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A radical California organization boasts of pouring millions into health care and education programs in the public interest, Obamacare among them, but pulls back the welcome mat from anyone who offers conservative or faith-based solutions to society’s ills.

Groups not in line with liberal causes apparently need not apply for grants from the flush health foundation, the California Endowment.

That much is spelled out in the private, nonprofit group’s online application process. In bold letters, the Los Angeles-based California Endowment makes clear who is not eligible for its money:

Organizations that require membership in a certain religion or advance a particular religious faith. (Faith-based organizations may be eligible for funding if they welcome and serve all members of the community.)

“If you’re not politically correct, you shouldn’t expect to receive any grants,” one of the California Endowment’s sharpest critics, Matthew Vadum, said of the foundation in an interview with The Daily Signal.

The California Endowment was established in May 1996, after Blue Cross of California was converted into a for-profit entity. The foundation reported assets of about $3.67 billion and income of $770.9 million as of March 2014, according to the latest available figures.

As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, the organization’s contributions and …read more

Virginia environmentalists and big landowners have made a concerted effort to interfere with the business activities of an organic farmer, claims a new lawsuit describing harassment that comes close to stalking.

Martha Boneta, who owns and operates the 64-acre Liberty Farm at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Paris, Va., seeks damages in Fauquier County Circuit Court from Piedmont Environmental Council, a nonprofit land trust headquartered in Warrenton, Va.

Boneta also seeks damages from the husband-wife real estate team of Phillip and Patricia Thomas, who are members of Piedmont Environmental Council. Phillip Thomas owns Thomas & Talbot Real Estate, based in Middleburg, Va. Patricia Thomas is a lawyer admitted to the bar in Virginia.

“We are in shock at the magnitude of terrorizing harassment,” Boneta told the Daily Signal, adding:

The investigation uncovered volumes of letters, emails, meetings and phone calls from realtors Patricia and Phillip Thomas making false allegations to government agencies and meddling in our private lives to damage and force us off our farm. No American should ever suffer years of being terrorized. The stress and hardship has been unbearable.

The real estate firm’s website identifies at least four other Thomas & Talbot realtors who are associated with …read more

Taxpayer-funded college professors and researchers who cite climate change to advocate regulations that would raise energy costs for consumers have some explaining to do, congressional investigators say.

A House committee wants to know more about the relationship between taxpayer money received by the academics and their urging of President Obama to use federal racketeering law to go after businesses and other groups that oppose his aggressive agenda against climate change.

The panel’s investigators also are curious to hear a George Mason University environmentalist, leader of the publicly supported researchers, explain a growing disparity between computer models showing global warming and fresh scientific evidence suggesting Earth’s temperatures have been flat for 18 years.

Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, chairman of the Committee on Science, Space and Technology, cites “serious concerns” in a stern letter to Jagadish Shukla, a professor at George Mason University who specializes in atmospheric, oceanic, and earth studies.

Shukla’s environmental institute, Smith writes, “appears to be almost fully funded by taxpayer money while simultaneously participating in partisan political activities by requesting a [federal] investigation of companies and organizations that disagree with the Obama administration on climate change.”

In a followup letter Monday, Smith asks Shukla for financial documents …read more

Proposals to stop state and local governments from deducting union dues from their employees’ paychecks are likely to gain traction in coming months, those on both sides of the issue say.

Such “payroll protection” measures arise as the U.S. Supreme Court is set to decide next year on a free speech challenge to rules compelling government workers to pay union dues in the first place.

Right now, elected officials allow governments to operate as bill collectors for their union benefactors—even in right-to-work states where union membership isn’t a condition of employment and “agency shop” arrangements don’t apply.

In interviews with The Daily Signal, labor policy analysts, business representatives, and free market proponents said they see the unions operating at an unfair advantage over political opponents.

Even if the Supreme Court strikes down mandatory union dues on constitutional grounds, they predict, teacher unions will remain a potent political force.

That much is evident in Louisiana, where state Sen. Danny Martiny (R-Jefferson) and state Rep. Stuart Bishop (R-Lafayette) have submitted legislation (SB204 and HB418) to put an end to the practice of deducting government union dues from paychecks. Louisiana is one of 25 right-to-work states.

“Calling this legislation payroll protection is fraudulent,” Les …read more

The idea of Scalia shifting into an overt political role has not gone away. …read more

The idea of Scalia shifting into an overt political role has not gone away. …read more

PROVIDENCE, R.I.—Taxpayers won a key battle with government workers unions this summer when one of Rhode Island’s top politicians withdrew two measures that would have financially rewarded career firefighters, reformers say.

The union representing some of those firefighters pays him rent, they note.

Leaders of firefighters unions had sought to bring out a big gun after the Rhode Island Supreme Court ruled in favor of towns and other municipalities that wanted to limit overtime costs for firefighters.

So they called on Rep. Nicholas “Nick” Mattiello, D-Cranston, speaker of the Rhode Island House of Representatives.

Mattiello has a reputation as being friendly to union causes.

Critics also note that he and his brother lease office space to Cranston Firefighters Local 1633 in a building they co-own. The local union is affiliated with the International Association of Firefighters.

Mattiello, first elected to the House in 2007, has declined to reveal how much he makes in rent from Local 1633.

But the speaker has said the arrangement causes no conflict of interest and that he separates his business relationship with Local 1633 from his legislative duties.

“We are a part-time legislature and many of us are active in the business world,” Mattiello told the news site …read more

PROVIDENCE, R.I.—In a battle of political wills in Rhode Island, local voters so far have held their ground against efforts by union leaders and state officials to make them pay more for fire and rescue services.

State lawmakers and local activists who side with the voters, however, see the situation as an ongoing threat to self-government.

“The people have rejected higher taxes over and over again because they want a new way of doing business,” state Rep. Patricia Morgan, R-West Warwick, says.

It started in 2006, when Central Coventry Fire District formed after four of the Rhode Island town’s seven smaller fire divisions voted to merge. Those four operations already had problems, and the new fire district’s finances were not in good order. They continued to spiral out of control as the district spent more than it was taking in.

Instead of curtailing expenses, the Central Coventry Fire District’s board of directors hired more firefighters and leased a new ladder truck.

The Coventry board also embraced a new collective bargaining agreement with the International Association of Firefighters Local 3372 that increased firefighters’ pay and benefits.

The situation had reached crisis proportions by October 2011. Losses amounted to $637,000, according to the board’s income statement. Within two …read more

On first glance, this is a rather routine story in the environmental policy wars.

A study published in the journal Nature Climate Change said researchers had found that if rules being considered by the Environmental Protection Agency to reduce carbon emissions were enacted, it would mean 3,500 fewer premature deaths per year.

This was a necessary piece of the puzzle for the EPA as it works to implement regulations it says would, by 2030, reduce carbon emissions to 30 percent below their levels in 2005. Industry experts say these regulations would drive a final nail into the coal industry, which currently supplies almost half the nation’s electricity. So, to justify the regulations, significant health benefits must be demonstrated.

Such stories have become expected in environmental policy. The government announces an aim or policy change, and the research community gets together, using taxpayer dollars, to confirm the government’s approach is the best option. Those who support it post it to their Facebook pages; those who don’t ignore it.

Researchers from Harvard University, Syracuse University and four other institutions used climate models to predict the impact the EPA’s proposed carbon emissions reductions would have on human health. And not surprisingly, it turned out the government’s …read more

Wondering where the companies you buy from stand on the gay marriage case before the Supreme Court?

Turns out there’s an app for that. It’s called 2nd Vote, and it is a free online app available on Google Play and Apple’s iTunes that allows consumers to have instantaneous access to a database that includes more than 400 companies.

It’s the brainchild of a nonprofit in Nashville that seeks to help consumers make more informed decisions about where they shop and to “follow the money” as it flows from their wallets and pocketbooks to certain political causes.

Users can look up companies individually to see where they stand on marriage or view which companies are interested in which issues.

Companies with a marriage score of three or higher have remained neutral or taken a conservative position on the issue. Companies with scores lower than three have advocated for same-sex marriage or funded groups that are pushing the same-sex marriage agenda.

“The 2nd Vote app provides an easy-to-use resource that allows conservatives to align their spending with their values,” says Jake DeVantier, outreach director for 2nd Vote. “The app allows members to sort by issue. By clicking on the marriage issue on the scorecard, the user …read more