Saturday, December 8, 2012

Justin Amash Willing to Talk Taxes

So-called libertarian Justin Amash, who gets hyped from time-to-time in the comments sections here at EPJ, was on CNN yesterday and said he is willing to talk about taxes. See the 3:23 mark in the clip below. The context of his comment is clear. He wants to "talk taxes" to raise taxes. Some libertarian.






By the way, I occasionally get emails from readers suggesting that I interview Amash on the Robert Wenzel Show. I recently asked executive producer of the show, Chris Rossini to contact Amash's office. This is what Chris emailed to me.


On Fri, Dec 7, 2012 at 1:04 PM, Chris Rossini wrote: 
 Even Krugman's people gave me more courtesy. 
I sent a my usual (and courteous) invitation. Here's the response I got.

Rep. Amash isn’t available.
 
Will
For the record, outside of Krugman, the only invitations to come on the show that have been turned down come from Ann Coulter, Amash and Rand Paul? What are they afraid of? Can't they defend their own positions?

I have had on the show one of Joe Biden's top insider money raisers. On the show coming up this week, my guest is Oliver Stone, at one point early on in the show I asked him if his 9-11 movie "cock blocked" others from perhaps doing more investigative type JFK films about 9-11. Both these men answered tough questioning by stating their positions. It's not that hard, I give guests time to talk. What's up with Amash and Rand aren't they comfortable defending their positions?

24 comments:

  1. Bob, don't you understand? You have to build coalitions with the enemy to get things done! Who cares if this is the brand of politics that undid the Republic. Principle gets you nowhere! Look at Ron Paul. He never passed anything. Forget that he lit fires in the minds of millions; compromise and ad hoc principles are the way to go!

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    1. What are you talking about? Get things done? This must be sarcasm.

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  2. Until he casts a vote, who cares?

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  3. The different between a talking libertarian and a doing libertarian is Bob. And they ask themselves why the Libertarian Party hasn't gone anywhere...that's because they're still talking...

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  4. Has Amash taken a vote on taxes that offends you, Wenzel? You always lambast people for talking a big game, but failing to back it up with action. Here we have just the opposite: Amash is trying to play nice, but he has taken no action, nor made a vote that would raise taxes.

    And really, you actually wonder why he wouldn't want to come on your show? "Let's see . . . I'll talk about what a traitorous, libertarian sellout that Amash kid is, then I'll invite him on my show! Wah, wait, he doesn't want to come on? Why not?! See, I told you he was a sellout!"

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  5. Probably because you can be rude at times to your guests, and there's also very little upside for them in coming on.

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    1. Well, if I'm rude to him, wouldn't listeners recognize that and it would be a plus for him. Why is it only so-called limited government-types have a problem with my "rudeness"? I asked Oliver Stone if he was a truth "cock-blocker" with his 9-11 film. He answered the question and moved on.

      Finally, there would be tremendous upside. I give my guests the opportunity to talk, why wouldn't he want to explain his position against some of the toughest questioning he is likely to face? Is he not confident in his ability to answer the questions? Is he afraid of questions I might ask?

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    2. Stick to your guns Robert. We need people who don't stand for the BS that the establishment spews. I will admit there are times I feel like you could treat the guest in a different way (giving them enough "intellectual rope" to hang themselves with) but I'd much rather have a "too aggressive RW" than a "not aggressive enough RW". There are very few out there who ask the tough questions and we (the Ron Paul movement) can't afford to spare even one right now.

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    3. maybe he's afraid voters will frown on his associating with people who think its some kind of injustice that a South Korean rapper who called for the deaths of American citizens might not be able to perform for the president

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    4. Well anonymous if he's afraid of that he should never have gone into politics.

      Damn, how Ron Paul could actually stand hanging around those parasites in The Imperial City I'll never know.

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    5. Until he casts a vote on higher taxes, the point is moot

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  6. If you think RW is going to toss soft balls to these guys you need to stop coming to this site.

    BTW, Robert, have your boy Rossini get Weisenthal on the show. Now that is something I would almost pay to see (almost).

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  7. Amash gets it, he will leverage power to maximize liberty.

    If the EPJ did not exist, it would have to be invented by the IRS.

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  8. I am glad Wenzel has published this latest post bc it surprises me very much. Amash has had a great voting record in the past with one exception that I know of, so him even talking like this is surprising. To his credit, Amash endorsed Ron Paul and did not endorse Romney, so he isn't exactly like Rand. But I agree, this is horrible to even say this. Too bad bc I was hoping Amash would be different.

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  9. Wenzel,

    You were rude to Gary Johnson. I enjoy the blog and understand you wanted to dig his brain or whatever, but being tough or hard on a guest is one thing and being rude is one. You were the latter.

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    1. Was it rude to find out Gary Johnson is a liar by claiming he read Rothbard when he didn't?

      Why should anyone be courteous to someone that claims to be a libertarian, but sees no problem with lying to a libertarian host?

      If he can lie about something relatively trivial, imagine what more important stuff he would be willing to lie about.

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    2. I think he lied because he felt embarrassed rather than out of malice.

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  10. I love EPJ blog but I would not come on the show if I were him either. Amash probably does not want to be bothered. This guy is taking blows to the head for liberty and he says one or two thing you don't like and he has to get grated like a piece of Wisconsin cheese. Amash hasn't even voted for anything yet and he is already a "so-called limited gov't type" to you. Have you seen this guy's voting record and transparency? Do you have any doubt that if the entire Congress were entirely filled with people like Amash we would have 90% of what you would argue in favor of? Not hatin' but it is just not the approach I would take with trying to improve things.

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  11. I disagree that he meant that he wanted to talk about raising taxes. This needs to be viewed in the context of his voting record. He also said that he wanted to talk about spending but I am sure increased spending isn't what he wanted either. You are reading that into his comments which is a little bit of a stretch. Do you think that given this guy's voting record we could give this him a little bit of a benefit of the doubt before we jump all over him for something we are inferring in his comments?

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  12. It amazes me that people complain that you are too hard on these guys. I don't understand what their problem could possibly be. Will Wenzel questioning their credibility on how libertarian they are make them less libertarian? If so, then they weren't libertarian to begin with. I want every single libertarian to hold my feet to the fire. If I hold any beliefs that violates the NAP, I want them to grill me on that view. The whole reason I became a libertarian from a liberal is because people challenged my views. Anyone who is scared of having their views held up to scrutiny has something to hide. Only cowards and tyrants don't like to have their views scrutinised.

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    1. It's because rather than being independent minded libertarians, they still have an invisible "umbilical cord" to politician and politics, that makes it impossible for them to accept criticism to their 'heroes'. They still hold people to be more important than principles. And they still have some ingrained trust of politicians as well as the system.

      That's why they'll continue to be dupes. Anything that questions their baseless faith will result in them lashing out to protect their prophets.

      The simple fact is this: if Justin Amash simply isn't willing to agree under any condition to raise taxes, what exactly is he willing to "talk" about? This is the simple logic they refuse to understand. Being willing to talk equals being willing to compromise. Otherwise there is no reason to talk, period.

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  13. Good job, Mr. Wenzel! Everyday you manage to identify a new enemy to the Liberty Movement and sniff out their every impurity.

    Frankly, I consider you to be the Bill O'Reilly of the Liberty Movement. Or a better historical example would be Jean-Paul Marat and his fixation on denouncing "enemies of the Revolution." Of course Justin Amash and Rand Paul don't want to come on your show, because they don't want to sit through an obnoxious 20 minute lecture about how they are "faux libertarians." I wouldn't either. Your interviews are often void of courtesy and respect.

    That said, I am happy you are playing for our team. You are sharp, passionate, and always insightful. I'm glad you posted this video and you hold all public figures accountable for their words and deeds; this is a useful function. But I will echo the other commenters and say that you can tone down the sensational lambasting (even if I understand your desire to drive traffic to the site, which I'm sure you figured out a while ago).

    Did you see what I just did there? I didn't have to launch a hysterical critique of your approach, I applaud you where you get it right and air my grievances where you get it wrong.

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  14. Robert, you’re right to raise concerns over that ambiguous comment by Amash, it could mean raising taxes or tweaking the tax system. If it is the latter as I suspect, you’ve launched a misguided attack on him. We should just call him out for clarification instead of assuming our guess is correct. None other than Ron Paul is hyping Amash, if anyone is the next RP it’s Justin and not Rand. Amash is the only one up there with a picture of Rothbard hanging in his office, to my knowledge.

    Reforming the tax system may be a waste of time but it’s not really anti-libertarian.

    Disappointed he won’t go on your show. Wait 6 months and see if he is available then. BTW, looking forward to you interviewing Ron Paul and Bob Murphy.

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