Charity Governance

SENATOR GRASSLEY WANTS JOE THE PLUMBER TO RUN NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY

DATELINE: November 17, 2008, Chicago

Senator Charles Grassley, ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, was working hard this weekend.  Last night we found a new press_release on his Web site.  The Chronicle of Higher Education has just issued its annual survey of college and university president compensation.   For a summary, see Susan Kinzie, College Leaders’ Salaries Climb: Raises Outpace Rise in Inflation, Washington Post, Nov. 17, 2008.   For FY 2007, the average compensation of public university presidents increased 7.6%, to $427,400.  Similar pay at private colleges increased about 6%.  Of course, Senator Grassley thought these numbers were outrageous given what is happening in the economy.  There is one slight problem with Senator Grassley’s logic...

WALL STREET JOURNAL FUELS THE FIRE: FRONTPAGE ARTICLE ON CHARITY CARE

DATELINE: April 4, 2008, Chicago

As this is written, the American Hospital Association is in the back of an ambulance, rushing to the nearest hospital emergency room with severe chest pains. This assumes the AHA found today's Wall Street Journal outside its door. Splashed across the paper's front page is a major expose by John Carreyrou and Barbara Martinez entitled, "Nonprofit Hospitals, Once For the Poor, Strike it Rich." While the AHA is being transported by ambulance, Senator...

MARSHAL WILL KANE (GARY COOPER) TAKES ON DEAN ZERBE AT HIGH NOON TOMORROW, MARCH 25, 2008

DATELINE: March 24, 2008, Hadleyville, Kansas

Dean Zerbe, a former top aide to Senator Charles Grassley, will be the featured guest in an Internet question and answer session scheduled for tomorrow (Tuesday, March 25 at 12 noon, eastern time) by the Chronicle of Philanthropy.  Zerbe will discuss the regulatory horizon for charitable organizations and what he learned from his many investigations of charitable organizations as a Senate staffer. 

Take advantage of this opportunity to ask all your pointed questions.  Muster the courage.  You may be shot down in the street, but what the heck.  Isn't preserving your personhood worth the risk?

Go to http://www.philanthropy.com for sign in instructions.  It's free.

LATE TACKLE ON THE FIELD, 15-YARD PENALTY: SENATOR GRASSLEY UNFAIRLY HITS THE SMITHSONIAN FOR PAST PRACTICES

DATELINE: January 2, 2008, Chicago

Yesterday the fighting Illini were no match for USC and today the Smithsonian is no match for Senator Grassley. Today's Washington Post Investigation's column featured a story describing Senator Grassley's and Senator Dianne Feinstein's responses to last week's story in the Post on W. Richard West, Jr.'s compensation, travel, and perks as the director of the National Museum of the American Indian. Their reactions to the Post's revelations...

FROM T. BOONE PICKENS TO THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO IN JUST ONE WEEK: ARE SENATORS BAUCUS AND GRASSLEY ALREADY CHANGING BEHAVIOR?

Dateline: May 31, 2007, Chicago

Last week we wrote an article about two $50 million gifts made by T. Boone Pickens to two institutions. Each gift carried the stipulation that the money could not be spent until the $50 million gift and the income thereon had grown to $500 million. Pickens clearly exhibited a preference to help future generations rather than the one that is currently alive.

Today, the Chicago Sun Times devoted a full page article to an anonymous University of Chicago alum's $100 million gift to the U of C. The article, by reporter Dave Newbart, is headlined "$100 Million Loan-Killer." The alum's gift can be viewed as the antithesis to T. Boone Pickens' gift. The Sun Times reports that the funds are to be used...

MARCH MADNESS: SENATOR GRASSLEY SETS THE PICK IN AN EFFORT TO STOP LAWRENCE SMALL’S DRIVE TO THE BASKET

Dateline, March 23, 2007, Chicago

Senator Charles Grassley, the former Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, now the ranking member, is trying to micromanage the Smithsonian from the halls of the United States Capitol.  He has managed to obtain the unanimous approval of his Senate colleagues to freeze a $17 million increase in the Smithsonian’s federal appropriations until the Smithsonian makes a series of ethics and accountability reforms directed at the Smithsonian’s leadership (referred to as the secretary’s office).  The fact that Grassley received unanimous approval demonstrates how a populist crusade over champagne lifestyles can...

SENATOR GRASSLEY FINALLY GETS BACK TO DOING WHAT HE IS SUPPOSED TO BE DOING

As regular readers of this column know, we have been highly critical of Senator Grassley’s investigations of individual nonprofit organizations.  That is for the IRS, not a United States Senator.  Finally, Senator Grassley is back on track.  On June 28, 2006, the good Senator won Senate Finance Committee approval for the following proposals:

SENATOR GRASSLEY SENDS LOVE LETTER TO THE INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE

Last time we checked, the IRS was not a Section 501(c)(3) organization.  Certainly very few Americans would describe it as charitable.  Consequently, we were shocked...

IT IS TIME FOR THE AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION, THE AICPA, AND OTHER TRADE ASSOCIATIONS TO TAKE A STAND AGAINST SENATOR GRASSLEY: ANOTHER LOVE LETTER THREATENS TAXPAYER RIGHTS

You would think Congress has no pressing business.  Senator Grassley struck again today.  He has sent one of his famous “love letters” to the National Association of Investors (NAIC), a nonprofit group based outside of Detroit, Michigan.  Mr. Grassley’s complaints:  First, he is not sure that that the organization qualifies...

AFTER TAKING CARE OF THE NATION’S BUSINESS, SENATOR GRASSLEY TURNS HIS ATTENTION TO ROMANCE. THE OBJECT OF HIS AFFECTION, AMERICAN UNIVERSITY’S BOARD OF TRUSTEES

During the last two weeks, Senator Grassley has been busy attending to the nation’s business, negotiating a massive tax bill that will produce $70 billion in savings for taxpayers. Like a schoolboy on a spring afternoon following a tough day at school, Senator Grassley’s attention quickly turned to romance at the sound of the final bell. Yesterday, he sent one of his famed “lover letters” to