Monthly Archives: August 2017

HARTMAN: The Quiet Man Who Changed the World – The Hayride

Posted: August 20, 2017 at 6:42 pm

My friend and mentor Arthur J. Finkelstein died last night. If youve never heard of him, thats how he wanted it.

The son of Belarusian immigrants, Arthur was born in the 1940s and grew up in Brooklyn. He was a mathematical savant, and went to Columbia University. He crossed paths with Ayn Rand, and at one point in his young life was a collaborator on her radio show in New York City.

In his early 20s, Arthur was hired as a data analyst for the Nixon Administration. By 1972, he was producing commercials for Nixons reelection campaign. He went on to consult for the likes of Strom Thurmond, Jesse Helms, Alphonse DAmato, George Pataki and Ronald Reagan, merging his ability to gather and analyze data at an astonishing pace with his sharply creative mind. At one point in the mid-1990s, a significant plurality of United States senators were Arthurs clients. He only worked for Republicans. Overseas, he worked for Ariel Sharon and Binyamin Netanyahu. He consulted for prime ministers and presidents all over Europe.

Because Arthur couldnt be everywhere, he made a practice of discovering and cultivating young talent. He sent me to the Czech Republic for months to work in a national race, and to Nigeria for a week during that countrys tumultuous 2015 presidential campaign. He sent one of my friends to Kosovo before Kosovo was even a country and my friend stayed for four years, advising the fledgling government with Arthurs remote guidance.

CNN once called Arthur the Kaiser Soze of American politics, referencing the shadowy, never-seen crime boss in The Usual Suspects. Some people, it was reported, didnt think Arthur even existed, but that his name was a bogeyman invoked to scare liberal opponents. I laughed when I read that, having had dinner with Arthur in New Orleans only a week earlier. He existed. He definitely existed, larger than life to those who knew him, and nobody at all to the public at large. Ill admit to a sort of sardonic pleasure when I was with Arthur in public, thinking to myself, Nobody knows who this man is, but he has done so much to impact their lives.

Arthur was kind, brilliant, sly, unassuming and hilarious. He didnt just employ me on occasion, but he was my friend. He rarely called, but often emailed often random messages like, Happy Friday! or Good morning! Hope youre well. He began every conversation with, good morning!, regardless of the actual time of day; I attributed it to the fact that he was constantly changing time zones in his travels and work.

He alternated between horrible eating habits and hardcore dieting. I sat in lunch meetings with him where he ate nothing but slices of swiss cheese, and once had dinner with him at an outdoor caf in Prague, watching him eat a raw onion dipped in fondue.

He rarely (if ever) dressed formally. He traveled the world with a carryon bag, and I dont think I ever saw him in anything but khakis, a blue button-down shirt and, occasionally, a navy blazer. He wore only loafers, which he took off unabashedly as he paced a room giving lectures on poll data, dictating a press release, or laying out a strategy. He once told me that after an extended meeting with President Reagan and James Baker in the Oval Office, he received a letter from Baker: Dear Mr. Finkelstein: Thank you for meeting with me and the President last week, and thank you for keeping your shoes on most of the time.

Arthur didnt like technology. He didnt have a laptop, but only a Blackberry. He kept his campaign plans scrawled in pencil on pages torn from a legal pad, which he carried in his breast pocket. He and I once had a somewhat furtive meeting with a world leader at a restaurant in a remote village near the Czech-Austrian border. When he asked me for the poll data, I pulled out my laptop and opened it. He looked at me like I was an idiot and asked where the actual BINDER of poll information was. It was hidden in a safe place in my hotel, but he would have preferred paper.

Arthur rarely worked for candidates in races that were smaller than statewide or national, but he made exceptions for friends, including California Congresswoman Mary Bono Mack and Florida Congressman Connie Mack. (He sent one of my associates to work on Marys campaign for a full 14 months; he asked me to go work full-time for Connie in 2010, leading up to Connies Senate run, and I declined; although I rarely said no to a request from Arthur, it turns out that was a good call on my part.)

When the Washington Post first reported that he was gay in the 1990s, Arthur was irked not because he was ashamed, but because it was nobodys business. He wasnt a celebrity or public figure, and he didnt want to be. Hillary Clinton made some snarky comments about him when that story broke, and he never forgave her. When she was first gearing up to run for president, Arthur launched a website called StopHerNow.com, dedicated just to her.

One of my former associates once emailed me that while taking a graduate course he was assigned a chapter to present to the class. It was called, The Most Evil Man in America, and it was about Arthur. I asked Clifton if he told the professor he actually knew the Evil Man in question; he replied that he hadnt, and wasnt going to until the semester was over. Arthur was not evil, although Mrs. Clinton and a bevy of other Democrats would disagree with me.

Arthur was intensely private. He didnt grant interviews. He didnt like to be photographed. He didnt like being in the news. When then-GOProud Executive Director Jimmy LaSalvia sent an angry tweet that referred to presidential candidate Rick Perrys pollster as a faggot, it became news and some media linked the pollster in question to Arthur because they had worked on the same campaign once, more than 20 years earlier. Arthur was livid. He called me to vent, in part because I had arranged for he and LaSalvia to meet in Boston only a few months earlier.

Arthur and his husband Donald were together for 50 years, and had children and grandchildren. Donald, a teacher, held down the family front while Arthur traveled, changing the world.

That is what he did, you see: He changed the world. Without fanfare, without drawing attention to himself, without a spotlight, Arthur worked hard to elect good people to high office. Excluding some candidates and office-holders, its impossible to think of a single person who has had as much impact on American politics and, indeed, global politics as did my friend Arthur. Excluding very few, its hard to think of a single person who has had such an impact on me, on my life and career.

The Kaiser Soze of American politics, the Most Evil Man in America, arguably the most impactful man in modern politics, has gone on to the next life. I will miss him. I already do. Many in the world will feel the loss, without noticing or even knowing about it. Arthurs legacy is vast and important, and invisible to most.

Thats how he wanted it.

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HARTMAN: The Quiet Man Who Changed the World - The Hayride

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Contested law presents clear and present threat to America’s democracy – St. Paul Asian American Press

Posted: at 6:42 pm

By Clarence Hightower, Ph.D.The Anti-Poverty Soldier

Clarence Hightower, Ph.D.

Individual rights are not subject to a public vote; a majority has no right to vote away the rights of a minority; the political function of rights is precisely to protect minorities from oppression by majorities (and the smallest minority on earth is the individual).Ayn Rand

For this nation to remain true to its principles, we cannot allow any Americans vote to be denied, diluted, or defiled. The right to vote is the crown jewel of American liberties, and we will not see its luster diminished. President Ronald Reagan

The vote is the most powerful instrument ever devised by man for breaking down injustice and destroying the terrible walls which imprison men because they are different from other men. President Lyndon B. Johnson

The true way and the easiest way is to make our government entirely consistent with itself and give every loyal citizen the elective franchise. Frederick Douglass

Voting is the right on which all other rights depend. Thomas Paine

Before I proceed, please forgive the seemingly excessive number of quotes I have cited. I sincerely believe, however, that they are all particularly germane to the topic of this column.

What I find particularly interesting about them, is that they represent extreme ends of the political spectrum across three centuries, and include two statements from abolitionists one of which has been called The father of the American Revolution. And in spite of the ideological differences shared by these individuals, their sentiments in this particular arena are the same.

Although this rhetoric highlights some of our nations most lofty principles, it goes without saying that America has not always lived up to these principles regardless of when they were spoken or written. Consider the extermination and forced relocation of Americas indigenous population, the institution of chattel slavery, the eras of Reconstruction and Jim Crow, Exclusion and Internment Camps, and the Civil Rights and Womens Suffrage movements. For the better part of our history, American citizens have been denied basic human rights including the right to vote.

Some point out, quite convincingly, that even after the passage of landmark decisions such as Brown v. The Board of Education or The Civil Rights Act of 1964, American democracy has left millions upon millions behind. Far too many Americans are still subject to poverty, housing and employment discrimination, substandard schools, inadequate healthcare, segregated neighborhoods, and environmental racism and classism. Still, we must remember that people fought, bled, and died for the right to be free, the right to education, the right to work, and the right to vote.

In 2013, almost 50 years after the first Selma to Montgomery march, which became known as Bloody Sunday (and the subsequent passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Section 4(b) of the Voting Rights Act as unconstitutional. Writing for Newsweek, Jamal Hagler of the Center for American Progress contends that this 5 to 4 decision struck a devastating blow to voting rights, reducing federal oversight of elections and giving rise to a new era of voter suppression.

Moreover, as several others reveal, the movement to impede voting rights has been ongoing for the last several years. According to the NYU Brennan Center for Justice more than 40 states have proposed restrictive voting laws since the 2010 election. And, 24 of these states, which include Iowa, Wisconsin, and Ohio, have passed new voting restrictions such as photo ID laws, proof of citizenship requirements, and limited registration and early voting periods.

While some have taken to the notion, without any evidence mind you, that there was rampant voter fraud during the 2016 elections, journalist Ari Berman presents an alternate view noting that this was the first presidential election in 50 years without the full protections of the Voting Rights Act.

If that is not depressing enough, a plan by the state of Ohio to permanently remove tens of thousands of registered voters from its electoral rolls, which was previously cited as unconstitutional by the U.S. Court of Appeals, all of a sudden has the support of the U.S. Justice Department. This attempt to purge voters from its rolls is based solely on whether or not the individual has cast a ballot in the last two years.

The Supreme Court has agreed to hear the State of Ohios appeal, which critics say is specifically designed to target people of color and the poor. A statement from the NAACP Legal Defense Fund argues that The DOJs interpretation of federal law would leave Americans vulnerable to getting purged from the voter rolls, dispossessing millions of a fundamental right simply because they did not exercise it. President of the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Kristen Clarke, soberly adds that The Justice Departments latest action opens the door for wide-scale and unlawful purging of the voter registration rolls across our country.

Sure, our American democracy isnt nor has ever been perfect. But these latest trends bare the scent of something far worse.

Clarence Hightower is the Executive Director of Community Action Partnership of Ramsey & Washington Counties. Dr. Hightower holds a Ph.D. in urban higher education from Jackson State University. He welcomes reader responses to 450 Syndicate Street North, St. Paul, MN 55104

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OkCupid bans white supremacist for life, asks daters to report others – Ars Technica

Posted: at 6:41 pm

Dating site OkCupid made the unusual move of announcing that it had given a single member a "lifetime" ban on Thursdayand naming himin order to make a point.

"We were alerted that white supremacist Chris Cantwell was on OkCupid," the company wrote at its official Twitter account on Thursday. "Within 10 minutes, we banned him for life."

Cantwell was the subject of a Vice documentary about the white-supremacist Unite The Right marches in Charlottesville, Virginia, over the past weekend, where he offered numerous racist and threatening comments while acting as a march organizer and riding in a car alongside former KKK Grand Wizard David Duke. ("We're not non-violent," Cantwelloffered at one point in the documentary. "We'll fucking kill these people if we fucking have to.")

In announcing this ban,OKC alsoasked its users to be vigilant about any other active members of hate groups found on the site. "If any OkCupid members come across people involved in hate groups, please report it immediately," the company wrote on its Twitter page. The tweet linked to the company's official "feedback" site.

On OkCupid, Cantwell wentby the handle "ItsChris603" where he described himself as "a professional podcaster and writer specializing in controversial political satire" who specifically sought only"white" women. His dating profile did not contain statements anywhere near as sensational as those in the Vice documentary, though in a section titled,"I spend a lot of time thinking about," Cantwell wrotethe following: "Getting married, and how to stop the Democrat party from destroying Western Civilization." (A 2015 archiveof his dating profile is different, as it containsa shout-out to Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged and a declaration that "I will make you laugh at things you might feel guilty laughing about, which is my favorite kind of laughter.")

Cantwell's OkCupid profiles look remarkably different fromonewritten by theSouthern Poverty Law Center, which describes him as "an unapologetic fascist who spews white nationalist propaganda with a libertarian spin" (and with many citations).

OkCupid's media relations team actively approached news outlets at the moment the company announced the ban, including Gizmodo, whichpublished a statement from OKCupid CEOElie Seidma: "We make a lot of decisions every day that are tough. Banning Christopher Cantwell was not one of them."

In that same report, Gizmodo went to the trouble of rifling through Cantwell's Internet history to find his own "dating advice for the ladies" post that revolved around his use of OkCupid; this post included a "tip" to women that simply said, "In a photo of you and a friend, I assume you are the ugly one." Cantwell has since deleted that and similarposts from his personal site.

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Heather Yakin: Decent people and bigots are not morally equivalent – Times Herald-Record

Posted: at 6:41 pm

Heather Yakin Times Herald-Record @HeatherYakin845

The chaos and horror that erupted in Charlottesville, Va., are not, I fear, a passing thing.

These attitudes of hate, the desire of a certain sort of white person to beat down or extinguish those whom they deem less human, less worthy, have never really gone away.

The hate has been underground, ashamed. In private quarters, they complained about political correctness and how those others just dont know their rightful place. They complained about change, about progress, about their opposition to the rights and beliefs of others.

They refer to us as animals and parasites, as objects and property and above all as inferiors. They worship the false idols of the Confederacy, venerating a flag at its heart that signifies treason.

This culminated Saturday in an act of terror, a car driven into a crowd by a dogmatist, no different than the vile dogmatists who have driven into other crowds in other places in the name of other gods or ideologies.

Our president, two days later: Racism is evil. Thanks. (And then Tuesday he took that back.)

There is bad behavior, lots of it, on both sides. Brawls have broken out at other rallies. These antifa so-called activists are basically vandals looking for an excuse to break things. Smoke bombs and spray-painted slogans do nothing to change minds.

But if you see moral equivalence between these pseudo-anarchist punks who want to punch or pepper-spray people with whom they disagree and Nazis or the KKK, you've got problems.

The left needs to deal with its idiots. The right needs to take a long look at its allies, and make a decision. Real conservatives need to take back their movement. Man, do I miss real conservatives.

On Saturday, neo-Nazis and white supremacists marched in the streets of Charlottesville, ostensibly in defense of some Confederate monuments the city wants to remove.

Theyre provocateurs, proudly proclaiming what they view as their own innate superiority. In photos of these angry young men, they look like nothing so much as earnest young converts to objectivism, guys who read "Atlas Shrugged" or "The Fountainhead" and have not yet realized that Ayn Rand was a hypocrite and not a particularly good writer. Theyve immersed themselves in a virtual echo chamber where their every transgressive idea is applauded and reinforced.

Their online mantras of fake news and snowflake and go back to your safe space are kindergarten playground taunts. No, I take that back. In kindergarten, the teacher would have scolded such childishness.

The left needs to remember that these alt-right guys have a right to their speech, however vile it is, under the U.S. Constitution. The Supreme Court has upheld only the narrowest of exceptions to the First Amendment, and awful, pseudo-intellectual stupidity is not one of them.

Cut off one groups speech rights, and yours could be next. Fight bad ideas with better ideas.

Even white supremacists and the KKK and their sympathizers have a right to speak without government interference. Consider it a form of truth in advertising, with their terrible beliefs revealed by the light. Let decent people everywhere mock and scorn them for their awful speech, and help the marketplace of ideas to relegate their bigotry to museum shelves, as a cautionary tale.

Let us never forget the lessons of the past.

hyakin@th-record.com

On Twitter @HeatherYakin845

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Cars of the future to be made of wood? THIS peek into future will leave you wonder-struck – Financial Express

Posted: at 6:41 pm

Rearden metal becomes something of a byword for revolution in manufacturing in the course of the novel.

One of the plot points in Ayn Rands Atlas Shrugged is the invention of an alloy far stronger, durable and lighter than steel called Rearden metal, named after Hank Rearden, the fictional industrialist who invents it in the novel. Rearden metal becomes something of a byword for a revolution in manufacturing in the course of the novel. Atlas Shrugged came out in 1957, and it spoke of a material that was to steel what steel was to iron. Six decades hence, steel still remains supreme. But the hunt for a substitute has, depending on end-use, variously thrown up plastic, aluminium, titanium, carbon fibre and whatnot. An unlikely candidate is a wood, or more specifically, nanocrystalline cellulose (NCC)nanofibres made of wood pulp. Wood, you would think, is lighter yes, but what about strength? Researchers at Kyoto University and auto-parts suppliers to Japanese car-makers like Toyota are betting their top yen on cellulose nanofibers to substitute steel, and even the popular carbon-fibre, in the decades to come. They say, as per a Reuters report, that it is one-fifth weight of steel and can be upto five times stronger.

Making NCC starts with the purification of wood. Substances such as lignin, a phenolic polymer that lends wood its rigidity, and hemicellulose, amorphous, randomly arranged heteroplymers that have little strength, are removed. The remainder is pulped and hydrolysed in acid to remove any remaining impurities. After the acid treatment, it is concentrated into a thick paste that can be used to laminate surfaces or is processed into nanofibril strands. The latter are hard, dense and hardy, but can be moulded into different shapes.

NCC has been widely used in the pastby Pioneer Electronics, the Japanese company, to make flexible electronic items, by IBM to make computer parts and by the US army to make lightweight body armour and ballistic glass, among others. The Kyoto University researchers, Denso Corp. (Toyotas largest supplier) and DaikyoNishikawa Corp are melding NCC with plastic to make a material that can some day be used to make entire cars. At the moment, though, the research is focussed on developing a car by 2020 that has cellulose-nanofibre parts.

The focus on lightweight cars stems from the push for electric cars worldwide. Given these will need to have heavier than conventional batteries, the car weight goes up significantly. A lighter car is double-blessingit balances out the weight of the batteries while a lighter car itself will need fewer such batteries to be powered. But, the wunder material cellulose nanofibre is turning out to be, it still is not cost competitive against carbon-fibre. Scientists, though, are optimistic. Plant wastebranches and even twigscould one day be used to make cellulose nanofribres and probably even waste paper. That may bring costs down.

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Cars of the future to be made of wood? THIS peek into future will leave you wonder-struck - Financial Express

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The North Korea Problem – Being Libertarian

Posted: at 6:40 pm

It seems to me that whenever North Korea launches one of their missiles or decides they are going test another nuclear device, the rest of the world loses their collective mind, and needlessly so. North Korea is no threat to the United States, or anyone, but itself.

Let me explain. On one hand people seem to have the impression that North Korea is some grave threat to the West that needs to be stopped; on the other, people have this view of them as some unintelligent, cartoonish throwback to the Cold War, undermining its own credibility when it misidentifies target cities on propaganda maps. While their military is large, and they indeed could cause some damage, nuclear weapons or not, their hardware is mostly forty years out of date and they have no real way to project power outside their immediate surroundings, even if they develop a working ICBM. And as for the perception of North Korea run by stupid, crazy people, I completely reject that. They came out of the Cold War largely unscathed (and remain so) culturally and ideologically, while most other communist regimes collapsed or evolved towards capitalism. They are a nuclear power, a title only a handful of nations can claim, and they have a propaganda machine so good the regime essentially brainwashed 25 million people into believing their dear leader is a god.

All of this is to say the idea that North Korea is run by crazy people that will nuke either the States or their southern neighbor the very instant they have the capability is absurd. Rather than reckless belligerence, they have shown themselves to be calculating and precise, knowing just what buttons to press, and how hard to press them, without causing a metaphorical detonation. The bombardment of Yeonpyeong and the sinking of the ROKS Cheonan show pretty good examples of this. Causing casualties on your enemies without incurring any of your own shows a pretty remarkable amount of intelligence in my book, and wantonly nuking your enemies is the exact opposite way to go about that. I absolutely guarantee the regime running North Korea is smart enough to know they will lose a war they start with either the United States and/or South Korea, and they most certainly know that if they use a nuclear weapon in an offensive fashion, South Korea would become an island soon after.

For all the decades of posturing and chest beating, the Korean War hasnt resumed. Much the same way the USSR and the US had the means and never exercised them, the same way India and Pakistan have the capability but remain fallout free, so too will the Korean Peninsula remain intact, as long as the participating parties continue to use some restraint.

So, what can we do? Im all for sanctions as a moral action, but practically, North Korea has shown they will carry on regardless; attacking them would only cause an unneeded and bloody war. I really think the best thing we can do is ignore them. Their whole shtick is based on aggression by the West, and we feed that every time the news cycle starts interviewing generals about the best course of action to deal with the regimes latest aggression. I am sure that North Korea would continue to pump out their anti-west rhetoric regardless of whether we give it fuel or not, but at that point we could at least claim the moral high ground, and they would at least have to go through the effort of making up stories on their own.

I mentioned at the beginning of this piece that I think the biggest threat to the regime of North Korea is itself. The libertarian community believes that communism doesnt work. It hasnt yet, and if we truly believe that, we must believe that an oppressive regime like that of the DPRK will eventually collapse and undo itself. As the rest of the world continues to progress around their island of stagnation and misery, and ever more sharply juxtaposes the situations of the North and South, the more the people of the North will see what the South has and start demanding it for themselves. We should certainly be there to help pick up the pieces, but the people of the North need to want change before we can do any good.

Image: Getty

* ColoradoYeah runs the libertarian leaning coloradoyeah.com.

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Triad residents among those tapped for posts in NC Libertarian Party – Winston-Salem Journal

Posted: at 6:40 pm

RALEIGH The N.C. Libertarian Party has picked three Triad residents for leadership roles.

Clement Erhardt of Greensboro is the party's treasurer and the slate of at-large members includesAngela Anderson of Winston-Salem andJ.J. Summerell of Greensboro.

Susan Hogarth of Raleigh has been named the Libertarian Party of North Carolina's new chairwoman.

N.C. Libertarian officials elected a new state party chair and a slate of officers during the party's annual convention held in Lake Lure, according to a release.

Nathan Phillips of Asheville was named vice chair, Brent DeRidder of Hampstead will serve as secretary, and the remaing at-large members are Matt Clements of Carrboro, Chris Dooley of Charlotte, James Hines of Asheville, Amy Lamont of Oxford, Ryan Teeter of Hampstead, Andreas Steude of Cary, and Alec Willson of Asheville.

Summerell was the Libertarian candidate for North Carolina's 1st Congressional District in 2016. Incumbent U.S. Rep. G.K. Butterfield, a Wilson Democrat, won re-election with 68.6 percent of the vote, defeating Republican candidate and Stantonsburg town councilman Powell Dew (28.9 percent) and Summerell, who picked up 2.4 percent of the vote.

The Libertarian Party, formed in 1971, is the third-largest political party in the U.S. and North Carolina, as well as the only ballot-recognized alternative party in the state.

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A Libertarian Perspective – Courier-Times (subscription)

Posted: at 6:40 pm

Every so often, on social media sites, someone posts a mathematical problem similar to this:

1 + 4 = 5

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A Libertarian Perspective - Courier-Times (subscription)

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Hogarth tapped to lead NC Libertarian Party – The Wilson Times (subscription)

Posted: at 6:40 pm

From staff reports

RALEIGH - Susan Hogarth of Raleigh has been named the Libertarian Party of North Carolina's new chairwoman.

N.C. Libertarian officials elected a new state party chair and a slate of officers during the party's annual convention held in Lake Lure, according to a release.

"I'm honored to have been chosen as chair of the Libertarian Party North Carolina," Hogarth said. "I couldn't be more excited at the prospect of working with all the intelligent and hardworking folks just elected to the executive committee."

Nathan Phillips of Asheville was named vice chair, Brent DeRidder of Hampstead will serve as secretary, Clement Erhardt of Greensboro is the party's treasurer, and at-large members are Angela Anderson of Winston-Salem, Matt Clements of Carrboro, Chris Dooley of Charlotte, James Hines of Asheville, Amy Lamont of Oxford, Ryan Teeter of Hampstead, Andreas Steude of Cary, J.J. Summerell of Greensboro and Alec Willson of Asheville.

Summerell was the Libertarian candidate for North Carolina's 1st Congressional District in 2016. Incumbent U.S. Rep. G.K. Butterfield, a Wilson Democrat, won re-election with 68.6 percent of the vote, defeating Republican candidate and Stantonsburg town councilman Powell Dew (28.9 percent) and Summerell, who picked up 2.4 percent of the vote.

The Libertarian Party, formed in 1971, is the third-largest political party in the U.S. and North Carolina, as well as the only ballot-recognized alternative party in the state.

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Hogarth tapped to lead NC Libertarian Party - The Wilson Times (subscription)

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Op-ed: Why you should consider the Libertarian candidate for the 3rd District – Deseret News

Posted: at 6:40 pm

Adam Fondren, Deseret News

I voted stickers and voting cards at the Sandy City Office polling location on August 15, 2017.

On Aug. 16, Republicans in the 3rd District finally chose a candidate to fill the empty seat formerly held by Jason Chaffetz. Because this was a three-way race with no run-off, the fiscally responsible voters of the 3rd District were divided, and as a result, the GOP candidate for this fall will be the least fiscally responsible, least free market oriented of the three. And this is in Utahs most fiscally responsible congressional district.

On the Democratic side, we have a candidate advocating an even more aggressive federal government micromanaging of health care from D.C., raising the tax and debt burden on every American.

Meanwhile, our local media have zeroed in on only one alternative to this lack of real choice, the son of the late Sen. Bob Bennett, who was ousted by Utahs fiscal conscience Sen. Mike Lee. The fiscally sound folks from Utahs 3rd Congressional District currently have six candidates on the November ballot to choose from, but only three are being mentioned as viable choices to represent their interests in Washington.

This letter is not a reflection on the character of the candidates in this race, in fact, having met both Jim Bennett and John Curtis, I can genuinely say that these candidates are seemingly very good people with good intentions.

However, the records and statements of the Democrat and the Republican in this race present two candidates with only slight differences in their tax and spending policies. With Congress discussing the critical issue of tax reform in the coming year, it is critical that the fiscally responsible people of Utah are represented by a true voice for substantive tax reform.

When Jason Chaffetz resigned, one of the most often referenced concerns of voters was the absence of a voice in Congress during this critical time. Ask yourself, do you want a congressman who has a bad record on taxes, or do you want a sane voice for fiscal discipline? Do you want a candidate who, once elected, must immediately turn around and begin campaigning for re-election?

Despite what you are hearing from the media and the political elite, there is another option, a reasonable option that will give the 3rd District a determined and knowledgeable voice on tax reform for one year, a powerful option that will look straight in the eye of the political elite and let them know that the 3rd District is not for sale. If you vote for the Libertarian candidate in this election, you will be voting for principled tax reform you can trust that no matter what happens, your representative will represent your interests and not be beholden to the Democrats and Republicans who keep their freshman members on a tight leash.

If you vote for the Libertarian, you will have a representative for one year who will not be forced to focus on re-election, and who will instead work every day to provide real reform in Washington. If you vote for the Libertarian, you can tell the lobbyists with Count My Vote that this system placed two tofu candidates on the ballot and you wont be a part of it.

Here is the bottom line, this candidate will only hold office for one year before a new election is held. By sending the Libertarian to Washington, you will have the time to focus on finding a candidate for the 3rd District that truly represents Utah values. You have an opportunity to vote for the only candidate who was nominated at a convention rather than in a well-funded primary. A candidate with an MBA in finance, a career in education and a principled stand. A candidate who will enjoy the support of the leaders of the national Liberty Movement. There are so many reasons to vote for the Libertarian this November, take a risk and vote for Dr. Joe Buchman.

Joseph Buchman is chairman of the Libertarian Party of Utah and a candidate for Utah's 3rd Congressional District. Buchman has a Ph.D. in media from Indiana University and has spent his career teaching marketing, finance and communications.

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Op-ed: Why you should consider the Libertarian candidate for the 3rd District - Deseret News

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