RSS

How the Far Right is Undermining Politics in WA State.

Freedom Foundationfrom Don Smith by email

Freedom Foundation tactics

Apparently, people associated with the Freedom Foundation have been  sending letters-to-the-editor to community newspapers across the state  encouraging people to oppose funding for public education.    One of the communities targeted was Federal Way.  Some Federal Way residents took  note of the letter and discovered that it originated in Bellevue.  As it says in  Bellevue-based opposition to Federal Way school levy is out of touch,
My query to King County revealed that you did not just  file statements against Federal Way; indeed, you three Bellevue  residents were very busy seeking to influence levy outcomes in local  elections outside your own city and district.
To date, it appears that you have also filed nearly identical  statements opposing the pending levies for school districts in Federal  Way, Vashon Island, Riverview, Auburn, Tahoma, Lake Washington, North  Shore and Fife. I do note that you did play one “home game,” and you are of course opposing your own levy in Bellevue.
If your opposition to our local levy is really just about furthering  anti-big government, anti-tax, anti-union objectives, I’ll conclude with this point: I find it incredibly unfortunate that with your intrusion  into our community and our local issues, you have become exactly what  you purport to oppose – an unwanted and unneeded burden being forced  upon us from outside the borders of our capable community.
Bob Williams, founder of the Evergreen Freedom Foundation, was the private sector chair of the Tax and Fiscal Policy Task Force of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) as of 2011.[2] He is also on the ALEC Board of Scholars as of 2011.[3] In August 2011, he received ALEC’s Private Sector Member of the Year Award.[4]
The Freedom Foundation’s funders include the Walton Family Foundation (Walmart), Richard M. Scaife, Roe Foundation (supporter of the Heritage Foundation), and the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation (“Harry Bradley was one of the original charter members of the far right-wing John Birch Society, along with another Birch Society board member, Fred Koch, the father of Koch Industries‘ billionaire brothers and owners, Charles and David Koch. — source).