Sunlight Foundation

How Charitable Are Lawmaker Charities (Another Example)

The Washington Times has been running a pretty decent series on the connections between congressmen and charitable foundations that carry their name or are otherwise closely associated with them. Today, the reporting focuses on Rep. Joe Barton and his Joe Barton Family Foundation. Like some other congressional charitable foundations, the Joe Barton Family Foundation spends an inordinate amount of money on fund raising and staff while donating little to actual charity. Oh, and also, many of the contributors to the Foundation are energy companies with an interest in policies that are shaped in the Energy & Commerce Committee where Barton is ranking Republican member.

It's pretty difficult to determine which charitable foundations are associated with lawmakers. Some are easy, when they carry the name of the congressman or senator, and some are difficult. Below is a quick list of some of these charities. I'd also suggest checking out this page on Open Secrets that lists positions held by lawmakers on charitable foundations and private ventures.

Some Congressional Charitable Foundations
Foundation/Non-profit Lawmaker Position (where applicable)
Alliance for Health Reform Sen. Jay Rockefeller Honorary Chairman
Alliance for Health Reform Sen. Susan Collins Honorary Co-Chairman
Discover the Real West Virginia Foundation, Inc. Sen. Jay Rockefeller Founder
James Clyburn Foundation Rep. James Clyburn
James E. Clyburn Research & Scholarship Foundation Rep. James Clyburn
Joe Barton Family Foundation Rep. Joe Barton
Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies Rep. James Clyburn
Marketplace for Kids, Inc. Sen. Kent Conrad Co-founder
Mollohan Family Charitable Foundation Rep. Alan Mollohan
Next Vision Foundation Rep. Carolyn Kilpatrick
Robert Mollohan Foundation Rep. Alan Mollohan
The James Clyburn Scholarship and Endowment Rep. James Clyburn
The Joe Baca Foundation Rep. Joe Baca
Utah Families Foundation Sen. Orrin Hatch
If you have any other examples please leave them in the comments.

Conflicts of Interest:

For those of you who haven't been following the debate over "net neutrality" and the COPE bill you should hop over to the Editor's Blog at the new Congresspedia. Conor Kenny has provided a quick and accurate summary of the issue. Essentially, the telephone and cable companies want to be able to create a tiered system in the Internet where they control the content. The industry has spent hundreds of thousands lobbying on the issue and recently defeated an effort by Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA) to ensure the freedom of internet by establishing "net neutrality". Markey's amendment failed in a subcommittee vote 34-22.

The COPE bill is cosponsored by four congressmen Reps. Joe Barton (R-TX), Chip Pickering (R-MS), Fred Upton (R-MI), and Bobby Rush (D-IL). As usual these congressmen acting in the interest of the telecommunications industry have some explaining to do. Last week we found out about the $1 million grant that SBC/AT&T gave to a community center founded by Bobby Rush. It just so happens to turn out that Barton and Upton both own dividends in the companies that would benefit from the legislation.

Barton owns between $1,000-$15,000 in dividends of SBC, one of the principle players in the COPE bill. Upton owns between $1,000-$15,000 in dividends in SBC, AT&T, Comcast, and Verizon. In a trust that Upton does not control he owns between $15,000-$50,000 of dividends in SBC and between $1,000-$15,000 in dividends of Verizon.

Well, I guess that Barton, Upton, and the cable and telecom companies are set to make some money off of this bill. Everybody wins ... except for Internet users.

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