Blackwell is back

[cmd]

We must do everything we can to expose the extreme Buckeye Institute for Public Policy Solutions. Make sure Blackwell's name is associated with it. Connect it with selling off the state to people like Tom Noe.
Connect it with Bush.



Ken Blackwell, last year’s Republican nominee for governor and former Secretary of State, is pushing a conservative agenda again.

Blackwell, whose 2006 campaign platform included cutting taxes and expanding school choice, has joined the Buckeye Institute for Public Policy Solutions, a Columbus-based conservative think tank. He will receive a stipend under a fellowship named for former President Ronald Reagan

“He will be doing it all when it comes to disseminating our conservative viewpoint – he’ll be speaking and representing us at the national level and preparing pieces for publication,” David Hansen, president of the Buckeye Institute, said.

Hansen said he sees no downside to formalizing a relationship with Blackwell, beaten badly last November and whose positions were portrayed by critics as extreme.

http://www.cleveland.com/weblogs/openers/index.ssf?/mtlogs/cleve_openers/archives/2007_02.html#238123

[geiger]

1. weird, we will beat the crap out of him

[MeDeMax]

2. link to the institute

http://www.buckeyeinstitute.org/

Excerpts from their front page :

The Special Education Scholarship Program proposed in H.B. 431 is an excellent opportunity for Ohio policy makers to return to core principles. The program would empower parents to decide what type of school best fits their child’s individual needs.

The City of Columbus recently filed a public nuisance lawsuit against lead paint manufacturers to force these companies to remove or clean up lead paint on buildings. This is a misuse of public nuisance law. Instead of litigation, Columbus should engage in public education campaigns regarding lead paint and encourage landlords to properly maintain their buildings.

Though there are positive aspects of Governor-elect Ted Strickland’s plans for Ohio’s technology sector, he should reconsider those policies that call for increased government involvement in the economy. Such policies will stifle private investment. Instead, he should focus on reducing the regulatory and tax burden on telecommunications companies operating in Ohio.

Last week, the Ohio Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of Ohio’s charter school law. In doing so, the court properly recognized that educational policy decisions are the purview of the legislature, not the courts.

Let us see now, pro-voucher, pro-charter-schools, anti-lead-paint-issues ...

It is a "think tank" to support the Ohio GOP legislature.

[femrap]

3. Are there any Progressive/Liberal Think Tanks

in Columbus...or Ohio?

Thx.

[cmd]

4. I don't know

That's a very good question.

[MeDeMax]

5. there appear to be several around the nation ...

try looking for the ones mentioned in this article.

washingtonpost.com
Rich Liberals Vow to Fund Think Tanks
Aim Is to Compete With Conservatives

By Thomas B. Edsall
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, August 7, 2005; A01

At least 80 wealthy liberals have pledged to contribute $1 million or more apiece to fund a network of think tanks and advocacy groups to compete with the potent conservative infrastructure built up over the past three decades.
...
The Democracy Alliance will act as a financial clearing house. Its staff members and board of directors will develop a lineup of established and proposed groups that they believe will develop and promote ideas on the left. To fulfill their million-dollar pledge, each partner must agree to give $200,000 or more a year for at least five years to alliance-endorsed groups.

The alliance is the brainchild of longtime Democratic strategist Rob Stein, who spent years studying conservative groups -- in particular their success in sustaining GOP politicians and achieving many of their policy goals. Simon Rosenberg, president of the New Democrat Network, is working with Stein and is a leading promoter of his effort.
...

Full article (may require free Washington Post registration) here :

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/06/AR2005080600848_pf.html

New Politics Institute

http://www.newpolitics.net/