What are those choices again?...
Usually, for the most part, I watch Republican and Democratic presidential candidate presentations as a somewhat disinterested bystander. From a libertarian standpoint, there isn't enough actual policy difference between the Republican candidates, or the Democratic candidates, or between the Republican and Democratic candidates to warrant much attention.
It's usually a case of all of the candidates offering up government solutions for government created problems. Some one may try to convince us that there is a significant difference between Obamacare and Romneycare, or between having troops in Afghanistan or Pakistan, or between giving $3 billion or $2.95 billion to Israel this year, or between trimming 1% or 2% from next years proposed budget increase.
This year, the majority of the Republican hopefuls are pitching themselves as the conservative standard bearer that should be put in power to defeat the Barack Obama, the liberal standard bearer. Republicans and Democrats seem to get caught up in the excitement, and the fall election ends up being promoted as a contest between conservatism and liberalism, when actually it ends up being a contest between the Republicans version of statism and the Democrats version of statism.
I have been paying a little bit closer attention to the GOP race this year.
Ron Paul, the libertarian leaning congressman from Texas, has added a little variety to the mix. While his opponents continue to offer up Republican versions of big government as the solution for problems we face from Democratic versions of big government, Dr. Paul steadfastly offers the libertarian solutions of smaller government, individual freedom and personal responsibility to solve those problems.
For many elections, people have believed they were choosing between liberalism and conservatism, when they were really simply choosing statism. This spring, the GOP has the chance to give voters a chance to choose between the freedom of libertarianism, or the status quo of statism when they go to the polls next fall.
If the Republicans fail to take advantage of that chance, I hope the voters who embraced freedom and limited government in the spring, will continue to embrace them in the fall.
There is a political party that has been offering that choice all along.
www.LP.org
www.LPIN.org
It's usually a case of all of the candidates offering up government solutions for government created problems. Some one may try to convince us that there is a significant difference between Obamacare and Romneycare, or between having troops in Afghanistan or Pakistan, or between giving $3 billion or $2.95 billion to Israel this year, or between trimming 1% or 2% from next years proposed budget increase.
This year, the majority of the Republican hopefuls are pitching themselves as the conservative standard bearer that should be put in power to defeat the Barack Obama, the liberal standard bearer. Republicans and Democrats seem to get caught up in the excitement, and the fall election ends up being promoted as a contest between conservatism and liberalism, when actually it ends up being a contest between the Republicans version of statism and the Democrats version of statism.
I have been paying a little bit closer attention to the GOP race this year.
Ron Paul, the libertarian leaning congressman from Texas, has added a little variety to the mix. While his opponents continue to offer up Republican versions of big government as the solution for problems we face from Democratic versions of big government, Dr. Paul steadfastly offers the libertarian solutions of smaller government, individual freedom and personal responsibility to solve those problems.
For many elections, people have believed they were choosing between liberalism and conservatism, when they were really simply choosing statism. This spring, the GOP has the chance to give voters a chance to choose between the freedom of libertarianism, or the status quo of statism when they go to the polls next fall.
If the Republicans fail to take advantage of that chance, I hope the voters who embraced freedom and limited government in the spring, will continue to embrace them in the fall.
There is a political party that has been offering that choice all along.
www.LP.org
www.LPIN.org
Labels: freedom, Republicans and Democrats, statism
posted by Rex Bell at 8:06 AM
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