U.S.A. is at a new ‘libertarian moment’

Nation has arrived at a new ‘libertarian moment,’ experts say - KansasCity.com - Dave Helling & Steve Kraske:

August 4, 2013 - "From issues such as same-sex marriage and legal marijuana to restrictions on government spying and U.S. intervention in foreign affairs, the nation is engaged in a new 'libertarian moment,' politicians and political scientists say.

"'The libertarian mindset — just leave me alone, get government out of my way, government shouldn’t tell me what I can or cannot do — that is definitely a larger and more active group than I’ve ever seen before,' said Missouri Sen. Brad Lager, a Republican from Savannah.

"Brink Lindsey, a senior fellow at the libertarian Cato Institute, sees the same phenomenon.

"'The libertarian impulse is especially prominent right now, and getting attention,' he said."

Read more: http://www.kansascity.com/2013/08/04/4389524/the-nation-has-arrived-at-a-new.html
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Libertarian Party's Vera Kichanova wins municipal office in Russia

Vera Kichanova: Russia's Opposition Must Go Bold, Even In Starting Small - Richard Solash, Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty:

July 20, 2013 - "Meet Vera Kichanova, a young woman whose hipster garb belies her maturity, and whose fresh complexion has become one of the faces of the new generation of political opposition in Russia.

"Kichanova, a journalist for the liberal news website Slon, was elected as a municipal deputy in Moscow's Yuzhnoye Tushino district in March 2012. A member of Russia's tiny Libertarian Party, she had campaigned on a ticket of transparency and democratic principles.

"She concedes that her post is one that most Muscovites don't even know exists, but Russia observers and Kichanova alike say her election carries outsize importance. In a country where challenges to the establishment are routinely quashed and officials are usually installed, she says the opposition must be bold when it can – but must also focus on making small political inroads."

Read more: http://www.rferl.org/content/russia-opposition-vera-kichanova/25051900.html
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Cato Institute breaks bipartisan mold

Libertarian Cato Institute Breaks Bipartisan Mold - Martin Austermuhle, Washington Diplomat:

July 30, 2013 - "As diverse as the United States is, its political system is unflinchingly bipartisan.... Voters who believe in the power of government to help solve social problems and seek to promote and protect diversity generally align themselves with the Democratic Party, while those who believe in a more limited role for government and a more traditional concept of American society side with the Republican Party.

"But what of voters who take a little from both? Maybe they believe in government austerity but also gay marriage, or perhaps they support immigration reform and drug legalization while opposing restrictions on guns and banks. Well, they're libertarians, and despite their failure to break open the bipartisan edifice, they are constantly knocking at its door.

"'"You might say libertarians are fiscally conservative and socially liberal,' explained Aaron Ross Powell, a research fellow at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank in Washington, D.C....

"Since its founding in 1977, the Cato Institute — named after Cato's Letters, a series of 18th-century essays expounding the views of philosopher John Locke — has promoted libertarian ideals through research, publications and conferences. According to the group, the principles of 'individual liberty, limited government, free markets and peace' underline its work."

Read more: http://www.washdiplomat.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=9444:libertarian-cato-institute-breaks-bipartisan-mold&catid=1505&Itemid=428
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Senate 'wacko birds' speak at Young Americans for Liberty conference

Senate 'wacko birds' at home among the Ron Paul faithful - Chris Moody, Yahoo! News:

August 1, 2013 - "Rand Paul of Kentucky, Ted Cruz of Texas and Mike Lee of Utah, briefly fled across the Potomac Wednesday night to mingle with a crowd more appreciative of their brand of politics.

"Earlier this week, several hundred college-age libertarians gathered for the fifth annual Young Americans for Liberty (YAL) conference inside a ballroom at the Westin Hotel, located a safe seven miles from the Capitol building. YAL is the youth outreach group birthed from the womb of former Texas Rep. Ron Paul’s first run for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008, and it works with Paul’s other organization, the Campaign for Liberty, to continue advocating for his causes.

"The young Paulites at the Westin howled when Paul, Cruz and Lee strolled onto the stage.... 'We’re not accustomed to that kind of welcome in Washington,' Lee beamed over the whoops and hollers. 'There are people just a few miles from here who give us quite the opposite reception'....

"'It seems there may be a few wacko birds in the house,' Cruz said from his perch in the middle of the stage, a reference to a term coined by Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain that was not made with affection at the time."

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/senate--wacko-birds--at-home-among-the-ron-paul-faithful--210259493.html

Libertarian-leaning super PAC raising big money

Libertarian-leaning super PAC raising big money | The Center for Public Integrity - Adam Wollner:

July 30, 2013 - "A super PAC quietly formed this spring by a prominent libertarian has rushed to a quick fundraising start thanks to a small network of wealthy, like-minded donors.

"Purple PAC, a super PAC led by former Federal Election Commission Chairman Brad Smith and Cato Institute founder Ed Crane, raised $575,000 from the time the group launched in early May through the end of June, new FEC filings show.

"Only four donors contributed, but they provided significant cash. The group received two $250,000 contributions — one from Richard Masson, a Kentucky horse breeder, and another from Pennsylvania-based options trader Jeffrey Yass, who also sits on the board of the Cato Institute.

"Washington, D.C., entrepreneur Philip Harvey donated an additional $50,000 to Purple PAC, while New York real estate developer Howard Rich chipped in $25,000, according to FEC records.

"Smith, who currently serves as the chairman of the anti-campaign finance regulation group Center for Competitive Politics, said Purple PAC plans to make independent expenditures promoting 'freedom-oriented' candidates who are fiscally conservative and socially moderate."

Read more: http://www.publicintegrity.org/2013/07/30/13087/libertarian-leaning-super-pac-raising-big-money
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NSA vote a sign of House GOP’s growing libertarianism

NSA vote a sign of House GOP’s growing libertarianism | The Daily Caller:

July 30, 2013 - "On Thursday, the day after the House narrowly rejected an amendment to the defense appropriations bill that would have cut funding to the National Security Agency’s mass surveillance programs, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie told reporters that he’s concerned the national counterterrorism debate is drifting in a libertarian direction....

"The so-called Amash amendment would have modified Section 215 of the Patriot Act to prevent security agencies from scooping up telephone metadata on Americans who aren’t under investigation for espionage or terrorism. The amendment failed, 205-217, but not along normal partisan lines: 94 Republicans and 111 Democrats voted for it, and 134 Republicans and 83 Democrats voted against it....

"Of the 129 House Republicans* who entered Congress in January 2009 or later, 65 voted for the Amash amendment, 60 voted against it, and four didn’t vote. Of the 105 House Republicans who entered Congress before the financial crisis, 29 voted for the Amash amendment, 74 voted against it, and two didn’t vote.

"The generational divide that the vote exposed suggests that the Republican Party is moving away from the national-security conservatism that dominated GOP politics in the years following the September 11, 2001, terror attacks."

Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2013/07/30/nsa-vote-a-sign-of-house-gops-growing-libertarianism
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Cato Institute report advocates denying immigrants welfare

Libertarian Think Tank: Build a Wall Around Welfare - ABC News - Jim Avila and Serena Marshall:

July 24, 2013 - "While the libertarian Cato Institute admits  that immigrants overwhelmingly come to the United States to work and not to go on welfare, to appease right-wing critics of immigration reform it has developed a plan to deny any federal benefits to tax-paying undocumented workers, even after they achieve legal status.

"The goal of the report, titled 'Building a Wall Around the Welfare State, Instead of the Country,' is to provide a 'blueprint'.... It outlines ways to deny immigrants and the undocumented access to any means-tested welfare programs, such as Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and food stamps.

"'We tried to address the issue about certain use and abuse by noncitizens, no matter how small it is,' Alexander Nowrasteh, policy analyst for Cato and author of the report, said. 'It is necessary to convince those skeptics or those who are in the middle — the honest observers of the debate who are trying to come to a decision about the benefits of immigration reform.'"

Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2013/07/libertarian-think-tank-build-a-wall-around-welfare/
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