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ORIGINAL RESEARCHPhil Wilayto The Feeding TroughThe Bradley Foundation, "The Bell Curve" & the Real Story Behind W-2: Wisconsin's National Model for Welfare Reform[EDITOR'S NOTE: Media Transparency will soon be publishing The Feeding Trough in its entirety, so stay tuned. One chapter, The Bell Curve: Roadmap to the "Ideal" Society is already available online. In the meantime, here's a synopsis.] A study by the grassroots organizing group A Job is a Right Campaign has concluded that the Wisconsin welfare reform program known as "W-2" was developed under the guidance of the Milwaukee-based Bradley Foundation. Bradley is the country's leading ultra-conservative foundation, which, among other things, funded the nortoriously racist book "The Bell Curve", by authors Charles Murray and Richard Hernstein. Murray was actually brought in as a consultant by the task force that developed W-2 for the state of Wisconsin. The following are some of the highlights of the report:I - The Racist Agenda of the Lynde and Harry Bradley FoundationThe Bradley Foundation, with $600 million in assets, is the premier conservative grantmaking foundation in the country, one that has played a leading role in the development of both a philosophical approach and an activist agenda for the national conservative movement. Bradley is a leading force in a constellation of other conservative foundations, institutions, media networks and legal action projects and has used that leadership position to advance a racist, right-wing political agenda. For example: Bradley is a major funding source for the Center for Individual Rights, the public law firm that successfully argued Hopwood vs. the State of Texas, a challenge to affirmative action policies at the University of Texas Law School. That 1996 decision effectively eliminates affirmative action in the state university systems of Texas as well as in neighboring Mississippi and Louisiana.
II - "The Bell Curve" as an Ideological Blueprint for W-2Charles Murray was the author of the book, "Losing Ground", in which he argued that poverty is the result of individual failings and that anti-poverty programs such as welfare were ill-conceived and should be eliminated. Commenting on the book in the Spring, 1994 issue of the Milwaukee education newspaper Rethinking Schools, Barbara Miner wrote "...Murray called for... an end to all government programs that provide economic support for single mothers such as AFDC, subsidized housing, or food stamps." From at least 1986 to 1989, Bradley was giving Murray an annual grant of $90,000. By 1991, it was paying him $113,000 annually. In response to criticism of the book, Bradley president Michael Joyce said, "Charles Murray, in my opinion, is one of the foremost social thinkers in the country." After writing "Losing Ground", Murray teamed up with Harvard psychologist Richard Hernstein to write the book "The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life" According to an article in The New York Times, Hernstein "predicted that as a society became more meritocratic, individuals with low I.Q.s could congregate on the bottom of the economic scale, intermarry and produce offspring with low I.Q.'s." "The Bell Curve" incorporated elements of both Murray's "Losing Ground" and Hernstein's genetic theories. The book argued that poverty is the result, not of social conditions or policies, but of the inferior genetic traits of a sub-class of human beings. It was widely seen as a piece of profoundly racist and classist pseudo-science. Immediately after the book's publication, Bradley raised Murray's annual grant to $163,000. Murray and Hernstein's prescription for an end to poverty and the "threat" of a growing "underclass" was the elimination of all social welfare programs and their replacement by a work-centered program of coercion and behavioral modification. The goal was not the "empowerment" of poor people through acquiring jobs and independence, but rather their total regulation, on the theory that these were basically inferior people incapable of running their own lives. III - Bradley Commissions W-2According to an article in the March 2, 1997 edition of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, a "major architect" of W-2 was the Hudson Institute. The Hudson Institute is a right-wing think tank based in Indianapolis. Members of its Board of Trustees include former vice president Dan Quayle and former Nixon chief of staff Gen. Alexander Haig. The Institute's president, Leslie Lenkowsky, was deputy director of the U.S. Information Agency under Reagan. The manager of Hudson's research program, Gary L. Geipel, is a former analyst with the CIA. Also employed at the Institute are former Republican presidential hopeful Lamar Alexander; former editor-in-chief of Commentary magazine Norman Podhoretz; and Charles E. Finn, Jr., a founding partner and senior scholar with the Edison Project, the school-for-profit company once under consideration for a contract with the Milwaukee Public Schools system. n 1995, Bradley gave Hudson a $175,000 grant "to support a study of welfare reform in Wisconsin." In the same year, Bradley also gave Hudson $150,000 "to support a program on the principles of American public policy" and another $70,000 "to support a study of American social and cultural life." In 1994, Hudson had received $600,000 from Bradley. Hudson has three branch offices: one in New York; one in Brussels, Belgium; and one in Madison, Wisconsin. The Institute's "Welfare Policy Center", according to Hudson's website, "...is supported in part by the Lynde and Harry Bradley and Charles Stewart Mott Foundations" and is "...an outgrowth of Hudson's unique participation in helping the state of Wisconsin design and implement Wisconsin Works [W-2], the landmark welfare replacement plan passed into law early in 1996. A part of the policy team, Hudson worked closely with the state for over two years helping facilitate policy deliberations, researching specific issues, and acting as an independent contributor to the policy development process. Hudson maintains an office in Madison, Wisconsin through which the WPC continues to assist the state with the challenge of successfully implementing Wisconsin Works." IV - Bradley Funds the Implementation of W-2The Washington, D.C.-based National Center for Neighborhood Enterprise (grants) was founded in 1981, the first year of the Reagan administration. Among the 17 members of its board of directors are Michael Baroody, of the anti-union National Association of Manufacturers; Jack Kemp, promoter of "supply side economics'; and Robert Beaver, of MacDonalds's Corp., the country's largest employer of Black youth - at minimum wage. In both 1994 and 1995, the NCNE received $225,000 from the Bradley Foundation "for general operations". It also received a two-year, $100,000 grant in 1996 from Milwaukee's Helen Bader Foundation, a newly arrived player in the W-2 "job creation" game, for "additional training in personal leadership skills, organizational development and factors which promote effective community development for grassroots community leaders in Milwaukee." Plus another $25,000 from Bader "to support the planning efforts to increase economic self-sufficiency in Milwaukee's African American community." Plus another $5,000 from Bader "in support of work processes of a task force to study the effectiveness of a local non-profit organization." The NCNE's president is Robert L. Woodson, Sr., who from 1977 to 1995 was a Resident Fellow at the Bradley-funded American Enterprise Institute. Woodson is author of such articles as "Blacks Who Use 'Racism' as Their Excuse" (The Wall Street Journal, 9/23/92); "Why I'm Proud to be a Black Conservative" (the Orlando Sentinel, 12/21/91) and many others along the same lines. According to the NCNE, the group "was asked by House Speaker Newt Gingrich to form a [national] task force to make specific policy recommendations to the 104th Congress." Recommendations for that task force were used to justify Republican calls for an end to the principle national welfare program, AFDC. That national task force convened here in Milwaukee at a conference underwritten by the Bradley and Bader foundations. Its "GAPP Report" reads like a right-wing Republican wish-list, including items such as the abolishment of the prevailing wage Davis-Bacon Act. In effect, it is a blueprint for the implementation of W-2, calling for direct government funding of community-based organizations regardless of qualifications; an end to "burdensome regulations" governing child care and social service delivery; and an elimination on restrictions for funding of religious organizations. In no area does it call for recognizing any rights on the part of the people who would be "serviced" by the network of "providers". The poor are assumed to be poor because of personal failings. They must be placed in a tightly regimented structure in order to "succeed". On November 29, 1995, Wisconsin state representative Scott Jensen and state assembly speaker David Prosser wrote to Woodson, asking him to organize a state task force of "community leaders and organizations" to "develop strategies for helping community based groups solve social challenges like crime, education, economic development and alcohol and drug abuse" and to recommend ways that "barriers" to the work of these groups could be removed. Jensen, Majority leader and co-chairman of the powerful Joint Finance Committee, is the right wing legislator who played a key role in attacks on the Social Development Commission, the state's largest anti-poverty agency and one that could have provided some cushion to W-2. He also has proposed selling off some of the 30 state-owned power plants and 18 sewage treatment plants, valued at nearly $193,000 million, "so we can afford more important things, like prisons." Seven years ago, Jensen was the author of Gov. Tommy Thompson's "Central City Initiative." Woodson did form a "Wisconsin Grassroots Alternative for Public Policy Taskforce", which met a number of times in early 1996. At one such meeting, Rep. Jensen spoke for 25 minutes on the merits of W-2. The task force presented its recommendations to the state legislature on May 13. The NCNE also organized "leadership training" workshops in Milwaukee, funded by the Bader Foundation. These NCNE "leaders" are expected to play local roles in the implementation of W-2. IV - And More..."The Feeding Trough" also examines the central role that Bradley plays in coordinating the work of other right-wing foundations and national initiatives. It examines the agencies and companies that are now playing active roles in the implementation of W-2 in Milwaukee, such as the Greater Milwaukee Committee, the Marcus Corporation, and Aurora Health Care. Special attention is paid to Goodwill Industries of Southeastern Wisconsin, the non-profit agency responsible for two of the six W-2 regions and one-third of the "cases". The report recognizes there were major flaws with the old welfare system. It argues, however, that solutions to the problems facing poor and working people cannot come from right-wing institutions committed to a racist, anti-working class agenda. Neither will they come from politicians, from whatever party, who accept the basic premises of those institutions. The only real answer is to organize for decent, union-wage jobs or guaranteed income for all. The AJRC report draws on previous studies of the Bradley Foundation, including "Buying a Movement" by People For the American Way and "Downsizing the American Dream" by the House Democratic Policy Committee. However, the majority of the report is the result of original investigation, using as source material the Bradley and Bader annual reports; Internet websites for Bradley, the Hudson Institute and other conservative organizations; news articles from a wide range of local and national newspapers; as well as interviews with many individuals with knowledge of the background to and implementation of W-2. Copies of the complete, 140-page report may be ordered from AJRC at the address below. Send name, address and a check or money order for $12.00 (which includes $2 for shipping and handling) made payable to: AJRC/W-2. For more information, contact: -- Phil Wilayto, Coordinator, A Job is a Right Campaign. A Job is a Right Campaign is an all-volunteer organization of labor and community activists. The group works on a wide range of issues affecting poor and working people, with a particular emphasis on fighting racism. Founded in January of 1994, AJRC played a leading role in organizing opposition to KKK recruitment rallies in Elkhorn, Wisc. and Rockford, Ill.; supported the union organizing campaign at Milwaukee's Steeltech Manufacturing plant; rallied community support against layoffs at Briggs & Stratton; and supported efforts to oppose a number of cases of police killings of Black youth. AJRC was active in the many rallies and demonstrations opposing W-2. A Job is a Right Campaign PO Box 06053, Milwaukee, WI 53206 Labor Donated sign in, or register to email stories or comment on them.
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MORE ORIGINAL RESEARCHBill Berkowitz PERC receives Templeton Freedom Award for promoting 'enviropreneurs'Right Wing foundation-funded anti-environmental think tank grabbing a wider audience for 'free market environmentalism' On the 15th anniversary of Terry Anderson and Donald Leal's book "Free Market Environmentalism" -- the seminal book on the subject -- Anderson, the Executive Director of the Bozeman, Montana-based Property and Environment Research Center (PERC - formerly known as the Political Economy Research Center) spoke in late-January at an event sponsored by Squaw Valley Institute at the Resort at Squaw Creek in California. While it may have been just another opportunity to speak on "free market environmentalism" and not the kickoff of a "victory tour," nevertheless it comes at a time when PERC's ideas are taking root.
Bill Berkowitz Neil Bush of Saudi ArabiaDuring recent visit, President’s brother describes the country as a 'kind of tribal democracy' In late February, only a few days after Saudi Arabia beheaded four Sri Lankan robbers and then left their headless bodies on public display in the capital of Riyadh, Neil Bush, for the fourth time in the past six years, showed up for the country's Jeddah Economic Forum. The Guardian reported that Human Rights Watch "said the four men had no lawyers during their trial and sentencing, and were denied other basic legal rights." In an interview with Arab News, the Saudi English language paper, Bush described the country as "a kind of tribal democracy."
Bill Berkowitz Newt Gingrich's back door to the White HouseAmerican Enterprise Institute "Scholar" and former House Speaker blames media for poll showing 64 percent of the American people wouldn't vote for him under any circumstances Whatever it is that former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has come to represent in American politics, the guy is nothing less than fascinating. One day he's espousing populist rhetoric about the need to cut the costs of college tuition and the next day he's talking World War III. One day he's claiming that the "war on terror" may force the abridgement of fundamental first amendment rights and the next he's advancing a twenty-first century version of his Contract with America. At the same time he's publicly proclaiming how "stupid" it is that the race for the presidency has already started you know that he's trying to figure out how to out finesse Rudy, McCain and Romney for the nomination. And last week, when Fox News' Chris Wallace cited a poll showing that 64 percent of the public would never vote for him, he was quick to blame those results on how unfairly he was treated by the mainstream media back in the day.
Bill Berkowitz American Enterprise Institute takes lead in agitating against IranDespite wrongheaded predictions about the war on Iraq, neocons are on the frontlines advocating military conflict with Iran After doing such a bang up job with their advice and predictions about the outcome of the war on Iraq, would it surprise you to learn that America's neoconservatives are still in business? While at this time we are not yet seeing the same intense neocon invasion of our living rooms -- via cable television's news networks -- that we saw during the run-up to the invasion of Iraq, nevertheless, a host of policy analysts at conservative think tanks -- most notably the American Enterprise Institute -- are being heeded on Iran by those who count - folks inside the Bush Administration.
Bill Berkowitz After six years, opposition gaining on George W. Bush's Faith Based InitiativeUnmentioned in the president's State of the Union speech, the program nevertheless continues to recruit religious participants and hand out taxpayer money to religious groups With several domestic policy proposals unceremoniously folded into President Bush's recent State of the Union address, two pretty significant items failed to make the cut. Despite the president's egregiously tardy response to the event itself, it was nevertheless surprising that he didn't even mention Hurricane Katrina: He didn't offer up a progress report, words of hope to the victims, or come up with a proposal for moving the sluggish rebuilding effort forward. There were no "armies of compassion" ready to be unleashed, although it should be said that many in the religious community responded to the disaster much quicker than the Bush Administration. In the State of the Union address, however, there was no "compassionate conservatism" for the victims of Hurricane Katrina.
Bill Berkowitz Frank Luntz calls Republican leadership in Washington 'One giant whining windbag'On the outs with the GOP, legendary degrader of discourse is moving to California He doesn't make great art; nothing he does elevates the human spirit; he doesn't illuminate, he bamboozles. He has become expert in subterfuge, hidden meanings, word play and manipulation. Frank Luntz has been so good at what he does that those paying close attention gave it its own name: "Luntzspeak."
Bill Berkowitz Spooked by MoveOn.org, conservative movement seeks to emulate liberal powerhouseFueled with Silicon Valley money, TheVanguard.org will have Richard Poe, former editor of David Horowitz's FrontPage magazine as its editorial and creative director As Paul Weyrich, a founding father of the modern conservative movement and still a prominent actor in it, likes to say, he learned a great deal about movement building by closely observing what liberals were up to in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Bill Berkowitz Ward Connerly's anti-affirmative action jihadFounder and Chair of the American Civil Rights Institute scouting five to nine states for new anti-affirmative action initiatives Fresh from his most recent victory -- in Michigan this past November -- Ward Connerly, the Black California-based maven of anti-affirmative action initiatives, appears to be preparing to take his jihad on the road. According to a mid-December report in the San Francisco Chronicle, Connerly said that he was "exploring moves into nine other states."
Bill Berkowitz Tom Tancredo's missionThe Republican congressman from Colorado will try to woo GOP voters with anti-immigration rhetoric and a boatload of Christian right politics These days, probably the most recognizable name in anti-immigration politics is Colorado Republican Congressman Tom Tancredo. Over the past year, Tancredo has gone from a little known congressman to a highly visible anti-immigration spokesperson. "Tancredo has thoroughly enmeshed himself in the anti-immigration movement and with the help of CNN talk show host Lou Dobbs, he has been given a national megaphone," Devin Burghart, the program director of the Building Democracy Initiative at the Center for New Community, a Chicago-based civil rights group, told Media Transparency.
Bill Berkowitz Institute on Religion and Democracy slams 'Leftist' National Council of ChurchesNew report from conservative foundation-funded IRD charges the NCC with being a political surrogate for MoveOn.org, People for the American Way and other liberal organizations If you prefer your religious battles sprinkled with demagoguery, sanctimoniousness, and simplistic attacks, the Institute on Religion and Democracy's (IRD) latest broadside against the National Council of Churches (NCC) certainly fits the bill.
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Don t look to Wisconsin as model for welfare reform
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