MILLER: Obama or Romney? Libertarians must choose

[SnakeBoy]

MILLER: Obama or Romney? Libertarians must choose

Principles don’t win elections or implement change

It’s depressing to be a libertarian. We usually spend election night with our few friends in a watering hole or in our parents’ basement listening to Rush albums. Libertarians are smarter than voters who blindly vote Democrat or support the Republicans who do more preaching about limited government than actually practicing it — that’s what we tell ourselves. Instead of embracing the candidate who most closely represents our ideals of limited government, free-market economy and personal responsibility, we cast third-party ballots. Driven by stubbornness, we refuse to vote for the lesser of the two evils. But at least we stick to our principles — or do we?

Libertarians are like know-it-all teenagers. It isn’t until we grow up and experience life that we come to accept the reality that America is a two-party system and the only way to implement change is by winning elections. That means our ideals have to be embraced by one of the two major parties, and that is where we get the libertarian wing of the Republican Party.

Still, too many libertarians have decided that there is no difference between the two major parties. Others believe that social conservatives still control the GOP and that Democrats despise capitalism and want to bring European-style socialism to our country. Therefore, they continue to vote for their third party — often becoming part of the problem instead of the solution.

In 2010, true libertarian ideals emerged inside the GOP. The self-proclaimed party of limited government, with the help of Tea Partyers, elected a new wave of free-market idealists. Millions of Americans woke up one morning to the harsh reality that government-controlled health care had arrived. Government was growing at an unprecedented rate, the deficit was out of control and the economic theories of Friedrich Hayek and Milton Friedman were trumped by the Keynesian school of thought.

But this may not be good enough for libertarian ideologues who won’t cast a vote for the GOP unless it embraces legalizing drugs, closing our military bases and eliminating the Transportation Security Administration.

Most polls in America have the race for the White House within a few percentage points. On the day I wrote this commentary, Rasmussen had Mitt Romney up by 4 percentage points, while Gallup has President Obama leading by 2 points. The Rasmussen poll shows that 4 percent are supporting another candidate.

Last month, pollster John Zogby revealed that in a survey conducted in tandem with The Washington Times, Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson received more than 5 percent of the vote. That number may seem minuscule, but as Mr. Zogby pointed out, “Sometimes, 5 percent is bigger than 5 percent. It’s bigger than it appears, especially in the battleground states, where it’s very competitive.”

History tends to repeat itself, especially when it comes to politics. Twenty years ago, many disappointed conservatives could not vote for George H.W. Bush in his bid for re-election. Nineteen percent of the voters cast ballots for independent Ross Perot. Mr. Bush lost to Bill Clinton by less than 6 percentage points. In 2000, Al Gore wasn’t liberal enough for 97,488 Floridians who cast ballots for Green Party candidate Ralph Nader. George W. Bush won the state by 537 votes and became president of the United States.

Disgruntled ideologues always help elect the candidate that is furthest from their ideals.

The election of 2012 promises to be no different. Under Mr. Obama, America has experienced relentless expansion of the federal government. Policies that limit economic freedom and promote an entitlement society will be the current administration’s legacy — an ideology that represents the very antithesis of libertarian philosophy.

Mr. Romney is obviously not an ideal candidate for libertarians. His record as governor of Massachusetts does not inspire limited-government advocates to jump for joy. But there is little doubt that he would not be the big-government advocate that Mr. Obama has been.

Mr. Romney understands that free-market capitalism is our nation’s only hope if we don’t want an 8 percent unemployment rate to be the new norm. He understands that our nation prospers when government gets out of the way of American ingenuity and — dare I say — exceptionalism.

Simply put, he believes in the power of a free people — not bloated and intrusive government.

Libertarian voters will have a choice this November. They can vote for Mr. Romney, stop the expansion of government and give the marketplace an opportunity to repair our nation. Or they can cast third-party ballots and spend election night in self-righteous consolation about their roles in granting the government greater power.

But they stuck to their principles! No, they didn’t.


http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/aug/23/obama-or-romney-libertarians-must-choose/?page=all#pagebreak

[boutons_deux]

"he believes in the power of a free people — not bloated and intrusive government."

except begs and grovels the Feds to bail out his NoWhereLand Olympics, and then effusively thanks them when taxpayers cough $B or so.

Washingtontimes. :lol moonbat crazy Moonies :lol

[jack sommerset]

Great article. Some of the peeps in here that claim they will vote for a third party candidate may want to read this article 10-15 times. We only have 2 candidates. We already have had a absolutely terrible experience with the current one. God bless

[coyotes_geek]

Ah yes, the quadrennial republican party attempt to guilt trip libertarians into voting for GOP candidates. "But, we're for small government, just like you guys are......"

[coyotes_geek]

Great article. Some of the peeps in here that claim they will vote for a third party candidate may want to read this article 10-15 times. We only have 2 candidates. We already have had a absolutely terrible experience with the current one. God bless

I read it once, that was enough. If my vote was that important to the GOP they'd actually bother to try and incorporate some of the things that are important to me into their platform. Things like limited government and personal liberty. Sadly, they're not interested.........

[hitmanyr2k]

Libertarians don't have to choose shit. They can just stay their disgruntled asses home or write in their vote for who they want. Everyone knows Romney is just another puppet. Republicans have never been small government :lol . They're just a bunch of dumbass hypocrites who pretend to be small government when they're not in power.

[jack sommerset]

Ah yes, the quadrennial republican party attempt to guilt trip libertarians into voting for GOP candidates. "But, we're for small government, just like you guys are......"

It said a few more things then that. You might want to read it again. God bless

[coyotes_geek]

It said a few more things then that. You might want to read it again. God bless

No can do. Too busy listening to my Rush albums.

You can go ahead and choose from phantom fears and kindness that can kill. Personally, I'm going to choose a path that's clear. I will choose free will.

[Wild Cobra]

Obama or Romney? Libertarians must choose
Are you suggesting the libertarian candidate will get no votes?

[Clipper Nation]

The beauty of a representative government is that we can vote for whoever the hell we want.... sorry, GOP, but libertarians aren't voting for Willard, because he doesn't reflect our desires or goals, suck it up and get over it, tbh.....

[SnakeBoy]

Are you suggesting the libertarian candidate will get no votes?

That's just the title of the article. I, nor the author, are suggesting any such thing.

[SnakeBoy]

The beauty of a representative government is that we can vote for whoever the hell we want.... sorry, GOP, but libertarians aren't voting for Willard, because he doesn't reflect our desires or goals, suck it up and get over it, tbh.....

Yes that is the beauty of our representative government. You have every right to demand all or nothing.

http://howshereallydoesit.com/files/2012/01/Nothing.jpg

[coyotes_geek]

MILLER: Obama or Romney? Libertarians must choose

Principles don’t win elections or implement change

It’s depressing to be a libertarian. We usually spend election night with our few friends in a watering hole or in our parents’ basement listening to Rush albums. Libertarians are smarter than voters who blindly vote Democrat or support the Republicans who do more preaching about limited government than actually practicing it — that’s what we tell ourselves. Instead of embracing the candidate who most closely represents our ideals of limited government, free-market economy and personal responsibility, we cast third-party ballots. Driven by stubbornness, we refuse to vote for the lesser of the two evils. But at least we stick to our principles — or do we?

Libertarians are like know-it-all teenagers. It isn’t until we grow up and experience life that we come to accept the reality that America is a two-party system and the only way to implement change is by winning elections. That means our ideals have to be embraced by one of the two major parties, and that is where we get the libertarian wing of the Republican Party.
.
.
.
.
.
Libertarian voters will have a choice this November. They can vote for Mr. Romney, stop the expansion of government and give the marketplace an opportunity to repair our nation. Or they can cast third-party ballots and spend election night in self-righteous consolation about their roles in granting the government greater power.

But they stuck to their principles! No, they didn’t.

:wow Looks like Paul Miller converted himself from a libertarian to a republican within this very article.

[SnakeBoy]

:wow Looks like Paul Miller converted himself from a libertarian to a republican within this very article.

I thought you weren't going to read it again :lol

[baseline bum]

:lmao teabaggers for limited government :lmao
:lmao american exceptionalism :lmao
:lmao korean cult newspaper :lmao

[coyotes_geek]

I thought you weren't going to read it again :lol

Busted. :(

:lol

[jack sommerset]

I thought you weren't going to read it again :lol

A few more reads and Mitt will get his vote. God bless

[LnGrrrR]

Nice find c_g. :lol

[coyotes_geek]

A few more reads and Mitt will get his vote. God bless

It could happen. If Miller himself can't resist the power of his own words I certainly don't see how I'd be able to.

[angrydude]

every election they say "we can't afford to lose this one."

screw em. The Republicans beltway establishment just want to get all their warmongering friends into power again.

[4down]

:lmao teabaggers for limited government :lmao
:lmao american exceptionalism :lmao
:lmao korean cult newspaper :lmao

:lmao doubling national debt
:lmao "I need more flexibility, so wait til next term, comrade"
:lmao "affordable" care act -you have to vote for the bill to read
What's in it
:lmao "if I don't fix it in three years it's a one rterm deal"

[baseline bum]

:lmao doubling national debt
:lmao "I need more flexibility, so wait til next term, comrade"
:lmao "affordable" care act -you have to vote for the bill to read
What's in it
:lmao "if I don't fix it in three years it's a one rterm deal"

I'm not seeing how more tax cuts and more military spending are going to do anything other than explode the debt as they have consistently done since Reagan. I blame Uncle Tom for not letting the Bush Tax Cuts expire so they can keep piling onto the debt. The ACA is garbage (:lol same plan from both candidates), so I won't defend that.

[4down]

I'm not seeing how more tax cuts and more military spending are going to do anything other than explode the debt as they have consistently done since Reagan. I blame Uncle Tom for not letting the Bush Tax Cuts expire so they can keep piling onto the debt. The ACA is garbage (:lol same plan from both candidates), so I won't defend that.

The small biz owners I work with are very uncertain and majorly concerened about not only whether they can hire due to increased taxation but also the the increased cost of compulsory health care now. A promise to take more from the rich is a disincentive to get to that next level. With as many troops as we have deploying to the middle east each day I don't see what current admin is doing to curb the spending.

Simplle economics though. And I know there are key differencesin macro vs micro but the principles apply. when you have a high debt load, you either do what you can to increase ability to service debt or slowly pay it down and avoid greater debt. Our man at the helm did it wrong. No other way to put it. He shafted the country by reducing the income stream AND increasing debt. Then he vows to tax the hell out of the rich, further deincentivizing economic recovery
I know no one who gets two chances to screw it up like that. Except maybe pop for keeping Bonner this long

PS: i know this belongs in that other thread, but If Pop really beloved Obama's rhetoric he would take half of selfish ass Tim Tony and Manus salaries and give that money to Dejuan aBlair Cory Joseph and James Anderson

[TDMVPDPOY]

voting against obama is like voting against the black population, ur wasting ur vote like how every casual NBA fan votes when the chinese population tries to vote in a chinese player for the ASG...

dont waste ur vote by going against the majority.....


then again when ur stuck with 2 unworthy candidates, ur force to vote for shit...if theres a hot chick on teh voting papers, i usually vote for that lady :D:D

[Warlord23]

Simplle economics though. And I know there are key differencesin macro vs micro but the principles apply. when you have a high debt load, you either do what you can to increase ability to service debt or slowly pay it down and avoid greater debt.

Exhibit A of the misuse of common sense when analyzing fiscal and monetary policy. At the individual household level, you're absolutely right that you need to be fiscally austere, to decrease expenditure and pay down debt.

However, if all countries and individuals did it, there will be systemic defaults. You see, in today's world, Money = Debt. The money in your bank account is debt. The only way money is created is by issuing debt. The only way interest on existing debt is serviced is by creating new debt, and so on. Until you change the ability of private banks to create money out of nothing, you have to keep riding this monetary tiger towards either inflation or deflation.

Until the average voter understands this, the false economic rhetoric propagated by both sides of the political divide will continue to mislead Americans by using common-sense catchphrases that do not apply in real life.

XcGh1Dex4Yo

[baseline bum]

The small biz owners I work with are very uncertain and majorly concerened about not only whether they can hire due to increased taxation but also the the increased cost of compulsory health care now.

It's a choice between shitty and shittier on health care. As bad as paying 16% of our GDP on healthcare is now, I can't imagine what it'll shoot to if Romney is able to kill Medicare. I agree that employer-based health insurance is massively stupid, which is why the rest of the first world has moved onto systems that control cost.


A promise to take more from the rich is a disincentive to get to that next level.

This country takes very little from the rich compared to the rest of the first world.



With as many troops as we have deploying to the middle east each day I don't see what current admin is doing to curb the spending.


Not starting wars at least. Not a lot, but I don't trust Romney to hold the neocon warhawks who have a hard-on for Iran in check. Dude's even more of a chameleon than Obama.



Simplle economics though. And I know there are key differencesin macro vs micro but the principles apply. when you have a high debt load, you either do what you can to increase ability to service debt or slowly pay it down and avoid greater debt. Our man at the helm did it wrong. No other way to put it. He shafted the country by reducing the income stream AND increasing debt.


The income stream was reduced primarily through Wall Street crashing the economy. I thought you wanted low taxes? How do you pay the debt down by slashing revenues?



Then he vows to tax the hell out of the rich, further deincentivizing economic recovery


:lol He vowed to let the Bush tax cuts expire. Tax rates are at historic lows and we have a wealth distribution of a banana republic. If you want an economic recovery Ryan's austerity measures to pay for the tax cuts for the rich are lunacy, since the driver of the economy is disposable income of the middle class. For the life of me I cannot understand how taking money out out of the hands of people with high marginal utility per dollar and transferring it to those with low marginal utility is going to get an economy growing at a healthy rate again.


I know no one who gets two chances to screw it up like that. Except maybe pop for keeping Bonner this long

The trickle-down policy has gotten many chances and has yet to deliver anything worthwhile to this nation.



PS: i know this belongs in that other thread, but If Pop really beloved Obama's rhetoric he would take half of selfish ass Tim Tony and Manus salaries and give that money to Dejuan aBlair Cory Joseph and James Anderson

The Obama is a communist meme is hilarious, considering he's governing from the center-right. The guy governs like a Gingrich era Republican and people want to label him as Karl Marx. :lol

[coyotes_geek]

The Obama is a communist meme is hilarious, considering he's governing from the center-right. The guy governs like a Gingrich era Republican and people want to label him as Karl Marx. :lol

Troof.

If Obama wasn't so intent on being perceived as a democrat, he'd make a great republican.

[Yonivore]

Troof.

If Obama wasn't so intent on being perceived as a democrat, he'd make a great republican.
Which was what I found so interesting about Dinesh D'Souza's movie. I fully expected D'Souza to confirm the Right's assertion Obama is a socialist. He doesn't.

[4down]

It's a choice between shitty and shittier on health care. As bad as paying 16% of our GDP on healthcare is now, I can't imagine what it'll shoot to if Romney is able to kill Medicare. I agree that employer-based health insurance is massively stupid, which is why the rest of the first world has moved onto systems that control cost.



This country takes very little from the rich compared to the rest of the first world.



Not starting wars at least. Not a lot, but I don't trust Romney to hold the neocon warhawks who have a hard-on for Iran in check. Dude's even more of a chameleon than Obama.

I.I.

The income stream was reduced primarily through Wall Street crashing the economy. I thought you wanted low taxes? How do you pay the debt down by slashing revenues?



:lol He vowed to let the Bush tax cuts expire. Tax rates are at historic lows and we have a wealth distribution of a banana republic. If you want an economic recovery Ryan's austerity measures to pay for the tax cuts for the rich are lunacy, since the driver of the economy is disposable income of the middle class. For the life of me I cannot understand how taking money out out of the hands of people with high marginal utility per dollar and transferring it to those with low marginal utility is going to get an economy growing at a healthy rate again.



The trickle-down policy has gotten many chances and has yet to deliver anything worthwhile to this nation.


The Obama is a communist meme is hilarious, considering he's governing from the center-right. The guy governs like a Gingrich era Republican and people want to label him as Karl Marx. :lol

Bro, too tired to rebut all this now, especially with your fancy multi quotes, but we shall talk soon, you crazy commie. Ill make sure to watch the motorcycle diaries so my heart can be properly softened. But am I to understand that Obama is oderate by your standards? May have to watch it twice lol

God bless

[Th'Pusher]

Bro, too tired to rebut all this now, especially with your fancy multi quotes, but we shall talk soon, you crazy commie. Ill make sure to watch the motorcycle diaries so my heart can be properly softened. But am I to understand that Obama is oderate by your standards? May have to watch it twice lol

God bless

Please rebut when you have the opportunity. I'd love to read your intelligent response.

[ElNono]

Barry is more right than center... the rhetoric is center-left, but actions are more right than center... :lol

Quick comparison:

Stimulus: Dubya (check), Barry (check)
Tax cuts: Dubya (check), Barry (check)
Expansion of Medicare: Dubya (check, Medicare D), Barry (check, Obamacare)
Wars: Dubya (check, Afghanistan and Iraq), Barry (check, Afghanistan, Iraq/Syria)
Indefinite detention: Dubya (check), Barry (check)
Gitmo: Dubya (check), Barry (check)
Spying on Americans: Dubya (check), Barry (check)
TSA: Dubya (check, created), Barry (check, expanded)
Expansion of executive power: Dubya (check, John Yoo et all), Barry (check, assassination of americans)

[Jacob1983]

Why does American society shit on libertarians?

[LnGrrrR]

Barry is more right than center... the rhetoric is center-left, but actions are more right than center... :lol

Quick comparison:

Stimulus: Dubya (check), Barry (check)
Tax cuts: Dubya (check), Barry (check)
Expansion of Medicare: Dubya (check, Medicare D), Barry (check, Obamacare)
Wars: Dubya (check, Afghanistan and Iraq), Barry (check, Afghanistan, Iraq/Syria)
Indefinite detention: Dubya (check), Barry (check)
Gitmo: Dubya (check), Barry (check)
Spying on Americans: Dubya (check), Barry (check)
TSA: Dubya (check, created), Barry (check, expanded)
Expansion of executive power: Dubya (check, John Yoo et all), Barry (check, assassination of americans)

But... but... he said bitter people cling to guns! He likes arugula! He's a Democrat in all the important ways!