THE LIBERTY SCALE was intended from the beginning to be non-partisan.
It's about voting in a way that will empower the average citizen—giving him or her more control over everyday life.
Because of that, the scale has nothing directly to do with which party a measure is endorsed by, or which party a candidate is endorsed by.
"Vote for the candidate, not for the party," is a very good stance in normal times.
Unfortunately, we do not live in normal times.
Democrats:
Republicans:
The Democratic party has not been perfect these last two years.
They have moved more slowly than many of us would have liked, they have cooperated with big wealth too much, and they have spent way too much time trying to find a compromise with those who were stonewalling them.
But the progress they have made has been, for the most part, in the right direction.
They have started us on the way to economic recovery.
They have made major progress on health care reform.
They have gotten much of the money spent on the recovery back from the big corporations.
They have put better controls on financial institutions to make another recession less likely.
I can only give them a +3 on The Liberty Scale.
If you are a Republican please don't take offense at what follows—it doesn't apply to the average Republican, only to the party that has left you behind.
Ever since the Republican party was so shocked and outraged that Bill Clinton won an election which they had considered theirs by right, they have been moving in a frightening direction.
A coalition of big wealth, ignorance, and right-wing nut cases has gradually taken over.
Over the last eighteen years, the Republican establishment has moved from being the party of Eisenhower, Nixon, Ford, and Reagan—each of whom fully endorsed policies which would get them called socialists by the Republicans of today—and has moved to becoming the party of Sharron Angle and John Boehner and Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul.
Some have intimated that if they don't get their way at the election they will turn to violence.
Some have said that if they do get elected they will shut the government down.
Some have made it clear that they will primarily use whatever power they gain in this election, not to cooperate with this administration to help our county get through these difficult times, but to block the administrations efforts to fix things so they can win the next election.
Some have endorsed the "right" of racists to refuse services to fellow Americans because of their color.
They have talked of eliminating social security.
They have been carefully weeding out their moderates, moving extremists into position, and building a set of politicians who will vote, as a block, on a completely political basis.
They have intentionally fanned the very worst instincts of our population, in a calculated effort to get votes.
During the Bush administration, when they were in power, they gave a government surplus away to the super rich, and drove our country deep into debt.
And their policies created the recession which now damages the liberty of every American who can't find a job, or who is now making less than they were before.
They endorsed government prying into our bedrooms, spying on our reading habits, and generally violating our basic rights.
And they were nowhere near as angry or desperate as they are now—and nowhere near as completely owned by big wealth.
But the real problem is that they vote as a block, particularly on important issues, which means that voting for the candidate is voting for the party in their case.
I give them, overall, a -4 on the liberty scale.
Which means a vote for a Republican earns a -7, and a vote for a Democrat earns a +7 this election.
