What is the Pure Principles Platform?

What are its goals?

Where did it come from?

Who supports it?

Why is it 100% recycled?

What is its structure?

What are the criticisms of the Pure Principles Platform?

It's "unprincipled", "nerf", "Republican lite", etc.

It doesn't rule out unlibertarian policy X

It might allow a non-zero amount of government

It's too radical

It's not detailed enough

It's too detailed

It's not a legislative program

It's not an LP Contract With America

It's not a marketing brochure for voters

It's not a libertarianism primer for LP members

It's not a silver bullet for electoral success

How does the Pure Principles Platform deal with…

Abortion?

Foreign Policy?

Immigration?

Gay Rights?

Taxation?

Environment?

Secession?

Death Penalty?

Gun Rights?

Drugs?

Federalism?

What's wrong with alternative draft platforms?

What's wrong with restoring the 2004 Platform?

The 2004 Platform was littered with radical demands that many Libertarians consider too extreme. It advocated

• the right of "individuals to renounce their affiliation with any government, and to be exempt from the obligations imposed by those governments"
• immediate non-enforcement of all tax laws: "all criminal and civil sanctions against tax evasion should be terminated immediately"
• "unconditional amnesty for all those individuals who have been convicted of, or who now stand accused of, tax resistance"
• "repeal of all taxation"
• potential default on the $9T federal debt: "default is preferable to raising taxes or perpetual refinancing of growing public debt"
• replacement of all environmental protections with "trespass and nuisance" torts: "Strict liability, not government agencies and arbitrary government standards, should regulate pollution. […] We call for a modification of the laws governing such torts as trespass and nuisance to cover damages done by air, water, radiation, and noise pollution."
• "elimination of all government fiat money and all government minted coins" and "abolition of the Federal Reserve System"
• "privatization of airports, air traffic control systems, public roads and the national highway system"
• "termination of government-created franchise privileges and governmental monopolies for […] such services as garbage collection, fire protection, electricity, natural gas, cable television, telephone, or water supplies"
• "homesteading or other just transfer to private ownership of federally held lands […] Such parks and wilderness and recreation areas that already exist should be transferred to non-government ownership"
• "elimination of all restrictions on immigration"
• "repeal of all laws prohibiting the production, sale, possession, or use of drugs"
• opposition to "all attempts to ban weapons or ammunition on the grounds that they are risky or unsafe"
• what was widely construed as legalizing child prostitution: "We call for the repeal of all laws that restrict anyone, including children, from engaging in voluntary exchanges of goods, services or information regarding human sexuality, reproduction, birth control or related medical or biological technologies."
• legalizing partial-birth abortions: "We oppose government actions that either compel or prohibit abortion"
• a green light for attacking Americans abroad, by opposing "extend[ing] the protection of the United States government to U.S. citizens when they or their property fall within the jurisdiction of a foreign government"
• "End[ing] the incorporation of foreign nations into the U.S. defense perimeter. End the practice of stationing American military troops overseas. We make no exceptions to the above."

The 2004 Platform included language about such minutiae as

• "electronic Yellow Pages"
• "digital audio tape recorders"
• "the manufacture of video terminals by telephone companies"
• "conservatorships"
• "Antarctica and extraterrestrial bodies"
• "Saturday night specials"
• "government's proposals for so-called 'key escrow'"
• "any requirement for use of government-specified devices or protocols"
• "motor vehicle records"
• "destruction of all files in computer-readable or hard-copy form […]"
• "landfills"

What's wrong with the Reform Caucus "Short A/B" drafts?

What's wrong with the World's Smallest Political Platform?

What's wrong with having no Platform?

How does it compare to the positions of

Steve Kubby

George Phillies

Wayne Root

Ron Paul

Republican Party

Republican Liberty Caucus

Democratic Party

Democratic Freedom Caucus

Constitution Party

Green Party

What is the history that led up to the Pure Principles Platform?

The original 1972 Platform

The 1974 Dallas Accord and Rothbard/Evers Rewrite

The 2004 Atlanta Re-Format

The 2006 Portland Plank Massacre

The 2008 Platform Committee

What is the plan for passing the Pure Principles Platform?

Will there be an omnibus vote on the draft?

What plank amendments are under consideration?

What happens if not all of the draft passes?

How does the Pure Principles Platform relate to the Bylaws Committee's recommendations?