Best of CRC Media Hits in July 2020

With only a few months left before the presidential election, the topic of who is funding the civil unrest and whether strategies such as vote by mail are doorways to chaos have become topics of interest to those inside and outside the Beltway.

Other topics we cover that seem to be resonating have to do with the push by teachers unions to continue the coronavirus lockdown under the auspice of safety for the nation’s schoolchildren.

On the first two topics, we had more than one op-ed placed in Beltway outlets—including the first published op-ed of CRC intern Jonathan Harsh—and several interviews and links back to our research in news stories investigating the issues.

Regarding teachers unions, we also placed an op-ed and were mentioned in a letter to the editor in a state far away from Washington, DC—a source of particular pride because that’s what we try hard to do: reach the American people where they are and demystify some of the policies debates raging in Washington. Please enjoy the best of our media hits for July 2020.

“Media Silence on the Truth of Black Lives Matter”
The Bill O’Reilly Show, Scott Walter (Guest), July 17, 2020

CRC President Scott Walter joins the Bill O’Reilly Show to talk about the media’s silence on the startling revelation that Black Lives Matter’s money goes through an organization with a convicted domestic terrorist on the board.

“Vote by Mail Challenges Could Affect November Election”
InsideSources, Jonathan Harsh (Op-Ed), July 17, 2020

But the vote-by-mail system, like any other, has flaws, and fears of COVID-19 have only exacerbated the potential negatives. Potential issues include a lack of staffing for vote-by-mail systems, a lack of proper training for testing the new system, and problems with the overall delivery of absentee ballots.

Although there is no such thing as a perfect electoral system, ignoring the myriad problems with past vote-by-mail elections would be foolish.

“Checking the Power of Progressive Big Philanthropy”
The American Conservative, Bill Schambra and Michael Hartmann (Op-Ed), July 6, 2020

Today, the belief that philanthropy should be deployed to “solve problems once and for all” is no less powerful. But—perhaps reflecting frustration with a century of failed social programs—this belief no longer implies the application of technical knowledge by experts.

Instead, this philanthropic ideal is manifested in an effort to bring about deep structural change within society, challenging what are seen to be the fundamental institutional injustices of the economic and political orders. In the words of Darren Walker, president of the Ford Foundation—one of the most towering pillars of liberal establishment philanthropy in the United States—it’s time to move “from generosity to justice.”

This means shifting power once again, away from the detached professional class of managerial elites prized by the first stage of the philanthropic revolution. Since these elites were so often white and male, they were and are part of society’s structural injustice—so the story goes. They are now dismissed as “white saviors” in need of “decolonization.”

“Exploiting COVID-19 to Push Socialized Housing”
The Chris Salcedo Show on Newsmax, Robert Stilson (Guest), July 31, 2020

Robert Stilson talks with Chris Salcedo about the Left’s attempt to leverage COVID-19 concerns to create permanent socialized housing via the federal government.

“Soros Groups’ Vote-by-Mail Drive Aims to Expand Government Control”
The Daily Signal, Scott Walter (Op-Ed), July 10, 2020

At Capital Research Center, we’ve just combed through the latest IRS filings from Soros’ top funding vehicles. They tell the tale, starting with vote-by-mail and absentee ballots in general.

The Brennan Center for Justice, heavily funded by Soros’ Open Society, is spearheading a plan that calls for a “universal vote-by-mail option for all voters,” or more precisely, absentee ballot initiatives. The newest portion of the plan involves “secure drop boxes in accessible locations for voters to drop off ballots directly.”

Democrats already have managed to pass into law some absentee ballot provisions using the coronavirus relief package. Deep in the bowels of the $2 trillion coronavirus relief bill Congress passed in late March was a vote-by-mail timebomb that conservatives will come to regret in the 2020 election.

“Can’t Get out of Lockdown? Blame Extortion By Teachers’ Unions”
Washington Examiner, Mike Watson (Op-Ed), July 21, 2020

The unions argue that subjecting children to inferior home-based, video conference schooling is necessary to protect them and the public servants who teach them — at least until some unachievable and perpetually moving goalpost of personal protection is achieved. In this, teachers unions are behaving much like police unions, notorious enablers of the worst abuses of the police power, when they support contract provisions and state laws that go far beyond any reasonably due process in protecting bad cops at the expense of public safety and order.

Of course, the American Academy of Pediatrics — that is, an association of actual doctors concerned with children’s health— has weighed in on the side of parents who want their kids to learn and who want to be able to return to work. According to the AAP, “all policy considerations for the coming school year should start with a goal of having students physically present in school.” And the AAP — not a politically conservative institution by any stretch, given its support for gun control, Medicaid expansion, and government intervention to prevent climate change — affirms that continued closure of classrooms threatens students’ mental and physical health and well-being.

“We Might Get Fooled Again”
Wall Street Journal, Mike Gonzalez, July 9, 2020

Following the Detroit riots, Michigan Gov. George Romney co-founded an organization called New Detroit, which funded black nationalists who had little actual support among African-Americans. According to Jake Klein of the Capital Research Center, New Detroit produced a school curriculum that contained the first mention of the notion that racism had to include both prejudice and power. Such identity-based schemes failed to close the gap because, as Ms. Ferguson notes, they reduced the problems of the black community to a “psycho-cultural and therapeutic issue of black identity without having to deal with the structural and material issues.”

Today we see the same problems. Take the effort to “defund” or “dismantle” police departments. The rich will always be able to buy their own private protection. But how will leaving entire urban areas without the protection of the law help our most impoverished citizens?

“These 18 Corporations Gave Money to Radical Black Lives Matter Group”
The Daily Signal, Fred Lucas, July 6, 2020

The Daily Signal previously reported that the website for the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation notes that replacing the nuclear family structure and promoting the LGBT political agenda are central to its mission. A co-founder also has said that she and other “trained Marxists” formed the network foundation.

The BLM Global Network Foundation began in 2016 with the fiscal sponsorship of Thousand Currents, a liberal nonprofit group. Susan Rosenberg, convicted and imprisoned in 1984 for domestic terrorism, is vice chairwoman of Thousand Currents’ board of directors, The Daily Signal also reported.

“The Problems with Restoring Lockdowns”
National Review, Jim Geraghty, July 15, 2020

Michael Watson: “Whether schools open this fall will be a battle between teachers unions — who see an opportunity to employ a degree of political leverage that previously had only the stuff of their (fevered) dreams — and parents who need a return to work and toward normalcy.”

“Letter: Leaders Pushing Back Socialist Movements”
The Ledger, Soheyla Kovac (Letter to the Editor), July 31, 2020

It’s no secret these individuals share socialist, Marxist or communist movement connections.

George Floyd’s tragic death was hijacked…It’s no secret these individuals share socialist, Marxist or communist movement connections. Google their names, putting them in quotes, plus “Capital Research Center.” You’ll discover the sources for their funding. Donors include Warren Buffett, Bill Gates and George Soros.

Sheriff Grady Judd, Department of Justice Attorney General Bill Barr and President Donald Trump are leaders pushing back.

“Letter: Teacher Union Funds Questioned”
The Monitor, Joel Ramirez (Letter to the Editor), July 22, 2020

I wonder if teachers really know, and agree to, how their teacher union/organization dues are spent. According to the research group Influence Watch (www.influencewatch.org), “the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) is a major funder of liberal political causes and Democratic political candidates both through political action committees and union dues. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, the AFT’s political committees spent over $79 million to help Democrats get elected to federal office from the beginning of Federal Election Commission records through November 2016. Of AFT’s total federal contributions, over 99 percent supported Democrats.”