I've remained silent on the current economic plague that is apparently a huge threat to the American system.....

In part, this is because I don't claim to understand the entirety of the situation and I, for one, don't truly believe that any one person has a full grasp of the effects of all of the variables involved and what will happen when some (or none or many or all) of them are changed. I am not an economist and wouldn't even want to pretend to be one. With all of that being said, I don't like the idea of the current plan to bail out the ailing finance industry. Ben Bernanke and Les Paulson are trying to sell "the plan" like crazy and warning of dire consequences if Congress doesn't push it through. My gut says (and libertarian inclinations) that, if the economy must be steered AT ALL, it must be done only with the lightest of touches. In all truth, I generally fall right along the lines of laissez-faire capitalism with a slight anarchist tendency. I tend to think that the course correction that will probably be implemented at the hands of the government (your tax dollars at work to stabilize at least a decade of questionable business practices by the biggest names in the game) will be overly heavy and potentially worse for the economy AND your (and my) pocketbook. There is a much better (and more eloquent) explanation of why this plan is problematic here.

Getting away from the economy for the moment, check out this Bob Barr video regarding the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act:



Keep in mind that Barack Obama voted to approve the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 Amendments Act of 2008 and John McCain didn't even vote.

The daily plank.....

"3.6 Representative Government

We support electoral systems that are more representative of the electorate at the federal, state and local levels. As private voluntary groups, political parties should be allowed to establish their own rules for nomination procedures, primaries and conventions. We call for an end to any tax-financed subsidies to candidates or parties and the repeal of all laws which restrict voluntary financing of election campaigns. We oppose laws that effectively exclude alternative candidates and parties, deny ballot access, gerrymander districts, or deny the voters their right to consider all legitimate alternatives."

-from http://www.lp.org/platform