A good place to start in researching your local corporate-backed policy outfits is the State Policy Network [1];
pick your state on the linked map and you'll be able to see a list of
"free market" think tanks in your local area. While there is a lot of
overlap, you can also check out the map of state groups listed by Americans for Tax Reform. [2]
Also check out these key national groups with links to local chapters or coalitions:
- Citizens for a Sound Economy/FreedomWorks [3]
- Americans for Prosperity [4]
- American Tort Reform Association [5]
If you want to check out who is funding your local rightwing opponents, visit the Media Transparency [6]
database, where you can type in a conservative group's name and see
which foundations or other sources are funding it. There is a wealth of
other information on the site tracking rightwing organizations and the
money funding them.
The National Committee
for Responsive Philanthropy [7] has issued a series of reports tracking conservative funding of public policy, while the Center for Media and Democracy's Source Watch [8]
is a collaborative site that allows you to search for background on a
range of conservative and business-backed organizations. And the National Institute on Money in State Politics [9] tracks political donations to state campaigns broken down by candidate, contributor or special interest.
Other good progressive resources analyzing the rightwing include:
- Commonweal Institute Information About the Right [10]
- People for the American Way RightWing Watch [11]
- Political Research Associates [12]
The first step in fighting these local conservative think tanks and
policy operations is educating local political officials and media
outlets where their money is coming from and what special interests
have a stake in their policy proposals.