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I find it entirely credible that Goodman would do what he does for free--in general terms. He might not put as much time into it. And perhaps he wouldn't have made a career out of it. But promoting one's preferred public policy ideas is not an unusual hobby.
I also find credible Goodman's claims that he wants his policy instittue to hold to this high minded approach of sticking to the policy issues. I do note that no one has reported that they wrote a book about how the Clintons were crooks while on the pay of NCPA.
They do report that Scaif funded such things as well as the NCPA. But not that the NCPA is so partisan.
Still, it is interesting that Bartlett claims that it was Karl Rove that laid down the law on the NCPA. What are the lines? Conservative republicans will fund policy proposals that promote free market reform. It doesn't appear that you have to limit your support for proposals convenient for Rove's current employers. But pointing out how the Rove-influenced Bush is a sell-out of principle goes too far.
By the way, Rove could have a more personal interest in this. It is likely that Bush doesn't perceive himself as a pragmatic politician who promotes whatever policies maintain his power. It is quite possible that he listens to Rove. If too many conservative Republicans were to start saying that Bush is a sell-out and Bush realizes that the points of "sell-out" are areas where he listened to Rove, conflict could well develop there. So Rove is especially interested in squashing that sort of talk.
I was surprised that his level of remuneration is as high as it is simply because the NCPA is not nearly as prominent nor as large as some other public policy institutes inside the Beltway. I guess he's been very successful tapping rich Texan Republicans for money!
"I'd do this for free," Goodman insists. "Just don't tell anybody."
Somehow I doubt it. And, if what he says is really true, it rather undercuts the underlying assumption behind so many of his organization's policy proposals--that human beings respond to incentives.
If you know John, it wouldn't surprise you. His lifetime focus is what he has achieved.
Incidentally, this "story" is inaccurate in certain respects. For instance, John was never "a former professor of economics at Dartmouth and Southern Methodist University" He is a graduate of Dartmouth and may have been a TA there, and he was a professor at University of Dallas [a private Catholic school in Irving, Texas], not at SMU, and, on information and belief, was denied tenure at U.D.