The CATO Institute is pushing the state of California to exploit COVID-19 mass hysteria to build “an inclusive economy” on a permanent basis.
The Koch-backed front held a conference last month featuring policy wonks, bureaucrats, corporate lobbyists, and others to “bring together a diverse group of political, business, and academic leaders to discuss regulatory and other barriers to rebuilding economic opportunity in poor and minority communities ravaged by COVID-19.”
“COVID-19 and its fallout have been devastating for California’s economy at every level. But low‐income and traditionally marginalized communities have been among the hardest hit. With little savings, a concentration of jobs that were forced to close, and fewer employment alternatives, these vulnerable populations are clearly suffering,” CATO explained in their description of the event.
Some of the cronies who attended the event included Julian Cañete of the California Hispanic Chambers of Commerce, Jay King of the California Black Chamber of Commerce, and Rob Lapsley of the California Business Roundtable. CATO has made it clear that free markets are not enough to improve California’s situation and that racial justice is necessary to restore the state to glory.
“Obviously, pro‐growth policies will be needed to restart the state’s economy. But growth will not be enough unless all Californians are fully able to participate. Therefore, particular attention needs to be paid to the impact of the state’s policies on low‐income communities,” they wrote.
CATO has launched their Project on Poverty and Inequality in California, an initiative that attempts to marry libertarian economics with social justice platitudes.
“California’s economic recovery is an opportunity to reform regulations and restraints that have long penalized the poor and minorities,” they wrote.
Liberty Conservative News has reported on other times that the CATO Institute failed to live up to its libertarian mandate:
“The Koch network continues its drastic shift to the Left, as their public policy organization is throwing the Founding Fathers under the bus in a show of fealty to their new anti-American allies.
Matthew Feeney, who works as director of Cato’s Project on Emerging Technologies, wrote a blog last week in favor of the “1619 Project,” a far-left campaign by the mainstream media and cultural Marxist academics to demonize the Founding Fathers and the U.S. Constitution. They are attempting to declare the true founding of the country as 1619, when slaves first arrived to the continent.
“Such commentary provides an opportunity to consider the state of American race relations and the role of slavery in American history,” Feeney wrote, ignoring the fact that Democrats bring up this point incessantly to divide and conquer the electorate.
Feeney then continued on to repeat leftist dogma verbatim.
“The relationship between black people and the white institutions that oppressed them is one of the most consequential features of American history. The most prominent of America’s contradictions is that its Founding documents were written by white men who owned black human beings as farm equipment, yet they expressed a commitment to liberty,” he wrote.
Feeney even defended the British crown for its supposedly nicer treatment toward slaves than the hateful Founding Fathers.
“The Royal Governor of Virginia John Murray had earlier issued a proclamation, offering freedom to slaves who fought for Britain,” Feeney said.
“To a Virginia slave, housing in a British warship was preferable to the slave quarters belonging to the man who would become the first president of the United States,” he added.
Feeney contends that the demonization of the Founding Fathers and a delegitimizing of the American Revolution can help soothe racial tensions.
“What is clear is that the United States has yet to fully come to terms with its history of racial violence and oppression. In large part this is because we’re accustomed to measuring our race relations progress through the lenses of military, political, and legislative victories,” he wrote.
Feeney included a naked partisan attack in his writings, blasting the supposed racism of former President Barack Obama’s opponents as a justification for joining the movement against the Founders.
“The whole Obama presidency is full of examples of thinly veiled racial language being used against the president and his family. Rep. Steve King (R-IA) has used racist language and adorned his desk with a Confederate flag, which he displayed without any hint of irony alongside the American flag,” he wrote.
“If initiatives like The 1619 Project can help Americans better understand their history and institutions then they should be applauded,” Feeney added.
As Cato joins the 1619 Project to demonize America’s founders, the Koch network also allies with George Soros to push Big Brother censorship against free speech on monopoly tech platforms as their operatives smear whistle-blowers exposing extreme corporate corruption.”
The CATO Institute has been subverted and is no longer working to promote the cause of liberty. Libertarians and conservatives should not support this organization that has fallen to the Washington D.C. swamp.
