The American Guesser

From LP.org:

Have you every wondered just what exactly is in Barack Obama’s massive government spending plan, now estimated by the Congressional Budget Office to end up costing over $1 trillion?

The creators of StimulusWatch.org have taken the Obama proposal and broken it down by project, and the sheer amount of high-cost, low-job creation pork-barrel spending is amazing.

Log on to www.StimulusWatch.org for yourself and browse the bill.

Via IPR.

Oooo, I like the phrase used in this newspaper column about the nature of altruism:

“Altruism is an illusion when it comes to the government,” said Jim Maas of Rothschild, chairman of the Libertarian Party of Wisconsin. “Americans are a generous people who donate to many worthy causes. … When misfortune or disaster strikes, Americans help out.

“Government is based on force, and force is difficult to reconcile with any meaningful concept of charity. When a government bureaucrat sends money to someone in need, it doesn’t make taxpayers compassionate and caring persons. It also doesn’t mean that the bureaucrat is a good and caring person, because he is doling out the money that the government has forcibly exacted from American taxpayers, not his own. To be meaningful, we must be free to give to those causes which appeal to us. There should be separation of charity and state.”

Now THAT is a great line.

A case can be made that from a policy perspective, that it makes sense for their to be some sort of safety net in place to keep people from starving and losing their homes during normal business cycles. Hungry and homeless people walking the streets isn’t going to be conductive to the free market because it will lead to more demogogury and more socialism, not less.

But when you have politicians using my money to make their constituents happy and beholden, and to create the illusion that the politician “cares,” then I call B.S.

And I feel the same way about calls for mandatory public service as a condition for graduation or some other service. It’s not public service if you have to do it.

Hat tip: IPR.

Every time I hear Republicans or conservatives claim to be “libertarians at heart,” I wanna reach for a barf bag. This is no exception.

A core conservative doctrine is the libertarian idea that we should drastically limit the size of government. In Ronald Reagan’s iconic words, “Government is not a solution to our problem; government is the problem.”

You’d think that few people would believe this anymore, but nearly half the electorate voted for Republican candidates who profess opposition to Big Government. So let us recall just some of the ways we need government.

Yeah. That was Reagan all right. A libertarian. That’s why he turned Ed Meese loose in our bedrooms and started the War on Druge, because he was so concerned about our individual rights.

And before you start, I know full well that this column was written by a Democrat. My point is still valid.

Via the McHenry County Libertarian Party Blog:

The Libertarian Party of Illinois (”LP Illinois”) condemns the recent actions of Democratic Governor Rob Blagojevich and calls for his immediate resignation for the good of the State of Illinois.

Blagojevich was arrested on December 9, 2008, accused of scheming to profit from the selling of President-Elect Barack Obama’s senate seat for cash or for a political appointment. Charges against Blagojevich were detailed in a 76 page criminal complaint.

“This type of arrogant, outrageous behavior has become the norm among our elected officials and must no longer be tolerated in Illinois,” said Dave Brady, State Chair of LP Illinois. “The citizens of this state deserve and must demand elected officials who serve honestly and with integrity,” he added.

Brady also emphasized the need for more voter choices in Illinois. “First, George Ryan, a Republican, and now Rob Blagojevich, a Democrat, abusing the public trust in an attempt to enrich themselves,” he said. “I hope this sends a signal to the voters of Illinois and to the media that there really is no difference between the two major parties, and more choices are needed,” said Brady. “We fully expect to provide an alternative candidate for governor who is well qualified, accountable and responsive,” he added. “I challenge all media to provide equal attention to all third parties during the next campaign for governor,” he added.

I mean, what’s next? A press release from the Green Party stating that they kinda suspect there are Democrats who really aren’t as anti-war and anti-corporation as they say they are.

Anyway, here’s the opening paragraphs of the paragraph posted in LP.org:

Following Senator John McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign, and the support of the massive bailouts by Republican members of Congress, the Libertarian Party says it has replaced the GOP as the party of free market advocates.

“The Republican Party no longer represents advocates of capitalism and the free market,” says Libertarian Party Director of Communications Andrew Davis. “The GOP’s mindless support of regulatory economic policy indicates it no longer has any philosophical or pragmatic opposition to government intervention in the marketplace. This abandonment of free market principles makes the Republican Party no more opposed to big government than their Democratic counterparts.”

I know! You coulda knocked me over with a feather when I read that.

A columnist at the Emory (University) Wheel says that while Ronald Reagan is held up as the ideal to which the conservative presidents should aspire, the opposite is true.

Ayn Rand wrote that when the weight of the world is stacked against you, the best course of action is not to engage in futile battles, but simply to withdraw your support. For an entire generation, the Republican name has become inextricably tied to Ronald Reagan, George Bush and the warfare state they stood for. So it is time for libertarians and principled limited government conservatives to simply walk away. Reforming the Republican Party from the inside would take far too much time and effort and involves a give-and-take process in which the give far outweighs the take. Witness the Ron Paul delegates to the Republican National Convention, who, in a vain attempt to win “respectability,” cast their votes for the neocon John McCain. If ever there was a betrayal of principle, it was this. In fact, the longer libertarians and the libertarian-minded stay within the Republican fold, the more vulnerable they will become to charges of hypocrisy.

My two cents: It’s a call for abandoning the GOP.

But the Libertarian Party has existed for decades as an option for “libertarians and the libertarian-minded.” This subset of the GOP has rejected the LP. They rejected Ron Paul. These folks aren’t going to wake up tomorrow as Ron Paul supporters.

I think the alternative to the GOP might very well be the new Modern Whig Party.

It’s true, via the Northern Star:

“This past primary season, Congressman Ron Paul really opened a door for a new voice to be heard besides Democrats and Republicans,” said Chris Gilson, the chapter’s founder and a graduate geography major. Rep. Paul, (Lib.–Tex.) ran for president as a Libertarian in 1988 and generated excitement in the movement when he ran for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination professing libertarian values.

“His anti-war message really took off with young people,” Gilson said. “Over the past eight years, people have opened their eyes to how the two-party system is failing us. We plan on becoming an alternate voice; to let students know there’s an alternate voice to those parties and organizations.”

From the Atlanta Journal Constitution:

Libertarians have never won statewide office in Georgia, but suddenly their votes have become valuable currency in the extended U.S. Senate race between Republican incumbent U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss and Democrat Jim Martin.

No sooner had the sun peeked over the horizon on Nov. 5 than Martin and Chambliss —- both sleep-deprived and headed for a runoff —- were reaching out to the “other party.” Libertarian Senate candidate Allen Buckley won nearly 130,000 of the 3.7 million votes cast Nov. 4, enough in this squeaker of a Senate race to have put either Chambliss or Martin over the 50 percent mark needed for victory.

Now in a nationally watched Dec. 2 Senate runoff, Chambliss and Martin are reaching out to anyone who voted Libertarian Nov. 4.

Hrumph.

Folks, your vote belongs to YOU. It’s not the property of the Big Two. If the Democrats and Republicans wanted Libertarian Party votes, they ought to nominate candidates who have libertarian inclinations.