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External LinksThe Center of The American Experiment's website
MORE LINKSMike Mosedale Friendly FireAt conservative think tank, staffers stand up for ex-boss, get canned ...In its 15 years, the center [of the American Experiment]--whose staff, directors, and donors have made up a virtual who's who of Republican politics in Minnesota--has managed to maintain a stately public posture. At its biannual fundraisers (up to $2,500 a plate for a spot at the "chairman's table"), the organization has lured big-name speakers like George H.W. Bush, Ken Starr, and Henry Kissinger. In between, the center's staff and fellows have produced a stodgy quarterly, cranked out numerous public-policy papers, and penned newspaper op-eds by the gross. Throughout it all, the organization has deftly avoided the sort of public squabbles and infighting that might stain its reputation.
MNInvolved.com It looks like the Center of the American Experiment is brokeFor all the money donated by the rich GOP donors/CAE board members, it looks like they were more interested in their partisan political donations than they were in the financial well-being of the CAE. Words are in endless supply, true allegiance lives in cold hard cash.
Mpls Star Tribune Former President George Bush visits fund-raiser in MinnetonkaGOP Fundraiser at William Cooper's house featuring George H.W. Bush raises $375,000 for fall campaign
Dane Smith Large GOP donor links future donations to Sviggum resignationThe Mpls Star Tribune reported that Republican CAE Board member Michael Wigley, demanded in a series of emails that state Republicans remove Minnesota House Speaker Steve Sviggum for failing to deliver enough tax cuts, saying that he won't contribute "another cent" to the House caucus and will try to persuade his friends to withold cash also.
Movement-funded presenters at the Center includeWilliam Bennett, Bill Kristol, Vin Weber, Chester Finn, Dinesh D'Souza, Charles Murray, Jeane Kirkpatrick, Robert Bork, William Galston, Michael Novak, Robert L. Woodson, Sr., Clint Bolick, Kenneth Starr, Wade Horn, David Horowitz, Ward Connerly, Danielle Crittenden, Marvin Olasky, William F. Buckley, Christina Hoff Sommers, John Stossel, Diane Ravitch,Sally Satel and others.
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RECIPIENT PROFILEEIN: 36-3611426 Center of the American ExperimentMinneapolis, MN 55402 The Center of the American Experiment (CAE), a Minneapolis, Minnesota based think tank, is a perfect example of a new type of entity, the state or regional think tank. According to a report by the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy (NCRP), these state and regional think tank and advocacy groups play a pivotal role by providing local outlets for the national movement's key players, as well as providing content for their media/research machine. Over 60 of these organizations have been built between the late 1980s and early 1990s. Created in 1990 by longtime Republican Mitch Pearlstein, the CAE has played its role perfectly by inviting dozens of the movement's political, ideological and media figures to speak. Often, these speakers have their voices amplified, without rebuttal, by media outlets such as public television and radio, and local newspapers. Such was the case in November of 1999, when Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) ran an unmediated one hour broadcast of a CAE event featuring former Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr (a longtime recipient of Bradley foundation money.) Early cluesIn the Center's first year of operation Pearlstein gave clues to the organization's direction, as illustrated by this news item from the Minneapolis Star Tribune of July 23, 1990, wherein he announced that he had broken the law and given charitable funds from the Center to the Minnesota Republican party and to Republican Minnesota Senator Rudy Boschwitz: July 23, 1990 The newly established Center of the American Experiment bills itself as a conservative but nonpartisan think tank. The center's president, Mitchell Pearlstein, says you'll never hear him bad-mouthing politicians, although he may take issue with their ideas or proposals. Given that, why did Pearlstein contribute $125 of the center's funds to the Independent-Republican Party and $100 to Republican Sen. Rudy Boschwitz? It was a mistake and it won't happen again, Pearlstein said as he disclosed the donations recently. He initially intended to use the center's money to attend partisan events so he could make contacts to further his organization's own fund-raising efforts. Having attended the Independent Republican's Century Club dinner and a Boschwitz fund-raiser, Pearlstein also intended to use the group's funds to go to DFL events, he said. "We don't want to be seen supporting certain candidates," he said. But the center's lawyer has since advised him that political donations are illegal for the tax-exempt, nonprofit organization, so Pearlstein has scratched plans to buy tickets to DFL fund-raisers. Although Pearlstein, a Republican said he'll continue to appear at strictly political events, he'll pay his own money. Another story from the Star Tribune from January 1990 related Pearlstein's desire for a $1.5 million budget "in five years." Pearlstein told the reporter that "so far support is strong...We have had some generous contributions from individuals in Minnesota." Many of those individuals turn out to be Republican Party officials, office holders, and office seekers. The current head of the Minnesota GOP, Ron Eibensteiner, for example, is on the board of the Center, and gave it $61,000 from 1992 through 1996 (see illustration). The past head of the State GOP, William Cooper, who is the head of the Minneapolis-based Twin City Federal bank (TCF), gave more than $56,000 to the Center during the same period, and also sits on its board. During the 1998 election cycle in Minnesota, during Cooper's tenure as State GOP Chair, he gave a whopping $200,000 contribution to the Minnesota Republican Party, after which they claimed a majority in the Minnesota State House. The Center also has other extremely close ties to the Minnesota Republican Party. Former Minnesota Republican Party Chair Chris Georgacas, who was known for his vicious political style, directed the Center's Minnesota Policy Blueprint, a prescriptive book which was allegedly intended for use by any Minnesota Chief Executive, which was partially paid for by the Olin foundation, but which which was really built by a cadre of state Republicans to provide a guide when their intended candidate, Republican St. Paul Mayor Norm Coleman, became governor (alas he was beaten by the wrestler Ventura.) The document, which cost $400,000 to produce, is a remarkable restating of the state Republican party's official platform. The Blueprint was self-styled after the Heritage Foundation's Mandate for Leadership series, which was a blueprint for the Reagan Administration's rollback of services to the poor, defense buildup, and other tenants of the Republican agenda. The center also has a very close relationship with the Center for New Black Leadership, which was at one time a project of the Center, but now is independent, and a large recipient of conservative foundation money. Favorite issues of the Center include "frank" discussions of race (ala Charles Murray and Dinesh D'Souza, both of whom spoke at the Center), "School Choice" -- often featuring the psuedo-research of politically motivated "scholars" or self-interested "reformers" (ala Chester Finn and Paul E. Peterson), and "wise-use" environmental policies. The Center also works in concert with other regional think tanks of the movement, sometimes through official organizations, such as the State Policy Network. Recently the Center's head, Mitch Pearlstein, wrote a cover story for the Heartland Institute's magazine Intellectual Ammunition, summarizing the CAE's Minnesota Policy Blueprint. Click here to read an in-depth examination of the CAE. Also seeOne possibly interesting grant of $20,000 from the Bradley foundation we have not tracked down yet was made to the University of Minnesota Foundation for a "study of charter schools." Heartland Institute. Sister of CAE. Michael Novak. Olin funded scholar on board of advisors.
Rob Levine This Is a Charity?It's time the Republican 'Think Tank' Center of the American Experiment lost its tax-exempt statusTwo years ago I asked in the magazine Minnesota Law and Politics whether the conservative Minneapolis-based "think tank" called the Center of the American Experiment (CAE) deserved to be a tax-exempt charity under U.S. federal law. The reason I asked was that tax-exempt organizations are not allowed to engage in partisan politics, and it seemed to me as well as others that the Center had been skirting, or engaging in, such behavior for some time... ...The truth is that there are no other tax-exempt charities as partisan and dedicated to partisanship as the CAE. The freeloading Center should admit the charade now and pay for its own politicking, instead of forcing the rest of us to pick up its share of the tab.
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OTHER LINKSNick Coleman (columnist) Center of American Experiment and Mpls Councilman stealthily trying to kill public educationSamuels fans flames of public school bonfire Don Samuels has apologized for his words, but not his views. And he isn't likely to. For the Fifth Ward City Council member from Minneapolis who suggested burning down North High School is not just one man with an opinion.
Brian Lambert The One-Woman SolutionInside Katherine Kersten’s Red Star crusade When the tinny tinkle of “Joy to the World, the Lord is Come” begins playing on the cell phone, everyone in range in the Star Tribune newsroom knows who’s getting a call. It is Katherine Kersten, the paper’s unapologetically religious and fiercely conservative metro columnist.
Kevin Featherly and Frank Jossi Red State, Blue State, Old State, New StateMany credit the Center of the American Experiment with catalyzing Minnesota’s conservative shift. But after a dramatic shakeup, can it maintain its influence? ...“There is a very definite threat to [CAE’s] future,” says [Vin] Weber, who credits the organization with establishing the “intellectual infrastructure” of Minnesota’s conservative movement. “They’ve lost a majority of their employees, they’ve lost their president—people have taken sides. The supportive community of activists and donors is divided now. They are going to have a hard time bouncing back.”
Mark Brunswick Shakeup at Center of the American ExperimentConservative think tank retools management ...Mitch Pearlstein, the founder of the center, will return as president after a 20-month period as its president emeritus. Pearlstein said the center will restructure to return to addressing public policy issues such as poverty, race, values, economics and taxes.
Dane Smith Minnesota think tank goes to collegeLiberal professors, gird for battle.
Mike Mosedale Worse than Wal-MartTwin Cities based corporations Target and BestBuy both rate worse than Wal-Mart in terms of political giving heavily weighted to Republicans, according to Buyblue.org. Target even gave $20,000 to the Republican "Think tank" Center of the American Experiment.
David Rubenstein Republican Think Tank?The Center of the American Experiment is a Republican propaganda machine and an incubator for Republican candidates and operatives in Minnesota. For more than a decade, it has championed and helped to define virtually every item on the Republican agenda, from regressive tax cuts, privatization and the crippling of the public sector to the denial of global warming and the invasion of Iraq..
Rob Levine Radical conservatives find a willing mouthpiece in CAE's Kersten"We can always follow the advice that [David] Horowitz and Kersten are offering. That is, if we wish to ignore logic and reason. Similarly we can advise our young people to adhere to the principles espoused by Kersten's exemplars of moral rectitude, Horowitz and D'Souza. That is, if we want them to grow up to be selfish bigots. For some reason this doesn't seem to bother Kersten. Maybe it's because her true role is marketer of the conservative - philanthropy product.
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551,500 to the Center of the American Experiment
Commentary: American Experiment gets free ride from uncritical media
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