LIBERTARIAN PARTY of UTAH - Corruption and Reforms

Libertarian Bob Barr offers voters a real choice

wandrew48 — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 20:22:48 -0400

Break Up the Duopoly: Decentralizing the republic denies power to the political class, yields better diversity

Liberty For Utahns — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 13:55:07 -0400

"So long as libertarians withhold their consent from conservative politicians, those politicians can't win."

--Ryan Sager, columnist and blogger for the New York Post and RealClearPolitics.com

In the American political theory classic, Federalist 10, author James Madison proposed controls on the effects of factions:

If a faction consists of less than a majority, relief is supplied by the republican principle, which enables the majority to defeat its sinister views by regular vote.
...
Either the existence of the same passion or interest in a majority at the same time must be prevented, or the majority, having such coexistent passion or interest, must be rendered, by their number and local situation, unable to concert and carry into effect schemes of oppression.

Unfortunately, the bipartisan scheme of oppression most Americans live under today arose as the result of the single-member district plurality voting systems that underlie almost all elections in the United States, which has yielded two dominant political factions. Combined with the advent of "log rolling" -- a technique through which legislators poorly monitored by voters behave in ways that are costly to citizens -- the two-party system has managed to defeat the U.S. Constitution's checks and balances against "the interested combinations of the majority."

A modern example of the majoritarian erosion of constitutional barriers is the receipt of "significant income" from government programs by more than half of all Americans. In other words, the tax eaters -- both from the political left and political right -- outnumber the taxpayers.

How might those who champion the cause of liberty restore the free America envisioned by its founders; an American society as described in Federalist 51 "broken into so many parts, interests, and classes of citizens, that the rights of individuals, or of the minority, will be in little danger from interested combinations of the majority"?

Jury Service: A lottery that protects liberty

Liberty For Utahns — Fri, 16 Mar 2007 22:13:58 -0400

"Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin to slit throats."
--H.L. Mencken

As the handiwork of the 2007 General Session of the State of Utah's Legislature comes online, Utahns have until April 29th to find the exits, or prepare for the next assault upon civil society by the political class.

One tool used by the members of civil society to protect against institutionalized aggression is the jury, an assembly of citizens selected randomly to resolve disputes.

Is it time for juries to make a comeback in the defense of individual liberty?

Random acts of liberty

The classic film "12 Angry Men" dramatizes how one juror can save the citizen accused from being wrongfully convicted.

And because election-rigging Republicans and Democrats continue to cheat all Americans out of more competitive and representative means to choose lawmakers, randomly-selected jurors are among the few individuals who can stop the enforcement of an unjust law.

The Fully Informed Jury Association is one organization working to raise awareness of a juror's powers.

But what if a juror is unaware of his or her power to evaluate the law?

Abraham Lincoln and Larry H. Miller: Two portraits in corporate welfare

Liberty For Utahns — Sat, 03 Feb 2007 18:00:03 -0500

"Lincoln was a master politician, which means that he was a consummate conniver, manipulator, and liar."
--Murray Rothbard, "Just War"

As the Party of Lincoln's Utah affiliates gather this month to pay tribute to their murdered -- and murderous -- namesake, local corporate statists will genuflect before one of their own who employed political means to enrich himself, Larry H. Miller.

Propagandists reinforce illusions that keep the powerful in power with monuments, holidays, official proclamations, and the "party line."

What are some of the myths perpetuated by the political class that empowered Lincoln, empowers Miller, and will empower future crony capitalists until they are widely debunked by a free people?

Libertarian musings on the Utah Legislature, BCS, and State worship

Liberty For Utahns — Mon, 15 Jan 2007 13:03:55 -0500

Utah's political class convenes to divide up the loot

"Government is a broker in pillage, and every election is sort of an advance auction sale of stolen goods."
--H.L. Mencken, Minority Report: H.L. Mencken's Notebooks

The Utah Legislature's 45-day general session runs from January 15th to February 28th.

Special interests -- which contributed 95.7 percent of all campaign donations made to incoming state legislators -- will be lobbying for a healthy return on their investments in the form of the kind of privileges that can be conferred only by the State of Utah.

Winning against drug abuse without a war on drug users

Liberty For Utahns — Thu, 02 Nov 2006 09:00:00 -0500

Dear Abby:
My father is a businessman who travels.
Each time he returns from one of his trips,
his shoes and trousers
are covered with blood—

but he never forgets to bring me a nice present;
Should I say something?
Signed, America.

--Tony Hoagland, "Hard Rain"

Unless you count yourself among those who own stock in or are employed by the companies that federal, state, and local governments pay to fight the War on Drugs, -- in places such as Afghanistan -- you're a loser in that war.

"The war on drugs is really a war on people -- on anyone who uses or grows or makes or sells a forbidden drug."

--Ethan A. Nadelman, Drug Policy Alliance

What has the rest of America lost, aside from the tens of billions spent at all levels of government to fight the Drug War?

Not so fast, Democrats ... we're Libertarians for a reason

Liberty For Utahns — Tue, 29 Aug 2006 00:15:34 -0400

"Democrats seem to be basically nicer people, but they have demonstrated time and time again that they have the management skills of celery. They're the kind of people who'd stop to help you change a flat, but would somehow manage to set your car on fire. I would be reluctant to entrust them with a Cuisinart, let alone the economy. The Republicans, on the other hand, would know how to fix your tire, but they wouldn't bother to stop because they'd want to be on time for Ugly Pants Night at the country club."
--Dave Barry

My last post mentioned the late Barry Goldwater, and now an interview portrays prominent Democrats speaking favorably about the former liberty-minded U.S. senator and presidential candidate.

So perhaps Democrats are following through with the strategy of courting libertarian voters, while neoconservatives -- who "despise libertarians" -- attempt to "fear and smear" their way into the dark hearts of authoritarian voters.

Indeed, earlier this year such a Democrat contacted me. He incorrectly took my comments during a radio program (MP3 file) (at about 0:40 to 3:28) explaining the LPUtah's spoiler strategy to mean that I was "urging Libertarians in swing districts to vote for Democrats."

Authoritarians behaving badly, losing legitimacy

Liberty For Utahns — Tue, 15 Aug 2006 01:10:52 -0400

In his latest book, Conservatives Without Conscience, former Nixon White House operative John Dean attempts to explain why the Republican party has abandoned the libertarian policies championed by its 1964 presidential nominee, Barry Goldwater.

Can't spoil what's rotten

Liberty For Utahns — Sat, 10 Jun 2006 14:51:08 -0400

I recently participated in a panel discussion among Utah political party leaders on KCPW's "Midday Metro." Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson hosted the program.

During our discussion, Mayor Anderson asked Deanna Taylor of the Desert Greens about the impact Ralph Nader's Green Party presidential bid arguably had on Al Gore's Democratic Party presidential bid. Did Nader spoil the race for Gore and elect George W. Bush?

Many Greens believe that spoiling Democrats like Gore is preferable to electing Democrats like Gore.

War widows and soldiers of fortune

Liberty For Utahns — Thu, 25 May 2006 14:10:16 -0400

Memorial Day 2006 marks the anniversary of Liberty for Utahns!

In a year's time, how have the women and men who are serving, or have served, in the U.S. military fared?

"It's always the war widows who lead the Memorial Day parade."

--Charlie, "The Americanization of Emily"

In May 2005, there were 1666 U.S. fatalities resulting from military operations in Iraq.