The Freedom Report

By

2020, Texas will be a majority Hispanic state. Likewise, many people are moving

to Texas from other states like California, FreedomWorks’ Whitney Neal tells The Freedom Report.

Yet

while newcomers are often drawn to Texas by it business environment, they may

not understand that “if you come to Texas and elect the same type of people,

you will find yourself in the same situation down the road.” Neal explains how

FreedomWorks’ “Come and Take It” campaign is working to promote small

government values in Texas and stop the state from crossing the isle.

Austin

Petersen also asks Neal, a Texan, whether she’ll be campaigning for Ted Cruz or

Rand Paul in the 2016 election.

All

this and more on The Freedom Report podcast!

Economist

John Lott joins The Freedom Report at CPAC 2014 to discuss the empirical weight

behind gun rights advocacy. Lott is the author of More Guns, Less Crime.

Lott

discusses the threat posed by gun registries, as well as the progressive

talking point that stand-your-ground laws are somehow racist. In fact, Lott

points out, “blacks are much more likely to avail themselves of the stand your

ground defense than whites are.”

All

this and more on The Freedom Report

podcast!

Austin Petersen and David Silverman, president of the American Atheists, sit down to

discuss atheism and conservatism at CPAC 2014. Petersen and Silverman, who are

both secular, discuss the very different strategies they use in interacting

with theists.

The American Atheists are known for their confrontational style;

Andrew Stuttaford, a writer for

Secular Right, has called them “the Wahhabis of atheism.” The group was

initially granted a booth at CPAC 2014.

That booth was rescinded after Silverman remarked in an

interview that “The Christian right should be angry that we are going in to

enlighten conservatives. The Christian right should be threatened by us.” The

organizers of CPAC said that American Atheists had misrepresented their

willingness to engage in a productive dialogue.

On this episode of The

Freedom Report, Silverman stands by his comments, saying “We were not here

to make friends. We were here to make a point.” Silverman says that, though he

supports economic freedom and gun rights, he does not self-identify as a

conservative because the word connotes Christian baggage.

He warns that Christianity will be a political hindrance to

conservatism, and predicts that there will be an atheist president in his

lifetime.

All that and more on The

Freedom Report podcast!

Friendly rivals Austin Petersen and Adam Kokesh sit down to

discuss a variety of topics during this first of many interviews that The

Freedom Report conducted at CPAC 2014. Their conversation covers Kremlin-funded

news network Russia Today, Kokesh’s controversial decision to load a shotgun in

Washington D.C., and why libertarianism is said to attract white men.

Kokesh discusses how his imprisonment affected his worldview, as

well as the new book that he began writing while in jail. The two explore the

philosophy behind the Non-Aggression Principle and even talk about the conflict

that developed between them last year.

All that and more on the Freedom Report podcast! 

The Freedom Report takes on the tough question of asking why if men have no reproductive rights then why should they have any reproductive responsibilities? 

An article featured on the website Thoughts On Liberty tackled the difficult issue of a man in Kansas who gave his girlfriend a drug that caused her to miscarry her child. The man was charged with first-degree murder, but if you're pro-choice, wasn't he really just taking the initiative and giving his girlfriend an unwanted abortion. It's not really murder then is it? Different story if you're pro life. 

As for child support, the state of Virginia is pushing a bill that amounts to nothing more than extortion. Divorce lawyers have an incentive to put men in positions where they can't pay, and encourage families to split up. Is the government causing the problem that it's claiming to try to solve? 

All that and more on the Freedom Report podcast! 

President Barack Obama submitted a budget to congress for $3.9 trillion and it's as good as dead on arrival. The president doesn't want to be seen as not pandering to his base in an important election year so he's putting something on the table that is basically a huge handout to his political base. Democrats don't want to be seen as making important cuts to the rapidly growing entitlement base when they're trying to win reelection. This podcast tackles some of the major budgetary issues that are in the president's proposal and battles the fallacies involved in Obama's "tax the rich" rhetoric. 

Also, a new Washington Post-ABC News poll shows that while voters trust Democrats more on key issues, they're probably going to vote for Republicans this fall anyway. The poll shows that Republicans stand a good chance at maintaining the House majority as well as an opportunity to win the Senate. Will Obama be a lame duck? 

All that and more on the Freedom Report podcast! 

5 years after Rick Santelli yelled about having a Tea Party from the floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange the movement has seen its ups and downs. A lackluster attendance at a rally this week saw proponents of the movement trying to rally enough energy for the upcoming electoral battle at the end of this year for the midterm elections. With the movement seemingly going off the rails, and a message that's being watered down by social issues, can the Tea Party get back on track to defeat the Democrats and flip the senate in the fall?

Secularism & Christianity Working Together For Limited Government 

Not So Strange Bedfellows

The big news in Washington this week was the story about the American Atheists being uninvited from doing outreach at the Conservative Political Action Conference. “American Atheists misrepresented itself about their willingness to engage in positive dialogue and work together to promote limited government,” said CPAC spokesperson Meghan Snyder. The group admittedly struck a confrontational tone about their reasons for wanting to attend the gathering, claiming they wanted to demonstrate that conservatism and limited government principles were separable. But even if that's true, it seems that they were going about it in totally the wrong way.

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Head of the American Atheists group had stated publicly that “he pledged that he will attack the very idea that Christianity is an important element of conservatism.” With comments like that, why would anyone be surprised that they were disinvited.

“People of any faith tradition should not be attacked for their beliefs, especially at our conference. He has left us with no choice but to return his money,” Meghan Snyder said.

This episode of the Freedom Report features an extended discussion about the history of secularism and conservatism in the tradition of limited government. Associate editor of The Libertarian Republic Ian Huyett, a Christian, talks with editor Austin Petersen, an atheist, about the ideas of faith and politics. Are they compatible? And can a diverse coalition of believers and non-believers work together to challenge those who believe in bigger government, no matter what god, gods, or no gods they believe in?

All that and more, including a special extended discussion on the concepts of natural rights from a theistic and non-theistic worldview only on the Freedom Report podcast!

 

Token Libertarian Girl Julie Borowski joined the Freedom Report podcast to discuss issues concerning the banning of certain types of dogs, known as Breed Specific Legislation. Borowski is a big dog lover and has been using her platform to bring up issues surrounding the government interfering with property rights. 

And do animals have rights? Borowski takes on the question of whether laws that extended certain human rights to animals would do anything to stop people from harming them? What about dog fighting and Michael Vick? Should people be able to burn cats in the public square? How far do we let people go before we say there should be some mechanism from justice to stop them from engaging in maladjusted behavior? 

All that and more on the Freedom Report podcast!

Alec Baldwin is reportedly stepping down from public life and could be leaving New York for good according to a 5,000 word essay he wrote for New York Magazine. Baldwin claims he was unfairly characterized as homophobic when a reporter for TMZ claims he called someone a "fa**ot." The actor dishes on his confrontation with actor Shia Labeouf and makes some startling revelations of his views on the liberal media, centralized education and the outrageous taxes in New York City.