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Intellectual Honesty at the Cato Institute

My wife just sent me a link to this article by a troglodyte named Daniel J. Mitchell, of the Cato Institute. Frankly, I’m not sure why she sent it. She’s in bed at the moment, so I’ll find out tomorrow. I found it interesting in that it illuminates the right wing mind, especially its propensity for playing the media victim card, despite the fact that they, you know, own the media  In the article, Mitchell pre-emptively defends Mitt Romney from attacks, that Mitchell admits have not yet taken place, regarding Romney’s use of legal tax shelters that the 1% use to avoid paying the already slim percentage of their incomes they would otherwise pay in taxes. He concludes as follows:

Last but not least, here’s a prediction. I think it’s just a matter of time until Romney gets attacked for utilizing tax havens, though the press may wait until after he gets the GOP nomination.

But when those attacks occur, I’m extremely confident that the stories will fail to mention that prominent Democrats routinely utilize tax havens for business and investment purposes, including such figures as Bill Clinton, John Kerry, John Edwards, Robert Rubin, Peter Orszag, and Richard Blumenthal.

It’s almost enough to make you think this cartoon is correct and that the establishment press is biased.

Neat trick. He proves press bias by predicting the press will do something it has not done. Personally, I think the press should have at Romney on the subject. but unlike Mitchell I’m pretty sure that if they do they will mention that Democrats do it, if in fact they do, and maybe even if they don’t, because they have been well whipped by people like Mitchell.

But here’s another neat trick. See those links in the quote? Makes you think that at the very least he has a source that proves that Bill Clinton, for one, uses tax shelters, and that other prominent Democrats, whether those he names or others, routinely utilize tax havens. And maybe they do, but the links don’t prove it. Even at this humble blog I make a point of linking to reasonably reliable sources if I make a factual assertion. 

If you click on the “Bill Clinton” link you go to a Forbes profile page which informs you that Clinton is the 50th most influential person on earth. I could find no mention  of tax shelters. The link is basically useful if you’ve been living under a rock for the past 25 years and you never heard of Bill Clinton. The “prominent Democrats…” link? That brings you to a blog post in which the listed individuals (Clinton, Kerry, et. al. ) are alleged to utilize tax havens, but the allegation is unsourced in that blog post. The author of that blog post? A guy named- – – – wait for it- – – – Daniel J. Mitchell. That’s right, a guy who pats himself on the back for his intellectual honesty (read the full article, he does indeed) links to his own unsourced article to prove his facts.

The right wing mind is a beautiful thing. As I understand it these “fellows” at the Cato Institute are paid to think. If that’s the case Mitchell is living proof that the free market he worships doesn’t work, since I’m fairly sure there are a lot of folks out there who could think twice as good for half the salary. Where is the law of supply and demand when you need it?

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