Most people who visit this site know of a phenomenon known as big-government libertarianism. These are libertarians who favor a large military budget. They do not favor drastic cut-backs in Federal spending. They favor the idea of creating pseudo free-market projects to "make the government more efficient." They believe in the beloved "government-business partnership."When you make a deal with the devil you aren't going to be the senior partner.
The most notorious example of such a program is school vouchers. Big-government libertarians think that there is a great gain available for efficiency's sake when the State steals money from one group of taxpayers and then uses it to subsidize another group. The schools must then "meet a market" and compete for voucher money from parents. This is called a free market solution to the bureaucratic problems of education. On the contrary, it is a way for government to get control over private schools. "You have taken our money. Now we will regulate you." This is the pattern. We have seen it with Hillsdale College and Grove City College, which wisely turned down the money. The precedent has been set.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Free-Lunch Libertarians
Gary North reports:
