You know its going to be a good day when you open your Idaho Press-Tribune and find a political opponent opining that Idaho Libertarians may not understand the partys philosophy! In her Aug. 8 column, Judy Ferro starts by chiding Libertarians for allegedly not knowing that our think tanks support abolishing public schools and roads.

Yet those are libertarian positions! Reports of widespread poor public school performance and poor public road maintenance are readily available. She did overlook reporting that our country had both effective schools and a functioning road network long before those functions were taken over by an ever-growing state. Returning to private, market-based solutions in these two areas is what she refers to as, destruction of infrastructure.

In most places, government insists that only it can design, build and control our roads with decidedly mixed results. In contrast, consider the modern automobile in all the market-driven styles and sizes, a marvel of engineering and of responding to the needs and desires of drivers, mostly in spite of state interference via regulations. And, sure, some government rules improve auto safety, but how much safer might they actually be, if safety were left to the consumers, their insurance companies and ratings organizations?

She then devotes most of the column to describing and then decrying the idea that circles around from time-to-time that our government should shut down most social programs and just send people a check each month. Make no mistake, guaranteeing your income is still socialism; its just repackaged as The Welfare State writ large. As our national debt approaches $20 trillion, its also not clear how funding might work. In this case she appears to oppose one version of socialism in favor of just tweaking todays socialist programs.

So theres less room for error, please note that the two older political parties are not tied in any way with the Libertarians, the third largest political party. Libertarians generally support: personal and economic freedom; non-interventionist foreign policy; robust national defense; tolerance of others peaceful choices; respect for others property rights; civil liberties; individual right to keep and bear arms; separation of church and state; giving generously to those in need; less strict immigration policy; and lower taxes. Libertarians generally oppose: government-regulated economy or morality; UN-led U.S. military action; regime change; using eminent domain for private gain; war on drugs; surveillance state; and taxpayer funding of government or private charities.

Most government activities opposed by libertarians are direct violations of existing constitutional limits on permitted government actions.

In the Treasure Valley, anyone interested in learning more about libertarian philosophy is welcome to join us for our monthly, no-host philosophical libertarian brunch the second Saturday of every month at the TNT Dynamite Bar & Grill, next to the Shiloh Inn at Exit 36 in Nampa. We gather starting at 10:30 a.m. and typically have a program from 11-noon. There are no exams, no fees and everyone is welcome.

Libertarians are keeping the light of liberty burning!

Rob Oates, Caldwell, is chairman of the Libertarian Party of Idaho. Email him at chair@lpid.org.

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What the Libertarian Party supports - Idaho Press-Tribune