The Freedom Report

Today's Freedom Report podcast breaks down the responses of the presidential candidates to the recent Supreme Court ruling over gay marriage. We also did an in depth analysis of Senator Rand Paul's response, which is of course of special interest to libertarians. Was his response adequate? Listen in and weigh in with your comments below.  We also highlighted an interesting story from Reason Magazine in 2013, where a study was done which found that libertarians, unlike liberals or conservatives, aren't easily disgusted. Does this study explain why libertarians think differently from liberals and conservatives? Are the politics of puritanism in the past? All that and more, on this special episode of the Freedom Report podcast!  Subscribe on iTunes! 

Today's episode of the Freedom Report podcast is our viewer mail edition, where we answer the best questions taken from our readers. From sex, drugs, marriage, abortion, advertising, Ron Paul, Rand Paul, hot dogs, the TPP, the TPA, Jack Hunter, and questions about the cosmos, this podcast has it all. So sit back, relax, and enjoy this special episode of the Freedom Report podcast, and don't forget to subscribe on iTunes! We answered the following questions and more:  Victoria Carla Nevarez Will you marry me? Zaid Islam What are your views on abortion and why is it so? Frank Saunders Are the Christian (or monotheist) libertarian and atheist libertarian truly allied and working for the same outcome? Steven Snyder Is it me or is it the "Libertarian Party" is no longer the party of Ron Paul?I would get in discussions with people on the LP FB page and they came off as another wing of the Democrats. Brian McGovern When will you be getting rid of the mobile redirect ads on the website. I don't visit much anymore, because it always takes forever to come back and find the article I'm trying to read. Bill Arevalo Why don't you own a semi auto rifle? Do you hate freedom?!!! Cory Soulier To how small of a degree do you think government should get? What's your cutoff? Anthony Garrett Do you agree that Tom Hardy was a beast in Mad Max: Fury Road? Nicole Bilous Is there anything big I can do to bring libertarianism to Canadian politics? Steven Snyder Boxers or briefs? Victoria Carla Nevarez Why are you hating on Ted Cruz so much? Is it because you hate freedom? Robert Griffis When it comes to the ladies, do you prefer quality over quantity or vice-versa? Della Sala Ohana How do you feel about transgender Fallon Fox fighting against women in MMA? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fallon_Fox Caroline Kozar Nordlund Why isn't there more media attention on TPA, TPP? Coincidence. ..or coverup? Jason Stenack Would you be willing to find out how many federal laws there are on the books in the US as well as our rival countries to see where we actually stand in our level of freedom against them? Meaning, the more laws you have on the books the less free you are. Do you think that is even a good measurement of freedom? Furthermore, do you think we'd have more or less than say, Russia, China, or Iran? If we did have more than those countries or even a few countries what do you think that says about America still being the land of the free and do you think it would change people's perceptions any if that were the case? I often wonder this and suspect we have more laws than some of the countries we often chide as being anti-freedom. Cliff Jones Can you provide an historical example of a limited government that has not grown uncontrollably? Lily Sikes If you could remove any amendment from the constitution, what would you remove and why? Will Stanton Austin, do you believe a Libertarian Foreign Policy is completely irrational or even undesirable given the current crisises overseas? Joseph Vida Is there any connection between Jack Hunter changing course on the Confederate Flag and Rand Paul taking a similar stance.They have a very deep history together as friends.Some speculate Jack is doing things for political reasons,to help Rand.Actually my friend Blake made a comment on both of them that leaves me questioning the sincerity of Jack.Anyway,I enjoy your podcasts and look forward to seeing which questions you answer. Andrew Mike I'm a new listener and reader, so maybe you answerd this question already but, were you always a Libratarian? If not, what were you prior? Ian Overton Is Victoria Carla Nevarez really a white guy from Ohio with a roofing company? Chuck Flurry In regards to the origins of the universe, we are

Senator Rand Paul's bold flat tax proposal made waves when it was released this week, but Ted Cruz has supported a flat tax for some time. Why does Paul get all the credit, while Cruz is seen as the also-ran?  Today's Freedom Report podcast dives into the upcoming summer budget battles which will pit grassroots conservatives against establishment Republicans. Cruz and Paul aren't likely to succeed in achieving significant cuts to the budget, but both have a chance to win the hearts of the grassroots by bucking the establishment of their party.  Cruz and Paul agree on quite a few issues, but disagree on those where substantive policy reforms put set Rand Paul apart as distinct from Cruz. Paul's filibusters on drones and the NSA have made him a darling of the liberty movement, while Cruz has set himself as more traditional conservative. Will the grassroots be forced to pick sides against one another? And if so, would that mean eventual defeat for both coalitions if a challenger such as Jeb Bush continues to lead in the polls?  Also, Cruz's recent flip-flop on the TPA trade deal has some conservatives and libertarians wondering if he's changing positions out of principle, or political expediency. The Texas senator was widely criticized by his base for initially supporting the TPA, but now calls it a "corrupt" deal. Will Cruz say or do anything to win the presidency?  Subscribe on iTunes, and leave us a 5-star review! 

President Obama spoke out against violence in the wake of the tragic shooting in Charleston, South Carolina on Twitter. Obama said there was "no other advanced nation on Earth" that tolerated mass shootings. “When Australia had a mass killing – I think it was in Tasmania – about 25 years ago, it was just so shocking the entire country said ‘well we’re going to completely change our gun laws’, and they did. And it hasn’t happened since.” Australia banned automatic, semi-automatic, and pump action shotguns after a mass shooting in 1996, which saw 35 people killed and 23 wounded. Obama was not optimistic that he would be able to push similar measures in the United States. “I don’t foresee any legislative action being taken in this Congress,” he said. “And I don’t foresee any real action until the American public feels a sufficient sense of urgency and they say to themselves, ‘This is not normal, this is something that we can change and we’re going to change it’.” Obama followed up his statements with a tweet that read: "Here are the stats: Per population, we kill each other with guns at a rate 297x more than Japan, 49x more than France, 33x more than Israel." President Obama's numbers come from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. The data he used is old, however, coming from 2007. It's also not standardized, and another set of data from the World Health Organization shows slightly different results, albeit still the same trend in overview.  But are utilitarian arguments against guns enough to justify the decimation of a principle? Today's Freedom Report podcast looks at the history of the 2nd Amendment in light of many of the quotes from the founding fathers on the subject, as well as an overview of the nuances of the law.  Subscribe on iTunes.

Defending Confederacy Opposite Interests and Ideology of Liberty by Josh Guckert Every political movement must overcome obstacles in its infancy. As libertarian philosophy begins to take over significant portions of both the general public and Republican Party electorates, we must diligently ponder what messages we are sending. The way which we are interpreted, fairly or not, can be critical in determining just how successful our mission will be. For that reason, we must always be attentive in what we use and how we decide to exemplify libertarianism. This examination is pressed into the forefront of our movement against the backdrop of the tragedy in Charleston. One evil man killed nine innocents. Meanwhile, on the grounds of the state's capitol building, the same Confederate battle-flag that he had featured on his license plate continues to fly. While most Americans view this flag as a symbol of slavery and racism, some in the South believe it to be a marker of their "heritage," thus indicating the rebellious streak which the Confederacy had enlisted against the Union—supposedly in a similar fashion to the revolution which the American colonists had raised against the British Empire. Though in the mainstream, the debate usually boils down to a matter of North against South, there has long been the same debate in libertarian circles. While there is a much higher degree of skepticism of President Lincoln and the Union's actions during the war within our movement as a whole, some go as far as to side with the Confederacy, thereby praising it as the "right side" of the war effort. These libertarians claim that the Southern states were only exercising their Constitutional rights to secede and that Lincoln was not concerned with the moral dilemma of slavery, only preserving the Union. This seemingly odd pairing appears to stem out of the natural contrarian streak within the liberty movement. However, we should do our best to dissociate libertarians from anything relating to the Confederacy. In short, not only is the Confederacy an example of a country founded upon the most un-libertarian of institutions (slavery), its meaning and symbols do nothing to advance our causes and principles, and make our foreign and novel ideas seem all the more outlandish to ordinary men and women who we need to recruit to become a major political force. Perhaps because it is the cause of the Civil War which is predominantly taught in schools, some libertarians refuse to acknowledge that slavery was the main reason behind the South's secession. If there were any doubt, as Cato Institute Fellow Jason Kuznicki points out, those Southern states who actually gave their reasons for secession (Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina and Texas) explicitly referenced the purpose of preserving slavery. Furthermore, any attempt to latch onto "states' rights" fails in that the South had historically used federal power to preserve and expand the wicked institution of involuntary servitude. Most interesting of all is that the Civil War seemed to be fought by the Confederacy in the same manner which many libertarians (appropriately) critique modern American foreign policy: the wealthy and well-connected chose to fight a war to preserve their economic interests, enlisting the poor and middle-class, all the while telling them that a false narrative of "patriotism" or "defense of freedom" was the reason for the war. It is worth noting that the North was in fact guilty of anti-liberty transgressions before, during and af

Racism, Guns, Drugs & Psychopaths Charleston, SC - Dylann Roof is in custody after having been located by police in North Carolina. The nation mourns the death of 9 people, who were killed when Roof opened fire on the congregation at Charleston’s Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church. Today's episode of the Freedom Report podcast takes a look at the potential motivations of Roof, including his ideology, family history, past behavior, and drug use. Roof was apprehended while one Suboxone, which is a pain medication given to people addicted to heroin. The drug has been linked to outbursts of aggression. He was also found to be carrying, LSD, meth, and cocaine. Were these powerful drugs the cause of the crimes, or just the stimulant needed for an already troubled brain on the edge? We also look at Roof's racist history, and his association with the ideals of white, southern nationalists. Roof's proud bearing of the flag of the Confederacy casts a grim shadow on the white racists of the deep south. Today's show looks at the problems of white racism, and asks whether the rise of neoconfederate sympathizers is stirring up hostility against blacks in America.  And what about the gun question? President Obama immediately blamed the shooting on the ease of access of guns in America, saying that they don't have these kinds of mass killings in other countries. But is that really the case? Today's episode fact checks Obama's claims, and discusses what the real issue is when it comes to gun crimes in America, and around the world. Subscribe on iTunes, and leave us a 5-star, written review.  

Celebrity entrepreneur Donald Trump announced his run for president yesterday, and the Freedom Report podcast is here to tell you exactly what we think.  The Donald's blustery rhetoric has some people on the right fired up, however. The New York Post's editorial board wrote a glowing review of Trump's populist message, praising him for his capitalistic zeal. If only it were true that Trump were the man they're trying to convince us he is.  RELATED: 7 Reasons Donald Trump Should Be President In an appearance on the David Letterman show, Trump was blindsided by the host, who questioned him about his products manufactured in China, right after Donald bemoaned the fact that China was going to become an economic superpower.  And that's not all, kids. The Freedom Report podcast gets into even more gory detail about the presidential candidate, telling the story of how the casino tycoon tried to use the government to bully an old woman out of her home. That, and a litany of other transgressions against liberty have these libertarians wanting to dump Trump.... Or just say... "You're fired!"  Subscribe on iTunes: 

Kaytlin Bailey is a former sex worker, now a stand up comic, with a story to tell. Today's episode of the Freedom Report podcast interviews Kaytlin about life as a high-end escort, and how it's affected her relationships and career. Does she think that it's ruined any prospects at finding "the one" man who will want to share his life with her? Recently, Bailey wrote an article detailing her time as a sex worker, where an after school detention ended up costing her $1000 from a potential client. She describes her reasons for why she pursued the career at 17 years of age, and how it destroyed an intimate relationship with a man who couldn't cope with her past.  From her article:   I rejected the pervasive and perverse myth that when a man and woman go to bed together the woman gets up having lost something, and the man gets up having won something.  I thought it didn’t matter how many men I slept with, because I was still me.  And so I told him, and even though I hadn’t seen a client in over 6 years it broke his heart.  His whole body crumpled up, and he shook first with grief, then with rage.  He wanted so badly to make sense of me, to reconcile his love for me with things he thought he knew about “whores”. Sometimes he would press me to give him the narrative of a desperate woman using her body as a last resort, or a victim of some horrific crime, or a stupid girl who got tricked into turning tricks.  He was enraged by the truth, and couldn’t accept that I had been curious and turned on by the idea.  I was not ashamed of what I had done until I saw what it did to him.  It drove him mad, and so I left him even though I believed that he loved me.  I left him because I knew that if I didn’t, he would kill me.  And after I left I believed for a really long time that he was right, that there was something fundamentally wrong with me. After I left him I started telling my story; I wanted to see if people who didn’t love me as much as he did could get past what they thought they knew about being a whore. Bailey's new one-woman show "Cuntageous" is set to debut in NYC in July. It's a review of her coming to terms with her former life, and how her perspective on relationships and sex were shaped by it. She says she's unafraid now of her past, and the show is an attempt to reveal herself to the world as unashamed, and unapologetic. Get tickets here. 

Rachel Dolezal's outing as a white person pretending to be black has some comparing her story to Caitlyn Jenner. Is there such a thing as transracial? Today's Freedom Report podcast looks at the comparisons between those claiming to be transgender, and those who are transracial. Are the two stories similar, or are they worlds apart?  Dolezal's story differs significantly from Jenner's, in that one is accused of lying and being deceitful, while the other simply prefers to live a different lifestyle without receiving any special benefits for doing so. Jenner may not be a woman when defined by genetics, but her transition requires nothing of the greater public in terms of public services. Dolezal however, received a full ride to Howard University while identifying as black, as well as laid claim to minority victim status while stating that she was the victim of hate crimes of dubious merit.  Tangentially related is the story of conservative author George F. Will, who was once pilloried by leftists after he wrote a column about how liberals are creating a culture of victimhood as a coveted victim status. "... when they say campus victimizations are ubiquitous (“micro-aggressions,” often not discernible to the untutored eye, are everywhere), and that when they make victimhood a coveted status that confers privileges, victims proliferate." Doesn't the case of Rachel Dolezal perfectly embody that statement? After all, wasn't Rachel Dolezal's real transgression against black culture that she was not only entirely appropriating it, but that she was seeking out the "benefits" of being a "victim" while having not lived the life of despair which would supposedly justify special privileges being conferred?  So, what does it take to make a woman? And can a white person be black if they choose? Subscribe to the Freedom Report on iTunes, and leave us a 5-star review!

The U.S. Army announced that all eight women who attempted to become Rangers failed to meet the basic minimum standards. Some are saying the standards should be changed. Is that the case?  Today's episode of the Freedom Report podcast takes a look at the standards that are required for soldiers to be integrated into combat and special forces combat units in the military. Women have served honorably in the U.S. military, albeit in support roles, but now the pressure from special interest groups have called into question whether physical standards are a good enough measure for women to be integrated.  We contrast the standards for Army rangers with the Israeli Defense Forces, (the IDF) so as to better understand why our ally in the Middle East has given women the opportunity to serve in front line combat. Today's show examines the differences between the physical standards of Israel and the United States, calling on the expertise of front-line IDF soldiers, as well as the testimony of current U.S. Army rangers who give an in depth analysis of why the American standards perhaps ought to be challenged.  Listen in and subscribe on iTunes to the Freedom Report podcast. 

Julie Borowski has gone rogue! She's left her position at FreedomWorks to strike out on her own with a new project that's sure to be weird, whacky, and wonderful. This episode of the Freedom Report podcast features Julie talking about what her future plans are in advancing her ideas and the philosophy of liberty.  Now that she's able to freely speak her mind, we ask Julie what she thinks about the impact of the presidential candidacies of Senator Rand Paul and Ted Cruz, and her thoughts will likely surprise you! Although she's widely known as the "Token Libertarian Girl," Borowski has decide to rebrand herself so as to be more effective in spreading her ideas. Her new tagline "Politics, Culture, Weirdness" is fairly apt for a quirky personality whose videos have been viewed millions of times by people all over the world.  Julie's original commentary will be featured at her new website, Julieborowski.com, where you can sign up for her email list for exclusive contests and information about her new projects and latest videos. Listen in to today's Freedom Report podcast to hear more about what Julie is up to, and why she's decided to strike out on her own. 

Is climate change going to kill us all? Today's Freedom Report welcomes back one of our favorite guests the Science Babe, a research chemist and debunker of all things woo. Science Babe and The Libertarian Republic's editor spar over the best solutions to combat the problem... and whether climate change is really a problem at all. For years, central planners have been terrifying the populace into believing that all manner of evil would result from "global warming," and yet many of those dangers have failed to materialize. Now after an extreme branding makeover, it's no longer global warming, but "climate change." Why the change? Science Babe has answers. How should scientific consensus shape our policy making? Sure, vaccines save lives, but it's a lot easier to get a shot than to pass legislation demanding carbon taxes and expect that to actually have some sort of meaningful impact. So if that's the case, and if climate change is dangerous, what should be the solutions? Listen in and don't forget to subscribe to the Freedom Report on iTunes and leave us a 5-star review!   

Do men exploit 100,000 to 300,000 underage women a year by selling them into sexual slavery? Do women only own less than 1 percent of the world's property? Is it true that one in five college women will be sexually assaulted? Do women really only ear 77 cents for every dollar a man earns? And also, is that horrific statistic true that 22%-35% of women who visit emergency rooms do so because of domestic violence? No! It's all BS of course! That's why today's Freedom Report podcast busts all those feminist myths that those cantankerous cads wave under your nose when they want to shut you up and demand you pay tribute on International Women's Day! It's another day, another dollar for me; and a dollar for the women too... not 77 cents, on the Freedom Report podcast!  

How would Thomas Jefferson deal with ISIS if he were president today?Are there any lessons we can learn from the Barbary Wars that would apply to Islamic terrorism today? Professor of history Kevin Gutzman joins the Freedom Report to discuss the threat of ISIS and put it in historical context. Gutzman is an accomplished author and educator, whose most recent book James Madison and the Making of America was featured in the popular Netflix series House of Cards. Gutzman argues in this show that the type of threat posed by Islamists is alien to the American experience, other than perhaps the Barbary Wars themselves.  Jefferson's strategy of overwhelming force was effective in fighting off the Tripolitan corsair raiders, but what would he have thought about the modern concept of nation-building? Gutzman's insight into the modern struggle against radical Islam sheds light into the thinking of the founders, and how they may have dealt with modern threats.  This podcast goes into the troubles of how our current President Obama is dealing with Islamic terrorism, and their fundamental misunderstanding of their motivations. Is ISIS really not Islamic? Does denying their religious principles make it more likely for them to be shunned by the less radical sects of Islam? And how does professor Gutzman feel about the State Department's assertion that we can't beat them with a war of bullets, but maybe they just need jobs?  That kind of rhetoric leads one to question whether the White House isn't considering some form of make-work projects for the American taxpayer to finance jobs for reformed terrorists. All that and more on today's very special episode of the Freedom Report podcast. 

50 Shades of Grey debuted at the Box Office, and it has people asking questions about sex, bondage, consent, and gender roles. Today's Freedom Report podcast features Gina Luttrell, editor of ThoughtsonLiberty.com. Luttrell answers questions about rough sex, relationships, men's rights activists, age of consent laws, and affirmative consent.  Our show today is broadcast from the 2015 International Students for Liberty Conference at the Marriot Wardman in Washington D.C. Please excuse the ambient noise, as we are producing a show in a highly populated convention center. Enjoy!