The Liberty Papers

There has been a list going around the blogosphere written by Atrios and made readable by Kevin Drum. As someone who considers themself a liberal (albeit a classical one, not a socialist/leftist like Atrios and Kevin Drum) and someone who is disgusted with the “leadership” of the Republican Party and possibly looking for alternatives in 2006 and 2008, I figure I need to take this test to see if I should consider the Democratic Party and consider becoming a left-libertarian.

Note: the questions will be in normal text, my answers will be in bold. I will give myself 1 point for anything I agree entirely with, 0.5 points for anything I agree partially with, and 0 points for what I disagree entirely with.

1)Undo the bankruptcy bill enacted by this administration. Not entirely, but there need to be exemptions to the new restrictions for those who became bankrupt as a result of health reasons and old age and there need to be some revisions to the means testing provisions. I’ll give myself a 0.5.

2)Repeal the estate tax repeal. No. I firmly believe in the principle “no taxation without representation”. I’ll give myself a 0.

3)Increase the minimum wage and index it to the CPI. No. I’ve got a better idea, get rid of the minimum wage. I’ll give myself a 0.

4)Universal health care (obviously the devil is in the details on this one). No. All universal health care does is lead to equal access to poor quality health care. I give myself a 0.

5)Increase CAFE standards. Some other environment-related regulation. No. The free market will do a better job than government command and control edicts. I give myself a 0.

6)Pro-reproductive rights, getting rid of abstinence-only education, improving education about and access to contraception including the morning after pill, and supporting choice. I support keeping birth control legal, including the morning after pill. I oppose state-funded sex education, including abstinence-only education, because this is the responsibility of the family. However, I am absolutely opposed to legalized abortion for birth control reasons, however I am open to keeping exceptions for rape, incest, and life of the mother. However, I believe abortion should be a issue regulated by the states. I give myself a 0.5.

7)Simplify and increase the progressivity of the tax code. I support a national retail sales tax with one flat rate. You cannot simplify the tax code and make it more “progressive” at the same time. I give myself a 0.5.

8)Kill faith-based funding. Certainly kill federal funding of anything that engages in religious discrimination. I don’t support Bush’s faith-based initiatives because they are merely another welfare program, but I don’t oppose faith-based funding in principle. I support the latter entirely. I give myself a 0.5.

9)Reduce corporate giveaways. I agree on principle. I give myself a 1.

10)Have Medicare run the Medicare drug plan. I have a better idea, kill the Medicare drug plan. Better yet, kill Medicare. I give myself a 0.

11)Force companies to stop underfunding their pensions. Change corporate bankruptcy law to put workers and retirees at the head of the line with respect to their pensions. No. Again, the leftists don’t understand the concepts of personal responsiblity and the free market. Jane Galt has more. I give myself a 0.

12)Leave the states alone on issues like medical marijuana. Generally move towards “more decriminalization” of drugs, though the details complicated there too. I agree, though I would support continued Federal regulations of antibiotics and antivirals because their implications for public health and I would continue to support criminialization by the states of certain drugs like meth. Since this question does allow disagreement on the details, I give myself a 1.

13)Paper ballots. I agree because they are more secure than electronic ballots and harder to use to commit vote fraud with. I give myself a 1.

14)Improve access to daycare and other pro-family policies. Obiously details matter. No since the leftists are talking about more government spending on daycare and other “pro-family” welfare programs. I give myself a 0.

15)Raise the cap on wages covered by FICA taxes. No. Small businesses will be ones who get hurt under this program. I give myself a 0.

16)Marriage rights for all, which includes “gay marriage” and quicker transition to citizenship for the foreign spouses of citizens. In an ideal world, we should separate marriage and state and leave marriage to the private institutions. In the real world, I support marriage rights for homosexuals under a civil union type arrangement while not forcing churches and other private institutions to accept them. Marriage should remain under the jurisdiction of the states as long as government is involved in it and I oppose the Federal Marriage Amendment, but I do support the Defense of Marriage Act since it only covers Federal law and does not interfere with the states on this issue nor does it force states to recongnize homosexual unions if their laws do not allow it. As for foreign spouses, I agree. I give myself a 0.5.

My overall score is 5.5 out of 16 or 34.375% so that means I won’t be putting a Hillary Clinton for President bumper sticker on my car or getting a diary on Daily Kos anytime soon. I would be curious how my fellow contributors and the readers do on this test.