** Date/Time: The Gun Show is February 5th from 9 Am to 5 PM and on February 6th from 9 AM to 3 PM. We are asking for volunteers for 2 hour shifts.

Saturday times
9-11 AM
11 AM- 1 PM
1-3 PM
3-5 PM

Sunday Times
9-11 AM
11 AM- 1 PM
1-3 PM

As you can see, there are only four time slots on Saturday and three on Sunday. We need at least 2 people for each shift. Please help if you can.

** Contact: If you will volunteer to help, please sign up by contacting Doug Richmond at richmonddp@juno.com or 899-3254: OR Karen Kerin at keringhost@gmail.com

Of even greater concern is the administration of our laws. Our attorney general is supposed to defend the state, but has not sued the federal government for assailing the health care programs our legislature has created. Worse yet, with some 80 attorneys scattered in every department of government, the equal access to justice is unbalanced with some civil offences taking priority over more serious matters. The progressive candidate wants greater enforcement and more regulation of the clean water and clean air acts, further reducing opportunities for jobs in Vermont as her backers in CLF desire. Particularly irksome is the republican candidate alleging I am not qualified for attorney general to LSC republicans. Sadly I was not invited to the publicly funded AG debate on VPR to refute the lie. Yet, he has only been in Vermont for three years and has far fewer legal degrees than I do and much less relevant experience. His is limited to a small corner of his duties as an assistant states attorney.

Vermont needs some fresh air in the attorney general’s office where too often political concerns have determined prosecutorial discretion.

With a BS in engineering, a license in many states as a PE, a masters in environmental law, a doctorate in law, a certificate in dispute resolution, and studies for an LLM in human rights and international law where I was on the law review, the republican candidate for attorney general has the nerve to call me unqualified to the college republicans at LSC. He is also the one who after promising to appear for the only televised debate on CCTV in Burlington, failed to appear so he could lie to students. In addition to all this I have a great deal of practical legal experience, arguing before the 2nd circuit and practicing in the international forum. Moreover, I have executive experience in and out of government, which is why I argue that I would bring the 80 AG’s into one office to better allocate resources. Additionally, I would join the many suits to overturn the federal health care bill which undermines the work of our legislature because it is a duty of the office. I certainly would not opt for greater enforcement and more law as the progressive seeks with her backers, the CLF.

Contact Karen Kerin:
Web: www.karenkerin.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Karen-Kerin-for-Vermont/125301700832172
Twitter: http://twitter.com/karenkerin

There are few opportunities for voters to look at what is perceived as the down ticket office of attorney general, resulting in the continuation in office of someone who does not serve as a servant of the people. A great deal of explanation is needed to understand that the only statewide office not in the Vermont Constitution is in reality, perhaps the most powerful elected office in the state because prosecutorial discretion allows political considerations to intervene in the dispensing of justice. But I digress owing to my desire for substantial justice without procedural justice allowing a soft on crime regime to flower.

The video of the debate is below…

But before you spend the time to watch the whole thing, let me set the stage for you. The invitees were Progressive Charlotte Dennette, Liberty Union (now revealed to be socialist) Rosemarie Jackowski, Libertarian Karen Kerin, Democrat William Sorrell, and Republican Aaron Toscano. Jackowski did not attend, but sent a garbled statement that moderator Eli Harrington, program director from the Vermont Council on World Affairs, read for the viewers. Toscano, who had promised to attend, did not show up. I learned the next morning that he instead attended a college republican event. That left me facing the two big statists, Sorrell and Dennette.

Although it was not apparent due to the format, it is easy to dispose of CLF shill Dennette as a serious candidate because she ignores the US Constitution. She rants about the clean water act and the clean air act, neither of which are within the powers the constitution provides in Article I, Clause 8. While we all want clean air and water, it is clearly a matter for the states and the people who may be aggrieved by the actions of a particular property owner; and they have recourse legally in the courts.

Dean appointee and soft on crime Sorrell is equally easy to dispose of. Before delving into our differences legally, I must address his response to getting more bangs for the buck from his office as ridiculous in these economic times because he indicated a need for more staffing, while I made him cringe by proposing bringing all the attorneys general under one roof so allocation of resources could be more efficiently utilized. This demonstrates the difference between someone with real world management experience and a political appointee who has been there too long. At a cited cost of over $50,000.00 per year per prison bed, the question of defining non-violent offenders was sought as a question. Both of the liberals spoke about court diversion and other wishy-washy programs, when the Vermont constitution very clearly calls for “hard labor”. I pointed out that there are many tasks not being performed by the state that these offenders could be providing, and then needing only a dormitory to house them and feed them for their sentences, freeing the prisons for the violent and dangerous criminals.

Asked to explain why we were running under our party affiliation, I was stunned to hear Sorrell launch into his mother’s role in democrat politics, almost as if he does not share that party’s views. It is curious indeed that he has no better understanding. I explained that I am a libertarian because that most clearly represents what our founders of the nation and state embraced, liberty as long as it resulted in no harm to others and the dispensing of justice if harm results. Shockingly, Sorrell launched into his ideations concerning prevention, causing me to cringe in horror at the notion of offending the first amendment by making thoughts, words and actions wrongful in his eyes. God save us from such thinking. Other questions that we never got to would have led these two drones ever deeper into the statist swamp so it was fortunate for them we did not get there.

The summary statements were of the same ilk by the other two, but mine was laser like pointing out that Sorrell had been there too long and pointedly stating that his ideation of prevention is not law. I also chastised Dennette regarding VY, as I was fortunate enough to be one of the engineers on the project and fully understand that the reactor and its turbines are good for 100 years, despite the cooling towers leaking river water that is used to cool the process water that is in stainless steel piping to maintain the de-ionized water that is a must for the reactor system to not carry radioactivity. So VY is really very safe. The nonsense about having more hydro dams completely ignores both conservation and environmental concerns as it prevents migratory fish from making it back to their spawning grounds. I cited the loss of Atlantic salmon, shad, and at least one other species of fish that used to be found in abundance, but in declining numbers in the White River in my lifetime. Finally, I hammered Sorrell for claiming to protect families, when he has done nothing to protect children and the elderly. Apparently, they do not count as a part of the family, but not surprising since he had no response to the cyber crime problem that is defrauding the elderly without even the FBI caring because it emanates from outside the US. Please do watch the video.

Contact Karen Kerin:
Web: www.karenkerin.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Karen-Kerin-for-Vermont/125301700832172
Twitter: http://twitter.com/karenkerin

The Boston Tea Party (BTP) also endorsed nearly 30 other candidates across the country. The BTP was founded in 2006 with a one sentence platform, “The BTP supports reducing the size, scope and power of government at all levels and on all issues, and opposes increasing the size, scope and power of government at any level, for any purpose.”

Contact:

Karen Kerin
http://www.karenkerin.com

Ben Mayer
http://www.benmayervt.com

Boston Tea Party
http://bostontea.us

Topics discussed include the office of Vermont attorney general, property rights, gun rights, healthcare, commerce clause, stare decisis, permits, government employee pay and more…

Contact Karen Kerin:
Web: www.karenkerin.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Karen-Kerin-for-Vermont/125301700832172
Twitter: http://twitter.com/karenkerin

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 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…

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.”

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.