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Ifo Institute: Companies in Germany Somewhat More Optimistic Ahead of Soccer Tournaments
MUNICH, Germany, June 10 -- ifo Institute issued the following news release:
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Companies in Germany Somewhat More Optimistic Ahead of Soccer Tournaments
With the World Cup about to kick off, companies in Germany could be somewhat more optimistic about the future. "Previously, the anticipation surrounding a major tournament often had a positive effect on expectations in the boardrooms.
However, the effect is rather minor and fades within six months of the tournament's conclusion," says Klaus Wohlrabe, Head of Surveys at ifo. "When it came to assessments of the current business situation,
... Show Full Article
MUNICH, Germany, June 10 -- ifo Institute issued the following news release:
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Companies in Germany Somewhat More Optimistic Ahead of Soccer Tournaments
With the World Cup about to kick off, companies in Germany could be somewhat more optimistic about the future. "Previously, the anticipation surrounding a major tournament often had a positive effect on expectations in the boardrooms.
However, the effect is rather minor and fades within six months of the tournament's conclusion," says Klaus Wohlrabe, Head of Surveys at ifo. "When it came to assessments of the current business situation,however, we saw hardly any reaction."
In the two months leading up to the start of the tournament, the likelihood of companies expecting business to improve rises by about six percentage points. What's more, there was little difference between how the manufacturing, service, and wholesale and retail sectors responded to major events such as the European Championship or the World Cup.
When it comes to the 2026 World Cup in North America, there's only a chance for a lasting boost if Germany wins the World Cup: "Research shows that World Cup-winning countries do indeed experience a real growth spurt. From second place and beyond, there's a buzz, but it soon fades."
The study examined around 2.2 million company observations from manufacturing, service, and trade from 17 tournaments between 1991 and 2024 as part of the monthly ifo Business Climate Surveys.
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More Information
Survey (https://www.ifo.de/en/facts/2026-06-10/companies-germany-somewhat-more-optimistic-ahead-soccer-tournaments)
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Original text here: https://www.ifo.de/en/press-release/2026-06-10/companies-germany-somewhat-more-optimistic-ahead-soccer-tournaments
[Category: ThinkTank]
Center on Budget & Policy Priorities: Virtual Services Make WIC Available to More Families. Congress Should Make Them Permanent.
WASHINGTON, June 10 -- The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities issued the following commentary on June 9, 2026, by consultant Ashley Blair:
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Virtual Services Make WIC Available to More Families. Congress Should Make Them Permanent.
Parenthood can be beautiful as my children are a reflection of me. They voice the questions I was once too afraid to ask, and in answering them, I find myself reaching deeper, re-examining life, and becoming who I'm meant to be. But as most parents know, being a parent comes with challenges: we have to figure out new things, multitask, and manage our time
... Show Full Article
WASHINGTON, June 10 -- The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities issued the following commentary on June 9, 2026, by consultant Ashley Blair:
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Virtual Services Make WIC Available to More Families. Congress Should Make Them Permanent.
Parenthood can be beautiful as my children are a reflection of me. They voice the questions I was once too afraid to ask, and in answering them, I find myself reaching deeper, re-examining life, and becoming who I'm meant to be. But as most parents know, being a parent comes with challenges: we have to figure out new things, multitask, and manage our timein new ways. One of these new experiences is getting our small children ready and out the door for their appointments. Parents and children participating in WIC know this all too well. As part of the program, we usually have four required appointments at the WIC office each year (families with more than one child have more appointments).
Until recently, we had to attend these appointments in-person. But in recent years, WIC agencies started offering virtual services, including telephone and video appointments, and loading food benefits cards remotely. These virtual visits have made a huge difference for me and my kids and many families like mine. For me, WIC virtual visits humanize the process. I feel seen, heard, and valued as an individual, and having my voice heard has removed barriers that once made in-person visits difficult.
Unfortunately, without action by Congress, WIC agencies' temporary authority to provide virtual visits will end. There is bipartisan support for making virtual visits a permanent part of WIC, and for the sake of families like mine, I hope Congress will act.
In-Person Appointments Present Barriers to WIC Participation
Research suggests that many families who are eligible for WIC don't participate in the program because they see traveling to WIC offices as one of the biggest barriers. As WIC supports families living in poverty, transportation may be a challenge for many. Continuing virtual services will significantly reduce this barrier, allowing more eligible families to participate. Indeed, one recent study found that waiving the in-person requirement for appointments increased WIC participation by about 11 percent.
I can say from personal experience that the in-person requirement presented many barriers. First was the scheduling. WIC offices are often open only during weekdays, and telephone hold times can be long. If I walked in to request an appointment, the appointment may not necessarily happen that day. After I made the appointment request, the WIC office would send a letter in the mail with the date and time of my appointment. Appointments are often scheduled three months out, even though it can be difficult to predict work or child care schedules so far in advance.
Once I got an appointment, I would have to do some work in advance. Immunization records are required, and some pediatricians charge $15 to $30 per immunization record, which adds a financial barrier. Working parents have to be able to take time off from work and plan to take our children out of child care or school, because children are usually required to be present at the appointment, too.
When the day of the appointment finally came, I would have to gather my kids, get them dressed, get them in the car and safely into their booster seats, make sure I had all the required documents, and make sure I had snacks and entertainment so the kids would be comfortable for the appointment, which can be a bit long. Now that my kids are in school, I try my best to only take them out of school for WIC appointments when absolutely necessary because their education is very important to me.
The appointment itself consisted of a health screening for myself and my children. With this information, the nutritionist or nurse discussed nutritional education and personalized WIC food benefits with me. At the end, a WIC staff member gave me an EBT card, along with instructions on how to use the shopping app and what I can and cannot purchase. I was also given a phone number to call and schedule another appointment, one month prior to the third month of benefits, and the process would begin again. Once a year, the WIC office would also check that I qualified for WIC based on my income.
Virtual Services Allow Parents to Choose, Help More Families Participate in WIC
When phone appointments became an option, it took the stress off me. The WIC office calls me to schedule an appointment that suits my needs, and I get reminders of the upcoming appointment. I no longer have to worry about missing work because the phone appointments are shorter and can happen over my lunch break or after work from the comfort of my home. I also don't have to take my kids out of school and to the WIC office.
Once the appointment commences, an over-the-phone health screening takes place using records from me or my health care provider. Then I get transferred to the nutritionist or nurse to personalize my WIC package based on allergies, weight gain, vitamin deficiencies, and other factors, and to review nutrition education. Once completed, the EBT card can either be mailed to me, or I have the option to pick it up from the nearest WIC office. Sometimes in-person appointments are still necessary, and WIC agencies have become adept at balancing in-person and virtual appointments to ensure that children and parents receive the care we need.
WIC is an amazing program that has benefited me and my children over the years. As a family who thrives on wholesome food, having access to healthier food options has been key to my family's nutrition. Proper nutrition fuels healthy brain development, equipping the next generation with stronger, more capable minds. It is important for as many eligible parents as possible to participate in WIC to receive the benefits of having healthy, nourishing foods for their children and themselves. WIC virtual services allow parents to choose the kind of appointment that works best for them and their kids, which helps more eligible families participate. That's why it is critical for Congress to make virtual services permanent in WIC.
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Ashley Blair is a lived expertise consultant.
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Original text here: https://www.cbpp.org/blog/virtual-services-make-wic-available-to-more-families-congress-should-make-them-permanent
[Category: ThinkTank]
Center of the American Experiment Issues Commentary: St. Paul School Trades IB Program for Afrocentric Focus
MINNETONKA, Minnesota, June 10 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on June 9, 2026, by policy fellow Catrin Wigfall:
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St. Paul school trades IB program for Afrocentric focus
An elementary school in the St. Paul district will be transitioning this fall from an International Baccalaureate (IB) program to an Afrocentric program.
Benjamin E. Mays, a preK-5th grade school, was selected as the "ideal school for this program because of its high percentage of African American
... Show Full Article
MINNETONKA, Minnesota, June 10 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on June 9, 2026, by policy fellow Catrin Wigfall:
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St. Paul school trades IB program for Afrocentric focus
An elementary school in the St. Paul district will be transitioning this fall from an International Baccalaureate (IB) program to an Afrocentric program.
Benjamin E. Mays, a preK-5th grade school, was selected as the "ideal school for this program because of its high percentage of African Americanstudents (69%) and location in the historic Rondo neighborhood," according to school officials.
The Afrocentric program is described as offering "a unique, enriching and rigorous educational experience, 'through the lens of Black history,' designed to empower all scholars to achieve their full potential."
The curriculum is introduced through social studies and ethnic studies standards and is described as interdisciplinary, integrating themes across core content areas. It is built around two main frameworks. The first is the "8 Black Historical Consciousness Principles," which include power and oppression, agency, resistance and perseverance, Africa and the African diaspora, black joy and emotionality, black identities, historical contention, community, local and social histories, and black futurism.
The second framework is the "Seven Principles of Kwanzaa (Nguzo Saba)," described as the "guiding foundation for the teaching and learning experience." Principles include Umoja (unity), Kujichagulia (self-determination), Ujima (helping others), Ujamaa (community prosperity), Nia (purpose), Kuumba (creativity), and Imani (faith).
The district has set aside roughly $467,000 for the program transition, reports the Pioneer Press. The money can be used for staffing, curriculum and professional development, marketing and recruiting, and community partnerships. Unused funds will return to the district's general fund.
The question parents and taxpayers should be asking is whether any of this will help improve academic performance.
As measured by the spring 2025 Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments (MCAs), none of the 125 students tested were able to do math at grade level. In reading, only 4 students met grade-level proficiency. Proficiency has been steadily declining in both subject areas since at least 2022. Given that these achievement results occurred during the school's time as an IB school, it appears this model did not work for the students at Benjamin E. Mays.
District leaders are now betting on an Afrocentric model rooted in identity-based instruction to succeed where the IB program fell short. School officials tout the program's emphasis on "culturally relevant instruction and community engagement" as a path "to increased academic performance."
Research, though, on Afrocentric curricula is limited, and the studies that do exist don't offer reliable evidence that such programs consistently improve student achievement.
Families who prefer the IB model will still have access to it elsewhere in the district, with transportation provided. School principal Danielle Hughes told the Pioneer Press that few families have chosen that option so far.
Students need to be able to read and do math. Ideological frameworks should not be a substitute for academic achievement. That is the standard against which this program, like any other, must be held accountable so students don't continue to pay the price.
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Catrin Wigfall is a Policy Fellow at Center of the American Experiment.
catrin.wigfall@americanexperiment.org
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Original text here: https://www.americanexperiment.org/st-paul-school-trades-ib-program-for-afrocentric-focus/
[Category: ThinkTank]
Center for American Progress: Congressional Republicans Gift Lawless Trump Administration $70B Mass Deportation Slush Fund After Voting Down Measures To Help Americans in Need
WASHINGTON, June 10 -- The Center for American Progress issued the following news release on June 9, 2026:
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Congressional Republicans Gift Lawless Trump Administration $70B Mass Deportation Slush Fund After Voting Down Measures To Help Americans in Need
Today, House Republicans voted for tens of billions of dollars in unaccountable taxpayer funding for U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to carry out the Trump administration's unpopular mass deportation agenda.
Last week, before sending this bill to the House of Representatives, Senate
... Show Full Article
WASHINGTON, June 10 -- The Center for American Progress issued the following news release on June 9, 2026:
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Congressional Republicans Gift Lawless Trump Administration $70B Mass Deportation Slush Fund After Voting Down Measures To Help Americans in Need
Today, House Republicans voted for tens of billions of dollars in unaccountable taxpayer funding for U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to carry out the Trump administration's unpopular mass deportation agenda.
Last week, before sending this bill to the House of Representatives, SenateRepublicans had rejected multiple amendments to the bill to help Americans in need. In response, Debu Gandhi, senior director for Immigration Policy at the Center for American Progress, released the following statement:
As American households are forced to pay an extra $750 in costs because of the president's dangerous and foolhardy war of choice in Iran, congressional Republicans are shelling out $70 billion to President Donald Trump's corrupt and lawless ICE and CBP while doing nothing to help Americans crushed by the high cost of living.
This new slush fund will undoubtedly worsen, not rein in, the abuses of President Trump's destructive and unaccountable deportation force. Congress should be focused on giving Americans more breathing room and fixing our broken, outdated immigration system to make our country safer and stronger.
Related resources:
"Congressional Republicans Recklessly Bill Taxpayers for the Trump Administration's ICE and CBP Slush Fund and Wasteful Ballroom" by Rosa Barrientos-Ferrer, Ben Greenho, Debu Gandhi, and Silva Mathema
"The Trump Administration's Assault on Immigrants Degrades the Rule of Law" by Tom Jawetz
"Trump and Congressional Republicans' Plan To Pump More Money Into ICE and Border Patrol Is a Missed Opportunity To Help Americans" by Bobby Kogan
For more information on this topic or to speak with an expert, contact Gaby Blanco at gblanco@americanprogress.org.
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Original text here: https://www.americanprogress.org/press/statement-congressional-republicans-gift-lawless-trump-administration-70b-mass-deportation-slush-fund-after-voting-down-measures-to-help-americans-in-need/
[Category: ThinkTank]
CSIS Issues Commentary: Curious Case of the 'America First' Trade Policy in Vietnam
WASHINGTON, June 10 -- The Center for Strategic and International Studies issued the following commentary on June 9, 2026, by Joseph Damond, senior associate (non-resident) in the Southeast Asia Program:
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The Curious Case of the "America First" Trade Policy in Vietnam
In the past year, as the Trump administration has taken action to implement its "America First" trade policy, Vietnam has found itself in an essentially unique and difficult position. On the one hand, it has one of the largest bilateral trade surpluses with the United States, smaller than only China and Mexico. On the other
... Show Full Article
WASHINGTON, June 10 -- The Center for Strategic and International Studies issued the following commentary on June 9, 2026, by Joseph Damond, senior associate (non-resident) in the Southeast Asia Program:
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The Curious Case of the "America First" Trade Policy in Vietnam
In the past year, as the Trump administration has taken action to implement its "America First" trade policy, Vietnam has found itself in an essentially unique and difficult position. On the one hand, it has one of the largest bilateral trade surpluses with the United States, smaller than only China and Mexico. On the otherhand, it lacks China's ability to successfully push back on strong U.S. action and Mexico's privileged place as a member of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, under which most trade has been exempted from U.S. tariffs.
Vietnam's large bilateral trade surplus with the United States makes it a key target for action in the America First trade policy, the stated objective of which is to correct "unfair and unbalanced trade," or large trade deficits, in U.S. trade flows. This has taken the form of Agreements on Reciprocal Trade (ARTs), under which a country makes significant market-opening concessions to the United States and commits to aligning its economic security measures with U.S. trade actions against China--while accepting high U.S. tariffs in return. Vietnam was assigned a 20 percent "reciprocal" tariff on top of preexisting U.S. tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act until it was overturned. The Trump administration is now seeking to apply the tariffs using other trade statutes.
Though Vietnam is in a similar position as its Southeast Asian neighbors in that it lacks significant negotiating leverage with the United States, it is much more exposed economically than any of these other countries: The U.S. trade deficit with Vietnam grew to $178 billion in 2025, far larger than any other Southeast Asian nation (the second highest, Thailand, had a deficit of $71.9 billion). Vietnam additionally lacks the ability to defray tariffs by pledging investment in the United States that large Asian economies of Japan, South Korea and Taiwan have (as well as the European Union).
While the United States has been able to reach ARTs with key East Asian economies--Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, South Korea, and Taiwan--it has not yet concluded one with Vietnam, though a more general framework has been agreed. Vietnam's failure to conclude an ART--unlike most of its regional peers--is likely due in large part to the far greater economic stakes involved for Vietnam in reaching a satisfactory agreement with the United States.
However, it now appears that the United States is working to ratchet up the pressure on Vietnam to conclude a bilateral ART, sending a delegation to Hanoi in May 2026 armed with new leverage: Vietnam was the only country selected by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative as a "Priority Foreign Country" (PFC) under its 2026 Special 301 Report identifying global intellectual property priorities. Vietnam does indeed have a series of unresolved intellectual property issues with the United States, some of them long-standing. That said, no country has been selected to be a PFC under this process for over a decade, and there has been no other section 301 intellectual property investigations even outside of this process since the 2018 case on China. It thus does appear relevant that of the countries reviewed in USTR's report, Vietnam has one of the largest trade deficits and also has not concluded an ART, clearly a top trade priority for the United States. But does the decision to focus leverage on Vietnam make sense when considering U.S. economic interests?
Are U.S. Imports from Vietnam a Problem?
In its various meetings to negotiate an ART with Vietnam this past year, U.S. trade officials have made clear that the central problem they are working to solve is the large size of its trade surplus with the United States, and the U.S. concern that it will be a destination for Chinese trade or investment seeking to circumvent U.S. trade actions on China. This begs the key question of whether Vietnam's large trade surplus with the United States and its proximity to China legitimately constitute a threat to the U.S. economy. It seems that the deficit's magnitude is prima facie evidence to the administration that bilateral trade with Vietnam is harmful. To assess the merits of this conclusion, it is worth taking a closer look at the level, growth, and composition of imports from Vietnam to examine the impact they are having or could have on the U.S. economy.
A few key facts using data from the U.S. International Trade Commission provide a good picture of the overall nature and impact of Vietnamese imports:
* Overall Level and Growth of Imports: Since the signing of the U.S.-Vietnam Bilateral Trade Agreement in 2000, U.S. goods imports from Vietnam have grown dramatically from $1 billion in 2001 to $193 billion in 2025, a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 23 percent over that period. Its growth over the past 10 years was actually slower, at 11 percent CAGR.
To keep these numbers in context, while Vietnam's bilateral trade surplus with the U.S. was one of the largest in the world at $178 billion in 2025, Vietnam's share of total U.S. global imports in 2025 ($3.4 trillion) was just 5.6 percent. Vietnam's imports as a share of U.S. GDP were 0.6 percent.
* Composition of Vietnamese Imports: Imports from Vietnam are highly concentrated in a few key sectors. Out of 96 import categories, the top 25 account for 97 percent of imports, the top 10 account for 88 percent, and just the top 2 categories account for 60 percent of total U.S. imports from Vietnam in 2025.
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Table 1: Composition of U.S. Imports from Vietnam, 2025, Top Sectors
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A significant majority of imports from Vietnam consist of semiconductors, smartphones, and computers; many originate from U.S. companies such as Apple or Intel, or from other major global electronics companies such as Samsung. Electronic imports from Vietnam are not a result of Chinese investment in Vietnam, but rather the result of supply chain decisions made by large global tech companies.
* Growth Rates Over the Past 10 Years: Concerns have increased around the recent significant growth in Vietnamese imports, especially in view of trade tensions with China and prompted reshoring to Vietnam. To understand where these concerns are coming from, is useful to look at the growth rates of each of these categories during that period.
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Table 2: Compound Annual Growth Rate in U.S. Imports from Vietnam, Past 10 Years
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The conclusions from this data, in combination with Table 1, are instructive. First, in the past 10 years, growth of Vietnamese imports has been most explosive in the electronics categories. This is even more apparent when looking at the absolute growth in imports: In 2025, the growth in semiconductor, smartphone, computer, and related imports from Vietnam accounted for a whopping 80 percent of total import growth from Vietnam. Second, the sectors where Chinese companies hold a higher share of investment in Vietnam--furniture, apparel, toys, and plastics--either showed much more modest growth over the past 10 years or saw very minimal imports into Vietnam. In short, the global electronics industry--not Chinese companies--was by far the largest responder during the year of the America First trade policy.
Conclusion
It is hard to make the case that imports from Vietnam, as large as they are, are a direct or material threat to the U.S. economy, or that they constitute a significant reshoring of Chinese companies. While it is true that some electronics production now sourced from Vietnam could represent genuine supply chain diversification away from China--where production is actually shifted to Vietnam rather than merely rerouted through it--given the national security importance of the sector and the desire of successive administrations for U.S. companies to lessen reliance on China, such diversification is a desirable outcome for the United States, not a concerning one. The legitimate concern lies instead with transshipment: goods that are simply relabeled as "Made in Vietnam" without any meaningful transformation, which is both economically distortive and illegal.
Moreover, the administration's goal to relocate electronics manufacturing to the United States itself is simply not going to be economical under any realistic circumstances in the low-value-added assembly and packaging segment of the supply chain where Vietnamese production is focused. Indeed, in import sectors other than electronics, Vietnam likewise occupies the labor-intensive, low-value-added segment that directly competes with other developing economies--not the United States.
There may be some relatively small subsectors in the United States that are sensitive to Vietnamese imports. But the most effective policy response to such isolated cases of import sensitivity is for U.S. companies to avail themselves of trade remedy laws designed for just this purpose. It is difficult to see what the United States gains by using the blunt instrument of an across-the-board high reciprocal tariff on a country the size and income level of Vietnam. If that is true for Vietnam with its huge deficit, it calls into question the potential benefits of using the America First trade policy--even on the administration's own terms--on countries with even smaller deficits.
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Joseph Damond is a senior associate (non-resident) in the Southeast Asia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, D.C.
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Original text here: https://www.csis.org/analysis/curious-case-america-first-trade-policy-vietnam
[Category: ThinkTank]
CRC News: Southern Poverty Law Center Coverage
WASHINGTON, June 10 -- The Capital Research Center issued the following news on June 9, 2026:
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CRC News: SPLC Coverage
A compilation of recent coverage of of the SPLC scandal that uses CRC research.
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In late April the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) was indicted by a Federal Grand Jury for (according to the U.S. Department of Justice news release) "wire fraud, false statements, and conspiracy to commit money laundering." Among its claims, the government alleges that the SPLC was secretly funding the very racist extremists that they have claimed to oppose.
Over our history the Capital
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WASHINGTON, June 10 -- The Capital Research Center issued the following news on June 9, 2026:
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CRC News: SPLC Coverage
A compilation of recent coverage of of the SPLC scandal that uses CRC research.
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In late April the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) was indicted by a Federal Grand Jury for (according to the U.S. Department of Justice news release) "wire fraud, false statements, and conspiracy to commit money laundering." Among its claims, the government alleges that the SPLC was secretly funding the very racist extremists that they have claimed to oppose.
Over our history the CapitalResearch Center has chronicled the many controversies regarding the SPLC. After the indictment was released, we posted a blog compiling many of them: "A CRC history of Southern Poverty Law Center controversies."
When these latest allegations arrived, CRC again became a go-to source for media seeking perspective.
Shortly after the indictment, Capital Research Center senior fellow Kali Fontanilla discovered a new SPLC controversy, which she wrote up in an April 29 report titled "Southern Poverty Law Center suddenly shoves lesson plans for school children down the memory hole." As a California public school teacher for fifteen years, Kali had noticed the SPLC promoting its agenda in the classroom.
Kali wrote:
These SPLC-produced lessons were even included in the official curriculum for English Learners in my district. Learning for Justice is SPLC's educational arm, formerly called Teaching Tolerance. I believe they abandoned that original name because these lessons were no longer about "teaching tolerance" but building resistance movements in our public schools.
The SPLC distribution model was simple. Teachers are exhausted and always looking for free, ready-made material. The SPLC provided it. In 2021 alone, more than half a million educational resources were downloaded from the site. Six hundred thousand copies of its magazine went out to teachers and districts nationwide.
What their lessons actually contained is what I wrote about three years ago: ready-made lessons for teaching radicalism in public schools.
But after the federal grand jury indictments came down, Kali noticed the lessons had disappeared from the SPLC website:
One of the plot elements of George Orwell's dystopian novel Nineteen-Eighty-Four was the "memory hole," a chute leading to an incinerator, down which the regime's Ministry of Truth would dump embarrassing news stories that had been rewritten to cover up official misdeeds and humiliations.
Click over to the Southern Poverty Law Center's classroom resources page and you will get a 404 error. Next, try the archive lesson plan builder, where teachers can build themed units based on the SPLC's lesson plans. Same thing, error code, and access is denied. Hundreds of lessons that were freely available to teachers last month, lessons that made their way into public school classrooms across the country, are now locked away or scrubbed entirely.
The SPLC's memory hole sure has been getting a lot of use recently.
On May 5, Kelli Ballard, national correspondent for Liberty Nation News, used and extensively quoted from Kali's report extensively in her own analysis of SPLC's teaching materials: "SPLC Tries to 'Memory Hole' What It Really Taught Children."
On May 4, Liberty Nation's Joe Schaeffer interviewed CRC president Scott Walter on the SPLC scandal: "Liberty Nation Exclusive: How the SPLC Kept the Hate Money Flowing: . An interview with Scott Walter, president of watchdog org Capital Research Center." There is also a video of the discussion.
Here's a sample Q&A from their chat:
Joe Schaeffer: My first question is to kind of define our terms here. I've heard, the SPLC, well, they're not really an NGO, but they act like one. Well, actually, they are an NGO. Is the Southern Poverty Law Center an NGO? And why does it matter?
Scott Walter: Well, originally, the term NGO just meant anything that was neither a business nor government. Nowadays in common use it's often used to describe groups that are getting money from the government or are working very tightly with the government. The SPLC doesn't particularly get government money, but it definitely colludes with government agencies, especially the Department of Justice and the FBI, where the SPLC is trying to have its hate list, which, you know, claims to identify really bad actors out there, used for prosecutions or for other downgradings of groups' respectability or ability even to function. And some of the groups on their hate list are really nasty. They're, you know, genuine neo-Nazis and crazy fringe people like that. But, in recent years, they've started adding just mainstream Christian groups, mainstream conservative groups, and smearing these completely legitimate actors, whether you agree with them or not.
Listed below are some additional recent examples of CRC researchers cited in media regarding SPLC:
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Newsbusters (Media Research Center)--WIKI-BIAS EXPOSED: Wikipedia Editors Scramble to Bury SPLC Indictment
The SPLC's continued privileged status at Wikipedia provides editors with what amounts to a digital weapon to use against faith-based organizations, free speech advocates and Republicans and right-leaning organizations and individuals. The SPLC is approved for use while sources like Breitbart, Fox News, the New York Post and The Daily Wire are heavily restricted or even blacklisted. Such policies limit favorable coverage of those the SPLC has unfairly targeted and lumped in with hate groups. At the same time, editors are free to use the SPLC's "extremist files" to undermine credibility or perhaps even damage reputations.
Wikipedia editors have cited the SPLC more than 7,000 times across Wikipedia. SPLC is cited far more than organizations that are fighting for religious liberty or working to end discriminatory Diversity, Equity and Inclusion "DEI" programs or similar advocacy. For example, as of May 1, Wikipedia only cited Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) 48 times; The Federalist Society 313 times; Capital Research Center 87 times and the New Civil Liberties Alliance 20 times. Despite each having its own page on the online encyclopedia, Wikipedia doesn't cite to either America First Legal or the Thomas More Society law firm.
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Washington Examiner--SPLC allegedly spent over $1 million infiltrating hate group it publicly claimed was 'almost irrelevant'
"Like a crooked record company bribing DJs to play its songs and prop up revenue, the SPLC gave secret payola for a decade to racists at a 'moribund' Nazi group," Capital Research Center President Scott Walter told the Washington Examiner. "Nothing better proves the SPLC does not protect us from dangerous sickos; it just operates a charity racket more rotten than anything I've seen in decades of studying the sector."
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Wall Street Journal-- The SPLC's Contradictions: The Southern Poverty Law Center allegedly paid more than $1 million to someone affiliated with a group it called "almost irrelevant."
* The WSJ published a brief, letter to the editor, from CRC president Scott Walter providing additional information about the alleged $1 million payout by SPLC to the supposedly defunct hate group.
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The Federalist--Norm Eisen Frets DOJ Indictment 'Jeopardizes' People On SPLC's 'Hate List' (And Payroll)
* CRC's InfluenceWatch cited:
The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) has long served as an important fixture in the left's efforts to vilify and attack conservatives. So, it wasn't exactly surprising when former Obama administration lackey Norm Eisen eagerly defended the group over its allegedly unlawful informant scheme that paid members of racist groups like the Ku Klux Klan (KKK).
The moment occurred on Wednesday during a virtual press conference hosted by the Democracy Defenders Fund. Founded and led by Eisen, the left-wing organization launched in 2024 to partake "in legal advocacy opposing Republican efforts to implement changes to election administration and procedures," according to the Capital Research Center's InfluenceWatch database.
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Just the News--SPLC's Double Game: Funding extremists while spending millions to swing Southern elections: While the SPLC was funneling money to extremist group insiders, it was spending lavishly to try to swing elections in the Deep South.
The conservative, nonprofit watchdog group Capital Research Center has long argued that the SPLC has deviated from its original mission and now uses its massive war chest to stoke division and paint benign conservative groups as vectors of hate.
"The Southern Poverty Law Center is an organization that has so succeeded in pushing bigots out of the mainstream, that now over 40 years after their founding, they need to constantly find new bigots inside the mainstream to fight against," the group wrote in 2023. "When there aren't many left, that means dangerously expanding who is called a bigot."
The recent indictment alleges that even as the SPLC publicly decried "white supremacy," it was bankrolling the very figures who could provide the inflammatory social media posts and public controversies the SPLC needed to trigger a constant stream of donations, making it wealthier than many colleges and universities.
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Middle East and Terrorism Blog--SPLC's Double Game: Funding extremists while spending millions to swing Southern elections
* This report repeated the text from the Just the News report cited above.
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Just the News--Nonprofit Crackdown: Feds target the liberal dark money infrastructure: From the Congress to the Department of Justice and the IRS, the Trump administration and allied lawmakers are examining the anonymity and tax-exempt status enjoyed by some of the most influential progressive organizations in the country.
While the SPLC claims these were legitimate payments for undercover informants to monitor threats, the FBI and DOJ allege the funds were used to ensure that "hate" remained visible enough to justify the SPLC's mission and purpose.
The scale of the SPLC's wealth has long been a point of contention for investigative watchdogs.
As of late 2024, the organization's consolidated financial statements showed nearly $790 million in net assets. The conservative, nonprofit watchdog group Capital Research Center argues that the SPLC has deviated from its original mission and now uses its massive war chest to stoke division and paint benign conservative groups as vectors of hate.
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Ken Braun
As managing editor and director of content of CRC, Ken Braun edits Capital Research magazine.
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Original text here: https://capitalresearch.org/article/crc-news-splc-coverage/
[Category: ThinkTank]
CAP Supports the Patients Deserve Price Tags Act
WASHINGTON, June 10 -- The Center for American Progress issued the following statement on June 9, 2026:
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CAP Supports the Patients Deserve Price Tags Act
Ahead of a House Energy and Commerce Committee markup, Natasha Murphy, director of Health Policy at the Center for American Progress, issued the following statement in support of the bipartisan Patients Deserve Price Tags Act:
Too many hospitals and insurers continue to hide prices from the patients, employers, and taxpayers who ultimately foot the bill.
The Patients Deserve Price Tags Act would help pull back the curtain on those costs,
... Show Full Article
WASHINGTON, June 10 -- The Center for American Progress issued the following statement on June 9, 2026:
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CAP Supports the Patients Deserve Price Tags Act
Ahead of a House Energy and Commerce Committee markup, Natasha Murphy, director of Health Policy at the Center for American Progress, issued the following statement in support of the bipartisan Patients Deserve Price Tags Act:
Too many hospitals and insurers continue to hide prices from the patients, employers, and taxpayers who ultimately foot the bill.
The Patients Deserve Price Tags Act would help pull back the curtain on those costs,making the health care system more transparent and accountable while giving patients the information they need to make informed decisions about their care. When excessive prices can no longer hide in the shadows, families have a better chance of getting the affordable care they deserve.
Earlier this year, the Center for American Progress released "A Patients' Bill of Rights To Lower Health Care Costs," a set of reforms designed to lower premiums, deductibles, and out-of-pocket costs while increasing accountability across the health care system.
CAP's analysis found that reducing excessive hospital prices could lower average family premiums by more than $1,300 per year by 2032 and significantly reduce costs for workers and their families.
For more information on this topic or to speak with an expert, contact Christian Unkenholz at cunkenholz@americanprogress.org.
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Original text here: https://www.americanprogress.org/press/statement-cap-supports-the-patients-deserve-price-tags-act/
[Category: ThinkTank]
