What's Soros up to ?

Enemy of the West creates Obamma Idea Tank

Thanks in part to funding from benefactors such as
billionaire George Soros, the Center for American Progress has become in just
five years an intellectual wellspring for Democratic policy proposals, including
many that are shaping the agenda of the new Obama administration.

CAP's
president and founder, John Podesta, 59, former chief of staff to President Bill
Clinton, is one of three people running the transition team for president-elect
Barack Obama, 47. A squadron of CAP experts is working with them.

Some
of the group's recommendations already have been adopted by the president-elect.
Withdrawal of Troops

These include the center's call for a gradual
withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq and a buildup of forces in Afghanistan, a
plan for universal health coverage through employer plans and proposals to
create purchasing pools that allow small businesses to spread the cost among a
larger group of workers. Obama has endorsed much of a CAP plan to create ``green
jobs'' linked to alleviating global climate change.

CAP also is
advocating the creation of a ``National Energy Council'' headed by an official
with the stature of the national security adviser and who would be charged with
``transforming the energy base'' of the U.S. In addition, CAP urges the creation
of a White House ``office of social entrepreneurship'' to spur new ideas for
addressing social problems.
To help promote its ideas, CAP employs 11
full-time bloggers who contribute to two Web sites, ThinkProgress and the Wonk
Room; others prepare daily feeds for radio stations. The center's policy
briefings are standing-room only, packed with lobbyists, advocacy-group
representatives and reporters looking for insights on where the Obama
administration is headed.

``Others strive to be objective, we don't,''
said Jennifer Palmieri, CAP's vice president for communications.

Podesta
likes to say, ``we're not a think tank, we're an action tank,'' said Dan Weiss,
an environmental activist who joined CAP last year.

CAP may be the most
influential. In addition to Podesta, at least 10 other CAP experts are advising
the incoming administration, including Melody Barnes, the center's executive
vice president for policy who co-chairs the agency-review working group and
Cassandra Butts, the senior vice president for domestic policy, who is now a
senior transition staffer.

You can be sure the ideas comming out of this group are anything but good for the Country