Should libertarians fear the Dem nominee? asks Chapman at Reason. He begins:
There are no disciples of small government in the Democratic Party, and Barack Obama fits right in. His economic program is based on the assumption that the economy is to the president what a marionette is to a puppeteer, requiring his direction and responding to his every wish.
Anyone partial to free markets, restrained government, fiscal discipline and light taxation approaches a Democratic nominee's economic platform with trepidation, expecting one fright after another. Obama does not disappoint.
Read the whole thing. Of course, Repubs are only marginally better because people in government tend to become enamored of - and dependent upon - the power. To vote as a statist, you must believe in the supreme wisdom of the State and its (our) employees. Few Americans believe that.
In the end, the dividing line is between those who trust in the power and wisdom of The State vs. those who have faith in the wisdom and potential of the individual. I happen to think that The State is an ass, and foolish when it is not self-interested. No Pasaran has a bit on Statism.
These are the things folks need to be considering in these elections. Americans are ambivalent about government.
