Category Archives: Libertarian

How does the Libertarian Partys 2017 Virginia gubernatorial nominee Cliff Hyra stack up from a progressive, environmentalist perspective? Lets check out his website and other sources, including the Virginia Libertarian Party platform and see (note: my comments in green). Also, for the record, Im all for including Hyra in gubernatorial debates.

Overall, on the issues listed above, Hyra gets 5 in the A range, 2 in the B range, 7 in the C range, 2 in the D range and 6 in the F range, for an overall grade of roughly a C. The reason why Democrats shouldnt vote for Hyra is that some of the areas where he gets particularly low grades Medicaid expansion/health insurance in general, womens reproductive freedom, the environment, guns are very important ones for most of us, while stuff like marijuana decriminalization is great, but not much different than Democratic nominee Ralph Northams position on the issue. So then why choose Hyra over Northam? Got me. On the other hand, perhaps if youre a Republican who detests corrupt crony capitalists like Ed Gillespie, perhaps you should consider a vote for the Libertarian candidate this year?

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Grading 2017 VA GOV Libertarian Candidate Cliff Hyra - Blue Virginia (press release) (blog)

A day after the Fourth of July, Trevor Reilly sat at Granite City Food & Brewery crafting plans.

He was looking to make a name for the small, fringe party he adopted after feeling the GOP had turned its back on him.

The Lancaster Libertarian party, which Reilly heads, has started to meet theremonthly since January, looking for ways to grow a party seemingly overlooked in last year's election.

Reilly, a libertarian neophyte and newly ordained political activist, didn't see last year's presidential election as a two-dimensional, "pick-the-lesser-of-the-two-evils" fight between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.

Instead, Reilly, a 25-year-old University of Nebraska-Lincoln student and Afghanistan veteran, took a third route campaigning for libertarian candidate Gary Johnson.

"It's like being part of the 'Bad News Bears,'" he said. "You're the underdog."

Being the underdog was a change of pace for Reilly.

Ever since he was eligible to vote, he had always been a staunch Republican, a direct outcome of growing up in a conservative household.

But as the election cycle picked up, Reilly saw himself drawn to the TV more and more watching everything from "Morning Joe" on MSNBC to Fox News.

That's how he found out about the Libertarian Party, eventually deciding to switch affiliations after he said the GOP abandoned the values he held dear like smaller government and fewer taxes.

"More Republicans were straying away from the values, like smaller government, that they used to hold," he said. "This year's election was just a culmination of that."

Reilly has been the head of the Lancaster Libertarian Party since October,spearheading activism previously unseen in the party in Lincoln.

From June 25 to July 2, the party held Freedom Week, devoted to discussing and highlighting libertarian ideals.

Such as smaller government, less taxation, legalization of more recreational drugs, and less bureaucratic meddling in people's lives.

In short, fiscally conservative but socially liberal, Reilly said.

The week culminated in the Rally for Liberty on the north steps of the Capitol, in which around 60 people gathered to discuss and celebrate the libertarian platform.

It's a platform that it is not totally new to Nebraska politics.

In June 2016, state Sen. Laura Ebke of District 32 pulled the same switch as Reilly, ditching the Republican Party for the Libertarians, citing frustration with Republican partisanship.

Reilly plans to organize more rallies not marches, he said to get the libertarian message out.

"Marches don't work to the same extent; they can devolve," he said. "Rallies stay centered on the message."

Concerning the latest uptick in activism in Lincoln and around the country, Reilly said he sees it as reaction to Trump just as the tea party reacted to Obama.

"It's just a side trying to get back at the other side," he said.

As far as his own future is concerned once he graduates?

"Who knows," Reilly said. "I might even run for office someday."

Excerpt from:

Newly minted Libertarian feels GOP strayed from small government values - Lincoln Journal Star

"I have to give thanks to Donald Trump and the Republican Party," said Sarwark, a former defense attorney who has led the Libertarian Party since 2014. "Their success in getting control of government and then showing that they can't do anything once they have that control has been a better argument for joining the Libertarian Party than anything I could say."

As part of his efforts, Sarwark joined more than 1,000 libertarians and conservatives recently here in Las Vegas for a free-wheeling annual gathering called FreedomFest, fertile recruiting grounds where attendees held a robust skepticism of government power and where opinions of President Donald Trump were mixed.

Activities at the four-day confab were varied: One could attend academic lectures on Adam Smith, discussion panels about whether space aliens would be libertarians, debates over open borders and a film festival. You could also listen to a dialogue between actors dressed as Ayn Rand and Benjamin Franklin, watch a speech by actor William Shatner and attend a blowout party for Steve Forbes' birthday.

FreedomFest has been a mainstay of the Las Vegas convention circuit for a decade. But this marked the first gathering of Trump's presidency, which has divided even like-minded communities, including attendees here.

Trump himself made a surprise appearance at this conference in 2015, making it one of his first public appearances after announcing his bid for the presidency. As an example of what was to come, the Republican candidate rambled over 50 minutes, complaining about the media, railing against trade, promoting a wall on the Mexican border and expressing a desire to get along with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Watching the speech at the time, Jeffrey Tucker, the content director at the libertarian Foundation for Economic Education, assumed the crowd would run Trump out of town. He was wrong.

"I thought, nobody's going to buy this. Everything he says is against everything we believe. But by the time he ended, he had won over a substantial number of the crowd, which was a shock," Tucker said. "Libertarians imagine themselves to be intellectually robust and have strength of character, they are as subject as anybody else to be manipulated by the cult of personality and a good sales pitch."

Indeed, reactions to Trump at the conference this year were varied.

There are those, like Sarwark, who have deep concerns about Trump's policies yet sense a opportunities amid the chaos.

Others, like former Libertarian Party Vice Presidential Nominee Wayne Allyn Root, can't get enough joy out of Trump's bombast.

"I love that he's driving liberals insane," said Root, who debated Trucker about Trump at the conference. "They need a straitjacket, a rubber room and a hug from mommy."

But for many who consider themselves libertarians, the main concern is systematic, and larger than the current president. The real issue, they say, is that the presidency has gained too much authority in the first place, and that Trump is merely taking advantage of an inheritance given to him by Republicans and Democrats alike.

To be a libertarian, after all, is to be almost constantly at issue with both ruling parties in some way. Trump may be different, but to them, he's just another American president with too much power.

"He is incompetent. He has passed no significant piece of legislation in 100 days despite his big promises. He is an embarrassment to the American people and around the globe. What we need to do as libertarians is not talk about people, we need to talk about systems and policies," said Nick Gillespie, editor in chief of the libertarian magazine website Reason.com. "If you are a libertarian you should understand that big government is the problem."

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Libertarians cautiously sense opportunity under Trump ... - CNN.com - CNN International

July 25 at 5:37 PM

Again, the establishment political parties have used their influence with the bar association to reduce participation in the electoral process, this time in Virginia.The Posts July 22 Metro article Libertarian candidate not invited to debate reported that the Virginia Bar Association found a reason to exclude the Libertarian gubernatorial candidate from debating the Democratic and Republican candidates. Any thoughtful person knows the real reason for making this decision: There are only downsides to the major-party candidates having to debate a person who will clearly demonstrate that they do not and cannot have much to offer the voters.

Given the recent presidential race between major candidates with extremely high unfavorable ratings, I would think the Virginia Bar Association would be interested in supporting all reasonable opportunities to provide alternative information and candidates to the Virginia (and in three years, the national) electorate.

David Griggs, Columbia

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The real reason the Libertarian gubernatorial candidate was shut out of a debate - Washington Post

The Commonwealth of Virginia is set to elect a new governor in November. There are three candidates qualified to be on the ballot but the Republican and Democratic parties are blocking the Libertarian candidate Cliff Hyra from participating.

The voters are entitled to hear from all eligible candidates not just those of the two majority parties. I would like the Bluefield Daily Telegraph and its readers to ask that Mr. Hyra be included in all future debates as the citizens of Virginia need to know all of the options that are available in November.

As three newspapers in Virginia have endorsed this idea as well as this issue being addressed by WVTF-TV in Roanoke as well as Virginia public radio. I think that the Bluefield Daily Telegraph should have the courage to take such a stand.

Greg Gruchacz

Bluefield, Va.

Original post:

Let the Libertarian candidate have a say - Bluefield Daily Telegraph

Duke University historian Nancy MacLean's new book, Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right's Stealth Plan for America, combines conspiracy theories, accusations of racism, and dire warnings about a libertarian plot to create an American oligarchy. It's a historical story that's a "product of [MacLean's] imagination," with a reading of sources that's "hostile and tendentious to the point of pure error," as Reason's Brian Doherty put in a review we published last week.

In today's podcast, Doherty joins Nick Gillespie, Katherine Mangu-Ward, and Andrew Heaton to discuss how MacLean fundamentally misunderstands her subject matter; this year's Freedom Fest (an annual convention for libertarians in Las Vegas that just wrapped up); conservative-leaning libertarians vs. left-leaning libertarians; the constitutional ramifications of Donald Trump potentially pardoning himself; and whether or not we're living in the panopticon.

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Nancy MacLean's Libertarian Conspiracy Theory [Podcast] - Reason (blog)

Manchester PD was one of 7 gangs to receive a share of $1,304,118

(pages 63 and 124) in grants to conduct sobriety checkpoints. One of the checkpoints was conducted this past Thursday, July 20th 10pm through July 21st 2:30am. The checkpoint was located on the westbound lane of Bridge St. Manchester PD records indicate that there were 3 stops on Bridge Street during those hours. There were no arrests, and no citations are listed. No DWI arrests occurred during those hours anywhere in Manchester, according to the gangs website.

As always, a group of libertarians showed up to warn drivers of the presence of the gang members. Though it seems that the MPD gang did not remove any unsafe activity from the roadways, the libertarians warned several drivers, both those who drove through the checkpoint and those who did not, that their headlights were off. One car was pulled over in the right turning lane turning onto Elm St. This was promptly filmed by several libertarians and the driver seemed to me to be let go without any further violations of their rights beyond the initial kidnapping/death threat.

A Utility Work Ahead sign was on the sidewalk next to the right turn lane turning onto Bridge St (towards the checkpoint). There was no visible utility work in the area. The sign was facing away from any traffic that would have seen it. Due to the design of the sign, it was easy to walk behind to walk down the sidewalk with a sign to warn drivers. (These drivers would have seen the blank metal back of the utility work sign.) The only drivers who this sign would realistically been visible to would be a driver driving east on the westbound side of Bridge St.

If you want to be warned of checkpoints in the geographical area occupied by New Hampshire before they happen, you can follow Checkpoint Free New Hampshire on Twitter,Facebook, orsend an SMS saying follow @NoCheckpointsNH to 40404 to get SMS alerts.

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Libertarian Activists Enforce Headlight Law - Free Keene

Jul 19, 2017 at 7:32 am | Print View

CEDAR RAPIDS The politics-as-usual approach to state government by Republicans and Democrats is unsustainable and hurting vulnerable Iowans, according to Jake Porter, a Libertarian who is joining the race for governor.

Were having this huge budget crisis, and I dont see other candidates proposing real changes, Porter said Tuesday.

Instead, Statehouse lawmakers and the governor are using the budget as a weapon, according to Porter, who will formally announce his candidacy on The Simon Conway Show on WHO Radio between 4 and 7 p.m. Thursday.

Theyve decided were having a budget crisis, so were going to cut the services people use most, whether its mental health services, sexual abuse hotlines, domestic abuse shelters (or) hearing aids for kids, Porter said.

Theyre not actually going after any of the waste that could easily be cut. Theyre going after the things that are going to hurt the most people, probably as an excuse to raise the sales tax next year.

Porter, 29, a Council Bluffs business consultant long active in the Libertarian Party, previously ran for secretary of state. He thinks his views and priorities are more closely aligned with voters than either the Democratic or Republican platform.

He wants to make medical cannabis available, restore voting rights for felons who have served their time, end corporate welfare, return Medicaid to its pre-privatization status and phase out the state sales tax.

He opposes corporate welfare on libertarian principles. Its wrong, Porter said, to ask Iowans to pay millions of dollars to financially sound corporations. He singled out the Research Activities Credit that refunds tax money to corporations even if they have no tax liability.

Theyve put the tax bill on the smallest Iowans and smallest companies, he said. I dont think the state should favor one business over another.

Porter believes Libertarians are more serious about cutting the size of government than Republicans.

Ive watched the budget grow from $6.2 billion from the end of the Culver administration to $7.3 billion under Gov. Terry Branstad, he said. So they cant claim theyve actually cut any government. Theyve grown it while giving large tax breaks to big financially sound corporations.

Porter called turning over Medicaid management to private companies an example of big government cronyism by former Gov. Terry Branstads administration. Porter would return management responsibility to the Department of Human Services and then make improvements.

The state has messed around for far too long while people who could benefit from medical cannabis have suffered, Porter said. While he would favor legalization of marijuana for recreational use, I dont think the Legislature is going to pass that.

Despite the changes the Legislature has made, current law makes it difficult, nearly impossible, for Iowans who need cannabidiol to get it, he said.

As a Libertarian, Porter said, he would have the advantage of being able to work with and around the major political parties by using the governors bully pulpit to open a dialogue with voters and pressure lawmakers to act on his priorities.

The only who dont agree are the big corporate interests or those in the Legislature, As governor, you can go around and talk about issues and you can pound the issues until (lawmakers) basically have to do something about it, he said.

Porter said his campaign website, jakeporter.org, will go live Thursday afternoon.

l Comments: (319) 398-8375; james.lynch@thegazette.com

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Libertarian Iowa gubernatorial candidate calls for 'real changes ... - The Gazette: Eastern Iowa Breaking News and Headlines

While Rogers County residents may be familiar with the various political party groups that exist within the county, a fledgling political group is hoping to make inroads into Claremore the Northeast Oklahoma Libertarian Party.

Formed earlier this year, the Tulsa-based NEOLP is a group of like-minded Oklahomans who are seeking to gain interest in their philosophies and ideas as an alternative to the traditional two party system.

NEOLP Vice-Chairman Lee Miller of Tulsa explains the groups origins:

In the last presidential election, when (Libertarian candidate) Gary Johnson got more than two and a half percent of the votes (in Oklahoma), that gave the Libertarian party automatic status as an official party in the state, and in response to this, the Northeast Oklahoma Libertarian Party was created, Miller said. The group was formed in April and weve been gaining momentum ever since as people have learned more about us, who we are, what our core ideas are, etc.

Currently, were based in Tulsa, but were wanting to expand, to grow and were hoping to be able to do so in Claremore, to form a smaller, regional group there, he said. Were hoping to inform and educate people in Claremore and Rogers County about the (Libertarian) party to give them another choice besides just Democrat or Republican.

As to Libertarian positions, Miller said the party is less a group of positions than it is a philosophy and set of values, a moral principle of self-ownership, which oftentimes can be misunderstood by those who subscribe to the standard two-party system.

I think the struggle with the party is often that its misunderstood its more of a philosophy, a way of thinking about our rights as citizens in some ways, its more Republican, in other ways, its more Democratic, he said. These misunderstandings (about the party) are simply from people not being informed about what we stand for.

Miller encapsulated the partys key believes in three philosophies:

Firstly, the party is about non-aggression were not going to initiate aggression against another person because of their beliefs, he said. As a party, most of our members are pro-gun, but that doesnt mean its a party of aggression its a party of individual rights and duties.

Secondly, we focus on personal responsibility, he continued. When we make choices in life, there are consequences good choices lead to good consequences, and bad choices lead to bad consequences, and as individuals, those consequences for our actions and choices are ours and ours alone as individuals.

And lastly, were strong proponents of property rights, he said. Whatever you make and can produce, the fruits of your labor whether thats a job you do that earns you a wage or what you can grow out of the ground you should be able to determine what should be done with that. Currently, when we produce something, the government immediately takes a large percentage of it and frequently, theyll take even more again when its time to pay taxes. We feel the individual should have the right the liberty to determine how to distribute what he or she can produce.

What Miller said the group is seeking in Claremore are individuals who want to learn more about the party and to become involved in the groups operations.

There are 800 registered Libertarians in Oklahoma, but right now, the Northeast Oklahoma Libertarian Party group isnt a dues-paying organization, so were not sure how large our membership is, he said. Were wanting to become more-organized, educate the public more, and to be more known for our core values.

Persons interested in learning more about the NEOLP may contact Miller at 918-949-1484 or those wishing to learn more about the Libertarian party may visit the Oklahoma group online at http://www.oklp.org.

Originally posted here:

Libertarian group seeks expansion into Rogers County - Claremore Daily Progress

Editor's note: FreedomFest, held every July in Las Vegas, is the largest annual gathering of libertarians in the country. Today is the first day of the four-day long conference, which is being headlined in its 10th year by William Shatner, John Stossel, Greg Gutfeld, and others. Taking inspiration from the site Humans of New York, Reason is happy to offer Humans of FreedomFest, a series of portraits and brief interviews with various attendees. To read previous installments, go here.

Sarah Siskind, Reason

"My father used the word 'libertarian' as a swear word. 'Oh that's libertarian'... But I was a marxist at the time so I thought, well that's not something I should be. It took me a long time to get over that. I was an anarchist to begin with when I was 15. Then I was a socialist, kind of a Joan Baez socialist. I played the guitar... I know more socialist songs than my socialist colleagues. I wasn't a scholarly Marxist. I read half the Communist Manifesto and I figured that was enough. But the songs were terrific."

Sarah Siskind

"Because I'm pro-choice, among the Republicans sometimes I get into trouble. But I'm a physician. So I leave it to the patient to decide what they want. My feeling, being pro-choice, is that it's a woman's individual decision. Not mine."

"Back in England, at the London School of Economics, he was a socialist when I met him. When we first met."

So did you turn him into a libertarian?

"No. Buying private property, having rent control slammed on us, is what radicalized us."

...Who are you people?

"We can't decide."

Are those your real names?

"We're coming to a conference on privacy. It would be crazy to register in your own name!"

...Can I take your picture?

Both: "No."

This is part of a series. Read previous installments here.

The rest is here:

Humans of FreedomFest, Part 4: "My father used...'libertarian' as a swear word." - Reason (blog)