Salon.com > Heritage Foundation

Jim DeMint: The right’s new kingmaker

Sun, 09 Dec 2012 12:59:00 +0000

In the Washington media, there is a well-established tradition of respecting what I've long called the No Money Rule. Simply put, in the day-to-day coverage of politics, D.C. reporters tend to avoid focusing on the power of money over both parties, knowing that openly mentioning that influence is seen as uncouth in Washington's elite circles. It is viewed this way because talking about corporate cash, campaign contributions and corruption exposes politics for what it really is: not some high-minded intellectual exchange, not an honorable debate between statesmen, not even a competitive sport between ideological players, but instead a hideous greed-driven melee between moneyed interests -- one enabled by both parties and, quite often, much of the media itself.

Because of this No Money Rule, then, nobody should be surprised that there was almost no mention in any of the media of the real news behind Jim DeMint's announcement that he is leaving the U.S. Senate to head the Heritage Foundation. And that real news is this: His announcement is perhaps 2012's most biting message yet about the supremacy of money in American politics. Yes, even in a year whose presidential race was utterly dominated by super PAC special interest cash, nothing tells the story of where the true authority in politics lies than a sitting senator leaving a top post in the national government to lead a corporate-funded think tank.

Jim DeMint, failure

Fri, 07 Dec 2012 20:26:00 +0000

In the Bizarro World of Beltway media, up can be down and down up, especially when it comes to what's good for Republicans and Democrats. Most political developments, even positive ones, are spun as particularly challenging for Democrats; disasters can wind up being depicted as opportunities or even glory when they befall Republicans.

Such is the coverage of Sen. Jim DeMint's departure from the U.S. Senate to take over the Heritage Foundation. So many words have been spent on this news. I hadn't planned on weighing in, but after watching all the ways it's being spun as some kind of victory for DeMint and the Tea Party, I had to say: Enough!

Tea Partyer cuts and runs

Thu, 06 Dec 2012 16:03:00 +0000

Prominent conservative Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., is stepping down from his seat to head up the conservative Heritage Foundation, the Wall Street Journal reports.

DeMint will leave in early January, meaning that it will be up to South Carolina's Republican Gov. Nikki Haley to appoint a successor, who will have to run in a special election in 2014. DeMint was reelected in 2010, but already announced he wouldn't seek another term.

From the Journal:

In an interview preceding the succession announcement, Sen. DeMint said he is taking the Heritage job because he sees it as a vehicle to popularize conservative ideas in a way that connects with a broader public. "This is an urgent time," the senator said, "because we saw in the last election we were not able to communicate conservative ideas that win elections."

"This really gets my blood going again thinking about the possibilities. This is the time to elevate the conservative cause," he told the Post.

Return of the 47 percent: The right’s latest tax lie

Tue, 20 Nov 2012 19:31:00 +0000

The Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C., has always had a special place in my heart. In the late 1980s, during the presidency of George Herbert Walker Bush, the right-wing think tank provided me with my first job as a young conservative intellectual. My first assignment was to write a policy brief about presidential war powers. I was removed from the project after I wrote a draft that began with the observation that the U.S. Constitution divides war powers between Congress and the president, and gives the most important war powers — the power to declare war and to fund it — to Congress. The higher-ups at Heritage reassigned the paper to a Wall Street Journal staffer, who provided them with what they wanted: a brief arguing that the president has absolute, uncontrollable power in foreign affairs.

One of my next assignments was to write a policy paper justifying a forthcoming bill from the late Sen. Jesse Helms, a belligerent reactionary from North Carolina. When I met with the senator’s staff, I was told to wait because Helms wasn’t sure what he was going to put in the bill. After I failed to turn in the policy brief on time, I received an official reprimand from my supervisor, which I treasured until I lost it during a move. The reprimand said, in effect, that at Heritage we write policy papers first and add the facts later.