The Humble Libertarian original

Michelle Malkin charges that there's a culture of corruption at the apex of American power in Washington D.C. -and who could disagree? As news headlines flash on my screen while I work today, I can't help but feel like this quiet, sunny Saturday bears deep historic significance and omens for the future of our nation. Today American families worried about their futures, tens of thousands of people searched desperately in vain for work, and those of us who are fortunate enough to have work, did it quietly and thankfully, or humbly enjoyed some rest from their work on their Saturday off. Meanwhile corruption charges mount against powerful, privileged, and wealthy elites on Capitol Hill; Charles Rangel and Maxine Waters , the politicians that face those charges, behave with indifference and brazen contempt; and a former U.S. President and sitting Secretary of State lavish millions of dollars on their daughter, Chelsea Clinton's wedding . The difference between America and Was...

Rob McNealy , the Libertarian Party's candidate for U.S. Congress representing Colorado's sixth district, "panhandled" for donations Wednesday on the southwest corner exit ramp of 1-225 and Parker road in Colorado, calling the event "an unorthodox fundraising event." McNealy says: “In these tough times, raising campaign money is a very tough proposition, therefore we decided to take fundraising right to the people in a very direct way.” About Rob McNealy Rob McNealy, is a small business owner and community activist. He earned his Bachelor Degree in Geography and Marketing from Central Michigan University, and his MBA from Colorado State University. Rob and his wife Kristie McNealy, MD moved from the Midwest and settled in Colorado a decade ago to fulfill their dream of living in the Rocky Mountain West. Together, they run their family business and homeschool their four children while enjoying the Colorado lifestyle. For more information: Rob@RobMcNealy.com w...

"Amid the fallout after Californians discovered that Bell City Manager Robert Rizzo earned nearly $800,000 a year, and would receive an extravagant $600,000 a year pension upon retirement, golden state residents everywhere are alarmed. With the state and most local governments facing a desperate financial crisis, Californians are outraged at anything they perceive as a wasteful use of the state's resources by privileged government bureaucrats. That's what made the bizarre pornographic images unearthed by SF Weekly Tuesday all the more shocking." Read the entire article at CAIVN . W. E. Messamore , Editor in Chief, T H L Articles | Author's Page

Here I begin the first of a series about voluntary environmentalism, about people and organizations that are repairing the planet without any force compelling them to do so. Undoubtedly Earth is a wreck, but state imposed solutions are not the answer. Let's see who is making a difference within a grassroots, force-free framework. Today we look at the Isha Foundation’s Project GreenHands . “Trees are our closest relationship. What they exhale, we inhale. What we exhale, they inhale. This is a constant relationship that nobody can afford to break or live without.” As said by Indian mystic and guru Sahdguru. He’s certainly right too. Anthropogenic global warming may well be a crock, but trees are very important. What's beautiful though, is that while many would petition the state to plant trees, institute regulations, or even wait on someone else saying, “Somebody oughta …”, Sahdguru and his Isha Foundation (which also teaches yoga and inner wellbeing) took it upon themselves t...

Yes I am giving away free silver and trillions of dollars (in Zimbabwe currency)! If you'll note on the sidebar to the right, The Humble Libertarian is edging its way toward 400 subscribers, but I'd rather not just go past 400 subscribers: I want to blow past 400 subscribers ! So to that end I am giving away (-technically this contest's awesome sponsors are giving away) three sweet prizes to new subscribers (if you are already subscribed, there are still other ways for you to enter the contest- just read on): Third Place - Peter Schiff's New Book Yes, that's correct! One lucky winner will get a free copy of Peter Schiff's new book (courtesy of the book's publisher, Wiley ), How An Economy Grows and Why It Crashes . Second Place - 1,000 TRILLION DOLLARS! ...in Zimbabwe money. If you enter, you could win trillions of dollars in Zimbabwe currency. This set of ten crisp, uncirculated, one hundred trillion dollar Zimbabwe notes makes a great conversation pi...

Hey Readers! Just wanted to address you personally for a minute and let you know what's been going on with me lately. You may have noticed posting has gotten a little sporadic over the last two weeks and that's a good and bad thing. It's a bad thing because I am committed to getting you the best quality, daily updates, commentary, and analysis on news and politics as well as direct you to activities that will put us one step closer to living in the freest, most open, most peaceful, most prosperous society possible to us. I also have a great staff of volunteer contributors which I appreciate very much, and I'm still learning and figuring out how to be a good editor, and how to properly review, edit, and publish their contributions in a timely fashion. So why's it a good thing? And what's been up with the sporadic posting lately? I have been busy working hard for the liberty r 3vol ution at a Summer Internship with Young Americans for Liberty . I wasn't supe...

"Earlier this week, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown released one of the few specific policy proposals of his campaign. Republican opponent Meg Whitman has criticized Brown for being too vague on his plan to reform California's struggling government. Now he's hitting back with a plan to curb the exploding cost of state worker pensions, and it sounds an awful lot like the key elements of deals Governor Schwarzenegger has negotiated with the state's unions." Read the entire article at CAIVN . W. E. Messamore , Editor in Chief Articles | Author's Page

'On Monday, Governor Schwarzenegger signed a bill to plan celebrations for what would have been Ronald Reagan's 100th birthday next year, and another bill declaring February 6th as Ronald Reagan day. Nationwide, conservatives have been pining for their "next Reagan" to lead America out of its economic woes and toward a vision of limited government and individual liberty. It might be worth considering the answer- on a state level- to a question that is oft-repeated by conservatives for more national issues of public policy: What would Reagan do? Ronald Reagan was after all, the Governor of California before he became "The Great Communicator" of conservative ideas on a national level, as President of the United States. He came in as a Sacramento-outsider during an unpopular war and with a substantial fiscal mess to clean up (though not quite the abject budget crisis California faces today). Are there any lessons to be gleaned from Reagan's tenure in Sacram...

This video rocks. They can say what they want about crazy "Tea Baggers" dressed in colonial-era garb and giving impassioned speeches. They can laugh and make fun of us. Whatever. I don't care. I love this sort of thing. Hope you do too: W. E. Messamore , Editor in Chief Articles | Author's Page

In my most recent Op Ed video, I take a look at the NAACP's absurd claim that the Tea Party is racist, examining the issues that really matter to the Tea Party, and showing how they have nothing at all to do with race. This is a video that I can't believe I actually had to make. W. E. Messamore , Editor in Chief Articles | Author's Page

Because I'm confused about what we're shooting for. Is it a specific unemployment metric? And if so, should we revert back to Bush policies that had us near 4%? Or are we not comfortable with relative zero unemployment unless median salary goes up in the process? Is it consumer confidence? Which is largely affected by how you think your neighbor is doing, and typically more pessimistic than reality? Is it the Dow Jones Industrial Average? Are we looking to crack 12,000? 14,000? Because your solutions are stimulus bills. New regulations. Subsidies. Tariffs. Tightened trade agreements. All in the name of "help". The problem is, I'm not sure what they're supposed to be "helping" us get to. By: Eric Olsen , Regular Columnist Articles | Author's Page | Website

Here's an awesome opportunity for a libertarian with a bachelor's degree: You can now get your Master's Degree in Liberty Studies online from the University of Illinois at Springfield, which is ranked as the fourth best public master's university in the Midwest according to the 2009 Edition of America's Best Colleges by U.S. News and World Repor t. According to UIS's Center for Liberty Studies : Earn a Master's Degree in Liberty Studies at the University of Illinois at Springfield. For over 30 years the Department of Liberal and Integrative Studies has offered students the opportunity to formulate their own degree plan and name their own degree. A brief list of courses on liberty include: Radical Capitalism, Philosophy of Business, Liberty Studies, Revolutions and Liberty, and Social Philosophy. What is Liberty Studies ? Liberty Studies is an inter-disciplinary field of inquiry dedicated to understanding the foundations, meanings, and implications of what ...

A textbook tactic of statist radicals in America is the systematic character assassination of their enemies as racists. Loathe to engage their intellectual opponents in a real discussion of the issues, lest the radicals should be perceived for what they are and lose the fight to bring America under their heel, they prefer instead to slander their opponents, to intimidate and shout them down, and to destroy their credibility with whatever lies or twisted propaganda they can muster in a never-ending witch-hunt. This article originally appeared at Young Americans for Liberty And has been featured by the Daily Caller But when actual, genuine racism rears its ugly head within their own ranks (and make no mistake- it very often does), the radical socialists do everything they can to deflect, to distract, to evade, and- laughably- to denounce as racist anybody who points out and criticizes the racism of the radicals. There can be no better example than The Daily Caller 's enlightening ...

Last month marked the five year anniversary of Kelo v City of New London, a contested US Supreme Court decision voted 5-4 that allowed eminent domain to be used by the government to force property transfers between two private parties. In this particular case, a homeowner was uprooted from their home so the property could be rented to a private developer for $1.00 a year, with the intent of flushing the city with money, jobs and tax revenue. Five years later the lot sits vacant, the private developer never obtained funding, and not a dime of revenue was ever generated. Besides thousands of dollars in court costs the next largest publicly paid expense was the relocation and additional compensation of the homeowner. “This is simply another example of how government intrusion, despite whatever story politicians drum up, always involves less liberty for private citizens and is rarely effective and never efficient,” stated Charlie Earl, Libertarian Party Candidate for Ohio Secretary of St...

In this short interview, Republican U.S. Senate Nominee Rand Paul discusses his platform and the Tea Parties on Fox and Friends (July 13th 2010). Listen closely and you'll notice that everything he proposes is extremely modest, immanently reasonable, and absolutely necessary to sustain the continued existence of our nation. Photo above by: Gage Skidmore W. E. Messamore , Editor in Chief Articles | Author's Page

Here’s a thought experiment: imagine a candidate saying that if we want to balance the federal budget, we need to cut warfare as well as welfare. Throw in some talk about the military-industrial complex. Then try to picture that candidate gaining the support of Sarah Palin, James Dobson, and Sen. Jim DeMint’s Senate Conservatives Fund—en route to winning a closed Republican primary in a Southern state by a landslide margin. With this impressive victory, the candidate becomes the face of the grassroots conservative activists who make up the Tea Party movement. No experiment is necessary, actually. This describes Rand Paul, the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in Kentucky. “[W]e have huge budgetary problems and the Republicans often say, ‘Oh it’s just that welfare queen, if she’d go back to work we’d balance the budget,’” Paul observed during the campaign. “Well, the truth of the matter is, if you look at the numbers, there’s not enough money just in welfare to cut to balance the bud...

Over at Strike the Root , Glen Allport makes the case for abolishing government (and the slavery that he believes necessarily accompanies the existence of government) altogether. Like the Ring of Power from the Lord of the Rings , Allport argues, no one can hold the power that is vested in government without it necessarily corrupting them. (If Allport is right about government and his analogy is apt, then Ron Paul is Tom Bombadil because power has no influence over him. If you don't catch my reference, you need to dust off your Tolkien and read.) W. E. Messamore , Editor in Chief Articles | Author's Page

The United States may be forced to launch an attack on Iran’s nuclear weapons facilities if diplomatic efforts and economic sanctions against the Islamic Republic fail, Sen. Joseph Lieberman said Wednesday after a meeting with Israeli officials in Jerusalem. Appearing at a news conference with Sens. Lindsey Graham and John McCain, Lieberman was unusually harsh in his assessment of the Iranian threat. There is a broad consensus in Congress that military force can be used if necessary to stop Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, he said. Lieberman cited a recent set of sanctions Congress passed against Iran as a potential deterrent. But he insisted that the goal of keeping Iran from becoming a nuclear power will be accomplished "through diplomatic and economic sanctions if we possibly can, through military actions if we must," according to The Associated Press. Although U.S. officials often say no option should be taken off the table in relation to Iran's nuclea...

The Internet and blogosphere are abuzz today with discussion of the NAACP's resolution that the Tea Party is racist ( e.g. here , here , here , here , here , here , here , and here - all via Memeorandum here , here , and here ). How predictable! For decades now, any opposition to the progressive expansion of state power, control, and influence is met with accusations of racism. ( Cross posted from Young Americans for Liberty) But in case you weren't aware (apparently the NAACP wasn't, because we know that it definitely isn't a radicalized tool of the progressive establishment, using patently absurd accusations to attack and intimidate grassroots political activists for challenging the status quo), the size, role, and influence of government have nothing to do with race! What on earth could possibly be racist about saying we need balanced budgets? Or that our government spends too much? We do need balanced budgets (as it seems axiomatic to me that you have to produc...

"Barack Obama has agreed and signed a document which allows other countries to look at our budget and give recommendations based upon debt, taxes and spending. How much do you want to bet that other countries will tell us that our taxes are not high enough and that we don't spend enough money on health care or social programs?" Read the entire article at Economy Politics. W. E. Messamore , Editor in Chief Articles | Author's Page

A new study says legalizing the recreational use of marijuana in California could sharply drive down prices for the drug and possibly undercut the tax windfall that supporters have touted. The study published Wednesday by the RAND Drug Policy Research Center says "considerable uncertainty" surrounds the state ballot initiative. It would allow adults, 21 and over, to possess an ounce of marijuana and cities and counties to license and tax commercial pot sales. The authors predict that retail marijuana prices could drop from $375 an ounce under the state's current medical marijuana law to as low as $38 per ounce. Read the entire article at Newsmax . Matt Collins , Regular Columnist Articles | Author's Page

The European Parliament is to vote on a deal that would allow the U.S. to access information on the bank transfers of European citizens. America says it's a necessary measure to track terror suspects. But critics say the proposal -- that's been discussed between the EU and U.S. for months now -- violates human rights. RT talks to Jan Philipp Albrecht, a Member of the European Parliament. Matt Collins , Regular Columnist Articles | Author's Page

Did you know there's a Ron Paul iPhone app? Seriously. If you're an iPhone user, check it out by going to the app store on your iPhone and searching for "Ron Paul app." It's actually pretty cool. There are a few bugs here and there and I'd like for it to be a little faster, but just give the developer a little time. Photo by Gage Skidmore.

"Palin, the former Republican vice presidential nominee, invokes the importance of a strong and robust military in speech after speech, while Paul, the libertarian Republican who rocketed to the national scene during the 2008 presidential race, has long argued for drastic cuts in defense spending. It's a schism that has long existed within the GOP's fold – between hawkish conservatives and spend-weary Republicans – but one which the Tea Party movement's diverse coalition and varied figure heads have specifically laid bare over the past year." Read the entire article at CNN . Photo by Gage Skidmore. Matt Collins , Regular Columnist Articles | Author's Page

Here are two libertarian essay contests that you should absolutely participate in for fun, to advance the cause, and maybe even to win a little bit of extra money (nothing like the profit motive to get a libertarian going, right?). One is open to anyone over eighteen, and the other is for undergraduate students, recent graduates, and interns in the DC area. The New Threats to Freedom essay contest: Summary: Write a short essay (maximum of 500 words) answering this question: "What is an emerging threat to freedom and why is it critical to address it in today's society?" Prize: $500. Deadline: August 15, 2010 Requirements: Open to anyone over 18. You have to publish the essay to a blog and then submit it to the contest. If you don't have a blog, but would like to participate, don't fret- I've got your back. I'll publish your essay here at THL so you can enter the contest. Full details here . Transform Americas essay contest: Summary: Choose...