nsarwark

I'm obviously not /u/GovGaryJohnson, but look for a Libertarian Party press release on kratom very soon.

If "taxation is theft", who pays for public services like emergency healthcare, mental healthcare, housing for the homeless, roads, police, public parks, and fire departments?

Objection, compound question.

Taxation is theft. What I think you're asking is, how do we pay for things that people want without taking the money as taxes?

If things are something people actually want, they will pay for them. Taxation is a way of getting people to pay for things that they don't want, but you are sure they ought to want and thus ought to pay for.

Taxes didn't fund the "cajun navy" that rescued people from the flooding in Baton Rouge when government service went down. When I worked as a public defender, I worked with many organizations that housed the homeless and assisted the mentally ill. Most of those were set up as charitable organizations and successfully fund-raised to support their good works.

I will concede that it's easier to take people's money to fund the things you want to do than to convince them that they should voluntarily give it to you. Easy doesn't make it right.

How does libertarianism stop corporations or people from polluting the environment, and not just through literal dumping, but things like building a tower that significantly lowers the property value for dozens of others by blocking a key sight line, or employing a huge workforce but having no parking? Basically, what's libertarianism's answers to the Tragedy of the Commons?

One of the downsides of giving a regulatory agency a monopoly on enforcement actions for things like pollution (EPA) or securities fraud (SEC) is that it prevents the people actually harmed by the bad actor from collecting for their damages. When the EPA fines a polluter, the money goes into the government coffers, not to the damaged parties. When the SEC fines a big bank, most of the fine goes into the government coffers, not to the damaged party.

When bad actors act in a marketplace, customers can withdraw their business and boycott. Boycotts got the Indiana RFRA repealed where politicians couldn't. Bad press can kill a company much more swiftly and effectively than government action, especially when the regulatory agencies are run by a rotating cast of characters from the industries being regulated.

Look at the bios for the heads of the SEC or the Mine Safety and Health Administration. It's industry guys retiring to play enforcer over their buddies back at the bank or the mine company. Regulatory capture should scare you a lot more than the tragedy of the commons.

For those who don't know, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America has decided not to invite the Presidential candidate most popular with veterans to their Commander in Chief forum on September 7th. This has angered may OIF/OEF vets who feel their voice is being stifled by an organization that purportedly stands for them.

I wrote an open letter to IAVA and many people have visited the IAVA Facebook page to share their opinions and review their service. ;)

Our lawyers may be sending them some advice about the difference between nonpartisan and bipartisan and what it does to your tax exemption when you confuse the two...

Advertising, including TV, radio, Internet, and billboards. Word of mouth, rallies, earned media coverage. Signs, t-shirts, bumper stickers.

The Libertarian Party has some great door hangers you can pass out in your neighborhood to tell your neighbors about who Gary Johnson is.

I know that the Libertarian Party is against having the federal government involved in education, and I understand why, but I have yet to really see how the Libertarian Party would provide education for all children. I know that if I did not have public education (for better or worse), I would have no education at all. How would the Party fill that gap for those who would not have the funds to pay for their child's education?

Thank you for the question. Elementary through high school education will probably continue to be locally provided for the foreseeable future. In some states (like Maryland where I used to live), there is a guarantee in the state constitution of free government provided education. When it's at the state level, at least the decision is closer to the voters and people can move to states that have different rules.

My kids go to a government school here in Phoenix, but we also have a hybrid system here with open enrollment in the district and charter schools and voucher programs. It's not a perfect system, but we're engaged and people are trying.

When I went to a private religious school as a child, members of the community and the more well off families would fund scholarships for kids (like myself) whose parents couldn't afford full tuition. I believe that people are fundamentally good and want to help other people.

Where I think we can agree is that the Federal government is not adding value to the actual provision of education to children. They take tax dollars for a bureaucracy, provide mandates from Washington, and generally make things worse.

My second question has to do with inclusion. The Libertarian Party is made up primarily of straight, white men. How does the Libertarian Party plan to bring in more minorities (racial, sexual, etc.) and women? Is this even a goal of the Party?

We're trying to be more welcoming and I'm seeing a lot more diversity than we had when I first got involved in the party. If you go look at our LNC Leadership page it's still pretty white, but there are more women, young people, and people of color than there used to be.

There are no barriers to leadership in the Libertarian Party. If you are willing to step up and do the work of fighting for freedom, we welcome you with open arms. That's why the popularity of Gary Johnson is such a thorn in the side of the alt-right. We reject their racism and bigotry, we just want freedom.