The ACLU has a funding problem:
A longtime anonymous donor to the American Civil Liberties Union has withdrawn his annual gift of more than $20 million, punching a 25 percent hole in its annual operating budget and forcing cutbacks in operations.
Anthony D. Romero, executive director of the A.C.L.U., acknowledged in a written statement that a “family” had told the organization in September that it could not make its annual gifts, at least for next year.
“This family, that has sought to protect its privacy by arranging its gifts anonymously, notified us last month that due to market conditions it will be unable to make its expected sizable donations of over $20 million,” Mr. Romero said.
Twenty million is a sizable hole in any nonprofit’s budget, so if you have been holding off on renewing your membership, now would be a good time to go give.
Also, as was noted in the comments the other day, if you do donate, you get to tell everyone you are an official “card carrying member of the ACLU,” which is always fun.
SGEW
I’ve always felt that actually telling people you had a card was a little ostentatious; and everyone always starts whipping ’em out for lib cred at bars after a few drinks (“Oh yeah? I see your ACLU card and raise you a Greenpeace card!” “Oh yeah? I see your GP and raise you Amnesty International and Médecins Sans Frontières!” “Read my Kucinich For President sticker, circa 2003, bitchez!”). Bit of an embarrassing spectacle, really.
I mean, yeah, I’ve got one in my wallet, sure, but there’s no need to preen over it. Decorum, people.
[But yes, donate! The ACLU is this country’s finest civilian defense against tyranny, and they need the money.]
scav
@SGEW: you go to far more interesting bars than I can manage to find. sigh.
Dork
/checks calander….sees it’s not February 2nd….
Uh…are you regifting?
arbitrista
I’ve never joined the ALCU despite their many good services because I find their position on campaign finance reform repugnant and self-defeating.
JGabriel
John Cole:
On a side note, this reminds of a friend from Russia with an extremely dry sense of humor, who gave the NRA five bucks just so he could say he was card-carrying member of the NRA and be able to back it up when called on it.
Of course, now he tries to create situations in which he gets called on it …
.
scav
While what convinced me to join was that they defended people I wanted to seriously stomp on.
Mudge
This confounds me and I sense there is more to it. Admittedly, times are tough and scratching up $20mil is probably more dificult this year than last, but short of destitution, if you are truly committed to an organization for $20mil in past, good years, why not $2mil or $5mil in a bad one? The quote implies a donation of zero.
The way it is presented, it sounds like the ACLU is temporizing a permanent loss.
soonergrunt
It was David Gelbaum who was giving the huge annual support.
QDC
To be a “card carrying member” of the ACLU, does one need to literally carry the card? It’s just that my wallet is already pretty full, and–unless you can get discount movie tickets or something–I can’t see what the point would be of carrying an ACLU card on your person.
Also, $20 million a year is just an astounding amount for one person to give to a charity on an annual basis. That’s double the entire budget of the symphony orchestra in my city, and they are always cash strapped trying to raise the portion of that not covered by ticket sales.
Oh, and wingers will have a field day with this (from soonergrunt’s link):
Booger
You can also donate to ACLU giving a conservative friends address. Then they can have their heads ass-plode. (just joking that’s not nice ;-)….
General Winfield Stuck
OT
Here is Ezra’s insightful piece on Obama and liberalism, IMHO.
And here is the Aravosis response giving voice to the purist dems amongst us.
The intertron gawds are crazy.
Die Computer Die
Somebody say hi to president Palin for me.
DMcK
A good way to donate is to become a “Guardian of Liberty”: you sign up and they make an automatic charge to your credit or debit card each month, starting from $5 up. Pretty painless, and better for them over the long term than a one-time emergency handout.
ellaesther
Right. Wrote about something else yesterday — will go tell my own (tiny!) cohort of readers the same thing nao!
arguingwithsignposts
Someone else who has a funding problem: Editor & Publisher magazine.
I bitch about the MSM all the time, but I hate to see E&P go down.
asiangrrlMN
@DMcK: Done! And, agreed. It’s how I give to MPR as well.
some guy
Anyone else think it might be a bad idea to carry around an ACLU membership card on the off-chance that you have a run-in with the police? Maybe I’m wrong, but I’ve been under the impression that the majority of police officers HATE the ACLU and so they would treat you like garbage if they found that card in your wallet.
Svlad Jelly
I can afford a hundred dollars now. Don’t know if I can afford $5 six months from now though.
Amit Joshi
I’ve been donating to the ACLU for the last 15 years, and it used to be fun using that phrase (“Card carrying member of the ACLU”).
These days it’s depressing–I have to explain it to people, which just ruins the fun. And then I have to explain, no, it was the other George Bush…and I’m never sure they know who the hell Dukakis is.
Svlad Jelly
The cops treat you like shit if you are anything but completely docile. They’re
likebadly trained animals.MikeJ
@some guy: If the cops are going through your wallet you’re already fucked. You certainly didn’t volunteer to let them go through your belongings, did you? Seeing the card might let them know you know what your rights are and won’t take any shit from them.
Zifnab
@General Winfield Stuck: Well, Aravois is right in one regard. Obama’s programs aren’t liberal. They’re very moderate and deliberately business friendly. A look back through Obama’s political career illustrates that a mixed business-community friendly approach is his first and most reliable option.
Obama isn’t trying to Robin Hood the insurance system at all. He’s not hoping to drive coal companies to bankruptcy with his Green Energy initiatives either. His union support isn’t designed to seize control of management. Nor are his immigration reforms intent on instigating a socia list uprising of oppressed foreign workers.
Obama isn’t anywhere near the left wing fringe.
And when he negotiates with Democratic Senators that are far to the right of him on the political spectrum, his policies become even less progressive.
That’s the country we live in, though. Ultimately, if you want to bitch out someone over Ben Nelson being a little prick, you can bitch out Ben Nelson or you can bitch out the state of Nebraska. But, short of putting Ben Nelson in a half-Nelson and nuggying him into submission, there’s really not a lot Obama can do to win necessary votes except compromise and deal.
Maybe you want to get on Obama’s case for not doing enough to reform the Senate body rules before he tackled health legislation. Maybe you think Obama’s bargaining style is soft or poor. But that’s a far cry from him being some fifth columnist Bush-wanna-be. :-p
Amit Joshi
@some guy: And if there is a stronger argument for donating to the ACLU, I can’t think of one! :)
asiangrrlMN
@Mudge: I thought about this, too. I mean, he could give something, right? Although, reading the link, maybe not.
Zifnab
@General Winfield Stuck: Well, Aravois is right in one regard. Obama’s programs aren’t liberal. They’re very moderate and deliberately business friendly. A look back through Obama’s political career illustrates that a mixed business-community friendly approach is his first and most reliable option.
Obama isn’t trying to Robin Hood the insurance system at all. He’s not hoping to drive coal companies to bankruptcy with his Green Energy initiatives either. His union support isn’t designed to seize control of management. Nor are his immigration reforms intent on instigating a socia list uprising of oppressed foreign workers.
Obama isn’t anywhere near the left wing fringe.
And when he negotiates with Democratic Senators that are far to the right of him on the political spectrum, his policies become even less progressive.
That’s the country we live in, though. Ultimately, if you want to bitch out someone over Ben Nelson being a little prick, you can bitch out Ben Nelson or you can bitch out the state of Nebraska. But, short of putting Ben Nelson in a half-Nelson and nuggying him into submission, there’s really not a lot Obama can do to win necessary votes except compromise and deal.
Maybe you want to get on Obama’s case for not doing enough to reform the Senate body rules before he tackled health legislation. Maybe you think Obama’s bargaining style is soft or poor. But that’s a far cry from him being some fifth columnist Bush-wanna-be. :-p
Tsulagi
@SGEW:
Well, I’m guessing I could slap down a card in addition to my ACLU one your liberal barfly friends wouldn’t match, NRA Life Member.
Ash
Yeah, but what do I have to do to get a NAMBLA card?
LarryB
@Mudge:
We just had a market crash. This allegedly rich, allegedly philanthropic, alleged family may have negative worth this year. Tax returns aren’t in for 2009 yet, but non-profit contributions were already declining last year.
MikeJ
@Tsulagi: That may be true, but mainly because the NRA are full of shit. They seem much more interested in helping republicans than protecting the second amendment.
Don’t think that a lack of a NRA card means a liberal wouldn’t know how to introduce you to some high velocity lead.
some guy
Indeed! I donate, I’m just not a card-carrying member. ;)
MikeJ
@Ash: Move into the C street house.
Svlad Jelly
LOL. Speaking of the NRA, they’re more liberal than you think:
http://thinkprogress.org/2009/12/10/nra-poll/
I always wanted to start the Leftist Wing of the NRA, being a radical leftist and a honky, white-trash, West Virginia gun nut myself. Seems like now might be a good time.
Chuck
@Ash:
Join the Republican Congressional Caucus?
General Winfield Stuck
It is curious how we all throw around the terms of liberal, left wing, and progressive, and each person seems to have a different definition for each. Maybe one reason dems sometimes, or often have mis-communication with each other.
I consider myself a liberal, but have been called the full range of ideological labels when arguing different issues. And I consider Obama the same. On social issues, if I got any more permissive, or liberal, or libertarian, or whatever, I would be calling for legal public fornication, on other issues been called a republican, especially on national security issues.
Probly been all of that at one time or another, because I do try to practice my personal politics by individual issue, with varying success.
It would be nice imo if folks just said whether they agree or disagree with something someone else does or says instead of assigning labels and wanking about how people don’t measure up to this one, or that one. Which I will do in saying I agree fully with Ezra from the article of his I linked, and disagree completely, or nearly so with Aravosis.
And I will also say that the degree of nonsense emanating from the internet these days is becoming more and more like a cesspool of inanity. I wish I had the strength to quit it, at least where politics is concerned. And concentrate on good stuff like animals, movies, music and the like. going to give it a break today however.
RedKitten
@Mudge: Yeah, I find that weird too. Yes, market conditions are down, but they can’t donate ANYTHING anymore? Working for an NGO, I’ve seen people reduce their gifts in tough times. But to stop altogether usually means that something else is going on.
SGEW
@Tsulagi: The only card-carrying member of the NRA I’ve personally met in a bar was also an honorably discharged Marine, a practicing Christian, and one of the most radical lefty activists I’ve ever known. Guy scared the piss out of me, a little, honestly.
Tsulagi
@MikeJ:
Yeah, I haven’t been happy with their political arm in a long time. Went wingnut too long ago. When heard one of spokespersons answer a hypothetical question if a private citizen had a nuke should they have the right to keep and bear it say yes, that’s when you know they’ve jumped into the deep end of the stupid pool.
@SGEW: See, we’re not all bad.
Just Some Fuckhead
Can we pronounce it “ayclue” so it sounds more like “acorn”?
jwb
@RedKitten: According to the link from @soonergrunt, the donor’s assets are bound up with alternative energy and currently highly illiquid.
ellaesther
@DMcK: Ok, I not only posted about this, I credited you for the “Guardians of Liberty” idea, too.
Thanks!
cyd
At the risk of being a party pooper, I’d like to point out that the ACLU has a pretty horrible stance on corporate personhood. They strongly support removing all restrictions on the flow of corporate money into politics. Take that into account if you’re deciding whether to donate.
(Yes, the ACLU does a lot of good work, but since Greenwald-type ACLU supporters often have a with-us-or-against-us mentality, it might be good to hold them to the same standards.)
soonergrunt
@Ash:
Become a Catholic Priest?