Going Libertarian

So, some of you may have noticed that I have talked a lot lately about the Libertarian Party, or LP. While I haven’t officially changed my voter registration (I’m still registered in Washington state, where you don’t register by party), I have made up my mind to register as a Libertarian when I move to my new home in August. Here’s why.

To paraphrase Ronald Reagan, I didn’t leave the Republican Party; the Republican Party left me. And it’s not just the nomination of John McCain, although that was certainly the tipping point. Over the last couple of years, I have done a lot of pondering about my politics, my values, and the like.

First of all, I am upset at the GOP’s lack of respect for the most dear of American values - liberty. As examples, see:
* the Patriot Act, which gave executive agencies the authority to approve warrants for surveillance;
* John McCain’s campaign finance reform, which is a direct assault on freedom of speech;
* continuance of the War on Drugs and prohibition of many drugs which are less harmful than currently legal drugs (e.g. marijuana);

The GOP also seems to have forgotten about small government. Examples here include, but are by no means limited to:
* No Child Left Behind - championed by Bush and approved by Republicans, it dramatically increased the federal government’s role in education. It was not so long ago that the GOP wanted to eliminate the relatively new Department of Education.
* Interference in free trade, such as the appalling continuation of agricultural subsidies, and Bush’s shameless 2002 steel tariff.
* Bush’s budgets, which has doubled discretionary spending from $555 billion in 2000 to $1.114 trillion in FY 2008 (no, that does not include the War on Terrorism);
* the GOP’s lack of initiative on introducing market-based solutions to high-cost health care, and giving up on introducing Social Security reforms.

Furthermore, the GOP is soft on immigration, and will only get softer with McCain in charge. Defending the nation is one of the charges the federal government is very specifically given in the Constitution, yet the GOP-led federal government has failed to close our borders. Immigration policy takes up many threads on the board - suffice to say I am dissatisfied with the GOP’s lack of response on this issue.

Finally, the trend of the GOP towards neo-conservatism disturbs me. I always considered conservatism (or paleo-conservatism, at least) to be against such things as running perpetual budget deficits to sustain economic growth (a Keynesian idea), opposition to a large central government instead of “seeing it as natural, indeed inevitable,” or viewing the power of the world’s largest military as an “opportunity” for an expansionist government. Neoconservatism, however, is for all of these things, and I cannot continue to support a party that agrees with this philosophy.

So where does that leave me? Certainly not with any party to the political left of the GOP. The Democrats, along with the Greens, World Workers, etc., put too much faith in the ability of the federal government to control the economy, not to mention people’s lives. That leaves third parties towards the right. I briefly toyed with the Constitution Party, the ideological home of former NH Senator Bob Smith, but they seem to lack an appreciation for freedom, along with all the rest. So finally, after a couple of months of mulling it over, I stepped over to the Libertarians.

I don’t agree with all LP views, just as I didn’t agree with all GOP views. Two issues where I disagree are immigration (I’m strongly pro-deportation, where many LP members are pro-amnesty) and drugs (I believe in legalization of some drugs; many libertarians advocate complete legalization). However, at the most basic level, libertarians believe that people should be given the maximum amount of freedom compatible with necessary government functions.

I know just what some of you are going to say: It’s a waste of time not to vote either Dem or GOP. Here’s my counterargument: yes, I may be voting for someone with no chance to win - this year. But, given enough support at the voting booth, the LP will gain national attention as an alternative to the other two parties. And, given enough grassroots support, the LP can grow its organizational structure to be able to handle the logistics of a full-blown Presidential campaign in four years’ time. Not to mention, the LP has the strongest “bench” of any third party (i.e. members who have held lower offices), and they put effort into electing members at all levels of government, unlike many parties that only run candidates for high-profile elections.

So, if you are tired of politics as usual, and want to attempt to make a real difference in the American political system, I encourage you to consider the Libertarian Party. I have no idea what to expect out of LP membership (I’m still a n00b), but I am willing to use my vote and my resources to elect freedom-loving officials instead of politicians from the two main parties.