Tag Archives: OpenTheBooks

When The Actual Numbers Are Different Than The Report

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On Thursday, The Daily Caller posted an article about the funding for National Public Radio (NPR) and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). It seems that the numbers that are being reported are not actually accurate.

The article reports:

National Public Radio (NPR) and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) both received significantly more taxpayer funding in Fiscal Year 2023 than they had indicated on their tax returns, according to an OpenTheBooks report published Thursday.

On a tax return for the fiscal year ending in September 2023, NPR reported that it received just $40,000 from American taxpayers, which came from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CBP), a nonprofit organization that invests in public broadcasting, according to OpenTheBooks’ analysis. That amount made up just 0.04% of the $98.57 million in grants NPR received from “all parties” during that period, according to the report.

Meanwhile, at the end of fiscal year 2023, NPR had $388.5 million in total assets, OpenTheBooks’ report found.

Moreover, PBS’ tax return showed it received $22.74 million from the government, according to OpenTheBooks’ analysis. OpenTheBooks found that at the end of fiscal year 2023, PBS had $641.23 million in total assets, an increase of $52 million from the year prior. 

PBS CEO Paula Kerger earns $1,055,135 in salary and $113,526 in “other compensation,” while three other PBS employees make over $500,000, according to OpenTheBooks. Meanwhile, NPR spent $5.18 million on payroll for its officers and key employees, according to the report.

It’s amazing how much a corporation is willing to pay people when it’s not their money and they don’t have to make a profit.

I would just like to comment that if PBS had had good negotiators and good lawyers during the height of Sesame Street’s popularity, they could have set the corporation up for life with the royalties from Tickle Me Elmo, Rubber Ducky, Oscar the Grouch, and Big Bird. not to mention Bert and Ernie. A private enterprise would have done that. That is the difference between a government-run company and a company that needs to make a profit to stay in business.

Where A Lot Of The Money Went

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On Thursday, The New York Post posted an article about how much money the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) spent on migrants from 2020 to 2024.

The article reports:

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ramped up grants for migrants from 2020 to 2024 — which included cash assistance to buy cars, homes and even build credit for startup businesses, according to a shocking watchdog report that found taxpayers were left on the hook for $22.6 billion.

HHS’ Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) — which came under fire last year for having lost track of 32,000 migrant kids in the US — handed out the high sum to a host of nonprofits, effectively acting as a “giant magnet” for those crossing the US border and claiming asylum, auditors from the money monitor OpenTheBooks revealed exclusively to The Post.

Tasked with settling migrants, asylum seekers and other refugees in America, ORR drastically increased the number of noncitizens eligible to receive funding over the bulk of President Joe Biden’s term, with more than $10 billion shelled out to grant-receiving organizations just in fiscal year 2023.

…Non-governmental groups bilked taxpayers for up to $1.7 billion in services including dollar-for-dollar matching savings plans for cars, homes, college educations or startups; small-business loans of up to $15,000; loans to repair credit history of up to $1,500; “cultural orientation,” “emergency housing support,” legal assistance and Medicaid care.

Some programs were only available to migrants or refugees who had been living in the US for several years, who were employed or who were making around double the federal poverty level or less, among other stipulations.

The article concludes:

Hart (OpenTheBooks CEO John Hart) slammed ORR’s treatment of migrant kids and said it had revealed “the Left’s counterfeit compassion around immigration.”

“Losing track of 300,000 children violates their dignity and puts them at risk,” he said.

In its report, OpenTheBooks claimed Dunn Marcos’ past work for nonprofits receiving ORR grants posed a “conflict of interest.”

Reps for Dunn Marcos’ office said in a statement that after being appointed in September 2022, she had recused herself from approving funding for any past employer.

…OpenTheBooks nevertheless submitted a Freedom of Information Act request to ORR’s parent office, the Administration for Children and Families, where Dunn Marcos served until recently. Email bouncebacks, the group noted, suggest she departed government service after President Trump took office Jan. 20.

“While Dunn Marcos may have disappeared from ORR, our questions remain over whether certain nonprofit organizations received special treatment amid the billions in grants furnished by the government office,” the group’s report concludes.

“What’s clear is that ORR has funded a constellation of NGOs deployed in border states and nationwide, who give out aid designed to attract even more migrants.”

Reps for HHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

It is clearly time to stop the NGO gravy train.