It seems as if the Congressman from Indiana has managed to get the attention of Melanie Sloan and her group to pay attention to him. I doubt he will be happy with the out come, regardless of how it turns out, it makes him and his family all appear to be "dirt bags" of the first order.
They use the guise of raising money for "poor children" to obtain college scholarships for the "poor" the problem with the charity, is that in it's seven years of existence, it has never awarded a scholarship. While it has paid for many "golfing trips" to people that are friends or potential donors or Congressman Buyers, and the charity shared office space in his congressional office, which might be a conflict of interest. Just maybe but then I am not a tax lawyer.
This article: Watchdog files complaints against Buyer
The group wants the Office of Congressional Ethics to review whether Buyer violated ethics rules "by abusing a charity for private purposes and by trading legislative assistance for donations to the charity and a job for his son."
Buyer created the Frontier foundation in 2003 for the stated purposed of handing out scholarships once the fund reached $100,000. The foundation has raised more than $880,000 — primarily from companies and trade organizations with an interest in the House Energy and Commerce Committee, on which Buyer serves.
The foundation hasn’t awarded any scholarships, which Buyer has said is because the foundation later decided it needed at least $1 million to be self-sustaining. The foundation has paid for fundraising golf outings at luxury locales.
I only need 168,000 to pay off my house.......
article from VA Watchdog October 12, 2009
In July 2004, Frontier Foundation Inc. sent out a letter, from Buyer's office, soliciting donations of $25,000 for each foursome at an Aug. 31, 2004, outing at Fenway Golf Club in Scarsdale, N.Y. Buyer's name was listed at the top as "honorary chairman." His daughter, Colleen, was listed as a board member.
Before the year was out, $105,000 in contributions had arrived from eight corporate donors representing the pharmaceutical, tobacco and telecommunication industries, according to a Journal & Courier review of the foundation's tax filings and supporting documents. In its very first tax filing in 2003, a statement of program service was provided. It referred to the foundation's twofold purpose: to provide scholarships to Indiana students, and to provide emergency relief to individuals who suffer losses due to fire, disaster or other catastrophe.
The statement said, "We would like to raise at least $100,000 before we start providing scholarships or emergency relief. ... We hope to be providing monies for scholarships and emergency relief in two to five years." The $100,000 goal was reached in 2004 and was surpassed each year thereafter. There have been $10,500 in gifts in that time, although no scholarships. They include $2,000 that went to a fire victim and $1,700 to the American Red Cross.
But most of the foundation's contributions have nothing to do with scholarships or emergency relief. Those include $4,500 that went to the Virginia Selden Jerome Foundation and $1,450 to the NRA Foundation.
Mattix and Anderson referred questions about Frontier Foundation to Sandra Danford.
From October 20, 2009 the VA Watchdog has this article from an Indiana paper
BUYER DEFENDS SCHOLARSHIP FOUNDATION WHICH HASN'T HELPED ONE STUDENT
Buyer said it's necessary to spend money to make the foundation a success.
In 2004, the first Frontier Foundation golf fundraising event was held at the Fenwick Country Club in New York. In 2005, 2006 and 2007, Buyer said, the golf outings were held at the Atlantis resort in the Bahamas. The outings in 2008 were at Atlantis and the Boulders resort in Phoenix, and at Boulders and Disney World this year. At each, Buyer said, about "seven or eight foursomes" of contributors attended.
Bennett Weiner, chief executive officer of BBB Wise Giving Alliance, a national charity monitoring organization, said that "golf tournaments are sometimes one of the more expensive ways of raising money. That doesn't mean that they can't do that. Obviously it's their choice, if that's how they want to raise funds. But it may not always be the most financially efficient way to do it." Buyer said that given his frequent travel as a member of Congress, jetting to these golf outings is "not fun for me."
"I know someone else may look at that and go, 'Wow, he got to go on trips. He got to go to great places other people don't get to see.' But for me? It's work." Asked if the foundation could raise funds without the pricey golf outings, Buyer said that "donors expect a meaningful experience."
That meaningful experience, however, includes access to something valuable: a congressman's time.
"This is another loophole that special interests use to buy access and influence. Certainly their hope is that by donating this money to Congressman Buyer's private foundation, that he will be more accessible to them," said Mary Boyle, spokeswoman for Common Cause, a nonpartisan group founded to hold elected leaders accountable to the public interest. Nearly all of the $883,272 the foundation has raised came from groups that have issues before the House Energy and Commerce Committee, of which Buyer is a member.
The most generous single contributor was the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America -- the trade association for brand-name drug companies, known as PhRMA -- which gave $200,000.
Additional Facts
Raised, spent
U.S. Rep. Steve Buyer, R-Ind., formed the foundation in 2003 to give scholarships to Hoosier students. No scholarships have been awarded, as Buyer said the goal is to first raise a sustaining fund of $1 million. Here's a look at sources of the money and how it has been spent:
Revenue
The foundation raised $883,272 from 2003 through 2008.
Sources are:
• Pharmaceutical interests: $465,000.
• Telecommunications interests: $215,148.
• Tobacco and alcohol interests: $65,000.
• Health insurers: $60,000.
• Other: $53,124.
• Unknown: $25,000.
Expenses
The foundation spent $268,636 from 2003 through 2008.
The recipients
Although no scholarships have been awarded yet, the Frontier Foundation has made $10,500 in other charitable donations.
They include $4,500 to the Virginia Sheldon Jerome Foundation. It's run by Eli Lilly and Co.'s chief Washington lobbyist, Joe Kelley, in honor of his late wife, who died of cancer. Kelley is refunding that money to Frontier because Lilly has been a contributor to the Frontier Foundation. Here's a look at the foundation's giving:
2003:
$1,500 to the Virginia Sheldon Jerome Foundation.
2004:
$2,000 to Monticello fire victim George F. Todhunter.
$1,500 to the Virginia Sheldon Jerome Foundation.
$400 to Muscular Dystrophy.
2005:
$1,500 to the Virginia Sheldon Jerome Foundation.
$750 to the American Red Cross.
$200 to the White County Community Foundation.
2006:
$950 to the American Red Cross.
2007:
Nothing.
2008:
$250 to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, Tenn.
$1,450 to the National Rifle Association Foundation.
Source: Frontier Foundation's Form 990-PF filed in 2009
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I have to admit that I have NO use for this man, as the Chairman of the House VA Committee he did everything he could to stick it to veterans, he appointed a friend of his to the VA IT department and demanded that he be given complete control over IT spending, we can all imagine how that ended, Secretary Shinseki ended the projects and ordered all control of funds for IT to be controlled by his office.
Congressman Buyer served in the first Gulf War and likes to point out to one and all that he was awarded a Bronze Star, most people are impressed with him as a war hero, the trouble with his award, during GW1 nearly every officer was rotated in and out of SW Asia and collected the I was "there awards" which included Bronze stars for Officers, the ones that were not I was there awards are the ones that were awarded for valor, that would be a Bronze Star with a V device, a soldier has to do something heroic to be awarded that V.
I know cooks who got Bronze stars for having hot coffee and supply sergeants that got Bronze stars for having toilet paper, Congressman Buyers Bronze star for being a lawyer in a war zone does NOT impress me. My step fathers collections of air medals awarded for bombing Germany in B-17s during WW2, service in the Pacific later in WW2, Korea, the Berlin Airlift, now those awards impress me, Buyer is a military wannabe.
I hope Melanie Sloan nails his hide to the wall........