All political candidates call themselves freedom-lovers, but they are
not. Neither major party really opposes government control of the
economy or of our personal lives. I'm a libertarian because I see the
false choice offered by political left and right: Democrats talk about
personal liberty; Republicans talk about economic freedom. But what they
do once in power belies their words.
I say we're best off if government just leaves us alone to our peaceful cooperation with whomever we please. Let politicians advocate moral behavior. Let them give to charities. But leave government -- which is physical force -- out of it.
That's why I like Gary Johnson, the former Republican governor of New Mexico. He's the Libertarian Party candidate for president. As governor, Johnson vetoed 750 bills, and yet he got re-elected in that blue state.
I asked Johnson what it means to be a libertarian.
"Fiscally responsible, socially accepting ... more liberal than Obama on several issues, more conservative than Romney on several issues."
Johnson proposes to cut federal spending by more than 43 percent:
"Balance the federal budget now. I think that unless we do that, we're going to find ourselves in a monetary collapse."
To do that, he'd go where the money is. He'd cut the big programs that will soon bankrupt us. That includes Medicare. Conventional wisdom says what he's proposing is cruel and, for a politician, suicidal.
"Look, we've got to slash Medicare spending. If we don't, we're going to find ourselves with no health care whatsoever. Medicaid, same thing. Military spending, same thing."
The left claims that without social spending, people would starve in the streets!
Read more: http://townhall.com/columnists/johnstossel/2012/09/19/i_like_gary_johnson
I say we're best off if government just leaves us alone to our peaceful cooperation with whomever we please. Let politicians advocate moral behavior. Let them give to charities. But leave government -- which is physical force -- out of it.
That's why I like Gary Johnson, the former Republican governor of New Mexico. He's the Libertarian Party candidate for president. As governor, Johnson vetoed 750 bills, and yet he got re-elected in that blue state.
I asked Johnson what it means to be a libertarian.
"Fiscally responsible, socially accepting ... more liberal than Obama on several issues, more conservative than Romney on several issues."
Johnson proposes to cut federal spending by more than 43 percent:
"Balance the federal budget now. I think that unless we do that, we're going to find ourselves in a monetary collapse."
To do that, he'd go where the money is. He'd cut the big programs that will soon bankrupt us. That includes Medicare. Conventional wisdom says what he's proposing is cruel and, for a politician, suicidal.
"Look, we've got to slash Medicare spending. If we don't, we're going to find ourselves with no health care whatsoever. Medicaid, same thing. Military spending, same thing."
The left claims that without social spending, people would starve in the streets!
Read more: http://townhall.com/columnists/johnstossel/2012/09/19/i_like_gary_johnson
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