Congress After Ron Paul
Meet the men seeking to fill Dr. No’s shoes
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reason: Do you see yourself in a national liberty-movement leadership role?
Amash: I do view my role as important in bringing the liberty perspective to light. I am chairman of the House Liberty Caucus and we are trying to use that as a tool for getting some of these ideas out to our colleagues and constituents across the country.
My constituents are all very concerned about their liberty, so I don’t see the roles [of being a national leader and a local representative] as incompatible. It’s the same role. I was elected to Congress to follow the Constitution and defend my constituents’ economic freedom and individual liberty.
reason: In theory, given the Republican Party’s rhetoric, more congressmen should feel free to be like you. Why aren’t they?
Amash: I think a lot are afraid if they are too bold they will be voted out of office. My message to them is that’s not true. People don’t vote you out of office for being too bold. They vote you out for being stupid. Sure, if you vote in a way different from other members and are unwilling to explain yourself, you might have a problem. But as long as you are willing to explain, you can be very bold and get new people involved in the process who will also be bold. Lots of new members, I think, will be inspired by the kind of work I’ve done in terms of transparency.
reason: Any surprises about your experience in Congress after your first term, pleasant or unpleasant?
Amash: I’ve been surprised by the level of unwillingness to work on issues like our debt in a serious way. I would have hoped that when Republicans were swept into office in 2010 we’d make some real gains in reducing the size of government or at least explaining to the American people why we need to have much smaller government. I look back on two years and see essentially no big accomplishment; it’s been two years of treading water and deals made that only serve to grow our government.
I’ve been surprised how many new members are aligned with the principles of limited government and economic liberty and individual freedom, but we don’t have the position in leadership yet to make an impact on the Party’s direction, at least directly. We are impacting people back home that will eventually translate into a new direction for the Party.
reason: What are your biggest priorities for your second term?
Amash: My top legislative priority is my balanced budget amendment. It has 14 Democratic co-sponsors, which makes it among most popular bipartisan balanced budget proposals we ever had. I’m going to continue to work with Democrats and Republicans and maybe get a vote on it eventually. My amendment requires current year spending to balance with the average revenue of the previous three years. It requires you to make tax decisions for the future rather than the current year.
My other role over the next two years will be to continue to fight to defend civil liberties and ensure our foreign policy is one of defense. We need people who will make the case that Republicans and Democrats are not doing a good enough job protecting our rights and in fact protecting our country. Especially with Ron Paul retiring, it’s important to have a voice there fighting for civil liberties and a sound foreign policy.
Thomas Massie: A lot of domestic programs I cannot find a constitutional basis for.
Rep. Thomas Massie, a new congressman from Kentucky’s 4th district, had retreated to a life of cattle and timber ranching after a successful career as a tech entrepreneur. But Massie, 42, developed an interest in politics while fighting some agricultural zoning changes and new tax initiatives in his county. He became a local hero to those annoyed by government regulation and overreach by spearheading citizen victories in those fights. This paved the way for a congressional race in which he was mentored by Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul—Ron’s son—and heavily funded by national liberty-minded superPACs.
reason: What led you to run for Congress?
Rep. Thomas Massie: When Rand Paul started running in the primary [for Senate] I decided to do a fundraiser at my house. His message resonated with me. I was a supporter of Ron Paul’s but I never knew his son was living in my state; when I found out he was running for senator, I backed him. At the same time people in the county were encouraging me to get in a local race for county judge-executive. That’s a bit of a misnomer; the judge function no longer exists, so it’s basically like being mayor for a county. I put my name on the ballot and beat the Republican incumbent two to one on the same day Rand won his Senate primary.
Editor's Note: We invite comments and request that they be civil and on-topic. We do not moderate or assume any responsibility for comments, which are owned by the readers who post them. Comments do not represent the views of Reason.com or Reason Foundation. We reserve the right to delete any comment for any reason at any time.
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Next up, Brian Doherty After Ron Paul.
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Ted Yoho would be a great name for a pirate.
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I'm takin' shore leave, with my buddy, some booze, and a girl we met in port. It'll just be me, Yo Ho, Ho, and a bottle of rum.
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Just like Ron Paul and his son Rand, none of these men believe that personal freedom includes a woman's right to get an abortion. And just like Ron Paul and his son rand, all these men get no critical questioning on the issue from Reason.
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If you believe abortion is murder, then that trumps a woman's right to choose. I don't necessarily agree with them, but there is nothing unlibertarian about being against abortion.
So why should Reason care?
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Apparently Reason shouldn't care when someone's religious faith causes them to pass laws which force women to bear children they do not want.
Of course there's something unlibertarian about the state criminalizing abortion.
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Laws against abortion really don't "force" women to do this. Crimes aren't crimes until after they have been committed. It is really not correct to identify the pro-choice movement with libertarianism considering the big government that is wrapped up in the pro-choice lobby. We are funding Planned Parenthood to the tune of half a billion dollars a year. There's nothing libertarian about that.
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Hahaha, yeah, the threat of state violence does not "force" anyone to do anything! Feel free not to pay your taxes, because that's not illegal until you do it.
I like the honesty in the second answer, though. Libertarians can't oppose abortion restrictions because democrats do, too. Team red 4 life!
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Actually it doesn't use force. No one is advocating for state violence to force a woman to give birth. Again, crimes aren't crimes until after they happen.
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So the state doesn't use force to make you pay income taxes because tax evasion isn't a crime until after it happens?
The state doesn't use force to prohibit drugs because drug sales are only crimes after they occur?
This argument is terrible.
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The state can't infringe on your liberties in order to prevent some future crime from happening. Also, tax evasion is not a violent crime that is committed against an individual. Your analogy does not hold up.
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Your assessment that I think that libertarians shouldn't oppose abortion restrictions because of Democrats do the same thing is misguided and incorrect. My objection to this is because the issuing of tax dollars to abortion clinics is fundamentally un-libertarian. It is forced government compassion that comes from the point of a gun. This of course, is not compassion at all. If opposing abortion is a symptom of being on "team red for life," then wouldn't support for abortion on demand be a symptom of a "team blue for life" mentality?
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Some Libertarians believe that abortion violates the non-agression principle, and is inherently illegitimate. By "critical questioning" do you mean initiating dialogue or "calling them out" on it? I believe the latter to be a bit presumptuous.
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Of course you won't see either one.
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Very true. Laurence Vance addressed it pretty well here.
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He says that his opposition to abortion is rooted in his faith and the bible. What a comforting reason to support state restrictions on personal liberty.
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Once again, being pro-life is not desiring a state restriction on liberty. And I'm pretty sure people use the things they believe in to formulate their opinions all the time. It doesn't make it "dangerous" for religion to be among those reasons.
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Vance writes: libertarians should not only be opposed to abortion, but in favor of making it a criminal act just like murder, rape, kidnapping, theft, assault, and robbery would be in any libertarian society based on the non-aggression principle.
He favors the state imprisoning abortion doctors and their patients. Why? Because Jesus said so. That's clearly the pro-liberty position.
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Pretty sure he doesn't say anything about imprisoning patients. He concedes that he is not sure as to how abortion should be treated if it were to be made a crime. But he also says he is not exactly sure how each state should treat other crimes in which a victim is harmed. Ultimately this decision should be made at the state level. The Bible/Jesus also spoke of not murdering and stealing. Are laws against these things also illegitimate?
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You know the IRS monitors this site, right?
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Dude, 18311 at 70 an hour is over 260 hours in a month. That's over 65 hours per week. Who wants to work for a slave driver?
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Forget this. I WANT TO KNOW ABOUT RON PAUL vs RONPAUL.COM!!!
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Boehner is probably the #2 example of the kind of asshole the Republican party needs to get rid of, if they ever want to be credible again. #1 is a tie between John McCain and Lindsey Graham. Willard was #1, but since he lost the election, he doesn't matter anymore.
-jcr5
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Well now I'm just baffled, who the hell is Liam?
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Amash: "I was elected to Congress to follow the Constitution"
Ok, let's follow its seventh article and think logically about it until we understand a painful truth: Article VII is not law before "Establishment" of the Constitution of which it is part. So you are prohibited from using it to know that ratification is sufficient or that conventions may be involved in establishment. Furthermore, that article would be superfluous even if the Constitution were established. So there is no justification for having included Article VII in the text.
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