The Marriage Between Conservative "Think Tanks" and Talk Radio

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The Economist describes the ways in which conservative "think tanks", like The Heritage Foundation, use conservative talk radio shows to recruit donors. Heritage pays Rush Limbaugh $2 million to place Heritage talking points on his radio show. They pay Hannity $1.3 million for the same opportunity. This is a win-win for Heritage and the talk radio shows. Heritage recruits large numbers of small conservative donors. The talk radio shows get the payola from Heritage, and they also get the professional script writers from Heritage to spruce up their conservative messaging. Heritage, and the other "think tanks" are also blessed by the IRS as a non-profit "educational" institutes without a political agenda. Contributions are tax deductible.