Libertarians--"party of principle"?

Beginning with Webster's definition:

Libertarian: A person who upholds the principles of individual liberty especially thought and action. Capitalized: a member of a political party advocating libertarian principles.

The party denotes its self-->

Libertarians believe in, and pursue, personal freedom while maintaining personal responsibility.

Libertarians strongly oppose any government interfering in their personal, family and business decisions. Essentially, we believe all Americans should be free to live their lives and pursue their interests as they see fit as long as they do no harm to another.

*a smaller government

*lower taxes

*more freedom.

*free-market economy

*foreign policy of non-intervention, peace, and free trade

*"live and let live" mentality and a balanced checkbook.

The Libertarian party is the 3rd largest political party with over 200,000 registered voters from all 50 states. It takes many of its characteristics from the two major parties and blends them into a hippy-fied effort to idealize America. Personally, I am a big fan of the Libs due to 3 major issues:

1) FREE SPEECH: they are the only party that explicitly defends free speech in every capacity which helps differentiate Libs from socialists.

2) SOCIAL SECURITY: you should be able to control your own investment strategies for your future if you choose to. Libs say that you should be able to opt out of Social Security and invest your money in your own personal retirement account. They are realistic--we all know there isn't going to be any money left when we retire, the governement should take over supporting the baby boomers, and let the 2nd wave have a chance to build a retirement fund for themselves. This policy in particular offers a very "pull your self up from your bootstraps" approach to social security, which is really the only democratic to handle the social security near-collapse.

3) FOREIGN POLICY/AID: Everything I have read about the "economic aid" America supplies to foreign countries points to stagnation of economic development, and dependence on U.S. money. U.S. aid programs have built tennis courts in Rwanda and sent sewing machines to areas without electricity. There needs to be logic and accountability that U.S. tax payer dollars are supporting American ideals. Don't give the poorest of the poor toys and food--give them tools and skills to better themselves and create a sense of independence. America mingles too much in foreign affairs, if Americans really want to help other countries we should begin by improving our own economy. Once U.S. companies have funds to invest abroad, free trading policies will exert a greater positive influence on the economies of developing countries than does sending them money.

"The Libertarian way is a logically consistent approach to politics based on the moral principle of self-ownership. Each individual has the right to control his or her own body, action, speech, and property. Government's only role is to help individuals defend themselves from force and fraud."