AdTI-Funding
This page under construction -- May 24, 2004 by LionKuntz@yahoo.com.
Contents
Introduction
Alexis de Tocqueville Institution is remarkably secretive for an organization slurping up tax-exempt dollars from the benefits of an IRS 501(c)(3) charity.
AdTI has become increasingly secretive at the same time that it launches program activities that appear to be in direct violation of its tax-exempt purposes. For a number of years AdTI has been active in a series of activities apparently intended to benefit the convicted software monopolist, Microsoft Corporation, in spreading smears and innuendos about competitors of Microsoft in the public marketplace. This would appear to be an illegal diversion of funds from its stated purpose of promoting (legal) economic competition, to pure and simple public relations work that should be performed by for-profit public relations businesses. American taxpayers should not be defrauded into giving tax-exemtion benefits for non-public-benefits accruing solely to very profitable corporations, like Microsoft, especially if such activities are illegal and prohibited by the anti-trust court imposed rulings on Microsoft.
Piecing It Together
Over the years a few watchdog organizations have collected scraps of information about AdTI which can be relied upon. Prior to 2001, the organization allowed its 990 forms, required by law to be available to the public, to contain directors names and addresses and compensation amounts. The five highest salaries of employees was included, and payements to the highest outside consultants was included. After 2000, this data is whited-out. 990 forms are publically available on GuideStar.org website database for 1998, 1999, 2000, and 2001. Some of the following data is from those publically disclosed documents.
Widespread reports across the internet trace back to a single WIRED news story making a claim that Microsoft admitted to providing some funding to Alexis de Tocqueville Institution, but the source is anonymous, and cannot be independently verified. Quotes back and forth will be shown further down in this article. [1]
Damning Circumstantial Evidence
A damning series of circumstantial evidence is available that Alexis de Tocqueville Institution provided commercial PR services for Northrup Grumman, and may have crossed the line in engaging in direct lobbying of legislators in congress on behalf of the B-1 bomber product of Northrup.
Additionally, another damning series of circumstantial evidence surfaced as a result of several court judgements against big tobacco, which resulted in highly confidential memos and documents being placed online in several databases of tobacco documents. Alexis de SMOKEville performed paid services for Tobacco Institute in preparing a disinformation document, which was extensively used in legislative lobbying by big tobacco.[2]
On the available evidence, a reasonable person can draw the conclusion that Alexis de Tocqueville Institution operates on the exclusive behalf of commercial clients, to create the illusion that "disinterested third-party research" has confirmed the commercial organization's public relations necessity of the moment. In fact, it is self-evident that reports are tailored to the requirements of the funding source, not dis-interested, not object fari and balanced, and are crafted to deceive.
Individuals, Salaries, Activities
- Cesar Conda
- S. Fred Singer
- Kenneth Brown
- Gregory Fossedal