The Tides Foundation, who receives federal taxpayer grants, is a prominent funder of the Center for Media and Democracy who is leading the charge against ALEC:
REBEL PUNDIT – The Center for Media and Democracy proudly leads the charge against the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), an organization dedicated to advancing limited government, free markets, federalism, and individual liberty. Several leading corporations have announced plans to withdraw membership contributions from ALEC following this outcry.
Who funds the Center for Media and Democracy? The website proclaims, “We accept no funding from for-profit corporations or grants from the government.” Based on this statement, one might be fooled into thinking that indeed no tax dollars find their way into the coffers of this progressive organization. However, the truth suggests otherwise.
One of the prominent contributors to the Center for Media and Democracy is the Tides Foundation. As it turns out, both the Tides Foundation and the related Tides Center receive funding from the federal government in the form of grants from an array of agencies. These include the Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Housing and Urban Development, Department of Energy, and the Department of Agriculture. According to the government database, www.usaspending.gov, the Tides Center received more than $3,000,000 in federal funding since 2000; the Tides Foundation received in excess of $800,000 in the same period.