Radio Netherlands is reporting:

The Christian Democrats have agreed to join informal talks with the free-market VVD party and Geert Wilders’ far-right Freedom Party (PVV) to determine whether it would be possible to form a rightwing coalition.

From Israel News"Wilders anti-Islam party to enter government talks" July 26:

Anti-Islam lawmaker Geert Wilders has emerged as a possible member of the next Dutch government after the centrist Christian Democrats agreed to informal talks with Wilders and the VVD party that won recent Dutch elections.

Wilders says the Christian Democrats' move is "positive news" and he is prepared to start the talks as soon as possible. (AP)

Wilders' Freedom Party came in third and won 24 seats in June elections.

Political move?

A Tennessee Republican often accused in the past of being a moderate, establishment politician, has suddenly taken a sharp turn to the Right.

Congressman Zach Wamp who represents the Chatanooga/southeast Tennessee area, told CNN that American States should consider seccession, if things don't improve.

Rep. Zach Wamp, one of three candidates seeking the GOP gubernatorial nomination in Tennessee, told Hotline OnCall that [Texas Gov. Rick] Perry had the right idea. Wamp argued that mandates forced on the states by the Obama administration's health care bill have put secession on the table.

"I hope that the American people will go to the ballot box in 2010 and 2012 so that states are not forced to consider separation from this government," Wamp told Hotline OnCall Friday.

Wamp has been under fire from Tennessee conservatives for having voted for the TARP bailout.

Libertarian Republican contributor and Tennessee conservative activist JB Williams commented:

This was a calculated campaign statement from the start. Wamp is not known in Tennessee for a stiff conservative spine. He is moderate and is easily swayed across the aisle. The notion of Wamp ever seriously considering a move as serious as secession is laughable on its face. People familiar with Wamp's political career would never take that statement seriously to begin with. His recent recant of that statement is much more in line with the always politically correct Zach Wamp.

Wamp is currently one of two top Republican contenders for Tennessee Governor.

From Eric Dondero:

Chet Edwards is on the ropes. Edwards has represented a central Texas district for over 20 years. Early on in his career he did well at pretending to be a moderate. But since the 1990s, he's let his liberal side shine. In 1996, when Ron Paul first ran for Congress, it was Edwards who went on the attack accusing Paul in the pages of Austin American-Statesman of being a gun nut with ties to extremist groups. Since, then his voting record reflects more of a Nancy Pelosi style, rather than a Texan middle-of-the-roader. His NTU score has consistently been in the 26 to 27% range, indicating a status as a "Big Spender."

Now the Dallas Morning-News is reporting that Edwards is on the endangered list of the Democrat Congressional Committee (DCC).

Rep. Chet Edwards could see a major infusion of TV ads in October, courtesy of the national party, which has set aside $28 million to help 40 vulnerable incumbents across the country.

Safe to say, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee wouldn't be spreading around that sort of largesse if it weren't at least a bit worried – about Edwards, Rep. Ciro Rodriguez of San Antonio and the others and, more to the point, about fending off the GOP's assault on their 40-seat majority.

For Edwards, in particular, the rescue effort does not bode well...

Edwards and Ciro Rodriguez are among the most endangered of Texas Democrats. But other Democrats, including crazed-liberal Sheila Jackson-Lee in the heart of Houston and Lloyd Doggett in Austin, are facing stiff Republican opposition. In fact, Doggett's GOP opponent Dr. Donna Campbell was recently added to the NRCC's "On the Radar" list, indicating that the National Republican group considers him to be exceptionally vulnerable, as well.

Doggett and Edwards are among the very last standing stalwarts of the Texas Democrat Congressmen. If they go down, the Democrat Party will be relegated to virtual "third party" status in the Lone Star State.

Photos of Dr. Donna Campbell running against Lloyd Doggett in the Austin area, and Quico Canseco challenging Ciro Rodriguez in San Antonio.

by Clifford F. Thies

The second attempt to form a majority coalition, following this year’s parliamentary election in the Netherlands, has failed. The market-liberal Dutch People’s Party could not reach an agreement with three left-of-center parties – the center-left Labor Party, the progessive-left Democrats, and the Greens – on spending cuts. This followed a failure to form a coalition of three center-right and right-wing parties – the Peoples Party, the center-right Christian Democrats and the populist-right Freedom Party of Geert Wilders. The sticking point in that set-up was the more over-the-top planks of the Freedom Party’s manifesto concerning Islam and immigrants from Eastern Europe and the Muslim world. It appeared that the Christian Democrats, still smarting from their dramatic fall-off in the popular vote, queered the deal by demanding that the Freedom Party renounce its manifesto prior to and as a condition for negotiations. Mark Rutte, leader of the People’s Party, has reiterated his preference for a coalition of the right.

by Clifford F. Thies

West Virginia will indeed have an election to choose the fill-in for the late Senator Robert Byrd. As of today (Thursday, the 22nd, with filing continuing through 5 pm tomorrow), candidates include Governor Joe Manchin on the Democratic side and businessman John R. Raese on the Republican side. Two other Democrats and three other Republicans have also filed, meaning that each party will determine its nominee in the special primary to be held in August.

As prognosticated by RealClearPolitics, the Republicans are favored to pick up 4 seats held by Democrats (AR, DE, IN and ND), with 7 other seats held by Democrats in the toss-up category (CA, CO, IL, NV, PA, WA, WI). Assuming Republicans hold all their seats and pick up the four Democratic seats in which they are favored, they would need another six seats to win control of the Senate. While there are idiosynchantic elements in Senate races, during the past several election cycles we have seen that almost all of the close races fall the same way. Therefore, it is not unreasonable to think that the Republicans could "run the table," or nearly so, the way the Demorcrats did in 2006 and 2008.

West Virginia, while tabbed by RealClearPolitics as "Likely Democrat," adds to the possibilities. The very fact that an election is being held in a state that is trending Republican in Presidential elections although heavily Democratic in state elections, in a state that is highly vulnerable to the Green agenda of the Democratic Party, and with a Republican candidate who can largely self-finance his own campaign, complicates things for the Democrats. Can they really presume that the "popular, conservative" Governor will win the race; or, will they have to devote resources to the Mountaineer state that could otherwise be directed to other contests?

The West Virginia and Oregon Senate seats are long-shots in terms of Republican prospects. But, with continued softness in the economy, either one could prove to be Plan B in the event one or two of the toss-up states fall through our hands in an otherwise strong Republican year.

by Clifford F. Thies, Senior Editor

This year's Libertarian Party ticket for Governor and Lt. Governor of Wisconsin are nobody for Governor and somebody for Lt. Governor. Pretty ingenious move by the Libertarians, who always run behind "None of the Above" in Nevada where state law requires this option be available to voters. Obviously, nobody is the least of three or more evils!

This reminds me of Karl Hess's answer, a few years ago, to the question, who would make a better President, H.L. Menchen or Murray Rothbard, to which Hess replied, why, Menchen, of course, he's dead! (Now, sadly, all three are equally qualified for the job.)

It also reminds me of a note tacked on the kitchen door at the church of which I am a member: When ANYBODY can do a job, EVERYBODY will assume that SOMEBODY will, and NOBODY will do it.

And, the scene in The Odyssey, where Jason tells the Cyclops that his name is "Nobody." Then, after Jason pokes out the Cyclops' eye, the Cyclops cries out to his brother Cyclops, "'Nobody' has poked out my eye.," leaving his brother befuddled as to what happened or didn't happen.

Editor's Note - Cliff Thies is the former National Treasurer for the Libertarian Party, and ran as the Libertarian candidate for US Senate in Montana in 1984.

Delivered $$$ earmarks in exchange for campaign contributions

From Eric Dondero:

Once a darling of left libertarians for her visceral hatred of George W. Bush and staunch opposition to the War in Iraq, Ohio Democrat Rep. Marcy Kaptur is now being taken to task for her fiscally un-libertarian actions.

In cooperation with Citizens for Government Waste, Reason presents this video highlighting her wasteful ways.

Rated Very Worst AG by libertarian group

From Eric Dondero:

Democrat Attorney General and candidate for Governor of California Jerry Brown was recently rated the "Worst AG in the Nation," by the Competitive Enterprise Institute. Now he's responding by seeking to write CEI off as a fringe operation, and linking the Institute to corporate interests.

From the Examiner:

The nation's worst state attorneys general abuse the power of their office for political ends, undermining the rule of law. In recent years, many state attorneys general have "usurped the roles of state legislatures and Congress by using lawsuits to impose interstate and national regulations and extract money from out-of-state defendants who have little voice in a state’s political processes,” as I explain in a recent study, The Nation’s Worst State Attorneys General.

Here are the six worst state attorneys general in the nation:

1.Jerry Brown, California
2.Richard Blumenthal, Connecticut
3.Drew Edmondson, Oklahoma
4.Patrick Lynch, Rhode Island
5.Darrell McGraw, West Virginia
6.William Sorrell, Vermont

Brown: libertarian group works for oil and tobacco interests

From the LA Times, "Focus shifts to Brown's attorney general role" July 22:

“It’s a right-wing operation; in fact, I think it’s pushed by the same people — oil, tobacco kind of interests — that don’t like reasonable regulation,” Brown told his hosts on KGO-AM (810). “Certainly I’ve strived to achieve a balance between vigorous enforcement but refraining from excessive intervention in pushing our regulatory framework so it becomes suppressive.

“What these people want is a dismantling of the basic protections of our society, particularly in terms of the environment.” Brown added. “When they say libertarian, they mean free them from any kind of restraint or reasonable regulatory framework.”

Brown’s spokesman added that the groups’ list seemed to find the most fault with Democrats. "It’s a nonsense report,” he said

Praised in the 1970s by left-libertarians

Ironically, there was a time in the 1970s, when Brown was viewed as libertarian-oriented himself, fiscally conservative, advocating austerity in government spending, and legalization of marijuana.

Wrote Garris, "25 Years ago in Reason" (Reason On-line):

"Jerry Brown[is] more libertarian than the average politician, and much more so than any recent Governor of California. He is more fiscally conservative than many so-called conservative leaders, and yet is a good liberal on civil liberties questions."

—Eric Garris, "California's Other Governor"

Though, oddly, he backed his libertarian side with a call for mandatory national service and support for the military draft.

Photo from a 1970s Newsweek cover of Gov. Brown with then girlfriend Linda Rondstadt

Time to Say "WE TOLD YOU SO!"

From Eric Dondero:

John Fund, libertarian columnist for the Wall Street Journal is reporting that for the first time, voters regret their decision in the 2008 Presidential race and would now vote McCain if they could do it all over again.
From the WSJ:

Democrats will be gulping this morning at the Quinnipiac Poll's latest results. For the first time in the survey's history, Americans believe by a 48% to 40% margin that President Obama doesn't deserve re-election. Almost as stinging, a plurality believe the country would have been better off if John McCain had beaten Mr. Obama in 2008.

Perhaps even more damning for Obama - "Only 39% rate him positively for his handling of the economy..."

Another recent poll by Rasmussen had McCain's running mate Sarah Palin tied with Obama for 2012 at 43% each.

American-Constitution Party

Colorado Republicans were on their way to an easy win for Governor, after 4 years of Democrat Bill Ritter. Then frontrunner Scott McInnis became immersed in a plagiarism scandal. Second-place runner Dan Maes, the more conservative Tea Party favorite, never caught on. His campaign has been regarded as lackluster.

Now a major development is threatening to rock the Colorado race.

Showdown! To GOP contenders: Leave by Noon Monday

The Denver Post reports this morning:

Former Republican Congressman Tom Tancredo demanded today that the two GOP gubernatorial candidates drop out of the race.

If they don’t, he said he will run for governor as an American Constitution Candidate, a move likely to split the Republican Party in November’s general election.

“There’s nothing left to split. The reality is that with the two candidates we have, we will lose the general election,” Tancredo said in an interview.

Tancredo called upon Scott McInnis and Dan Maes to commit to leaving the race Aug. 11, just hours following the results of the primary. That way a Republican vacancy committee could appoint a replacement. Tancredo said he doesn’t care if the substitute is not himself.

He gave both candidates until noon on Monday to release public statements agreeing to his terms.

Obama worse than Soviets remark a precursor to race?

For many years, Tancredo served as President of the libertarian Independence Institute out of Golden, Colorado.

More recently, he received national attention and excited rightwing libertarians with his statement at a Tea Party rally, that Obama was as big a threat to the United States as Communism and Islamo-Fascism. From LR July 9:

"We had that threat [from the former Soviet Union] and we survived it. Later we found out we had another threat to our way of life and that was al-Qaeda. We found that out on 9/11.

But I firmly believe this... the greatest threat to the country that was put together by the founding fathers is the guy that is in the White House today."

New Video from the Stopa Campaign

Libertarian Republican Mike Stopa, running for Congress in Massachusetts appeared on Fox News last week, with Sean Hannity. Stopa said strongly that one of the first things the incoming Republican Congress should do, is to pass legislation helping Arizona fight illegal immigration.

Also:

"I've always believed in the Reagan philosophy of Free Enterprise..."

New York Republican Political Consultant Roger Stone quoted at StoptheDrugWar.com, "Anti-Prohibitionist Candidates Challenge New York Status Quo" 7/2:

"I'm a libertarian Republican, not a religious right or Moral Majority Republican," Stone said. "I'm pro-freedom, I favor gay marriage and the legalization of marijuana, casino gambling, and prostitution. The only way to get the pimps and drugs out of it is to regulate it. It's a $10 billion industry -- let's legalize it and run out the mob, the pimps, the guys who exploit women, let's empower women."

Stone is serving as political consultant for Kristin Davis for Governor.

Colorado's Taxpayer Bill of Rights placed severe restrictions on expanding state government spending. Now, former Lt. Governor and current Republican candidate for US Senate has backed the initiative on the Federal level.

Appearing as a guest on Jon Caldera's "Devil's Advocate" cable TV show, Norton said:

"I believe in TABOR. I believe we need to have restrictions on how quickly the public sector can grow in proportion to the private sector, and I've advocated for a TABOR type bill on the federal government level. We need those kinds of restraints."

Watch the 3-part video interview at JonCaldera.com

LR EXCLUSIVE

Randy Credico is the Independent candidate for US Senate challenging Chuck Schumer. He will be running on Kristin Davis's newly-formed Anti-Prohibition Party ticket.

A source has informed Libertarian Republican that Credico has turned in 1200 sigs for Davis-Credico.

He is a professional comedian and community activist against drug laws.

From DrugWar.org:

An unlikely pair of anti-prohibitionist insurgents are running statewide campaigns in New York designed to challenge the political status quo...

The anti-prohibitionist tag team has been doing some joint appearances, [Kristin] Davis said. "Randy is on my Anti-Prohibitionist Party petition as the Senate nominee. We just did an event over the weekend. It was a signature drive kickoff slash birthday party for me," she said. "There were maybe 300 people there."

Credico will also appear on the Libertarian Party line.

Libertarian Republican contributor, Republican Liberty Caucus State Chair and Publisher of Libertarian Punk blog Michael W. Dean was interviewed on a local TV station in Casper about his views on guns.

From Eric Dondero:

Libertarian Republican contributor and publisher of our allied site Left Coast Rebel, Tim Daniel, got published at Tucker Carlson's The Daily Caller. Tim's piece, "Ringing the bell at the top: Paging Chris Christie" July 24:

Here's an excerpt:

Consider Bell. A diverse, poor offshoot of Los Angeles, Bell’s population in 2000 stood at 37,000 and its median per year household income clocked in at $29,000. But according to a blitz of media reports, city manager Robert Rizzo’s yearly salary clocks in close to $800,00.

The local issue of overpaid, zealous administrators in Bell, California, demonstrates a far more troubling macro picture for both the state and the nation a whole. California’s pension system alone now comes with a price tag that dwarfs the estimates of 10 years ago. This is due mostly to the 1999 California enacted pension ‘reform’ based on ludicrous investment gambles that assumed (among many other things) that the Dow Jones Industrial average would be trading at 25,000 by 2009. And with the ongoing recession and business/entrepreneur exodus – it will only get worse.

California may break records in fiscal insanity and union largess but the issue is not unique to this state alone. A story today out of Ann Arbor, Michigan highlights city officials who saw it fit to use taxpayer dollars to purchase an $800,000 piece of art despite the city’s current fiscal distress. The city also hired an art-coordinator and while doing so fired the city administrator that oversees trash collection efforts.

A Vote for Carnahan is a Vote for Obama and ObamaCare

Latest polls show Republican Roy Blunt 6 points ahead. He's held a small but consistent lead in the polls throughout the campaign.

From the Kansas City Star:

President Barack Obama has been here three times since January — and big dollars. As of mid-July, Blunt and Carnahan together have raised more than $15 million.

At issue, can the Government force you to buy a Product?

From Eric Dondero:

The Missouri Health Care Freedom Act is set to go to a vote of the electorate on Aug. 3. It's being compared to the first shots fired in the Revolutionary War at Lexington & Concord. If Missouri votes for repeal, other states will almost immediately follow.

From SolidPrinciples blog:

Have no doubt – this is the first shot fired against the power grab known as Obamacare. If successful, if we beat back this overreach of federal power in Missouri, other states will move forward. Should we fail – especially with low voter turnout, the media,the Obama administration and Congressional Democrats will gain a second wind. I can think of few things more disastrous leading into November than giving the Democrats hope.

Why should you care? What does a Missouri proposition have to do with the other 49 states? MHCFA represents the first battle in the war against the bureaucratic, tax-happy nightmare that has saddled Americans over the last century. Just as the Supreme Court gun cases are changing the debate on the Second Amendment back to gun ownershig being a fundamental right, states signalling their refusal to go along with individual and employer mandates will alter the debate on the proper role of the federal government. At issue is a single idea – can the government compel you to purchase a product they design simply because you’re a US citizen?

The simple language on the ballot will read:

Shall the Missouri Statutes be amended to:

Deny the government authority to penalize citizens for refusing to purchase private health insurance or infringe upon the right to offer or accept direct payment for lawful healthcare services?

Modify laws regarding the liquidation of certain domestic insurance companies?

Republican Party, Libertarian Party united against Democrat big government program

Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder (photo) has been at the forefront of the repeal effort. A Republican under a Democrat Gov. Kinder filed suite in federal court to allow Missouri to opt out, in addition to the ballot measure.

The Missouri GOP is fully behind Kinder and the Repeal effort. Lloyd Smith, Executive Director of the MO GOP said:

Missouri Republicans have been at the forefront of protecting state sovereignty from the federal government’s onslaught of onerous regulations and mandates. Thanks to the General Assembly, Missouri voters will be the first in the nation to go to the polls and make their voice heard against the Obama-Pelosi-Reid health care bill. And now, Lt. Governor Peter Kinder has taken legal action, alleging that the health care bill violates the rights of Missourians from all walks of life.

The Missouri Libertarian Party is also strongly backing the measure. From LPMO.org:

The Missouri Libertarian Party passed a resolution to endorse Proposition C, the Healthcare Freedom Act, which is a referendum on the August 3rd primary ballot. Proposition C is a first in the nation opportunity for Missouri voters to push back against some of the blatantly unconstitutional provisions of the Obamacare legislation, said Dr. Cisse Spragins, Missouri LP state chair (photo). Besides being unconstitutional, the mammoth 2000+ page bill was rammed through despite the fact that a majority of Americans opposed it. Even those who were initially in favor of the legislation are beginning to understand its negative ramifications, and the fact that it is in many respects corporate welfare for insurance and pharmaceutical companies, Spragins added.

There has been little coverage in the liberal media, which could indicate that they are expecting to lose. However, turn-out is a great concern for the GOP and the MHCFA coalition.

mohealthfreedom.org

Note - Colorado has a similar initiative measure headed for the ballot in November.

"libertarian" Gov. Butch Otter Standing up to the Feds

From Eric Dondero:

Paying for products and services with gold and silver; dumping the federal income tax; State seizing federal lands, that's the agenda of the newly revamped and excited Idaho Republican Party. Some say that the Idaho GOP has adopted in a near full-sweep, the entire agenda of both the Constition Party and the Libertarian Party.

Idaho took the lead on the repeal of the Health Care Reform Act (ObamaCare). The Legislature is 3/4ths Republican. And now they're branching out in other areas to push back on federal control.

From Capitol Hill Blues, "Tea Party excess in Idaho" July 19:

To be sure, conservatives across America — many with tea party sympathies — are reshaping the 2010 political landscape amid anger over bank bailouts, health care reform, illegal immigration and federal deficits. In Maine, GOP delegates passed a “tea party platform” rejecting all United Nations treaties. Kentucky Republicans chose Rand Paul, progeny of libertarian hero and Texas Rep. Ron Paul, as their nominee for U.S. House.

But Idaho is the point of the spear.

After all, its state Legislature is already three-quarters Republican. In March, libertarian-leaning GOP Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter became the first state chief executive to sign a bill to sue the federal government over health care reform. It’s an anti-federal streak that survived from its 1970s “Sagebrush Rebellion” days, when the Rocky Mountain West’s residents arose to assert local control over swaths of federal land that dominate their region.

Photo of Idaho Governor Butch Otter.

Dems attack Hurt for "supporting Palin's radical rightwing agenda"

From Eric Dondero:

One of the truly bellweather races in the Nation is for Congressional district 5, south central Virginia. First-term incumbent Tom Perriello, a blue dog and self-described "moderate" has been a top GOP target.

Note - on Saturday, we featured Perriello here at Libertarian Republican for his lackluster opposition to a Stalin bust at a D-Day Memorial Park in his district - "Leave it up to a Republican Congressman to oppose Stalin bust at WWII Memorial Park."

Now a poll has been released showing Perriello way behind.

From RCP, Sean Trende, "Perriello Down By 23 Points":

SurveyUSA shows Republican Rob Hurt leading Freshman Democrat Tom Perriello by an astonishing 58%-35% margin.

Hurt is a strong fiscal conservative and individual liberties advocate. From his website:

Individual Liberty, Private Property and the 2nd Amendment

The right to keep private property was considered a fundamental right by our Founding Fathers. As a member of Congress, I will support efforts that allow states to limit eminent domain and will work to ensure that government cannot confiscate private property.

Along with Personal Property, the Founding Fathers also paid special attention to our constitutional right to keep and bear arms. As a long time supporter of the 2nd Amendment, I am proud of my consistent support for gun rights, and proud of my consistent A plus rating from the National Rifle Association.

Hurt has received support from some prominent Virginia libertarians. Rick Sincere, a former Libertarian Party of VA official and longtime Republican Liberty Caucus member, helped with a money bomb for Hurt in June. (Rick Sincere News & Thoughts blog).

Hurt has also received donations from Sarah Palin's PAC. This has sparked controversy in the district, with the Perriello campaign sending out fundraising appeals bashing Palin:

“Palin knows that she can count on Sen. Hurt to support her radical right-wing agenda. Robert Hurt knows that he needs national Republican celebrities like Sarah Palin to raise money for him.”

(Source: The Hill)