<div dir="ltr">I'm not sure that using using the information that is provided on the splc website is truly the most objective and unbiased method of checking their veracity.<div><br></div><div>g</div></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Thu, Aug 31, 2017 at 5:18 PM, Ted Moffett <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:starbliss@gmail.com" target="_blank">starbliss@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr"><div>What the heck? </div><div><br></div><div>I just in the past hour had this exact website from Charity Navigator regarding the SPLC ready to post to Vision2020... Good to read someone else doing it...</div><div><br></div><div>I was holding off on posting till I did my own research on some of the claims in this article on the SPLC from the Washington Free Beacon.</div><div><br></div><div><font size="4">Everyone has political and ideological confirmation bias filters that result in unquestioning belief in information that confirms their bias, and disbelief in and rejection of information that disputes their bias. Thus it behooves everyone to check on the veracity of all information sources, regardless! Right? </font></div><div><br></div><div>I dug a bit deeper into the Washington Free Beacon story on the finances of the SPLC regarding this claim:</div><div><br></div><div><font size="4">"The SPLC, which </font><a href="https://www.splcenter.org/seeking-justice" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><font color="#000080" size="4">claims</font></a><font size="4"> to boast a staff of 75 lawyers who practice in the area of children's rights, economic justice, immigrant justice, LGBT rights, and criminal justice reform, </font><a href="https://www.splcenter.org/sites/default/files/990_103116.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><font color="#000080" size="4">reported</font></a><font size="4"> spending only $61,000 on legal services in 2015." </font></div><div><br></div><div>Here is the tax form source the story was referencing:</div><div><br></div><div><a href="https://www.splcenter.org/sites/default/files/990_103116.pdf" target="_blank">https://www.splcenter.org/site<wbr>s/default/files/990_103116.pdf</a></div><div><br></div><div>I read through this rather long tax form to find the <font size="4">$61,000 legal expenses </font>figure they referenced. I assume this is what they were quoting:<br></div><div>Under Part IX "Statement of Functional Expenses," 11b Legal, is the amount $61, 808. But I do not think this is the total legal expenses spent on their entire staff of lawyers, unless I am misinterpreting. This is a separate legal cost figure for only a part of their operations. <font size="4">So if I am right (?), </font>the Washington Free Beacon is engaging in a grossly misleading use of so called "facts" to promote an agenda. </div><div><br></div><div><font size="6">Here is a figure for the SPLC "legal services" from their 2016 Annual Report on page 18 of the pdf at the following website, toward the bottom. The tax form with the $61,808 legal cost figure is from 2015, but still the figure given below for 2016 legal costs blows the $61,000 claim out of the water!</font></div><div><br></div><div><a href="https://www.splcenter.org/sites/default/files/com_splc_annual_report_2016-2017web.pdf" target="_blank">https://www.splcenter.org/site<wbr>s/default/files/com_splc_annua<wbr>l_report_2016-2017web.pdf</a><br></div><b><font size="4"><p>STATEMENT OF ACTIVITIES</p></font></b><div><b><font size="4"></font></b><font size="6">Legal Services $15,352, 662</font></div><div><font size="6">--------------------</font></div><div><font size="6">Regarding their "offshore" financial connections, they do list "non-US equity funds" under "Assets" at $69,093,576, and other types of "funds," the parsing between I admit at this moment I do not possess the banking expertise to explain.</font></div><div><font size="6">------------------------------<wbr>---------</font></div><div><font size="6">Vision2020 Post: Ted Moffett</font></div><div><div class="h5"><div><br></div><div><br></div><div class="gmail_extra"><div class="gmail_quote">On Thu, Aug 31, 2017 at 4:28 PM, Ron Force <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:ronforce@gmail.com" target="_blank">ronforce@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:</div><div class="gmail_quote"><br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;padding-left:1ex;border-left-color:rgb(204,204,204);border-left-width:1px;border-left-style:solid"><div dir="ltr"><div style="font-size:small">You can judge how accurate this is by looking nonprofits up on Charity Navigator. Here's the SPLC info:</div></div></blockquote><div> </div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;padding-left:1ex;border-left-color:rgb(204,204,204);border-left-width:1px;border-left-style:solid"><div dir="ltr"><div><a href="https://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=4482" target="_blank">https://www.charitynavigator.o<wbr>rg/index.cfm?bay=search.summar<wbr>y&orgid=4482</a><br></div></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br clear="all"><div><div class="m_3991063198014718408m_-9171214551659665860gmail-m_3486079745818801408gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><font size="2">Ron Force<br>Moscow Idaho USA</font></div></div></div>
<br><div class="gmail_quote"><div><div class="m_3991063198014718408m_-9171214551659665860gmail-h5">On Thu, Aug 31, 2017 at 2:09 PM, g crabtree <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:direoutcome@gmail.com" target="_blank">direoutcome@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br></div></div></div></div></blockquote><div> </div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;padding-left:1ex;border-left-color:rgb(204,204,204);border-left-width:1px;border-left-style:solid"><div class="gmail_extra"><div class="gmail_quote"><div><div class="m_3991063198014718408m_-9171214551659665860gmail-h5"></div></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;padding-left:1ex;border-left-color:rgb(204,204,204);border-left-width:1px;border-left-style:solid"><div><div class="m_3991063198014718408m_-9171214551659665860gmail-h5"><div dir="ltr">"<span style="color:rgb(62,61,61);font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:14px">The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), a liberal, Alabama-based 501(c)(3) tax-exempt charitable organization that has gained prominence on the left for its "hate group" designations, pushes millions of dollars to offshore entities as part of its business dealings, records show.</span><p style="margin:0px 0px 15px;padding:0px;color:rgb(62,61,61);line-height:1.6;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:14px;box-sizing:inherit">Additionally, the nonprofit pays lucrative six-figure salaries to its top directors and key employees while spending little on legal services despite its stated intent of "fighting hate and bigotry" using litigation, education, and other forms of advocacy."</p><p style="margin:0px 0px 15px;padding:0px;color:rgb(62,61,61);line-height:1.6;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:14px;box-sizing:inherit">For the rest of the story please see: <a href="http://freebeacon.com/issues/southern-poverty-law-center-transfers-millions-in-cash-to-offshore-entities/" target="_blank">http://freebeacon.com/issues/<wbr>southern-poverty-law-center-tr<wbr>ansfers-millions-in-cash-to-of<wbr>fshore-entities/</a></p><p style="margin:0px 0px 15px;padding:0px;color:rgb(62,61,61);line-height:1.6;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:14px;box-sizing:inherit">An extremely eye opening read. Perhaps folks will stop citing these money grubbing grifters as the font from which all moral authority flows.</p><span class="m_3991063198014718408m_-9171214551659665860gmail-m_3486079745818801408HOEnZb"><font color="#888888"><p style="margin:0px 0px 15px;padding:0px;color:rgb(62,61,61);line-height:1.6;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:14px;box-sizing:inherit"><br></p><p style="margin:0px 0px 15px;padding:0px;color:rgb(62,61,61);line-height:1.6;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:14px;box-sizing:inherit">g. </p></font></span></div>
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