Vote Republican for Limited Government

We've seen how abusive the IRS, DoJ, and NSA are under Democrats, says Sen. Rand Paul. Let's change course.

This article is part of a series on the libertarian vote in the 2014 midterm election. Read the alternative perspectives from other parties here and here.

It is apparent now more than ever that our government has grown out of control—and under Democratic leadership, it will only continue to infringe upon our civil liberties. Currently, this Democratic leadership is telling you how to run your businesses, telling you which doctor to see, telling you what you can and cannot eat, and monitoring your phone calls and data without a warrant. 

Our Founding Fathers wrote the Bill of Rights to protect us, and our current Democratic leadership is trampling all over these protections. President Obama and the Democrats who support him think that violating American citizen's right to privacy is essential for national security and that proves just how out-of-touch and out of control our government has become. 

Under Democratic leadership, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has targeted political dissidents, the Department of Justice has seized reporters' phone records, and the NSA has seized an unlimited amount of cell phone data. This is an all-out assault on the Constitution.

In his farewell speech in 1989, Ronald Reagan said: "As government expands, liberty contracts."

He was right. Government cannot give us our liberty, and as government grows, liberty becomes marginalized. The collective takes precedent over the individual— and freedom shrinks.

Our government today is larger than it has ever been in the history of our country.

Our Founder's would be ashamed at what our government has become. Micromanaging the daily lives of citizens is not the duty of government. But the GOP is taking a stand—we are saying enough is enough.

It is the Republican party that is trying to limit government power and this is an ideal that all libertarians firmly believe in and support. If we want to protect our civil liberties, we must come together. And it's no secret that the Republican party desperately need libertarian support.

For too long, our party's platform has solely focused on national security and tax reform. And while those are important issues, it's not enough. Our party needs a facelift.  We need a different kind of GOP that will speak to these infringements to personal liberty.

The GOP does not want to tell you how to live. In fact, we want to get out of your lives. We will not choose your doctor for you. We will not trespass on your first amendment right and dictate how to run your business. We also will not outlaw doughnuts or Big Gulps.

We will stay out of your bedroom, your doctor's office, your classroom, your business, your pantry, and your cell phone.

There are millions of Americans, young and old, native and immigrant, black, white and brown, who simply seek to live free—free to practice their religion, free to choose where they send their kids to school, free to choose their own healthcare, free to keep the fruit of their own labor, free to live without government constantly being on their back.

I believe a Republican Party that is more tolerant and dedicated to keeping the government out of people's personal business would be more appealing to the rising generation and libertarians alike.

The Constitution must be our guide. For conservatives to win nationally, we must stand for something. We must stand on principle. We must stand for something so powerful and so popular that it brings together people from the left and the right and the middle.

The GOP will revive Reagan's law: For liberty to expand, government must now contract. For the economy to grow, government must get out of the way.

Young Americans—conservative, libertarian, independent—are as fed up with big government as their parents and grandparents. We are the party that is willing to address their unique concerns and in doing so, we will build a new majority that might finally turn this country around.

The Republican Party is not perfect and there is some dissent within the ranks, but I need libertarian minded Republicans and libertarian independents to vote, get involved and run for office. The heart of the Republican Party embraces freedom and we need to vote and then massage the party to get the party to fight harder to implement a positive vision of economic freedom, low taxation and individual liberty.