Leave Us Alone: Getting the Government's Hands Off Our Money, Our Guns, Our Lives

Very insightful, and provides a good deal of thought provoking information. I think this should be "must read" material for anyone who is interested in the American political scene.

I was given this book as a gift, along with Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies and to my great surprise, being an estranged moderate Reagan Republican, I found that I am much more of a Libertarian than I realized, and this author, although he causes me great discomfort in some areas (such as privatizing Social Security), he makes complete sense. I learn he has been voted one of the 50 most powerful people in DC by GQ (2007) and I believe it. Senator McCain has better listen this time around. I urge all who are enthused with Senator Obama to read Obama - The Postmodern Coup: Making of a Manchurian Candidate. Senator Obama is NOT transparent and I consider his top foreign policy advisors to be dangerous--Dr. Strangelove (Brzezinski) has one last war with Russia left in him, and seriiousl believes he can confront the Chinese in Africa--this is lunacy (search for my Memorandum online . The book lacks an index. This is a HUGE MISTAKE on the part of the publisher because there are too many important ideas in this book. The publisher should create and post online an index to this book. The publisher can also be criticized for failing to provide Library of Congress cataloguing information. This is a REFERENCE work. The author should consider holding the publisher accountable for such fundamental incompetencies that detract from the book's lasting value. The five core reforms that he builds up to are: 1) Portable pensions 2) Competitive health care 3) Educational choice including home schooling 4) Outsourcing of all government functions possible 5) Transparency (see not only Groundswell, but also Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations) The author posits a stark choice between the Leave Us Alone movement, that appears to be growing daily (and included 27 secessionist movements that meet annually at a conference organized by Kirkpatrick Sale, author of Human Scale, and what he calls the Takings Group, the tax and spend elected officials both Republican and Democratic. This is a serious reference work with an even mix of books, articles, and online citations. There are some areas where the author could benefit from knowledge that is not yet mainstream--for example, we can blow away the Medicare unfunded obligations by negotiating prices that are 1% (ONE percent) of what we foolishly pay now, and as a recent PriceWaterHouseCooopers study documented so well, also eliminating the 50% of the medical professional that is waste, including (the author does address this--the tort lawyers like Senator John Edwards who make millions putting good doctors out of business so bad doctors can do more elective operations). On balance--and this was my first exposure to this individual--I put the book down thinking to myself that this author deserves his reputation, and that he combines a very powerful intellect with an equally powerful moral force. Other books I recommend: The Thirteen Americ

What a fabulous book! If I disagree with Norquist on anything it is his rough dismissal of social conservative issues towards the end of the book. However, I understand his emphasis on economic issues and their rough correlation with social conservative issues. That is, if you look at all economic conservatives in the Republican party, they will also include almost all of the social conservatives and some of those who are more liberal on social issues. So, we get more voters to help us win our issues with economics. This ignores the reality that for social conservatives, some issues are so vital that sitting home or creating a new party would be better alternatives than letting them slip out of the public debate. In any case, that is a minor part of this very helpful and interesting book. Norquist lays out his case quite well. He divides the 21 chapters of the book into five parts and build his case line by line and layer upon layer. Part I discusses what he calls the two competing coalitions - the "Leave Us Alone Coalition" and the "Takings Coalition". He carefully avoids the familiar, but too ideologically freighted terms of left-right, or socialist-capitalist. He describes what each of the coalitions is after and what the methods are. You will recognize them right away and notice that one of them uses the Republican Part and the other the Democrat Party. However, it would be a real mistake to associate the parties as being identical with the coalitions. Parties change their issues in a struggle to win, coalitions fight for their purposes and to make their ideas important enough to win elections and hence gain the support of a party. Part II is covers one hundred pages in eleven chapters examining the political trends for the future. Norquist lays out an argument that shows an advantage for the Leave Us Alone Coalition. More people have their retirement money invested in businesses and are therefore more connected to more pro-business and lower tax policies. He also shows the decline of labor unions (except in the powerful government based and education based unions) as a decline of ready made funds and workers for The Takings Coalition. The Card Check proposal is a dangerous anti-democratic method for the Unions to re-gain membership and power. It should be opposed. The birthrates of the two coalitions are quite different. The Leave Us Alone folks have more kids than the Takings people. The trend is therefore in favor of one with increasing numbers, unless the Takings people can convert them (misusing our schools and colleges as recruitment and indoctrination centers - hence the rise in home schooling). A trend against the Leave Us Alone group is the reduction in the numbers of hunters. However, the rise in gun ownership and right to carry states compensates somewhat. One way to look at the differences between the groups is whether you are comfortable with America creating its own future and going its own way or w

What makes people vote the way they do? This is a great book and a stimulating read with a zinger of an insight on every page. There is a lot more than economics and demographics that drives the political marketplace. In example after example, Norquist argues that the key to building political coalitions is to correctly identify the one issue that brings everyone in a certain group to the table. Political scientists call this "preference versus intensity." Norquist applies this principle across the board in the American political marketplace--in ways that may surprise you. Norquist uses the shorthand "Leave Us Alone" to identify a broad coalition of interest groups whose basic instinct is libertarian, not on everything, but on their key voting issue. The flip side of the coin is a "takings coalition," as Norquist terms it, which looks for government intervention on its key points of intensity. It is pretty clear what side the libertarian Norquist is on, but everyone who runs political campaigns for a living or wants to understand the dynamics of U.S. politics needs to read this book. Be irritated or thrilled. Norquist pops open the hood and shows how the engine works. You can see the pistons chugging.

Excellent book. The Mr. Norquist makes a compelling case the the People of the United States will soon choose the "Leave Us Alone" group (Republicans) or the "Takings" group (democrats) - and there will be no going back after that choice is made. He opens up one's eyes to the fact that our individual liberties and money are at peril and we had better choose wisely. Well written and well researched.