On Thursday, I wrote about Rep. Justin Amash (L-MI), in a ten-minute interview at MSNBC focused on why he is interested in seeking the Libertarian Party presidential nomination, saying nothing libertarian. Further, I noted that, when Amash was asked about what a libertarian would do concerning coronavirus (a policy area where government is heavily restricting people’s exercise of liberty, intentionally shutting down much of the economy, and spending with abandon), Amash chose to promote adding a new government program to hand out money to people — something the host noted does not sound like a limited government proposal.
On Friday, Amash was back in another national media interview focused on why he would want to run for president as the Libertarian Party nominee. This time Amash was interviewed for five minutes by Rachel Martin at National Public Radio (NPR).
Second act, same as the first.
Tag: libertarian
After Rep. Justin Amash (I-MI) established a committee this week to enable him to run for the Libertarian Party presidential nomination, he was interviewed for ten minutes at MSNBC regarding his candidacy. Did Amash use this time to advocate for accomplishing libertarian goals — terminating the drug war, ceasing foreign intervention, and ending the Federal Reserve, for example? No. Instead, Amash repeatedly avoided talking about any particular policy issues. Then, when asked by host Ayman Mohyeldin to weigh in on government actions taken purportedly in response to coronavirus, Amash even managed to address this matter that involves incredible rights violations and vast spending in such a nonlibertarian manner that Mohyeldin soundly challenged Amash for supporting big government — the opposite of advocating a libertarian position.
When you come across an editorial titled “Libertarianism and the Coronavirus Pandemic” at the website of the Cato institute that describes itself as “a public policy research organization — a think tank — dedicated to the principles of individual liberty, limited government, free markets, and peace,” what do you expect? You may expect the editorial to argue against local, state, and national governments in America, in the name of countering coronavirus, prohibiting people from exercising many individual rights including rights to travel, assemble, engage in commerce, and even just leave home.
Well, think again.
Want a brief presentation on some key libertarian ideas regarding matters including United States tariffs on China, the status of the US dollar as the reserve currency of the world, pollution, and laws concerning labor unions? You can find it in the new interview of libertarian communicator Ron Paul by guest host Jimmy Dore at RT’s The World According to Jesse.
In 2016, former Massachusetts Governor Bill Weld received the Libertarian Party’s vice-presidential nomination. This year, having returned to the Republican Party, Weld is challenging President Donald Trump for the Republican Party’s presidential nomination.
Many people would assume that Weld would be criticizing Trump for ordering this week’s killing in Iraq of Iranian General Qassim Suleimani. This assumption would make sense given the libertarian position favoring nonintervention overseas.
Ron Paul, who had been the 1988 presidential nominee of the Libertarian Party, spent much time in his 2008 and 2012 Republican primary presidential runs criticizing US intervention overseas and promoting following a noninterventionist foreign policy. Some people might expect Bill Weld would do the same thing in his current Republican primary challenge to President Donald Trump. Weld was, after all, the 2016 Libertarian nominee for vice president. However, as Weld made crystal-clear in his October 8 editorial at Foreign Affairs, Weld aspires to oversee as president a foreign policy that is solidly interventionist.
United States Libertarian Party Chairman Nicholas Sarwark, as part of an effort to put in a good light the election results of the 2016 Libertarian presidential ticket, declared in a September 10 The Soho Forum debate that libertarians in America are exclusively the people registered as affiliated with the Libertarian Party. Then, on Tuesday, Sarwark wrote at Twitter that the Secretary of State of New Hampshire, where Sarwark moved last month, “does not recognize the Libertarian Party.” Sarwark further wrote: “Our city clerk whited out ‘Libertarian’ on my voter registration form and replaced it with ‘unenrolled.’”
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Jacob Hornberger’s New Podcast
Jacob Hornberger released on Tuesday the first episode of his new podcast LibertyView. The show promises to be interesting and informative given Hornberger’s long history as an effective communicator of libertarian ideas.
When Vince Vaughn is not acting in or producing a movie, there is a good chance he is reading about, or otherwise giving some thought to, political ideas. Interviewed recently by host Tom Woods at the Tom Woods Show, Vaughn described his political views as tending toward constitutionalism and libertarianism and recounted that he learned about and ultimately met libertarian communicator and former United States House of Representatives member and presidential candidate Ron Paul due to looking into the Federal Reserve. Abolishing the Federal Reserve has long been a major part of Paul’s agenda.
So, you think the United States government is too big and powerful and that power should be returned to state and local governments? Well, Adam Kokesh may be your presidential candidate — if you are willing to take your thinking to the extreme.