Okay, obviously this is no surprise, but bear with me.
In his recent pronouncements (in oral public statements and on his website back on March 1) or perhaps what might be better described as his attack on Democrats in the Senate, Boehner claims that:
In order to create a better environment for job creation, we must rein in out-of-control federal spending.
...
Yesterday, noted Stanford economist John Taylor said our bill: ‘[W]ill increase economic growth and employment as the federal government begins to put its fiscal house in order.’
Now, from what I have read, cuts to federal spending are not ordinarily considered to spur job growth and this is a view widely held by most economists (in fact, there is something on the front page of dkos on this very topic). Which got me to thinking . . . just who is this "noted Stanford economist" because usually that sort of pedigree means something. What I found is below the fold . . . .
Boehner's press release eventually links to this blog post by John B. Taylor (note that this is a blog post and not any scholarly publication that would be subject to peer review). And from there one can reach Professor Taylor's webpage, with links to his CV. And it is indeed an impressive CV. One notes that he is currently in the "George P. Shultz Senior Fellow in Economics" at the Hoover Institution at Stanford - in fact, it looks a little like he has increasingly been relegated to "Senior Fellow" status at Stanford as he has been given more duties at the Hoover Institution. Sure, it is a right wing think tank and of course Boehner would pluck a blog opinion from a "noted Stanford economist" from there.
But what else is there about this guy? Well, he first came to the Hoover Institution as a
Bowen H. and Janice Arthur McCoy Senior Fellow. So I wondered who Bowen H. McCoy was. According to Bloomberg Businessweek:
Mr. Bowen H. McCoy has been a real estate and business counselor with Buzz McCoy Associates, Inc. since 1990. Prior to this, Mr. McCoy spent 28 years with Morgan Stanley, and was President and Chairman of Morgan Stanley Realty, Inc., where he directed real estate Finance activities for 13 years and West Coast operations for 5 years.
Oh my, Morgan Stanley and real estate investing! But that was all before 1990. Not a lot there. What more can we learn about this "noted economist," Professor Thompson?
Hmmm, in 2010 he was the recipient of the "Bradley Prize" for contributions to research and policy from the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation! Bingo!
If that name is familiar, it is because dkosopedia has quite an entry on the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation and here are a few key observations (bold added):
Harry was an key early financial supporter of the John Birch Society, one of the country's leading far-right organizations, based in nearby Appleton, WI.
Robert Welsh, who founded the Society in 1958, was a regular speaker at Allen-Bradley sales meetings.
...
By 1968, when the company's workforce had grown to more than 7,000, Allen-Bradley employed only 32 Blacks and 14 Latinos. The company was eventually forced to adopt an affirmative action plan, after the federal government backed a discrimination suit. In 1970, a two and half month strike forced them to agree to allow payroll deduction of union dues. All of these advancements for their workers furthered their view that government intercession for equal rights for minorities or based on gender where sign of the ills of "liberalism" and should be stopped....
Bradley is certainly not the only conservative foundation promoting right-wing causes. It works in concert with a number of others to develop, maintain and promote a right-wing intelligencia that can play a major role in the manipulation of public opinion and the formulation of public policy. In fact, the Olin, Sarah Scaife, Smith Richardson and Bradley foundations are often called the "Four Sisters" for their tendency to fund similar conservative projects, publications and institutions. But Bradley, with the largest assets of the conservative foundations, with its national connections and a sharply focused political agenda, plays a leading role in the conservative movement.
According to
Right Wing Watch: "Bradley contributes to conservative and often highly controversial scholarship, publications and "academic" research aimed at legitimizing far-right policy positions." Wow! That sounds a LOT like this "noted Stanford economist," doesn't it?
Media Transparency's website has more on the Bradley Foundation (again, bold added):
The overall objective of the Bradley Foundation, however, is to return the U.S. -- and the world -- to the days before governments began to regulate Big Business, before corporations were forced to make concessions to an organized labor force. In other words, laissez-faire capitalism: capitalism with the gloves off.
To further this objective, Bradley supports the organizations and individuals that promote the deregulation of business, the rollback of virtually all social welfare programs, and the privatization of government services. As a result, the list of Bradley grant recipients reads like a Who's Who of the U.S. Right ... Heritage Foundation ... Madison Center for Educational Affairs ... American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, literary home for such racist authors as Charles Murray (The Bell Curve) and Dinesh D'Souza (The End of Racism), former conservative officeholders Jeane J. Kirkpatrick, Jack Kemp and William J. Bennett, and arch-conservative jurists Robert H. Bork and Antonin Scalia...
Are any of you surprised that the foundation that supports Boehner's new favorite "economist" is based in Milwaukee, home of the union-hating Scott Walker? And for a few more chuckles, remember that Harry Bradley was an early backer of the John Birch Society? Harry was one of the original charter members of that group, along with another Birch Society board member, Fred Koch, the father of Koch Industries billionaire brothers and owners, Charles and David Koch. I think this is all becoming very clear.
Bonus factoid: "Noted Stanford economist" John B. Taylor, along with pals like Ed Meese III is a member of the "Caveman Camp" at the infamous Bohemian Grove gatherings.