The American “radical right” and its “extreme conservative” allies are being supported by many tax-exempt foundations, as well as by some prominent corporations, the B’nai B’rith Anti-Defamation League charged this weekend.
According to the charges, more than $14,000,000 is spent annually for right-wing causes, and the figure may reach $25,000,000 during the current election campaign. In addition, the ADL alleged, “lunatic fringe organizations, which include religious and racial bigotry in their extremist views, will add $1,500,000 to the sum available for current attacks on the democratic system.”
Dore Schary, national chairman of the ADL, said that financial support to the right-wing has been extended by about 70 foundations, more than 100 businesses and corporations, some 250 individuals who have contributed at least $500 each, and “hundreds of thousands of givers of one dollar to five dollars who have been frightened by the propaganda barrage.”
Mr. Schary’s figures were based on a four-year survey made by the ADL and encompassed in a book, “Danger on the Right,” written by Arnold Forster, ADL general counsel, and Benjamin R. Epstein, the League’s national director. The book is to be published next month by Random House.
The report called upon “the conservative faction,” which, it stated, “our democracy needs,” to reject the aid of “all the radicals with whom they too readily fraternize.” A number of the “radical right” organizations named by the report denied they are a threat to democracy. Several large corporations denied that they are aiding the “radical right.”
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