When I was in elementary school, I remember working feverishly on school projects the night before they were due, and my parents asking me the same question every time - “how long have you known about this project?” That-last minute approach is just like how Minnesota's legislators work.
228 Republicans and 41 Democrats in the U.S. House voted for a $612 billion defense authorization bill on May 15. They maneuvered the increase in military spending, which should have been prohibited by “sequester” spending caps established by the Budget Control Act of 2011, by putting some of the spending in a slush fund.
You can't make this stuff up. The Minneapolis City Council is levying a special tax assessment on property owners downtown. Even nonprofits are being made to pay. Even churches! But one entity is special. Only one has the clout to wiggle out, because they have friends in very high places. Guess who it is.
Albeit the nasty winds, getting soaked at the end, our tent almost taking flight, our flag breaking, and the event being called short ... we ended up with FOUR TIMES the amount of signups over last year. 90%+ of the people who stopped by signed up to learn more. Nearly all conversations were positive. Put it down to some new approaches and the "Libertarian moment".
In addition to our keynote speaker Julie Borowski, often listed as one of the Top 10 Young Libertarians, our convention features speakers and THIRTEEN workshops offering practical and fun ways you can LIVE FREE. Come hear what Libertarians have to offer, and be a part of the future! Register here. (Updated on April 23)
Government regulations often lead to costly, ineffective, and progress-stifling outcomes, and are frequently criticized by Libertarians. Skeptics abound, however. Many of the public are wary of "deregulation", fearing a "wild west" where individuals could be left on their own against the unscrupulous. Unfortunately, these skeptics aren't familiar with how oversight would be performed in a libertarian society, and in fact, is already being performed in many cases. And that's what this article is about.
This commentary was published in MinnPost, a Minneapolis news service, written by our Vice Chair. He introduces the Libertarian philosophy to the public and asks them to consider, “What if politics could be more like how we already conduct ourselves in our daily lives?”
LNC Chair Nicholas Sarwark was featured in a live, 40-minute segment on C-SPAN and C-SPAN Radio's Washington Journal on April 12. He made a compelling case for joining the Libertarian Party and responded to several calls from listeners. Listen here.
Hear from Libertarian councilwoman Elizabeth Dahl on "Libertarians Working For You". Elizabeth was elected to the Crystal City Council in November 2014 and explains her work cleaning up unnecessary freedom-infringing city ordinances, stopping a railroad from taking private property, being a truly responsive leader, and more.
How can libertarians best take action to move forward toward our goal of a free society? Is involvement in the political process a good way to achieve this? Or should libertarians drop out of the system and embrace agorism? Is either way better? This continues to be a topic of much debate in the libertarian movement.