LPM OnlineMay 15, 2001 |
|
|
|
Contents
|
The SpeakOutMichigan web site has been activated once again. This time it is for an effort to stop the Michigan legislature from getting our state into a Compact with other states to unify all sales and use tax rules and authorize third parties to collect and remit them. The reason they want to do this is to be able to enforce sales taxes across state lines (something that can't currently be done because the US Constitution prohibits states from interfering with interstate commerce) by entering into reciprocal agreements with other states. In order to do that they have to first make the sales and use tax rules and regulations uniform. What will this mean to us? A lot more than just taxing e-commerce (a bad idea in itself). First it would eliminate the caps and exemptions (such as for food and medicine) to these taxes that Michigan already has. Second, it would open up the possibility of extending Michigan's sales tax to all services within our state. That would mean a 6% tax added to everything from doctor's visits to haircuts. Please forward this message to any friends, family, co-workers, neighbors, or other people you know who may be interested in this issue (but please don't forward it indiscriminately as "spam" will only hurt our campaign). Then go to http://www.SpeakOutMichigan.org and sign the petition. It will be submitted directly to your own Representative and Senator in the Michigan legislature. Whether or not you ever buy anything online, we need to stop Senate Bill 433 in it's tracks.
At the Saturday Night Banquet at the LPM Convention in Frankenmuth, I had the honor of presenting the 2000 LPM Outstanding Affiliate Award. This year, we awarded three prizes: A Membership prize to the affiliate which showed the largest increase in membership, a Political Activity prize to the affiliate which demonstrated the greatest involvement in political activities, and an Overall Winner prize. Seven affiliates entered the contest: The Libertarian Party of Livingston County, The Libertarians of Macomb County, The Libertarian Party of Oakland County, The Ottawa County Libertarian Party, The Libertarian Party of Shiawassee County, The Upper Peninsula Libertarian Party, and The Libertarian Party of West Michigan. Thank you to each of these affiliates for their participation in the contest. The Membership Prize, for which a $40 gift certificate from the Advocates for Self-Government was awarded, was won by The Ottawa County Libertarian Party. The Political Activity Prize, for which a $40 Advocates certificate was awarded, was won by The Libertarian Party of West Michigan. The Overall Winner was The Libertarian Party of Oakland County, for the second consecutive year! They were awarded a $100 Advocates certificate. All of the affiliates which entered this contest should be commended for their outstanding efforts toward Liberty. As far as I'm concerned, they are all winners! Special thanks to our judges: Fred Collins, Marnie Edwards, George Sise, Violet Steele, and Jeff Steinport. I know it wasn't an easy job.
We have completely revamped the Affiliate Contest for 2001. Here's how it works now: 1. Pick Your Goal! Each Affiliate which wishes to participate will pick one achievable, yet challenging goal (or more if you want to really challenge yourselves) for the period of July 1, 2001 - April 15, 2002 . Your goal may be to increase your membership by 10%, or to elect one person to a local office, or to have a member at every meeting of a local governing body (e.g. a County Board). Your Affiliate can tailor its challenge to its unique set of circumstances and resources; you’re making the rules! Your goal should be achievable, yet challenging; pick a goal that will leave your Affiliate better off once it’s achieved. Each Affiliate must report its goal to Ben Steele III (517-288-5616, P.O. Box 1072, Owosso, MI 48867, or bsteele1@tir.com) by July 1, 2001-- No Exceptions! Every Affiliate which reports a goal by the deadline will be considered entered into the contest. The Affiliate goals will be published in this newsletter. Then, the Fun Begins.... 2. Achieve Your Goal! Get to Work and Have Fun! Keep Ben appraised of your progress; let him know what your plans for achieving your goal are, what is working for you and what isn’t, who’s gone “the extra mile” to meet your goal, etc. That way, we can all learn from your efforts and the whole Party benefits. Updates will be printed here. Once you’ve achieved your goal, provide evidence to Ben (the evidence will be left to the discretion of the Affiliates and should be considered when making your goal; for instance, if your goal is to attract a certain number of people to an event, sign-in sheets or a photograph will do). All goals must be achieved by April 15, 2002! No Exceptions! 3. And the Winner is... All of us! We will all benefit from the increased visibility and credibility of Libertarian Party of Michigan Affiliates getting involved in their communities and advancing the cause of Liberty. Your Affiliate benefits by increased membership, a winning campaign, press coverage... all these things and more, depending on your goal and what it takes to achieve it. And at the LPM State Convention in 2002, the names of all Affiliates which meet their goals will be placed into a drawing, and one Affiliate will win a $150 certificate from the Advocates for Self-Government, which can be used for further outreach and improvement. Of course, every Affiliate which participates will benefit from the experience of pursuing, and hopefully, achieving a worthwhile Goal. So.... What’s Your Goal? Remember these deadlines: AC Entry (Pick your goal) by July 1, 2001. AC Deadline (Show your evidence) by April 15, 2002
WEST OLIVE -- Roger L. Bouwman, chair of the Ottawa County Libertarian Party, has a unique campaign ahead of him for the Ottawa Area Intermediate School District. Two seats are open on the OAISD board and five candidates (including Bouwman) have signed up because current members are retiring.. The board will be elected June 4 by the constituent school districts. This means that Roger only has to campaign to a small group of current school board members to win. The District 2 Libertarian Fund will help cover the cost of a mailing to these voters introducing them to Roger and highlighting his tech-savvy nature because technology is a key part of the ISD's function.
If you wish to make a contribution, please send it:
Ghazey Aleck was covered in the Clare County Review, Gladwin Record, Clare County Cleaver, the Mt. Pleasant Morning Sun and the Midland Daily News this past weekend. The following comments appeared in a feature front page article in the Morning Sun: Aleck joined the Libertarian Party in December 1999 after becoming more and more discouraged with government. "I felt that the two major political parties didn't make any sense anymore," he said. "It was a free-for-all; anything goes." "We can't govern our society like that." While many people think of the Libertarian Party as "anarchists" Aleck said the party is not anti-government. The Libertarain belief focuses on individual rights," he said. "You call it as you see it," he said. "You hear alot about the public good." "It's the individual who makes up the society. If we trample the individual, we're no better than China. You cannot preserve society over the individual and hope for society to survive." Aleck thinks government in the United States has slowly become more communistic than democratic." "In fact," Aleck said, "the 10 platforms of the Communist Manifesto--such as centralized banking and public schools--have become law in America." "We've adopted them in one form or another in the United States," he said. "We're just a lighter form of Communism." "The Libertarian approach is smaller government, along with order and a moral society," Aleck said. The party also calls for the elimination of income tax because if the government were smaller, the tax revenue wouldn't be needed. "It's a different choice; it's a clear choice," Aleck said. "You don't have to agree with us but if you hear us, I think you will agree with us." "We want order. We want a moral society. We just think that the individual rights are for the good of the public. We're going to try to expose a different view and let people decide," he said. "We're not a politically correct party. We are going to say it the way it is." NOTE:The article falsely claimed that I used the word democratic as an opposite to China. Actually, I said that China is democratic in that the majority chooses the best Communist candidate and that the United States was never suppose to be that and that the United States is supposed to be a Republic. |
| To unsubscribe, send email to lpmonline@michiganlp.org |
Return to LP of Michigan Home Page
Return to News Archive