Daily Archives: June 8, 2017

Jacob Story, Treasurer, Mohave County Libertarian Party

A few weeks back, the Mohave County Libertarian Party was meeting on a Thursday night at the Black Bridge Brewery, and we were talking about the array of misconceptions about the Libertarian Party.

We decided that theres a lot of misinformation out there, so I took it upon myself as the Treasurer of the Mohave County Libertarian Party to write this for the Kingman Daily Miner to get a few things straight.

I am reminded of a time when I was having a conversation with a friend who is a member of the GOP. I love this friend like a brother, and in jest he called me a libtard, which is a term I have heard before to describe a liberal or Democrat (it should also be noted that this word is offensive to people who are developmentally disabled).

This exchange, once again, made me believe that theres a lot of misinformation. It has also been suggested that we Libertarians are in the same realm as the resistance, also known as the indivisible group. Two groups that, from my understanding, decided the Democratic National Committee was too conservative, and theyre a fringe sect to the left of conventional DNC thinking.

Often people see the word libertarian and think liberal the word libertarian actually derives from the word liberty; not so coincidentally, one of the symbols often used by the Libertarian Party is the Statue of Liberty.

Generally the Libertarian party has a platform of the following: Small or almost nonexistent government; limited, if no taxes whatsoever; unfettered individual rights; people taking individual responsibility; noninterference with foreign nations issues; and open and free markets. This is to name a few of the basic principles of the Libertarian Party. It can be boiled down even further to the following notion: We leave you alone, you leave us alone. The Libertarian Party has also been described as socially liberal, fiscally conservative, which I suppose is fair.

Our party is relatively new, formed in 1971, but were growing. The 2016 election saw many new registered Libertarians and although we didnt have any federal wins our win was the fact that we received 4.5 million votes, or in other terms, 3.2 million more votes than our last go during the 2012 general election. That speaks volumes 3.2 million fed-up voters.

We are not naive, we KNOW this is an uphill battle. It is going to be a long hard fight. But were willing to fight for what we believe in.

We are not all crazy, aluminum-foil-hat wearing conspiracy theorists (some are). You will find were the people demanding government accountability, trying to stop the corruption and entitlements.

We simply want this great Republic to once again be for the PEOPLE not the select few elected to office.

If you want to hear more about what were all about, please come join us for a beer at 6 p.m. on the second Thursday of every month at Black Bridge Brewery.

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Letter: Libertarian Party misconceptions get cleared up | Kingman ... - Kdminer

COLUMBUS, Ind. (WANE) As Indiana Democrats and Republicans get ready to study liquor laws, another party is hoping the debate will spark change heading into 2018.

This weekend, the Libertarian Party in Bartholomew and Johnson counties will host a Drink In at Rickers Gas Station in Columbus. Organizers hope the event will draw attention to whats happened to the gas company over the past couple of months.

In November, Rickers received a restaurant liquor license after it opened a made-to-order food section. Because of this, the gas station was able to sell cold beer carryout.

A lot of people are like, Howd they find a loophole, around that? Its a gas station, how are they selling cold beer, Columbus resident Dakota Kerns said.

But the excitement faded in April as Indiana lawmakers passed a bill to close the loophole. Rickers will be allowed to sell cold beer carryout until next year, but local Libertarian members dont think thats good enough.

The state government moved the goal post on this specific business, Bartholomew County Libertarian Party Vice Chair Clyde Myers said.

This is why the group is hosting the event inside the store.

Were just hoping everyone will come out and have a beer with us, and show their support for freedom of choice, Myers said.

Theres been a lot of attention on the states liquor laws this week, and not just because of this upcoming Drink In.

On Monday, the Indiana Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association released a study showing 70 percent of Hoosiers support cold beer sales, and another 65 percent want to see it sold on Sunday.

Numbers Myers said could give his county party a 2018 platform. Were hoping we can make them aware that most Hoosiers support freedom of choice, Myers said. That they support free, and fair and open competition.

State lawmakers said they are aware, which is why theyre conducting a study. Its expected to last a couple years.

Which could mean Myers might be having a lot more burritos and beer as he prepares to take a stand he never saw coming.

No, I did not, but Im all for it, Myers said. Its going to be a good time.

The county Libertarian event will take place at the Columbus gas station this Sunday at 3 p.m. As for state leaders, were expected to find out soon when theyll begin their two year study looking at liquor laws.

Nick is WANEs Indiana Chief Political Bureau reporter. Follow Nick Natario on Twitter at @NNatario.

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Indiana libertarians hoping to revamp state liquor laws - WANE

The fight for free college (A.K.A the state subsidization of post-graduate education) has now come to the forefront of the 50 political battlegrounds known as state legislatures.

In 2017 alone two major states, Tennessee and New York, have passed into law their own version of tuition subsidization and they greatly vary in degree of their merits and fiscal responsibility.

Many libertarians will immediately shun the idea of supporting any such programs on principal alone. Yet, for practical reasons, we must come to terms with the shifting political climate in favor of such education policy, in order to make sure the most fiscally prudent and least government expansionist programs are adopted.

In other words, we must push for the states of America to act as Tennessee has and not as New York.

Lets start with the bad. First up will, of course, be New York. The Empire State will have a state budget deficit (this year, 2017) of approximately $3.5 billion. This new program is estimated to rack up an additional $163 million to the deficit per annum; which can of course only be funded through either more borrowing or more taxes, neither of which are highly palatable to libertarians.

The state is also being generous beyond its capacity (how easy is it to act in such a way when its not your own money) and making this program applicable to not only local community colleges or technical schools but also prestigious New York State universities; which flipping the bill for will only bloat the costs.

After all, the $163 million cost estimate was only a low-ball estimate (as some lawmakers pointed out), who knows to what level of fiscal incompetency the program could actually rise. But knowing New York, Id say its chances for failure are pretty high.

To be fair, the state places one major restriction on its tuition subsidization program by limiting it to middle class families.

Yet even this does very little in the means of restraint. By 2019, the program will apply to students in families with household incomes up to $120,000, yet the average median income in the state sits at nearly half that at $60,850. This means the limitations to the middle class are really nothing more than a marketing gimmick aimed at persuading the public that the program has fiscal restraint, where in actuality there is little to none.

Yet not all hope for stopping the further fiscal deterioration of the United States is lost. Some states, like Tennessee, are satisfying the popular demand for tuition subsidization without breaking the bank and with only marginal expansions to the state.

The tuition subsidization program recently made law in Tennessee would apply to all citizens who meet the requirements, none of which are income/needs based.

On the surface this may sound like open season for an explosion of new government spending, yet in reality the program is fiscally prudent.

This prudence is made clear through the program only being applicable to state community colleges and technical schools, institutions that already have sizably lower tuition rates than almost all state universities.

Its estimated to cost approximately $10 million per year.

Now, when adjusted for population size, the New York plan would actually cost less per-citizen than the Tennessee plan (assuming the costs of the New York plan dont skyrocket, which is highly unlikely) that is not what is actually important to take into consideration here however, the way the plans are paid for is.

In the New York plan, funding for the program would come out of the general fund of the state. Money allocated to it would not be limited except if capped by the state legislature (which seeing as New York State is a bastion of economic progressivism is highly unlikely).

Yet, the Tennessee plan specifically mandates that the new program be paid for via the proceeds of the state lottery fund, which is good for two reasons:

First, it will place a tangible cap; no more money could be allocated to the program (under current law) than is taken in by the state lottery.

Second, the program would neither increase state taxes nor create the need for more state borrowing.

A program that neither increases taxes or balloons borrowing, and has strict restraints on its applicability, is a program that, at least for all practical purposes, should be supported by conservatives, libertarians, and general government skeptics alike.

The fact is, as long as we live under a system of constitutional republican democracy, the desires of the general populace must be taken into consideration at some point and eventually addressed.

Right now the people want state subsidized tuition and it looks like (as of now) they are increasingly getting it.

Libertarians can either kick, scream, and dig in their heels at the unjustness and immorality of the system and be sidelined, as progressives push more and more New York style plans across the nation; or they can engage in pragmatic politics by supporting and advocating for a Tennessee style tuition subsidization program in states where such application of a program is viable.

This post was written by Bric Butler.

The views expressed here belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect our views and opinions.

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Tennessee vs. New York: A Tale of Tuition Reimbursement Programs - Being Libertarian