Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson makes a hometown visit | KOB.com

Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson makes a hometown visit | KOB.com - Stuart Dyson, Eyewitness News:

October 9, 2012 - "Gary Johnson brought his long-shot Libertarian campaign for president to New Mexico Tuesday, with a rally at the University of New Mexico Tuesday evening and a fundraiser high in the Sandia Mountains foothills earlier in the day....

Johnson, still steaming over his exclusion from the first Obama-Romney debate, is sticking with his message: cut federal spending, bring the troops home, legalize marijuana and gay marriage - live free....
'It's a message that resonates all across the country," Johnson said.....

Johnson is polling at about 6 percent right now, when the pollsters bother to include him. Still, that's way ahead of where other Libertarians that have been in other races for the presidency.

Read more and watch video: http://www.kob.com/article/stories/S2795339.shtml?cat=513
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Michigan counties continue fight Against NDAA

Update: Michigan Counties Continue the Fight Against NDAA - Joe Wolverston II, New American:

1 October, 2012 - "Michigan may join the list of other states who have passed legislation checking the president’s power under the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to indefinitely detain American citizens.

"On Monday, September 24, constitutionalists and friends of liberty gathered at the Oakland County (Michigan) General Government Committee Meeting to support Commissioner Jim Runestad’s Liberty Preservation Resolution. Blake Filippi of the Tenth Amendment Center (TAC) originally drafted this measure with the assistance of the Rhode Island Liberty Coalition.

"Reports to The New American from those attending the meeting indicate that many residents attended the meeting, as well, and passionately defended the right of Americans to live without the specter of an all-powerful police state looming over their every action.

"The day after, ... over 40 concerned Michiganders attended the Michigan State House Oversight, Reform and Ethics Committee.... Led by TAC state coordinator Shane Trejo, representatives from a coalition of groups devoted to the protection of individual liberty testified.... Notably, consistent defender of the Constitution Congressman Justin Amash (R-Mich.) appeared before the committee.

"As readers may remember, Amash’s effort to repeal the indefinite detention provisions of the NDAA for 2013 was blocked in May when by a vote of 238-182, members of the House of Representatives voted to renew the president’s power to arrest and indefinitely detains Americans suspected of posing a threat to national security.

"At the committee meeting in Lansing, however,  no testimony in favor of the NDAA was heard.

"In a statement, Representative McMillin recognized Amash for his aid to the cause of liberty.

"'I appreciate the support from Congressman Amash, who has fought against the federal law that enables the executive branch to arrest and indefinitely detain anyone on U.S. soil using the slightest thread of evidence or suspicion,; McMillin said."

Read more: http://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/constitution/item/13059-update-michigan-counties-continue-the-fight-against-ndaa
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Kuntz: Let Johnson in - The Daily Iowan

Kuntz: Let Johnson in - The Daily Iowan - Katie Kuntz:

October 8, 2012 - "Last week, two presidential candidates debated solutions for the economy, the budget, and health care — but theirs are not the only solutions.

"Former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson is also running for president as a libertarian, but the National Commission on Presidential Debates excluded him from the debate. Now, he is suing the commission for the chance to debate and share his solutions with the nation.

"Johnson’s exclusion does not only affect his campaign, it hurts American voters.

"Allowing for a third voice highlights the alternatives to the Democratic and Republican solutions. Voters need to step up and demand the commission to let Johnson debate.

"The polarization of the American electorate has done nothing to improve the nation. The gridlock of leadership has left voters with an 11-year war, high unemployment, an ever-increasing budget deficit, and uncertainty for the future of health care, the economy, and education.

"It’s time for someone who is neither red nor blue to offer some solutions."

Read more: http://www.dailyiowan.com/2012/10/08/Opinions/30202.html
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Libertarians have enough valid signatures for PA ballot

Pennsylvania Libertarians Claim Enough Valid Signatures | Independent Political Report:

October 6, 2012 - "From Dr. Tom Stevens on LP State Chairs List and IPR comments:

"Although Judge Colins has not made a final ruling and there are still some motions outstanding and another full day of petition signature reviews scheduled at the Philadelphia Board of Elections for Tuesday, October 9, 2012, at the end of the day on Saturday, October 6, 2012, the Pennsylvania Libertarian Party obtained 20,606 valid signatures (5 more than the 20,601 needed), to place Gary Johnson, Judge Gray and the other statewide candidates endorsed by the Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania on the General Election ballot this November....

"Dr. Tom Stevens, LPPA State Chair, commented: 'We thought the whole idea of holding an election was to give voters a meaningful choice on Election Day. If the only option people have is to vote for the Democrat or the Republican, I say that is no choice at all!... Now, the voters of Pennsylvania will have a real choice and can vote for candidates who support the United States Constitution and the Bill of Rights and who will defend our Civil Liberties and every person’s individual right to life, liberty and property – without exception.'”

Read more: http://www.independentpoliticalreport.com/2012/10/pennsylvania-libertarians-claim-enough-valid-signatures/
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Legalising marijuana: most Americans get it, so when will our politicians? | Gary Johnson | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk

Legalising marijuana: most Americans get it, so when will our politicians? | Gary Johnson | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk:

October 6, 2012 - "Prohibition in the US was a huge, miserable failure. During its 13-year run, beginning in 1920, Prohibition caused a massive rise in organized crime and actually increased alcohol consumption instead of curtail it.

"After Prohibition's repeal in 1933, kids didn't start drinking in record numbers. Society didn't collapse. Today, bathtub gin dealers don't run amok on playgrounds; microbreweries don't protect their turf with automatic weapons. Instead, a safe environment to drink was created when the government began regulating and taxing alcohol.

"And yet, here we are in 2012, giving Prohibition another shot. For lack of a better word, that's just stupid."

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/oct/06/legalising-marijuana-gary-johnson
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Gary Johnson a ‘nonfactor,’ Priebus says – CNN Political Ticker - CNN.com Blogs

Gary Johnson a ‘nonfactor,’ Priebus says – CNN Political Ticker - CNN.com Blogs - Ashley Killough:

October 7, 2012 - "Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus said he's not concerned that Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson will tip the scales in November.

"'In fact, I see that it's almost a nonfactor,' Priebus said on CNN's 'State of the Union'....

"Johnson, a former 2012 Republican presidential candidate who became the Libertarian nominee in May, is rarely included in national polls, but a recent CNN/ORC International Poll indicated 4% of likely voters back Johnson, while 3% support Green Party candidate Jill Stein. Obama, meanwhile, had 47%, with Romney at 44% when all four candidates were factored in....

"'(Voters) are not going to throw their vote away when we have an election here that's about the future of America. I don't see that happening,' Priebus told CNN Chief Political Correspondent Candy Crowley."

Read more: http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2012/10/07/gary-johnson-a-nonfactor-priebus-says/
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Gary Johnson and the 2-party stranglehold on presidential debates - Lane Filler

Gary Johnson and the 2-party stranglehold on presidential debates - Lane Filler, Newsday:

October 4, 2012 - "We are a two-party system -- not by law, but because the Democrats and the Republicans have seized the mechanisms of government. They use their control to maintain power, and other parties can't compete. This causes a bunch of self-perpetuating, corrosive behaviors, like government-funded primaries for these major parties, which are really nothing but private organizations. Withholding the money for a Republican primary out of a libertarian's paycheck makes as much sense as taxing Jews to pay for KKK dance parties (now that's an idea for a reality show).

"Another, more pressing way the Republicans and Democrats control the process came about in the late 1980s when the two major parties created the \'nonpartisan' Commission on Presidential Debates, and crowded out the League of Women Voters, which had run the general election debates up until then....

"It feels like 'the establishment' -- the corporations and power players -- don't care which of the two major candidates wins. They just want to be sure a Ron Paul, a Gary Johnson, a Dennis Kucinich and a Ralph Nader can't win, or, really, that their often unconventional ideas can't be heard. And until enough people make noise about it, inside the voting booth and out, it won't change."

Read more: http://www.newsday.com/opinion/columnists/lane-filler/filler-gary-johnson-and-the-2-party-stranglehold-on-presidential-debates-1.4076943
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