Libertarian Cole Tells Republicans: “Take on Me on Same-Sex Marriage!”

From the campaign of Christopher Cole for US Senate

A mailer from the GOP State Executive Committee hit mailboxes on Monday, accusing Democrat Senate Nominee Kay Hagan of being a closet supporter of legal same-sex marriage. Their evidence? A 2005 statement opposing a state constitutional marriage amendment and a contribution from the Godless Americans PAC.

The reality is that Hagan has been silent on gay marriage, even when directly asked.

The NC Family Policy Council distributed a candidate questionnaire that explicitly included the marriage issue. The answers clearly distinguish Libertarian Cole as supporting equality under the law, Dole opposed. Hagan? Silent. Out in Asheville, a gay-market newspaper in the western end of the state, published a voter guide, in which neither Dole nor Hagan spoke to their reporter. Libertarian Cole did, and is quoted strongly in favor of equality under the law.

As an openly-gay man himself, Libertarian Christopher Cole has a personal and moral perspective on the legal treatment of gay and lesbian folks. Maybe that is why the Republicans attack the tongue-tied Hagan, but not the outspoken Cole.

For more information on Libertarian views of gay and lesbian Americans, visit the website of Outright Libertarians, at http://www.outrightusa.org.

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Christopher “Chris” Cole is the Libertarian nominee for US Senator from North Carolina. To learn more about Chris, visit his campaign website.

Libertarian Cole, The Candidate for Gun Rights

From the campaign of Christopher Cole for US Senate

Grassroots North Carolina (the NC affiliate of Gunowners of America) has announced their candidate ratings of the US Senate candidates on the issue of protecting Second Amendment rights:

Christopher Cole, 100%, four stars
Elizabeth Dole, 92% (100% for voting history), four stars
Kay Hagan, no response (64% for voting history), one star

Christopher Cole, reliably pro-gun, for hunters, collectors, and for self-defense. And most importantly, for the enemies of tyrants. As Thomas Jefferson said, "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms. The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government."

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Christopher “Chris” Cole is the Libertarian nominee for US Senator from North Carolina. To learn more about Chris, visit his campaign website.

Libertarian Cole against Investor Buyouts

From the campaign of Christopher Cole for US Senate

If a Wall Street investor walked up to the average American, and asked him to pick up the tab for his thousand-dollar hotel bill, that American would probably ask to share whatever that investor has been smoking. Yet, our government has done that for every man, woman, and child in America.

With the Federal buyouts of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and AIG, the Republican president and Democratic Congress have transferred $3 trillion of debt from Wall Street, banks, and insurance companies to the American taxpayer. That is a thousand dollars for each of us (not even considering interest), on top of the $9.2 trillion "we" already owed, thanks to our government. Yet, mysteriously, that largesse was never stated quite that way. Libertarian Senate nominee Christopher Cole is the only candidate with the courage to call a waddling debt a duck.

And what's worse is that the transfer isn't finished: our generous politicians are offering the credit of taxpayers to pay for bad debt piled up by our banks. Does anyone remember politicians back in 2006 running on a campaign of welfare for bankers? Only Libertarian Cole pledges, "Read my lips: no new buyouts!"

And there's even a step of worseness after that: the buyout of AIG is from the Federal Reserve, not the Federal Treasury. The big open secret is that Federal Reserve checks aren't drawn on any account; they represent money created out of thin air. That means $85 billion will be added to the money supply, creating an additional ripple of inflation, a hidden tax whenever we buy groceries, pay our doctors, or buy school supplies for our children. Does anyone remember a politician telling us that? Cole heard the quacking.

In spite of the hype, Libertarian Christopher Cole warns of three long term consequences to the buyouts, on top of the added debt burden:

First, the inflationary effect of Federal Reserve cash infusions;

Second, by preventing the bankruptcy of poorly-run corporations, the buyouts preserve non-performing assets that would have been transferred to more-efficient, self-supporting buyers. That will result in lower economic growth, slower job creation, and stunted income growth;

Third, it creates a sense of security, whether realistic or not, that businesses will be rescued from the consequences of bad business decisions. This will increase risky loans and investments, not reduce them.

That is why Libertarian Christopher Cole opposes these buyouts, as well as all forms of corporate welfare. American taxpayers should never be on the hook for the profits of businessmen.

For additional information, Cole recommends this article from the Ludwig von Mises Institute, an economics think tank:

What's Behind the Financial Market Crisis?

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Christopher “Chris” Cole is the Libertarian nominee for US Senator from North Carolina. To learn more about Chris, visit his campaign website.

Hagan's Corporate Welfare Comes Back to Bite Taxpayers on the Buttocks

From the campaign of Christopher Cole for US Senate

News reports (such as http://tinyurl.com/6efuez) came out before the weekend describing plans by Dell Computers to sell some inefficient US manufacturing plants, including one in Winston-Salem attracted with almost $300 million in state incentives. Reuters explains that the plant is outdated, after only THREE years.

One might reasonably ask, who is responsible for this outrageous waste of taxpayer resources? According to the website of the NC General Assembly (http://tinyurl.com/5gutvz), the proposal began with state Senators Hoyle, Purcell, Clodfelter, Dorsett, Garrou, and current Democrat candidate for the US Senate, Kay Hagan.

As do all Libertarians, US Senate nominee Christopher Cole opposes so-called "economic incentives", more properly referred to as "corporate welfare", as an immoral tax on citizens to benefit corporate profits. In addition to the moral issue, Dell's cut-and-run with Hagan's complicity clearly demonstrate the uselessness of such incentives.

Corporate welfare cannot produce economic development. Rather, it props up inefficient businesses at taxpayer expense. By promoting inefficient businesses over self-sufficient, consumer-preferred competitors, such government-corporate hybrids actually reduce longterm economic growth. In other words, the development and jobs claimed for such projects are actually just snake-oil promotions.

As a supporter of laissez-faire capitalism over corporatism, only Libertarian Christopher Cole advocates letting taxpayers keep their own money, because they can be trusted to support the best companies in the market. Something which cannot be said of Democrat Kay Hagan.

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Christopher “Chris” Cole is the Libertarian nominee for US Senator from North Carolina. To learn more about Chris, visit his campaign website.

Christopher Cole Advocates a Foreign Policy of Non-intervention

From the campaign of Christopher Cole for US Senate

In a speech to the US House on September 5, 2002, Texas Congressman Ron Paul announced a deadly prophecy: “Russia, now licking its wounds and once-again accumulating wealth, will not sit idly by and watch the American empire engulf this region. When time runs out for us, we can be sure Russia will once again be ready to fight for control of all those resources in countries adjacent to her border.”

Then-Russian President warned in April that he would consider US policy in Kosovo as a template for his own policy in Abkhazia and South Ossetia (see this BBC story, http://tinyurl.com/5nuweu).

Those two speeches alone gave clear evidence that the policy of the American government to interfere with ethnic and political conflicts far from our shores would lead to an increase in death and instability was easily foreseeable. Yet the warnings were ignored. And now, Georgians, Russians, Ossetians, and probably soon Abkhazi, watch their homes burn, their neighbors die, and their homelands descend into anarchy.

In contrast, Libertarian Christopher Cole advocates a policy of non-intervention, the longheld Libertarian position of foreign policy, which was also the policy of historical American governments, as the ONLY path to peace and international amity. For example, two-time US president Grover Cleveland said, “It is the policy of peace suitable to our interests. It is the policy of neutrality, rejecting any share in foreign brawls and ambitions on other continents, and repelling their intrusion here. It is the policy of Monroe and of Washington and Jefferson: Peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations; entangling alliances with none.”

The US Senate plays a special role in foreign policy, since all ambassadorial appointments and treaty commitments require Senate confirmation. In addition, the Senate shares with the House control of the fiscal purse-strings. Cole is committed to using those Constitutional powers to push for a foreign policy in the interests of Americans in peace, prosperity, and international amity.

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Christopher “Chris” Cole is the Libertarian nominee for US Senator from North Carolina. To learn more about Chris, visit his campaign website.

Christopher Cole on Illegal Immigration

From the campaign of Christopher Cole for US Senate

While my opponents advocate a punishment approach to undocumented immigrants, my position is quite different.

It's simply a matter of looking at illegal immigration as an economic situation, rather than a cultural or foreign relations issue. Alcohol Prohibition created a black market for alcohol (remember Al Capone?). Drug Prohibition has created a black market in illicit drugs.

Likewise, if we look at illegal immigration as a black market in labor, all the pieces fall into place. Minimum wage laws, maximum work-week laws, and the prohibition of piece work have created an artificial labor shortage, primarily at the low end of skills and productivity. Those laws leave no legitimate option for satisfying the shortage. The result is the smuggling of labor, a/k/a illegal immigration. Repealing those laws both eliminates the incentive to turn to the black market, and undermines bureaucratic responses.

The current prohibitionist regime necessarily results in creeping interventionism. As one law or program is exposed as ineffective or obsolete, it isn't repealed, it is merely augmented with new laws, rules, and bureaucracy. The government gloved fist is emboldened, resulting in penalties against employers, shrill denunciations of immigrants, and the promotion of a crisis mentality.

My solution of removing the prohibitionist barriers would instead promote economic expansion, greater social harmony, and - most importantly - greater liberty.

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Christopher “Chris” Cole is the Libertarian nominee for US Senator from North Carolina. To learn more about Chris, visit his campaign website and see this interview with Steve Newton of Delaware Libertarian.

Christopher Cole on the Price of Gas

From the campaign of Christopher Cole for US Senate

Elizabeth Dole recently changed her position on offshore drilling. In response, Democrat Kay Hagan complains that production from new fields offshore or in ANWR won't come in to the market for approximately ten years. Dole was right in changing her position, and Hagan is right about the time lag for new gasoline at the pump.

But where Hagan is wrong and Dole is silent is about the impact of such a policy change on CURRENT prices at the gas pump. Only Libertarian Christopher Cole explains how FUTURE production can lower CURRENT prices, prices which are dragging down our economy and strangling the family budget.

What Hagan ignores is the role of expected FUTURE supply on current price. Due to OPEC intransigence and possible interruptions due to Bush policy against Iran, speculators fear interruptions to oil supply for years to come. They have therefore bid up prices on present shipments, in order to assure their future inventory. With that future supply assured by increased access at home, that price pressure will be removed, resulting in immediate easing of pump prices.

Cole supports open access to offshore oil and natural gas deposits, as well as those under federal lands, such as the Alaska National Wildlife Reserve. Not only would that assure future oil supply, but it will provide economic growth and high-wage jobs in such regions as North Carolina's coastal plain. Cole also disputes the alarmist response of some on the left who complain of ecological risks, pointing out that major spills, such as the Exxon Valdez in Alaska, have always come from tankers, not rigs or modern land-based pumps.

For further information, Cole recommends this article from the Ludwig von Mises Institute, a free-market economics think tank, based at Auburn University:

ANWR Drilling Would Provide Quick Relief.

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Christopher “Chris” Cole is the Libertarian nominee for US Senator from North Carolina. To learn more about Chris, visit his campaign website.