-Caveat Lector- > WHO'S BEHIND THE STATEMENTS OF "NONPARTISAN" THINK TANKS? > > Opinions and news commentary in the News & Record, as well as other > media, often come from persons identified with organizations that claim to be > non-partisan. Readers need to know a bit more about where these statements > are coming from and who is behind them financially. When the author is a > corporate executive or a labor representative, one knows where his or her > loyalties lie. When the connection is with a think-tank, however, that is > less clear. > > These sources generally claim to be non-partisan research organizations, > while actually slanting their writings toward one party or against another > and showing little evidence of any objective research despite their > tax-exempt status. > > When they are described as "conservative," "liberal" or "progressive," we > have an idea of their orientation, but most have misleading or > non-descriptive names that often sound similar. A study by California State > University researcher Michael Dolny found that right-wing think tanks were > quoted more often than liberal ones, and their ideology was identified less > often. > > Over time I have been compiling the following information about > think-tanks and other organizations that should be helpful to readers who > "consider the source." > > Air Quality Standards Coalition is the main group lobbying against > environmental protection rules. Made up of over 700 companies and housed at > the National Association of Manufacturers, it is headed by C. Boyden Gray, > heir to a tobacco fortune, lobbyist for a Utah steel company, and former > counsel to the first President Bush. > > American Enterprise Institute, in four years for which information is > available, received at least $1,714,000 from pharmaceutical, medical device, > biotechnology and tobacco companies and corporate foundations interested in > curtailing Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulation, as well as > financial support from billionaire Richard Mellon Scaife, heir to the Mellon > banking, manufacturing, and oil fortune. > > American Tort Reform Association (see Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse). > > Cato Institute, funded by corporations that oppose government regulation, > is the leader of a coalition spending huge amounts for Social Security > privatization, cochaired by William Shipman of State Street Global Advisors, > an investment company that would benefit financially. Cato was also one of > seven think tanks opposing FDA regulations that received at least $3.5 > million from corporations interested in downsizing the agency. > > Center for Justice & Democracy, formerly Citizens for Corporate > Accountability & Individual Rights, works with Public Citizen, an > organization founded by Ralph Nader. > > Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse (CALA) is the name used by fake grassroots > organizations for "tort reform" opposing lawsuits against corporations. > Litigation has revealed that the big tobacco companies and other major > industries were behind CALAs as well as the American Tort Reform Association. > > Citizens for a Sound Economy is a business-backed lobby that opposes EPA > air quality standards. It has also worked for a flat tax and lobbied against > the FDA. Its chairman is the same C. Boyden Gray who heads the Air Quality > Standards Coalition and has lobbied for biotech drug-maker Amgen, Inc. > > Coalition for Vehicle Choice argues against stricter auto fuel-economy > standards. Its money comes from Detroit auto makers. > > Competitive Enterprise Institute is another of the seven think tanks > opposing FDA regulations that received at least $3.5 million from > corporations interested in downsizing the agency. > Concord Coalition's president is Peter G. Peterson, who was commerce > secretary to Nixon, an investment banker since then, and an advocate of a > national sales tax. The Concord Coalition has proposed a ceiling on taxes > for big business and the wealthy, but cuts in Social Security and Medicare. > > Contributions Watch, which studied political giving by trial lawyers > nationwide, was set up by a PR firm hired by Philip Morris. > > Electric Consumers Resource Council is a Washington lobbying group whose > "consumers" are big industrial users of electricity, such as General Motors, > Texaco and Procter & Gamble. > > Foundation for Research on Economics and the Environment (FREE) is funded > by oil companies and conservative foundations. Douglas H. Ginsburg, a > District of Columbia appeals court judge, sits on its board of directors and > ruled as a judge against EPA air quality standards. FREE, which receives > hundreds of thousands of dollars from corporations that have critical cases > in the courts, has paid for hundreds of judges to attend anti-regulation > seminars at luxury resorts. > > Free Congress Foundation, another group that received funding from Mellon > heir Scaife, set up a toll-free hot line for women to claim they had been > sexually harassed by Clinton. Its president, Paul M. Weyrich, also launched > the Heritage Foundation. > > Heritage Foundation, founded with a grant from the Adolph Coors > Foundation, is the most quoted in major newspapers. It has received funding > from Mellon heir Scaife and shared in the $3.5 million from the anti-FDA > corporations. > > Hoover Institution at Stanford University is partly funded by Mellon heir > Scaife. > > Hudson Institute, called a "public policy think-tank," has been headed by > Mitch Daniels, the new director of the White House Office of Management and > Budget (OMB). Hudson Institute received nearly $700,000 in four recent years > from anti-FDA businesses and was a leader in the campaign to weaken the FDA. > Its Competitiveness Center, headed by Dan Quayle, opposes strong laws for > health and safety. A recent column by a Hudson executive praises the > Republican secretary of agriculture and disparages her Democratic predecessor. > > Manhattan Institute is another recipient of funding from Mellon heir > Scaife. > > National Center for Policy Analysis is a Texas-based organization > described as "a nonpartisan, public policy research institute." Its policy > chairman, Republican former governor of Delaware, Pete DuPont, wrote a column > recently distributed by Knight Ridder that urged liberal Democrats in > Congress to "wait, watch and listen" and not interfere with Bush > administration initiatives. It is involved in the Cato effort to privatize > social security. > > National Center for Public Policy Research of Washington, DC, is > described as a "non-profit, non-partisan educational foundation." Its > articles defend tobacco companies, attack state attorneys general and private > tort lawyers, oppose clean air standards and UN efforts against global > climate change, warn against banning soft money, and keep up a steady barrage > against Democrats. A recent article by the director of its environmental > policy task force praises the new Republican appointee for Interior Secretary > as likely "to restore sanity" to environmental regulation by allowing > companies to police their own compliance. > > National Consumers League has been saturated in recent years with > financial contributions from major U.S. corporations--39% of the group's 1997 > budget came from corporations and industry associations. > > National Taxpayers Union is a recipient of funding from Mellon heir > Scaife. > > Progress and Freedom Foundation was part of House Speaker Gingrich's > political network and investigated by the House Ethics Committee. > > [Richard A. Stimson of High Point is an economist and the author of > "Playing with the Numbers: How So-called Experts Mislead Us about the > Economy."] -- <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html">Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/">ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
