Libertarianism
Republicans Blames Poor For Trump's Huge Deficit, Plan To Destroy Social Security, Medicare
Republicans insisted that Trump's $1.5 trillion tax aimed almost entirely at giant corporations and the ultra rich would not only pay for itself, but create a substantial windfall that would benefit all Americans. In fact, the entire reason the GOP has stood behind Trump ...read more
MEMBERS ONLY: Adam Ruins Libertarianism
The Banter Long Read: I've said for years that libertarians are the perfect intersection of arrogance and ignorance. They will smugly declare that the free market can handle everything and that anyone who disagrees is simply too stupid to understand the sheer brilliance of Ayn ...read more
A Short, Sad History Of Soon To Be Irrelevant Paul Ryan
Yes, folks, you read that headline correctly. In a story broken by Axios this morning, Paul Ryan, the 54th Speaker of the House of Representatives, will retire from Congress at the end of this current session, becoming the first sitting Speaker to forgo re-election in an ...read more
It is Gary Johnson's Economic Philosophy That Disqualifies Him From Being President
If anyone took Libertarian candidate for president Gary Johnson seriously, his failure to name a single foreign leader during an interview earlier this week would have almost certainly been the end of campaign. Luckily, no one took Gary Johnson seriously before he made the ...read more
Rand Paul Thinks Being a Libertarian is Like Being a Minority
The poor persecuted son of a white millionaire, Rand Paul knows what it is like to be a minority in America. How so, you might ask? Well, Paul is a libertarian who believes the government shouldn't redistribute wealth, and power should be in the hands of giant corporations who ...read more
Debating Conservatives on the Economy and a Tiny Glimmer of Hope
I had a funny experience after going on the Thom Hartmann's show 'The Big Picture' last night, and one that made me cautiously optimistic for the future of America. I went on the show to discuss Illinois Gov Bruce Rauner's declaration of war on state unions and Bernie Sander's ...read more
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From 9/11 To Common Core To Benghazi: Why Right-Wingers Love A Good Conspiracy Theory
No single ideology holds a monopoly on wacky beliefs, unless you count ‘crazy’ as an ideology. But when it comes to the subset of wacky beliefs commonly known as anti-government conspiracy theories, it’s no accident that the American right embraces them with much greater ...read more
Millennial Alert: Former Obama Fan Girl Turns Ron Paul Devotee
"I hated you [President Obama] more than I hated George Bush because I felt personally betrayed by all of the lies that you told. But really I should thank you now because a few years out from realizing what a scam you were, I understand that it's not just you....it is the ...read more
'The Wire' Creator David Simon on Libertarianism: "Astonishing" That it is Taken Seriously
David Simon, Creator of 'The Wire' weighs in on the absurdity of Libertarianism: Ultimately we abandoned that [the idea that unions had a place in an economy] and believed in the idea of trickle-down and the idea of the market economy and the market knows best, to the point ...read more
How Drudge, Assange, Greenwald and the Pauls Are Unifying Under a Libertarian Banner
Tuesday afternoon, Matt Drudge, the notorious paleoconservative fire-eater and former mentor to Andrew Breitbart, tweeted, "It's now Authoritarian vs. Libertarian. Since Democrats vs. Republicans has been obliterated, no real difference between parties..." He rapidly followed it ...read more
Climate-Denying Libertarianism
By Robert Parry An inconvenient truth for “libertarians” is that their ideology of a minimalist U.S. government grew out of the South’s institution of human bondage, i.e. the contractual right of a white person to own a black person, and from the desire of slaveholders to keep ...read more
The Marriage of Libertarians and Racists
By Robert Parry In the U.S. news media, there is often a distinction made between the racist Right, which emerged from the struggle to maintain slavery and segregation, and the “small-government” Right, which supposedly represents a respectable conservatism focused on the ...read more
Ron Paul’s Appalling World View
Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, answering questions while campaigning in New Hampshire in 2008. (Photo credit: Bbsrock) By Robert Parry: Rep. Ron Paul, an icon to the libertarian Right and to some on the anti-war Left, gave a farewell address to Congress that expressed his ...read more
What Would a Tea Party Utopia Actually Look Like?
By Ben Cohen: Those who define themselves as Libertarians, Tea Partiers, and Free Market Capitalists have one primary objective: To get rid of government and let markets reign supreme. Unfortunately, none of them seem to have thought through the consequences of a country with ...read more
Matt Taibbi vs Megan McArdle
Image via Wikipedia Video heavy day today, but this is definitely worth watching. While I try to remain objective about opposing arguments regarding the financial meltdown, it is difficult to do so when the evidence weighs heavily on one side. Libertarian Atlantic blogger Megan ...read more