Message from @retiredDep

Discord ID: 529730964482686986


2019-01-01 18:06:16 UTC  

The foundation funded continuous aerial surveillance of Baltimore, Maryland.[10][11]

The foundation is also linked to questionable criminal justice practices. In 2016, The Baltimore Sun reported that the foundation donated $360,000 to fund a controversial surveillance program in Baltimore conducted secret, warrantless aerial surveillance of Baltimoreans on behalf of the Baltimore Police Department. The BPD conducted the surveillance without informing elected officials or the general public, suspending the program after public revelation. [12][13]

2019-01-01 18:06:37 UTC  

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The foundation has funded various politically-oriented 501(c)4 organizations, including Engage Rhode Island.[22] Many of these organizations advocate pension fund reform, encourage state and local governments to reduce benefits to workers and to invest assets in riskier investments such as hedge funds.[23] Some have criticized the foundation's efforts, saying that hedge fund managers collect generous sums in fees for managing the funds, while the workers are left with reduced pensions.[2][24][25]

LJAF's attempts at pension reform have been met with hostility, and critics have argued that they have bought out groups such as the Pew Charitable Trust, the Public Broadcasting Service, and the Brookings Institution.[26][27][28][29] In March 2014, the Chronicle of Philanthropy reported that Pensions and Investments had asked the Pew Charitable Trust to stop taking money from the LJAF because of the LJAF's support for pension reform.[30]

In July 2014, the Arnold Foundation donated $2.8 million to the Center for Public Integrity to launch a new project focused on state campaign finance. According to the International Business Times, "as CPI was negotiating the Arnold grant, Arnold’s name was absent from a CPI report on pension politics." Arnold has spent at least $10 million on a campaign to roll back pension benefits for public workers.[31][32]

2019-01-01 18:06:59 UTC  

One of the first projects funded by the foundation was research into obesity, which was drawn to Arnold's attention when he heard an interview with Gary Taubes on the EconTalk podcast.[1] Subsequent conversation between Arnold and Taubes led to the foundation funding the Nutrition Science Initiative in San Diego, where Taubes and Peter Attia and are trying to find the cause of obesity.[33][1] The foundation backs the Action Now Initiative (ANI) which in turn funds The Nutrition Coalition (TNC) which backed Nina Teicholz when she wrote an investigative piece for The BMJ.[34]

In 2013 the foundation funded the launch of the Center for Open Science with a $5.25 million grant and by 2017 had provided an additional $10 million in funding.[1] It also funded the launch of the Meta-Research Innovation Center at Stanford at Stanford University run by John Ioannidis and Steven Goodman to study ways to improve scientific research.[1] It also provided funding for the AllTrials initiative led in part by Ben Goldacre.[1]

LJAF has published guidelines, based on the Open Science Framework, that anybody seeking research funding from them must follow.[35]

As of 2017 it had given around $80 million in grants under its "Research Integrity" initiative.[1]

2019-01-01 18:07:53 UTC  

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NON-PROFIT
Laura and John Arnold Foundation

Website:
www.arnoldfoundation.org
Location:
HOUSTON, TX
Tax ID:
26-3241764
Tax-Exempt Status:
501(c)(3)-PF
Budget (2014):
Revenue: $213,155,576
Expenses: $110,300,509
Assets: $1,766,641,213
The Laura and John Arnold Foundation is a private foundation based in Houston, Texas. The foundation was founded in 2008 by hedge fund manager John Arnold and his wife, Laura. The foundation focuses on criminal justice, education issues, public pensions, dietary policy, and scientific research reform.

The foundation has drawn criticism from both sides of the political spectrum. Many left-wingers criticize the foundation’s support of public pension and choice-based education reforms, while right-leaning critics challenge the foundation’s support of organizations such as Planned Parenthood and other left-wing organizations.

2019-01-01 18:08:33 UTC  

Funding Source

John Arnold began his career as a trader for Enron: He would leave the company taking an $8 million bonus before the energy company collapsed. He was never accused of wrongdoing in the investigation of the energy company’s sudden collapse.[1]

In 2002, Arnold founded a hedge fund, Centaurus Advisors, LLC, with his bonus and some early investors. During his time running the fund, Arnold gained a high reputation among his colleagues and even among the federal investigators who investigated the Enron collapse. In 2012, with the growth of hydraulic fracturing and the expansion of gas supply undermining the natural gas futures market, Arnold decided to retire to focus on philanthropy.[2]

2019-01-01 18:08:57 UTC  

In 2008, John and his wife Laura founded the Laura and John Arnold Foundation.[3] Among the first beneficiaries of the foundation was the Knowledge Is Power Program, or KIPP. KIPP schools are a network of charter schools founded by Teach for America alumni that works to get children from poor families into college.[4] Arnold’s first gift to KIPP was $30,000 in 2004. In 2006, both Arnolds pledged $10 million to help KIPP grow to 42 schools in Houston by 2017; the effects of the 2008 financial crisis delayed that target.[5] In addition to supporting education reform, the Arnold Foundation made grants on criminal justice reform and public pension reform.[6]

In 2013, there was a risk of a government shutdown due to a budget fight between Democrats and Republicans. In October of that year, the Arnold Foundation gave $10 million to the National Head Start Association which would keep the Head Start program running through the end of October 2013 in the event of a government shutdown.

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Later in 2008, the Arnolds played a role in bringing in Barry Scheck, a co-founder of the Innocence Project, a group that works to free people who were wrongly convicted, to Houston. Scheck pitched his organization to some of Houston’s wealthiest. In April 2009, the Arnolds $150,000. They have made additional donations and Laura Arnold now sits on the Innocence Project’s board. [8]

GOVERNMENT WORKER PENSIONS

In 2009, John Arnold began taking an interest in public employee pensions. He was motivated by headlines during the Great Recession that reported on massive losses in the stock markets by public employee pension funds. Those losses forced unfunded liabilities to shoot up. Cash strapped governments could no longer expect to cover those losses. [9]

Initially, Arnold started by donating relatively small grants to non-profits and think tanks, no more than $200,000 a piece to study the issue. Then Arnold sent $5 million to the Pew Charitable Trusts to supports its Public Sector Retirement Systems Project. The Arnolds have since increased their contributions to $9.7 million to Pew to research the issue through 2019. Their foundation has contributed nearly $28 million to fund pension research. [10]

2019-01-01 18:10:22 UTC  

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2019-01-01 18:11:12 UTC  

Ex billionaire retired after ENRON

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2019-01-01 18:25:26 UTC  

Potus tweeted Congrats to Brazil's new Presidents inauguration speech..... interesting

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