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Bluegrass Institute for Public Policy Solutions (BIPPS) is a right-wing pressure group that promotes itself as "an independent research and educational institution offering free-market solutions to Kentucky's most pressing problems."[1] The institute was created and initially funded by Chris Derry, a businessman from Bowling Green, Kentucky. BIPPS is a member of the State Policy Network (SPN).

SPN is a web of right-wing “think tanks” in every state across the country. It is an $83 million right-wing empire as of the 2011 funding documents from SPN itself and each of its state "think tank" members. Although SPN's member organizations claim to be nonpartisan and independent, the Center for Media and Democracy's in-depth investigation, "EXPOSED: The State Policy Network -- The Powerful Right-Wing Network Helping to Hijack State Politics and Government," reveals that SPN and its member think tanks are major drivers of the right-wing, American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)-backed corporate agenda in state houses nationwide, with deep ties to the Koch brothersand the national right-wing network of funders.[2]

In response to CMD's report, SPN Executive Director Tracie Sharp told national and statehouse reporters that SPN affiliates are "fiercely independent." Later the same week, however, The New Yorker's Jane Mayer caught Sharp in a contradiction. In her article, "Is IKEA the New Model for the Conservative Movement?," the Pulitzer-nominated reporter revealed that, in a recent meeting behind closed doors with the heads of SPN affiliates around the country, Sharp "compared the organization’s model to that of the giant global chain IKEA." She reportedly said that SPN "would provide 'the raw materials,' along with the 'services' needed to assemble the products. Rather than acting like passive customers who buy finished products, she wanted each state group to show the enterprise and creativity needed to assemble the parts in their home states. 'Pick what you need,' she said, 'and customize it for what works best for you.'" Not only that, but Sharp "also acknowledged privately to the members that the organization's often anonymous donors frequently shape the agenda. 'The grants are driven by donor intent,' she told the gathered think-tank heads. She added that, often, 'the donors have a very specific idea of what they want to happen.'"[3]

A set of coordinated fundraising proposals obtained and released by The Guardian in early December 2013 confirm many of these SPN members' intent to change state laws and policies, referring to "advancing model legislation" and "candidate briefings." These activities "arguably cross the line into lobbying," The Guardian notes.[4]

Contents

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Research and Agenda

BIPPS describes its own agenda as "promoting free‐market capitalism, smaller government, and the defense of personal liberties." Its positions follow the right-wing agenda of the State Policy Network (SPN), including privatization of education, restricting workers' rights, and blocking healthcare reform.[5]

In many cases, the credentials or experiential background of BIPPS content contributors is unknown; and some policy documents have been created by individuals with no direct experience in the field they are critiquing. The site promotes pro-corporate, anti-labor positions. BIPPS claims to be non-partisan, but the content contributors overwhelming express Republican or Libertarian political interests and issues.

The organization's website averages 1530 unique visitors monthly and focuses predominantly on a Kentucky-based audience as of November 2007.[6] The Institute acknowledged the Mackinac Center for Public Policy's assistance with the development of its website in earlier versions.[7]

The Courier Journal in Louisville -- the largest print media outlet in Kentucky -- has described BIPPS as generally having a "libertarian anti-government negativism" and downgrades the reliability of its analysis in comparison to the Kentucky Long-Term Policy Research Center.[8]"

Founder Says BIPPS Is "Like a Franchise" of Other State Groups

According to The New York Times, BIPPS was founded by Christopher Derry, "a sales executive with no public-policy background" who attended a "conservative think tank school" run by Lawrence Reed at theMackinac Center for Public Policy in 2003. The Times reports that after the Mackinac program, Derry returned to Kentucky "with access to everything from off-the-shelf speeches and papers to management software.... 'This is like a franchise,' Mr. Derry said. 'I saw that I could recreate what the other state groups are doing.'"[9]

Involvement in Push for Local "Right to Work" in Kentucky

The Bluegrass Institute is part of a coalition that has been pushing for local "right to work" ordinancesin Kentucky starting in 2014. The New York Times reported in December 2014 that a "carefully devised plan" was being rolled out in Kentucky, with several counties passing right to work ordinances within a matter of weeks. In addition to the Bluegrass Institute, the coalition included ALEC, the Heritage Foundation, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and a new group, Protect My Check, which promised "to pay for the legal battles of any local government that tries [to pass right-to-work laws]."[10]

ALEC has promoted a "Right to Work Act" since at least 1995,[11] and ALEC's local offshoot, the American City County Exchange, promotes a local version of right-to-work.[12]

The Bluegrass Institute has a role in supporting the right-to-work campaign in media. For example, NPR talked to Bluegrass Institute president Jim Waters, reporting that Waters "says the state is losing business" due to not having "right-to-work." He said, "We're not saying that a right-to-work law is going to fix all of our economic problems in Kentucky, but what we're saying is that it's an important tool in the state's economic toolbox."[13]

For more information, see Right to Work and American City County Exchange.

Support for School Privatization Agenda

BIPPS supports school voucher programs, charter schools, and other so-called "school choice" initiatives.[14] In 2005, BIPPS started an organization called the Kentucky Alliance for School Choice, which ran a petition drive "aimed at getting legislation passed that would allow for a less strict school districting system," according to the Bowling Green Daily News.[15]

Funding

BIPPS is a 501(c)3 non-profit group. It employed four people in 2013.[16] It reported receiving $31,000 in government grant funding and $241,382 in revenues from other contributions in 2013.[16]

BIPPS stated on its website in 2007, however, that it is "supported through the generous contributions of our members. No government funds are accepted and no contract research is performed.[17] In October 2007, The Courier Journal noted that "the group's spokesman wouldn't tell our reporters the sources of its income or size of its dues-paying membership."[8]

Based on data from other organizations' tax filings, BIPPS funders include the following:[18]

In its 2006 IRS return, BIPPS president, Chris Derry, was listed as working 50 hours a week and was paid $59,999.[20] The report indicated that Derry's time was split 60/40 percent between fundraising and "management and general." The return identified $132,872 being spent on "salaries and wages of employees" in addition to that of Derry's.[21]

In its 2006 annual report, the libertarian Cato Institute states that it contributed $50,000 to the Bluegrass Institute.[22]

Core Financials

2013[16]

2012[23]

2011[24]

2010[25]

2009[26]

BIPPS's first IRS return for 2003 listed Derry as the unpaid president and CEO and Morris L. Grubbs and Tommy Adams as directors.[27]

Ties to the Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity

The Bluegrass Institute for Public Policy Solutions has hosted writers from the ALEC-connected Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity, which screens potential reporters on their “free market” views as part of the job application process.[28] The Franklin Center funds reporters in over 40 states.[29] Despite their non-partisan description, many of the websites funded by the Franklin Center have received criticism for their conservative bias.[30][31] On its website, the Franklin Center claims it "provides 10 percent of all daily reporting from state capitals nationwide."[32]

Franklin Center Funding

Franklin Center Director of Communications Michael Moroney told the Center for Public Integrity (CPI) in 2013 that the source of the Franklin Center's funding "is 100 percent anonymous." But 95 percent of its 2011 funding came from DonorsTrust, a spin-off of the Philanthropy Roundtable that functions as a large "donor-advised fund," cloaking the identity of donors to right-wing causes across the country (CPI did a review of Franklin's Internal Revenue Service records).[33] Mother Jones called DonorsTrust "the dark-money ATM of the conservative movement" in a February 2013 article.[34] Franklin received DonorTrust's second-largest donation in 2011.[33]

The Franklin Center also receives funding from the Wisconsin-based Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation,[35] a conservative grant-making organization.[36]

The Franklin Center was launched by the Chicago-based Sam Adams Alliance (SAM),[37] a 501(c)(3) devoted to pushing free-market ideals. SAM gets funding from the State Policy Network,[38] which is partially funded by The Claude R. Lambe Foundation.[39] Charles Koch, one of the billionaire brothers who co-own Koch Industries, sits on the board of this foundation.[40] SAM also receives funding from the Rodney Fund.

Ties to the American Legislative Exchange Council

Beginning in 2014, BIPPS was part of a coalition pushing for local "right to work" legislation that included ALEC and its local offshoot, ACCE. See Involvement in Push for Local "Right to Work" in Kentucky below for more.

BIPPS has also sponsored model legislation that was supported by the ALEC Energy, Environment and Agriculture Task Force. According to a BIPPS press release from December 5, 2012, the model legislation, the so-called "Intrastate Coal and Use Act," continued "to the ALEC board for final approval, following which it will officially be made available to states for adaptation to their individual needs."[41]

The Madison Group, the predecessor of SPN -- of which BIPPS is a member -- was "launched by the American Legislative Exchange Council or ALEC . . . and housed in the Chicago-based Heartland Institute," according to a 1991 report by the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy (NCRP) found in the University of California-San Francisco's Legacy Tobacco Documents.[42][43]

The case is strengthened by an October 1987 ALEC directory also available via the Tobacco Documents that says, "The Madison Group is chaired by Mrs. Constance Heckman now Constance Campanella, founder of the lobbying firm [Stateside Associates], Executive Director of ALEC . . ."[44] A speakers list also available in the Tobacco Documents says in Constance Campanella's biography, "She was a co-founder and first President of The Madison Group, the first network of free-market state think tanks."[45]

SPN has been a member of ALEC for many years. In the mid-2000s, SPN secured funding for more of its member think tanks to join ALEC in order to help develop model legislation. By 2009, 22 SPN member think tanks were active ALEC members and participants in ALEC task forces, according to an SPN newsletter, and SPN was being rewarded for its services by ALEC.[46] As of 2013, at least 35 SPN member think tanks have demonstrable ties to ALEC in addition to SPN's own ties, and all of SPN's member think tanks push ALEC's agenda in their respective states, according to a review by the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD).

Please see SPN Ties to ALEC for more.

About ALEC
ALEC is a corporate bill mill. It is not just a lobby or a front group; it is much more powerful than that. Through ALEC, corporations hand state legislators their wishlists to benefit their bottom line. Corporations fund almost all of ALEC's operations. They pay for a seat on ALEC task forces where corporate lobbyists and special interest reps vote with elected officials to approve “model” bills. Learn more at the Center for Media and Democracy's ALECexposed.org, and check out breaking news on our PRWatch.org site.

Personnel

Board Members

As of March 2015:[47]

Staff

As of March 2015:[48]

Policy Scholars

As of March 2015:[48]

Researchers

Contact Details

Bluegrass Institute for Public Policy Solutions

400 E. Main Avenue, Suite 306

P.O. Box 51147

Bowling Green, KY 42102

Phone: (270) 782-2140

Fax: (305) 675-0220

Website: http://www.bipps.org

Articles and Resources

Related SourceWatch Articles

Related PRWatch Articles

External Links

References

  1. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:↑ State Policy Network, 2006 Success & Endeavors of State-Based Think Tanks, organizational website, December 5, 2006.
  2. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:↑ Rebekah Wilce, Center for Media and Democracy, EXPOSED: The State Policy Network -- The Powerful Right-Wing Network Helping to Hijack State Politics and Government, organizational report, November 13, 2013.
  3. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:↑ Jane Mayer, Is IKEA the New Model for the Conservative Movement?, The New Yorker, November 15, 2013.
  4. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:↑ Ed Pilkington and Suzanne Goldenberg, State conservative groups plan US-wide assault on education, health and tax, The Guardian, December 5, 2013.
  5. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:↑ Freedom Forward," organizational website, accessed March 25, 2015.
  6. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:↑ SiteAnalytics, BIPPS.org, accessed November 2007.
  7. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:↑ Bluegrass Institute for Public Policy Solutions, Bluegrass Institute, organizational website, archived by the WayBack Machine December 6, 2003.
  8. ↑ ^Jump ^up to:8.0 8.1 Just look at the facts," The Courier Journal editorial, October 27, 2007.
  9. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:↑ Jason DeParle, "Right-of-Center Guru Goes Wide With the Gospel of Small Government," The New York Times, November 27, 2006.
  10. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:↑ Shaila Dewan, "Foes of Unions Try Their Luck in County Laws," The New York Times, December 18, 2014.
  11. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:↑ Center for Media and Democracy, "Right to Work Act Exposed," ALEC Exposed project, accessed February 12, 2015.
  12. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:↑ American Legislative Exchange Council, "Local Right to Work Ordinance," organizational document, January 9, 2015.
  13. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:↑ Lisa Autry, "Kentucky Right-To-Work Battle Shifts To Counties," NPR, March 18, 2015.
  14. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:↑ Bluegrass Institute for Public Policy Solutions, "Lead Education Reform," organizational website, accessed March 25, 2015.
  15. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:↑ Courtney Craig, "School-choice group starts petition," Bowling Green Daily News, June 18, 2005.
  16. ↑ ^Jump ^up to:16.0 16.1 16.2 Bluegrass Institute for Public Policy Solutions, 2013 Form 990, organizational annual IRS filing, October 2, 2014.
  17. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:↑ Bluegrass Institute, "About Us: Bluegrass Institute for Public Policy Solutions," Bluegrass Institute for Public Policy Solutions, accessed November 2007.
  18. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:↑ American Bridge 21st Century Foundation, "Bluegrass Institute]," funding profile, Conservative Transparency database, accessed March 25, 2015.
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  20. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:↑ Bluegrass Institute for Public Policy Solutions, Form 990 2006, BIPPS, June 2007, page 17.
  21. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:↑ Bluegrass Institute for Public Policy Solutions, Form 990 2006, BIPPS, June 2007, page 2.
  22. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:↑ Cato Institute, 2006 Annual Report, pages 19-23.
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  24. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:↑ Bluegrass Institute for Public Policy Solutions, 2011 Form 990, organizational annual IRS filing, August 15, 2012.
  25. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:↑ Bluegrass Institute for Public Policy Solutions, [http://pdfs.citizenaudit.org/2011_10_EO/11-3691843_990_201012.pdf 2010 Form 990, organizational annual IRS filing, May 3, 2011.
  26. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:↑ Bluegrass Institute for Public Policy Solutions, 2009 Form 990, organizational annual IRS filing, September 15, 2010.
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  28. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:↑ Franklin Center, Franklin Affiliates in Your State, organizational website, accessed October 2012.
  29. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:↑ The Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity, Think tank Journalism: The Future of Investigative Journalism, organizational website, accessed August 19, 2011.
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  31. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:↑ Allison Kilkenny, The Koch Spider Web, Truthout, accessed August 19, 2011.
  32. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:↑ Sara Jerving, Franklin Center: Right-Wing Funds State News Source, PRWatch.org, October 27, 2011.
  33. ↑ ^Jump ^up to:33.0 33.1 Paul Abowd, Center for Public Integrity, Donors use charity to push free-market policies in states, organizational report, February 14, 2013.
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  37. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:↑ Sam Adams Alliance. Sam Adams Alliance Media Kit. Organizational PDF. Accessed August 19, 2011.
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  39. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:↑ Media Matters Action Network. State Policy Network. Conservative Transparency. Accessed August 19, 2011.
  40. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:↑ Media Matters Action Network. Claude R. Lambe Charitable Foundation. Conservative Transparency. Accessed August 19, 2011.
  41. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:↑ Bluegrass Institute, "BIPPS-supported ALEC model bill seeks to protect Kentucky coal from EPA overreach," organizational "news alert," accessed December 2012.
  42. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:↑ National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy, Special Report: Burgeoning Conservative Think Tanks, organizational report, Spring 1991, p. 2.
  43. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:↑ Rebekah Wilce, Did ALEC Found SPN? 1991 Report Suggests So, Exposes SPN Agenda, PRWatch, December 12, 2013.
  44. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:↑ American Legislative Exchange Council, ALEC Personnel Directory, The State Factor, October 1987, p. 3.
  45. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:↑ Speakers List, document available in the University of California-San Francisco's Legacy Tobacco Documents, accessed December 2013.
  46. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:↑ State Policy Network, SPN & Alec: A Model Relationship, SPN News, organizational newsletter, July/August 2009, p. 4.
  47. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:↑ Bluegrass Institute for Public Policy Solutions, "Board Members," organizational website, accessed March 23, 2015.
  48. ↑ ^Jump ^up to:48.0 48.1 Bluegrass Institute for Public Policy Solutions, "[www.bipps.org/staff Staff]," organizational website, accessed March 23, 2015.
  49. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:↑ Katie Kirby, "Jim Waters named Bluegrass Institute interim president," BeechTree News, November 2, 2012.
  50. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:↑ Mercatus Center, "John Garen, organizational website, March 23, 2015.
  51. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:↑ James McNair, "University of Louisville Releases Details on Major Gift From Papa John’s CEO, Koch Foundation," Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting, March 10, 2015.
  52. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:↑ Acton Institute, "D. Eric Schansberg], organizational website, accessed March 23, 2015.
  53. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:↑ Independent Institute, "D. Eric Schansberg], organizational website, accessed March 23, 2015.
  54. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:↑ BB&T Center for the Study of Capitalism, "About," organizational website, accessed March 23, 2015.

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Anti-union, vouchers, Republican Party and neo-confederates. And just three guys. Where does pension reform fit in this mix? Pension Tsunami and UnionWatch — according to the website this is all the California Public Policy Center does. Not a lot of “public policy” going on at this “public policy center.” Interesting.

Exploring further, one group of links at the Pension Tsunami website is a list of “think tanks” they want readers to visit:

PensionTsumani: THINK TANKS

**Bluegrass Institute for Public Policy Solutions**

Calvert Institute

Cato Institute

Claremont Institute

Commonwealth Foundation (PA)

Empire Center for New York State Policy

**Heartland Institute**

Illinois Policy Institute

Independent Institute

Ludwig von Mises Institute

Manhattan Institute

National Center for Policy Analysis

Pacific Research Institute

Pensions Institute [UK]

Pew Charitable Trusts

Reason Foundation

RetirementReform.org

Rio Grande Foundation

Rockefeller Fiscal Studies

Sierra Environmental Studies Foundation

The Free Enterprise Nation

Yankee Institute

Exploring The Links

It is worth exploring some of these related “Public Policy Institutes.” Let’s pull some threads and see what we find.

The Bluegrass Institute for Public Policy Solutions, in Kentucky, describes itself as a “free-market think tank.”

The Bluegrass Institute runs Freedom Kentucky which has a section on Public Pensions where you can find into “related to pension reform, Pension Reform Legislation, the teachers retirement system, and much more…”

The Calvert Institute (for Public Policy) is in Maryland, describing itself as a, “public policy research institution committed to generating new ideas based on the principles of free enterprise, limited government and personal responsibility.”

Just a few things from their website:

The Cato Institute, “dedicated to the principles of individual liberty, limited government, free markets and peace,” warns regularly about :{The Increasing Burden of Government Employees on Taxpayers:(style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-stretch:inherit;vertical-align:baseline"):}: and :{Public Sector Unions and the Rising Costs of Employee Compensation:(style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-stretch:inherit;vertical-align:baseline"):}:.

The Claremont Institute says public employees are Neither Civil Nor Servants,

Will a deep recession, mounting fiscal crises, and new revelations of gross abuse finally lead citizens to say “Enough!” to unionized public employees who have amassed power and benefits at the expense of the common good?

The Commonwealth Foundation, in Pennsylvania. Their website says they work to, “demonstrate the societal benefits of individual liberty, free enterprise, and limited, accountable government so that key decision makers in Pennsylvania embrace them.”

The Commonwealth Foundation discusses Union Pension Bailout & Generational Theft and warns that “Pennsylvania’s largest public pension plans … are severely underfunded.”

Commonwealth Foundation Directors:

Board Chair Michael W. Gleba.

Treasurer of The Carthage Foundation (Scaife)

Executive Vice President of The Sarah Scaife Foundation

Board Member, Allegheny Institute for Public Policy

Mr. Matthew J. Brouillette (President & CEO):

On an advisory committee for the New York City-based Atlantic Legal Foundation.

T. William Boxx is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Phillip M. McKenna Foundation.

Frederick W. Anton III, Pma Capital Corp

Glen Meakem | Conservative Talk Show Host

Staff:

Charles F. Mitchell is Vice President and COO of the Commonwealth Foundation for Public Policy Alternatives. … Previously, he was a program officer at the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education and an intern at the Heritage Foundation. Charles is a graduate of theCharles G. Koch Charitable Foundation’s Associate Program, the Mackinac Center’s Leadership Conference, and the Claremont Institute’s Publius Fellows Program.

The Empire Center for New York State Policy is a project of the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research. The Empire Center warns that “:{New York’s Exploding Pension Costs:(style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-stretch:inherit;vertical-align:baseline"):}:” are “threatening to divert scarce resources from other essential public services in the midst of a fiscal crisis.”

Empire’s parent, the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research is “shaping American political culture and developing ideas that foster economic choice and individual responsibility.” If you visit Manhattan Institute you will learn How Public Unions Took Taxpayers Hostage, thatPublic Workers Feel No Pain In Recession, N.Y. Public Workers Thrived Amid Misery, Obama Puts Public Sector Employees Ahead of Private Sector, A Cautionary Tale About California’s Budget-Busting Public-Sector Unions and much, much more!

Chairman of the Board Paul E. Singer, founder and CEO of hedge fund Elliott Management Corporation.

Vice Chairman Michael J. Fedak. On National Council of The American Enterprise Institute(which asks Public-Pension Deficits: How Big? Can They Ever Be Paid?)

Roger Hertog, chairman of the board of Alliance Captial Management Corporation (valued at about $100 billion)

Charles H. Brunie, also a Trustee of the Hudson Institute, an “organization dedicated to innovative research and analysis that promotes global security, prosperity, and freedom.” (Note: The Hudson Institute warns about Union Pensions at Risk as well as Decrying the Union Pension Bailout Bill.)

Charles H. Brunie started Oppenheimer Capital in 1969

The rest of the board is largely hedge fund, capital management, securities, etc…

The Heartland Institute, “free-market solutions to social and economic problems,” offers a handy guide to The State Public Pension Crisis: A 50-State Report Card.

The Illinois Policy Institute is “dedicated to supporting free market principles and liberty-based public policy initiatives for a better Illinois.“ The IPI warns us that “Illinois faces a staggering $83 billion in unfunded public pension liabilities” and their blog wants to know “Will You Bail Out Pensions?“

Board:

Bill Becker co-founded The Maine Heritage Policy Center, an “organization whose mission is to formulate and promote conservative public policies based on the principles of free enterprise; limited, constitutional government; individual freedom; and traditional American values–all for the purpose of providing public policy solutions that benefit the people of Maine.” (Note: the Maine Heritage Policy Center warns us about “The Cost of Doing Nothing: Maine’s Pension Payments are Crowding Out Other Spending.”

Steve Brown of Code Hennessy & Simmons (“CHS”), a Chicago-based private equity firm.

Terry T. Campo served as National Chairman of the Young Republicans from 1989 to 1991.

John Tillman, CEO serves on the boards of the Sam Adams Alliance and Sam Adams Foundation. Prior to his time with Sam Adams, he served as president and director of Americans for Limited Government. (ALG Urges Congress to Reject $100 Billion Handout to Public Employee Unions.)

Dick Weiss is a Core Equity senior portfolio manager at Wells Capital Management.

The Free Enterprise Nation too a Pension road trip: From Montana to Prichard, Alabama

The Yankee Institute is a “free market think tank” in Connecticut with a financial-services-industry-heavy board that warns that the $100K Pensions Club Includes 299 State Retirees. (FYI it is largely university chancellors, deans, professors, med school instructors.)

“Government workers receive compensation and benefit packages that are much more generous than those available to private sector workers,” said Fergus Cullen, Executive Director of the Yankee Institute for Public Policy.

The Director of PRI’s Journalism Center wrote a book called, “Plunder: How Public Employee Unions are Raiding Treasuries, Controlling our Lives and Bankrupting the Nation.”

The Reason Foundation writes about Public Employees vs. the Public Will and warns Public Employee Unions Are Sinking California.

RetirementReform.org Clicks through to National Center for Pollicy Analysis page on Common Sense Retirement Policy which advocates “reform” for Social Security. But never fear, NCPA elsewhere warns about “Unfunded Liabilities of State and Local Government Employee Retirement Benefit Plans” and says PUBLIC EMPLOYEE PENSIONS ARE A TICKING TIME BOMB

NCPA’s Board includes a number of people from the financial industry, private equity, holding companies, etc.

The Rio Grande Foundation “is a research institute dedicated to increasing liberty and prosperity for all of New Mexico’s citizens. We do this by informing New Mexicans of the importance of individual freedom, limited government, and economic opportunity.” They warn, :{New Mexico’s Government Pension Problem: 3rd Worst in the Nation:(style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-stretch:inherit;vertical-align:baseline"):}:.

Cookie-Cutter Think Tanks

This is all from pulling the threads just a little bit that come from just one op-ed on pension reform. I didn’t go into the funding of these organizations or look at what else they are doing, other associations, etc. These are just a few of the network of conservative “institutes,” etc. around the country. Just a very few. (Here is a list of 185 organizations purporting to be conservative state think tanks, a list of 40 conservative national organizations with state networks and a list of 306 organizations purporting to be conservative national think tanks and 65 conservative “family policy” organizations. There are other lists with other criteria.)

As you follow these threads you discover layer upon layer of corporate/conservative front groups, masking their activities and funders with more layers of front groups. They all have similar mission statements, have similar people on their Boards with similar backgrounds, cover the same issues the same way, and even use remarkably similar language. They seem to be not just connected but interconnected. The sheer number of these similar “think tanks”make it appear that there must be a machine somewhere that stamps these things from a template. That machine is named “Scaife/Coors/Koch…” (Please read also and spend some time here.)

These corporate/conservative organizations are very good at manipulating the media and public opinion — it is their purpose. Their “experts” are well paid and always available to talk to reporters, appear on TV and radio shows and write articles and opinion pieces for newspapers, blogs and for their network of similar organizations. Their “reports’ and “studies” reach the conclusions that fit the strategy, and are crafted to sound just right. And there areso many of them! The result is development of “conventional wisdom” about what is going on in our society. This is why that conventional wisdom more and more reflects the corporate/conservative line. And right now the corporate conservative line is that we should think that public employees and their unions are responsible for state and local budget shortfalls.

https://ourfuture.org/20120813/discover-the-network-out-to-crush-our-public-workers

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