Category: rj harris

2012 Liberty Inspiration Award Sponsored by Libertycandidates.com

Gigi Bowman65 Comments

In honor of our 3rd Anniversary we are introducing the Liberty Inspiration Award.

“This is an award that will be given yearly to 5 people who showed positive effort and energy throughout the year in spreading the message of liberty. They did not have to run for office, but they did have to inspire others to step up, do something that helped to bring people together, or enlighten others by growing the liberty movement in some manner by taking on a leadership role of some sort or by creating a new platform for inspiration — whether it be media, news, music, or just speaking out in some way that may have brought about positive change.

Rules: Please email your nominations to hello@libertycandidates.com. Express why you think they should receive this award. Each person can choose up to 3 people. The comments will be listed with the winning names (anonymously if you wish; just tell me so). We will also list all Honorable Mentions and their letters as well.  This is not about winning –this is about honoring those who inspired you!

Please send all submissions to the email hello@libertycandidates.com; only these will be counted, not submissions listed on this event page or anywhere else.”  Also, I do not accept “form letters” that you write up and send to all your friends to nominate you so refrain from doing this. Each individually letter will be counted. Form letters will be counted once –so don’t bother!

The winners will be announced on January 1st 2013. Their names will be listed on the www.libertycandidates.com websites for a full year as “inspiring leaders of 2012. Submissions can be sent beginning 11/29/12 and will continue through December 30th 2012.

The award will go to the Top 5 vote-getters.

www.libertycandidates.com

– Gigi Bowman & Sally O’Boyle

Liberty Candidate Wraps Up His Campaign in a Great Letter

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Hi all,

This is Rob Lombardo. I wanted to send out my thoughts wrapping up the 2012 campaign and looking toward the future. I’ve copied additional friends who may not be on the Libertarian Activists mailing list, but who are also lovers of liberty (FYI, those of you not on the list will not be able to reply to it but you can certainly respond to me if you would like). Forgive the length. I don’t go on like this a lot, so indulge me this once:

I’d like to begin by telling a quick story from the ol’ campaign trail:

After it became likely that the Libertarian Party would not gain ballot access for the 5th Congressional District race, I was encouraged to seek out the Independent Party nomination since they had the slot available. The chances seemed slim, as it was suspected that they would simply nominate the Republican, Andrew Roraback and their first order of business was to nominate the very anti-Liberty Rocky Anderson for President.

I saw an opening though. As Rocky Anderson gave a lengthy acceptance speech, rife with altruistic and utopian nonsense of a nanny-state government, he railed against the 2-party duopoly. This particular issue resonated, understandably and appropriately, with the Independent Party delegates. So I quickly tweaked my prepared remarks to bring in allusions to the 2-party duopoly as I tied in the Independent Party’s local successes to my strong support for federalism. Not to toot my own horn, but my speech was awesome, and I left the stage to a resounding applause. Senator Roraback followed with a dry oration with little, if any, substance. It was no more than a rambling “pretty please”. After the speeches, I actually thought I was in! But where things got all Twightlight-Zoney was when one delegate, a man who described himself as “libertarian” and who I chatted with beforehand with many agreements, actually forwarded the motion to nominate Senator Roraback! A delegate eventually moved to nominate me, amid the chairman’s repeated calls for “any other nominations”. It seemed like the delegate simply nominated me out of mercy to spare me the embarrassment of having no support at all. When the votes were tallied I was soundly defeated 15-3.

I couldn’t believe it! After my great speech and after all the ranting against the 2-party duopoly, the so-called Independent Party nominated a member of that very same system they jeered. The “libertarian” delegate found me afterwards and said that he just felt Senator Roraback’s name-recognition would “bring more attention to their party and help them keep ballot access”.

The reason I am telling this story is that, being the candidate, I had to smile and nod politely and be gracious in defeat. I couldn’t give this guy the figurative smack in the head he desperately needs. What’s the point of having ballot access if you repeatedly nominate another major party candidate, as the Independent Party did all across the state this year, and has done quite often in past elections as well? How does it help to break the 2-party duopoly if you prevent outside candidates from getting in the race? These questions drove me crazy and probably turned my face blood-red as he was explaining his pathetic excuse. But, I had to smile and nod, thank him for his consideration, and wish them all well.

What I really could have used, not so much after the fact, but circulating beforehand, was supporters. Supporters who, unlike the candidate, can get down and dirty in caucuses and mingling groups and point out how nonsensical some voters are behaving… even ones that describe themselves as libertarians! The candidate can’t be the bad cop. Think of the soon-to-be unemployed Congressman Joe Walsh of IL.

We have got to get more people involved to not only be candidates but to be these supporters too… get in the game! And these people have to come primarily from those receiving this email. There are spectators; there are cheerleaders; and there are those actually on the field. We do need more candidates, but if that is not your cup of tea, that is OK, just get out there. The sign-waving, the ‘Facebooking’, and donating money are things that I would call cheerleading. And that is not to diminish any of those things. We need them to continue and they are greatly appreciated. If they are honestly all you have time or ability to do, then by all means keep it up and we will be grateful. But if you can, and I have to believe there are more, GET IN THE GAME. Run for office or help out in the campaigns of those of us who are doing so.

I share Dan Reale’s frustration. The enthusiasm that some of us show when we are comfortably behind a keyboard can be multiplied if it is shown out there in the field. I am deeply indebted to the few who actually got out and helped me petition. But honestly, I had hopes of a lot more and was pretty disappointed with the actual “boots on the ground” support I received; with all the energy around Ron Paul, and the 5th district supposedly being Ron Paul’s best in the Constitution State, and me being 99% in line with Ron Paul. What happened? To get me on the ballot we ended up frantically draining our coffers to pay a collection of knucklehead mercenaries whom I wouldn’t trust to watch a sandwich… and we botched the filing anyway! It ended up being essential to get our senate and presidential candidates on the ballot but I find little comfort in that given the time I put in myself.

We need these boots on the ground. We need people engaged. Yes, we need your money too, but help us to put it to good use! If we have more candidates, then where offices/districts overlap we can piggyback off one another. If we have more supporters physically out there they can confront people like the “libertarian” from the Independent Party and push a little harder without creating a Joe-Walsh-YouTube-moment (well, don’t get that obnoxious either way).

And we most certainly need to start early. Given this year’s experience in petitioning; learning what to expect and how to identify locations, I am convinced that had I begun in May, I would have easily reached the target. Had I begun in March, I could have done it entirely on my own. I can recall days with good weather at the right place and the right time I was pulling in 20 seemingly good signatures per hour.

We need to plan, and with the added challenges of ballot access and being the severe underdog in any race, we must do it well in advance of the Republicrats. We need “ground games” and that is why we need more people engaged. A team of people can have a ground game. One person by themselves can only have an illusion and a hell of a lot of stress.

Personally I would really like to hear from people on this mailing who can pledge to actually get involved, beyond cheerleading. Even though we don’t know who is doing what yet, we have to know who will be on the field because before you know it, it will be time to get moving again.

Now as far as what to do: All of the above. There are some who believe we need to grow the Libertarian Party, and some who believe we change the Republican Party from within. Some think we should focus on low level offices and build slowly, and some think we need to go for federal office. Some think we can change trajectory before a massive collapse, and some think we need to just prepare. While it would certainly be beneficial to all be unified and working on the same page, that is just not realistic. So instead of debating what is better or what is worse, what will work and what won’t, while precious time slips by, we ought to accept that there will be differences of opinion and as long as our goal is liberty we ought to support one another. Maybe I think the changing the Republican Party is a waste of time, but if someone here is working on a town committee and pushing for a Republican Liberty candidate, I should still help out if I can. Maybe I think seeking federal offices are better for attacking the roots of the problems, but I should still help out state and municipal candidates. Maybe I think we have time to stop the impending disaster, but I should still support any related prepper initiatives. Let’s not bring each other down and waste time arguing about it.

So anyway, assuming certain things, such as me still living here, I still have my eye on the 5th District again for ‘14, and I am considering Brookfield’s Board of Selectmen for ’13. Who’s going to be on the field with me? What are you going to do? Even if it is a smaller project, a Board of Ed campaign, anything at all… if I can reasonably be of assistance, then count me in! But let’s hear about it!

In Liberty, For Liberty,

Robbo

The Ron Paul Effect – Bloomberg Lists all of Our Liberty Candidates

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Bloomberg Business Week lists all of our Liberty Candidates running in 2012!  People flocking to the website to check out who these extraordinary candidates are!

Texas Congressman Ron Paul, who has said he’ll step down from office at yearend, has inspired a crop of candidates who are running for office on his libertarian platform.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Click link below for larger picture:

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-04-26/the-ron-paul-effect

 

Liberty Candidates in Bloomberg Business Week! “Ron Paul’s Torchbearers”

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Liberty Candidates have made it into the big time!  Elizabeth Dworkin of Bloomberg/Businessweek has written a story including many of our liberty candidates like Karen Kwaitkowski, Tisha Casida, Calen Fretts and more!  Gigi Bowman met up with the author and some of our Liberty Candidates during Philly Phreedom, the Ron Paul Rally on April 22.  In the middle of a storm Elizabeth Dworkin might have found more Liberty than she’d imagined 4,500 people with umbrella’s in the rain to hear the Presidential Candidate who has brought so much inspiration to all the liberty Candidates 🙂

~Gigi Bowman, President of Liberty-Candidates.org;  libertycandidates.com

 

Ron Paul’s Torchbearers

 

 

By  on April 26, 2012

Karen Kwiatkowski, a Republican candidate for Congress in Virginia, rarely passes up an opportunity to scold Washington politicians about runaway defense spending, which she says is an egregious waste of taxpayer dollars that does little to make Americans safer. Halfway across the country, Tisha Casida, a Colorado Independent, says she’ll push to end the drug war and legalize marijuana if she’s elected to the House. In Florida, Calen Fretts, a Libertarian seeking to unseat a veteran Republican congressman, promises that if he’s elected he’ll begin working to abolish the U.S. Federal Reserve. “As people increase the size and scope of government,” Fretts says, “there’s got to be a few of us to resist it.”

These candidates have two things in common: All are long shots seeking office for the first time. And all were inspired to run by the same man—Ron Paul.

After 12 terms in the House, Paul, who is 76, says he’ll retire at year’s end. Though he gamely insists he can still defeat Mitt Romney and capture the Republican nomination, his presidential runs have always been about forcing other candidates, and the public, to pay attention to his libertarian arguments for eliminating most taxes, closing federal agencies, bringing U.S. troops home from overseas, legalizing drugs, outlawing official secrecy, dismantling the Fed, returning to the gold standard, and generally getting the government to get out of the way.

If forcing his don’t-tread-on-me, minimalist philosophy into the mainstream is the benchmark, Paul can claim victory and return to Texas a happy man. The professional political class may ridicule him as an eccentric kook leading a cantankerous army of potheads who invade chat rooms with ALLCAPS rants about government overreach. (And no doubt there’s something to that—the most worshipful Paul evangelists can be hard to stomach.) But listening to his rivals in the GOP debates demand that the Fed be audited and the Departments of Energy and Education be shuttered, it’s clear that many of Paul’s positions, once considered extreme, are now routine Republican talking points—and that his influence over conservative politics greatly outweighs his low poll rankings and back-of-the-pack primary returns. “I believe our time has come,” says Paul, who quickly tempers this uncharacteristic display of optimism. “It’s still going to be a knock-down dragged-out fight.”

continued:
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-04-25/ron-pauls-torchbearers#disqus_thread

LibertyChat.com Presents Liberty Candidates Extravaganza!! Tuesday April 17th

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Tomorrow, Check out this lineup at LibertyChat.com!!!!

 

It’s the Liberty Candidate Extravaganza and it’s starring these amazing and brave Liberty Candidates who have stepped up to run for office on the Inspiration of Ron Paul!

8:00 – 8:30
Robert Wagner – State Senate 2012 Vermont
Eric Olson – Congress at Large 2012 North Dakota
Tammy Blair – State Senate 2012 Texas District 3
Adam Brooks – County Commissioner 2012 North Carolina Randolph County District 5
8:30 – 9:00
Robyn Hamlin  – Congress 2012 Missouri 1st District
Marc Scaringi  – United States Senate 2012 Pennsylvania
Randi Shannon  – State Senate 2012 Iowa District 34
Kent Wilsey  – State House 2012 North Carolina District 62
Kerry Bentivolio – Congress 2012 Michigan 11th District
9:00 – 9:30
Delia Lopez – Congress 2012 Oregon 3rd District
Mike Peterson – State House 2012 North Dakota District 42
Shaun Crowell – US Senate 2012 Tennessee
Robby Wells  – President of the US 2012 Constitution Party
9:30 – 10:00
Tom Woods http://www.tomwoods.com/
10:00 – 10:30
Scotty Boman – Senate 2012 Michigan
Jenny Worman  – Congress 2012 California 28th District
Rj Harris  – Congress 2012 Oklahoma 4th District
10:30 – 11:00
Karen Kwaitkowski – Congress 2012 Virginia 6th District
Don Stephenson  – School Board 2012 Florida District 2
Glen Bradley – State Senate 2012 North Carolina District 18
Read about the candidates beforehand at
www.liberty-candidates.org

Ask them questions.  Give them a hard time! Know you mean business 🙂   We trust that you’ll want to donate to them in the Liberty Candidates Great Patriots Money Bomb following the event! https://gigibowman.com/2012/02/23/liberty-candidates-great-patriot-money-bomb-april-18-19-2012/

Check out the Liberty Candidates book at Amazon.com  Introduction by Tom Woods written by Liberty Candidates. Edited by Gigi Bowman and Sally O’Boyle
http://www.amazon.com/How-Office-Liberty-Platform-Liberty-Candidates-org/dp/146378144X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1334592259&sr=8-1Don’t miss this!

And if you know any Liberty Candidates –have them check out the application at www.liberty-candidates.org

See You Tuesday Evening at 8pm!

Liberty-Candidates.org, A Sought After Stamp of Approval in the 2012 Election

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Apparently the media is starting to take notice that being listed as a Liberty Candidate is an important stamp of approval in the 2012 election.   Being listed as a Liberty Candidate, voters know what they’re getting when they check them off on the ballot!

Many 2012 Candidates Seeking a Particular Website’s Stamp of Approval

This year there seems to be an added step to the process of running for political office. That step is seeking the stamp of approval from Liberty-Candidates.org.

What started off as a small mom & pops website run by Gigi Bowman & Sally O’Boyle in 2009, has now blossomed into election HQ for those seeking support from the politically educated. Liberty-Candidates.org prides itself on not asking which political party you belong to when applying, but rather what your political beliefs are. Supporters of the website tend to be very knowledgeable of the U.S. Constitution, monetary system, & foreign policy.

In local politics the 2012 political season has just started but Liberty-Candidates has already been flooded with interested candidates. Over 30 candidates have gone through the Liberty-Candidates.org litmus test.

continued:  http://libertychat.com/2012-candidates-seeking-a-particular-websites-stamp-of-approval

Many Liberty Candidates Named as Possible Successors to Ron Paul’s Seat

Gigi Bowman1 Comment

The legacy of Ron Paul: Who will fill his House seat?

Two time Liberty Candidates, Floyd Bane and William Yarbrough, Past Liberty Candidate, John Dennis and first time Liberty Candidates Karen Kwaitkowski and George Harper named as possible successors to Ron Paul’s legendary seat in the House.  Needless to say we know we’re doing something right at Liberty Candidates 🙂

RICHMOND, February 29, 2012 – Whether Ron Paul wins the White House in November or not, one thing is for certain; he is not coming back to the House of Representatives. This leaves many wondering who will take up the mantle for liberty after the good doctor has retired.

The obvious choice is Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, Ron Paul’s son. Michigan congressman Justin Amash is probably the closest to Dr. Paul in the House. There are, however, others who have been inspired by Dr. Paul’s example and have a good chance at making a splash in congressional elections this fall.

continued: http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/political-pro-con/2012/feb/29/legacy-ron-paul-who-will-fill-his-house-seat/

Obama’s New Defense Plan: Is it right for a war weary America?

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by Liberty Candidate, Danny de Gracia II


HAWAII, January 14, 2011–The Obama Administration’s new defense strategy as outlined in the sixteen page document Sustaining U.S. Global Leadership: Priorities For 21st Century Defense has defined the first and primary mission of America’s military as “Counter Terrorism and Irregular Warfare.”

But in an era where Osama bin Laden is dead and nearly ten years have passed by since the al Qaeda attacks of 9/11, is Obama’s blueprint the right plan for a war-weary America? In America’s military service academies and war colleges, the ancient strategic wisdom of Sun Tzu’s famed Art of War is still taught for its timeless advice on command and tactics.

“[I]f you do not know your enemies nor yourself, you will be imperiled in every single battle,” Sun Tzu writes, and says further “to win one hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the acme of skill. To subdue the enemy without fighting is the acme of skill.”

Sun Tzu also presents an interesting economic warning about prolonged war: “if the campaign is protracted, the resources of the State will not be equal to the strain. Now when your weapons are dulled, your ardor dampened, you strength exhausted and your treasure spent, other chieftans will spring up to take advantage of your extremity. Then no man, however wise, will be able to avert the consequences that must ensue.”

As America experiences continued fiscal challenges in the form of a rising national debt and a weak economy, these warnings almost perfectly describe the condition of our military and country. History demonstrates that the correct course of action for a declining power is not to commit to fighting a global war in search of peace but rather to seek to avert conflict altogether through a combination of shrewd diplomacy and a well-equipped military that can strategically deter both small and large aggressors alike.

This wisdom was the default posture of the United States for most of the Cold War, especially in the early post-WWII years when America’s policymakers realized that her enemies abroad could quite easily seek to whittle her into exhausting conflicts by starting flashpoints around the world.

In a January 1954 address to the Council on Foreign Relations, Eisenhower’s Secretary of Defense John Foster Dulles remarked, “If the enemy could pick his time and his place and his method of warfare – and if our policy was to remain the traditional one of meeting aggression by direct and local opposition – then we had to be ready to fight in the Arctic and the tropics, in Asia, in the Near East and in Europe; by sea, by land, and by air; by old weapons and by new weapons.”

Instead, the solution offered by Dulles and others throughout the Cold War was to provide America’s enemies with an absolute assurance that initiating aggression against the United States would be met with overwhelming response.

While Obama has been compared by conservative critics to Jimmy Carter, the presidential election year memorandums of the Carter Administration draw sharp contrast to today’s new defense outline. In July 1980, Carter issued Presidential Directive 59 in which his vision of American defense meant “it is necessary to have nuclear (as well as conventional) forces such that in considering aggression against our interests any adversary would recognize that no plausible outcome would represe

continued: http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/making-waves-hawaii-perspective-washington-politic/2012/jan/14/will-obamas-new-defense-plan-work/

The Constitution v. Legislation by RJ Harris

Gigi Bowman1 Comment

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is often said that there is not much the Office of the President can do to right the wrongs currently plaguing our Republic; I disagree. Precedent would argue that new legislation is required to repeal old. However, there is NO support for this notion anywhere in the Constitution. An unconstitutional Law is NO LAW at all and the President’s oath REQUIRES him/her to NOT enforce said measure. Moreover, given that the recent House vote failed to achieve the necessary 2/3 standard for override, the Constitution’s supremacy over all other legislation, the Patriot ACT’s obvious disregard for the 4th Amendment, the MANY unconstitutional provisions in Obama Care and in accordance with the oath of office found in Article II to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States,” I will not take care to execute the Patriot ACT or Obama Care since they are both most certainly unconstitutional. Furthermore, since Legislation in conflict with the Constitution cannot rightly be said to BE the Law, I would also remove from these two measures the Office of the President’s signature by way of executive order and if the Congress wants them back they would need to comply with Article I, Section 7 and pass them with a 2/3 vote.

 

But all of this talk about 2/3 votes to override, and the fact that the recent passage of the Patriot ACT got VERY close to the 2/3 needed from both the House and the Senate, brings us to consider the “political question” (and I use that term on purpose and will explain why later); If the President knows a Law passed over his veto by the 2/3 vote needed to do so IS STILL unconstitutional, it may well be the Law, but shouldn’t the President then simply refuse to enforce it?

 

Certainly the Constitution requires that the President “take care that the Laws be faithfully executed,” but when a Law, even one passed by a 2/3 majority conflicts with the Supreme Law of the Constitution itself which one should he/she take care to execute? The President is OATH bound to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States”; not so for mere legislation. Thus, on the books the Law passed by the super majority may remain for the next President to enforce; but if enough Presidents refuse to enforce the errant measure might this eventually push the Congress to fix what makes it unconstitutional?

 

By now some of your are screaming ‘yes but if any President did this the Congress would impeach him/her.’ Not so; the President may ONLY be removed from office by the Congress upon “conviction of, Treason, Bribery or other high Crimes…” So wouldn’t a President who’s greatest commitment belonged to the Constitution and the Republic be willing to stand up to the Tyranny of the Majority when it is made manifest and blatant as has been done with both Obama Care AND now the extension of the Patriot Act? NO WHERE in this sparring over the political question between the President and the Congress is it necessary for the Supreme Court to intervene if the President is upholding his/her oath. And if he/she is not the remedy is STILL NOT for the Supreme Court to USURP this power for itself as it did Judicial Review in Marbury v. Madison.

 

And now that the Supreme Court has been brought into the discussion I return to the “political question” mentioned earlier. The Supreme Court has held time and again that it will not involve itself in issues it considers turning upon the “political question” since these issues are supposed to be settled by VOTERS, We the People, NOT the Court. Moreover,  Judicial Precedent IS NOT our Supreme Law, the Constitution is. Judicial Precedent and Construction DOES NOT represent the will of We the People or our Consent to be governed, the Constitution does. So before you start quoting cases to me as if I was arguing before the court instead of before the highest authority in the land, that being We the People, I would ask you to recall that the Supreme Court broke the 5th Amendment to allow Slavery to continue. It did that again when it allowed Eugenics to be used upon us and again when it allowed all Citizens of Japanese ancestry to be sent off to internment camps. So you see, the Supreme Court is NOT the moral edifice to which so many offer it that deference…it is merely the third branch of a federal government all three of which have grown FAT and DRUNK off the power they have USURPED from We the People.

 

We should NEVER allow our consent to be governed to be infringed no matter what percentage of legislators in the Congress are willing to infringe it and we should certainly be prepared to support a Presidential Candidate running on a platform of checking legislative and judicial tyranny. Of course should the President, as has happened in the past, go too far with all of this, again We the People have the power of redressing THAT political question simply by voting him/her out of office at the next election and into office the opposing Candidate arguing to be the instrument of that redress.

 

Claiming that providing for the common Defense conflicts with the Constitution is nothing more than a lie told by tyrants to make us agree to the absolute despotism of a tyrannical government. Claiming that some Citizens MUST give up their earned wealth for the common good of other Citizens is another lie told by tyrants to make us consent to involuntary servitude. Fellow Citizens, it is well past time that we threw off these nefarious designs, tyrannies and usurpations of OUR POWER and elected a President who is actually prepared to conduct his/her office so as to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States” as well as the Lives, Liberty and Property of We the People.

 

RJ Harris

Constitutional Libertarian

http://www.harrisforpresident.com

http://www.facebook.com/RJHarrisOfficial

Rj Harris Emerges as Front Runner in Libertarian Presidential Candidate Race

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RJ Harris, Presidential Candidate for the Libertarian Party, takes 54% in poll at http://www.patriotpolls.com, a libertarian leaning website that features polls geared toward the liberty and freedom movement with weekly Q&A sessions from Tom Woods and Adam Kokesh and an upcoming session with another Libertarian Candidate, R Lee Wrights.  This is one of many polls that places Rj Harris in the front-runner position.  He recently won the Illinois Straw Poll during the State Libertarian Convention.

Rj Harris was a Liberty Candidate from his Congressional run in Oklahoma in 2012.  He is also co-author of the book “How to Run For Office on a Liberty Platform” written by Liberty Candidates with a foreword by Tom Woods and an introduction by Adam Kokesh. http://tiny.cc/5nxfo

The Libertarian Presidential Candidate will be chosen in early May 2012 at the National Libertarian Convention being held in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The Constitutional Libertarian’s Defense Against Progressive Socialism

Gigi Bowman1 Comment

Written by Rj Harris
Libertarian Presidential Candidate 2012

With so many key conservative world leaders reading Hayek, and with Hayek himself not being able to confront socialism’s most insidious back-door entry points, those being the foot in the door safety net arguments, it is no wonder that the legacies of Thatcher and Reagan have descended into neo-conservative compassionate conservitivism which is little more than a softer and slower form of socialism. What is needed then and has been missing is the ability of all Libertarians to articulate the message of economic freedom to the emerging Liberty conscious constituency sans any allowance for socialism at the federal level beyond what the Founders allowed in through the Constitution. Therefore I propose that we all learn these following three points in defense of economic Liberty against socialism and be prepared to speak them forcefully and consistently whenever and wherever we may be called upon to do so:

1. Taking from one person to give to another under the auspices of charity, while altruistic, IS STILL theft and that action by a government is only accomplished under the presupposition that the labor of We the People, and the fruits which are bestowed by that labor, belong first and foremost to the government to be redistributed at the whim of that government. Of course this entire scheme has at its heart the insidious notion that while people think they are free because they are allowed to keep a portion of what they produce and make some of their own choices, in reality their “first fruits” being appropriated by the government proclaims for good and all that they are in fact involuntary servants to the state which is in direct violation of the 13th Amendment.

2. Even if state sanctioned theft for the purpose of social/individual welfare was not a moral evil and unconstitutional, governments have proven time and again that they have neither the requisite knowledge nor the level or altruism to efficiently distribute the stolen resources to those in real need. Moreover, when the state fails to husband this forced charity (taxes) to its greatest potential those patrons from which it was appropriated, the taxpayers, have nothing other than the long slow slog of political or judicial recourse to rectify the waste or graft which expends even more of their money to ends other than the supposed charity. Contrastingly, were those same patrons able to choose private charity services which engaged in similar wasteful behaviors to those of the government, that waste and graft could be immediately rectified simply by selecting a more proven efficient charity by the patrons themselves. Try doing this with the government and one will end up in jail or worse.

3. And finally in response to the very predictable socialist retort that people are inherently greedy and must therefore be forced by the state to provide charity through taxation we must be prepared to present the empirical TRUTH that despite the gross over-taxation of We the People there are more charities which exist today, husbanding more resources in the United States alone, than have ever existed in the history of the world. Based off of the economic prosperity which existed under the last vestiges of economic freedom, and lingered on until the last few decades, it can only be concluded that were it not for the greater and greater levels of forced charity through government taxation to provide social welfare, that the free market of charitable services would be even more robust than it has been of late. For how is it even possible for the People to donate to causes of their choosing when they have been taxed directly, or indirectly through deficit spending and inflationary policies, to the point of their own near total impoverishment?!

Thus, unless we are willing to continue allowing socialism and the insidious practice of involuntary servitude which follows in its wake to continue robbing We the People to our complete and utter impoverishment on a generational scale, then we must remain resolute and unwilling to concede the necessity of any socialism beyond that which the Constitution allows.

Helpful rebuttals to predictable and weak socialist retorts:

Roads are not forms of socialism as it has always been possible for them to be funded purely by those who use them. Moreover, while the Constitution allows for the appropriation for post roads nowhere does it preclude Private Enterprise from funding and building private roads for profit nor the federal government from paying for its need of post roads through user fees rather than taxes. The exchange of a valuable good or service for a fee is not a tax, it is commerce.

Similarly, courts may also be provisioned through user fees charged to their customers, the litigants. So again we have no need for socialism in our civil courts. In fact our Founders only conceded the need for socialism in the provision for the common Defense of the Lives, Liberty and Property of We the People and if we are successful in restoring Freedom and re-binding socialism back to its Constitutionally limited state this generation would have done more for the cause of human Liberty than any since our Founding.

Natural disasters are often used by socialists as their trump card when all of their other arguments fail. However, arguments to the inability of private markets to provide relief and recovery assistance are easily overcome by reiterating point thee above, by pointing out that the Republic suffered many natural disasters prior to the invention of FEMA and recovered from all of them through the use of charity, insurance or private investment. Moreover, it is a completely legitimate use of the National Guard to protect and secure domestic aid shipments and relief workers enroute or on-scene without the aid itself or workers labor having been purchased by the government. It is also completely legitimate to use National Guard Airlift or ground transports to deliver initial aid to U.S. civilian populations under direct threat of loss of life in the immediate aftermath of disaster as this falls under the constitutional protection of Life and Property. However, once the immediate threats to lives and property are thwarted, Private Enterprise is best positioned to continue with rebuilding efforts; all the federal aid provided to LA has not rebuilt New Orleans any faster nor any better than was San Francisco rebuilt after its great quake/fire by charity, insurers and private investors.

Fellow Patriots, do not be afraid to defend the virtues of Liberty against the FALSE claims that statecraft and socialism are required to provide safety nets which are most certainly more adequately provided either through charity, insurance or private investment. Meet rhetorical steel with steel and never be ashamed of standing up for your Freedom and Liberty in the face of socialism’s seductive assertions of security and safety which have yet to materialize in our lifetimes despite nearly a century of its proselytization.

RJ Harris
Constitutional Libertarian

www.rjharris2012.com


Long time Liberty Activist, Gigi Bowman elected Chair of Suffolk County Libertarian Party

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In a special session held Monday evening long time area resident Gigi Bowman, a well known regional liberty activist, was elected as chair of the Suffolk County Libertarian Party. Bowman received a strong majority of support from area members in her election. In the special session Adam Martin was elected vice chair of the party.

Gigi Bowman is a wife, mother and Real Estate Agent from Huntington, Long Island.  She is the President of www.liberty-candidates.org and President of Central Nassau Long Island Board of Realtors. She is also the NY State Caucus Leader for www.freeandequal.org and has now been elected as Suffolk County Chair of the Libertarian Party.  She has also been appointed as the National Coordinator of the RJ Harris Presidential Campaign and is part of the RevolutonPAC grassroots council  for Ron Paul for President.  Gigi also helped to successfully run LibertyFest NYC with over 30 speakers and 700 guest.

Bowman is looking for anyone who would like to be vetted to run for office on the Libertarian line in Suffolk County

http://suffolkcountylibertyreport.com/sclr/?p=28700

Liberty Candidates Book Release at LibertyFest NYC on 9/10/11

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A New Book Written by Liberty Candidates Inspired by Presidential Candidate Ron Paul to be Released at LibertyFest NYC on 9/10/11

 

 

Bringing liberty back to NYC for the 10th Anniversary of 9/11 is a new book aimed at inspiring new champions of liberty and a fun party to showcase what liberty is all about!

“How to Run for Office on a Liberty Platform”, written by Liberty Candidates and edited by Gigi Bowman and Sally O’Boyle will have it’s opening release date on 9/10/11 at LibertyFest NYC!

New York, NY (PRWEB) September 01, 2011

“How to Run for Office on a Liberty Platform” is a collection of personal running-for-office experiences and anecdotes written by Liberty Candidates. The book’s official release will coincide with the start of LibertyFest NYC on 9/10/11 and will be available on Amazon.com following this event. You can visit the Liberty Candidates blog for additional book signings across the country.

Gigi Bowman and Sally O’Boyle, President and Vice President of Liberty Candidates edited and published this book which will hopefully inspire dedicated and freedom loving men and women across the country to run for office. Liberty-Candidates.org is an organization that vets and endorses candidates who are inspired to run for office by Congressman and Presidential Candidate, Ron Paul, and will defend the great American principles of individual liberty, constitutional government, sound money, free markets, and a noninterventionist foreign policy.

Many of the candidates and authors of the book will be at LibertyFest NYC on 9/10/11 including New York Times bestselling author of 11 books and senior fellow of the Ludwig von Mises Institute, Tom Woods, who is keynote speaker of the event as well as the author of the foreword for “How to Run for Office on a Liberty Platform”. Some of the other author’s of the book who will be in attendance are 2012 Libertarian Presidential Candidate RJ Harris; 2010 Congressional Candidate from New Mexico and author of the book’s introduction, Adam Kokesh; and 2010 Congressional Candidate and author from Wisconsin, Terri McCormick. Liberty Candidates who will be speaking are newly vetted 2012 Congressional Candidate for Chinatown, NY Dan O’Connor, as well as John Dennis, Congressional Candidate from California who ran against Nancy Pelosi in 2010, and Joe Kennedy, the Libertarian Candidate who ran against Scott Brown in the 2010 Senate Race.

LibertyFest is a gathering of liberty activists who believe the 10th anniversary of 9/11 it is the perfect time to bring liberty back to NYC. As stated by the event’s co-organizer and co-author of the book, Danny Panzella, “We will be honoring 9/11 heroes and victims, discussing philosophy, debating solutions to national political and economic challenges and having a great time while doing it!”

Speakers include Libertarian radio commentator Mike Church; Christina Tobin President of Free&Equal.org; Former Sheriff, Richard Mack, author, speaker and advocate of state and individual rights; Executive Director of the National Libertarian Party, Wes Benedict; Host of Freedomain Radio,Stefan Molyneux; and Journalist Scott Horton of AntiWar.Com among others

With over 25 speakers, the music of Jordan Page and the official release of “How to Run for Office on a Liberty Platform”, LibertyFest NYC is sure to bring a positive, energetic spirit of freedom to the Big Apple for the historic 10th anniversary observations of the 9/11 tragedy.

http://news.yahoo.com/book-written-liberty-candidates-inspired-presidential-candidate-ron-140241405.html

Coming Together for Liberty: Free and Equal to Co-Host Liberty Fest NYC

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Free & Equal to Co-Host Liberty Fest NYC

Posted by Chris Edes on August 30, 2011 | No Responses

— Download as PDF —

New York City, August 30, 2011 – On September 10th 2011 liberty activists, authors, bloggers, artists and musicians from different political backgrounds and parts of the country will gather at Club Amnesia in West Chelsea, Manhattan to celebrate the cause of Liberty. It’s been hailed by some as “The Liberty Event of the Year”, but what isLibertyFest? The organizers of LibertyFest, four grass-roots activists, describe the event:

“LibertyFest is a building of coalitions from the entire spectrum of the liberty movement. We must come together if we are going to bring liberty back to our country. What better way to start rebuilding than to begin at the place where liberty was lost as we come together to bring it back on the 10th Anniversary of 9/11 ,” says Gigi Bowman, co-organizer of LibertyFest and founder of Liberty-Candidates.org.

The event has drawn an impressive roster of speakers, including NY Times best-selling author and Senior Fellow of the Ludwig von Mises Institute, Tom Woods. Other speakers include voluntaryist philosopher, Stefan Molyneux – former Arizona Sheriff, Richard Mack – former Congressional candidate,  Adam Kokesh – Gary Franchi, founder of the RTR.org social network – and 2012 Libertarian Presidential Candidate, RJ Harris. In addition, many current and former candidates from Liberty-Candidates.org will be speaking and celebrating the launch of the first official book from the same organization, titled: How to Run for Office on a Liberty Platform.

This event is truly drawing people from all arenas, as stated by co-organizer, Ian Cioffi, “LibertyFest NYC is about bringing people from various political views together, under one roof, to discuss what we can agree on, and how to build from there. It’s an event for people who understand that both parties are to blame, and how we can go about fixing our broken political system.”

Co-organizer, Amanda Trbovich adds, “LibertyFest is about coming together and working with one another. We all have such different viewpoints and we all think very critically – not everyone is going to agree and that is healthy, it keeps us vigilant, as we were meant to be. This event celebrates the differences in the Liberty Movement and invites everyone to come together to share ideas on the best way to preserve our inherent human freedoms.”

Book signings, Liberty themed music & clothing, precious metals by Del Valley Silver and much more will be available in the vendor loft.

“We will be honoring 9/11 heroes and victims, discussing philosophy, debating solutions to national political and economic challenges and having a great time while doing it!” said co-organizer Danny Panzella.

LibertyFest NYC is being held at Club Amnesia: 609 West 29th Street New York, NY 10001 from 5:00 – 11:00 PM on September 10th, 2011. Organized and hosted on a grass-roots level by Liberty Activists: Danny Panzella (TruthSquad.tv), Gigi Bowman (Liberty-Candidates.org), Ian Cioffi (PatriotPolls.com), Amanda Trbovich (Trbobitch.com) and Christina Tobin (FreeandEqual.org). Sponsored and Co-Hosted by: The Free & Equal Elections Foundation – a non-partisan, non-profit public policy advocacy group dedicated to election reform and improving ballot access laws in the United States. Tickets, info and sponsorship & vending opportunities are available athttp://LFNYC.com.

Liberty Candidates Book Release at LibertyFest NYC on 9/10/11

Gigi Bowman1 Comment

On 9/10/11 at LibertyFest NYC http://www.lfnyc.com we will have the book Release of “How to Run for Office on a Liberty Platform” written by Liberty Candidates and edited by Gigi Bowman and Sally O’Boyle.

This will be your only opportunity to get your book signed by Tom Woods, Adam Kokesh and a host of Liberty Candidates who will be attending as speakers.


Our Authors Include:

North Carolina State Rep Glen Bradley

Senatorial Candidate for Florida 2010 Alex Snitker

2012 Libertarian Presidential Candidate and Candidates for Congress in Oklahoma 2010 Rj Harris

New Hampshire State Rep, Jenn Coffey

Gubernatorial Candidate California 2010 Chelene Nightingale

and many more!

Foreword by Tom Woods author of Rollback, Nullification and Meltdown.

Introduction by Adam Kokesh, Congressional Candidates NM 2010 and host of Adam vs the Man

 

Tickets on sale at http://www.lfnyc.com

Ron Paul 2012 /End the Fed

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 Milk Chocolate Liberty Coins!

Order them now before they’re all gone! $2 each 3/$5
Front: Ron Paul 2012 – The Gold Standard in Leadership
Back: End the Fed Liberty Dollar

Gold and Silver Milk Chocolate Coins!
Email Gigi@liberty-candidates.org to order

$2.00 Each or 3/$5
Let me know if you want Silver or Gold and I will send you an invoice
Shipping is .90 cents up to 10 pieces

Free and Equal Doing Great Work for Liberty and Liberty Candidates!

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Free And Equal

The Free & Equal Elections Foundation

The Free & Equal Elections Foundation is a non-partisan, non-profit public policy advocacy group dedicated to election reform and improving ballot access laws in the United States.

Many states have restrictive requirements that make it difficult for nonestablishment candidates to place their names on the ballot.

Free & Equal will challenge these laws, through lobbying of state legislators, court challenges, and initiatives.

Free & Equal will also engage in activism for causes independent of the current two-party duopoly.

Gigi Bowman and Sally O’Boyle of http://www.liberty-candidates.org have just been appointed State Caucus Leaders for Free and Equal.

As State Caucus Leaders they are responsible for building Grassroots movements for electoral reform.

State Caucus Leaders

Free & Equal State Caucus Leaders are your primary point of contact with Free & Equal. They are responsible for building grassroots movements for electoral reform, including:

Monitoring legislation in their state, and promoting positive reforms
Building relationships with political organizations and activists
Recruiting volunteers and holding meetings as appropriate
Contacting schools to recruit interns for state and national efforts
Serving as a point of contact with activists and elected officials
Looking for opportunities to litigate where useful and appropriate
Writing press releases and building relationships with the media

Kentucky

Sally O'Boyle

Sally O’Boyle is a political activist, wife, mother to two home-schooled teens (now graduated – yay!) More than you ever wanted to know @ FiftyToLife.com. Sally’s 15 minutes of fame: her letter to the Southern Poverty Law Center found here.

New York

Gigi Bowman

Gigi Bowman is a Real Estate Agent, Wife, Mother and Founder of www.liberty-candidates.org. She started the Long Island Ron Paul 2008 and Campaign For Liberty Meetups, and has served as Suffolk County Coordinator for the CFL. She presently manages liberty-candidates.org, which vets and endorses candidates from all parties for all offices, national and local, helping voters determine who is liberty minded, using a vetting committee of 125 liberty activists.

On economic Liberty

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by Mike Swatek, Liberty Candidates Committee Member

www.MikesMarket.Info/News

 

Austrian school economics illuminates how personal and economic liberty are intimately intertwined. Neither of these broad liberties can ultimately exist without the other. It’s wonderful to see the expanding awareness of the need to defend our personal liberties, through the Tea Party movement and growing media visibility, which has recently taken a giant leap forward with Freedom Watch on Fox Business every night at 7pm central and online.

Unfortunately, this awakening is less focused on the fundamentals of economic liberty, which is essential to preserve personal liberty. It should be as much of a personal civic duty to have a basic understanding of economics as it is to be familiar with the Declaration of Independence, US Constitution, Federalist Papers and Kentucky/Virginia Resolutions. Unfortunately, economics is widely perceived as overly complicated and/or discredited as a “dismal science”. However, this is only true of the economics promoted by the US government and Federal Reserve, quite possibly with the intention of keeping the masses confused and ignorant on this essential component of their overall liberty. Fortunately, there is an alternative school of thought that overcomes these hurdles, but today it’s only taught at a handful of US universities.

The only school of economic thought that has been consistently correct for the last century is the Austrian school, as Ron Paul has often shared. There are some excellent and enjoyable resources available to gain a working knowledge of the time-proven Austrian economic school of thought.

By far, the best first book is How an Economy Grows and Why It Crashes, by Peter & Andrew Schiff. It’s a brilliant and entertaining short journey through the fundamentals of Austrian economics. Better yet, it’s written and illustrated in a way that is also engaging for younger readers. Don’t let the appearance fool you. This is an absolutely sound and wonderful first book on Austrian economics for everyone. Even with an existing knowledge of the topic, it’s still a very enjoyable book. We should all try to get as many people as possible to read this, so that wider awareness of how to preserve economic liberty will also help preserve personal liberty. Donate copies to local school/public libraries, and it makes a great personal gift.

Another book that covers much of the same material and more, with added detail, is The Case Against the Fed by Murray Rothbard. Don’t be fooled by the title. Rothbard starts with Austrian economic basics in the development of the case. If you would like to learn more after reading Schiffs’ book, this is an excellent second book. Or, if you’re a bit short on cash, you could start with this book which is available from the Ludwig von Mises Institute in free full text and free audio format (chapters listed in reverse order) with all the mp3 files more easily downloaded from an ftp directory HERE. Even if some of the early chapters are a review, the vast majority of people should learn a lot about their economic liberty from the entirety of the case. The proposal for how the USA could end the Fed and go back to a gold standard in the final chapters is also quite interesting.

The next recommended book is Economics in One Lesson: The Shortest and Surest Way to Understand Basic Economics by Henry Hazlitt. This is
still one of the most widely recommended and popular books on Austrian economics, first published in 1946. The lesson is indeed “one”, but the breadth and importance of its meaning needs quite a number of examples to fully understand, which is accomplished in chapters 2-23. This book provides a thorough understanding of the natural economics embodied in the Austrian school of thought. Amazingly, the lesson that Hazlitt shares was first published 1850 in the seminal publication “That Which is Seen, and That Which is Not Seen” by Frédéric Bastiat (1801-1850). Hazlitt’s more modern examples are essential for the fullest understanding of Bastiat’s work, which you may also enjoy reading along with his others* (see ps: below).

Ron Paul has long been the only person in the US Congress with knowledge of Austrian economics, which is a key ingredient in his must-read books, “ The Revolution: A Manifesto” and “ End The Fed“.

If you’re hooked on the topic by the above readings, you might also enjoy the following available free online at the Ludwig von Mises Institute:
Mises and Austrian Economics: A Personal View by Ron Paul (audio version)
Gold, Peace, and Prosperity by Ron Paul (audio version)
What Has Government Done to Our Money? by Murray N. Rothbard (audio version and its ftp directory) ;
The Theory of Money and Credit by Ludwig von Mises;
History of Money and Banking in the United States: The Colonial Era to World War II by Murray N. Rothbard (audio version and its ftp directory)
plus many other free online Austrian school full text books and audio books

If you enjoy these free online opportunities to become educated about your interconnected economic and personal liberties, please Make a donation and become a Member of the Ludwig von Mises Institute

I sincerely hope this message helps some of you to take the plunge into learning much more about your essential economic liberties so that you can better defend them and, by doing so, more fully protect your personal liberties as well. If you find this message beneficial, please forward it to as many others as possible.

Yours in Liberty,

Mike
http://www.mikesmarket.info/news
Important Economic/Financial News aggregator of much the government/mainstream media wants to hide/misrepresent – updated very frequently

*ps: If the works of Frédéric Bastiat (mentioned above) perk your taste for the roots of Austrian economics, you may enjoy the Ludwig von Mises Institute’s free publication of Richard Cantillon: Founder of Political Economy by Jonathan M. Finegold. This is an introduction to An Essay on Economic Theory by Richard Cantillon published sometime between 1730 and 1734, over 30-years before Adam Smith’s seriously flawed “Wealth of Nations”, which is widely and incorrectly believed to be the genesis of economics. There are a couple of interesting audios about Cantillon’s essay available: An Essay on Economic Theory: Interview With Mark Thornton by Jeffrey Tucker; and The Founding Father of Modern Economics: Richard Cantillon by Murray Rothbard (Chapter 12, Volume 1 – Before Adam Smith in his massive 2-volume Austrian Perspective on the History of Economic Thought which is a fascinating read or listen Volume 1 [ftp] and Volume 2 [ftp])

Buy Silver, Crash JP Morgan

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December 7-10th, 2010, we are asking EVERYBODY to buy at LEAST one (1) ounce of PHYSICAL Silver either online at a primary dealer or secondary market like eBay.com or offline at a local coin dealer or pawn shop. Do NOT buy any fraudulent silver certificates or speculative silver mining stocks.

Help crash the corrupt J.P. Morgan who has committed silver fraud and broken dozens of federal and state laws in manipulating precious metals while helping the Government prop up the over-valued and nearly worthless U.S. greenback currency.

Vote with your feet and buy as much Silver for yourself or loved ones on that day!

For more info on “Crash JP Morgan: BUY SILVER”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_lhPoFuSTY&feature=player_embedded
http://truthsquad.tv/?p=93

Event Posted at
We Are Change NYC
http://www.meetup.com/wearechange/messages/boards/thread/10137382/

Save: Long Island http://www.savelongisland.org
http://www.meetup.com/SavelongIsland/calendar/15659175/

Don’t know where to buy your silver? Try DelValley Silver and talk to Bob & Karen Emery! http://delvalleysilver.com/

 

The United States “Economic Civil War”

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The United States “Economic Civil War”

Danny Panzella
TruthSquad.TV
12/2/2010

Independent Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont gave an impassioned speech on the floor of the Senate yesterday. Mr. Sanders railed on the top 12th of  the top 1% of the wealthy in the United States. Highlighting their oligarchical control of the congress, their use of taxpayer money in the form of subsidies, grants, special tax exemptions and bailouts to continue to force the middle class into poverty.

While I disagree with Mr. Sanders assertion that the “Bush tax cuts” should be repealed, and the Death tax should remain in place, I whole heartedly agree with his assessment of the economic situation.

The government already taxes far beyond its authority, the Bush tax cuts are an attempt to limit the amount the federal government can tax, does it benefit the wealthy more than the poor and middle class? Certainly. Should it be repealed allowing the Government to confiscate wealth that does not belong to it, skim off the top and then redistribute a pittance to the little guy? Certainly not. As far as the death tax goes, that money has already been taxed once, to tax it again upon death only serves to ensure people spend their money before they die leaving no wealth for the younger generations to improve their economic status.

So if Sanders is wrong on the solutions to the very real crisis we are in, what are the solutions? It all begins with a sound money system. We need to Audit the private corporation that controls our currency and monetary policy. This will expose the corruption of the Federal Reserve system which will convince the American people it is time to abolish the Fed.

With the currency and monetary policy back in the hands of the congress who is accountable to “we the people” we will start to see economic policy that benefits the people. The next step in this process is to repeal the 17th Amendment, putting the election of Senators back into the hands of the State Legislators. This will ensure that these Senators are loyal to the State, and NOT special interest groups or the Federal Government. With direct election by the people the Senate is loyal to the Federal Government because that is how they protect their own power. Campaign finance reform is the third crucial step towards true Constitutional Government. In a world where dollars translate into political speech; the top 12th of 1% that Mr. Sanders mentions have all the voice while they have reduced we the people to little more than a vote.  In the age where the main stream corporate media are the gate keepers to decide which Candidates are given opportunity to address the people. Keep in mind that top 12th of 1% OWN the 6 corporations that OWN ALL of the main stream media.

The tea party has been a very important part of this process of getting our country back on track, yet much of the tea party is being co-opted by fake neo-conservatives like Mitt Romney or Newt Gingrich. I can hear the groans now as people dismiss Bernie Sanders speech because he is a socialist. We the people need to unite on our commonalities so we can defeat the real enemy, that 12th of 1% that rules the United States through corporate monopoly control and the media induced illusion of choice.

The left and right need to put aside their ideological differences and build a coalition on the common interest of self preservation, preservation of our natural or human and civil rights. The tea party & coffee party for the most part desire the same goal. To bring true change to the United States. Peace, equality, to stamp out hunger and empower the poor to be successful; for each successive generation to enjoy a greater standard of living than the previous. Life, Liberty and the pursuit of happiness for ALL mankind. Let’s work together to counteract the main stream propaganda media, identify the real problem and eliminate it. Then the tea party and coffee party can argue over the solutions once we the people are in control of our country once again.