Before I share this, I want to say that I used to believe what Rush Limbaugh and Mark Levin said. I believed they had the interests of America. I have watched Limbaugh blatantly lie. The same with Mark Levin. Now I have found this article that is backed up by credible sources painting a very bleak picture of Sean Hannity.
Conservative
pundits like FOX New's Sean Hannity can expect to take some flack from
writers on the left. But when a "fellow" conservative writer calls his
charity "a huge scam," it may be time to take a closer look.
Sean Hannity
has been traveling the country on his so-called “freedom concert” tour
for years. These shows are promoted as benefit concerts by an
organization known as Freedom Alliance to raise money to send the
children of servicemen who died in Iraq to college. The organization
proudly touts convicted con artist, Oliver North, as one of its
co-founders.
According to conservative blogger Debbie Schlussel,
less than 4 to 7 percent of the money donated to Hannity's Freedom
Alliance "charity" in the past two years actually went to the causes for
which donations were solicited.
Hannity's
Freedom Alliance is supposedly "raising money to pay for the college
tuition of the children of fallen soldiers and to pay severely wounded
war vets." According to recent reports, the truth is that millions of
the money donated was spent to "ferret the Hannity posse of family and
friends [about the country] in high style."
In
other words, Sean Hannity is using the wounded American heroes he
claims to champion as tools to enrich himself and surround himself in
luxury. Most of the money goes to pay for luxury jets and fleets of limousines
for Hannity and his entourage, as well as other administrative costs
that far exceed the usual ratio of costs to charitable outlays for
legitimate charities.
The Washington Post stated that Hannity's charity received a grade of "F" by the American Institute of Philanthropy
for failing to deliver less than one third of its proceeds to intended
recipients. That is well below the 75% required to be considered a
legitimate charity.
According
to Schlussel, despite Hannity's statements to the contrary on his
nationally syndicated radio show, few of the children of fallen soldiers
got more than $1,000-$2,000, with apparently none getting more than
$6,000. Meanwhile, Freedom Alliance appears to have spent tens of
thousands of dollars for private planes. Moreover, despite written
assurances to donors that all money raised would go directly to
scholarships for kids of the fallen heroes and not to expenses,
Hannity's "charity" has begun charging expenses of nearly $500,000 to
give out just over $800,000 in scholarships.
Based on its 2006 tax returns,
Freedom Alliance reported revenue of $10,822,785, but only $397,900 (a
measly 3.68%) of that was given to the children of fallen troops as
scholarships or as aid to severely injured soldiers. The tax forms filed by Freedom Alliance in 2008 show a similar pattern of misuse of funds.
According
to Schlussel, the 2008 Freedom Alliance tax forms, which were signed in
November 2009 and filed only recently, showed that Hannity's
organization "took in $8,781,431 in revenue and gave $1,060,275.57
total-or just 12%-to seriously wounded soldiers and for scholarships to
kids of the fallen." Media Matters looked into Schlussel's claims and stated, "her
numbers seem to check out. If her assertions that Hannity has made
false claims in raising money for the charity are also true, that would
be scandalous."
Meanwhile,
tonight, Sean Hannity will be honored with an award for this
“outstanding community service" by a radio talk show host at Talkers
Magazine’s convention.
Editors at The New York Times and the Washington Post have said
in recent months that their papers need to do a better job of picking
up on stories right-wing web sites are pushing. Schlussel's
investigation into Hannity and Freedom Alliance would seem like a good
place for the Post and Times to do some digging - unless, of course, they only intend to follow up on conservative attacks on liberals.
Regardless
of whether or not Schlussel's assessment of Hannity's charity is
correct, it is always advisable to take a close look at any organization
soliciting for donations before making a contribution. You have a right
to know whether your money is spent helping the cause you donated to,
or lining the pockets of millionaire punks like Sean Hannity.
For more info:
by Orlando Examiner
I do not know if this is true, but after watching the atrocities of Levin, Limbaugh amongst others. I would not be surprised at all. I do not trust any of them anymore. I am so fed up with misrepresentations that I could spit.
