-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- To: cypherpunks@toad.com Date: Mon Aug 26 14:32:37 1996 I sent this earlier, but evidently toad.com ate it, so I am sending again, despite Bill Stewart's excellent post on the subject. BTW, Bill is one of the nicest guys you would ever want to meet, and all cypherpunks should try to meet him if they get a chance. Apologies if you get this twice, and I would only add that in any election there are winners and losers, and the sets of losers on cypherpunks if Harry Browne wins or does does well are: 1. Lawyers. If laws are simpler and better-written in something approaching the English language and judges who respect the constitution are selected-for, lawyers and law-professors would feel the economic effects of less demand for their services. 2. Accountants. If the tax laws are simplified and the IRS is eliminated, there will be less need for accountants to figure out what people actually owe in taxes. 3. Offshore dataheaven providers. ;) If the above happens, running businesses from the US will be relatively more attractive than running them from Anguilla, all other things being equal. Vincent Cate wrote:
Dole says he would fix the ITAR problem, but try to keep something like CDA.
He would say anything to get elected.
Clinton is keeping ITAR and signed CDA. But not having the religious right he might soften on CDA.
Lame ducks don't have to soften, on anything. That's what's so fun about being a lame duck.
The courts seem to be throwing out CDA much faster than ITAR (some fast track to the supreme court built into the law). It also seems like ITAR is the more important thing to fix (it is easier to move pornography etc out of the US than major software companies).
So it seems Dole is the better vote. Is this important enough to many cypherpunks to actually determine their vote?
If the Republican candidate had been Forbes, there might have been a "don't let the great be the enemy of the good" argument against voting for a Libertarian. As it stands now, Dole is, at best, arguably the "lesser of 2 evils," which still comes out evil in my book. As the designated partisan Libertarian on the list, I urge all cypherpunks to vote their consciences and pick Harry Browne and Jo Jorgensen. The mere fact that the media is [grudgingly] covering us suggests we are finally doing something right, and Harry is winning many Internet polls despite much fawning, hopeful coverage for the big-eared billionaire hypocrite stealth-candidate, who has no position on much of anything, but certainly would enjoy having the TLAs investigate his enemies. I fully accept that it is likely Dole or Clinton will win, but I think it will fill an important cypherpunk goal if the Libertarian Party candidates get a vote large enough to be the margin of victory, and I will be very proud of my vote, no matter who wins this election. Vote your consciences for your own sake, and the sake of the children who, no matter what, will inherit the debt of the irresponsible statists in power now. JMR Regards, Jim Ray -- DNRC Minister of Encryption Advocacy "'Filegate' is starting to make _Ed_ _Meese_ look ethical." -- me Defeat the Duopoly! Vote "NOTA," not Slick/Dull in November. Harry Browne for President. Jo Jorgensen for Vice-president. http://www.HarryBrowne96.org/ ___________________________________________________________________ PGP id.E9BD6D35 51 5D A2 C3 92 2C 56 BE 53 2D 9C A1 B3 50 C9 C8 <mailto:liberty@gate.net> http://www.shopmiami.com/prs/jimray C Ross Perot is now on welfare.<sigh> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.2 iQCVAwUBMiHtzG1lp8bpvW01AQFxxAP9GW/NizRkEqW0y4b0vGF5npoOGQj4jSVQ wBz8toN78LUY1xKyEj2y0WWqjfl3WQOMk2dCMlRskHZU8C8+nqLS3FgHaWCwrVF+ Th7LA3hvErvoVNKsrRTKAuGUkIm8XFQLfmPi8L6z94OXY5qXXRvVS9exRwlbH/DZ gpwGznNDjw0= =t8M2 -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----