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So what do actors Drew Carey and Clint Eastwood, Internet reporter Matt Drudge, and noted economist Milton Friedman have in common?

The answer's simple, they're all Libertarians.

A couple of weeks ago, I decided to drop my independent status and come out as a Libertarian. I've decided to do this for several reasons.

1) Government has gotten too big. There are several folks in the South Dakota Blogosphere, including my good friend Cory, who feel that government is the cure-all-for everything from poverty to health care. If that's the case, why then are we paying more taxes than ever, while looking at a smaller quality of life than our parents?

The problem is with every new "program" that comes down from Washington, it costs US more money. In a lot of cases, there's redundancy and duplication that could easily be eliminated. In other cases, these programs are simply not necessary... such as "Corporate Welfare".


2) Government has gotten too inefficient. All one has to do is look at the case of Father Gallagher to see this blatant inefficiency. Here is a man, who was approved for legal, permanent residency only to be denied later because of an "error". In other words, some fricking yahoo at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement probably lost the damn paperwork when they were on one of their 15 coffee breaks during his or her day! And chances are instead of this person being reprimanded, suspended, or even fired, they'll probably be promoted!

If KJAM, or Gehl Manufacturing, or even Citibank operated with this glaring lack of efficiency and effectiveness, chances are they'd be out of business by the end of the month if not sooner. But since this is government they can get away with it because they're rarely accountable! Which leads to...


3) There's no accountability. Department of Education loses over 100-million dollars? No big deal. Pentagon spends $1200 on a wrench? Yawn.

How can government get away with this? Simple... they aren't accountable for or to anyone. Oh, sure, we have our say at the ballot box, but does anything ever get done? Hardly.

Of course, if you or I stopped paying our taxes to Uncle Sam, you can bet the IRS will be on us like stink on a turd pile! The government has every type of organization and agency to make sure we the people are held accountable... but who's making sure the government is held accountable on a daily basis?

And it doesn't end with government. We ourselves need to be held accountable... for ourselves. If I get fat (okay, fatter!), I have no right to sue McDonald's or Burger King for making unhealthy food. I should be blaming myself for not eating properly and not staying active. Things like the "victim mentality" have done more to ruin our country than any type of outside terrorism could ever hope to accomplish.

On top of that, if things don't go our way, by God, someone's gotta pay? Now I'm not talking about real injustice, but lawsuits over every frickin' thing. Folks like Neal Boortz have it right; we need to change our laws so that losers in a civil case have to pay the legal bills of the other party... a "Loser Pays" system (Sorry, Todd!) Or at the very least, allow the defendants to sue for legal costs should they win the case.

4) The major parties want to keep the status quo. How much so? In a recent spending bill, one of the riders attached called for taxpayer money to go towards offsetting the cost of the Republican and Democratic Conventions! $100-million worth! It's bad enough that these two parties have a stranglehold on the political spectrum, but it's asinine to allow taxpayer money to go towards keeping their snouts in the trough!

Every candidate for President likes to talk about "change." It's the hot new buzzword. And of course, for the Republicans and Democrats that means one thing... MORE GOVERNMENT. The Dems want more control over your pocketbook; The Reps want more control over your personal life. The Libertarian Party wants government to butt out of both!

I remember the Conservative Revolution of 1994, when the Republicans re-took both the House and the Senate. One of their big stands with their "Contract With America" was smaller government. There was some token moves, but it seems since then, the Republicans abandoned that principle. And THAT'S why they got their asses handed to them in 2006! That's why you see people like Bob Barr and Tom Selleck bolt the Republican Party and join up with the Libertarians.

Of course the party operatives, or as I like to call them "Thugs" and "Hit-men", want to intimidate you into voting for the Status Quo. Not through physical threats and torture like Mugabe, but through more subtle means, like the "wasted vote"

"If you don't vote for a Republican or a Democrat, you're just wasting your vote!"

WHAT ARROGANCE!

To think that my voice, my vote isn't worth spit if I don't vote for Piggy #1 or Piggy #2. That I don't count, simply because I want a third or fourth option. That my rights as a voter are invalid because I won't bear the flag of big government.

Well, to Hell with the Democrats and to Hell with the Republicans. All 3 houses (Represenatives, Senate and White) need some major remodeling.

I'm a Libertarian and damn proud of it!