The College Fix

Here’s some evidence that conservative Republicans in Congress don’t have guaranteed loyalty from libertarian-leaning Tea Party members:

The House on Tuesday night failed to approve legislation to extend surveillance authorities in the Patriot Act.

In a 277-148 vote, the House fell just seven votes short of the two-thirds majority of voting members necessary to move the bill under suspension of the rules.

More than two dozen Republicans bucked their leadership in the vote, by far the biggest defection for the House GOP since it took over the lower chamber. Until tonight’s vote, Republicans voted together in all but two votes this year, and in those two votes, only one Republican voted with Democrats.

One of the Republicans who voted against the bill was Justin Amash, a freshman representative from my home state of Michigan and a self-described libertarian Republican in the mold of Ron Paul (R-Texas). Amash had this to say on his Facebook page:

just voted no on H R 514, To Extend Expiring Provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act and Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act. Among other concerns, this renewal allows the government to obtain a broad production order to confiscate your business records, without disclosing to you the purposes of the investigation, while prohibiting you from discussing it with anyone. It failed 277-148 (needed 2/3 majority)

While this vote isn’t likely to doom the Patriot Act–Republicans have enough votes to approve the bill the traditional way–it does highlight a somewhat stark differences between conservatives and libertarians, and one that’s likely to play out on quite a few important votes. Libertarians and Tea Partiers don’t just want the government to take less of their money; they also want it to take less of their privacy. As Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) noted:

“Look at the ‘Don’t Tread on Me flag.’ It doesn’t say don’t tread on me, but it’s okay if you spy,” said Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), one of the most ardent opponents of the Patriot Act. “What the Republican leadership didn’t count on is that they have some new members who are freshmen who are conservative, libertarian, who really do believe in civil liberties.”

Two weeks ago, libertarian icon Ron Paul and liberal leader Ralph Nader discussed an alliance between progressives and libertarians, citing widespread agreement between the two groups on defending civil liberties, defeating corporatist measures (bailouts, for example), and ending foreign entanglements. It’s worth pointing out that although the Republican Party has been the traditional home for libertarians over the last fifty years, nothing about that relationship is absolute. College-aged libertarians are especially likely to buck the trend, since many of them are just as passionate–or even more passionate–about civil liberties as opposed to fiscal issues.

The Conservative Political Action Conference is this weekend. As an event specifically geared toward the younger crowd, CPAC is already inflaming tensions between libertarians and conservatives over the inclusion of a gay group, GOProud. It would be interesting if this Patriot Act vote adds fuel to the fire.

In any case, don’t expect the battle between libertarians and conservatives for control of the Republican platform to go away anytime soon. Conservatives have tradition and numbers in their corner. Libertarians, though, have the young people, which might just mean that time is on their side.

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