The Problem with the Mercury One/Wallbuilders’ Internship Program

June 22, 2017 by Leave a Comment

Monday, Glenn Beck devoted some time on his broadcast to graduates of Mercury One's internship program. The program went from June 5-16 and featured history lessons taught by David Barton.  The segment of the broadcast gave time to the participants to debrief about what they learned. Watch:The comments from students provide a window into the problems with the internship. It appears that these students have a lot to unlearn. Worse, they don't seem to know it.For instance at 1:24 into … [Read more...]

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Glenn Beck and David Barton Reminisce about Alternative History

May 24, 2017 by Leave a Comment

Lately, Glenn Beck and David Barton have been pushing their summer internship program. In a brief spot Monday, Beck and Barton claimed education was great until progressives took over in the 1920s. From the article: Prior to the 1920s, students completed school through eighth grade and each year had to pass a written exam that involved understanding the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution, George Washington’s Farewell Address and their state constitution, Barton explained. The o … [Read more...]

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Glenn Beck Wants Transparency at Mercury One; Here’s How He Can Start

April 19, 2017 by Leave a Comment

Today, on the second hour of his radio show, Glenn Beck spoke briefly about the charity he founded, Mercury One. Listen:Transcript: We're just going through an audit and I said to, Mercury One, I want the toughest auditors you can possibly find. Now that's Mercury One, I'm not even on the board of Mercury One but I went to the board and said, 'you guys should have the toughest audit and I want to see every page 'cause I'm raising most of the money for you. I want to see every page. And … [Read more...]

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Former Mercury One Donors Speak Out About Recent Changes

March 24, 2017 by Leave a Comment

In response to my series of articles on the changes taking place at Mercury One, I have been contacted by Mercury One donors. Two such donors, now former donors, agreed to comment anonymously about the changes in focus and donation allocation policy.Lack of CommunicationOne source of frustration for the former donors is the lack of communication from Mercury One. Without my posts, these donors would not have become aware that the changes had been made. The former donors said, "We did not … [Read more...]

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With Changing Focus, Mercury One No Longer Taking Restricted Fund Donations for Nazarene Fund

March 23, 2017 by Leave a Comment

Since late 2015, one of the flagship projects of Mercury One has been the Nazarene Fund. On the Nazarene Fund website, the purpose of the fund is described: For several years, ISIS has invaded peaceful communities in the Middle East and painted the Nazarene symbol on the door of people they seek to convert, extort, or murder. While ISIS uses the Nazarene sign to symbolize death, we use the sign to symbolize life. Mercury One is a US based humanitarian aid and education non-profit organization … [Read more...]

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Mercury One Clarifies How Donations Will Be Handled; Some Restricted Donations Allowed

March 22, 2017 by Leave a Comment

Last week, Mercury One, founded by Glenn Beck, announced that all donations would be consolidated into one fund. In the past, Mercury One created various funds to accomplish specific goals. Donations to those funds (e.g., the Nazarene Fund for rescue of refugees) had to be spent on fund purposes. For instance, funds donated to rescue refugees could not be spent on purchasing historical artifacts.At the time, I took a skeptical view of the changes. In my opinion, charities are more … [Read more...]

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Mercury One Gave $104,000 to a Wall Builders Charity Which Had Its Tax Exempt Status Revoked

March 20, 2017 by Leave a Comment

Last year and then again recently, I pointed out that the charity founded by Glenn Beck, Mercury One, gave David Barton's Wallbuilders $204,000 over a two year period from 2013-2014. The grants are complicated by the fact that David Barton is chair of the board at Mercury One. When I reported this, I neglected to point out that the recipient organization for one of those grants ($104,000 in 2014) was stripped of tax exempt status in 2011 by the IRS for failing to submit yearly forms. Look at … [Read more...]

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Mixed Donation Allocation Signals from Mercury One

March 16, 2017 by Leave a Comment

Tuesday, I wrote about changes in the donation allocation at Mercury One. The Texas-based charity was founded by Glenn Beck with David Barton as the current chair of the board of directors. After years of allowing donors to focus their giving to a particular cause (e.g., disaster relief, helping refugees or even the general administration of the charity), Mercury One announced on their blog that all donations from now on would go into one fund: Beginning in March 2017, Mercury One is … [Read more...]

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