Liberty Maven

As a former proponent of the FairTax I researched with great interest whether Ron Paul supported it or not. During one of the first television interviews of his Presidential campaign he was asked about supporting it. His answer was that he’d vote for it, but would not sponsor it. He is against taxes on principle, he said. I was happy that he said he’d vote for it, but annoyed that he wouldn’t sign on as a co-sponsor.

Since then I’ve come to rethink and research the FairTax and I am now in alignment with Ron Paul’s position. Today the Mises Institute released a daily article on the FairTax by Laurence Vance. It is more than an article. It is a book review of the latest FairTax book by Neil Boortz, a major proponent of the tax. It is also more than just a book review, it is a meaty treatise on why the FairTax may not be so fair after all.

As a critic of the national retail sales tax plan known as the FairTax, I take Neal Boortz’s new book on the FairTax very personally. The book is titled FairTax: The Truth: Answering the Critics. It is intended to be a sequel to The FairTax Book, published in 2005, that offers “eye-opening new insights not covered in the original book.”

Boortz is right. There are some eye-opening new insights unique to this sequel. Like the disclosure that you might “owe more in taxes in the first year of a FairTax system than you do today.”[1] Or the admission that “the FairTax could be even more progressive than our current system.”[2] Or the confession that the “implementation of the FairTax doesn’t mean complete annihilation of the IRS.”[3] Or the proposal that “a procedure should be set up in the Treasury Department to collect taxes on Internet and catalog sales, remitting the state and local governments’ share to them.”[4]

Finish reading “There Is Still No Such Thing As a Fair Tax” by Laurence M. Vance.

George Bush recently said he gave up golf in 2003 because it wouldn’t “look right” while we are at war to have the President playing golf.

In an interview with the political newspaper Politico and Yahoo News, Bush also said he gave up golf in 2003 out of respect for U.S. soldiers killed in the war, which has now lasted more than five years.

“I didn’t want some mom whose son may have recently died to see the commander in chief playing golf,” he said. “I feel I owe it to the families to be in solidarity as best as I can with them. And I think playing golf during a war just sends the wrong signal.”

Continuing a perpetual war while more and more American soldiers die kind of sends the wrong signal too Mr. Bush. Take a lesson from Ron Paul and bring them home. At least then you can play golf with a clear conscience. No wonder John McCain wants Bush as far away from his campaign as possible.

Browsing the issues pages of all the presidential candidates last year revealed a glaring omission. Sure there were taxes, foreign policy, Iraq war, health care, immigration, and a slew of others, but probably the most important was not listed. “Has a chance to win” is the unmentionable issue yet it is the response many give as to the reason they chose not to vote for Ron Paul. “I’d vote for him, but he doesn’t have a chance,” goes the mantra. It trumps, “He’s crazy”, or “His views are too extreme.” Indeed, if “has a chance” never was, then Ron Paul would be the Republican nominee.

Of course, there is no way to necessarily prove this assertion, but the larger question is why “has a chance” is even an issue in the first place? In most other areas people love the underdog, but in politics the underdog is usually treated unfairly by the establishment (especially in primary contests) and belittled as “unelectable” by the media and therefore the masses.

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Readers of Liberty Maven know by now how much we adore Ron Paul and his message of freedom, prosperity, and peace. That does not mean we can’t be critical of him when circumstances call for it. Anyone who views the list of candidates Ron Paul has endorsed for office should notice something missing. He hasn’t endorsed a single candidate who is running against an incumbent Republican in a primary.

As a Ron Paul supporter of all the liberty minded candidates it greatly concerns me that Ron Paul has not endorsed some candidates who are close to 100% in line with his platform. A perfect example of this is the race in Virginia’s 10th District between Vern McKinley and incumbent Frank Wolf. Vern McKinley is about 90% aligned with Paul on the issues. Frank Wolf is an Iraq war supporter, who voted for both SCHIP and minimum wage increases along with the Democrats. Wolf voted against repealing the DC gun ban. Wolf voted for Bush’s prescription drug plan. Wolf just had a bill that he sponsored signed into law by President Bush that will make property rights advocates vomit.

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The purity of Ron Paul has ruined my opinion of politicians. Frank Wolf, the current incumbent in Virginia’s 10th congressional district is a perfect example. The man has been in office for 28 years. If we could plot his conservative voting record on a graph over those 28 years it would look like this:

Yet for some strange reason many conservative minded voters in his district (my district) think he walks in the shoes of Ronald Reagan. The simple truth is that many voters in this district just aren’t paying attention. A perfect example appeared today in the editorial section of the Great Falls Connection newspaper.

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I cannot be impartial when reviewing Ron Paul’s new book “The Revolution: A Manifesto“. I’ve spent over one year of my life thinking “Ron Paul” in almost every waking moment. More accurately I’ve thought about the potential for true liberty in my lifetime.

As a Libertarian voter since 1996 I’ve grown accustomed to losing elections. For me that did not matter. All that mattered was that I was voting for the person I believed would best uphold and defend the Constitution. Hope for winning was never an option. Then Ron Paul came along.

I knew of Ron Paul and was ecstatic to learn he was going to run for President. I liked that he was going to run as a Republican. That fact alone gave me hope. I didn’t realize just how hopeful I would become. Early in the campaign I did not have much hope. I said that he is the one with the right message but is the wrong messenger. I never expected for him to raise so much money and win the hearts of Constitutionalists everywhere.

In the sound bite world of TV news and politics Ron Paul sometimes comes off as extreme. He normally shines like a founding father in the longer more in depth segments, such as the interview he did on PBS with Bill Moyers. Then came his book. It demonstrates his expansive knowledge of history, the Constitution, the rule of law, and political psychology.

For someone who has studied Ron Paul for a year like a graduate course in liberty, the book started with the same principled Ron Paul. As the book developed it got better and more enjoyable. In the end it left me smiling on the inside, happy to be a member of the rEVOLution.

Many will likely see the book as the end of Ron Paul’s upstart campaign for President. Those of us who have been paying attention know better than that. In fact, the last words in the book demonstrate that this is only the beginning. There are Ron Paul supporters registering as delegates all over the country. The Meetup Groups are still meeting and strategizing. Ron Paul influenced candidates are running in states from Florida to Alaska.

The Republican Party is slowly being transformed back into the party of the “old right” in the name of Ron Paul. No one is aiming to crash the Party. The desire is only to blow out the candles of warmongering neo-conservatism and rekindle the flame of liberty. We owe it to ourselves, our children, and the founders.

Ron Paul’s “Manifesto” manifests uncompromising liberty. It is the bible of human freedom. It is up to each of us individually to spread this message. We must take action now so that one day in the future our children will not dust off a yellowing copy of the book and ask “Why didn’t we listen to this guy?”

We have labeled John McCain has a political opportunist who does not truly represent what the general public thinks of him. Every news item coming out regarding McCain lately only reinforces this view. The latest discusses him dancing himself away from the policies and record of George W. Bush.

This week it was the ill-timed “Mission Accomplished” banner that the White House hung behind Bush five years ago when Bush declared major combat operations over in Iraq.

“I thought it was wrong at the time,” McCain said in Cleveland on Thursday, proceeding to criticize Vice President Dick Cheney’s various comments over the years that the Iraqi insurgency was in its “last throes” with “a few dead-enders” all that was left. (Source: Reuters)

Well that’s certainly easy to say in hindsight after what has become of the Iraq war. Sure he was critical of the Bush administration’s methods, but can anyone find a quote or speech from McCain saying that it was wrong? No one can because it doesn’t exist. In fact, he echoed the President’s words saying “the major conflict is over” as discussed in this Huffington Post article.

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Prior to Ron Paul entering the presidential race I was never deemed a conspiracy nut nor a racist. I was never labeled a “moonbat” nor a “something”-tard. I was just a 36 year old libertarian leaning guy who went to work every day with career ambitions and came home to my two children and wife. Things are a little different now.

Because I chose to support Ron Paul for President through donations, time, and effort I’m now considered by some to be all of the things above. I’m regularly called a “Paultard” by a nice gentleman at work (Thanks Wonkette). I constantly read the “moonbat” and “racist” charge on forums and news/blog comments all over the web. I only take mild offense at these comments. Mostly it just makes me sad. Sad at what America has become. Sad that the general populace devours the media like fish on hooked bait oblivious to the danger that lies within.

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Yes, there is a question about whether Vern McKinley, a Ron Paul Republican will get the endorsement of the NRA. However, the other day a friend of the family told us that they received a political alert mailer that criticized Frank Wolf on several Second Amendment related votes and views and touted Vern McKinley as being the candidate NRA members should vote for in Virginia’s 10th Congressional District. She mentioned the mailer was received about 3 weeks ago and that she did not keep it.

I have no reason to believe this friend would lie. It is not surprising the NRA would do such a thing since Wolf voted against repealing the DC gun ban and McKinley has received a 100% rating from the Virginia Gun Owners Coalition.

However, until it is confirmed the question mark remains.

The latest reports from the Nevada Republican State Convention are disturbing on the face, but should give any liberty loving American a sense of validated unencumbered hope. GOP County, district, and state conventions all over the country are being dominated by Ron Paul supporters. Some say those words, “Ron Paul supporter”, with spite. As if it is a curse of its own. The supporters themselves wear the title as a badge of patriotic honor. In Nevada, the peaceful but determined “Ron Paul Revolution” struck a major blow to the establishment.

The Nevada convention divided the establishment Republicans vs. the New Order Paulites and the establishment cried for mercy. When the process went over the alloted time the Chairman called for a recess and left the room. No national delegates were chosen. The convention will be reconvened at a later date. This angered the many in the Paul camp. Indeed it seems the rules of the convention were bent (or broken) in order for the recess.

Many are angry over the events on both sides, but supporters of Ron Paul should be ecstatic. This is the kind of activism required to coerce the Republican Party back towards its roots. This is not a takeover, it is a take back. Neo-conservatism stole the Republican Party from “Old Right” Ron Paul Constitution oriented principles. The “Old Right” wants its party back and is willing to fight for it.

The decision (perhaps forced by time allotment) by the Nevada Chairman to end the convention before finishing the delegate vote selection is certainly questionable. Perhaps more important are the many patriots in Nevada who turned out for the Convention and involved themselves in the process.

This should make all Paul supporters smile because it further proves the message of freedom still lives in the hearts of some Americans and that someday we may be able to truthfully say that it lives in the hearts of ALL Americans.