The Humble Libertarian original

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." ...

Paul argues that trying to craft a revenue neutral tax reform means that some Americans will get tax cuts, but other Americans will see their taxes go up to pay for it, and that those with the least influence in the political process will be the ones who see their taxes go up... Read all about Senator Rand Paul's tax reform plan called "The Flat and Fair Tax," in my most recent article at The Independent Voter Network.

The appropriations fight over federal relief funds for Hurricane Harvey is a big show of support and compassion, but it's really just another wealth transfer to the government that doesn't do anything to solve the problem at all . If Congress really cared about solving problems, they would pay out as much as they need to from the federal flood insurance program for Harvey, raise the program's budgets, whatever they need to do to fulfill promises they've made.... And in the same bill they would start to phase out the federal flood insurance program and make people pay actual market rates to private insurance companies for flood insurance by a certain target date. Then people will have to consider the real costs of building in a flood plain by a coast. Read the rest of my article , Which was graciously published at Everything Voluntary

A shooter — identified as 66-year-old James T. Hodgkins — armed with a rifle shot as many as 50 bullets into a crowd of U.S. Congress members and their staff on a baseball field in Alexandria, Virginia Wednesday morning. House Majority Whip Steve Scalise and four others were shot and wounded in the attack as the Republican congressional baseball team held its early-morning practice. Two of the five wounded include Capitol Police officers and one of them was the gunman himself, who was shot by police, said Alexandria Police Chief Michael Brown. Sen. Rand Paul told CNN a massacre could have occurred if police and Scalise’s security team were not there. A Partisan Motivated Shooting Before the shooting, someone asked Rep. DeSantis “if it was Republicans or Democrats out there” on the field. “Rep. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) described a “very strange” encounter with a man shortly before House Majority Whip Steve Scalise was shot during a congressional baseball practice in Alexandria, ...

Last week, Congress avoided a government shutdown by agreeing to a continuing resolution to keep the federal government funded for another week. Then over the weekend, US lawmakers agreed to a deal that will extend funding through September while Congress and the White House continue to negotiate longer-term fiscal policy priorities. The US House passed the budget deal Wednesday. But amidst Washington’s annual kabuki theater dance around fiscal policy and possible government shutdowns, a little provision was tucked away in the budget bill that addressed medical marijuana in the now 29 states where it’s legal, with West Virginia the most recent to legalize just last month... Read the rest at The Independent Voter Network .

"No one is coming to save you." --Nathaniel Branden A woman discovers her controlling boyfriend has secretly bugged her cell phone, placed hidden cameras in her bedroom, and been reading her private emails. He refuses to admit wrongdoing and apologize. He even tells her he's doing it for her own good: "Honey, I'm doing this to protect you. I'm doing this because I love you." She should just tell him this is unacceptable and trust him to stop after she confronts him about it, right? Obviously wrong. Anyone who'd rather not end up putting the lotion on its skin before it gets the hose again would move apartments, get a new phone, change passwords, file a restraining order, and start carrying a Smith & Wesson. I'd probably adopt a couple pitbulls too. Spearheaded by digital privacy activists, today is The Day We Fight Back against mass surveillance. By "fight back" they mean do the literally most useless thing they could pos...

Capitol Switchboard: (202) 224-3121 Phone Script [Be polite, friendly, and passionate]: Capitol Operator: How may I direct your call? Patriot: Hi, I'm calling regarding CISPA. Could I please get Senator [Your Senator's Name]'s office? ( Probably Underpaid ) Intern: Hello. How can I help you? Patriot: [Say quickly, clearly, and with conviction] Hi! I'm calling about CISPA. I'm a resident of [City] and a [Occupation]. I just want to urge the Senator to vote "No" when CISPA reaches the Senate in order to protect the 1st and 4th Amendments of the Constitution, to protect the freedom of American citizens, and to send a clear message to the terrorists of the world that we will not let terror change our form of government and the liberties we enjoy. Thank you!

Alternate headline: Hey Washington, even California 's getting sick of you! Ha ha ha. The Daily Caller reports : 'California lawmakers are pushing a bill that would exempt the state from federal laws authorizing indefinite detention of citizens. The California Public Safety Committee voted unanimously Tuesday in favor of the California Liberty Preservation Act, which was introduced by Republican Assemblyman Tim Donnelly. The bill passed the Democrat-controlled committee 6-0 with the support of a wide-ranging coalition that included the American Civil Liberties Union, Tenth Amendment Center, San Francisco 99% Coalition, San Francisco Board of Supervisors and the Libertarian Party of California. The legislation is designed to free California from having to comply with the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) of 2012, which does nothing to prevent the potential seizure and indefinite detention of U.S. citizens. The California bill declares such federal power unc...

Great work at BuzzFeed. After a quick look at the above, you might be interested in the following audio lecture on the Fascists and Fabians from the Mises Institute's excellent Robert LeFebre commentaries . The maneuvering described in the BuzzFeed piece is a classic Fabian "incrementalist socialism" tactic. They've been doing it to us for decades. We're fool enough to let them.

Senator Rand Paul knows real gun control means hitting your target:

Come on, Congress. You got to read the bills. Headline from National Review : "Lee: ‘Not a Single Senator Has Been Provided the Legislative Text’ of Gun-Control Bill" These become laws that affect our lives. You do know that, right? I mean I know you're above the law and everything, so it's hard to imagine, but we little munchkin people in Central Time can go to jail for not complying with all this stuff, so could you take a moment and know what you're voting on when you vote on it? Remember practically two days ago when some of you were embarrassed that you passed the "Monsanto Protection Act" because you didn't know it was in there? Can some renegade libertarian staffer in the Capitol please start waging guerrilla warfare on these clowns and insert language into every bill abolishing the TSA, repealing The Patriot Act, ending foreign aid to Pakistan, and putting ObamaCare out of our misery? No, seriously.

One set of rules for small business owners. Another set of rules for the people who make the rules. How many more examples are we going to need?

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

A note: I wrote this article last night and woke up this morning to see it's already been liked on Facebook nearly 600 times! People are sharing this around in the "libertysphere" and I would love to enlist your help in spreading it even more so the story breaks out of our community and catches everyone's eye. American voters need to know about Justin Amash. They need to know having a congressman like him is possible if they have standards and make character their most important standard for a politician, not party or personality. Meet Justin Amash (R-MI), the coolest congressman that you’ve never heard of. He doesn’t grab headlines the way Michele Bachmann, Nancy Pelosi, Ron Paul or some of the other more notorious members of Congress do, but in his short time as a U.S. congressman, Amash has done a lot of things that– agree with his positions or not– most Americans would probably agree are just plain cool... Read the rest of this article at The Independent Voter...

By: Wes Messamore NASHVILLE, Tennessee (The Humble Libertarian) - As Super Tuesday primary and caucus results came streaming in from all over the country, a seemingly young filmmaker from Kentucky announced late Tuesday night that he would be releasing a low-budget documentary about Sen. Rand Paul's successful 2010 bid for the U.S. Senate. The filmmaker, who announced the upcoming release in a video on YouTube using the handle jgmdavi , said that he plans to debut the political documentary by the Republican National Convention in August. (Watch the full video announcement below.) The video announcement, which is clearly addressed to fans and supporters of Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) and his father, U.S. Congressman and presidential candidate Ron Paul (R-TX), opens with the words: "Many of you were there in November of 2010 when Rand Paul was elected to the U.S. Senate. Shortly thereafter he was sworn into office. Since then, in just over a year in Washington, he's be...

Our hats are off to documentary filmmakers Jim and Ellen Hubbard for their upcoming documentary scheduled for a 2012 release: “ Museum of Government Waste ,” which brilliantly and humorously exposes not only the appalling amount of taxpayer dollars wasted by our government, but the underlying culture of corruption and favors that plagues the U.S. Congress and drives so much of the waste. Not only are they actually building the Museum of Government Waste , but their upcoming documentary chronicles their actual and serious attempt to get an earmark from Congress for the museum, a commentary more cutting and eloquent than the museum itself –the kind of caper that Michael Moore has become famous for, but without all the deceptive editing and naive state worship (we’ll leave that to the guy in the baseball cap)… Read the rest of my article at The Silver Underground. Wes Messamore , Editor in Chief, T H L Articles | Author's Page

This is so awesome! When Ron Paul waved that Silver Coin at Ben Bernanke to lecture him about the importance of sound money during Bernanke's testimony before Congress Wednesday, he was actually using a silver "rebel round" minted by the company I work for, LinePlot Productions, to promote our feature-length, animated, independent film, Silver Circle ! As regular readers here know, I blog about monetary policy and economic news for Silver Circle part-time on their blog, The Silver Underground , in order to promote our upcoming film. We were all floored when clear photos of the committee meeting started emerging and, without a doubt, Ron Paul was holding our coin in his hand! The image above was no Photoshop job. It is the unaltered work of Chip Somodevilla for Getty Images North America ! How awesome is that? Thanks, Ron! Here's our press release : For immediate release 03-01-12 Contact: Megan Duffield, megan@lineplot.com | 617-864-8300 x122 This is no ...

This is good news : Just 15 months after taking a thumping in the 2010 midterm elections, House Democrats have seized on the current anti-Washington fervor and are confident they can win the 25 seats they need to regain control of the House. Vice President Joe Biden made a bold prediction on Friday, telling House Democrats at their annual retreat on Maryland's Eastern Shore, "I really do think we're going to win back the House." To flip control of the House back just one cycle after losing it, the House Democrats' campaign operation is relying on a class of new recruits, just inducted into its "Red to Blue program" that targets Republican seats. Why good news? If Democrats really are in a good position to regain control of the House, it means that voters are taking less and less time to get tired of the party that's in power, which is cool. The American public should be discontent with its government and with its two major political parties ri...

I wish Grover Norquist would spend all this energy focused on anti- spending increases and anti- spending pledges. He'd be unstoppable. We've got to move the conversation away from taxes and focus it on government spending. Spending is the problem. Taxes are just one symptom of that problem. Hat tip: Memeorandum Wes Messamore , Editor in Chief, T H L Articles | Author's Page

Here's this year's Obama State of the Union 2012 News and Commentary roundup. If you missed Obama's 2012 State of the Union Address Tuesday night, don't worry. Looks like you didn't miss anything new: Familiar Rhetoric, Failed Record The "dumbing down" of America-- Obama's 2012 State of the Union Address was written at an 8th grade reading level for the third straight year : Obama's SOTU addresses have the lowest average Flesch-Kincaid score of any modern president; Obama owns three of the six lowest-scoring addresses since FDR. For the third consecutive State of the Union Address, Barack Obama spoke in clear, plain terms. And for the third straight Address, the President's speech was written at an eighth-grade level. In Obama's own words: "My message is simple." But was it too simplistic ? A Smart Politics study of the 70 orally delivered State of the Union Addresses since 1934 finds the text of Obama...