Archive for the ‘Press Releases’ Category

VERMONT LIBERTARIAN PARTY TO HOLD CONVENTION

The Vermont Libertarian Party will hold its Convention on Saturday, April 29, from 9:30 AM to 4 PM at the Capitol Plaza Hotel & Conference Center in Montpelier.

During the morning business meeting, Vermont Libertarians will reaffirm and amend the state Party platform, and elect delegates to represent Vermont at the National Libertarian Party Convention.

An onsite luncheon will follow the business meeting and in the afternoon, convention attendees listen to a variety of guest speakers, followed by a social hour.

“Libertarians from across the state will converge on Montpelier to attend to Party business and engage in lively discussion of the issues facing Vermonters today,” said Hardy Machia, chair of the Vermont Libertarian Party.

Attendance at the 2006 Vermont Libertarian Party Convention business meeting is free and open to the public, though only registered party members may vote on the convention floor.

A small fee is required to attend the afternoon luncheon and activities.

To schedule media interviews for the day of the Convention, please call Hardy Machia at 802-372-9512 or e-mail chair@vtlp.org.

The Vermont Libertarian Party has been active in Vermont politics for over 30 years. Vermont Libertarians have served in local office throughout the state. The National Libertarian Party was founded in 1971 and is the third largest political party in the United States. Millions of Americans have voted for Libertarian Party candidates in past elections throughout the country. Libertarians believe the answer to America’s political problems is the same commitment to freedom that earned America its greatness: a free-market economy and the abundance and prosperity it brings, a dedication to individual liberties and personal freedom, and a foreign policy of non-intervention, peace, and free trade.

March 13, Libertarian Party chair Hardy Machia spoke out in support of death with dignity legislation that would allow people to retain the right to make their end-of-life decisions themselves.

Libertarian Party State Chair Hardy Machia said, “Freedom starts with the individual, and each individual is the owner of his own mind, body, and spirit. The Death with Dignity bill respects this fundamental right by allowing individuals to make decisions about how they want to live their lives, and how they want to end their lives. We call on the legislature to act on the death with dignity bill [H.168] this session.”

The Libertarian Party looks with approval on Oregon’s eight-year-old assisted-suicide law that allows doctors to help terminally ill patients who wish to end their lives. The Party disagrees with the Bush administration’s argument against the Oregon law, that that hastening death with medication violates federal drug provisions. Libertarians believe that no federal or state provisions should truncate the fundamental right of human beings over their own lives and bodies.

Libertarians agree with the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision rendered in Gonzales v. Oregon that upheld Oregon’s Death with Dignity Act by a vote of 6-3. “It is time for Vermont to pass similar legislation to take a more libertarian approach to matters that are so intimate and personal to our people,” Machia said.

The Death with Dignity bill [H.168] is currently in the House Human Services Committee.

-30-

LIBERTARIAN CHAIR PREDICTS CAMPAIGN FINANCE LAW WILL NOT STAND
— VTLP Representatives Attend Historic Supreme Court Hearing –

March 2, 2006

On Tuesday, the Chair and Treasurer of the Vermont Libertarian Party
(VTLP) sat in the gallery of the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. to hear the challenge to Vermont’s controversial campaign finance law. The VTLP is one of several participants in the suit challenging the law. At the end of the proceedings, Chair Hardy Machia predicted that the law will not survive the scrutiny of the justices.

“All the Justices seemed opposed to spending caps, and most of them seemed opposed to the extremely small limits on contributions. It was clear that many of the justices have serious reservations about the law,” said Machia after attending the hearing in Washington. “The law is not going to survive their scrutiny and parts, if not all, of the law will certainly be struck down.”

During the proceedings, contribution limits were scrutinized by Justices Scalia and Alito who questioned as to whether limitations on contributions in turn limited a candidate’s expenditures. In addition, all of the justices voiced concerns that the limits were so low that “a box of doughnuts and some coffee” for campaign workers could violate the law. Finally, Machia noted that each justice alluded to the issue as one of speech protected by the first amendment.

While some states limit the amount that individuals can donate to a political campaign, the Vermont law placed low and strict restrictions on individual donations. No individual can donate more than $400 to any statewide candidate and no more than $2,000 to any political party. Vermont became the first state in the country to limit the amount a candidate can spend on a race, ranging from $300,000 for governor to a low of $2,000 for state representative.

Machia listened closely to the defense of the law by Vermont Attorney General William Sorrell. “I was surprised when Sorrell inferred that Vermont needs such harsh campaign restrictions because our elections are somehow corrupt.” Yet when pressed by the justices on this point, Sorrell said that to date, there have not been any prosecuted cases of corruption.

Since the law passed in 1997, the Vermont Libertarian Party has maintained that the state should not prevent any Vermonter, individually or collectively, from supporting the parties and candidates of their choice to the extent that they wish. The law requires that political parties and political candidates collect their revenues only in the form of small, limited donations from individual sources.

“Such a requirement gives an unfair advantage to the major, established, parties who already have a broad base of existing donors, and discriminates against minor party challengers,” said Machia. “It effectively stifles the efforts of the underdog to get their message out to the people. I’m optimistic the court will side with libertarians and uphold our right to freedom of political speech.”

February 24, 2006

Montpelier, VT: The Vermont Libertarian Party has taken the fight to protect political free speech to the U.S. Supreme Court, as one of the plaintiffs in the Supreme Court case, Randall v. Sorrell. The Court is hearing oral arguments in the case on Tuesday, February 28. The Vermont Libertarian Party is challenging a 1997 state campaign finance law that seeks to severely restrict spending by candidates and political parties, and limit private campaign contributions.

Vermont Libertarian Party Chair Hardy Machia explained that the Party is one of the original plaintiffs in the Randall v. Sorrell case. The party claims that the 1997 campaign finance law, Act 64, violates their First Amendment rights of free speech and free association by severely restricting what the state party can contribute to candidates.

Supporters of the 1997 campaign finance law say it is necessary “to combat corruption, the appearance of corruption, and to free up candidates’ time”. Vermont Attorney General William Sorrell admitted that the law has put some restrictions on candidates’ ability to express their views, but noted, “There are other competing constitutional interests, such as the integrity of the electoral process”. Should identify where and when he stated this…

In rebuttal to Sorrell’s claims, Machia says, “The Libertarian Party is raising funds for our state house candidates this year so they can focus on knocking on doors and meeting voters. The campaign finance restrictions prior to Act 64 already put minor parties at an extreme disadvantage to the Democrats and Republicans. The additional restrictions of free speech in Act 64 almost guarantee that third parties won’t be able to be heard.”

-30-

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 18, 2006

During the State of the State Address, Governor Douglas quoted Calvin Coolidge saying, “I want the people of America to be able to work less for the government and more for themselves. I want them to have the rewards of their own industry. That is the chief meaning of freedom.”

The Vermont Libertarian Party couldn’t agree more.

However, the party notes that Governor Douglas seems to have forgotten those words within the span of a week. Tuesday, Douglas proposed a budget that increases spending approximately one quarter of a billion dollars. Adding this year’s budget increase to Douglas’s three prior budgets, the people of Vermont have seen the state budget rise 34%, or $1.1 billion since Douglas took office.

Hardy Machia, chairman of the Vermont Libertarian Party said, “This year’s budget is 4.5 billion dollars, or about $30,000 for every family in Vermont. For a minimum wage earner, this spending increase would mean an extra 255 hours of work this year, with all of it going to the state…in addition to the taxes she already pays.”

Libertarian Party member Doug Richmond asks, “Has Douglas developed money trees that he could urge farmers to grow as a new cash crop to pay for any of this?”

Machia says to Governor Douglas, “Let us live by those words you quoted from Calvin Coolidge, and let the people of Vermont work less for the government and more for themselves. The solutions are simple. We need to fundamentally change how the state’s largest budget items–education and health care–are purchased, delivered, and consumed. We need to reinstall the free market mechanisms that have been removed.”

###

Vermont Libertarian Party
http://www.vtlp.org/
Hardy Machia, Chair
chair@vtlp.org
802.372.9512 (home/work)
802.238.3437 (cell)

******************************************************
The VERMONT LIBERTARIAN NEWS is a publication of the Vermont Libertarian Party, PO Box 5475, Burlington, VT 05402. All Rights Reserved. Copyright ? 2006.