Thoughts on Louisiana, Civility and Winning

By Jack Hunter

Here’s the response to the events in Louisiana today from National Campaign Manager John Tate. John rightly condemns the violence suffered by some of our supporters and also rightly praises the Romney campaign for taking the high road to make sure our duly elected delegates assume their rightful place in Tampa.

Establishment Republicans sometimes claim that Ron Paul supporters occasionally get out-of-hand. This has been true, and to the extent that some Paul supporters have exhibited poor behavior not only reflects badly on the individuals involved, but Dr. Paul. I have seen great strides toward more civility and having more respectful attitudes moving forward. Our side currently has all the ideas; we don’t need to yell the loudest. The GOP is an ideological vacuum that is currently being filled with our people right before our eyes. Our superior philosophy will win the day. It is already winning.

Establishment Republicans who don’t like to see Ron Paul supporters winning seats and positions of authority—completely playing by the rules—do not have the right to turn around and disenfranchise Paul supporters simply by making up new rules. No one has the right to use some of the strong-arm tactics we saw on shameful display today in Louisiana.

When Barry Goldwater’s supporters began reshaping the GOP in 1960, ’64 and beyond, it got pretty messy. But Goldwater’s forces won the day by playing by the same rules as the Rockefeller Republicans—whether those establishment Republicans liked it or not.

When presidential candidate Pat Robertson’s supporters began making the GOP a more substantively pro-life party in 1988 and beyond through groups like the Christian Coalition, this too was not always pretty. Many establishment Republicans did not like religious conservatives making inroads into “their” party.

The Republican Party today is just as much the party of Ron Paul supporters as anyone else’s. Moving forward, I believe it will become even more “our” party than it already is today. The party is defined by those with the most powerful ideas and who are willing to fight for them.

But not physically. This is a battle of ideas, not brute force. Anyone involved in the physical harm done to Ron Paul supporters today in Louisiana should be ashamed of themselves. Thanks to the Romney campaign for stepping in and taking the high road. Thanks to Paul supporters who have taken the high road since the beginning by playing by the rules–and winning—whether some in the establishment like it or not.

Video not included in original article.

Santorum Rejects Goldwater, Small Government and American Conservatism 101

I want every talk radio host, rightwing pundit and Republican voter who thinks for one second that Rick Santorum is an actual conservative to watch this video, digest it and understand what a joke this guy really is.

For the last half century, being a conservative in the United States, first and foremost, meant adhering to the Goldwater-Reagan philosophy which views government in wholly negative terms. Barry Goldwater believed anything the Constitution did not give the federal government the authority to do, it should not do. Ronald Reagan said: “Government is not the solution to our problems, government is the problem.”

This is basic American conservatism 101. And it is basic American conservatism that Santorum rejects. Listen to him admit it:

The only candidate in this race who even talks about the proper role of government, the inherent evil of government, and the importance of it only performing its constitutional functions is Ron Paul.

Simply yelling at Democrats does not a conservative make. That so many in the Republican Party and the conservative media actually accept and promote Rick Santorum as a conservative reflects a party and a movement that is entirely ignorant of its own history. It is also the reason big government persists. If Santorum is the standard bearer for the GOP, conservatives no longer agree with Reagan that “government is the problem” only that Republicans can do a better job of managing big government. Mitt Romney undoubtedly believes this. Santorum obviously does too.

Ron Paul is the only conservative in this race.

Source: Paulitical Ticker with Jack Hunter.  Video by "jecarter4"

A Statement on Labor Unions

By Zach Foster

Civil liberties were assaulted in Wisconsin with the union busting legislation that passed despite epic protests.  At this point the purpose of the bill, the organizations it targeted, and the motives for the assault are irrelevant.  The author will analyze them in writing later on.  The purpose of this statement is to decry the great tragedy which occurred and spawned other tragedies in quick succession. Why would the ultraconservatives want to break the unions?  Their political camp and its motives more and more resemble the totalitarianism of Communism.  Capitalism with minimal regulation is vital to a free economy, and labor unions are an essential mechanism in the labor world.  By no means should labor unions dominate industries, but they should merely influence them and be allowed to do so without the dead weight of government crushing civil liberties.

The late and great Senator Barry Goldwater wrote in his book The Conscience of a Conservative that labor unions and politics do not belong together at all and should not be combined.  He writes:

“I believe that unionism, kept within its proper and natural bounds, accomplishes a positive good for the country.  Unions can be an instrument for achieving economic justice for the working man.  Moreover, they are an alternative to, and thus discourage State Socialism.  Most important of all, they are an expression of freedom.  Trade unions properly conceived, is an expression of man’s inalienable right to associate with other men for the achievement of legitimate objectives.”

In that chapter, Goldwater denounces both big government intruding on the worker’s right to free association and the large unions with political power that begin to resemble a second government behemoth.  The only relationship labor unions should have with government is a quasi-symbiotic one in which the legislature sets the standards for what is illegal in the work place (via a law) while the unions decide what is unjust in the work place.  Government should not interfere with unions (unless a law is explicitly being broken) and unions should by no means get involved with politics.

Particular unions should be opposed when they begin to cripple the industry whose workers they represent.  It is fully acceptable to fight for workers to have a work day not unreasonably long, for livable wages, and certain benefits.  However, there is a certain point where the benefits need to end, such as wages that are too high, both for the skill level of the labor being paid for and the employer’s ability to pay.  While there are certainly big businesses and executives out there that truly are greedy and pay the absolute minimum they can get away with (such as the now bankrupt and lawsuit-plagued Hollywood Entertainment Corporation, host of Movie Gallery, Hollywood Video, and Game Crazy stores), most employers are reasonable employers and the wages they pay reflect both the skill level of the labor being hired and the amount that the employer is able to spend.  If a union pressures and strong arms a small business owner (or even a large corporation) to pay janitors and cashiers $15.00 an hour with full benefits, or for middle management secretaries to be paid $200,000 a year, then the business will be unreasonable burdened.  At this point an employer has three options: dramatically raise prices, hurting the clientele and customers; cut back many hours or even lay off workers; or simply go out of business because the cost of running a business are too high, thus hurting the economy, the employer, and the very workers the big union claims to represent, and by this time, the union is a second government and the union leaders are bureaucrats, businessmen, and politicians all in one.  Despite the behemoth nature of big unions, most unions are very productive organizations run by honorable people—workers themselves—that simply boost the quality of life for workers without harming industry or the economy.

It is a travesty that big government steps in and violates the rights of citizens to freely associate and do business.  It is normal for Democrats and even Socialists to advocate government as a remedy for every ill, but for Republicans—the party of less government—to advocate government interference in matters where it does not yet belong (after all, no laws have been broken) is a travesty.  Another tragedy spawned by government violating the rights of Americans is that those who feel violated by the Republican Party flee to the Democratic Party—the party of more government—for solace.  Worse yet, some of the disgruntled Americans tune into the flawed Socialist/Communist “consciousness” of oppressed labor, of class consciousness, and of class struggle (class warfare and open warfare).

Again, these remarks are theoretical, and the author will analyze the circumstances of the Wisconsin debacle later.

Let us as Americans take Barry Goldwater’s advice and not disrupt people’s political freedom, economic freedom, and freedom of association.  Government should only bother businesses when they break the law just like it should only bother unions when they break the law.  Also, just as “too-big-to-fail” businesses do in fact fail, large, saturated, and out-of-touch unions should be allowed to fail also—free of bureaucracy.