Quoth Brian Holtz: ----- TK) In terms of long-range "what would my libertopia look like?" thinking, I haven't seen any great interest from him -- he's in presidential candidate mode right now, and his focus is on "what could I accomplish if elected?"(TK Right, and I want to know: what kinds of force would he initiate (or propose initiating or propose no longer being initiated) if elected? -----
If you're going to re-post private email to a public forum, at least have the goddamn courtesty to include the part of it in which you provide the context underlying the part you're posting, rather than pretending that you're just now adding that context to an otherwise contextless snippet. The question the quote from me above was written in reply to was one of the trick questions often thrown at Libertarian candidates for the purpose of forcing them to impersonate philosopher kings rather than simply be candidates: How do they believe government SHOULD be financed? To the extent that I was acting as Kubby's proxy in reply, I merely refused to be buffaloed into the philosopher king corner and pointed out that he's focused on the existing reality of how government IS financed, and what he could actually DO about that in a 4-year presidency. Then I said: TK) And in that vein, he's actually not particularly radical by comparison to many past LP candidates. (TK ... which is true -- with respect to the particular issue in question. Nice try at falsely generalizing the quote in order to "de-radicalize" Kubby, but did you really think I'd let you get away with it? On the issue of government finance, Kubby supports eliminating the income tax (like most past LP nominees), but acknowledges that Congress may very well decline to do so and then offers as his second swing at government financing a tax-cutting plan that fits within the mechanics of the existing system ... as opposed to recent nominees who've stuck fairly resolutely (Badnarik from the start, Browne after getting dressed down on the issue) to bluster about magically eliminating the income tax on their first day in office "and then breaking for lunch." I'm not sure how radical you think Kubby tells radicals he is, but the evidence is in plain sight (or site!) for radicals and non-radicals alike to conclude beyond any doubt that he's the most radical of the even remotely plausible declared (as of today) candidates for the LP's 2008 presidential nomination. Regards, Tom Knapp
