Hey Phil,
As I told you yesterday, I think FDR was largely *responsible* for the Depression, so I personally wouldn't have criticized Pelosi for "trashing his legacy." I think his "legacy" *needs* to be trashed! If I could pick one of those two for the public to sour on, I would definitely pick FDR over Pelosi. But I'm glad you went and recorded the TV spot!
Glad also to see you completed the Project VoteSmart profile. In general I think you did a commendable job on the policy positions. Here is some specific feedback:
• I agree with you on the importance of supporting missile defense, and probably would have responded as you did, making this an exception to cutting military spending. I would want it to be voluntarily funded, but of course they do not include that as an option in the survey. 8( If it's possible to revise your answers, you might include a note about that, if you also feel that those things government legitimately should be doing, should be voluntarily funded.
• I notice that you checked both "Support programs to provide prison inmates with vocational and job-related skills and job-placement assistance when released" and "Eliminate all federal programs designed to reduce unemployment" which seems a bit contradictory!
• I'm glad you included this important statement: "Opposition to federal support of any activity should not be confused with opposition to that activity being accomplished. In most cases, essential activities of society are best performed through local actions of responsible and caring adults."
• On the immigration section, I notice you did not check off "Support amnesty for illegal immigrants already working in the United States." Was this an oversight? You do support freedom of movement between countries, don't you?
• I also notice you opposed the U.S. supporting an independent Kosovo. Perhaps you interpreted the question as asking whether the U.S. government should spend money on this. I interpret "support" in that context as "favor," and would have responded "yes" in line with principles of secession. It seems fairly obvious that the majority of people living in Kosovo want independence.
• It's a matter of disagreement among Libertarians, so I may not convince you on this, but I think you're too quick to write off free trade agreements. True they are not intrinsically necessary to free trade, any more than school vouchers (which you supported) are intrinsically necessary to education reform -- but I think that they often represent a positive step in getting from here to there, and that more free trade happens in practice *with* these agreements than would happen *without* them. (I notice that you left the second "A" off "NAFTA", if they'll let you fix typos.)
• I thought this was a terrific response: "Which is more important - people having social security or the future of the Social Security System? The government has destroyed the average person's ability to be reasonable economically secure by creating a financial system that continuously undermines savings through chronic inflation and undermine bank returns by manipulating interest rates lower. The real path to real social security is through reforming the financial system so that prices and the value of money remain stable over the long term."
Love & Liberty,
((( starchild )))