"Libertarianism is at the very heart of Conservatism..." -- Ronald Reagan

by Eric Dondero

Finally, someone hits it on the head.
All this worrying by purist Libertarians that the Tea Party movement they founded has been taken over by "Conservatives."

It's not that Conservatives have taken over the Tea Party; rather, it's Conservatives have moderated on social issues and put their social agenda on the back burner for the purpose of libertarian/conservative cooperation.

Doug Mainwaring, a member of the National Capital Tea Party Patriots, has a column in the Washington Times, "Defined by principle, not just protestTea Partiers defy the descriptions of their detractors."

He ends:

One question that keeps getting raised is whether the Tea Party movement is more of a conservative phenomenon or a libertarian one. There's a good reason onlookers feel they are getting mixed signals: The Tea Party movement forms a realm in which the two easily can converge. With a focus on fiscal responsibility and limited government, absent social issues such as abortion, gay marriage, legalization of marijuana, immigration, global warming, the deployment of our military abroad, gun control, etc., libertarians and conservatives have found wholehearted agreement and have formed a powerful coalition to bring about change in Washington - change our Founding Fathers would have believed in.

Thank you Mr. Mainwaring. When Conservatives and Libertarians cooperate, and join in coalition, while eschewing those issues that divide us, we simply cannot be beat.

We did this once before with spectacular results:

Any one remember a guy named Ronald Reagan?