Pat Toomey on the issues

[brandon]

Now that Specter has announced he will be running as a D in 2010, Pat Toomey is the likely nominee for the R's

I have found a little information on him, and he seems like a mixed bag. This is what I have found so far. Feel free to correct me and add more information. I'd like to hear some arguments in favor of supporting him or not. He would obviously be a giant improvement over Specter, but would supporting him just be supporting the lesser of two evils?

Good-

Believes in free markets
Is not a keynesian
Understands economics.
has history of voting for drastic tax cuts

Bad-

Voted for Iraq war (not sure about his current position on Foreign Policy - can someone fill me in?)
Supports the federal drug war.
Has voted to block decriminalization of medical marijuana in DC(He doesn't realize individuals are sovereign, this is most likely a deal breaker for me)

Don't know-

His position on the federal reserve and monetary policy

[brandon]

I'm not sure if he more closely follows the chicago/monetarist line of economic thought or the Austrian. Most likely the former. Anyone know?

[pahs1994]

no info on this guy. His web site says very little except for a picture with Fred Thompson. I will try to email them after i get home from work about some things.

http://www.toomeyforsenate.com/

[Cowlesy]

I think he ran Club for Growth for a while, but also that he is a big evangelical religious zealot/"compassionate conservative".

[ladyjade3]

How can you understand economics, I mean, really understand economics and support the drug war? Unless you like creating black markets for fun and profit...

[pahs1994]

I have always sucked at writing. Can someone go over this email i wrote for Pat Toomey before i send it? Thanks



Hi, My name is Eric and I live in Northeast PA. I have a few questions on Pat Toomey, but I have not really found alot of information on his stances on certain issues. It would help if you can add a page of his stance on various issues so I can compare the different candidates in this primary and then again when we vote in 2010. I am a registered republican but never vote on party lines since there are options like the Libertarian party has been more "republican" than the Republicans for many many years.

Anyway, If it is possible to find out his ideas on certain issues like the federal reserve, repealing the 16th amendment, the failed war on drugs, the fact that our nation spends billions if not trillions of dollars overseas maintaining military bases in over 100 countries and if he believes that intervention in other nations buisness is a good use of taxpayer dollars it would be very helpful for me to select a candidate in the primarys and general election. I already know Pat Toomey will be a much needed improvement over current Senator Spectre. But i still need to research before i find a candidate to support. Some of us out here still vote based off principle and not party lines :)

Thank you for you time,
Eric

[brandon]

Good email. Since you asked, here are a couple small changes I would make.

Hi, My name is Eric and I live in Northeast PA. I have a few questions about Pat Toomey, but I have not really found a lot(I Just learned last week that "a lot" is two words) of information on his stances on certain issues. It would help if you can add a page of his stance on various issues so I can compare the different candidates in this primary and then again when we vote in 2010. I am a registered republican but never vote on party lines since their are options like the Libertarian party, which has been more "republican" than the Republicans for many many years.

Anyway, If it is possible to find out his ideas on certain issues like the federal reserve, repealing the 16th amendment, the failed war on drugs, the fact that our nation spends billions if not trillions of dollars overseas maintaining military bases in over 100 countries and if he believes that intervention in other nations buisness is a good use of taxpayer dollars it would be very helpful for me to select a candidate in the primaries and general election. I already know Pat Toomey will be a much needed improvement over current Senator Specter. But I still need to do research before determine which candidate to support. Some of us out here still vote based off principle and not party lines

Thank you for you time,
Eric

---

I'm looking forward to hearing how they respond to you.

[pahs1994]

thanks for the help man. I was always more into science than english class so i knew i would need help. I've been told a lot is two words but i always type so fast it comes out as one! its a tough habbit to break lol.

[Bradley in DC]

Toomey is very smart and generally liked Dr. Paul, if memory serves.

[He Who Pawns]

War on Drugs = FAIL.
War in IRAQ = FAIL.

Fuck this guy.

[MCockerill08]

War on Drugs = FAIL.
War in IRAQ = FAIL.

Fuck this guy.

+1

[brandon]

Toomey is very smart and generally liked Dr. Paul, if memory serves.

Yea I noticed Jesse Benton is a supporter of Toomey on facebook. Not sure if that means anything or not

[LastoftheMohicans]

'Ron Paul's Record on Economic Issues

Club for Growth Releases Seventh Presidential White Paper
Ron Paul: The Perfect as the Enemy of the Good

Washington - Today, the Club for Growth released its presidential white paper on Republican presidential candidate Representative Ron Paul (see PDF). The seventh in a series of white papers on the pro-growth records of presidential candidates, the attached report provides an extensive summary of Ron Paul's economic policies during his years in the U.S. House of Representatives.

"Ron Paul's record contains some very laudable components," said Club for Growth President Pat Toomey. "On taxes, regulation, and political speech, his record is superb. His spending record is impressive, though Paul has recently embraced pork-barrel projects in direct contradiction to his vociferous opposition to unconstitutional appropriations by the federal government."

Unfortunately, his stubborn idealism often takes Ron Paul further away from achieving the limited-government, pro-growth philosophy he advocates. This is certainly the case with school choice, free trade, tort reform, and entitlement reform, in which he votes against vital free trade agreements, competitive school choice initiatives, and tort reform proposals.

"While we give Ron Paul credit for his philosophical ideals, politicians have the responsibility of making progress, and often, Ron Paul votes against making progress because, in his mind, the progress is not perfect," Mr. Toomey continued. "In these cases, although for very different reasons, Ron Paul is practically often aligned with the most left-wing Democrats, voting against important, albeit imperfect, pro-growth legislation. Ron Paul is, undoubtedly, ideologically committed to pro-growth limited-government policies, but his insistence on opposing all but the perfect means that under a Ron Paul presidency we might never get a chance to pursue the good too."'

http://www.clubforgrowth.org/2007/10/ron_pauls_record_on_economic_i.php

This outlines the difference between the so-called "free market" conservatives and Ron Paul. The conservatives support the following:

School vouchers. Besides being socialistic and unsonstitutional, they will result in gov't takeover of private schools.

"Free Trade Agreements" - more protectionism and centralized gov't wrapped up in free market rhetoric.

Entitlement Reform. For Social Security, mandatory "investment" of a portion of the Social Security tax in "private" accounts. Fascism and a payoff to Wall Street.

Tort Reform. Overriding state laws.

Aligning with "left-wing Democrats". Playing the Left/Right nonsense.

What really irks me is that this Toomey guy has the nerve to criticize Ron Paul when his record is deplorable from a free market/libertarian prospective.

[Njon]

I saw him speak at the 2008 Conservative Leadership Conference. If I recall, he seemed okay. I'm sure he'd be better than Sen. Specter, but as far as if he is actually a 'liberty candidate,' I don't know. If http://www.ontheissues.org/PA/Pat_Toomey.htm is correct he's probably more of a neocon, or maybe part liberty / part neocon. Not the best choice, but at least probably better than Sen. Specter.

[pahs1994]

still waiting for a reply...

[South Park Fan]

He sounds like a neocon to me. We should try to recruit Sam Rohrer to run here.

[Njon]

He sounds like a neocon to me. We should try to recruit Sam Rohrer to run here.


That didn't even occur to me. State Rep. Rohrer would make a great U.S. Senator. But it might be too late for him to get going. Hmm...

[South Park Fan]

After seeing her signature here (http://www.schoolandstate.org/proclamation.htm), I think Peg Luksik deserves our support in this race.

[He Who Pawns]

I received a fundraising letter from Toomey, which was riddled with Big Federal Religion nonsense. This guy is no friend of liberty. He's a run-of-the-mill GOP loser.

[JosephTheLibertarian]

I'm not sure if he more closely follows the chicago/monetarist line of economic thought or the Austrian. Most likely the former. Anyone know?

definitely the former. he's "mainstream"

I'm austrian all the way. there should be no monopoly over mediums of exchange, there should be no central bank, hell, there shouldn't be a USD. but that's me, anarcho joseph :p

[pahs1994]

Toomey's people mailed me back just today btw. Didn't answer any of my questions but provided a 2 page pdf that wasn't really helpful for me or give any good info to share.
NEO-CON imo.

I hope someone else is running against him.

[dr. hfn]

vote libertarian/constitutionalist/independent