“They did. They gave us five tax proposals — plus one change to the criminal code — that every one of them could support wholeheartedly, from left to right.”

What were they?

1. Eliminate the mortgage tax deduction
2. End tax deductions for health-care
3. Eliminate the corporate income tax
4. Eliminate all income and payroll taxes
5. Drop the income tax, tax consumption
6. Legalize marijuana

Libertarians are the only party dedicated to eliminating income taxes and ending costly drug prohibition, and many Libertarian officeholders

In today’s poetic justice news, Star Wars creator George Lucas is planning to take revenge on his meddlesome Marin Valley neighbors. For years, he’s been trying to get permission to build a new studio in Marin County. But his neighbors wouldn’t budge, insisting that it was a place for homes, not businesses. So now Lucas is pulling out of the area, and is planning to throw some sand in the faces of his former adversaries: “We hope we will be able to find a developer who will be interested in low income housing since it is scarce in Marin.” The New York Times describes the neighbors reaction:

“It’s inciting class warfare,” said Carolyn Lenert, head of the North San Rafael Coalition of Residents.

Mr. Lucas said in an e-mail that he only wanted “to do something good for Marin,” waving away accusations of ulterior motives.

“I’ve been surprised to see some people characterize this as vindictive,” he said, adding that there was a “real need” for affordable housing here.

This story underscores just how economically segregated American society has become in the 85 years since the Supreme Court gave the green light to intrusive housing regulations. People get to veto their neighbors’ land use decisions, and they’ve used that power to effectively prohibit anyone poorer than themselves from living in their neighborhoods. When combined with geographically-based schooling, the result is to concentrate poverty and thereby exacerbate and perpetuate inequality…

Read the rest at http://www.forbes.com/sites/timothylee/2012/05/22/how-strong-property-rights-promote-social-equality/.

Mitt Romney has spent months selling himself to the Republican base. Now, Barack Obama is working overtime trying to re-sell himself to his base of voters age 18-29.Team Obama knows that hard times and the growing libertarian leanings of young voters will make them a more difficult target than four years ago…

…Very few of Obama’s young supporters from 2008 are likely defect to Romney. Some may not vote, and I see the possibility of others abandoning both parties and instead choosing the Libertarian candidate…

…Last week, Harvard’s Institute of Politics released an online study of more than 3,000 U.S. adults ages 18-29. This exhaustive look at the policy priorities of First Globals finds the economy and jobs are far and away their highest concern. That data point and others show why support for Obama has slipped since 2008. They favor Obama over Romney, 43%-26%. There is an 11-point difference in Obama’s margin between those 25-29 (23 points) and those 18-24 (12 points.) Congressional Democrats have a higher approval than Republicans, 39%-25%.

However, on some key issues, majorities of First Globals are not doctrinaire liberals. The poll found less than majorities agree with liberals on   some of their most cherished beliefs.  For example: 44% agree health insurance is a right government should provide for those who can’t afford it, 43% agree with the same statement about food and shelter, 37% agree government should spend more to reduce poverty, 20% agree government spending is an effective way to economic growth and 28% agree government should do more to curb climate change even at the expense of economic growth. (That last number has to hurt environmentalists.)

Lest Republicans get too giddy at those findings, they should also know less than majorities agree with these conservative and neo-con ideals: 22% agree it’s sometimes necessary to attack potentially hostile countries rather than waiting until we are attacked, 23% are willing to give up some personal freedoms for the sake of national security, 39% agree cutting taxes is an effective route to economic growth, 24% agree we should eliminate all barriers to trade, 25% agree recent immigration has done more harm than good, 21% agree religious values should play an important role in government and 25% agree homosexuality is morally wrong.

These attitudes betraying both the traditional left and right fall generally within the bounds of libertarianism. Live and let live.  Individual responsibility is as important as collective responsibility. Avoid military interventions. Distrust both government and corporations. Protect civil liberties.

1: The Individual Mandate Violates the Original Meaning of the Constitution

2. The Individual Mandate Rests on an Unbounded and Unprincipled Assertion of Federal Power

3. The Individual Mandate Cannot Be Justified Under Existing Supreme Court Precedent

4. The Individual Mandate Threatens the Foundations of Contract Law

…Among libertarians, even among those libertarians concerned with spreading a love and understanding of liberty, there are differences of opinion as to which methods work. Some are still convinced they can “vote themselves free”, while others see no evidence of this. Some prefer “preaching to the choir,” while others enjoy stepping into the lions’ den to try to show fans of coercion-based statutory “law” the superiority of voluntary action. Some think that it is a waste of time doing anything other than just living their life as they see fit to the best of their ability, and never try to help those who don’t want to be helped. “Just let the wagon go into the ravine if those on board insist on staying the course.”

Personally, I think there is a place for all those strategies, and it will take a little of all the above to once more make the world excited, and safe, for liberty. I’m not going to be too hard on anyone who is working toward the same goal.

Remy weeps for the soon-to-be-extinct incandescent light bulb, in this music video recorded for libertarian ReasonTV.

“SOPA, or the Stop Online Piracy Act, is the House’s attempt to severely censor the internet ostensibly in order to clamp down on piracy. The companion bill in the Senate is the Protect IP Act. The two bills create an armada of new regulations that help big corporations and hurt regular people, start-ups, and clamp down on innovation.”

And as with most bad ideas, both Republicans and Democrats are teaming up to push Big Government, with libertarians fighting back.

“In the Senate, Democratic senator Patrick Leahy is leading the push to pass Protect IP. In the House, Republican congressman Lamar Smith is leading the charge for SOPA,” writes Kain.

“…I’ve written about this before, but I think we need a civil liberties caucus. Who cares about right or left? Progressive vs. libertarian? What I want – what I care about – are elected officials who want to stop madness like SOPA, the Patriot Act, and TSA abuses (not to mention things like assassination of US citizens and nation-building.)”

E.D., you have that civil liberties caucus. It’s the Libertarian Party and the LNCC.

The only way to stop attacks on citizens like these is to vote Libertarian.

“Sebelius did leave open the door to the possibility, perhaps sometime in the future, of some government involvement with the food industry in determining what healthy eating is,” Human Events’ John Gizzi reports.

“I think this [sic] is some space,” the HHS secretary said, “that is going to continue to have a robust conversation, because, again, it has a lot to do with underlying health costs and overall health of our nation.”

Under the Obama proposal, food companies would either “voluntarily agree” to remove sugar, sodium and fats from your food, or federal regulators wouldoutlaw their advertising, the Federal Trade Commission, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Department of Agriculture propose.

“The most disturbing aspect of this interagency working group is, after it imposes multibillions of dollars in restrictions on the food industry, there is no evidence of any impact on the scourge of childhood obesity,” said Dan Jaffe, executive vice president of the Association of National Advertisers, according to Human Events.

Control what you eat from Washington, D.C., or criminalize its advertising?

Isn’t it time we elected Libertarians?

Source: HumanEvents