Who does the Cato Institute support? Not Ron Paul!

[Francisco Suarez]

Since today is money bomb day I thought I'd investigate which members of the libertarian movement actually put their money where their mouth is.

Here are the public records of campaign donations in the last 10 years of people who list their employer as the "libertarian" Cato Institute. Notice that some very non-libertarian candidates made the list, but not a single one of them has donated so much as a dime to Ron Paul.

This list predates the newsletter "scandal" that supposedly has all the Catoites "outragedm" and which they claim caused them to withdraw their support. The reality is that support never existed. Not a single Cato employee is on record donating to Ron Paul even though they drop thousands of dollars on other candidates. From opensecrets.org

Records: Name/ City/ State/ Zip/ Employer/ Date/ Amount/ Recipient


ABDNOR, LEANNE ALEXANDRIA,VA 22312 CATO 8/1/1996 $200 Thune, John

ABDNOR, LEANNE ALEXANDRIA,VA 22312 CATO INSTITUTE 2/10/1996 $200 Thune, John

BOAZ, DAVID D WASHINGTON,DC 20009 CATO INSTITUTE 10/16/1996 $1,000 Weld, William F

BOAZ, DAVID D ARLINGTON,VA 22201 CATO INSTITUTE/EXECUTIVE 8/15/2005 $750 Term Limits America

BOAZ, DAVID D ARLINGTON,VA 22201 CATO INSTITUTE/EXECUTIVE 8/1/2003 $500 Term Limits America

BOAZ, DAVID D ARLINGTON,VA 22201 CATO INSTITUTE/EXECUTIVE 7/30/2004 $500 Term Limits America

BOAZ, DAVID D ARLINGTON,VA 22201 CATO INSTITUTE/EXECUTIVE 6/20/2002 $500 Term Limits America

BOAZ, DAVID D ARLINGTON,VA 22201 CATO INSTITUTE/EXECUTIVE 7/27/2001 $400 Term Limits America

CRANE, EDWARD FALLS CHURCH,VA 22044 CATO INSTITUTE 5/4/2000 $250 Garrett, Scott

CRANE, EDWARD FALLS CHURCH,VA 22044 CATO INSTITUTE 3/26/1998 $250 Miller, Demaris H

CRANE, EDWARD H FALLS CHURCH,VA 22044 CATO INSTITUTE 2/13/1996 $500 Miller, James C III

CRANE, EDWARD H III FALLS CHURCH,VA 22044 CATO INSTITUTE/PRESIDENT 7/14/2001 $1,750 Term Limits America

CRANE, EDWARD H III FALLS CHURCH,VA 22314 CATO INSTITUTE/PRESIDENT 5/8/2000 $250 Keller, Ric

ELLIS, PEGGY ALEXANDRIA,VA 22305 CATO INSTITUTE 7/29/1997 $250 Value in Electing Women PAC

ELLIS, PEGGY ALEXANDRIA,VA 22305 CATO INSTITUTE 5/5/1998 $250 Value in Electing Women PAC

ELLIS, PEGGY ALEXANDRIA,VA 22305 CATO INSTITUTE 4/26/2000 $250 Value in Electing Women PAC

LAMPO, DAVID ALEXANDRIA,VA 22307 CATO INSTITUTE 11/16/2001 $250 Warner, John W

LAMPO, DAVID C WASHINGTON,DC 20001 CATO INSTITUTE 6/25/1999 $750 Republican National Cmte

LAMPO, DAVID C MR ALEXANDRIA,VA 22307 CATO INSTITUTE/PUBLICATIONS DIRECTO 4/23/2004 $250 Bush, George W

LEVY, ROBERT NAPLES,FL 34108 CATO INSTITUTE/SR. FELLOW CONSTITUT 10/4/2006 $5,000 Club for Growth

MALCOLM, MARY LEE MC LEAN,VA 22101 CATO INSTITUTE 1/31/2003 $2,000 Isakson, Johnny

MOORE, STEPHEN WASHINGTON,DC 20001 CATO 4/1/1999 $250 Political Club for Growth

MOORE, STEPHEN K FALLS CHURCH,VA 22043 CATO INSTITUTE 12/8/1999 $250 Bayh, Evan

NISKANEN, WILLIAM A JR WASHINGTON,DC 20003 CATO INSTITUTE 8/2/1994 $250 Devine, Donald J

NISKANEN, WILLIAM A MR WASHINGTON,DC 20003 CATO INSTITUTE/ECONOMIST 8/8/2000 $1,000 Bush, George W

NISKANEN, WILLIAM JR HON WASHINGTON,DC 20001 CATO INSTITUTE 8/2/1994 $250 Devine, Donald J

NISKANEN, WILLIAM JR HON WASHINGTON,DC 20001 CATO INSTITUTE 10/24/1994 $250 Devine, Donald J

NISKANEN, WILLIAM JR HON WASHINGTON,DC 20001 CATO INSTITUTE 10/24/1994 $250 Devine, Donald J

ZEMON, RAY B OAK PARK,IL 60302 CATO INSTITUTE 8/26/1994 $1,000 Devine, Donald J

ZEMON, RAY B OAK PARK,IL 60302 CATO INSTITUTE 11/4/1994 $500 Devine, Donald J

ZEMON, RAY B OAK PARK,IL 60302 CATO INSTITUTE 11/4/1994 $500 Devine, Donald J

[Francisco Suarez]

So how about all those "libertarians" over at the Reason Foundation? They donate thousands of dollars to political candidates too. You'd think at least a few of them would give to Ron Paul, wouldn't they?

Well, nope.

POOLE ROBERT F LOS ANGELES,CA 90025 REASON FOUNDATION/FOUNDER
10/8/2002 $250 Feeney, Tom

POOLE, ROBERT SHERMAN OAKS,CA 91403 REASON FOUNDATION/EXECUTIVE
4/25/2000 $1,000 Browne, Harry

POOLE, ROBERT SHERMAN OAKS,CA 91403 REASON FOUNDATION 3/2/2000 $500 Campbell, Tom

POOLE, ROBERT SHERMAN OAKS,CA 91403 REASON FOUNDATION 11/7/2000 $500
Campbell, Tom

POOLE, ROBERT SHERMAN OAKS,CA 91403 REASON FOUNDATION 7/19/2000 $500
Howell, Carla

POOLE, ROBERT FORT LAUDERDALE,FL 33317 REASON FOUNDATION 6/30/2003 $500 Pro-Growth Action Team

POOLE, ROBERT LOS ANGELES,CA 90034 REASON FOUNDATION 4/5/1996 $500 Republican Liberty Federal Campaign Fund

POOLE, ROBERT JR LOS ANGELES,CA 9002 REASON FOUNDATION/PRESIDENT 1/31/2002 $250 Patterson, Norwood James Jr

POOLE, ROBERT JR LOS ANGELES,CA 90034 REASON FOUNDATION 9/10/1997 $250 Republican Liberty Federal Campaign Fund

POOLE, ROBERT W LOS ANGELES,CA 90034 REASON FOUNDATION 7/6/2000 $1,000 Libertarian National Cmte

POOLE, ROBERT W LOS ANGELES,CA 90034 REASON FOUNDATION/EXECUTIVE 2/4/2003 $250 Libertarian National Cmte

POOLE, ROBERT W LOS ANGELES,CA 90034 REASON FOUNDATION 4/28/2000 $249 Libertarian National Cmte

POOLE, ROBERT W JR LOS ANGELES,CA 90034 REASON FOUNDATION 7/8/1996 $1,000 Libertarian National Cmte

POOLE, ROBERT W JR SHERMAN OAKS,CA 91403 REASON FOUNDATION 11/22/1995 $500 Smith, Katherine Hatch

POOLE, ROBERT W JR SHERMAN OAKS,CA 91403 REASON FOUNDATION 7/8/1995 $500 Browne, Harry

POOLE, ROBERT W JR SHERMAN OAKS,CA 91403 REASON FOUNDATION 9/11/1998 $250 California Lincoln Clubs

POOLE, ROBERT W JR LOS ANGELES,CA 90034 REASON FOUNDATION 8/6/1998 $250 Libertarian National Cmte

POOLE, ROBERT W JR SHERMAN OAKS,CA 91403 REASON FOUNDATION 4/3/1998 $250 Gray, James

POOLE, ROBERT W JR SHERMAN OAKS,CA 91403 REASON FOUNDATION 12/3/1997 $250 Westmiller, William

SCARLETT, LYNN P CARPINTERIA,CA 93013 REASON FOUNDATION 9/28/1999 $1,000 Bush, George W

TEASLEY, HARRY E JR TAMPA,FL 33611 REASON FOUNDATION 3/22/1996 $500 Mack, Connie

[literatim]

CATO is part of the status quo establishment.

[yongrel]

It seems to me (a casual observer) that many established libertarian and libertarian-leaning institutions like Cato are content to sit on the sidelines and complain, rather than take action.

[Lord Xar]

They'd see their own child starve than make a firm commitement to endorse an honest politician.

They have probably been infilitrated and are now just controlled opposition. I mean, c'mon - a libertarian establishment NOT endorsing Ron Paul - I mean, really - think about it.

This is just another mimicking of what happened to the NRA.

[yongrel]

They'd see their own child starve than make a firm commitement to endorse an honest politician.

They have probably been infilitrated and are now just controlled opposition. I mean, c'mon - a libertarian establishment NOT endorsing Ron Paul - I mean, really - think about it.

This is just another mimicking of what happened to the NRA.

To be fair, Cato would lose their tax-exempt status if they were to back RP.

[Francisco Suarez]

To be fair, Cato would lose their tax-exempt status if they were to back RP.

True, but they do have many options. They could form a Cato PAC that does political contributions. Or their employees could simply donate as individuals.

It is telling that some of their employees do donate as individuals to other campaigns - many thousands of dollars to other campaigns, including some very non-libertarian ones like Bush and liberal ex Massachusetts governor William Weld. But the Catoites won't spend a dime on Ron Paul.

Nor is the newsletter thing an excuse for them to use. They didn't donate to Paul before the newsletters broke either.

[Hook]

Interesting. But Harry Browne and Carla Howell are very hard-core Libertarians, so they aren't all bad.

[Francisco Suarez]

Interesting. But Harry Browne and Carla Howell are very hard-core Libertarians, so they aren't all bad.

Yep, and that's telling too. If they're willing to donate thousands to people like Howell and Browne then they can't legitimately claim that they view Paul as a "fringe" candidate with no chance. Paul has a better chance at president than Browne ever did. So why no support for Paul?

[asgardshill]

Here are the public records of campaign donations in the last 10 years of people who list their employer as the "libertarian" Cato Institute. Notice that some very non-libertarian candidates made the list, but not a single one of them has donated so much as a dime to Ron Paul.

This list predates the newsletter "scandal" that supposedly has all the Catoites "outragedm" and which they claim caused them to withdraw their support. The reality is that support never existed. Not a single Cato employee is on record donating to Ron Paul even though they drop thousands of dollars on other candidates. From opensecrets.org

Records: Name/ City/ State/ Zip/ Employer/ Date/ Amount/ Recipient


ABDNOR, LEANNE ALEXANDRIA,VA 22312 CATO 8/1/1996 $200 Thune, John

ABDNOR, LEANNE ALEXANDRIA,VA 22312 CATO INSTITUTE 2/10/1996 $200 Thune, John

BOAZ, DAVID D WASHINGTON,DC 20009 CATO INSTITUTE 10/16/1996 $1,000 Weld, William F

BOAZ, DAVID D ARLINGTON,VA 22201 CATO INSTITUTE/EXECUTIVE 8/15/2005 $750 Term Limits America

BOAZ, DAVID D ARLINGTON,VA 22201 CATO INSTITUTE/EXECUTIVE 8/1/2003 $500 Term Limits America

BOAZ, DAVID D ARLINGTON,VA 22201 CATO INSTITUTE/EXECUTIVE 7/30/2004 $500 Term Limits America

BOAZ, DAVID D ARLINGTON,VA 22201 CATO INSTITUTE/EXECUTIVE 6/20/2002 $500 Term Limits America

BOAZ, DAVID D ARLINGTON,VA 22201 CATO INSTITUTE/EXECUTIVE 7/27/2001 $400 Term Limits America

CRANE, EDWARD FALLS CHURCH,VA 22044 CATO INSTITUTE 5/4/2000 $250 Garrett, Scott

CRANE, EDWARD FALLS CHURCH,VA 22044 CATO INSTITUTE 3/26/1998 $250 Miller, Demaris H

CRANE, EDWARD H FALLS CHURCH,VA 22044 CATO INSTITUTE 2/13/1996 $500 Miller, James C III

CRANE, EDWARD H III FALLS CHURCH,VA 22044 CATO INSTITUTE/PRESIDENT 7/14/2001 $1,750 Term Limits America

CRANE, EDWARD H III FALLS CHURCH,VA 22314 CATO INSTITUTE/PRESIDENT 5/8/2000 $250 Keller, Ric

ELLIS, PEGGY ALEXANDRIA,VA 22305 CATO INSTITUTE 7/29/1997 $250 Value in Electing Women PAC

ELLIS, PEGGY ALEXANDRIA,VA 22305 CATO INSTITUTE 5/5/1998 $250 Value in Electing Women PAC

ELLIS, PEGGY ALEXANDRIA,VA 22305 CATO INSTITUTE 4/26/2000 $250 Value in Electing Women PAC

LAMPO, DAVID ALEXANDRIA,VA 22307 CATO INSTITUTE 11/16/2001 $250 Warner, John W

LAMPO, DAVID C WASHINGTON,DC 20001 CATO INSTITUTE 6/25/1999 $750 Republican National Cmte

LAMPO, DAVID C MR ALEXANDRIA,VA 22307 CATO INSTITUTE/PUBLICATIONS DIRECTO 4/23/2004 $250 Bush, George W

LEVY, ROBERT NAPLES,FL 34108 CATO INSTITUTE/SR. FELLOW CONSTITUT 10/4/2006 $5,000 Club for Growth

MALCOLM, MARY LEE MC LEAN,VA 22101 CATO INSTITUTE 1/31/2003 $2,000 Isakson, Johnny

MOORE, STEPHEN WASHINGTON,DC 20001 CATO 4/1/1999 $250 Political Club for Growth

MOORE, STEPHEN K FALLS CHURCH,VA 22043 CATO INSTITUTE 12/8/1999 $250 Bayh, Evan

NISKANEN, WILLIAM A JR WASHINGTON,DC 20003 CATO INSTITUTE 8/2/1994 $250 Devine, Donald J

NISKANEN, WILLIAM A MR WASHINGTON,DC 20003 CATO INSTITUTE/ECONOMIST 8/8/2000 $1,000 Bush, George W

NISKANEN, WILLIAM JR HON WASHINGTON,DC 20001 CATO INSTITUTE 8/2/1994 $250 Devine, Donald J

NISKANEN, WILLIAM JR HON WASHINGTON,DC 20001 CATO INSTITUTE 10/24/1994 $250 Devine, Donald J

NISKANEN, WILLIAM JR HON WASHINGTON,DC 20001 CATO INSTITUTE 10/24/1994 $250 Devine, Donald J

ZEMON, RAY B OAK PARK,IL 60302 CATO INSTITUTE 8/26/1994 $1,000 Devine, Donald J

ZEMON, RAY B OAK PARK,IL 60302 CATO INSTITUTE 11/4/1994 $500 Devine, Donald J

ZEMON, RAY B OAK PARK,IL 60302 CATO INSTITUTE 11/4/1994 $500 Devine, Donald J

I find myself unsure of the point you are trying to make here. And these questions hold true for your second post detailing donations from members of the Reason Foundation as well.

1. Ron Paul is running for President in 2008. However, the records you posted mostly detail donations made years before that. The latest date listed is 10/4/06, still well before Paul announced his intention in February of '07 to enter the '08 Presidential race.

2. Why would any of them donate to Ron Paul? During the time frame of most of the donations, Paul was a Congressman in a virtual sinecure since 1997, and has never to my knowledge ever been in any serious danger of losing his Texas Congressional seat. Why would they expend precious money on a candidate in no danger of losing his seat?

What am I missing here?

[Francisco Suarez]

1. Ron Paul is running for President in 2008. However, the records you posted mostly detail donations made years before that. The latest date listed is 10/4/06, still well before Paul announced his intention in February of '07 to enter the '08 Presidential race.

First, the donation records search included the 2008 cycle as well. The Cato crowd simply didn't donate.

Second, Ron Paul has been on Congress for over a decade. Why didn't these supposedly libertarian people donate to the most libertarian member of Congress in any of his reelection bids, even while they were giving tons of cash to many non-libertarian candidates?




2. Why would any of them donate to Ron Paul? During the time frame of most of the donations, Paul was a Congressman in a virtual sinecure since 1997, and has never to my knowledge ever been in any serious danger of losing his Texas Congressional seat. Why would they expend precious money on a candidate in no danger of losing his seat? What am I missing here?

Paul won his 1996 election by a percentage point. He's also been challenged for reelection several times since then in both the primary and the regular election. The Catoites gave money to plenty of other "safe" elected officials - Scott Garrett, John Warner, Evan Bayh, John Thune, William Weld. So why not Ron Paul?

[asgardshill]

First, the donation records search included the 2008 cycle as well. The Cato crowd simply didn't donate.

I'll have to take your word for this. But, as I noted, I saw NO donations for ANY candidate bearing a 2008 date in your data, so an equally cogent case could be made that they didn't support ANY libertarian-leaning candidate so far during 2008, not just Ron Paul.


Second, Ron Paul has been on Congress for over a decade. Why didn't these supposedly libertarian people donate to the most libertarian member of Congress in any of his reelection bids, even while they were giving tons of cash to many non-libertarian candidates?

Remember Dr. Paul's nickname, "Dr. No"? That might be a big part of the reason why. What financial or lobbying benefit could they possibly hope to gain by donating to his campaign? As Don Black has found out to his chagrin, just donating money to Ron Paul does not automatically translate into Paul supporting your causes in any way.


Paul won his 1996 election by a percentage point.

That's not true.

http://www.sos.state.tx.us/elections/forms/1996GEN.PDF

Paul won his '96 race for US Representative District 14 by almost 4 percentage points, with 99,920 votes (51.1 percent) to 93,226 (47.6 percent) for his closest challenger. This happened in a state that was beginning to trend Republican in statewide races after the Democrats had held a virtual hammerlock on Texas politics since Reconstruction. Admittedly not exactly a landslide, but still considerably more than 1 percentage point.


He's also been challenged for reelection several times since then in both the primary and the regular election. The Catoites gave money to plenty of other "safe" elected officials - Scott Garrett, John Warner, Evan Bayh, John Thune, William Weld. So why not Ron Paul?

See my point above about donations not translating into vocal or legislative support. One of the reasons that so many of us like the good Doctor.

[Francisco Suarez]

I'll have to take your word for this.

You can check it yourself if you like. Opensecrets.org. Go to their search engine, select 2008, and put in Cato Institute as employer.


Remember Dr. Paul's nickname, "Dr. No"? That might be a big part of the reason why. What financial or lobbying benefit could they possibly hope to gain by donating to his campaign?

That may be so, but judging from their rhetoric I thought that the Cato institute and most libertarians in general frown upon using campaign donations to buy favors from the federal government. Are you suggesting that this is not the case, and that Cato is really just as bad as any other statist whore out there?[/QUOTE]

[Elwar]

I thought that Ed Crane was supporting Fred Thompson...I couldn't find the article but I thought that's who they were betting on back in the fall.

[asgardshill]

That may be so, but judging from their rhetoric I thought that the Cato institute and most libertarians in general frown upon using campaign donations to buy favors from the federal government. Are you suggesting that this is not the case, and that Cato is really just as bad as any other statist whore out there?

I have no dog in the Cato Institute hunt, and don't particularly care where or how members there extend their financial support. I think its a free speech issue, McCain-Feingold notwithstanding. I myself prefer the grassroots approach and consider most lobbying organizations like Cato to be a motley collection of pontificating windbags. Moreover, I won't argue the point that at least some of their membership DO appear to spend money supporting political candidates.

My point was that you haven't made a persuasive case that they've singled out Ron Paul for any organized campaign of non-support since they appear to have not extended support to ANY libertarian-leaning candidate in 2008. Using donation records from years before to buttress your argument seems a frail reed to cling to as well.

[Francisco Suarez]

My point was that you haven't made a persuasive case that they've singled out Ron Paul for any organized campaign of non-support since they appear to have not extended support to ANY libertarian-leaning candidate in 2008. Using donation records from years before to buttress your argument seems a frail reed to cling to as well.

It's all in the context. Cato's lack of donations to Paul (a natural candidate for their support if they are what they claim to be) must be viewed in the context of their other documented instances of antipathy toward his campaign - as in vocally feeding and fueling the newsletter controversy.

Various Senior Vice Presidents of Cato are right this moment condemning Ron Paul in harsh, publicly available language over the newsletter thing. While doing so they are claiming "moral outrage" as their motive, and claiming that is necessary to preserve the ideological integrity and "principle" of Cato by distancing themselves from Paul.

My point is that (1) they've never supported Paul in the first place, and (2) they have supported several candidates who do a lot more to challenge their commitment to ideological integrity and principle than anything Ron Paul has ever done.