2010 Libertarian Party of Colorado Candidates:

What many Americans have feared for years may be about to come to pass. We have an out of control Congress and an arrogant, elitist President who believes it his destiny to transform the United States from a republic to a socialist system of government where individual freedoms are severely restricted. Congress is preparing to give the President and his Executive Branch of government what amounts to dictatorial powers over one-sixth of our economy and the private health care decisions of everyone who lives in the United States.

Congress is not only going to pass legislation that will severely damage the balance of power established in the Constitution by our founding fathers, but it is going to go about in a manner that violates Article 1, Section 7 of the Constitution. Among other things, that article provides for each law passed by both the House of Representatives and the Senate to be then sent to the President for his signature. The key word here is “passed”. It appears that there are not enough votes in the House to pass the Senate version of the health care bill so House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will continue to show her distain for both the American people and the Constitution by ignoring Article 1, Section 7 of one of our most sacred documents and send the bill to the President for his signature without an actual vote on it in the House.

Instead she will use something being referred to as the “Slaughter Solution” named after Louise Slaughter, a member of the House from upstate New York who proposed that the idea be used to avoid a formal vote. This is also referred to as the “self executing” or “deeming” rule. The members of Congress will be allowed to vote to change the rules and authorize Pelosi to deem the Senate version of the Bill passed and send it to Obama to be signed into law. The fact that this ploy has been used in the past with other much less important legislation does not make it Constitutional. This action also allows the members of Congress to avoid another “troublesome” provision of our Constitution, Article 1, Section 5, that allows one fifth of the members of the House present to demand that the vote on any piece of legislation be recorded so the American people can know how their elected representatives voted.

The theory is that members of the House who live in districts where the majority of people oppose the health care legislation can go back to their districts and say that they did not vote for the bill. Instead, they will have just voted for a rule change. Of course, this ruse also makes the elitist assumption that “we the people” are too dumb to know that a vote to change the rules to allow the health care bill to go forward is the same as a direct vote for the legislation. By the way, if you want to read the new version of this legislation, forget it. Even though the vote to send it to Obama is scheduled to take place in just a few days, the text of the bill has not yet been made available to members of Congress or the American people.

The magnitude of this is almost incomprehensible. Nancy Pelosi and the leadership in the House of Representatives are telling us four things.

• First and foremost, we are being told that members of Congress will no longer abide by the Constitution of the United States and are thereby violating their oath of office.
• Second, members of Congress will no longer be representing the will of the American people who elected them but instead are representing the will of President Obama and his vision of a socialist America.
• Third, members of Congress are done with allowing the American people to even participate in the process. Everything will be done in secret and your right to know what is being done to you will be ignored.
• Last, but not least, members of Congress have concluded that we are not bright enough to know what is happening anyway so they think we will reelect them and be grateful for all they have done for us.

I just have this to say to President Obama, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, and the other current “leaders” of our country. Over 230 years ago an English King and Parliament made similar assumptions about a group of people who called themselves Americans. Those assumptions were wrong and things did not end well for those who underestimated the passion of Americans to be a free people. If you continue on this course it will not end well for you either. To this I pledge my life, my fortune, and my sacred honor, as did my forefathers before me.

It is not too late to stop this abomination. Contact members of Congress now and tell them that you are not fooled and consider a vote for the Slaughter Solution to be a vote for the unconstitutional health care bill. You should further inform them that you consider such a vote to be a violation of their oath of office to uphold the Constitution of the United States and you will hold them accountable on Election Day.

For my part, I talked to Gary Kreep at the U.S. Justice Foundation today and we are already preparing the lawsuit that will challenge the Constitutionality of the passage of the health care bill under the “Slaughter Solution” and on other Constitutional grounds. If you want to contribute to this effort you can go to the U.S. Justice Foundation Website at: www.usjf.net. The fight to defend our freedom is not over, it is just beginning.

WASHINGTON - The Libertarian Party adamantly opposes the health care bill passed on Christmas Eve by the US Senate that is currently being considered in the US House of Representatives. The Libertarian Party calls on the US House to vote down this disastrous plan, and instead to pass laws reducing federal involvement in health care.

Libertarian Party Chairman William Redpath commented, "We oppose this horrible federal government expansion into health care, just as we have consistently opposed all the increased government intrusion into health care proposed by Republicans and Democrats over the years. For example, we vocally opposed the huge Medicare expansion pushed through Congress by Republicans in 2003."

Redpath continued, "It is a virtual certainty that the cost estimates of this legislation are drastically understated. When Medicare Part A started in 1965, the projected cost for 1990 was $9 billion. It turned out to be $67 billion. Should this bill become law, when the debt of the United States government is downgraded by ratings agencies shortly thereafter, it will not be a coincidence. That will increase interest rates, and the entire economy will suffer."

The Libertarian Party Platform says the following about health care: "We favor restoring and reviving a free market health care system. We recognize the freedom of individuals to determine the level of health insurance they want, the level of health care they want, the care providers they want, the medicines and treatments they will use and all other aspects of their medical care, including end-of-life decisions."

The words "health care" and "medicine" are not found anywhere in the Constitution. Accordingly, the Libertarian Party asserts that Congress has no authority to regulate or appropriate money for health care. (The Libertarian Party has consistently argued for decades that the "general welfare" and "interstate commerce" clauses are not generic authorizations for spending and regulation.)

Redpath concluded, "This is a top-down, Washington-mandated control of health insurance and health care in this nation. It is the antithesis of consumer-driven health care, which is what will ultimately be necessary to control health care costs and to provide the best health care for the greatest number of people."

For more information, or to arrange an interview, call LP Executive Director Wes Benedict at 202-333-0008 ext. 222.

The LP is America's third-largest political party, founded in 1971. The Libertarian Party stands for free markets and civil liberties. You can find more information on the Libertarian Party at our website.

If you have not yet become a member of the Libertarian Party and wish to do so, please click here and join the only political party dedicated to free markets and civil liberties. If you need to renew, please click here. If you would like to make a contribution separate from membership, please click here.

AURORA | Transparency, accountability and efficiency in local government are top priorities for a group of taxpayers in Aurora, and they're letting the Aurora City Council know it.

The Citizens for Responsible Aurora Government originally began with a handful of residents opposed to the city council's ballot initiative that would have levied property taxes to fund the city's library system.

Now, CRAG has grown to more than 50 members, some of whom have avidly opposed the Horizon Uptown project, and others who have worked to obtain public records of city employees' salaries.

"Most of us are from different political persuasions," said CRAG member Rob McNealy, who is a Libertarian candidate for Colorado's 6th Congressional District. "It's a mixed group of people, and we come together on issues that are in all our best interests. We want government to be run well and we want government money to be spent wisely."

The group started in August 2009 with about 12 members including Jim Frye, who ran for a state House seat as a Libertarian in 2008.

They were against ballot measure 4A, which would have created a new general improvement district to fund Aurora's library system, and would have increased property taxes.

Voters eventually rejected the ballot initiative last November, and four local library branches closed soon after.

"We all knew some like-minded folks that didn't think that was a good idea, and we opposed it," Frye said. "After the election, we sat down and decided to continue and work on other projects."

Earlier this year Frye led a project that acquired the public records of city employees' salaries -- information that is not easily accessible, Frye said.

The salaries have been posted on CRAG's website, and members have said that city staff's salaries are higher than average and if they were decreased, it would help to close Aurora's budget deficit, which is currently about $9 million.

City budget officials said employees took voluntary furloughs last year that amounted in $200,000 in savings, and will be required to take two mandatory furlough days this year, which will result in $1 million in savings.

Most recently, CRAG members opposed the $1.7 billion Horizon Uptown project, saying city council shouldn't declare agricultural farmland blight and create a Tax Increment Financing district to help fund the project.

Despite their vocal opposition at a public hearing, city council members voted to declare the land blight, but Frye said CRAG members are still proud of their work.

"We think we've been successful in one way, which is that we've raised the Tax Increment Financing issue and blighting of inappropriate land," he said.

Their next goal is to try turning Aurora's closed libraries into computer centers. Since not all members agree on all projects, only one-third of CRAG members will be working on the computer center project, said McNealy.

CRAG currently has 54 members, and is still recruiting more people.

"It's interesting that with a relatively few number of citizens actively involved, what we've been able to accomplish," said member Larry Weygand. "If we had greater numbers, look at the potential that we could achieve."

For the first time in years, the Libertarian Party of Colorado is fielding more than one candidate in top-tier races.

The party nominated candidates when it held its state convention over the weekend.

Two Libertarians are running in each race for governor, U.S. Senate and Congressional District 1. That means Liberterians will have a primary, along with Republicans and Democrats, and go to the polls Aug. 10 to pick winners in those races.

That's big news for a party that two years ago didn't even nominate a U.S. Senate candidate, said Norm Olsen, campaign director for the Libertarians.

The candidates running in the contested races are: Jaimes Brown and Dan "Kilo" Sallis for governor; John Finger and Mac Stringer for U.S. Senate; and Clint Jones and Jeffrey Schitter for congress in the 1st District.

For a list of the candidates and their Web sites, go to http://lpcolorado.org/candidates/.

Audio of the 27-minute interview with Christine Smith conducted by KRLN's News Director Dennis Bloomquist on his Morningline Radio Show, February 11, 2010 (was heard live on KRLN 1400-AM from Canon City, CO).

Christine Smith discussed her background, candidacy and platform; she was also asked about and spoke about the Libertarian philosophy and the Libertarian Party of Colorado.

Click Here to listen.