By Peter Galuszka
The coincidences are revealing.
How many times have you read this blog and you find that much of the comment seems scripted from afar.
The American Legislative Exchange Council, the cabal of right wing business and propagandists who draft laws for harried state legislators, pushes a template for private school tuition tax breaks. Suddenly, James A. Bacon Jr., local example in hand, is writing in favor of the same thing.
Or, there’s a big push towards Paul Ryan-style budget austerity (despite plenty of evidence now is not the time for it). Presto! Boomergeddon in book form! Or, the so-called Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy, made up mostly of conservative lobbyists, comes up with yet another regressive tax plan only to get plugged on this blog.
Or, take the Silver Line to take rail to Dulles International Airport. A steady drumbeat booms at Bacons Rebellion against the labor union rep on the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority which is involved in a possibly union-friendly construction contract for Phase II of the project. The Loudoun County Board of Supervisors will make a critical decision on the issue today.
Ring! Ring! It”s the telephone. A robo caller from the Americans for Prosperity is bothering Loudoun County residents stating “Loudoun cannot this bail out to rail-station developers,” a recorded voice says.
Now who the hell is the Americans for Prosperity and why do they care about a local and regional issue? They are a national conservative group that hates unions and is out “to educate” people, according to their Virginia spokesman.
See the connection? All these institutes? Conservative national groups? Bacons Rebellion? There’s nothing wrong in promoting a frame of reference. I do it all the time. But a little more transparency would be nice. I mean, we’re not all that stupid, Jim.
