Penny-Foolish - One of the

Penny-Foolish - One of the few things that ever attracted me to Independence-party neo-liberal Tim Penny was his rather broad (for a DFLer) worldview on many issues - to the point where he even worked for a while with the Cato Institute, a libertarian, fiscally-conservative think tank in Washington. It was a fascinating juxtaposition...

...and a sham. He's backing away from the one thing that actually separated him from politics as usual - his record as somone who busted political boundaries - and racing to the left. From the Strib article:

After leaving Congress in 1994, he said, "I was in the private sector. I was doing several things on a volunteer basis and this was something for which [Cato] offered me a retainer. It was just something that kept me in the mix, involved with public policy at the national level."

But when Penny was named Cato's fellow for fiscal policy studies, a news release at the time left a different impression of his involvement with the institute.

Penny, the release said, would work closely with institute Chairman William Niskanen and Moore, Penny's coauthor on the federal budget chapter.

In the release, Penny said he joined Cato because its vision of limited government was in tune with the times. "I've long admired the Cato Institute and am delighted to be affiliated with them," he said in the release, noting that he "looked forward" to advancing Cato's goal of a more limited role for government.

So, Tim - or his apologists - what's the story?

Posted by Mitch at September 9, 2002 02:05 PM