think tank news stories on Newser

Billboard Equates Climate Believers to Crazy Killers

John Johnson — Fri, 04 May 2012 18:24:07 CDT

A conservative think tank has pulled a controversial billboard that compared those who believe in global warming to deranged killers. The Heartland Institute was taking heavy flak for the digital sign in Chicago that featured a photo of Unabomber Ted Kaczynski and the question, "I still believe in Global Warming....

North Korea Well Positioned for War: Report

Kevin Spak — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 11:54:43 CST

North Korea’s offensive-minded military strategy is in some ways superior to South Korea’s defensive-minded one, and would give it an edge in the early days of an all-out war, a Korean-based think tank concludes in a new report. With 1.2 million military personnel and a record number of tanks,...

Group Helps Big Biz Shape Friendly Laws

Mark Russell — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 13:21:26 CDT

Say "hi" to ALEC—as in the American Legislative Exchange Council, a conservative think-tank that allows businesses to play a role in writing laws on energy, the environment, telecommunications, taxes, public safety, and more, reports Bloomberg . Corporations pay up to $25,000 to join ALEC and thousands more to join...

Giffords Shooting Spawns 'Civil Discourse' Center

Mark Russell — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 08:31:05 CST

Former presidents George HW Bush and Bill Clinton will be honorary co-chairman of the National Institute for Civil Discourse, a new non-partisan center for research, debate, and education about dialogue in politics, opening today at the University of Arizona in Tucson. Featuring a prominent board of politicians and media figures—...

Jane Harman to Leave Congress

Kevin Spak — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 12:49:26 CST

Longtime California Rep. Jane Harman will leave Congress to head up the Woodrow Wilson Center, she said in an email to constituents today. "This is an excruciating decision because the distinction of representing the smartest constituents on earth will never be surpassed," Harman wrote, according to the AP . "But shaping...

Smartest Cities in America

Jane Yager — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 08:57:00 CDT

The number-one brainiest city in America is a university town that major science research centers have made home and whose tech-friendly business culture draws start-ups: Boulder, Colo. Writing in the Daily Beast , Richard Florida ranks the country's 20 brainiest metro areas, as determined by things like number of adults with...

O'Keefe Hinted at New Orleans 'Project' Days Before Arrest

Jane Yager — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 06:00:00 CST

Four days before James O'Keefe was charged with tampering with Sen. Mary Landrieu's office phones, the conservative activist hinted that he had a new, high-profile "project going in New Orleans." Speaking about the mystery project at a conservative think tank last Thursday, O'Keefe "alluded to the fact that we would...

George W. Bush Library Finds a Home in Texas

Rob Quinn — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 05:46:52 CST

George W. Bush's presidential library will be built at Southern Methodist University, the Dallas Morning News reports. The First Lady's alma mater has had its eyes on that prize since just after Bush took office. "It took us 71 days to find a football coach, so we don't like to...

Top Policy Dog Steers Rudy Right

Jonas Oransky — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 21:21:06 CDT

Giuliani is going to "Simon University," where think tank types school him to be a hawk and a tax-cutter, the Washington Post reports. Bill Simon hosts, teaching Giuliani how to think conservative heartland instead of New York elite. Simon, Giuliani's policy director, "has the added advantage of being a serious...