Greeting Image of the Month
From Mary
This is an exciting and busy time for the LP of Michigan as we head into the State Convention, LP National Convention, and of course the General Election in November. The important business to announce of course today is the convention coming up in a couple of weeks. This is a very important gathering for our party we will be nominating candidates for the general election, electing new Executive (LEC) and Judicial Committees and approving our slate of delegates to the national convention in Columbus, Ohio. We will also be approving any necessary changes to the party platform. In short we will be deciding on what the LP of Michigan will look like going into the remainder of this year, next year, and for the longer term.
Your participation is vital, so if you haven’t yet signed up for the convention please do so now! Special pricing is available until May 7. Go to http://michiganlp.org/?page_id=71 to register for this event. I would like to thank Roger Young and everyone at the Libertarian Party of Livingston County for their hard work in hosting the convention. Also at the convention will be representatives from Young Americans for Liberty (YAL) Michigan Chapter, whose President, Ty Hicks will address the delegation; Michigan Campaign for Liberty and others. Don’t forget that singer and recording artist Tatiana Moroz will be performing at the banquet.
It seems that the declared Libertarian candidate for the 20th District Senate race has created a lot of buzz in the press. While I welcome the attention the LPM is getting, I do not like being misquoted. So let me set the record straight for LPM membership, Mr. Wenke and those who may be reading the newsletter for the first time: The Chair of the Libertarian Party does not nominate candidates. Candidates are nominated by the delegates at the convention and since the 20th District is entirely within Kalamazoo County, it will be up to the Kalamazoo Libertarian Caucus to nominate Mr. Wenke.
Right on the heels of heels of our convention is the LP National Convention which will be held June 26-29 at the Hyatt Regency in Columbus Ohio. If you would like to be a Michigan delegate or alternate please contact Jim Fulner at secretary@michiganlp.org Provide your name, address, email address and a contact phone number to get your name on the slate of delegates that will be approved at the State Convention May 17th. If you have never been to a national convention before it’s a great opportunity to get together with Libertarians from all over the country, hear great speakers, share ideas, network and party! Columbus is within driving distance – no flying and therefore no TSA group grope! Go to http://lpcon2014.org/ for information and to register.
One more thing: Our America Initiative (OAI) is looking for the following Michigan volunteers: State Director, State Fundraising Manager, State Campus Manager and State Outreach Coordinator. Go to this page for details . The Midwest Coordinator for OAI is Eapen Thampy. Contact him at EapenThampy@OurAmericaOnitiative.com.
See you at the convention!
Mary
by Rodger Young
The LPM 2014 Convention in Howell, Michigan, State Convention includes the nomination of 2014 Candidates for office, as well as delegates to the National Convention in Columbus, Ohio, June 26-29.
Registration
Go to this page to register and pay: http://michiganlp.org/?p=2616
Directions to Convention: Howell is 47 miles Northwest of Detroit. Interstate 96 to Howell's Latson Rd. Exit #140. Turn left at the light at Latson Road onto Grand River, then through the next light at the Meijer entrance. Turn left onto Cleary Drive (immediately past the Meijer entrance) and follow the drive to Johnson Center. Water tower at Cleary University is your landmark.
Hotel Location:
Main Business of Convention: We will be nominating the Libertarian Party of Michigan slate of candidates for the 2014 general election in Michigan. Be sure to inform the LPM Political Director Leonard Schwartz politics@michiganlp.org of your intentions to run for office in this important year.
Program Saturday, May 17
Tatiana has successfully written, produced and self-released 2 full length LPs, “Tatiana” and “Love and Liberty,” 2 EPs, “Fall In August Live” and “For the New Year,” as well as several singles. Her company, Same Side Entertainment, an activist/talent booking and event marketing company books several prominent keynote speakers to liberty events worldwide.
Reprinting this excellent column from the March 2014 issue--ed.
Surveys indicate that 15-20% of voters already support libertarianism. That is, they are in the libertarian sector of the Nolan diamond chart. But Libertarian candidates rarely get more than 5% of the vote.
Why? I discovered the answer in 2000, when I first worked at a Libertarian information booth and later became a candidate. I met many people who said they were libertarians. When I asked libertarians whether they voted for Libertarian candidates, they sometimes said "Rarely" and usually said "Never." When I asked them why they [almost] never vote for Libertarians, the typical response was, "Libertarians have no chance of being elected. Therefore, voting for Libertarians is a waste of my vote. Voting for the lesser of two evils is more expedient."
At the LPM election night party in 2000, one member said that he hated Al Gore so much that he didn't dare waste his vote on Harry Browne, the Libertarian candidate for president. Another member said that he hated the incumbent Republican US senator that he didn't dare waste his vote on the Libertarian candidate. Even Libertarian Party members sometimes think that voting Libertarian is waste of their vote.
The biggest problem Libertarians thus face is not convincing people to support libertarianism. Rather it is motivating them to vote Libertarian. People often ask Libertarians, "Who do you consider the lesser of two evils?" I maintain that the only good answer is, "I let the Democrats and Republicans quibble about that. I never waste my vote on the lesser of two evils."
If you say anything that indicates who you consider the lesser evil, people will consider that an endorsement. This will encourage them to vote for that candidate rather than the Libertarian. Through trial and error, I discovered a short, effective message to solve the wasted vote problem.
One version is on www.LeonardSchwartz.us. Another is my stump speech, below. I encourage Libertarians to adapt this message to their own campaigns.
3-Minute Stump Speech
My opponents think they can spend your money and manage your life better than you can. I'm not a busybody. I don't want to spend your money or manage your life. Some people are too lazy or cheap to spend their time and money meddling in your life. They want government bureaucrats meddling in your life. Government busybodies are much worse than private ones. Government can compel disclosure of your private information. Private busybodies cannot. Government can impose taxes, fines, and imprisonment. Private busybodies cannot.
If you think the Democrats can spend your money and manage your life better than you can, please raise a hand. If you think the Republicans can spend your money and manage your life better than you can, please raise a hand.
Perhaps you didn't know that [almost] all of you are libertarians. If you vote for Democrats or Republicans because you consider them the lesser of two evils, you vote for evil. Why would any decent person vote for evil? Elections are rarely decided by only a few votes. Therefore, your vote rarely determines who is elected.
But your vote always sends a message. If you vote for Democrats or Republicans, you send a message that you agree that they can spend your money and manage your life better than you can. What a waste of your vote. If you don't vote, you waste your right to send a message and you imply that you don't care. Vote for what you know is right, rather than for what falsely seems expedient.
Send a message that you want government busybodies off your back. Vote Libertarian.
I'm [name], Libertarian for [office]. Thank you.
by Arnis Davidsons
Kalamazoo Area LP is no longer "on hold"! Things have started rolling! On April 15th, we held our 1st "unofficial" meeting of the Kalamazoo Area LP. We had a very respectable turnout. There seems to be enough interest to re-start an affiliate! A big thank you to Jason Brandenburg for his efforts to get this going!
We had a very lively discussion, and went well past the scheduled time. That's a good thing! Among the guests in attendance was our State Chair, Mary Buzuma. She offered much helpful information.
I am very excited to see this get going, and hope you are, too. We really need an affiliate in SW Michigan! For anyone interested, the next meeting is scheduled for May 6th @ 5:30. The location is: Gallagher's Eatery and Pub, 4210 Stadium Drive, Kalamazoo. For more information contact Jason Brandenburg at: swmi4liberty@be-innovative.net Good job, Jason!!
by Mary Buzuma
If you care about personal and economic freedom the answer would be yes.
In the past few weeks there has been a lot written about the pros and cons of Michigan returning to a part-time legislature. It’s been mostly con and mostly written by the politically well connected. However I haven’t come across any evidence that it needs to be full-time or that Michigan is better governed than those states with part-time legislatures.
Are our roads and infrastructure top notch? Are our schools world class? Are we more prosperous?
What Michigan does have is a lot of laws. Laws that have created a government that has gotten too big, too intrusive and way too expensive. Many laws, take more of our money, pile on to existing laws, provide corporate welfare benefits, intrude into personal liberty (“nanny laws”), violate property rights (civil asset forfeiture), intrude on private business (regulations and licensing laws)and there’s no end in sight.
In 2013, there have been 1,812 bills introduced, 853 amendments, and 159 new laws passed.
It’s said that Michigan is a big state with a lot going on. That may be true but that doesn’t mean everything has to be legislated. The evidence is clear that freedom brings prosperity and that goes for countries as well as states. It’s time to downsize Michigan and cutting back to part-time lawmakers would be a good place to start.
The Committee to Restore Michigan’s Part-Time Legislature has a daunting task of collecting 400,000 signatures by July 1st. Go to http://parttimemi.com/ if you would like more information or to volunteer.
by Jim Fulner
Greetings fellow Libertarians: It is a strong opinion of the Libertarian Party of Oakland County that no Democrat or Republican should run unchallenged. Every voter deserves a choice. There are four partisan offices in Oakland County in which no Democrat will be on the ballot in November.
The Libertarian Party wants someone to be the sole challenger to the Republican for each of these offices. If you live in one of these townships, please come to the LP Michigan convention on Saturday, May 17 and become a candidate. For more information contact LPM Political Director Leonard Schwartz leonard@leonardschwartz.us
Take a stroll down memory lane with this excerpt from one of the longest-running state Libertarian newsletters. Today, check out the newsletter 25 years ago in May, where we actually had the immortal 'Mr. Libertarian,' Murray Rothbard, to address our banquet. Click on this link for the full PDF version of this newsletter.
Former editor and LPM archivist Greg Stempfle has compiled the entire body of available Michigan Libertarian newsletters up on this page of the LPM Website (most if not all of the newsletters have been transferred over to the new site if you have a particular issue you're interested in and it doesn't show up on the page, please contact Webmaster@michiganlp.org).
The Michigan Libertarian is published/posted on the first of each month. Send calendar events and news/articles to e-newsletter@michiganlp.org by the 25th of the prior month. The Michigan Libertarian is one of the longest-running Libertarian newsletters in the country, debuting in 1973 shortly after the founding of the Libertarian Party of Michigan. The "new" Michigan Libertarian (a predominantly online version) debuted on August 1, 2009 and replaced the weekly LPMOnline and the printed-and-mailed ML. We will post the newsletter on the Website and deliver via email on the first of every month. A printed version of the new Michigan Libertarian will be sent free to anyone who signs up, which you may do at the LPM web site www.michiganlp.org (or www.mi.lp.org).
LPM members who need a hard copy may request one be mailed to them by contacting Newsletter URL (Webpage address for this issue of the ML): ### |