Like I explained at the meeting last night, we need the Libertarians in the group. There is plenty of room for everyone. There’s plenty of room for diverse opinions.
Aside from the obviously strategic need for the strength in numbers and a unified vote against Obama in November, we need them for a wide range of reasons. Please indulge me for a minute while I explain.
Our Libertarians friends have similar fiscal restraint ideas to the TEA Party. The GOP establishment is generally more of the same, spend and grow government, although not at the same, crazy, accelerated rates as the Democrat Party. There is common ground here.
We need the Libertarians to stay within the TEA Party and the GOP, so their goals and concerned are heard and incorporated into common goals for government. Truthfully, their Libertarian views on government spending MUST be implemented in government today, or else the country, and the states, are on a crash course with financial destruction.
Where does the Libertarian point of view belong with the Republicans or the Democrats? While many of our Libertarian friends may side with the socially permissive Left, their fiscal issues align only with those on the Right. Then there’s the military stance taken by the Ron Paul/Liberty movement – “bring the troops home and shut down the foreign bases”. Of those three extremely important issues, we are all equally divided. The fiscal goes Right, social goes to the Left, and their military stance really needs to be an openly debated in the political arena to find the balance between military need and what the country can afford. The Neo-Cons want more war, but that’s obviously not all Republicans. I would welcome that important debate.
The TEA Party needs the GOP. The GOP needs the TEA Party and grassroots groups, Liberty (Libertarian) groups included. The Libertarians need the GOP, as evidenced by Ron Paul’s change to Republican Party for his run for president. The consolidation of these groups for a focused cause – less government, lower taxes, and controlled spending – is very important!! United we stand; divided the nation falls.
To further illustrate my point above, the Democrat party needs the environmental groups, the militant feminists, Socialist groups, Communist groups, LGBT groups, and the solid 90% vote of the black community, Hispanic voters, the Jewish vote, and Catholic vote. Without all these subgroups, the Democrat Party has trouble getting elected. When the GOP pulls the Jewish and Catholic voter away from the Democrat base on religious freedom grounds, the Democrats have problems. In 2012, those two groups are walking away from the Democrats at the direction of their religious leaders. Divided the Democrats fall.
I can see my own bias, but that shouldn’t end the conversation me. I am a self-admitted conservative, traditionalist, Christian. If you give me power to make all the rules, we would live under Biblical principles. Even though I am going to tug that proverbial “rope” to the right side of the political spectrum, I see room for my own balance with my brothers and sisters in liberty and patriotism. The common ground is vast, and where we should build our foundation of understanding. United we stand.
So even though the TEA Party has differences with the Libertarians, we have so much in common. First, we are all patriots. Second, we see the impending destruction. Practically speaking, you, the Libertarians have been fighting this smaller government fight for 10+ years. You have the organization and expertise the young TEA Party groups lack. Your Libertarian point of view is extremely valuable to balance the RINO GOP with the very conservative TEA Party and 912 groups. An open, honest, debate with some resolution is desperately needed now. I’m not leaving politics. I don’t see the conservatives in the TEA Party leaving. If Caldwell County is any indication, I fear too many Libertarians might just get out of politics and that’s not good for the country. So, yes, the Libertarians are needed today.
We welcome all in the Caldwell TEA Party.
=============== on a more personal note:
I have the utmost respect for Nicole. She is young and energetic. She is very smart and very well informed. I want her on my team.
I have respect for Jordan, who has a bright future in politics. I want him to be encouraged, since his contributions will be valuable in the future.
Charles is vocal and informed. I haven’t seen him for awhile, but I would like to have the opportunity to continue working with him again.
Jeff has climbed high within the party and remained a positive advocate for Liberty.
These four people are needed Caldwell TEA Party and the GOP. Their points of view are important, because United we stand, and the nation survives. Divided – Obama and the Democrats win.
Caldwell TEA Party 
Tell that to the Romney camp. You win the primary by your core, but the general by your minority philosophies. With a solid Libertarian candidate and Ron Paul remaining an official candidate, it is the Republican’s election to lose. I do respect that you have recognized this because ever since the various libertarian and conservative groups came onto the scene in Tea and other like organizations, there has been nothing but infighting and an attempt to purge the libertarians from them. If we are going to remain a two party democracy, the GOP needs to accept that Libertarianism is and always has been a strong and vocal part of America. We can either work together or when libertarians are called upon, there may be no answer.
A couple side notes. Any social issue that some libertarians side with the left on are normally more coincidental because the theory behind them are often different. For example, homosexual marriage is normally an issue of the right to contract for libertarians where, as in most cases, the liberals are more interested in everyone being “equal”. “Equality” is not a tenant of Libertarianism, although they often believe in it in a general sense under natural law. As in everyone has an equal right to defend themselves.
And, Ron Paul has been a Republican during the entirety of his decades in elected office. He took a brief tenure in the Libertarian Party due to his displeasure with the direction of the GOP. Specifically since he was so ideologically close to Reagan who underwent a tremendous deviation from his pre-election rhetoric.
And be careful when using Libertarian because it is a philosophy that happens to share a name with a political party. The party provides competition to the GOP, but all of those names you mentioned are Republicans with libertarian beliefs in government and I know of one of those that wouldn’t self identify as “libertarian”.
Thanks for the reply. I haven’t seen much infighting with the Libertarians I gotten to know over the last 3 years, unless I was just unaware of it.
And yes, the Romney camp needs to hear this message! If he is the nominee, he will have to bridge the divide and bring everyone together. Ron Paul has always been a Republican? Sorry for not knowing that. But please correct me if I’m wrong. Is Campaign for Liberty GOP or Libertarian, or a pragmatic mix of both?
Ron Paul was only a registered Libertarian for a brief period to run for President in 1988. He has been a Registered Republican since ’56 with the exclusion of 1988. He ran because he wanted to voice the waywardness the GOP was heading and advocated for constitutional limited government. He has been a sitting Republican Congressman since 97 and served in that seat previously in 79-85. Campaign for Liberty is non partisan and advocates for limited government. I would say there is both many conservatives and libertarians.
I was speaking in general about the Tea party movement. I have seen many of the purging happening in other groups.
Thanks.
Christine,
i share your concerns on the debt, but i think its worth noting that the actual growth of government spending under President Obama is far, far lower than it was under President W. Bush, and far lower than what we experienced under President Reagan.
remember, the fiscal budget year for Mr. Obama didn’t begin until October 2009.
its also worth noting that the rate of Federal taxation has been very low under this President, especially when you consider that Mr. Obama now owns the Bush era tax cuts, since he re-instated them under his watch. also, remember that almost 40% of the stimulus actually came in the form of tax cuts.
that being said, my main concern is the funding for senior citizen entitlements and the military – that is where the overwhelming bulk of government spending goes…and i am worried about how we’ll sustain that spending.
i consider myself someone who would have voted for congressman Paul, but for reasons that i am unclear on, Republicans rejected the most viable conservative in the primaries.
if you are having a gathering for your group, i’d like to attend and listen in, to see what i can learn.
thanks!
– andy
I was no fan of Bush’s spending. In fact, I wrote extensively about his “drunken sailor” spending and federal overreach.
Christine,
the thing is, its not just “Bush spending”….that spending was approved for six years by a GOP controlled House and a GOP controlled Senate – and many of those same congresspersons still serve today.
you can go back, also, to the Reagan spending. growth in government spending grew at a crazed rate during his administration.
what we need from the Tea Party, i think, is to finally make real and meaningful cuts to Social Security, Medicare and the Military. thats where most of our spending occurs.
is your group having a meeting anytime soon?
– andy
Social Security is a Good program that was designed to keep those who have aged out of the work force from becoming a burden on society. The premise is good. The implementation has become poor. Medicare is where the real problem lies. With our ability to keep people alive longer and longer has come a cost that was never anticipated in the run up to Medicare. The technology has far outpassed our ability to pay for it. In addition the bulk of expenses are incurred n the last year of life. I propose that we must get a handle on responsible dying. As cold as it sounds, an 85 year old man or woman sitting in a hospital receiving maximum care at a cost of 20K a day, with no reality based expectation of living a productive life again is a liability we cant afford. Nobody wants to say goodbye to Grandma but this is not what Medicare was designed for. We need the political will to get a grip on this subject or yes, we will go bankrupt.