Affirmative-action critic Chao is a fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation think tank. Heritage receives major funding from Pioneer Maurice “Hank” Greenberg. After he complained about its cautious position on trade with China, Heritage issued a new paper that was bullish on the topic. Chao was President Bush’s Peace Corps director and deputy secretary of Transportation. United Way of America hired her to clean up its wreckage in ’92, after charges that her predecessor spent $600,000 of charity funds on himself and a teen-age girl friend. Chao restored credibility but stumbled over her exit. Some board members offered her a goodbye gift of $292,500 out of their personal funds to supplement Chao’s $195,000 salary. She did not refuse the money until the media cried foul. Chao’s husband, Sen. Mitch McConnell, is the leading defender of special-interest campaign money in Congress.