligence reform - [38]

Robert A. Goldwin; Constitutional studies; Education; Human rights and democracy - [39]

Scott Gottlieb, M.D.; Food and Drug Administration policies; Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services policies; Trends in medicine (political and clinical); Medical technology development - [40]

Kenneth P. Green; Environmental policy; Environmental chemicals; Air pollution; Climate change; Energy and environment; Transport and environment - [41]

Michael S. Greve; Federalism; Constitutional law; Courts; Business regulation - [42]

Christopher Griffin; Japan; Taiwan; Southeast Asia; India; Defense industrial cooperation in the Asia Pacific; China - [43]

Robert W. Hahn; Energy; Environment; Regulation - [44]

Kevin A. Hassett; Investments; Stock market; Tax policy; U.S. economy - [45]

Steven F. Hayward; Environment; Law; The presidency; Political economy - [46]

Robert B. Helms; Health care policy; Medicaid; Medicare; Economics of the pharmaceutical industry; Private health insurance - [47]

Frederick M. Hess; Education - [48]

Ayaan Hirsi Ali; Islam and the West; Islam and women; Islam in Europe - [49]

R. Glenn Hubbard; Tax and budget issues; Tax policy; Health care policy; International finance; Monetary policy; Regulation - [50]

Frederick W. Kagan; Defense issues; Defense budget; Defense strategy and warfare; American military; Russian and European military history; Defense transformation - [51]

Leon R. Kass, M.D.: Bioethics; Ethics; Philosophy; Marriage, family, and social mores - [52]

Herbert G. Klein; U.S. media and political issues; Presidential communications - [53]

Marvin H. Kosters; Income inequality; Labor issues - [54]

Irving Kristol; Culture; Ethics; Religion; Politics - [55]

Desmond Lachman; Role of multilateral lending institutions; Major emerging market economies - [56]

Michael A. Ledeen; Italy; Africa (Mozambique, South Africa, and Zimbabwe); Europe; Intelligence; Middle East; U.S. foreign policy; Iran; Leadership and the use of power; Terrorism; U.S.-China relations - [57]

Adam Lerrick; International capital markets; Role of hedge funds; International financial crises and sovereign debt restructuring; Economic development including the impact of aid and the role of multilateral institutions; World Bank and IMF reform - [58]

Philip I. Levy; International trade policy; U.S. foreign assistance and economic development policy; Globalization - [59]

James R. Lilley; Korea; China; Taiwan - [60]

Lawrence B. Lindsey; Tax policy; Fiscal policy; International economic development; Monetary policy - [61]

John H. Makin; U.S. economy (monetary policy, taxes, and budget issues); Financial markets (stocks, bonds, and currencies of major industrial countries); Japanese economy; European economies - [62]

N. Gregory Mankiw; U.S. economy; Fiscal policy; Entitlements; International trade policy - [63]

Aparna Mathur; Health economics; Tax policy; Small businesses and bankruptcy - [64]

Mark B. McClellan, M.D.; Medical innovation; Medicare; Medicaid; Quality of health care; Health care policy - [65]

Allan H. Meltzer; Financial services; International finance; Monetary policy and history; Tax and budget issues - [66]

Thomas P. Miller; Information transparency for health services; Consumer-driven health care; Health insurance regulation (interstate competition) - [67]

Joshua Muravchik; United Nations; Neoconservatism; History of socialism and communism; Arab-Israeli conflict; Global democracy, terrorism, and the Bush Doctrine - [68]

Charles Murray; Culture; Human intelligence and social structure; Marriage, family, and social mores; Family; Crime; Libertarianism - [69]

Roger F. Noriega; Latin America; The Caribbean; Canada - [70]

Michael Novak; U.S. politics; Ethnicity; Sports; Religion; Culture - [71]

Norman J. Ornstein; U.S. politics; Congress; Elections - [72]

Richard Perle; Defense; Europe; Intelligence; Middle East; National security; Russian region - [73]

Danielle Pletka; Middle East; Terrorism; South Asia (India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan); Weapons proliferation - [74]

Alex J. Pollock; Accounting standards (FASB); Financial system; Government-Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs), including Fannie Mae and the Federal Home Loan Banks; Retirement finance; Housing finance; Corporate governance; Banking structure - [75]

Sarath Rajapatirana; Economic policy reforms in Latin America; Macroeconomic policies of developing countries; Multilateral trade negotiations; Trade policies of developing countries - [76]

Michael Rubin; Arab democracy; Domestic politics in Iran and Iraq; Kurdish society - [77]

Sally Satel, M.D.: Domestic drug policy; Mental health policy (including the psychological impact of war and disasters); Political trends in medicine - [78]

Gary J. Schmitt; Strategic studies; National security; Intelligence; Europe - [79]

Joel Schwartz; Environment (air pollution, vehicle emissions, and chemical risks) - [80]

Daniel Shaviro; Social Security; Medicare; Tax and budget policy - [81]

Kent Smetters; Insurance; Risk management - [82]

Christina Hoff Sommers; American adolescents; Feminism and American culture; Morality in American society - [83]

Samuel Thernstrom; Environment; American political culture - [84]

Bill Thomas; Tax policy; Health care policy; Trade policy; Elections; Legislative and political process - [85]

Fred Thompson; National security and intelligence (China, North Korea, and Russia) - [86]

Richard Vedder; Labor issues; Income inequality; Higher education financing; Fiscal policy; Immigration - [87]

Alan D. Viard; Federal tax and budget policy; Social Security - [88]

Peter J. Wallison; Banking and financial services; GSEs (Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac); Financial markets - [89]

Ben J. Wattenberg; Culture; Demographics; Public opinion/polls - [90]

Paul Wolfowitz ex-World Bank President (and neo-conservative) who was forced to resign amid controversy [91]

John Yoo; Constitutional law; International law - [92]

[edit]Alumni

Anne Brunsdale

James Buchanan

Dick Cheney

Former President Gerald R. Ford

C. Boyden Gray

Alan Keyes

Jeane Kirkpatrick

Kenneth Lay

S. Robert Lichter - former holder of the AEI's DeWitt Wallace Chair in Mass Communications [93]

Constantine C. Menges

Antonin Scalia

L. William Seidman

George P. Shultz

William E. Simon

Herbert Stein

[edit]Connections

The following was compiled by RightWeb.[7]

The Center for the Study of American Business and the Center for Strategic and International Studies are said to be spinoffs of the AEI (Saloma, 1984).

The Business Roundtable: according to journalist Sidney Blumenthal, making contributions to AEI was a pitch made at almost every policy committee meeting of the Roundtable

During the 80s, staff members were funded with the hawkish anticommunist group Committee on the Present Danger.

Staff alumni Jeane Kirkpatrick and William Simon were vice president and chairman of the Nicaraguan Freedom Fund.

Alumni Michael Novak and Irving Kristol co-founded the Coalition for a Democratic Majority

Heritage Foundation

Council for National Policy

Center for Strategic and International Studies

Center for Security Policy founded by Frank Gaffney with an alleged mission to "promote peace through American strength".

Project for the New American Century, PNAC

[edit]Funding

Between 1985 and 2001, AEI received $29,653,933 from the following funding sources:

Carthage Foundation

Castle Rock Foundation

Earhart Foundation

John M. Olin Foundation, Inc.

Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation

Philip M. McKenna Foundation, Inc.

Scaife Foundations (Scaife Family, Sarah Mellon Scaife, Carthage)

Smith Richardson Foundation

Amounts contributed by the Coors Foundation are not included.

Funding has come from many other sources, such as Amoco, the Kraft Foundation, and the Procter & Gamble Fund. AEI, unlike some think tanks, has no endowment - something which has led the organization into financial embarrassment in 1985 when its operating budget outstripped its donations by 25 percent (Newsweek, 1984).

Corporate donations are not public, but it is known that during 1997, Philip Morris contributed $100,000 to the Institute [94]; and during 2005, ExxonMobil contributed $252,500 (including an estimated 50% of ExxonMobil's donation to the AEI Brookings "Joint Center".) [95].

AEI's revenue in 2005 amounted to $33 million.[8]

[edit]Contact Information

American Enterprise Institute

1150 Seventeenth Street, N.W.

Washington, DC 20036

Phone: 202-862-5800

Fax: 202-862-7177

E-mail: info AT aei.org

Website: http://www.aei.org

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?ti ... _Institute

How to Raise Mosquito Larvae for Fish Food

Some fish require live food to survive; some require live food to breed. Raising mosquito or midge larvae for this purpose is free, simple to set up, and requires minimal work. After you've determined that doing this will not violate any local laws and regulations regarding public health [1] all you'll need is a bucket, water, and some sun.

[edit] Steps

Two barrels which could be used.Find a bucket or plastic barrel. A 5 gallon bucket will work, as will a 50 gallon barrel. It is possible to collect 30–40 larva per day from a 35 gallon barrel.

A black bucket will get warmer earlier but it may get too hot in mid-summer. When the temperatures reach a high of 80°F, move the bucket to a place that is in shade all day. The indirect sunlight will still allow the algae to grow. Algae is the main food source for the larvae.

Alternatively, you can use a 5 gallon or 10 gallon fish tank so you can see the larvae better and reach the ones that escape to the bottom of the tank. An acrylic tank will be more suitable for outdoor use.

Put the bucket outside and allow it to fill with rainwater. Or, if it's wintertime, fill it with snow to melt in warmer weather. If you fill it with water from the garden hose, be sure to use a dechlorinator to neutralize chlorine and chloramines. Chlorine will prevent algae growth, which will deprive the larvae of food.



Nice green water.Put the bucket in the sun. This will warm the water and allow algae to grow. You want your water to look like green pea soup. Algae growing on the sides of the bucket is not what your larvae eat. They need the algae that makes the water green.



A cluster of larvae, and one pupaWait until the midges and mosquitoes lay tiny rafts of dark brown eggs (about the size of a sesame seed) on the surface of the water. If you can find the tiny, 3mm football-shaped, dark brown egg rafts, you found a bonus! Put these in your tank and the fish will eat the wigglers as they hatch into the water, usually within 48 hours.[2] If you don't move them to the fish tank, they'll hatch and the larvae (aka "wigglers") will grow and eat the algae. As the larvae mature, they become comma-shaped with two tiny antenna. When they reach this shape, be sure to feed them to your fish.



Larvae and pupaeRemember, wigglers go from egg, to water larvae, to pupae ("tumblers"), then to flying adult. Whatever you do, do not let them reach the flying adult stage as mosquitoes and some midges are not only a nuisance, but they can transmit diseases to animals and humans alike. See Warnings below.



Larvae larvae larvae!Net the larvae every few days to prevent them from developing into pupae (and then into mosquitoes or midges). The warmer the weather, the faster they'll develop. While you're at it, look for other sources of standing water where larvae might be developing (old tires, driveway puddles, unfiltered fish ponds, empty flowerpots, and any item that can hold water for more than a few days at a time). Net out the larvae and dump the water so that mosquitoes don't breed there anymore. See Warnings below.



A shrimp net.Net out larvae using a brine shrimp net. The netting is very fine and looks like t-shirt material. A regular fish net may not work as well because the larvae could slip through the holes.

Use one or more buckets (one empty, the other one(s) full of water and mosquito). Set the fish net on the rim of the empty bucket and pour the entire content through the net, letting the water drain into the empty bucket. All larvae of a certain size will be skeined back and can be fed to your fish. All the ones too small will slip through and continue to grow out. Using this method, you will need to collect at least every other day so that you do not allow the development of pupae and adult mosquitoes or midges.



[edit] TipsSometimes you will find little hollow mosquito shaped floaters. These are the skins. They are not dead larvae. Larvae need to shed their skins just like other insects.

Adult mosquitoes and midges look very similar and so do their larvae. It takes a microscope and highly trained biologist to tell the difference. Some midge larvae float on the surface like mosquitoes, some midge larvae are red and sit on the bottom of the bucket.



The easiest way.If you'd rather not raise mosquito larvae yourself, check your pet store. Freeze dried midge larvae (often sold as "blood worms") are available in jars. Avoid touching them with the skin, since they could cause an allergic reaction. Instead, handle them with tweezers or shake a few into a larger tank or pond.



[edit] WarningsBe responsible. Allowing mosquitoes and midges to reach maturity poses dangers to you, your family, your neighbors, your pets, and wildlife. Some threats to be aware of (and avoid):[3]

encephalitis: humans

West Nile virus: humans, horses, birds, and other animals

Malaria: humans (Anopheles mosquitoes, the notorious malaria vectors, are common in North America as well as worldwide)[4]

Heartworm: dogs and cats

Make sure to harvest larvae every day to keep the population down. Make sure to catch the pupae ("commas") because they will hatch within 48 hours.

Use a new or clean food grade bucket. Do not use one that has held paint, tar, or other chemicals as the chemicals will poison the algae or larva. Even if you clean it, traces of the chemicals will still be there.

Some countries do not allow bringing up larvae, especially in South East Asia. Countries such as Singapore and Malaysia have very strict laws regarding raising mosquitoes and violations are strictly punished.

http://www.wikihow.com/Raise-Mosquito-L ... -Fish-Food

John McCain

From SourceWatch

Jump to: navigation, search

This is a profile of a U.S. senator. (See all the Arizona portal for all incumbents, candidates and blogs.)

Things you can do:

Add voting record information to this profile or others at the Arizona portal.

With a senate office or campaign? See the guidelines or contact a staff editor before editing.

Other projects on Congresspedia: Wiki The Vote: Publicize the records

and positions of congressional candidates.



See the Arizona superdelegate page for bios, endorsements and more.

John McCain currently serves as the Sr. Senator for ArizonaJohn Sidney McCain III, a Republican, has represented Arizona in the United States Senate since 1986. He is the Republican candidate for President in the 2008 Presidential election.[1] He was a presidential candidate in the 2000 election, but was defeated in the Republican primaries by then-Texas Governor and now President George W. Bush.

Contents [show]

1 Record, positions and controversies

1.1 National security and foreign policy record and controversies

1.2 Economic policy

1.3 Civil liberties record and controversies

1.4 Communications, science and intellectual property

1.5 Education policy

1.6 Environment and energy record and controversies

1.7 Elections and government policy

1.8 Food and agriculture policy

1.9 Infrastructure and transportation policy

2 Social issues record and controversies

2.1 Health policy issues

2.2 Labor, immigration and retirement policy

2.3 Controversies and other misc. issues

3 Bio

3.1 2008 presidential bid

3.1.1 Forms exploratory committee to consider run

3.1.2 Announcement on "Tonight Show with David Letterman"

4 Money in politics

4.1 Campaign contributions

4.2 Revolving door

4.3 Privately funded travel

4.4 Personal finances

5 Committees and Affiliations

5.1 Committees

5.2 Committee assignments in the 109th Congress (2005-2006)

5.3 Coalitions and Caucuses

5.4 Boards and other Affiliations

6 More Background Data

7 Contact

8 Articles and resources

8.1 See also

8.2 Sources

8.3 Resources

8.3.1 Biographical

8.3.2 Websites

8.4 Interviews

8.5 Local blogs and discussion sites

8.6 Articles about John McCain

8.7 Articles by John McCain

8.8 Published Works by John McCain



[edit]Record, positions and controversies

General information about important bills and votes for can be found in Congresspedia's articles on legislation. You can add information you find on how John McCain voted by clicking the "[edit]" link to the right and typing it in. Remember to cite your sources!

[edit]National security and foreign policy record and controversies

Summary (how summaries work)

Sen. McCain has a long-standing history of leadership on national security issues, stemming from his time in service as a U.S. naval aviator to his career in the U.S. Senate. In the past several years, he's advocated for a larger military to meet current and future needs, and has said he envisions a U.S. troop presence in Iraq similar to those in South Korea and in Germany and Japan following World War II.

Senator McCain was criticized for his many statements of progress on the Iraq war between 2002-2008, and following a trip to a Baghdad market in 2007 he apologized for declaring that his ability to walk freely around the marketplace was a sign of significant improvement in security in Iraq under the "surge". In fact, his visit was conducted under extraordinary security arrangements.

John McCain in an ardent supporter of Israel and its government's policies. In 2007, Citizens for Global Solutions gave Senator McCain a grade of B-, while the senator supported the interests of the Council for a Livable World 0 percent that year. McCain supported the interests of the Center for Security Policy 59 percent in 2005-2006.

Main article: John McCain/National Security and Foreign Policy





[edit]Economic policy

Summary (how summaries work)

Sen. McCain has been a supporter of trade agreements with foreign states, and while he missed three of four housing-related votes in 2008, but did vote to approve the Economic Stimulus Bill of 2008.

Main article: John McCain/Economic Policy





[edit]Civil liberties record and controversies

Summary (how summaries work)

In 2005, Senator John McCain introduced an amendment limiting the practice of torture by any military or intelligence agency personnel. The torture ban was approved by Congress my a wide majority, but President George W. Bush in a signing statement said he reserved the right to conduct torture to protect national security.

Sen. McCain voted against the Intelligence Authorization Act for FY 2008 and voted for the RESTORE Act (2007 FISA bill).

In 2007, the American Civil Liberties Union gave Senator McCain a grade of 50, and he supported the interests of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights 15 percent that year. Also in 2007, Gun Owners of America gave Senator McCain a rating of F-, though in 2006 he supported their interests 100 percent.

Main article: John McCain/Rights, Liberties and Courts Policy





[edit]Communications, science and intellectual property

Summary (how summaries work)

Senator McCain supported the interests of the Computer & Communications Industry Association 64 percent in 2007. In 2006, Senator McCain supported the interests of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology 0 percent, while supporting the interests of the Parkinsons Action Network 100 percent.

Main article: John McCain/Communications, Science and Intellectual Property





[edit]Education policy

Summary (how summaries work)

McCain has announced that he supports the inclusion of intelligent design teaching in schools. In 2007, the National Education Association gave Senator McCain a grade of F, and in 2003 he supported the interests of the National School Boards Association 67 percent.

Main article: John McCain/Education Policy





[edit]Environment and energy record and controversies

Summary (how summaries work)

At times, Sen. John McCain has bucked his party and President Bush by supporting legislation that would combat global warming and climate change. The Humane Society of the United States reported McCain supported its interests 25 percent of the time in 2007. Senator McCain received a rating of "0" from the League of Conservation Voters in 2007, and a score of 56 from the American Land Rights Association in 2006. Also in 2006, he Campaign for America's Future gave Senator McCain a score of 17 percent.

Main article: John McCain/Energy and Environment Policy





[edit]Elections and government policy

Summary (how summaries work)

Sen. McCain, following revelations of his involvement in the Keating Five scandal, pursued legislation that would reform the country's campaign finance system. Congress in 2002 passed the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, co-sponsored by Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wisc.) and hence also known as the McCain-Feingold bill. He was criticized in 2008 for possibly violating the spirit of his own law, if not the law itself.

In 2006, Sens. McCain, Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), Barack Obama (D-Ill.), and Tom Carper (D-Del.) introduced the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act (S.2590).

Sen. McCain has also been a strong supporter of earmark reform.

Main article: John McCain/Elections and Government Policy





[edit]Food and agriculture policy

Summary (how summaries work)

In 2007, Senator McCain voted in the interests of the National Association of Wheat Growers 9 percent, and 62 percent for the National Council of Agricultural Employers.

Main article: John McCain/Food and Agriculture Policy





[edit]Infrastructure and transportation policy

Summary (how summaries work)

Senator McCain supported the interests of the American Road and Transportation Builders Association 40 percent in 2005-2006.

Main article: John McCain/Infrastructure and Transportation Policy





[edit]Social issues record and controversies

Summary (how summaries work)

Domestic policy and social issues have not been a focus of Sen. McCain's career. During the 2000 election, McCain was criticized for his continued use of an ethnic slur in reference to his Vietnamese captors.

Based on a point system, Children's Defense Fund scored Senator McCain at 10 points in 2007. The Family Research Council gave Senator McCain a grade of 42.

Main article: John McCain/Social Policy





[edit]Health policy issues

Summary (how summaries work)

Sen. John McCain in 1999 said he did not support a repeal of Roe v. Wade. In 2007, Sen. McCain voted to adopt an amendment that prohibits funds being granted to organizations that perform abortions when a woman's life is not in danger, unless the organization is a hospital. Recently, he abandoned goals to change his party's platform on abortion to allow exceptions based on rape, incest and the life of the mother.

Senator McCain supported the interests of the American Academy of Family Physicians 0 percent in 2007, and voted for the interests of the American College of Emergency Physicians 100 percent in 2004. Also in 2007, NARAL Pro-Choice America gave Senator McCain a grade of 0, and in 2006 he supported the interests of the National Right to Life Committee 75 percent.

Main article: John McCain/Health Policy





[edit]Labor, immigration and retirement policy

Summary (how summaries work)

As a border-area senator, John McCain has been on the front lines of the immigration debate. He helped write comprehensive reform legislation in 2005 (the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007), and that bill helped form the basis for another reform effort in 2007. Earlier this year, he said he would not have voted for his bill if it were brought to the floor. In May 2008, Sen. McCain again said he favored comprehensive reform.

Senator McCain supported the interests of the AFL-CIO 0 percent in 2007, while the Utility Workers Union of America gave him a grade of 50. He supported the interests of the Alliance for Retired Americans 0 percent in 2007, and in 2006 he supported the interests of National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association 100 percent.

Main article: John McCain/Labor, Immigration and Retirement Policy





[edit]Controversies and other misc. issues

Summary (how summaries work)

Sen. John McCain, as a two-time presidential candidate and outspoken member of the Senate, is no stranger to controversy. There was speculation that McCain would leave the Republican party following his defeat in the 2000 Republican presidential primary campaign, and other controversies have evolved during his political career.

Main article: John McCain/Controversies





[edit]Bio

McCain was born August 29, 1936 in Coco Solo in the U.S controlled Panama Canal Zone. After high school graduation in 1954, McCain entered the United States Naval Academy and graduated in 1958. McCain became a Captain in the United States Navy. On October 26, 1967, McCain was shot down over Vietnam, and was held as a prisoner of war in Hanoi for five-and-a-half years, mostly in the infamous Hanoi Hilton. He was released from captivity in 1973. He was honorably discharged upon his retirement from the Navy in 1981.

During his military career he received a Silver Star, a Bronze Star, the Legion of Merit, the Purple Heart, and a Distinguished Flying Cross. Official Senate Biography

He is married to Cindy Hensley McCain. When John Jacob Rhodes, the longtime congressman from Arizona's First Congressional district, announced his retirement, McCain successfully ran for the seat in 1982. In 1986, upon Senator Barry Goldwater's retirement, McCain was elected to succeed him.

McCain touts himself as a conservative on many fiscal issues, but moderate on social issues causing some conservatives to ridicule him as a Republican In Name Only. His appeal during the 2000 presidential campaign was based on style and personal image rather than any label of liberal, conservative, moderate or libertarian.

McCain is often called a "maverick senator" because of his willingness to break with the party line. He was one of only four Republicans in the entire U.S. Congress to vote against the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act. He was the only Republican senator to vote against the Telecommunications Act of 1995, which he called "the biggest rip-off since the Teapot Dome Scandal." He was also the only Republican senator to vote against the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996, which phased out many of the farming subsidy programs put into place during the Great Depression. His concerns over global warming and other environmental issues have also put him at odds with the Bush administration and other Republicans. In addition, he voted against the Federal Marriage Amendment, reaffirming his position as a social moderate.

[edit]2008 presidential bid

[edit]Forms exploratory committee to consider run

McCain has taken several steps towards running for president in 2008. While he has not yet committed to running, he has started assembling a team of media, Internet and fundraising strategists and has formed an exploratory committee.

See the main Congresspedia article on John McCain: U.S. presidential election, 2008.

[edit]Announcement on "Tonight Show with David Letterman"

On February 28, 2007, McCain announced on the "Tonight Show with David Letterman" that he would indeed seek the presidency in 2008. [1]

[edit]Money in politics

This section contains links to – and feeds from – money in politics databases. For specific controversies, see this article's record and controversies section.

[edit]Campaign contributions

The following is drawn from government records of campaign contributions to John McCain. Campaign contributions are one of the most direct conduits for influencing members of Congress. How to use this information.

Source: Federal Election CommissionThe live feed of campaign contribution data from the Center for Responsive Politics appears to be down.

You may still be able to get the information from the links below.

Links to more campaign contribution information for John McCain

from the Center for Responsive Politics' OpenSecrets.org site.

Fundraising profile: 2006 election cycle Career totals

Top contributors by organization/corporation: 2006 election cycle Career totals

Top contributors by industry: 2006 election cycle Career totals

[edit]Revolving door

The "revolving door" refers to the passage of staffers between government and industry employment. Former staff for members of Congress often use the connections and knowledge they gained as public employees to help their new employers – often lobbying firms – influence their former employers and institutions.

Revolving door profile for John McCain from the Center for Responsive Politics' OpenSecrets.org website.

[edit]Privately funded travel

The following is drawn from John McCain's travel disclosure forms. Corporations and other organizations can pay for trips by members of Congress and their staff as long as it is related to official business (though some trips have been glorified junkets). How to use this information.

2006 privately funded travel profile for John McCain from the Center for Responsive Politics' OpenSecrets.org website.

[edit]Personal finances

The following is drawn from John McCain's personal financial disclosure forms. Close study of the data has often revealed conflicts of interest by members of Congress. How to use this information.

Personal finance profile for John McCain from the Center for Responsive Politics' OpenSecrets.org website.



[edit]Committees and Affiliations

[edit]Committees

Senate Committee on Armed Services - Ranking Member

Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

Subcommittee on Aviation Operations, Safety, and Security

Subcommittee on Interstate Commerce, Trade, and Tourism

Subcommittee on Science, Technology, and Innovation

Subcommittee on Consumer Affairs, Insurance, and Automotive Safety

Senate Committee on Indian Affairs

[edit]Committee assignments in the 109th Congress (2005-2006)

Senate Committee on Armed Services

Subcommittee on Airland - Chair

Subcommittee on Personnel

Subcommittee on Readiness and Management Support

Subcommittee on Seapower

Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

Subcommittee on Aviation

Subcommittee on Global Climate Change

Subcommittee on Trade Tourism and Economic Development

Subcommittee on Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine

Senate Committee on Indian Affairs

[edit]Coalitions and Caucuses

Republican Main Street Partnership

Advisory board, It's My Party Too

[edit]Boards and other Affiliations

Member, American Friends of Bilderberg

Director, International Republican Institute

Member, Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities of the United States Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction (appointed February 2004 by George W. Bush)

On the Board of Governors for the Partnership for Public Service

Advisory Board, Terror Free Tomorrow

[edit]More Background Data

Background information on John McCain from Project Vote Smart

Interest group scorecard ratings for John McCain from Project Vote Smart

Voting record for John McCain from the Washington Post database

Information on John McCain from Congress Merge

Wikipedia also has an article on John McCain. This article may use content from the Wikipedia article under the terms of the GFDL.



[edit]Contact

DC Office:

241 Russell Senate Office Building

Washington, D.C. 20510-0303

Phone: 202-224-2235

Fax: 202-228-2862

Web Email

Website

District Office- Phoenix:

5353 North 16th Street, Suite 105

Phoenix, AZ 85016

Phone: 602-952-2410

Fax: 602-952-8702

District Office- Tuscon:

407 West Congress Street, Suite 103

Tucson, AZ 85701

Phone: 520-670-6334

Fax: 520-670-6637

District Office- Tempe:

4703 South Lakeshore Drive, Suite 1

Tempe, AZ 85282

Phone: 480-897-6289

Fax: 480-897-8389

[edit]Articles and resources

[edit]See also

Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities of the United States Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction

John McCain: U.S. presidential election, 2008

McCain doctrine

McCain-Feingold

Operation Iraqi Freedom: Military and Political Dissent

Straight Talk America

swiftboating / Swift Boat Veterans for Truth / Charles Wyly and Sam Wyly

The Donatelli Group (Campaign Solutions)

U.S. presidential election, 2004

U.S. presidential election, 2008

[edit]Sources

↑ David Nitkin "McCain clinches GOP nod", “The Baltimore Sun”, March 5, 2008, Accessed April 21, 2008

[edit]Resources

[edit]Biographical

John Sidney McCain III in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.

Teddy Roosevelt. John Mccain is one of his more famous fans. Read about him at Teddy Roosevelt.com.

"John McCain's Skeleton Closet," RealChange.org.

"Senator John S. McCain's Acceptance Remarks at the 2005 Eisenhower Leadership Prize Banquet," Eisenhower Institute.

Arizona Republic's Seven Chapter Special on John McCain, 1999.

"The Real John McCain," The Nation, December 12, 2005.

[edit]Websites

Office of Sen. John McCain, Senate website.

News Release: "Senator John McCain Offers 10 Ways That You, Too, Can Support The War Effort."

John McCain's "Straight Talk America" website.

Friends of John McCain website.

John McCain's positions on key civil liberties issues.

2008 Presidential Wire: Sen. John McCain, PatrickRuffini.com.

John McCain on the Issues (2000 Presidential Campaign).

Compare where John McCain stands on the issues at whereIstand.com.

[edit]Interviews

Interview with Jon Stewart, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, April 4, 2006. (Other Daily Show interviews with members of Congress.)

[edit]Local blogs and discussion sites

AZ Congress Watch

Rum, Romanism, and Rebellion

Daniel's News and Views

Western Democrat

Blog for Arizona

Stop John McCain 2008

[edit]Articles about John McCain

[edit]Articles by John McCain

"How the POW's Fought Back," US News & World Report (Free Republic), May 14, 1973.

"No Substitute for Victory. War is hell. Let's get on with it," Opinion Journal, October 26, 2001.

"The Right War for the Right Reasons," The New York Times, March 12, 2003.

Speech, Republican National Convention, August 30, 2004. Posted on CBS News website.

"U.S. Situation in Iraq and Afghanistan," Council on Foreign Relations, November 5, 2003.

"Aiding & Abetting," New York Post, November 17, 2005.

News Release: "Statement on the War in Iraq," McCain's Senate website, August 25, 2006.

[edit]Published Works by John McCain

Character Is Destiny: Inspiring Stories Every Young Person Should Know and Every Adult Should Remember by John McCain, Mark Salter (Random House, October 2005) ISBN 1400064120

Why Courage Matters: The Way to a Braver Life by John McCain, Mark Salter (Random House, April 2004) ISBN 1400060303

Odysseus in America by Jonathan Shay, Max Cleland, John S. McCain (Scribner, November 2002) ISBN 0743211561

Worth the Fighting for: A Memoir by John McCain, Mark Salter (Random House, September 2002) ISBN 0375505423

Unfinished Business: Afghanistan, the Middle East and Beyond--Defusing the Dangers That Threaten America's Security by Harlan Ullman, John S. McCain (Citadel Press, June 2002) ISBN 0806524316

Faith of My Fathers by John McCain, Mark Salter (Random House, August 1999) ISBN 0375501916

The Reminiscences of Admiral John S. McCain, Jr., U.S. Navy (retired) by John S. McCain (U.S. Naval Institute, 1999) ISBN B0006RY8ZK

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=John_McCain

Heartland Institute

From SourceWatch

Jump to: navigation, search



This article is part of the Tobacco portal on Sourcewatch, sponsored by the American Legacy Foundation. Help expose the truth about the tobacco industry.

This article is part of the front groups portal on Sourcewatch. Join our team of citizen journalists researching and exposing industry secrets.

The Heartland Institute, according to the Institute's web site, is a nonprofit organization "to discover and promote free-market solutions to social and economic problems".[1] Heartland campaigns against what it refers to as "junk science"; supports "common-sense environmentalism", such as opposition to the the Kyoto protocol aimed at countering global warming and promoting genetically engineered crops and products; it supports the privatization of public services; it opposes tobacco control measure such as tobacco tax increases and denies the health effects of second-hand smoke; it supports the introduction of school vouchers;, and it promotes the deregulation of health care insurance. Heartland also hosts PolicyBot, which it refers to as the "Internet's most extensive clearing-house for the work of free-market think tanks". The database contains 22,000 documents from 350 U.S. right-wing think tanks and advocacy groups.[2]

In March 2008 the Heartland Institute hosted what was referred to as The 2008 International Conference on Climate Change.[3]

The institute was founded in 1984 by David H. Padden and Joseph L. Bast.

Contents [show]

1 Mission

2 Tobacco Ties

3 Funding

3.1 Secrecy on Funding Sources

3.2 Foundation Funders

3.3 Exxon Funding

4 Personnel

4.1 Board of Directors

4.2 Staff

4.3 Former Staff

4.4 Former Board Members

5 Publications

5.1 Former Publications

6 Contact

7 Articles and Resources

7.1 Sources

7.2 Related SourceWatch Articles

8 External links



[edit]Mission

On its website it states that it "is a genuinely independent source of research and commentary founded in Chicago, Illinois in 1984. It is not affiliated with any political party, business, or foundation. Its activities are tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code."[4]

A version of its mission stated, current until 2006, stated that Heartland was "devoted to turning ideas into social movements that empower people". Another think tank link to Heartland used a slightly different version of its mission statement: "Heartland's mission is to help build social movements in support of ideas that empower people".[5]

In a statement submitted to the charity research group, Guidestar, Heartland states that "people devote time to learn about subjects only if they believe acquiring specific knowledge will benefit them personally. Often, this seems unlikely. Consequently, most people choose rationally to remain ignorant about many public policy issues. The Heartland Institute has overcome the problem of 'rational ignorance' by inventing publications busy elected officials and the public will actually read and come to trust. Our publications are highly effective and inexpensive vehicles for communicating messages on public policy." [6]

[edit]Tobacco Ties

Although Heartland calls itself "a genuinely independent source of research and commentary," its has been a frequent ally of, and funded by, the tobacco industry. According to a 1995 internal report by Philip Morris USA on its corporate contributions budget, the company uses its contributions "as a strategic tool to promote our overall business objectives and to advance our government affairs agenda," in particular by supporting "the work of free market 'think tanks' and other public policy groups whose philosophy is consistent with our point of view. ... [W]e have given general support over the years to such groups as the Heritage Foundation, Heartland Institute, Americans for Tax Reform, Citizens for a Sound Economy, Washington Legal Foundation and a variety of other organizations that help provide information about the ultimate course of legislation, regulation and public opinion through their studies, papers, op-ed pieces and conferences."[7]

Internal company documents show the following contributions from Philip Morris to Heartland (probably an incomplete list):

$25,000 in 1993[8]

$65,000 in 1995[9]

$50,000 in 1996[10]

$50,000 in 1997[11]

$50,000 in 1998 (proposed)[12][13]

Roy E. Marden, a member of Heartland's board of directors, was until May 2003 the manager of industry affairs for the Philip Morris (PM) tobacco company, where his responsibilities included lobbying and "managing company responses to key public policy issues," which he accomplishes by "directing corporate involvement with industry, business, trade, and public policy organizations and determining philanthropic support thereto." In a May 1991 document prepared for PM, Marden listed Heartland's "rapid response network" as a "potential spokesperson" among the "portfolio of organizations" that the company had cultivated to support its interests.[14]

In January 1993, PM executive Craig L. Fuller reported that Heartland was one of the "public policy organizations" being considered to sponsor a "conference on the impact of federal mandates/EPA regulations," as part of PM's strategic response to the EPA's decision that secondhand smoke should be classified as a proven lung carcinogen.[15]

In an April 1993 report, Marden noted that he was "developing strategy and tactics" to defeat legislation in California aimed at restricting smoking in public places. He was "liasing with contacts in the public policy arena (think tanks, public interest legal foundations) and the media to generate editorial, op-eds, letters-to-the-editor and position papers." With the Heartland Institute, he was working "re sponsorship of environmental seminars for interested journalists and legislators throughout the Midwest." Simultaneously, he was talking with PM's Washington office to decide how much money the company should give to public policy organizations in 1993.[16]

Fuller's monthly report for August 1993 noted that he had "leveraged numerous contacts in the public policy arena to generate positive publicity for PM and/or a fair hearing on our issues, with particular reference to the misapplication of science by the EPA and the resulting poor public policy ... and the policy arguments against the use of excise taxes to fund proposed health care reform." The Heartland Institute was one of the contacts they had "leveraged," along with the Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty, the Alexis de Tocqueville Institute, Americans for Tax Reform, Capital Research Center, Claremont Institute for the Study of Statesmanship and Political Philosophy, Consumer Alert, Mackinac Center for Public Policy, and the National Center for Policy Analysis. He had also provided "background material" about environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) to "various policy groups and media contacts. As a result, EPA Watch, the Heartland Institute and Capital Research Center wrote commentaries addressing the EPA and ETS. These commentaries are expected to appear in various newspapers around the country."[17]

Marden's monthly report for February 1994 noted that he was "working with the Heartland Institute in the planning of a health policy forum for state-level think tanks to develop a unified strategy and action plan, and in the use of their fax-on-demand technology to promote health care positioning consistent with our interests to legislators, public opinion makers and the public."[18] In April, he reported that he was working with PM's Washington office "and the Heartland Institute in the development of strategy and ally mobilization to preserve the deductibility of tobacco advertising expenditures."[19]

In 1995, the Heartland Institute introduced "PolicyFax," a fax-on-demand service that offered to send thousands of policy position papers by fax as a free service to government officials and journalists. On February 2, 1996, Marden reported that the service would be adding the summary of a report on secondhand smoke. "This telephone service is linked to ALL state legislators and key regional media throughout the country and is free to those audiences," he wrote. "Heartland maintains statistics on documents requested and we will be able to track requests."[20]

Later that month, Heartland president Joseph Bast wrote a letter to Tina A. Walls, PM's Vice President for State Government Affairs, informing her of a collaboration between Heartland and the American Legislative Exchange Council, another PM-supported policy advocacy organization on whose board Walls sits. In a handwritten note at the bottom of the letter, Bast added, "Roy Marden's on our board!"[21]

In 1999, Heartland was listed again in an internal PM document as one of the "portfolio of organizations" with which the company planned to mobilize against a U.S. Department of Justice lawsuit, with Heartland's "rapid response network" among the company's "potential third party activities."[22] On October 26 of that year, Marden sent an email to John Ostronic and Frank Gomez in which he listed "the key groups in my portfolio & key actions taken by those groups in opposition to the Fedsuit." Heartland's contributions to the effort included "blast faxes to state legislators, off-the-record briefings, op-eds, radio interviews, letters."[23]

Notwithstanding this long and intimate partnership with the tobacco industry, Heartland president Joe Bast bridled in February 2005 when writer Glenn Fleishman characterized the institute as a "sock puppet of industry" and criticized its role as both a tobacco mouthpiece and an opponent of municipal wi-fi initiatives. "No, there is no 'Philip Morris exec.' on our Board of Directors," Bast wrote in reply to Fleishman's article. Bast did not respond to a query from Fleishman pointing out that a biographical note on the Heartland website indicated that Marden worked at PM. What was unknown was that Marden had left PM in May 2003 and the biographical note on Heartland's website was outdated.

Bast also argued that "we do not take positions in order to appease or avoid losing support from individual donors. We have, in fact, a long record of standing behind our research even when it means losing the support of major donors." He also had no response when asked to provide specific examples from its "long record" of publishing reports against the pecuniary interests of its funders.[24]

More recently, in 2006 the Heartland Institute parntered with the National Association of Tobacco Outlets (NATO) in "a campaign to change public opinion about tobacco." The campaign will utilize press releases, letters to editors and an effort to win coverage in magazines and journals, according to an article about the partnership on the NPN Market Pulse web site, a news and information site for petroleum and convenience store marketers. Tom Briant, NATO's Executive Director, said, vowed to work to prevent public health smoking restrictions from being enactged in any more states. "We will certainly work to try and prevent similar statewide smoking bans from being adopted in other states," Briant said, "because we believe the owners of bars and restaurants should have the right to determine how they accommodate their customers and not have government dictate those kinds of regulations."[25]

[edit]Funding

In its 2005 annual return to the Internal Revenue Service, Heartland disclosed its 2005 annual revenue as being $4.52 million while its total expenses were only $2.368 million.

[edit]Secrecy on Funding Sources

While Heartland once disclosed its major supporters, it now refuses to publicly disclose who its corporate and foundation funders are. In response to an article criticising the think tank for its secrecy, the group's President, Joseph Bast, wrote in February 2005:

For many years, we provided a complete list of Heartland's corporate and foundation donors on this Web site and challenged other think tanks and advocacy groups to do the same. To our knowledge, not a single group followed our lead. However, critics who couldn’t or wouldn’t engage in fair debate over our ideas found the donor list a convenient place to find the names of unpopular companies or foundations, which they used in ad hominem attacks against us. Even reporters from time to time seemed to think reporting the identities of one or two donors--out of a list of hundreds--was a fair way of representing our funding or our motivation in taking the positions expressed in our publications. After much deliberation and with some regret, we now keep confidential the identities of all our donors.[24]

[edit]Foundation Funders

Media Transparency lists Heartland as having received $2,960,555 (unadjusted for inflation) in grants between 1986 and 2006 from a range of foundations including[26]:

Armstrong Foundation

Barre Seid Foundation

Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation

Jaquelin Hume Foundation

Charlotte and Walter Kohler Charitable Trust

Claude R. Lambe Charitable Foundation

Hickory Foundation

JM Foundation

John M. Olin Foundation, Inc.

Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation

Rodney Fund

Roe Foundation

Scaife Foundations (Sarah Mellon Scaife, Carthage)

Walton Family Foundation

[edit]Exxon Funding

Greenpeace's ExxonSecrets website lists Heartland as having received $791,500 (unadjusted for inflation) from ExxonMobil between 1998 and 2006.[27]

Contributions include:

$30,000 in 1998;

$115,000 in 2000;

$90,000 in 2001;

$15,000 in 2002;

$85,000 for General Operating Support and $7,500 for their 19th Anniversary Benefit Dinner in 2003;

85,000 for General Operating Support and $15,000 for Climate Change Efforts in 2004; and

$109,000 in 2005; and

$230,000 in 2006.

[edit]Personnel

[edit]Board of Directors

The members of the Board of Directors as of March 2008:[28]

Herbert J. Walberg, Chairman

Joseph L. Bast, President and CEO The Heartland Institute

Rajeev Bal

Robert Buford, President, Planned Realty Group

Paul Fisher, Real Estate Department Chair, McGuireWoods LLC.

James Fitzgerald, Managing Director, BankNote Capital LLC

Dan Hales, Peterson & Ross

William Higginson, President, Chicago Equity Fund Inc.

Biju Kulathakal,

James L. Johnston, Amoco Corporation (retired)

Roy E. Marden, formerly with Philip Morris

David H. Padden, President, Padco Lease Corporation

Frank Resnik, Medline Inc. (retired)

Elizabeth Rose

Thomas Walton, Director of Economic Policy, General Motors Corporation

[edit]Staff

Staff as of February 2008:[1]

Joseph L. Bast, President and CEO

Nick Baker, Legislative Specialist

Diane Carol Bast, Executive Editor

Alexandra (Sandy) Liddy Bourne, Vice President - Policy and Strategy, National Legislation Manager

Gwendalyn Carver, Executive Assistant

Nikki Comerford, Associate Publisher and Events Manager

Ralph Conner, Local Legislation Manager

Karla Dial, Managing Editor - School Reform News

Jeff Emmanuel, Managing Editor, Health Care News

Cece Forrester, Development Assistant

Matthew Glans, Legislative Specialist

Latonya Harris, Computer Systems/Web site Manager

Tonya Houston, Administrative Assistant/Database Manager

S.T. Karnick, Publications Director

Jay Lehr, Science Director, Senior Fellow Environment Policy

Maureen Martin, Senior Fellow Legal Affairs

Trevor Martin, Government Relations Director

Kevin Leonard, Senior Graphic Designer

Zwahy'yah McElrath, Data Entry Clerk/Receptionist

Elizabeth Ow, Graphic Designer

Cheryl Parker, Administrative Assistant - Operations

Steve Stanek, Managing Editor, Budget & Tax News

James M. Taylor, Managing Editor, Environment & Climate News

Steven Titch, Senior Fellow; Managing Editor, IT&T News

Latreece Vankinscott, Chief Operating Officer

[edit]Former Staff

George Clowes, Associate Editor, School Reform News

Jim Eiden, Legislative Specialist

Susan Konig, Managing Editor, Health Care News

Erica Lieberman, Executive Assistant

Phylicia Lyons, Executive Director, Illinois School Choice Initiative

Erin Murphy, Legislative Specialist

Sean Parnell, Vice President - External Affairs

James Rottet, Legislative Specialist

John Skorburg, Associate Editor, Budget & Tax News

Michael Van Winkle, Media Specialist

[edit]Former Board Members

Walter F. Buchholtz, Government Relations & Issues Advisor, ExxonMobil Corporation. On page 20 of Heartland's 2005 IRS return he was listed as a 'Government Relations Adviser'. [2] (Pdf)

[edit]Publications

Budget & Tax News

Environment & Climate News

Health Care News

Info Tech and Telecom News

School Reform News

The Heartlander

Lawsuit Abuse Fortnightly

News & Views

Policy Studies

Perspectives

[edit]Former Publications

Intellectual Ammunition

[edit]Contact

Heartland Institute

19 South LaSalle Street

Suite 903

Chicago, IL 60603

Phone: 312 377-4000

Email: think AT heartland.org

Web: http://www.heartland.org

[CARLA]

ACC your not turing into a BOT are you. :-3

[Accountable]

CARLA;931702 wrote: ACC your not turing into a BOT are you. :-3
No, of course not. Spot's convinced that 9/11's a conspiracy, so I did some digging on my own, that's all. :yh_angel

[CARLA]

:yh_angel Yes your are an angel.

[QUOTE]No, of course not. Spot's convinced that 9/11's a conspiracy, so I did some digging on my own, that's all:yh_angel. [/QUOTE]

[DrJ]

CARLA;931746 wrote: :yh_angel Yes your are an angel.


God love him!:yh_silly

Nathan Janes’ painting of a dog blindfolded with an American flag captures the primary reason why it is so difficult to get the truth about 9/11 exposed. At the individual level, many Americans, having accepted on faith the idea that their leaders never intentionally do anything really evil, will not look at the evidence. At the public level, it is impermissible, in the mainstream media, to have a serious discussion of the evidence provided by the 9/11 Truth Movement. (Any mention of the movement’s claims must be accompanied by attacks and ridicule.) So even if something like 50 percent of the population knows or at least suspects that 9/11 was an inside job, America as such remains blind to the truth.”-David Ray Griffin, Theologian/Author, "Debunking 9/11 Debunking"

"Even a blindfolded dog can see that those Towers didn't collapse, they exploded -- unless the dog is hypnotized by His Master's Voice."-Kevin Barrett, Muslim-Jewish-Christian Alliance for 9/11 Truth, Mujca.com



http://www.poparf.com/bp_911_truth.html

And when the broken,, hearted,, people,, living in the world agree,,

there will be an answer,,,,Let it Be,,,,Let it be....

For tho they maybe parted,,, there is still a chance,,, that they will see,,

There will be an answer,,, Let it be,,,,, Let it be....



Could it be possible,, that all the confusion, is just another part of the plan???

War profiteering is a 24 hr a day job,,,,even in a world without war..

[Accountable]

You dispute the irrefutable evidence I've presented?? What on earth for????

[DrJ]

Accountable;941932 wrote: You dispute the irrefutable evidence I've presented?? What on earth for????


I wasn't disputing,,, I was commenting on your fans observation

,,,Mr Angel,,, I wish I had fans like that!

I was needing a history on McCain tho,, TYVM Teach:wah:

Was the Keating 5 included in that?

Your remember me when the truth comes out...

The New Pearl Harbor,,,by David Griffin draws a picture so dark it makes a good argument for being one of the Blind Faithful,,, which most are,,, about this Dark day in Sept.

Also,,

America's "War on Terrorism" by Michel Chossudovsky,,

Blows away the smokescreen,, put up by Mainstream media,,about 9/11 as an intelligence failure..

Interesting,,if nothing else..

[Bryn Mawr]

Accountable;931742 wrote: No, of course not. Spot's convinced that 9/11's a conspiracy, so I did some digging on my own, that's all. :yh_angel


Would it not be more productive to research the discrepancies he's raised and refute them - be the quickest way to shut him up.

[gmc]

Accountable;931742 wrote: No, of course not. Spot's convinced that 9/11's a conspiracy, so I did some digging on my own, that's all. :yh_angel


So what conclusion did you come to? That PNAC et al orchestrated 911 it is ludicrous IMO but there is little doubt they took advantage of the situation to pursue their own agenda. Even the 911 commission (whose report I assume you read) couldn't find any but the most tenuous link to saddam and al queda. There's enough to get annoyed about without making up silly conspiracies.

[Accountable]

gmc;942194 wrote: So what conclusion did you come to? That PNAC et al orchestrated 911 it is ludicrous IMO but there is little doubt they took advantage of the situation to pursue their own agenda. Even the 911 commission (whose report I assume you read) couldn't find any but the most tenuous link to saddam and al queda. There's enough to get annoyed about without making up silly conspiracies.
It's a veeerrrry long story that started in other thread(s), but your about ankle deep in sarcasm drippings here. Spot's convinced that PNAC orchestrated everything and put Bush in office. I just took one more step to see who started PNAC, that's all.

[koan]

I particularly like the part about the fish.

[gmc]

Accountable;942294 wrote: It's a veeerrrry long story that started in other thread(s), but your about ankle deep in sarcasm drippings here. Spot's convinced that PNAC orchestrated everything and put Bush in office. I just took one more step to see who started PNAC, that's all.


I know that I am just curious to see what you think. When you look at who was involved in PNAC they have quite clearly been influential in shaping policy. There is enough reality there without elaborating it in to a ridiculous conspiracy theory that I think detracts from dealing with the real issues.

I wasn't actually being sarcastic. I've stopped doing that on this forum because the cultural differences between the US and UK lead to misunderstandings of intent. I cut down on the irony as well as i got fed up with ironic comments being taken literally.

In an earlier thread (quite a while ago) I put in a link to the PNAC website somebody came back saying it was clearly a spoof website and wasn't real. Nothing like deluding yourself that politicians never lie or take advantage of things for their own advantage.

Biggest problem with this kind if thing is I think people don't want to accept they have been lied to and manipulated by their politicians and supposedly the media. Unless you want to follow Britney Spears advice and just trust your president.(that was sarcastic but meant in a humourous way:D)

Spot is convinced there is a 911 conspiracy I think it's a load of rubbish imo. However the hypocrisy and cynical manipulation of sentiment and desire for revenge after the event is very real. The thing that really annoys me is that we in the UK were stupid enough to go along with it and got suckered as well. TB clearly lied to parliament to get the vote to go to war. It's as if no one will admit they got conned and rectify the situation and call Blair and his cabinet to account.

[Accountable]

koan;942557 wrote: I particularly like the part about the fish.
Somebody read it! I'm flattered. :yh_blush

[Accountable]

gmc;942597 wrote: I know that I am just curious to see what you think. When you look at who was involved in PNAC they have quite clearly been influential in shaping policy. There is enough reality there without elaborating it in to a ridiculous conspiracy theory that I think detracts from dealing with the real issues.



I wasn't actually being sarcastic. I've stopped doing that on this forum because the cultural differences between the US and UK lead to misunderstandings of intent. I cut down on the irony as well as i got fed up with ironic comments being taken literally.



In an earlier thread (quite a while ago) I put in a link to the PNAC website somebody came back saying it was clearly a spoof website and wasn't real. Nothing like deluding yourself that politicians never lie or take advantage of things for their own advantage.



Biggest problem with this kind if thing is I think people don't want to accept they have been lied to and manipulated by their politicians and supposedly the media. Unless you want to follow Britney Spears advice and just trust your president.(that was sarcastic but meant in a humourous way:D)



Spot is convinced there is a 911 conspiracy I think it's a load of rubbish imo. However the hypocrisy and cynical manipulation of sentiment and desire for revenge after the event is very real. The thing that really annoys me is that we in the UK were stupid enough to go along with it and got suckered as well. TB clearly lied to parliament to get the vote to go to war. It's as if no one will admit they got conned and rectify the situation and call Blair and his cabinet to account.
The sarcasm drippings are mine.

I don't doubt that politicians take advantage of opportunities that land in their laps, but that's a far cry from the impossibly complex plans from scratch spot & DrJ haves bought into. Once they hit Afghanistan I think they were emboldened by how easy it was and they got drunk, lost focus, forgot the real reason they were there.



The guy of PNAC have their view of the world as it should be and want people in charge who have their view of the world as it should be. Name one political action group that doesn't. It doesn't lead - in anyone's logic but the insane - to the conclusions of these conspiracy threads.

[gmc]

Accountable;942666 wrote: The sarcasm drippings are mine.

I don't doubt that politicians take advantage of opportunities that land in their laps, but that's a far cry from the impossibly complex plans from scratch spot & DrJ haves bought into. Once they hit Afghanistan I think they were emboldened by how easy it was and they got drunk, lost focus, forgot the real reason they were there.



The guy of PNAC have their view of the world as it should be and want people in charge who have their view of the world as it should be. Name one political action group that doesn't. It doesn't lead - in anyone's logic but the insane - to the conclusions of these conspiracy threads.


OK now I'm embarrassed:o blame cultural differences. I don't understand why americans aren't angry at getting involved in Iraq under false pretences and why anyone can still think it was a good idea.

[Accountable]

gmc;942712 wrote: OK now I'm embarrassed:o blame cultural differences.
Nah. I blame you for being a numpty. :yh_rotfl

[gmc]

Accountable;942735 wrote: Nah. I blame you for being a numpty. :yh_rotfl


See I've taught you a new word. Now you can insult your fellow countrymen and they won't even know -they will probably think you are being really clever and using really intelligent obscure words.

[Accountable]

gmc;942814 wrote: See I've taught you a new word. Now you can insult your fellow countrymen and they won't even know -they will probably think you are being really clever and using really intelligent obscure words.
My thanks, sir. :yh_worshp

[DrJ]

gmc;942814 wrote: See I've taught you a new word. Now you can insult your fellow countrymen and they won't even know -they will probably think you are being really clever and using really intelligent obscure words.


Oh my GOD!!

Yeah,, he needs all the out of country help he can get,, he's just way to far ahead of us regular In-country's---:-5

What's the good word these days,,,Teach?:yh_rotfl

[gmc]

DrJ;955418 wrote: Oh my GOD!!

Yeah,, he needs all the out of country help he can get,, he's just way to far ahead of us regular In-country's---:-5

What's the good word these days,,,Teach?:yh_rotfl


Ba'Heid.

[DrJ]

Are you ready for this?



facts wrote:

September 11, 2008

White House Claims Osama Not 9/11 Mastermind

By Cernig

Who would have thought that on the day before the anniversary of 9/11, a White House press spokesperson would seek to redefine seven years of the war on terror just to flatter the White House's failure? That even this unmitigated disaster of an administration would have such gall? Yet, here we have it.

A reporter asked White House Press Secretary Dana Perino about the administration’s ongoing efforts to find the “mastermind” of 9/11, Osama binLaden. Perino interrupted the reporter, claiming binLaden was not the true “mastermind” of the attacks:

Q But Osama binLaden is the one that — you keep talking about his lieutenants, and, yes, they are very important, but Osama binLaden was the mastermind of 9/11 –

PERINO: No, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was the mastermind of 9/11, and he’s sitting in jail right now.

Perino also said “So there are human limitations to any — this is not the movies, we don’t have superpowers,” perhaps suggesting that's what it would take to catch Bin Laden.

(So now we know what John McCain's secret plan is - he's going to put his underpants on outside his pantyhose...)

As (Sgt.) Rock Richard says at VetVoice:



What happens when you can't catch the bad guy? You just decide he isn't the bad guy anymore, since you already caught the bad guy. Everybody wins!

And, perhaps as expected, the Associated Press swallows it whole and doesn't even burp, citing unquestioningly Perino's description of KSM as usurping binLaden's original place as mastermind and taking her at her word that it would need superpowers to catch the Al Qeada head despite the failure at Tora Bora.

Update: Larisa notes that 9/11 isn't even mentioned by the CIA on Osama's wanted poster.

It just says:

"Usama Bin Laden is wanted in connection with the August 7, 1998, bombings of the United States Embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Nairobi, Kenya. These attacks killed over 200 people. In addition, Bin Laden is a suspect in other terrorist attacks throughout the world."


I think that about covers it,,,,

[Steev]

McCain as 'the' master mind? Well, he was certainly in on it, at least.

"The hidden history of false-flag terrorism is key, followed by trained aversion to conspiracy. When bad things happen on a large scale, chances are that an important group of people wanted them to happen and made them happen.

Governments throughout history have provoked or staged attacks on their own people to serve the powers behind the throne (“the money power”), glorify themselves, engage in vast government spending, reward friends, exert domestic control, stimulate the juices of war, annex neighbors and pursue vast geostrategic rearrangements (the “global domination project”)."

A few examples:

• Nero burned Rome to blame the Christans A.D. 64

• US provoked Mexican-American war 1846

• USS Maine sinking 1898

• Lusitania sinking 1915

• Reichstag fire 1933

• Hitler’s staged attack on the Gleiwitz radio station 1939

• The “surprise attack” at Pearl Harbor 1941

• Bay of Pigs conspiracy 1961

• Operation Northwoods 1962

• LBJ’s Gulf of Tonkin conspiracy 1964

• Kuwaiti baby incubator hoax 1991

• Bush Jr.’s 9/11, yellow cake and WMD scams

Apparently, as a 'new member', I'm unable to post the URL to this info.

A conspiracy? Of course. The more one actually looks into it the more obvious it becomes.