I wrote that Sen. Murkowski's opportunity challenges the LP. Now the LP should step up to the plate and throw down a challenge to her. by Bradley Jansen
(libertarian)
Monday, September 13, 2010
I wrote in my last column here that the Libertarian Party may have an opportunity to get a sitting US Senator to switch party affiliations to the LP and then possibly get re-elected on the LP line.
Explaining that she has a mixed voting record, I focused on my strongest impression of her–fighting the Republican establishment over the extension of the USA PATRIOT Act (she wasn't in the senate when it was passed the first time and when we authorized the use of military force in Iraq and Afghanistan).
Gun Rights
Of course, some issues areas don't need any changes. During her tenure as a U.S. Senator, she consistently worked to protect Second Amendment rights from encroachment by the government. Murkowski joined a bipartisan group of 50+ Senators to file friend-of-the-court briefs for the Heller and McDonald cases that supported challenges to the nonsensical firearm regulations of Washington D.C. and Chicago respectively.
Based in part on their likely interpretations of the Second Amendment, she voted against confirming U.S. Supreme Court justice nominees Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan. She worked to eliminate the gun ban in National Parks and Wildlife Refuges. She has supported legislation to require concealed carry reciprocity between states. She helped end the so-called assault weapons ban and opposes reinstating it. She opposes proposals to register all firearms, or stamp all ammunition. Based on this record, she earned an "A" rating from the National Rifle Association and an endorsement from NRA chairman Chris Cox.
Privacy, Civil Liberties and Good Government
Murkowski's record generally has been one of a concern to protect privacy and civil liberties as well as standing firm for government oversight and accountability. The current economic climate caused in large part by an over-reaching government and out of control spending should cause us to focus more strongly on rooting out waste, fraud and abuse in government programs. The principles of good government demand that programs that are not achieving their goals should be changed–or eliminated. The LP should hold her to that approach.
Let's take that approach and look at a few other issues:
The Federal Reserve System and the Bailouts
Knowing what she knows now, she says she regrets voting for TARP. Murkowski voted against any subsequent "bailouts" and stimulus packages, as well as to end the TARP program.
She supported Ron Paul's audit of the Federal Reserve, which should reveal any structural changes that need to be made and will also provide a forum and a basis to begin a meaningful discussion for Americans to focus on this issue.
The LP should demand that Murkowski also support more Federal Reserve openness and compliance with FOIA requests and Ron Paul's effort to audit our gold reserves. Ideally the LP would require that she consider practical and more far reaching reforms of the Federal Reserve System.
On a personal note, I hope LP would get her to adopt my practical step of "restituting" our Bretton Woods gold back from the International Monetary Fund gold at (SDR35), convert to the gold to gold bonds (Greenspan's idea), and put those bonds in the Social Security Trust Fund.
The Federal Deficit and Spending for Alaska
It is clear that strong action will need to be taken to reduce the debts our nation is piling up at an alarming rate. The LP should demand her support for lowering and eliminating the deficit by reducing wasteful spending rather than by raising taxes on hardworking Americans.
Given her record fighting for appropriations for Alaska, I'm not sure her position is any different than libertarian Republican Ron Paul who said "[An earmark] is like a tax credit. And I vote for all tax credits, no matter how silly they might seem. If I can give you any of you of your money back, I vote for it. So, if I can give my district any money back, I encourage that."
The War on Drugs
Since President Nixon launched the war on drugs, there has been disappointingly little change at a high cost–both economically and to our privacy. Our generation cannot afford to give a free pass to waste, fraud and abuse in drug war spending.
Given the inter-relationship of the issues of drugs, narco-financing of terrorism, and the violent drug cartels threatening our border security, the LP needs to get the senator to focus federal drug war resources on those federal responsibilities rather than arresting chemotherapy patients. Of course, there would be a benefit to giving more power to the states to set the drug laws according to their own standards, circumstances, and enforcement systems.
We need to recognize substance abuse of alcohol and other drugs as more of a health care issue than a law enforcement one. Additionally, the LP needs to demand that the senator oppose using drug war pretexts to infringe on the Second Amendment and work with Sen. Grassley on his concern about the drug war's corrupting influence on law enforcement. Before the war on terror, the war on drugs was the greatest justification to undermine our privacy and civil liberties.
In Conclusion
The LP has an opportunity here. Imagine a newly-liberated US Senator freed from the pressure and commitments of the current Republican leadership!
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