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Progressive Think Tanks Peddle Ideas, Candidates Listen. GOP Cries Foul
Cross posted at Daily Kos
It seems that the state GOP machine is somewhat uneasy about the fact that progressive think tanks such as the Drum Major Institute are, ya know, actually trying to influence policy and stuff. Funny, I thought that's why such entities existed. I doubt many folks at the Heritage Foundation or the American Enterprise Institute, the folks that succeeded in large part in bringing us "War in Iraq II - The Quagmire", would shy away from stating that there organizations exist to influence policy and policymakers and are funded in large part by those who wish to do the same. Apparently that's cool if you're rationalizing the more destructive parts of the GOP agenda and making pre-emptive war and grand scale looting of the federal treasury palatable to Joe Sixpack. Not so much if you see things differently.
Andrea Batista Schlesinger, Executive Director of DMI, fires back today over at the Huffington Post.
War of the Worldviews – The GOP Takes on Progressive Think Tanks
You think the right-wing is only out to bring down progressive candidates?
Think again.
Now they are sending their party hacks to attack progressive think tanks.
That’s one way to win the battle of ideas!
Stephen Minarik, head of New York State’s GOP, and Bill Cunningham, a Republican operative, have made it their personal mission to undermine the credibility of the New York-based Drum Major Institute for Public Policy, a progressive think tank founded during the civil rights movement.
Their claim: DMI is in cahoots with Fernando Ferrer, a former DMI President and the perceived frontrunner for the Democratic nomination to challenge Mayor Michael Bloomberg in the fall.
Our real crime: Threatening the status quo.
More on the flip...
In what is a typical process in the world of politics and policy, Mr. Ferrer left his post in the think tank world last year to run for mayor of New York. Since he left, DMI has had no relationship with him.
But each time DMI raises critical questions about social and economic policy in New York, the conservatives says its tacit support for Mr. Ferrer’s campaign.
A bit of a stretch? You better believe it.
And even worse, they charge that we are providing Mr. Ferrer with ideas! Oh no!
When conservative shops like the American Enterprise Institute inform the thinking of prominent policymakers, they are heralded for their success in turning “intellect into influence,
http://dailygotham.com/blog/lipris/progressive_think_tanks_peddle_ideas_candidates_listen_gop_cries_foulMouse over the text to select it, then press Ctrl-C to copy it.
2 sets of rules, and I'm not gonna play that way
The real issue is why is the GOP getting its panties in a bunch over a think tank doing exactly what all of its think tanks do-- creating policy that is then adopted by politicians and policy makers.
It is clear that the GOP leadership has two sets of rules: One for themselves and one for the rest of us.
The GOP is constantly in collusion with its think tanks, its media outlets, its “nonprofits
Still, you have to congratulate DMI for getting Repugged!
It means the GOP is scared of their work and Bloomberg is not taking any chances with Ferrer.
Also, this is a concerted attack on any organization could have the whiff of liberalism and addresses poor and middle class issues. As we can see with Santorum's new book, the Repugs are working hard at trying to paint themselves as the part of poverty issues and they will come after the DMI and other progressive organizations like them as part of their rule book agenda.