Founded in 1977 the Cato Institutes 1998 budget made up US$ 11 million. Its funding consists of corporate and private donations (especially from corporations and executives in the highly regulated industries of financial services, telecommunications and pharmaceuticals industries) and sales of publications.
Catos corporate donors include tobacco firms:
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The fact that corporate money is seeking to influence public policy is nothing unusual. From the different ways of how private money helps to shape politics the first, and most familiar is direct campaign contributions to political candidates and parties, which is especially widespread in the United States. While the second great river of money goes to underwrite lobbying apparatus in diverse state capitals, the third form of attempts to influence public policy making is less well-known, but nearly as wide and deep as the two others - it is money which underwrites a vast network of public policy think tanks and advocacy groups. Although tried to be labeled in another way, unmistakably, these donations are naked attempts by corporations and other donors, to influence the political process.
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Menwith Hill Station is one of the biggest groundstations in the
American petroleum corporation that was founded in 1889 by the Standard Oil trust to direct the refining and marketing of oil in the Midwestern states. By the late 20th century, American operations still accounted for more than half of Amoco's total assets, though the company has been active in some 40 other countries in the areas of production, refining, and marketing. In addition to refining crude oil, Amoco is one of the largest producers of natural gas in the North American continent.
The Sandinistas overthrew the right wing Somoza regime of corruption that had support from the U.S.-government, in 1979. The followers of Somoza, who was killed in 1980, formed the Contras and began a guerrilla warfare against the government. Many of them were trained in the School of the Americas (=
Nicolae Ceausescu (1918-1989) was State-Secretary of Romania from 1967 to 1989. He is supposed to have been one of the cruelest dictators of the Eastern Bloc. His power was assured by a huge system of spies called the Securitate. In 1989 when the other Eastern-European countries started liberalizing their politics, he tried to follow the same policy as before; in December he had to flee but was betrayed and ended up being shot together with his wife right after a short and secret trial. Today it seems as if the revolution of those days had been organized by the communists to assure power. In the meantime the situation for the people has not improved at all but rather worsened.