Sunday, December 29, 2013

David Weigel interviews Justin Amash, his "Critic of the Year"

Libertarian congressman Justin Amash: Critic of NSA, immigration, budget deal - David Weigel, Slate:

"Justin Amash kicked off 2013 with an act of pointless, doomed rebellion. The congressman from Michigan, a Republican first elected in 2010, had just been removed from the budget committee... After the new Congress was sworn in, Amash joined a crew of conservatives to vote against John Boehner for Speaker of the House....

"By the summer, Amash had normalized relations with his leadership and won a vote on an amendment to defund the NSA’s domestic surveillance. When the amendment nearly passed, it altered the way official Washington discussed the NSA, changing the story from senators vs. Snowden to an actual controversy that ran through party lines. Three months later, the 33-year old congressman drew a wealthy and establishment-friendly Republican primary challenger. This was covered as a problem for the Tea Party, but it seemed awfully selective. Of all the 'unreasonable' Republicans to go after, the one sweating a challenge was the libertarian who explained his votes on Facebook."

Read more: http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2013/12/libertarian_congressman_justin_amash_critic_of_nsa_immigration_budget_deal.html
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