Libertarian candidates make their case to voters

Posted on by

Voters will go to the polls in less than a week and most will choose Democrats or Republicans up and down their ballots.

Third party candidates are a considered a long shot to win an election, but Libertarians continue to make their case to voters during each election cycle.

Dr. Lee Hieb is the Libertarian candidate for Iowa Governor.

If you like Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, youll like us. Were basically the constitutional, limited government people, Hieb said. Less government, more freedom.

The Libertarian Party has been nominating candidates for office since the early 70s and call for a massive reduction in the size of government. At a national level, they generally support scrapping the current tax system and replacing it with the fair tax, abolishing the welfare state, allowing people to opt-out of social security, drug legalization, gun rights, strong protection of civil liberties, free trade and many more proposals to shrink government.

Libertarians tend to want minimalist government, said David Andersen, ISU assistant professor of political science. They want little government intervention on every facet of life. No regulation of your social life, your personal life, your economic life, lower taxation, everything.

Andersen says Libertarians may appeal to college students and some wealthy independents.

For college students, he says once they enter the real world, they see a need for more government.

On education issues, an important one to ISU students, Libertarians want government out of the way.

Before the government got involved in education, it was relatively cheap [to go to college], Hieb said. As they give you money (student loans, grants), the regulations come in excess of that money.

See the original post here:

Libertarian candidates make their case to voters

Libertarian candidate Chad Grimm sits down with the Phoenix

Posted on by

The Phoenix speaks with Democratic candidate Pat Quinn and Libertarian candidate Chad Grimm. Republic candidate Bruce Rauner did not respond to Phoenix requests.

Courtesy of Chad Grimm for Governor // Facebook

When Chad Grimm answered the phone, he was just getting to the office after a day of campaigning. Eight speeches at a school in his hometown of Peoria in central Illinois hadnt tired his voice.

The Libertarian was the only candidate for the gubernatorial elections to respond to The Phoenixs many interview requests. One-line email responses with a phone number and availability, no header, no campaign slogan or jab at another candidate evidenced the different campaign he was set to run.

Grimm, who unsuccessfully ran for state legislator in 2012 and for Peorias City Council in 2013, has been looking to elbow his way along the gubernatorial race, running a long-shot campaign against incumbent governor Patrick Quinn, a Democrat, and Republican businessman Bruce Rauner.

Im not running against Bruce Rauner; Im not running against Pat Quinn. Im running for the people of Illinois, Grimm said, repeating, like he has in most of his media interactions, what has been a poster slogan for his campaign.

Behind his energetic voice, the sound of someone jump-roping called attention to the candidates latest job health club manager that, intentionally or not, rings of belittlement. Grimm, who spent his childhood and teenage years shuttling between Peoria, where his father lived, and the northwest suburbs of Chicago where he lived with his mother, pursued an acting and broadcasting career before getting into management.

Grimm was quick to admit, perhaps inadvertently, his lack of political experience. His managerial background helps, but a state such as Illinois is different from anything he has managed in the past 15 years. In technical terms, he explained the difference.

What Republicans will talk about, and it sounds good, is that they want to run the state like a business. They say that a lot, and I think what they really mean at times gets lost because you dont want to run a state like a business because a business is for profit. Government is for people, he said. You want to be able to pay your bills, you want to be able to pay for the things that you need, but you dont want to create a surplus.

See the article here:

Libertarian candidate Chad Grimm sits down with the Phoenix

Salt Gameplay Surviving The Islands – PIRATES & Crafting A Bow! [Part 2] – Video

Posted on by


Salt Gameplay Surviving The Islands - PIRATES Crafting A Bow! [Part 2]
Salt on steam: http://store.steampowered.com/app/327860/ Salt Gameplay Surviving The Islands - PIRATES Crafting A Bow! [Part 2] Salt is a game based around exploration and adventure...

By: eNtaK

Excerpt from:

Salt Gameplay Surviving The Islands - PIRATES & Crafting A Bow! [Part 2] - Video

SciCafe: Islands at the Edge – Climate Change, Globalization, and Island Culture – Video

Posted on by


SciCafe: Islands at the Edge - Climate Change, Globalization, and Island Culture
Jennifer Newell, curator of Pacific Ethnography, and Tina Stege of the Marshallese Educational Initiative, discuss how island life is being affected by the rising seas. *** Subscribe to our...

By: American Museum of Natural History

See original here:

SciCafe: Islands at the Edge - Climate Change, Globalization, and Island Culture - Video