Speaking today on the United States House of Representatives floor, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) discussed how a committee markup of legislation dealing with reauthorization of USA PATRIOT Act provisions was terminated so the final bill could be drafted in a “backroom” by parties including “lobbyists and the deep state” and then rushed to the House floor for a vote.
Continue readingEven most libertarians would probably agree that it is just about a sure bet that none of the current candidates or commonly discussed potential candidates for the Libertarian Party’s 2020 presidential nomination would, if he becomes the party’s nominee, defeat the Republican and Democratic nominees in the upcoming November general election and win the presidency.
Given the presidential nominee chosen at the Libertarian Party’s national convention in May is “sure to lose” come the general election, how can he make the best of his run? With winning taken off the table, an avenue for maximizing the campaign’s benefit would be for the candidate to take advantage of opportunities presented to express clearly a comprehensive libertarian approach to government. In this manner, the nominee would use the campaign to communicate a clear and strong libertarian message, thereby helping increase the number of committed supporters of the libertarian philosophy.
It has been 40 years since Dennis Kucinich completed his term as mayor of Cleveland, Ohio in 1979. Kucinich, who had been tagged as the “boy mayor” given his age and youthful appearance when mayor, went on to later hold elected office in the Cleveland city council from 1983 to 1985, the Ohio state senate from 1995 to 1997, and the United States House of Representatives from 1997 to 2013, all as a Cleveland Democrat.
Next year, we may see Kucinich again run to be Cleveland’s mayor. Former long-time Cleveland Plain Dealer Editorial Director Brent Larkin wrote Friday at cleveland.com that Kucinich has lately been out in Cleveland taking actions consistent with someone considering running for mayor and that several people “familiar with Kucinich’s thinking” are saying Kucinich is likely to run.
United States Libertarian Party Chairman Nicholas Sarwark announced at Facebook last night that he will not seek reelection as party chairman at the Libertarian Party national convention in late May.
Continue readingMatt Welch concluded his Wednesday Reason article regarding Super Tuesday results for the Libertarian Party presidential race with this statement: “Much can and will change between now and late May but, for the moment, Jacob Hornberger is your Libertarian front-runner.” Welch’s granting the “frontrunner” label to Hornberger seems to be based on Hornberger, in Super Tuesday state-level contests, continuing his streak of victories over other candidates for the Libertarian presidential nomination.
Continue readingA Thursday profile of Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) at the Cincinnati Enquirer declares that “neighbors, colleagues and friends all agree: Massie, who is running this year for a fifth term, is one of the most unusual members of the US House.” You can read the profile here and learn about Massie’s independent voting in the House of Representatives as well as some of his activities before he became a House member, including starting a business and building his family’s off-the-grid house.
Continue readingSenator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) has been racking up wins in state-level contests of the race for the Democratic presidential nomination. Much less mentioned in the media is that Libertarian presidential candidate Jacob Hornberger won the February 8 Iowa Libertarian caucus with 47 percent of the vote. This put Hornberger far ahead of other candidates for the nomination, including Lincoln Chafee — a former governor and United States senator — who came in second with 13 percent.
Continue readingThere was much reason for hope that marijuana legalization would be approved in several state legislatures in 2019. In January of 2019, I suggested that such action could be taken that year in any of six states — Connecticut, Illinois, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island. By year end, Illinois was the only new state to legalize, doing so via legislation approved by the state legislature and signed by the governor.
The governor of United States territory Guam also signed into law marijuana legalization legislation in 2019.
The advancement of marijuana legalization in the states was less last year than many legalization proponents had hoped. But, the momentum remains strong. Legalization is a wave that appears set to wash over the entire country.
Proponents of red flag laws in states or countrywide often assert that the laws protect targeted individuals’ due process rights. However, examining the exercise of the Florida red flag law in Broward County, Jacob Sullum provided in a Reason article last week plenty of reason to believe that judges have been implementing that red flag law by routinely rubber-stamping denying people’s right to possess guns while disregarding those individuals’ due process rights.
Continue readingDuring a new Fox News interview, Watters’ World host Jesse Watters asked former United States House of Representatives member and presidential candidate Ron Paul to give President Donald Trump a grade based on Paul’s evaluation of Trump’s actions as president concerning three major policy areas. In regard to those policy areas — immigration, economic, and foreign policy, Paul said Trump has earned “C-minuses” across the board.
Continue reading