Tag Archives: libertarianism

The Current State of My Political Philosophy

I believe that the government that governs best governs least, but I would not call myself a through-and-through, principled libertarian. I’d prefer that the federal government be severely limited in its powers. Generally, I believe that governmental powers should be no greater than inversely proportional to a government’s scope. I believe such a notion is compatible with subsidiarity.

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Buncha Whiners

So Phil Gramm, who supports John McCain in November, says, “We have sort of become a nation of whiners.”

A good response from John McCain would have been something like, “Damn straight! And it’s time to wean the American people from their dependence on the government, restore their civil liberties, get them back in the driver’s seat, and foster individual responsibility, independence, and innovation!”

Instead, McCain’s campaign just illustrated Gramm’s point with a whiny response:

John McCain travels the country every day talking to Americans who are hurting, feeling pain at the pump and worrying about how they’ll pay their mortgage. That’s why he has a realistic plan to deliver immediate relief at the gas pump, grow our economy, and put Americans back to work.

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Ron Paul: Compassionless Conservative?

Here’s proof that I don’t blindly agree with every word spoken or decision made by Ron Paul. Recently, the House of Representatives passed HR 1181 (“Expressing condolences and sympathy to the people of Burma for the grave loss of life and vast destruction caused by Cyclone Nargis.”) 410-1. Guess who the “1” was. That he was the lone voice of opposition in the House is not news. Why he opposed this symbolic resolution and which symbolic resolutions he hasn’t opposed may be. Andrew Malcolm of the LA Times Top of the Ticket blog explains:

“So Paul’s symbolic stand against symbolic silliness looks good.

“But then along come the sharp-eyed folks over at Radaronline.com, specifically Nick Curran, who finds out that Paul’s stand against symbolic silliness when it comes to Asians whose huts and hovels were erased by cyclone, is not quite so principled and a whole lot more enthused about dumb statements of sentiment when the silliness is closer to home.

“Come to find out Paul has voted in favor of similar empty resolutions to congratulate the University of Kansas football team for a swell season and winning the 2008 FedEx Orange Bowl, to the Louisiana State football team for, golly, winning the 2007 Bowl Championship Series and to celebrate the New York Giants for their come-from-behind victory in Super Bowl XLII. “

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