tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26542777.post116821041576863316..comments2023-10-26T01:59:40.483-07:00Comments on The Dividist Papers: Carnival of Divided Government NONUS - Broken Resolution Editionmwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11181222537529037359noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26542777.post-1172035849783118732007-02-20T21:30:00.000-08:002007-02-20T21:30:00.000-08:00"With divided government we will never make any pr...<I>"With divided government we will never make any progress for the libertarian movement." - ED</I><BR/><BR/>Presumably you are advocating libertarian fealty to the Republican party. Nonsense. That is the absolutely wrong thing to do on either the basis of advancing limited government principles and/or libertarian political clout. Supporting the documented benefits of divided government by voting Democratic in the 2006 election, was not the same as "finding a home" in the Democratic party. It was simply tactical support to obtain an immediate and desirable result: Fiscal restraint and better federal governance through the mechanism of divided government. We are already seeing the benefits of divided government early in 2007. To continue to support big spending, big deficit, big government Republican single party control of the Federal Government in the face of what has actually transpired over the last six years would've been complete folly. <BR/><BR/>In fact, since we did achieve the result of divided government through the support of Democratic candidates in 2006, the supporters of limited government now have a strong foundation for supporting the Republican presidential candidate in 2008, with the enhanced hope that the next Republican President will actually "walk the walk".<BR/><BR/>For limited government advocates, Republican vs. Democrat is a false choice. <B>The real choice is Divided Government vs. Single Party control.</B><BR/><BR/>Divided Government is documented by <A HREF="http://westanddivided.blogspot.com/2006/04/thesis-divided-government-is-better_27.html" REL="nofollow"> Niskanen et.al.</A> to work in a practical real-world manner to restrain the growth of the state. As a voting strategy it can be implemented immediately. <BR/><BR/>Whatever the percentage of the electorate that libertarians represent, whether it is 9% or 20%, if they vote as a block for Divided Government, they immediately become the brokers of an evenly split partisan electorate. They arguably become the single most most potent voting block in the country, specifically because they are willing to vote either Democratic or Republican as a block. <B>Specifically because they are not fused to one major party or the other.</B><BR/><BR/>This means, libertarians must ignore what the politicians say and look at what the government actually does (Niskanen again). It means ignoring spurious invitations to fuse with with either "big tent" party that no longer stands for anything meaningful. It meant voting straight Democratic in 2006, and it means voting Republican for President in 2008. It means the difference between libertarians being a completely impotent political force, and libertarians having the biggest swinging political "hammer" in town.<BR/><BR/>That said, I'm good with Giuliani in 2008. He is my third Republican choice for president behind Hagel and Paul. He'd be number 1 if he was not so wrong on the Iraq war in 2003 and an apologist for this administrations failed war strategies.mwhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11181222537529037359noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26542777.post-1168339072722021652007-01-09T02:37:00.000-08:002007-01-09T02:37:00.000-08:00With divided government we will never make any pro...With divided government we will never make any progress for the libertarian movement. Libertarian Republican Congressman will be blocked from passing any legislation to cut back government. We need to build the Libertarian Republican movement and win back the Congress for the GOP for 2008. Maybe libertarian-leaning Giuliani will be President by then?<BR/><BR/>Eric Dondero, CEO<BR/>MainstreamLibertarian.comAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com