I agree!  I do not intend to condone the use or abuse of liquor; I do not drink alcohol in any form.  But it is not a governmental function.  The ABC stores should be sold and extra revenue raised from the private dealers (with appropriate safety and zoning regulation) applied to essential government needs like education. 

But I urge the Governor not to stop there:  Sell the lottery, too.

The state lottery, that “benefits” education, is a form of gambling run by a state agency under the authority of the statutes and state constitution.  Gambling is not inherently sinful but is discouraged by most evangelical denominations.  But there are social costs associated with gambling.  This book published by the Cambridge University Press by an expert (formerly on the faculty of the University of Illinois now Distinguished Professor of Economics at Baylor University) asserts that the social costs of gambling is half that of drug abuse.  Professor Earl L. Grinols suggests that:

The social costs of gambling, such as increased crime, lost work time, bankruptcies and financial hardships faced by the families of gambling addicts, have reached epidemic proportions, costing the economy as much as $54 billion annually, Earl L. Grinols, an Illinois economist, has written in “Gambling in America: Costs and Benefits,” published this month by Cambridge University Press.

This compares with the estimated annual $110 billion cost of drug abuse, according to the U.S. General Accounting Office.

 While the emphasis was on casino gambling, the state lottery certainly places the state in the position of both encouraging gambling and also making it socially acceptable, even desirable (I’m helping education!).  There was a commercial in the Commonwealth of Virginia that had teachers and classrooms show to encourage playing the lottery. 

Try this source:  Dr. Patrick Briney, Ph.D., President of the Arkansas Republican Assembly.  Dr. Briney wrote that the social costs of the lottery outweigh the benefits:

• State sponsored lotteries promote problem gambling (Richard Huddleston, 2002. An Arkansas Lottery, A Bad Bet for Education & Families?).
• Research shows, “… that the lottery is a powerful recruiting device, which is responsible for inducing about one-quarter of the adult population who would not otherwise have done so to participate in commercial gambling.” Lotteries create gamblers who otherwise may never have gambled. (Clotfelter and Cook, Selling Hope: State Lotteries in America (Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press) 1991 pg. 105).
• Dr. Lance Dodes, who runs Massachusetts’ largest outpatient treatment center for problem gamblers says that lottery players comprise 44% of his patients. (Golden, Daniel and Halbfinger, David, “Lottery Addiction Rises and Lives Fall” Boston Globe, February 11, 1997).
• 43% of all callers to the national 1-800-GAMBLER hotline indicated problems with lottery gambling. (Council on Compulsive Gambling, “1995 Statistics for 1-800-GAMBLER Hotline” March 20, 1996)
• 39% of persons who entered publicly funded alcohol and drug treatment centers in Texas stated that the lottery was their most problematic gambling activity. (Wallisch, Lynn, “Gambling in Texas: 1995 Survey of Adult and Adolescent Behavior” Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse).

I wrote on this before.  Senator Sue Madison of Arkansas was brave to take that issue on.  The Hot Springs Sentinel-Record reported that the bill died in committee.

While as a libertarian I believe gambling should be legal, subject to appropriate regulation, the state must get out of the gambling business.  Sell the lottery, Governor McDonnell.

It is a good question and it should be resolved.  For both to run splits the libertarian vote and causes an establishment candidate to win.  On the one hand, Gary Johnson has youth and is similar to the ideas of Paul without the social conservatism that turns off some from supporting the Texas congressman.  However, Cong. Paul is clearly the number one movement libertarian, has tremendous name recognition and can raise  money and supporters.  One site dedicated to the internet sites dedicated or supporting Paul, has about 265 pro-Paul sites registered.  (Your blogger just registered THIS site there this weekend.)  Paul is also on the opinion shows almost every night and is a frequent guest on foreign media as well.  It will be hard for Johnson to overcome that.  He would have to establish all of that exposure Paul has now.

Ron Paul and Gary Johnson agree on virtually all of the top issues that are relevant in a nationwide election. The differences come in the emphasis placed on the different issues. Johnson tends to focus more on civil liberties and a non interventionist foreign policy than sound monetary policy and the Federal Reserve.

I agree.  The simple solution is one the author does not state but implies:  Both of them run together as a team.  Let Paul/Johnson be the 2012 ticket for the libertarian movement.  Paul brings the enthusiasm and money; Johnson brings the future voice of the movement.  If they win, Paul would probably only serve one term and then campaign for Johnson as his successor.  If they lose, Johnson would inherit most of Paul’s support and take up that mantle.  He would be the TV king that Paul is now. 

Let Paul and Johnson run together – no drama on running mates BUT two campaigners to stump a state or nation.  Paul/Johnson 2012 is the libertarian dream ticket. 

Somebody might ask:  What about Jindal?  I am conflicted.  Jindal is very intelligent and very much an over-achiever.  He’s been a success in every job he held.  He’s trying to clean up his native state – no mean feat.  I believe he will be a great President and I hope I can help him.  The Conflicted Libertarian is truly nonplussed.

However, I believe 2016 (or 2020) is Jindal’s year after eight years as Governor of Louisiana.

The most striking result in the NBC/Journal poll is that the Tea Party movement has a net-positive 41 percent to 23 percent score. The American public is in a populist/conservative/libertarian mood. Republicans need to adopt that mood, channel it into sound policies, and learn to trust the people, without worrying that they haven’t all yet signed up to GOP orthodoxy.

That sounds like find and support Ron Paul/Gary Johnson candidates.  We’ll see if we see Kristol out stumping for Rand Paul or Peter Schiff.

The Whig Party was an anti-Jacksonian political party from the 1830s to about 1860.  There were several Whig Presidents:  William Henry Harrison and Zachary Taylor were elected, John Tyler and Millard Fillmore succeeded Harrison and Taylor when they died in office. 

The original Whigs opposed Jacksonian increases in presidential power.  However, they also supported the Second Bank of the United States, internal improvements and unsound money according to both Wikipedia and Thomas DiLorenzo, noted scholar on Abraham Lincoln (who was a Whig member of Congress) in one of his great books about the Sixteenth President. 

Hardly a libertarian party.  But the Modern Whig Party might have potential for libertarians.  Slate reports their positions supports states rights, fiscal responsibility and eschewing the legislation of morality:

They resurrected the old Whigs’ symbol, the owl, and chiseled out a platform centered on fiscal responsibility, energy independence, education, states’ rights, separation of church and state, and support for veterans. In other words, a Republican head with a Democratic heart.

I am not endorsing any third party.  But I will keep an eye on the Modern Whig Party.  Any third party needs two things:  Credibility and lots of money.  It could raise money through money bombs and through the support of Ron Paul type policies.  That would give the Modern Whig Party immediate credibility.  It will need ballot access and a lawyer or two (Not an ad for me!  I am an attorney but not in election law) to ensure that access.  it also needs solid candidates.  Finally a third party needs a national crisis to cause voters to consider an alternative.  We may well have that.

Here’s another comment that excites me and will send tajitj to new heights of rhapsody!  This is a quote from Bill Kauffman in the American Conservative cited in GOP 12:

At breakfast the morn of the rally, I sat across the table from a friendly dude wearing a peace-sign T-shirt and looking like an affable old surfer. He introduced himself as Gary Johnson, the former two-term governor of New Mexico. Over the next day, I spent a fair amount of time chatting with Governor Johnson: mountain-climber, triathlete, vetoer of 750 bills.

He told me that he may take a shot at the Republican presidential nomination in 2012 as an antiwar, anti-Fed, pro-personal liberties, slash-government-spending candidate—in other words, a Ron Paul libertarian.

This is small potatoes compared to this next story.  Dick Morris suggests in Newsmax that former Massachusetts Mitt Romney is out of serious 2012 running due to his healthcare “solution” in his home state.  I would seriously consider anything Morris says about politics.  You might not agree or feel confortable with Morris but he is a brilliant politico on the level of Machiavelli.  I respect anything he says. 

Morris also says that former Alaska Governor Palin has a way to go to be the GOP front runner:

“I think that Sarah Palin’s book sales are doing well, and I think she’s an incredible woman, but a lot of people were concerned when she resigned from the governorship of Alaska. Right now there is no front-runner…”

I think this has been a good two weeks for Governor Jindal.  He is quietly not making mistakes but being a good, competent governor of an important state.  I know he wants to run for re-election but i also know he listens to the Lord and if He says, it’s time, thne it’s time.

Ron Paul is only 8% behind Barack Obama. Is anyone else surprised by this number?

Paul is actually more popular with Democrats than either Palin, Huckabee or Romney.   He has the most undecided and has the lowest Obama percentage, according to Politics Daily:

Obama leads Mike Huckabee by 49 percent to 44 percent with 7 percent undecided; Sarah Palin by 51 percent to 43 percent with 5 percent undecided; Ron Paul by 46 percent to 38 percent with 16 percent undecided; and Mitt Romney by 48 percent to 43 percent with 9 percent undecided.

I think that this is good news for Ron Paul.  Very good news.  He is now a mainstream candidate.  Many do not know him.  They can be persuaded to support him.  I am impressed at all the video press Cong. Paul gets.  And every time he speaks, I am sure somebody somewhere says, “I like this guy.  Let me find out more.” 

Perhaps a Paul/Jindal ticket in 2012?

UPDATE:  Cong. Paul’s Audit the Fed act survived a major gutting in committee and may go to the House floor for a vote.  The co-sponsor with Paul is Cong. Alan Grayson of Florida.  See this video.  This is of course a reason why conservatives find Paul troubling.  Thanks to Abraham, Senior Member of the Ron Paul forums for that last insight.

I have this terrible Walter Mitty nightmare: Just after Governor Jindal personally asks me to help him with his 2012 campaign, Congressman Ron Paul decides to run for President as well – and wants me to help HIM too!

I am a Ron Paul voter. I was even in a Meetup group for Paul and tried to set up a rally at the state capitol. I collected a few signatures to get him on the ballot and was interviewed by my local newspaper as a leading RP supporter. I think he is correct on just about every question. I have written on libertarian subjects for Style Weekly, the local urban alternative newspaper. However, I support Governor Jindal because of my personal admiration for him and his accomplishments and that he can change the way people feel about Republicans and conservatives. I believe he could implement some of Dr. Paul’s ideas about smaller government and more liberty in Washington.

Let me suggest several ways to try to get some Ron Paul voters to the cause!

Governor Jindal signed into law in 2008 an act making Louisiana the 21st state to refuse to implement the REAL ID (some call it Dangerous ID and they are right ) Act. That act, at Section 1, paragraph 9, refers to the Tenth Amendment:

That the enactment into law by Congress of the REAL ID Act, will cause unneeded expense and inconvenience to those people, and was enacted by the Congress in violation of the principles of federalism contained in the 10th amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America, and thus the state of Louisiana will not participate in the implementation of the REAL ID Act.

Great language! Wait there’s more:

Section 2. The Legislature of Louisiana does hereby direct the Department of Public Safety and Corrections, including the office of motor vehicles, not to implement the provisions of the REAL ID Act and to report to the governor any attempt by agencies or agents of the United States Department of Homeland Security to secure the implementation of the REAL ID Act through the operations of that division and department.

Governor Jindal was lauded by a diverse coalition of groups, from privacy advocates (see the Privacy Lives blog of Melissa Ngo ) to the Best of New Orleans Blog:

(http://blogofneworleans.com/blog/2008/07/20/jindal-vetoes-his-vote/#comment-10900

Even the ACLU of Louisiana commended the governor and the legislature for its bold pro-liberty stand:

“The ACLU of Louisiana commends both Governor Jindal and the legislature for standing up to the Bush Administration in a nationwide movement against Real ID,” added Marjorie Esman, executive director of the ACLU of Louisiana. “The residents of Louisiana should be proud that our state officials honor our privacy and have chosen to protect it in spite of the demands of the federal government for greater surveillance.”

Governor Jindal can strengthen his libertarian bonafides by endorsing Congressman Ron Paul’s leading legislative initiative: HR 1207, otherwise known as the Audit the Fed Act. It has exploded onto the political stage with over 220 co-sponsors. It is obvious from a recent testy exchange between Paul and Fed chairman Ben Bernanke that the Federal Reserve is concerned about this matter:

“I will resist any attempt to dictate monetary policy.”

How can any servant of the people in a democratic republic claim they are beyond the accountability of the people’s representatives? The Federal Reserve is our servant – not our master.

Governor Jindal could simply indicate that if he were still in Congress he would co-sponsor and vote for the Audit the Fed Act (HR 1207) and urge the Louisiana delegation to do so.

Another effort that Governor Jindal could do is work on the elimination of useless, wasteful state governmental agencies. As I wrote in a earlier blog entry (May 13, 2009), Governor Jindal intends to ask the legislature to adopt a “Commission on Streamlining Government” to present a list of governmental cuts with an up or down vote similar to the base closing commission.

This is a key effort. By doing this at the state level, Governor Jindal can show real results transferrable to the federal level.

Governor Jindal also should seek a speaking spot at a future Campaign for Liberty or Ron Paul type event. I think he may find a friendly audience. Tanya Diagle blogged at the Campaign for Liberty website that:

“Recently, Republican leaders got together for a little pow wow in Florida to strategize for 2012. From what I read, the only one with any sense was Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana. Gov. Jindal characterized it best when he said, “When the Republican Party is no longer the party of fiscal conservatism… then clearly I would argue we’ve lost our way. We have to match our action to our rhetoric.” * * * With all the blah blah blah I’ve been hearing, I heard Gov. Jindal LOUD AND CLEAR.”

This is great news for both Governor Jindal and libertarian conservatives. But the governor will have to explain several votes in Congress on items like the original REAL ID act and support for the renewal of the USA Patriot Act. In fairness, most establishment Republicans voted for those acts and some are just now coming around to the harm and threats these increased federal powers bring. Governor Jindal can easily find ways to explain those votes in a more libertarian manner without endangering his standing with national security conservatives.

We’ll see (maybe at this blog first!) how this plays out.

Tomorrow will be the vote!  Your Assistant Blogger will be there in the pm (after an important sporting event – my son and daughter’s soccer game!) and we’ll continue to update you on the convention.  At 4:30 PM, the VA GOP Liberty Caucus will meet for an organization.  I encouraged a lady who is very active in the the RP campaign and the Campaign for Liberty to run for chairman.  We’ll see what happens. 

Sandy the Assistant Blogger – www.jindal2012blog.com