National Platform of the Libertarian Party

1.5 Crime and Justice

Government exists to protect the rights of every individual including life, liberty and property. Criminal laws should be limited to violation of the rights of others through force or fraud, or deliberate actions that place others involuntarily at significant risk of harm. Individuals retain the right to voluntarily assume risk of harm to themselves. We support restitution of the victim to the fullest degree possible at the expense of the criminal or the negligent wrongdoer. We oppose reduction of constitutional safeguards of the rights of the criminally accused. The rights of due process, a speedy trial, legal counsel, trial by jury, and the legal presumption of innocence until proven guilty, must not be denied. We assert the common-law right of juries to judge not only the facts but also the justice of the law.

The Development of Conspiracy Theories

Libertarian Quote of the Day

"It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker, that we expect our dinner, but from regard to their own interest. We address ourselves, not to their humanity but to their self-love, and never talk to them of our own necessities but of their advantages. Nobody but a beggar chooses to depend chiefly upon the benevolence of his fellow citizens."

Adam Smith, "The Wealth of Nations"

National Platform of the Libertarian Party

1.2 Personal Privacy

We support the protections provided by the Fourth Amendment to be secure in our persons, homes, and property. Only actions that infringe on the rights of others can properly be termed crimes. We favor the repeal of all laws creating "crimes" without victims, such as the use of drugs for medicinal or recreational purposes.

National Platform of the Libertarian Party

1.4 Abortion

Recognizing that abortion is a sensitive issue and that people can hold good-faith views on all sides, we believe that government should be kept out of the matter, leaving the question to each person for their conscientious consideration.

Gay critics say 'too little, too late' from Obama

posted by Donny Ferguson on Jun 17, 2009

CNN reports that Obama's attempt to buy off gay activists with federal benefits, after the White House compared them to pedophiles in a legal brief opposing gay marriage, is "too little, too late."

CNN reports in part:

President Obama's decision to grant some benefits to the same-sex partners of federal employees is seen by some as his attempt to extend an olive branch to the gay and lesbian community, but critics say it's "too little, too late."

"It seems to me at least to be a nice gesture, but a disappointment," said Richard Kim, a senior editor at The Nation magazine.

The memorandum Obama is signing Thursday is not expected to grant health and retirement benefits to same-sex partners, as that is prohibited under the Defense of Marriage Act...

...The rancor threatens to disrupt a big Democratic National Committee gay fundraiser in Washington next week.

Vice President Biden is the guest at next Thursday's DNC's LBGT Leadership Council 10th Annual Dinner in Washington. Critics are calling for Frank and other gay congressional leaders to boycott the dinner, for which tickets go for $1,000 to $30,000 a plate.

Activist David Mixner and blogger Andy Towle, two well-known gay rights advocates, announced that they were pulling out, citing disappointment with the DOMA brief...

...Given the support Obama received from the gay community during the campaign season, Kim said so far, the Obama administration has let gay and lesbian rights activists down.

Obama got 70 percent of the vote from those who identified themselves as gay, lesbian or bisexual, according to CNN exit polls.

"I think there is an overwhelming feeling that he has not lived up to expectations on these matters," he said.

Unlike the Obama administration, the Libertarian Party opposes DOMA and is working to repeal it. DOMA's original author, Congressman Bob Barr, is now working to overturn the legislation and was the Libertarian Party's 2008 presidential nominee.

National Platform of the Libertarian Party

1.3 Personal Relationships

Sexual orientation, preference, gender, or gender identity should have no impact on the rights of individuals by government, such as in current marriage, child custody, adoption, immigration or military service laws. Consenting adults should be free to choose their own sexual practices and personal relationships. Government does not have the authority to define, license or restrict personal relationships.

Gay Democrat donors boycotting DNC bash over Obama admin gay bashing brief

posted by Donny Ferguson on Jun 16, 2009

Outraged over a legal brief filed by the Obama administration comparing gay and lesbian Americans to pedophiles and people committing incest, gay and lesbian donors to the Democrat Party are pulling their support of a June 25 Democrat National Committee fundraiser with Vice-President Joe Biden aimed at the LBGT community.

ABC News reports former Clinton advisor David Mixner has withdrawn from the event, blasting the Obama brief as a "sickening document" that "could have been written by the Rev. Pat Robertson."

"Using the worst of stereotypes, it intimates that we don't have constitutional guarantees, invokes scenarios of incest, of children and advocates that we don't have the same rights as others who have struggled for civil rights," said Mixner. It "undercuts every conceivable argument that the LGBT community would use to fight for the repeal of DOMA. Right-wing nut cases can now just simply quote horrible stuff from this hateful brief and proclaim loudly it was filed by the Obama Justice Department.”

Along with Mixner, other major Democrat figures like gay blogger Andy Towle and Alan van Capelle of the Empire State Pride Agenda are also boycotting the event.

The origial author of DOMA, the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, is former Congressman Bob Barr. Now a top opponent of the legislation, Barr was the 2008 Libertarian presidental nominee.

In the Obama brief, called "gratuitously homophobic" by gay Democrat activist John Arvosis, the Obama administration repeatedly compares gay and lesbian citizens who want to marry to pedophiles, stating in part:

Both the First and Second Restatements of Conflict of Laws recognize that State courts may refuse to give effect to a marriage, or to certain incidents of a marriage, that contravene the forum State's policy. See Restatement (First) of Conflict of Laws § 134; Restatement (Second) of Conflict of Laws § 284.5 And the courts have widely held that certain marriages performed elsewhere need not be given effect, because they conflicted with the public policy of the forum. See, e.g., Catalano v. Catalano, 170 A.2d 726, 728-29 (Conn. 1961) (marriage of uncle to niece, "though valid in Italy under its laws, was not valid in Connecticut because it contravened the public policy of th[at] state"); Wilkins v. Zelichowski, 140 A.2d 65, 67-68 (N.J. 1958) (marriage of 16-year-old female held invalid in New Jersey, regardless of validity in Indiana where performed, in light of N.J. policy reflected in statute permitting adult female to secure annulment of her underage marriage); In re Mortenson's Estate, 316 P.2d 1106 (Ariz. 1957) (marriage of first cousins held invalid in Arizona, though lawfully performed in New Mexico, given Arizona policy reflected in statute declaring such marriages "prohibited and void").

Unlike the Republican, and now Democrat, parties, the Libertarian Party is committed to marriage equality and overturning DOMA.

Free Market Hero: William Brody

posted by Donny Ferguson on Jun 17, 2009

The independent, non-partisan Institute for Justice announced Tuesday it successfully negotiated a settlement with the Village of Port Chester, New York in the wake of a 2008 federal court victory by local businessman William Brody. Brody, represented by IJ, has been engaged in a nine-year eminent domain battle with the village, which took Brody’s property for a private development project. (The village bulldozed his small businesses to make way for a parking garage for a Stop & Shop.)

Last year, a federal judge ruled on the long-running dispute, holding that the village violated Brody’s due process rights when it took his property on South Main Street to make way for a shopping mall. In a formal apology issued last night as part of the settlement, the village announces that it “sincerely apologizes for violating the constitutional rights of local businessman Bill Brody . . . and regrets the hardship it has caused Mr. Brody for the years he has had to fight to vindicate his rights.”

In addition to apologizing to Brody, the village will also erect a sign at the corner of William Street and South Main Street, across from where Brody’s building once stood, renaming that corner “William Brody Plaza,” memorializing Brody’s successful battle. The village will also issue Brody a check for the nominal damages awarded by a federal judge last year to recognize the violation of his rights, as well as paying an additional sum for the loss of his due process rights and a portion of the attorneys’ fees in the case.

“I’ve been saying for years that what the village was doing to me was unconstitutional,” said Brody. “I’m glad everyone finally recognizes that I’ve been right all along.”

Brody’s case caused the New York legislature to rewrite portions of its eminent domain procedure laws to require the government to notify property owners of their opportunity to challenge the government’s use of eminent domain. The 2004 change in the law was a direct result of Brody’s litigation and his personal efforts to persuade the legislature to protect other property owners.

The case is especially timely given the nomination of Second Circuit Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court. In a separate case, Didden v. Village of Port Chester, Bart Didden and Dominick Bologna, who owned a property in a Port Chester redevelopment district, approached the village with a proposal to build a CVS pharmacy on property they own.

The developer appointed by Port Chester to run the district demanded Didden and Bologna either pay him $800,000 or grant him a 50% partnership interest in their business. When Didden and Bologna refused, Port Chester quickly took their property from them.

They sued. Sotomayor sided with Port Chester, ruling the village did nothing wrong in taking private property from owners who refuse to give cash or part ownerships to private developers acting on behalf of government. Sotomayor's ruling in Didden, and her long-standing hostility to individual rights, are expected to be key issues in her confirmation hearings.

Friday's 2nd Amendment Quote

"Switzerland is a land where crime is virtually unknown, yet most Swiss males are required by law to keep in their homes what amounts to a portable, personal machine gun."

Tom Clancy

Libertarian Quote of the Day

"No matter how disastrously some policy has turned out, anyone who criticizes it can expect to hear: "But what would you replace it with?" When you put out a fire, what do you replace it with?"

Thomas Sowell

National Platform of the Libertarian Party

1.1 Expression and Communication

We support full freedom of expression and oppose government censorship, regulation or control of communications media and technology. We favor the freedom to engage in or abstain from any religious activities that do not violate the rights of others. We oppose government actions which either aid or attack any religion.

National Platform of the Libertarian Party

1.0 Personal Liberty

Individuals should be free to make choices for themselves and to accept responsibility for the consequences of the choices they make. No individual, group, or government may initiate force against any other individual, group, or government. Our support of an individual's right to make choices in life does not mean that we necessarily approve or disapprove of those choices.

National Platform of the Libertarian Party

Statement of Principles

We, the members of the Libertarian Party, challenge the cult of the omnipotent state and defend the rights of the individual.

We hold that all individuals have the right to exercise sole dominion over their own lives, and have the right to live in whatever manner they choose, so long as they do not forcibly interfere with the equal right of others to live in whatever manner they choose.

Governments throughout history have regularly operated on the opposite principle, that the State has the right to dispose of the lives of individuals and the fruits of their labor. Even within the United States, all political parties other than our own grant to government the right to regulate the lives of individuals and seize the fruits of their labor without their consent.

We, on the contrary, deny the right of any government to do these things, and hold that where governments exist, they must not violate the rights of any individual: namely, (1) the right to life -- accordingly we support the prohibition of the initiation of physical force against others; (2) the right to liberty of speech and action -- accordingly we oppose all attempts by government to abridge the freedom of speech and press, as well as government censorship in any form; and (3) the right to property -- accordingly we oppose all government interference with private property, such as confiscation, nationalization, and eminent domain, and support the prohibition of robbery, trespass, fraud, and misrepresentation.

Since governments, when instituted, must not violate individual rights, we oppose all interference by government in the areas of voluntary and contractual relations among individuals. People should not be forced to sacrifice their lives and property for the benefit of others. They should be left free by government to deal with one another as free traders; and the resultant economic system, the only one compatible with the protection of individual rights, is the free market.

Libertarian Quote of the Day

"Disobedience is the true foundation of liberty. The obedient must be slaves."

Henry David Thoreau

National Platform of the Libertarian Party

Adopted in Convention, May 2008, Denver, Colorado

Preamble

As Libertarians, we seek a world of liberty; a world in which all individuals are sovereign over their own lives and no one is forced to sacrifice his or her values for the benefit of others.

We believe that respect for individual rights is the essential precondition for a free and prosperous world, that force and fraud must be banished from human relationships, and that only through freedom can peace and prosperity be realized.

Consequently, we defend each person's right to engage in any activity that is peaceful and honest, and welcome the diversity that freedom brings. The world we seek to build is one where individuals are free to follow their own dreams in their own ways, without interference from government or any authoritarian power.

In the following pages we have set forth our basic principles and enumerated various policy stands derived from those principles.

These specific policies are not our goal, however. Our goal is nothing more nor less than a world set free in our lifetime, and it is to this end that we take these stands.

Why Not Stick With The Establishment?

"Given the low level of competence among politicians, every American should become a Libertarian."
-- Charley Reese, Alameda Times-Star (California), June 17, 2003

The politicians in Washington and our state capitals have led us away from the principles of individual liberty and personal responsibility which are the only sound foundation for a just, humane, and abundant society.

Government at all levels is too large, too expensive, woefully inefficient, arrogant, intrusive, and downright dangerous. Democratic and Republican politicians have created the status quo and do not intend to change it.

Libertarian Party Website

Leave Me Alone

"Why doesn't everybody just leave everybody else the hell alone?"

Jimmy Durante

Wednesday's Hump Day Bonus Quote

"What's *just* has been debated for centuries but let me offer you my definition of social justice: I keep what I earn and you keep what you earn. Do you disagree? Well then tell me how much of what I earn *belongs* to you – and why? "

Walter Williams

LNC Chairman statement in response to President Obama's AMA address

Proposed government takeover of health care means higher costs, less effective care and rationing

WASHINGTON -- Libertarian National Committee Chairman William Redpath issued the following statement Tuesday in response to President Obama's address to the American Medical Association:

"There is no question our health care system is broken and in need of serious reform. Americans deserve health care that is affordable, effective and universally available. However, President Obama’s $1 trillion government takeover of hospitals and doctor’s offices is not the answer.

The Obama plan makes health care more expensive, less effective and less accessible through rationing and bureaucratic inefficiency. The fact is government-run health care systems are more expensive and less effective than systems run by doctors and health care professionals.

When President Obama told the story of Laura Klitzka, a Wisconsin mother suffering from breast cancer, he conveniently neglected to tell the audience that in nations with a government-run health care system much like the one he proposes, breast cancer is deadlier than in the United States.

According to health care policy expert Dr. John Goodman, among women diagnosed with breast cancer, like Laura, only one in five die in the United States. That death rate escalates to one in three in France and Germany and nearly half in the Britain and New Zealand. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, in 2004 the deaths from cancer in the United States were 157.8 per 100,000 people. In Canada the rate was 169.0 and in the United Kingdom it was 175.6. Allowing more women to die from breast cancer is hardly the kind of reform we need in the United States.

The main causes of those increased deaths are the long waiting lists for treatment, the decreased amount of time a doctor can spend with the patient and the shortages of advanced medical equipment that are a hallmark of rationing – the method by which government-run systems attempt to cut skyrocketing costs.

The White House brushed on that topic in an April 19 appearance on “Meet The Press” in which economic advisor Lawrence Summers promised a government-run health care would cut costs by simply denying treatments and procedures to patients until the government decided it was acceptable.

President Obama once again touched on the promise of rationed health care in yesterday’s speech, blaming the rising costs of medical care not on government interference, but on the claim that Americans get too many medical tests and procedures.

For too many breast cancer patients in nations like Britain and France, the Obama model of government control and rationing has already a deadly failure. Doctors, not politicians and government accountants, should decide what tests a patient needs.

We need health care reform and we need it now. But the Obama plan – a federal government takeover – isn’t reform. It’s simply a plan to take the worst aspects of our current problems, namely the high costs and increasingly limited access, and magnify them. The Obama plan for a federal takeover of the health care system cuts costs, not through innovation or improved care, but by rationing access, putting the sick and suffering on waiting lists and denying Americans the medical care they need.

Libertarians have a better idea. Cut the costs of prescription drugs, insurance and technology by removing barriers put up by health care lobbyists in the form of protectionist laws and unneeded FDA regulations intended to price out the competition and block competing drugs and technologies from the market.

It is no coincidence that America’s health care system, once the best in the world, has become more unaffordable and ineffective as government has seeped further and further into it. The only way to make health care affordable, effective and universally available as the many other services we enjoy in the United States is to defeat the Obama plan for a government takeover and restore a competitive and efficient health care system."

Bill Redpath is the Chairman of the Libertarian National Committee

Government takeover of health care to cost $1 trillion over 9 years - for just one part

The Congressional Budget Office released a report Monday outlining the projected costs of just part of the Democrat plan for a government takeover of the nation's health care system, and it isn't pretty.

posted by Donny Ferguson on Jun 16, 2009

Initial estimates have taxpayers forking over $1.07 trillion dollars between 2010 and 2019 for just part of the Democrat plan. Costs will escalate if Congress expands government-run insurance plans, as Obama promises.

"The 10-year cost of reform could approach $2 trillion if the projections are made from the date that proposals are fully implemented. While the projected cost for a new system may reach $1.5 trillion for 2010-2019, it could run significantly higher for 2013-2022, as healthcare costs rise steadily each year," The Hill, a non-partisan newspaper serving Congress, reports Tuesday.

Democrat leaders in Congress are expected to deal with the unaffordable cost projections by simply ignoring the numbers and intead using projections compiled by the White House that are intended to sell the program and not find true costs.

Somewhere Ken Lay is smiling: Report likely shows Obama healthcare takeover unaffordable. Congress to simply change the report.

posted by Donny Ferguson on Jun 15, 2009

In a move that would have made Ken Lay proud, Democrat congressional leaders are expected to deal with the huge price tag of Barack Obama's government takeover of health care in a unique way -- ditching the estimates prepared by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office and replacing them with the nunbers prepared by the politically-appointed White House Office of Management and Budget.

That would be the same White House that prepared numbers showing Obama's hugely unpopular "stimulus" package would keep unemployment below eight percent. It has since grown to a 26-year-high of 9.4 percent.

"The unusual option would give Democratic leaders hundreds of billions of additional dollars to work with as they draft their plans," The Hill reports today. Keep in mind the hundreds of billions of dollars do not actually exist and were invented out of thin air to help sell Obama's increasingly unpopular government takeover of doctor's offices.

"We are going to look at OMB and CBO and make our own decision as to who is right," said California Democrat Senator Barbara Boxer. In other words, the decision as to who has the "right" numbers -- the non-partisan watchdog or the political office trying to sell the program they're studying -- will be made by the same people who thought the bailouts were a great idea.

Democrat promises to throw out non-partisan fiscal studies and replace them by political reports from the White House reminds many of the accounting procedures employed at Enron, the energy giant brought down in a 2001 scandal after is was revealed accountants used shell companies and falsified reports to make the company appear more profitable than it actually was.

Libertarian Quote of the Day

"The government is good at one thing. It knows how to break your legs, and then hand you a crutch and say, "See if it weren't for the government, you wouldn't be able to walk". "

Harry Browne

Leave Me Alone

"The right to be let alone is indeed the beginning of all freedom. "

Justice William O. Douglas

Interesting Facts on Government Legislation

"The Ten Commandments contain 297 words. The Bill of Rights is stated in 463 words. Lincoln's Gettysburg Address contains 266 words. A recent federal directive to regulate the price of cabbage contains 26,911 words. "

The Atlanta Journal

Libertarian Quote of the Day

"Government does not grow by seizing our freedoms, but by assuming our responsibilities. "

Michael Cloud

Fall Elections and Redistricting for Salisbury

Several have contended that I have copied others who have publicly called for this. Actually I have been talking about this for some time. At several events during the campaign I brought this up as an issue that needed to be fixed.

I have also called for redistricting in Salisbury. We need to have five districts and one at large. These should be looked at together.

Austin Petersen Comes Face to Face With A Communist - And Lives Part 4

LP Press Release: Libertarians say “cancel stimulus spending”

New polling shows 45% agree with Libertarians that stimulus spending should be canceled

WASHINGTON -- America’s third largest party Wednesday called on Congress to terminate the remainder of stimulus spending citing new polling data showing a plurality of Americans now believe what Libertarians have said since January – Obama’s stimulus package is too big, too expensive and doesn’t help the economy.

“Despite a Jan. 10 White House report that the Obama spending explosion would keep unemployment under eight percent, it instead grew to 9.4 percent,” said William Redpath, Libertarian National Committee Chairman, citing both a January White House report selling the "stimulus" package, and new Labor Department statistics released last week placing unemployment at a 26-year-high, with 14.5 million workers now jobless.

“It’s no surprise that 45 percent of Americans now agree with the Libertarian Party. They know Big Government cannot create wealth and they want the stimulus spending canceled,” said Redpath.

The independent, non-partisan polling firm of Rasmussen Reports released data Wednesday morning showing 45 percent of Americans say the rest of the new government spending authorized in the $787-billion economic stimulus plan should now be canceled.

Thirty-six percent (36%) disagreed and 20 percent were not sure. Fifty-five percent (55%) want the tax cuts preserved, a position they share with the Libertarian Party. Thirty-nine percent (39%) say the increased spending will be good for the economy, but 44% say it will be bad.

“The best way to create the jobs Americans need is to cut taxes for families and employers, cut or eliminate taxes on savings and investments and begin to repeal the twisted jungle of federal regulations that employers had to spend $1.17 trillion to comply with in 2008,” said Redpath.

For more information on this issue, or to arrange an interview with the Libertarian Party, please call Director of Communications Donny Ferguson at 703-200-3669 or 202-333-0008, x. 225, or email Donny.Ferguson@lp.org.

The Libertarian Party is America's third-largest political party, founded in 1971 as an alternative to the two main political parties. You can find more information on the Libertarian Party by visiting http://www.LP.org. The Libertarian Party proudly stands for smaller government, lower taxes and more freedom.

Libertarian Quotes

"There's another major hurdle to a new year of prosperity: our tax code. No human being understands it. The current code, which runs over 8,000 pages and countless thousands more pages of IRS rulings and interpretations, is beyond redemption. ..Incalculable amounts of the nation's intellectual brainpower are devoted to the dead-end task of coping with the current tax code. Over one-half million people in the U.S. make their living off it, whether in lobbying, lawyering, tax preparing, or accounting. … Americans spend five and one-half billion hours a year filling out tax forms … and spend between $100 billion and $300 billion to comply with the current code."

Malcolm S. Forbes,

LP Press Release: Libertarians condemn Obama’s still-skyrocketing unemployment numbers

Jobless rate explodes to over 9%, highest in 26 years as 14.5 million Americans jobless
Tax and regulatory relief would create “the jobs Americans need”

WASHINGTON -- With unemployment exploding to 9.4 percent in May instead of decreasing as Obama promised with passage of his “stimulus” package, America’s third-largest party urges Congress to instead consider tax and regulatory relief to give the nation “the jobs Americans need.”

“There is no doubt our economy will recover. Americans have always overcome adversity with our tenacity, creativity and optimism,” said Donny Ferguson, Libertarian National Committee Communications Director. “But as unemployment continues to rise when it should be falling by now, it begs the question of how long will recovery be delayed by Obama’s Big Government agenda?”

“The Libertarian Party seems to be the only party promoting a smart program of tax and regulatory relief aimed at freeing up capital,” said Ferguson. “History shows it’s the most effective way to give those 14.5 million unemployed the jobs Americans need.”

“Sadly, Obama instead chose to exploit this tragic situation to advance his personal agenda of bigger, more expensive government – which has unemployment now skyrocketing to its highest levels in a quarter-century,” said Ferguson. “Because of Obama, our economic recovery has been seriously stunted and delayed.”

Figures released Friday by the Labor Department show unemployment rose to 9.4 percent in May from 8.9 percent in April as the number of unemployed persons increased by 787,000 to 14.5 million. Unemployment is highest among blacks (14.9 percent) and Hispanics (12.7 percent.) The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) increased by 268,000 over the month to 3.9 million according to the Labor Department.

“Unfortunately, it looks like the Libertarian Party was proven right when we said back in January that Obama’s explosive growth of government and out-of-control spending would delay our economic recovery. We should be further along in our recovery, but Republican and Democrat spending and bailouts are delaying that,” said Ferguson.

“History has proven time and time again that decreasing the size of government, cutting taxes and freeing up people to create jobs and business are the best way to stimulate growth,” said Ferguson. “Libertarian urge Congress and the White House to take these real, proven measures, instead of exploiting people’s misfortune to inflate the size of government.”

For more information on this issue, or to arrange an interview with the Libertarian Party, please call Director of Communications Donny Ferguson at 703-200-3669 or email DonnyFerguson@gmail.com.

The Libertarian Party is America's third-largest political party, founded in 1971 as an alternative to the two main political parties. You can find more information on the Libertarian Party by visiting http://www.LP.org. The Libertarian Party proudly stands for smaller government, lower taxes and more freedom.

Libertarian Quote of the Day

"When the mass media in some foreign countries serve as megaphones for the rhetoric of their government, the result is ludicrous propaganda. When the mass media in our country serve as megaphones for the rhetoric of the U.S. government, the result is responsible journalism. "

Norman Solomon

Daily Times Agrees With Municipal Election Change

City elections belong in fall

Best hope for increased voter turnout is return to tradition

Over the past couple of decades, Salisbury's municipal elections have been moved from the fall, when primary and general elections are traditionally held, to spring, then to fall and finally back to spring, where they remain. All was done in an effort to increase voter turnout in city elections. Anemic turnout indicates or results in a lack of civic engagement on the part of city residents, which can lead to feelings of dissatisfaction and lack of any sense of ownership in community affairs, establishments, institutions and life.

The theory behind the springtime election date is that divorcing municipal campaigns and voting from the sometimes more-compelling state and national elections might encourage residents to focus on local issues and candidates instead of addressing them as an afterthought, especially in presidential election years. There was also the opinion that spring weather is less likely to deter people from the polls than sometimes chilly or otherwise unpleasant late fall forecasts. Read Whole Article

Interesting that they are keeping this out front. If you remember this was a small snippet in my editorial last Sunday.

Austin Petersen Comes Face to Face With A Communist- And Lives Part 3

Sunday - Voices of Libertarian Prophets

"The Social Security system did not begin as an attempt to sabotage people's ability to plan for retirement, but it has worked out that way. The politicians who originally planned the system probably had no idea how it would turn out. But today's politicians know the system is rotted, and yet they refuse to make the changes necessary to free the American people from it. Instead, they make it worse. "

Ed Clark 1980 LP presidential candidate, A New Beginning

Ed Clark's statement ring truer today as we watch a Social Security System closer to it's death bell. Medicare programs where businesses are refusing to accept it and government trying to force them to accept it.

It is time we as American demand this program be eliminated. We wish to opt out and choose how we wish to invest all of our retirement, not a bureaucrat in Washington.

Sunday Truth

"I fear for our nation. Nearly half of our people receive some kind of government subsidy. We have grown weak from too much affluence and too little adversity. I fear that soon we will not be able to defend our country from our sure and certain enemies. We have debased our currency to the point that even the most loyal citizen no longer trusts it. "

A Roman Senator in A.D. 63

Will we follow in the footsteps of Rome? The Federal Reserve cranks up the printer causing the dollar to become worthless because it is based on credit. A generation of people depend on the government for food, shelter, and pocket change. If the power went out across America, how many could survive on their own?

Libertarian Quote of the Day

"[During the 20th century] … 170 million men, women, and children have been shot, beaten, tortured, knifed, burned, starved, frozen, crushed, or worked to death; buried alive, drowned, hung, bombed, or killed in any other of the myriad ways governments have inflicted death on unarmed, helpless citizens and foreigners. "

R. J. Rummel, Death by Government

Austin Petersen Comes Face to Face With A Communist- And Lives Part 2

Libertarian Quote of the Day

"Liberals want the government to be your Mommy. Conservatives want government to be your Daddy. Libertarians want it to treat you like an adult."

Andre Marrou

Austin Petersen Comes Face to Face With A Communist - And Lives

Friday's 2nd Amendment Quote

"[We] should not blame a gun itself for any crime or any acts of violence, any more than we can blame a pen for misspelling a word."

Senator Wallace F. Bennett (R-UT), Congressional Record, 5/16/68

Tom Palmer - Free Trade, Protectionism, GM, and Peter Schiff Part 3/3

Libertarian Quote of the Day

"If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away."

Henry David Thoreau, Walden (1854)

Libertarian Quote of the Day

"The usual road to slavery is that first they take away your guns, then they take away your property, then last of all they tell you to shut up and say you are enjoying it."

James A. Donald

Difference Between Government & The State

"We should distinguish at this point between "government" and "state" … A government is the consensual organization by which we adjudicate disputes, defend our rights, and provide for certain common needs … A state on the other hand, is a coercive organization asserting or enjoying a monopoly over the use of physical force in some geographic area and exercising power over its subjects. "

David Boaz

Funny Money

"While the feds … leave Social Security off their books, the government's obligation to make benefit payments to current and near-term Social Security recipients is certainly no less real than its obligation to pay interest on its Treasury bonds. "

Laurence K. Kotlikoff, Harvard Business Review, "From Deficit Delusion to Generational Accounting", May-June, 1993

Tom Palmer - Free Trade, Protectionism, GM, and Peter Schiff Part 2/3

Scary Quotes

"We have to offer up scary scenarios, make simplified dramatic statements, and make little mention of any doubts we may have. Each of us has to decide what the right balance is between being effective and being honest."

Stephen Schneider, environmental activist, in "Discover", Oct. '89

RIP Charlie Hooper. Friend, co-worker, and all around great guy. You will be missed.

Tom Palmer - Free Trade, Protectionism, GM, and Peter Schiff Part 1/3

Libertarian Quote of the Day

"This country is a one-party country. Half of it is called Republican and half is called Democrat. It doesn't make any difference. All the really good ideas belong to the Libertarians."

Hugh Downs (1997)

Wednesday's Hump Day Bonus Quote

"In 1940, teachers were asked what they regarded as the three major problems in American schools. They identified the three major problems as: Littering, noise, and chewing gum. Teachers last year were asked what the three major problems in American schools were, and they defined them as: Rape, assault, and suicide."

William Bennett (1993)

Expansion of My Position on City Elections: Part 1

There were some good discussions Monday Evening at the Salisbury City Council meeting on a wide range of issues. It was also good to finally see an even wider variety of concerned citizens speaking up. One individual, Bob Taylor who is a local attorney, spoke in response to my editorial in Sunday’s Daily Times, though he did not mention me specifically.

Mr. Taylor slightly disagreed with my reason on moving the elections to November, as he felt local candidates will “get lost in the shuffle” as voters juggle national, state, and local issues. Mr. Taylor eluded he would rather have a low voter turnout elect candidates than a larger turnout where all the voters may not have a complete grasp on the important local issues. I’ll touch on that viewpoint later.

Tuesday followed with an article in the Daily Times by Laura D'Alessandro in response to my editorial in Sunday’s paper. It was a very good article with a wide range of viewpoints. Harry Basehart a political science professor from Salisbury University had a similar opinion to Mr. Taylor. Professor Basehart said in the article, “There's no doubt that if we elected the mayor and council members at the same time we have state elections, the turnout would increase but the downside is people will focus on local issues and local candidates, while they're also trying to focus on state candidates and state issues."

I certainly understand where they both are coming and I don’t totally disagree with them. I just felt we needed to bring this issue to the forefront, as this was one of the constant questions citizens were asking me during the campaign. Certainly there are other issues, crime, taxes, the WWTP, among other that are important, as is the important step in how and when we choose the individuals who will be making those decisions.

Now where I disagree with Mr. Taylor and Mr. Basehart is the assumption that voters cannot handle the Municipal elections at the same time as the Gubernatorial elections. I believe the voting population is smarter than most people think. Many abstain from voting but pay attention. Many don’t pay attention and vote. Some vote for a name they recognize, there are those that always vote against incumbents, and you always have Mickey Mouse receiving a few write-ins. That is Democracy.

I believe there are more advantages to moving the election to November. First, it is the traditional time to vote, we are programmed to vote in November. Second, in Salisbury the ones that go south for the winter will not be gone yet. When they return in the spring, many have missed the primary and are not up to speed on all the candidates. Third, the transition of power will not be in the middle of the budget session for a new mayor or council. They will be able to assimilate into their positions better if elected in the fall and avoid a “baptism by fire.”

Hopefully this debate will continue. My next post will be about creating voting districts within the city.

Eye Opening Interview With Former FBI Agent on Torture PART 3 of 3

Libertarian Quote of the Day

"Sometimes it is said that man cannot be trusted with the government of himself. Can he, then, be trusted with the government of others?"

Thomas Jefferson (1801)

Eye Opening Interview With Former FBI Agent on Torture PART 2 of 3

Libertarian Quote of the Day

"The threat posed by humans to the natural environment is nothing compared to the threat to humans posed by global environmental policy."

Fred L. Smith (1992)

True Patriotism

"In the beginning of a change, the Patriot is a scarce man and brave, hated and scorned. When his cause succeeds however, the timid join him, for then it costs nothing to be a Patriot."

Mark Twain

Libertarian Quotes

"If I were a Brazilian without land or money or the means to feed my children, I would be burning the rain forest too."

Sting

Eye Opening Interview With Former FBI Agent on Torture PART 1 of 3

Freedom Watch 6/03

Freedom: My Anti-Gov

Ron Paul Says.....

"The most important element of a free society, where individual rights are held in the highest esteem, is the rejection of the initiation of violence. All initiation of force is a violation of someone else's rights, whether initiated by an individual or the state, for the benefit of an individual or group of individuals, even if it's supposed to be for the benefit of another individual or group of individuals. Legitimate use of violence can only be that which is required in self-defense."

Congressman Ron Paul, (R) Texas

Wisdom

"One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors."

Plato

Sound Familiar?

The Nazi agenda from years past sounds well intentioned. It's familiarity however sounds more recent.

"We ask that the government undertake the obligation above all of providing citizens with adequate opportunity for employment and earning a living. The activities of the individual must not be allowed to clash with the interests of the community, but must take place within its confines and be for the good of all. Therefore, we demand: … an end to the power of the financial interests. We demand profit sharing in big business. We demand a broad extension of care for the aged. We demand … the greatest possible consideration of small business in the purchases of national, state, and municipal governments. In order to make possible to every capable and industrious [citizen] the attainment of higher education and thus the achievement of a post of leadership, the government must provide an all-around enlargement of our entire system of public education … We demand the education at government expense of gifted children of poor parents … The government must undertake the improvement of public health – by protecting mother and child, by prohibiting child labor … by the greatest possible support for all clubs concerned with the physical education of youth. We combat the … materialistic spirit within and without us, and are convinced that a permanent recovery of our people can only proceed from within on the foundation of the common good before the individual good."

From the political program of the Nazi Party, adopted in Munich, February 24, 1920

Sounds so much like what is being worked on today by our government.

LPTV - Free Trade, Protectionism, GM, and Peter Schiff Part 1/3

Libertarian Quote of the Day

"We must have government, but we must watch them like a hawk."

Millicent Fenwick (1983)

Editorial in Daily Times

Salisbury has two issues that need to be addressed in the near future. They are compensation for elected officials and reviewing the municipal election cycle. Common sense and levelheaded discourse will bring consensus on a solution.

With the recent controversy over Health Benefits for elected officials the problem is, this is not included in the Municipal Code as a part of the compensation package. Historically this has been offered to elected officials and was simply added in the budget, hence the precedent and policy argument. The problem is the Municipal Code and the Salary Review Committee never offered Health Benefits as part of the compensation package.

The benefit as used by Council Members is worth over $7,000 making total compensation for those who use it at $17,000. The Salary Review Committee should review it this year and make a recommendation that is codified if they opine it should be added to the compensation package.

Next, I believe the Municipal Election Cycle should be returned to the fall with the national and state elections. First this will increase voter turnout and reduce another election cycle. Second this will allow a newly elected Mayor time to settle in and execute priorities with his/her own budget in the spring when that is submitted.

This was changed several years ago due to concern local candidates were lost in the shuffle, the consequence has been less participation at the polls.

Thomas Jefferson Quotes That Ring True Today

"The care of every man's soul belongs to himself. But what if he neglect the care of it? Well what if he neglect the care of his health or his estate, which would more nearly relate to the state. Will the magistrate make a law that he not be poor or sick? Laws provide against injury from others; but not from ourselves. God himself will not save men against their wills."

Thomas Jefferson

Sunday Truth

"Nothing is so permanent as a temporary government program."

Milton Friedman

Wal-Mart Workers on Welfare? Let's Look for the Spin.

This was posted on the Great Divide.
Wal-Mart Workers on Welfare? Let's Look for the Spin.

This has been a hot topic over the past few years and specifically when Maryland passed legislation to require companies with over 10,000 employees to spend a certain amount on Health Benefits. The Law was of course targeted at Wal-Mart which already exceeded the requirement. Surprising the Maryland General Assembly would an unnecessary law.

Many of these individuals that are on state assistance come to Wal-Mart already on it. Expecting to people to make $60,000 a year off the bat at new job is ridiculous. You have to work your way up to get the proper promotions and raises, just like any other job.
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Sunday's Libertarian Sermon

"Good intentions will always be pleaded for every assumption of authority. It is hardly too strong to say that the Constitution was made to guard the people against the dangers of good intentions. There are men in all ages who mean to govern well, but they mean to govern. They promise to be good masters, but they mean to be masters."

Daniel Webster

Libertarian Quote of the Day

"We contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle."

Winston Churchill (1903)

What The Bailout Really Means

Delaware's Medicaid The Future for Heathcare?

Walgreens has announced they will no longer accept Medicaid for prescriptions in their pharmacies (which also include Happy Harry’s), citing the payout from the State of Delaware is not cost effective for filling prescriptions. This has put many citizens in Delaware in a situation where they have to find a new pharmacy to fill their prescriptions.

Now that national health care appears to be the next big issue, is the Walgreens situation going to be a precursor to a struggle between the private sector and government? Businesses need to have a certain gross profit margin to successfully pay employees, taxes, bills, and maintain cash on hand to successfully manage other aspects of their business. When the government on one hand demands you pay your taxes, yet with other hand gives you the short end of the stick when they do business with you. One could understand why a business would end that relationship with the government.

Could this be the situation if Health Insurance in Nationalized? A situation where businesses will not honor prescription cards from the government because they will lose money could be the future in America. Would legislation require and force businesses to accept the government health insurance and prescription cards? Will they institute price controls, production requirements, and other tedious mandates to hinder businesses? Why not just open up government pharmacies beside the future government doctor offices and eliminate the need for the private sector to worry about offering these services?

The most important thing is to first get government out of health care. When legislators and bureaucrats feel their relevance hinges on how complicated laws and regulations are, indicates to me that we no longer need those individuals.

Libertarian Quote of the Day

"When important issues affecting the life of an individual are decided by somebody else, it makes no difference to the individual whether that somebody else is a king, a dictator, or society at large."

James Taggart (1992)

Friday's 2nd Amendment Quote

"I say that the Second Amendment doesn't allow for exceptions – or else it would have read that the right "to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed, unless Congress chooses otherwise." And because there are no exceptions, I disagree with my fellow panelists who say the existing gun laws should be enforced. Those laws are unconstitutional [and] wrong – because they put you at a disadvantage to armed criminals, to whom the laws are no inconvenience."

Harry Browne, meetings with NRA's EVP, Wayne LaPierre and other panelists at a gun rights rally in Hot Springs, AR, 8/8/2000

Libertarian Quote of the Day

"There is no virtue in compulsory government charity, and there is no virtue in advocating it. A politician who portrays himself as "caring" and "sensitive" because he wants to expand the government's charitable programs is merely saying that he's willing to try to do good with other people's money. Well, who isn't? And a voter who takes pride in supporting such programs is telling us that he'll do good with his own money – if a gun is held to his head."

P.J. O'Rourke

How Obama Will Ruin Healthcare

Libertarian Quote of the Day

"Reader, suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself."

Mark Twain

D-Day for Health Care | Red County

Michael Swartz does it again. Check out his article on Healthcare.

He also got featured on Red County.

D-Day for Health Care | Red County

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Dick Morris on Obama's Policy Towards Israel

Wisdom from Milton Friedman

"Fundamentally, there are only two ways of coordinating the economic activities of millions. One is central direction involving the use of coercion . the technique of the army and of the modern totalitarian state. The other is voluntary cooperation of individuals . the technique of the marketplace."

Milton Friedman

Wednesday's Hump Day Bonus Quote

"First they came for the Jews, but I did nothing because I'm not a Jew. Then they came for the socialists, but I did nothing because I'm not a socialist. Then they came for the Catholics, but I did nothing because I'm not a Catholic. Finally, they came for me, but by then there was no one left to help me. "

Pastor Father Niemoller (1946)

They Sure Do Make Things Like They Used To

A couple of months ago I purchased this Bluetooth Headset. It is the Plantronics Explorer 233 and it cost me $30.00. I have been very happy with it and works much better than a Motorola I purchased last year for twice as much.

This past Sunday I had it with me and after I finished using it I put it in my shorts cargo pockets. I changed clothes and placed my shorts in the hamper and when my wife washed clothes on Monday, my headset was still in my shorts. She discovered it and apologized to me.

Later that evening I thought I would try just to see if it still worked. Low and behold it works perfectly fine. This Bluetooth Headset was washed and dried and still works. I could not believe it, I still don't believe it.

Libertarian Quote of the Day

"Can our form of government, our system of justice, survive if one can be denied a freedom because he might abuse it?"

Harlon Carter

Dick Morris on How Obama Paralyzes Recovery

New Socialist Society

Now that the "People" are majority shareholders of GM I say welcome to the Fourth Riech comrade.

Republican Senators neuter Federal Reserve Transparency bill

posted by Austin Petersen on Jun 01, 2009

It’s time to pick sides…

While the world watches Susan Boyle lose the top prize and cowers in the wake of the dreaded swine flu, the world financial crisis deepens and worsens. The American people are slowly waking up to fiscal realities as our iconic car dealerships and banking establishments flounder in an ocean of red ink. Everywhere we turn something else blows up, and we can’t seem to find a bottom to the stock market. Prices seem inflated much beyond what government measurements are reporting.

As you are reading this, our entire financial system is being restructured. Now is the time for the American people to wake up and check their premises. We have a golden opportunity now that has not existed for 100 years since the inception of our Federal Reserve System. We can at last open up the books with HR 1207 to audit the monetary base. This would be extremely enlightening as to the depth of the financial crisis the country is in.

Click Here to Read the Rest

Your (Belated) Monday Message: Alan Grayson's latest "Mickey Mouse" idea

posted by Donny Ferguson on May 26, 2009

Dear friend,

I hope you enjoyed your Memorial Day holiday, but should vacation be enforced by the government?

You may remember Congressman Alan Grayson as the camera-loving Florida Democrat who became a YouTube sensation after he was hammered in a nationally-televised interview for proposing a bill giving Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner sole power to decide for himself when private sector employees earned “unreasonable” paychecks and to confiscate the money -- and claiming such authority could be found in the Constitution.

Think of him as Joe Biden without humility, weighty intellect or quiet restraint.

Well, now he’s back with yet another economically illiterate bill that once again has the federal government micromanaging the business practices of private employers.

His newest power grab, H.R. 2564, The Paid Vacation Act, forces every private business in America with more than 100 employees to give everyone a free week of paid vacation. That government mandate increases to two weeks in subsequent years.

You may reach his office at 202-225-2176 to let him know what you think of forcing expensive new mandates on struggling employers during a recession.

You don’t need to conduct a study to see what havoc such laws wreak on the economy because they are already in force countries like France, where then-ruling Socialist Party lawmakers long ago instituted “free vacation” proposals like Grayson’s.

In case you’re not aware, France suffers from higher unemployment, slower job growth and a slower economic recovery than the United States. The shortages of jobs have even led to deadly riots in Paris.

Even more disturbing than Grayson’s belief that the same people who brought us the IRS, Indian reservations and the Hurricane Katrina response are fit to centrally plan the economy is what inspired him to propose the legislation.

Grayson tells The Politico he got the idea for the bill while visiting Disney World, and deciding the government should let everyone join him.

“There’s a reason why Disney World is the happiest place on Earth: The people who go there are on vacation,” said Grayson.

Really. He decided to try and force struggling employers to lose more money in a recession because he thinks the government should make sure we all spend more time in a children’s amusement park. Again, he can be reached at 202-225-2176.

While I’m sure we’d all like a free week at the “Happiest Place on Earth,” most people realize not only is his scheme “goofy,” but it would push already high unemployment even higher and thwart economic recovery.

It’s also a little troubling when a member of Congress looks to a fictional cartoon mouse for economic policy. No word yet as to whether he’ll file banking reform legislation based on an old episode of “DuckTales.”

Actually, the inspiration for this slump towards socialism may be a bit more cynical than Grayson’s stated desire to ride in oversized teacups at someone else’s expense.

Grayson represents the Orlando area, where the local tourist-reliant economy is taking a quite a hit in the current recession. Coming up with some way to get more people to visit vacation spots would be a nice way to buff those re-election credentials.

So just how do you get more people traveling and pumping money into tourist havens when the economy just doesn’t allow it? The best and proven way would be to lower taxes and curb government spending, and then grant regulatory relief.

But that’s hard. It also prevents you from buying really cool stuff with other people’s money and you can’t take personally credit for it. That’s why you just threaten employers with the force of government if they don’t pay for everyone to have a free vacation.

The tourism industry is already on board. Grayson spokesman Todd Jurkowski tells The Politico the U.S. Tour Operators Association and the Adventure Travel Trade Association are both on board. Other tourism and, unsurprisingly, labor groups are expected to sign on in the coming days.

As you can imagine, while dictating “free vacation” policies to an entire nation would drive down productivity and economic growth and spike unemployment as more struggling employers are pushed into bankruptcy, all that “free” vacation money would work out quite well for a few tourist havens.

At least for a little while.

As Margaret Thatcher brilliantly pointed out, the problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people’s money. While Grayson’s socialist ideas may do a passable job of redistributing other people’s wealth to his district for the short term, the large-scale economic rot will eventually spread to Orlando as more and more employers are forced out of business by the rising costs of regulation.

Few industries bear the brunt of economic slump worse than the tourist industry. Foreclosure, unemployment and “underwater mortgage” rates are often higher in hurting communities like Orlando and Las Vegas.

But while any possible short-term spike may help in the current economy, Grayson’s socialist policies will leave the Orlando area reeling as the national economy looks more and more like the French model he seeks to impose by force – high unemployment, little innovation, large job losses, frequent strikes and deadly riots and even slower recovery to downturns. It also thwarts efforts underway in many tourist-reliant communities to diversify the employment base and create jobs that aren’t as easily buffeted by economic spikes and slumps, hurting residents in places like Orlando.

The Society for Human Resource Management has already responded with a warning that “a one-size-fits-all, government-imposed mandate is not the answer,” The Politico reports.

National Small Business Association also warns of indirect consequences, pointing out companies will realize a few employees over the 100-employee mark will burden the company with massive personnel costs – and simply stop hiring.

Now I’m not sure whether Grayson looked at a country where workers spend more time turning over burning cars than turning out products and said to himself “we can do that,” or whether he gets his ideas from a talking mouse who wears a shirt with no pants, but both lead to economic suffering for all Americans, including his own district. If you’d like to know which, you may reach his office at 202-225-2176.

Real prosperity comes from an economy where employers, entrepreneurs and innovators are free to create widespread wealth and jobs without government interference. Economically underperforming European socialist states – or fantasylands inspired by children’s fiction – are no place to come up with more already-failed policies that compound human suffering by forcing more and more currently struggling employers out of business.

With optimism,

Donny Ferguson
Director of Communications
Libertarian Party
Donny.Ferguson@lp.org

Libertarian Quote of the Day

"There's no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren't enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible to live without breaking laws."

Ayn Rand

GM - Government Motors

The Obama Motor Co.

posted by Donny Ferguson on Jun 01, 2009

Today's Wall Street Journal editorial. You may read it in its entirety here or by picking up a copy of the Journal.

Back in December, in an economy far, far away, then-CEO Rick Wagoner tossed out the scary cost to taxpayers of $100 billion if General Motors wasn't saved by the government. Well, GM was saved in December and again in March, and as early as today the feds will rescue it a third time in a prepackaged bankruptcy that is already costing at least $50 billion, and that's for starters. Welcome to Obama Motors, and what is likely to be a long, expensive and unhappy exercise in political car making...

...Every decision the feds have made since December suggests that nonpolitical management will be impossible. First they replaced Mr. Wagoner -- whom they are nonetheless still paying -- with the more pliable Fritz Henderson as CEO and Kent Kresa as Chairman. The latter are good at playing Washington but unproven in making popular cars. Then Treasury bludgeoned the bond holders in both Chrysler and GM to take pennies on the dollar, which will not make creditors eager to lend to the companies in the future.

There's also the labor agreement that the UAW approved last week, which goes some way toward reducing costs but probably not enough to make the new, smaller GM competitive. The new agreement simplifies some work rules and job descriptions but makes no reductions in hourly pay, pensions or health care for active workers. The agreement must also be renegotiated in two years by an Obama Administration running for re-election and weighing the need to keep Big Labor happy against the risks to taxpayer-shareholders. Who do you think wins that White House debate?...

...Mr. Obama likes to say he's a pragmatist who only prefers a government solution when it will work. But in resurrecting an industrial auto policy that even the French long ago abandoned, the President has made himself GM's de facto CEO. Our guess is that he'll come to regret it as much as taxpayers will.

Impact fees on table again

From the Daily Times
SALISBURY -- The time may soon come when growth has to pay its own municipal burden in Salisbury. But for many, the implementation of a fee structure to do so will come too late.

The Salisbury City Council is expected to bring impact fees to the table again today during a work session and could push legislation forward for a public hearing.

Impact fees are one-time payments used to construct system improvements needed to accommodate new development and can only be used for capital improvements. In Salisbury's case, that includes a fire house, police station or public park.

Councilwoman Debbie Campbell said she's heard murmurs of an impact fee ordinance since she's been on council -- five years -- and recently elected Mayor Jim Ireton, who touted growth paying for growth in his campaign, said heavy growth has already taken its toll on area resources, and it may be too late to stem it with impact fees. click here to read More

**** My View****
I do not support impact fees or anything else that is going to hinder economic growth. Salisbury is already an unfriendly place to businesses. One more obstacle is not what we need in these tough economic times. We need to accommodate businesses who are willing to invest and create jobs in Salisbury.

Keynesian Economics Is Wrong: Bigger Gov't Is Not Stimulus

The fallacy of Big Government proponents.

Monday's Prohibition Quote

"Do not suppose that abuses are eliminated by destroying the object which is abused. Men can go wrong with wine and women. Shall we then prohibit and abolish women?"

Martin Luther

Libertarians: “Cap and tax” destroys jobs, punishes working families

House Energy and Commerce Committee warned to defeat Waxman-Markey

WASHINGTON -- America’s third largest party warned the House Energy and Commerce Committee Tuesday to not approve H.R. 2454, a “cap and tax” bill levying billions of dollars in new job-killing taxes on American businesses.

“Cap and tax legislation is the offspring of bad science and bad economics,” said William Redpath, Libertarian National Committee Chairman. “Imposing massive new taxes on carbon production destroys jobs and drastically increases consumer prices with no proven effect on global temperatures.”

“Cap and tax compounds the suffering of so many in this economy, with no scientific evidence whatsoever it helps the environment.”

The legislation, sponsored by Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) and Energy and the Environment Subcommittee Chairman Edward Markey (D-MA), taxes carbon dioxide by imposing a cap on greenhouse gas emissions and creates a complex system for employers to buy and sell credits allowing them to create carbon under the cap. As the cap lowers each year, employer can exchange allowances in a complicated auction market. Speculators, such as hedge funds, can purchase credits to sell.

“The research is in and the economic toll of cap and tax is inescapable. With cap and tax, job losses will rise by an additional 1,105,000 Americans each year. In the worst years, 2,479,000 will lose their jobs annually under cap and tax,” said Redpath, citing research from the Heritage Foundation.

“Electric bills could rise by an inflation-adjusted 90 percent. The price of gasoline could rise by an inflation-adjusted 74 percent. It adds $1,500 to the average family’s annual energy bill, which hits the poor and the elderly the hardest. The increased costs of energy also force any business using energy to raise their prices, making food, medicine and other essentials more unaffordable,” said Redpath.

“There is never a good time to impose billions of dollars in new taxes on job creators that send consumer prices skyrocketing and job prospects plummeting,” said Redpath. “But in this economy, voting for cap and tax is an easy way to send a member of Congress to an early retirement.”

“Even worse, it has virtually no effect on the environment. Climatologists calculate the full bill reduces temperatures only five one-hundredths of a degree in 2050 and no more than two-tenths of a degree at the end of this century – and even that’s based on the assumption man-made carbon dioxide can change the climate of an entire planet,” said Redpath.

“Members of Congress should be on notice. Anyone who supports this bill will face angry voters in 2010, because we’re going to let them know you’re working to eliminate their jobs, make their groceries more expensive and raise their energy bills,” said Redpath.

“The Libertarian Party is a fearless defender of small businessmen, workers and families. That is why we not only oppose this disastrous cap and tax legislation, but we will work to defeat anyone who supports it,” said Redpath.

For more information on this issue, or to arrange an interview with the Libertarian Party, please call Director of Communications Donny Ferguson at 703-200-3669 or 202-333-0008, x. 225, or email Donny.Ferguson@lp.org.

The Libertarian Party is America's third-largest political party, founded in 1971 as an alternative to the two main political parties. You can find more information on the Libertarian Party by visiting http://www.LP.org. The Libertarian Party proudly stands for smaller government, lower taxes and more freedom.

Libertarian Quote of the Day

"Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it."

Ronald Reagan (1986)

Libertarians blast Sotomayor pick

Obama Court nominee ruled government should discriminate based on race

WASHINGTON -- America’s third largest party Tuesday criticized President Barack Obama’s nomination of federal appeals court judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court, citing past rulings that public employers should discriminate in hiring based on race.

“While Judge Sotomayor deserves a fair and impartial hearing, Supreme Court justices should be nominated for their thorough knowledge of and adherence to the Constitution and the rule of law,” said William Redpath, Libertarian National Committee Chairman.

“By nominating Sonia Sotomayor, Barack Obama has made it clear he prefers an activist for his personal causes over a rational interpreter of law,” said Redpath.

Sotomayor is best known for the Ricci v. DeStafano case, in which the New Haven, Conn. fire department decided it didn’t like the results of an officers promotion exam in which whites and Hispanic firefighters outperformed black firefighters. The city threw out the results of the exam, denying several firefighters promotions solely because of their race. The firefighters sued the city, claiming racial discrimination under Title VVI of the Civil Rights Act and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

Sotomayor disagreed, ruling the city has a right to discriminate against white and Hispanic public employees to construct a politically correct racial mix in hiring, even if it goes against the results of a racially-neutral competency exam.

The case is now before the Supreme Court. Sotomayor has had her rulings thrown out by the court a troubling four times. In three of those cases, the Court ruled Sotomayor had incorrectly interpreted the law.

“It is troubling that Obama, who won the highest elected office in the world without racial preferences, would nominate someone who openly admits the government should racially discriminate against its own citizens to serve the needs of political correctness,” said Redpath.

“Libertarians believe that, while the First Amendment’s guarantee of freedom of association allows private parties to hire whomever they please, government has no right to discriminate. Public employers should treat all citizens of all colors, races and ethnicities with equal respect and value and Sotomayor’s radical rulings are a jarring departure from that principle.”

For more information on this issue, or to arrange an interview with the Libertarian Party, please call Director of Communications Donny Ferguson at 703-200-3669 or 202-333-0008, x. 225, or email Donny.Ferguson@lp.org.

The Libertarian Party is America's third-largest political party, founded in 1971 as an alternative to the two main political parties. You can find more information on the Libertarian Party by visiting http://www.LP.org. The Libertarian Party proudly stands for smaller government, lower taxes and more freedom.

Sunday's Libertarian Sermon

"God grants liberty only to those who love it, and are always ready to guard and defend it."

Daniel Webster (1834)

Libertarian Quote of the Day

"War has all the characteristics of socialism most conservatives hate: Centralized power, state planning, false rationalism, restricted liberties, foolish optimism about intended results, and blindness to unintended secondary results."

Joseph Sobran (1991)