Nearly two years ago, Chris Bowers issued an alert to the Chiefs of Staff of all Democratic Members of Congress:
My name is Chris Bowers. I write for www.MyDD.com, and I live in Philadelphia (PA-02, Chaka Fattah, to be precise). I want you to know how concerned I am about an upcoming event that all Senate and House Democratic Chiefs of Staff have been invited to attend: the 2005 Chief of Staff Retreat hosted by the Mercatus Center to be held February 4-5 at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Philadelphia, PA. I am writing this to urge you to not attend this event.
It is important that you realize who funds the Mercatus Center. Since 1985, the Mercatus Center has received 513 grants totaling $45,347,884. Their top donors have been as follows:
- Koch Family (Includes Claude Lambe Foundation): $24,258,797
- Olin Foundation: $7,530,824
- Scaife Family (includes Carthage Foundation): $5,031,000
- Bradley Foundation: $2,5544,050
- Barre Seid: $2,212,000
- Earhart Foundation: $996,348
- McKenna: $265,000
- Jacquelin Hume Foundation: $260,000
- Smith Richardson: $254,315
- The Walton Family (Wal-Mart): $120,000
- JM Foundation: $85,000
- Castle Rock Foundation (Coors Family): $75,000
Nine of these twelve are the top nine donors to the conservative think tank apparatus. The other three are "conservative angel" Barre Seid, big-time conservative donor Jacquelin Hume, and the Walton family of Wal-Mart infamy. Together, these twelve sources of funding make up over 95% of the Mercatus Center's funding since it was founded in 1985. Several of the smaller donors not listed here are also uber-conservative "angels."
Chris had a great point: Mercatus calls its retreat "bipartisan," because the Chiefs of Staff of both Democratic and Republican Members are invited. But does the sponsorship of the event, and the scholarship presented, reveal a different picture? In other words, although the invitations are distributed on a bipartisan basis, is the material presented actually as "bipartisan" as the guest list?
At the time that Chris issued his appeal, I looked into just who was attending these events on behalf of their Democratic bosses, and this is what I found (edited for formatting):
- Lisa Baranello, Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-NY)
- Peter Chandler, Rep. Michael Michaud (D-ME)
- Michael Collins, Rep. John Lewis (D-GA)
- Lionel Collins, Jr., Rep. William Jefferson (D-LA)
- Robert Decheine, Rep. Steve Rothman (D-NJ)
- Patricia Delgado, Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA)
- Perry Finney Brody, Rep. Silvestre Reyes (D-TX)
- David Flanders, Rep. Jane Harman (D-CA)
- Robert Foust, Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND)
- John Haseley, Rep. Ted Strickland (D-OH)
- Cookab Hashemi, Rep. Mark Udall (D-CO)
- Clyde Henderson, Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-NY)
- Rita Jaramillo, Rep. Ruben Hinojosa (D-TX)
- Melissa Koloszar, Rep. James Moran (D-VA)
- Jason Marino, Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV)
- Cynthia Martin, Rep. John Conyers (D-MI)
- Susan McAvoy, Rep. Martin Frost (D-TX)
- Terri McCullough, Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)
- Maria Robles Meier, Congressional Hispanic Caucus
- Jeff Mendelsohn, Rep. Ciro Rodriguez (D-TX)
- Neil Naraine, Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA)
- Julie Nickson, Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA)
- Gail Ravnitzky, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA)
- Michael Rious, Rep. Al Wynn (D-MD)
- Drey Samuelson, Sen. Tim Johnson (D-SD)
- Scott Schloegel, Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI)
- Lisa Sherman, Rep. Susan Davis (D-CA)
- Lisa Venus, Democratic Budget Committee
- Larry Walker, Rep. Major Owens (D-NY)
- Jennifer Walsh, Rep. Dennis Cardoza (D-CA)
- Monique Clendinen Watson, Del. Donna Christensen (D-VI)
- Rachel Redington Werner, Rep. Jim Turner (D-TX)
- Stanley White, Rep. Robert Brady (D-PA)
- Patrice Willoughby, Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D-OH)
At the time that list was compiled, the Mercatus Center controversy also turned up in the then-ongoing race for the DNC chairmanship, for which former Congressman and 9/11 Commissioner Tim Roemer was the Democratic Congressional leadership-backed candidate. (Note that Jack Murtha was among the first key names to come out for Dean, before most people outside the Capitol actually considered him a key name.)
Chris' point, of course, was that though the retreat was billed as "bipartisan" because of the way the invitations were distributed and accepted, the information imparted there, given the sponsorship of Mercatus, might be far from it.
That being said, this is not intended to be a bashing of the Democrats and/or their staffers who attended the events, or an accusation that they are in any way "corrupted" by having gone. Frankly, I doubt very much whether anyone who attended did so for much more than the opportunity to do a little networking in a nice setting, away from Capitol Hill. I'm sure they weren't there for purposeful indoctrination. Still, the less exposure they have to some of the ideas the sponsors of Mercatus ordinarily champion, especially under the cover of "bipartisanship, the better.
So when MyDD's Nancy Scola wrote recently about the need for developing a progressive policy infrastructure that could compete with that on the right, and that piece made mention of Mercatus, it brought the old story to mind. And I wondered how many Democratic staffers were still going to Mercatus events?
Well, here's your answer:
- Jedd Moskowitz, Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-NY)
- Priscilla Ross, Rep. (now Sen.) Ben Cardin (D-MD)
- Monique Clendinen Watson, Del. Donna Christensen (D-VI)
- Kimberly Ross, Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD)
- Jerr Rosenbaum, Rep. Charles Gonzalez (D-TX)
- Jennice Fuentes, Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL)
- Brenda Otterson, Rep. William Jefferson (D-LA)
- Julie Nickson, Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA)
- John Ratliff, Rep. Dan Lipinksi (D-IL)
- Mark B. Harkins, Rep. Brad Miller (D-NC)
- Kerry McKenney, Rep. Donald Payne (D-NJ)
- Shelly Stoneman, Rep. Steven Rothman (D-NJ)
- Tara Oursler, Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-MD)
- Heather Moeder Molino, Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-MD)
- James B. Clarke, Rep. Diane Watson (D-CA)
- Paul Brathwaite, Rep. Mel Watt (D-NC)
We'll start with the good news: that's less than half the number attending in 2004. The bad news -- to the extent that it really is bad -- is that many of you will recognize the names of good progressives still being represented at these events. And again, while I think it's important to deliver the message that attendance at events sponsored by outfits like Mercatus should be discouraged, I'm not looking for an outpouring of rage about it.
Just yet.
With Democrats once again in the majority, however, there's really very little excuse to be taking "bipartisan" instruction paid for with prettied-up wingnut dollars. Instead, the continuance of these events -- another is scheduled for this coming February -- only highlights the urgency of Nancy's call for establishing our own alternatives. We're the majority here, and if they want to learn how to work with us in bipartisan fashion, they should be attending our retreats.
So, Democratic Chiefs of Staff, what do you say? Let's let 2006 be Mercatus' last hurrah?