Opinion Page:
We dare to ask:
Does Fred Smith and FedEx Have Ed Crane and The Cato Institute In Their Back Pockets?
The opening paragraph on the Cato Institute's web page (http://www.cato.org) states:
| 24 Years of Promoting Public Policy Based on Individual Liberty, Limited Government, Free Markets and Peace. |
Further, the web site states:
| "The Cato Institute seeks to broaden the parameters of public policy debate to allow consideration of more options that are consistent with the traditional American principles of limited government, individual liberty, and peace. Toward that goal, the Institute strives to achieve greater involvement of the intelligent, concerned lay public in questions of policy and the proper role of government." (emphasis added) |
Now, keeping the above statements in mind, please read the following letter, sent to both Fred Smith and the Piedmont Triad Airport Authority:
| May 3, 2001
Mr. Frederick W. Smith, Chairman Dear Mr. Smith: We are aware of your dedication to community service in many areas, and, as a purple heart veteran of WWII, I especially appreciate your serving as National Co-Chairman of the WWII Memorial Campaign. I hope the Memorial is completed while some of us are still around. We know also of your serving on the Board of the Cato Institute, the noted Washington think tank which strongly opposes the use of governmental power in oppressing its citizens. Here in Greensboro the action of the Piedmont Triad Airport Authority in bringing the giant FedEx East Coast hub to our in-town airport is exactly the type of governmental activity to which Cato would object. The Authority members are appointed, not elected, and have let our citizens know that they answer to no one. They made their agreement with FedEx in total secrecy with no input from the citizens of Greensboro. Putting the FedEx hub right in the middle of some of our nicest up-scale neighborhoods and presenting it as a fait accompli is a gross example of governmental bureaucratic arrogance. And by collaborating with the FAA and its totally irrelevant 65db, 24-hour average noise contour, the Airport Authority, in effect, is saying to thousands of Greensboro, High Point, and Guilford County citizens "You will have to sue us for any compensation for night-time noise disrupting your lives." Your endorsement of the Cato policy of opposing government oppression of its citizens is not at all in keeping with the plan to locate your giant East Coast hub in Greensboro. This action is polarizing our community. It will result in thousands of lawsuits, in blighting some of our nicest communities and will be a divisive influence in community relations from now on. A win-win solution for all concerned is possible but will require your asking the Airport Authority to locate the hub out in the country where it belongs. This can be done within your time frame and at less total cost because it will avoid the spending of hundreds of millions of dollars for mitigating, inverse condemnation and legal costs. We believe that this is the action which would be approved by Cato Institute members and would certainly demonstrate your commitment to the Institute's policies. We will appreciate your discussing this possibility with the Piedmont Triad Airport Authority and giving us your comments on our suggestion.
Sincerely, CC: Piedmont Triad Airport Authority
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A copy of the above letter was sent by both e-mail and normal postal
mail(1) to the Cato Institute, asking
for their response or comment about the letter. This was done twice, 45 days
apart. The first time e-mail was sent to
media@cato.org and the second time to
48 people and the media department. To date, the only response that the Cato
Institute has sent out was an e-mail by Cato founder Ed Crane
(ecrane@cato.org) who asked "What is
the purpose of sending this e-mail to the entire staff?"
Actually, we picked out the forty-nine most likely addresses to give us a
response. Founder Ed Crane was the only one to respond in any way, shape
or fashion. It is interesting to note that not one single person, other than
Ed Crane, responded with even as much as a "it's not in my area of expertise"
or a "you need to contact so and so about this issue." In fact, we know of
no response, written or otherwise, from the Cato Institute, Fred Smith, or
the Piedmont Triad Airport Authority.
We feel the Cato Institute is treating this matter just like the members
of the Airport Authority Board treats all of our concerns - they ignore us
in hopes we will simply go away. Could this be perhaps that, according to
their own web page, "the Cato Institute accepts no government funding.
Contributions are received from foundations, corporations, and
individuals..." Are the multi-billion dollar corporation FedEx
and the very wealthy Fred Smith among the corporations and
individuals they are talking about? One has to wonder if perhaps
this is the reason for their silence.
Now let us state this one fact: We believe that with the exception of this one single issue, the Cato Institute has done a tremendous amount of good for our country, and for it's working class citizens. We believe in the philosophy behind the Cato Institute, and support it wholeheartedly. It is our belief in the ideals of the Cato Institute that causes us to be dumbfounded at their lack of response to this one issue.
Should the Cato Institute choose to respond, we will gladly publish their response here for all to see.
Here are the details of the letters we sent to the Cato Institute by both e-mail and snail-mail.
On Sunday, July 08, 2001, 6:33:00 PM, we sent the following e-mail to media@cato.org
Sirs; I am asking what the Cato Institute's response to the below quoted letter is. Your response, or lack of should you choose to not respond, is of interest to the citizens of the Greensboro-High Point, NC and surrounding area, as well as to the visitors of several websites, including http://www.boycottfedex.com and http://www.hubfact.com. You should be advised that as of today, we know of no response from Mr. Frederick W. Smith. Thank you.
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A copy of Mr. Farthing's letter was attached.
Later, on 21 August 2001, we sent the following letter, again by both e-mail and snail mail:
Sirs, It is now approximately 45 days since I sent you the below e-mail, and I have yet to receive a response or even an acknowledgement of receipt of the letter. Perhaps by sending this to more than just the media@cato.org address we can receive an answer.
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A copy of the original e-mail was listed below this. The e-mail addresses we sent the e-mail to this time to were:
media@cato.org, jsamples@cato.org, tfirey@cato.org, dbandow@cato.org, pbasham@cato.org, abiggs@cato.org, dboaz@cato.org, tcarpent@cato.org, jclarke@cato.org, wcrews@cato.org, ecrane@cato.org, gdempsey@cato.org, jdorn@cato.org, cedwards@cato.org, ieland@cato.org, dgriswol@cato.org, mgroombridge@cato.org, ehudgins@cato.org, dikenson@cato.org, rlevy@cato.org, blindsey@cato.org, aaronl@cato.org, tlynch@cato.org, pmichael@cato.org, tmiller@cato.org, wniskan@cato.org, tpalmer@cato.org, dolsen@cato.org, rpilon@cato.org, jose@cato.org, areynolds@cato.org, jrodrig@cato.org, sslivins@cato.org, mtanner@cato.org, jtaylor@cato.org, athierer@cato.org, pvandore@cato.org, ivasquez@cato.org, schamber@cato.org, rbalko@cato.org, pbenjamin@cato.org, jbrito@cato.org, mchapman@cato.org, edixon@cato.org, jkiely@cato.org, cjl@cato.org, ccjl@cato.org, eporter@cato.org, vwalston@cato.org
It is now March 22nd, 2002 - over eight months later, and still no reply. At least two copies were sent by snail-mail, again without response. Their silence is deafening.
You may draw your own conclusions...
(1)Cato Institute
Attention: Public Relations Department
1000 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W.
Washington D.C. 20001-5403
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