Tell me about the Cato Institute.

[elehhhhna]

They're shilling for Soc Sec reform. Who are they?

[ElsewheresDaughter]

1. a rightwing think tank...EVIL BASTARDS that love *......

Funding
80% of Cato's income comes from individual donations and subscriptions. 8% comes from corporations, 8% from foundations and the remaining from conference and book sales etc. They currently have an annual income of $17,000,000. Between 1985 and 2001, the Institute received $15,633,540 in 108 separate grants from only nine different foundations:

Castle Rock Foundation
Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation
Earhart Foundation
JM Foundation
John M. Olin Foundation, Inc.
Claude R. Lambe Charitable Foundation
Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation
Scaife Foundations (Sarah Mellon Scaife, Carthage)
Known corporate funders include ExxonMobil, who gave $30,000 during 2002 <2> (http://www2.exxonmobil.com/files/corporate/public_policy1.pdf).

Media mogul Rupert Murdoch previously served on the board of directors of Cato, which has numerous ties to the Republican Party. Cato often differs with Republican Party positions on specific issues, such as the 2003 decision by U.S. President George W. Bush to go to war with Iraq, prosecution of the war on drugs, giving federal money to faith-based organizations, and the decision of President George H.W. Bush to fight the first Gulf war. Cato has also criticized the 1998 settlement that many U.S. states signed with the tobacco industry <3> (http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa-371es.html). The Cato Institute has argued implicity against the Republican party on spending issues <4> (http://www.cato.org/dailys/05-07-03.html).

Sometimes, however, it has proven willing to set aside its libertarian principles - such as supporting a Bush administration moves to restrict civil liberties as part of the war on terror. In 2002, a Cato news release endorsed new Justice Department guidelines giving greater latitude to FBI agents to monitor Internet sites, libraries and religious institutions. "As reported in the press, the new FBI surveillance guidelines present no serious problems," declared Cato legal affairs analyst Roger Pilon, a former Reagan administration official who writes frequent Cato commentaries defending property rights and opposing affirmative action that have appeared in publications such as the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, and the Los Angeles Times. Pilon added that "law enforcement monitoring of public places is simply good, pro-active police work that violates the rights of no one."<5> (http://www.cato.org/new/05-02/05-30-02r-2.html)

Of course, that one release by Pilon is the rare exception, not the rule. Cato scholars such as Robert Levy and Timothy Lynch had railed against the Bush administration for its civil liberties record on, for example, the Padilla case, military tribunals, national ID cards, the creeping militarization of domestic law enforcement, border patrol, the drug war, grand jury abuse, the PATRIOT Act, federal surveilance of ordinary Americans, operation TIPS, and mandatory vaccinations against potential bioterror threats. <6> (http://www.cato.org/current/terrorism/terror-civilliberties.html)

Murdoch sat on the board of directors of Philip Morris, the tobacco giant recently inducted into INFACT's Hall of Shame "for exerting undue influence over public policy-making" with the help of 240 registered federal and state lobbyists -- spending as much as $2 million per month to lobby federal officials. Murdoch publications such as TV Guide reap enormous profits from cigarette ads. And Murdoch's Fox Broadcasting is cozy with Philip Morris subsidiary Miller Brewing Co., which recently boosted its advertising account with Fox to about $75 million per year for sports and primetime programs (Advertising Age, 6/16/97). ...

... Clearly, the Cato Institute falls in the latter category. The Institute's yearly funding has climbed above $8 million, more than twice what it was in 1992. The organization's most recent annual report exults: "We've moved into a beautiful new $13.7 million headquarters at 1000 Massachusetts Avenue and have only $1 million in debt remaining on it as we enter 1997." Dozens of huge corporations, eager to roll back government regulatory powers, are among Cato's largest donors. <P> In their book No Mercy, University of Colorado Law School scholars Stefancic and Delgado describe a shift in Cato's patron base over the years. Cato's main philanthropic backing has come from the right-wing Koch, Lambe and Sarah Scaife foundations. But today, Cato "receives most of its financial support from entrepreneurs, securities and commodities traders, and corporations such as oil and gas companies, Federal Express, and Philip Morris that abhor government regulation." <P> Financial firms now kicking in big checks to Cato include American Express, Chase Manhattan Bank, Chemical Bank, Citicorp/Citibank, Commonwealth Fund, Prudential Securities and Salomon Brothers. Energy conglomerates include: Chevron Companies, Exxon Company, Shell Oil Company and Tenneco Gas, as well as the American Petroleum Institute, Amoco Foundation and Atlantic Richfield Foundation. Cato's pharmaceutical donors include Eli Lilly & Company, Merck & Company and Pfizer, Inc. ...

[bryant69]

3. That's not right

I disagree strongly with the CATO institute but they aren't freepers. They are libertarians. They, for example, wrote a lot of strongly worded attacks on the Iraq war. SO while they are wrong headed, the are libertarian.

However, you might check out Star Parkers essay at townhall today--she advised them, and wrote an article calling for an end to Social Security.

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[ElsewheresDaughter]

6. say what!?!? Cato's main backing has comes from the right-wing..........

Cato's main philanthropic backing has come from the right-wing Koch, Lambe and Sarah Scaife foundations. Dozens of huge corporations, eager to roll back government regulatory powers, are among Cato's largest donors. <P> In their book No Mercy, University of Colorado Law School scholars Stefancic and Delgado describe a shift in Cato's patron base over the years. Cato's main philanthropic backing has come from the right-wing Koch, Lambe and Sarah Scaife foundations. But today, Cato "receives most of its financial support from entrepreneurs, securities and commodities traders, and corporations such as oil and gas companies, Federal Express, and Philip Morris that abhor government regulation." <P> Financial firms now kicking in big checks to Cato include American Express, Chase Manhattan Bank, Chemical Bank, Citicorp/Citibank, Commonwealth Fund, Prudential Securities and Salomon Brothers. Energy conglomerates include: Chevron Companies, Exxon Company, Shell Oil Company and Tenneco Gas, as well as the American Petroleum Institute, Amoco Foundation and Atlantic Richfield Foundation. Cato's pharmaceutical donors include Eli Lilly & Company, Merck & Company and Pfizer, Inc. ...

Funding
80% of Cato's income comes from individual donations and subscriptions. 8% comes from corporations, 8% from foundations and the remaining from conference and book sales etc. They currently have an annual income of $17,000,000. Between 1985 and 2001, the Institute received $15,633,540 in 108 separate grants from only nine different foundations:

Castle Rock Foundation
Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation
Earhart Foundation
JM Foundation
John M. Olin Foundation, Inc.
Claude R. Lambe Charitable Foundation
Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation
Scaife Foundations (Sarah Mellon Scaife, Carthage)
Known corporate funders include ExxonMobil, who gave $30,000 during 2002 <2> (http://www2.exxonmobil.com/files/corporate/public_polic... ).

[bryant69]

9. What does this prove?

That lots of corporations support libertarian causes? Of course they do.

I'm not saying they are a group I agree with; but to say they are Bush lovers is not accurate.

[BiggJawn]

20. When I get gunned down...

I'm not gonna be particularly interested in whether or not is was BFEE or libertarian bullets that did it.

Know whuttamean?

[ElsewheresDaughter]

12. the Koch Brothers , Lambe and Sarah Scaife foundations. are their backers

nuff said!

[bryant69]

15. I'm sorry

I believe in accuracy. I don't belive in big brushes. Bear in mind a few things.

I am not saying I agree with or support the CATO institute.

I do not think they are good people; although I find them less objectionable than the religious right or the neo conservative expansionist right.

I am simply saying that they are not in Bush's back pocket. Look at this article they wrote making a strong case against the war in Iraq --> http://www.cato.org/research/articles/niskanen-030225.html

Bryant

[rman]

17. "They are libertarians" - RW corporatist libertarians that is

is being a libertarian supposed to be a good thing somehow?

[bryant69]

18. Only insofar as they are better than the Religious Right or the

Neoconservatives. I don't agree with them, obviously, but at least they can usually converse on a rational level.

[Tace]

23. The Political Opposite Of Libertarian Is Authoritarian Or Totalitarian

[rman]

30. that's what you say.

other people say the exact opposite.

what about pro-corporate libertarians, the kind that wants to leave everything to market forces, as though there is an equal playing field between corporations on the one hand and individuals on the other hand?

[bryant69]

32. I'd be in favor of that

But it's usually a game of three card monte. They will fight tooth and nail to protect corporations, while ignoring the structural inequalities in our current system that keep large segments of the population down.

I'd be favor of Market forces determining things if people were put on an equal footing--or at least if the working people had at least a shot--but in many cases they don't.

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[MacCovern]

2. It's a Liberterian think tank

they have a website at cato.org

One of their slogans is: "Individual Liberty, Limited Government, Free Markets & Peace."

[ElsewheresDaughter]

11. they are fucking rightwing shills!...bottomline!.......link

http://www.disinfopedia.org/wiki.phtml?title=Cato_Institute

[ElsewheresDaughter]

16. okay so they're a bunch pot smoking bush lovers..."peace"

[ElsewheresDaughter]

29. Cato "receives most of its financial support from these bastards

securities and commodities traders, and corporations such as oil and gas companies, Federal Express, and Philip Morris that abhor government regulation." <P> Financial firms now kicking in big checks to Cato include American Express, Chase Manhattan Bank, Chemical Bank, Citicorp/Citibank, Commonwealth Fund, Prudential Securities and Salomon Brothers. Energy conglomerates include: Chevron Companies, Exxon Company, Shell Oil Company and Tenneco Gas, as well as the American Petroleum Institute, Amoco Foundation and Atlantic Richfield Foundation. Cato's pharmaceutical donors include Eli Lilly & Company, Merck & Company and Pfizer, Inc. ...

[RUDUing2]

4. a libertarian group...

http://www.cato.org

The Cato Institute was founded in 1977 by Edward H. Crane. It is a non-profit public policy research foundation headquartered in Washington, D.C. The Institute is named for Cato's Letters, a series of libertarian pamphlets that helped lay the philosophical foundation for the American Revolution....
The Cato Institute seeks to broaden the parameters of public policy debate to allow consideration of the traditional American principles of limited government, individual liberty, free markets and peace. Toward that goal, the Institute strives to achieve greater involvement of the intelligent, concerned lay public in questions of policy and the proper role of government. ....

Today, those who subscribe to the principles of the American Revolution--individual liberty, limited government, the free market, and the rule of law--call themselves by a variety of terms, including conservative, libertarian, classical liberal, and liberal. We see problems with all of those terms. "Conservative" smacks of an unwillingness to change, of a desire to preserve the status quo. Only in America do people seem to refer to free-market capitalism--the most progressive, dynamic, and ever-changing system the world has ever known--as conservative. Additionally, many contemporary American conservatives favor state intervention in some areas, most notably in trade and into our private lives. "Classical liberal" is a bit closer to the mark, but the word "classical" connotes a backward-looking philosophy......

[Solon]

5. Bunch of crazy Libertarians...

Their nuts when it comes to economics, ok for the social liberty though.

[depakid]

7. They don't even believe in public education!

and they'll spin you all sorts of bullshit "economics" to convince you why!

Bottom line is that ANYONE affiliated with CATO is S-T-U-P-I-D. Doesn't matter how many letters they have behind their names.

And anyone who buys their shit is equally stupid.

[elehhhhna]

8. Uh oh. Here it is from Elsewheresdottirs post:

"Financial firms now kicking in big checks to Cato include American Express, Chase Manhattan Bank, Chemical Bank, Citicorp/Citibank, Commonwealth Fund, Prudential Securities and Salomon Brothers."

Great. Let's let THEM rewrite Social Security...

[Tace]

10. Please Don't Confuse Economic Libertarians With Social Libertarians

To curse "Libertarians" is to use a very wide brush. Ghandi and Chomsky are Social Libertarians.

[rman]

19. using the label "libertarian" = confusing the issue

using the label "libertarian" (without specification) is confusing Economic Libertarians With Social Libertarians.

To appease "Libertarians" is to use a very wide brush. some of the most hardline corporatists are economic libertarians.

[JHB]

13. The Kato Institute?

Would that be the Green Hornet's, Inspector Clouseau's, or OJ's Kato?

[Gothmog]

14. Cato Institute was againt Iraq war

The Cato Institute is very conservative on economic isssues but they were strongly against the Iraq war and did some nice position papers on why it made no sense to invade Iraq.

[rman]

21. do they explain why social security would need to be reformed?

do they claim government social security is broken?

do they explain this "reform" is in fact privitization?

do they claim it will be cheaper and of better quality once privitized?
we know how that worked out wrt healthcare.

[sweetheart]

22. Heres a link to a cato paper on SS reform, what is your beef?

http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=1485

I don't make blanket judgements based on pure rhetoric or prejudice
as seems many do with cato.

I judge each paper as i read it, and not blanket smears based on
who contributed to Cato.

Read the link and make specific critiques. This usage of sterotypes
to smear entire points of view is a bush strategy that we really
should discourage here at DU.

[MNBiker]

24. Why do we have to be against SS reform...

The System is unsustainable in the future...We must do something...

[JHB]

28. It's NOT "unsustainable"...

...any problems can be dealt with by relatively small adjustments, not by dismantling it.

[blondeatlast]

34. Why do you say that? Citations and linkies are always a nice

touch here at DU...

[MNBiker]

37. I'm not here to argue

If you think the system is fine, it doesn't need reform. I fear the unfunded portion will come due when I retire.

[JHB]

25. One caveat to "read each paper"...

...And that's to recognize CATO's publishing bias: they will not publish a paper that recommends a "(big) government program" to solve some problem, even if that would objectively be the best way to handle it.

Once you remind yourself that there are certain options which may exist but are eliminated a priori in a CATO report, THEN you're ready to consider each paper on its own merits.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

26. "Think" tank full of economic libertarians, the type that thinks

that the only legitimate function of govenment is to provide a military and a police force. In all other aspects of economics, it's back to the 19th century: no regulation of business, no environmental laws, no labor laws, no nothing that will impede greed. They have some airy-fairy notion about how "the market" will punish violators. Yeah, that worked so well in the 19th century.

[minerva50]

27. My question is it Cat-o or Kate-o?

I've heard it both ways, often by different folks on the same network (like NPR).

[JHB]

36. Usually Kate-o

n/t

[theboss]

31. P.J. O'Rourke is their most famous advocate

I believe he is a fellow with them.

[Peregrine]

33. When capitalism and individual rights collide

individuals lose with Cato.

[blondeatlast]

35. Beautifully stated. The entire thread captured in a single line.

Very nicely done!

[donhakman]

38. E Pluribus Unum