Category: Queens LP

Posts for Queens County, NY

How Much Did That Stimulus Check REALLY Cost You?

How Much Did That Stimulus Check REALLY Cost You?

sent by the LNC on 04/28/2020

Over the last couple of weeks, we have seen our government attempt to yet again solve a problem apparently the only way they know how — by kicking the can down the road. In this case, the “can” is a national debt approaching $30 trillion dollars! At this rate, our children and grandchildren will continue to be suffocated by that debt long after every member of this congress is defeated or retired.

Government leaders who believe you and I could not survive without them think the only way to solve a problem is to throw tax dollars at it. We do have very real, deep problems in this country that need to be addressed — health insurance costs, ever-increasing student debt, the opioid crisis, veteran homelessness and suicide — and these problems vary from community to community. Not every American is living with the same issues, and what works in one state may not have the same effect on a different population.

Blanketing problems with money is like applying a band-aid to a gaping wound, and inevitably creates a society that will become reliant on subsidies to survive and never allows for genuine solutions to be tried. Whether a government response has single party or bipartisan support, those actions almost always create unintended consequences that lead to crippling citizens to be donor dependent. Instead of getting to the heart of these wounds at the community levels, our representatives are satisfied to cover them up with billion-dollar band-aids and call themselves champions. They accomplish nothing more than adding their name to another bill they have never read.

In the middle of a global pandemic and a nearly complete economic halt, our elected officials could not comprehend the obvious idea of giving taxpayers their money back to help them keep their bills paid without adding in more than a trillion dollars of corporate bailouts and pork-barrel spending. When we actually break down the numbers, that $1,200 check costs each and every living man, woman and child in America $6,656.91 dedicated to the national debt.

Scarier than the government’s lack of problem-solving skills is what they expect us to accept for this $1,200 payoff. Mandating business closures, stay-at-home orders, massive expansion of executive power, and declaring “total authority” — it is as if someone told the president and Congress that civil liberties could be bought from each citizen for $1,200.

You and I know this is not right, and we deserve better. Better is being demonstrated by The Party of Principle. Better can be achieved by electing and supporting Libertarians across the country. Better is possible when Libertarians (like you and I) contribute to our fight.

Shortly after the government payouts started to hit bank accounts, we received this amazing message, among others:

Gift Date: April 15, 2020
Gift Amount: $1,500 (Lifetime Membership)
Comments: “$1200 of this payment furnished by Democrat and Republican taxpayers who yearn for liberty via coronavirus stimulus payment

Can you think of a better way to tell government what you think of this destructive power grab in the middle of a crisis than to strengthen the efforts that fight that corruption?

We are here for that battle — are you here with us?

The recent events in our country have galvanized many who were unaware of how strongly they felt the libertarian call to push back against aggressive government overreach. It’s important that we come equipped to contend against those who would willingly cripple our future with debt. To that end, each and every one of our contributors plays a critical role in restoring free people and free markets.

Judge Declares Republican’s Petition Invalid Due to Lack of Libertarian Authorization

Judge Declares Republican’s Petition Invalid Due to Lack of Libertarian Authorization

Libertarian Party of New York
https://lpny.org/
Facebook: www.facebook.com/LPNYOfficial
Twitter: @LPNYOfficial
Instagram: @LPNYOfficial

News Release
Contact: W. Cody Anderson
LPNY Public Engagement Chair
canderson@lpny.org
Date: April 20, 2020

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Judge Declares Republican’s Petition Invalid Due to Lack of Libertarian Authorization

Oswego, New York, April 20, 2020 – The Libertarian Party of New York (LPNY) announced today that Oswego County Supreme Court Judge Scott J. Deleconte flatly invalidated Claudia Tenney’s attempt to appear on the Libertarian ballot line in the June primary for New York Congressional District 22. In his ruling, Judge Deleconte determined that Tenney, a Republican, “did not file the proper certificate of authorization…under the rules of the Libertarian Party”, and declared her designating petition invalid.

After the LPNY Interim State Committee declined to issue Tenney a certificate of authorization, known as a Wilson-Pakula authorization, a purported “22nd Congressional District Nominating Committee of the Libertarian Party” signed and submitted an improper certificate of authorization to the New York State Board of Elections (NYSBOE). Two general and specific objections from enrolled Libertarians were subsequently submitted to the NYSBOE, both arguing that the authorization was invalid because it violated the LPNY’s rules.

Jim Ostrowski, an Erie County attorney, represented the LPNY and the objectors named in this case. “We are pleased with the judge’s decision because it recognizes the importance of election law and party rules in protecting minor parties from being invaded by the two major parties. Of course, the Libertarian Party welcomes non-Libertarian candidates who wish to appear on our line and are willing to adhere to party rules and procedures to obtain a valid and proper Wilson-Pakula authorization.”

At the same time Tenney filed her lawsuit, Ostrowski filed a lawsuit in Oneida County Supreme Court seeking an order to declare Tenney’s certificate of authorization invalid. The hearing of the Oneida case was stayed pending the outcome of the Oswego case and is awaiting adjudication.

For more information about the Libertarian Party of New York, visit Facebook at www.facebook.com/LPNYOfficial, Twitter @LPNYOfficial, Instagram @LPNYOfficial, or their website, lpny.org.

Friday’s Stimulus Package Increased the National Debt by 8%

Friday’s Stimulus Package Increased the National Debt by 8%

for immediate release by the LNC on 03/30/2020

This crisis has made it clearer than ever: Our country is hurting due to overregulation by the federal government controlled by the Democrats and Republicans. We issued a press release calling upon the CDC and FDA to stop obstructing the private sector’s response to the COVID-19 crisis. One of the core principles of libertarianism is that governments should not pick winners and losers. Instead, the free market should make that determination.

Where is the fiscal sanity in Washington? The largest stimulus bill in the history of the United States — $2,000,000,000,000 — was just passed on Friday by old party politicians.

We believe government should not incur debt, which burdens future generations without their consent. We support the passage of a “Balanced Budget Amendment” to the U.S. Constitution, provided that the budget is balanced exclusively by cutting expenditures, and not by raising taxes.

Libertarian candidates up and down the ballot this fall will be running against big-government opponents. Our candidates will be the voice of reason on the ballot.

As always, thank you for your support of the Libertarian Party.

In liberty,

Alex Merced
Vice Chair, Libertarian National Committee

Homeschooling as Consequence of COVID-19, No Government Involved in Child Restrictive Education

Homeschooling as Consequence of COVID-19, No Government Involved in Child Restrictive Education

The NYC public education system has revamped its entire way of teaching our children, with the parents being in control, teachers now having the freedom to teach, and children learning at their own pace with no standardized testing. I know it’s a HUGE struggle; suddenly being thrown into routine change and working parents have to adjust more. But let’s focus on the benefits instead of the negatives. My child has had zero meltdowns, no bullying issues, more freedom to move around, more exercise, & learning what she wants to learn with a dedicated home teacher giving 1:1 lesson instruction. What are some of the positive changes in your child you have seen?

— Debra Altman,
as posted on her Facebook account,
reprinted by permission

Debra Altman is a Citywide Council for District 75 schools, has a special need child with an IEP, double masters in business and works for the family court system helping families as a paralegal. Born and raised NYC, Staten Island.

Crisis Campaigning for Ballot Access

Crisis Campaigning for Ballot Access

for distribution by the Libertarian Party on 03/24/2020

“Only a crisis – actual or perceived – produces real change. When that crisis occurs, the actions that are taken depend on the ideas that are lying around.”

— Milton Friedman

As of right now, AMERICANS IN ONLY 35 STATES will have a third choice in November. This is not enough! We cannot stop until we have secured 50 state ballot access for the Libertarian Party once again.

We have already deployed, or had planned to deploy petitioners in several states to collect the mandatory number of signatures to grant us access to each ballot. That method has become IMPOSSIBLE to continue with while also following suggested guidelines and essential requirements of social distancing in order to protect against the Coronavirus. Moreover, knowing that asymptomatic people can still spread the virus makes any attempts to continue with this method far too risky for both our petitioners, and the many thousands of people they would come into contact with. For this reason, we have shifted our strategy to one of appealing to the good sense and empathy of the Governors and other officials of the states in question.

So far letters have been sent to Governors and Secretaries of State in Arkansas, Alabama, Georgia, Iowa, Maryland, and Minnesota. Ten more states are preparing letters at this time, and in Texas similar action is being taken in an attempt to grant permission to postpone their state convention — a date that is currently mandated by law. Please contact your state chair IMMEDIATELY to find out how you can assist in this campaign. While any sensible and rational person would grant the requests in each of these appeals at such a time as this, we have to remember that politics can poison even the most sensible. In the case that any of these appeals are rejected, we will take this fight to the courts. Libertarianism will not become victim to political abuse of power no matter how dire the situation becomes. Our fight will continue until our Libertarian candidate has a place on every ballot once more.

LP Press Release 2020.03.23

LP Press Release 2020.03.23

for immediate release by the LNC on 03/23/2020

The Libertarian Party calls on the Republicans and Democrats to become aware of the tremendous changes Americans are dealing with in their lives, and to make a similar change in the way Congress operates.

Firstly, it is critical that Congress allow remote voting immediately. In the absence of a functioning congress, the Executive branch has too much power. With members of both the House and Senate stricken, the need is urgent and logical. There are no technical issues that could not be overcome.

Secondly, Congress must put aside it’s constant game of position and opposition and recognize when they put things into bills that their opponents cannot live with, that they are hurting the American people. Of course as Libertarians we’d prefer Congress stimulate the economy by removing regulations. We’d prefer Americans be given more money by telling them there’s no income tax this year. And we’d prefer the government completely get out of the process of handling the medical response, and let doctors and health care companies operate freely.

The Libertarian Party however recognizes that we cannot get the legislation we want passed in this political environment. And Republicans and Democrats must recognize the same political reality. Republicans and Democrats should meet with their separate bills, and then give the opposition a “line item veto” to reject the things they cannot live with.

It is clear that a majority of lawmakers of both parties and a majority of Americans support an emergency payment to every adult and extending the deadline for filing income taxes. Bringing a clean bill that did only those things to a vote would provide emergency relief to people, not bailouts to politically connected industries.

Whatever remains is the bill that can be passed today. It’s unclear what the best path forward is because our situation is changing daily. Yet Congress is in a unique situation where they can model a behavior they would like the citizens to repeat. When you cannot see how to get to the end of a problem, do the next right thing. A unified Congress passing the smaller things they can agree upon would be a message to the country that though we may not know how this will all turn out — we can make progress towards making things better.

The Libertarian Party calls on Republicans and Democrats to put aside the leveraging of the crisis for political gain, and to, for the sake of the American people, find the things they can agree upon and pass them immediately. The country doesn’t need monolithic legislation because the people know that nothing is going to be solved overnight. The people need to see that progress is being made. And the people should rightly despise the villains who absent getting their politically divisive agenda passed, will block any other legislation that will provide relief.

Daniel Fishman
Executive Director
The Libertarian Party

New Mexico LP Has Most Candidates for State Legislature of Any Third Party in 100 Years

New Mexico LP Has Most Candidates for State Legislature of Any Third Party in 100 Years

originally published in the Libertarian Party website on 03/16/2020

by Bob Johnston on March 16, 2020
in News From Ballot Access News
on March 11, 2020:

The New Mexico Libertarian Party has 12 candidates for State House on its June primary ballot, and 6 candidates for State Senate. That is the highest number of legislative candidates that any party, other than the Democratic and Republican Parties, has had in New Mexico since the 1910’s decade.

Historically, New Mexico has not had vigorous third parties, relative to other western states.

“I have to thank our state legislature and governor for helping us recruit candidates, the arrogance displayed by passing “red flag” legislation that destroys due process (for their political enemies), and the glee with which a historic budget surplus was rapidly spent on crony projects while calling for new taxes in the same breath, provoked enough anger to motivate many libertarians to step up and run for office. ” said New Mexico LP chair Chris Luchini.

Click here if you are interested in running for office in 2020 as a Libertarian.

The Left and Right Attacked These Companies and Now Look Foolish

The Left and Right Attacked These Companies and Now Look Foolish

released for distribution on 03/20/2020 by the Libertarian Party

While millions of Americans are practicing social distancing in a COVID-19 outbreak, delivery service companies like Amazon are right at our doorstep with food, supplies and necessities.

Facebook is the largest social media platform in the world. We are seeing community members from every city sharing vital information about grocery stores that are out of food or where those in need can find relief.

Libertarian activists like John Phillips took time off from work to distribute food in Decatur City, Iowa. He got the word out about this effort on Facebook.

Michael Heise from Pennsylvania placed this message on the door of every occupant in his building. He shared this message on Facebook and encouraged others to do the same.

Remember how presidential hopeful Elizabeth Warren wanted to break up Amazon and Facebook? These companies which are vital in slowing the spread of COVID-19 and communicating critical information were under attack just a year ago.

Self-reliance today has improved by leaps and bounds with companies like Amazon and Facebook!

And it’s not just Democrats. Republicans like Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley have attempted to flex their power as law makers to regulate Big Tech.

We as Libertarians know big government will do more harm than good in these difficult times. You can read our recent press release here on how government red tape was a detriment as COVID-19 started to spread in America.

We are the party of solutions. We know when communities team up to provide mutual aid they can overcome great challenges.

We are looking forward to better days. We have big and bold visions in our future. Some of those include:

  • A Libertarian presidential candidate included on the general election debate stage
  • A Libertarian congressional caucus
  • Entire city councils with elected Libertarians (we already have a few!)
  • A society where people are encouraged and empowered to be self-sufficient

With your help, these days will be coming to us sooner.

The Hippocratic Oath of Government

The Hippocratic Oath of Government

originally distributed by the Libertarian Party on 03/16/2020

The non-aggression principle is something Libertarians have embedded in our core philosophies. This fundamental value drives party members to pursue many different career paths that allow them to practice non-aggression freely and demonstrate genuine service amongst other human beings; Emergency responders, educators, nurses, scientists, physicians. Some are in the private sector and some are in public service, such as organization like the CDC. Whatever path these individuals choose to take in their career, they are all invested in the health and well-being of others. People who play these kinds of roles daily, who are on the front lines of human crises, are there because they want to help humanity thrive; they want to resolve crises and be part of the solution.

Check out a great recipe for hand sanitizer as you work to take care of yourself and others.

No matter where you sit on the spectrum of Libertarianism, we can all agree that there is no roll for government to play that should interfere with the helpers. Common sense and decency commands that big government get out of the way so that the helpers can get to the people who need it. Requiring CDC approval before allowing scientists and doctors to create tests to properly diagnose and treat people delays the response time, not only in treating patients, but also in understanding the radius of infections as they spread, putting more people in harms way. It should not be unrealistic for citizens to expect a Hippocratic Oath of Government.

As Libertarians, we do not ask for permission to be helpers; we roll up our sleeves and jump in as we act in the best interest of those who are in need at the moment. Libertarian Dr. Kyle Varner in Seattle, Washington, is treating those diagnosed in critical care. “It is pretty amazing the way bureaucratic red tape has kneecapped the private sector’s ability to respond,” Dr. Varner shared. While regulations are sold by big government politicians as a way to protect the public, they end up having unintended consequences that hurt the very people they’re meant to help.

Queens Libertarian Party