• Stopping the so-called "Cap and Trade" bill.
• Asking Senators to cosponsor "S 604: Federal Reserve Board Sunshine Act of 2009."
• And Stopping the Pass Act (a new accelerated version of "Real ID")

• Former Mayor Pro-Tem Mark D. Owen retains a seat on the Owosso City Council.
• Former Mayor Pro-Tem Andy LeCureaux retains a seat on the Hazel Park City Council.
• Mark Anthony Byrne was elected to the Port Huron City Council.
• David Eisenbacher was elected to the Troy City Council (with the highest vote total for that position).

Registration forms and information pertaining to the 2007 Libertarian Party of Michigan Convention are available at:

http://lpwm.org/stateconvention

This is on the Libertarian Party of West Michigan's Web page. The LPWM has been gracious enough to host this important annual gathering.

Registration (and other payments) will be possible online in within a couple of days. Please check in on

http://lp.mi.org

to see if a link to our online form is yet posted.

Important information for would-be delegates: "A person who has never been a member of the Libertarian Party of Michigan must become a member at least 30 days prior to a State convention before being allowed to vote at that convention."
-LPM Bylaws-

If you recently joined the national organization, you may not yet be an LPM member. So make sure to join the Michigan Party too. Dues must be current at the time of the convention to vote there.

[Note from the Chair: All Libertarian Presidential Candidates are welcome to submit articles.]

GET TO KNOW LP PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE CHRISTINE SMITH

I invite Michigan Libertarians to listen to the recent 30-minute interview with me on Angela Keaton's Liberated Space Radio Show. The March 1, 2007 interview is archived at

http://blogtalkradio.com/hostpage.aspx?show_id=12084

I also invite you to listen to the WNYU-New York interview (approx. 5-10 minutes) archived at http://www.wnyu.org/archives Click the Thursday, Feb. 22 "Feature" archive.

Michigan Libertarians may read about me at my campaign website: http://www.LibertarianForPresident.com

I have received numerous invitations to Libertarian state conventions and other events nationwide. I have already attended or will be attending the San Diego LP Convention, the Oregon LP Convention, the New Mexico LP Convention, the California (in San Ramon) LP Convention, and others across the country are now being planned.

MICHIGAN LP TRIP FUNDRAISER: The Michigan LP Convention sounds very interesting as I would welcome having the opportunity to meet all of you. However, due to our limited campaign budget, the expense of trips we've already planned, and recent campaign advertising costs, I need to raise a nominal $600 in order for me to commit to attending the Michigan LP Convention. ($600 is just a nominal amount, but it will help defray the travel expense for myself and a campaign assistant.)

Those wishing to help make my campaign trip to Michigan possible should designate their contribution for the Michigan trip.

If for any reason I am unable to attend (or if the $600 isn't raised), all contributions which were made for the Michigan trip will be promptly refunded. Again, contributors should clearly state that their contribution is for the Michigan trip.

Want to help? Visit http://www.libertarianforpresident.com/id7.html for complete details on how to contribute. With just a little help from you, I'll be able to accept the invitation to participate in your state convention in May.

Thank you,
Christine Smith
Paid for by Christine Smith for President

To assure a smooth running business meeting at the convention, please submit bylaw proposals by email, in advance, to the committee.

Time is limited, and priority will be given to proposals submitted in advance.

The 2007 Bylaws Committee is as follows:

Will White, whitewi5@msu.edu
Macomb: Jim Allison, marthos1776@comcast.net
Leonard Schwartz, Leonard@LeonardSchwartz.us
Larry Johnson, MichLibertarian@comcast.net
Greg Stempfle, stempfle@hotmail.com
Ken Howe, kenneth.howe@comcast.net

This is a brief press release that I received from Christine Smith who is seeking the Libertarian nomination for president. As chair of the state convention committee, she contacted me about attending and asked that I pass along this brief message for her. The following is not an endorsement of her campaign.

PRESS RELEASE
-------------------------------------------------------
I would like to introduce myself to Michigan Libertarians.

Thus, I invite you to my campaign website:

http://www.LibertarianForPresident.com

As Libertarian candidate for president, I am interested in learning more about the history and current work and strengths of the Michigan LP as well as learning more about your individual county/regional chapters.

I want to get to know more Michigan Libertarians. So, I invite Michigan Libertarians who are willing to share about the Michigan LP, and who are interested in discussing their ideas to contact me.

I look forward to hearing from you...talking with you...and hopefully meeting many of you during my campaign travel.

Christine Smith

Paid for by Christine Smith for President
15400 W. 64th Ave., E9-105
Arvada, Colorado 80007
(303) 532-4185
campaign@christinesmithforpresident.com

Be sure to read all the way to the end!
Tax his land,
Tax his bed,
Tax the table
At which he's fed.

Tax his tractor,
Tax his mule,
Teach him taxes
Are the rule

Tax his cow,
Tax his goat,
Tax his pants,
Tax his coat.

Tax his ties,
Tax his shirt,
Tax his work,
Tax his dirt.

Tax his tobacco,
Tax his drink,
Tax him if he
Tries to think.

Tax his cigars,
Tax his beers,
If he cries, then
Tax his tears.

Tax his car,
Tax his gas,
Find other ways
To tax his ass

Tax all he has
Then let him know
That you won't be done
Till he has no dough.

When he screams and hollers,
Then tax him some more,
Tax him till
He's good and sore.

Then tax his coffin,
Tax his grave,
Tax the sod in
Which he's laid.

Put these words
upon his tomb,
"Taxes drove me
to my doom..."

When he's gone,
Do not relax,
Its time to apply
The inheritance tax.

Accounts Receivable Tax
Building Permit Tax
CDL license Tax
Cigarette Tax
Co rporate Income Tax
Dog License Tax
Federal Income Tax
Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA)
Fishing License Tax
Food License Tax,
Fuel permit tax
Gasoline Tax (42 cents per gallon)
Hunting License Tax
Inheritance Tax
Interest expense
Inventory tax
IRS Interest Charges IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax)
Liquor Tax
Luxury Taxes
Marriage License Tax
Medicare Tax
Property Tax
Real Estate Tax
Service charge taxes
Social Security Tax
Road usage taxes
Sales Tax
Recreational Vehicle Tax
School Tax
State Income Tax
State Unemployment Tax (SUTA)
Telephone federal excise tax
Telephone federal universal service fee tax
Telephone federal, state and local surcharge taxes
Telephone minimum usage surcharge tax
Telephone recurring and non-recurring charges tax
Telephone state and local tax
Telephone usage charge tax
Utility Taxes
Vehicle License Registration Tax
Vehicle Sales Tax
Watercraft registration Tax
Well Permit Tax
Workers Compensation Tax
Now let's blame the donkey's or the elephants. Good idea.

COMMENTS: Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago,
and our nation was the most prosperous in the world.
We had absolutely no national debt, had the largest middle class
in the world, and Mom stayed home to raise the kids.
What happened?
And I still have to "press 1" for English
I hope this goes around the country 10 times

Rene Portales

A couple days ago I was contacted by Dan Wilson of Parents for Children (PFC). PFC and the equal parenting movement were major interest groups supporting the Bill Hall candidacy, and other Libertarians.

Dan was organizing a rall which started on January 01, 2007 at 11:15 AM. The rally (amidst Governor Granholms' inauguration) was over by 12 Noon. Parents for Children were on the scene by 11:15 for picture and release of a press release since every TV station in the State was their including all the newspapers.

First of all I applaud Mr. Wilson's activism, but I kick myself in the behind (yes I really can do this) for missing out on a prime opportunity. But self-punishment isn't the real lesson here. This is a reminder that we must always be on the look out for opportunities to step in front of the cameras instead of waiting for the cameras to come to us (they don't and they won't unless we spend lots of money or do something we are embarrassed about).

Sometimes these are unforeseen opportunities for which we can't plan. The inauguration date and location was public information for months. Let's look for more well publicized opportunities.

For more about PFC please visit: http://www.parentsforchildren.net

On the world stage we lost Nobel Prize winning economist Milton Friedman.
Our nation lost two time presidential candidate and best selling author Harry Browne.
Our Statewide two-time US Senate candidate, and LPM activist Dr. Bette Erwin (later married to be Sprague) is gone.
On Christmas day, the man who took the phrase, "all politics is local" left as well. Lloyd Sherman served in a variety of public offices. When we spoke a couple weeks ago, Lloyd told me that we need to show up at our city Council meetings and County Commission meetings. There are almost always reporters present, and there is almost always a chance for public comment.

I have though about what all this tragedy means. It seems that people live on to those who remember them and continue their battles. While the first instinct is to morn, we should continue to be inspired by these great individuals.

“Meet the new boss, same as the old boss”
-Won't Get Fooled Again- The Who

Well it looks like our Federal candidates will have an issue to run with, if any are up to the challenge.

Yes the LPM is a state party, with a platform focused on state issues, but we also nominate candidates for US Senate and the US House of Representatives. We also send delegates to a convention that nominates a candidate for president, so here I go thinking globally on how to act locally.

In the recent election, the votes cast for federal candidates became a referendum on the war (I mean police action) in Iraq. Most voters who opposed a continuation of the US occupation did what they always do: Vote for the “other” party. In this case the “other party” was the Democrats.

Within the first few days, Democrats started hedging on their campaign promises. Some even advocated a return to draconian practices like the draft. Now the house majority leader to be, Nancy Pelosi, says she opposes any cuts in funding to the war with Iraqis. She still claims to be against it. This reminds me of the parent who is concerned about her teenager’s drug problem, but refuses to cut off the kid’s allowance.

Finally, the Iraq Study Group report. They started out sounding like they opposed Bush’s policy, but when the veil of harsh rhetoric was lifted, it became clear that they were rubber-stamping Bush’s "Stay the course" approach. Sure they said we need to get out. So did president Bush. When the violence stops. Perhaps in two years when a new president picks up the torch.

Now our federal candidates have a hot topic where (like the MCRI) neither Democrats nor Republicans agree with the majority. We can tell them “I told you so!” when this tragedy has escalated. The problem, as usual will be getting the word out. So federal candidates need to start planning on a plan to penetrate that media barrier.

“Ignorance is Strength
Freedom is Slavery
War is Peace”

From the Ministry of Truth in “1984” by George Orwell

Lately, supporters of HR-25 the so-called “Fair Tax” have been contacting Libertarian officers and seeking their support. I oppose this proposal as much, if not more than, any abomination put forth by Republocrats for a number of reasons:

1. While I have heard some complicated (and possibly correct) arguments that this would be a net tax reduction, on the surface it would appear to be a tax increase. Especially for low-income people. The 30% sales tax is enough to make a Marxist salivate. Certainly anyone who is poor enough to get a 100% refund on income tax would face significant hardship from this huge tax hike on them. Thus it would be a PR nightmare. We would solidly position ourselves as the party of large taxes.

2. This proposed tax is 13% higher than the 17% flat tax proposed by several Republican politicians a few years back.

3. The only reason such a rate could be justified is to maintain the current level of federal excess. If such a huge tax was needed after eliminating federal drug laws, ending government subsidies for political campaigns, stopping domestic spying, recalling foreign occupation troops, ending corporate welfare, and releasing all US political prisoners than you might get me to look closer at it.

4. As it is I have already given it far more attention than it has earned from any libertarian (Moderate or otherwise). I suppose accepting a minimal tax to subsidize deficits in the federal operating expenses, and funding prior unpaid obligations may be regarded as moderate. A true Libertarian views no tax as good, and can only except the existence of some taxes as an intermediate step between the present and an ethical future.

For more a more in depth analysis of the fair tax visit:

http://www.jpfo.org/fairtax.htm

Fair Tax
Just War
Friendly Facism…

Etc.

In case the Calendar wasn't enough...

December 03, 2006 - 1:00 PM

Libertarian Executive Committee meeting at our new HQ. Topics will include post election analysis, and planning the 2007 (pre-convention) Leadership Conference.

Location: New LPM Headquarters. Lansing, Michigan.
New LPM Headquarters at 2722 E. Michigan Ave., Ste 22, Lansing, just west of US-127 Michigan Ave exit. Park and enter in the back of the building - Ste. 22 is on the lower level. "Xango" office is in the front of the building. About five miles away from the current HQ.

Now that we have had a moment to exhale, we now must prepare for the next convention. The first order of business is finding a host.

I have composed such a short article because I don't want to overshadow my primary message here.

You will only find this announcement in LPM online, and not the Michigan Libertarian.

However you should have received a flyer for this event by direct snail mail, if not a pdf file may be down-loaded from:

http://mi.lp.org/Libfest/LibertyFestFlier.pdf

This important event was rescued by the Libertarian Party of Washtenaw County. Please attend!

Saturday,
November 18
2006
Annual
Featured Speaker:
Business Turnaround and Crisis Manager
John Boyle
“Saving Government from
Bankruptcy—What the Libertarian
Party Must Do”

Special Report
from Former LPM Chair
Emily Salvette,
Libertarian National Committee
Region 3 Representative
Held at the Original Cottage Inn Restaurant, 512 E.
William St., on campus in Ann Arbor, 734-663-3379
Social Hour 7:00 PM
Dinner 7:30 PM
Parking around the corner in the
Maynard St. Parking Structure
For Information, call Liz Bagwell, 734-678-5040
Name(s):__________________________________
_____________________________________________
Address: __________________________________
_____________________________________________
Phone, cell, email: ________________________
_____________________________________________
Menu Choices (please indicate):
___Meat Lasagna, ___Chicken Parmesan,
___Fettuccini Alfredo
Cash bar
Please send your check for $40.00 per
person to your hosts:
Libertarian Party of Washtenaw County
1000 N. Huron River Drive Apt 115
Ypsilanti, MI 48197.
The advance sale deadline has passed.
Tickets at door $50.00.
Honoring this year’s Spokesperson for Liberty, Promoter of Liberty, and
Producer of Liberty
It’s time for the Libertarian Party of Michigan’s
Dinner and Awards Presentation
Send your reservation now!

Royal Oak Michigan – “The people have had their say.” Said Libertarian Gubernatorial candidate, Greg Creswell, as he spoke to supporters at a post-election party in Royal Oak, Michigan. “Few people are surprised by my defeat. This is the first time a Libertarian has run for Governor of Michigan since 1982.”

Creswell went on to say, “I bet plenty of people are surprised at the victory of Proposal 2!” Creswell was the only gubernatorial candidate to support the statewide proposal, also known as the Michigan Civil Rights initiative. “I have been working on the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative from the beginning. I was an organizer of the first attempt to get it on the ballot, I was a petitioner in the most recent effort, and I was a community organizer as well as the only pro-MCRI gubernatorial candidate.”

The citizens of this state have sent the mainstream politicians a clear message: “We may put you in office, but we can still think for ourselves. It doesn’t matter how many lies you tell, or how many negative TV ads you produce. We could read the petition, we can read the amendment, and we read the ballot. In other-words, Michigan voters are smart enough to know that equal means equal.”

Creswell’s running mate was Scotty Boman. In addition to being the Libertarian candidate for Lt. Governor, Boman is also chair of the Libertarian Party of Michigan. Boman said, “On this issue (Proposal 2) The Libertarian Party of Michigan was the only political party that was in touch with the majority of Michigan voters.” He went on to say, “Opposition to state sponsored discrimination is part of our party platform. Both Greg Creswell, and US Senate candidate Leonard Schwartz made our opposition to racial preferences a highlight of our radio commercials. Without our vigilant efforts to speak the truth, and ignore the dishonest propaganda campaign being pushed by One United Michigan, the proposal may have failed.”

“People frequently ask how a third party can make a difference, when faced with the huge advertising budgets of Republicans and Democrats. My response is that our mere existence, provides people with another choice. This way the Major parties can’t take their privileged positions for granted. Clearly, we are able to influence public policy.”

Libertarians faired well in last week’s General Election relative to other third parties.

Our Top of Ticket this year was our gubernatorial candidate Gregory Creswell and Lt. Governor Candidate Scotty Boman. This team earned 23,497 votes (0.6%) to best the candidates from the Green and US Taxpayers Party.
The last time the LPM ran a candidate for Governor was in 1982, when Dick Jacobs earned 15,603 votes.

Our other statewide candidates did well also. Attorney General candidate Bill Hall received nearly 2% of the total with 61,603 votes. US Senate candidate Leonard Schwartz also finished third with 27,025. All three of these candidates ran radio ads across the state which contributed to their victories over their third party opponents.

The results of the four education boards were rather puzzling. These races usually reflect the base support for each party in any given year and Libertarians have traditionally earned more votes in these races than
other third parties. However, the Greens have been doing as well as the Libertarians in recent elections. The results this year showed a lot of inconsistency. A Green Party candidate had more votes in three of the four
races and the US Taxpayers took the other. However, in one race the Greens won, their other candidate in that race finished second to last.
Overall, the Green Party ran 6 candidates and averaged 80,000 votes. The US Taxpayers Party’s 6 candidates earned an average of 66,000 votes. The Libertarians, who filled all 8 slots, earned 65,000 votes and the nearly
defunct Natural Law Party ran 4 candidates and earned 60,000 votes on average. These were the only candidates the NLP fielded this year. The NLP was taken over by the Socialist Party in 2004.

Our Supreme Court nominee, Kerry Morgan earned 7.4% with 370,000 votes. Supreme Court candidates are nominated by parties but appear as nonpartisan candidates on the ballot. Kerry came within 15,000 votes of beating one of
the major party nominees.

As for US Congress, the LPM ran 13 candidates and the Greens and US Taxpayers ran 8. In head-to-head competition, the Libertarians had a record of 5-3 against the Greens and 5-3 against the US Taxpayers Party. The US Taxpayers Party edged out the Greens in head-to-head competition with a record of 2-1-1. Yes, the candidates for District 10 actually tied!

In races for the Michigan Legislature, the LPM ran 25 candidates. The US Taxpayers Party ran 12 and the Greens 9. There were only 3 races featuring more than one third party candidate and in these races the Libertarians were 3-0.

These are only the results for State and Federal offices. The LPM also ran at least 8 more candidates for county and city offices. Overall the LPM ran at least 58 candidates. The other three third parties combined ran 60.

The spoilers in this election were the Green Party candidates for State Senate. The Republicans have a two seat majority in the State Senate, 21-17, thanks in part to Green candidates drawing votes from Democrats.
Republican John Pappageorge won District 13 with 49% of the vote to Democrat Andy Levin’s 48%. Green candidate Klyle McBee had the remaining 3% to tip the scales for the Republican. The same thing occurred in District 32 where
Republican Roger Kahn got 49% to Democrat Carl Williams 48%. Green Lloyd Clarke got 3% again. Each house of the Michigan Legislature is now controlled by a different party.

The US Taxpayers Party has gained strength in recent elections while the Libertarians have lost strength, yet their platforms are extremely similar.
The main difference between the two parties is a theological one. The US Taxpayer’s Party claims to be based on Christian principles and Natural Law of God, while Libertarians publicly have a secular approach to
government and law. Combined, the vote total far surpasses the Greens which have stayed about the same since 2000.

For complete election results, please visit:
http://miboecfr.nictusa.com/election/results/06GEN/

If one simply looked at votes on ballot proposals, one would think libertarianism had reached the mainstream. Proposal (#4) which is supposed to reduce eminent domain abuse passed over-whelmingly. Proposal #4, which would lock in state school funding increases, failed. Proposal 2 (The Michigan Civil Rights Initiative) passed!

This last example is especially interesting because the Libertarian Party of Michigan was the ONLY political party to support the amendment. In fact many candidates, including Greg Creswell and myself, made it the centerpiece of our campaign. Libertarians like Greg Creswell, Leonard Schwartz, Tim O’Brien and many others were instrumental to putting this initiative on the ballot.

Radio ads featuring Greg Creswell, Leonard Schwartz and myself used the racial preference issue to contrast our party from the “Two Old Parties.” Prior to these commercials One United Michigan had planned on releasing a dual Devos / Granholm “Vote No On 2” commercial. The fact that this would confirm our claim that there was “No real difference…” killed the idea.

Other Pro-MCRI ads were scarce, and only appeared on TV shortly before the election. The TV commercial featuring Ward Connerly and Jennifer Gratz, was simple and to the point. Nevertheless, attack ads that spread various falsehoods about the initiative ran almost around the clock on every major TV station. Nearly every special interest group jumped on the “Vote No On 2” bandwagon. In the end, support by the smallest minority of all (individuals) is what gave MCRI its victory.

We should not live this one down. The mass media has completely neglected our instrumental role in the passage of this initiative. Every time, you read an article that mentions this November surprise, write a letter to point out that Libertarians were behind this effort from the beginning. Every time you read that “BOTH” parties or “BOTH” candidates opposed it, point out the lie implied by this use of the word “BOTH.”

On the Federal Front, special congratulations to Robert Hutchinson in receiving an endorsement from the Detroit News. Hutchinson (7th House of Representative District) was endorsed because the Republican and the Democrat were perceived (By the Detroit News) as being too extreme.

Libertarian ideas also won on the Federal level, though our candidates did not. The Libertarian Party National Committee has supported a strong defense while opposing the use of our troops and tax-dollars for use in wars of occupation, empire building and similar crusades. The invasion of Iraq took was justified by the false premise of weapons of mass destruction (based on the word of an Iranian informant… They had nothing to hide). Since then the task has been nation building. This being said, the congressional elections were nationally perceived as a referendum on the occupation. Since the national media ignores our existence: A vote for a Republican congressperson was a vote for the war, and a vote for a Democratic congressperson was a vote against. The Democrats won based on at least claiming to hold to a libertarian position.

Well in two years, American troops will still be there, and it won’t be for R&R. The media will be sure to ignore us when we say “Told you so.”

OK it's that big day. If you haven't voted yet. Do it. Don't forget ballot initiatives. Especially yes on 2 and 4!

So far I have encouraged supporters to post signs on their property, and not to use signs up at public signage locations, where the may quickly be removed. However, at this point, we might as well go for broke. The Creswell / Boman signs are campaign specific. If they are not currently in a highly visible location, it may be prudent to move them to a more visible spot, even at the risk of loosing them. Especially near major intersections and polling locations.

Be careful to observe local ordinances pertaining to the posting of signs. “Public signage locations” can be identified as places where signs of competing (like Granholm AND Devos) candidates are displayed, and the property is not clearly linked to any particular resident or business. For whatever reason, it seems that a bit of campaign season littering is tolerated. Clean up afterwards of course.

Generic “Vote Libertarian” signs are reusable, and recovery is important. If it is not too much trouble, recover those Creswell /Boman signs too. You never know.

Finally, collect wires early, collect wires often. Candidates can always use wires.

Election Day is approaching and the Governor's race is a dead heat. Please help the LPM make the most impact this season and support our Govenor and Lt. Governor candidates.  Libertarian Greg Creswell could very well hold the balance of power for the entire state. Campaign material has been distributed to affiliates across the state. Support you Libertarian Candidate for Governor Greg Creswell and Scotty Boman for Lt. Governor by proudly displaying a yardsign or bumpersticker. Literature is availabe for distribution as well as signs and stickers.

Please contact your local affilate representative for campaign supplies.

Wayne Co Greg Stempfle stempfle@hotmail.com
313-929-1789
Oakland Co Nathan Allen knathan_knows@yahoo.com
248-891-3003
Macomb Co Jim Allison marthos1776@comcast.net
586-751-5619
Washtenaw Co James Hudler aguli@provide.net
734-475-9792
Lansing William White whitewi5@msu.edu
517-349-3895
Kalamazoo Carl Brown carl@glasstree.com
269-373-5418
Tri-Cities Richard Jozwiak
989-922-5226
Kent Co William Gelineau freedomlover59@hotmail.com
616-987-0488
St. Clair Co Mark Byrne iwantska@hotmail.com
810-987-9856

Others:
Scotty Boman has plenty of generic "Vote Libertarian" signs. Come and get them!
Scotty Boman 313-247-2052
4877 Balfour, Detroit, MI 48224
scottyeducation@yahoo.com

Greg Stempfle
stempfle@hotmail.com
313-929-1789