“Mises” PAC

The “Mises” Caucus is a PAC of the “Libertarian” Party which it took over in May 2022 [2]. It is not a caucus but a PAC, and it is neither libertarian nor related to Ludwig von Mises in any way. It is more accurately described as the “Hoppe Caucus” or the “Misnamed Caucus”. It is anti-libertarian, not libertarian.

History

• Wikipedia: Mises Caucus

Platform changes

Equality of the rights under law should not be denied or abridged by the United States, or any political subdivision thereof, on account of sex, race, color, creed, age, national origin, or sexual preference. We shall oppose any governmental attempts to regulate purely private discrimination. However, we condemn bigotry as irrational and unjust.

Libertarian Party National Platform, 1974

One of their first changes was the removal [3] of this plank from the party platform.

• “Racism is pretty much a non-issue in America. Libertarians suffer more oppression than black people.”

• “The 1964 Civil Rights Act should be repealed.”, November 20, 2022

Statements and publications

• Slavic Libertarianism on historical revisionism

• Laurence M. Vance, “Rethinking the Good War”

• Gary Brown’s criticism of the caucus over germ denial

• The national party welcomes Ron Paul supporters

• The national party on overseas proxy wars
• The national party on the “American Empire”

State parties

Even before the LP national takeover, they took control of state parties.

The US Government backs and arms Al Qaeda in Syria/Yemen and Nazis in Ukraine.

Which “freedom fighters” will they be funding and arming with US taxpayer’s dollars in Taiwan? #NoWarWithChina

• May 24, 2022 Libertarian Party NH @LPNH

Foreign Libertarian parties are likely CIA operations.

Libertarian Party of Kentucky @lpky· May 24

• The Kentucky party on foreign libertarian parties

Criticism

Libertarian criticism

Here’s my view of the libertarian to alt-right pipeline

First: It exists. Alt-right actors have quite literally hijacked the US Libertarian Party. A significant contingent of libertarians (or shall we say, former libertarians) have gone Trumpist.

Kyle Varner, MD @KBVMD

• Shawn Huckabay, “Call To Action: Open Opposition to the Mises Caucus” (stopmises.today)
• How was the Libertarian Party taken over by a white nationalist group? Former LNC chairman @jbhenchman & CATO’s @AndrewRCraig join @JeremiahDJohns to discuss what’s gone wrong with the Libertarian Party, and what principled libertarians should do now.
• The Mises Caucus isn’t libertarian, but is instead a right-wing, nationalist, xenophobic, reactionary, fascist/fascism-adjacent movement. That they’re taking over the Libertarian Party means that the LP is no longer a libertarian party.

• The LPMC is made up more of people who seek the approval of ideological racists (and take it as a contrarian badge of honor when they get mistaken for ideological racists themselves) than it is of actual ideological racists. Arguably, that’s more pathetic.

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mises_Caucus#Criticism

• Reason, “Mises Caucus Takes Control of Libertarian Party”

Criticism of its anti-libertarianism

• @patlbarnum

• Daniel Greenfield on Scott Ritter

Suspicion of deliberate sabotage

The Mises PAC is a GOP “infiltrate and neuter” operation aimed at ensuring there aren’t any libertarian alternatives to whatever authoritarians the Republican Party puts up for various offices. That’s its goal. That’s its purpose.

Thomas L. Knapp, “The Question Isn’t What You Did, It’s Will You Keep Doing It?”

• Thomas L. Knapp, “The Mises PAC is a GOP astroturf operation with the goal of driving votes to the GOP by neutering the LP. Its supporters who didn’t know that before the LPPA fiasco got scammed. They don’t have any excuses for not knowing it, and acting accordingly, now.”, March 8, 2022

• Thomas L. Knapp, Thomas L. Knapp mocks the caucus’s record

I don’t think people really appreciate what a strong worth ethic the Mises PAC brought to @LPNational. Getting from “last best hope of liberty” to “even dumber and more evil than the Republicans or Democrats” in four months didn’t happen by accident. It took EFFORT. Sep 17, 2022

• Thomas L. Knapp, “Success” and “failure” are functions of objective. Since the Mises PAC’s objective is to make the LP look so batshit insane that marginal Republicans will vote for even the most wild-eyed MAGAt before voting Libertarian, this one checks the “success” box.

• Failing? As a Republican “infiltrate and neuter” operation, the Mises PAC has been insanely successful at simultaneously bankrupting the LNC, hobbling its non-Mises state affiliates with malicious litigation, and using its Mises affiliates to make the LP brand toxic., April 11, 2023

• Joe Carl White, “Suppose that the goal of the Mises PAC/Mises Caucus was to to destroy the LP. How would their actions differ from what they are currently doing?”, February 5, 2023

• Joe Carl White, “Imagine for a moment there was an outside group bent on destroying the Libertarian Party by taking it over and discrediting it. How would their actions differ from those of the Mises Caucus?”, February 28, 2023

• McArdle’s problem isn’t that she’s not as good as Sarwark (true but not the issue). Her caucus actively opposes candidate growth favor of building weird secessionist enclaves and alt-right hospitality suites. McArdle did not fail, she SUCCEEDED. Don’t get it twisted. Some may find McArdle’s performance embarrassing, but we can’t call it not functional. Her machine functions as intended per manufacturer’s spec.

• My pet theory is that this account is run by a gop operative trying to minimize election spoilage

• I am beginning to think that the LP has been a victim of a G.O.P. covert campaign to destroy it.

• The party that needs no further embarrassment, further embarrassing itself. If the republicans were trying to infiltrate and tear down the LP what would y’all be doing different?

• the Mises PAC is absolutely and beyond reasonable doubt a GOP “infiltrate and neuter” operation, created for the specific purpose of cratering the LP and operating with the intent to do so.

This is corroborated by:

• Kevin Gaughen, “The bad publicity the LP is incurring has led many to question the recent Mises PAC takeover of the LP and the motivations behind it. In this thread, I will demonstrate that it was likely a sabotage operation by the Trump camp.🧵” (thread) (pdf)

• Advisory Board Member Walter Block explicitly, publicly and aggressively called for libertarians in swing states to vote for the Republican Party instead of the Libertarian Party: “Pardon me while I beat my head against the wall. How could libertarians in purple states be so stupid?” —Walter Block, “Libertarians Spoil the Election”, WSJ, November 8, 2020

• Suggestions to support Republican Party candidates instead of Libertarian Party candidates in state elections, for instance Ron DeSantis in Florida [4][5] (for the new “L”P, anti-covid mandates are bad Angela McArdle on Jared Polis’s record, voluntary masking is bad [6][7], but pro-covid mandates are good [8]. that’s really pushing dumb contrarianism to the extreme.)

Funding Republican candidates:

• Libertarian National Committee Spends 9K To Keep Conservatives on Ballot
  • https://jakeporter.substack.com/p/the-libertarian-national-committee
  • https://jakeporter.substack.com/p/the-libertarian-national-committee-706

• Kevin Gaughen on Cara Schulz’s warning

• Cara Schulz questions GOP involvement in party strategy

• If there were a CIA front to make sure no third party ever threatens the duopoly, would it look any different from LPMC?

• I’m not saying LPMC and their affiliates are a FBI/GOP front, but if it were, would they tweet any different?

• Donny Ferguson on membership and revenue

• @gaughen

• Tyler Harris, Former National Executive Director of the Libertarian Party “You are correct. It is on purpose. No other explanation at this point. Hanlon’s razor be damned —at some point malice is just malice.”

Other criticisms

• Mises Caucus: Could It Sway the Libertarian Party to the Hard Right?

• SPLC: Libertarian Party loses state parties and donors after hard-right turn

• The Libertarian Party Goes Alt-Right [9]

• The Hill: The Libertarian Party is collapsing—here’s why

Advisory Board and “Heroes”

Advisory Board

• The national party welcomes Ron Paul supporters

The Libertarian Party is now a home for @RonPaul supporters. We welcome you with open arms. We represent the tradition of Mises and Rothbard and are eternally grateful to @lewrockwell @jeffdeist and everyone at @mises for keeping their legacy alive. We do not throw our heroes under the bus to gain acceptance from the regime. We regard the regime as criminal.

• Walter Block, founder of Libertarians for Trump, criticizes voting for the Libertarian Party in swing states: “Pardon me while I beat my head against the wall. How could libertarians in purple states be so stupid?” [10] [11]

• Tom Woods

• Ron Paul

• Lew Rockwell

• Jeff Deist

• Gene Epstein, another Kremlintarian [12]: "A)Russia’s Ukraine invasion is a war crime the civilized world must condemn.

B)Civilized world excludes the US gov’t: its war crimes are worse; its actions provoked the invasion & its aim is to further the carnage. Folks who believe A often find B an affront to their identity." [13]

• “Mises” Caucus takeover of LP 🧵 [14] PDF

The same, however, cannot be said for their leadership. The amount of grift, ideological rot, nastiness and outright prejudice which I have seen in the higher ranks of the Mises Caucus simply cannot be ignored. I do not believe that these people have the best interests of the liberty movement at heart. To be blunt, I don’t think they care one iota about creating a world set free in our lifetime. To the contrary, their actions have established that they would burn the national and state parties to the ground if only to have dominion over the ashes and the opportunity to monetize every smoking ember. And I suspect they will soon get their wish.

Most distressingly, I question the extent to which the Mises Caucus and its leadership is actually committed to the Libertarian Party and its affiliates. The fact that leaders have consistently suggested an openness to not running candidates against Republican opponents, running farcical candidates (see New Hampshire), and taking steps which intentionally alienate older members and generous donors, leads me to honestly suspect that the end of the Libertarian Party as we know it is not just a danger of their stewardship, but a goal.

https://www.facebook.com/84401138/posts/10100238656248605/?d=n

• The UnPopulist: How the Libertarian Party became the reactionary arm of Trump and Trumpism

Reactions from other caucuses

• Road to Illiberalism: the Future of the Libertarian Party?

Results

The caucus’s record can be judged by election results, membership and finances.

[1]

• Kevin Gaughen on Pennsylvania membership and funds
• Kevin Gaughen on the proposed 2023 budget
• Kevin Gaughen on membership losses
• @Bwarzy Congratulations to Jeremy Kauffman for the worst non-Presidential year result for a Libertarian Senate candidate in New Hampshire since 1984 and to Boryshenko for the worst result for a Libertarian Governor candidate in New Hampshire since 1988. Rock stars. Both of them.

• There is no LP growth. Candidate numbers are down, candidate wins are down, the number of registered Libertarians is down, the number of @LPNational members is down, party donations have plummeted. Where is this explosive growth? All evidence shows the party is in decline

• Kevin Gaughen on propaganda and “cult deprogramming”

• Tech CPA on the use of graphs to claim growth

Messaging

• @MisesAZ

Personnel

• @cz85b
• @GoldWedge
• Kevin Gaughen on staff layoffs
• Craig Bowden on criticism of party operations
• Craig Bowden on Cara Schulz’s departure
• Kevin Gaughen on the party’s implosion

Billing

• The LPPA has lost 40% of its members since March due to the boycott. I have heard from people, who never signed up for recurring billing and who intentionally let their memberships lapse, that the LPPA recently charged their cards without their consent. Check your statements.

• Check your bank statements. Several people have alleged that the Mises-installed LPPA leadership has made unauthorized charges their cards. Despite siphoning donations from the unwilling, the Mises Junta still lost HALF of the LPPA’s dues-paying membership in just 11 months.

Finances

• @fiat78lux

• Fakertarians on the party’s financial collapse

• Kevin Gaughen on membership and financial reports

• The point of the Mises PAC takeover was to sabotage the Libertarian Party to benefit Trump’s re-election chances. The fundraising numbers do not lie. These numbers aren’t adjusted for inflation. If they were adjusted, the sabotage would be even more apparent.

• One year ago, @LPMisesCaucus "took over" @LPNational. The day of the convention, @MisesChair told @nickgillespie that "we'd know them by their fruits." Now that they've had a year to run the party, let's take a look at those fruits.🧵 (thread)
  • 2023 State of the Libertarian Party report

• MetaModernMusings on reported revenue

See also

• The Daily Beast: Libertarian Party civil war over the Mises Caucus

• Reason: Libertarian Party faces state rebellions

• Virginia Libertarian Party leaders vote to dissolve the state organization

• @XOmniverse

• Kevin Gaughen reflects on the takeover

• Kremlintarianism

• Justin L. Smith, “So more stuff on #ClintRussell who had #ElizaBleu & #ThaddeusRussell on his podcast #LibertyLockDown.”, January 28, 2003 (thread) (pdf)

Resignations

• Nate Atkins

• I was a card-carrying Libertarian and voted third party in every election since McCain ran for President. After they made their position known, I surrendered my card and emailed them to tell them to never ask for a dime from me again.

• Krystal Woodworth

• Brandon Warzybok: Today, I quit my position as an officer in the Libertarian Party of Michigan. This ends my formal association with the Libertarian Party at all levels. A🧵of my thoughts and observations follows below:
  • [15]

• Mama Mac

• Fakertarians on another LNC resignation Daniel

Lawsuits against state affiliates

• Virginia

Michigan

• Fakertarians on the LNC’s Michigan trademark suit

• @Bwarzy

• @fakertarians

• Facebook discussion

Members and elected representatives leaving for the Forward Party

• Newberry mayor switches political parties

Discussions with Libertarian Party of Russia

• The Libertarian Party of Russia responds to the Mises Caucus

Kremlintarianism

They have no idea what the NAP is:

• Who is the agressor?

Implosions

• Kevin Gaughen on the party’s implosion

Calls for violence

• The Mises Caucus invokes a heritage of violent revolution

More

• Nicholas Sarwark on fundraising and Russian propaganda

• It is apparent these are neo fascists. Not libertarians

• How the Libertarian Party Became the Reactionary Arm of Trump and Trumpism

• Tony D’Orazio reflects on the 2022 convention

Michael Heise

• Kevin Gaughen on Heise’s response to donors

Links to LPNH

• Jeremy Kauffman on the New Hampshire convention and party takeover

Leaks

• SPLC: Far-right party leadership worries its takeover is turning into a disaster

See also

• GOP Mises Caucus Action PAC

Takeover

• Mises Caucus Secretary and Board Member David Hynes saying the quiet part out loud: “We are commandeering an institution which has already laid the groundwork in terms of things like branding and ballot access.”

• Angela “Moscow” McArdle