Following the Money on the Schiavo Case

[ohio_liberal]

Very good article via dKos:

Have you ever wondered who is bankrolling the seemingly endless courtroom effort to keep Terri Schiavo's feeding tube attached?

<snip>

I filed an amicus curiae brief in the Florida Supreme Court on behalf of 55 bioethicists and a disability rights organization opposing the governor's action. Two months later I participated in a public debate on the case at Florida State University. Among the participants supporting Gov. Bush's position were Pat Anderson, one of multiple attorneys who have represented the Schindlers, and Wesley Smith and Rita Marker, two activists whose specialty is opposing surrogate removal of life-support from comatose and persistent vegetative state patients. I found myself wondering: "I'm doing this pro bono; are they?"

I did some Internet research and learned that many of the attorneys, activists and organizations working to keep Schiavo on life support all these years have been funded by members of the Philanthropy Roundtable.

The Philanthropy Roundtable is a collection of foundations that have funded conservative causes ranging from abolition of Social Security to anti-tax crusades and United Nations conspiracy theories. The Roundtable members' founders include scions of America's wealthiest families, including Richard Mellon Scaife (heir to the Mellon industrial, oil and banking fortune), Harry Bradley (electronics), Joseph Coors (beer), and the Smith Richardson family (pharmaceutical products).

read the rest here:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/3/22/93155/7030


edited to bold some of the text

[The empressof all]

1. I've wondered as well

Are the parents also getting expenses paid by some of these groups as well? MSM neglects to ask how they plan to pay for Terri's care if they "win" their case.

[davidinalameda]

13. the hospice is providing free care and she gets medi-caid

or medi-care

whichever one isn't for the elderly

[MISSDem]

35. Medicaid is paying

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

2. WOW!

just WOW

[ohio_liberal]

3. The author of the article (Jon B. Eisenberg) notes

These connections may be just the tip of the iceberg. I'm no Woodward or Bernstein. I got this information using only the most rudimentary Google skills. I imagine that a thorough search by a seasoned investigator would yield quite a bit more.

[politicat]

4. Who else WOULD do so....

Scaife is the bloody anti-christ, Coors is Beelzebub, and the rest are lesser demons.

If figures. Man, we need a 100% wealth tax on those buggers.

[GOPFighter]

5. Double WOW!

I guess I shouldn't be surprised. Sadly, years ago this is the kind of information skeptical reporters would have dug up and reported (and to be fair, there may be some reporters who are doing this kind of digging even now - they have editors they must satisfy while it can be posted on DailyKos immediately).

Even sadder, I'll bet the people who run these foundations don't give a rats ass about abortion, Terri Shiavo, and many of the other issues their funding supports, it's all about power to them. Crush the Democrats, Crush the left.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

8. nominate it for greatest page

[bloom]

12. me too

sounds like the usual suspects - at it again.

[Hamlette]

6. I've not had a Coors beer in over 30 years, I cringe whenever I see a

progressive drink one. We grew up hating Coors as the conservative assholes they are. One more sign.

On a more positive note, we need the same. Who is funding Michael Schiavo? We all should be.

[Psst_Im_Not_Here]

11. Coors....blech

Makes my hubby break out in hives!

[Democrat 4 Ever]

23. Years ago Coors beer was not sold in Kentucky. My repug

neighbors were from Oklahoma. Every time they went home for a visit he would bring back 4-5 cases of Coors for his drinking pleasure. One day my daughter and their son (both four at the time) got in the garage and decided they liked to hear the pop and fizzing sound the cans make when you lift the little pull tab. By the time they were through they had totally wasted five cases of beer. They didn't drink a drop but they ruined the entire batch. Since it wasn't sold locally I had no way of replacing my daughter's share of the fun. All these years I have felt bad about what my daughter did and not replacing the beer. You have just relieved me of such a heavy burden by knowing my little darling trashed some neocons' devil's brew.

We all just had to have known that somebody was toting the note for these people. It sounds like the same bunch that bought off Paula Jones and that whole den of thieves in Arkansas during the Clinton years. Have these guys ever heard of volunteering in a soup kitchen, helping the homeless, work overseas as a missionary? Surely they can find better things to do with their time and money than trash a country and a Constitution?

[ohio_liberal]

7. Put simply

This group of 4 organizations, known as The Four Sisters because of their tendency to fund similar conservative projects, is bankrolling the Schindlers.

http://64.233.179.104/search?q=cache:w0Up-kJyulIJ:www.dkosopedia.com/index.php/Lynde_and_Harry_Bradley_Foundation+%22four+sisters%22+right++DKosopedia&hl=en&start=1

[Walt Starr]

9. Radical Clerics and Jihadists all! n/t

[Psst_Im_Not_Here]

10. Well, well, well

Our local Fascist Coors is on there...go figure! He's also in PNAC. At least Colorado did something right this past election, Salazar over Pete Coors!

[Toots]

14. What was that term used in the ninties "vast right wing conspiracy"

No there is absolutely no such thing so stop saying there is..:crazy:

[jarab]

15. kick !!

...O...

[Dookus]

16. Why should anybody be surprised by this?

of course right-wingers have been funding the Schindlers. It's nice to see it documented, though.

[MsTryska]

17. the notorious Four Sisters, huh? nt

nt

[Beware the Beast Man]

18. Evil powers disappear,

demons worry when the wizard is near.

[bloom]

19. kick

:kick:

[Nothing Without Hope]

20. They are supporting this as a TEST CASE to attack judicial authority

with the goal of dismantling reproductive rights. And if they outlaw abortion, then there's no limit to what else they will use this usurping power to destroy. Anything they disagree with or find inconvenient, I'd say.

At least one DU thread gets the test case/reproductive rights angle:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x3314694
Title: "Schiavo Law Is Test For Divesting Federal Courts Of Abortion Jurisdiction"

But they won't stop until the fascist dictatorship is completely entrenched, with power over every aspect of our lives and a means to loot every dollar, every natural resource possible. It's a fond dream of theirs - no wonder they're willing to shell out. And even if they are stopped somewhere along the way, it's also a strategy to placate their RW fundie allies, who have been growing restive at the slow "progress" on the Hate Amendment and anti-abortion legislation.

[sandnsea]

21. That's only part of it

It isn't just the legal group, the whole damned thing is orchestrated and paid for by the same small number of Christian Theocrats, with the same money behind them.

"The cable tv onslaught has been led by various representatives of Concerned Women of America, who have been on every television show, just as they always are when a so-called “values” issue arises. Just who is this group? It was founded in 1979 by Beverly LaHaye, wife of Tim LaHaye, founder of the Moral Majority along with Jerry Falwell.

Online, the attack is being led by Gary McCullough who operates several Christian organizations. His Christian News Wire has released a national call for thousands to travel to Pinellas Florida. He has had access to Terri and is the photographer of several pictures. He also heads the Christian Communication Network and has been involved in Prisoners for Christ, Society for Truth & Justice, and Operation Witness in conjunction with Randall Terry of the radical Operation Rescue group."

http://www.lightupthedarkness.org/blog/default.asp?view=plink&id=600

[lyonn]

24. high rollin' Elmer Gantrys

Has anyone researched their past?

[ohio_liberal]

22. kick

:kick:

[janx]

25. Thanks for finding Eisenberg! I saw parts of his writings about

the sources of funding, but I was never able to find the rest, let alone how to contact him. It was in part because of Jon Eisenberg that I became very concerned about this case's becoming a full-fledged political movement, which it has.

[janx]

26. Nominated for greatest page--we need TWO MORE. n/t

[Just Me]

27. Gulp. They profiteer off anything and everyone.

They prey on the powerless and any human weakness for purposes of profiteering and power. Talk about evil in the midst.

YUCK!!!!

[southlandshari]

28. kick

good info!

[north houston dem]

29. wow!

kick

[BrklynLiberal]

30. Holy crap! Should have known this!!! Hope this info is made public.

[ultraist]

31. That group is essentially an arm of the Repuke party

It's all a big propaganda charade as far as I'm concerned. Those people are using Terri's body for their campaign.

That nurse that's been on CNN and the Laura show, lying, is likely on their payroll.

[blueheeler]

32. I read yesterday...

I cannot remember where but I will search for it, that her parents were in a little trouble over asking for donations on their web site. Seems there were two anti abortion groups funding the cause and they were possible stepping on ethical grounds asking for donations.
I will look for the link....


Here it is B-)

http://www.propertyrightsresearch.org/2005/articles02/state_investigating_schiavo_foun.htm

[libertypirate]

33. kick!

[myrna minx]

34. kick

:kick: