Opinion on the Libertarian Party...

I am a registered Libertarian and rabid supporter of the Libertarian party. For more info go here: www.lp.org

There are many Libertarians on this board.

 

I am basically a libertarian and independent, but vote republican because they have the realistic shot of getting elected. Anything to keep the phony, ultra corrupt democrats out. BTW GW is making major blunders right now for his re-election and the country's future. If a strong, reasonable, well funded independent/libertarian ever comes down the pike i would go with that person. Perot was the only viable one money wise but flaked out "when the rubber met the road".

T

 

I read some of the infomation on the website, and am curious on the Libertarian position on Abortion. Is it "pro-life" or "pro choice?" At first glance it appears pro choice, but the position statment uses buzz words that clouds it for me.
Thanks

 

Looks straightforward enough to me:

The traditional media terms are the buzz words. "Pro-life" = "Ban it"; "Pro-choice" = "subsidize it". The libertarian platform appears to be "don't get in the middle of it".

Interesting short test to see which party's platform you agree with. http://www.lp.org/issues/platform/compare/

 

They mention that people who think abortion is murder shouldn't pay for it. On face value it seems OK, unless they are saying abortion IS murder. If they are indeed saying "leave it to the people," and not ban it then it is hands off..

 

Like a lot of people, I tend toward small-l libertarian ideas (basically keep the government as small as reasonably possible, free markets, do what you want in the privacy of your own home as long as it doesn't hurt anyone).

However, the problem with the big-L Libertarian Party is that they take these positions to the extreme. Small government? In their view, 90% of government is unnecessary and should be eliminated tomorrow. Oh, and then there is their isolationist foreign and defense policy-- why waste money on the military when we've got two oceans to protect us for free!

If the Libertarian Party would moderate their positions somewhat, stand for slowing the growth of government and freedom on social issues, I think they could win some elections, and someday maybe become a majority party.

However, it's the nature of small third parties have extremist membership, and in the case of the Libertarian Party I don't see that changing anytime soon.

 

I'm Libertarian. I think many Republicans today are Libertarian, whether they realize it or not.

 

I like librarians. Especially hot ones with glasses.

 

I vote my heart. I vote Liberyatain.

86th reg Lib in Orange County, California.

 

You are correct that thier views can be a bit extreme but keep in mind no party ever gets everything they want in politics. Generally a lot of compromise takes place before anything is done, and for the most part that is a good thing. Remember we have 3 branches to our government. As such, no one person or branch can set policy alone. My guess is if we elected a Libertarian president, any extreme views that person might have would be moderated by the other branches and the voters. Also, if we all get involved in the Libertarian movement we can make the party anything we want. I to think some of the party views need to be fine tuned but the overall philosophy is a good one. I have been a Libertarian for some time now! BTW, the Libertarian convention is being held in Atlanta this year. Anyone that has an interest in the party is welcome to attend. You do not need to be a delegate to participate. Also, I'm not sure if you guys know this or not but there are already numerous Libertarians in public office. We have several here in Georgia and I understand there are many others around the country.

 

There is one other thing I would like to say about this. If you believe in Libertarian principals but you are voting for the Republicans out of fear, you are hurting the rest of us that have the courage to vote for what we believe in. I don't think you realize just how many people do this. I can't begin to tell you how many times I have heard someone say "I really like what the Libertarians stand for but I am affraid to vote for them because I might waste my vote" IMHO if you do not vote for what you believe in, you are wasting your vote! Come over to the Libertarian side and help us put these good old boys in the other two parties in thier place once and for all!

 

First off I am a Libertarian and have been since Reagan left office. Second, we will never win any major election the way the current two party political system is set up.

Third, I am not sure what you mean by extreme positions. Because you don't agree with them doesn't make the extreme.

You call it isolationist defense policy (or foreign policy) I call it common sense. All the mess of 9/11, Iraq, the middle east is due to our interferrence in global politics and our meddling in afffairs that are not our business.

There is a huge difference between interferring (or engaging) in foreign policy that is of a national security interest and one that isn't.

Should we have gone to Afghanistan and bombed the living sh*t out of the Taliban......YOU BET. Should we have gone Iraq.........NO WAY!

Should we be supporting Isreal, South Korea, Haiti, Kosovo, Somalia, and so and so on............NO AGAIN.

We're in the mess we are in now because of our meddling in world affiars. We created Saddam by sending him billions in money and weapons. We also created Bin Laden by sending him money and weapons to fight the soviets.

If we had ISOLATED outselves from the Iran/Iraq war and left Afghanistan alone (referring to the 80's not 9/11) we wouldn't be spending $500 billion to get rid of lunatics like Bin Laden and Saddam and we wouldn't be worrrying about Palestinians coming to America to blow up trains and buses because we send Isreal $2 BILLION A YEAR and F16's and Patriot missles.

Libetarians believe in a constrained foreign policy and a open and free trade global economy.

The "....I vote Republican because the Libertarians can't win" is a personal choice. I can vote Republican if I feel that the candidate is close on most issue of the Libertarians. Reagan was the last Republican who in my view was close to a Libertarian in some areas.

GW couldn't even spell the world Libertarian let alone know anything of our stances.

Bottom line is that I vote Libertarian until I see a better Republican candidate. None on the horizon as of now.

Regards,

Jon P. Kofod
www.flatoutracing.net

 

Unfortunately, this is a very common answer when I inquire "who did you vote for?" While I was in college, Clinton was being elected over Perot, who I voted for. I met this one girl in a relgious study's class and she wanted to vote for Perot too. However, when inquired why she voted for Clinton instead, she responded by saying, "I wanted to vote for a winner." So, in essence, there's little difference here. Next time, you should vote for the person you want in office. Well, maybe one day that will be an option instead of voting for someone so the other doesn't get elected.

 

Gentlemen I must say it is very refreshing to hear the things being said here. I want to personally thank all of those that support the Libertarians and have the courage to vote for them. Tyler, Bart, Mr Payne, Flatoutracing, Shatten, you are all true patriots. I applaud your conviction and look forward to future disscussion on this topic. I have been a hard core Libertarian for a long time and have been actively trying to convert as many fence sitting Republican's as I can. These sort of discussions go a long way toward achieving that goal. Keep it up!

 

Well, when i was in college john anderson was running but he was wacked. Then thanks to cher, perot ran and i signed his petition, joined his party, and i think voted for him despite his coming unglued. I also was in favor of buchanan for awhile. But only perot had a chance because of name recognition, money, and stances. The only time an independent will stand a chance is when its someone very famous or very rich. Since i view democrats as the worse outcome i will vote for republicans until the right combo comes along. Perot would have won in 92 if not for pulling out and getting back in, ross blew a major fuse. As to voting your true choice i hope enough libs vote nader to siphen away from skeletor.
T

 

There is a good fictional book written about what would happen if a Libertarian were elected President. It's called HOPE and you can read about it here: http://www.jpfo.org/hope.htm

If you are interested in libertarian viewpoints, the JPFO webiste (the link above) has lots of sobering articles on the Bill of Rights and gun control. It is one of the few websites that has inspired me to "do something" about the things I think we are donig wrong rather than just complain or worry about them.

Another more cerebral and less inflammatory group is CATO. They have books, seminars, etc. Their website is www.cato.org. CATO tries to change Washington from the inside, the JPFO is more grassroots.

Comments welcome.

Joe MacPhee
Proud Libertarian

 

I'm sorry. Love their ideas, but still think it's a wasted vote.

 

If you love thier ideas but you are voting for someone else, you are wasting your vote! The whole purpose of the vote is to elect the people you think will do things your way. By voting the way you are, not only is that not happening, but you are also hurting the rest of us that believe in the cause and have the courage to support it. I also think you may be under the false impression that there is a vast difference between the other two parties. Most Libertarians believe that they are really just the same person in a different suit. All you have to do is look at how things are and realize that these two parties have basicaly shared power, to see that both are responsible for how things are. We are never going to change things until we can convince people like yourself to quit handing thier votes over to the Republicans and get behind the cause. Come over to the Libertarian side and help us get rid of the good old boys that are running our country into the ground!

 

Yes, I agree, that thepurpose of voting is to place a person in office who will do things "your way" However as long as I feel the chance of getting a Libertarian voted into office is near 0 I stll will vote Republican. A vote Lib=1 less vote Rep.=a Dem being elected. Also I diagree with you that the 2 parties are basicly the same. Concerning certain issues that are important to me (which I will not list here) I see major differences between the 2. The Dems. consistently vote for certain things that I am 100% against.

 

I agree with this philosophy. Fortunately, living in Texas makes it easy to vote Libertarian while being certain the Democrats won't benefit. The electoral college ensures that a single vote won't harm the Republican presidential votes, and the Democrats aren't even bothering to run anyone in most of the local races around here.