The Libertarian -Republican Alliance Has Been a Disaster for America
The big tent philosophy that welcomed Libertarians into the Republican Party has been a disaster for the party and American civic life. Instead of being a dependable minority in the conservative coalition, the Libertarians managed to take over much of the leadership of the GOP.
This is bad because the theory is fundamentally flawed and unworkable in practice.
Libertarianism is the strange belief that a stable, limited, rule-of-law respecting government can be built on a foundation of people with the personal moral practices of Woodstock attendees.
Every theory the Libertarians peddled has proven to be a disaster in practice.
Libertarians contend government can't completely stamp out personal vice.
They claim the cost associated with enforcing vice law far exceeds the result.
Their solution is to let it all hang out and tax the revenue vice generates.
Hands-off Libertarian thinking is responsible for the consolidation and monopoly practices we see in business that result in price fixing and price gouging for the consumer.
Libertarians are responsible for turning major cities into open air pot smoking dens, with the resulting stink and increase in impaired driving.
Libertarians are also one of the main facilitators of the homeless squatters infesting cities in red and blue states.
Now the result of Libertarian ideology is damaging the integrity of major sports.
Sports gambling is a perfect example of Libertarianism in action.
Allowing betting on the outcome of a game was always just the camel's nose under the tent.
Gambling rapidly expands from betting on a game, to betting on individual plays within the game. Legalizing betting apps on smart phones and computers has geometrically increased the damage to individual bank accounts and family savings.
Gambling is just as addictive as drugs, without the needle tracks.
ESPN has the latest. Last summer San Diego Padres infielder Tucupita Marcano was hit with a lifetime ban from baseball for betting almost 400 times on baseball games.
Now two more players have been indicted.
"Cleveland Guardians pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz were charged with fraud, conspiracy and bribery stemming from an alleged scheme to rig individual pitches that led to gamblers winning hundreds of thousands of dollars, according to an indictment unsealed by federal prosecutors Sunday."
Rather than throw entire games like the infamous Black Sox did in the 1919 World Series, Clase and Ortiz threw cheater pitches to win prop bets. (Fox Sports defines a prop bet as, "a wager on a specific outcome within a game that is not directly related to the final score, such as individual player statistics or in-game events.")
In this case, "During the three years of the alleged scheme, prosecutors said, one bettor placed 16 parlays in which one leg was Clase throwing a ball.
"Of the eight pitches involved in those bets, seven were successful. The eighth was a pitch in the dirt swung at by Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Andy Pages."
And it's not only baseball. "Prosecutors at the Eastern District of New York, the Brooklyn-based United States Attorney's office that levied similar charges against NBA player Terry Rozier and multiple coaches in late October."
Is it only a matter of time before the infection touches football?
When government removes the guardrails the reckless are going to fly off the cliff.
When government allows something, in the mind of the average resident, it's interpreted to mean government approves of what it allows.
Once the social stigma goes, social excess follows.
Republican leadership needs to start leading again.
The social cost of public policy that encourages excess and degeneracy far exceeds what it would cost to rebuild the social guardrails that libertarians dynamited.
A good first step would be to limit sports gambling to in person bets at casinos.
Follow that by once again putting marijuana on the banned list and make getting a prescription for "medical marijuana" as difficult to get as a prescription for oxycodone.
Then reopen mental institutions and drug treatment confinement to get the homeless off the sidewalks and out of the parks.
And don't forget the economy.
Monopolies and oligopolies only serve monopolists and oligarchs at the expense of consumer. Republicans should focus on reintroducing competition into the marketplace and fighting consolidation.
Libertarianism, like socialism, is a failed experiment wherever it's tried.
It's time for the GOP to cut Libertarians loose and let them dream of Woodstock somewhere else.
Michael Reagan, the eldest son of President Ronald Reagan, is a Newsmax TV analyst. A syndicated columnist and author, he chairs The Reagan Legacy Foundation. Mr. Reagan is an in-demand speaker with Premiere Speaker's Bureau. Read Michael Reagan's Reports — More Here.
Michael R. Shannon is a commentator, researcher for the League of American Voters, and an award-winning political and advertising consultant with nationwide and international experience. He is author of "Conservative Christian's Guidebook for Living in Secular Times (Now with Added Humor!)" Read Michael Shannon's Reports — More Here.