Platform Debates, Guest Speakers Set the Stage for LP Debate

Day two of the Libertarian National Convention here in sunny Las Vegas was again devoted primarily to internal party business.  With by-laws mostly out of the way, Libertarians took up the issue of revising the party platform.  Unlike the Democrat or Republican conventions you might be used to back in Iowa, there was little of substance for freedom fighters to advocate for, as most proposals sought to re-word or modify the already libertarian principles contained in the document.  For those not willing to devote their time to wordsmithery, the convention offered several breakout sessions featuring current and past party leaders.  Manny Klausner of the Reason Foundation gave a talk on using lawsuits to challenge big government.  His presentation ran the gamut of issues from affirmative action to ObamaCare.  Dr. Nancy Lord, the LP vice-presidential candidate in 1996 spoke on her area of expertise, medical research.  The FDA’s incestuous relationship with major drug companies, she told delegates, results in good medicines being tied up in the bureaucracy  whilst dangerous ones are rushed to the public.  From a past to a current candidate, one of the LP’s most promising challengers, Rupert Boneham of Survivor fame told a personal story of his path to libertarianism and his campaign for Indiana Governor.  By appearing in the debates, Boneham claimed, he was going to get not only his state but the nation talking about the ideas of liberty.

The convention is currently recessed to allow for setting up the stage for tonight’s Presidential debate.  In contrast to past conventions, only the top two candidates qualified to take the stage.  Governor Gary Johnson and Lee Wrights will square off live in front of a nationwide audience on CSPAN.  To determine eligibility, the LP uses a unique system of polling its delegates.  When registering, each delegate is given a “token,” actually a small postcard, on which they write the name of the candidate they’d like to see in the debate.  Only those candidates with a certain percentage of tokens gets a seat.  Johnson’s campaign has hustled for tokens from the beginning, urging supporters to get them in early.  Wrights’ campaign on the other hand, gathered them up and dropped them in the ballot box en masse this morning.

Make sure you tune into C-SPAN at 8pm Iowa time to catch the debate.  As always, we’ll be tweeting from the floor @IAFReedomReport using the hashtag #lnc2012 and will give you a recap as soon as we sober up from tonight’s parties, err, ah, have time to compile a full report.

Libertarians Try Debating By-laws, Give Up and Go Clubbing

The afternoon portion of day one of the Libertarian National Convention was devoted to a debate on bylaws of the party.  Much of the debated devolved into conflicts between the various factions and strong personalities within the party.  Without delving into the specific characters (some of whom we hope to introduce you do in future posts), we’ll look at a few which have relevance to our Iowa readers.  One interesting topic brought up for debate was the idea that the entire membership of the party should vote on either party leaders, bylaws, or both by means of e-mail balloting.  Currently, party leadership is voted in at each biennial conventions and bylaws adopted at the same time.  This of course means that only those Libertarians with the time, money, and interest to travel to a national convention run the party.  On the one hand, this is problematic as the vast majority of Libertarian activists have no say in how their party operates.  On the other, those who demonstrate an interest in party business  should logically have the most say.  If you suggest otherwise, you’d be joining our friends over at The Iowa Republican who are trying to push the idea that Santorum and Romney supporters should be rewarded for their unwillingness to attend GOP meetings by gaining national convention delegates vastly out of proportion to their desire to participate in the process.  All such motions were defeated on the floor, but all those interested in internal party politics (regardless of party) should take a look at the possibilities, good and bad, of this sort of thing coming down the pike.

Also of interest to freedom fighters in Iowa was a heated debate over what to do about those people who are not registered as Libertarian voters but who wish to take leadership positions in the party.  Again, both sides raised valid points.  To survive as a party, the Libertarian Party must have people committed to it in exclusion of all other parties.  Yet, to further the “small-l” libertarian movement as an ideological force, many Libertarians changed their party affiliation to support Ron Paul in the Republican primaries. Indeed, the mere mention of Paul’s name elicits more cheers from the floor than anything else that could be said.  Ultimately, a reasonable compromise was reached:  Party leaders must be registered Libertarian voters (if their state allows) but rank and file delegates would not be excluded if they crossed party lines on Paul’s behalf.

The Iowa delegation swelled to its full strength of six members with the late arrival of some who elected to drive the entire distance from the Hawkeye state.  With bylaws debates dragging on late into the afternoon, most of the Iowans decided to try their luck elsewhere in Vegas.  A mixer was held by Americans for Prosperity at a local pizza joint owned by a Nevada LP member.  While AFP is often considered to be a partisan Republican group (and indeed, the Iowa chapter is lead by a noted gay-basher) staffers on-site assured Iowa Freedom Report that they are interested in issues, not parties.  At least not political parties, as their shindig was lively and well-attended, including by about half the Iowans.

The chief party starter of this evening is the star of the show, Governor Gary Johnson himself.  Johnson’s fundraiser/rave features a cash bar and a prominent local DJ.  For a more intellectual evening, there will be a debate between candidates for Libertarian Party Chairman in a penthouse suite hosted by a prominent Massachusetts LP leader.  The current chair, Mark Hinkle has provided the party with steady leadership for two years but has angered some who feel he has rammed through a more moderate agenda at their expense.  Ironically, his only prominent challenger also hails from the moderate wing of the party.  Mark Rutherford has held various party offices and worked independently as a campaign consultant.  Either would serve the party well, so it will be interesting to see how contentious their competition becomes.

The Presidential race is still the main event and is always in the background of the proceeds.  At this point the race seems to have come down to Governor Gary Johnson and Lee Wrights.  Johnson is the favorite of the “reform” faction who wishes to see the party put forth its most experienced and credible member.  Wrights is favored by the “radicals” who believe that for the party to grow, it must distance itself for the duopoly as far as possible, and cannot accept Johnson’s compromised positions on such things as the Fair Tax and certain military interventions.  Johnson is the frontrunner, but is taking nothing for granted, sending emissaries to poll every delegate in the room.  Rumor has it that Wrights is already thinking of throwing his hat in the ring for the Vice Presidential nomination, though his support from his home state of Texas gives him a lot of fans here.

We’ll be back to give you more reports tomorrow.  Be sure to follow @IAFreedomReport on twitter for shorter updates throughout the night.  Finally, a big shout out to all the IFR readers we’ve met at the convention.  While we have a statewide focus, its great to see we already reach a nationwide audience.

For more LP convention coverage, don’t forget our friends at Independent Political Report.

That’s What We Get For Waking Up in Vegas

Iowa Freedom Report is on the road this week in the Silver State embedded with the Iowa Libertarian delegation to bring you reports from the LP national convention.  We had hoped to publish a full primer, but we’ve been too busy with crucial convention business.  So instead, we’ll bring you sporadic coverage from the floor, leading up to the selection of the Libertarian candidate for President on Saturday night.  Be sure to follow our twitter feed @IAFreedomReport for more up to the minute coverage.  There will also be regular updates from our friends at Independent Political Report, whom we may or may not get pressed-ganged into writing for at some point.

On the first formal day of business, tempers flared and much time was wasted as the convention debated the Credentials Committee report.  Normally, this is uncontroversial, but a split in the Libertarian Party of Oregon led to two different factions showing up in Vegas to represent their state.  We won’t go into the excruciatingly boring detail, but one side is the recognized affiliate party and approved by the LP national Judicial Committee.  Inexplicably, the Credentials Committee elected to seat the other faction.  After an hour of debate, the Credentials Committee won out and the official/renegade faction has been dispersed amongst the other states.

Our Hawkeye State delegates are much less contentious.  Five are on the floor now with the remainder due to arrive later this evening.  Delegates have heard a keynote speech from Michael Cloud, a fundraiser and campaign manager whom Libertarians have dubbed the “greatest Libertarian communicator.”  Cloud’s speech focused on helping candidates and activists make the case for liberty in their hometowns.  When you ask someone how much they think government wastes, then tell them the Libertarian Party is fighting it, their only question is “where do I sign up?” Cloud claims.  Most of the Iowans then filed out to a breakout session in which the party’s Executive Director Carla Howell recounted her efforts to repeal the Massachusetts income tax.  A simple message back by promises of specific actions are the key to promoting Libertarian solutions, Howell says.

The two main contenders for the Presidential nomination, Governor Gary Johnson and longtime LP leader Lee Wrights are making the rounds.  Johnson’s campaign is throwing a bash tonight that we’ll certainly attend and may or may not report from.

Stay tuned to IFR, and we’ll be back with more updates as the convention proceeds.

Iowa Freedom Fund Supports Kevin Wolfswinkel

Iowa Freedom Fund treasurer Steve Hoodjer presents a check from the PAC to HD-1 candidate Kevin Wolfswinkel at the District 4 Republican convention in Fort Dodge.

Iowa Freedom Fund is proud to add another freedom candidate to our list of supported candidates.  This Saturday, Iowa Freedom Fund made a donation to Kevin Wolfswinkel, a Republican running for State House in HD-1.  Wolfswinkel has a reputation as a tax-fighter, having started a taxpayer’s organization in his native Osceola County to hold local officials to account.  He was active in both the 2008 and 2012 Ron Paul for President campaigns and was an early leader of the Campaign for Liberty in Iowa.  Wolfswinkel is also active in his local Farm Bureau, so he’s on top of the agriculture issues so vital to a rural district like HD-1.  The race is a primary against the incumbent, however with the newly-drawn districts most of the voters will be new to both candidates so there is a strong chance for the movement to score the upset and put a good constitutionalist in the state house.

Learn more about Kevin at his website here.

Wolfswinkel is the third candidate to receive support from Iowa Freedom Fund.  Previous supported candidates are Jason Schulz for HD-18 and Kim Pearson in HD-30 (returned with a nice note when she dropped out.)

Iowa Freedom Fund was Iowa’s first PAC dedicated solely to the principles of limited government, individual liberty, and peace.  Iowa Freedom Fund is the only independent, grassroots, transpartisan PAC advocating for “less government, not more.”  Help us help candidates like Kevin and find more like him by donating by check to:

Iowa Freedom Fund; 301 Lincoln St.; Parkersburg, IA 50665

Online soon at www.IowaFreedomFundPAC.com

Prospects for Liberty Looking up in Iowa GOP

Reports are still funneling in from Republican district conventions across the state and we’re sure they’ll be all over the Pauloshpere by morning, but we had to give a quick recap.  Your Iowa Freedom Report team was deployed to District 4 today where freedom lovers were cautiously optimistic they could carry the day despite the frothy mix of out-dated neoconservativism and Opus Dei theocracy that swept the northwest corner of the state in January.

The major prize at stake in today’s conventions was control of the Republican state central committee.  The Register has a full recap of those election results and credits Paul backers with 6 of 12 seats up for grabs.  Craig Robinson at The Iowa Republican tweeted that 10 were either Paul supporters or favorable to Paul.  This includes people like Chad Steenhoek of Ames, a staffer on Gingrich’s super PAC who has worked with Paulites in the past.  Joel Kurtinitis (CD3), Kris Thiessen (CD4), Dave Cushman (CD1), Iowa Freedom Fund board member Jeff Shipley (CD2), John Kabitzke (CD3) and Marcus Fedler (CD2) are all well-known for their advocacy of smaller government.  What this likely means in a practical sense is that Iowa politicians will be forced to take seriously Paul’s ideas, even though the central committee is not itself a policy making body.  You’re also likely to see the group taking more stances on policy matters, taking cues from the actions of combative social conservative national committeefolks Steve Scheffler and Kim Lehmen.

Various other committee seats were up for grabs as well.  Freedom advocates ran mixed slates of Ron Paul supporters and their allies for every seat on the delegate nomination, credentials, rules, and platform committees.  Paul staffers were reluctant to share details with Iowa Freedom Report, but from where we sat, returns looked quite promising.  From a national standpoint, a majority on the nominating committee could mean a majority of Paulites in Iowa’s national convention delegation.  A majority there and in just four other states means that Paul could be nominated from the floor of the RNC in Tampa.  That would be a far cry from 2008, when Paul was barred from even stopping by the convention in St. Paul, despite a run allowing sitting Republican congressman free access to the convention floor.  Let’s put it this way, 2008 Libertarian nominee Bob Barr, an active opponent to John McCain was granted greater access to those proceedings than Paul.

One major coup attempt disrupted the convention briefly in Fort Dodge.  Someone, and at this time we are unable to determine with any certainty who it was, tried to push through major rule changes to the caucus to convention process.  For as long as any Iowa Republicans can remember, national delegates have been selected in a “district caucus” the night prior to state convention.  Technically, the district conventions go into “recess” for two months and re-convene the Friday night of convention for delegate elections.  This year, some forces, whether outside or local we don’t know, called for district conventions to elect national delegates then “adjourn.”  A claim was made that an unknown group (Paul supporters by implication) wished to hold “secret meetings” for delegate selection.  Of course, these “secret” meetings are the common practice and in fact quite well-publicized.  Ironically, while they were the presumed target, the Paul campaign urged all its supporters to defend the long ago agreed upon rules.  Whoever was behind the rules purge pulled out all the stops in CD 4.  Robocalls and emails went out the night before.  A young-looking Romneyian was even dressed up in Paul garb to disrupt the proceedings, shouting loudly about how undemocratic the process was and at one point acting as though he would square off with the sergeant at arms in a fist fight.  It was so well acted that some Paul supporters told IFR that they suspected the young man was actually a brilliant Paul loyalist attempting to use reverse psychology to convince the delegates that Paul was behind the unorthodox rules purge.  Fortunately, cooler heads prevailed and the convention voted down the intrusion.  It made for an interesting sideshow and perhaps a preview of what the establishment could pull at state convention as their cold dead fingers tighten their grip on the party.

Much progress was also made on the platform.  Planks that would have been unthinkable just a few short years ago sailed through with minimal objections.  Republicans committed themselves to a repeal of the Patriot Act (in Steve King’s district no less!), nullification of various mandates, and a complete abolition of the IRS.  Overall, the day provided a strong indication of the shifting winds within the Iowa Republican Party.  Now if we just had some candidates to go along with it, but we’ll have more on that in the coming weeks. . .

Introducing Iowa Freedom Fund PAC

We here at Iowa Freedom Report have always been committed to bringing you news and commentary from an independent, grassroots driven, freedom perspective and now we are proud to announce a new venture that will help us translate our words into actions.  This site was created to fill the gap in Iowa for covering the issues and candidates that concern the fight for “less government, not more” without being dependent on the agenda of any other political party or movement.  As we move forward with our fellow freedom fighters, we saw another need not being met.  Iowans who share our belief in limited government and peace were active and generous in their support for certain national leaders while local candidates who carried that message struggled to fund their campaigns.  It’s certainly not that our people were lazy or stingy, but there was no mechanism, no infrastructure through which we could channel our resources into targeted races.  Campaign for Liberty and various tea party groups could rally activists around pending legislation, but they could not endorse candidates.  Groups like Iowa Gun Owners could back freedom candidates, but they were limited by their nature to single issues.  The Libertarian Party, Constitution Party, Republican Liberty Caucus, and Democratic Freedom Caucus could run candidates, but they were limited by the demands of partisanship.  Individuals can run for office and give donations, but there was no way to make sure the entire movement followed them.

The solution is to create a political action committee (PAC) that can aggregate donations from the broader freedom movement in Iowa and channel those resources to the candidates with the right message and the right campaigns.  For our own people, having a well-funded apparatus behind them should give them the confidence to step up and run for office.  For office holders and seekers outside our movement, they’ll see that we’re a powerful force and modify their views and votes in hopes of winning our support.

Let’s look at one example of how the lack of candidate support infrastructure is holding us back currently.  In the 2012 Caucus, Ron Paul got just over 20% of the votes from Iowa Republicans.  Five of the 19 State Central Committee members or 26% are Ron Paul supporters.  Yet only 4 of the 84 Republicans in the state legislature (4.7%) are Paul supporters.  Needless to say, none of the federal or statewide elected officials are.  Paul was able to raise more than $200,000 out of Iowa in this presidential cycle, but all these supporters and potential donors are punching far below their weight in Iowa elections.  Imagine those resources brought to bear in a state legislative cycle!

That’s where a PAC comes in.  With a PAC, everyone doesn’t need to know every potentially good candidate and every good candidate doesn’t have to know who every potential donor is.  Having a PAC to act as a clearinghouse for donations enables donors to know their money is being spent promoting the cause of liberty, and liberty candidates know where to turn to for support beyond what they can raise from their family and community.

At Iowa Freedom Report, we’ve been extremely conservative in our endorsement policy.  While we strive to report on all those sympathetic to our issues, we only endorse when there appears to be a clear consensus within the movement.  Iowa Freedom Fund will the same way.  To ensure your donations to Iowa Freedom Fund are spent in the best possible way, we have assembled a board of directors from various streams of the movement including Ron Paul Republicans, Libertarians, independents, Gary Johnson supporters, etc.  Your editor, Steve Hoodjer will serve as the PAC treasurer and run its operations.  Hoodjer is committed to transpartisan activism on behalf of peace and liberty working through both the Libertarian and Republican parties.  In addition to local activism, he has held volunteer positions with both Ron Paul and Gary Johnson.  The board of directors is comprised of Dr. Eric Cooper of Ames, Todd McGreevey of Davenport, Jimmy Morrison of Muscatine, and Jeff Shipley of Fairfield.  Cooper is a Libertarian who was the LP’s 2010 nominee for governor and ran one of the most visible mid-major party races in recent Iowa history.  He has also run several times for state legislature and served as a faculty adviser to various libertarian groups at Iowa State University where he is a professor.  McGreevey is the publisher of the Quad Cities alternative newspaper the River Cities Reader and active with Iowans for Accountability and the 2010 Jonathan Narcisse for Governor campaign.  Morrison is a filmmaker currently producing a documentary explaining the 2008 economic crash from the Austrian perspective.  He is the founder of Iowa Patients for Medical Marijuana and formerly served as state director for Gary Johnson’s Presidential campaign.  Shipley is a law clerk who formerly ran for city council while a University of Iowa student.  He is active and well-connected in Iowa politics and is seeking a seat on the Republican State Central Committee.

The website for Iowa Freedom Fund will be up shortly at www.IowaFreedomFundPAC.com.  In the meantime, please like our facebook page at www.facebook.com/IowaFreedomFund.  Until the website is active, donations can still be made by check.  Simply mail them to:

Iowa Freedom Fund, 301 Lincoln Street, Parkersburg, IA 50665

While the PAC will be explicitly transpartisan in nature, we understand that some people in our movement voluntarily restrict themselves to one party or the other as a practical matter.  For example, some Libertarians view the duopoly as so corrupt they won’t have anything to do with it, no matter how libertarian a primary candidate is.  Alternatively, some in the duopoly have despaired of mid-major parties and refuse to spend any money supporting them.  If that’s you, we have a simple and elegant solution.  When you send your check to Iowa Freedom Fund, simply write on the memo line the name of the party you wish you donation to help and we’ll direct it accordingly.  All other donations will go where there is the most need and best possible return on the investment.

Libertarians Seek to Open Minds

Keynote speaker Beth Cody of Iowa City explains how she uses fiction to introduce Libertarian ideas to a skeptical public.

The famed patriot John Adams once declared that it did not take a majority to prevail, only a tireless minority dedicated to setting brush fires in the minds of the public.  When, some twenty or so such patriots gathered this weekend at the Hilton Garden Inn in Johnston for the 2012 Libertarian Party of Iowa convention, opening minds was the topic of the day.

Party chairman Ed Wright encouraged delegates that libertarian voices are growing.  He mentioned movements like the tea parties and Occupy that, while not wholly dedicated to liberty, were at least standing up and challenging the statist quo.  Wright urged Libertarians to educated themselves, reading up on the founding documents, and not relying on a government school system to teach resistance to government.  Once educated, he exhorted Libertarians to “urge others to come to terms with the solutions that freedom brings.”

Keynote speaker Beth Cody, a columnist and author from Iowa City, demonstrated how she turned to fiction writing to broaden her outreach to those who would not be interested in her political columns.  “Time and free markets can make everything better,” she told the crowd, “even political systems.”  With fiction, new ideas can be introduced, to show people that a better way is possible.  Her new book, Looking Backward, does just that.  The novel is a take-off on the utopian socialist fiction of 19th century writer Edward Bellamy.  In Looking Backward, Bellamy’s Professor Julian West wakes up, not in a worker’s state but in a glorious libertarian future circa 2162.  For those not literary-minded enough to be familiar with Bellamy, its essentially Futurama but with Earth ruled by the disembodied head of Ron Paul rather than Richard Nixon (and no Zoidberg).

The convention also featured a surprise guest speaker in Gary Roeve, who was one of the founders of the LPIA in the 1970s.  Appropriate for a party celebrating its 40th year, Roeve gave an impromptu speech on the early days of Libertarian activism.  Inspired by Ayn Rand, Roeve began to work with Ben Olsen to start an Iowa chapter of the newly-minted LP in 1972.  Finding others brought on board by the presence of an Iowan on the top of the ticket, a chapter was formed in Ames in 1975.  Roeve would go on to work on policy for the 1976 Roger McBride and 1980 Ed Clark Presidential campaigns as well as several local races, before despairing of the task moving the state towards freedom.

Awards were given to party members who competed in local 2011 elections.  Nick Taiber won re-election to the Cedar Falls city council and Roger Fritz was elected for a non-consecutive term as Roland mayor after his neighbors wrote him in.  2010 CD2 Congressional candidate Gary Sicard lost his race for Robins city council in a multiple candidate field, but was optimistic that the experience he gathered would propel him to victory in a one-on-one mayoral race this fall.  LPIA Executive committee member Casey Head of Des Moines hailed the candidate’s efforts stating that in the LP, “if you have a will to make change, you can do it.”

The Presidential race also featured prominently in the days activities, although no campaigns had a formal presence, unlike in 2011 when then-candidate Roger Gary appeared and Lee Wrights deployed his campaign manager as a surrogate.  Governor Gary Johnson dominated the straw poll with 13 votes to 1 for publisher Sam Sloan and one for perennial LP vote-getter NOTA, an 87% randslide victory for the LP frontrunner.

No other candidates for 2012 were announced, other than Sicard’s mayoral race, though there are rumors that Libertarians may field two Congressional challengers.  IFR will hold off on publicizing them until they officially enter, but suffice to say, they are two somewhat prominent refugees from the statist parties.  With some money in the bank, the Libertarian Party will be in a position to make some incumbents sweat out their positions in the fall.

Libertarian Convention This Saturday

The Libertarian Party of Iowa will hold its annual convention this Saturday, May 31st at the Hilton Garden Inn just off I-80 in Johnston.  The convention will convene at 9:00 with a break for lunch at noon and the business meeting to commence at 1 pm.  The featured speaker this year will be Iowa City author Beth Cody.  Cody has written pro-liberty editorials for the Iowa City Press Citizen and recently published her first novel, Looking Backward:  2162-2012 A View From a Future Libertarian Republic.

Attendees can expect to meet past and future Libertarian candidates and a possible video chat with presidential candidate Governor Gary Johnson may be in the works.  The primary business to transact is the election of delegates to the Libertarian National Convention in Las Vegas this May.  Party officers will also be selected to lead the LPIA through the next election cycle.

The party has requested that potential attendees are aware that a gun wrangler will be designated for those not wishing to leave their sidearms unsecured while using the restroom.  A $25 donation is requested to cover lunch and other incidental costs.

Iowa Freedom Report will have a full convention report online this weekend and will give sporadic live-tweets from our site @IAFreedomReport.

The Alternative by Fritz Groszkruger Looks At Subsidies

This week’s edition of The Alternative takes a look at the concept of business subsidies in the light of Senator Grassley’s efforts to put a “hard cap” on agri-business handouts.  The Alternative is originally published in the Hampton Chronicle and re-printed here by permission of the author.

That was okay with me. After all, I had hitched across the country starting out with a twenty dollar bill. My safety net was a willingness to do what it took to survive. He had a paid-for house and plenty of savings for a 92 year old to live out his life in comfort. He didn’t need those “extra” funds anymore than I needed more than twenty dollars on that on-ramp in Oakland. But once again, what is seen is one thing; what is not seen is most important.

The money Grandpa could have saved would have been available to investors driven by markets. The money he paid in taxes was spent by politicians guessing what spending would be best for their constituents. In other words, what spending would buy the most votes. After 80 years of farm programs, we have dying main streets and soil that is essentially being mined or washed into lakes and rivers. This might be good for dredging companies. What we don’t see is what course agriculture would have taken if markets would have guided farming decisions, instead of politicians doing favors for their best sources of election funds.

I was asked what I thought of Senator Charles Grassley’s bill that would put a “hard cap” on federal payments to farmers of $250,000. In Grassley’s statement (for the record) he calls his proposal “a defensible safety net.” He says, “A strong safety net is critical to ensuring a safe and affordable food supply.” I don’t want to be too technical so I’ll just say this is bunk. And I don’t mean a feed bunk; unless you put a bunch of $40,000 pickups nearby and fill it with the hard earned wages of taxpayers.

Does anyone really believe farmland would just sit idle if the government went away?

Without government “help” and the strings attached to it, beginning farmers would be more likely to take over for farmers who the market proves can’t be as profitable. When that beginning farmer becomes rich and prosperous without coerced government money he should not be penalized. He should be rewarded for his hard work and ambition. The best way to do that is to leave him, the heck, alone.

A friend stopped by the other day on his way to meet the DNR about some regulations on his hog farm. The DNR’s position was obviously not defensible protection of the environment but this friend had other benefits such as federally subsidized crop insurance so he was beholden to his government masters to comply with expensive and unnecessary regulations.

Taken as one instance this might not seem so bad. However, if this example is multiplied by the number of farmers who have to deal with this sort of thing the cost is staggering. The United Soybean Board just released a study showing a $16.8 billion rise in cost of meat products if proposed regulations are enforced. Take that, poor people.

Some might claim small farmers need help. That is where Grandpa’s savings comes in: A perfect example of private savings driving an economy as opposed to government spending. If you haven’t heard of Solyndra, it was a solar panel company built on government handouts. It could not get funding elsewhere because no one would voluntarily invest. Now it has failed and diverted $535 million from an economy that could have furnished funding for business tested in the marketplace instead of the political one. Grandpa’s money could have been in a bank ready to loan to a legitimate business instead of thrown down a government approved rat hole.

I admire Mr. Grassley’s intent to provide a safety net for farmers. But in all aspects of our economy the safety net is the problem. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, along with credit expansion at The Fed created the housing boom that busted. The welfare state has created a culture with no self worth, who know how to fill out forms and watch the mail box, and little else. Farm programs have limited farmers’ imaginations to doing what works at the FSA (Farm Service Agency) office, limiting opportunities for the small farmers they are purported to help.

Our economy is a miraculous creator of wealth because much of it has government protections of private property. The part that enables violations of those protections drags our economy down in ways that are not quantifiable. Every farmer and businessman sees the irrational decisions based on government rules but accepts them because the free side of our economy is so powerful they see little room for improvement.

Crop insurance could be totally private if all farmers were restrained from the government dole. Investors could enable a system that provides funding for beginning farmers (much like the stock market) and insures established farmers (like conventional, private insurance does). It needn’t be coerced from the ordinary citizen and it would make those investments more accountable.

What I think of Senator Grassley’s “hard cap” is this: One penny taken from one citizen and given to another distorts an economy that would function better without theft. The cap should be set at zero and apply to every business in America.

Sorenson to Introduce Anti-TSA Legislation

Last week, Senator Rand Paul made headlines when he was detained by Transportation Security Agency thugs at a Nashville airport while returning to Washington.  Now, the Iowa Senate’s champion of liberty may be taking action close to home.  Senator Kent Sorenson said in an email to supporters that he plans to introduce legislation limiting the TSA’s reach into the pants of innocent Iowans.  Sorenson begins:

Nationally, we’ve got government gone wild with their “big
brother” mentality. Cyber monitoring. Attempts to regulate
the Internet. Automated traffic enforcement. Electronic
eavesdropping. Groping stations at airports. The list of
things we need to be “safe” in this country gets bigger and
bigger every day.

But it is not only Senator Paul, but his own constituents whom Sorenson seeks to protect.

A friend of mine told me just the other day that she and her
teenage daughter had gone through a nightmare when she
refused to be treated like a criminal and let the TSA thugs
run her and her daughter through their x-ray scanners.

You probably have heard about the scanners I’m talking about.

You know, the ones that provide naked pictures of the victims
to the TSA agents working the counter? The ones that clearly
violate the fourth amendment to the Constitution, which
states “The right of the people to be secure in their persons,
houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches
and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall
issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or
affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be
searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”

Not only that, but a constituent of mine from Earlham, IA,
had the same experience where she was treated like a criminal
for refusing to be treated like one! Deciding to do a little
digging, I tragically found out that being groped and molested
isn’t a very uncommon thing anymore when it comes to traveling.

Action at the state level is great way to take a stand against the overreach of the police state, especially as Republicans and Democrats in Congress compete with one another to see who can take away rights the fastest.  While the specific piece of legislation is still being drafted, Sorenson promises to introduce it before the end of session.  You can be sure we at Iowa Freedom Report will keep you posted when the bill is filed so you can alert you local representatives that if they’d like your vote, this bill would be an important one to be on.