Posted on 11/20/2004 6:19:49 AM PST by LibertarianRepublican
Hello, I was invited to join this Forum by a Libertarian Party member who is thinking of switching to the GOP. Didn't even know it existed. Great that it's here.
I'm usually over at Yahoo Groups - Libertarian Republican, Republitarian or Mainstream Libertarian.
Nice to be here. I see some old friends like Phil Blumel and Al Guitierez and John Reed.
I founded the RLC in my living room in Tallahassee, Florida in 1990. After pronouncing the previous group - Libertarian Republican Organizing Committee (LROC) run by Justin Raimondo, as pretty much defunct.
Glad to see that the RLC has become such a success. This year it appears that over 10 libertarian Republicans were elected to State Legislatures from Alaska to Maine. And both Congressmen Jeff Flake of Arizona and Ron Paul of Texas were easily reelected.
In contrast, the once great Libertarian Party has fallen on hard times. A dissapointing 393,000 votes for their Presidential candidate Michael Badnarik after predictions of "over 1 million." Plus no elected offices of significance; no Congressmen, no Governors, not even a single Libertarian State Legislature.
The Constitution Party won a State Legislative seat in Montana. Pretty bad that the Libertarian Party, which once had 3 State Legislators in Alaska, can't even manage to elect a Legislator anywhere in the U.S.
The RLC is the ONLY hope for the future of the libertarian movement.
If you are tired of losing with the Libertarian Party and want to get serious about politics, there's only one alternative - the Republican Liberty Caucus. Join up at www.rlc.org.
Great to see you, Eric. JimRob was kind enough to give us this forum a couple years ago. As with all of FR, it is a magnificent way to exchange ideas, argue a bit, enjoy each other's company, and explore what little-l libertarianism is all about and its natural roots in the GOP. Great for outreach!
Good to have you aboard.
Decided to drink the koolaid with the Republicans, eh? Forget that they have a hundred year track record of Zero accomplishments, they don't even SAY they are going to do the right thing anymore. They're just going to drive off the cliff slower then the Democrats.
My $0.02
Close the borders, tighten immigration, move to 100% charter school education, and ramp up the military R&D. And cut taxes to the bone so the leftists can't spend the money.
The RNC should quit wasting time with faith based ministries and flag protection amendments. I can donate money if I like, thank you. And the Constitution is about protecting liberty, not enforcing reverence for our national symbols.
I think federal legislation should be enough to ratchet down any temptation for the states to redefine marriage. Cut off all federal funding to any state that tries it, or any state whose counties try it, or any state whose cities try it.
By the way, give the military a HUGE pay raise. There'll be no need for a draft if we pay them a living wage, enough to raise families on.
I still think that this is the best article to define the role of libertarians and conservatives within the Republican party and the best way for them to help each other make it the party that leads this country "rightly".
"The price of a successful conservatism must be a gracious acceptance of the Reaganite live-and-let-live formula of libertarian means for traditionalist ends. If the modern scourges of brutal egalitarianism, debilitating fatalism and bureaucratized welfare statism are to be transcended, traditionalist and libertarian conservatives must work together in bold harmony. That means a vigorous conservative program based upon common principle, whether that means confronting progressive Democrats or welfare state Republicans. If we will not hang together, we surely will hang separately."
http://www.acuf.org/principles/p_freedandtrad.asp
Nice short piece by Don Devine. I'm of the F.A. Hayek school myself, but he's right about the need to work together.
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