Here is more from Bloomberg:
Over the past decade, business figures led by hedge-fund billionaire Paul Singer have poured nearly $200 million into a New York think tank that’s now projecting its own vision for Trump’s America. Powered by wealthy donors, the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research has become an intellectual staging ground for the American right.
One head-spinning result: a growing number of Republican statehouses are effectively outsourcing the job of drafting laws about race and gender to policy wonks centered in Manhattan, where Democrats outnumber Republicans 10:1.
Over the years, the Manhattan Institute has counted among its well-heeled backers hedge-fund managers Cliff Asness, Dan Loeb and John Paulson. Others include Republican megadonor Harlan Crow and Breitbart super-conservatives Robert and Rebekah Mercer.
By the institute’s own count, 11 states – Alabama, Florida, Idaho, Iowa, Indiana, North Carolina, North Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Wyoming – have codified into law ideas from “model” legislation the institute has drafted since January 2023. In all, more than 60 separate bills touching on those anti-DEI proposals for universities have been introduced in 25 states.
Reihan Salam has been president of the think tank since 2019.
