When intelligent Libertarians examine Barack Obama they see his high intelligence and intellect as an asset for rational thinking. Combine this with his background as a civil rights lawyer and constitutional law professor who's favorable to voluntary, free community organization, and who as a Senator, took a daring stand against the Iraq War -- it becomes easy to see that Barack Obama is more "libertarian" than not.A general definition of a libertarian is:
"A person who upholds the principles of individual liberty, smaller government, lower taxes and more freedom."
Barack Obama's background favors many principles held by libertarians and Libertarian Party members.
Obama has the "libertarian" advantage over John McCain (and Bob Barr for that matter):
-OBAMA Upholds the principals of individual liberty:
For libertarians, Obama's heart seems to be in the right place overall.Here are some of the principals of individual liberty which Obama supports and John McCain does NOT support:
- a ban on torture
- gay rights
- separation of church and state
- privacy
- free speech
-OBAMA Wants smaller government:
Obama's favorable to withdrawing and ending the Iraq [war] occupation saving taxpayers $100 billion+ in war spending. McCain talks a good game against earmarks and other wasteful spending. But, as Bleeding Heartland points out, the cost of earmarks in 2007 was about $17 billion. The cost of the Iraq war, which McCain wants to both continue and expand, is about $165 billion. And earmarks don't breed new government programs that destroy our civil liberties.
-OBAMA Supports lower taxes:
Advantage, Obama wants to lower taxes for MORE people (about 90-95% of taxpayers) that is everyone making less than $200,000 but raise taxes for those making over $250,000. McCain wants to lower tax rates for the rich even lower than Bush, but not as low for the middle class. Obama's plan offers the best overall tax cut plan. A hybrid plan would be nice, but unless you are in the "millionaire bracket" Obama's tax plan favors more people overall than McCain and one of McCain's top advisers recently said that, if elected, McCain plans to raise taxes too. (Historical Reminder: Republican George Bush Sr. said, "Read my Lips - No New Taxes" but eventually raised taxes after he was elected.)
-OBAMA Wants more personal freedom:
Obama is the only "major" candidate who is:
- pro-choice
- against a ban on flag burning
- and wants to soften drug laws
- and reduce the use of mandatory minimum sentences
1 comment:
Well said!
I've considered myself a fiscal conservative for several decades. However, conservative does not mean simply being self serving. It means being responsible. Running massive deficits is not responsible. I like Obama's plan to pay for tax cuts by increasing taxes on only those who benefit the most from the current policies.
Obama is the smartest guy up there and appears to be the most sincere in terms of putting the good of the country over partisanship. I'm excited about the possibility of having a president that will think first before he acts.
Finally, I'm sick of Republicans running campaigns based on lies and propaganda.
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