The Trib, Heritage, And The ISI

We all know by now the incestuous relationship between Richard Mellon Scaife's Tribune-Review and The Heritage Foundation. In case this is your first time here, here are a few bullet points to remember:

• Foundations that Scaife controls have given tens of millions of dollars to Heritage over the years
• Scaife is on the board of Trustees for Heritage
• Heritage President Ed Feulner is on the board of one of the Scaife foundations that gave money to Heritage
• Feulner has a weekly column on Scaife's Tribune-Review editorial page

Which is where we begin - on Feulner's column today:

Even in the depths of the Great Depression, Americans showed they could still think big. In just over a year, construction crews built a landmark that still stands proud, one recognized worldwide as a symbol of our country: the Empire State Building.

I recently visited the building to speak to an enthusiastic group of King's College students about the need to return to the principles of our Founding Fathers. Unfortunately, as a new study shows, many students simply aren't learning what makes America unique. In fact, what they are learning all too often helps divide rather than unite Americans.

This study, titled "The Shaping of the American Mind," is the latest in an annual series from the Intercollegiate Studies Institute (ISI.org), where I'm proud to serve as a trustee.

Actually he was also the former Chairman of the Board of Trustees. Interestingly enough, the current president of the board of trustees, T. Kenneth Cribb was once also on the board of the Sarah Scaife Foundation, according to Mediamatters.

Which leads us inexorably to the next question: So how much money has Richard Mellon Scaife funneled to the Intercollegiate Studies Institute?

Lots:

• Sarah Scaife Foundation gave $275,000 in 2008
• Sarah Scaife Foundation gave $275,000 in 2007
• Sarah Scaife Foundation gave $450,000 in 2006

That's a cool million in just three years.

Mediamatters has more. Over the last two decades, Scaife-controlled foundations have given about $9.8 million to the Intercollegiate Studies Institute.

So what do we have here in this column? Ed Feulner, president of the Heritage Foundation ($23 million in Scaife money over the years) writes a column touting a study from the Intercollegiate Studies Institute ($9.8 million in Scaife money over the years) with no mention whatsoever of any of that $32 million.

What, didn't Ed think it was important enough to mention? How the owner of the paper he writes a column for has granted millions to both the foundation he works for and the institute he's using as a source of information?

The circle jerk continues.