Liberty Maven

Rand Paul was kind enough to participate in an email interview with us earlier this week. Tomorrow he celebrates his father’s birthday with a money bomb of his own. Organized by grass roots supporters and dubbed the “Run Rand Run” money bomb, it aims to raise $1 million for his Senate campaign.

Pledge to donate now! Then be sure to DONATE on August 20th.

Yesterday a new scientific poll was released showing that Rand Paul trails the establishment GOP candidate by only 11 percentage points. Rand showed up with 26% to Trey Grayson’s 37%. This is a very strong showing for an anti-establishment candidate challenging a career politician. There are still 9 months to go before the May 2010 GOP primary in Kentucky. This poll proves the viability of Paul. Grayson now has to prepare himself for a dogfight. A lot can happen in 9 months.

Here is our short interview with Rand Paul from earlier this week.

LM: Starting off with a bit of a personal question, what was it like growing up in the Ron Paul household? Was he as strict with his children as he is with following the Constitution?

Rand Paul: All the kids were into sports. My older brother was a nationally ranked swimmer and my younger brother played baseball in college. I swam for a non-scholarship program at Baylor. My earliest memories are of discussing politics with my father’s friends. I always gravitated to the adult conversation.

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I adore the all-American game of poker.  I’ve been playing it regularly for over a decade, and as a strong, free-market libertarian, I believe the government should have no role in it.  (Certainly there’s no mention of poker in the Constitution).

But given the overreaching federal government we currently have, there have been numerous attempts to limit and/or ban the playing of the game, whether it be live or over the Internet.  Often, such bills are passed by slipping them into “must-pass” bills, like when the UIGEA was snuck into the otherwise unrelated SAFE Port Act at the last minute.

In response, the Poker Players Alliance (PPA) was created.  And several high-profile players, for whom I have great respect, such as Howard Lederer, Chris Ferguson, Andy Bloch, and Victor Ramdin got involved by campaigning and testifying in Congress on the subject.  When the PPA was first created, I was happy to join, and I paid to become a registered member.

The main argument that the PPA should be making, from my point of view, is twofold:

1. Poker is  primarily a game of skill, not a game of chance.  Therefore, many of the “gambling” laws (which have language specifically referring to “games of chance”) do not apply.
2. The Federal Government has no Constitutional authority over games adults play, period.  And prohibiting businesses of any kind on moral (or any other) grounds is blatantly unconstitutional and immoral.

The PPA does a great job arguing the first point.  Even some state courts, such as Pennsynvlania and Colorado have agreed.

However, with respect to the second point, the PPA is decidedly not taking a libertarian stance.  Indeed, their main strategy seems to be to cozy up to government and appeal to its instinct for control to convince it to regulate poker instead of banning it, because, heck, a lot of money can be made by doing so.

Indeed, in talking with proponents of the PPA’s approach, the general consensus is that the choice is between prohibition and regulation.  But I don’t see either as a positive choice long-term.  What about freedom?

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When I heard William “BJ” Lawson speak for the first time in person I said to myself, “This is the Ron Paul Republican who can win”. Then I checked out his opponent David Price and immediately thought, “I know Lawson can win.” At first glance, the problem is the heavily Democratic North Carolina district he is in, but if you dig a bit deeper, Lawson is the perfect candidate for a district of this kind. He is not your normal present day Republican. Lawson has the ability to attract those on all sides of the political spectrum much like Ron Paul did during his own campaign.

Below you will discover the Liberty Maven rankings for BJ Lawson on the Paul-O-Meter, where candidates and current lawmakers can be rated on how closely they are in line with Dr. Ron Paul on the issues. To learn about the Paul-O-Meter methodology please see this article. You may also assign your own rankings or request a candidate be added to the system.

Continue reading to see if BJ Lawson truly deserves the moniker “Ron Paul Jr.”

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Sarah Palin In The Land Of McCain's Oz

It is now time to rate the vice presidential candidates on the Paul-O-Meter. We start with John McCain’s VP pick Sarah Palin. The perfect strategic pick for McCain, Palin has little history. She’s been Governor of Alaska for less than two years, but now that McCain’s handlers are pulling Palin’s puppet strings it is difficult to see a difference between the two.

Here we examine Palin on 20 issues to see how she stacks up to Ron Paul. Hopefully this will help some see the lips through the lipstick.

If you’d like to see more ratings or rate Palin or any other candidate or lawmaker head on over to Paul-O-Meter.com and explore the possibilities.

If you want to delve into the question of whether Palin truly is similar to Ron Paul read onward.

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The final Presidential candidate we will be rating on the Paul-O-Meter is the Green Party’s nominee, Cynthia McKinney. For a description of the Paul-O-Meter see this article. We have previously completed ratings for John McCain, Barack Obama, Bob Barr, Chuck Baldwin, and Ralph Nader.

You can get in the action too by rating the candidates using our Paul-O-Meter polling application here.

Listed below is our own ratings for Cynthia McKinney.

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It is now Ralph Nader’s turn to be viewed through the Ron Paul colored glasses of the Paul-O-Meter. The Paul-O-Meter rates the candidates on how closely they resemble Ron Paul on the issues. For a complete description and methodology of the Paul-O-Meter please see this article. Thus far we have rated Barack Obama, John McCain, Bob Barr, and Chuck Baldwin.

You can join in the rating fun by using our web based Paul-O-Meter application here. Feel free to check it out and submit your own ratings for all the Presidential candidates.

Find our own ratings for Ralph Nader below.

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UPDATE: Chuck Baldwin’s Communications Director posted a comment clarifying his position on a few of the issues. This has modified Baldwin’s overall score. Read the comments for more details.

It is now Constitution Party candidate Chuck Baldwin’s turn to be spun through the Paul-O-Meter. So far we have rated Barack Obama, John McCain, and Bob Barr. Will Chuck Baldwin beat Bob Barr’s current high score of 88? Read on to find out.

For a detailed description of the Paul-O-Meter look here.

NEW: If you’d like to rate the candidates on the Paul-O-Meter please do so on our Paul-O-Meter user rating application here.

Continue reading to see our ratings for Chuck Baldwin.

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It is now Libertarian candidate Bob Barr’s turn to be spun through the Paul-O-Meter. We rate the candidates on 20 criteria to see how closely they match up with Ron Paul on the issues. Thus far we have rated Barack Obama and John McCain. Read all about the Paul-O-Meter here.

NEW: Now you can submit your own ratings using our new Paul-O-Meter web polling service. Check it out here.

Our rankings for Bob Barr are below.

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In the next installment of our Ron Paul Paul-O-Meter effort to rate the Presidential candidates we hold John McCain to the Ron Paul liberty fire. Previously, we rated Barack Obama. For details about the Paul-O-Meter see the description.

Read on for John McCain’s scores on the issues.

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A few days ago we introduced the Ron Paul Paul-O-Meter. For a description and overview of the Paul-O-Meter, please read the article here.

Today we begin rating the Presidential candidates with our rating for Barack Obama. The Paul-O-Meter will give us a total score on 20 criteria. The closer a candidate gets to 100 points the more that candidate is like Ron Paul. For each criteria we will give the score and a short justification for that score. Read the results for Barack Obama below.

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