8 Libertarians qualify for ballot in Wisconsin

Libertarian Party of Wisconsin announces ballot access for candi - WKOW 27: Madison, WI Breaking News, Weather and Sports - Jule Carpenter Lotz, WKOW:

June 4, 2016 - "Several Libertarian Party candidates will appear on Wisconsin ballots for upcoming elections.

"Libertarian Party of Wisconsin Chairman Joseph Kexel says Phillip Anderson, the party's candidate for United States Senate, and four others who are running for seats in the House of Representatives have gained access to be listed.

"Kexel says the four candidates for the House include Jason Lebeck in the 1st District, Andy Craig in the 4th District, John Arndt in the 5th District and Robert Burke in the 7th.

"The party also has two candidates running for state assembly seats; Jordan Hansen for District 54 near Oshkosh and George Meyers, for District 66 near Racine.

"In a news release, Kexel says the Libertarian candidates support individual freedom and offer voters "a great opportunity to elect libertarians to all levels of government."

"The party's national candidates are Gary Johnson for president and Bill Weld for vice-president."

[In a comment, Kexel also mentions Matthew Bughman, running for state assembly in District 7.]

http://www.wkow.com/story/32145166/2016/06/04/libertarian-party-of-wisconsin-announces-ballot-access-for-candidates
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354,000 sign Michigan cannabis initiative

Michigan marijuana legalization group submits 354,000 signatures - Michael Gerstein, Associated Press:

June 2, 2016 - "A group trying to legalize recreational marijuana in Michigan said it turned in enough valid signatures just before the Wednesday deadline to place the issue before voters on the November ballot.

"But whether the state considers the roughly 354,000 signatures as valid is another question because a bill presented to Gov. Rick Snyder on Tuesday would stop such groups from counting signatures older than 180 days.

"Current law allows the group, MI Legalize, to count older signatures toward the roughly 253,000 they need to put the measure before voters. However, neither Snyder’s office nor the Secretary of State’s office would say whether the bill before Snyder would apply to the legalize marijuana group.

"'We would review the effect of the public act if petitions are turned in and the bill is signed,' said Secretary of State spokesman Fred Woodhams.

"He said the state still has to review petition sheets and pull a sample of signatures to verify validity, and adds that people can also challenge signatures before the office makes a report to the state Board of Canvassers which votes on whether the group has enough valid signatures.

"Jeffrey Hank, the group’s director, said they turned in about 200,000 signatures older than 180 days. But he stresses that current law allows them to count those signatures toward the filing requirement, and said even if Snyder signs the bill it wouldn’t apply to them.....

"Snyder’s office said the governor is still deciding whether to sign the bill that stops such groups from counting signatures older than 180 days.

"Hank said they may pursue litigation if the Secretary of State doesn’t accept their signatures, which he says are valid.

"Another group — one trying to ban hydraulic fracturing in the state — didn’t have enough signatures to meet the requirement Wednesday....  The Committee to Ban Fracking in Michigan and LuAnne Kozma, the group’s director, filed a lawsuit Wednesday in the state court of claims in which they allege that the 180-day time limit on signatures is unconstitutional."

Read more: http://www.thecannabist.co/2016/06/02/michigan-marijuana-signatures/55384/
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Nirvana's Novoselic gives max to Johnson2016

Krist Novoselic endorses Libertarian Gary Johnson for president - Collette Shade, Death and Taxes:

May 31, 2016 - "Former Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic took to Twitter on Tuesday morning to endorse Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson:

Krist Novoselić ✔ @KristNovoselic 

I just gave the maximum contribution to @GovGaryJohnson presidential campaign. 10:42 AM - 31 May 2016 · Washington, USA, United States

"Because, of course, nothing says indie rock like a universal flat tax or an obsession with the illegitimacy of fiat currency!

"Novoselic’s endorsement isn’t entirely out of the blue. In 2004, the bassist wrote the book Of Grunge and Government: Let’s Fix This Broken Democracy. In 2014, he gave a nearly hourlong interview with Reason TV, during which he told Nick Gillespie about his political evolution. 'I’m an anarcho-capitalist, socialist, moderate,' he said. 'I don’t know.'

"When Twitter user @RespectDaBass asked Novoselic if he was worried that his support of a third-party candidate would be problematic in a two-party system, Novoselic replied:

Francisco Herrero @RespectDaBass
@KristNovoselic @GovGaryJohnson do you think it'll take votes away from #Dems or #GOP?

Krist Novoselić ✔ @KristNovoselic 

@RespectDaBass @GovGaryJohnson This election is like Nirvana in 1991. The Johnson/Weld ticket can capture imaginations to bolt to the top. 10:50 AM - 31 May 2016 · Washington, USA, United States

"I guess that means that a Libertarian presidency will come seemingly out of nowhere, rule, drop an album produced by Steve Albini, then end in tragedy three years later, causing the group to disband in its wake?"

Read more: http://www.deathandtaxesmag.com/292282/krist-novoselic-endorses-libertarian-gary-johnson-president/
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Bernier comes out against supply management

Maxime Bernier parts ways with Conservative policy on supply management - Politics - CBC News - Janyce McGregor:

May 31, 2016 - "Conservative leadership candidate Maxime Bernier says there's no way to reconcile his free-market principles with support for Canada's supply-managed agriculture sector, so he's parting company with longstanding party policy. Canada must change the marketing board system now in place for Canada's dairy, poultry and egg farmers....

'It is a government cartel,' Bernier told a press conference on Parliament Hill. 'It is the opposite of free markets'....

"As the minister for small business and tourism specifically, and as a Conservative MP since 2006 generally, he'd repeatedly voiced support for the supply-managed farm sector, a significant source of employment in his rural Quebec riding.

"'I was not in a position to question the party's democratic decision, or cabinet solidarity,' he said. 'And so I went along with it, even though I had grave misgivings about it for all these years'....

"Bernier echoed earlier studies that have suggested Canadian consumers pay $2.6 billion a year more than the world price for milk, part of a system he said was 'fundamentally unfair to Canadian families.'

 "'In order to protect 10 per cent of farmers, we are forcing all Canadian families, especially those with children and low-income families, to pay hundreds of dollars more every year for dairy, eggs and poultry products,' he said....

"The current fight over diafiltered milk — a product derived from milk and used in the manufacturing of dairy products that's currently exploiting a loophole to enter Canada tariff-free, displacing Canadian milk — is 'just the latest illustration of what happens when a system is too inflexible.'

"Bernier said supply management could be wound down with a multi-year phase-out of the quota system and the import restrictions that protect it.

"A 'temporary levy' on food products could be used to raise funds to compensate farmers for the cost of their lost quota. (Roughly $24,000 per dairy cow, with some figures putting the quota value for all supply sectors as high as $35 billion nationally.)

"He pointed to reforms in Australia as a model for Canada. But he did not explain exactly how his plan would work in a Canadian context, where both the weather (Canadian livestock needs to be in barns during the winter, for example, adding to production costs) and geographic location (right next to large U.S. suppliers) make for a different operating environment."

Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/bernier-supply-management-dairy-egg-poultry-1.3609113
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Was Gov. Weld's defection a watershed event?

Was Governor Weld's defection a watershed event? - Keith Komar, special to GDPA:

June 2, 2016 - The events leading up to the nomination of Governors Gary Johnson and William Weld this past weekend were, in my eyes, nothing short of extraordinary. For Johnson to land an A-list VP candidate like Bill Weld was a political coup of legendary purportions. And this is only the beginning.

Quietly, as Johnson and Weld were giving acceptance speeches for the Libertarian party nominations, Senator Laura Ebke from Nebraska announced that she was leaving the Republican party after a life long party affiliation. In a statement written to her constituents she stated: "The notion that the Governor (of Nebraska) should be able to tell legislators how to vote because they are registered in the same party ... does a disservice to the role of the legislature and to the intention of the founders". She attributed her switch in parties to her realization that "the Republican party of 2016 is fundamentally different [from] the Republican party that (she) grew up in.". She also quoted Ronald Reagan to the effect that "the very heart and soul of conservatism is Libertarianism."

Earlier today, Montgomery County (Indiana) GOP chair John Pickerill stepped down to join the Libertarian Party as well. At a press conference he stated that "I don't see the Republican Party representing me anymore." His concern with local and statewide politicians accepting donations from contractors they are conducting business with was among the reasons for the switch. When asked if he was comfortable with Trump he responded: "Not at all. I think Trump is a roll of the dice.... He could be the worst thing since Hitler." State Libertarian party chair Joe Hauptmann, also at the conference, added: "We think the Libertarian party is the adult at the table this election."

I contend that these defections are the beginning of a mass exodus from the archaic ideals of a dying socially conservative platform, brought on in large part by the vision of Gary Johnson to seek out a very credible running mate in Bill Weld, and the courage of Governor Weld to step forward and lead the way to a more principled approach to Government. As more prominent politicians come on board with the ideals of liberty and join the Libertarian party it will get easier for the others to follow along.

What remains to be seen is whether the purists within the Libertarian Party are willing to welcome the influx of political refugees left in the wake of a Clinton - Trump nomination.

Nebraska state senator Ebke joins Libertarians

'Frustrated' State Sen. Laura Ebke switches from Republican to Libertarian - Omaha.com: Legislature:

June 2, 2016 - "Saying demands for party loyalty don’t always result in good lawmaking, Nebraska State Sen. Laura Ebke has switched her affiliation from Republican to Libertarian.

"The senator from Crete, elected as a Republican in 2014, said she filled out online forms last week with the Secretary of State’s Office to make the change. But she said she’d been considering the switch for months.

"'I got frustrated with some of my colleagues who don’t recognize civil liberties and don’t seem to agree with getting government out of people’s business,' she said Wednesday.

"Republican Gov. Pete Ricketts’ recent hardball play with GOP senators like Ebke who don’t always vote along party lines was one of 'many factors' in her decision, she said. The governor called out several lawmakers by name last month during the state GOP convention, saying the Legislature needs more 'platform Republicans.'

"'I suspect that better policy would be made if there was more conversation and fewer demands of partisan loyalty,' Ebke wrote in a letter to donors explaining her decision.....

"Clerk of the Legislature Patrick O’Donnell said Wednesday that he could not think of another registered Libertarian who served, although other senators have had strong libertarian leanings. But because the Legislature is formally nonpartisan, his office doesn’t keep records of past members’ party affiliations.

"Michael Knebel, a party spokesman, said that a Libertarian now serves on a City Council in the state, but said Ebke is the first in the Legislature.

"Libertarians favor a limited, fiscally responsible government that does not infringe on personal freedoms — 'making sure government is out of your wallet and out of your bedroom as much as possible,' Knebel said."

Read more: http://www.omaha.com/news/legislature/frustrated-state-sen-laura-ebke-switches-from-republican-to-libertarian/article_4bce0112-4914-58fb-abd1-efb9f3acd6e7.html
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Libertarian donations, registrations spike in May

Libertarian Party sees spike in registration, fundraising | TheHill - Jonathan Easley:

May 25, 2016 - "The Libertarian Party has seen a sustained surge of new members joining, with first-time registrants in May on pace to increase 20-fold over the same period from last year.

"The party also expects to post its strongest fundraising haul since at least 2000, and maybe ever.

"New data obtained by The Hill shows that the Libertarian National Committee averaged around 100 new members a month last year, bottoming out with just 74 first-time registrants last May.

"But beginning in early 2016, as the contours of the Republican and Democratic races began [to take] shape, new membership began creeping upward to 148 in January, 323 in February, 546 in March, 706 in April, and now 1,292 in the first three weeks of May alone.

"Overall dues-paying members have increased by about 20 percent so far this year, from 11,680 to 14,444 as of May 23.

"The Libertarian National Committee has also seen a spike in fundraising, bringing in $205,000 in April, its largest monthly haul since 2004.

"A party operative told The Hill they are on pace to double that figure in May, estimating a $400,000 haul.

"Those figures come against a backdrop of polls that find the two likely major party candidates, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, suffer from historically low approval ratings.

"Surveys indicate that there is a strong appetite for an independent or third-party alternative."

Read more: http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/281296-libertarian-registration-fundraising-spikes-dramatically
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