Brian A. Thomas .com

The current issue of Cato Unbound is online. In it, Democrat advocate the Kos, suggests that Libertarians should vote for Democrats this November. He suggests, laughably, that Democrats are more fiscally responsible, and more socially liberal.
Let’s look at the fiscal responsible position first. They are perhaps more honest in their spending, and less corporate minded. However, this doesn’t make you fiscally responsible. Yes, the budget was balanced under Clinton, but only by raising taxes. True fiscal responsibility comes by making deep cuts to the budget first, then lowering taxes.
The Democrat party will never be the party to cut spending. They may cut spending in some places, but they will raise it more then their cuts in others, resulting in a net increase in spending. Libertarians are for smaller government, and clearly, voting Democrat is not the way to get there.
As for socially liberal. Yes, they talk a more liberal stance on social issues, but the reality is far from different. It was President Clinton who signed the Defense of Marriage Act into law, clearly going against what he himself said was his position on gay marriage.
Democrats openly support the drug war. This is due to the fact that the drug war raises the size of government greatly, and allows them to take even more taxes from American citizens. If we ended the drug war and let non-violent drug offenders out of jail, the overcrowding problem would end, and we wouldn’t need so many jails and large police forces, meaning they would have to cut spending. They, like the Republicans, also get tons of money from the companies that benefit by keeping them illegal, like the pharmaceuticals companies, cotton and clothing, pesticide, tobacco, alcohol and a menagerie of others who would loose tons if even just marijuana became legal.
Democrats openly support strong gun control. The 2nd Amendment and our natural right to own arms is one of the fundamental issues of Libertarianism. To suggest supporting a party that is so dynamically opposed to such a natural right is as off base as one can get.
The Democrats covertly support controlling the content of music, tv, movies and video games. With all the hype surrounding the Janet Jackson incident, people forget that had the Democrats been in charge, the same fallout would have happened, perhaps even greater. (Of course, the Dems tend to be more anti-violence then anti-sex, so perhaps not greater, but the same basic fallout would have happened, perhaps a bigger push for V-Chip related issues.) It is the Democrats who have worked harder to suppress free speech, yet another natural right that is a fundamental issue of Libertarianism. Look at the actions of Hillary Clinton, Lieberman and Bayh show how anti-free speech these people are. Lieberman especially has worked hardest to covertly control freedom of speech. I think in Clinton’s case it may indeed be misguided ignorance, and an attempt to stop sales of stuff to minors, not so much the covert actions of Lieberman… not that I am defending Clinton’s actions.

Way too many Libertarians, I fear, plan on voting Democrat to punish the Republicans for having lost focus. However, not many of those who do will call and/or write and tell the Republican party why they voted against them. A punishment vote means nothing to them unless you tell them specifically what they are doing wrong. A punishment vote alone just tells them people want more and bigger government, and that is what they will try to give us next time around.
A better solution would be to vote Libertarian where possible. Where not possible, then vote for the candidate that is least evil, and don’t worry about punishing the Republican. Whomever wins, then call and write like crazy, not only to the whomever wins, but to the Republican party. Demand that they return to the smaller, less intrusive government they used to stand for.

In short: Libertarian’s Should NOT Vote Democrat. This is purely a punishment move for the current administration’s ineptitude. Find another solution, but don’t move away from everything that Libertarianism stands for. Nothing good will come out of voting Democrat, it will just show Washington and Washington wannabes that people want more and bigger government.

Tags: Politics