You and whose Armey?

November 17, 2013 2:47 PM

Good Enough For Government Work

Welcome to the new incarnation of the “think tank” world, over which Jim DeMint—its ideal-type avatar—now presides. Instead of letting scholars of various shades of true believership study what interests them without predetermined conclusions, think tanks are now expected to formulate new ways to echo one or another approved ideological dogma—and then marshal lawmakers, none too subtly, to march in lockstep behind it. ... In other words, to consider DeMint’s legacy simply because he’s exiting the Senate after eight years is silly, when he’s just beginning to craft it, finally, from a position of actual power.

Corporate America’s new scam: Industry P.R. firm poses as think tank! - "How the media fell hook, line and sinker for the propagandist, respectable-sounding "Employment Policies Institute""

Reporting from the Institute of Made-Up Institutes

The Alarming Corruption Of The Think Tanks
Bill Kristol's Think Tank Fetish

Putting Heritage in Mint Condition
Jim DeMint, After Leaving The Senate, More Powerful Than Ever
Jim DeMint’s destruction of the Heritage Foundation

Armey in Exile

posted by the man of twists and turns (12 comments total)

I'd love nothing more than to see the tax exemption (or at least 501(c)(3) status) eliminated for think tanks. the question, though, is how to craft the statute so that it's constitutional (cf Big Mama Rag v Comm.) and doesn't cause too much collateral damage (I'd be fine with limiting the definition of "education" to bona fide schools, but it may cause problems for orgs that do things like cancer awareness)
posted by jpe at 2:59 PM on November 17, 2013 [3 favorites]

Instead of letting scholars of various shades of true believership study what interests them without predetermined conclusions, think tanks are now expected to formulate new ways to echo one or another approved ideological dogma—and then marshal lawmakers, none too subtly, to march in lockstep behind it.

Ummm....
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 3:06 PM on November 17, 2013

You and your cronies... you forget so easy.
posted by anarch at 3:15 PM on November 17, 2013 [1 favorite]

How to Lose the Argument and Win the Debate...

Heritage sucked the "think" out of the "think tank" years ago. It's all Advertising, and that's a tax deductible expense for any business...
posted by oneswellfoop at 3:29 PM on November 17, 2013 [1 favorite]

The Long Arm (And Hidden Hand) Of Jim DeMint
posted by the man of twists and turns at 4:20 PM on November 17, 2013

Now that's a great title you've got there, the man of twists and turns.
posted by JHarris at 4:47 PM on November 17, 2013

Heritage sucked the "think" out of the "think tank" years ago. It's all Advertising, and that's a tax deductible expense for any business...

Tevi Troy wrote an article about this that's probably relevant, Devaluing the Think Tank. He's a Republican, but he's pretty critical of what goes on at a lot of think tanks, Heritage in particular.
posted by dsfan at 5:20 PM on November 17, 2013 [2 favorites]

Yes - title almost softens the bite of your post.

Also wanting a job at the Institute of made-up institutes. Your results don't need to reproducible! They don't even need to be results.
posted by Lesser Shrew at 5:21 PM on November 17, 2013 [2 favorites]

They don't call it Wingnut Welfare for nothing.
posted by Bromius at 6:14 PM on November 17, 2013 [5 favorites]

They don't call it Wingnut Welfare for nothing.

Yes. As far as I can tell the contemporary conservative think tank is a halfway house for Reagan/Bush wonks to chill between federal appointments. And as a bonus, they get to maintain their talking head status for the news.
posted by CBrachyrhynchos at 7:28 AM on November 18, 2013 [2 favorites]

Jim DeMint makes me so angry I no longer enjoy hotel-pillow thin mints.
posted by Lesser Shrew at 9:43 AM on November 18, 2013

Think Republicans have been making fools of themselves? Blame Michael Needham.
posted by dsfan at 4:31 PM on November 24, 2013