You got more effort than your post deserved.Originally Posted by bluesc
Thomas was supporting Ron way before he ever considered running this race or the previous one. He "jumped on the bandwagon" because he believes in Ron's message.
Bro, he's taking the positions he needs to take to win in this district. Would we love for him to be as nerdy and particular about libertarianism as we armchair internet warriors? Yes. Can he win in district 4 like that? No.
Anti-establishment candidates are still looked at as "fringe" here. Gatewood never got close to being governor. Moffett never caught on, even though everyone hated Williams. Rand was an exception because of a few different factors....money, timing, message, etc.
Believe me, Kentucky is still very comfortable with electing establishment big government candidates. Why would Thomas destroy his chances by being seen as a fringe candidate. Webb-Edington is already going to paint him as kook, so he doesn't need to feed the flames. We can win this and get a really good candidate in a position where he can stop some of this spending.
Even if Thomas weren't being genuine (which he is) his campaign positions would make him better than every other candidate running. This is pure upside.
Feeding the Abscess I don't see what you're talking about
http://www.thomasmassie.com/issues/tax-reform/Taxes are too high and too complicated. My wife and I have three engineering degrees from MIT and we can’t do our own taxes! As the founder of a company, I understand how the tax code throttles the development of new businesses. Our tax system needs to promote economic growth, not punish it. I will support legislation to achieve a simpler, flatter, fairer tax code that is helpful, not harmful, to domestic job creation and economic recovery.
This is what the tax reform section said when I posted in this thread:
Still not a fan of the second half of the statement (it's supply side BS, and still too friendly to the taxation is the source of wealth idea), but at least he is no longer advocating that everyone pay an income tax. I can live with the way it is now.Taxes are too high and too complicated. Between my wife and me, we have three engineering degrees from MIT and we can’t do our own taxes. We need tax reform that is simple, flat, and fair. All citizens should have to pay it, no exceptions. Economic growth means more jobs. More jobs mean more prosperity for everyone willing and able to work. The tax system needs to promote economic growth, not punish it.
If you run his website, there's a typo in the national defense section:
National Defense is the most essential function of the federal government enumerated in the United States Constitution. We must defend our national security interests. The exclusive power of our Congress to declare war is a constitutional mandate. I’ll fight to ensure Congress works within constitutional restraints to protect life, liberty, property, and the sovereignty of the United State of America.I get that, but if we can't even pitch our angle on taxation to the GOP, I don't see a way that we can forge a lasting coalition.
They just put up the Issues section today, so don't get too worked up about what it said before, typos, etc.
I like this guy.
Thomas Massie is the real deal. I don't know why anyone wouldn't support him.
+1
That's the f'cking point that people sometimes don't get
I'm a minarchist & I'd like taxless society but I don't delude myself into thinking that it's going to happen overnight
I think his statement "eveyone must pay" is the opposite of "only rich must pay & pay more", sure, it's not great to pay taxes but he supports a lot of liberty positions & I think we can save some bashing when he actually votes for more taxes
Generally speaking, many candidates play this game that they say one thing & do another, so I think liberty candidates should do that too, they can say more war, more taxes, etc etc when getting elected then vote to lower taxes & cut wars, that'd be dandy, especially since most of the voters have always been & probably always be dumb as brick
Because they haven't yet thought about the alternative scenario, either that or they're not so good with cost-benefit analyses
Last edited by Paul Or Nothing II; 03-11-2012 at 08:49 AM.
There is enormous inertia — a tyranny of the status quo — in private and especially governmental arrangements. Only a crisis — actual or perceived — produces real change. When that crisis occurs, the actions that are taken depend on the ideas that are lying around. That, I believe, is our basic function: to develop alternatives to existing policies, to keep them alive and available until the politically impossible becomes politically inevitable
- Milton Friedman
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