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  <updated>2008-08-07T15:56:24-05:00</updated>
  <entry>
    <title>Scarborough Claims Growing Movement, Shrinking Purse in Missouri Stem Cell Effort</title>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/scarborough-claims-growing-movement-shrinking-purse-missouri-stem-cell-effort" />
    <id>http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/scarborough-claims-growing-movement-shrinking-purse-missouri-stem-cell-effort</id>
    <published>2006-08-16T17:03:04-05:00</published>
    <updated>2008-08-07T15:56:24-05:00</updated>
    <author>
      <name>Ezra</name>
    </author>
    <category term="Alan Keyes" />
    <category term="David Limbaugh" />
    <category term="Missouri" />
    <category term="Rick Scarborough" />
    <category term="Science" />
    <category term="Vision America" />
    <summary type="html"><![CDATA[<p>In an <a href="http://media.pfaw.org/Right/scarborough-080606.txt" target="_blank">e-mail to his supporters</a>, Rick   Scarborough of Vision America   announces his <a title="http://www.semissourian.com/story/1163813.html" href="http://www.semissourian.com/story/1163813.html">second rally</a> against a   Missouri stem-cell research ballot initiative,   to be held in Cape   Girardeau, home of commentator and Rush-brother David   Limbaugh. His first rally featured Alan Keyes, who <a title="http://www.rightwingwatch.org/2006/08/rally_in_missou_1.html" href="http://www.rightwingwatch.org/2006/08/rally_in_missou_1.html">compared</a> their effort to protect embryos with African-Americans&rsquo; struggle for civil   rights. Keyes will again speak at Cape   Girardeau.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Our rallies are creating quite a   stir in Missouri and increasingly in the national press, as the church is coming   together to say in a united voice that cloning human beings for body parts is&nbsp;   unacceptable.</p>
<p>This week we were informed that CNN   is sending a crew to cover our rally in St. Louis on September 28.&nbsp; And this week, we   added our fifth rally to be held in Springfield,   Missouri, which will be hosted by the historic   Central Assembly of God Church in downtown Springfield.&nbsp; We have now been requested to   host two additional rallies, for a total of seven rallies across the state, as   the Church is increasingly uniting in this battle for curbing the growing menace   of science without God. ...</p>
<p>We are currently finalizing details   for Dr. James Dobson and Focus on the Family to partner with us in this effort.&nbsp;   The entire nation will be watching Missouri   this fall and Vision America is leading the way for the   cause of life!</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Scarborough, however,   claims that he&rsquo;s feeling the pinch financially. In a solicitation for donations,   he specifically complains that organizations active in electoral politics and   legislative advocacy are not given the same benefits as 501(c)3 non-profits,   donations to which are tax deductible. &ldquo;Our battles in Missouri over the human   cloning issue is a fresh reminder of how the tax exemption known in the IRS code   as a 501c3 status, is crippling the church and muting her historic prophetic   role in America,&rdquo; he writes, threatening that he is &ldquo;<strong>ready to burn our 501c3 if necessary</strong> to   continue preaching righteousness and applying scripture to the great national   debates of our time.&rdquo; The former pastor writes, &ldquo;You can help me in this battle   by making the largest gift you can, and by doing it without regard to tax   exemption. &hellip; You will not be able to deduct it, but I am convinced that God will   bless you significantly for it.&rdquo;</p>
<p>While Vision America may have some difficulty drawing specific   attention to its Missouri campaign, it seems unlikely that the   group is in abject poverty. According to its <a title="http://tfcny.fdncenter.org/990s/990search/990.php?ein=760572974&amp;yr=200412&amp;rt=990&amp;t9=A" href="http://tfcny.fdncenter.org/990s/990search/990.php?ein=760572974&amp;yr=200412&amp;rt=990&amp;t9=A">IRS   filing</a>, the group amassed $2.6 million from 2000-2003&mdash;and that was before it   really <a title="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/07/AR2005050701266.html" href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/07/AR2005050701266.html">established   itself</a> on the national scene during the <a title="http://www.pfaw.org/pfaw/general/default.aspx?oid=17707" href="http://www.pfaw.org/pfaw/general/default.aspx?oid=17707">filibuster   fight</a>, the formation of the <a title="http://www.stopactivistjudges.org/" href="http://www.stopactivistjudges.org/">Judeo-Christian Council for   Constitution Restoration</a>, and the &ldquo;<a title="http://www1.valuesvoter.org/index.cfm?host_id=VA1" href="http://www1.valuesvoter.org/index.cfm?host_id=VA1">Values Voters Contract   with Congress</a>,&rdquo; which was <a title="http://www.rightwingwatch.org/2006/06/that_sounds_fam.html" href="http://www.rightwingwatch.org/2006/06/that_sounds_fam.html">effectively   taken up</a> by the Republican leadership this   summer.</p>
<p>Scarborough also takes time to boast   that his efforts in Missouri have attracted the notice of Internet   blogs:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>This week I discovered that Vision   America was the featured organization on People for the American Way's   &quot;Right Wing Watch&quot; website. It seems that with all the money being spent by the   left, our shoe string budget counter-offensive is increasingly being viewed as a   threat.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Indeed, &ldquo;Right Wing Watch&rdquo; is   watching Scarborough&rsquo;s Missouri campaign. In Texas, Scarborough   pioneered the strategy of building a network of so-called &ldquo;Patriot Pastors&rdquo; that   mobilize their congregations to work both for ballot initiatives (like bans on   same-sex marriage) and, effectively, on behalf of candidates for office. <strong>A new <a href="http://www.pfaw.org/go/patriotpastors">People For the   American Way report</a> details the &ldquo;Patriot Pastor&rdquo; strategy in Texas, Ohio, Pennsylvania and   elsewhere.</strong> With his &ldquo;pastors&rsquo; briefings&rdquo; and &ldquo;Patriot Partners&rdquo; in Missouri,   Scarborough may very well be <a title="http://www.rightwingwatch.org/2006/06/texas_patriot_p.html" href="http://www.rightwingwatch.org/2006/06/texas_patriot_p.html">laying the   groundwork</a> for yet another &ldquo;Patriot Pastors&rdquo;   franchise.</p>
    ]]></summary>
    <content type="html"><![CDATA[<p>In an <a href="http://media.pfaw.org/Right/scarborough-080606.txt" target="_blank">e-mail to his supporters</a>, Rick   Scarborough of Vision America   announces his <a title="http://www.semissourian.com/story/1163813.html" href="http://www.semissourian.com/story/1163813.html">second rally</a> against a   Missouri stem-cell research ballot initiative,   to be held in Cape   Girardeau, home of commentator and Rush-brother David   Limbaugh. His first rally featured Alan Keyes, who <a title="http://www.rightwingwatch.org/2006/08/rally_in_missou_1.html" href="http://www.rightwingwatch.org/2006/08/rally_in_missou_1.html">compared</a> their effort to protect embryos with African-Americans&rsquo; struggle for civil   rights. Keyes will again speak at Cape   Girardeau.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Our rallies are creating quite a   stir in Missouri and increasingly in the national press, as the church is coming   together to say in a united voice that cloning human beings for body parts is&nbsp;   unacceptable.</p>
<p>This week we were informed that CNN   is sending a crew to cover our rally in St. Louis on September 28.&nbsp; And this week, we   added our fifth rally to be held in Springfield,   Missouri, which will be hosted by the historic   Central Assembly of God Church in downtown Springfield.&nbsp; We have now been requested to   host two additional rallies, for a total of seven rallies across the state, as   the Church is increasingly uniting in this battle for curbing the growing menace   of science without God. ...</p>
<p>We are currently finalizing details   for Dr. James Dobson and Focus on the Family to partner with us in this effort.&nbsp;   The entire nation will be watching Missouri   this fall and Vision America is leading the way for the   cause of life!</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Scarborough, however,   claims that he&rsquo;s feeling the pinch financially. In a solicitation for donations,   he specifically complains that organizations active in electoral politics and   legislative advocacy are not given the same benefits as 501(c)3 non-profits,   donations to which are tax deductible. &ldquo;Our battles in Missouri over the human   cloning issue is a fresh reminder of how the tax exemption known in the IRS code   as a 501c3 status, is crippling the church and muting her historic prophetic   role in America,&rdquo; he writes, threatening that he is &ldquo;<strong>ready to burn our 501c3 if necessary</strong> to   continue preaching righteousness and applying scripture to the great national   debates of our time.&rdquo; The former pastor writes, &ldquo;You can help me in this battle   by making the largest gift you can, and by doing it without regard to tax   exemption. &hellip; You will not be able to deduct it, but I am convinced that God will   bless you significantly for it.&rdquo;</p>
<p>While Vision America may have some difficulty drawing specific   attention to its Missouri campaign, it seems unlikely that the   group is in abject poverty. According to its <a title="http://tfcny.fdncenter.org/990s/990search/990.php?ein=760572974&amp;yr=200412&amp;rt=990&amp;t9=A" href="http://tfcny.fdncenter.org/990s/990search/990.php?ein=760572974&amp;yr=200412&amp;rt=990&amp;t9=A">IRS   filing</a>, the group amassed $2.6 million from 2000-2003&mdash;and that was before it   really <a title="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/07/AR2005050701266.html" href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/07/AR2005050701266.html">established   itself</a> on the national scene during the <a title="http://www.pfaw.org/pfaw/general/default.aspx?oid=17707" href="http://www.pfaw.org/pfaw/general/default.aspx?oid=17707">filibuster   fight</a>, the formation of the <a title="http://www.stopactivistjudges.org/" href="http://www.stopactivistjudges.org/">Judeo-Christian Council for   Constitution Restoration</a>, and the &ldquo;<a title="http://www1.valuesvoter.org/index.cfm?host_id=VA1" href="http://www1.valuesvoter.org/index.cfm?host_id=VA1">Values Voters Contract   with Congress</a>,&rdquo; which was <a title="http://www.rightwingwatch.org/2006/06/that_sounds_fam.html" href="http://www.rightwingwatch.org/2006/06/that_sounds_fam.html">effectively   taken up</a> by the Republican leadership this   summer.</p>
<p>Scarborough also takes time to boast   that his efforts in Missouri have attracted the notice of Internet   blogs:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>This week I discovered that Vision   America was the featured organization on People for the American Way's   &quot;Right Wing Watch&quot; website. It seems that with all the money being spent by the   left, our shoe string budget counter-offensive is increasingly being viewed as a   threat.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Indeed, &ldquo;Right Wing Watch&rdquo; is   watching Scarborough&rsquo;s Missouri campaign. In Texas, Scarborough   pioneered the strategy of building a network of so-called &ldquo;Patriot Pastors&rdquo; that   mobilize their congregations to work both for ballot initiatives (like bans on   same-sex marriage) and, effectively, on behalf of candidates for office. <strong>A new <a href="http://www.pfaw.org/go/patriotpastors">People For the   American Way report</a> details the &ldquo;Patriot Pastor&rdquo; strategy in Texas, Ohio, Pennsylvania and   elsewhere.</strong> With his &ldquo;pastors&rsquo; briefings&rdquo; and &ldquo;Patriot Partners&rdquo; in Missouri,   Scarborough may very well be <a title="http://www.rightwingwatch.org/2006/06/texas_patriot_p.html" href="http://www.rightwingwatch.org/2006/06/texas_patriot_p.html">laying the   groundwork</a> for yet another &ldquo;Patriot Pastors&rdquo;   franchise.</p>
    ]]></content>
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