A friend of mine following the recently scheduled hearings in PA pointed out a truly bizarre statement coming out of the Heartland Institute -- it's such a piece of work that I just had to pass it along:

After much deliberation and with some regret, we now keep confidential the identities of all our donors. If you do not approve of this policy, your argument is not with us but with those who would abuse a sincere effort at transparency.

That's right, enough people started looking at where the Heartland Institute was getting its funding that they had to take down this information from their website. And now, having hidden this information from the general public, are now blaming the curious for the problem. Way to attempt to shift the blame.

But what was so damning in the first place? I hear you ask.

Just so happens that I have some handy-dandy information on past donors (from 2002 [1] and 2003 [2])to the Heartland Institute (and a copy of their 2004 tax forms [3]) which I'm willing to share with the curious. I feel that simply putting this information out there provides the general public with all the information they need to make an educated decision about the Heartland Institute's so-called "objectivity."

Anyone want to weigh in? Anyone from Heartland want to make their current funding sources available? Just let me know.

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[Added as a comment.]