by Dan Sheill

While the term “REAL LIBERTARIAN” is perhaps the most overused in the Eric Dondero vocabulary (as evidenced by this blog), one candidate for Congress out of West Michigan truly fits the term. Justin Amash is a once in a generation candidate for the libertarian movement, who we can all get behind (unless, of course, you’re an anarchist like Knappster blogger Tom Knapp). He is currently running for Congress in Michigan ’s third district. The day after he announced, incumbent Vern Ehlers (a typical fiscal liberal/social conservative Michigan Republican) announced his intention to retire.

I first came into contact with Justin in February of 2007. At that time, I was just becoming chair of Michigan Republican Liberty Caucus, and to say that we had an active chapter would have been quite an exaggeration. Justin was one of the few people who sought out the organization, not the other way around, and we soon appointed him to our board of directors.

By the following year, he was up and running for the state legislature, winning a huge upset victory over the incumbent’s wife. His election also helped revive the credibility of the Michigan RLC, an organization which was sorely lacking from a public face after we lost former legislator Leon Drolet to term limits in 2006.

Some of the many actions Amash has taken since assuming office include turning down lifetime health care benefits, which every elected representative in Michigan qualifies for (most legislators only remain in office for only about six years). He has introduced a bill which prohibits the forced unionization of home health care providers. Currently, the state considers a private health care provider to actually be a public employee if say their elderly patients pay for the services with Medicare or some other government subsidy.

He has proposed right to work legislation for any government or public school employee, and has also fought “prevailing wage” laws on government contracts, which are simply kickbacks for organized labor whom almost always win the bids. And when one state legislator proposed that a state university restaurant receive a variance in order to operate with a liquor license on campus property, Amash offered a friendly amendment to grant that same privilege to the owners of restaurants located at any state college or university.

But what has put him on the political map has been his taking on the bogus Michigan Economic Development Corporation, a governmental entity created over ten years ago to supposedly help bring jobs to the state. Michigan over that same period of time has developed the highest unemployment rate in the country. Basically, the MEDC picks winners and losers in the marketplace by giving huge tax breaks to a select few companies, which are paid for in many cases by their small business competitors.

A good example of this is Democratic Governor Jennifer Granholm’s prized film tax credit, which reimburses up to 40% of the production costs of any movie made in Michigan . Amash has been the legislature’s biggest critic of this program, drawing the ire of the liberal left back home who delusionally believe that Detroit can somehow become the Hollywood of the Midwest .

I suppose this could happen if Robocop joined forces with Kurt Russell’s character Snake Plissken to make the blockbuster entitled “Escape from Detroit,” since so many able bodied people (including myself) have done so in the last few years. If you’ve ever been to Detroit , you’d probably agree that it would make the perfect backdrop for the sequel to “Terminator Salvation.”

Justin was born and raised in Grand Rapids , where he was valedictorian of his high school. He went on to the University of Michigan where earned his bachelor’s and juris doctor, later practicing business law back home in Grand Rapids. He and his wife Kara have two beautiful young children.

My personal opinion is that I hate to see him leave the Michigan legislature where I believe that his work is unfinished. However, I wish him the best in his campaign for Congress. Of course, Libertarian Republicans will be working hard in the coming months to do everything we can to elect Justin, who is about the finest exemplar of our movement and our true beliefs, in the Midwest, and perhaps the entire U.S. To learn more about it, please visit http://www.amashforcongress.com.

Editor's Note - Dan Sheill is a Michigan Attorney, temporarily residing in Texas. He's also a National Committee member of the RLC.