A Stitch in Haste

A revised and expanded version of a comment I left elsewhere in response to this article asking whether it would be hypocritical for Ron Paul to accept federal election funds —

I am wholly sympathetic to the broad principle that a libertarian taxpayer is morally justified in recouping as much of his taxes as possible (i.e., in benefits, entitlements, tax deductions/credits, etc.).

In the case of Ron Paul, however, since:

(1) Ron Paul is not a libertarian;

(2) "Politician" is not the moral equivalent of "taxpayer;"

(3) "Libertarian politician" is practically an oxymoron even under the most intellectually consistent circumstances (and the Paul campaign is definitely not "the most intellectually consistent circumstance"),

it follows that to talk of Paul's "libertarian" rights as a politician is therefore rather silly.

Discuss.

More thoughts at Liberty Papers.