Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Gary Johnson Announces Libertarian Bid

Former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson has announced his bid to become the presidential nominee of the Libertarian Party.

Johnson lists his agenda as follows:
- I want to end deficit spending and cut federal spending by 43%.

- I want to enact the Fair Tax to stimulate real economic growth and jobs.

- I want to end the manipulation of our money by the Federal Reserve.

- I support the Second Amendment and oppose gun control.

- I oppose expensive foreign wars in places like Libya and Afghanistan.

- I support a woman's right to choose.

- I support marriage equality for gay Americans as required by the Constitution.

- I support legalization of marijuana, which will save us billions and do no harm.

- I support returning strict adherence to Constitutional principles to our government.
It does seem a bit odd that a "Libertarian candidate" would have a more establishment, interventionist agenda than Ron Paul, who is running on the Republican Party ticket, but that is what you get from Johnson.

Whereas Ron Paul calls for the abolition of the IRS, Johnson merely calls for a "Fair Tax", which is simply moving taxes around on the board.

Whereas Ron Paul wants to abolish the Fed, Johnson merely wants to end Fed manipulation of money, whatever that means.

Whereas Ron Paul is in favor of ending the drug war in its entirety, Johnson merely wants to legalize marijuana, failing to go as far as Ron Paul, who would also be in favor of legalizing heroin, cocaine and any other drugs.

Bottom line, Gary Johnson is Ron Paul lite. Why would anyone vote for Gary Johnson, when you have the real thing, without any hedging, in Ron Paul?

11 comments:

  1. I wonder if the establishment will actually back Johnson in an effort to split the vote should Paul win the nomination.

    ReplyDelete
  2. While Garry Johnson wants to have completely open boarders, Ron Paul merely likes to vote for 700 mile long fences.

    I'd argue Johnson's stand on immigration is a ton more freedom producing than those other things you listed.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Couldn't agree more, Bob. I really don't understand why Johnson is running this time around. He should drop out and give his campaign money to Paul, haha.

    ReplyDelete
  4. If the November 2012 lever choices are Obama/Romney/Johnson, then which one would you pull ?

    ReplyDelete
  5. One good reason to support Johnson is the possibility that Paul's campaign may not make it to the ballot in November 2012. Johnson would be a lot better than the elephant and donkey we will probably have as options then.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Suppose Ron Paul doesn't make it on the November ballot (many possible reasons come to mind). Johnson would be a welcome alternative to the elephant and donkey we will probably have.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I love how you spelled out Johnson's platform and listed many examples (in this post and others) of how he pales in comparison to Ron Paul, and yet "Anonymous (11:44am)" mentions one issue in which he disagrees with Paul. This someone how makes Johnson, a candidate of whom he can't even spell his first name correctly, the candidate of "more freedom". Deep down I wonder if Americans truly want to be free! It's Ron Paul or bust, folks!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Johnson is a little bit less bad than the standard R's and D's, but he isn't qualitatively different enough to induce me to participate in November if Ron Paul isn't on the ballot.

    The FairTax is a sham. The Drug War in its entirety is a monster which would consume the country even without the foreign wars. Interventionism isn't something you can do "a little bit" in the economy OR in foreign affairs.

    The answer isn't via politics, even Ron Paul. The answer is getting the population to understand liberty, and that is what Ron Paul is doing. To get too wrapped up in the ins and outs of the political process is to confuse the means with the ends.

    ReplyDelete
  9. The Constitution talks about marriage? Didn't know that!

    ReplyDelete
  10. You fail to mention Gary Johnson would submit a balanced budget for 2013, and would veto anything that isn't balanced. We know he wouldn't do it by raising taxes, since he never signed a tax increase and vetoed 750 bills. Ron Paul is only proposing cutting $1 trillion, which would mean Ron Paul would for the first time support an unbalanced budget.

    Gary has stated numerous times he supports abolishing the Fed and the IRS.

    ReplyDelete