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Introduction
Open Society Foundations (OSF)[1] is liberal billionaire George Soros’ most prominent foundation. OSF supports a vast number of organizations and operates worldwide in more than 70 countries.[2]
History
George Soros founded the Open Society Foundations (OSF). According to itself, OSF’s mission is “to build vibrant and tolerant democracies whose governments are accountable to their citizens. To achieve this mission, the Foundations seek to shape public policies that assure greater fairness in political, legal, and economic systems and safeguard fundamental rights. On a local level, the Open Society Foundations implement a range of initiatives to advance justice, education, public health, and independent media.”[3]
Over the years, OSF has had expenditures of $8 billion.[4] “In 2009, the Open Society Foundations had expenditures of $683 million in support of justice, human rights, public health, media, governance, and education.”[5]
Criticism
Author Ron Arnold describes the Open Society Foundations as:[6]
Fund Recipients
According to Discover the Networks, OSF has supported: “the American Constitution Society for Law and Policy; the Tides Foundation; the Tides Center; the National Organization for Women; Feminist Majority; the American Civil Liberties Union; People for the American Way; Alliance for Justice; NARAL Pro-Choice America; America Coming Together; the Center for American Progress; Campaign for America’s Future; Amnesty International; the Sentencing Project; the Center for Community Change; the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Legal Defense and Educational Fund; the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN); Campus Progress; Free Exchange on Campus; Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington; Democracy 21; Human Rights Watch; the Prison Moratorium Project; the Immigrant Funders’ Collaborative; the Moving Ideas Network; the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement; the No Peace Without Justice International Committee; the National Lawyers Guild; the Center for Constitutional Rights; the Coalition for an International Criminal Court; the Abortion Access Project; People of Color In Crisis; The American Prospect; MoveOn.org; the Gay Straight Alliance Network; the Youth Law Center; Planned Parenthood; the American Constitution Society for Law and Policy; the Institute for Policy Studies; Joint Victory Campaign 2004; the Midwest Academy; Jews for Racial and Economic Justice; Project Syndicate (an international association of newspapers that publish anti-American propaganda); the Rocky Mountain Peace Center; the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission; Earth Rights International; the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force; the Nation Institute; the Violence Policy Center; Gun Violence Prevention; Critical Resistance – Beyond the Prison Industrial Complex; the Center for Investigative Reporting; the Million Mom March; Murder Victims’ Families for Reconciliation; the Death Penalty Information Center, the Death Penalty Mobilization Fund; the Drug Policy Alliance; the Brennan Center for Justice; the Project On Death in America; the Death with Dignity National Center; the Ms. Foundation for Women; the National Security Archive Fund; the Pacifica Foundation; Physicians for Human Rights; the Proteus Fund; the Public Citizen Foundation; the Urban Institute; the American Friends Service Committee; Catholics for a Free Choice; Human Rights First; the Independent Media Institute; and MADRE.”[7]
According to Discover the Networks, OSF has also supported the open-border immigration movement by funding “the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund; the Immigrant Legal Resource Center; the National Immigration Law Center; the National Immigration Forum; the National Council of La Raza;and the American Immigration Law Foundation.”[8]
Capital Research Center Report
In 2001, the Capital Research Center (CRC) published a list of some organizations that have received OSF money.[9] According to CRC, these groups “advocate higher taxes and more government spending, oppose social security reform, litigate against property rights, oppose the death penalty, oppose tough criminal incarceration policies, oppose [the President George W.] Bush judicial nominees, and promote balkanizing racial agendas.”[10]
One group, Population Services International, promotes birth control services in more than 60 countries.[11]The Community Rights Counsel, another OSF fund recipient, provides legal assistance to state and local governments seeking to restrict individual property rights in the name of “community interest.”[12]
Other Fund Recipients
OSF has also funded prison reform efforts and strict gun control measures. In 2004, OSF helped finance The Sentencing Project, which has supported granting voting rights to convicted felons.[13] OSF has also funded the Network on Small Arms, which has pressured the United Nations to restrict private gun ownership.[14]
OSF also sent funds to the Green for All organization in 2008.[15] At that time, Green for All was run by Van Jones.[16] Jones worked as an energy adviser in President Barack Obama’s Administration. Jones resigned after a string of gaffes, including calling Republicans derogatory names and signing a petition suggesting that then-President George W. Bush knew of the 9/11 terrorist attacks in advance.[17]
Rejecting America’s Founding Documents
According to Robert Chandler of Accuracy in Media, George Soros’ notion of an open society was influenced by his former instructor, professor Karl Popper.[18] Popper, an atheist, believed nothing was “self-evident.”[19]According to Chandler, “Soros concluded that the U.S. Declaration of Independence, rather than based on so-called ‘self-evident truths,’ is but a statement of ‘our imperfect understanding’ of the world around us. Hence, America’s founding documents are disposable in what Soros believes is our godless society.”
[20]
Chandler also notes that “to create the ‘Age of Open Society,’ Soros’ vision would require terminating U.S. sovereignty, disposing of the Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution, and Bill of Rights, or at least significant amendments to make them square with open society norms, and reforming the United Nations to facilitate a world socialist governance with the new social-political institutions to enforce its principles, such as the International Criminal Court.”[21]
Leadership (as of September 2011)
George Soros, Founder and Chairman
Aryeh Neier, President
Stewart J. Paperin, Executive Vice President
George Vickers, Director of International Operations
Tawanda Mutasah, Director of Programs (2009 Salary: $270,500)
Contact Information
Open Society Foundations
400 West 59th Street
New York, NY 10019
Tel: (212) 548-0600 or (212) 757-2323
Fax: (212) 548-4679 or (212) 548-4600
URL: http://www.soros.org
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