Yes, the depths of conservative hypocrisy are bottomless, but this really takes all.
From The Nation (ht Brad Delong, emphasis mine):
Koch invited Hayek to serve as the institute’s “distinguished senior scholar†…
Hayek initially declined Koch’s offer … Hayek explains that he underwent gall bladder surgery in Austria earlier that year, which only heightened his fear of “the problems (and costs) of falling ill away from home.†(Thanks to waves of progressive reforms, postwar Austria had near universal healthcare and robust social insurance plans that Hayek would have been eligible for.)
IHS vice president George Pearson (who later became a top Koch Industries executive) responded … that “social security was passed at the University of Chicago while you [Hayek] were there in 1951. You had an option of being in the program. If you so elected at that time, you may be entitled to coverage now.â€
… Professor Hayek had indeed opted into Social Security while he was teaching at Chicago and had paid into the program for ten years. He was eligible for benefits. …
Koch writes: “… you are entitled to Social Security payments while living anywhere in the Free World. Also, at any time you are in the United States, you are automatically entitled to hospital coverage. … For your further information, I am enclosing a pamphlet on Social Security.â€
The letter is here.
Charles Koch to Friedrich Hayek: Use Social Security! | The Nation.
Comments
5 responses to “Koch Brother Lures Hayek to America With…Social Security!”
This is as entertaining as all those Social Security recipients who admit they are participating in a criminal enterprise (i.e., a “Ponzi” scheme) NOT reporting themselves to the SEC. The sophists among them who dispute that it is criminal (well, it is legal) but still insist it is morally a “Ponzi” scheme are just as funny when they cash their checks. The only honest people among them are the cynics, who don’t really give a shit.
> The only honest people among them are the cynics, who don’t really give a shit.
Yeah as long as they don’t whine at the same time (maybe just grumble or chuckle a little), can give them some respect.
[…] have I never posted about Yasha Levine over at The Exiled? They’re the ones that first broke this story about Koch luring Hayek to America with Social Security, and I make a point to put down my coffee […]
[…] have I never posted about Yasha Levine over at The Exiled? They’re the ones that first broke this story about Koch luring Hayek to America with Social Security, and I make a point to put down my coffee […]
[…] Why have I never posted about Yasha Levine over at The Exiled? They’re the ones that first broke this story about Koch luring Hayek to America with Social Security, and I make a point to put down my coffee […]