Free Republic

If the war on terror trumps everything why did Bush pass another huge increase in spending with perscription drugs for seniors. And why are republicans in congress pork barrelling bills just as badly as democrats?

Its not an either or deal either. You can join the republican party and vote in the primaries. If a reputable republican with a record of stopping pork barreled spending, and cutting down non-defense governmetn wins then you can support him.

If not you can support the libertarian party. And as of right now in my area I am looking at a bunch of socialist, big government republicans running in the house and senate, so I might as well vote for and support the libertarian party.

You have to realize it seems hopeless through the RLC right now. I have met many republicans and many are very socialist, like wanting free perscription drugs, federal education, senior's healthcare etc.. Whereas I meet a libertarian and we agree on basically everything.

Judge Jim Gray is one of the best libertarian candidates I have seen. And really in California the Republican has no chance against Boxer. So you might as well vote libertarian... I almost feel like the Republican is stealing votes from the Libertarian in this race;).. as Gray clearly is the best candidate.

Don't you guys wish there was Istant run off voting? So you could vote for a libertarian in a race as your 'first' choice. Then select the Republican as your second choice.

So if the libertarian didn't make it into the top two, your vote would count towards the republican. Right now I feel like I am being held hostage with my vote. Like give me 100 dollars or my friend will shoot you in the head..

Thats another good point. If you are in New York, really your vote is thrown away regardless of who you vote for, for president. And most likely the other seats as well. So you are voting only to send a message anyway.

Good points.. I am planning to vote for Bush because of those reasons. But I am not going to support liberal fat cat Republicans in congress and the senate. Not all republicans fall into that category however.

Right now the only people beneffiting from the jackpot lawsuits are lawyers. Tort reform if done correctly rests on the simple principle that damages awarded equals damages done. So when negligence happens, the victim is compensated.

Right now the awards are made to 'punish' the companies, and help the lawyers. So you have the judge who is the prosecutor's father in law deciding how much to award.. And the decisions are always those that benefit the legal associations.

Plus I forgot to add, I think if we cut down these other bureaucracies or outright eliminated them... we could afford to pay our troops far far more.

Which I believe we will have to increase troop pay massively in the next four years. To make sure the ranks are full of soldiers.. Plus just common sense who should be making more money, some education consultant in Washington D.C... or some soldier risking his life for our security in Afghanistan?

Thats why I'm voting libertarian at the other levels besides president this election. I like George Bush's foreign policy and the libertarian isolationism seems insane in a global interconnected world.

But I can't reward the big spending liberal republicans in congress and the senate with my vote. There are of course some Republicans I would vote for who have worked for at least some fiscal conservatism, but not where I live.

I would like to have a bunch of Ron Paul's in congress, but even if they can't win its the only way I have to send a message to the Republican leadership that they wont' win if they don't reduce the non-defense parts of the federal budget.

Many states your vote doesn't make any difference either way. You might as well send a message. For example does anyone think New York will be down to a few votes?:)

I just wish we weren't forced into a lesser of two evil argument. I don't fault anyone for the situation.. I think it is a consequence of winner takes all seats. It would be great if we could check off Badnarik, and then as second choice Bush. So if Badnarik didnt' make the top 2, our vote would count for Bush.

And even moreso then the presidency.. as I might choose Bush first because of his international policy, for many of the congressional and senate races. I would love some libertarians like Ron Paul.. a whole bunch of them in the senate and congress. But I get scared to throw away my vote.. so only vote libertarian if the Republicans run a big spending liberal.

I am a lurker here.. I am a libertarian too like some in this thread. I was going to go Badnarik but I realized Bush did enough things I liked that I was going to vote for him. Namely the estate tax, and the marriage penalty.. removing those were the big things for me.

And as you guys know the presidency is so powerful at the moment, it doesn't seem like a good idea to throw away your vote to send a message.. when there is a lot of difference between Bush and Hanoi Kerry.

I still do plan to vote libertarian in local elections and state where the republican hasn't worked to limit the size of government though.