Newsmax ranks 100 most influential libertarians

100 Most Influential Libertarians: A Newsmax/FreedomFest List - Newsmax:

June 1, 2017 - "Being libertarian is trendy right now, so much so that many actors, activists, politicians, media personalities, financial gurus, professors, scientists, and authors call themselves libertarians, even when they don’t really qualify.... our editors defined a libertarian as a consistent advocate of free-market capitalism, minimal government, and social tolerance (thus distinguishing libertarians from conservatives). Their motto might be 'Keep government out of the boardroom and the bedroom.'

"Our first effort to rank the 100 most influential libertarians came from a recent survey of libertarians carried out by FreedomFest, “the world’s largest gathering of free minds.” More than 10,000 people participated in the survey.... Still, a list like this is subjective at best, and should be viewed as interesting and informative, rather than definitive....

1. Ron Paul  — Perhaps no one has done more to bring the libertarian platform into the national spotlight....
2. Rand Paul — The Republican Kentucky junior senator and son of Ron Paul has been ... one of the loudest voices against government overreach in Washington, particularly on issues of revenue, privacy, and justice.
3. Thomas Sowell — The Hoover Institution’s Rose and Milton Friedman Senior Fellow on Public Policy at Stanford University is a writer of distinction having authored nearly three dozen books on economics, social policy, and race... 
4. John Stossel — The longtime network and cable newsman has unpacked emerging stories with a libertarian viewpoint on his way to 19 Emmy awards and several best-selling books....
5. Charles Koch — The Koch Industries CEO is one of the world’s wealthiest people and a fervent political donor and philanthropist who uses his influence to promote libertarian ideals... 
6. David Koch — Executive vice president and co-owner of Koch Industries, David Koch, like his brother, is a generous benefactor....
7. Gary Johnson — The former New Mexico governor is the most recent presidential hopeful from the Libertarian Party, and one of the most successful third-party candidates to date.... 
8. Judge Andrew Napolitano — A former ... law professor, and youngest-ever life-tenured New Jersey Superior Court judge, ... and ,,, a best-selling author.
9. Ed Crane — A former national chairman of the Libertarian Party, Crane is the co-founder and president emeritus of the Cato Institute.... 
10. Steve Forbes — The chairman and editor-in-chief of Forbes has been a Republican presidential candidate twice ... running on a flat-tax platform and a return to the gold standard."

Read more: http://www.newsmax.com/BestLists/libertarians-newsmax-freedomfest/2017/06/01/id/793510/
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Obama guts 4th Amendment on way out

President Obama's Parting Shot at Personal Freedom - Reason.com - Andrew Napolitano:

January 19, 2017 - "On Jan. 3, outgoing Attorney General Loretta Lynch secretly signed an order directing the National Security Agency — America's 60,000-person-strong domestic spying apparatus — to make available raw spying data to all other federal intelligence agencies, which then can pass it on to their counterparts in foreign countries and in the 50 states.... Yet in doing this, she violated basic constitutional principles that were erected centuries ago to prevent just what she did.

"Here is the back story.

"In the aftermath of former President Richard Nixon's abusive utilization of the FBI and CIA to spy on his domestic political opponents in the 1960s and '70s ... Congress passed the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which created a secret court that was charged with being the sole authority in America that can authorize domestic spying.... The standard for a FISA court authorization was that the subject of the spying needed to be a foreign person in the United States who was an agent of a foreign power....

"The Patriot Act permitted FBI agents to write their own search warrants for business records (including medical, legal, postal and banking records), and amendments to FISA itself changed the wording from probable cause 'of foreign agency' to probable cause of being 'a foreign person' to all Americans who may 'communicate with a foreign person.'

"The recent USA Freedom Act permits the NSA to ask the FISA court for a search warrant for any person — named or unnamed — based on the standard of 'governmental need.' One FISA court-issued warrant I saw authorized the surveillance of all 115 million domestic customers of Verizon.... The NSA can use data from your cellphone to learn where you are, and it can utilize your cellphone as a listening device to hear your in-person conversations, even if you have turned it off....

"Notwithstanding all of the above gross violations of personal liberty and constitutional norms, the NSA traditionally kept its data ... to itself. So if an agency such as the FBI or the DEA or the New Jersey State Police, for example, wanted any of the data acquired by the NSA for law enforcement purposes, it needed to get a search warrant from a federal judge based on the constitutional standard of 'probable cause of crime.'

"Until now. Now, because of the Lynch secret order, revealed by The New York Times late last week, the NSA may share any of its data with any other intelligence agency or law enforcement agency that has an intelligence arm based on ... the non-standard of governmental need.....

"Obama, in the death throes of his time in the White House, has delivered perhaps his harshest blow to constitutional freedom by permitting his attorney general to circumvent the Fourth Amendment, thereby enabling people in law enforcement to get whatever they want about whomever they wish without a showing of probable cause of crime as the Fourth Amendment requires. That amendment expressly forbids the use of general warrants — search where you wish and seize what you find — and they had never been a lawful tool of [American] law enforcement until Lynch's order."

Read more: http://reason.com/archives/2017/01/19/a-parting-shot-at-personal-freedom
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Stossel got libertarians ready for prime time

Thank You, John Stossel, for Teaching Libertarians How to Do Cable News - Hit & Run : Reason.com - Matt Welch:

December 16, 2016 - "Tonight (at 10 p.m. ET) is the last-ever episode of Stossel, the weekly Fox Business Network program that for seven years explained free-market principles better than any show on television. Host John Stossel, as he explains here in his weekly column, is moving on to other pursuits, including creating great content right here with Reason TV, and he will still be a contributor over in the Fox building.

"His final episode, appropriately, is a survey through the show's persistent and often hilarious attempts to illustrate difficult-to-visualize libertarian concepts using props, costumes, stunts, and engaging conversation, including with such beloved locals as Katherine Mangu-Ward ... and Kmele Foster. I am honored to be one of the two live guests on tonight's program, along with our great friend and frequent collaborator Kennedy. And therein lies a brief story.

"I first met Kennedy in June 2011 in the exact same place you'll see us tonight: in Fox's Studio D, sitting next to John Stossel ... during an hour-long special he very generously put together to discuss The Declaration of Independents: How Libertarian Politics Can Fix What's Wrong with America, which I had freshly co-written with Nick Gillespie. It was a galvanizing moment—I had been doing increasing amounts of cable news, but had never seen anyone with as much TV charisma and quick wit as this former VJ. Soon she would begin collaborating regularly with both Reason TV and Stossel, the latter of whom brought her on as a special correspondent)....

"For the rest of his run, John labored at the largely thankless and rarely acknowledged task of training questionably dressed free-market types like me to be less like Broadcast News' Albert Brooks and just a wee more William Hurt-ish. There were the green-room coachings ("Don't bore people with a bunch of numbers!"), the on-set eye-glazes when you wandered off point, the cutting quips about questionable ties. It was tough love, but, well, you have to consider the raw material here.

"The result of Stossel's conscious exertions is that the universe of camera-ready libertarians is much larger and considerably more polished than it was seven years ago. (Judge Andrew Napolitano's late, lamented Freedom Watch also deserves a shout-out here....) Next-generation shows like Kennedy get to take their libertarianism more for granted precisely because Stossel had done the shovel work (*cough*) of introducing fundamental concepts and breaking in nerds."

Read more: http://reason.com/blog/2016/12/16/thank-you-john-stossel-for-teaching-libe 'via Blog this'

Petersen nets more #NeverTrump endorsements

Austin Petersen Catches More Endorsements from the Media Right for His Presidential Campaign - Hit & Run : Reason.com - Brian Doherty:

May 25, 2016 - "Austin Petersen, former Fox Business Network producer with Judge Andrew Napolitano's Freedom Watch and founder of the Libertarian Republic website, has long been positioning himself as the Libertarians' best choice to capture wayward Republicans who still love freedom and still hate Trump.... That stance got Petersen two public endorsements from the world of formerly Republican political consultants and media figures this week.

"Mary Matalin, longtime GOP consultant and famously part of America's Favorite Cross-Partisan Marriage with Democratic grumpus James Carville, officially left the Republican Party for the Libertarians and now is behind Petersen for the L.P.'s presidential nomination, which will be decided this weekend at the Party's National Convention in Orlando....

"Petersen tells me that while he did not communicate directly with Matalin, his communications director told him 'she agrees with your ideas, likes that you articulate them well to an uninformed populace, and finds your career in spreading these ideas compelling.'

"Erick Erickson, former chieftain at conservative site Red State and now a right-wing radio guy in Atlanta, who has long been loudly anti-Trump, says that Gary Johnson's pick of William Weld as his running mate shows he is 'tone deaf' (Weld has been seen as insufficiently libertarian or even conservative by many) and disqualifies him from serious consideration. He today writes about Petersen:

Petersen has his flaws. He has some views outside the mainstream, but then what Libertarian doesn’t?... Petersen would be a fresh start and a lot of Republicans would potentially take a fresh look at Petersen. Couple him with a very strong, credible vice presidential candidate and the Libertarians might finally be the third party America needs for disruptive competition.

"And while Glenn Beck's people insist it was technically no endorsement, as I reported last week Beck did say to Petersen during a 16-minute segment on Beck's radio show that Petersen is 'making my heart skip' and 'giving me hope there is someone I can pull the lever for' and is 'saying all the right things.'"

Read more: http://reason.com/blog/2016/05/25/austin-petersen-catches-more-endorsement
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Johnson, Petersen spar over sharia in LP debate

First Libertarian presidential candidate debate for 2016 held in Mississippi | Examiner.com - Karl Dickey:

February 28, 2016 - "The third largest political party in the United States, the Libertarian Party, saw five of its 12 presidential candidates debate last night ...  Dr. Marc Allan Feldman, Gary Johnson, John McAfee, Darryl Perry, and Austin Petersen. This is the first debate ... before the political party's membership votes for their presidential nominee in May 2016 at the Libertarian Party National Convention in Orlando, Florida.

"The debate started with Feldman explaining his campaign strategy of [limiting] his political contributions to $5 per donor ... 'struggling people who can scrape together $5 will be my largest campaign contributor and you always represent your largest campaign contributor.'

John McAfee answered the question as to why he felt he was a viable presidential candidate stating ... 'I have run multi-billion dollar businesses, I am an entrepreneur, I know what it means to have no money and have to meet a payroll which our government does not understand'....

"Johnson, who was the 2012 Libertarian Party presidential nominee said, "I have been an entrepreneur my entire life, growing a business from one person to over 1,000 people. I am an adventurer... I'm a fierce competitor and doing this in 2012 I learned a lot'....

"Austin Petersen ... 'put a Libertarian TV show on Fox that brought more people to the Libertarian movement than you could ever imagine.' Petersen was formerly an associate producer for Judge Andrew Napolitano's show 'Freedom Watch', on the Fox Business Network.

"Darryl Perry opened with, 'What I promise you is not five percent of the vote, not winning the White House, not anything other than as often as possible, as boldly as possible, proclaiming the ideas of liberty'....

"Some fireworks erupted during the debate about Sharia Law between Gary Johnson and Austin Petersen. Though Johnson started with a line about religious freedom he drew the line when it came to Sharia stating, 'Sharia is a system of government, it is politics. We need to distinguish between freedom of religion and the politics of Sharia and all of the extremism is coming from the politics of Sharia.'

"Petersen countered with, 'I am surprised to hear this fear-mongering coming from the Governor because if he read the tenets of Sharia there are actually some very libertarian aspects such as private courts, private adjudication which many of us do agree with. Let's stop with the fear-mongering Governor'....

"Johnson then asked Petersen if he supported Sharia Law and he said he did not, but it seemed the two still have a fundamental difference on the subject which will likely be hashed out in future debates.... Johnson also found himself having to defend himself on his stance on Sharia with candidate Perry.

"According to a straw poll offered at last night's debate, found that Governor Gary Johnson had 38 percent of the vote, John McAfee 26 percent, Austin Petersen at 17 percent, Darryl Perry at 15 percent and Dr. Marc Feldman received 5 percent of the vote total....

"The first nationally televised debate of Libertarian Party presidential candidates will happen on the Fox Business Network in March 2016, date and time to be announced soon."

Read more: http://www.examiner.com/article/first-libertarian-presidential-candidate-debate-for-2016-held-mississippi
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Andrew Napolitano criticizes Cruz; Cruz responds

Ted Cruz Campaign Addresses Two Key Criticisms From Prominent Libertarian Judge Napolitano | TheBlaze.com - Jason Howerton:

March 23, 2015 - "Appearing on Fox Business Network on Monday, Judge Andrew Napolitano, a prominent figure in the libertarian movement, noted two key issues that he feels Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) is getting wrong. However, a spokesperson for the Cruz campaign told TheBlaze that it seems Napolitano misinterpreted some of the conservative lawmaker’s positions."

"Napolitano said his 'heart sank' when Cruz spoke about a 'federal right to education' during his first campaign speech at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia, on Monday. Here’s the exact wording from the transcript of Cruz’s speech:

“Imagine embracing school choice as the civil rights issue of the next generation, that every single child, regardless of race, regardless of ethnicity, regardless of wealth or ZIP Code, every child in America has the right to a quality education.”

"The campaign spokesperson told TheBlaze Cruz absolutely was not claiming that every person has a federally guaranteed right to education, and he never mentioned the federal government in making the point. Instead, the spokesperson said Cruz was advocating for 'bottom-up' education reform centered around school choice, the 'right' to choose....

"Secondly, Napolitano argued that he believes Cruz 'probably would join all the other Republicans but Rand Paul with the idea that we should — to use Woodrow Wilson’s phrase — make the world safe for democracy, which means perpetual death and perpetual war.' Again, the spokesperson said the interpretation wasn’t quite right.

"The campaign official directed TheBlaze to a Bloomberg View article titled, 'Ted Cruz, Tea Party Hawk,' as a resource to get an accurate representation of Cruz’s view on foreign policy issues. You can read the portion of the article cited by the Cruz spokesperson below:

"The central touchstone for U.S. foreign policy should be defending the vital national security interests of the United States," he said. He called weakness on that obligation "the most central failing” of the foreign policies of President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton."

"In his brief Senate career, Cruz has sometimes sided with libertarians such as Paul on big national security issues, as when he opposed Obama’s request for authorization to attack Syria after Bashar al-Assad’s alleged use of chemical weapons (Obama later withdrew that request). But Cruz has also sided with the hawks in opposing Obama’s nuclear negotiations with Iran and pushing for more sanctions on the Tehran regime."

Read more: http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2015/03/23/ted-cruz-campaign-addresses-two-key-criticisms-from-prominent-libertarian-judge-napolitano/
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Snowden and Ron Paul kick off ISFL conference

Edward Snowden and Ron Paul Kick Off Libertarian Student Conference With a Little Kerfuffle About Russia - Bloomberg Politics - David Wiegel:

February 12, 2015 - "'You're going to make me blush,' said Edward Snowden.

"It was a little after 6 p.m., and the NSA [National Security Agency] whistleblower's face and shoulders were gazing out, billboard-sized, at hundreds of cheering young libertarians. Snowden was beamed in to talk to the largest-ever International Students for Liberty conference, newly relocated to Washington's largest hotel. Snowden, whose highest degree was a GED, was honored as an honorary alumnus of the eight-year old organization. For 15 minutes he restated a case against the surveillance state that had no rebuttal in the room....

"As he honed in on his argument, Snowden tailored it to young libertarians – most of them college students. 'I think many of the people in this room take a more pro-liberty pro-rights perspective than others in the U.S. political agreement,' said Snowden. 'There’s an argument to be made that perfect enforcement of the law is not a good thing. In fact, it’s a very serious threat ... law is a lot like medicine. When you have too much it can be fatal.'

"In a small moment of irony, the Moscow-bound Snowden remembered how he'd talked to colleagues at the NSA, and found them quietly agreeing with his worries, but unready to expose the agency. 'We had more on Americans than we had on Russians, for example,' he said. 'Should we be focusing on ourselves more than we focus on our adversaries?'....

"After Snowden wrapped, a slightly smaller audience remained in chairs to hear former Texas Congressman Ron Paul chat with Fox News commentator Andrew Napolitano and Reason.com editor Nick Gillespie. 

"'You know, my name was connected to Edward Snowden,' said Paul. 'They really wanted to blackball him, to destroy him, so they said: "He donated to the Ron Paul campaign!"'

"Paul called Snowden a truth-teller, and asked why whistleblowers like him were demonized.

 "'They end up being called the evil people, they're evil,' he said. 'Edward Snowden can't even come back to this country. They say he's treasonous, because he's telling the truth. This is why organizations like this are successful.'"

Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-02-14/edward-snowden-and-ron-paul-kick-off-libertarian-student-conference-with-a-little-kerfuffle-about-russia
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Mises Institute promotes free markets worldwide

Libertarian think tank promotes free markets worldwide from Auburn | Auburn Plainsman | Kyle Nazario:

September 29, 2010 - "The Mises Institute is located in a small, two-story building.... Only a small sign at the front advertises an institute is there at all.

"'We are sort of a school, we’re sort of a website, we’re sort of a library and a book repository and we’re sort of a think tank,' said Jeff Deist, president of the Institute. 'We have a pretty broad mission, but first and foremost we are about keeping the legacy and the current elements of the Austrian school of economics alive and healthy'....

"Professor of economics Henry Thompson said the Austrian school of economics is a way of thinking about the economy that focuses on historical and theoretical information rather than empirical data....

"Mark Thornton, senior fellow at the Mises Institute, ... said the Austrian school of economics has an unconventional way of thinking about economic issues.

"'We’re free market (economists), which is an alternative,' Thornton said. 'Some would say it’s a radical alternative.'

"Deist said Carl Menger and Ludwig von Mises, the Mises Institute’s namesake, created a school of thought focusing on minimal government and private sector investment. The nationality of von Mises and Menger, both Austrian, became the collective banner for their theories.

"Work done by Mises scholars has drawn support from famous libertarians, such as Ron Paul and Andrew Napolitano, both of whom, Deist said, have spoken at the Mises Institute....

"Thornton said educating the public, not influencing government policy, is the Mises Institute’s purpose.... Mises scholars educate people through publishing on the website, Mises.org, writing academic papers, and open seminars."

Read more: http://www.theplainsman.com/view/full_story/25829423/article-Libertarian-think-tank-promotes-free-markets-worldwide-from-Auburn?instance=home_news_1st_right
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Governor Johnson’s Rally for Jobs, Opportunity, and Diversity

Event: Governor Johnson’s Rally for Jobs, Opportunity, and Diversity | Independent Political Report:

"Event: Governor Johnson’s Rally for Jobs, Opportunity, and Diversity
September 17th, 2012

"On Tuesday, September 18, former Governor and Libertarian Party Presidential nominee Gary Johnson will be holding an event at the Rosenthal Pavillion on the 10th Floor of NYU’s Kimmel Center (60 Washington Square South, New York NY 10012).

"Speakers currently include Jesse Ventura, Judge Andrew Napolitano, Kennedy, and Kristin Davis.

"For [further] information about the event, follow the link below.

http://www.facebook.com/events/340699849355524/permalink/345611695531006/
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http://www.independentpoliticalreport.com/2012/09/event-governor-johnsons-rally-for-jobs-opportunity-and-diversity/

Ron Paul: Wikileaks should not be stopped

Rep. Ron Paul: Wikileaks should not be stopped | The State Column:

"Representative Ron Paul said Friday that Wikileaks founder Julian Assange should not face prosecution for his distribution of nearly 250,000 classified and Top Secret documents.

"Mr. Paul came to the defense of Mr. Assange after Attorney General Eric Holder said the Justice Department was studying whether to charge Assange with a crime for releasing thousands of leaked government documents.

"Mr. Paul told [Andrew Napolitano, on "Freedom Watch" on] Fox [Business] News that the notion of prosecuting Mr. Assange for the release of information is disturbing and it should not be pursued.

'In a free society we’re supposed to know the truth,' Mr. Paul said. 'In a society where truth becomes treason, then we’re in big trouble. And now, people who are revealing the truth are getting into trouble for it.'" (Beltway Confidential reports that Dr. Paul also tweeted that quotation.) 

Right-wing media promote private airport security

Right-wing media promote call for private security at airports | Media Matters for America - Justin Berrier, Eric Schroeck, & Melody Johnson:

November 17, 2010 - "On the November 16 edition of Fox Business' Freedom Watch, Andrew Napolitano hosted former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson (R) to criticize TSA. Napolitano asked Johnson, 'Does government even keep us safe? Or would private industry -- that obviously has a strong financial interest in keeping the planes flying and keeping us safe -- do a better job than the government does, and let us choose the level of scrutiny that we want depending on the plane we ride?' Johnson replied that 'they would definitely do a more effective job ... and probably [be] a lot more safe.' Napolitano later asked Johnson, 'Would you abolish the TSA?' Johnson said that 'abolishing the TSA' is something that 'ought to be looked into.' "

Read more: https://www.mediamatters.org/research/2010/11/17/right-wing-media-promote-call-for-private-secur/173442