Va. Libertarian candidate endorsed by major district newspaper
The News Virginian, a major newspaper in Virginia's 24th district, has officially endorsed Libertarian candidate Arin Sime. Sime is running for the Va. Senate in the 24th district.
While we do not expect a victory, Sime gets our vote. Fresh thinking such as his is a rarity in an era of knee-jerk, party-line politics...Our support of Sime is not so much a reflection of Hanger [Sime's Republican opponent] as it is driven by an interest in a candidate whose approach reaches outside traditional boundaries.
LNC National Secretary, Bob Sullentrup, on XM Radio
Bob Sullentrup, the LNC National Secretary, will be on the XM radio show P.O.T.U.S. '08 on Tuesday (Oct. 30) at 7:30 a.m. (eastern time) [6:30 a.m., central]. Sullentrup also founded RocktheDebates.com. Please listen in!
Earlier this month, the Libertarian Party was a co-sponsor of the Conservative Leadership Conference in Reno, NV. Here are some speeches and interviews by Libertarians during this event, courtesy of Integrity in Service. Please check the link as that more videos will be added in the next few days. Special thanks to Pepe and Justin of Integrity in Service for making these videos available to us.
Also speaking at the CLC were presidential hopefuls: Mitt Romney, Alan Keyes, and Duncan Hunter.
Wayne Allyn Root, Libertarian candidate for president:
Earlier this week, Libertarian Party National Chairman Bill Redpath, and former Congressman Bob Barr were on an Oklahoma radio show to talk about the Libertarian Party and the Oklahoma ballot access initiative petition drive. Click here for the audio.
Here is the information related to the appearance:
Former Georgia congressman Bob Barr and Bill Redpath, chairman of the National Libertarian party, are the guests to discuss an effort to gather signatures to force a statewide vote on making it easier for additional parties to get access to the Oklahoma ballot for their candidates. The pair visited FireLake Grand Casino. Former Rep. Barr comments on the lengths FLG officials had to explore to design table games that are within gaming laws.
Robert Enders, a Libertarian candidate running for the 6th District seat in Indiana, has picked up a key endorsement from the Fort Wayne Newspaper, The News-Sentinel.
Enders for the 6th
The council has never had a Libertarian, and putting one there would make the body more interesting. A Libertarian would always raise points not usually made by either Republicans or Democrats.
So we recommend that voters give council a Libertarian - Robert Enders, who is seeking the 6th District seat.
If elected, his top priority would be to provide long-term property tax relief by controlling local spending. He would return to a respect for property rights by arguing against eminent domain and such things as the smoking ban. He would also concentrate on crime prevention. He said he would try to erase the unfair perception that the south side of Fort Wayne is more dangerous than the north side.
Also seeking the office are incumbent Democrat Glynn Hines, who is serving his second term, and Republican Joe Smith. Hines would continue the economic-development focus on the southeast side of town, work on new housing and the rehabilitation of existing housing, and also concentrate on infrastructure improvements.
When Kathleen Casey-Kirschling filed for her Social Security check, it wasn't any other day for the Social Security administrative agency. No, Casey-Kirschling was surrounded by cameras and she was prepping for a press conference. Why? Because Casey-Kirschling is the eldest of the baby-boomer generation, and her retirement will mark the beginning of a "silver tsunami" that will inevitably bankrupt the system if things don't change.
In fact, just this past year Social Security payouts increased by 2.3 percent.
In her interview with the Guardian, Casey-Kirschling said that just as the U.S. adjusted to their generation before, and they would have to do it again. "It's just like [when] they had to build schools for us growing up and universities expanded ... it's the same now with retirement issues like financial planning and assisted living homes," said Casey-Kirschling. "Everything is still going to be for the baby boomer."
But things may not be that simple.
With the cost of living ever on the rise and more healthcare initiatives aimed at the elderly such as the Bush administration's $500+ billion dollar prescription drug bill, the United States can't continue to meet it's promises while keeping things the same. There are three options that could happen. The United States simply fails to fulfill its promises and Social Security program ends; the government tries to fulfill its promises and bankrupts the nation; or, the government places astronomical Social Security taxes on American incomes.
In a GAO report on the healthcare crisis the nation faces, it stated the government would either have to cut spending by 60 percent by the year 2040, or either increase taxes to twice what they are today. Adding the burden of Social Security makes things all the worse.
No matter what option occurs, one thing is for sure: People are going to be very angry. Justifiably, of course. Baby-boomers -- like everyone else -- have paid into the Social Security system all their lives. One would expect to get at least some of that back; however, this is the flaw in trusting the government to do retirement savings for you.
But like it or not, the problem is here and it's only going to get worse. Casey-Kirschling was right in saying she was glad to be first in line for Social Security because sooner or later, those funds are going to dry up and the United States will have procrastinated itself into a very perilous situation.
When the Democrats passed the amendments to FISA in an 11th hour decision that allowed them to take their hallowed monthly vacation, it was nothing less than a sell-out to the Bush administration at the expense of treasured civil liberties. There are many things to get mad over in this situation: conceding to the Bush administration just to go on vacation, using civil liberties as a political football and going far beyond what the Bush administration had asked for are just a few.
Despite all of this, the metaphorical salt in the wound would have to be the fact that the Democrats decry foul at any Administration indiscretion. But despite this betrayal, the Democrats at least has the foresight to put a sunset clause on the Amendments for six months, where they could at least revisit the issue when travel plans permitted.
Two months after vowing to roll back broad new wiretapping powers won by the Bush administration, Congressional Democrats appear ready to make concessions that could extend some of the key powers granted to the National Security Agency.
This time around it isn't that Democrats want to go on vacation and the President isn't holding it above their heads. This time, it's because Democrats have just lost their spine (if they ever had one to begin with):
As the debate over the N.S.A.'s wiretapping powers begins anew this week, the emerging legislation reflects the political reality confronting the Democrats. While they are willing to oppose the White House on the conduct of the war in Iraq, they remain nervous that they will be labeled as soft on terrorism if they insist on strict curbs on intelligence gathering.
Nobody in power seems to realize that the reason Congressional ratings are at historical lows is because of a failure to stand up to the president, and this certainly is the wrong way to reverse course. While House Democrats have certainly put up proposals that make the FISA amendments easier to swallow, they in no way change the fact that even a compromise would not alter abhorrent nature of what the Bush administration is asking for.
But this seems to be the modus operandi of the current political system. One party makes an outrageous demands, the other party blocks it [with the exception of this case when Dems. didn't even put up a fight], then the two make a compromise that is not entirely acceptable, but compared to the original demand, comparatively better.
In the end, the American public is given the leftovers of a meal neither party completely wanted to finish.
Libertarian National Committee, Inc. - 2008 - Privacy Policy Paid for by the Libertarian National Committee -- 2600 Virginia Ave, N.W. Suite 200, Washington D.C. 20037 -- 1-800-Elect-Us Content not authorized by any candidate or candidate committee
