Think Tanks

The Wave of the Future: From Tragedy to Far-Reaching Policy, in Less Than a Month

by Diane Farsetta — September 22, 2005 - 12:17pm
  • Topics: Politics, Race / Ethnic Issues, Think Tanks, U.S. Government

    • "Maybe something good can come from this hurricane," Senator Lindsey Graham (R - S.C.) told FOX News Sunday's Chris Wallace on September 18th.

    Graham and Wallace were discussing the "torrent of federal spending" on relief and reconstruction projects in the Gulf coast states devastated by Hurricane Katrina that is "just exploding the deficit" (both Wallace's phrases). The Senator was advocating for budget cuts to balance the disaster spending, which is expected to total as much as $200 billion.

    Think Tank's Water Bank Rankles

    by Diane Farsetta — August 31, 2005 - 8:59am

    "UK ministers have been accused of spending British aid money on a public relations campaign to promote water privatisation in Sierra Leone," reports BBC News. Vicky Cann, of the organization World Development Movement, criticized the British Department for International Development (DfID), saying, "In the poorest country of the world, which is still recovering from a decade long bitter civil war, DfID is not only going to pay international consultants to advise on how to privatise water ...

    Main Source: 
    BBC News, August 30, 2005

    Liberal Money

    by Sheldon Rampton — August 8, 2005 - 3:06pm

    "Scores of the US's richest people have pledged $1 million or more towards a new attempt to reinvigorate the American left and counter the powerful Republican political machine," writes David Teather.

    Main Source: 
    Guardian (UK), August 8, 2005

    Bid to Sink NZ Nuclear Warship Ban Backfires

    by Bob Burton — August 3, 2005 - 6:30am

    The prospects of the conservative New Zealand National Party opposition in the September 17 election may be doomed after revelations that it floated the idea of a U.S. think tank helping undermine support for the country's 1985 ban on nuclear armed and powered warships. In January 2004 the Leader of the New Zealand National Party, Don Brash, and its spokesman on Foreign Affairs and Trade, Lockwood Smith, met with the then Republican Senator for Oklahoma, Don Nickles. Brash allegedly told U.S.

    Main Source: 
    New Zealand Herald August 3, 2005

    Before Sunset

    by Diane Farsetta — April 22, 2005 - 3:21pm

    A little-noticed proposal in the 2,000 page federal budget "would give the president the power to appoint an eight-member panel called the 'Sunset Commission.'" The commission would "review federal programs every ten years and decide whether they should be eliminated.

    Main Source: 
    Rolling Stone, May 5, 2005

    Pouring Gas Money on Fire

    by Diane Farsetta — April 21, 2005 - 11:55am

    "No company appears to be working harder to support those who debunk global warming" than ExxonMobil, writes Chris Mooney. "Some 40 ExxonMobil-funded organizations ...

    Main Source: 
    Mother Jones, May / June 2005

    Heritage Foundation's Asian Belle

    by Diane Farsetta — April 18, 2005 - 4:15pm

    As happened with neighboring Indonesia, "the 9/11 attacks opened the door to improved U.S.-Malaysia relations." The Heritage Foundation began promoting Malaysia in mid-2001, "at the same time a Hong Kong consulting firm co-founded by Edwin J.

    Main Source: 
    Washington Post, April 16, 2005

    Fishing for Global Warming Benefits

    by Diane Farsetta — November 27, 2004 - 11:00pm

    "Climate change is 'a myth,' sea levels are not rising and Britain's chief scientist is 'an embarrassment' for believing catastrophe is inevitable. These are the controversial views of a new London-based think-tank," the International Policy Network.

    Main Source: 
    Guardian, November 28, 2004

    Learning from the Winners

    by Diane Farsetta — November 14, 2004 - 11:00pm

    The Center for Media and Democracy's John Stauber and Sheldon Rampton write, "Republican successes have not come quickly or easily. For more than four decades, conservatives have worked to build a network of grassroots organizations and think tanks that formulate and promote their ideas. They are now enjoying the fruits of this long-term investment." The right wing "has simply done a better job than anyone else of organizing from the grassroots up.

    Main Source: 
    AlterNet, November 15, 2004

    Bunches of Banana Republicans

    by Diane Farsetta — October 4, 2004 - 10:00pm

    The number of "invitation-only conservative gatherings" on Capitol Hill is increasing.

    Main Source: 
    The Hill, October 5, 2004
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