The Humble Libertarian original

Eric Boehm at Reason: Doug Jones, Roy Moore, and the Politics of the Lesser Evil "The politics of the lesser evil are very much in vogue right now—though not usually in terms as stark as what we just witnessed in Alabama—because neither major party has much in the way of a compelling vision to win support. Demonizing the other side and hardening tribal lines over issues of race, class, and social policy is, if not the only way to win in that environment, then certainly the easiest. This 'negative partisanship' has infected all parts of the political dynamic, and it's getting worse. But winning elections isn't supposed to be the goal of politics. Creating policy is. And the politics of the lesser evil are not good for the creation of policy, because whoever wins gains power and therefore quickly becomes the greater evil." Jeffrey Tucker at FEE: This Bloodsport Needs to End "The left is getting nuttier, the hard right is getting scarier, and the...

Or don't call yourself a libertarian. Here's how you can be 100% certain that a tax bill is a scam: Is it a tax bill? It is? Okay, it's a scam. You came here for specific evidence that this particular tax bill is a scam? How about the fact that Republican leaders lied about it and then admitted they lied? First the outline for the tax plan is released and Rand Paul goes: Hold up, you call this a Republican tax bill? It's gonna raise taxes on a bunch of ppl! This is a GOP tax plan? Possibly 30% of middle class gets a tax hike? I hope the final details are better than this. https://t.co/lcjkI4YRz8 — Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) October 2, 2017 Then Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell say no it won't. The TPC got their analysis wrong. Okay. Then a month later they admit they lied ( of course they say "misspoke"). Mitch McConnell says: "I misspoke on that. You can’t guarantee that absolutely no one sees a tax increase." ...

Only a fake Christian or someone who is too uninformed to have any business voting could now cast a ballot for Roy Moore. Child Molester (R) A sane, moral person sees "child molester" and wants to strangle the guy. The political partisan says that hasn't really been proven and the Washington Post just wants to hand the Democrats a Senate seat. But the only reason they believe Moore after that Hannity interview is because all they can see is that "(R)" next to his name. Which is a branded signal to activate the mental short circuit that years of partisan propaganda has implanted in their brains. The "(D)" has the same effect on a similar number of people in this country. And it's a lie that there's a difference between them. The lie is part of the short circuit. The short circuit is activated by a carefully cultivated mental implant that causes temporary insanity and bouts of amnesia. No, I'm not wearing a tinfoil hat. ...

First of all, let's get this out of the way first. What was wrong with what Trump said? All the news headlines are clipping off the statement to make it sound dismissive and insensitive: "He knew what he signed up for." Well this is deceptive editing, because what he said was : "He knew what he signed up for... but when it happens, it hurts anyway." If you idiots keep doing this shit, you're going to get Trump reelected in a landslide. This is why so many conservatives love Trump for slamming the media all the time. You guys are all dishonest as hell. There are plenty of actually terrible things about Donald Trump that you can criticize him for without deceptive editing. I'm still trying to figure out what is so horrible about what Trump said. Does Rep. Wilson know what the military does? Yes, the soldier did know he was signing up to fight in wars. Do all these Democrats who are acting appalled today know what happens in wars? S...

If you keep hating Trump for the wrong reasons you're going to get something even worse... This week the New York Times published an Op Ed by David Brooks entitled, " When the World Is Led by a Child ." In it the NYTs columnist begins by saying that President Donald Trump is not a budding authoritarian and rabble-rousing populist, neither a corrupt Nixon-type politician, nor a big business corporatist. Instead, Brooks claims, one can tell by the way Trump answers questions in long interviews that he's basically just a big baby. (Brooks used the term "infantalist," by which he meant "a big baby.") But his analysis of Donald Trump as an exemplar of immaturity and impulsivity appears to be little more than name calling to rile up readership disguised in the form of some staggeringly unsophisticated analysis. As you'll see if you bear with me through this rebuttal of the article's three main points, the problem with Brooks' critici...

From my latest article at The Independent Voter Network: In the never-ending fight / dance along the partisan line dividing the Republican and Democratic brands, each side adopts the tactics suited to its position at the moment, usually accompanied by a spectacular display of mass-amnesia on the part of the fierce partisans who always give their unqualified support to their party.

My friend Craig Schlesinger is on a roll getting the libertarian message out there. In one letter to the editor which made it into The Wall Street Journal, Craig reminds a Journal opinion columnist that the nation's fiscal problems aren't just the fault of the blue party. The red party's compassionate conservatism ramped up federal spending to unprecedented levels under George W. Bush. Then in a letter to The Tennessean, Craig takes down the regulatory state with a solid dose of economic thinking regarding anti-gouging laws and ticket sales . He concludes with a particularly tasty sentence: "...the vulnerable person is hurt the most by removing the distributive justice of the market." Yes. On his blog, Spatial Orientation , he credits Matt Zwolinski 's research into the ethics of exploitation as inspiration for his letter on anti-gouging laws. ( super cool videos on the Matt Z link) Like his work? Check out " The Almighty Dollar? " on Spa...

By: Wes Messamore Is that politician or pundit making valid economic arguments, or just distracting you with flashy, partisan talking points to gain ground for their candidacy or “team?” Here are a few things that every Independent voter and thinker should look out for: Read the rest of my article at the Independent Voter Network . Wes Messamore , Editor in Chief, T H L Articles | Author's Page

'Voters will see these “pre-endorsements” for what they are and resent the party hierarchy’s attempt to dictate results to them. Instead of helping the candidates that they endorse so early on, the parties will only hurt their chances. Pre-endorsements will become a liability to establishment picks and be used against them by their grassroots opponents. It isn’t about left vs. right anymore.  It’s about the establishment vs. you, and more and more voters are starting to really believe that.' Read the entire article at IVN.us . Wes Messamore , Editor in Chief, T H L Articles | Author's Page

After she tried to put on a farmer’s market in her hometown of Pueblo, Colorado, Tisha Casida discovered that she had a different set of rules, regulations, licenses, and fees than the city-run farmer’s market. When she contacted her city council, county commissioners, and the city manager about the business and growth-strangling discrepancies and didn’t even get a single reply, Casida had had enough. Now Tisha Casida is running as an Independent for the U.S. House of Representatives and I recently had the opportunity to talk with her on the phone about it. During our brief interview, I was absolutely captivated by the depth of her enthusiasm, her principled positions, her common sense policy prescriptions, and her eloquence in articulating and defending them. Here’s what Tisha Casida had to say: Read my interview at The Independent Voter Network . Wes Messamore , Editor in Chief, T H L Articles | Author's Page

As the so-called super committee announced its inability to come up with a plan for deficit reduction by its Nov 23rd deadline, the sheer magnitude of dysfunction on Capitol Hill was perhaps best summarized by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who said: “Both sides of the aisle, both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue – they cannot even come up with something that would not have even solved the problem.” That’s a key point to remember, that the 12-member super committee was simply tasked with finding $1.2 trillion to cut out of the federal budget over the next ten years. $1.2 trillion in cuts might not even balance the budget next year alone. With that in mind, Mayor Bloomberg’s criticism– which so aptly and pithily captures the absurdity of the deficit debacle that it could just as easily have been a Jon Stewart line– rings absolutely true. Congress cannot even come up with something that would not have even solved the problem. Can there be any wonder that its approval ratings remain...

Note: this article first appeared at The Silver Underground. Please read it there and share their version to help me reach my incentive bonus! Thanks, --Wes --- At a time when Americans seem more divided than at any point since the Civil War, two grassroots protest movements, the Tea Parties and Occupy Wall Street protests, signal the possibility of a major realignment in American politics along the lines of massive shared opposition to the domineering financial sector and its corrupt counterparts in government… Washington Bails Out Wall Street Since the very beginning in February 2009, I have defended the Tea Party movement against its detractors in the media and government. Just weeks before they spread like wildfire across the nation, while working through my senior year of college, I sat in front of the television in the Fall of 2008, watching with bewilderment as Congress passed a “$700 billion” bill (which has turned out to be more like $3 trillion in additi...

Kevin Williamson apparently didn’t care for my treatment of his recent National Review cover story: Before you accuse somebody of being a Republican Establishment hack, you should check to find out whether he's a Republican. I am not. Nor do I support any Republican candidate at the moment. Or vote, for that matter. These are facts, not matters of interpretation. Best, Kevin D. Williamson It tickled me pink that this professional writer descended from his precipice to engage with a speck in the blogosphere that is so anonymous I haven’t even heard of me. In my rebuttal to his original article, I basically called Mr. Williamson a hypocrite. What surprised me in his brief comment was that he didn’t appear to take issue with this claim. Rather, the fact that I implied he was a Republican Establishment hack is what put him in a snit. It’s also interesting to see Williamson take the trouble to leave a comment for an insignificant blogger when in his own piece he engages in...

From my most recent article at CAIVN: 'A group of three wealthy Californians: a Republican, a Democrat, and an Independent (registered "decline-to-state") have launched a new group to steer California public policy by focusing supporters on state politics and working to elect state legislators with the "courage" to solve California's problems. The group is called Govern for California.' This is definitely something worth looking into. These guys are saying some really shocking (in a good way) things. Read the rest of my article at CAIVN. Wes Messamore , Editor in Chief, T H L Articles | Author's Page

Rasmussen reports : "Paul, whose long run afoul of the GOP establishment with his libertarian policy prescriptions, picks up 61% of the Republican vote, while 78% of Democrats fall in behind the president. Voters not affiliated with either of the major political parties prefer the longtime congressman by 10 points – 43% to 33%." Hmmm. Independents heart Ron Paul. Time to send in the real maverick. Wes Messamore , Editor in Chief, T H L Articles | Author's Page

Proponents of raising the debt ceiling hysterically accused the GOP of "hostage-taking" and "terrorism" for wanting to tie spending cuts to any bill that lets the government borrow even more than the $14 trillion it already has taxpayers on the hook for. They absurdly equated not raising the debt ceiling with default, though nobody has yet explained to me how being unable to pay off loans is solved by taking out more loans. Isn't that just more debt that the government is unable to pay? Finally, Democrats said that if we didn't raise the debt limit, the entire economy would collapse, stocks would plunge, and according to Pelosi-- "life on this planet as we know it" would come to an end. Seriously. Well they raised the debt ceiling and guess what happened? Mere days-- you could even reasonably measure it in hours-- after the debt ceiling was raised, world markets took a jarring plunge : "Stocks plunged sharply Thursday, with the Dow do...

"Members of the Tea Party movement have been called a lot of nasty things before like: crazy, extremists, teabaggers, and racists, but in the final hours of the debt ceiling debate, just one month before the ten-year anniversary of the 9-11 terrorist attacks, many Democrats, including Vice President Joe Biden, have been calling Tea Party members the nastiest name yet: terrorists." Wes Messamore , Editor in Chief, T H L Articles | Author's Page

The Democrats in Washington have made such a stink about Republican opposition to raising the debt ceiling, with many going so far as to accuse the Tea Party caucus of behaving like terrorists . Terrorists! Republicans are willing to cause any kind of harm to the economy, the Democrats say, if it will benefit them politically. But who's really doing the political grandstanding over the debt limit? Could it be the same party whose entire Senate caucus voted against raising the debt limit in 2006? Could it be them? Could it be the party whose Senate majority leader made the following statements in an impassioned speech in 2006? "Most Americans know that increasing debt is the last thing we should be doing." "Economists will tell you we should be reducing debt, not increasing it." "We're being asked to do what shouldn't be asked of us, to increase the debt to almost $9 trillion." (And seriously visit that link and watch the whole speec...