GOP complaints against Tancredo.

I thought competition was a GOP principle. Or does that only apply to school choice? If the current voting system makes Tancredo's third party run problematic for the GOP, the GOP should champion a new voting system. I suggest Approval Voting. I recommend "Gaming the Vote" by William Poundstone as an excellent primer on the issue.

Don't make the election rules then complain when others play by them.

Let freedom ring.

Freedom ain't a la carte.

According to the New York Time's article on Glenn Beck's "Restoring Honor" rally in D.C. (see "At Lincoln Memorial, a call for religious rebirth"):

. . . Tea Party groups have said they want to focus on fiscal conservatism and not risk alienating people by talking about religion or social issues . . .

To the extent this is true, it is a fatal flaw.

Tea Parties - indeed, all proclaimed believers in small government - should be about freedom. Economic freedom. Social freedom. To only address half of that equation is problematic.

It is the equivalent of saying, "yes, you should have the freedom to spend your money any way you wish, but, no, you should not be able to conduct your private life any way you wish."

The inconsistency is obvious.

Progressives think you are mean.

Michael Gerson, of the Washington Post, demonstrates how "progressive" statists feel about their fellow man:

"Social Security abolition would push perhaps 13 million elderly Americans into destitution."

(See "Why the Tea Party is toxic for the GOP.")

Gerson, and statists like him, think so little of the American people that he believes we would let 13 million Americans starve to death in the streets if the government did not compel us to subsidize Social Security. Statists of all stripe believe that humanity is base, immoral, greedy, heartless and cold.

Statists believe that but for the enlightened ones, like them, making us all commit "good deeds" through government force, we'd callously step over dying old folks in the street on the way to our jobs on Wall Street.

I'm sure Gerson sees us all twirling our moustaches as we laughed at dying old ladies in alley ways.

Libertarians know that if we didn't have to pay 14% of our income toward Social Security, there would be fewer destitute elderly people; there would be more private money to assist the remaining destitute; and that there is no worse tyranny than forcing someone to pay for what he does not want merely because you think it is good for him.

Joseph Sobran said...

"It would be a healthy exercise for every politician to look in the mirror every morning and remind himself that he holds office only because, in a two-man race against another mediocrity, a modest majority of those half-informed people who imagined that their votes mattered reckoned that he was the lesser evil. And they weren't too sure about that."

-- Joseph Sobran

This was today's quote from DownsizeDC. Sign up for their email at DownsizeDC.org.

Bad eggs = more government.

"You never want a serious crisis to go to waste."

--Rahm Emanuel

Rahm wasn't thinking big enough. A crisis doesn't have to be serious to take advantage of it.

Obama's Food and Drug Administration Commissioner, Margaret Hamburg, is taking advantage of some bad eggs that have made some people sick. Of course, to any statist, bad eggs means the government needs more involvement in the egg production process.

Hamburg, according to MSNBC, said Congress should pass pending legislation that would provide her agency with greater enforcement power.

Of course she did.

Jonah Goldberg and "right" vs. "left."

In his excellent book "Liberal Fascism," Jonah Goldberg writes

The popular conception that Hitler was a man of the right is grounded in a rich complex of assumptions and misconceptions about what constitutes left and right, terms that get increasingly slippery the more you try to nail them down.

(page 56).

This is true precisely because the terms are meaningless. Fascism, Communism, Nazism, Socialism, monarchism, and totalitarianism in any form ALL subjugate the individual to a false "greater good" of the "people" or the "collective."

They all push the ideology that the state is greater than the person. And that ideology is evil.

Whether or not the state is perceived to be "left" or "right" is only as important as which hand holds the gun to your head. Once the trigger is pulled, it doesn't matter which hand did the pulling.

One tentacle of the Leviathan is no better than another.

A friend argued that I could take my ideological "purity all the way to [my] economic prison."

She believes that my refusal to join the GOP will lead us to this metaphorical "prison."

She fails to see we are already incarcerated. I think most reasonable people would agree the Democrats are not solely responsible for our obscenely bloated federal government. Many Republicans - and all of the honest ones - admit their culpability.

"This time, however," they always say, "things will be different." They want "just ONE more last chance." Because, "this time" they "really MEAN it."

As Big Government Republican George W. Bush said, "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice.... you can't get fooled again." On this occasion I agree with W.

We are already in my friend's metaphoric "economic prison." One built jointly by the Republicans and Democrats. One built with your her approval. One built on the false belief that one tentacle of the Leviathan is better than the other.

One that can not stand without her - and our - consent.

Withdraw your consent. We are saving you all at a seat at the table.

Dan Maes, Tambor Williams and all that is wrong with politics...

According to the Denver Post, Dan Maes, GOP nominee for Colorado Governor, is defending Tambor Williams as his choice for Lt. Governor. (See "Maes tries to ease supporters' anxiety over running mate").

Williams has been criticized, among other things, for her support of Refs C & D when she was a member of Bill Owens' cabinet. Maes sent an email to supporters addressing those concerns.

According to the Post, Maes'

"... e-mail says Williams, as a Cabinet member under then-Gov. Bill Owens, privately opposed the referendums but had to support them publicly because her boss did."

This type of attitude is the problem. Tambor Williams is just one example of thousands. It is not fair to single her out. She is just another career politician, assimilated into party politics, where party unity is subservient to truth and principle.

If one does not believe in something, but publicly espouses it for private gain, that person is a hypocrite. Or perhaps a liar. Such conduct should not be excused in the name of political expediency.

If a person is asked to support a position contrary to one's beliefs, a person of principle says, "no, I will not compromise my principles for your political gain." A resignation should then be offered.

We, as an electorate, accept this unprincipled conduct. We get what we deserve: unprincipled politicians.

Leadership Program of the Rockies - apply now.

Even established, successful leaders can learn more and meet new, emerging leaders they otherwise would never know. The time and money invested in the program pays off quickly and the dividends last decades.

Deadline for nominations and applications is August 31, 2010. You can apply online at LeadershipProgram.org

As a 2009 graduate and the Chair of the Libertarian Party of Colorado, I can assure those sympathetic to the small government movement that the LPR is not part of the GOP machine. It is about ideas and principles and leadership. There are speakers from across the center-right. Yes, there are neocons, but there are also speakers from the libertarian Cato Institute and the objectivist Ayn Rand Institute. The class members are just as diverse.

I highly recommend it.

Cosmetic changes aren't enough. Structural change is needed.

I have heard that the Tea Party movement is against the status quo. Good.

The two party system is part of the status quo.

Plurality voting is part of the status quo.

I ask: Is the Tea Party really against the status quo, or does it just want different people in charge of the status quo?

If the latter, the movement is doomed. You can't change the status quo from within the status quo.

Remodeling a house does not change its foundation. A new coat of paint does not fix the rotting beams.

Tancredo isn't "stealing" any votes from anyone.

According to the Denver Post's Christopher Osher, who wrote a feature on GOP candidate for Governor Dan Maes,

Maes must work to beat Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper on the Democratic side as Tom Tancredo steals votes that would normally go to the Republican...

(See "Maes' outsider campaign draws voters fed up with status quo.")

I realize "stealing" votes is a metaphor, but it is a bad one.

"Stealing" is to take something that belongs to another without permission. The implication that Tancredo, or any third party, "steals" votes is blatantly incorrect.

People, as individuals, own their votes. Dan Maes does not "own" Republican votes. The state party does not "own" Republican votes. If Colorado Republicans choose to vote for someone else, they have not "stolen" a thing.

If party members think Tancredo is "stealing" their votes, the party believes they own those votes and someone is wrongfully taking them. The very concept is arrogant.

Voters can not "steal" something they own.

Paul Bunyan. Loch Ness Monster. Small government GOP.

In today's Denver Post, conservative columnist Vincent Carroll notes:

Funny thing, though: Entitlement programs seem to grow almost as fast when Republicans are in charge as when Democrats rule the roost. Go figure.

(See "Fueling fear of Buck.")

Let's put the myth that the GOP believes in small government to rest, shall we?

It's your party. You clean it up.

Asking Libertarians to join the GOP and help "fix the party from the inside" is like inviting someone to your house for a party but telling them they have to clean the bathrooms first.

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Let freedom ring.

2010 elections and the Libertarian Party of Colorado on the radio today

Megan Verlee, of Colorado Public Radio, has put together a piece on the 2010 elections and the Libertarian Party of Colorado. The piece will air on 90.1 FM , Wednesday, August 4, 2010.

A seven minute version will air at 7:50 a.m., then the half-hour version will air at 10:00 a.m. and again at 7:00 p.m. You can listen online at their website, CPR.org.

She interviewed our candidates involved in state wide primaries for governor (Dan Sallis and Jaimes Brown), U.S. Senate (Mac Stringer and John Finger) and me, the state party chair.

Don't miss it. Spread the word!

The Democrats believe in civil liberties like the Republicans believe in free markets.

According to the Raw Story website, a new "Democrat-backed terror bill would 'gut Miranda rights."

Don't worry. When has the government ever abused it's power? Trust the state. If not, a terrorist will blow you up. This is all for your OWN good. If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to worry about. Terrorists don't deserve Constitutional rights. And trust us, we get to decide who the terrorists are. You know, like those crazy Ron Paul supporters or those with Molon Labe stickers on their cars. Trust us. We are the government. You have nothing to fear.