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Libertarians

ACLU on the “Constitution-Free Zone” of the United States

The ACLU has a page describing how encroachment of federal power has produced a virtual “Constitution-free zone” for American citizens — almost 200 million — living near the so-called borders of our country: Using data provided by the U.S. Census Bureau, the ACLU has determined that nearly 2/3 of the entire US population (197.4 million…

Saving Social Security: Broken Trust

Here’s the fourth part of a five-part series from Reason.tv entitled, Saving Social Security. The animated video comes from Lineplot, a company that creatively describes financial topics. I posted the first of the series, Pimp My Walker, on October 4th, the second part, Boom Baby Boom! on October 11th, and the third, Policy Warrior on…

Barr Against the Bailout: Linking McCain to Big Government

Following my last post, Barr hits on McCain — not really Obama — as a big spender in favor of the bailout. (No one doubts that Obama will spend big.) When Barr says that there’s not a dime’s worth of difference, it’s really a contention that McCain‘s the one whose a poor representative of his…

Libertarian Barr’s Path to a Greater Margin: Disaffected Republicans

As one might have expected, Libertarian Bob Barr’s appeal to a greater-than-normal percentage of the vote for the LP depends on an appeal to disaffected Republican small-government conservatives. Barr made that appeal explicit yesterday, as recounted in an AP story entitled, “Libertarian Barr Says McCain Can’t Win Presidency.” Here’s Barr’s pitch: “Sen. McCain will be…

Defending Freedom: Update

Yesterday, I published a post entitled, “Defending Freedom: Welch vs. Weisberg,” in which I described the reply of libertarian Matt Welch to Jacob Weisberg’s attack on libertarian philosophy in Slate. Welch handled the issue well, I thought, and now he has an update, in which others take on Weisberg’s argument. He links to nine other…

Defending Freedom: Welch vs. Weisberg

Over at Reason’s Hit & Run, Matt Welch responds to the big-government loving author of In Defense of Government, Jacob Weisberg of Slate. Weisberg, in a Slate post entitled, “How the Financial Collapse Killed Libertarianism” contends that The best thing you can say about libertarians is that because their views derive from abstract theory, they…

Defending Freedom: Boaz vs. Meyerson

Over at Cato@Liberty, David Boaz posts “Gods That Fail,” in response to Harold Meyerson’s Washington Post column, “Gods that Failed.” Boaz defends capitalism against Meyerson’s contention that “Today, conservative intellectuals might want to consider writing a tome on the failure of their own beloved deity, unregulated capitalism. ” (The titles of the columns are plays…

The Different Standard

Sometimes a story about one topic reveals more about another.  In Pewaukee, there have been chronic concerns about the temperament and conduct of that community’s police chief.  In early August, the Pewaukee City Council requested that the city’s Police and Fire Commission remove police chief Gary Bach from office. Among the Common Council’s charges against…

Saving Social Security: Policy Warrior

Here’s the third part of a five-part series from Reason.tv entitled, Saving Social Security. The animated video comes from Lineplot, a company that creatively describes financial topics. I posted the first of the series, Pimp My Walker, on October 4th, and the second part, Boom Baby Boom! on October 11th.

Bob Barr on CNN’s American Morning

Here’s a video showing Bob Barr’s appearance on CNN’s American Morning.  Barr critiques the other candidates, as though he were a commentator, and not a candidate himself.  He’s also blunt the way a Congressional candidate might be, and without the manner of a national candidate.  (I although I hear that Barr thinks well of himself.) …

Bob Barr Video Ad

Here’s a Bob Barr television ad.  I don’t know where this ad might be running, other than on the Internet.  Historically, the LP has run almost no media during a campaign.      The ad doesn’t look at all like a presidential campaign ad, or that of a national interest group.  It looks more like an…

Reason‘s Carnival of Posts Against the Bailout

Reason has a fine, single post linking to their many posts and videos against the federal bailout. The post is entitled, “Read Up on the Bailout and More Before Monday’s Opening Bell Signals More Losses!” It lists nearly twenty posts against the bailout, making a sound case against significant expansion of federal power. Among them…

AP: “Bailout Angst Provides a Push for Libertarian Barr”

The Associated Press’s Ben Evans has a story, “Bailout angst provides a push for Libertarian Barr,” on Libertarian Party oppostion to the recent bailout. The story suggests that Barr might gain from the federal bailout, but then notes that he hasn’t yet gained, and likley won’t. The story suggests the possibility for Barr’s gain: Private…