Posts Tagged ‘libertarian’

Why am I Running as a Libertarian?
By: Karen Kerin

For sixty-six years I have been a staunch republican, but over the last few years I have been astonished at how many office holders elected as republicans embraced a different philosophy. The ideal of less government, lower taxes and less regulation of our lives, appeared to fall by the wayside, when it seemed advantageous for a republican to sacrifice principles to stay in office. I did not come to this easily. It was the product of examining the votes of legislators in view of the enormous growth of the body of laws. The evidence is beyond dispute.

Click link below for full article:
http://www.karenkerin.com/174/why-am-i-running-as-a-libertarian/

The Woodchuck Report is a new tv show on Channel 17.  The show is hosted by two local Libertarians, Bonnie Scott and Ruel Wheelock.

The show runs monthly, the second Friday of the month.  They have done two shows so far and a new show is comes out today, 6/13.

Scott and Wheelock explore the Libertarian view of local and national politics on the show.

The last show on 5/9/2008 had topics including State legislature ajorns, national popular vote plan, potholes, vermont gubernatorial race, Catamount Health, activists arrested at General Dynamics, War deployment, The Intervale/ fines, ground water access, 4 year terms for Governor.

Below is the video archive of the show…

http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070710/NATION/107100051/1001

Libertarian Party ranks up 18% in ‘07

By Elizabeth Miller July 10, 2007

Polls show that fewer Americans are calling themselves Republicans or Democrats and the number of Americans unaffiliated with either party has reached an all-time high ? good news for Libertarians, say officials of the nation’s third-largest party.

The Libertarian Party has had an 18 percent increase in membership since January, said Shane Cory, executive director of the Libertarian National Committee.

More Americans are joining the Libertarian Party because they are “disillusioned with typical party politics and are looking for a change,” Mr. Cory said.

“What we’re seeing recently is Republicans and Democrats are only interested in maintaining their own power,” he said. “You have Republicans standing by their president during this occupation in Iraq while Democrats sit idly by and watch the Republicans self-destruct.”

A survey released last month by Rasmussen Reports found that a record share of Americans, 32.9 percent, identified themselves as neither Republican nor Democrat.

The Rasmussen poll ? conducted in May with a sample of 15,000 adults ? found that the percentage identifying themselves as Republicans (30.8 percent) dropped for the fourth consecutive month, while the percentage of Democrats (36.3 percent) decreased for the third straight month, following trends that began for Republicans in the middle of 2005 and Democrats in January 2006.

Mr. Cory said the number of Americans rejecting the Republican and Democratic parties will continue to grow.

“They’re looking for a change and a shift,” Mr. Cory said. “They’re sick of same old politics as usual and are looking for a viable alternative, and we’re that viable alternative.”

Libertarians are known as advocating a free market, nonintervention in foreign policy, and small government that is fiscally conservative and socially liberal. About 250,000 Americans are registered with the Libertarian Party, officials say.

“Several things set us apart,” Mr. Cory said. “People try to pigeonhole us into being opposed to the war on drugs, which we are, but we’re the only party out there advocating our promise of smaller taxes, smaller government and more freedom.”

Mr. Cory said the Libertarian Party’s numbers began increasing in January, when Democrats took control of Congress.

“We were actually a bit worried about that, whenever Dems took control, simply because we thought the left will be placated by this and they’ll think their people will be in power and make everything right,” Mr. Cory said. “But I think [House Speaker] Nancy Pelosi and others have shown they don’t have the backbone to bring the troops home.”

Democratic Party officials did not respond to requests for comment. Tracey Schmitt, press secretary for the Republican National Committee, said “despite the difficult political environment, people continue to be attracted to the fundamental ideals of the Republican Party.”

From MPP  

The Vermont House Committee on Human Services voted 10-1 yesterday in favor of S.7. The bill now goes to the House Committee on Judiciary, which will schedule hearings shortly. The Senate already overwhelmingly passed S.7 on March 1.

If you have not already done so, please take action now and write a letter to the editor of your local paper. The opinion page is one of the most read parts of the newspaper, and legislators often look to the opinion pages to see where their constituents stand on an issue. It?s imperative that they see supportive letters.

If you are a medical marijuana patient who does not currently qualify under the medical marijuana law or who finds the plant limits insufficient, and you are interested in helping to expand the law, please contact me by e-mailing Zane@mpp.org. If you are a medical professional, a law enforcement official, or a clergy member, you can also be of special help.

Then, if you have not already done so, please send a letter to your representatives urging them to support the medical marijuana bills. We have several pre-written letters available for you, but a personally crafted letter is much more effective. Please take a moment to personalize your letter before sending it. If you need additional information about medical marijuana, you can use some material from our library.

Vermont’s law is currently very restrictive, both in terms of qualifying conditions and amount of medical marijuana plants patients can cultivate. Currently, only patients suffering from cancer, HIV/AIDS, or multiple sclerosis qualify for Vermont’s medical marijuana program. S.7 will add serious conditions that cause nausea, wasting, chronic pain, or seizures to the law. Additionally, this compassionate legislation will increase the number of plants that a patient in the program may possess, because the current limits are not adequate for patients. It also reduces the program registration fee from $100 to $50.

Please take action now to enact this compassionate bill: If you have not done so already, please write your state legislators and submit a letter to the editor of one or more local newspapers. Then, ask your friends and family to do the same. Thank you for supporting the Marijuana Policy Project.

Chairman, Hardy Machia was a guest on Paul Beaudry’s Comment Show on 1420 AM in St. Albans. They had a lively discussion about marijuana reform in Vermont.