This was actually posted as a comment to the rather well-written and immediately Recc'd "The Coming Democratic Schism" (Thomas Edsall's NYT Must Read Essay). However, after reading it over, I was thinking it'd be a good intro diary for my rather socially left-leaning and fiscally right leaning Libertarian views. Fellow Kossacks are of course encouraged to beat me up on it, but please... be civil. I do think about what I post, after all, and so I encourage others to do the same (no knee-jerking allowed!)
I've outlined thirteen points of the left-leaning libertarian after the fancy orange scrollwork-thingy.
1) The PATRIOT Act is not Patriotism, it is Oppression - I don't believe it's any of the government's business to spy on my emails, my phone calls, or any other means of communication I engage in including smoke signals and semaphores, without a duly sworn PUBLIC warrant. None of this 'secret court' crap.
2) Marriage is a Religious Thing, Civil Union is a Government-Recognised Thing - It's well past time we split this particular conflation apart. Who I choose to marry (get engaged to, love, shack up with, take out to dinner, and/or engage in consensual spanking) is none of the Government's business. Nor is it the business of anyone's boss, clergyman, pollster, insurance adjuster, or news agency. All those matters are between me and my Better Half; all others can pound sand.
3) The Poor and The Downtrodden are Not Evil Or Lazy - While I do agree that we need 'safety nets' for those less fortunate, they are currently structured to be wasteful and offer little to no leverage to transition from them. They are not wasteful in regard to the people currently enrolled; instead they are wasteful in how they are managed, and by what private enterprises.
4) The War On Drugs is Unwinnable - While I do agree that we have a "drug problem", it is painfully evident that throwing lots of money, police, lawyers, courts, bloodhounds, vehicles, spy satellites, and other materiel at the problem Has Not Solved Anything. We need a complete paradigm shift in how we deal with addiction and illicit drug sales.
5) Capitalism is Not Perfect, and Needs Guidance and Discipline - Capitalism can be self-correcting on occasion, but Capitalism as a self-correcting and ethical entity is a myth. There must be Oversight, with rules that make sense and consequences that have teeth. The Federal Reserve must be audited regularly, and we must stop accepting former banksters as Federal Reserve directors. The same goes for the EPA (no longer to be a bought-and-paid-for rubber stamp for Big Energy), the FDA (otherwise known as The Reps From Monsanto), or other entities whose purpose is to regulate, audit, and correct. If Big Business is unethical, then it should, always and without exception, feel the sting of Government whacking its fundament.
6) Subsidized Business Is Not Capitalism - if a business is unviable, then it should not be in business. If a business cannot make a profit without receiving regular infusions of taxpayer money, then it should A) cease to be a going concern, or B) in the case of required services such as highway maintenance, become a bona-fide adjunct to the government (see US Postal Service, which if Congress would stop giving untenable budgeting requirements to it like, say, funding pensions 75 years ahead of vestment, would be perfectly viable).
7) Politics Is Not A Career - If your entire life's goal is to become a congressman, then you need to rethink your goals, because representing your fellow man should never be profitable. Instead it is honorable, a duty akin to military service. Once you've served your time, you can hang a fancy title over your desk, and then get on with what you're really good at.
8) Bribery and Collusion Are Felonious - Requiring people (voters, lobbyists, businessmen) to pay you to get an audience, or promise you 'favors' in a tit-for-tat fashion, should be considered solicitation of bribes, with perpetrators tried as such (with mandatory minimum jail time). Lobbyists or others who solicit favor from their elected officials should be tries for bribery, with the same consequence.
9) Running For Office Should be Free - With all the money saved from not paying each other bribes, we should have plenty of tax money left to fund ad time on any/all of the forms of mass media available. However, with the exception of specific votes cast, using ad time to degrade your opponent's rep is verboten, and all false statements (including hyperbole or 'what if' speculation) made in such ads will be considered slander. Also, if you're not running for office, or haven't sponsored (or gone on record as opposing) a proposed bill? you don't get to run ads. No more PAC swift-boating allowed, Mister Rove.
10) Social Benefit Funds are Sacrosanct - These programs exist solely to provide income/benefits to private individuals, and are either paid for by funds withheld from incomes, or by taxation. These funds are off limits to any and all Government projects or departments. Monies 'borrowed' from such funds will be placed at the top of all budgets proposed, with all other funding needs at lower priority until they are paid in full. This includes the ACA, or whatever form it mutates into (Single Payer would probably work best, because right now it's a Federally-mandated Healthcare Bazaar, which may work itself into a profitable yet fair system, or become yet another price-fixed feeding trough for the healthcare industry.)
11) Planned Parenthood Is Better than Non-Planned Parenthood - I will go on record as stating I do not believe a child's soul is defined at conception, but rather when they breathe their first breath (inspiration), while I regard abortion as a hard choice to make, it should only be up to a woman and her doctor. No clergy, no businesses, no fellow citizens, and no Government need have a say (an exception might be made for the potential father, IF the pregnancy was not due to rape, assault, or sexual congress with a child or invalid). By the same token, restricting access to birth control is no business of business, government, or clergy. Doctors can prescribe, and patients can choose to use the prescription, or not.
12) Education Opens Doors - These doors should be ones of opportunity, of social involvement, not doors with bars and locks. We are currently doing a half-assed job of educating our kids, long on technical focus, test-taking, and propaganda, not so much on problem-solving, research, ethics, or civic history and pride. We want future voters who can think about issues, not parrot back what the Idiot Box (or the Intarwebz) throws into their heads. Otherwise they will have no yardstick with which to measure truth from falsehood, facts and discourse from propaganda.
13) We are Stewards of this Earth - Just as we are expected to keep our houses clean and our vehicles in working order, we should also keep our planet tidy as we can manage, while also exploring our immediate stellar neighborhood "because it is there". We should encourage curiosity, wonder, and exploration along with good stewardship and courtesy - else should God/Jesus/Xenu come calling after all, we may appear as uncouth and backwards idiots with bad eating habits and no concept of cleanliness.
There. That wasn't too bad, was it?