Posted on 07/18/2004 5:02:32 AM PDT by MikeJ75
MICHAEL Badnarik, the Libertarian candidate for president, doesn't look much like a Sex Pistol in his sober suit and tie.
But he shares at least one sentiment with Johnny Rotten, who, amid the posing of much of the rest of the punk movement, claimed a difference: "We mean it, man!"
Badnarik sees the posing of other politicians in much the same way as they claim to favor smaller government while at the same time allowing bureaucracy to multiply.
President Clinton, he says, talked about ending the era of big government while allowing it to grow over 2 percent during his time.
President George W. Bush has been worse while railing against liberal spenders, Badnarik says, claiming that government has grown by 7.5 percent during Bush's term --much of it, of course, in increased military outlays.
"People believe the rhetoric" of the major parties without checking the facts, Badnarik says. "The difference" offered by Libertarians? "We mean it."
Badnarik came by the office last week with local Libertarian leader Ted Brown of San Gabriel as part of an essentially endless road trip around the country seeking a little free exposure for his campaign. Having raised just a quarter-million dollars -- not enough to pay the caterer at a Bush or John Kerry fund raiser -- the Libertarians can't afford political advertising. They don't even have campaign literature, referring me instead to www.badnarik.org (Not bad, actually: take a look for a funny little swipe at Ralph Nader, Bush and Kerry).
Nerds? Of course they're nerds. Libertarians are the Mr. Spock-like literalists of campaigning, with tin ears for the emotional music of political discourse, raising their hands to say, "But that's not logical!"
Badnarik, a student of the Constitution, would rather see himself and his party as the grown-ups in the room. Realizing that they have little chance of electing many true believers to Congress, much less the White House, he insists that even one or two would make a vast difference. "It's like a bunch of high schoolers at a party drinking beer and smoking cigarettes. What happens when an adult shows up? They have to kick the cans under the couch and straighten up," he says.
Nader was wrong last week when he told the Vroman's crowd that he's the only candidate calling for bringing the troops home from Iraq. Libertarians are more anti-war than thou, corporate crusader. Badnarik says that what he terms American adventurism of the last 50 years hasn't established more freedom or democracy in the world; we're just "creating more enemies, and doing the kinds of things that led to 9/11 in the first place."
Though the Libertarian Party supposedly has about 600 elected officials in place around the country, they are entirely in county or city government; none are even in a state legislature. But that doesn't mean that American friends of liberty of all political stripes ought not try on some of these free-thinking ideas for size.
The word i n s i g n i f i c a n t comes to mind.
What comes to my mind is, pray, we need a miracle. Either Bush or Kerry would be disastrous for the nation. Michael Badnarik is the only possible candidate that will move in the direction of restoring our constitutional republic. Of course congress will resist and wish to maintain and grow the police state but we shall see who wins with the American people when they truly hear the debate.
Well, you have something right.
Were Badnarik, or Atilla the Hun, elected, with the Commie Socialists Left still in charge of Congress, (reads U.S.Clowns Inc.) we would still be headed for destruction.
Presidency of George W. Bush -- the first 41 months
President Bush signing a federal ban on Partial Birth Abortion Banned Partial Birth AbortionReversed Clinton's move to strike Reagan's anti-abortion Mexico Policy Stopped foreign aid that would be used to fund abortions.Supported and upheld the ban on abortions at military hospitalsSigned E.O. reversing Clinton's policy of not requiring parental consent for abortions under the Medical Privacy Act
Killed the Kyoto Global Warming Treaty
Killed U.S. involvement in the International Criminal Court
Killed Clinton's CO2 rules that were choking off all of the electricity surplus to California
Killed Clinton's "ergonomic" rules that OSHA was about to implement; rules that would have shut down every home business in America
Killed the U.S. - CCCP ABM Treaty that was preventing the U.S. from deploying our ABM defenses
Has CONSTRUCTION in process on the first ten ABM silos in Alaska and California so that America has a defense against North Korean nukes
President Bush pledged to Israel on 4/14/2004 that it could keep parts of the West Bank, giving international legitimacy to Jewish settlements there
Denied Palestinian refugees any right of return to what is now Israel, saying they should be resettled in a future Palestinian state insteadPart of coalition (Russia, Israel, EU, Palestine, USA) for Israeli/Palestinian "Roadmap to Peace"
Pushed through THREE raises for our militaryIncreased Defense Dept funding which had deteriorated during the previous 8 years
Signed TWO bills into law that arm our pilots with handguns in the cockpitCurrently pushing for full immunity from lawsuits for our national gun manufacturers
Ordered Attorney-General Ashcroft to formally notify the Supreme Court that the OFFICIAL U.S. government position on the 2nd Amendment is that it supports INDIVIDUAL rights to own firearms, NOT a leftist-imagined *collective* right
Told the United Nations we weren't interested in their plans for gun control (i.e. the International Ban on Small Arms Trafficking Treaty)
Signed the 2004 Omnibus Budget 1/26/2004 that now MANDATES that gun buyers' background check information be fully and permanently destroyed within 24 hours of the completion of the check, no matter what.
Disarmed Libya of its Chemical, Nuclear, and biological WMD's without bribes or bloodshed
Won an agreement that U.S. Navy sailors may now freely board thousands of commercial ships in international waters to search for weapons of mass destruction under a landmark pact between the United States and Liberia, the world's No. 2 shipping registry (signed Feb 11, 2004), and Panama 5/10/2004 http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/11/international/americas/11ship.html).
Successfully executed 2 wars: Afghanistan and Iraq. 50 million people who had lived under tyrannical regimes now live in freedom
Executed a WAR ON TERROR by getting world-wide cooperation to track funds/terrorists (has cut off much of the terrorist's funding and captured or killed many key leaders of the al Qaeda network)
Bush Administration diplomacy led to the 5/25/2004 peace accord that ended a massive 20-year civil war between Sudan's north and south after two million deaths
Brought back our EP-3 intel plane and crew from China without any bribes or bloodshed
Started withdrawing our troops from Bosnia and has announced withdrawal of our troops from Germany and the Korean DMZ.
Signed the LARGEST nuclear arms reduction in world history with Russia
Initiated comprehensive review of our military, which was completed just prior to 9/11/01, accurately reported that ASYMMETRICAL WARFARE was critical.
Created NATO's Rapid Response ForceChanged the tone in the White House, restoring HONOR and DIGNITY to the Presidency
Reorganized bureaucracy...after 9/11, condensed 20+ overlapping agencies and their intelligence sectors into one agency: the Department of Homeland Security.
Initiated discussion on privatizing Social Security and individual investment accounts.
Improving govt. efficiency with .8 million jobs put up for bid...weakening unions and cutting undeserved pay raises. Wants merit based promotions/raises only.
Orchestrated Republican control of the White House, the House AND the Senate.
Killed the liberal ABA's role in vetting federal judges for Congress.
GWB signed an executive order enforcing the Supreme Court's Beck decision (re: union dues being used for political campaigns against individual's wishes)
Turned around an inherited economy that was in recession.
Passed tough new laws to hold corporate criminals to account as a result of corporate scandals.
Signed 2 income tax cuts ---- 1 of which was the largest Dollar-value tax cut in world history
Reduced taxes on dividends and capital gains In process of eliminating IRS marriage penalty.
Increased small business incentives to expand and to hire new peopleEliminated the Estate Tax (AKA "Death Tax") that was taking small farms and businesses from families
Signed into law the No Child Left Behind legislation delivering the most dramatic education reforms in a generation (challenging the soft bigotry of low expectations)
Reorganized the INS in an attempt to safeguard the borders and ports of America and to eliminate bureaucratic redundancies and lack of accountability.
Signed trade promotion authorityCommitted US funds to purchase medicine for millions of men and women and children now suffering with AIDS in Africa
Passed Medicare Reform (authorized $39.5 Billion per year for preventive medicine such as drugs and doctor visits as well as included a ten year Privatization option)
Urging federal liability reform to eliminate frivolous lawsuitsSupports class action reform bill which limits lawyer fees so that more settlement money goes to victims
Submitted comprehensive Energy Plan--awaits Congressional action (works to develop cleaner technology, produce more natural gas here at home, make America less dependent on foreign sources of energy, improve national grid, etc.)
Endorses and promotes The Responsibility Era ("In a compassionate society, people respect one another and take responsibility for the decisions they make in life.
"My hope is to change the culture from one that has said, if it feels good, do it; if you've got a problem, blame somebody else -- to one in which every single American understands that he or she are responsible for the decisions that you make; you're responsible for loving your children with all your heart and all your soul; you're responsible for being involved with the quality of the education of your children; you're responsible for making sure the community in which you live is safe; you're responsible for loving your neighbor, just like you would like to be loved yourself. " -----
(this quote was too good to leave out)
Started the USA Freedom Corps
Initiated review of all federal agencies with a goal to eliminate federal jobs (completed September 2003) in an effort to reduce the size of federal gov while increasing private sector jobs.
Challenged the United Nations to live up to their responsibilities and not become The League of Nations ( in other words, completely irrelevant)
Nominated strong, conservative judges to the judiciary.
Changed parts of the Forestry Management Act to allow necessary clean-up of the national forests in order to reduce fire danger.As part of the national forests clean-up, the President restricted judicial challenges (based on the Endangered Species Act and other challenges) and removed the need for an EIS (Environmental Impact Statement) before removing fuels/logging to reduce fire danger.
New Forest Rules Gives States Power Over Federal Forests Inside Their BordersSignificantly eased field-testing controls of genetically engineered crops.
President Bush signed the workplace verification bill to prevent hiring of illegal AliensS. 1685, the Basic Pilot Extension Act of 2003, was signed by President Bush on December 3, 2003.It extends for five years the workplace employment eligibility authorization pilot programs created in 1996. It expands the pilot programs from the original five states to all 50 states.
Original posted by Southack
Post #3, and posted on 07/13/04
URL … http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1170429/posts
Actually we'd be headed for all-out governmental gridlock, which would be one of the best things the country could hope for.
Killed the Kyoto Global Warming Treaty
Killed U.S. involvement in the International Criminal Court
Actually those two treaties were DOA in the Senate anyway. As for the first, he has never disavowed the "global warming" myth, and has committed his administration towards coming up with a "solution". A lot of the energy industry giants that like to claim that they're standing up to the regulatory state, in fact see plenty of money in it. They're especially enthusiastic about the proposed "emissions credits" system, because that would become a lucrative business all on its own.
As for the ICC, your information's a little late. After Abu Ghraib, Bush has effectively given up the fight against allowing our forces to be subject to the kangaroo court.
It was raining here, and now the sun has come out.
Let me add to your list:
Imprisoned US citizens without trial or any sort of due process-continuing violation of the due process clause
Issued policy decision that the president is above the law in times of war, permitting torture, indefinite imprisonment
Pushed through and signed medicare drug benefit. Probable cost over a decade, almost a trillion dollars
Signed bi-partisan campaign reform act in violation of the first amendment
Signed Patriot Act violating 4th and 5th amendment
Signed "No child left behind" in violation of tenth amendment
Broke promise to leave medical marijuana patients alone if state law permitted it, thereby violating tenth amendment.
And the real killer one: Started unjustified war that killed more than 10,000 humans on false information. Invented the concept of pre-emptive war that failed on its first use by involving us in a war that, at best, was a huge mistake.
Thanks for your input. It seems well thought out and concise.
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