Libertarian Party of Pittsburgh

Bob Barr Coming to Pittsburgh Friday, October 10 at CMU!

Bob Barr's campaign has announced that Libertarian Presidential Candidate, Bob Barr, will be speaking on the CMU campus for the CMU political lecture series on Friday evening. The event is open to the public, and there will be a meet and greet afterwords where you can have a chance to meet with Bob Barr. Stay tuned for more details! (Wondering how different Bob Barr is from the same, old Democrats and Republicans?  Consider Bob's comments on business as usual causing the economic crisis....

The Definition of Insanity: LP Presidential Debate on The War on Drugs

Here's some very sober thinking on the Drug War at a recent Libertarian presidential candidate debate. Sober thinking on a crucial subject while Congress is busy-bodying itself on steroid scandals.

Who Owns You?

The question of who owns your body -- the government, voters, or you -- is asked in a different way in this Reason TV Video. Libertarians believe you own you, and by inference you own the byproducts of you -- that your property really is a representation of you in the past, with all that work it took to earn it. If you don't own you, that implies slavery of some sort or another.

Study: Pennsylvania Turnpike Is Among Least Cost-Efficient Toll Roads in U.S.

Los Angeles (April 10, 2008) - The Pennsylvania Turnpike is one of the country's least cost-efficient toll roads, spending a whopping 62.4 percent of its toll revenues on operating and maintenance costs. Of 35 toll roads studied, only the Massachusetts and West Virginia turnpikes spend a higher percentage of their toll revenues on operating costs, according to a new report by the Reason Foundation, a free market think tank that has advised the last four presidential administration on transportat...

A Note to Disgruntled Republicans About Liberty

Every Republican I've spoken to is mystified that John McCain has sewn up the Republican nomination. For his entire career, he has been more statist on both domestic and foreign policy than even the typical Republican. He has been considered a "liberal," and not in a good sense. He doesn't share any of the values that are said to make up the Republican consensus on economics or culture or religion. His personal baggage is heavy and a mile long. He had no dedicated constituency within the party...

Police State is as Police State Does

Here's a nice video of tax dollars at work. A male driver with a pregnant wife and child in an SUV who is pulled over by the police attempts to clarify why he's been pulled over and, absent a satisfactory answer, refuses to sign the ticket he's given. The police officer immediately requests he exit the vehicle and turn his back and place his hands behind his head, during which the driver merely attempts to engage the officer in order to defuse the escalation and restate his concern. The ...

More Consumer Freedom for Beer Sales

A recent poll was commissioned by the Malt Beverage Distributors Association of Pennsylvania [MBDAP] to gage public sentiment on allowing beer sales in supermarkets and convenience stores. The poll, run by Terry Moddonna's opinion research firm, found that a majority worried about increased underage drinking, although the figures were evenly split on allowing PA residents the same freedom as countless neighboring states where citizens don't have to make extra stops to buy beer, and can buy th...

Anti-Gun Extremism is Misguided

The Post Gazette editors have gone all revolutionary regarding cracking down on gun rights. In one editorial, the PG lets loose on a few protestors in Harrisburg, lobbing around the usual hyperbole and extremist labels. God forbid someone should not want to end up on a government list of gun owners and stuck paying $10 (for now) each year to be monitored. How nutty to recognize the slippery slope for what it is, on the way to ending the right to say “no thanks” to government monitoring and ...

You Pay for Their Party

The $100 million for the political party conventions — $50 million for the Democratic convention in Denver and $50 million for the Republican convention in St. Paul, Minn. — is included in a section described as “Katrina recovery, veterans’ care and for other purposes.” Isn't that nice. Nothing like lots of pork in a spending bill flying through Congress under the banner of "supporting our troops."  Indeed, it was in the Iraq troop funding bill that this pork is being snuck through. What'...

The Coming Meltdown in Government Entitlements

Libertarians are fiscal realists. Everyone knows there is no such thing as a free lunch, yet when it comes to politicians and voters, the siren song of "free this" or "free that" is apparently too tempting, especially when melded with an important issue that the government says it will solve. If you look at the record, however, whatever politicians and government gets into is rarely if ever solved, and the problems around it always seem to grow. Readers would do well to note the pattern. A...