Bill Berkowitz
May 1, 2005

Tom DeLay's Right Arm

The National Center for Public Policy Research

The foundation that Tom DeLay calls 'The Center for Conservative communications' is involved in the Majority Leader's ethical troubles as well as a number of other right wing projects

After weeks of haggling, it looks like the House Ethics Committee, loaded down with Republicans who have received significant support from Rep. Tom DeLay's organizations, will begin its investigation into the House Majority Leader's ethics problems. But don't expect much from the committee for between "six months to a year," the Los Angeles Times' Mary Curtius reported on April 29, 2005.

According to Curtius,

"Under the most likely scenario, Reps. Doc Hastings (R-Wash.), the panel chairman, and Alan B. Mollohan of West Virginia, the ranking Democrat on the committee, will review the news reports and jointly notify DeLay that he is the subject of a preliminary investigation. At that point, Hastings and Mollohan may informally question DeLay and others."

"If that informal inquiry raises enough questions, the full committee will be asked to vote to form an investigative subcommittee with the power to subpoena witnesses and documents."

"In this case, the stakes are particularly high, both for DeLay, given his history of ethics lapses, and for this committee," Kathleen Clark, a law professor at Washington University in St. Louis who specializes in legal and government ethics, told Curtius.

The National Center for Public Policy Research & Tom DeLay

Charges against Rep. DeLay, the former exterminator, have been scurrying across the front pages of America's daily newspapers faster than the varmints he used to wipe out back in Texas.

In one recent week, both the New York Times and the Washington Post published articles raising more questions about the House Leader's judgment and ethics. While President Bush continues to fully embrace DeLay, other Republicans are beginning - make that, barely beginning - to tire of DeLay's act and the consequences it might have for their Party.

On Sunday, April 10, both moderate Republican Congressman Chris Shays (R-Conn.) and Senator Rick Santorum, the right wing Pennsylvania Senator up for re-election in 2006, stated that DeLay needed to come clean about all of the details involved with the assorted junkets he's gone on over the past several years, and the questionable relationships he's developed with lobbyists.

A number of press accounts about DeLay's 1997 National Center for Public Policy Research-sponsored (NCPPR, also National Center - website) trip to Moscow focused on accusations that the trips were funded in part by private Russian companies and not by the National Center, as DeLay's staff claimed.

In a recent statement, the National Center bit the bullet and took responsibility for the trips' payment. Their statement read in part:

"The National Center for Public Policy Research sponsored and paid for educational trips to Russia and to Great Britain in 1997 and 2000 that included, at our invitation, Congressman Tom DeLay, Mrs. DeLay and Congressional staff members. The National Center for Public Policy Research was careful to pay all the expenses associated with Congressman DeLay's trip. Reports to the contrary are incorrect."

Jack Abramoff, the Washington lobbyist who was a member of NCPPR's Board of Directors, is a "central figure" in investigations "into alleged ethical improprieties by his close friend House Majority Leader Tom DeLay" and he is also "under federal investigation for his lobbying activities on behalf of Indian tribes," the Washington Post reported on May 1.

The National Center for Public Policy Research is a tax exempt 501 (C)(3) Washington, DC-based operation which has never had the verve or cache of such Washington-DC-based right wing think tanks as the Heritage Foundation (website), the American Enterprise Institute (website) or the Cato Institute (website).

In fact, the only reason we are hearing so much about the organization is because of reports linking it to DeLay and his myriad ethics problems. During the past few weeks, as news of the group's involvement with the beleaguered House Majority Leader surfaced, press accounts have consistently failed to accurately describe the NCPPR.

Media Matters for America (website), a progressive media monitor, has identified several instances of reporting where the group's conservative roots appeared to escape acknowledgement:

A March 16 Washington Post article identified the National Center as "a nonprofit group...that covered the same amount as the cost of DeLay's London trip";
on March 17, the Post referred to it as "a...tax-exempt charity";
The March 21 issue of Time magazine reported that "Three G.O.P. House members enjoyed trips to Britain that included a round of golf at St. Andrews in Scotland; all claimed the visits were work related and funded by the National Center for Public Policy Research, a think tank";
The Chicago Tribune called the National Center "a public policy group"; and
On March 16, the Associated Press also labeled the group "a nonprofit organization."

"In fact," reports Media Matters, NCPPR, which was founded in 1982 "to provide the conservative movement with a versatile and energetic organization capable of responding quickly and decisively to fast-breaking issues," refers to itself as "'A Conservative Think Tank' in the header of its website's home page."

The National Center has a well-established funding stream from conservative foundations. Between 1985 and 2002 the organization received more than $2 million from such right wing heavy weights such as the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, the Castle Rock Foundation, the Randolph Foundation, the Roe Foundation, and an array of foundations controlled by Richard Mellon Scaife.

In addition to foundation support, the Center claims a broad-based network of individual donors that sustain its $6.5 million budget (2003 figures).

The Washington, DC-based NCPPR, which calls itself "a communications and research foundation," is much more, however, than Tom DeLay's personal tourist agent. It has a number of ongoing projects, several regular publications and has an agenda chock full of issues. In the words of DeLay -- prominently advertised on the National Center's Web site -- "The National Center is THE CENTER for conservative communications."

Broadening its Playing Field

"In the 1980s," the NCPPR "helped change public opinion through vocal national campaigns aimed at supporting Reagan administration initiatives concerning the USSR, arms control, Central America and human rights," its website claims.

These days it is taking on a number of twenty-first century political issues including:

Environmental Policy -- Through its John P. McGovern M.D. Center for Environmental and Regulatory Affairs, which "advocates private, free market solutions to today's environmental challenges";
Fiscal Policy, Health Care & Retirement Security -- Dedicated to "exposing the truth in federal tax policy, highlighting conservative proposals for tax and entitlement reform and educating the public and media on the importance of restoring fiscal integrity to the federal government are top priorities." Through its National Retirement Security and Health Care Reform Task Forces, the Center supports Social Security and Medicare reform;
Government Accountability -- Issues publications, press releases, pens radio and television commercials, and organizes petition drives "expos[ing] examples of wrongdoing and misguided activities by government agencies and officials," through its American Criminal Justice Center;
New Leadership in Black America -- Through its Project 21, the Center aims to elevate "the profiles of conservative and moderate voices in the African-American community through an aggressive earned media campaign";
National Sovereignty -- "opposes policies that expand the authority of the United Nations at the expense of the U.S. Congress and executive branch."

Citing its "proven success in today's competitive media environment," the National Center points to an enviable and growing media presence: "Over 2,622 media interviews and citations in 2003," which is nearly double what it had five years earlier; Nearly 2,000 opinion pieces by National Center staff were published by newspapers in 2002 and 2003. According to its website, "responding quickly" to emerging issues is the "hallmark" of its work.

The Center claims that "the key to successful marketing on the internet lies in providing up-to-the-minute information in a simple, potent format," and it points out that during the past year, its website "averaged over a million hits (350,00 pageviews) from an average of over 150,000 visitors each month."

Amy Ridenour, the former deputy director of the College Republican National Committee and former regional coordinator for Ronald Reagan's 1980 presidential campaign, is currently the president and chairman of the Center. She waxes regularly about the issues of the day at Amy Ridenour's National Center Blog.

However amidst the usual clutter of Center publications -- What Conservatives Think - "help[ing] bridge the gap between rhetoric and reality" about what conservatives think; Ten Second Response - "Fast Facts on the Environment"; Legal Briefs - "Fighting Lawsuit Abuse & Exposing Frivolous Lawsuits"; In The News - a collection of NCRRP-generated newspaper clippings, and various other websites, including the "Center for the Future of Russia" and EnviroTruth.org, "promoting truth in environmental activism" one particular project stands out for its sheer audacity.

NCPPR's Earth Day Information Center

A week before the 35th anniversary of Earth Day (April 22), NCPPR turned its attention to environmental issues, setting up a one-stop information outlet for Earth Day called the Earth Day Information Center. Scott Silver, the executive director of Wild Wilderness, an Oregon-based grassroots environmental organization, who has been tracking the activities of the anti-environmental movement for more than 10 years, recently sent an email about an announcement he had received from an outfit calling itself the Earth Day Information Center (EDIC - website). It was advertising an "Earth Day Interview Locator Service" and offering "to provide journalists and broadcasters with scientists and policy experts who are able to discuss Earth Day-related issues."

While at first Silver couldn't figure out exactly what the EDIC was up to, it soon became apparent after he checked out its list of "experts."

Most of the advertised speakers were long-time well-known anti-environmentalists who are involved in a number of anti-environmental organizations, think tanks and public policy outfits including:

Dr. Bonner Cohen, senior fellow of the NCPPR, is "an expert on endangered species, regulations, air quality, energy, property rights, sound science, waste management, water and 'sustainable development' v. 'sustained development'";
Dr. S. Fred Singer, president of Science and Environmental Policy Project (website) and professor emeritus of environmental science at the University of Virginia, "an expert in issues including air pollution, global climate change, the ozone layer, acid rain and energy";
Steven Milloy, publisher of JunkScience.com (website) -- "All the Junk That's Fit to DeBunk" -- and CSRwatch.com (website) -- "Your eye on the anti-business movement", and adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute (website), Competitive Enterprise Institute (website), and National Center for Policy Analysis (website),"specializes on climate change, environmental health, risk assessment, and science as it relates to public policy";
Paul Driessen, senior fellow specializing in environmental and economic development issues with several think tanks and is the author of Eco-Imperialism (website), "has written extensively on global environmental policy as it pertains to health, regulation and energy in the Third World";
Robert J. Smith, senior environmental scholar at the Competitive Enterprise Institute and a former consultant to the President's Council on Environmental Quality, is "an expert on property stewardship and rights, forest health and endangered species";
Dr. Gerald Marsh, physicist at Argonne National Labs, is "an expert on nuclear energy and waste storage. He is an advisory board member of The NCPPR's John P. McGovern, MD Center for Environmental and Regulatory Affairs."

"This isn't your typical green-washing effort," Silver concluded. "This is hard-core anti-environmental ideologues presenting themselves as spokespersons for Earth Day 2005."

In addition to the so-called experts, the Earth Day Information Center is providing an online information clearinghouse, complete with a history of Earth Day, "as well as information and commentary on issues such as global warming, energy policy, urban sprawl, mileage standards and property rights."

Project 21: A Mouthpiece for Conservative African Americans

Project 21 is described by the Center as

"An initiative...to promote the views of African-Americans whose entrepreneurial spirit, dedication to family and commitment to individual responsibility has not traditionally been echoed by the nation's civil rights establishment."

In many ways, it was a forerunner to Team Bush's current emphasis on attracting African Americans to the Republican Party and conservative causes. In recent years Project 21's conservative spokespersons -- with their willingness to be provocative and lob verbal bombs at the so-called civil rights establishment -- have become darlings of the political right.

Project spokespersons have appeared on the Fox News Channel's "The O'Reilly Factor" and "Hannity and Colmes," "CNN Morning News," Black Entertainment Television's "Lead Story," "America's Black Forum," "the McLaughlin Group," C-SPAN's "Morning Journal" and the Rush Limbaugh, Michael Reagan, Sean Hannity, G. Gordon Liddy and Larry King programs.

They've argued, among other things, that African Americans will benefit from President Bush's plan to privatize Social Security; suggested that the NAACP, the nation's oldest civil rights organization, should pursue "a more centrist course than the one it has been on for the past 40 years"; maintained that Black civil rights leaders have turned Martin Luther King, Jr.'s dream into a "nightmare"; and claimed that the notion of "environmental justice" hurts black communities.

Recently, David Almasi, the director of Project 21, issued a statement pointing out that Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas is well qualified to become the Court's next chief justice. Almasi's statement in support of Thomas came after Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid had called Thomas "an embarrassment to the Supreme Court" during an interview on NBC's Meet the Press.

Almasi, Markos Moulitsas Zuniga, the author of the Daily Kos blog points out, is not an African American; Moulitsas discovered that fact after "trek[ing] over to NCPPR to get...[his] photo". According to Moulitsas, "The sole purpose of Project 21 is to provide token talking head media whores to represent the right wing when they need a splash of color."

In July 2004, The Gadflyer's Joshua Holland reported on an Almasi appearance on C-SPAN:

C-SPAN's Robb Harlston -- himself Black -- turned to...Almasi, and said, "Um...Project 21... a program for conservative African Americans...you're not African American."

It was a remarkable moment. A flat tire had led to a nationally-televised peek into what lies behind a murky network of interconnected Black conservative organizations that seek ostensibly to bring more African-Americans into the conservative movement. But they're not just reaching out to the community. They also speak out publicly for conservative positions that might evoke charges of racism if advocated by whites. And while that's not to say that there aren't some Blacks who embrace conservative values, the groups that claim to represent them are heavily financed by business interests and often run by white Republicans.

Almasi replied defensively, "I wanted to make clear right at the beginning that I'm an employee, I'm an employee of Project 21, my bosses are the members of Project 21, the volunteers...I take my marching orders from them, not from anybody else."

Almasi later told Holland that he was the group's only paid staff member and that he worked part-time. According to Holland, Almasi said that there was a core of conservative Blacks "willing to do interviews, be quoted for press releases and be available to write for Project 21 publications," and that his role was simply to serve as "a syndicator, an editor and a scheduler."

"In the 1990s," Holland pointed out,

"NCPPR got into the business of denying that climate change warnings were based on sound science. If the connection between Black conservative outreach work and environmental skepticism doesn't seem clear, that's because it's not. But it's logical considering that ExxonMobil donated $30,000 to NCPPR for 'educational activities' and $15,000 for general support in 2002, and last year [2003] they hiked their operating support to $25,000 and kicked in another $30,000 for NCPPR's 'EnviroTruth' website, according to company financial records."

The Project "also received funding from R.J. Reynolds and 'has lobbied in support of tobacco industry interests, opposing FDA regulation of the industry, excise taxes and other government policies to reduce tobacco use,' the Center for Media and Democracy reported. Almasi denied that Project 21 received tobacco industry money, but said he was not sufficiently aware of the details of NCPPR's fundraising to say whether the parent organization had.

According to Holland, "NCPPR's directors are also all white" and one of them was Jack Abramoff, the man that is figuring prominently in the current DeLay scandal. Abramoff, a GOP lobbyist and Bush "Pioneer" -- a donor of huge amounts of money to the Bush campaign -- "is under federal investigation for payments he received from various American Indian casinos," the Washington Times recently reported.