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Statement From Air America Radio (Re: Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club Scandal)
Air America Radio ^ | Friday, July 29, 2005 | Some Sleazy Lefty Lawyer

Posted on 07/29/2005 6:24:17 AM PDT by kristinn

Statement:
If the allegations of mismanagement and corruption at Gloria Wise Boys and Girls Club are true, it is absolutely disgraceful.

As reported in the Wall Street Journal and the HBO Documentary, Left of the Dial‚ the company that the Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club officials gave money to, Progress Media, has been defunct since May 2004.  That company was run at the time by Evan Cohen who has not had any involvement in Air America Radio since May 2004.

The current owners of Air America Radio have no obligation to Progress Media‚s business activities.  We are very disturbed that Air America Radio's good name could be associated with a reduction in services for young people, which is why we agreed months ago to fully compensate the Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club as a result of this transaction.

We at Air America Radio strongly believe in the mission of Boys and Girls Clubs to provide a safe and nurturing place for young people to learn and grow. As a result, we recently allowed the same club, Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club, to use our name in a fundraising effort for a summer camp for children in their community.

The funding for Camp Air America was raised and collected entirely by the Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club, and Air America promoted the camp on air and urged support for it. A link on our web site sent those interested in contributing to the camp to the Gloria Wise web site. Regrettably, the camp did not survive the closure of the Gloria Wise organization. We have offered any individuals who contributed to the camp as a result of Air America's promotion the option of a refund paid for by Air America Radio and the Club offered the alternative option of having their donation redirected to Kip's Bay Boys and Girls Club.


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Front Page News; News/Current Events; US: New York
KEYWORDS: airamerica; boysclubs; girlsclubs; liberaltalkradio
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How does Al Franken sleep at night knowing he helped ruin a childrens charity?
1 posted on 07/29/2005 6:24:17 AM PDT by kristinn
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To: All
Link to analysis of Air America's statement on Brian Maloney's Radio Equalizer blog. Mr. Maloney is credited with bringing this scandal to the attention of the blogosphere. It was originally reported by Michael Horowitz in a community newspaper called Bronx News about three weeks ago.

Michelle Malkin has done great work bringing this scandal the attention it deserves.

2 posted on 07/29/2005 6:37:36 AM PDT by kristinn
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To: kristinn

This looks like a full admission that yes, Air America stole from children.


3 posted on 07/29/2005 6:41:22 AM PDT by Phantom Lord (Fall on to your knees for the Phantom Lord)
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To: kristinn

“Air America Radio and the Club offered the alternative option of having their donation redirected to Kip's Bay Boys and Girls Club.” Oh good idea. So kip's can misuse peoples contributions too.


4 posted on 07/29/2005 6:42:18 AM PDT by Linds92
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To: kristinn
I love this statement:
The current owners of Air America Radio have no obligation to Progress Media‚s business activities. We are very disturbed that Air America Radio's good name could be associated with a reduction in services for young people, which is why we agreed months ago to fully compensate the Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club as a result of this transaction.
We have no association with the criminals in this situation, but we're going to return the money which we did not receive in order to clear our good name, which is actually clean already.

Bwahahahahahaha!

5 posted on 07/29/2005 6:43:55 AM PDT by The_Victor (Doh!... stupid tagline)
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To: BartMan1; Nailbiter; Forecaster; stanley windrush

ping


6 posted on 07/29/2005 6:44:56 AM PDT by IncPen (There's nothing that a liberal can't improve using your money...)
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To: All

It looks to me like they gave the money back and before the controversy emerged. A right wing outfit that did the same thing would be excused by us because of that. It would be thought an accidental error.

Reality is . . . we should treat them the same way.


7 posted on 07/29/2005 6:45:31 AM PDT by Owen
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To: kristinn
A corrupt "fundraising effort" at Air America? You don't say. [sarcasm]

Graft is enshrined in the Democratic party platform.
8 posted on 07/29/2005 6:47:22 AM PDT by MisterRepublican ("Therefore, a demand for an accounting of the vast discrepancies must also be public.")
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To: Owen

They took over Air America 14 months ago, yet they didn't return the ill-gotten gains until only a few months ago. Did their conscience bother them or was an investigation closing in on them?


9 posted on 07/29/2005 6:49:36 AM PDT by kristinn
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To: Phantom Lord
This looks like a full admission that yes, Air America stole from children.

The MSM will accept Err America's backpedalling. They'd have a different take if Rush had done this, and that "take" would be above the fold.

10 posted on 07/29/2005 6:55:01 AM PDT by GOPJ (A person who will lie for you, will lie against you.)
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To: kristinn

>They took over Air America 14 months ago, yet they didn't return the ill-gotten gains until only a few months ago. Did their conscience bother them or was an investigation closing >in on them?


If they were a right wing outfit that accidentally did the same, the left would say that too. Some investigation no one has mentioned and may not exist was "closing in on them". A newspaper story like this doesn't take months. This isn't something where a reporter has had to dig to follow a money trail through 15 off shore accounts. If a reporter was asking questions, the story would break in a week or at most two.

Not months. These guys screwed up and made it good before they were outted. Maybe their conscience DID bother them. If so, good. That's the reason you are supposed to make things right when you screw up.

I don't see anything horrible here. They fixed their mistake before they were outted. We're not being fair in this.


11 posted on 07/29/2005 7:00:39 AM PDT by Owen
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To: Owen

ie. The money we stole from disadvantaged kids, well ...

... we're KEEPING IT.


12 posted on 07/29/2005 7:02:40 AM PDT by JustDoItAlways
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To: Owen
"It looks to me like they gave the money back and before the controversy emerged. A right wing outfit that did the same thing would be excused by us because of that. It would be thought an accidental error.

Reality is . . . we should treat them the same way."


No, Owen. It doesn't work that way at all. I believe a "right wing outfit that did the same thing" would receive much harsher treatment than Air America is getting from some of us. I have no doubt in my mind they would be rode out of town on a rail.
13 posted on 07/29/2005 7:03:12 AM PDT by MisterRepublican ("Therefore, a demand for an accounting of the vast discrepancies must also be public.")
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To: kristinn

Shocked...Just shocked...Liberals stealing from children, again...


14 posted on 07/29/2005 7:03:27 AM PDT by george76
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To: kristinn
".......which is why we agreed months ago to fully compensate the Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club as a result of this transaction"

Was this a payback for funds previously pilferred?

15 posted on 07/29/2005 7:06:00 AM PDT by Pietro
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To: kristinn
Just a thought--if Air America can't raise enough revenue from advertisers to stay on the air, seems to me they won't be around long. If, this early in their game, they have to resort to taking money intended for a children's organization, they are not long for this world.

Surely this means that Air America will be heavily scrutinized by the MSM in the future./sarcasm

16 posted on 07/29/2005 7:07:30 AM PDT by basil (Exercise your Second Amendment--buy another gun today!)
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To: kristinn
AIR AMERICA STEALS FROM CHILDREN
17 posted on 07/29/2005 7:09:28 AM PDT by finnman69 (cum puella incedit minore medio corpore sub quo manifestus globus, inflammare animos)
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To: kristinn
Statement:

And a pathetic statement it is. Who wrote this piece of garbage?

If the allegations of mismanagement and corruption at Gloria Wise Boys and Girls Club are true, it is absolutely disgraceful.

Whenever you see a Lib getting all judgemental, you just know the other shoe is going to drop. They know that their listeners are not comfortable with condemnation of anything, and that after a statement like this, they will be eager to accept mitigating circumstances. They don't have to wait long.

As reported in the Wall Street Journal and the HBO Documentary, Left of the Dial‚ the company that the Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club officials gave money to, Progress Media, has been defunct since May 2004. That company was run at the time by Evan Cohen who has not had any involvement in Air America Radio since May 2004.

Other bloggers have pointed out the obvious that the Wall Street Journal article referred only to the fact that Progress Media had been bought out, and did not refer to this scandal in any way. In any case, the change in corporate ownership is irrelevant. The subsequent owner is still responsible for the debts and obligations of the previous owner. The management team from the Progress Media days is still largely intact. So what has changed? As we will see below, very little.

The current owners of Air America Radio have no obligation to Progress Media's business activities. We are very disturbed that Air America Radio's good name could be associated with a reduction in services for young people, which is why we agreed months ago to fully compensate the Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club as a result of this transaction.

I have a hard time believing that the current incarnation of Air America has no obligation for Progress Media's debts and obligations. If they do, it is like no corporate sale I have ever seen. Certainly Air America Radio would hold any other corporation responsible for the activities of the previous corporate entity. In any case, there is a big difference between agreeing to fully compensate Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club and actually compensating them. Since Gloria Wise is defunct, is it safe to assume the compensation was never actually paid? Given the squirrely phrasing here, probably so.

We at Air America Radio strongly believe in the mission of Boys and Girls Clubs to provide a safe and nurturing place for young people to learn and grow. As a result, we recently allowed the same club, Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club, to use our name in a fundraising effort for a summer camp for children in their community.

So in the first two paragraphs, they talk about how the dealings with Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club was the responsibility of Progress Media. Here they reveal that the relationship was ongoing, even after the change in ownership. As we learn below, the fundraising for this wonderful mission was a scam, so doesn't the fact that the mission was "wonderful" make the scam even more reprehensible?

The funding for Camp Air America was raised and collected entirely by the Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club, and Air America promoted the camp on air and urged support for it. A link on our web site sent those interested in contributing to the camp to the Gloria Wise web site. Regrettably, the camp did not survive the closure of the Gloria Wise organization. We have offered any individuals who contributed to the camp as a result of Air America's promotion the option of a refund paid for by Air America Radio and the Club offered the alternative option of having their donation redirected to Kip's Bay Boys and Girls Club.

The fact that Air America promoted and facilitated the collection of the money contradicts their contention that the money was raised and collected entirely by Gloria Wise Boys and Girls Club. The camp may have not survived the closure of the Gloria Wise organization, but what happened to the money? Is anybody following the money? In any case, the offer by Air America to refund money to any contributor who donated to this organization as a result of the Air America's promotion is worthless because there is no way a contributor can demostrate that the donation resulted from this promotion. A good indicator of this would be if Air America has actually reimbursed very few donors or none at all. Does anybody doubt for a moment that Air America has sent out very few checks, if any?

18 posted on 07/29/2005 7:10:24 AM PDT by gridlock (ELIMINATE PERVERSE INCENTIVES)
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To: Owen
They wrecked the charity. It is no more. The charity received federal and local grants. They had no business 'loaning' money to Air America and Air America had no business taking it.

You're falling for Air America's spin.

19 posted on 07/29/2005 7:12:26 AM PDT by kristinn
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To: Owen
It looks to me like they gave the money back and before the controversy emerged.

But did they actually give the money back? They say the offered to give it back. But the organization they would have paid it to no longer exists.

If they actually paid back the money, you would think they would mention that fact, even in a statement as poorly reasoned and sloppily written as this.

20 posted on 07/29/2005 7:13:04 AM PDT by gridlock (ELIMINATE PERVERSE INCENTIVES)
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