Not sure what is going on over at the Plain Dealer website

The Cleveland Plain Dealer published my letter to the editor in the online edition.  I wish it could have been in the print edition, but, you cannot win them all.

I found it curious, however, that an exchange in the comments section between a gentleman and our very own David Higgins seems to have disappeared.  I am not making any accusations.  I have no idea what happened.  I was just disappointed because Dave did such a good job.  Thank goodness for google caching though!  I found a version that contained the dialog, and I am going to post it here as a good example of some typical arguments against libertarianism and an excellent rebuttal:  (Dave Roach's excellent contribution is still up and can be viewed with the story:  http://blog.cleveland.com/letters/2010/02/pragmatic_centrist_libertarian.html)

Posted by Logan's View

February 20, 2010, 5:13AM

Nice try, sir, to co-opt the Tea Baggers! Sure, come on down the aisle and join the Libertarian Party!
While I agree with some parts of the Libertarian agenda regarding Big Government and Big Brother, you folks have some pretty wild views on many issues.
Abolish the income tax and private property taxes, according to your party platform statements of 2000, 2004 and 2008 (check the Internet). So how do we fund the Defense Department, Medicare and Social Security?
No bank regulation whatsoever. That's how we got into this financial mess in the first place, sir - nobody minding the store. The banks went wild, burned through our money and reaped obscene profits.
Eliminate all trade barriers so that the American worker competes more with the one-dollar per hour guy in Honduras, more than he or she does now. NAFTA on qualudes!
End compulsory education for kids. Great! We'll drop even lower in world rankings of public education. We'll have fewer smart people. That's something we'll appreciate when hoping to get correct change back from a Wal-Mart cashier.
Repeal all gun laws. Wonderful. More guns in the hands of lunatics and violent felons.
End all limitations on immigration to the U.S. from foreign countries. That will go over well in the border states.
"Strengthen" the rights of those accused of crimes. Boy! That's a great selling point for your party, sir!
Bust the unions by making membership totally voluntary. Great stuff for working people.
Our government certainly needs fundamental reform, pal, but your Looney Tunes approach isn't it.

Posted by LibertyGrinder

February 20, 2010, 2:24PM

The "teabaggers" are a movement of persons searching for real answers for all the questions "why?". Libertarian philosphy can give some of them the answers that they need. It could only help the Tea Party movement strengthen something which I feel they are lacking. It's one thing to just be upset at the spending, but its a whole other ballgame when you understand why the spending doesn't work.
First off, I think any Libertarian would concede that Medicare and Social Security programs are contracts with the American people which must be honored. The trick here is to stop creating new contracts for those programs, and honor those which were born into the system. This would ween both the Government from the obligation, and the people from their dependency. There are a multitude of alternatives for which people can place a portion of their income to create their own personal kind of medical and retirement fund. However, people must be able to keep their earnings for this to work optimally. This where the end of the income tax comes into play.
Your concern is how we may be able to pay for Defense without an income tax? Actually, corporate taxes pretty much cover 80% of the military budget right now. Though, many Libertarians will tell you that our defense budget is bloated as it stands now. 700 bases around the world is going overboard and then some. We can have a stronger National Defense without policing the world. In almost every case, it can be shown that it was our involvement which has escalated any hostilities towards us. Do the research, read Blowback, and you'll see what I mean.
You think that there wasn't enough regulation on the Bank's, which created the problem. I can assure you, that its much much more delicate of a situation than that. First to repudiate your claim. The was plenty of regulation, the problem was that no one was doing their jobs. Many of the regulators are the Banks themselves. If you do your homework, you'll learn of the folks who were warning the Clinton Administration of the dangers of Derivatives and sub prime mortgages! The fact is, that as the bureaucracy grows, the cracks for which fraud can slip through widen. Weeding out fraud IS one of the Federal Governments duties. However, as the continue to grow the bureaucracy, they continue to undermine their own efforts. If you want understand why the collapse happened, study F.A.Hayek and other Austrian Economists. They will give you a fresh perspective on our flawed Monetary Policy, and its implications on distorting the Market into a Boom and Bust cycle.
About education. It should read, "End compulsory defective education". You know that our educational system is flawed, you even hinted at its current state. Though, you didn't even begin to ask the question why it is that way.? I personally wouldn't have much of a problem with public schools if I didn't see them ruining the publics chances at a solid education. The fact is, prior to the development of the Department of Education, we were #1 in the World in Math and Science. After 50+ years of the Federal Government's involvement, we are now 25th. Libertarians, want more local solutions to education. They want parents to be involved with their children's education.
Gun Laws. This is the standard argument to this. The fact is, criminals attain guns regardless of how much their use are restricted. Another fact is, if you look at states and communities with relaxed gun laws, they have less crime. Do the research for yourself, just don't assume.
In fact, rather than continue to make it easy on you, I am going to let you repudiate your own claims from here on out. I can guarantee you can find the opposing argument to your opinion. What is most important about Libertarianism, is the fact that you must be responsible for yourself and your family. I beg you to be responsible for your own arguments. Do your homework. The worst case scenario is that your argument will get better. Right now, it is just a reaction.