December 2014 - Lnc-business - Moellman Enterprises Email

goals adopted today
by Alicia Mattson 07 Dec '16

07 Dec '16

I've had two region reps request that I provide copies of the 6 goals the LNC adopted today. They are (in descending order of support level): 1. 1000 candidates in 2016 2. Take action to see that each state has operational affiliate by June 1, 2015 3. 300 candidates by 2016 trained in Who’s Driving 4. Updated issue-based outreach literature this term 5. 38-state party-status ballot access as of Dec 1, 2016 6. 200 elected Libertarian officials in Dec 2016 Alicia Mattson LNC Secretary

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updated Judicial Committee rules
by Alicia Mattson 15 Jan '15

15 Jan '15

I have been notified that the Judicial Committee adopted amended rules for the 2014 term. They chose to merely make minor changes to the rules from the prior term. Attached are two documents, one showing the changes from the prior set of rules, and the other showing those changes accepted into the text. Per Bylaws Article 9.3, the JC submits these rules to the LNC for approval, "which approval shall be deemed given unless denied by a 2/3 vote of the National Committee within 60 days of submission." Unless the LNC decides to veto these rules with a 2/3 vote before January 12, 2015, these rules will be approved. Alicia Mattson LNC Secretary

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March LNC meeting
by Sam Goldstein 31 Dec '14

31 Dec '14

Do we have any plans in place yet for the next meeting? I'd like to start planning my travel as soon as possible. Thanks, Sam Goldstein

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Re: [Lnc-business] Ballot Access for State Senate, Wisconsin.
by Wes Benedict 30 Dec '14

30 Dec '14

Dear LNC, The campaign I emailed you about has been cancelled per the note below. Wes Benedict, Executive Director Libertarian National Committee, Inc. *New address: 1444 Duke St., Alexandria, VA 22314* (202) 333-0008 ext. 232, wes.benedict(a)lp.org facebook.com/libertarians @LPNational Join the Libertarian Party at: http://lp.org/membership On 12/30/2014 3:02 PM, andy.craig(a)lpwi.org wrote: > Sorry to have bothered you with this- Phil has decided to withdraw > from the race. Thanks for your help anyway. > > -Andy Craig > > -------- Original Message -------- > Subject: Re: Ballot Access for State Senate, Wisconsin. > From: Wes Benedict <wes.benedict(a)lp.org <mailto:wes.benedict@lp.org>> > Date: Mon, December 29, 2014 3:47 pm > To: andy.craig(a)lpwi.org <mailto:andy.craig@lpwi.org>, > lnc-business(a)hq.lp.org <mailto:lnc-business@hq.lp.org> > > The LP Wisconsin is looking to raise another $300 in pledges > tonight if possible to have a candidate on the ballot in 2015. If > you're willing to help, please email Andy Craig (cc'd on this note > - andy.craig(a)lpwi.org) and tell him the amount you're willing to > contribute. More details below. > > Wes Benedict, Executive Director > Libertarian National Committee, Inc. > *New address: 1444 Duke St., Alexandria, VA 22314* > (202) 333-0008 ext. 232, wes.benedict(a)lp.org > facebook.com/libertarians <http://facebook.com/libertarians> > @LPNational > Join the Libertarian Party at: http://lp.org/membership > > On 12/29/2014 5:32 PM, andy.craig(a)lpwi.org wrote: >> I am currently soliciting donations towards getting Phil Atwood >> on the ballot. Phil is a local Red Cross volunteer and >> semi-retired restaurant manager running as a Libertarian for >> Wisconsin State Senate. I am his campaign manager/treasurer, in >> the April 7 special election for the 20th District. The state has >> given us the most difficult gathering period possible- Dec 16 to >> Jan 6 for 400 valid signatures- and has refused our request for >> administrative relief lowering the threshold based on past court >> decisions re: special election ballot access. >> >> I have an arrangement in place with somebody who's willing help >> us get enough signatures to put us over the top, for $500, and >> he's ready to start immediately. Phil has gathered aprox. 100 >> sigs already, with him and myself and hopefully one or two more >> volunteers we can knock out another 150-200 in the next week, >> leaving us to need 200 paid signatures. I think it is an >> important priority for our state to have a candidate in this >> election, which will almost certainly be the only partisan >> election in 2015 in Wisconsin, and I feel strongly that Phil is a >> great candidate for us to have who will make a competitive >> effort, so I'm asking for help to make it happen. >> The state party will be chipping in some amount less than $300, >> under our chair's discretionary spending limit, but the state >> party budget is very meager at the moment. I already have $70 >> pledged from our local members, including myself, and except to >> be able to get at least another $100 in pledges this evening here >> in Wisconsin. If any members of the LNC, or other persons >> affiliated with LP-national, would be willing to chip in, it >> would be greatly appreciated. I will have an online donation >> function and campaign website up and running within the next 48 >> hrs, for now we're just looking for pledges so I can authorize >> the agreement with our petitioner in good faith. This is a modest >> effort in scale, but very time-critical and will make a huge >> difference to the continued growth and activity of LP-WI over the >> next year. >> >> Sincerely, >> Andy Craig >> Libertarian Party of Wisconsin >> >> fb.com/Atwood4Senate <http://fb.com/Atwood4Senate> >

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Re: [Lnc-business] Ballot Access for State Senate, Wisconsin.
by Wes Benedict 29 Dec '14

29 Dec '14

The LP Wisconsin is looking to raise another $300 in pledges tonight if possible to have a candidate on the ballot in 2015. If you're willing to help, please email Andy Craig (cc'd on this note - andy.craig(a)lpwi.org) and tell him the amount you're willing to contribute. More details below. Wes Benedict, Executive Director Libertarian National Committee, Inc. *New address: 1444 Duke St., Alexandria, VA 22314* (202) 333-0008 ext. 232, wes.benedict(a)lp.org facebook.com/libertarians @LPNational Join the Libertarian Party at: http://lp.org/membership On 12/29/2014 5:32 PM, andy.craig(a)lpwi.org wrote: > I am currently soliciting donations towards getting Phil Atwood on the > ballot. Phil is a local Red Cross volunteer and semi-retired > restaurant manager running as a Libertarian for Wisconsin State > Senate. I am his campaign manager/treasurer, in the April 7 special > election for the 20th District. The state has given us the most > difficult gathering period possible- Dec 16 to Jan 6 for 400 valid > signatures- and has refused our request for administrative relief > lowering the threshold based on past court decisions re: special > election ballot access. > > I have an arrangement in place with somebody who's willing help us get > enough signatures to put us over the top, for $500, and he's ready to > start immediately. Phil has gathered aprox. 100 sigs already, with him > and myself and hopefully one or two more volunteers we can knock out > another 150-200 in the next week, leaving us to need 200 paid > signatures. I think it is an important priority for our state to have > a candidate in this election, which will almost certainly be the only > partisan election in 2015 in Wisconsin, and I feel strongly that Phil > is a great candidate for us to have who will make a competitive > effort, so I'm asking for help to make it happen. > The state party will be chipping in some amount less than $300, under > our chair's discretionary spending limit, but the state party budget > is very meager at the moment. I already have $70 pledged from our > local members, including myself, and except to be able to get at least > another $100 in pledges this evening here in Wisconsin. If any members > of the LNC, or other persons affiliated with LP-national, would be > willing to chip in, it would be greatly appreciated. I will have an > online donation function and campaign website up and running within > the next 48 hrs, for now we're just looking for pledges so I can > authorize the agreement with our petitioner in good faith. This is a > modest effort in scale, but very time-critical and will make a huge > difference to the continued growth and activity of LP-WI over the next > year. > > Sincerely, > Andy Craig > Libertarian Party of Wisconsin > > fb.com/Atwood4Senate <http://fb.com/Atwood4Senate>

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Elected Libertarians
by Joshua Katz 29 Dec '14

29 Dec '14

As many of you know, Scott and I have tried to do outreach to elected Libertarians lately. We looked up those listed on the website, contacted everyone we could find information for, and invited them to join a mailing list for discussing what they were doing, as well as where officials could provide advice to each other. It was intended as a low-volume list, open to Libertarians serving in public office or not, but focused on this topic. To date, less than 10 have joined the list, and three messages have been posted - one introduction to the list, one post about stopping a ban on donation bins, and one post by a new member expressing enthusiasm for joining. Similarly, the LNCC sponsored a luncheon at the convention for elected officials, which Scott hosted. Understandably, we started (tricky language here - the LNCC paid, Scott organized, I invited people, hence the we) rather late, so the low turnout was not unreasonable. My point is, there's not a lot of participation by Elected Libertarians. Carla reached out to me shortly after I was elected, and I'm assuming this is done with all of our elected officials. Do we also reach out to them after they've been in office a while? More importantly, do we offer our officials any value-added for participating? We have a lot of members with specific skills, it might be a good idea to form volunteer databases of those qualified to provide support to our officials (lawyers, (P)RPs, accountants, etc.) In addition, I think we should encourage state chairs to solicit information from their elected officials about the goings-on, if any support is needed from the affiliate or from national, and for those state chairs to pass on needed support to HQ, as well as to pass on news for LP news and the blog. I would love for the blog, website, and LP news to feature small pieces, often, about what our officials are doing in office. Membership is encouraged by success, and having this sort of thing in LP News and the website would promote a more inspired membership (and membership retention.) It would also be a nice thing for our elected officials to know we care about them. Also, there are some things we need to stop doing. If we're going to have an elected Libertarians panel at the convention, it should not be held as a break-out session, unless for some reason we don't want our elected officials to be able to fully serve as delegates if they so choose. I did not participate in the panel, specifically because I was not, as state chair, an elected delegate, and presumptive regional alternate, going to miss LNC elections, which is when the panel was held in Ohio. If that's how I feel, as an elected official, what about delegates who are elected officials? Their only opportunity to hear from elected Libertarians would have meant giving up their right, as delegates, to vote for their leadership. More importantly, I don't think we should have an elected officials panel as the only opportunity for our elected officials to speak. During the convention itself, on the floor, we heard from the head of a conservative/libertarian organization (one I love dearly, by the way, and where I spent many summers, before they moved to Georgia), and several candidates who earned as much as, I think, 5% of the vote. We didn't hear from a single elected official from the floor. Not a single elected official was a meal speaker. Many state affiliates have invited elected officials to speak at their conventions, from their own states or from nearby states. Why wouldn't national also? This is not a plea, by the way, for "speaking welfare." Certainly, there's no reason not to have quality speakers - but presumably among our elected Libertarians, there must be some energizing speakers, since speaking is a part of campaigning. We want "the best" speakers - but we have different speakers every year, so surely we're not having "the best" every year - we're having a variety of good speakers. I'm just suggesting that one of those categories to be represented should be the people from this party who have helped us to achieve one of our key purposes - the moving of public policy in a libertarian direction by electing Libertarians to office. Many of our members, I've found, do not value winning local elections, and sometimes refer dismissively to such elections by the catch-phrase "dog-catcher." (Joe Biden, on the other hand, in 2007 said that there were too many judges appointed to the Supreme Court, and that instead a dog-catcher should be appointed. He was chair of the Judiciary Committee at the time.) Perhaps hearing from such people about how we are, in fact, moving liberty forward would be helpful. Also, I mentioned above that Scott and I searched for contact information for officials. Checking just now, I found that I don't have my contact information on the website, and a random sampling of 10 elected officials revealed that none did. Can someone at HQ please put my contact information up, and can we please encourage state chairs to ask their elected officials if they'd like their contact information displayed, and to provide it to HQ if so? People like success. We need to keep our elected officials involved and let them inspire our members. We also need them to serve as examples that, yes, you can get elected as a Libertarian, and yes, you can do things in office to move public policy in a libertarian direction. Doing that means incentivizing participation, providing opportunities for participation, and putting our elected officials forward as being valued. It also means providing our elected officials with any needed support we can offer - and seeking them out to offer that support. Joshua A. Katz Region 8 (Region of Badassdom) Alternate Libertarian National Committee Chair, Libertarian Party of Connecticut

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Re: [Lnc-business] Ballot Access
by Scott L. 27 Dec '14

27 Dec '14

I apologize for making those two messages public, but that's what happens when our members demand 100% transparency. And - I would be accused of trying to hide something if I used private e-mails to discuss this topic with the Board. Scott Lieberman _____ From: Scott L. [mailto:scott73@earthlink.net] Sent: Saturday, December 27, 2014 1:58 PM To: 'lnc-business(a)lp.org' Subject: re: Ballot Access I assume the LNC controls the state chairs e-mail list. I can't move motions, but I suggest we have an e-mail ballot that warns both Dr Phillies and Mr. Weinman that insults like the ones below will not be tolerated on the State Chairs e-mail list, and that future offenses will result in their posting privileges being revoked. I hope this board is not so open minded that we are willing to permit the State Chairs e-mail list to degenerate into kindergarten-level name calling. Scott Lieberman _____ From: Statechairs [mailto:statechairs-bounces@hq.lp.org] On Behalf Of Jason Weinman Sent: Saturday, December 27, 2014 1:49 PM To: George Phillies Cc: statechairs(a)hq.lp.org Subject: Re: [Statechairs] Ballot Access George, if I am not now, and have never been, a member of the Republican party. If you have a problem with me on issues, please, I'd love to discuss it. I never supported Wayne Allen Root, and I bet that your views are closer to his than mine (branding people who disagree as "enemies," and mischaracterizing other people's views). I do think of you as a fascist, George. You seem not to think that private individuals can discriminate on any grounds that they want, or set any rules they like, as long as all parties agree. Not only is that ideologically unlibertarian, but it's bad for the party. We met at the National Convention, where you made clear that you would oppose any structure for the LP other than one focused on conventions and candidate recruitment, even if if it were more effective. You consider any other opinion "unlibertarian," because you don't know what the word means. Hint: it doesn't have anything to do with conventions. Your commitment to running as many candidates as possible is indefensible after 40 years of failure. I want to move public policy in a libertarian direction, and we're accomplishing that in Nevada. What are your goals, George? Ban GMOs and "investigate" chemtrails? You're supposed to be a "professor?" What exactly do you teach? At this point, if you still want to help, you should resign. If you want to simply maintain your "position" as the king of the Irrelevant Libertarian Discussion Club of Massachusetts, you should be drummed out of the party. HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH On Saturday, December 27, 2014, George Phillies <phillies(a)4liberty.net> wrote: This is a general comment. We see discussions of "ballot access" and whether or not a state libertarian group has "ballot access". The phrase "ballot access" has so many meanings that it does not mean a great deal, or means different things to different people. We have to live with it, though some people are less polite about than others. Some people on the LNC use the phrase to mean only that they can get a Presidential candidate on the ballot without spending much money, sometimes by ignoring the issues that can get in the way. In other places, the question is what the ballot paper reads, even though what the press reports can be quite different. Thus, for example, one of our party's most successful US Senate candidates, in terms of recent press coverage, was Joe Kennedy, complete with his full-length covering article in the NY Times Sunday magazine. However, he actually ran as "Liberty", and was happy to agree that if he had petitioned as "Libertarian" he would not have gotten onto the ballot, due to our temporarily being stuck with major party status. However, he always said "Libertarian" when he spoke, and that was the message heard by the public. Having said that, we are a political party, and our objective is to advance our positions by electing people to office, and also the other important aspects of political action. People who oppose our party running candidates for office are enemies of our party. We already had this problem with the Nevada party before in 2012 when then LPNV member of the LNC endorsed the Republican fascists' candidate for President. (Fascist? Let's see: Launches wars of aggression. Loves to torture people. Sets up a national police surveillance state. Imprisons citizens without trial. Equips the local constabulary with machine guns, grenade launchers, and armored vehicles. Pays off the local plutocracy, the corporate bankster state. Reduces women to baby-hatching wombs that walk. Yes, Republicans are fascists, don't forget it. And Goddess bless the greatest living American Patriot, Edward Snowden, for tearing the veil off their misdeeds.) It's up to the good Libertarians of Nevada to cope with this issue as they see fit. However, people who say that we should not be running candidates for office are enemies of our party. And most of them are Republicans, sometimes in disguise.

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Re: [Lnc-business] Ballot Access
by Scott L. 27 Dec '14

27 Dec '14

I assume the LNC controls the state chairs e-mail list. I can't move motions, but I suggest we have an e-mail ballot that warns both Dr Phillies and Mr. Weinman that insults like the ones below will not be tolerated on the State Chairs e-mail list, and that future offenses will result in their posting privileges being revoked. I hope this board is not so open minded that we are willing to permit the State Chairs e-mail list to degenerate into kindergarten-level name calling. Scott Lieberman _____ From: Statechairs [mailto:statechairs-bounces@hq.lp.org] On Behalf Of Jason Weinman Sent: Saturday, December 27, 2014 1:49 PM To: George Phillies Cc: statechairs(a)hq.lp.org Subject: Re: [Statechairs] Ballot Access George, if I am not now, and have never been, a member of the Republican party. If you have a problem with me on issues, please, I'd love to discuss it. I never supported Wayne Allen Root, and I bet that your views are closer to his than mine (branding people who disagree as "enemies," and mischaracterizing other people's views). I do think of you as a fascist, George. You seem not to think that private individuals can discriminate on any grounds that they want, or set any rules they like, as long as all parties agree. Not only is that ideologically unlibertarian, but it's bad for the party. We met at the National Convention, where you made clear that you would oppose any structure for the LP other than one focused on conventions and candidate recruitment, even if if it were more effective. You consider any other opinion "unlibertarian," because you don't know what the word means. Hint: it doesn't have anything to do with conventions. Your commitment to running as many candidates as possible is indefensible after 40 years of failure. I want to move public policy in a libertarian direction, and we're accomplishing that in Nevada. What are your goals, George? Ban GMOs and "investigate" chemtrails? You're supposed to be a "professor?" What exactly do you teach? At this point, if you still want to help, you should resign. If you want to simply maintain your "position" as the king of the Irrelevant Libertarian Discussion Club of Massachusetts, you should be drummed out of the party. HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH On Saturday, December 27, 2014, George Phillies <phillies(a)4liberty.net> wrote: This is a general comment. We see discussions of "ballot access" and whether or not a state libertarian group has "ballot access". The phrase "ballot access" has so many meanings that it does not mean a great deal, or means different things to different people. We have to live with it, though some people are less polite about than others. Some people on the LNC use the phrase to mean only that they can get a Presidential candidate on the ballot without spending much money, sometimes by ignoring the issues that can get in the way. In other places, the question is what the ballot paper reads, even though what the press reports can be quite different. Thus, for example, one of our party's most successful US Senate candidates, in terms of recent press coverage, was Joe Kennedy, complete with his full-length covering article in the NY Times Sunday magazine. However, he actually ran as "Liberty", and was happy to agree that if he had petitioned as "Libertarian" he would not have gotten onto the ballot, due to our temporarily being stuck with major party status. However, he always said "Libertarian" when he spoke, and that was the message heard by the public. Having said that, we are a political party, and our objective is to advance our positions by electing people to office, and also the other important aspects of political action. People who oppose our party running candidates for office are enemies of our party. We already had this problem with the Nevada party before in 2012 when then LPNV member of the LNC endorsed the Republican fascists' candidate for President. (Fascist? Let's see: Launches wars of aggression. Loves to torture people. Sets up a national police surveillance state. Imprisons citizens without trial. Equips the local constabulary with machine guns, grenade launchers, and armored vehicles. Pays off the local plutocracy, the corporate bankster state. Reduces women to baby-hatching wombs that walk. Yes, Republicans are fascists, don't forget it. And Goddess bless the greatest living American Patriot, Edward Snowden, for tearing the veil off their misdeeds.) It's up to the good Libertarians of Nevada to cope with this issue as they see fit. However, people who say that we should not be running candidates for office are enemies of our party. And most of them are Republicans, sometimes in disguise.

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Interesting look at "killer" web site home pages
by Scott L. 26 Dec '14

26 Dec '14

IT Committee: Feel free to pass this article along to the non-LNC members of your committee. How These 5 Websites Crush Home Page Design https://www.americanexpress.com/us/small-business/openforum/articles/5-websi tes-crush-home-page-design/?linknav=us-openforum-article-trending-1 Scott Lieberman

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Some thoughts as we leave 2014, and enter the New Year.
by Vicki Kirkland 24 Dec '14

24 Dec '14

In 2014 we lost two people who made enormous contributions to the Libertarian Party of Florida, John Wayne Smith and Jack Tanner. I was fortunate to have counted both these individuals as my friends. My life was richer for having known them. May 2015 be a great Libertarian year, and a year of peace and prosperity for us all. Vicki Kirkland

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