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MICHIGAN LIBERTARIAN
Volume 45:03
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LP of Michigan Takes Center Stage
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by Bill Gelineau
Let’s get ready, activists! Once again, the Libertarian Party of Michigan is hosting its unique Straw Poll event. Since 2004, each cycle we have sponsored a fund-raising event in which candidates can raise funds for their campaign and simultaneously generate excitement in one of the most contested battleground states.
Plan now to be part of the fun on Saturday March 19th. Check out this page: michiganlp.org/conventions/ . The Straw Poll is $15 until March 16th, $25 after. This is a wonderful opportunity for members and non-members alike to meet several of the candidates seeking the Libertarian Party nomination. Donations from members will be counted as votes for our candidates so come out and support your choice.
Following the Straw Poll a Special Delegate Convention will be held in order to select National Convention delegates to send to Orlando, Florida Memorial Day Weekend. Note: you must sign up separately for the Special Convention to select National Convention delegates that follows immediately afterward.
We now have 8 campaigns committed to participate in the Straw Poll event:
In person speakers:
- Marc Feldman
- John McAfee
- Rhett Smith
- Shawn Joy Sterling
Represented by members / staff:
- Gary Johnson
- Darryl Perry
- Austin Petersen
- Joy Waymire
We hope you plan to be part of the action and learn more about those hoping to make the ballot in November.
Questions? You can contact Bill Gelineau at freedomlover59@hotmail.com .
Anyone can attend and listen to the candidates at the Straw Poll. But, only members can vote. You can sign up as a member and vote in the Straw Poll – however, only those who have been a member for 30 days (or, a lapsed member renewing their status) may vote in the Special Convention.
Don’t miss out. This has been a lot of fun each time we’ve hosted the Straw Poll. Be part of the event and support the candidate of your choice.
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The American Caste System
[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]by Jeff Wood
Make no mistake, the United States is not run by a just government. The Federal government does not represent your interests. It is not run by the people, and it is not by any stretch of the imagination run for the people. The United States government is run by the rich, and by the corrupt. The machinations of this nation are overseen by the oppressors of entire generations. They have kept us down for centuries with myths of opportunity, but America is only a land of opportunity for a select few. Your fate in the American system was established before you were born, because behind the scenes America is run by a Caste System.
Though American social stratification seems to be ad-hoc on the surface, peek under the hood and you will see a very carefully orchestrated system of control that separates the haves from the have-nots, and keeps them permanently separated. The SEC keeps the investing class apart from the working class using subtly worded regulations which they claim are intended to protect the working class. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Rule 501 of Regulation D, that’s the bouncer that will keep you and everyone like you out of the VIP section of the investing club for the rest of your life. It establishes two classes of investor: Accredited investors, who are allowed to invest in virtually unregulated securities like hedge funds, credit default swaps and private equity; Then there’s unaccredited investors, these are the working class folks like me and you, who get railroaded into investing in heavily regulated, significantly less lucrative securities such as mutual funds, stocks and treasury bonds.
The SEC claims that these regulations are there to protect us. They say that lucrative hedge funds are simply too risky to allow investment from “unsophisticated” individuals such as you or I. So how do they determine whether or not you’re sophisticated enough to receive their accreditation? There must be some kind of licensing exam or educational requirement, right? Wrong. You have to be a millionaire. I kid you not, the sole criterion to determine eligibility for accredited investor status is that you must have $1 million or more in personal assets (this figure will soon be raised to $2.5 million).
Are you starting to see how this works? Rich people are allowed to put there money in a hedge fund, which can get away with whatever it wants in the pursuit of profit. Poor people have to put their IRA into mutual funds, which can’t turn around without filing paperwork and asking for government permission. Is it any surprise that your retirement savings have remained flat, or worse, dropped precipitously? Are you starting to see that the wealth gap in America is widening not in spite of the government, but because of it?
Similar regulations prevent small businesses from trading securities profitably. The SEC defines a Qualified Institutional Buyer (QIB) as an institution that manages at least $100 million in assets (Banks can get away with just $25 million). Think you’re a pretty savvy trader, and you want to strike out on your own? Don’t bother unless you’ve got the backing of the legacy financial system, or a generous uncle who happens to be an oil tycoon. Without a QIB license your dreams of competing with the big guys are never going to be anything but dreams.
The SEC, an institution originally intended to protect Americans from the depredations of malicious financiers, has joined in the fun of looting our nation’s people. Why wouldn’t they help Wall Street line its pockets, while Main Street worries about how they’re going to heat their houses and feed their children? Food and energy prices have already been subtracted from their Core-CPI statistics, so they have carte-blanche to ignore the suffering their regulatory capture is causing the people of this country.
It’s time for the American people to wake up. The world of high finance isn’t a well orchestrated machine beyond our comprehension that is managed by sophisticated geniuses, it’s a shell game just convoluted enough to confuse you and keep you from lynching the con men responsible. It’s time to start fighting back against government complicity in the fleecing of America, if we don’t take a stand now our children will one day wake up homeless on the continent our fathers conquered.
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From the Political Director
[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]by Scotty Boman
Special Election Candidates
Our Special election candidates have made some inroads. Both now have current websites and have made appearances at campaign forums. Both have statements decrying the secrecy of the caucus system in the state house… a system that makes legislators beholden to party leaders instead of the people they are said to represent.
Tracy Spilker has had some positive press, and has started some fundraising. Hopefully she can leverage discontent with establishment politicians in nearby Genesee County (over the water crisis) to protest votes in Lapeer Co.
Arnis Davidsons has made a phenomenal breakthrough with two TEA Party Groups hosting a speaking engagement for him on February 23rd and announcing the event with the following verbiage:
“Do not remain ignorant of the facts!
The Republican and Democrat candidates running in the March 8th election for Michigan’s District 80 State Representative are neither fiscally conservative nor constitutional in their goals for Allegan County and Michigan.
Both Mary Whiteford (Republican), and David Gernant (Democrat), have expressed liberal ideals in their various communications concerning their belief for purpose of state government.
Arnie Davidsons is the Libertarian Candidate a for District 80 and is the only fiscal conservative.
Stephen Young
Chairman,
Allegan County Tea Party”
One interesting consideration is that the Plainwell Patriots were organized by expelled State Representative Cindy Gamrat. There is a good chance that Arnie may be able to capture a significant portion of the voting block that originally got Gamrat elected before the well publicized events changed her standing. This was a faction that fell in line with Libertarians on a number of issues. The Republican establishment took TEA Party votes for granted in their Democrat vs. Republican mindset. Enter the Libertarian… An upset may be in the works.
Candidate Training
Mark Sunday April 10th on your Calendars Bill Gelineau and I are working on candidate training day. Details to be announced.
Our America Initiative Lobby Day
The Our America Initiative Michigan affiliate will be hosting a legislative action day on Tuesday March 8th. Those interested in participating should email me at scottyboman@hotmail.com or call (313) 247-2052. Mr. Boman will have a one page handout for pickup at 10:30 AM by the Anderson House Office Building entrance, 124 North Capitol Avenue, Lansing, MI.
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Building a Libertarian Future
[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]by George Phillies – Continued from February
Your Monthly Step:
Go to a council or board meeting. See what is happening.
Last month, I urged you to find a list of elected and appointed boards in your community. When you do that, you will have a schedule of meetings.
Your next step is to choose a committee you might find interesting, and start appearing as a spectator for the meeting. After all, if you are going to run for office, you should learn what you are in for. Also, you should learn what the board does, and how it goes about doing it.
You do not need to attend every meeting, though making most of them would be a good idea. At some point, you may well be noticed by any reporter covering the meeting, at least for boards likely to be covered by reporters. It is perfectly fair to drop the hint, should they ask you, that you are becoming more involved in politics, and may therefore be considering running for office, or helping a friend to run for office.
At the same time, you should also learn what your board really does. Under modern conditions, an internet search may be of some help.
Remember, you are not absolutely committed as to what you do next. You are looking over the terrain, looking before you leap.[/vc_column_text][vc_separator border_width=”2″][vc_column_text]
Alternate Use for Demolition Dollars
[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]by Roger Snyder
When going past the Corunna dam, people look to see the water rushing over the rocks. It’s a very cool thing, just like the water rushing over the Owosso-M21 dam. People enjoy fishing, eating their lunch, or just sitting enjoying the setting around dams.
Four people, including myself, got over 400 signatures to stop the $1,000,000 fleece of taxpayers for removing 3 dams in Owosso. These 4 people are the TRUE friends of the Shiawassee River. Amazingly, not one person that I talked to wanted the dam out.
I wrote articles, trying to save the Shia town dam, but the acclaimed friends of the river were determined to tear it out and level the area and make it a small stream. It’s very sad to see, because I learned to water ski and spent many weekends at that lake. Lots of people enjoyed swimming, fishing and picnicking there as well. It could have been put back as a generating plant and made an income for the area, and been a fantastic public lake for our county.
They tore the dam out in Chesaning also, because no one fought to save it. Now you have rocks with weeds, stagnant water that stinks and no rushing water to enjoy.
Now the focal point is on the Corunna dam that is about to be leveled at a cost of $300,000. They don’t even have a legitimate reason to tear it out.
I don’t blame people for trying to create an income by tearing things down for no reason other than to make money. What I do blame is the federal, state and cities spending taxpayers money on horrible negative projects.
If we could put that money toward a county trade school, it could give skills to students so they can get a decent job without a $50,000. loan. I believe local industry would donate time and equipment and assist teachers in learning skills during summer break so they would be able to teach students.
College training in most of these jobs is so expensive that it makes no sense to go thousands in debt for a $15 an hour job.
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March Letter from the Chair
[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Happy March,
Election season is in full swing. If you haven’t noticed candidate ads have begun popping up for the two major parties for the Michigan Primaries. The Libertarian Party has also been upping our information on the candidates seeking our Presidential nomination. Several events are scheduled throughout the country and with the potential nominees for the major parties we are confident that this will be one of our best years ever.
We have a Straw Poll coming up on March 19th where we will be hosting several of the Libertarian Presidential Candidates. Following the Straw Poll we will be holding a special convention in order to elect our delegates that will represent us to the national party in Orlando, Florida on Memorial weekend. For more information on this event please visit: https://michiganlp.org/conventions.
The new website is up and running. We’re still working on transferring over old information such as past newsletters and information about articles that Libertarians wrote to newspapers. We now have a Marketing committee that will be looking into using our new website, calendar, and newsletter layouts to help reach out to like-minded groups so everyone can grow together.
The LPM has been working on ideas that will recognize our individual members and thank them for their support and donations. In the mean time we will be continuing our efforts to reach out to members in order to update our records, especially as we will be upgrading our database system which will assist with that process. Please reach out to us if you would like to make sure your information is up to date at membership@michiganlp.org.
Our Vice Chair and Political Director have been reaching out to people considering running as Libertarians in the general election this year. We are looking at the political winds and do believe that we can make a difference this year. There are no real liberty candidates running in a large amount of races this year and we would like to provide those options to you. We do plan on having a training session at the end of April to help with paperwork and filing instructions. If you, or anyone you know, may be interested in running for an office at any level please contact Scotty Boman at politicaldirector@michiganlp.org.
We are still looking for more articles about legal proceedings, legislation, ballot proposals, and the libertarian philosophy. If you’re interested in sharing an information article please e-mail newsletter@michiganlp.org. We are a volunteer organization so submissions are always welcome.
Make sure to follow our website, our Facebook page and our newsletter for information on upcoming events. Please remember we are under construction on our website and new formats will be appearing over the next few weeks. Let us know how you are enjoying the new experience at webmaster@michiganlp.org.
Thank you.
Kimberly McCurry, LPM Chair[/vc_column_text][vc_separator border_width=”2″][/vc_column][/vc_row]
