Is Sean Hannity Scamming our Wounded American Soldiers?

It's 3:00 in the morning and I have insomnia. And I can't sleep either.

So I hear there's rumors on the  "internets" that Sean Hannity, the more patriotic than thou, loud mouth, right wing, conservative, "I support the troops", KTRH talk show host is running a well oiled charity scam raising millions with his "Freedom Concerts" yet donating just a small portion back to those his charity is all about, our wounded soldiers from Iraq. From Debbie Schlussel's article:

The tax forms available to the public for the Freedom Alliance–for the years 2006-2008–paint a tragic story, a story of a charity that makes gazillions and spends very little for the purposes it claims, a charity that spends millions more on its small staff and crony consultants than it ever gives in scholarships to the children of the fallen or severely injured troops or in aid to the injured troops themselves.  While Hannity’s Freedom Concerts take in millions, only a few hundred thousand go to the claimed intended recipients.

Now, from what I can read about this particular author, at 3:00 am in the damn morning, Debbie Schlussel, she is no fan of Sean Insanity, but her article seems to be very well researched. She has links to tax returns of the charity and it paints a pretty slimy picture:

According to its 2006 tax returns, Freedom Alliance reported revenue of $10, 822, 785, but only $397,900–or a beyond-measly 3.68%–of that was given to the children of fallen troops as scholarships or as aid to severely injured soldiers.

So less than 4% of the money raised from selling tickets to a concert with stars like the Charlie Daniels Band and Lynyrd Skynyrd, and selling over priced, over sized t-shirts goes to those soldiers who lost their body parts in a war that wasn't necessary. And 96% goes to overhead, like traveling in private jets, creating jobs to make over priced over sized, t-shirts, and to advertise on radio stations like Houston's KTRH.

And there is more from the Washington Post and ABC News:

The 12 charities rated as failing by the institute – including the Military Order of the Purple Heart Service Foundation, the AMVETS National Service Foundation and the Freedom Alliance – collected at least $266 million in the past fiscal year.

“They know how to work the system, and they seem pretty good at not going over the line, although it is pretty outrageous that so little money is actually winding up benefiting charities,” said Daniel Borochoff, president and founder of the Chicago-based institute.

You can also watch an ABC report here.

Even at 3:00 in the damn frickin morning, the ABC report is an eye opener. As well as this strong ass cup of joe I just made.

This story certainly has the eye of the readers of Democratic Underground as well as the Freepers of Free Republic, whose forum really sucks.(I mean it really sucks. I thought republicans was the party of the rich. You would think they could raise a few bucks to get a professional looking forum. Stingy bastards. They probably are spending their money on tickets to Sean's concert so they can wear their over priced, over sized confederate flag t-shirt and yell FREE BIRD!) But, I digress. Even the Freepers are asking for a rebutal from Sean:

I hope this is not true. Hannity needs to come out now and either fully debunk this or apologize and start making restitution. If this is true, this will be a HUGE mark, not just against Hannity, but against people who have supported and followed Hannity, conservatives in general, and last but not least Fox News.

So take this all with a grain of salt the size of a basketball. Remember not everything you hear on the "Internets" at 3:00 am in the morning is true. Or is it?