Libertarian Wyllie hires former Ron Paul marketer

Libertarian Adrian Wyllie brings on board a Ron Paul marketer | Sunshine State News - Kevin Derby:

March 31, 2014 - "Adrian Wyllie, the favorite for the Libertarian nomination to challenge Gov. Rick Scott, announced at the end of last week that he was bringing in a member of former U.S. Rep. Ron Paul’s, R-Texas, team to help his campaign.

"'We are pleased to announce and welcome our new director of marketing Curt Schultz to Team Wyllie,' the Libertarian hopeful announced. 'Curt Schultz is part of the team that was behind RonPaulProducts.com and the Ron Paul Superbrochure. The Superbrochure was highlighted on the Ed Schultz show on MSNBC. This was the key component that got Ron Paul polling high in Iowa virtually overnight.

"'Curt has already been doing market tests on the Wyllie Superbrochure as well as polling in the race,” Wyllie added. 'He brings a level of professionalism, expertise and energy that will ensure we make history in November!"

http://www.sunshinestatenews.com/blog/ron-paul-marketer-joins-adrian-wyllie-team
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The first libertarians: the Levellers

England’s Levellers: The World’s First Libertarian Movement - Epoch Times - Roberta A. Modugno, Ludwig von Mises Institute:

March 27, 2014 - "The first-ever libertarians were the Levellers, an English political movement active in the seventeenth century. The Levellers contributed to the elaboration of the methodological and political paradigm of individualism, and they are at the origin of the radical strand of classical liberalism....

"Rothbard notes that '[i]n a series of notable debates within the Republican Army — notably between the Cromwellians and the Levellers — the Levellers led by John Lilburne, Richard Overton and William Walwyn, worked out a remarkably consistent libertarian doctrine, upholding the rights of self-ownership, private property, religious freedom for the individual, and minimal government interference in society. The rights of each individual to his person and property, furthermore, were natural, that is, they were derived from the nature of man'....

"Lilburne defended natural law as 'Nature and reason' and 'the grounds of all just laws' and that 'therefore against this Law, prescriptions, statutes, nor customs may not prevail. And if any be brought in against it, they be no prescriptions, statutes nor customs, but things void, and against justice'.

"Overton advocated religious tolerance, even for the much-reviled English Catholics, and also denounced the practice of impressing men into the army and navy as a form of enslavement.

"Moreover, the Levellers advocated property rights and the freedom to contract and trade, as against monopolies and privileges guaranteed by the state. They celebrated the benefits of economic freedom to society and opposed the government taxes, customs, excises, and regulations that inhibited competition." 

Read more: http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/586090-englands-levellers-the-worlds-first-libertarian-movement/

Newsflash: Libertarians do not all think alike

Libertarians Can Disagree with Ron Paul; Try Not to Faint | IVN.us - Shawn M. Griffiths:

March 25, 2014 - "The one mistake people can make when considering the libertarian movement is that all libertarians are alike. When some people think of libertarians, they think of college students who kneel at the alter of Ron Paul. This is a mistake. The conscience of a libertarian is not a collective conscience.

"Ron Paul is considered by many to be the godfather of the liberty movement, but not everyone who self-identifies as a libertarian, or is labeled as such, will agree with Paul 100 percent of the time. Not all libertarians are like the former Texas congressman. Not all libertarians are like former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson. Not all libertarians are like Students for Liberty president Alexander McCobin.

"So, it shouldn’t be treated as such a surprise when someone like McCobin disagrees with Paul.

After all, the liberty movement (or the libertarian movement) is not founded on a singular ideology. Most people who either self-identify under the contemporary identity of a libertarian or are labeled as a libertarian typically are fiscally conservative, but take a more liberal stance on social issues — because of course that is how we have to break it down.

"Throw foreign policy in there and I guarantee not even members of the same local Libertarian Party will agree on every issue or even any issue."

Read more: http://ivn.us/2014/03/25/libertarians-can-disagree-ron-paul-try-faint/
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Libertarian Rufus Craig running for Congress in Louisiana's 6th District

Libertarian Craig joins 6th District race for Congress | Home | The Advocate — Baton Rouge, LA:

March 25, 2014 - "Libertarian Rufus Craig announced his candidacy for the Baton Rouge-based congressional 6th District seat.

"'If you are satisfied with the results of the Democrats and Republicans in Congress, then by all means, keep them,' Craig said in [a] prepared statement. 'I am ready to bring real solutions to the people of Louisiana and America.'

"Craig is a Baton Rouge lawyer who has run for the congressional seat as a Libertarian Party candidate in 2004 and 2012.

"He said he is concerned that neither Democrats or Republicans seem willing to tackle what he calls 'out of control spending and the Byzantine tax code.

"'Without a profound shift in policy in Washington, our nation faces certain financial collapse. It is important to provide an alternative to the two major parties for people to know there are solutions which are not being addressed by either,' Craig stated."

Read more: http://theadvocate.com/home/8718654-125/libertarian-craig-joins-6th-district
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Two libertarians in Australian Senate

Is Australia Friendlier to Libertarianism Than the U.S.? - Hit & Run : Reason.com  - J.D. Tucille:

March 27, 2014 - "Libertarianism is a thing, the headlines tell us — and that seems to be true now that two libertarian-leaning lawmakers occupy seats in the Senate. Wait...two senators? Yes, two: Senator David Leyonhjelm from New South Wales and Senator Bob Day from South Australia. After their election, The Australian proclaimed them 'two home-grown Ron Pauls'.

"Leyonhjelm ... is the more overtly libertarian of the two, favoring marijuana legalization, lower taxes, same-sex marriage, and smaller government. He was elected as a candidate of the classical liberal/libertarian Liberal Democratic Party. A quote on his Facebook page boasts, 'But there are two guiding principles that determine our approach to legislation—we would never vote for an increase in taxes and we would never vote for a reduction in liberty.'

"Day has a long history of free-market activism and was a board member of the libertarian Centre for Independent Studies, but he was elected as the candidate (and chairman) of the populist/social conservative Family First Party. Even so, he told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 'Libertarianism appeals to the innate desire to be free, to be liberated; people essentially want to be left alone to enjoy the fruits of their labour.'

"That article quoting Day also noted that 'the former policy director of libertarian think tank The Institute of Public Affairs (IPA) has been appointed Human Rights Commissioner.' The IPA has been called out during parliamentary question time as a 'sinister' behind-the-scenes player in Australian policy making — specifically, in revising the Racial Discrimination Act to strengthen free speech protections — so it's apparently having an impact."

Read more: http://reason.com/blog/2014/03/27/is-australia-friendlier-to-libertarianis
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Libertarians disagree over Crimea

Libertarian Group Comes Out Against Ron Paul on Russia - Rosie Gray, Buzzfeed:

March 24, 2014 - "A key young libertarian group is publicly opposing Ron Paul on Ukraine, saying that Paul is wrong to suggest that the United States is to blame for Russia’s actions.

"Alexander McCobin, a co-founder of the group Students for Liberty, put out a statement on Monday criticizing Paul, who has characterized Crimea’s largely unrecognized referendum as a secession and has called for the United States not to act against Russia in this crisis.

"In the statement, McCobin praises Paul’s son, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, for condemning Russia’s actions....

"Reached by phone, Students for Liberty spokesperson Frederik Roeder said that the group was not calling for U.S. intervention in Ukraine, but that 'we think that it’s important to condemn what Russia’s doing....

"'In the Ukrainian case it’s obviously not the U.S. government who is the aggressor but the Russian government who have invaded parts of a sovereign nation,' Roeder said. 'I think a lot of people got confused by this including Ron Paul and some libertarians who would say, "Oh, that’s secession," but we did not observe a secession from Crimea, but a military annexation.'

 "He added that Students for Liberty had organized a protest outside the Russian Embassy in Berlin last week."

Read more: http://www.buzzfeed.com/rosiegray/libertarian-group-comes-out-against-ron-paul-on-russia

Rand Paul cheered for anti-NSA message at Berkeley

Republican Rand Paul fires up a Berkeley crowd - SFGate - Carla Marinucci:

March 20, 2014 - "Cheered by a youthful audience in one of the country's most liberal enclaves, Sen. Rand Paul - one of the Republican Party's leading contenders for the White House in 2016 - delivered a scathing rebuke to the U.S. intelligence community Wednesday, calling it 'drunk with power.'

"'I don't know about you, but I'm worried,' the Kentucky senator told 400 people who filled a hall at UC Berkeley's International House. "If the CIA is spying on Congress, who exactly can or will stop them?'

"Paul's comments come one week after Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., took to the Senate floor to accuse the CIA of illegal computer searches intended to hinder her Intelligence Committee's probe of alleged U.S. torture of terrorism suspects.

"Paul said Feinstein's allegations had shaken Washington. 'I look into the eyes of senators and I think I see real fear,' he said. 'I think I perceive fear of an intelligence community drunk with power, unrepentant and uninclined to relinquish power.'"

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Republican-Rand-Paul-fires-up-a-Berkeley-crowd-5332740.php
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