The Colorado Liberty Newsletter is the official publication of the Libertarian Party of Colorado.
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The Libertarian Party Of Colorado - The Party of Principle
March 2009 | Vol 38 Issue 3
In this issue:
Action Items:
  • Submit Your Activist Form
  • Submit Your Contribution Form
  • Subscribe To The Colorado Liberty
  • Subscribe To Liberty Alerts
  • Join Our Meetup Group

http://www.LPColorado.org
http://meetup.LPColorado.org
 
 From The Chair 
 Travis Nicks, State Chair
Hello everybody,

I attended the LSLA (Libertarian State Leadership Alliance) Conference in Charleston, and boy is the party running strong. We had several very interesting speakers including Ed Coleman, the GOP council member of Indianapolis, who just switched to the Libertarian Party. The state chairs had a fun weekend working and networking to solve the problems facing the Libertarian Party today. We had a panel discussion on the future of the Libertarian Party with Wayne Root and Dr. Mary Ruwart. It looks like we are headed for a great 2009/2010 election season. If you were not aware that the LSLA Conference was happening, then sign up for our e-mail alerts and watch the website. We are always actively involved and these resources help keep everyone up to date.

Don't forget to join the 1776 club and send your 25 dollars to the National Libertarian Party. Funding is what keeps the party going. It helps us fight bad legislation and support freedom-friendly bills.

Speaking of freedom-friendly bills, we're supporting some positive legislative efforts, despite stubborn opposition from some legislators. Due to the efforts of our dedicated volunteers, we are gaining ground. You can stay up to date on our legislative exploits by getting our e-mail alerts.

As always everyone is welcome to attend the state board meetings. Our next LPCO Board Meeting is on March 9th, 2009.

Until next month.
Yours in Liberty,
Travis Nicks
Chairman		 Libertarian Party of Colorado Logo
 


  Letters To The Editor:
 
Chuck Wright On: "Keynesian Economics" - A Track Record Of Failure

In his Feb. 19 Letter to the Editor, Keith Boggs writes, "(Scott Starin) blithely disregards that most economists agree, regardless of their school of thought, that government spending on transportation and other infrastructure..." Mr. Boggs letter is factually incorrect. Most economists do not agree. A list of hundreds of prominent economists who disagree is located at www.cato.org/fiscalreality. The list includes three Nobel laureates and many other prominent scholars.

Keynesian economics has a perfect historical track record of zero successes. Here is a list of some Keynesian economics failures:
  1. The auto-maker bailout approved Dec. 19, 2008.
  2. The bank bailout enacted Oct. 3, 2008.
  3. George Bush's $170 billion stimulus package enacted Feb. 13, 2008.
  4. Bush's 2001 tax rebates and his huge increases in government spending throughout his administration.
  5. Japan's lost decade of the 1990s.
  6. Gerald Ford's tax rebates of the mid-1970s.
  7. Hoover's and Roosevelt's enormous spending spree during the 1930s, '40, and '41 that failed to end the Great Depression.
The perfect track record of Keynesian economics failures is no deterrent to the Obama administration's Keynesian aspirations. Obama ignores the fact that it was Bush's Keynesian big-government spending that led to the current economic downturn. Libertarians forecast that Obama's recently enacted stimulus plan will soon be added to the list of Keynesian economics failures.

A detailed explanation of why Keynesian economics doesn't work is located at cato.org/pubs/tbb/tbb_0109-52.pdf.


Chuck Wright On: "Fight Unemployment Like FDR" - Danish Plan

In Paul Danish's Feb.12 Danish Plan column, Danish makes the absurd claim that an enormous increase in military spending can somehow stimulate the economy out of the recession. If enormous spending on the military actually worked, the old Soviet Union?s economy would have been a smashing success instead of the colossal failure it actually was. Too, more than a decade of enormous government spending by the Hoover and Roosevelt administrations failed to end the Great Depression, and the best they could manage before the start of World War II was a still painfully high unemployment rate of 9.9 percent - nothing to crow about.

While it's true that unemployment reached an all-time low of 1.2 percent in 1944 due to the war effort, it came at the expense of severe hardship for the American people. Due to rationing and shortages caused by the need to shift resources to the war effort, most Americans had little to spend their earnings on other than the basic necessities of life.

Keynesian theories (interventionist government economic policies) have been thoroughly discredited. Common sense should tell anyone that government spending money on Keynesian projects, such as digging and filling holes for no purpose other than to make work, cannot possibly lead to prosperity. Instead they lead to the destruction of wealth, as resources must be forcibly transferred from where they're needed most in the economy to digging and filling worthless holes. If not for government interference, those resources expended on digging and filling worthless holes would have instead been applied to generating wealth. Libertarians correctly point out that the road to prosperity is not paved with government deficit spending on the military, digging and filling worthless holes, or increased political control over the economy. Instead, the road to prosperity is paved with increased individual economic liberty and less political control over the economy.


Common Sense is Against the Law: By Jack Woehr: Jack Woehr, 2008 House District 25 Candidate

"Common sense is not against the law." - Washington State Supreme Court decision, circa 1960.

Marie Morrow of Cherokee Trail High School got a valuable civics lesson recently: she found out what it was like to live in a police state where common sense is against the law.

Ms. Morrow came to school with wooden mock rifles for her drill team in the back of her car. They were reported to school administrators, who duly expelled her in line with a draconian law passed by the panicky sissies of the Colorado Assembly to "protect" our children.

Over the past few decades, fear-mongering in American and Colorado law has become an art form for unscrupulous politicians. The War on Drugs, the War on Terror, and Zero Tolerance are the masterpieces of this transformation of our nation from a democracy to a police state.

In a police state, you can't win. The laws are designed to make sure that you are always in the wrong so that you can always be called to account under the color of law.

American law wasn't always like that: it's an innovation that began in the Reagan era. It touches every corner of the law, even the traffic laws. In Colorado, it's against the law to speed, and it's against the law to obey the speeding laws if you're in the left lane on a three-lane freeway. You can be pulled over no matter what speed are driving, at the officer's discretion. How marvelous.

By a bi-partisan consensus, common sense is against the law. Your only recourse is to abandon the Dems and Repubs and next time vote Libertarian.

 

Reminder - the following state board positions are up for election at the 2009 convention:
  • Chair
  • Campaigns
  • Media
  • Membership
  • Publications
  • Western Slope Outreach

~ ~ ~ Paid Advertisement - Vote Steven Gallant For LPCO Chair ~ ~ ~
Vote Steven Gallant For LPCO Chair
Vote Steve Gallant For State Chair
I'm Steve Gallant and I'm running for State Chair.

I've represented the Libertarian Party for eight years and served on the LPCO State Board for six years. I believe that I can bring a great deal of experience and insight to the position of State Chair. I plan to keep what works and fix what doesn't.

I would appreciate your vote at the 2009 convention.

For more information on me and my campaign, please visit: http://GallantForChair.com or give me a call at: 303-384-3979.

~ ~ ~ Paid Advertisement - Vote Steven Gallant For LPCO Chair ~ ~ ~
 
 LPCO 2009 State Convention Timeline
Event Stipulation Governing Text Deadline Scheduled
C&B and Platform Solicitation at least six months before the convention BYL Art VI Sec 2 11/17/08 04/14/08
C&B and Platform Final Solicitation at least one month before final appointments BYL Art VI Sec 2 12/13/08 12/06/08
C&B and Platform Final Appointments at least four months before the convention BYL Art VI Sec 2 01/16/09 01/12/09
Delegates must have been registered to vote as Libertarian on or before this date at least ninety days before the convention CON Art VII Sec 4 02/15/09 02/15/09
Application to run for US Senate, US House, or Governor no later than sixty days before the convention (on applicable years) CON Art VIII Sec 5 n/a
End of Fiscal Year the last day of March BYL Art IV Sec 1 03/31/09 03/31/09
Call of the Convention Members must be notified of the time and place of the convention and the names of Congressional and Gubernatorial candidates on or before this date at least forty-five days before the convention CON Art VII Sec 2 04/01/09 TBA
C&B and Platform Final Reports Due at least six weeks before the convention BYL Art VI Sec 5 04/04/09 TBA
Legal Notice Time and Place of Convention must appear in a newspaper of general circulation on or before this date at least fifteen days before the convention CON Art VII Sec 2 05/01/09 TBA
LPCO 2009 State Convention Business Meeting at least sixty-five days before the primary election CON Art VII Sec 1
05/16/09
National Delegate List Submission within seven days after adjournment on applicable years BYL Art VII Sec 6 n/a
Constitution and Bylaws Filing (with Secretary of State) within fifteen days of adoption BYL Art II Sec 1 05/31/09 TBA
 
~ ~ ~ Paid Advertisement - Vote Dave Williams For LPCO Chair ~ ~ ~
Vote Dave Williams For State Chair
Vote

Dave Williams

For State Chair

Current Legislative Director for the party.
Original member of the PPC and LOTR.
Blogger for liberty since 2004.
Founder and President of the Gadsden Society.
State Coordinator of Barr for President,
where we raised more money than any other state.
Member of LPR.
Does pro bono legal work for liberty,
including medical marijuana cases.

Let freedom ring.
~ ~ ~ Paid Advertisement - Vote Dave Williams For LPCO Chair ~ ~ ~
 
~ ~ ~ Please Get Involved - Click Here! ~ ~ ~

Become A Volunteer Coordinator

OPPORTUNITY to help liberty: Volunteer Coordinator for the Libertarian Party of Colorado. This person will use their people skills to find, motivate, and guide the various volunteers that contact the LPCO, matching the volunteer interests to the needs of the organization. This is a volunteer position for a political party that showed 40% growth in the past year and has a Board of Directors that is committed, interesting, and active in the community. A one year commitment with an average of 4-6 hours per week is needed. Please contact membershipdirector@lpcolorado.org with interest and questions

Clint Jones
Libertarian Party of Colorado
6989 S. Jordan Road
Second Floor, Suite 5U
Centennial, Colorado 80112
(303) 936-3874

~ ~ ~ Please Get Involved - Click Here! ~ ~ ~


  F.R. Outreach Report
 By Jeff Orrok, Front Range Outreach Director
 
The number of registered Libertarians statewide crept up to 11,267 as of Feb 2 -- an increase of 0.67% from the December 30 posting by the Secretary of State (SOS). Although we always have to work harder to grow the party in odd-numbered years, I believe we will find more interest than in times past due to the economic crisis. We received our post-election list of registered voters and are in the process of cleaning and indexing the records. I am working with their programmer to resolve issues with their new format.

I have filed our Voter Registration Drive (VRD) Statement of Intent and completed a VRD training refresher, and so our 2009 VRD number has been certified by the SOS. They are working on an online training system which will be accessible by all of our VRD circulators. I hope to be publishing a manual of our processes before our first big event (Cinco de Mayo), whereupon completion of both the SOS training site and the manual will be required of all our circulators.

I spoke to The Federal Society, a student group at the DU Law School. Anyone interested in participating in the speakers' bureau should contact me at Outreach@LPColorado.org.

The El Paso proto-affiliate is still in the process of getting organized; they will be invited to participate in the upcoming Affiliate Representative Committee meeting. Visit http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ElPasoCO_Libertarians to stay informed and keep your eye on http://LPElPaso.org

We are slowly joining the 21st century: I started a new group at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=50106646237 and a new stream at http://twitter.com/LPCO. There is at least one new subscriber to the twitter stream per day, even though as of this writing I have done nothing to make its existence known. There is a new Social Networking Committee to manage our Internet presences -- contact Ken Wyble at ZioKen@Netscape.net if you would like to help out.

We are registered for a Voter Registration Drive at the Cinco de Mayo celebration in downtown Denver.
We paid $350.00 to participate, which means that it is imperative that YOU help make the expenditure worthwhile; either with your generous financial contribution, or with your time over the two day event.

To support the effort with your money, use PayPal and click here.
To support the effort with your time, use Meetup and choose a shift below.

Saturday May 9th, 2009 Cinco de Mayo Libertarian Voter Registration Drive Shifts:
  1. 9:00am - 1:00pm
  2. 1:00pm - 5:00pm
  3. 5:00pm - 9:00pm
Sunday May 10th, 2009 Cinco de Mayo Libertarian Voter Registration Drive Shifts:
  1. 9:00am - 1:00pm
  2. 1:00pm - 5:00pm
  3. 5:00pm - 9:00pm
Sign Up Here Or Click A Shift Above!

Application deadlines for People's Fair and Pridefest are already upon us.
We are still in urgent need of funds so that we can take advantage of the lowest rates!
People's Fair: $225 for a double-wide + $100 if we want to sell things. URGENT -- DEADLINE IS APRIL 3
Pridefest: $325 (single non-profit premium).  PAID FOR BY A GENEROUS CONTRIBUTION FROM AN LPCO MEMBER.

  Monthly Pledge Program

Monthly donations are the best way to help make a political difference. Although contributions are not tax-deductible, we have fixed expenses. Campaigns and events cost money. Choose an amount per month below, and PayPal will automatically send us your donation each month. Don't have a PayPal account? Click any button below and use your credit card or bank account instead. We've made it so easy, there really is no excuse for not contributing right now.

Join the "Nickel Club!"

Donate $5.00 each month easily using PayPal.

Receive a Libertarian bumper sticker and outreach handouts for friends.

Join the "Copper Club!"

Donate $10.00 each month easily using PayPal.

Receive a Libertarian bumper sticker, outreach handouts for friends,
and a Libertarian cap.
I Want To Donate $10.00 Each Month Automatically

Join the "1776 Club!"

Donate $17.76 each month easily using PayPal.

Receive a Libertarian bumper sticker, outreach handouts for friends,
a Libertarian cap, and the book, "To Save America: How to Prevent Our Coming Federal Bankruptcy" by Martin L. Buchanan. (featured below)
I Want To Donate $17.76 Each Month Automatically
 
  Legislative Report
 By David K. Williams, Jr., Legislative Director
 
The Libertarian Party of Colorado continues to be a factor in the legislative debate under the gold dome.

I testified, along with other members of the LPCO, at a committee hearing in favor of SB 87, The Special District Accountability Act, which made it out of the State Affairs Committee and is still winding it’s way through the legislative process. It made it through its second reading on the Senate floor on March 4, 2009.

The bill’s sponsor, Morgan Carroll, worked with the LPCO in crafting the bill which would reign in some of the abuses of the special taxing districts. After the initial committee hearing, she said our testimony changed some votes on the committee and helped it survive. I attended one of Senator Carroll’s town hall meetings, and she publicly thanked us for our support in the committee.

I also testified in favor of SB 57, The Public School Transparency Act, which would require all public and charter schools to make their expenditures available online in a searchable database. It made it out of committee with an amendment that took out its teeth. Fortunately, the teeth were returned on the Senate Floor, where it passed. It is now in the House Education Committee.

During my testimony at the Senate committee hearing, Sen. Dave Schultheiss (R- Colorado Springs) said, "I have a lot of respect for the Libertarian Party." People know we are out there.

Most recently, I testified in favor of HB 1288, The Colorado Taxpayer Transparency Act, which would require the State to put a searchable database of all of its expenditures online. HB 1288 made it out of the House Committee on Finance with an 11 - 0 vote. It now goes to the Appropriations Committee. Rep. B.J. Nikkel, the bill’s sponsor, was very appreciative of our support.

Right now, we are fighting HB 1238, Civil Forfeiture. This bill, among other things, would allow the state to confiscate personal property even if a person is acquitted of criminal charges. It is one of the worst pieces of legislation I have seen. Many of you responded to our Liberty Alert on this bill. As a result of public response, the original committee hearing was postponed so the sponsors, Rep. Joe Rice, (D-Glendale), and Rep. Brandon Shaffer, (D-Boulder), can attempt an amendment to make it more favorable. The only thing that would make it favorable would be to kill it.

Please forward this information to friends and family who are concerned about defending our freedoms!

Urge others to sign up to receive free liberty alerts at:
http://lpcolorado.org/lpcolibertyalerts.aspx

You can read past "LPCO Liberty Alerts" at:
http://lpcolorado.org/lpcolibalertarchive.aspx

Sign-up to receive free e-mails from the National Libertarian Party at:
https://www.lp.org/signup

Support the Libertarian Party of Colorado by joining the 1776 Club:
http://lpcolorado.org/donate.aspx


  Membership Report
 By Clint Jones, Membership Director
 
With the help of Jim Frye and Steven Gallant, we have made good progress on a database to use for contacting registered Libertarians in Colorado. And we are finalizing a short script for callers to contact Colorado Libertarians.

  1. The SOS is mailing the Colorado cleaned and purged Voter Registration list to LPCO.
  2. Jim looked at their site before the purge and saw 11,300 Libertarians listed.
    1. That SOS list of 3 million voters was shaped into just the 7,368 Libertarians with phone numbers by:
    2. The shaped list was sent to me on February 21st, 2009.
      1. I will remove the names of the people who asked not to be contacted.
      2. I will note the names of our current contributors.
      3. I will upload it to googledocs by March 4th, 2009 so we can all share using it at the same time.
Upon completion, the Committee: (Jaime Brown, Jack Woehr, Mike Spalding, Clint Jones) and several other people will begin calling registered Libertarians in Colorado.

Please volunteer to take a group of names and make these calls using the short script we've developed. Every call you make will be entered into our database. We need volunteers to step forward and sign up for making 500 calls by June 30th, 2009 (that is only 125 calls per month or 30 calls per week – about an hour and a half per week).

Step forward now by Clicking Here.

~ ~ ~ Please Get Involved - Click Here! ~ ~ ~

Membership Contact Committee Volunteer

The Membership Contact Committee will be making phone calls to all members to inform them of the upcoming annual meeting and to ask for participation in our 2009 membership survey. We will also remind members that newsletters are delivered via email and archived online. If you are interested in helping with phone calls to members, please contact:
Clint Jones (membershipdirector@lpcolorado.org).

Clint Jones
Libertarian Party of Colorado
6989 S. Jordan Road
Second Floor, Suite 5U
Centennial, Colorado 80112
(303) 936-3874

~ ~ ~ Please Get Involved - Click Here! ~ ~ ~

  Records Report
 By Steven Gallant, Records Director
 
I compiled and filed the minutes and reports for the previous Board meeting.

We have a new database! Or at least a centralized shared document! Whatever it's called, it's free!

Jim Frye, Clint Jones, and I have evaluated GoogleDocs and we believe it will meet the most critical LPCO database requirements.

Frye demonstrated to Jones the upload and sharing processes on GoogleDocs, and Jones will contact all of his callers and set them up with GoogleDoc accounts in the next two weeks. Frye received the voter database from the Secretary of State's office, he and Jones are setting up the call list spreadsheet on GoogleDocs.

  Treasurer Report
 By Leah Kelley, Treasurer
 
Currently, the LPCO has a Negative Balance Sheet.
We're not the Federal Government, so we cannot continue to lose $150.00 - $700.00 each month.

Wanted; 1776 Club members to keep our recurring monthly expenses paid.


Libertarian Party of Colorado
February 1 - March 1, 2009
Income
Income %
Donations 100%
Total % of Income 100%
Libertarian Party of Colorado
February 1 - March 1, 2009
Expenses
Expenses %
Bank Charges 0.37%
Credit Card Fees 5.59%
Membership Expenses 5.32%
Office 0.21%
Publications 12.38%
Rent 30.95%
Utilities (Total) 45.18%
Total Expenses 100%

 
  Economic Apocalypse: An Inconvenient Debt

 
 
  Economic Stimulus: On Mike Zinna TV


Mike Zinna tackles tough issues with Libertarian author and economist, Martin L. Buchanan.
Martin offers a new perspective on our tough times and details chapters in his new book "To Save America." http://lpcolorado.blogs.com/lpcolorado/2009/02/martin-buchanan-on-zinna.html

The Colorado Liberty Newsletter was sent by:
• The Libertarian Party of Colorado • • 6989 S. Jordan Road, Suite 5U • • Centennial, CO 80112 •
Phone: 303.837.9393
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