Does Justin Amash Libertarianism Have a Future?
Dissecting the meaning of a congressman's newfound independence
He came, he saw, he did stuff, he formed the Freedom Caucus, he called for impeachment proceedings, he left the Freedom Caucus, he left the Republican Party, and now he's making the media rounds amid speculation about his electoral possibilities for 2020. So was Justin Amash's declaration of independence on balance a good thing?
Yes is the consensus on today's Editors' Roundtable edition of the Reason Podcast, though not without some bleak real-talk about the near-term viability of libertarian electoral politics. Katherine Mangu-Ward, Nick Gillespie, Peter Suderman, and Matt Welch engage with the critiques that libertarians don't meaningfully exist, that libertarianism without populism is DOA, and that yet somehow libertarians have run economic policy for far too long. The group also discusses the Trump administration's Census-citizenship gymnastics, the latest Nancy Pelosi/AOC flap, and what we can learn from revisiting the Tom Cruise flick Cocktail.
Audio production by Ian Keyser.
Relevant links from the show:
"Justin Amash Declares Independence From Republican Party," by Matt Welch
"Trump Taunts Amash as a 'Dumb' 'Loser' Who 'Knew He Couldn't Get the [GOP] Nomination,'" by Matt Welch
"Justin Amash Isn't Just Rebelling Against Trump. He's Fighting the Two-Party System," by Peter Suderman
"Shock Poll: Amash Down 16 Points in Republican Primary," by Matt Welch
"Libertarian Presidential Candidates, on a Possible Justin Amash Run: 'That Would Be Amazing,'" by Matt Welch
"The Trump Administration's Double Reversal on the Census Highlights the Difficulties of Dealing With a Mercurial President Who Rules by Tweet," by Jacob Sullum
"Would Counting Illegal Immigrants Make the Census Pro–Democratic Party?" By Nick Gillespie
"Enumerated Powers and the Census Case," by Ilya Somin
"SCOTUS Ruling on Adding a Citizenship Question to the Census Shows Wilbur Ross Was Defeated by His Own Lies," by Jacob Sullum
"Census Citizenship Question Pushed for by GOP Gerrymanderer," by Matt Welch
What are we consuming this week?
Matt Welch
- USA ladies winning World Cup
Katherine Mangu-Ward
Nick Gillespie