The Freedom Bulletin

Left-wing socialists across the country have been opining that Republicans did so badly in the election because conservatism is a dying, obsolete philosophy that Americans are beginning to abandon. Well, they are wrong. I know the real reason why conservatives did so badly on November 4th – because liberals bought the election.

Take Barack Obama, for example. He spent $573 million, while John McCain, who accepted public financing, spent only $293 million. It is simply not right that one candidate can have a half-hour long infomercial on all the major networks and the other candidate cannot.

Another great example of liberals buying the election is Question 1 – the initiative to repeal the Massachusetts income tax. It sickens my heart that Question 1 was defeated 70% to 30%. There would have been no drawbacks to eliminating the state income tax and a huge benefit, namely people getting to keep their money! However, because opponents of Question 1 raised $4.5 million and supporters raised only $431,000, the government theives were able to run deceptive TV ads to brainwash the people of Massachusetts into making the irrational, immoral choice.

It is sad that people are so easily influenced by propaganda instead of thinking for themselves. The amount of money a candidate or group has should not affect their chances of winning an election. I believe that campaign spending limits need to be implemented. I don’t believe in public financing because the government shouldn’t spend money on anything but the military, the justice system, and roads, but I also don’t think campaigns should be able to spend as much as they want. Financial arms races are a waste of money, time, and energy and are collectively self-defeating. To ensure fair elections in which people have a chance to make their own decisions instead of being brainwashed, the government needs to limit the amount of money campaigns are allowed to spend.

Sources for stats:
Center for Responsive Politics (OpenSecrets.org)
SouthCoastToday.com

Unfortunately for conservatives, the presidential race features a liberal, left-wing Democrat, Barack Obama, running against a moderate, centrist Republican, John McCain. Although the addition of Sarah Palin to the Republican ticket brought some much-needed balance, I cannot feel enthusiastic about either of the major party tickets.

Actually, that’s not quite true. I am enthusiastic about Obama, but in exactly the opposite way that most people in Massachusetts are. His tax and health care policies are un-American and unjust, and I am creeped out at the prospect of him becoming president. Yes, Obama stands for change, but his kind of change is exactly the opposite of what America needs. The concepts of freedom, individualism, and private ownership of property have been steadily eroded in America through the passage of the 16th Amendment (1913), the Social Security Act (1935), the Durham-Humphrey Amendment (1951), the Brady Bill (1994), the Patriot Act (2001), and countless other governmental actions. Obama would only continue this disturbing, unacceptable trend.

John McCain, on the other hand, might not decrease Americans’ liberty any further but he certainly would not increase it either. His moderate stances on immigration, the economic bailout, and Social Securty make him a poor representative of the Republican Party.

The two candidates in the race who would actually fight for freedom and justice are Bob Barr of the Libertarian Party and Chuck Baldwin of the Constitution Party. Although neither one has a chance of winning, a vote for either Barr or Baldwin is a statement that you believe in the Constitution and want to stand up to big government. Voting for a third-party candidate is also a protest against the unjust two-party system, in which minority views (which are often the best views) are ignored and the two major parties try to become as similar as possible in order to alienate the fewest voters.

If you want to vote for the best candidate, vote for Barr or Baldwin, or write in Ron Paul. If you want to vote for the best candidate that actually has a chance of winning, vote for McCain. Although I am not endorsing a single candidate, I encourage voters to do whatever it takes to prevent an Obama presidency.

I had honestly never heard of Sarah Palin before today. But after reading more about her, I think John McCain made a great decision to pick her as his running mate.

The choice of Palin is historic in several ways. She is the first female Republican vice-presidential candidate, the second female on a major party ticket, the first Alaskan on a presidential ticket.

Palin may not be the most right-wing running mate McCain could have chosen, but she is still a solid conservative, and I like most of her political views. A quick check on Wikipedia shows that she is pro-life, anti-gay-marriage, and a lifetime member of the NRA.

I also applaud that McCain chose a woman as his running mate. It seems like he is trying to get the votes of women who supported Hillary Clinton and are angry with Obama for snubbing her. Palin’s age (44) and her gender will definitely help McCain appeal to a wider range of voters. Whatever the reason behind the choice, I think it’s great that there is a female on the Republican ticket! Hopefully the fact that the Republicans have a woman on their ticket and the Democrats don’t will help to dispel the myth that Republicans are sexist and opposed to gender equality.

This morning, Barack Obama chose Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware as his running mate. I’m not going to vote for Obama anyway, and Biden doesn’t really change my opinion.

What I’m really looking forward to is when John McCain announces his choice. I think he should pick a truly right-wing Republican to bring some balance to the ticket. If he picked a moderate-leaning running mate like Mitt Romney, Michael Bloomberg, or even Joe Lieberman, a lot of conservative Republicans would feel that their party’s ticket did not represent them. Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty or Mike Huckabee could be a good choice. Although there’s absolutely no chance of it happening, I still think McCain and Ron Paul would make a cool ticket. He would definitely balance out some of McCain’s views.

Speaking of Ron Paul, did you know that he’s holding a Rally for the Republic? It will take place from Aug. 31 to Sept. 2 in Minneapolis, to coincide roughly with the Republican National Convention. I hope there’ll be a lot of media coverage of it. I can’t make it there myself, but it sounds like it’ll be really cool.

I just had an idea: McCain should pick Ron Paul as his running mate! Paul is the only Republican who hasn’t dropped out of the race, so I guess he’s the runner-up, of sorts. That would be a great ticket! I know a lot of conservatives consider McCain too liberal, so adding a libertarian-leaning conservative might make the ticket more appealing to a lot of voters. If not, then it would certainly be interesting…