LP Monday Message: High Unemployment on Labor Day

September 6, 2010

Dear Friend of Liberty,

It's hard to celebrate Labor Day when unemployment is 9.6 percent.

Government interference is the single biggest cause of unemployment. Minimum wage laws, OSHA, ADA, etc., etc., make it difficult both to hire and to fire workers. (And when it's difficult to fire workers, it's much less likely that they will be hired in the first place.) To reduce unemployment, we need to start repealing laws!

Section 2.7 of the Libertarian Party platform states: "We support repeal of all laws which impede the ability of any person to find employment. We oppose government-fostered forced retirement. We support the right of free persons to associate or not associate in labor unions, and an employer should have the right to recognize or refuse to recognize a union. We oppose government interference in bargaining, such as compulsory arbitration or imposing an obligation to bargain."

I read today that President Obama wants another $50 billion in Keynesian stimulus spending. Stimulus supporters think that government spending creates jobs. What they don't seem to understand is that the money is taken out of the private sector, which decreases private sector spending and investment, and that destroys jobs. I believe that stimulus spending destroys more jobs than it creates. We'd be much better off with the laissez-faire policies advocated by Austrian economic theory.

It makes me mad to think of all the ways the Republican and Democratic congresses, and presidents Bush and Obama, have hurt the private sector with all their stimulus and bailout programs. (Remember George W. Bush's 2008 "Economic Stimulus Act" with all the $600 "rebate" checks?)

If you'd like to help fight them, please participate in Quiz Across America.

Sincerely,

Wes Benedict
Executive Director
Libertarian National Committee

P.S. If you have not already done so, please join the Libertarian Party. We are the only political party dedicated to free markets and civil liberties. You can also renew your membership. Or, you can make a contribution separate from membership.

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NOTES

1. Reposted —
   
   1. KCUF Media
   2. New Mexico Liberty / Mike Blessing for State Representative
   3. Yahoo! Groups — [LPNM-discuss] / Personal email archive

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How to handle Ronald Reagan? [LP Monday Message]

August 23, 2010

Dear Friend of Liberty,

As the 2010 election approaches, a lot of Republican politicians are trying to posture as government-cutters, and they often hold up Ronald Reagan as an example.

But although Reagan often talked about supporting smaller government, most Libertarians know that in practice he did exactly the opposite. For example:

• Reagan boosted import tariffs and trade restrictions.
• Reagan cut marginal income tax rates, but he also raised Social Security taxes.
• Reagan increased farm subsidies.
• Reagan sent the federal debt through the roof.
• Federal spending under Reagan grew from $678 billion to $1.14 trillion.
• Reagan set the record for the highest average spending as a percent of GDP over his administration. (Obama may beat him.)

Many people are complaining right now about unemployment under Barack Obama. In the first 18 months of Obama's presidency, unemployment has increased from 7.7 percent to 9.5 percent.

Did you know that during the first 18 months of Reagan's presidency, unemployment increased from 7.5 percent to 9.8 percent? That's even worse, but I don't hear a lot of Republicans mentioning it.

Many Republican politicians, operatives and talk show hosts like to talk positively about Reagan and try to portray him as delivering smaller government. They don't say that about George W. Bush. I presume that's to try and convince voters that Bush was bad in some ways, and we should all try to be more like Reagan.

Some polls show Reagan is reasonably well-respected these days. I think the positive reactions are often based on misconceptions, and that brings up an interesting point: how should Libertarians deal with the Ronald Reagan myth?

To address that question, we put up a new poll today. Please share your opinion.

Sincerely,

Wes Benedict
Executive Director
Libertarian National Committee

P.S. If you have not already done so, please join the Libertarian Party. We are the only political party dedicated to free markets and civil liberties. You can also renew your membership. Or, you can make a contribution separate from membership.

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NOTES

1. Original article
2. Reposted —
   
   1. KCUF Media — Blogspot / Xanga
   2. New Mexico Liberty / Mike Blessing for State Representative / The LPNM Blog

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Comic-Con vs. Fred Phelps

Current mood: amused, annoyed cranky

I found this on Facebook —

Nerds vs. the Westboro Baptist Church, Super Heroes vs. the Westboro Baptist Church

Doesn't Fred Phelps have anything better to do with his time than this inanity? Really.

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NOTES

1. Reposted —
   
   1. New Mexico Liberty / Mike Blessing for State Representative

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The Weekly Sedition Returns to ABQ Ch.27

Starting Thursday, July 1st, at 8PM, The Weekly Sedition returns to Albuquerque Comcast Channel 27.

Your cordial host will be myself, Mike Blessing, with Bill Koehler behind the camera running the technical side of things.

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NOTES

1. Reposted —
   
   1. KCUF Media — Blogspot / Myspace / Xanga
   2. New Mexico Liberty / Mike Blessing for State Representative

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The 100-Word Challenge

Current mood: amused

New Mexico Turn Around posts a challenge for the rest of us —

CHALLENGE: In 100 words suggest a solution for the economic mess toward which we head.

Oh, really?

Here's my response — let's see if I actually need the full 100 words . . .

1. Cut spending across the board — no special handouts for anyone.
2. Cut taxes across the board — no special breaks for anyone.
3. Repeal regulations across the board — no special breaks for anyone.
4. Repeal bad, wasteful laws across the board — no special breaks for anyone.
5. Bring the troops home from Iraq, Afghanistan and everywhere else.
6. Return to a sound money system (gold? silver?) for government transactions.
7. Repeal legal tender laws.
8. Repeal any law repugnant to the written U.S. Constitution or Bill of Rights.

I count 80 words.

And I dared to use That Word Which Shall Not Be Uttered In Contemporary Politics — "repeal" — not just once, but four times! Shame on me!

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NOTES

1. Reposted — Mike Blessing for State Representative / New Mexico Liberty

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The 2010 Candidates

The Libertarian Party of New Mexico's candidates for the 2010 general election are as follows:

State Representative, District 11 — Eric Pino

State Representative, District 16 — Mike Blessing

State Representative, District 19 — Mark Curtis

State Representative, District 22 — Elisheva Levin

More Activity?

I just sent out some invites for people to post here -- I'd like to see some more activity here, and in the LPNM in general.

-- Mike Blessing

New LPNM Official Website

Congratualtions to Mike Moss for putting up the new Official LPNM Website!

Firing this one up . . .

Hello, world!

I'm setting this up as a blog for the Libertarian Party of New Mexico.

See the LPNM's official site.

Mike Blessing,
LPNM Secretary
Executive Heretic, KCUF Media

New Mexicans Deserve Direct Democracy

New Mexicans Deserve Direct Democracy

By Siebert Ickler

581 words

While politicians and voters around the country and here in New Mexico celebrate their Election Day victories and mourn defeat, voters in 24 states nationwide – not including New Mexico – also exercised a more directform of control over how their affairs of state are managed. In these states, voters were able to place measures on the ballot through the initiative process, rather than waiting, sometimes forever, for politicians to tackle the issues.

In the Land of Enchantment, however, voters can only hope that the politicians they have elected will live up to their promises. In fact, New Mexico and Hawaii are the only western states (Rocky Mountains and beyond) that lack this form of direct democracy.

In the aftermath of Election Day 2006, it is clear that citizens do not always speak with one mind, but they always have something important to say. Gay marriage and efforts to prohibit it may get the most headlines, but did you know that eleven states considered measures to limit the use of eminent domain? With Governor Richardson having vetoed a bill that would have restricted the use of eminent domain and polls showing that a vast majority of New Mexicans support such restrictions, wouldn’t it be nice to circumvent the politicians on this one?

Raising the minimum wage is another hot topic here in New Mexico and, while I personally believe that it is bad economic policy for states to legally-mandate wage levels, I am pleased that voters in six states were able to decide for themselves on Election Day.

The fact is that voters are by-and-large well-informed on these single-issue ballot measures and are often willing to take on issues considered too politically radioactive for politicians to handle. In fact, while three states – Oregon, Nebraska, and Maine – rejected the placement of strict limits on the power of politicians to tax and spend, Colorado's strict tax and spending limit was passed in 1992 through the initiative process. Some states may not be ready for Colorado-style tax and spending limits, but it would be nice if New Mexicans had the final say.

Legislative term limits are another area that voters are willing to tackle that most politicians, for obvious reasons, seem more than happy to ignore. In fact, 16 states nationwide limit the terms of their legislators and all of these states did so through the initiative process. As it lacks the initiative process New Mexico is of course one of the states lacking legislative term limits.

The term limits issue is perhaps only the most obvious issue on which legislators tend to act in their own interest while ignoring the will of voters. While a legitimate debate can be had over whether term limits improve governance, it is hard to argue that legislators view term limits as a anything but a mortal threat and they will not pass them. Tax and spending limits like Colorado's are another limit on legislative power and, as such, such limits are not likely to pass in the absence of the initiative process. After all, it is the belief of overwhelming numbers of our legislators that they, not taxpayers, can make the best decisions on how to spend taxpayers' money.

The fact is that voters are not always correct in assessing difficult political and economic decisions, but neither are legislators. Given the ever-increasing amounts of unfiltered information available to voters over the Internet and elsewhere, doesn’t it make sense to give citizens a greater say in New Mexico’s future?

Siebert Ickler is an adjunct scholar with New Mexico's Rio Grande Foundation. The Rio Grande Foundation is an independent, non-partisan, tax-exempt research and educational organization dedicated to promoting prosperity for New Mexico based on principles of limited government, economic freedom and individual responsibility.

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Copyright © 2007 Libertarian Party of New Mexico, Libertarian Party of Doña Ana County, New Mexico. All rights reserved.