Take Action: help stop the essential ban of Kratom!

We have some great news that needs urgent action BY 5pm ET TUESDAY! We, with our lobbyist’s help, have found some champions in Congress to write a bipartisan “Dear Colleague” letter asking the DEA to slow down this process. 

The letter asks, among other things, that the Director of OMB and Acting Director of the DEA delay a final decision on the placement of Kratom as a schedule I, provide ample time for public comment on this significant decision, and resolve any inconsistencies with other Federal Agencies regarding the use of Kratom.

So this is what we need you to do!!! Find your Rep here and e-mail them over the weekend! http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/ Then use the number below to call YOUR representative first thing Monday morning. Tell them you are a responsible adult consumer of Kratom for help with ______ (ailment) and ask that they please contact Congressman Pocan’s office to sign-on to the Pocan/Salmon Dear Colleague letter on this issue.

Click HERE to view this hope-inspiring video that will help organize your phone call in order to relieve any ‘phone call anxiety‘.

Read Paul Kemp’s full explanation of the scenario HERE!

SEND YOUR CALLS, LETTERS & TESTIMONIALS TO THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE!!

Loretta Lynch can single handedly stop this ban:
https://www.justice.gov/contact-us

A word from U.S. Term Limits on indictment of Congresswoman Corinne Brown

Out this morning, July 8, 2016, from U.S. Term Limits President, Phil Blumel:

True to form, another career politician in Congress is preparing to be indicted on federal charges. These elected officials just can’t seem to keep their hands out of the cookie jar.

This time, it’s 12-term Florida Congresswoman Corrine Brown. Brown frequently runs unopposed for re-election or wallops her only opponent by 30-40 points. Her district was one of the most gerrymandered in America before a judge ordered its “bizarre shape” be redrawn.

Now Brown will face charges regarding “One Door for Education,” a fraudulent charity which raised $800,000 for education, then only disbursed one student scholarship for $1,000. Meanwhile, the charity’s money was spent on lavish parties in Washington, D.C. and luxury skyboxes at NFL games. Lifestyles of the rich and elected, apparently.

According to the Florida Politics blog, Brown will continue to serve in Congress while under indictment. They cite a 2014 report by the congressional research service saying “there are no federal statutes or rules of the House of Representatives that directly affect the status of a Member of Congress who has been indicted for a crime that constitutes a felony.”

This raises a question for the American people: Why do members of Congress only leave office on occasion of indictment, retirement or even death? That is evidence of a broken system which protects the powerful and excludes everybody else. It must be fixed.

If Corrine Brown had faced the six-year term limit prescribed by the U.S. Term Limits amendment, she would have left the House of Representatives in 1999. Instead, she was given 17 more years to build power within the system and connections with special interests outside of it.

We need to clean up the corrupt mess in D.C. as soon as possible. It will require a grassroots army of volunteers pressuring state legislators to pass resolutions for the Term Limits Convention.

Are you ready to join this grassroots army to fight for term limits? Sign our Super Activist Sign-up Form by clicking HERE.

Thanks for your support,

Phil Blumel

President

U.S. Term Limits

 A video of a news report on the indictment can be found here

Action Item: Tell Congress To Quit Trying to Sabotage Net Neutrality

Net neutrality is under multiple threats in Congress. Whether it’s slashing the FCC’s budget, attempting to prohibit the agency from enforcing its Open Internet Order, or stalling net neutrality protections with redundant and unnecessary “studies,” lawmakers are using every trick they can to undermine the FCC’s work to keep the Internet free and open.

In the last few weeks, Congress has been relentless in its attempts to defund, stall, and hamstring the FCC from enforcing the net neutrality rules it passed last year, despite the fact that 4 million Americans spoke out in favor of the FCC using its regulatory authority to protect a free and open Internet.

Let’s tell lawmakers to protect net neutrality, not undermine it.

USE THIS LINK TO CONTACT YOUR MEMBER OF CONGRESS

The bill to sabotage net neutrality

The FCC’s 2015 Open Internet Order was the culmination of years of net neutrality advocacy and a big step toward a free and open Internet. Now, there’s a bill up for a vote in the House of Representatives that could dismantle many of its protections. The House votes on Friday. Let’s act now to stop this bill.

At best, the No Rate Regulation of Broadband Internet Access Act (H.R. 2666) is a poorly written bill that brings a host of unintended consequences. At worst, it’s a calculated attempt to undermine the net neutrality principles we’ve all been fighting for. If H.R. 2666 stays in its current form, it’s crucial that the House of Representatives reject it.

Alcee Hastings talks to U.S. Term Limits

“He is an employee of ‘we the people’ and…crying poor mouth at $174,000/year.”

A NOTE FROM U.S. TERM LIMITS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR NICK TOMBOULIDES:

When 22-year Congressman Alcee Hastings (D-FL) claimed members of Congress were underpaid at $174,000 per year, the phone lines here at U.S. Term Limits lit up. We had people from all across America call to tell us how Hastings’ out-of-touch comment solidified in their minds that now is the time to term limit Congress.

One man baffled by the remark was Jay Bonner, who ran for Hastings’ District 20 seat last year and is doing so again in 2016. Bonner, the first candidate of the 2016 cycle to sign our term limits pledge, told USTL in an exclusive interview that Hastings’ demands look silly when compared to how people in his district really live.

“He’s representing a community that makes $20,715 on average. He’s making over eight times what his constituents make, and he’s crying to us ‘I can’t make it on $174,000,'” Bonner said. “These raises don’t actually end up helping the people.”

Bonner also called term limits a “protective factor” that “keeps the new people who go in (to Congress) from becoming corrupt.”

Polls show that most Americans agree, and want Congress to take action on term limits. The only way to get there, however, is by building up a nationwide network of supporters that can pressure our legislators into doing the right thing.

That starts with you. As a personal favor to me, please forward this email to five friends or family members who, like you, want to hold Congress accountable. Legislators might be out-of-touch, but the more we get in touch with fellow term limits supporters, the closer we’ll be to achieving our goal.

Thanks for the support,

Nick Tomboulides

Executive Director, U.S. Term Limits

A note from Jess Hemerly, Public Policy Manager from Google – Google Hangout on Government Surveillance starts NOW!

I’m about to start a Hangout On Air with the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and the Open Technology Institute. We’ll be discussing the current state of play on the road to real surveillance reform.

I’ll be speaking to Rainey Reitman, activism director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and Robyn Greene, policy counsel for the Open Technology Institute.

We’ve got a lot to talk about, from major activity in Congress — the USA Freedom Act in the House and a proposal to reauthorize Section 215 in the Senate — as well as a Federal court decision that has serious implications for bulk collection.

Let’s get started! Tune into the Hangout On Air right now:

The Road to Real Surveillance Reform
Hangout On Air with EFF & Open Technology Institute
May 12, starting at 2pm ET / 11 am PT
Join us now.

If you haven’t submitted a question yet, you can submit one using the Q&A tool. We’ll try to cover as much ground as we can. Tune in:

https://takeaction.withgoogle.com/join-the-hangout

Thanks,

Jess Hemerly
Public Policy Manager
Google Inc.

NEW CAMPAIGN: 28 pages that could change the world

AND THIS FROM JIM BABKA of DOWNSIZE DC:

Bush & Obama kept a secret from you; a key ally may have helped the 9/11 terrorists. Re-Tweet this.

Some current and former members of Congress are under a gag order. They cannot say what they know about the 9/11 attacks.

This goes back to 2002. The House and Senate Intelligence Committees investigated the 9/11 attacks. But…

* President Bush censored 28 pages of the final report.
* President Obama hasn’t released those pages even after promising he would.

The few members of Congress who’ve read the pages swore not to reveal their contents. But they say a U.S. “ally” was involved in the 9-11 attacks.

Should Congress find out more before it continues to fund the War on Terror?

Do families of 9/11 victims deserve to know what’s in those pages?

Do you?

If you say “yes” to these questions, tell Congress to demand that the President declassify the pages through DownsizeDC.org’s new “Release the Censored 9/11 Pages” campaign.

The hard-wired message says…

Pass H. Res. 14, urging the president to release 28 censored pages regarding the 9/11 attacks.

You may borrow from or edit these additional comments…

I also want you to demand personal access to read the 28 pages for yourself. Here’s what your colleagues who read them have said…

Rep. Walter Jones (http://1.usa.gov/1Fc7mX4): “[T]he information contained in the redacted pages is critical to our foreign policy moving forward and should thus be available to the American public.”

Rep. Thomas Massie (http://bit.ly/1qDpbFD): “I had to stop every two or three pages and rearrange my perception of history…it’s that fundamental.”

Former Sen. Bob Graham (http://bit.ly/1z9TTZb): “The 28 pages primarily relate to who financed 9/11, and they point a very strong finger at Saudi Arabia as being the principal financier.”

Could it be that 9/11 was really an act of WAR by a foreign State?

If so…

The “War on Terror” is based on LIES.

You must get to the bottom of this. That means…

Before you spend one more dime on surveillance at home and attacks abroad, DEMAND that the censored 28 pages be released.

PASS H. Res. 14!

–END OF LETTER–

Send your letter using DownsizeDC.org’s Educate the Powerful System.

Taking any stance on 9/11 earns you trouble. I know, because I lost two valued friends over it. Remarkably, their positions were polar opposites! So I know lots of folks won’t like what I wrote today. They’ll leave us.

That’s why, today, it’s just not enough to send a letter to Congress, as crucial as that is! We need your financial support, so that we can keep taking firm and principled stands like this.

Please, make a generous donation today, because we’re in danger of running a deficit this month. At our current pace, we’ll be nearly $2,000 shy of what we need to pay April’s bills. Someone reading this, right now, could cover the whole thing. But it will probably require a group of people, contributing various amounts, to get the job done.

And we’ll continue to stand tall if you’ll stand behind us.

Thank you for being a DC Downsizer,

Jim Babka
President
DownsizeDC.org, Inc.

Voter’s Guide for 2014 General Election – Palm Beach County, Florida – A Libertarian Perspective

I am often asked for my opinion as to who would make good choices for elected office and the 2014 General Election is no different. So here is the list of those I plan to vote. The person / issue I will vote for is in BOLD, sometimes with an explanation.

U.S. Representative, Dist. 22

PAUL SPAIN – I am voting for Paul Spain. He was my #2 pick during the primaries and am comfortable with him leading District 22. I wish he was more libertarian and perhaps in two years we will have a Libertarian Party challenger for this seat.
Lois Frankel
Write-In Candidate Raymond Schamis

Governor and Lieutenant Governor

Rick Scott / Carlos Lopez-Cantera
Charlie Crist / Annette Taddeo
ADRIAN WYLLIE / GREG ROE
Farid Khavari / Lateresa A. Jones
Glenn Burkett / Jose Augusto Matos
Write-In Candidates

Attorney General
Pam Bondi
George Sheldon
BILL WOHLSIFER – no matter who wins the Governor’s race, it is imperative to supporters of Amendment 2 (medical marijuana) Bill Wohslifer win to be Florida’s next Attorney General so Amendment 2 will be implemented properly and go unchallenged.

Chief Financial Officer – It is unusual for me; however, I am skipping this race (and a couple more below). I can not in good faith vote for either of these candidates. Both are bad in my opinion.
Jeff Atwater
William “Will” Rankin

Commissioner of Agriculture
Adam H. Putnam – I am not a huge fan of Putnam and am tempted to skip this race as with the CFO race; however, Putnam is the better candidate and has helped Libertarians in the state move their agenda forward.
Thaddeus “Thad” Hamilton
Write-In Candidate – Jeffrey Obos

State Senator, Dist. 34 – I am sitting out this race as well. Sachs is awful and I do not believe she lives in this district which is required by our state constitution. If allegations are proven true (it is currently being officially investigated) it could lead to her going to jail for continually lying on official qualification forms and violating the state constitution. Bogdanoff is equally awful. Her record in the Florida legislature is terrible from a Libertarian point of view and is more interested in corporate welfare than offering small or big business a truly free market in Florida. As before, perhaps a Libertarian Party of Florida candidate will challenge the winner next time around.
Ellyn Bogdanoff
Maria Lorts Sachs

State Representative, Dist. 89 – I can not in good faith vote for either of these two. UGH! Both are nice people; however, I do not want either representing me in Tallahassee. I could get into the nitty and gritty details – but will spare you.
Bill Hager
David Ryan Silvers

District Court of Appeal
Shall Judge Alan O. Forst of the Fourth District Court of Appeal be retained in office?
YES
NO

District Court of Appeal
Shall Judge Mark W. Klingensmith of the Fourth District Court of Appeal be retained in office?
YES
NO

District Court of Appeal
Shall Judge W. Matthew Stevenson of the Fourth District Court of Appeal be retained in office?
YES
NO

District Court of Appeal
Shall Judge Martha C. Warner of the Fourth District Court of Appeal be retained in office?
YES
NO

Palm Beach Soil & Water Conservation District Group 5 – 4 Year Term
Eva S. Webb
Karl Dickey – he is the OBVIOUS choice! 🙂

No. 1
CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT
ARTICLE X, SECTION 28
Water and Land Conservation – Dedicates funds to acquire and restore Florida conservation and recreation lands.

Although I am an environmentalist, the state has enough land AND it continually sells off land that was SUPPOSED to be held for conservation. The government has a horrible track record and cannot be trusted to keep this land preserved.

YES
NO

No. 2
CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT
ARTICLE X, SECTION 29
Use of Marijuana for Certain Medical Conditions
Allows the medical use of marijuana for individuals with debilitating diseases as determined by a licensed Florida physician. Allows caregivers to assist patients’ medical use of marijuana. The Department of Health shall register and regulate centers that produce and distribute marijuana for medical purposes and shall issue identification cards to patients and caregivers. Applies only to Florida law. Does not authorize violations of federal law or any non-medical use, possession or production of marijuana.

Increased costs from this amendment to state and local governments cannot be determined. There will be additional regulatory and enforcement activities associated with the production and sale of medical marijuana. Fees will offset at least a portion of the regulatory costs. While sales tax may apply to purchases, changes in revenue cannot reasonably be determined since the extent to which medical marijuana will be exempt from taxation is unclear without legislative or state administrative action.
YES – I will be voting YES for this amendment because we must end the absurd practice of jailing patients for using this tremendous resource.
NO

No. 3
CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT
ARTICLE V, SECTIONS 10, 11
Prospective Appointment of Certain Judicial Vacancies

Proposing an amendment to the State Constitution requiring the Governor to prospectively fill vacancies in a judicial office to which election for retention applies resulting from the justice’s or judge’s reaching the mandatory retirement age or failure to qualify for a retention election; and allowing prospective appointments if a justice or judge is not retained at an election. Currently, the Governor may not fill an expected vacancy until the current justice’s or judge’s term expires.
YES
NO

COUNTYWIDE – QUESTION 1
REAUTHORIZATION OF THE CHILDREN’S SERVICES COUNCIL OF PALM BEACH COUNTY

Shall the Children’s Services Council of Palm Beach County, which provides early learning and reading skills, development, treatment, preventative and other children’s services in Palm Beach County, be reauthorized to continue in existence as a district with voter-approved taxing authority, with independent oversight and accountability as required by law, unless and until it is dissolved as specified in s.125.901 (4)(a), Florida Statutes?
YES
NO – this $100 million+ per year taxpayer funded agency should be abolished. They do great work; however, it can be done better privately.

COUNTYWIDE – QUESTION 2
REFERENDUM TO CONTINUE AN AD VALOREM LEVY FOR SCHOOL OPERATIONAL NEEDS

Shall the School Board of Palm Beach County have the authority to continue to levy 0.25 mills of ad valorem millage dedicated for operational needs of non-charter District schools to fund teachers, as well as arts, music, physical education, career and academic programs for the fiscal years beginning July 1, 2015 and ending June 30, 2019, with oversight by an independent finance committee of citizens and experts?
YES
NO – VOTE NO to end this ‘hidden’ unnecessary tax

Voter's Guide for 2014 General Election – Palm Beach County, Florida – A Libertarian Perspective

I am often asked for my opinion as to who would make good choices for elected office and the 2014 General Election is no different. So here is the list of those I plan to vote. The person / issue I will vote for is in BOLD, sometimes with an explanation.

U.S. Representative, Dist. 22

PAUL SPAIN – I am voting for Paul Spain. He was my #2 pick during the primaries and am comfortable with him leading District 22. I wish he was more libertarian and perhaps in two years we will have a Libertarian Party challenger for this seat.
Lois Frankel
Write-In Candidate Raymond Schamis

Governor and Lieutenant Governor

Rick Scott / Carlos Lopez-Cantera
Charlie Crist / Annette Taddeo
ADRIAN WYLLIE / GREG ROE
Farid Khavari / Lateresa A. Jones
Glenn Burkett / Jose Augusto Matos
Write-In Candidates

Attorney General
Pam Bondi
George Sheldon
BILL WOHLSIFER – no matter who wins the Governor’s race, it is imperative to supporters of Amendment 2 (medical marijuana) Bill Wohslifer win to be Florida’s next Attorney General so Amendment 2 will be implemented properly and go unchallenged.

Chief Financial Officer – It is unusual for me; however, I am skipping this race (and a couple more below). I can not in good faith vote for either of these candidates. Both are bad in my opinion.
Jeff Atwater
William “Will” Rankin

Commissioner of Agriculture
Adam H. Putnam – I am not a huge fan of Putnam and am tempted to skip this race as with the CFO race; however, Putnam is the better candidate and has helped Libertarians in the state move their agenda forward.
Thaddeus “Thad” Hamilton
Write-In Candidate – Jeffrey Obos

State Senator, Dist. 34 – I am sitting out this race as well. Sachs is awful and I do not believe she lives in this district which is required by our state constitution. If allegations are proven true (it is currently being officially investigated) it could lead to her going to jail for continually lying on official qualification forms and violating the state constitution. Bogdanoff is equally awful. Her record in the Florida legislature is terrible from a Libertarian point of view and is more interested in corporate welfare than offering small or big business a truly free market in Florida. As before, perhaps a Libertarian Party of Florida candidate will challenge the winner next time around.
Ellyn Bogdanoff
Maria Lorts Sachs

State Representative, Dist. 89 – I can not in good faith vote for either of these two. UGH! Both are nice people; however, I do not want either representing me in Tallahassee. I could get into the nitty and gritty details – but will spare you.
Bill Hager
David Ryan Silvers

District Court of Appeal
Shall Judge Alan O. Forst of the Fourth District Court of Appeal be retained in office?
YES
NO

District Court of Appeal
Shall Judge Mark W. Klingensmith of the Fourth District Court of Appeal be retained in office?
YES
NO

District Court of Appeal
Shall Judge W. Matthew Stevenson of the Fourth District Court of Appeal be retained in office?
YES
NO

District Court of Appeal
Shall Judge Martha C. Warner of the Fourth District Court of Appeal be retained in office?
YES
NO

Palm Beach Soil & Water Conservation District Group 5 – 4 Year Term
Eva S. Webb
Karl Dickey – he is the OBVIOUS choice! 🙂

No. 1
CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT
ARTICLE X, SECTION 28
Water and Land Conservation – Dedicates funds to acquire and restore Florida conservation and recreation lands.

Although I am an environmentalist, the state has enough land AND it continually sells off land that was SUPPOSED to be held for conservation. The government has a horrible track record and cannot be trusted to keep this land preserved.

YES
NO

No. 2
CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT
ARTICLE X, SECTION 29
Use of Marijuana for Certain Medical Conditions
Allows the medical use of marijuana for individuals with debilitating diseases as determined by a licensed Florida physician. Allows caregivers to assist patients’ medical use of marijuana. The Department of Health shall register and regulate centers that produce and distribute marijuana for medical purposes and shall issue identification cards to patients and caregivers. Applies only to Florida law. Does not authorize violations of federal law or any non-medical use, possession or production of marijuana.

Increased costs from this amendment to state and local governments cannot be determined. There will be additional regulatory and enforcement activities associated with the production and sale of medical marijuana. Fees will offset at least a portion of the regulatory costs. While sales tax may apply to purchases, changes in revenue cannot reasonably be determined since the extent to which medical marijuana will be exempt from taxation is unclear without legislative or state administrative action.
YES – I will be voting YES for this amendment because we must end the absurd practice of jailing patients for using this tremendous resource.
NO

No. 3
CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT
ARTICLE V, SECTIONS 10, 11
Prospective Appointment of Certain Judicial Vacancies

Proposing an amendment to the State Constitution requiring the Governor to prospectively fill vacancies in a judicial office to which election for retention applies resulting from the justice’s or judge’s reaching the mandatory retirement age or failure to qualify for a retention election; and allowing prospective appointments if a justice or judge is not retained at an election. Currently, the Governor may not fill an expected vacancy until the current justice’s or judge’s term expires.
YES
NO

COUNTYWIDE – QUESTION 1
REAUTHORIZATION OF THE CHILDREN’S SERVICES COUNCIL OF PALM BEACH COUNTY

Shall the Children’s Services Council of Palm Beach County, which provides early learning and reading skills, development, treatment, preventative and other children’s services in Palm Beach County, be reauthorized to continue in existence as a district with voter-approved taxing authority, with independent oversight and accountability as required by law, unless and until it is dissolved as specified in s.125.901 (4)(a), Florida Statutes?
YES
NO – this $100 million+ per year taxpayer funded agency should be abolished. They do great work; however, it can be done better privately.

COUNTYWIDE – QUESTION 2
REFERENDUM TO CONTINUE AN AD VALOREM LEVY FOR SCHOOL OPERATIONAL NEEDS

Shall the School Board of Palm Beach County have the authority to continue to levy 0.25 mills of ad valorem millage dedicated for operational needs of non-charter District schools to fund teachers, as well as arts, music, physical education, career and academic programs for the fiscal years beginning July 1, 2015 and ending June 30, 2019, with oversight by an independent finance committee of citizens and experts?
YES
NO – VOTE NO to end this ‘hidden’ unnecessary tax

Lucas Overby campaign off to good start for CD13 race

Yesterday, May 6, 2014, the Lucas Overby for Congress campaign held a one-day money bomb seeking donations and received slightly more than $15,000 to add to their coffers. The Libertarian Party of Florida candidate ran in the Congressional District 13 special election last month, and though he did not win, he is continuing forward by qualifying on May 2, 2014 to be on the November general election ballot.

 

Read the rest of the story here.

 

CAGW out with 2014 Pig Book today exposing wasteful earmarks

Earlier today, at a press conference at the Phoenix Park Hotel on Capitol Hill, Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) divulged publicly 109 earmarks costing taxpayers $2.7 billion in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2014. This marks the second time CAGW has unearthed earmarks in the appropriations bills funding the federal government since Congress enacted an earmark moratorium in fiscal year 2011.

Read the rest of the story here.

Qualifying to run for Congress ends at noon today

If you plan to run for Congress in 2014, then you may want to get your paperwork in order and empty out your bank account this morning. Candidates have until noon today, May 2, 2014 to qualify to be on the primary or general election ballot in Florida. If you plan to run for other public offices such as Governor and Cabinet, State Senator, State Representative, County Offices or any of the Special Districts, then you have until the middle of next month to qualify.

Read the rest of the story here.

Are Palm Beach County members of Congress out of touch?

Here in Palm Beach County we have several U.S. Congressman members of Congress that lead some to wonder if they are helping themselves to the public coffers or are they genuinely interested in being a servant to the people and the Constitution of the United States.

Read more…

Government Spending

OK, perhaps the economy is pretty complicated. So complicated in fact respected economists cannot agree on the best path to our renewed prosperity, however the following is a clear transitional path back to American prosperity.

1) Slash government spending

2) Eliminate capital gains taxes for all Americans and corporations for everything

3) Bring corporate and personal tax rates down to a flat 15%

4) Stop borrowing (we are close to a time when the cost to sell our US Treasuries will be exorbitant; further exasperating our debt situation)

5) End all corporate welfare/subsidies

6) End mark-to-market accounting

None of these are wise politically, however they are wise if we wish to begin a true recovery. 

If America wants true change and recovery, then this transitional, proven plan will get us out of this mess. Are you listening Obama? Are you listening Congress? These could literally be done this week, but it won’t.

Nope! They’re not. Instead they are going in a completely opposite direction that will lead us to a much larger negative situation in the coming years. This is not change, this is truly more of the same. The same spending as Bush. The same deficit as Bush.

Libertarians Come Out Against Bailout

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LIBERTARIANS COME OUT AGAINST BAILOUT

Libertarian Party of Florida Officially Opposes Bailout

Winter Park, Florida – The Libertarian Party of Florida (LPF) has passed a resolution against the federal government bailing out financial institutions.

The resolution reads as follows: “Whereas the Libertarian Party of Florida recognizes that the current plan to bail out the financial institutions from the bad loans that they were forced to make by pressures from Congress and liberal organizations will damage the U. S. economy; and whereas it is clearly evident that the pressure groups knew in advance that the financial institutions would eventually fail, and that the public would be forced to foot the bill for the loans that should never have been approved. The Libertarian Party of Florida now condemns the plan of Congress and Executive Branch of the U. S. Government to use taxpayer money to bail out the financial institutions”.

Libertarian Party of Florida chairman, Karl Dickey, said this morning, “We realize the dire consequences if Congress chooses not to act during this time of crises, however we also fully understand if the bailout does pass the dire consequences will be multiplied. This Congressional action only delays the inevitable and in fact makes our economic situation much worse for the long term. We should take our medicine today no matter how painful that may be, in order to prevent an economic catastrophe this country has never seen. Although there is much blame to be spread around, it is clear the disastrous choices made by our government many years ago is coming to a tragic end. Had our leaders not violated their oaths by voting against our Constitution and libertarian principles, we would not be in this situation today. This is not the result of a free market going awry as sadly we do not have a free market in this country and haven’t for many decades.”

The Libertarian Party of Florida believes we should have a small government at all levels and abhor the huge spending we see today by our elected officials. The Libertarian Party of Florida believes a free and competitive market will allocate resources in the most efficient manner. Each person has the right to offer goods and services to others on the free market without any interference from government officials. The only proper role of government in the economic realm is to protect property rights, adjudicate disputes, and provide a legal framework in which voluntary trade is protected. All efforts by government to redistribute wealth, or to control or manage trade, are improper in a free society.