If he has achieved anything, Senator Max Baucus has galvanized the attention of the foundation community to talk about rural philanthropy. In 2006, Baucus challenged foundations to double their grantmaking to rural America over the next 5 years. By the end of the year, he was the chair of the Senate Finance Committee, the Congressional body in charge of nonprofit and foundation oversight, and the foundations snapped to attention.
The Smithsonian Institution must specialize in irony. The interim secretary of the Smithsonian Cristian Samper who replaced the disgraced and disgraceful Larry Small, had a press conference at the National Press Club on September 21st titled, “Facts, Fiction and the Future of the Smithsonian.”
Fiction is the operative word. Having made a big pretense of cleaning up its act, behaving responsibly, committed to openness and transparency, charges are flying that once again, the Smithsonian’s leadership has been boorish, arrogant, and impenetrable.
