A “Big L” on the Campaign for Liberty

In case you were living under a rock for the last week or somehow without the ability to access United Liberty via the Internet, a group of us visited the Minneapolis-St. Paul area to provide photo and live blog coverage of the happenings.  As a card-carrying member of my state and national Libertarian Party, visiting a rally to return the GOP back to its roots may seem like I was a fish out of water.  Lucky for me, Ron Paul’s message of liberty and adherence to the Constitution transcends party lines toward a very well-organized movement to restore American freedom.

From my arrival at the Leadership Summit, I felt very welcome among the Ron Paul faithful.  Don’t get me wrong…  I am very well-acquainted with Dr. Paul’s message, and I voted for him in Georgia’s presidential preference primary.  His candidacy brought about some much-needed attention to the liberty message, especially when the Libertarian Party struggles with things like ballot access and discord within itself.

After years of working to grow the Libertarian Party and fight every draconian ballot access law the Republicans and Democrats have created to maintain their power, it was refreshing to see a faction of “the enemy” that was working toward similar goals as I have.  Attending the Leadership Summit on Monday, I was able to see the well-thought plan from a very organized structure to promote many of the same ideals I have been fighting for from the outside.  After seeing the positive results from a very hands on approach in many precincts during the presidential primaries, the Campaign for Liberty aims to replicate their success in voting districts in which they were able to literally go door to door promoting the message of liberty.  In those areas, Ron Paul’s campaign placed first or second.  Unfortunately, the network of liberty-minded individuals was not very well organized or in place to perform those same actions nationally.  The Campaign for Liberty aims to change that, and the organization they are proposing and planning may have the numbers necessary to achieve their aim.

The allegiance of many supporters, coupled with the ability to raise record amounts of money from them will bring about much-needed attention and support for their activities.   The quality of the events they are behind will also show the extent of their organization, something the numerous Libertarian Party events I have attended lack.  The recognition of their power by the GOP may actually result in changes to the party platform, since the party needs to hold onto every vote before they wander away to the Constitution or Libertarian parties.

The most interesting aspect of the entire event in Minneapolis was the plan to work within the local and state Republican parties to steer them toward the liberty movement.  That almost seems odd to me considering how many of the speakers and Dr. Paul himself were very open about attacking today’s GOP.  The liberty message I received in attendance at the Rally for the Republic and the Leadership Summit events is very similar to the message I believe in as a Libertarian.  The only difference I see is the method of delivery.  Libertarians are working against the system as outsiders trying to takeover the system, while the Campaign for Liberty’s delegates have a foot in the door as Republicans, and they can work within it.

The power shown at the Rally for the Republic has caused this “Big L” to spend some time soul-searching about which movement will be able to achieve liberty ideal most effectively.  As of today, I am holding on to my LP membership, but I am certainly ready to be a part of the rEVOLution.

Cross Post: United Liberty

My First Blogger Call with Bob Barr – UPDATED

This afternoon, I had the pleasure of attending a teleconference with many fellow bloggers and the Libertarian candidate for President, Bob Barr.  We covered a wide range of topics, and I genuinely enjoyed the experience talking with many of the folks that I read daily, as well as my preference in the November election. I had quite a list of questions, but due to time constraints, I was only able to ask two of them.  For the future calls, I will give you a head’s up and an opportunity to add questions that you would like to ask Bob by proxy.

The highly criticized topic of global warming/climate change was the first one brought up, as many of us sought further clarification of the position that was discussed in a press release last week.  Bob discussed the need to further investigate definitively whether there is a clear link between carbon dioxide emissions and changes in climate.  There is certainly no reason to have government intervene when market-based solutions are not going to stifle the economy as we search for an answer for ridding ourselves of petroleum.  Bob praised the efforts of T. Boone Pickens and his plan to harness the power of wind as an alternate energy source.

The instability and uncertain future of Social Security was covered as well.  Bob discussed reforming a soon to be bankrupt program by reconnecting the link between the money an individual pays in to what he or she withdraws upon retirement.  In the short-term, the suggestion to raise the minimum retirement age to maintain paying out without raising taxes to keep it solvent.  The rationale is simple, as the original program was built around a shorter life expectancy and a shorter work lifespan.  The return to a system of personal accounts, where the contributions are paid out directly to the person who made them initially.

I asked Bob what the first issue he would tackle entering office, given the plethora of issues our nation currently faces.  As expected, government spending was his answer, and he further explained that THIS was actually the change America is ready and hopeful for.  He detailed the meeting he would take immediately following inaugeration with both houses of Congress, and the ground rules he would lay for all appropriations bills.  He detailed that there would be a well-designed budget without deficits, and that he would not sign into law any “emergency spending” that was not actually an emergency.

To many, Libertarians are isolationist pacifists.  And while the pacifist part may be true, Bob’s plan for foreign policy is one of reducing our presence on the international scene.  I wholeheartedly agree with his plan to reduce our foreign aid to other nations, and I would like to see our withdrawal from the United Nations.  At this time, that is not entirely possible, but our involvement can be greatly diminished, and that is something that Bob covered in the call.  He also mentioned scaling back our foreign bases, specifically those in Korea, Japan, and Germany.  This was not described as a full-scale shutdown as many big spending Republicans might have you believe.  He spoke of maintaining a strong military for the purpose of defense, but not to pursue the occupation of other sovereign nations, like Iraq.  He mentioned maintaining strategic partnerships with our allies for flyovers, landing rights, and the like, which sounds exactly like what we need to keep for our protection without being the world’s police.

In what seems to be a recurring theme, the viability of his campaign was a subject briefly as we discussed the likelihood of his inclusion in the debates, as well as the ballot access issue.  He discussed that they plan to be included in the debates, and he noted that they are on track with their goals of ballot access in forty-nine states, but he could not provide definitive numbers.  He promised to have them for us on the next call.  The struggle of ballot access continues for him, as it does for all candidates that are not the status quo.  Currently, the campaign is working to secure access in West Virginia, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts.  Also, he has written the media outlets scheduled to host the debates, as well as Senators Obama and McCain, discussing his eagerness to debate them on the issues facing our nation.

In the last year, the immigration topic has died down as economic woes have surpassed it on most citizens’ list of importance.  His plan is a simple one.  He wants to transform the bureaucracy down to three simple requirements: entrance through legitimate checkpoints, submission to a background check (to reduce the risk of adding dangerous people to our citizenry), and submission to a basic health check (to reduce the risk of disease).  For those who are already present here, he would require that they leave the country to return using the previously described method of entry and penalize those who remain here illegally.

In the final question of the call, I asked what steps are to be taken to reverse the stripping of our liberties in the 20th and 21st centuries.  He noted that the change in attitude toward our liberties must be changed from the top.  The President must follow the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, without secret documents, procedures and meetings to circumvent them.  One of his first liberty-preserving actions would be to seek the abolishment of the recently renewed FISA Act, keeping the government from spying without warrant on its citizens.  He would also return the office of the Attorney General to one that also follows the Constitution and Bill of Rights, rather than one that attempts to find ways around those documents in limiting the civil liberties of America’s citizens.

I have quite a few questions to ask in the next call, but I welcome any that are keeping you from supporting his candidacy, or that you need clarification on.  Please leave these in the comments, and I will include them for future calls.

UPDATE: For those of you deeply interested with about 45 minutes to spare, click below to hear an .mp3 of the call.

Audio of the Blogger Call

Bob Barr Testifies in House Judiciary Committee Hearing

Today, Bob Barr had the opportunity to serve his country by testifying in a Congressional hearing today.  He spoke about Executive Power and Its Constitutional Limitations in a hearing on Dennis Kucinich’s impeachment resolution.  He spoke extensively about how President Bush has used the Executive Branch to achieve greater control of the country than was ever anticipated, and how neither of the other two branches did their duties to balance the power he wielded from the office of President.  You can read the transcript (which I highly recommend reading in full) here on Bob’s campaign blog.

Barr on the Ron Paul-O-Meter

In no big shock, Bob Barr scored the highest of the Presidential candidates who have been measured by the Liberty Maven‘s Ron Paul-O-Meter.  He scored an 88 out of a possible 99.  This is quite a difference from Barack Obama (17) and John McCain (25).

Hmmm…. Great minds think alike?

Breaking News… Barr to be featured in TIME Magazine

UPDATE:  For those of you that are interested, here is the story I described below last night.

Today, Editor & Publisher is reporting that TIME magazine will be running a feature on Bob Barr’s candidacy and the Libertarian movement.  This issue will be available at newstands tomorrow, and it discusses the standard national media coverage, asking the same questions that everyone else is, asserting that Barr’s candidacy will steal votes from John McCain, implying this vote loss will result in the election of Barack Obama.  The typical “spoiler” message will be presented, and the slant against anything that is not the status quo will be continued, as they compliment the LIbertarians backhandedly with a “The (Not So) Lunatic Fringe” title.  The positive side of the feature is that it will add to Barr’s national media exposure and hopefully draw people into the fold that appreciate the message of liberty and freedom.