2012 Annual State Convention

Libertarian Party of New Mexico

2012 Annual State Convention

Theme – The Way Forward: Rebuilding

Venue – Quarters BBQ
3700 Ellison Dr. NW, Albuquerque, NM 87114 – See also HERE

Contact Mike Blessing – 505-515-7015

Friday, 20 April 2012

Although there is no formal program for Friday evening, for anyone wanting to arrive early, the early birds will gather in the Quarters BBQ bar area at about 6:00 PM for an informal dinner / discussion – No-host, pay-as-you-go, dinner, cocktails, and networking.

Saturday, 21 April 2012

11:00 AM		Registration and pay-as-you-go lunch, order off the menu – Ø25 per person, to include dinner in the evening
1:00 PM		LPNM Business Meeting [no charge for anyone attending ONLY the business meeting]
		All who are registered with the State of New Mexico as Libertarians ("LIB" on the voter registration card) can vote during nominations for public office. Only Caucus Members can vote during LPNM business and internal LPNM elections. Visitors do not vote in any actions or activities. Central Committee meeting after close of the LPNM Business Meeting. See below the schedule for more details.
3:00 PM		Speaker [To be announced]
4:00 PM		Speaker [To be announced]
5:00 PM		Break [so Quarters can prepare for the dinner]
5:30 PM		Dinner [included in the registration fee]
		Family-style – includes BBQ chicken, ribs, sliced beef brisket, sliced pork brisket, hot links, with various sides, and includes your choice of iced tea, coffee, or soda [other beverages are pay-as-you-go].
7:30 PM		Keynote Speaker – [To be announced]
8:30 PM		LPNM Fundraiser Auction [Bring items to donate]
9:00 PM		Convention [and Quarters] closes

Speakers and Candidates Addressing the Convention Membership

Speakers will have 30–45 minutes to make their case, then should be open to questions from the audience. Audience members are requested to ask questions of the speaker as opposed to making statements. All speakers will be considered to have consented to being recorded, including but not limited to audio or video devices, for posting to the internet (YouTube, etc.).

Handouts for Distribution

The LPNM membership reserves the right to disavow any handouts (handbills, brochures, CDs, DVDs, etc.) offered for distribution to convention membership, as well as the person(s) doing the distributing.

Nominations for Candidates for Public Office

Anyone wanting to vote to nominate candidates for public office needs to make sure that they're registered to vote as "Libertarian" or "LIB" as the Secretary of State prints on the voter registration cards before they show up for the Convention.

So make sure to bring your voter registration card.

Participating in LPNM Internal Business

All you have to do to participate in the LPNM's internal business (changes to the Constitution and Bylaws, internal nominations, etc.) is to do the following (both steps are necessary, regardless of order completed):

1. Register to vote as "Libertarian" so that your voter registration card reads "LIB" in the spot marked "PARTY" (lower right-hand corner).
   
   
2. Sign up as what the LPNM refers to as a "Caucus Member." Basically, this means that you've signed the Non-Aggression Pledge and paid $25 in dues. You can do this at the Convention itself, as we'll have the necessary paperwork on hand.
   
   
3. Pay the required amount for a convention membership.

Becoming an LPNM Candidate for Public Office

Anyone wanting to be a candidate for public office on the LPNM's ballot line needs to :

1. Register to vote as "Libertarian" before the Governor's Election Proclamation for 2012 comes out. Usually this Proclamation is put out on the last Tuesday of January. A safe bet is to get this done at least two weeks before the Proclamation is released by the Governor's Office.
   
   
2. Sign up with the LPNM as a Caucus Member (see above).
   
   
3. Get nominated by your peers at the State Convention (or a County Convention for offices contained entirely in one county).
   
   
4. Download and thoroughly read the candidate guides available from the Secretary of State's office, as they contain all of the details required by the State of New Mexico – filing dates, signature requirements, etc.
   
   See here for the guides – http://www.sos.state.nm.us/2012CandidateGuideInfo.html
   
   
5. Read the Run for Office page at lp.org

Becoming a Delegate to the National Convention

Anyone wanting to be a delegate from the LPNM to the LP's 2012 National Convention needs to :

1. Register to vote as "Libertarian" before the State Convention.
   
   
2. Sign up with the LPNM as a Caucus Member (see above).
   
   
3. Show up at this convention and signify willingness to be a delegate.
   
   
4. Sign up as a National member.
   
   
5. Download and read the LP National Bylaws and Convention Rules
   
   
6. Request a copy of the pamphlet titled Information for Delegation Chairs and Delegates.
   
   
7. Show up at the National Convention.

Out-of-State Visitors

1. All national-level candidates (for President, National Chair, LNC spots, etc.) are responsible for covering their own expenses, including but not limited to travel, meals, and lodging. They are, of course, free to solicit financial or other support from individual LPNM members, but the LPNM will not expend organizational resources for this purpose.
   
   
2. The LPNM as an organization will NOT endorse candidates for any office until they have been officially nominated by an accredited affiliate of the Libertarian Party.

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Copyright © 2011–2012 Libertarian Party of New Mexico. All rights reserved.

Produced by KCUF Media, a division of Extropy Enterprises. Webmaster Mike Blessing.
This blog entry created with Notepad++

Rebuilding and Upgrading the LPNM

I want to remake the Party into an activists' party, with the intent of supporting the central task of taking the libertarian message to the general public. Running partisan candidates are a way to do that, but not the only way. Here's some resources and tips for the membership to help spread the word and develop their rhetorical talents.

• I've created a YouTube channel for the LPNM. This will be for posting videos that support the libertarian message. These include, but are not limited to, recordings of speakers at LPNM conventions. If you're good with a camcorder, I hereby solicit your submissions here.
  
  
• The LPNM blog remains active. Again, I humbly solicit submissions for that blog (and the newsletter!) in the form of original articles, cartoons, etc., that you've done.
  
  
• I encourage all LPNM members to post notices to their pages on Facebook, Myspace, wherever, of local LP meetings in their area. I've got a few people on my personal pages, but we can reach more people if others follow suit in this. If there aren't any local LP meetings in your area, feel free to start one – it's not that difficult. What do you have to lose by making the effort?
  
  
• The Facebook group that I set up for the LPNM remains active. The Myspace group is unavailable at the moment, as Myspace is apparently revamping their setup for that particular feature. The [LPNM-discuss] Yahoo! Group also remains active as an open forum.

What can you do and what can you "get away with" on my watch? I think that it's best if we apply libertarian principles to the Party's internal workings as well as to our rhetoric and to the policies we advocate. So you're pretty much good to go if you meet these three conditions:

• You're not breaking any public laws – especially the malum in se ones.
  
  
• You're not violating the Non-Aggression Principle.
  
  
• You're not advocating violations of the Non-Aggression Principle.

I maintain that that Libertarian candidates, officeholders or appointed spokespersons at all levels of government or the Party should refrain from advocating new or more restrictive laws, new or more expensive spending programs, or new or higher taxes. To paraphrase from the medical profession, "First, do no harm."

Recently (28 April), Ron Bjornstad and I met with staffers from the Bernalillo County Bureau of Elections – part of the County Clerk's Office. Things could be looking up on our dealings with them and the Secretary of State. I'll say more about that in future columns.

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Copyright © 2011 Libertarian Party of New Mexico. All rights reserved.

Produced by KCUF Media, a division of Extropy Enterprises. Mike Blessing.
This blog entry created with Notepad++     

Marilyn Steffen's Radio Interview on the Internet

Current mood: excited

The radio interview with Marilyn Steffen (see last month's issue of New Mexico Liberty or the LPNM blog) has been posted to the LPNM's YouTube account in three parts –

The interview has also been posted to lpnm.us as a single MP3 file –

lpnm.us/MediaFiles/MarilynSteffenInterview-KOOT.mp3

Thanks to Allen Cogbill for posting it to the net!

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Copyright © 2011 Libertarian Party of New Mexico. All rights reserved.

Produced by KCUF Media, a division of Extropy Enterprises. Webmaster Mike Blessing.
This blog entry created with Notepad++

Who Speaks for the Libertarians? (Letter to the Editor)

Current mood: predatory

Who Speaks for the Libertarians?

Apparently Kenneth M. Brown, former Board member of the Rio Grande Foundation (the same one headed by Paul Gessing), seems to think that he's a mind-reader where libertarians are concerned. I'm citing his recent op-ed piece in the Albuquerque Journal ("Incentives Can Work, If Doled Out Wisely," p. A7).

Here's the comment that leads me to believe this:

"Libertarians hate this governmental intrusion."

While we (libertarians, that is) might object passionately to such governmental intrusions into the economy, I hardly think that the word "hate" applies. We simply look to the historical record and note that when government stays out of the way, the average person "in the street" prospers more than when government is active in "running" the economy. As is often attributed to Thomas Jefferson, "That which governs best governs least."

In fact, we as Libertarians are often divided over how fast to cut the State, how much to cut, and what should get cut first. I like to say that as a minimum, we shouldn't advocate any more growth of government – the State should not expand in power, expense or intrusiveness. We'll let everyone else argue over how much to grow the State.

Brown goes on to say, "A well-designed incentive will create more jobs per dollar of lost tax revenue than would a reduction of, say, two percentage points of a state's top tax rate. The reason is that the incentive could be targeted to one firm and made to be worth much more to that firm than a statewide tax cut, and at a small fraction of the lost revenue."

The fact remains that such incentives have often ended up as boondoggles here in New Mexico. After all of the back-room deals from 2003 to 2011, New Mexicans have every right to be skeptical of any sort of such "targeted incentives."

My question for Brown is simply this: Why should I trust his judgment over what is and isn't a "wise" choice where these "targeted incentives" are concerned? Thus I prefer making the tax and regulatory environment a level playing field, as opposed to Brown's idea of mercantilist preferences.

Mike Blessing
State Chair, Libertarian Party of New Mexico
Phone – 505-515-7015 / Yahoo IM – mikewb1971

Who owns you? Who runs your life? Who should – you or someone else?
Freedom is the answer – what's the question?

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Copyright © 2011 Libertarian Party of New Mexico. All rights reserved.

Produced by KCUF Media, a division of Extropy Enterprises. Webmaster Mike Blessing.
This blog entry created with Notepad++

What Does It Take to Get Pulled Over?

Current mood: amused, devious, excited

Florida LP Chairman Adrian Wyllie surrenders license in protest of REAL ID act



Video: In Real ID Protest, Florida Libertarian Chairman Drives Without a License

h/t to Mark Axinn, Chair of LPNY

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Copyright © 2011 Libertarian Party of New Mexico. All rights reserved.

Produced by KCUF Media, a division of Extropy Enterprises. Mike Blessing.
This blog entry created with Notepad++

Albuquerque Liberty Forum -- June 2011

Albuquerque Liberty Forum is a no-host dinner, with discussion of issues important to libertarians, capitalists (anarcho- and otherwise), objectivists, extropians, and Constitutionalists.

We're currently meeting at the 66 Diner at 1405 Central Ave NE in Albuquerque, from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM.

Suggestions for speakers are welcome – let us know in advance if you want to address the group, so we can promote you!

Speakers will have 30 minutes to make their case, then should be open to questions from the audience. Audience members are requested to ask questions of the speaker as opposed to making statements. All speakers will be considered to have consented to being recorded, including but not limited to audio or video devices, for posting to the internet (YouTube, etc.).

Agenda for this event

1. Round-robin introductions (if needed)
2. Updates, notices about upcoming events
3. Discussion: Does the Tea Party movement have a future?

Albuquerque Campaign for Liberty

Craigslist

Duke City Fix

Facebook

FreedomConnect

FreedomTorch

MyYearbook

NMPolitics.org

New Mexico Liberty

Patriot Action Network

RTR.org

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Copyright © 2011 Libertarian Party of New Mexico. All rights reserved.

Produced by KCUF Media, a division of Extropy Enterprises. Webmaster Mike Blessing
This blog entry created with Notepad++     

Hats Off to Marilyn Steffen!

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: county chair
Date: Wed, 11 May 2011 14:46:54
From: M. Steffen

I do the best I can here. I'm not an organizer, but I do hand out DVD's of Freedom to Fascism and the Citizens Rule book by the hundreds and did a radio interview last year at a Silver City radio station and have a 23 minute copy of the show if you would like to have a copy. I talked about the Constitution, Fully Informed Jury and Freedom Fest.
-------- Original Message Ends --------

I'd like to put this interview on the LPNM site.

I've passed this on via email, as well as included in the next New Mexico Liberty, and sent it on to the National Chair, Mark Hinkle.

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Copyright © 2011 Libertarian Party of New Mexico. All rights reserved.

Produced by KCUF Media, a division of Extropy Enterprises. Webmaster Mike Blessing
This blog entry created with Notepad++

The LPNM in May 2011

New Mexico Liberty for May 2011

Albuquerque Liberty Forum is a no-host dinner, with discussion of issues important to libertarians, anarcho-capitalists, extropians, and Constitutionalists.

We're currently meeting at the Sizzler at 7212 Menaul NE in Albuquerque (two blocks to the east of Louisiana Blvd., on the south side of Menaul), from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM.

Suggestions for speakers are welcome. Speakers will have 30 minutes to make their case, then should be open to questions from the audience. Audience members are requested to ask questions of the speaker as opposed to making statements. All speakers will be considered to have consented to being recorded, including but not limited to audio or video devices, for posting to the internet (YouTube, etc.).

ABQ Campaign for Liberty

Facebook

FreedomConnect

FreedomTorch

Myspace

NMPolitics.org

New Mexico Liberty

Agenda for this event

1. Round-robin introductions (if needed)
2. State of the Party speech by LPNM State Chair Mike Blessing
3. Notices about upcoming events
4. Getting Started as an Activist

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After-event review

What went well

1. We stuck to the posted agenda fairly well – we didn't get sidetracked much at all.
2. We had a few new faces at this event – total attendance was twelve, which is double last month's number.

What needs improving

The venue's management seated us in the separate room after another group had previously reserved that same room for every Thursday.

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NOTES

1. Original article
   
   
2. Reposted –
   
   
   1. KCUF Media – Wordpress / Xanga
   2. The Weekly Sedition – Wordpress / Yahoo!
   3. Partisans of the American Southwest – Wordpress / Yahoo!

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Copyright © 2011 Libertarian Party of New Mexico. All rights reserved.
Produced by KCUF Media, a division of Extropy Enterprises. Webmaster Mike Blessing
This blog entry created with Notepad++     

LPNM 2011 Annual State Convention

Libertarian Party of New Mexico

2010 Annual State Convention

Theme – The Way Forward: Rebuilding

Venue – Quarters BBQ
3700 Ellison Dr. NW, Albuquerque, NM 87114 – See also HERE

Contact Mike Blessing – 505-515-7015

Friday, 15 April 2011

Although there is no formal program for Friday evening, for anyone wanting to arrive early, the early birds will gather in the Quarters BBQ bar area at about 6:00 PM for an informal dinner / discussion – No-host, pay-as-you-go, dinner, cocktails, and networking.

Saturday, April 16, 2011

11:00 AM		Registration and pay-as-you-go lunch, order off the menu – Ø25 per person, to include dinner in the evening
1:00 PM		LPNM Business Meeting [no charge for anyone attending ONLY the business meeting]
		All who are registered with the State of New Mexico as Libertarians ("LIB" on the voter registration card) can vote during nominations for public office. Only Caucus Members can vote during LPNM business and internal LPNM elections. Visitors do not vote in any actions or activities. Central Committee meeting after close of the LPNM Business Meeting.
3:00 PM		Speaker [To be announced]
4:00 PM		Speaker [To be announced]
5:00 PM		Break [so Quarters can prepare for the dinner]
5:30 PM		Dinner [included in the registration fee]
		Family-style – includes BBQ chicken, ribs, sliced beef brisket, sliced pork brisket, hot links, with various sides, and includes your choice of iced tea, coffee, or soda [other beverages are pay-as-you-go].
7:30 PM		Keynote Speaker – [To be announced]
8:30 PM		LPNM Fundraiser Auction [Bring items to donate]
9:00 PM		Convention [and Quarters] closes

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NOTES

1. Reposted –
   
   
   1. Personal blogs – Wordpress / Xanga
   2. KCUF Media – Wordpress / Xanga
   3. The Weekly Sedition
   4. New Mexico Liberty

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Copyright © 2011 Libertarian Party of New Mexico. All rights reserved. Produced by KCUF Media.
Webmaster Mike Blessing. This blog entry created with Notepad++     

Questionnaire from the Alibi -- Mike Blessing Responds

Name:		Mike Blessing
Party:		Libertarian Party / Boston Tea Party
District:		16
Website:		http://mike4nmh16-2010.blogspot.com/

1. What qualifies you for this position?
   
   I am a sapient (self-aware) resident, registered voter and taxpayer of the District.
   
   What qualifies me over my opponent? What qualifies him over me? What qualifies either of us over any other resident of the District?
   
   Beware the person who tells you that they have all the answers to all of your problems, if only you surrender a bit of your liberty to them. To paraphrase what Lord Acton said, "Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. All great men are bad men." And no, I don't see myself as being immune to this tendency.
   
   
2. What should be done to address ethics reform and transparency?
   
   Open up all closed-door conference committees in the Legislature.
   
   Require that all State spending over $1000.00 be posted to a publicly-viewable website within twenty-four hours. Considering that you can be tracked in real time when you use your credit card to pay for gas, fast food, etc., this is a very doable idea.
   
   Allow private citizens to make audio and video recordings of all Legislative and regulatory-agency proceedings.
   
   
3. How can we balance the state's budget?
   
   We can start by using a zero-services baseline, and put all of the State budget onto the table for discussion.
   
   As for cutting specific budget items, we can start with the Rail Runner and the Film Office.
   
   Refrain from expanding existing programs without cause, or from creating new programs or agencies that do the jobs of existing agencies or programs. Consolidate duplicative programs and agencies. Require every agency and program to justify its existence and budget on an annual basis.
   
   
4. Should New Mexico allow domestic partnerships for same-sex couples?
   
   Inasmuch as the State requires any form of permission slip for two consenting adults to engage in romantic or sexual relations, the State should NOT discriminate against anyone of the gay / lesbian / bisexual / transgender / polyamorous / kinky persuasions, especially when it's often clear that such discrimination is done just because of this factor.
   
   Still, it should be remembered that marriage-licensing laws started out under "Jim Crow" in the post-Reconstruction South as a way to enforce segregation, by outlawing interracial marriages between whites and blacks.
   
   
5. Do you favor rehabilitation instead of jail time for nonviolent drug offenders?
   
   The current "rehabilitation" programs offered by the State as an alternative to jail or prison can often be more intrusive and onerous than incarceration.
   
   Instead, let's try repealing the stupidity, insanity and evil known as Drug Prohibition. Consider that all it really does is corrupt law enforcement. Until I hear otherwise, I will assume that anyone who supports Drug Prohibition also supports the 10,000 drug-related murders per year in America caused by Drug Prohibition. Drugs being illegal won't stop people from wanting them, and someone else will find ways to make money providing them.
   
   
6. What do you think of the state's film initiatives?
   
   The Film Office is just as much a corporate welfare handout program as was Isotopes Stadium when it was built, as is the Balloon Fiesta Park. Eliminate them from the public budgets, and then cut the gross receipts tax, cut the personal income tax, so that poor people can save some more money to support their kids. Let the Hollywood studios, all owned by multimillionaires, pay their own way. How many of the jobs created by the production companies still exist after the movie is completed?
   
   
7. How can we improve public education?
   
   APS is one of the State's biggest spenders and employers, yet apparently the following was written by someone in the eighth grade:
   
   ABOUT THE "All Work, No Play" article, I disagree with the run artical on how if the students do poorly on the standard based test then they cant have an elective. I feel bad that you feeled on the test.
   
   See http://tinyurl.com/2a7fmuf for more.
   
   And we should give APS MORE money?! When I was that age, I would have been ashamed to write that. Is APS even fixable?
   
   I'm more focused on charter schools, private schools, and homeschoolers.
   
   
8. Should New Mexico change its laws surrounding immigration?
   
   All of this hysteria about Mexicans coming north like Genghis Khan's Golden Horde is just that – hysteria. Joe Miller, the Alaska GOP's candidate for U.S. Senate, unwittingly reinforced my point when he said that East Germany was "effective" about enforcing its border around West Berlin – http://tinyurl.com/25mf2ml – nice guy, isn't he?
   
   Seriously, what kind of society do we want to end up with – one with fences, walls, scanners, regulations and subgun-toting guards all over the place, or one where people can interact with each other on a basis of voluntary consent?
   
   
9. What kind of infrastructure improvements does your district require?
   
   The usual kinds that just about every other district needs – the roads are the most visible ones. Driving around some parts of Albuquerque can be like four-wheeling, considering the potholes, cracks, bumps, etc. that I often see around town. This is what we spend millions on road bonds for every two years?! There has to be a better way to build roads.
   
   One thing that needs doing around here is speed-bump removal – people still routinely go over them at 40 MPH, and I wouldn't want to be a patient in an ambulence going over them.
   
   
10. What issues do your constituents care about most?
    
    I haven't had the cash to do any surveys or polling, but I'm guessing that they would want their individual rights to life, liberty, property and the pursuit of happiness to be respected by State government. I suspect that they want to provide for themselves and their families in a productive manner by interacting with others on a basis of mutual consent. State (and local, and federal) government should do what it can to defend that liberty, while not infringing that same liberty. Other than protecting those freedoms, government should leave people to their own devices.

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NOTES

1. Original article – alibi.com page
   
   
2. Reposted –
   
   
   1. Personal blogs – Wordpress / Xanga
   2. KCUF Media – New Mexico's Consumer Advocate / The Weekly Sedition
   3. New Mexico Liberty / The BTPNM Blog / The LPNM Blog

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