Difference between revisions of "Center for American Progress"
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{{group | {{group | ||
|wikipedia=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Center_for_American_Progress | |wikipedia=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Center_for_American_Progress | ||
| − | |sourcewatch= | + | |titular_logo=1 |
| + | |sourcewatch=https://powerbase.info/index.php/Center_for_American_Progress | ||
| + | |influencewatch=https://www.influencewatch.org/non-profit/center-for-american-progress-cap/ | ||
|constitutes=think tank | |constitutes=think tank | ||
|logo=Center for American Progress logo.png | |logo=Center for American Progress logo.png | ||
| − | |start=October 24, 2003 | + | |start=October 24, 2003 |
| − | |description=US [[think tank]] and advocacy organization | + | |description=A very well funded US [[think tank]] and advocacy organization closely aligned with the Democratic Party establishment. |
| − | |headquarters=Washington | + | |headquarters=Washington D.C. |
|website=http://americanprogress.org/ | |website=http://americanprogress.org/ | ||
| − | |founders= | + | |founders=John Podesta |
|num_staff= | |num_staff= | ||
| − | |members= | + | |members=Stacey Abrams,Julián Castro,Steve Daetz,Tom Daschle,Patrick Gaspard,Andrew Hauptman,Eric Mindich,Kristin Mugford,Donald Sussman,Hansjörg Wyss,Robert Abernethy,John Adams(NRDC),Paul Applegarth,Wesley Clark,David desJardins,Peter Edelman,Jose W. Fernandez,Margaret Gupta,Shashi Gupta,Jane Hartley,Fred P. Hochberg,Bill Ivey,Hamilton James,Farhad Khosravi,Ron Kirk,Judith Lichtman,Win McCormack,Ken Miller,Lois Quam,Robert W. Roche,Harley Shaiken,Kathleen Kennedy Townsend,Laura Tyso,Jon F. Vein,Madeleine Albright |
| − | }} | + | }} |
| − | The '''Center for American Progress''' (CAP) is a [[think tank]] and advocacy organization | + | The '''Center for American Progress''' (CAP) is a [[think tank]] and advocacy organization closely aligned with the [[US/Democratic Party|Democratic Party]] establishment. With massive pay-for-play funding and people [[interlocking directorate|interlocked]] in central government jobs, corporate board rooms and other think tanks, it is a major behind the scenes force in US politics. |
| − | The president and chief executive officer of CAP is [[Patrick Gaspard]], a former diplomat and labor leader, who served most recently as the president of [[George Soros]]' [[Open Society Foundations]].<ref> | + | ==Activities== |
| + | The president and chief executive officer of CAP is [[Patrick Gaspard]], a former diplomat and [[labor leader]], who served most recently as the president of [[George Soros]]' [[Open Society Foundations]].<ref>https://www.politico.com/news/2021/06/30/center-for-american-progress-new-leader-497167</ref> Gaspard succeeded [[Neera Tanden]], who was appointed special advisor to President [[Joe Biden]] in May 2021. Tanden previously worked for the [[Barack Obama|Obama]] and [[Bill Clinton|Clinton]] administrations and for [[Hillary Clinton]]'s campaigns.<ref>Horowitz, Jason (November 3, 2011). "[https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/white-house/think-tank-post-puts-spotlight-on-veteran-democratic-operative-neera-tanden/2011/11/01/gIQAn6fpjM_story.html Think-tank post puts spotlight on veteran Democratic operative Neera Tanden]". ''[[The Washington Post]]''. Retrieved 2012-01-19.</ref> The first president and CEO was [[John Podesta]], who has been [[White House Chief of Staff]] to [[President of the United States|U.S. President]] [[Bill Clinton]] and as the chairman of the 2016 presidential campaign of [[Hillary Clinton]].<ref>http://time.com/4308369/hillary-clinton-john-podesta/</ref> Podesta remained with the organization as [[chairman of the board]] until he joined the Obama [[Executive Office of the President|White House staff]] in December 2013. [[Tom Daschle]] is the current chairman.<ref>https://www.americanprogress.org/about/c3-board/</ref> | ||
| + | |||
| + | ==Funding== | ||
| + | The CAP routinely represents the interests of its major funders. | ||
| + | |||
| + | As president of CAP, [[Neera Tanden]] received donations from repressive [[right-wing]] foreign governments while she advanced their hardline policy priorities. The donors included lobbyists for Israeli Prime Minister [[Benjamin Netanyahu]], who enjoyed a friendly public forum with Tanden; the permanent monarchy of the [[United Arab Emirates]] (UAE), whose ambassador to the US publicly thanked CAP for a favorable report it published on the [[Middle East]] following a series of substantial donations; the right-wing nationalist government of [[Japan]], whose former Prime Minister, [[Shinzo Abe]], gained an audience with Tanden; and the administration of [[Taiwan]], which apparently used CAP as a vehicle to campaign for a more hostile US policy toward [[China]].<ref name=Blumenthal/> | ||
| + | |||
| + | In a February 1, 2012 email, CAP’s then-chief of staff [[Ken Gude]] detailed a meeting with [[AIPAC]], the principal lobbying arm of the [[Israel lobby in the US]], where he attempted to calm pro-Israel donors. According to Tanden’s underling, an AIPAC staffer “expressed the view that he felt we were now moving in the right direction.” Gude also mentioned “an effort to reach out to” the [[American Jewish Committee]] – the Israel lobby powerhouse that later rewarded Tanden with a speaking fee.<ref name=Blumenthal>https://thegrayzone.com/2021/02/07/senate-scrutinize-biden-budget-director-nominee-neera-tandens-foreign-policy-corruption/</ref><ref>https://theintercept.com/2015/11/05/leaked-emails-from-pro-clinton-group-reveal-censorship-of-staff-on-israel-aipac-pandering-warped-militarism/</ref> Under pressure from the pro-Israel lobby, Tanden ousted four staffers over their vehement opposition to a US war on [[Iran]] and public criticisms of [[neoconservatives]]. <ref>https://thegrayzone.com/2020/01/26/elizabeth-warren-foreign-policy-team-pro-war-regime-change/</ref> | ||
| + | |||
| + | Billionaire [[Michael Bloomberg]] is a major donor to CAP.<ref>https://www.democracynow.org/2020/2/17/michael_bloomberg_philanthropic_spending_muting_critics</ref> The [[Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation]] has given several million dollars over the years<ref>https://www.gatesfoundation.org/about/committed-grants?q=Center%20for%20American%20Progress</ref>. | ||
| + | |||
| + | In the past, CAP has accepted support from weapons manufacturers like [[BAE Systems]]<ref>https://www.americanprogress.org/our-supporters-2016/</ref>, [[Northrup Grumman]]<ref>https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/12/05/neera-tanden-biden-omb-cap/</ref>, and [[Lockheed Martin]]<ref>https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/secret-donors-behind-center-american-progress-and-other-think-tanks-updated-524/</ref>. CAP hosts two former [[Raytheon]] vice presidents as a senior fellows<ref>https://www.americanprogress.org/person/korb-lawrence-j/</ref>, and has provided a [[revolving door]] for senior fellow [[Rudy De Leon]]<ref>https://www.americanprogress.org/person/deleon-rudy/</ref> to circle between the [[think tank]] sector and [[arms industry]]<ref>https://www.govconwire.com/2014/10/rudy-deleon-joins-general-dynamics-board-of-directors-phebe-novakovic-comments/</ref>. | ||
| + | |||
| + | The [[Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office]] (TECRO) – the de facto embassy of [[Taiwan]] in the US is one of CAP’s most generous funders. In 2019, TECRO contributed between $250,000 and $500,000.<ref>https://responsiblestatecraft.org/2020/06/17/taiwan-funding-of-think-tanks-omnipresent-and-rarely-disclosed/</ref> In return, CAP has published a number of reports calling for a harder line on [[China]]<ref>https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/security/reports/2019/04/03/468136/limit-leverage-compete-new-strategy-china/</ref><ref>https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/security/reports/2019/09/16/474577/support-democracy-human-rights-asia/</ref> and calling for making the deepening of ties with Taiwan “a strategic and moral priority.”<ref>https://washingtonmonthly.com/2020/03/11/the-anomaly-of-taiwanese-democracy/</ref> | ||
| + | |||
| + | According to a 2015 [[Politico]] report, CAP received large donations from [[Wall Street]], including at least $50,000 from both [[Bank of America]] and [[Goldman Sachs]] as well as at least $100,000 from [[Citigroup]] and [[Blackstone]]. It also receives donations from [[Silicon Valley]], including at least $100,000 each from [[Apple]], [[Google]], and [[Microsoft]] and $5,000 from [[Facebook]] + $665,000 from the [[Chan Zuckerberg Institute]]<ref>https://www.nationalreview.com/news/hawley-grills-neera-tanden-over-corporate-foreign-donations-to-think-tank/</ref>. Donors also include those is the Clinton and Obama inner circle, including Obama supporters [[Joan Jacobs|Joan ]] and [[Irwin Jacobs]] who gave at least $200,000, and [[Quinn Delaney]] and [[Wayne Jordan]], who gave at least $100,0000. President [[Bill Clinton]]’s Treasury Secretary [[Robert Rubin]] and Obama fundraiser [[Orin Kramer]] have given at least $50,000.<ref>http://www.politico.com/story/2015/01/hillary-clinton-donors-center-american-progress-114458</ref> | ||
| + | |||
| + | CAP also receives donations from the [[Rockefeller Foundation]], [[Carnegie Corporation]], [[Sea Change Foundation]], [[Wyss Foundation]], [[Glaser Progress Foundation]], and [[Schwab Charitable Fund]].<ref>http://leftexposed.org/2015/07/center-for-american-progress/</ref> | ||
| + | |||
| + | ==People== | ||
| + | The Board Members listed above are from October 2021<ref>https://www.americanprogress.org/c3-board/</ref>, plus some older names. | ||
| + | |||
| + | It employs more than 300 people, from senior staff, editors, communications personnel, administrative workers, development staff, academic fellows, and more to policy experts on the following subjects: democracy and government, early childhood policy, economic policy, education-K-12, education (post-secondary), energy, faith, guns and crime, health, [[immigration]], [[LGBT]], legal progress, [[national security]] and international policy, poverty, public lands, [[technology]], and women’s health.<ref>https://www.americanprogress.org/about/staff/</ref> | ||
The Center for American Progress has a youth-engagement organization, [[Generation Progress]], and a sister advocacy organization, the Center for American Progress Action Fund (CAPAF). | The Center for American Progress has a youth-engagement organization, [[Generation Progress]], and a sister advocacy organization, the Center for American Progress Action Fund (CAPAF). | ||
Latest revision as of 15:57, 24 March 2023
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The Center for American Progress (CAP) is a think tank and advocacy organization closely aligned with the Democratic Party establishment. With massive pay-for-play funding and people interlocked in central government jobs, corporate board rooms and other think tanks, it is a major behind the scenes force in US politics.
Contents
Activities
The president and chief executive officer of CAP is Patrick Gaspard, a former diplomat and labor leader, who served most recently as the president of George Soros' Open Society Foundations.[1] Gaspard succeeded Neera Tanden, who was appointed special advisor to President Joe Biden in May 2021. Tanden previously worked for the Obama and Clinton administrations and for Hillary Clinton's campaigns.[2] The first president and CEO was John Podesta, who has been White House Chief of Staff to U.S. President Bill Clinton and as the chairman of the 2016 presidential campaign of Hillary Clinton.[3] Podesta remained with the organization as chairman of the board until he joined the Obama White House staff in December 2013. Tom Daschle is the current chairman.[4]
Funding
The CAP routinely represents the interests of its major funders.
As president of CAP, Neera Tanden received donations from repressive right-wing foreign governments while she advanced their hardline policy priorities. The donors included lobbyists for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who enjoyed a friendly public forum with Tanden; the permanent monarchy of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), whose ambassador to the US publicly thanked CAP for a favorable report it published on the Middle East following a series of substantial donations; the right-wing nationalist government of Japan, whose former Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, gained an audience with Tanden; and the administration of Taiwan, which apparently used CAP as a vehicle to campaign for a more hostile US policy toward China.[5]
In a February 1, 2012 email, CAP’s then-chief of staff Ken Gude detailed a meeting with AIPAC, the principal lobbying arm of the Israel lobby in the US, where he attempted to calm pro-Israel donors. According to Tanden’s underling, an AIPAC staffer “expressed the view that he felt we were now moving in the right direction.” Gude also mentioned “an effort to reach out to” the American Jewish Committee – the Israel lobby powerhouse that later rewarded Tanden with a speaking fee.[5][6] Under pressure from the pro-Israel lobby, Tanden ousted four staffers over their vehement opposition to a US war on Iran and public criticisms of neoconservatives. [7]
Billionaire Michael Bloomberg is a major donor to CAP.[8] The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has given several million dollars over the years[9].
In the past, CAP has accepted support from weapons manufacturers like BAE Systems[10], Northrup Grumman[11], and Lockheed Martin[12]. CAP hosts two former Raytheon vice presidents as a senior fellows[13], and has provided a revolving door for senior fellow Rudy De Leon[14] to circle between the think tank sector and arms industry[15].
The Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office (TECRO) – the de facto embassy of Taiwan in the US is one of CAP’s most generous funders. In 2019, TECRO contributed between $250,000 and $500,000.[16] In return, CAP has published a number of reports calling for a harder line on China[17][18] and calling for making the deepening of ties with Taiwan “a strategic and moral priority.”[19]
According to a 2015 Politico report, CAP received large donations from Wall Street, including at least $50,000 from both Bank of America and Goldman Sachs as well as at least $100,000 from Citigroup and Blackstone. It also receives donations from Silicon Valley, including at least $100,000 each from Apple, Google, and Microsoft and $5,000 from Facebook + $665,000 from the Chan Zuckerberg Institute[20]. Donors also include those is the Clinton and Obama inner circle, including Obama supporters Joan and Irwin Jacobs who gave at least $200,000, and Quinn Delaney and Wayne Jordan, who gave at least $100,0000. President Bill Clinton’s Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin and Obama fundraiser Orin Kramer have given at least $50,000.[21]
CAP also receives donations from the Rockefeller Foundation, Carnegie Corporation, Sea Change Foundation, Wyss Foundation, Glaser Progress Foundation, and Schwab Charitable Fund.[22]
People
The Board Members listed above are from October 2021[23], plus some older names.
It employs more than 300 people, from senior staff, editors, communications personnel, administrative workers, development staff, academic fellows, and more to policy experts on the following subjects: democracy and government, early childhood policy, economic policy, education-K-12, education (post-secondary), energy, faith, guns and crime, health, immigration, LGBT, legal progress, national security and international policy, poverty, public lands, technology, and women’s health.[24]
The Center for American Progress has a youth-engagement organization, Generation Progress, and a sister advocacy organization, the Center for American Progress Action Fund (CAPAF).
Documents by Center for American Progress
| Title | Document type | Publication date | Subject(s) | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Document:White House Must Establish Disinformation Defense and Free Expression Task Force | open letter | 29 April 2021 | Censorship "Conspiracy theory" "Disinformation" NGO Freedom of speech US/2020 Presidential election COVID-19/Censorship 2021 Washington D.C. Riots | A number of alleged "free-speech organizations" begging to join the US government in implementing censorship in an Orwellian-named "Free Expression Task Force". |
| File:Islamophobia.pdf | Wikispooks Page | 26 August 2011 | "Islamophobia" | The report concerns the financing of anti-Islamic groups in the US. |
Employee on Wikispooks
| Employee | Job | Appointed | End |
|---|---|---|---|
| Morton Halperin | Senior Vice President | 2003 | 2005 |
Known members
5 of the 35 of the members already have pages here:
| Member | Description |
|---|---|
| Stacey Abrams | Up-and-coming American politician in the Democratic Party. Marshall Memorial Fellow |
| Madeleine Albright | Ruthless politician, acquired and beloved by everyone named Clinton in the 1990s. Hero of Kosovo. Most powerful woman of all time according to ISGP's superclass index. When asked about half a million dead Iraqi children because of the sanctions she enforced, she replied "We think the price is worth it." |
| Wesley Clark | “In 2001, in the Pentagon, a general told me : ‘I just received a classified memo from the Secretary of Defense: we will take seven countries in five years, starting with Iraq, then Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and finally, Iran.’” |
| Tom Daschle | Targeted by Amerithrax after expressing opposition to the Patriot Act. Attended Bilderberg 2008 and Clade X. |
| Hansjörg Wyss | Swiss/US Big Pharma billionaire. His company conducted illegal human experiments. Interested in keeping huge swathes of land free of people. Leading source of dark money to the Democratic Party |
Event Planned
| Event | Start | End | Location(s) | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Food Chain Reaction | November 2015 | November 2015 | Washington DC | Set in the 2020 to 2030 period, the exercise focused on problems in the food supply due to population growth and severe weather, triggering social unrest. Held November 2015. ended with the implementation of a global carbon tax. |
Sponsors
| Event | Description |
|---|---|
| Amazon | A monopoly/cartel online retailer with deep state connections. |
| Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation | Very influential and rich foundation established to take leadership of global health. |
| Boeing | US based arms manufacturer which also makes civilian aircraft that since the 1990s have became known for their sometimes dubious reliability. |
| Carnegie Corporation | Established by Andrew Carnegie in 1911, with large grants especially to form the education sector. Lots of grants to "security" think tanks too. |
| ClimateWorks | Large funder of projects intended to steer public opinion and take control over all government policy under the pretext of fighting climate change. Part of "a blob" of similar very wealthy interconnected foundations with opaque structures. Backers include Bill Gates and Michael Bloomberg. |
| Democracy Alliance | A network of billionaire donors who coordinate their political donations to groups that the Alliance has endorsed, anonymously and often through foundations working as middlemen to hide the where the money is coming from. |
| Democracy Fund | Finances numerous organizations as part of effort to control the narrative. Founded by Pierre Omidyar in 2011. |
| Ford Foundation | In addition to its own billionaire agenda, also known to have been $$$ middleman for covert CIA funding. |
| General Electric | |
| Global Internet/Skynet conglomerate | |
| Hewlett Foundation | Huge foundation setting the agenda by funding lots of deep state projects. |
| Lockheed | "Nobody is doing a better job of arming the world than Lockheed-Martin" |
| Lumina Foundation | |
| MacArthur Foundation | Finances non-profit organizations and select people in approximately 50 countries around the world, buying immense cultural and political influence. It often coordinates its priorities with other deep state foundations, creating a mesh of grants, cross-grants and sub-grants that is very hard to analyze. |
| Microsoft | Started in 1975 with Paul Allen, Bill Gates developed Microsoft from a operating system maker of computers into one of the most prolific companies of all time, valued over $1 trillion, 3rd most valuable in the world. MS has over a billion in fines from corruption, mass surveillance violations & tax evasion. MS has market shares in dozens of markets, leading in the Platformization-epidemic of the 2010s started by big tech. It was the first partner in the NSA-PRISM program. |
| Omidyar Network | Foundation owned by the the deep state-connected billionaire Pierre Omidyar, financing preferred NGOs |
| Open Philanthropy | Grant maker funneling deep state money among other things to pandemic planning. Financed Event 201. |
| Open Society Foundations | A NGO operating in more countries than McDonald's. It has the tendency to support politicians (at times through astroturfing) and activists that get branded as "extreme left" as its founder is billionaire and bane of the pound George Soros. This polarizing perspective causes the abnormal influence of the OSF to go somewhat unanswered. |
| Rockefeller Brothers Fund | Rockefeller family "philanthropic" fund. One of the CIA's favorite cut-outs during the Cold War. |
| Rockefeller Foundation |
References
- ↑ https://www.politico.com/news/2021/06/30/center-for-american-progress-new-leader-497167
- ↑ Horowitz, Jason (November 3, 2011). "Think-tank post puts spotlight on veteran Democratic operative Neera Tanden". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2012-01-19.
- ↑ http://time.com/4308369/hillary-clinton-john-podesta/
- ↑ https://www.americanprogress.org/about/c3-board/
- ↑ a b https://thegrayzone.com/2021/02/07/senate-scrutinize-biden-budget-director-nominee-neera-tandens-foreign-policy-corruption/
- ↑ https://theintercept.com/2015/11/05/leaked-emails-from-pro-clinton-group-reveal-censorship-of-staff-on-israel-aipac-pandering-warped-militarism/
- ↑ https://thegrayzone.com/2020/01/26/elizabeth-warren-foreign-policy-team-pro-war-regime-change/
- ↑ https://www.democracynow.org/2020/2/17/michael_bloomberg_philanthropic_spending_muting_critics
- ↑ https://www.gatesfoundation.org/about/committed-grants?q=Center%20for%20American%20Progress
- ↑ https://www.americanprogress.org/our-supporters-2016/
- ↑ https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/12/05/neera-tanden-biden-omb-cap/
- ↑ https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/secret-donors-behind-center-american-progress-and-other-think-tanks-updated-524/
- ↑ https://www.americanprogress.org/person/korb-lawrence-j/
- ↑ https://www.americanprogress.org/person/deleon-rudy/
- ↑ https://www.govconwire.com/2014/10/rudy-deleon-joins-general-dynamics-board-of-directors-phebe-novakovic-comments/
- ↑ https://responsiblestatecraft.org/2020/06/17/taiwan-funding-of-think-tanks-omnipresent-and-rarely-disclosed/
- ↑ https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/security/reports/2019/04/03/468136/limit-leverage-compete-new-strategy-china/
- ↑ https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/security/reports/2019/09/16/474577/support-democracy-human-rights-asia/
- ↑ https://washingtonmonthly.com/2020/03/11/the-anomaly-of-taiwanese-democracy/
- ↑ https://www.nationalreview.com/news/hawley-grills-neera-tanden-over-corporate-foreign-donations-to-think-tank/
- ↑ http://www.politico.com/story/2015/01/hillary-clinton-donors-center-american-progress-114458
- ↑ http://leftexposed.org/2015/07/center-for-american-progress/
- ↑ https://www.americanprogress.org/c3-board/
- ↑ https://www.americanprogress.org/about/staff/
