Libertarian Senate candidate at 7% in CO poll

Libertarian Gaylon Kent excited about running for Colorado Senate seat Lynn Bartels, Denver Post:

"Lost in the slew of polls released last week about Colorado’s U.S. Senate race is one ranking that showed libertarian and humorist Gaylon Kent of Steamboat Springs received 7 percent of the vote.

"That’s not enough to win, but if the race between Democrat Mark Udall and Republican Cory Gardner is as close as all the polls suggest, every vote will count.

"The poll that included Kent was conducted by Fabrizio, Lee & Associates for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Other polls have not included him....

"Kent, 48, who drives an armored truck for Brinks, said liberty will be the focus of his campaign.

"'Liberty is what made this country great, and liberty will make us great again,' Kent said. 'Liberty is the solution to every problem this nation faces. Government exists to provide for the liberty of its citizens and liberty is the solution to every problem this nation faces.'"

Read more: http://blogs.denverpost.com/thespot/2014/04/29/libertarian-gaylon-kent-senate/107776/'via Blog this'

Online gambling ban bill opposed by libertarian coalition

Libertarian groups slam online gambling ban | TheHill - Kate Tummarello:

April 28, 2014 - "A coalition of libertarian groups have said a new bill to ban online gambling would pave the path for more government control over the Internet.

"The bill 'is an inappropriate and unnecessary use of federal powers that infringes on the rights of individuals and states,' a coalition of ten libertarian groups said in a letter to the leaders of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees on Monday.

"The bill to ban most online gambling for money was introduced by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) earlier this year. It would reverse a 2011 Justice Department ruling that reintepreted the Wire Act to allow online gambling.

"Since that ruling, states have moved forward with efforts to legalize and regulate online gambling within their borders. Currently, Nevada, Delaware and New Jersey allow online gambling, and a handful of other states — including California — are looking to do the same....

"The letter from libertarian groups — including FreedomWorks, the Competitive Enterprise Institute and R Street — called the bill from Graham and Chaffetz 'a broad overreach by the federal government over matters traditionally reserved for the states.'

"A ban will push the inevitable online gambling to the black market 'where crime can flourish with little oversight and consumers have little to no protection from predatory behavior,' the letter said."

Read more: http://thehill.com/policy/technology/204580-libertarian-groups-slam-online-gambling-ban
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Libertarian city councillor stresses co-operation, gradualism

St. Peter city councilmember talks Libertarian message » Local News » The Free Press, Mankato, MN - Anthony Ratnaraj:

April 26, 2014 - "St. Peter City Councilman Roger Parras spoke about the importance of cooperating with other elected officials to grow the Libertarian Party of Minnesota at its state convention in Maple Grove Saturday.

"Parras, one of two elected Libertarians in the state, was given a slot at the state convention to speak about how Libertarians can get elected.

"'If you have the intentions of just saying "no" across the board, your odds of getting elected are pretty low,' Parras said.

He said most people aren’t comfortable with 'too drastic' changes, but they’re okay with a 'slow change' in government....

"He said he’s using logic in issues like armored vehicles for the police, a roundabout for improved safety, and regulating e-cigarettes to make other members think about the cost and benefit of their actions.

"He was against what he called the 'militarization' of the police force. He asked questions like, 'Why do we need this [armored vehicle]?' Or, 'Is it necessary?' '

"'Unless it’s the city budget, they don’t see it as, you know, city money or tax money,' Parras said."
"
Elizabeth Dahl, a Libertarian candidate running for the Crystal City Council, said she agrees with Parras that Libertarians need to work with other officials. 'Decide what you think is the most important fight to fight now. And then, slowly work your city government to the point where they’re accepting more and more Libertarian ideas,' Dahl said."

Read more: http://www.mankatofreepress.com/local/x2117355031/St-Peter-city-councilmember-talks-Libertarian-message
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Why Charles Murray supports guaranteed income

Libertarian Charles Murray: The welfare state has denuded our civic culture | Making Sen$e | PBS NewsHour:

April 10, 2010 - "Switzerland is considering a ballot referendum on an unconditional income of 30,000 Francs for all Swiss citizens.... But ... guaranteed basic income ... has plenty of American proponents.... Perhaps most outspoken among them is libertarian economist Charles Murray, who argues that a guaranteed income administered by the government would take the government out of people’s lives, and consequently, restore the fabric of American culture.... The following transcript of Paul Solman’s extended conversation with Murray about the guaranteed income has been edited and condensed for length and clarity....

Paul Solman: What’s the case for a minimum income?
Charles Murray: From a libertarian’s point of view, we’re going to be spending a lot of money on income transfers, no matter what.
Paul Solman: Why?
Charles Murray: The society is too rich to stand aside and say, “We aren’t going to do anything for people in need.” I understand that; I accept that; I sympathize with it.
    "What I want is a grand compromise between the left and the right. We on the right say, 'We will give you huge government, in terms of the amount of money we spend. You give us small government, in terms of the ability of government to mess around with people’s lives.'
    "So you have a system whereby every month, a check goes into an electronic bank account for everybody over the age of 21, which they can use as they see fit. They can get together with other people and then combine their resources. But they live their own lives. We put their lives back in their hands"

Read more: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/making-sense/libertarian-charles-murray-the-welfare-state-has-denuded-our-civic-culture/
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Guaranteed Income as a Replacement for the Welfare State, by Charles Murray

Shedding some light on the libertarian surge

Shedding some light on the libertarian surge - Sean Parr, Renew America:

April 10, 2014 - "David Boaz's Politico article, "The Libertarian Surge," commented on the uptick in recent years of libertarianism or, rather, of what libertarians are often associated with espousing (an important distinction, this, as one can incidentally support many libertarian positions without actually being a libertarian). The author defined libertarianism as 'the political philosophy that says limited government is the best kind of government.' Sadly, this definition of his is wanting. I mean, how limited a government constitutes 'limited government'? This could mean that libertarians are for whatever half-hearted, bipartisan, bait-and-switch budget compromise that is laughingly said to shrink the State – its size, scope, or expenditures.

"Here's more like it.

"Libertarianism holds to the non-aggression principle (NAP): it is illicit for any individual (or group of individuals) to initiate, or threaten to initiate, aggression against the person or legitimately held property of any other individual (or group of individuals)....

"The principal reason that libertarians defend the right to keep and bear arms is that they are staunch supporters of property rights. As a matter of fact, in many ways libertarianism boils down to property rights. The NAP is simply incoherent if one cannot know what belongs to whom. In this respect, libertarianism holds to the notion of self-ownership – that an individual has a better claim to his own body than any other person whom might wish to aggressively claim title to, or exercise control over, it. Also, the notions of Lockean homesteading which, as Stephan Kinsella noted, concerns 'the first use or possession of [a] thing' and transfers of contract allow us to discern in a dispute to whom a given thing belongs."

Read more: http://www.renewamerica.com/columns/parr/140410
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See also: ''The Non-Aggression Principle", by George J. Dance

Rand Paul courting wealthy libertarians for possible 2016 run

Rand Paul and Wealthy Libertarians Connect as He Weighs Running - NYTimes.com - Nicholas Confessore:

April 24, 2014 - "As he has risen in prominence as a Republican presidential contender, Mr. Paul is avidly courting a small but influential cluster of wealthy libertarians.... A tight-knit tribe of philanthropists and entrepreneurs, they have exerted enormous intellectual influence on conservative policy. But they have historically spent more on nonprofit groups and endowing college economics departments than they have on backing candidates."

"Now Mr. Paul is seeking to nudge them into the comparatively messier world of presidential campaigning.

"He has recruited libertarian-leaning financiers and money managers from across the country, including Kenneth M. Garschina, founder of a $5.4 billion New York hedge fund and a contributor to The Review of Austrian Economics, and Donald G. Smith, an investor and board member of the Cato Institute, a libertarian research organization based in Washington. Mr. Paul’s nascent finance team includes Joe Lonsdale, a Silicon Valley venture capitalist who helped start an organization [the Seasteading Institute] dedicated to building new sovereign cities on floating ocean platforms.

"In January, Mr. Paul was the star attraction at a fund-raiser for the Goldwater Institute, a libertarian foundation and legal watchdog based in Phoenix.... In February, at the Club for Growth meeting, held at the Breakers resort in Florida, Mr. Paul pitched a roomful of small-government true believers on the importance of reducing prison sentences for drug offenses."

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/25/us/politics/paul-and-wealthy-libertarians-connect-as-he-weighs-running.html?hpw&rref=politics
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Cato Institute urges courts to recognize same-sex marriage

Liberals and libertarians join forces to defend gay marriage rights | MSNBC - Adam Serwer:

April 15, 2014 - "The liberal Constitutional Accountability Center and the libertarian Cato Institute don’t agree on much.... Where the two organizations stand on common ground: Same-sex marriage bans are unconstitutional.....

"Last year, the groups teamed up to file legal briefs in the challenges to California’s ban on same-sex marriage and the Defense of Marriage Act, which barred federal recognition of same-sex marriages performed in states where such couples are allowed to marry. Since [then], federal courts across the country have been striking down same-sex marriage bans based on the legal reasoning in those rulings. The liberal Constitutional Accountability Center and the libertarian Cato Institute are joining forces again, seeking to urge federal courts to recognize a constitutional right to same-sex marriage. They’ve filed a brief together in the Utah and Oklahoma same-sex marriage cases, and plan to do so in other pending same-sex marriage cases. "

"Both groups are in complete agreement about bans on same-sex marriage, which they write violate the 14th Amendment’s 'guarantee of the "equal protection of the laws" [which] is sweeping and universal'."

Read more: http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/cato-cac-divided-groups-defend-gay-marriage-rights
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