Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) is questioning the libertarian small-government credentials of the Cato Institute because they are advocating for vaccine mandates.
Massie referenced an article published by Cato questioning whether or not “vaccine mandates are justifiable from a libertarian perspective,” calling the discussion “salient.” Massie believes that this question is a no brainer from a libertarian perspective.
“When I first came to Congress, I thought Cato would be a good resource for small government policies,” he said.
“But if you can make a libertarian argument for vaccine mandates, you must be something other than libertarian or small government,” Massie added.
The tweet can be seen here:
Cato Institute chairman Robert Levy wrote an opinion piece in The Hill where he published liberty-sounding apologia for vaccine mandates.
Levy wrote: ‘“Your right to punch ends where my nose begins.” That quote, attributed to various sources, is a libertarian maxim — now invoked in connection with COVID vaccine mandates.”
“Here’s the controversy: If the vaccine causes no appreciable injury, can you still refuse to be injected, notwithstanding that you might be visiting significant risks on others? It’s a close call,” he added.
While most libertarians would not consider this issue to be any sort of a close call, Levy argued that vaccine mandates can be justified from a libertarian perspective.
“As of this writing, nearly 170 million Americans have been fully vaccinated against COVID. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the vaccine — under the most intensive monitoring in U.S. history — is remarkably safe,” Levy wrote, pushing Big Pharma propaganda lines. He used current intrusions into liberty to justify new ones.
“Wyoming, an indisputably conservative state, requires vaccines for 12 diseases if a child wants to attend either public or private school or a care facility, or participate in school-sanctioned activities,” he added.
Levy went on to make similar justifications for mandatory vaccines similar to the ones made by pharmaceutical talking heads or federal health bureaucrats.
“People who, for various reasons, cannot get vaccinated and are therefore exposed to transmission, mainly from others who are not vaccinated. People in states like Texas and Florida who await medical services that aren’t available because hospitals, equipment, and personnel are overwhelmed with COVID cases. And people who must take precautions against, or who have been afflicted by, the new Delta variant,” he wrote.
“Perhaps we should just wear masks and maintain social distancing. But the consensus is that the vaccine would still be necessary, and far more effective. Perhaps natural immunity from contracting the disease is stronger than vaccine-induced immunity. But most studies say otherwise,” Levy added.
Those studies were recently debunked, as authentic liberty defenders Massie and his compatriot Sen. Rand Paul pointed out on social media:
We don’t want apologies. Just acknowledge natural immunity from prior infection exists and it outperforms vaccine immunity.
There should be no mandates. But if you insist on them, you should exempt from mandates anyone who had a prior infection. https://t.co/6GgMxHARj1
— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) August 30, 2021
Levy actually wrote in his article that “perhaps vaccinations could remain optional, but with restricted access to selected activities by the unvaccinated. That notion — a vaccine “passport” — has the support of nearly 82 percent of Americans, according to a recent survey.”
Cato is supporting some of the most heinous and intrusive violations of liberty imaginable. They have proven that the only liberties they care about pertain to corporate profits. Cato is as disreputable and toxic as any entity in the Beltway.
