December 8, 2009

Is David Gelbaum broke?

Don't recognize the name? Keep reading.

From the New York Times:
Civil Liberties Group Loses $20 Million Donor

A longtime anonymous donor to the American Civil Liberties Union has withdrawn his annual gift of more than $20 million, punching a 25 percent hole in its annual operating budget and forcing cutbacks in operations.

Anthony D. Romero, executive director of the A.C.L.U., acknowledged in a written statement that a “family” had told the organization in September that it could not make its annual gifts, at least for next year. “This family, that has sought to protect its privacy by arranging its gifts anonymously, notified us last month that due to market conditions it will be unable to make its expected sizable donations of over $20 million,” Mr. Romero said.

A.C.L.U. board members, who insisted on anonymity because the loss of the gift was reported in an executive session of their meeting, identified the donor as David Gelbaum, who made a fortune as a hedge fund manager and is now better known as a major investor in clean technology. ...

Mr. Gelbaum began contributing $50,000 or so annually to the A.C.L.U. in the early 1980s and kept increasing his gifts, to $22.5 million in 2008, board members said.

The only condition he placed on the gifts was that he remain anonymous, so only a handful of people at the A.C.L.U. knew he was the donor. ... Mr. Romero did not reveal Mr. Gelbaum’s name, describing him only as “a donor,” board members said

Still, it is hard to keep secrets with a board of more than 80 members, most of whom report to state affiliates. “As soon as he started telling us, anyone who had a laptop with them was busy Googling” and figured out who the donor was, a national board member said.

Mr. Romero told the board that the donor had also stopped giving to three “sister organizations,” a phrase board members said he had used in the past to describe other groups with which the A.C.L.U. has collaborated, like the Sierra Club.

Mr. Gelbaum took a rare turn in the spotlight earlier this decade when environmental activists said he was behind the Sierra Club’s decision to adopt a neutral stance on immigration. Some people believe immigration has aggravated environmental problems.

He had given the organization a total of $101.5 million, according to The Los Angeles Times, which wrote what is perhaps the only major profile of him, in 2004. In the article, he is quoted as saying that he told Carl Pope, the Sierra Club’s executive director, in 1994 or 1995 “that if they ever came out anti-immigration, they would never get a dollar from me.”

My published articles are archived at iSteve.com -- Steve Sailer

51 comments:

Middletown Girl said...

With liberal Jews being so rich and donating huge sums to organizations like ACLU and Sierra Club, they've pretty much bought up most of the power institutions of this country. We are in BIG trouble. Money talks, BS walks.

A Vdare article spelled out how Van Jones was the creation of liberal Jewish money. So is Obama.

Black Sea said...

Steve,

OT I know, but I thought your readers might get a kick out of this.

From today's New York Times:

"The decade of 2000 to 2009 appears to be the warmest one in the modern record, the World Meteorological Organization reported in a new analysis on Tuesday.

The period from 2000 through 2009 has been “warmer than the 1990s, which were warmer than the 1980s, and so on,” Michel Jarraud, the secretary general of the international weather agency, said at a news conference here."




From today's Christian Science Monitor:

"The Earth isn’t warming right now . . . . It may even be cooling down somewhat.

Five major climate centers around the world agree that average global temperatures have not risen in the past 11 years, according to the BBC. In fact, in eight of those years, global average temperatures dipped a tad."



From the BBC (of all places):

"For the last 11 years we have not observed any increase in global temperatures. And our climate models did not forecast it, even though man-made carbon dioxide, the gas thought to be responsible for warming our planet, has continued to rise."

Well, thank God we've arrived at a consensus going into Copenhagen.

Svigor said...

Don't recognize the name?

Hard to forget that one.

I'm a bit surprised the Times brought up the Sierra Club thing, or mentioned the fact that the intersection of immigration and the environment was the (or is an) issue.

Chris said...

Gelbaum is a Norwegian name, isn't it? I take it he's one of those nutty Nordics bent on "Repairing the World" to his match his own peoples' preferences.

ManleyAnnDunham said...

Couldn't happen to a sleazier guy... I hope we find out he had all his money "invested" with Bernie Madoff.

Anonymous said...

"I cannot support an organization that is anti-immigration. It would dishonor the memory of my grandparents." ----David Gelbaum.
http://kvetcher.net/2009/09/4000/brenda-walkers-understandable-concern/




Black Sea,
The Climate Treaty "REPARATIONS" would cost 50-200 Billion dollars per year,
http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/12/climate_treaty_reparations_would_cost_50-200bn_per_year.html

China and India are listed as developing countries in the treaty, so the USA would get to keep borrowing money from China so we could pay them reparations for damaging their environment. Maybe would could buy some carbon credits from them to so we can continue to heat our homes in the winter. We could give them ownership of Yosemitie or something so we dont freeze when the dollar no longer has value.



BTW---Here is an article by a scientist who thinks we might be entering another ice age,
http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/05/the_coming_ice_age.html


I dont know about David Deming, but I do know that even the watermelon AGW'ers admit that the US and Canada have been getting cooler since 1998. We get to measure the tempretures HERE, but they get to measure them everywhere else. They are claiming the rest of the world is getting warmer. I do know this, we set five coldest temprature records on December the 5th in the USA, just a few days ago---and seen snow in places in early December that usually dont see snow at all.

Everybody needs to prepare themselves for a lie they will be hearing when we have lots of snowfall this winter. They are going to tell you that it rarely snows when the temprature is below 20 degrees. This was pulled when Colorado had snowfalls this October. The left actually tried to tell us it wasn't cold enough, so we got snow.


BTW---Gelbaum is a big investor in solar energy, so Im sure the climate bill is important to him. The Chinese are getting into Solar and have even obtained a plant in Arizona. Perhaps foreign competition is taking a bite out of Gelbaum, which is kind of fitting if its so because thats what has taken a bite out of many of the 15.7 million unemployed Americans we have right now.

Anonymous said...

Gelbaum is a Norwegian name, isn't it? I take it he's one of those nutty Nordics bent on "Repairing the World" to his match his own peoples' preferences.

No, Scotch-Irish.

Willy said...

David Gelbaum, who made a fortune as a hedge fund manager and is now better known as a major investor in clean technology. ...

Clean technology? You mean like human labor saving automation and robotics technology?

I guess as a fund manager he must be hedging his bets then, ensuring both a steady supply of human labor energy and technology. Or something.

Anonymous said...

"No, Scotch-Irish."

So, sorry-- I think it derives from the Black Speech of Mordor.

CJ said...

Did you like that story about Gelbaum? Does it give you pleasure to think that maybe Madoff cleaned him out? Does it perk you up to learn that America-hating subversive organizations are strapped for money and have to lay off staff and even close up shop? If so, then you simply must read this story:

Madoff Fraud Sinks JEHT Foundation

This is the kind of story that you want to savor with a glass of good Scotch.

SF said...

http://shastainquirer.blogspot.com/2009/11/global-warming-stalled.html

Here is a summary and link to a good article on recent climate trends. Other things besides greenhouse gases do affect climate. The pacific decadal oscillation and the minimal sunspot cycle are exerting a cooling influence and canceling out the impact of increased greenhouse gases, although the arctic is still warming. But these cycles are temporary. When they turn around, the impact of increased greenhouse gases will be magnified.

Whiskey said...

Last time I checked, Mr. Global Warming, aka Kleiner-Perkins himself, Al Gore, was not in fact Jewish. Nor is Obama, Mr. Savior of the Planet (he is in fact deeply hostile to Israel and Jews would prefer as a cultural Muslim at least to see both eradicated from the planet). Nor is George Monbiot (the chief Moonbat of the Guardian) Jewish. Nor is Holdren, Obama's Science Advisor and Global Warming lunatic, Jewish. Nor are any of the "scientists" in the East Anglia email scandal Jewish. Nor is Ban Ki Moon, UN Secretary General, and chief promulgator of the Global Warming scam and transfer payments, Jewish.

Gelbaum is a SWPL Yuppie first, and Jew last (if that). See his support for the most anti-Israel, anti-Jewish, anti-American President ever, Barack Obama. A man who would not even come to attention during Memorial Day (cradling his crotch again).

Anonymous said...

Gelbaum is a SWPL Yuppie first, and Jew last (if that).

No, he's Scotch first, and Irish last.

tecumseh said...

See his support for the most anti-Israel, anti-Jewish, anti-American President ever, Barack Obama. A man who would not even come to attention during Memorial Day (cradling his crotch again).

Cradling one's crotch and not coming to attention during Memorial Day is "anti-Israel" and "anti-Jewish"? How can being irreverent be these things. So was Larry David being "anti-Israel" and "anti-Jewish" when he pissed on a portrait of Jesus?

Anonymous said...

Gelbaum is a Norwegian name, isn't it?

Oh I don't know, I think it has more of a Scots-Irish ring to it.

Anthony said...

From the article: "Some people believe immigration has aggravated environmental problems."

Some people *believe* it has aggravated environmental problems?

Anonymous said...

Fred, T99 - you attempts to let Gelbaum off the hook would sound more plausible if you could point to Jewish billionaires who had funded immigration restrictionist groups - and of course you can't.

Anonymous said...

whiskey99: "Gelbaum is a SWPL Yuppie first, and Jew last (if that)."

David Gelbaum: "I cannot support an organization that is anti-immigration. It would dishonor the memory of my grandparents."

Gelbaum "said his views on immigration were shaped long ago by his grandfather, Abraham, a watchmaker who had come to America to escape persecution of Jews in Ukraine before World War I."

Faust said...

One can hope more left-wing capitalists will go broke; they do society a lot of damage.

OhioStater said...

What interest does a hedge fund manager have in civil liberties, the environment, and wide open immigration? The left makes no sense at times.

anony-mouse said...

Apparently Steve's genius commenters can't figure out how to use this google thing.

David Gelbaum's wife is named Monica Chavez Gelbaum.

His pro-immigration opinions may have little to do with his grandparents, and his Jewish heritage may mean little to him.

Mr. Anon said...

"OhioStater said...

What interest does a hedge fund manager have in civil liberties, the environment, and wide open immigration?"

Apparently, quite a bit. Wide open immigration? Come on, isn't it obvious what wealthy investors see in that?

By the way, if you think that the ACLU is really interested in promoting "civil liberties", then ask yourself this: When has the ACLU ever defended a 2nd amendment case? Why do they uniformly oppose capital punishment, despite the fact that capital punishment is expressly NOT unconstiutional? Where was the ACLU in the Kelo decision?

Anonymous said...

anony-mouse said

> Gelbaum's wife is named Monica Chavez Gelbaum. His pro-immigration opinions may have little to do with his grandparents <

We can discount his own statement and how much sense it makes for him because anyone with "Chavez" in her name cannot be Scots-Irish.

> What interest does a hedge fund manager have in civil liberties, the environment, and wide open immigration? <

These would seem to be reasonable interests of Scots-Irish and other multinational multimillionaires seeking to become multibillionaires and little gods on earth.

The recession seems to be good for the country. A lot of foolishness is tamped down by lack of cash. A grinding depression may be the best thing that ever happens to America. Most people's fondest plans, hopes, and dreams should die, because they're actually nightmares. But we're not supposed to say that - too cruel.

Victoria said...

A Vdare article spelled out how Van Jones was the creation of liberal Jewish money. So is Obama.

So are they all, beginning back in the early 20th century with the concoction of that NAACP. This is why Jews can justifiably say, "... and after all we DONE for you ...." I've always looked at it as, after all they've done TO blacks.

tommy said...

I knew the name immediately and I must say that it couldn't happen to a better guy.

Apparently Steve's genius commenters can't figure out how to use this google thing.

Apparently, Steve's not-so-genius commenters don't read VDare.

His pro-immigration opinions may have little to do with his grandparents, and his Jewish heritage may mean little to him.

From Brenda Walker's 2005 VDARE article, here is Gelbaum:

“Gelbaum, who reads the Spanish-language newspaper La OpiniĆ³n and is married to a Mexican American, said his views on immigration were shaped long ago by his grandfather, Abraham, a watchmaker who had come to America to escape persecution of Jews in Ukraine before World War I.

” ‘I asked, 'Abe, what do you think about all of these Mexicans coming here?' ‘Gelbaum said. ‘Abe didn't speak English that well. He said, 'I came here. How can I tell them not to come?'’

"I cannot support an organization that is anti-immigration. It would dishonor the memory of my grandparents."

Anonymous said...

Nor are any of the "scientists" in the East Anglia email scandal Jewish.

True. I'm pretty sure Michael Mann is Scotch-Irish.

Dutch Boy said...

Dear Whiskey: Al Gores Sr. & Jr. were protegees of Armand Hammer, that notable Scot-irish financier.

Kneale said...

Apparently Steve's genius commenters can't figure out how to use this google thing.

David Gelbaum's wife is named Monica Chavez Gelbaum.


Yeah, I'm sure David Gelbaum, billionaire hedge fund manager is married to "Monica Chavez" the 4'8" Yucatec Indian cleaning lady who was smuggled across the border in a Chevy conversion van filled with 80 other people from her village.

Dave R. said...

Pride goeth before a fall, and single large donors to non-profits goeth before a crash. The only surprise in this is that the ACLU didn't diversify its receipts or put away a rainy day fund before this; but $20 million a year would be hard to turn down. It does put the lie to the idea that the ACLU enjoys broad-based popular support. In a certain light its just a tax-shelter privileged to advance the political agenda of a few wealthy elites.

Oliver said...

Last time I checked, Mr. Global Warming, aka Kleiner-Perkins himself, Al Gore, was not in fact Jewish. Nor is Obama, Mr. Savior of the Planet (he is in fact deeply hostile to Israel and Jews would prefer as a cultural Muslim at least to see both eradicated from the planet). Nor is George Monbiot (the chief Moonbat of the Guardian) Jewish. Nor is Holdren, Obama's Science Advisor and Global Warming lunatic, Jewish. Nor are any of the "scientists" in the East Anglia email scandal Jewish. Nor is Ban Ki Moon, UN Secretary General, and chief promulgator of the Global Warming scam and transfer payments, Jewish.

Whiskey is absolutely right.

All of these guys are independent, non-compromised mavericks who are not in the very least driven by ambition, power, status, etc., and are completely impervious to peer pressure, external influence, money, etc.

Anonymous said...

Wow, 25% of the ACLU's budget coming from one donor isn't an ashkenazi conspiracy, it's something more complex and novelistic, it seems to me.

Gelbaum's seeming romanitc idealism (his Sierra club immigration ultimatum thing doesn't seem to me to be the perfect tactic of a capitalist to keep labor cheap) would be something I'd expect from a heir, rather than a Joe Kennedy type self-made man, but the article implies Gelbaum is self-made.

This is a quirky, unexpected data point to me. I'd like to see more detail.

Hopefully Anonymous

http://www.hopeanon.typepad.com

Anonymous said...

Well, Steve, your eclectic blogging and identity mythologies is resulting in some confusion in the comments.
In particular it's interesting to see jewish folks battle for their whiteness in this space.

Hopefully Anonymous

http://www.hopeanon.typepad.com

Udolpho.com said...

is this the successor to "doing well by doing good"?

cranzler said...

I don't know why Whiskey is coming up with lists of names to argue against people who spend hours compiling lists and can come up with even bigger lists.

It's as if you guys are playing some childish game of "my list is bigger than yours!"

If you play that game Whiskey, you're going to lose.

Anonymous said...

Wouldn't it just be amazing if Madoff were actually a Mossad agent, tasked with cleaning out all the left-liberal institutions who weaken America and thereby Israel? Taking their anti-America money and giving it to Israel? That would definitely be in the top 3 scams of all time.

Fred said...

"Fred, T99 - you attempts to let Gelbaum off the hook would sound more plausible if you could point to Jewish billionaires who had funded immigration restrictionist groups - and of course you can't."

Who's attempting to let Gelbaum off the hook? I was only pointing out that plenty of Nordics share Gelbaum's enthusiasms for environmentalism and third world immigration. Of course, just because Nordics advocate stupid policies doesn't justify Jews doing the same.

As for Jewish billionaires supporting immigration restriction, I can't think of any offhand. But then again, I can't think of any non-Jewish billionaires pushing that either.

Otis the Sweaty said...

Guys, I got a theory/observation that I want to share cause I think this thread really brings it out:

In HBDsphere there are essentially two groups: those who can't stand Jews and blame everything on them and those who can't stand NAM's and blame everything on them.

Now here is the weird thing: neither group really seems to have much of a problem with the demographic(s) that the other group despises. That being the case, isn't it kinda surprising that the HBD movement (for lack of a better word) attracts people which such different outlooks?

Or is my theory off? I'd really like to hear some feedback.

Fred said...

"That being the case, isn't it kinda surprising that the HBD movement (for lack of a better word) attracts people which such different outlooks?"

Not really. Steve himself is an apparently well-adjusted exception, but HBDism generally seems to attract bitter men, who like to blame their failings on others. That seems to be the common denominator. Some blame Jews, some (including some Jews, like Half Sigma) blame NAMs, and some blame both.

Anonymous said...

What is bad for the ACLU is good for the citizens of the United States. I hope we soon see them all swaying.

Jimmy Crackedcorn said...

Gelbaum is a SWPL Yuppie first, and Jew last (if that). See his support for the most anti-Israel, anti-Jewish, anti-American President ever, Barack Obama. A man who would not even come to attention during Memorial Day

And Obama has proven his anti-Semitic bona fides by....naming Rahm Emanuel his Chief-of-Staff. And having David Axelrod as his campaign chairman. And by hobnobbing with George Soros.

If this is how anti-Semitism operates in the halls of power then the worlds real anti-Semites are screwed.

As for Jewish billionaires supporting immigration restriction, I can't think of any offhand. But then again, I can't think of any non-Jewish billionaires pushing that either.

Immigration is one of the rare political issues where all of the money lines up on one side. The only billionaire I know of who might support restrictionist measures is Paypal founder/venture capitalist Peter Thiel, who supposedly gave $1 million to NumbersUSA.

But David Gelbaum is a bit more complicated than what we've presumed:

Gelbaum also announced he was halting some $12 million in yearly gifts to the Sierra Club Foundation and about $50 million a year that he's been giving to an organization serving veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. Gelbaum has given a total of $389 million to the groups from 2005 to 2009...Gelbaum's donation to the Sierra Club Foundation was earmarked for outdoor programs for military families, including a popular summer camp program for children of deployed veterans.

So his Sierra Club donations as well as $50 million in other donations were actually geared towards veterans.

Laudable, I suppose, except that with Congress tearing down the borders on the one hand and the ACLU burning the Constitution on the other I don't really know what the military is fighting for.

Nothing I'd bleed a single drop for, that's for sure.

Otis the Sweaty said...

"Not really. Steve himself is an apparently well-adjusted exception, but HBDism generally seems to attract bitter men, who like to blame their failings on others."

No, I don't think that's true at all. I'll use myself as an example: I am bitter and my failures could fill a book, but I don't blame NAM's for the fact that I am essentially a screw up. I do blame NAM's for a lot of other things, though.

I do not believe HBDers blame the groups they don't like (Jews or NAMs) for their personal failings, generally speaking. In fact, such a theory sounds like something a left winger would say... no offense.

Mr. Anon said...

"Fred said...

Not really. Steve himself is an apparently well-adjusted exception, but HBDism generally seems to attract bitter men, who like to blame their failings on others."

"Bitter men who like to blame their failings on others" sounds like a lot aging liberals I've known, and even some young ones.

I'm sure that your failings, Fred, are entirely your own.

Svigor said...

What was the joke again?

Euro American pols are split about 50/50. Jewish pols are 100% pro-open-borders.

G**gle (site:youknowthesite stevedoesntwantitpostedhere)

Jewish vs. Euro-American Voting Patterns

and

By Their Deeds Ye Shall Know Them!

Only representative of pols, obviously, but (IMO) indicative of other trends. Then there's that chapter in Culture of Critique no one wants to discuss...

Do Euros give 100 mil bribes to NGOs to keep the borders open? I honestly don't know. I know at least one Jew who has.

Look at how much of the political money in this country comes from Jews (do we really have to plow that ground again?). Then consider what happens to guys like Stephen Steinlight.

Anonymous said...

If you look at the ACLU's form 990 here, you will see on page 1, line 21 that the ACLU has net assets of $263,907,717.

The ACLU will have to lose a few more David Gelbaum's before it goes under.

Svigor said...

The germane distinction between scapegoaters and other forms of criticizers is that the former are unwilling to part ways with the targets of their criticism. E.g., blacks blame whites but follow them around; Jews blame Euros for everything under the sun, but go ballistic if you suggest a parting of the ways; liberals blame everyone from conservatives to ethnopatriots but suggest separation and at best you get the cricket chorus.

Fred's ad hom also passes over in silence the fact that ethnopatriotic Judeoskepticism is in large part a reaction to the Culture of Critique (the former is a fringe movement, and the latter is very much mainstream; what does this say about the respective originating populations vis-a-vis Fred's logic?).

Harry Baldwin said...

” ‘I asked, 'Abe, what do you think about all of these Mexicans coming here?' ‘Gelbaum said. ‘Abe didn't speak English that well. He said, 'I came here. How can I tell them not to come?'’

The logical question to ask Geldbaum is, "If Americans knew that by letting your grandfather and other Jews immigrate to this country we would never be able to have a rational immigration policy in the future, why on earth would they have wanted to let him in?"

(That's Lawrence Auster's point I'm paraphrasing.)

Reginald Thompson said...

Did Whiskey really say that Al Gore is a cultural Muslim?

That Bernie Madoff / Mossad fantasy was interesting. I suppose if the Leftist/NAM Alliance really brought down the American House of Cards, it could be the end of Israel as well.

But as Svigor correctly pointed out, the Jews behave in a way showing they could care less about this.

Well, either that or they are incapable of thinking out a scenario where something bad for Whites is also bad for Jews, due to their instinctive anti-White disgust reflex.

Of course the Neocon/Hillbilly Alliance hasn’t been so great for Israel either, considering that the Iraq Attack has pinned down the US Army, allowing Iran to act with impunity in the advancement of their Nuclear Program.

DestroyToCreate said...

The real interesting bit, to me, about Gelbaum is that his supposed fortune was mostly invested in very shady penny stock companies that trade on the OTC-BB and Pink Sheets.

No media outlet has truly delved into the pedigree of his investments. Had anyone done so, they would have quickly come to the conclusion that Gelbaum and his Quercus Trust was selling hype and snake oil.

Anonymous said...

The insinuation that Gelbaum bribed the Sierra Club not to oppose immigration overlooks the fact that club members voted to remain neutral on this issue by a whopping 85-15 margin. I don't recall getting any check in the mail from Mr. Gelbaum before that vote.

Anonymous said...

Simply from the comments pertaining to this one post about David Gelbaum, it seems possible to derive the fact that Steve Sailor's readers are quite possibly as myopic and as unintelligent as Steve Sailor himself.

Steve Sailor tries to pass himself off as a reporter of truth, when in fact he is quite blatantly a racist provacteur and neo-conservative living in the same gutter as Michael Savage, Shaun Hannity, Mark Levin and Rush Limberger Limbaugh.

I truly don't know how such cretins live with themselves, but what is really scary, are how many of the U.S. public are literally STUPID enough to believe their disgusting diatribes.

Anonymous said...

David Gelbaum would also have us free of dependence on foreign oil like any true American would. If the USA is destroyed it will be because of right wing conservatives in love with crude oil enough to sell out America to those who hate America.