The Ignorance Caucus

I really liked Krugman's The Ignorance Caucus. "The truth is that America’s partisan divide runs much deeper than even pessimists are usually willing to admit; the parties aren’t just divided on values and policy views, they’re divided over epistemology. One side believes, at least in principle, in letting its policy views be shaped by facts; the other believes in suppressing the facts if they contradict its fixed beliefs."

He cites lots of examples:

"Last year the Texas G.O.P. explicitly condemned efforts to teach “critical thinking skills,” because, it said, such efforts “have the purpose of challenging the student’s fixed beliefs and undermining parental authority.”"

"Mr. Cantor felt obliged to give that caucus a shout-out, calling for a complete end to federal funding of social science research. "

"Mr. Cantor tried not to sound anti-intellectual; he lavished praise on medical research just before attacking federal support for social science."

"But Mr. Cantor’s support for medical research is curiously limited. He’s all for developing new treatments, but he and his colleagues have adamantly opposed “comparative effectiveness research,” which seeks to determine how well such treatments work."

"Still, the desire to perpetuate ignorance on matters medical is nothing compared with the desire to kill climate research"

"House Republicans tried to suppress a Congressional Research Service report casting doubt on claims about the magical growth effects of tax cuts for the wealthy."

"Back in the 1990s conservative politicians, acting on behalf of the National Rifle Association, bullied federal agencies into ceasing just about all research into [gun control policies]."