Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right

by Jane Mayer

In fact, the Heritage Foundation was born out of two congressional aides’ frustration with the more conventional think tank model. One of them, Edwin Feulner Jr., was a Wharton School graduate and Hayek acolyte, with a flair for fund-raising. The other, Paul Weyrich, was a brilliant and fiercely conservative working-class Catholic press aide from Wisconsin, who described himself openly as a “radical” who was “working to overturn the present power structure.” The duo had become exasperated by AEI’s refusal to weigh in on legislative fights until after they were settled, a cautious approach reflecting the older think tank’s fear of losing its nonprofit status. Instead, they wanted to create a new sort of action-oriented think tank that would actively lobby members of Congress before decisions were made, take sides in fights, and in every way not just “think” but “do.” Lewis

Sorry mama