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A note on think tanks

In this article, the following think tanks are considered:

Libertarian

Conservative

Progressive

The following is a juxtaposition of the above libertarian and conservative think tanks (and advocacy groups) against the progressive ones.

Political/Philosophical Ideology

In all of the conservative and libertarian organizations, concrete ideas or persons are used in the name and/or mission and/or motto to highlight distinguishing conservative and/or libertarian focus, un-apologetically. In the progressive ones, political and philosophical leanings are (a) left unstated, or (b) implicitly centrist, or (c) explicitly "centrist" and "non-partisan". Furthermore, vague and fluffy terms ("American", "priorities", "progress") are used. This apologetic refrain ("I'm not left-wing; I'm simply moderate/independent/non-partisan, etc.") is pervasive in left-wing journalistic watchdogs as well (e.g. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Center_for_Public_Integrity), while right-wing media outlets are proudly so.

Finances

In all but two of the libertarian and conservative organizations, the wiki entry show finances (both revenue and expenses) and, consistently, it is the case that revenue exceeds expenses, as one might expect. In the progressive ones, finances are not revealed (at least, on the wiki page) in all but one (and, in that case, only revenue is revealed, not expenses).

A note on funding sources (a hat tip to the Kochs)

George Soros' Open Society Foundations contributes major funding to all but two of the other progressive organizations (http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/viewSubCategory.asp?id=1237). Hopefully, this would bring balance and perspective to those drinking the "Koch-addiciton" KoolAid.

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