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    SleazycheeksHannah Gold
    8/07/16 2:19pm

    I have mixed feelings on this. I understand why it looks bad, but at the same time it doesn’t mean the think tank is lying.

    I used to be a tech analyst on Wall Street. I had mostly buy ratings on the companies whose IPOs we ran...but the reason I had buy ratings is that I thought they were good companies. No company ever “bought” a good rating; if I didn’t like a company I told the bankers I didn’t like them. They knew what that meant and acted accordingly.

    Similarly, Brookings might sincerely believe that Lennar is a good company that benefits the country. “Promote agendas in exchange for donations” implies that the analysts are writing things they don’t believe.

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      Sid and FinancySleazycheeks
      8/07/16 2:27pm

      I suppose your experience was AFTER the securities industry settled with the government and set up screening mechanisms precisely because companies (tech, most notoriously) were in fact buying positive research ratings with investment banking business?

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      YouAreOddSleazycheeks
      8/07/16 2:29pm

      “I have mixed feelings on this. I understand why it looks bad, but at the same time it doesn’t mean the think tank is lying.”

      It means their opinions are tainted and not honest.

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    toothpetardHannah Gold
    8/07/16 2:07pm

    “systems in place”

    I trust them completely, having no other choice in the matter.

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      Kenhe Logintoothpetard
      8/07/16 3:01pm

      Please dismiss the troll’s graphic images. I’ve flagged it and separately reported it by email and it shouldn’t even be in the grey.

      If you want to know why comments are in the grey, you can blame people like the troll posting such images.

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      Armageddon T. ThunderbirdKenhe Login
      8/07/16 3:16pm

      Did you email Hannah? This was going on at Gizmodo this morning too. It didn’t go away until I directly emailed Carli (makes one wonder about the state of the Kinja tech team during bankruptcy.)

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    Mortal DictataHannah Gold
    8/07/16 2:04pm

    So it was an investigation that concluded what was common knowledge to begin with, that Think Tanks have agendas.

    Next they’ll have a shocking expose that Trump is a fan of Big Business.

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      Group B-raaaaaaaaaap!Mortal Dictata
      8/07/16 2:15pm

      Half right; Trump is a fan of His businesses. Everyone else can jump in front of the C train. Sad!

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      Mr.PeepersMortal Dictata
      8/07/16 3:01pm

      This just in, WATER IS WET!

      I wonder what gave it away in the end. Was it the names of the contributing corporations stamped on the posters at foundation events or the names of contributing corporations listed on their website next to links to papers detailing reports about industries those corporations belong to? Clearly this is big time Sherlock Holmes level shit here.

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    Group B-raaaaaaaaaap!Hannah Gold
    8/07/16 2:07pm

    THIS JUST IN:

    Obviously.

    Brought to you by the Center For Freedominess Policy and Tobacco Benefit Research.

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      BanestarGroup B-raaaaaaaaaap!
      8/07/16 2:09pm

      Headed by mike pence.

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      Group B-raaaaaaaaaap!Banestar
      8/07/16 2:11pm

      Isn't he also the Chairman Emeritus of the Foundation for the Advancement of Mayonnaise-Americans and Starched Oxford Shirts?

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    Group B-raaaaaaaaaap!Hannah Gold
    8/07/16 2:09pm

    I’d like to unleash my own think tank on the Heritage Foundation HQ.

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      Fred Garvin Male ProstituteGroup B-raaaaaaaaaap!
      8/07/16 2:21pm
      GIF

      .

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    Kenhe LoginHannah Gold
    8/07/16 2:42pm

    Intellectual honesty is for sale and at prices for much less than what you would think.

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      Admin UserKenhe Login
      8/07/16 5:31pm

      This is a great book about Upton Sinclair. I cannot recommend it enough.

      It’s amazing how similar our times are to the times in which he originally gained fame, with the exception that people back then were a lot more literate (which this book describes in detail).

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      Kenhe LoginAdmin User
      8/07/16 5:55pm

      Thanks, sounds like a good read.

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    christcoHannah Gold
    8/07/16 2:32pm

    “Leave your papers on my desk as you wander off to your unexamined lives of gravity bongs, ceaseless Tweets, and date rapery.”

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      Bugoonguchristco
      8/07/16 4:28pm

      This episode, “tanks for nuttin” I think it was, had me in stitches. The harangue-utank!

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    Jerry-NetherlandHannah Gold
    8/07/16 4:37pm

    Desired results are attached to underwriting at DC think tanks? All together now...

    GIF
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      Kenhe LoginHannah Gold
      8/07/16 6:00pm

      In the case where you are receiving something of value in exchange for your donation, your donation is not a tax deductible charitable contribution. It is a payment for goods or services.

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        Patsy StoneHannah Gold
        8/08/16 1:35pm

        They really needed an investigation to determine this? What next? A investigation to determine that water is wet?

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