“Government Funded Attempt at Intimidation” – Those were the words of the Civitas lawyer when he was shown the cease and desist order the Civitas Institute received by fax on February 23, 2011.
The Child Care Services Association (CCSA) claimed our research on the State funded program was “false”, “defamatory”, and has “no basis in fact” and ordered us to “cease and desist making such assertions, and issue retractions of the falsehoods [Civitas has] disseminated.”
Meanwhile, CCSA did not produce a single example of actual “falsehoods” contained in our articles.
We need your help to raise the funds necessary to fight the attempts by this, and other, taxpayer-funded organizations to silence our story on the mismanagement of government money.
CCSA’s own response to the investigation substantiated the original story Civitas published. Now they are using a law firm to try and scare us into pulling our story and “…issue retractions of the falsehoods [Civitas has] disseminated.”
While their threats and bullying don’t worry me what does worry me are the legal bills that result from us defending our first amendment rights! CCSA has a budget of over $30,000,000 according to the last published report and over $29,000,000 came from government sources. Our contributions last year, all from private sources, came to less than $1,000,000.
We are David fighting Goliath and we need your help with a tax-deductible donation now!
The Civitas Institute, as part of our mission to educate and empower the citizens and civic leaders of North Carolina, is dedicated to rooting out waste, corruption and inefficiency in government. In these difficult times when our state is facing a tremendous budget crisis – it is up to watchdog groups like the Civitas Institute to help expose where and how our government can cut waste and inefficiency and better manage our hard-earned taxpayer dollars.
Unfortunately it is also during difficult budgetary times that those who live off government become more protective of their funding and resort to threats and intimidation against those who question their methods and advocate for greater transparency.
Fortunately we have a new generous donor who has offered to match dollar for dollar any money we raise because they think what we do is important and want to see us continue our work. Donate now and have your tax-deductible donation matched!
The Civitas Institute is a 501(c)(3) organization fully funded by supporters like you and receives no government funds. When groups like CCSA threaten to suppress our research, they are threatening to suppress our freedom of speech and even more directly – your right to question government’s actions.
As North Carolinians and Americans, we have the right to question where and how our tax dollars are being spent – especially when the money is being spent by a government supported agency that has little accountability to taxpayers.
Your donation today will help us continue in our efforts to promote greater transparency and accountability in government.
Sincerely,
PS – If you like you can mail a tax-deductible contribution to:
Civitas Institute
100 S. Harrington St.
Raleigh, NC 27603
Or call 919.834.2099
Fill in an amount and click “donate”, and you will be taken to our secure payment processing site.
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