The New York Times has busted open a payola ring involving Wal-Mart and a number of “principled” conservative think tanks. I put “principled” in quotes, because it appears that these groups’ principles are following the direction of dollars.

It’s simple, really simple, little dance, a three-stepper:

1. Wal-Mart creates a foundation, the Walton Family Foundation.
2. The Walton Family Foundation gives $2.5 million — that’s $2,500,000.00 — to the American Enterprise Institute, the Heritage Foundation, the Manhattan Institute, and the Pacific Research Institute.
3. These think tanks pump out written pieces and television appearances in which they sing the praises of Wal-Mart.

Given the nature of this payola scandal, the quotes by think tank promotionists on TV and in their writings provide a bit of ironic comedy. Who are they talking about here?

“The highly successful company is an obvious deep-pockets target.” — Sally Pipes, CEO of the Pacific Research Institute.

“This is…a coordinated agitation ginned up in war rooms by professional partisans… run by a clutch of political hacks.” — Karl Zinsmeister, American Enterprise Institute, and Editor in Chief of American Enterprise

“The fact is that editorial pages and prominent columnists of all stripes write favorably about our company because they recognize the value we provide…” — Mona Williams, spokeswoman for Wal-Mart

“That is the spirit and purpose of their giving.” — Jay Allen, spokesman for the Walton Family Foundation

The next time you see a columnist or TV pundit defending Wal-Mart, look for their organizational affiliation. Did his or her publicity firm get a big payoff from Wal-Mart? I hear that the rewards for this kind of journalistic prostitution aren’t going to be so high in the future, though. You know Wal-Mart: Always Lowering Prices — Always!