We all know the "darlings" of C-Span/MSNBC/CBS/ABC/FOX..
AEI-CATO-Heritage, but RARELY (if ever) do we see much of the "other side" represented.
Do "our" think tanks so all that much thinking? or are they being shut out? Do they TRY to get representation, or sit like shy girls, lined up on a bench along the gym-wall...hoping someone asks them to dance?
The whole think-tank issue is driving public policy and media saturation of these "ideas" . These freaks sit around coming up with the most outrageous stuff, and then peddle it around to "content-hungry" 24-7 outlets who are only too happy to give them the airtime.
I had high hopes when Howard Dean took over the DNC. I had HOPED that since he was a victim of the slime machine, he would step up and pressure media outlets for a fairer representation of opposition ideas. Either di dis NOT, or we have a bigger problem than ever.
Even though MOST of the issues these tanks have supported, have turned out to be totally WRONG, they stilll get the lion's share of time, and their "stars" have been turned into media-darlings, with crossover recognition. They are on radio, in print, and in our faces 24-7..
.........................................................................
this from wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Think_tanks#United_States_think_tanksThough there are think tanks in every part of the political spectrum, conservative think tanks outnumber their centrist and liberal/progressive counterparts. For example, the media watchdog group Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) released a report in 2006 which listed the 25 think tanks which were mentioned most often in the mainstream media news in 2005. The most-mentioned think tank was the centrist or center-left Brookings Institution. The next two most-mentioned think tanks--the Heritage Foundation, the American Enterprise Institute, are conservative while the fourth, the Cato Institute, is libertarian. Of media citations, a plurality, 47% were centrist, while 40% were conservative and 13% were progressive. <7>
Conservative
Modern neoconservatism is associated with some of the foreign policy initiatives of think tanks such as the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) and the Project for the New American Century (PNAC). The Claremont Institute and the Heritage Foundation are more traditional conservative think tanks.
* American Enterprise Institute
* Claremont Institute
* Competitive Enterprise Institute
* Project for the New American Century
* Heritage Foundation
* Hoover Institution for War, Revolution, and Peace
* Hudson Institute
* Goldwater Institute
* National Center for Policy Analysis
* Pacific Research Institute
Liberal
On the other side of the political spectrum are think tanks such as the Political Economy Research Institute (PERI), Institute for Policy Studies, the Progressive Policy Institute and the Center for American Progress. Economic Policy Institute is a prominent liberal think tank whose research emphasizes interests of low-income and middle-income workers. Other think tanks include Brookings Institution, a center-left organization.
* Brookings Institution
* Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
* Center for American Progress
* Center for Economic and Policy Research
* Center for Progressive Reform
* Economic Policy Institute
* Institute for Policy Studies
* Political Economy Research Institute
* Progressive Policy Institute
* Public Citizen
snip