This Axios AM Deep Dive, ahead of Giving Tuesday, looks at America's homegrown and idiosyncratic system of philanthropy.
Politicians are accountable to the electorate.
Charitable foundations and the billionaires who fund them, on the other hand, are accountable to no one.
Rob Reich, Stanford political scientist and author of "Just Giving," tells Axios: "Foundations are an unaccountable, nontransparent, perpetual, and lavishly tax-advantaged exercise of power."
The bottom line:
Insofar as philanthropy has a positive effect, it does so via deeply undemocratic means.
Axios AM Deep Dive
By Mike Allen ·Nov 30, 2019
This Axios AM Deep Dive, ahead of Giving Tuesday, looks at America's homegrown and idiosyncratic system of philanthropy.
Smart Brevity count: 1,492 words — a 5½-minute read.
When so few citizens, taxpayers, and members of the public are not involved or un-engaged in the activities or processes in A REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY of their own elected government or even take the time TO EXERCISE THE RIGHT-TO-KNOW, both those who get elected and those who get paid salaries/benefits paid by taxpayers, have the tendency to listen to other special interests who can control them. The public has a right (and an obligation) not to stay silent, but first you need to find out what's going on and see what you can from what is provided for you - in fact it is required in THE PUBLIC INTEREST.
Did you ever wonder to yourself who pulls Mayor John Giles's strings? Take the time to watch some of the opening minutes in one or both of these public meetings from two weeks ago. First impressions? Nervousness and body language? Hizzoner John Giles presides over these public hearings in any way he wants to. . . Watch Johnny-on-the-Spot looking to the left for cues, and getting up jumping-out-of-his-sweat for a new City Magistrate announcement. Is that OK with you? DOES GILES ASK TO HAVE THE MEETING AGENDA READ-OUT at the start? Public Comments? He says 'blue cards' . . . Amazing that so few people ever see these streaming videos of their elected government (and salaried city officials) at work - some are part-time and some are full-time. Any idea what's on the agendas for these two meetings that start in the late afternoon.?
_______________________________________________________________________________ STUDY SESSION IN THE LOWER CHAMBERS Where have we seen this "consultant" before - and what's with _____??
_______________________________________________________________________________ REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING IN THE UPPER CHAMBERS
< Public Information Officer Kevin Christopher reads the Consent Agenda - he's been doing that for years in a bland baritone voice and making more than $145,000 annually. There's an earlier post on this blog when someone outside of Mesa happened to notice this procedure that appears to be unique to Mesa. Randy Policar did one fill-in in an earlier public meeting, but KC was back on two weeks ago
EIG Applauds Bipartisan House Bill On Opportunity Zones Reporting and Transparency Requirements
Nov 6, 2019
Washington, D.C. – The Economic Innovation Group (EIG) applauds the introduction of the bipartisanOpportunity Zone Accountability and Transparency Actby Representatives Ron Kind (D-WI), Mike Kelly (R-PA), and Terri Sewell (D-AL) to implement reporting requirements for investments in Qualified Opportunity Zones. “A robust reporting framework is essential for ensuring the impact of Opportunity Zone investments can be properly evaluated,” said John Lettieri, President and CEO of EIG. “This bipartisan legislation is a major first step, and we will continue working with Congress to improve it as the legislative process moves forward in the coming weeks.”
A broad group of leading private sector and philanthropic stakeholders supports the implementation of a reporting framework to ensure that the long-term economic impact of the Opportunity Zones can be properly evaluated.
About the Economic Innovation Group (EIG)The Economic Innovation Group (EIG) is a bipartisan ideas laboratory and advocacy organization whose mission is to advance solutions that empower entrepreneurs and investors to forge a more dynamic American economy. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., EIG convenes leading experts from the public and private sectors, produces original research, and works to advance creative legislative proposals that will bring new jobs, investment, and economic growth to communities across the nation. For more information, visit eig.org.
The goal of this project is to shape the Opportunity Zones marketplace towards deep social impact and broad geographic reach by sharing information and best practices with the public. It includes a Map of All Activitiestracked in Opportunity Zones
The online portal, which will be updated on a rolling basis, depicts core components of the emerging Opportunity Zones marketplace. The curated list of activities included in the map highlights the broad geographic reach of Opportunity Zones and the promising investment ecosystem being populated.The Opportunity Zones Activity Map includes:
A Map of Investments into Opportunity Zones
A Map of Funds formed to channel capital into Opportunity Zones
A Map of Initiatives at the state and local levels that adapt Opportunity Zones to local priorities
The map can be filtered by activity type, market category, and impact theme as well as state, county, city, and congressional district.
Please note that this is a curated list of Opportunity Zone investments and activities that is designed to bring attention to the most innovative local developments. It is not representative of the entire Opportunity Zones universe. It offers no substitute for comprehensive data collection and impact tracking that we hope will soon be in place at the federal level. The goal of this project is simple: to shape the Opportunity Zones marketplace towards deep social impact and broad geographic reach by sharing information about the impact this policy is having on local communities with stakeholders and the public.
The Economic Innovation Group (EIG) launched the Opportunity Zones Activity Map, an online portal highlighting some of the most innovative and impactful publicly-announced developments catalyzed in the early stages of this new policy. Our new interactive tool will help raise awareness among policymakers, investors, and the public of the impact Opportunity Zones is having in communities across the country.
Truth in Accounting has released a new report that scores each state government based on how transparent they are to the public about their finances.
TIA’s“Financial Transparency Score”analysis takes into account a range of transparency indicators, from whether a state used an independent auditor to examine its comprehensive annual financial report to how accessible these reports are online. The criteria used to calculate a state's score adheres to best practices in private-sector accounting.
While no state earned a perfect score of 100, three states tied for first place in fiscal transparency with a score of 88. Connecticut ranked last in the nation, earning a score of 50.
