What can Rand Paul do

The Tea Party libertarian will likely prove a more effective figurehead than senator.

For all the furor the Tea Party movement generated this year, when it came to the mightiest deliberative body in human history, the U.S. Senate, the Tea Party won only one real prize: Rand Paul's election as Kentucky’s junior senator. On the surface he's a Republican, but Paul frames himself as a representative of a supposedly trans-partisan Tea Party, burning with an urge to cut spending and curb debt that he admits his GOP comrades have not shown.

In terms of passing laws or shifting the Senate in his direction, Paul is not going to get much done by trying to operate as a one-man Tea Party in a minority party. Though he may become a filibuster machine, which given his outlier status means the Senate will have lots of cloture votes to shut him up. (He is not likely to succeed in using the filibuster to cap the debt limit and thereby destroy the entire world economy, as has been wildly speculated in some quarters.)

While those frightened by Paul see in him the power and will to wreck the planet, his fans are unduly thrilled just to hear a senator-elect talking about raising the retirement age and means testing for Social Security; cutting federal employment and pay; plotting a two-year path to a balanced budget; pushing term limits and a balanced budget constitutional amendment; insisting that bills should point to their constitutional justification and that senators should have read them before signing on; and even, to the surprise of some who found him avoiding his father’s non-interventionism on the campaign trail, talking up military cuts and questioning the value of our Afghanistan mission.

Read more at Reason

The Attack on Human Dignity

by Rev. Emmanuel Charles McCarthy




The human being is made in the image and likeness of God. He or she has the Spark of the Divine "within" him or her. He or she is the primal and primary Temple of God on earth. Each person therefore deserves from the other and gives to the other not just respect, but reverence. The destruction of a fellow human — whether it be in mind, soul, body or spirit — is therefore the desecration of the Great Temple on earth, the place in time and space where the Living God chose foremost to reside.

The sublimity, dignity and transcendental value of each human being make it a grave violation of the Presence of God and of God-given human dignity to treat a person as a thing, a widget in some one's grand illusion, a means to be used, manipulated, abused, lied to, and/or crushed to serve another's agenda. Violate is derived from the same Latin word as violence, violare. To violate a reality is to do violence to that reality. To violate a reality is to treat it in a way that is not in accordance with its nature, e.g., to treat a sentient human being as if he or she were a non-sentient rock violates the reality of the human being. To treat a human being who is the living Temple of God on earth and who is infinitely loved and valued by this same God, as a tool, as a thing, as a person of no real significance beyond my utilitarian need for him or her in some grandiose plan I have concocted, rather than with the reverence, love and value that he or she intrinsically and forever possesses, as a son or daughter of my God and his or her God, of my Father and his or her Father, of the One God, is to violate him or her, to do violence to them. And, a violation of a person's intrinsic, God bestowed human dignity and transcendent value is evil regardless of how normalized it has become, how culturally acceptable it has become, how "holy" it has become or how legal it has become.

Read the rest at Lew Rockwell

Quotes from the Sons of Liberty

"Liberty without virtue would be no blessing to us."

Benjamin Rush

WWJD

Going broke by fractions of a percent

Ben Bernanke should stop paying interest on reserves

By Tim Cavanaugh




Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke’s rollout of $600 billion in quantitative easing was a public relations disaster that deserves to be studied in college communications classes. And he could have avoided it by giving up a shiny monetary tool he got in 2008—one that may be at the root of the extended recession.

The Federal Reserve Bank’s shopping spree of distressed debt will, Bernanke claims, create 700,000 jobs over the next two years. But if one of its immediate goals was to inspire market confidence, Quantitative Easing II (QE2) could hardly have gone worse.

In the three months since Bernanke floated the idea of a second round of large-scale asset purchases, the U.S. dollar index has declined by about 5 percent. With household net worth at $54.6 trillion, according to the Fed’s most recent Flow of Funds data, this means about $2.73 trillion of domestic wealth may have vanished in three months.

While much of that fall took place during the period between Bernanke’s QE2 trial balloon in late August and the rollout of the actual program two weeks ago, events since QE2 actually hit the streets have not been encouraging. German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble called the move “clueless,” and China’s Dagong Global Credit Rating Co. downgraded long-term U.S. debt. The Anglophone financial press tends to dismiss such criticisms as nationalist trash talk, but QE2 cast a glare over President Barack Obama’s Asia junket and made what would ordinarily be considered an average performance—the president failed to close a trade agreement with South Korea and came home with few solid results—into a demonstration of U.S. powerlessness.

Read more Reason

Zombie Keynesianism

by Michael S. Rozeff




The Keynesians are having a highly public quarrel on a deep and divisive issue – a fundamental issue. They are wrangling over exchange rates.

Obama and Bernanke and the U.S. Congress want the Chinese to raise the value of the Chinese currency. The Chinese don’t want to.

Both sides to this quarrel are Keynesians. Both states use the powers of the state to manage their economies through fiscal and monetary policies. This happens throughout most of the world.

Keynesianism has brought the world to grief. State-controlled economies fail, as in the Soviet Union and Red China before 1978. The higher the degree of state control, the higher the degree of failure. The U.S. is experiencing the results of state control now. Its central bank has controlled the nation’s money for years. The government has controlled the mortgage and housing markets for decades. Lately, it has run huge deficits in a futile attempt to end the recession created by its earlier mismanagement.

The Keynesian quarrels actually show that the Keynesians don’t know what they are talking about. Their politics and economics are both hopeless. Keynesianism is hopelessly flawed, wrong, inadequate, and unsuited to what is needed so that the planet’s people can progress. Freedom and free markets are the prescription. The Red Chinese seem somehow to have found this out while the so-called bastion of so-called free enterprise remains mired down in Keynesianism.

National Opt-Out Day

Travelling this Holiday Season?  Join the resistance on National Opt-Out Day.

Quotes from the Sons of Liberty

"Guard with jealous attention the public liberty. Suspect every one who approaches that jewel. Unfortunately, nothing will preserve it but downright force. Whenever you give up that force, you are inevitably ruined."

Patrick Henry

Groping for Answers

by Mike Calpino



Mike Calpino

 The news of the week are the new procedures implemented at airports around the country in the name of security. Once again we are closing the barn door after the horses are gone and refusing to consider the fact that it is a broken latch that keeps letting them out. First there was 9/11 so the list of prohibited objects in an airport grew immensely. Then there was the shoe bomber so we all have to take off our shoes. Then there was the underwear bomber so now we have to endure the hands of TSA employees in places only our wives or husbands should see. There have already been terrorists who placed explosives in various body cavities, and drug smugglers have been doing that for years. Are we going to have to endure full body cavity searches next?

Our security procedures are a strange mix of political correctness and a total disregard for our rights to be secure in our persons. Political correctness because we are afraid of offending the terrorists who want to kill us, the overwhelming majority of whom are young, middle eastern men from specific countries. They are not toddlers, senior citizens or nuns. Disregard for our rights because no one should be subject to such intimate and invasive procedures just because they want to travel. 99.99% of airline travellers are not terrorists and those 99.99% should not be treated as potential terrorists or criminals just because they want to fly to see grandma over the holidays. Certainly we have the choice as to whether or not we want to fly but it should be our free choice to enter into a private contract with an airline to provide us a service and the government should not require we check our rights or our dignity at the door when we enter into that contract.

Thoughts from Washington

"Arbitrary power is most easily established on the ruins of liberty abused to licentiousness."

George Washington

Quotes from the Sons of Liberty

"There, I guess King George will be able to read that."

John Hancock remarking on his signature on the Declaration of Independence.

Quotes from the Sons of Liberty

"It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people's minds."

Samuel Adams

Andy Harris and the sense of entitlement

Representative Elect Andy Harris had an embarrassing moment at Freshman orientation when, according to a Politico.com report which quoted and an unnamed staffer "He stood up and asked the two ladies who were answering questions why it had to take so long, what he would do without 28 days of health care."

Harris, according to the unnamed staffer, asked if government healthcare could be purchased in the interim.

Now Harris portrayed himself as knowledgeable of Health Care during the campaign, would he not know he could continue COBRA coverage from his previous employer?

Bill Clinton's New Job

I saw this on Julie Brewington's site. Certainly we are all upset and concerned about the new body scanners and getting a pat down that goes above and beyond the call of duty. We have qualified individuals stepping up to help ensure the process goes smoothly.

A General's View on Banking

“I wouldn't go to war again as I have done to protect some lousy investment of the bankers. There are only two things we should fight for.One is the defense of our homes and the other is the Bill of Rights.War for any other reason is simply a racket."

Quote by: Major General Smedley Darlington Butler(1881-1940) Major General USMC, "Old Gimlet Eye'' and "Hell Devil Darling", most highly decorated military man from the pre-World War II era.
Source: from a speech in 1933

Banking

"The Federal Reserve Bank is nothing but a banking fraud and an unlawful
crime against civilization. Why? Because they "create" the money made out of
nothing, and our Uncle Sap Government issues their "Federal Reserve Notes" and
stamps our Government approval with NO obligation whatever from these Federal Reserve Banks, Individual Banks or National Banks, etc."

H.L. Birum, sr.

Barry Said it before Ron Paul

"Most Americans have no real understandingof the operation of the international money lenders. The accounts of the Federal Reserve System have never been audited. It operates outside of the control of Congress and manipulates the credit of the United States."


Quote by: Barry Goldwater(1909-1998) US Senator (R-Arizona)

Are You Ready for Hyperinfaltion?

by Mike Calpino

The day after the election the Federal Reserve announced it was going to engage in "Quantitative easing" to the tune of $600 billion dollars over the next eight months. Commodities have already reacted to this, with gold, oil and other raw materials rising rapidly. We are to expect inflation after supposedly going through an extended period without it. If we go though a time of even double digit inflation, we should consider ourselves very fortunate. If it were a different time in our history, perhaps that is what we could expect. We have, however, put ourselves into a very precarious position with our debt and liabilities. What I would like to give you is a short history lesson because nations have gone through this before and the causes are easy to determine.

Our more recent example is Chile which went through a hyperinflationary period in the early seventies. In 1970 Salvador Allende was elected. Allende was a hard core socialist and brought together other socialists, communists and hard leftists to begin implementing changes (transforming) Chile into a socialist workers paradise. Even though we have apparently rejected President Obama’s socialist/communist agenda, he and his leftist czars will still wield a lot of power and it is unlikely any of the damage he has done will be repealed.
Allende took the land from "the rich" and gave it to the workers. We have been redistributing wealth for years but President Obama and the Democrat congress doubled down on this, constantly demonizing the "rich". Allende nationalized companies and mines. While we certainly protest against the nationalization of the industries that have taken place, in America nationalization isn’t really necessary. Industries and companies can be controlled just as easily through regulation and tax policy, both of which are moving out of the hands of elected officials and into the bureaucracy, a bureaucracy controlled by the executive branch which is run by leftists, socialists and in some cases, admitted communists.

The beginning of the end.....

by Mike Calpino

Last week’s elections were historic, there is no question about that. Voters were fed up with our lurch into socialism and with the rise of the TEA party movement, questions of government spending, control and intrusion were finally being discussed openly and honestly. Many people became involved in politics for the first time, recognizing that politics affects everything in our daily lives and if we ever want to regain some control over our lives (i.e. our liberty) politics can no longer be ignored or left up to the "political class." All this represents a good trend.

TEA partiers and conservatives who pinned their hopes on Republicans are likely to be very disappointed, however. There are two reasons for this. The first is that the new TEA party/conservative Republicans represent a small minority of the total number of Republicans in office, at all levels of government. Because of this, it will be very difficult for them to resist the pressure the establishment has on "public servants". The "system" has been in place for a long time and the beneficiaries of that system are not about to let these upstarts disassemble it. Even if they have the character to resist the pressure to conform, the radical steps necessary to save us from catastrophe will never move beyond their sparse numbers and may be beyond the imaginations of most of them.

What am I talking about? Here are some necessary steps for starters. Ending the Federal Reserve and pegging the dollar to gold. Ending all entitlement programs, a particularly difficult pill to swallow for Republicans who have been demonized for phantom proposals to do so in the past. Remove all the tax and regulatory impediments to businesses so we can return manufacturing to the United States. Eliminate public sector unions and approximately eighty percent of government jobs. Bring the military home from the vast number of places it is around the world and slim it down to a size that will ensure a devastating defense, not a costly and ineffective offense, or even less unsuccessful nation building. Can you see even one of those things happening in the next two years, or even four years with a Republican president and congress? I certainly do not.

John Adams on Banking

"Banks have done more injury to the religion, morality, tranquility,
prosperity, and even wealth of the nation than they can have done or ever will
do good."

John Adams

The Wisdom of Milton Friedman

"The power to determine the quantity of money... is too important, too pervasive, to be exercised by a few people, however public-spirited, if there is any feasible alternative. There is no need for such arbitrary power... Any system which gives so much power and so much discretion to a few men, [so] that mistakes - excusable or not - can have such far reaching effects, is a bad system. It is a bad system to believers in freedom just because it gives a few men such power without any effective check by the body politic - this is the key political argument against an independent central bank.''


Quote by: Milton Friedman(1912-2006) Nobel Prize-winning economist, economic advisor to President Ronald Reagan, "ultimate guru of the free-market system"

If Leaders had the Stones of Jackson

"The bold effort the present bank had made to control the government... are but premonitions of the fate that await the American peopleshould they be deluded into a perpetuation of this institution or theestablishment of another like it."


Quote by: Andrew Jackson(1767-1845) 7th US President
Source: To Congress in 1836, Jackson closed the second Federal Bank (est. 1816) with these comments

The Wisdom of Maxwell Anderson

"When a government takes over a people’s economic life it becomesabsolute, and when it has become absolute it destroys the arts,the minds, the liberties and the meaning of the people it governs."


Quote by: Maxwell Anderson(1888-1959)
Source: The Guaranteed Life

Interesting thought from Alan Greenspan

"In the absence of the gold standard, there is no way to protectsavings from confiscation through inflation. ... This is the shabbysecret of the welfare statists' tirades against gold. Deficit spendingis simply a scheme for the confiscation of wealth. Gold stands in theway of this insidious process. It stands as a protector of propertyrights. If one grasps this, one has no difficulty in understanding thestatists' antagonism toward the gold standard."


Quote by: Alan Greenspan(1926- ) Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors (1987-2006)
Source: from page 101 of the book "Capitalism, the Unknown Ideal" by Ayn Rand with additional articles by Alan Greenspan - 1966

*********** Liberty Notes******
If Greenspan was channeling Ayn Rand and he espoused this thought process, why did he not act upon this as Chairman of the Federal Reserve. He had years to fix it and did nothing.

Scary Quotes from the 9th Circuit

"... we conclude that the [Federal] Reserve Banks are not federal ... but
are independent privately owned and locally controlled corporations... without day to day direction from the federal government."

Quote by: 9th Circuit Court
Source: Lewis vs United States, June 24, 1982

If Leaders had the Stones of Jackson

"Gentlemen, I have had men watching you for a long time and I am convinced that you have used the funds of the bank to speculate in the breadstuffs of the country. When you won, you divided the profits amongst you, and when you lost, you charged it to the bank. You tell me that if I take the deposits from the bank and annul its charter, I shall ruin ten thousand families. That may be true, gentlemen, but that is your sin! Should I let you go on, you will ruin fifty thousand families, and that would be my sin! You are a den of vipers and thieves."


Quote by: Andrew Jackson(1767-1845) 7th US
PresidentSource: In 1836, Jackson forced the closing of the Second Bank of the U.S. by revoking its charter

The Wisdom of Milton Friedman

"I am myself persuaded, on the basis of extensive study of the historical evidence, that... the severity of each of the contractions - 1920-21, 1929-33, and 1937-38 - is directly attributable to acts of commission and omission by the Reserve authorities and would not have occurred under earlier monetary and banking arrangements."


Quote by: Milton Friedman(1912-2006) Nobel Prize-winning economist, economic advisor to President Ronald Reagan, "ultimate guru of the free-market system"
Source: 'Capitalism and Freedom'

A General's View on Banking

“I believe in adequate defense at the coastline and nothing else.If a nation comes over here to fight, then we'll fight.The trouble with America is that when the dollar only earns 6 percentover here, then it gets restless and goes overseas to get 100 percent.Then the flag follows the dollar and the soldiers follow the flag."

Quote by: Major General Smedley Darlington Butler(1881-1940) Major General USMC, "Old Gimlet Eye'' and "Hell Devil Darling", most highly decorated military man from the pre-World War II era.
Source: from a speech in 1933

MdLP Press Release on mailing with Davis and Harris in it

Hurlock, MD: The Libertarian Party of Maryland on behalf of it's Congressional Candidate for Congress in the First District, Dr. Richard Davis, wants to assure voters that he is not accepting or expending any monies from donations or large in-kind contributions.

Recently, a targeted mailing was sent out with a comparison between Dr. Davis and one of his opponents, Dr. Andy Harris the Republican Candidate for Congress in the First District. The flyer does not endorse or call for one to vote either way, it just states the positions of the two candidates on a few issues.

However, neither the Maryland Libertarian Party nor Dr. Davis' campaign had any involvement or prior knowledge of this mailing and both entities do not support, encourage or endorse this type of activity.

The only items that Dr. Davis has incurred for his campaign have come out of his own "pocket" for gas and a few brochures. He has accepted two in-kind contributions, one for the purchase of the domain for his website, www.davis4congress.com and another for video production for the internet on some key issues, both from Muir Boda.

The only expenditure that The Libertarian Party of Maryland has put towards his campaign is that of a radio ad that has included all 7 Libertarian Congressional Candidates in Maryland. This was paid out our FEC account, approved by the Executive Board and the Central Committee of the Maryland Libertarian Party and has the proper authority line in the message.

The Maryland Libertarian Party is proud of the campaign that Dr. Davis has run in this election and we will not stand idly by when his integrity is questioned.

For more information on this issue, or to arrange an interview with the Maryland Libertarian Party, please call Communications Director Muir Boda at (410) 603-3347, or email at mdlpboda@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 Maryland Libertarian Party at www.md.lp.org, their blog at www.mdlibertarian.com, and the Libertarian Party by visiting LP.org. The Libertarian Party proudly stands for smaller government, lower taxes and more freedom.

Tea Party's Other Half

by David Kirby and Emily Ekins
This article appears on Politico.com on October 28, 2010.

There is no shortage of hypotheses about what the tea party movement is. Some embrace it as a revival of traditional conservatism. Many insist it is ginned up by billionaire funders as a means to fight regulations. Others view it as arch-social conservative Republicans, motivated by divisive issues like abortion, gay rights or even racial angst.

But all these explanations are missing much of the story. Liberterian attitudes are fueling roughly half the tea party activists, according to our new Cato Institute survey. These libertarian tea partiers believe "the less government the better" and don't see a role for government in promoting "traditional values." This is a big reason why the movement has largely focused on economic matters, resisting attempts to add social issues to its agenda.

President Barack Obama and the Democrats may well have over-interpreted the 2008 election as a mandate for liberalism. Now Republicans could be in similar danger if they over-interpret potential midterm gains in the House and Senate as a mandate for social as well as fiscal conservatism. Republicans should focus on a unifying economic agenda, according to our data, to avoid antagonizing the libertarian half of the Tea Party.

Just under half, or 48 percent, of tea partiers at the recent Virginia Tea Party Convention held views that are more accurately described as libertarian — fiscally conservative, to be sure, but moderate to liberal on social and cultural issues.

Read the rest @ Cato

Great Quotes from Maryland Libertarians

"While I do not sup­port drug use, I sup­port hypocrisy even less. When decid­ing whether to legalize a drug, we must com­pare it sci­en­tif­i­cally to cur­rently legal drugs. Mak­ing a less dan­ger­ous drug ille­gal, while mak­ing a more dan­ger­ous drug legal, is unsci­en­tific, hyp­o­crit­i­cal, and illogical."

Arvin Vohra

Candidate for Maryland House of Delegates, District 15

Great Quotes from Maryland Libertarians

"All government spending comes at the expense of everyone. This spending distorts our economy and destroys opportunity. Private enterprise can do better and cheaper everything that the government does. Governments have never created a job and will never create a job. Political allocation of resources only destroys jobs and wealth."

Bryan Walker

Candidate, Maryland House of Delegates, District 21

Great Quotes from Maryland Libertarians

"I believe it is the right of the people to own guns without government interference. As criminals, especially violent ones, don't show much regard for the law, government mandated gun control only prevents law abiding citizens from owning guns. I oppose any attempts by the government to take away the rights granted by the Constitution."

Josh Crandall

Candidate Maryland House of Delegates District 31

Great Quotes from Maryland Libertarians

"I fully oppose universal healthcare, and believe that any attempt to do so on a state level would be disastrous. Involving an already overburdened government bureaucracy in patient management would slow down the process and add hidden “administrative costs” to an already expensive system. The first step in improving health care in this state is through eliminating fraud and abuse, not increasing the size and scope of it. "

Jusitn Kinsey

Candidate for Maryland House of Delegates, District 5B

Liberty's Companions

"It is good for one to be free, and we would cherish Liberty even if she traveled alone, but she does not. Because Prosperity and Peace are both the companions of Liberty."

—Charles Goyette

Great Quotes from Maryland Libertarians

"Wow can you beleive that business owners were informed they would have to pay over $1,300.00 per employee they hire for unemployment insurance. They were told this is an attemp to create jobs. Isn't that like saying if you chop down a cherry tree it will grow more fruit."

Shawn Quinn

Candidate Maryland House of Delegates, District 29C

Baltimore Sun: Democrats Promoting Libertarian to undermine Harris

In what appears to be a national pattern, the Democratic Party is highlighting a longshot third-party candidate in an effort to undermine a Republican nominee--in this case, Andy Harris, the GOP challenger in Maryland's tightest House race.

The tactic is either a desperation move, or a sign of how close the contest is, or both. It has special resonance in Maryland's First District, where the Libertarian candidate's two percent of the vote arguably tipped the historically Republican seat to Democrat Frank Kratovil in '08.

The Democratic mailer, first reported by Eastern Shore blogger Michael Swartz, masquerades as an attack on Richard Davis, the third man in the race, running again this year on the Libertarian line, with no realistic chance of winning.Paid for by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the flier describes Davis, twice, as an outsider and Tea Party type.

Davis "plans to cut government spending, will drastically reduce the size of government across the board, is a complete outsider . . . Davis and the Tea Party think government is part of the problem, and want to make it as small as possible."

"Richard Davis: Is he too conservative?" asks the mail piece.

Read the rest of the article at the Baltimore Sun

Your View: Libertarian agenda is to give you back control

Can we afford it? I suspect you’re way ahead of me here. I won’t try to discuss the national debt, beyond that it’s rising faster than I can write about it, much less get this into print. We are running this country as if we hold it on an interest-only mortgage, and we’ve been seeing how well those generally work out.

On any given issue, even if we can do it and we should do it, that doesn’t mean we can afford it right now. The idea that we can simply borrow or print more money won’t carry us forever. Better we end those practices while we still have hope of being in control of the situation rather than waiting for disaster to dictate to us.

This will be my last letter before the election, so let me urge you all to vote. If you want government to take care of you (and run your life, which ultimately must follow), either the Republicans or the Democrats are happy to accommodate — it just depends on whose format you prefer.

If you want to run your own life — and correspondingly, take care of yourself and your loved ones — then right now, the Libertarian Party is the only one seeking to give you the greatest possible opportunity. I won’t claim it will be quick or easy, but if you can imagine a future where the federal government doesn’t even try to control everything — vote Libertarian.

Dr. Richard J. Davis, Hurlock
Davis is a Libertarian candidate for Maryland’s 1st Congressional District. — Editor

Wicomcio County Libertarian Endorsed by the Daily Times

District 2
District 2 is geographically the county's largest district, located south and west of District 1 from the West Side of Salisbury to the Nanticoke River and western end of the county. It has been represented for the past 12 years by Stevie Prettyman, who as an incumbent is facing her first opponent for the seat. A Republican, she supports low taxes, efficient use of taxpayer dollars and the county's 2 percent property tax revenue cap as long as county residents wish to keep it in place. She supports the efforts of law enforcement and is engaged in the process of writing a new Comprehensive Plan for the county; she opposes "downzoning," which was designed to preserve farmland in the county but opposed by farmers who wished to retain the right to subdivide and develop their land if they so desired.

Her opponent, Mike Calpino, is not a Democrat; he is running as a Libertarian but describes himself as a tea party candidate. He advocates minimal government intrusion into the lives of individual citizens, but recognizes the need for some functions. He is a resident of Nanticoke who is engaged in his rural community and is personally familiar with the issues that concern residents of the far western portion of the county --the Westside Community Center and the Cove Point Beach parking controversy, for example. On his website, he quotes Ayn Rand and the founding fathers when describing his political philosophy. He also has lengthy sections devoted specifically to Wicomico County issues --budget, business climate, revenue cap, school board and public sector compensation among them. It is clear he has spent a great deal of time researching, considering and coming up with specific ideas about how county government should operate, within the framework of his minimalist concept of government.

Prettyman has had 12 years on the County Council and during that time, provided adequate -- if not visionary -- representation. Calpino, while advocating some radically unorthodox proposals, would also inject some truly fresh ideas for the rest of the council to consider. Those new considerations could have a positive influence on the way our county does business, even if not adopted as presented. We urge District 2 voters to give Calpino an opportunity to test his ideas by electing him to serve on the council.

Daily Times County Council Endorsements

Great Quotes from Maryland Libertarians

"It is not the government’s place to restrict gaming. Slot machines, casinos and private gambling should be decriminalized. Casino tax revenue would provide assistance in eroding the state’s budget deficit."

Brandon Brooks

Candidate for Maryland House of Delegates, District 11

Great Quotes from Maryland Libertarians

"This is an issue on which many Libertarians differ, because the very first question we need to resolve is whether there is one life at stake or two. Because I believe there are two lives involved, I believe each life deserves to be protected from any physical harm caused by the other. I recognize, of course, that many good people disagree, and in some states they may be in the majority. But the federal Constitution simply does not settle this issue, and we should restore the states' autonomy over abortion regulation."

Mark Grannis

Candidate for Congress, 8th District

Great Quotes from Maryland Libertarians

"The Federal Government should not be subsidizing anything. American companies need to sink or swim based on their abilities. When the government subsidizes business, it interferes with the free market. This confers an unfair advantage to certain businesses or industries and interferes with competition, ultimately hurting consumers.



This also burdens the taxpayer who ends up paying twice for goods or services. Firstly when their tax dollars are given to a business, and secondly when they purchase a product. This also puts the government in the position of choosing winners and losers in the marketplace. This is not a legitimate function of our government and must be ended immediately.



I say let American consumers decide which products and/or services will flourish, not the government."

H. Gavin Shickle

Candidate for U.S Congress, 5th District

Great Quotes from Maryland Libertarians

"We need to end the war on drugs. Those who want to use are already using. We are just creating a black market which creates crime. If we end the war on drugs we could save over $13 billion dollars. As a cavat I would add that the same liberty that give a person the right to use drugs also give an employer the right to drug test and fire anyone who test positive for drugs. An employer has the right to conditions for a contract for employment."

Dan Massey

Candidate for Congress, 6th District

Responsibility

"It is the responsibility of the patriot to protect his country from its government."

— Thomas Paine

Great Quotes from Maryland Libertarians

"Government is instituted to secure impartial justice and to protect the citizens and their property. We allow government to assume roles beyond these, for whatever reason, at our peril. Unfortunately, we have seen the results of governments that have gone beyond these bounds at all levels. They cost too much, take too much money and liberty, foster corruption and create many more problems than they solve. It is time to put government back into it proper role. "

Mike Calpino
District Candidate for Wicomico County Council

Great Quotes from Maryland Libertarians

"PEACEFUL people should be able to cross borders PEACEFULLY for PEACEFUL purposes. What's going on along the southern border between the United States and Mexico is not an open border. I am tired of hearing that it's an open border. We don't have an open border any more than Sarajevo had open streets when people had to dodge bullets from snipers on rooftops. What we have on our southern border is chaos, mayhem and horrific crimes.

People's property is being invaded, people are being kidnapped and murdered; women trying to cross the border (admittedly illegally) are being raped. The march across the border becomes a death march. Who does this benefit? I guess the people whose only goal is cheap labor. It has some benefit for those who make it in, IF they make it on the death march through the desert, since they can work, etc. "

Candidate for U.S. Congress, District 2: Lorenzo Gaztañaga

Dr. Richard Davis' interview with the Daily Times

Will GOP pull plug on Granny or War?

Press Release
For Immediate Release
Monday, October 18, 2010


WASHINGTON - With prospects of a Republican takeover of Congress, Libertarian Party (LP) Chair Mark Hinkle posed this question: "In order to balance the budget, where will the GOP pull the plug first: on Granny, or on foreign wars?"

Hinkle continued, "Of course, Republicans may have no serious intention of cutting federal deficits or spending, and their complaints about 'out-of-control spending' might be hypocrisy."

Over 60% of federal spending is in three areas: Social Security, Medicare/Medicaid, and the military. It would be impossible to eliminate the federal deficit without cutting entitlements or military spending, such as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Tea Party leader Dick Armey recently called Social Security a ponzi scheme.

LP Executive Director Wes Benedict said, "Social Security is universal mandatory welfare for seniors. It's very un-libertarian."

Benedict continued, "I suppose one way to maintain the Social Security scheme would be to rapidly grow the U.S. working population, such as by opening up our borders to increase immigration. However, Republican congressmen have tried to duck their responsibility for the bad economy by scapegoating illegal immigrants, so allowing a massive influx of immigrants is politically infeasible in the near future.

"Each child born in the U.S. immediately faces a debt of over $40,000. Ironically, it might not be long before American youth start ditching this debt foisted on them by their parents and grandparents, and start leaving America in search of better opportunity abroad.

"To make Social Security solvent as our population ages, the federal government either has to raise the tax, or cut the benefits. The last significant change to Social Security was a tax increase approved by Ronald Reagan. Libertarians favor cutting Social Security benefits, and we oppose tax increases. Libertarians would prefer to allow workers to opt out of Social Security. Perhaps entitlements can be cut gradually, rather than slashed abruptly, but that depends on taking action sooner rather than later.

"On the October 17 'Fox News Sunday,' I saw that Republican senate candidate Carly Fiorina was repeatedly asked what parts of entitlements she would cut to balance the budget, and she repeatedly dodged the question."

The recent Republican 'Pledge to America' makes no mention of cutting entitlements or the military.

Benedict continued, "Republicans refuse to say where they would cut entitlement spending, and of course Republicans oppose cutting military spending or ending America's foreign wars. Therefore, I'd say that Republicans are hypocrites who aren't serious about solving the federal debt problem."

A video lampooning John Boehner and the Republican 'Pledge to America' was created by Travis Irvine, Libertarian for U.S. Congress in Ohio District 12.

Benedict continued, "Only Libertarians recognize that we can't have it all for much longer. The longer Republicans and Democrats flush money down the toilet in Iraq and Afghanistan, the sooner the government will have to cut benefits for Granny. Of course, Congress may never have the courage to pass legislation to cut entitlements. In that scenario, Granny will eventually start experiencing 'rolling blackouts,' or perhaps a total system collapse.

"Libertarians stand ready to cut spending across the board. Perhaps the question Granny needs to answer is, 'Which do you love more: your Social Security check, or foreign wars?'"

The Libertarian Party has 21 candidates for U.S. Senate and 169 candidates for U.S. House in the upcoming November 2010 elections.

For more information, or to arrange an interview, call LP Executive Director Wes Benedict at 202-333-0008 ext. 222.

The LP is America's third-largest political party, founded in 1971. The Libertarian Party stands for free markets, civil liberties, and peace. You can find more information on the Libertarian Party at our website.

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Mike Calpino: Plan offered to motivate efficiency in government

It is popular in an election season to fill the airwaves and roadsides with platitudes and slogans, often promising to lower taxes and make government more efficient. Substantial proposals to accomplish these ends are, however, few and far between.

I believe campaigns should be about substance, so I present "The Wicomico Plan" -- the details of which can be found at http://www.electmike.webs.com/.

The core of the plan, in addition to an initial reduction in taxes, spending and regulation to encourage businesses and job creation, is to introduce an incentive for government employees to save money and reduce the size of government. Instead of each department having to spend everything in its budget for fear of having it cut, employees will be encouraged to save and managers inspired to streamline.

The vehicle for this change will be the promise of bonuses comprised of half of the money each department saves, equally distributed among all the members of that department and the other half being deposited in the rainy day fund.

This will motivate each department to work efficiently, save money, blow the whistle on thieves and eliminate unnecessary employees.

Once the fiscal year ends and the savings have been realized, the budget and attendant taxes can be reduced and the process begun again. After two or three years, we will finally have a county government that operates efficiently and effectively, and costs the taxpayers -- you and I -- a lot less.

Mike Calpino
Nanticoke
Calpino is a Libertarian candidate for Wicomico County Council, District 2. -- Editor

Great Quotes from Maryland Libertarians

"Address environmental issues using English common law: he who makes the mess pays for the mess. No further caps on damages, à la BP."

Lorenzo Gaztañaga
Libertarian Candidate for Congress
District 2, Maryland

Great Quotes from Maryland Libertarians

"Every school has its own unique set of challenges, and the last thing we should do is chain our schools to legislation. Schools should be autonomous and allowed to tackle their challenges in a manner that best fits their goals. In the same regard, the parents of attending children should be able to hold these schools more accountable."

Justin Kinsey

Libertarian Candidate for Maryland House of Delegates

District 5b

Libertarians Offer a Balance Budget for FY2012

Maryland Libertarian Mark Grannis, a candidate for Congress in the 8th District and Ohio Libertarian Congressional hopeful have issued a PRESS RELEASE on their proposed Fiscal Year 2012 Balanced Budget.

Here is the proposed Budget and where they would make cuts.

Libertarian Mark Grannis and Ohio Libertarian Travis Irvine propose a blanced for FY2012

Great Quotes from Maryland Libertarians - Dan Massey

"There is NO role for the federal government in education. Education is most productive when it is handled at the local community level. Spending money has been shown not to improve education levels. The most effective way to improve education is to let the local leaders and the principle control their own budget. School choice would add free enterprise into the system and kids would flow to successful schools and those unsuccessful schools would lose their funding."

Dan Massey
Libertarian for U.S. Congress
District 4, Maryland

Great Quotes from Maryland Libertarians

"Instead of bail-outs, how about a holiday from FICA and bringing to justice the fraud makers of the economic meltdown, both in the banks and in the government? That might reinforce America's economic health, restoring trust. Leave the taxes alone for the time being."

Lorenzo Gaztañaga
Libertarian Candidate for Congress
District 2, Maryland

Great Quotes from Maryland Libertarians

"I believe in the right to keep and bear arms, and oppose the prosecution of individuals for exercising their rights of self-defense. Law-abiding, mentally-stable citizens who choose to own a firearm should be allowed to do so without restriction. I support open-carry of firearms without a permit, and I support loosening restrictions for carrying a concealed firearm."

Justin Kinsey

Libertarian Candidate for Maryland House of Delegates

District 5b

Scott Spencer on Being a Libertarian

"As a Libertarian, I believe in personal liberty and personal responsibility. Libertarians favor an end of the use of government force to enact the policies of special interests, regardless of their place on the political spectrum.

Ultimately, this is based on the principle that no person should deprive another of life, liberty, or property through the initiation (or threat) of force or fraud.

Vote Libertarian, and help us renew the American values of freedom and independence."

Scott Spencer

Libertarian for U.S. Congress

District 7, Maryland

Great Quotes from Maryland Libertarians

"The undeclared, unconstitutional wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are bankrupting us. The missions keep changing to justify our going in and staying in. We went into Iraq to disarm Saddam Hussein, who supposedly was developing weapons of mass destruction. When WMD's were not found, the mission changed to removing a bad man who was oppressing his people. Well, there are many tyrants doing that around the world. How many countries are we going to invade? It can't be done. We went into Afghanistan to get Osama Bin Laden and Al Qaeda for what they did on 9/11. Now the story is that we're fighting the Taliban and nation building. This is policy shape shifting."  

Lorenzo Gaztañaga

Libertarian Candidate for Congress

District 2, Maryland

Great Quotes from Maryland Libertarians - Josh Crandall

"One of the biggest obstacles to lowering taxes is that by lowering taxes we have to reduce government spending, thereby reducing government handouts. I guess what people don't understand is that when you have more of your own money because you're paying less taxes, you don't need the government to provide so much for you. I support lower taxes, more freedom, and a smaller government."

Josh Crandall
Libertarian Candidate for Maryland House of Delegates
District 31

Great Quotes from Maryland Libertarians - Bryan Walker

I am an avid student of Austrian Economics. No government in the history of mankind has ever spent their way to prosperity. I believe in balanced budgets, small government, and the free market. We have not had a free market in this country in the last 100 years. I believe that social and economic freedom are one in the same.



Bryan Walker
Candidate for Maryland House of Delegates
District 21

Great Quotes from Maryland Libertarians

"We should not have to sacrifice one Marylander’s income in favor of another’s. We all work hard for our money, and we all deserve to enjoy it."

Justin Kinsey

Libertarian Candidate for Maryland House of Delegates

District 5b

WMDT 47 Article -- Dr. Davis Preparing For 1st District --

Latest News
by - Amber Watson
09/29/2010
  HURLOCK, Md. - The Congressional race in Maryland's First District is heating up.
While many in the race are focusing on job creation, Libertarian candidate Dr. Richard Davis says he is more concerned about cutting government spending and stabilizing the dollar.

Dr. Davis has lived in Hurlock for about 28 years and says he is in touch with several of the concerns of Eastern Shore residents. He believes the job crisis will end, once government gets a handle on spending and reduces the debt. "I think part of the reason there's a problem with jobs is because it's so hard to hire people with all the regulations, all the taxes and insurances and fees that are mandated. It just discourages people from hiring," said Dr. Davis. He says he would also like to extend some existing tax cuts to help businesses.

Read the rest at WMDT

Great Quotes from Maryland Libertarians

"As an edu­ca­tor, I have seen the ben­e­fits of choice and inno­va­tion in edu­ca­tion. As an econ­o­mist and actu­ary, I see the mas­sive eco­nomic growth that school choice can give Mary­land. A school-choice voucher pro­gram would help our stu­dents sur­pass their inter­na­tional com­pe­ti­tion, reduce costs, and build our economy."

Arvin Vohra
Libertarian Candidate for Maryland House of Delegates
District 15

Great Quotes from Maryland Libertarians

"It's time to take a good, hard look at what the Federal Reserve does, and at what it has done to both to the economy, and to the US dollar.

If, after careful examination, it is determined that this is an institution that has done more harm than good (a position stated in Ron Paul's End the Fed, and in Murray Rothbard's The Case Against the Fed), then it should be abolished."

Scott Spencer

Libertarian Candidate for Congress

District 7, Maryland

Great Quotes from Maryland Libertarians

"Our country is bankrupt. Our representatives in Congress and the Senate don't want to talk about it, but it's true. This is a greater threat to our national security than any terrorist organization, and it's a threat we have created ourselves. Acknowledging the fact that we're bankrupt will allow us to start fixing it. We need the right person in Congress -- me."

Lorenzo Gaztañaga
Libertarian Candidate for Congress 
District 2, Maryland

A Citizen's Guide to Federal Firearms Laws

National Rifle Association of America, Institute for Legislative Action

A summary of federal restrictions on the purchase, sale, possession, and transportation of firearms and ammunition.
Caution: Firearm laws are subject to frequent change and court interpretation. This summary is not intended as legal advice or restatement of law. This summary does not include state or local laws, ordinances, or regulations. For any particular situation, a licensed local attorney must be consulted for an accurate interpretation.

Under federal law supported by the National Rifle Association, the use of a firearm in a violent or drug-trafficking crime is punishable by a mandatory prison sentence of up to 20 years. A second conviction, if the firearm is a machine gun or is equipped with a silencer, brings life imprisonment without release. Violating firearms laws should lead to very real punishment for violent criminals, but the laws first must be enforced.

Ineligible Persons
The following classes of people are ineligible to possess, receive, ship, or transport firearms or ammunition:

• Those convicted of crimes punishable by imprisonment for over one year, except state misdemeanors punishable by two years or less.
• Fugitives from justice.
• Unlawful users of certain depressant, narcotic, or stimulant drugs.
  
• Those adjudicated as mental defectives or incompetents or those committed to any mental institution.
• Illegal aliens.
• Citizens who have renounced their citizenship.
• Those persons dishonorably discharged from the Armed Forces.
• Persons less than 18 years of age for the purchase of a shotgun or rifle.
• Persons less than 21 years of age for the purchase of a firearm that is other than a shotgun or rifle.
• Persons subject to a court order that restrains such persons from harassing, stalking, or threatening an intimate partner.
• Persons convicted in any court of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence.

 

Great Quotes from Reagan

“I believe the very heart and soul of conservatism is libertarianism.”
– Ronald Reagan, 1975

Great Quotes from Maryland Libertarians - Lorenzo Gaztañaga

"The "war on drugs" has cost billions of dollars, ruined lives, and made all Americans less free, while doing nothing to help the addicted. It's alcohol prohibition redux, and we bleed the billions. The facts are there, and I'm willing to discuss it with anybody."

Lorenzo Gaztañaga
Libertarian Candidate for Congress
District 2, Maryland

Administration's Thuggery Threatens Free Speech...

by Nat Hentoff

On September 9, autocratic Kathleen Sebelius, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services secretary, wrote a threatening letter to the national office of America's Health Insurance Plans. Charging these insurance companies with "scare tactics" and "misinformation" about the president's Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Sebelius is incensed at their "falsely blam(ing) premium increases for 2011" on this Obamacare.

She warns these miscreants that "there will be zero tolerance for this type of misinformation and unjustified rate increases." Missing from her edict is where she finds in the Constitution the authority of the executive branch to punish free-speaking critics of the implementation of a law.

And punish she will. There will be an enemies list: "We will also keep track of insurers with a record of unjustified rate increases: those plans may be excluded from health insurance Exchanges in 2014."
Bottom line: Shut up or we'll make you pay.

Read the rest at CATO

How many politicians does it take to screw in a light bulb?

Libertarians say Republicans owe apology, not pledge, to America

WASHINGTON - In response to the recent Republican "Pledge to America," Libertarian Party executive director Wes Benedict released the following statement:

Instead of a "Pledge to America," the Republicans should have written an "Apology to America." It should have gone something like this:
"We're sorry, America. Sorry we grew the federal government budget from $1.7 trillion to over $3 trillion. Sorry we added $5 trillion to the federal debt. Sorry we doubled the size of the Department of Education. Sorry we started two incredibly costly foreign wars. Sorry we supported the absurd and costly TARP bailouts. Sorry we created a huge and costly new Medicare entitlement. Sorry we did nothing to end the costly and destructive War on Drugs. Sorry we did nothing to reform the federal government's near-prohibition on immigration. But hey, at least we helped you by shifting a lot of your tax burden onto your children and grandchildren."
There are so many lies, distortions, hypocrisies, and idiocy in this document that it's hard to know where to start.
It is deeply insulting to see the Republicans refer to "America's founding values" on their cover. The Republican Party has no understanding whatsoever of America's founding values. They have proven and re-proven that for decades.
The document talks a lot about "tax cuts." Unfortunately, the Republican "tax cut" proposals would really do nothing to cut taxes. All their proposals achieve is to defer taxes, pushing the burden onto our children and grandchildren. The only real way to cut taxes is to cut government spending, and the Republican document does almost nothing in that regard.
The Republicans say they want to "roll back government spending to pre-stimulus, pre-bailout levels." In other words, to re-create the situation near the end of the Bush administration, after Republicans had massively increased federal spending on almost everything.
Republicans must love it when Democrats expand government, because it gives them the opportunity to propose small "cuts," while still ending up with huge government.
One shocking aspect of the document is that it actually includes subtle Republican proposals to increase government spending.
The Republicans offer no plan whatsoever to reduce military spending, America's foreign wars and nation building, or our military defense of rich foriegn nations. On the contrary, the Republicans apparently want to increase military spending, promising to "provide the resources, authority, and support our deployed military requires, fully fund missile defense, and enforce sanctions against Iran."

Big Government, a la carte

by Mark Grannis - Libertarian for Congress MD - 8th District
Even die-hard fans of Big Government usually admit that a wide range of federal programs are pointless or worse. But often I meet people who are so attached to some particular program that they cannot bring themselves to accept any political philosophy that might lead to less money for their favorite. Almost everyone, including me, can find something in a $3.8 trillion budget that is personally appealing even though it can’t be justified on libertarian principles like the non-aggression principle. Whether it’s environmental regulations or high-speed rail or NASA or foreign aid, these people essentially ask: Can’t we embrace the benefits of small government generally but make an exception for my pet program?

This sounds theoretically possible, but I think our experience justifies us in saying it is not.  Big Government seems not to be available a la carte.  We have to take the bad with the good.  And that means that if the choice between private action and government program is at all close, we ought to have a very strong bias for the private option.  Because the pet programs we can’t justify as protections of our persons and property are almost never so great as to be worth the high social cost of a government that acts without strong limits.

It sounds pragmatic to make case-by-case determinations about federal programs instead of sticking to a strong limiting principle like the non-aggression principle. But the problem with ad hoc picking and choosing is that it makes members of Congress practically incapable of saying no to any significant constituency. It’s very hard to bail out banks and then say no to automakers or local governments. It’s very hard to explain why Congress should let the free market work in any sector unless Congress lets the free market work in every sector.  And it's very hard to blow money on any program as idiotic as “cash for clunkers” and then say no to equally idiotic proposals like "cash for caulkers" or "cash for can-openers."  The slope gets very slippery very fast, and we know that for a fact because we’re currently sliding down it at breakneck speed.