Frank Reichert <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in part: >>>Where, other than >>>Ron Paul do we find a viable Libertarian presence in the US >>>Congress today?
>> Dana Rohrabacher & Jeff Flake. Nowadays they're not "movement" types who >> rouse the rabble of libertarians, but they're EFFECTIVE. They quietly move >> the GOP in Congress in a more libertarian direction, and they help move >> marginal votes. >Admittedly, I don't know these people. That's part of the point. Dana Rohrabacher goes back to the 1960s in the libertarian movement, thru the split of YAF and the formation of the Radical Libertarian Alliance. Later he realized that he could get elected to Congress as a Republican and remain effective there by acting like a legislator, rather than a radical known mostly to other radicals. Jeff Flake came along much more recently, and quickly went thru the same realization. >Specifically however, I would like to know, >on real key issues, how they have made a difference towards a >more Libertarian approach or direction. First, by being 2 votes in Congress and in committee on issues that pass or fail closely. (You can look up their ratings by such bodies as the National Taxpayers Union.) Admittedly, there are few floor votes that pass or fail by 2 votes (I'm not counting Ron Paul's, because we're taking him for granted.), and Jeff Flake doesn't yet have many important committee posts. Second, by logrolling -- trading votes on issues where the votes they're trading away are either of marginal interest or nothing either way in terms of liberty, while the vote they're gaining is of greater importance to us. Ron Paul is much less effective because nobody thinks he can be swayed on any votes, so nobody has an incentive to gain his favor. Third, by serving as examples that persons who act in favor of freedom but who don't make a big tsimmes of it are electable, and re-electable, to the US House of Reps. They don't need the "movement" connections. >Maybe I've become too much of an ideologue to make a difference >anymore in the scope of things. That may be the problem. If everybody else thinks you have your mind made up and that you must have everything your way or nothing, they have no reason to work with you, unless they're exactly the same way. In Your Sly Tribe, Robert _______________________________________________ Libnw mailing list Libnw@immosys.com List info and subscriber options: http://immosys.com/mailman/listinfo/libnw Archives: http://immosys.com/mailman//pipermail/libnw
