Your tax dollars:
The article that caught my eye appeared first at World Net Daily on February 28th entitled, “Obama raised funds for Islamic causes,” and then I saw some of the same information posted at Atlas Shrugs here. The articles suggest that Senator Obama is a closet supporter of the Palestinian cause (not a surprise in light of his Reverend buddy) and thus may be connected with questionable characters in the terror world, but I can’t speak to that. What interested me is the more mundane issue of taxpayer money flowing through the “community” organizations of Chicago.
Here are some of the quotes from World Net Daily that sent me searching tax returns.
Abunimah (Ali Abunimah, a Chicago-based Palestinian-American activist) serves on the board of the Arab American Action Network, or AAAN, a controversial Arab group that mourns the establishment of Israel as a “catastrophe” and supports intense immigration reform, including providing driver’s licenses and education to illegal aliens.
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WND reported yesterday the Woods Fund, a Chicago-based nonprofit on which Obama served as a paid director alongside a confessed domestic terrorist, provided $75,000 in grants to the AAAN.
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Obama’s advocacy on behalf of Palestinians comes after WND reported yesterday the presidential candidate served on the board of the Woods Fund alongside William C. Ayers, a member of the Weathermen terrorist group which sought to overthrow of the U.S. government and took responsibility for bombings against government buildings.
It’s a free country right, and groups can form and advocate for their causes all they want. It is one of our great freedoms. But, what if the taxpayers are funding some causes and not others. The Woods Fund is a private foundation with assets of over $70,000,000 in 2006. The fund owns pages and pages of shares in companies of every sort, but pays only a pittance in taxes because it gives some (around $3,000,000 in 2006) of its earnings to charities of its choice and hires people like Bill Ayers and previously Barack Obama to govern it.
The Woods Fund gave grants to groups such as the above mentioned Arab American Action Network, Prison Reform, Latinos United, Inner City Muslim Action Network and the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights to name a tiny fraction. I was looking for groups like maybe Suburban Redneck Rights Coalition, or Nascar Fans United for Peace, or Unemployed Conservative Trailer Park Citizens for Human Rights. This community organizing B.S. that Obama brags about is really left wing political organizing couched in multicultural grievance language and paid for by us.
Maybe you are saying so what, it’s a private foundation. But, get this! The Arab American Action Network (AAAN) is getting direct government (taxpayer funded!) grants to work against you! In the most recent Form 990 I could get for them (2004), they received $122,327 in government grants as part of their $394,687 income for the year. That is about 31% of their budget to “organize” Chicago Arabs. Lest you think they are running bake sales or pig roast fundraisers, much of the other “direct public support” they receive comes from grants from the likes of the Woods Fund.
Next I wanted to know what is this Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR). See what they do here. And, while you are reading think about the fact that in 2005 you funded this group to the tune of $5,276,202 as part of an overall income of $6,779,751. YOU are paying 78% of what they do. To be completely accurate, if you live in Illinois you are paying much of this.
But, rest assured the ICIRR isn’t greedy, it doesn’t roll around in your money it passes it on to groups like Council of Islamic Organizations, Chinese Mutual Aid Assn., World Relief (Moline), Instituto Del Progresso Latino, Muslim Women Resource Center, Arab American Family Services, Bosnian-Herz American Community Center. and of course the Arab American Action Network ($82,000 in 2005) among 40 some other similar groups.
Funny I didn’t see any groups for people like me.
So, first Obama was busy getting these folks organized in the “community,” then as a State legislator in Illinois (I’ll bet you a buck) he made darn sure all his “community” groups got their fair share of your paycheck so they could keep organizing against you.
Some racket, huh!