mike gravel NOW ON CNN

[UziSprayTF]

The problem

 

[JosephTheLibertarian]

You suck at photoshop lol dude, that must be MS Paint! mwaha

 

[Andrew-Austin]

I don't like Gravel bugging with the Libertarian party, but if he made it far enough I might be willing to vote for him due to his strong anti-war stance.

 

[JosephTheLibertarian]

I don't like Gravel bugging with the Libertarian party, but if he made it far enough I might be willing to vote for him due to his strong anti-war stance.

So far he's my guy. I believe that he will bring many new left-Libertarians to the party from the Democratic Party, which will balance things out as the party seems to be dominated by right-Libertarians at this time. Left-libertarians are not socialists btw they are just more tolerant on social issues.

 

[HollyforRP]

I still like Ron Paul more. Sorry guys but I don't care if Gravel comes equipped with the libertarian tag.

 

[Carole]

Congressman Gravel makes some good points about the war and possible future interventions, but he is not conservative about anything else. He is socialist.

It will not hurt that he is out there pushing against these wars, so that is a good thing.

His thinking is that he can get a lot of money from the internet because Dr. Paul was so successful raising money that way.

See:
http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?t=130441&highlight=gravel

 

[Richie]

Is he still anti-gay?

Not to my knowledge. He's made a pretty much complete Libertarian turnaround.

 

[Jaykzo]

Ya know, labeling people as "socialist" without any references or evidence to back it up is just as stupid people calling Ron Paul an isolationist, like it is a fact.

 

[nbhadja]

Libertarian Platform and Gravel Political Positions

*laissez-faire principles, reduced taxation, privatization of Social Security and welfare, markedly reduced regulation of business
*(Gravel's views are nearly the opposite)

*Protection of property rights, Minimal government bureaucracy- government's responsibilities should be limited to the protection of individual rights from the initiation of force and fraud
*(Gravel's views are nearly the opposite)

*Strong civil liberties positions
*(this is one Gravel matches on exactly)

*No government interference in reproductive rights, including access to abortion *(Gravel agrees with this being pro choice, though he wants the government to get involved big time which is not what libertarians want at all).

*Support for the unrestricted right to the means of self-defense
*(He agrees with this, though he does not believe it is a unrestricted right to own a gun)

*Abolition of laws against what are called victimless crimes: prostitution, driving without a seatbelt, use of controlled substances, fraternization, etc.
*(He agrees with this)

*Opposition to regulations on how businesses should run themselves
*(Gravel's views are nearly the opposite).

*A foreign policy of free trade and non-interventionism.
* (he agrees)

*Support for a fiscally responsible government including a hard currency
*(he does call for a balanced budget but votes for big government spending, though he does not advocate for a hard currency I believe and he would save a lot of money from his overseas spending).

*Abolition of all forms of taxpayer-funded assistance
*(Gravel's views are nearly the opposite).

Overall Gravel has a complete opposite philosophy on several issues, which also happen to be the major issues with Libertarians.

 

[RedLightning]

So far he's my guy. I believe that he will bring many new left-Libertarians to the party from the Democratic Party, which will balance things out as the party seems to be dominated by right-Libertarians at this time. Left-libertarians are not socialists btw they are just more tolerant on social issues.

I don't get what a "Left Libertarian" or a "Right Libertarian" is. A libertarian is pro liberty small gov't. To me you are either libertarian or not. Now I can see how libertarians could argue over abortion(depending on where they see life as beginning which is as I see it a scientific despute not political), but I don't understand the left vs right thing...

 

[BuddyRey]

I don't get what a "Left Libertarian" or a "Right Libertarian" is. A libertarian is pro liberty small gov't. To me you are either libertarian or not. Now I can see how libertarians could argue over abortion(depending on where they see life as beginning which is as I see it a scientific despute not political), but I don't understand the left vs right thing...

A lot of it is just a difference in semantics between American and European definitions of the terms "left" and "right", coupled with a media that deliberately blurs and muddies the concepts so that people are too confused to think out of the box. Essentially, the difference between left and right is purely economic. The difference between authoritarian and libertarian is social and cultural. That is why, for example, you can have a guy like Mike Huckabee who is an extreme social conservative, and yet, economically, he would occupy much of the same area as Hillary or Barack would. Mike Huckabee isn't really a "conservative" at all. He's just a left-authoritarian.

A left-libertarian like Gravel (and, at one time, myself) would be very tolerant of non-violent drug users, people with different sexual orientations, and ethnic cultural influences, but also embrace (to a varying extent) economic interventionist policies like trade protectionism, single-payer healthcare, and safety nets like Welfare and Social Security. And even then, in the case of true left-libertarians, they tend to only support these programs on a voluntary, opt-in, and regional basis.

Also, another note about Gravel: He's HARDLY a socialist. In fact, he supports abolishing the Income Tax and the IRS, and replacing them with the FairTax, which even many right-libertarians embrace (although I've read mixed predictions on its potential effects).