Libertarian elected to Choctaw OK city council

LP Oklahoma chair elected to Choctaw City Council | Libertarian Party - Bob Johnston:

April 5, 2019 - "Chad Williams, who was elected chair of the Libertarian Party of Oklahoma as its convention in March, was elected to a 1st Ward seat on the Choctaw City Council on April 2, defeating the incumbent by two votes.

"Williams worked tirelessly before the election using a complete campaign plan that he had designed. He presumed around 400 people would vote and made sure to knock on their doors until he spoke with all of them. He put out yard signs and doorhangers, with 12 volunteers helping him.

"Williams illustrated to his constituents how the city’s codes and ordinances were hurting the local businesses. He also pointed out that the city charges homeowners a storm drainage fee even though homeowners themselves are responsible for the drainage.

"He also made sure that those who supported him got out to vote.

"'We want to see Choctaw grow and see businesses thrive without handouts or tax funded incentives,' Williams said.

Read more: https://www.lp.org/lp-oklahoma-chair-elected-to-choctaw-city-council/
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Mexico to end adult-use cannabis ban in 2019

Mexican Lawmakers Plan To Tackle Marijuana Legalization This Summer | Marijuana Moment - Kyle Jaeger:

April 23, 2019 - "Mexican lawmakers will hash out the details of a marijuana regulation bill during the upcoming summer recess, with the goal of passing the legislation ahead of an October deadline, a key committee leader said.

"After the Supreme Court deemed the country’s ban on cannacig consumption, possession, and personal cultivation unconstitutional last year, the Senate was charged with amending the law to reflect that ruling.

"Julio Ramón Menchaca Salazar, head of the Senate Justice Committee, said that the body would 'take advantage of the recess period' to finalize the legislation, according to a newsletter posted on the Senate website on Sunday. The recess begins on May 1 and lasts until August 31, giving lawmakers several months to develop a regulatory plan for cannabis before the Supreme Court’s October deadline....

"Legalization legislation has already been introduced in the legislature, including a bill from Olga Sanchez Cordero, who as a senator filed a proposal last year to allow adults 18 and older to possess, consume and cultivate cannabis. But as of yet, it’s not clear what bill the Senate will move to advance....

"The Senate’s Health Commission held a hearing on marijuana reform earlier this month, with policy experts and lawmakers testifying about the prospect of a regulated marijuana market.... The hearing came one month after lawmakers from various political parties convened to begin the process of considering reform legislation.

"Last month, the nation’s secretary of Security and Citizen Protection posted a Twitter poll on legalizing marijuana that showed more than 80 percent of respondents in favor."

Read more: https://gdspoliticalanimal.blogspot.com/2019/04/mexican-govt-to-legalize-adult-use.html
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Why the Green New Deal can't work

Why the Green New Deal won't work - John Sexton, Hot Air:

February 14, 2019 - "The Green New Deal isn’t a bill, it’s just a resolution.... But even if ... the GND took on the full force of law ... it won’t save the planet. It can’t possibly do so because, as Megan McArdle points out ... at the Washington Post, America isn’t the planet. In fact, we’re not even a terribly significant portion of the carbon emissions being released into the atmosphere at this point.

Today, the United States accounts for 4.3 percent of the world’s population, roughly 25 percent of its economic output and 15 percent of its carbon emissions from fuel combustion. Meanwhile China, with 18 percent of the world’s population, has 15 percent of its gross domestic product and 28 percent of its emissions. And India, with a population almost as big as China’s, produces only about 3 percent of global GDP and 6 percent of emissions....

Looking at these three countries brings the scale of the problem into focus. There is a small, rich world that lives in comfort and plenty, and a much larger, poor one that wants to get rich. To do so, those billions of people will pass through an intermediate stage when their developing industries are much dirtier than their highly regulated rich-world counterparts. The global emissions problem is likely to get much worse before it gets any better…

No matter what rich-world economies do about their energy consumption, or what “moral leadership” they exert, people in the non-rich world are going to want to drive cars instead of walking; to wash their clothes in machines instead of in a river; to cool their houses with air-conditioning; to eat meat every day — in other words, to do and own all the things that make modern rich-world lives so safe and pleasant....

"McArdle is undeniably correct that poorer countries are not going to abandon their chance at a better future based on cheap reliable fossil fuels simply because the U.S. is doing it. They are going to take the fastest route to a better life no matter how green America gets.... The Green New Deal can’t work because, at best, it can only address a tiny fraction of the global problem....

"In reality, there’s only one way America can change the ball game: By doing the hard work to actually make green energy the shortest, quickest path to prosperity. You don’t need a cap and trade system if solar panels are 35% efficient and cheap to manufacture. You don’t have to twist arms in China or India if fusion is a workable, safe alternative to fission. So McArdle argues that if you want a greener, cleaner planet, the solution is not a WWII style mobilization toward efficiency here, but developing green technology that everyone in the world will eagerly adopt because it’s obviously better than any fossil fuel alternative.

"I think McArdle is basically right about why the Green New Deal won’t work... However, like many other commentators who’ve looked at the GND, she treats the social justice wishlist it contains as tangential to the real goal. I continue to think this is a mistake....

"[Alexandria] Ocasio-Cortez believes the real source of the problem isn’t fossil fuels per se, it’s capitalism. That’s the system she ultimately wants to eliminate and that’s why all the extra stuff in the GND, such as job guarantees for everyone, makes perfect sense. AOC wants a greener future as a means to achieve a redder one. For her purposes, the GND will be a success if America is less capitalist and more socialist, whether or not the rest of the world goes green."

Read more: https://hotair.com/archives/2019/02/14/green-new-deal-wont-work/
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Green New Deal could cost over $90 Trillion

Study: Green New Deal Could Cost More Than $90 Trillion – Reason.com - Joe Seyton:

February 25, 2019 - "The Green New Deal — a brainchild of progressive Democrats... — has been controversial since it was released....  How much would it cost? At least $50 trillion and possibly in excess of $90 trillion, according to a report released ... by the American Action Forum (AAF).

"The AAF, a center-right think tank that focuses on economic issues, projected costs for six aspects of the Green New Deal: reworking the electricity grid in an environmentally friendly manner, revamping the nation's transportation network to reduce transmissions, and its guarantees of well-paying jobs, universal health care, affordable housing, and food security for each person in the U.S.

"One of the Green New Deal's goals is to meet '100 percent of the power demand in the United States through clean, renewable, and zero-emission energy sources' in the next 10 years. Achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions in this area would cost at least $5.4 trillion by 2029, the AAF says — not including another $387 billion per year for things like operations and maintenance.... [T]otal electricity costs would go up by 22 percent for consumers, the AAF says. Residential customers, who paid an average of $111.67 per month in 2017, would pay an average of about $300 more per year for electricity.

"The Green New Deal also proposes 'overhauling transportation systems ... to eliminate pollution and 19 greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector as much as is technologically feasible.' The AAF's estimate of the cost for this proposal assumes that high-speed trains would replace air travel.... Doing so would cost between $1.3 trillion and $2.7 trillion, the AAF estimates....

"The Green New Deal's jobs guarantee would also cost a considerable amount. The AAF based its estimates here on a 2018 report from the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, which found that reaching full employment would involve putting roughly 10.7 million unemployed or underemployed people to work [which] would cost a total of $543 billion.... The AAF updated some of those numbers with 2019 data, and found that a federal jobs guarantee would cost $547 billion in 2019, and $6.762 trillion from 2020 to [2029].. Both of those numbers would rise if, with a guaranteed job waiting for them, many of those who aren't currently looking for work decide to join the labor force....

"The report also estimates that providing universal health care 'will cost roughly $36 trillion between 2020 and 2029.' The AAF simply built off a 2016 estimate of Sen. Bernie Sanders' (I–Vt.) Medicare for All Plan, which the Center for Health and Economy said would cost $34.67 trillion over 10 years. It's likely an accurate projection, roughly in line with a July 2018 Mercatus Center report, which said Medicare for All would cost the federal government more than $32 trillion over 10 years.

"The fifth aspect of the Green New Deal that AAF addresses is its guarantee of 'affordable, safe, and adequate housing." Simply housing the homeless could cost under $12 billion, AAF estimates.... But the Green New Deal also calls for 'upgrading all existing buildings ... to achieve maximal energy efficiency, water efficiency, safety, affordability, comfort, and durability, including through electrification.' Applying such costs to all housing units ... yields a potential cost of $1.6 trillion to nearly $4.2 trillion."

Read more: https://reason.com/2019/02/25/study-green-new-deal-could-cost-more-tha/

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Thai navy dismantles world's first seastead

Bitcoin Couple's Seastead Dreams Sunk by Thai Navy - Wes Messamore, CCN:

April 23, 2019 - "By CCN: The Thai Navy has dismantled the floating sea cabin of U.S. bitcoin investor and seasteading advocate Chad Elwartowski. His Thai girlfriend Supranee Thepdet was living with him in the seastead. The Thai Navy boarded the boat over the weekend and returned its pieces to shore in three boats. The Thai government plans to use the dismantled floating home as evidence in a case against Elwartowsi and Thepdet.

"The two are on the run and have engaged the U.S. embassy. The couple says that the Royal Thai Government is pressing to have them tried and killed for violating the Southeast Asian country’s national sovereignty. It’s a crime that carries the death penalty in Thailand. Luckily, when the authorities moved to seize the vessel, the two had fled; Elwartowski had spotted a surveillance plane flying overhead the day before.

"Although the government of Thailand maintains the seasteaders violated its national sovereignty, the couple most certainly did not. They did not engage in sedition against the government. They did not attempt to overthrow it, nor did they encourage anyone to break its laws. They simply chose to peacefully withdraw from its territory. In the style of history’s millions of homesteaders who left their countries and built something for themselves in unexplored and unsettled lands, this couple is a pair of explorers and pioneers. They are obviously not criminals.

"In a statement released Monday, Patri Friedman, the chairman of the Seasteading Institute, 'urged compassion' for the pair. Friedman insists 'their actions were no threat to Thai sovereignty.'

"The Thai government’s response to the seasteading couple has sent shock waves throughout the international community and media. These events have likely spurred the most mainstream media coverage that the burgeoning seasteading movement has ever received. It is unfortunate that this publicity has come at so great and unfair a personal cost to two of the movement’s pioneers."

Read more: https://www.ccn.com/bitcoin-couple-seastead-thai-navy
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Canopy buys US cannabis firm for $3 billion

Federal Marijuana Legalization Is Close, Suggests Canopy-Acreage Deal - Mike Adams, Forbes:

April 22, 2019 - "]W]hen the largest cannabis company in the world enters into a multi-billion dollar deal with a well-known American cannabis firm -- one that is set to take effect only after the federal government repeals marijuana prohibition -- it is hard not to consider the possibility that someone knows something and that maybe, just maybe we are closer than we think to living in a time when marijuana is taxed and regulated nationwide in a manner similar to alcohol and tobacco.

"[L]ast week ... Canopy Growth signed a $3.4 billion agreement to acquire the medical marijuana firm Acreage Holdings.... The basis of the agreement is that as soon as the U.S. government finally musters up the guts to end marijuana prohibition once and for all, Canopy will ... assume the Acreage properties and hit the ground running as the most powerful cannabis seller in the United States....

“'Our right to acquire Acreage secures our entrance strategy into the United States as soon as a federally-permissible pathway exists,' Bruce Linton, co-CEO for Canopy, said in a press release. 'By combining Acreage’s management team, licenses and assets with Canopy Growth’s intellectual property and brands, there will be tremendous value creation for both companies’ shareholders....

"Constellation Brands, maker of the beers Corona and Modelo, owns 37 percent equity stake in Canopy, and has an opportunity to take controlling interest in the next few years.... Constellation is already working with Canopy to devise THC-beverages for the Canadian market ... in experimental preparation for when the United States goes fully legal....

"John Boehner ... former House Speaker sits on the board of Acreage Holdings and is also the honorary chairman for an enthusiastic gang of pot lobbyists known as the National Cannabis Roundtable (NCR). This group is reportedly heavily funded by the cannabis trade, with foot soldiers in DC right now, persuading federal lawmakers to show support for issues ranging from medical marijuana research to getting the federal government to fall in line with the marijuana standards of today. One piece of legislation that this group is particularly motivated to get on the books is the STATES Act, which would allow states to legalize marijuana any way they see fit without the possibility of federal interference. It’s the one cannabis-related bill that President Trump has said he would 'probably' sign if Congress can come to terms....

"Boehner has also indicated that full-blown legalization is already a hot topic of discussion and on its last leg. 'I have a strong suspicion we won’t be waiting five years to see the federal government legalize cannabis,' he said. 'I’ve got to choose my words carefully. What I’m hearing behind closed doors is pretty sensitive'.... But the latest deal between Canopy and Acreage suggests that a timeline for nationwide marijuana legalization may already be established."

Read more: https://www.forbes.com/sites/mikeadams/2019/04/23/federal-marijuana-legalization-is-close-suggests-canopy-acreage-deal/#372f8d01cce3
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Libertarian named to Bridgeport CT school board

A Libertarian is named to Bridgeport School Board - Connecticut Post - Linda Conner Lambick:

April 22, 2019 - "With only one candidate in the running, the city school board selected LaMar Kennedy, a member of the Libertarian Party, as its newest member. Kennedy, 41, is a special education teacher at Wilby High School in Waterbury. He is also head football coach and assistant boys basketball coach at the school.

"With six board members present, the vote was 5-0 with Board Member Hernan Illingworth abstaining.... Kennedy was immediately sworn in by Mark Anastasi, a city attorney.

"Kennedy was one of six candidates when the board chose Joe Lombard to fill a vacancy in February. This time around, the pool of candidates was restricted to Liberarians, the party that Ben Walker — the member who resigned — had quietly switched to after he was elected in 2015. Walker was a Democrat when elected. Walker resigned unexpectedly on March 25.

"The city charter requires the unexpired term to be filled by a city resident of the same party as the departed member, according to city and board attorneys. According to the Registrar of Voters, there were only 31 voters in the city registered as Libertarians two weeks ago. Kennedy became a member of the Libertarian party in February.

"As a political party, Libertarians support political freedom and autonomy. It is said to be the third largest party in the United States. Its members support a free-market economy, civil liberties and personal freedom. Kennedy said it was the party that best represents his middle of the road values....

"Kennedy will fill the seat until general elections are held in November. If the board had failed to make the selection by April 25, the decision would have gone to the mayor, who would also have had to choose a Libertarian to fill the vacancy."

Read more: https://www.ctpost.com/local/article/A-Libertarian-is-named-to-Bridgeport-School-Board-13786661.php
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