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Libertarian Party pleased referendum blocked

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The state Libertarian Party chair has praised the recent Montana Supreme Court decision to block a referendum changing the states primary election system from appearing on the November ballot.

Libertarian Chair Mike Fellows said Republicans placed Legislative Referendum 27 on the ballot as an effort to eliminate Libertarians from the general election ballot.

Montana voters want their views heard in the general election, and LR-127 would limit those views, Fellows said. Libertarians support the free market of ideas in politics, but the Montana Republican Party wanted to control the free market through LR-127 to achieve its goals.

He said it amounted to eliminating part of the competition from the general election.

We know that most voters start looking at candidates and issues in the general election rather than the primary, Fellow said.

The referendum would have set up a new primary election system under which the names of all candidates from all political parties Democratic, Republican, Libertarian and others for each office would appear on the same primary election ballot. The top two vote-getters for each office, regardless of political party, would compete in the general election.

Under present law, the Democratic and Republican parties have separate primary elections in June. The winners of Democratic and Republican primaries for each office face off in the November general election. Third-party candidates such as Libertarians also appear on the November ballot.

In striking the referendum from the ballot, the court majority found that the title of the referendum exceeded the 100-word limit in the law and that the title was complicated and confusing.

If Republicans had won the governors race in 2012 as well as controlled the Legislature, Fellows said the bill that became the referendum instead would have been signed into law, bypassing voters, he said.

In the 2015 Montana legislative session, you can bet this issue will come up again, Fellows said.

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Libertarian Party pleased referendum blocked

Everybody Loves Libertarianism, Insists Libertarian

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Kevin Williamson, a libertarian-ish conservative writer for the National Review, wrote a bracingly honest assessment of the limited appeal of Rand Pauls ideology. (Short story: Most people really love the biggest government programs, like Social Security and Medicare.) This confession against ideological interest naturally antagonized Reasons Nick Gillespie, who is not only a libertarian-libertarian, but also deeply committed to his belief that libertarianism is always, just you wait and see, on the rise.

Gillespie counters Williamson with a sputtering piece arguing that Rand Paul is poised to seize the center of the American political debate with his innovative proposals, such as saving Ukraine by cutting aid to Ukraine. Gillespie bolsters his thesis with a random collage of factoids:

The one sort-of on-point factoid Gillespie offers is a poll conducted by the libertarian Reason foundation showing that, contrary to the overwhelming findings of pollsters everywhere, voters really do want to cut Medicare and Social Security. The unstated joke here, in case you didnt catch it, is that every interest group has its own handcrafted polls showing that, if you word the question in just the right way, overwhelming numbers of Americans agree with their position on any given issue. And sure enough, Reasons poll has its own wording that finds people are really keen to cut Social Security and Medicare. But this poll, just like every advocacy poll, is worthless, because in real politics, one side of the issue cant control the terms by which it will be debated.

The movie Divergent provides the frame for Gillespies paean to Paul. I have not seen the film. Apperently it describes a future in which people are slotted from birth into categories, and those who refuse to follow along are Marked for Death! This theme, explains Gillespie, sums up Rand Paul. Because obviously the clearest hallmark of an independent rebel is a candidate who has devoted his entire life to slavishly carrying out his fathers kooky dogma.

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Everybody Loves Libertarianism, Insists Libertarian

Lesser known congressional candidates debate in Biloxi

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BILOXI, MS (WLOX) -

Three of the lesser known candidates campaigning in Mississippi's 4th congressional district race made a stop in Biloxi Wednesday night.

Republican Tavish Kelly, Independent Ed Reich and Libertarian Joey Robinson may all align with different parties, but one thing they agree upon is that it's time for someone else to represent Mississippi's 4th congressional district in Washington.

"I'm in this race, because I believe in the Republican Party still. I just believe that the Republican Party needs conservatives not rhinos," said Kelly.

Kelly is the youngest of the bunch, and he isn't alone in his plans to go knocking on doors to let people know who he is and what he stands for. Ed Reich is right behind him.

"I want to know your opinion on what's going on. I'm not just going to go up there because you elected me to be your voice. I still want to know what you think I should be saying up there. I want your input. I'm not just going to be the dictator representative. I'm going to represent properly," said Reich.

Rounding out the candidates is Joey Robinson, father of two, and the only Libertarian running in district four.

"We have to focus on jobs. Jobs will fix everything in the economy. If people can work, if we have jobs for them, they can pay their bills, they can support their families, themselves, pay their debt, naturally stimulate the economy," said Robinson.

This debate was a first for all three candidates, and moderator Ed "The Reverend" Powell says attending even the smaller debates is important if you want to be an educated voter

"They need to come out and listen to find out which candidate they need to vote for, because the votes really count here in the United States," said Powell.

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Lesser known congressional candidates debate in Biloxi

Craig seeks 6th congressional seat again

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BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) Libertarian Rufus Craig is a candidate again for the Baton Rouge-based 6th District congressional seat.

The New Orleans Advocate reports (http://bit.ly/1rvbZn1 ) Craig, a Baton Rouge lawyer, has run for the seat as a Libertarian Party candidate in 2004 and 2012. He says he's concerned that neither Democrats nor Republicans seem willing to tackle what he calls "out of control spending and the Byzantine tax code."

Craig says unless there's a profound shift in policy in Washington, the nation faces "certain financial collapse."

The seat is open because Republican Rep. Bill Cassidy is seeking the seat now held by Democrat Sen. Mary Landrieu.

Craig joins a race that already has at least nine candidates, including former Gov. Edwin Edwards and Garret Graves, Gov. Bobby Jindal's former point man on coastal restoration.

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Information from: The New Orleans Advocate, http://www.neworleansadvocate.com

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Craig seeks 6th congressional seat again

Libertarian Nick Gillespie: Keep your government hands off my Uber

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Libertarian Nick Gillespie took to the pages of Time last week to go to bat for the un-taxi taxi service Uber.

And Airbnb, which competes for hotel business, and Tesla, which cuts out the dealership middlemen to sell its $70,000 electric cars directly to the public.

In short, Gillespie wants the government out of the business of regulating business.

"Especially in todays sluggish economy, its more important than ever that market innovators win out over crony capitalists," he writes."Letting markets work to find new ways of delivering goods and services isnt just better for customers in the short term, its the only way to unleash the innovation that ultimately propels long-term economic growth."

The argument is pertinent in Madison, where Uber and its ride-share competitor Lyft are operating under the threat of fines.

"Never mind that Uber riders get to instantly rate their experience in a way no cab passenger ever does (just as amazingly, drivers get to rate passengers!)," Gillespie writes. "At the state level, California has already instituted a bevy of regulations on Uber, Lyft, and other new ride-sharing services. These range from mandatory criminal background checks for drivers, licensing via public utilities commissions, and driver training programs. Last year, Washington, D.C. officials unsuccessfully tried to squeeze out Uber with regulations on the types of cars that could carry passengers, what sorts of credit-card processing machines could be used, and how the companys app operates."

Gillespie doesn't mention complicating factors such as Uber's denial of liability when one of its drivers was sued for killing a 6-year-old girl, or the reasonable assumption that some riders might want their drivers to undergo driver training or criminal background checks.

And cities are worried about what happens if companies like Uber drive local regulated taxi companies out of business. What would prices be like then? Would the new comapnies' "surge pricing" mean the end of affordable taxi service during high-volume times?

Seattle, it turns out, isn't waiting to find out. The City Council there just voted to restrict the number of ride-share cars thatcan be on the road at any given time.

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Libertarian Nick Gillespie: Keep your government hands off my Uber


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