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A forum was held Sunday at St. Mark United Methodist Church in Wichita between two of the three candidates looking to fill the seat former congressman and current CIA director Mike Pompeo vacated in Kansas' 4th District.

Democrat James Thompson and Libertarian Chris Rockhold participated. Republican Ron Estes, although he had confirmed to take part, was absent due to a conflict.

The candidates commented on the budget, school funding, race issues and the Affordable Care Act.

Thompson said lawmakers should focus on controlling high health care costs, including pharmaceuticals. Rockhold said coverage for pre-existing conditions should remain.

Sixty-four-year-old Pastor Titus James attended the forum and said after he still hasnt decided who he'll vote for.

If Im not careful half my annual income will be for health care and thats not right for an old man so Im going to see how they will handle that --how they will try to work with fairness and parity for all people with that," he said.

Thompson and Rockhold both stressed the importance of being accessible to their constituents and the top priority of voting in the special election on April 11.

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Carla Eckels is assistant news director and the host of Soulsations. Follow her on Twitter@Eckels.

To contact KMUW News or to send in a news tip, reach us atnews@kmuw.org.

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Democratic, Libertarian Congressional Candidates Participate In Forum In Wichita - KMUW

Being Libertarian

Final Jihadist Groups in Benghazi Have Been Killed or Captured Being Libertarian After several weeks of fighting, the self-professed Libyan National Army has captured southwest Benghazi, the final stronghold of jihadist fighters in the East. The siege resulted in the deaths of 23 resistance fighters and five Libyan National Army ... and more »

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Final Jihadist Groups in Benghazi Have Been Killed or Captured - Being Libertarian

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by Micah J. Fleck

With the latest release (and subsequent craze) of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wildwhich came out at the top of this month and is already becoming one of the highest reviewed games of all timethe video gaming scene is abuzz with practically nothing but ubiquitous praise for the title. Everything from its mechanics to its environment has been lauded by nearly everyone who has played it even those who dont typically like this series, genre, or even the medium itself.

Why is this? Why do open world games have such a seemingly hypnotic qualities to them that make so many people from so many walks of life sit up and take notice? What is this single quality they possess that can bring young and old into their good graces and earn them such fandom?

The answer is obvious, once one thinks about it for even a moment. Open world games are so popular because they offer something to the consumer that few other forms of entertainment media can: freedom. Freedom to roam to anywhere one pleases, and to do anything one wants in any order. This is the future of entertainment media, the idea that an audience member can not only interact with what they are experiencing, but fundamentally change it based on her own preferences. But what makes this even more interesting is that the demand for more and more open world gaming in the market speaks to the truth of something Dr. Ron Paul has been practically immortalized as having said: freedom is popular.

Most people when asked will not say that their politics align libertarian. And yet those same people, when probed a bit more, will ultimately hold integral perspectives that are arguably very libertarian. This goes back to the same point I often make about libertarianism being a humanitarian philosophy well before it takes a specific political form, and that it truly is an innate human value that puts autonomy of the individual as the paramount concern. Its as organic as our own genetic traits as explained in Dawkinss The Selfish Gene. Its as sensible as everyones desire to own a house of our own. And yes, it is as widespread and stimulating as home entertainment. Most of the media we consume at large is spoon-fed to us these days is a large scale push to output as much content and sell as many toilet cleaners and online degrees as possible. So when the rare television show, film, album, or even video game comes along that treats the audience member as a thinking human being and not as a potential customer, the response is almost always positive. And universally so.

This is because our inner libertarians are being tapped into during these moments; our very human sensibilities that at the end of the day scream for freedom of thought, trade, and movement are being tickled and enlivened when we are given a product that respects our autonomy rather than tries to circumvent it. And with more and more of the entertainment world realizing that freedom and individual intellect are bottomless in their marketing possibilities, my hope is that we will begin to see a similar cultural shift in areas just north of the entertainment world, such as politics and discourse.

The reality of human desire and excellence still exists just beneath the surface. But in this pop culture-driven world we now inhabit,it might just take blips on a screen to wake us up and uncover it.

AdvertizementAutonomyBreath of the Wildcapitalismconsumerismfree tradefreedomFreedom of MovementHumanHumanitarianInnateInner LibertarianIntellectlibertarianMarketplace of IdeasNintendo Switchpop culturerespectRichard DawkinsSensibilitiesThe Legend of ZeldaThe Selfish Genevideo games

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Open World Video Games Appeal to Everyone's Inner Libertarian - The Libertarian Republic

Philadelphia Business Journal

PoliticsPA: Libertarian jumps into Senate race - Philadelphia ... Philadelphia Business Journal Dale Kerns announced he is running for the U.S. Senate in 2018 for the Libertarian party. A Libertarian has not filed with the Federal Elections Commission ... and more »

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PoliticsPA: Libertarian jumps into Senate race - Philadelphia ... - Philadelphia Business Journal

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byBenjamin Hitzig

What do Donald Trump, Bernie Sanders, and Ron Paul have in common? Well at first glance not much, as ideologically the three dont share that much common ground. Bernie Sanders believes that the top 1% should pay their fair share. Donald Trump believes that the solution to the majority of the drug and immigration problem is building a wall andcutting regulations. Ron Paul believes the core issues revolve around three things: interventionism, high taxes, and the war on drugs all of which he wants to repeal. Although the end goals of these three are very different, one thing that they all have in common is that they have a message that unified different individuals.

Bernie Sanders unified a large portion of younger millennials, many of whom believed a class of elites stacked the deck against them. Ron Paul unified people from both sides of the spectrum who felt dissatisfied because of a failed war on drugs, expensive and endless foreign wars, and soaring tax rates which he promised would be cut back. He even went as far as to say the IRS would be dismantled and replaced with nothing. Donald Trump gathered a large portion of the middle American population as well as a silent majority from everywhere in the U.S. who felt like their freedom of speech had been suppressed by the left, their healthcare had been destroyed by the Obama, and feared that illegal immigration and terrorism would lead to chaos.

It is important to recognize that Bernie Sanders appeared as a hero to a younger generation. Ron Paul appeared as a hero to a wide demographic of freedom fighters. Trump was looked at as such by a silent but growing demographic that felt forgotten about. How can this apply to the Libertarians of 2016? and furthermore, how can we achieve a larger audience by conveying a message of free market/personal libertywhile staying true to our principles?

In an article published by The Washington Examiner, Thomas Massie (R. Kentucky), gives us a little insight as to why Trump won. He says that He, Ron Paul, and Rand Paul were not supported because of their values. instead they were supported because they had the craziest views, and Donald Trump had the craziest of the crazy. Thomas Massie isnt even wrong. Donald Trump didnt do the whole political thing, instead he talked to people like they were people. A steal worker in Pittsburgh probably doesnt want some suit in Washington talking down to him. Donald Trump knew that, and Hillary Clinton didnt. And although many of Trumps views could be seen as controversial, they resonated with a large portion of the population.

This leads us to the main question we have to ask ourselves: how can we convey the principles of liberty in a voice that can resonate to the public? Ron and Rand Paul have been able to break through to mainstream popularity in the past, so how can it be done again? In the age of Trump, we have a new and unique opportunity to convey our message. More people are opened to listening than ever before. We just need a strong unified message, so now comes the question of what the message would be.

Do we tell people to destroy roads? Probably not a place to start. What about taxation being theft? Well, its the truth, sure, but once again maybe not a place to start. How about the war on drugs? More people on both sides of the aisle are realizing its a failure, however a portion of the older crowd still wants every illegal substance to stay illegal. How about less government? This works on a bunch of different levels Reagan and Trump were both able to ride this ideology into the white house, so why not a libertarian? Its actually pretty simple, with the revelations of WikiLeaks, more people are realizing how much of our privacy is being invaded. So instead of throwing ten ideas at the general public at once, lets stick to just one at the outset. Lets push the ideology of limited government and show people its stronglylibertarian, but also ubiquitously beneficial.

Donald TrumpissueslibertarianlibertarianismLimited Governmentpersonalitiesrand paulron paulThomas Massie

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How Libertarians Can Find Voter Popularity Through Unification - The Libertarian Republic