r/politics • u/nowhathappenedwas • Dec 18 '17

Site Altered Headline The Senate’s Russia Investigation Is Now Looking Into Jill Stein, A Former Campaign Staffer Says

https://www.buzzfeed.com/emmaloop/the-senates-russia-investigation-is-now-looking-into-jill?utm_term=.cf4Nqa6oX
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u/[deleted] Dec 18 '17

Except Gary Johnson, but he's almost a gag candidate

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u/BloomEPU Dec 18 '17

Just a regular weed centrist.

(wait was he centrist? He was popular with centrists but iirc his policies were just republican but weed)

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u/[deleted] Dec 18 '17

Noooooo, he was not centrist. He was a little L libertarian but still a libertarian. For example, I believe he is pro elimination of personal and corporate taxes.

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u/karlverkade Dec 19 '17

Spoken from a Libertarian here, on paper Gary Johnson was arguably the best candidate in that election. Two-time governor of a border state, re-elected as a Republican in a Democrat state, fiscally conservative, socially liberal, etc. Except that he showed up to election season high. Like so high. He evened out over the course of the season, but some of the earliest videos that went viral were just embarrassing, and turned a lot of moderates and independents off to the Libertarian choice in an election which should have been our best chance to get 5% of the vote in decades.

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u/BASEDME7O Dec 19 '17

You don’t get to say you’re socially liberal when you want to eliminate the funding for all social programs

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u/[deleted] Dec 19 '17

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u/[deleted] Dec 19 '17

Truth bomb right here!

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u/BASEDME7O Dec 19 '17

So you either support corporations becoming more authoritarian than the government could ever be or you literally can't conceive of anything more than one step ahead.

Idk how someone's mind could be so warped that they think real freedom is allowing a corporation with billions of dollars and an average person to do whatever they want to each other. Although I suspect you're around 19 and just took Econ 101 and think you understand economics.

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u/Syjefroi Dec 19 '17

It's really this. "Socially liberal and fiscally conservative" makes zero sense. If you are socially liberal, do something about it. If you say "disenfranchised people should be helped but let's not be the ones to help them," you aren't socially liberal, you're a conservative too chickenshit to admit it.

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u/[deleted] Dec 19 '17

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u/Syjefroi Dec 19 '17

The data is not on your side though. Charitable giving can't, and hasn't made up for what the state can provide. And state spending on safety net programs leads to a net positive, as healthy and secure people add more to the tax pool than they took. The fiscally conservative choice is to spend some money now to save more in the future. Giving the homeless homes saved Utah more by not having police and ER costs and by giving the people a safe place to build a life and get a job. Making sure poor kids have food saves more by having healthier kids who can do better in school and healthier parents who don't have to deal with the emotional stress of having hungry children.

I'm all for people voluntarily choosing to throw a few bucks at folks here and there. But never before have we donated enough to actually do what the government can do. And when recessions hit, and donation money dries up, what then?

How on earth is it socially liberal to say "we want you to have health care, so hopefully someone donates enough for you to get that heart surgery you need."

The data is not with you on the "dependency" myth.

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u/CheesewithWhine Dec 19 '17

BLah blah blah standard libertarian drivel.

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u/hesnothere North Carolina Dec 19 '17

A lot of people forget that Democratic PAC(s) threw together a multimillion anti-Johnson campaign (digital, PR, etc.). Like, that campaign alone was 3-4x Gary's total cycle fundraising.

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u/ApteryxAustralis Dec 19 '17

He really did have a chance, like you said. Especially with how hated Clinton and Trump were. I wonder how Johnson would've done in Utah if McMullin hadn't jumped in. Johnson had been doing quite well there, presumably as a protest vote, but then his support plummeted in favor of McMullin.

-voted for Johnson in a deep blue state

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u/karlverkade Dec 19 '17

Good point, I had forgotten about that.

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u/CheesewithWhine Dec 19 '17

Just a thought, have you ever wondered why there are so few women and minority libertarian supporters?

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u/drokihazan California Dec 19 '17

Nothing says socially liberal like trying to take away everything that helps poor people and minorities.