The official newsletter for activists of the Libertarian Party of California

ELECTION 2016

Baron Bruno takes action

by Sandra Kallander

Baron Bruno for State Assembly, District 62

First-time candidate Baron Bruno, of Marina Del Rey, is running a serious and professional Libertarian campaign for
State Assembly.
He’s building on his experiences in business, including commercial real estate sales, using the same philosophy he
uses there: treating people with respect,
keeping his word, collaborating, working hard and getting things done, solving problems.

Driven by a sense of urgency since the World Trade Center attack and the loss of 658 of his co-workers at Cantor Fitzgerald,
Bruno
answered the call when Ted Brown, Chair of the LPC, asked him to run in District 62, an area stretching from Venice Beach to
El Segundo, including LAX. He says we’re heading in the wrong direction, and the bombing reordered his priorities. His campaign
website opposes
“big government,” in favor of “Choice, Respect, Accountability, Empathy, & Love.” In person, he emphasizes the “Love.”

The district lies between Santa Monica and Manhattan Beach, the heart of the California youth and health culture,
famously tender-hearted, and home to many who work in entertainment, gaming, technology, and related services, so there Bruno
finds public
support not only for “love,” but for ending the state mandate to add fluoride to the drinking water. He’s no shrinking violet
about freedom, either:
his education platform calls for complete educational freedom, including an end to the mandate that children attend school or
that taxpayers be required to fund it. He lists numerous ways in which we should be able to exercise educational freedom.

Bruno derides hypocrisy, such as applying a double standard to pensions and health care for state and federal workers and
officials, versus the mandates and limited options offered others; he would insist lawmakers live by the same rules they would
impose on
the rest of us. He also favors ending the disparity between the drinking age and the age at which soldiers
serve their country — if they’re old
enough to go to war, they’re old enough to be responsible for what they drink.

Initially, when Bruno filed to run as a write-in candidate, the only person running was the freshman incumbent, Democrat Autumn
Burke, daughter of a politically influential former congresswoman. But things didn’t go according to plan. After Bruno filed,
so did a
Republican, at the last minute.

According to the Sacramento Bee, “The write-in candidates Baron Bruno, a Libertarian from Marina del Rey, and Republican
Marco Antonio ‘Tony’ Leal, a Republican from Los Angeles, each received exactly [32] votes in last month’s primary election in the 62nd
Assembly District, final results show.”

One vote could have made the difference, here.

When the two challengers tied for second with 32 write-in votes each, they became members of the only three-way statewide race
since top-two contests began being mandated under California law in 2010. One vote could have made the difference, here.

The Republican is not running an active campaign, while Bruno has a nonstop schedule of fundraising and speaking engagements,
a staff that includes help from media & marketing manager Bren LaRoque, who is keeping track of the campaign finance paperwork,
and campaign manager C. Douglas Conlan, who literally wrote the book, The Guide to Winning Elections (2013).

Bruno isn’t one to daydream his way into office; he has raised over $40,000 so far (including his own contributions),
and acquired T-shirts for volunteers and thousands of handouts for participation in such events as the 32nd annual Abbott
Kinney Festival in Venice on Sept. 25, which typically draws more upwards of 100,000 adults and families.

In August, he attended the benefit that Drew Carey hosted for Gary Johnson, and earned Johnson’s endorsement and support.
The Johnson campaign is sharing its 420 southern California volunteers with the Bruno campaign, planning many joint campaign
events, delivering on the Johnson–Weld promise made at the Libertarian National Convention, to help out the
LP’s down-ticket candidates’ races. In late September, Bruno met with Johnson’s vice-presidential running mate,
Gov. Bill Weld, securing his endorsement as well.

Campaign web site: BrunoForAssembly.com

ELECTION 2016

Everling answers the call in Assembly race

by Sandra Kallander

Mike Everling for State Assembly, District 51

It’s just before the June 2016 primary. All it might require is one vote — his own — and
despite California’s “top two” open primary, Libertarian Mike Everling’s name could be appearing
on the ballot in November, as a candidate for State Assembly in District 51.

So said Ted Brown, Chair of LP California, when he called Everling to ask him to run. It appeared as
though the incumbent, Jimmy Gomez (D), would be unopposed, unless someone was to step in with a
last-minute write-in campaign. Everling went to the county registrar to fill out the form, and then
started the process of collecting the petition signatures to become an official write-in candidate.

The first time Everling had answered Brown’s call was in 1989, when Brown asked the brand-new LP
member to run for an assembly seat in his then neighborhood. Fast forward, and Everling has now
run for Assembly three times and for U.S. Congress twice, but this latest run is the first time
since the passage of “top two” — allowing only two candidates to face off in November — that he would attempt
to do so in his current, redrawn district. District 51 encompasses a swath of Los Angeles County from
Eagle Rock to east L.A. and downtown, and from Echo Park toward West Hollywood.

Everling needed 40 valid petition signatures to become an official write-in candidate. He collected
about half of them himself, starting with registered voters living in his own neighborhood.
Volunteers gathered the remainder of the 44 signatures collected, so he was in the running.

In the primary, all he had to do was vote for himself, and as one of only two options, inevitably
place either first or second. Everling received seven write-in votes — counting his own — and made the cut.

Other Libertarian activists, skilled in creating web presences, went to work on a campaign site,
organized by Boomer Shannon, membership chair and at-large representative to the LPC Executive
Committee (coming soon). Dave Peters, another LP activist volunteered his services to Everling and
other candidates as treasurer, the position which deals with the regulatory “red tape” of campaign financing.

Thanks to their efforts, Libertarians and all the other voters in the district will actually see two names on the November ballot, and have a choice to make.

Thanks to their efforts, Libertarians and all the other voters in the district will actually
see two names on the November ballot, and have a choice to make. Everling stands ready to appear
in candidate fora, and to answer press inquiries, representing the Libertarian Party, and its core
values of self-ownership, property rights, and nonaggression.

Everling has made a campaign pledge to work diligently to reduce the size, scope, cost, and
authority of state government. He proposes ending regulatory and legal barriers that perpetuate
homelessness and joblessness, and taking measures that would create opportunity for those
seeking work, especially in neighborhoods negatively impacted by large concentrations of unemployed
and homeless people, a problem common in his district.

Should he be elected, Everling will vote to remove government barriers to work opportunities,
such as state wage controls and other mandates that make it illegal for a worker
to accept an entry-level job — even if they want to and the job meets their needs —
if it falls below a certain wage or does not include mandated “fringe” benefits. He will also
promote rehabilitation and resources, rather than incarceration, for those with mental-health
and substance-abuse needs.

Campaign web site:

EverlingForAssembly51.com

ELECTION 2016

More Libertarian races in California: State legislature

In California’s “top two” open primary election on June 7, alongside Baron Bruno, Mike Everling, and Honor Robson, two other Libertarian candidates
for state legislature placed second in their races. So five incumbents from the state legislature must each share
the November ballot with a Libertarian alternative.

Running for State Assembly are Libertarians Donn Coenen of Nevada City (District 1)
against incumbent Brian Dahle (R), and Ken Anton of Elk (District 2)
against incumbent Jim Wood (D).

Donn Coenen	Ken Anton
State Assembly, District 1 Ca.LP.org/donn-coenen-state-assembly-1st-district	State Assembly, District 2 KenAnton.org

More Libertarian races in California: Local level

The LP of California also has members running for these offices at the local level, where we can and do exert
a measurable effect on public policy.

Susan Marie Weber, an elected Libertarian city councilmember in Palm Desert since 2012 who served as mayor in 2015,
is running for re-election there. Weber is also owner of a small business management consulting firm, and teaches college-level accounting.

Lois Garcia and Harland Harrison are running as a slate for two seats on the Sequoia
Healthcare District (SHD) board, to fulfill fellow San Mateo Libertarian and SHD director
Jack Hickey‘s 14-year mission to close the obsolete district, which no longer owns or operates Sequoia Hospital.
(See Hickey’s web site for more information: xSHCD.com.)

John Roberts, a financial professional from Piedmont, is running for East Bay Regional Park District’s Ward 2, with a goal, in part, of informing the public
of all park decisions “because we all fund its function through our tax dollars.”

Lois Garcia

Harland Harrison

COMMUNICATING LIBERTY

Don’t waste your vote! (especially in California)

by Joe Dehn

Presidential candidate comparison chart (downloadable flyer)

Readers who find that the author’s points resonate with them, whether for moral or practical reasons —
or both — are encouraged to make those points when communicating with voters about this year’s presidential election.
The candidate comparison guide pictured may also be a handy outreach tool. —Editor

Here it comes again, as it does every election: people are warning you not to “waste your vote by casting your ballot
for the Libertarian candidate.” They tell you that your vote won’t make a difference, or try to scare you into voting for
“the lesser of two evils” and tell you that if you don’t do as they say you will “really be voting for” the other candidate
(who is, in their opinion, a worse evil).

This advice is completely backwards. As more and more people are realizing, both Trump and Clinton are horrible choices
for president. Some of the reasons they are horrible are the same, and some are unique to each candidate, but they both add up
to bad. Even if your vote could somehow help one of them, we will all lose if either of them is elected. On top of that,
your vote here in California can’t possibly make a difference in which one of them ends up in the White House. The Democrat
always wins the popular vote in California, and will get all of California’s electoral votes as a result — unless
the election is a landslide in the other direction nationally,
in which case the election will have been decided before the polls even close here.

But there is an even more important reason why their advice is wrong. If you give in to their bullying, not only won’t
you be making any real difference, but you will be giving up the chance to do something useful with your vote. They never mention
that, of course.

First, by casting your vote for Gary Johnson, you are increasing the chance that he could actually win — no matter how
unlikely that prospect may seem right now. How are you going to feel if Gary Johnson loses California by one vote? Or even your
county? Or even if he comes in third when he could have come in second? Or if he misses any significant milestone you think he
might reach (e.g., 15 percent), by one vote? Yes, it’s pretty unlikely that your one vote will be the one that makes the
difference, but the chance that your vote in California will make a difference in whether Trump or Clinton wins is even
lower. And if even the people who see Gary Johnson as the best candidate don’t vote for him, then of course he
“can’t win.” Don’t give in to this self-fulfilling prophecy, which serves only to support the establishment parties.

Your vote for Gary Johnson also sends a message that you are not satisfied with the two better-known candidates. That they
are not acceptable to you. Both Trump and Clinton are, according to the polls, disliked by a majority of the voting
population. Don’t let that message get lost on Election Day!

Your vote for Gary Johnson…lets everybody see that support for Libertarian ideas is growing. This is very important for the long-term future of our country.

Your vote for Gary Johnson also lets everybody see that support for Libertarian ideas is growing. This is very important
for the long-term future of our country. This will make voters more interested in finding out about our ideas, and maybe even
convince some of the politicians in other parties to start supporting our ideas on particular issues. You can’t accomplish either of those things by voting for any other candidate this year, or by staying home and not voting.

Your vote for Gary Johnson will also make it a lot easier for future Libertarian candidates to be taken seriously. Whoever
runs as our candidate for president in 2020, the media will be using Gary’s vote total as a measure of how seriously to take
him or her.

Finally, and perhaps of most importance to the prospects for our liberty over the next four years if Gary doesn’t win, your
vote can help deny whoever does win the appearance of a “mandate.” If either Trump or Clinton gets a majority of the popular
vote, even by just a few percent, he or she will claim that “the voters have spoken,” and take that as support for whatever crazy liberty-destroying ideas they propose. But if the vote totals are something like
45 percent to 40 percent, with Gary at 15 percent, the winner won’t be able to say that. He or she will have a harder time convincing the general
public, the media, and especially the congress to go along with those proposals. Every vote for Gary Johnson, now, will make
it easier to limit the damage that our country will suffer, for years to come.

You have only one vote. You would be foolish to give up the opportunity to use it in a positive way, especially here
in California where there is no plausible scenario in which casting your vote for either Clinton or Trump will make any
difference at all. That would be the real “waste” of your vote.

Joe Dehn

Don’t waste your vote — cast it for Gary Johnson!

Joe Dehn is chair of the LP of Santa Clara County. He served seven terms on the Libertarian National Committee, and he also created the Libertarian Party’s very first web site.

Reprinted with the author’s permission. Originally published in the September 2016 issue of Santa Clara Libertarian Update.

 

Election 2016

Tactical outreach at Johnson–Weld booth in Silicon Valley

Photo: Joe Dehn Robert Imhoff (rear, right) explaining the Johnson campaign to a booth visitor, while his daughter hands a Johnson 2016 water bottle to another, at the PokéStop booth (Aug. 20)

Volunteer Robert Imhoff of the
Johnson–Weld 2016 campaign spearheaded deployment of an
outreach booth on the afternoon of Aug. 20, strategically situated in downtown San Jose,
the “capital of Silicon Valley.” He chose the location and time to take advantage of the
Pokémon Go video-game phenomenon, in which players are drawn to real-world locations,
using their mobile devices, to locate, capture, battle, and train virtual creatures called Pokémon.

The San Jose “Pokéstop” campaign team, which included Santa Clara County
LP chair Joe Dehn, met 20 passersby already planning to vote for Gov. Johnson. They also:

• distributed 10 Johnson–Weld 2016 yard signs and 250 campaign flyers;

Photo: Jennifer Imhoff Joe Dehn and Robert Imhoff at the PokéStop booth in San Jose (Aug. 20)

• registered three new voters, and
• gave away 200 Gary Johnson-labeled water bottles.

Dehn posted photos of the event at the LP chapter’s Facebook page,
Facebook.com/lpsantaclaracounty.

Imhoff now serves as the campaign’s California state volunteer director.

His wife, Jennifer Imhoff, is the campaign’s communications director for California.
She is organizing a
Johnson–Weld phone-banking
event in San Jose on Sunday, October 22, from 11 to 4 o’clock.

Jennifer advises, “Bring a phone and laptop or tablet if you have one. We will provide the rest.
We will also be distributing campaign materials and swag!”

Photo: Joe Dehn Jennifer Imhoff at the Pokéstop booth in San Jose (Aug. 20)

To volunteer, contact her by e-mail at

JenniferImhoff@JohnsonWeld.com,
or by phone at (408) 660-5340.

Don’t live or work in the SJ area?
Find events in your own area by plugging in your ZIP code at

JohnsonWeld.com/supporter_events.

AFFILIATE NEWS

Rail commuters learn about Johnson and the LP in Contra Costa

Contra Costa County Libertarians (CCCLP) and friends are building relationships with concerned voters and volunteers,
while working to raise
name recognition for Gary Johnson’s presidential campaign, in the San Francisco east bay area.

Member Kevin Moore had earlier taken upon himself to organize a Johnson rally-viewing meet-up at a pub in Walnut Creek,
which was also posted
on the JohnsonWeld.com events page. This attracted a couple of new gung-ho-for-Gary activists, inspiring CCCLP to
purchase handouts and signs.
And the next thing you know, they were waving “Gary Johnson for President” signs at Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) stations.

Event organizer Sandra Kallander handing out Johnson-Weld leaflets at BART (Sept. 28)

To organize this required obtaining a permit from BART for “expressive activity.” This proved to be surprisingly easy: instead of individual
permits for each station and date, a conversation with the permit administrator resulted in one permit for all six stations, seven days a week, 3 to 7 P.M.,
from Sept. 26 through election day. Although she is treasurer of CCCLP, Sandra Kallander acted in her capacity as an individual to obtain the permit,
and started scheduling events, based on availability of volunteers.

The first station was Concord on Monday, Sept. 26, followed by North Concord on Tuesday (both in triple-digit temperatures). These were not
publicized, so that any wrinkles could be ironed out, and so materials and permit copies could be provided to the volunteers who were willing to become
“captains” (bring materials to subsequent events and communicate the permit rules).

Johnson supporter Pearl Nicolas promoting the campaign at the Pleasant Hill BART station (Sept. 28)

With five volunteer captains now enrolled, including a recently discovered Libertarian candidate for the East
Bay Regional Parks District board, John Roberts, the next two events were announced on Meetup.com and JohnsonWeld.com, at the last minute.
(The Contra Costa Libertarian Meetup group has 147 members, of which, fewer than 10 usually attend the monthly meetings.)

Despite short notice, the Pleasant Hill BART event on Sept. 28 produced two more volunteers, and the Sept. 29th event at Walnut Creek BART had
two more RSVPs from additional volunteers. This level of growth already enables the coalition to cover multiple stations
simultaneously.

Johnson supporter Pearl Nicolas, the Walnut Creek captain, has already posted two upcoming dates, and
Moore, along with fellow member Randy Marsh, will announce more dates for Concord and North Concord, shortly.
Plans call for candidate Roberts to schedule a couple of events in
Lafayette and/or Orinda because
they’re in his Ward 2. Each of the six stations should be covered twice or more by mid-October.

Kurt Schultz speaking to a BART rider, and Steve Dufour waving a Johnson for President sign (Sept. 28)

After three events in one week, they’re being rewarded with thumbs-up from a handful of transit riders per
train, as well as some interest and the
inevitable smirk, now and then. The majority of riders are not paying attention, yet. The demographics vary
between the six stations, with Walnut
Creek, Lafayette, and Orinda anticipated to connect with a more influential audience.

CCCLP will be out again starting at 4:30 P.M. on Thursday, Oct. 6 at Lafayette BART, and on Tuesday, Oct. 11 at Concord BART, to wave signs and hand out flyers.
Check the Meetup page at
MeetUp.com/lp-ccc  for details.

Don’t live in the east bay? Find events in your own area by plugging in your ZIP code at

JohnsonWeld.com/supporter_events.

Next regular meeting of the LP of Contra Costa County

WHEN: Thursday, October 6, 2016, 7:00 – 9:00 P.M.

WHERE: Mimi’s Café: 1613 Willow Pass Road, Concord 94520

Meetings are normally held on the first Thursday of each month.

AFFILIATE NEWS

This weekend! Wine and Liberty in Alameda County

It’s here: the east bay LP “Wine and Liberty” gathering at Westover Vineyards in Castro Valley.

The Contra Costa County LP
again joins the Alameda County LP to cohost the tenth annual
afternoon of leisurely wine tasting, conversation, recreation, and hors d’oeuvres on the patio and in the tasting room
of this charming family-owned winery.

Jim Eyer, chair of the Alameda LP, says that all are welcome — Libertarian or not.
“Wine and Liberty has always been a relaxing and fun way to meet and interact with Libertarians, and to find out about ways to
get involved with your local LP organization. This Sunday, we will share ideas,
visit old friends and make new ones, and keep things lighthearted.”

All Wine and Liberty proceeds will benefit local Libertarian and election outreach programs.

WHEN: Sunday, October 9, 2016, from one to four o’clock in the afternoon

WHERE: Westover Vineyards, 34329 Palomares Road, Castro Valley 94552 *

DETAILS:

• Wine and port tasting (over 21 only)
• Meet the winemaker
• Fundraiser raffle!
• Light hors d’oeuvres and non-alcoholic beverages
• Ping pong and pool tables available for play

CONTRIBUTION:
$30 per person — Includes wine tasting ($20 per student over 21)
$20 per person — No wine tasting
$15 per person — Student or under 18

Come join the fun. “Be free! Drink wine!”

* See all the details, including an important note about directions, at
LPAC.us/events, or download the flyer at
Events.LPAC.us/LPAC_WineAndLiberty_2016.pdf.

R.S.V.P. BY FRIDAY, OCT. 7:
Contact Jim Eyer at Chair@LPAC.us or (510) 482-3521,
or purchase your tickets on line, at
SquareUp.com/store/bitcoin-express.

Next regular meeting of the LP of Alameda County

WHEN: Thursday, October 13, 2016, 7:15 – 9:30 P.M.

WHERE: NEW LOCATION!  Tai San Chinese Restaurant: 2811 Telegraph Avenue, Berkeley 94705

For more details: Visit
LPAC.us/events,
or contact chair Jim Eyer via e-mail at
Chair@LPAC.us
or by phone at (510) 482-3521.

Meetings are held on the second Thursday of each month.

AFFILIATE NEWS

In it to win it, in Ventura County

by Susan Aquino

“The way we see it, Gary Johnson is out there every day, working his heart out for us, never wavering in his optimism
that it could happen. The least we can do is do the best we can at our local level.”

With that motivation, the Libertarian Party of Ventura County ordered a large number of Johnson–Weld 2016
campaign materials to distribute locally. We held two volunteer planning meetings for Gary Johnson, and have created a
dedicated Facebook page and a dedicated Meetup site for his campaign in Ventura County.

The youth in our county held two corner sign-waves/rallies in Thousand Oaks, and one in Ventura. Other volunteers
recently ran tables at a gun show and at two farmers’ markets, one in Ojai and one in Ventura. So far, four volunteers
have placed door-hangers throughout their neighborhoods. A volunteer’s letter to the editor was published in our weekly
paper, and an article about our local campaign, written by the daily paper’s news staff, was published on line in late
September.

In mid-September, we tabled at Moorpark College’s Constitution Day event, and we are organizing booths at two
street fairs: Moorpark Country Days on Oct 8, and Thousand Oaks Street Fair, sponsored by the Rotary Club, on Oct 16.

To reach an even wider audience of voters, we purchased the Ventura County LP voter registration data on disk.
We will use that for a phone bank, for which we plan to also take advantage of Nation Builder through the Johnson–Weld
campaign web site.

We procured two large Gary Johnson banners for a member to place on his highway frontage-road property, which
sees thousands of cars per day. As Gary says, “we are in it to win it.” Meantime, we also invested in a longer “freeway”
banner, and we’re hatching plans for where to place the latest batch of Johnson yard signs we put on order.

Ventura County Libertarians encourage all to get involved.
Contact chair Paul Githens at LPVentura.Co@GMail.com, or
check our web site for updates: www.LPVC.org.

Susan Aquino is the treasurer of the LP of Ventura County.

AFFILIATE NEWS

Placer County LP focuses on students

Students are an important demographic and a natural constituency for the Libertarian Party,
with its principle of smaller government,
given the tremendous fiscal burden that young people are facing — considering the national debt,
the monetary inflation of the Federal Reserve system, and
so many cities’ considerable public-employee pension obligations. For years,
the Placer County LP has been honing their student-outreach programs
at both the college and high school level.

On Sept. 19, Libertarian activists in Placer County participated, as they do every year,
in the Constitution Day event held at Sierra College’s Rocklin campus.
With representatives also from FairTax (Americans for Fair Taxation), Sons and Daughters of the
American Revolution, and State of Jefferson,
Placer LP chair Steven Wood said the event was “a spectacular educational event for the students.”
He expressed “a big thank you” to LP Placer County member Robert Page, Sierra College economics instructor
Michael Mace, Dianne Foster of Calif.
Federation of Republican Women, along with the financial sponsors and the
many others who worked hard to make the event a success. Wood also reported that the LP partnered with the industrious Young Americans for Liberty chapter on campus,
who “signed up several dozen students for liberty before noon!”

With many high school seniors being on the brink of voting in their first election,
the Placer team has also been deploying to high schools for “voter outreach” days, which will run through October.

Community outreach chair Sam Toll is among the LP Placer reps who’s been presenting to
students this fall, covering Del Oro High School on Sept. 29, and Rocklin on Sept. 15 and 16.
At the latter, Toll reported, of the 390 students who registered to vote, 50.8 percent
eschewed the dominant parties, with 15.6 percent registering Libertarian,
and 33.8 percent without indicating any party preference.
Of the less than half who did register with one of the older two parties,
64.6 percent chose the Republican Party, and 35.4 chose to register Democratic.

Wood gives Toll a “special mention, along with Dennis Schlumpf, Richard Simms, and Stephen Parker,
for their continued support, traveling many miles just to speak the five minutes allotted
at each high school.”

Still on the student-outreach docket are Whitney High School on Oct. 5, Chana on Oct. 12,
North Tahoe on Oct. 19 and 20, Oakmont on Oct. 21, Adelante on Oct. 27,
and Colfax on Oct. 28.

Wood invites other Libertarians in Placer County to help represent the LP;
to participate, send him e-mail at PlacerCoLP@GMail.com.

Next two meetings of the LP of Placer County

WHEN: Wed., October 12, and Wed., October 26, 7:00 – 9:00 P.M.

WHERE: Whole Foods Market’s outdoor seating area, 1001 Galleria Blvd., Roseville 95678

Meetings are held on one or more Wednesday evenings each month. To receive meeting notices, send e-mail to LP Placer County chair Steven Wood at
PlacerCoLP@GMail.com.

Get connected with the LP in your area
COUNTY	REPRESENTATIVE	E-MAIL ADDRESS	WEB SITE
Alameda	Jim Eyer	Chair@LPAC.us	LPAC.us
Contra Costa	Cory Nott	CoryNott@Yahoo.com	MeetUp.com/lp-ccc
El Dorado	Tyler Kuskie	TKuskie@EDCLP.org	EDCLP.org
Fresno	Paula Barefoot	PEBarefoot@GMail.com
Humboldt	Tammy Newcomb	PrivacyLawAdvocate LDA@GMail.com	www.FredTyg .freeservers .com/LPHC.html
Kern	Jonathan Hall	Aedardran@GMail.com
Kings	Kenneth Brent Olsen	*
Los Angeles	José Castañeda	LPCLAVC@AOL.com	LPLAC.org
Mendocino	Ken Anton	ELKAnton@Yahoo.com
Monterey	James King	TheJamesKing@ Yahoo.com	www.Monterey CountyLP.org
Nevada	Donn Coenen	DRCoenenNCLP@ GMail.com
Orange	Brian Kelly	*	LPOC.org
Placer	Steven Wood	PlacerCoLP@GMail.com
Plumas	Gary Bryant	GBryantNCLP@ GMail.com
Riverside	Jeff Hewitt	JHewitt@Ca.LP.org	RCLP.org
Sacramento	Jarrett Tilford	Office@LPSac.org	www.LPSac.org
San Bernardino	Boomer Shannon	Boomer@Ca.LP.org	SBCLP.org
San Diego	Jerry Dixon	Chair@SDLP.org	www.FaceBook .com/SanDiegoLP
San Francisco	Aubrey Freedman	Chair@LPSF.org	www.LPSF.org
San Joaquin	Alex Appleby	IAmAlexAppleby @GMail.com
San Luis Obispo	Gail Lightfoot	GLightfoot@Ca.LP.org
San Mateo	Harland Harrison	Harrison@LPSM.org	www.LPSM.org
Santa Clara	Joe Dehn	Chair@SCCLP.org	SCCLP.org
Solano	Brian Thiemer	LPSolanoCounty@GMail.com	Facebook.com/ SolanoCounty Libertarians
Ventura	Paul Githens	LPVentura.Co@GMail.com	www.LPVC.org
Yolo	Stephen Blakeman	SDouglasBlakeman @GMail.com	Facebook.com/ LibertarianParty YoloCounty

Candidate Donn Coenen to speak at Plumas County LP meeting

The Plumas County Libertarian Party welcomes Donn Coenen,
Libertarian candidate for State Assembly District 1, as guest speaker at its October meeting.

WHEN: Wednesday, October 12, 6:00 P.M.

WHERE: Neighbors Bar-B-Que, 58421 Highway 70, Cromberg, Ca. 96103

DETAILS: Open to the public. For info and reservations, call (530) 575-7932.

AFFILIATE NEWS

David vs. Goliath over S.F. ballot arguments

by Aubrey Freedman

The LP of San Francisco (LPSF) is busy with the aftermath of ballot measure argument submissions, and has been getting calls to represent the Libertarian viewpoint to groups throughout the city.

On yet another school-bond measure, we won the lottery for the one free, prominently printed argument, and we signed on with taxpayer groups to the argument against a Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) bond, which will be printed in the voter handbooks of three Bay Area counties.

LPSF also submitted supplementary, paid arguments. One opposes a penalty for purchasing “sugary beverages.” To fight a “mansion tax,” designed to increase class warfare, we were aided by a generous contribution from the owner of a local property management company. These two LPSF arguments will appear in the voter handbook,
following the official opponents’ arguments.

A third paid argument is up in the air. There’s a parcel-tax increase and extension on the ballot, to fund a dysfunctional community college. LPSF is embroiled in a David-versus-Goliath battle with the Department of Elections, to get its opposition to the parcel tax printed in the voter handbook. A progressive county supervisor, using a special privilege granted politicians over ordinary citizens, pre-empted the official opponents’ argument, so LPSF didn’t submit an argument against the tax.

But in the end, the supervisor submitted no argument, so the voter handbook will have no official opposing argument. LPSF quickly submitted a paid argument against the tax, only to receive a call three days later with the news that the ballot measure was now a “district” measure, for which no paid arguments are possible.

Needless to say, we won’t throw in the towel and allow a so-called temporary tax to be approved by the voters without a fair hearing of the other side. E-mail has been flying fast and furious, and so far, the statists have the upper hand, but LPSF activists insist, “Not without a fight!”

If there are any lawyers out there who could help LPSF in this battle, please e-mail me at Chair@LPSF.org. Stay tuned!

Aubrey Freedman is the chair of the LP of San Francisco.

COMMUNICATING LIBERTY

Writing ballot arguments for fun and profit

by Mark W.A. Hinkle

Publicity can be costly. But ballot arguments can provide the Libertarian Party virtually free publicity,
reaching the voters of every district with a proposed parcel tax, bond measure, sales tax, transient occupancy
tax (hotel tax),
or other special tax. Here are a few guidelines to help you tap into this avenue.

1. Your local elections office, registrar of voters, county or city clerk has all the details you will
   need
   to participate. There is no cost, and usually, there’s no competition either (i.e., arguments submitted
   by other groups).
2. The tax-and-spenders who are putting these measures on our ballots have unlimited time to craft the
   language of
   their new, exorbitant taxes and bonds, but our deadlines for countering them are early and the submission
   windows are short.
   Prepare in advance; monitor activity at your elections office — and do not delay.
3. You can use generic anti-tax arguments, or be more specific to the district, agency, type of tax, or
   terms of the bond.
   Specific arguments are usually more effective in defeating a tax, but any argument is infinitely better than
   no argument.
4. A rich resource for data to support arguments against both parcel taxes and bond measures for schools
   in California is
   Education Data Partnership (a.k.a. “Ed-Data,”
   at Ed-Data.org).
5. Ballot arguments are subject to word limits. In Santa Clara County, for example, your “argument against” is
   limited to
   300 words, and the “rebuttal to the argument in favor” can be only 250 words. Hint: Set up a web page with
   anything else you need
   to convey — perhaps on your LP chapter’s web site — and include that “for more information” at
   the end of
   both your ballot argument and rebuttal.
6. Read the rules carefully for all the nuances. When you have a lot to say, this is crucial. For example,
   “the city” would be two words, but “San Jose” might count as only one.

Ballot arguments can provide the Libertarian Party virtually free publicity.

1. Who should sign the argument? There’s strength in numbers, so build a coalition — either with other groups, such as your
   local taxpayer association, or individuals — or both — ideally those within the district, whether a resident, homeowner, parent, or
   business owner. While Libertarians know very well that keeping taxes down everywhere will help everyone, where possible,
   it’s good to avoid the chance to be called “carpetbaggers.” Again, know the rules for your jurisdiction. In Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties, up to five individuals or
   organizational reps may sign the argument against, and the same, or a different set of people, may sign the rebuttal to the
   argument in favor.
2. Be prepared for the media to call, because they will call. They love sound-bites, so memorize your most
   relevant Libertarian points — and keep them short, easy to remember, and to the point. While you should explain the
   damage caused by tax increases and decades-long interest burdens, don’t just be anti-tax.
   Voters want to hear our Libertarian solutions to the problems of education and infrastructure.
   If you will be acting as a spokesperson, read Game-Changing Libertarian Communications, by Political Director Carla Howell
   of the Libertarian National Committee. This guide offers solid tips and techniques for us activists (available for download at
   LP.org/guide).
   Then watch for that media coverage to turn up in the press or on line. Keep a digital scrapbook of the coverage and share it
   with your team.
3. Finally, what’s more gratifying than seeing Libertarian ideas in the media? Seeing them in the election results, of course.
   As soon as the results are in on Election Day, you’ll want to evaluate which exorbitant taxes and bonds were successfully defeated.
   Keep track of the dollars you have saved voters, and use those data in future publicity efforts. Important: Use that indirect
   feedback to adjust your arguments, next election. Continue to adjust and improve; the process will get easier and easier.
   Eventually, you will have built an arsenal of effective arguments to apply again and again — until one day
   when all the Libertarian elected officials have made such irresponsible and costly ballot measures a thing of the past.

Mark W.A. Hinkle

 

Mark W.A. Hinkle is an at-large member of the LP of California executive committee, a
former LNC chair, and president of
Silicon Valley Taxpayers Association. He welcomes your questions about writing ballot arguments;
contact him via e-mail at
MHinkle@Ca.LP.org, or by phone at (408) 779-7922.

AFFILIATE NEWS

Reaching out to voters in Monterey County

There are some 24 ballot measures in Monterey County and its cities, mostly tax increases. LP of Monterey
County (LPMC) vice chair Lawrence Samuels, author of In Defense of Chaos and a
past northern vice chair for LP California, has championed LPMC’s mission that every bad ballot measure be
called out as such, in every voter handbook.

In particular, LPMC appears as the primary opponent of the county’s “Commercial Cannabis Tax” (Measure Y),
which would impose not one, but two taxes on certain commercial marijuana businesses, including a 10-percent tax on gross
revenue. According to the measure’s official ballot language, the taxes would “potentially [generate] millions of dollars
annually to help fund County services.”

The LPMC team’s ballot arguments were crafted to appeal to conservative and liberal voters, alike, making
the case that because the county government has “nearly $1 billion in assets,” the anticipated
“new revenue stream will likely pay for higher government salaries, bloated pensions, and outrageously
generous pensions that few receive in the private sector.”

They point out that not only are these revenues unneeded, but there would be unintended, negative consequences:

“Sales and property taxes already provide ample funding for the policing of marijuana
cultivation, processing, and dispensing in Monterey County…. This tax will increase the likelihood of
illegal cannabis farming, causing many growers to cultivate their crop in public parklands,
[threatening] wildlife, the environment and human life.”

They didn’t overlook altruists’ concerns, either: “The [governmentalists] want to over-regulate and
over-control the operations of a farming enterprise that has become important in helping people
with cancers and other illnesses.”

Samuels was joined in signing the arguments by LPMC’s chair, James King, and secretary, Jane Heider,
as well as new member Brandon Kelsey of the city of Marina.

Reaching farmers and shoppers

Photo: Lawrence Samuels Jane Heider, secretary for LP Monterey County, promoting Johnson for President and the LP at the Monterey Farmer’s Market (Aug. 23)

Meantime, LPMC also reaches voters and others on a more personal level,
when tabling every Tuesday at the Farmer’s Market. Monterey Libertarians are invited to come
enjoy the fresh air while helping promote fresh Libertarian solutions to shoppers and farmers alike.

WHEN: Every Tuesday, year round

Opens at 4 o’clock, but LPMC arrives early to get the best spot! Now closing at 7 P.M. for the “winter.”

WHERE: Old Monterey Marketplace, Alvarado Street between Del Monte and Pearl, Monterey

FOR MORE DETAILS: Contact James King, LPMC chair, by phone at (831) 659-2121 or via e-mail at
TheJamesKing@Yahoo.com

2016 PROGRAM

LP of California Program addresses health care

Second in a series

This year, LP California published a new party program, which differs from our platform in that it addresses a few
specific issues that the party will focus on for the current year:

1. Economic Growth Creates Abundance
2. Quality, Accessible, Affordable Health Care
3. Education
4. Making our Communities Safe (featured in the last issue)

On Sept. 21,
Grace-Marie Turner, president of the Galen Institute, wrote in Forbes Magazine
that “as many as 20 million Americans soon will be getting a letter from the Internal Revenue
Service ‘suggesting’ they sign up for ObamaCare insurance.”

According to Turner, “at President Obama’s direction,
the IRS is ‘reaching out’ to people who paid the tax penalty for not buying mandatory health insurance or
who claimed an exemption….” Apparently, 45 percent of Americans who opted out in 2014 are
under 35 and healthy — and the insurance pools have told the IRS their
participation is desperately needed if the socialistic system is to be kept afloat.

Although tax filers’ data are meant to be secure, and Affordable Care Act (ACA) use of them should be
limited to determining whether people are eligible for ACA subsidies, the IRS allegedly will be using them for pressuring
citizens to register for ObamaCare.

Libertarians believe that people’s choice of health care should not involve the taxing authority nor violate their privacy.
Three U.S. House leaders seem to agree: according to Turner, they wrote to IRS Commissioner John Koskinen, saying that,
“The ACA has caused great disruption in the individual health insurance market…. We do not believe it to
be an appropriate tax administration activity, or a good use of scarce taxpayer resources,
to use protected return data to direct taxpayers on their personal coverage decisions.”

In this installment,
we present the health-care segment of the LP California Program, followed by a related “Libertarian Solution.”

Quality, Accessible, Affordable Health Care

To ensure that all citizens can access adequate, affordable health care, we must increase the supply of health care,
remove barriers to a free market and encourage competition. The Libertarian Party of California believes that enabling
people to become more self-sufficient and secure will allow quality, accessible, affordable health care to be more
available to our families, children and seniors.

When people purchase their own independent health plan covering the services they need and allowing for fewer out of
pocket visits to their doctor, they are more secure and less dependent on others. When individuals have more control
over their own health care and are less dependent upon a third party, they become empowered to be assertive consumers
of health care. There is likely to be greater interest in price information and demand for price transparency from consumers
as their cost-sharing responsibilities increase. This results in more competition that keeps health care affordable and of
high quality.

Therefore, the Libertarian Party of California supports the following measures to make quality, affordable health care
accessible to all citizens:

• Health insurance premiums, co-payments, deductibles and all medical expenses shall be deducted directly
  from income without having to meet any standard deduction.
• A Medical Savings Account shall be established to be used for medical purposes in which up to 10% of
  income shall be deductible but without limitation on contributions.
• Barriers to price transparency shall be removed to empower consumers and to encourage efficiency of care
  and competitive pricing.

The Libertarian Party also supports the following measures to increase the supply of quality affordable health
care by increasing the numbers of medical professionals, facilities and medical non-profit and for-profit organizations:

• Eliminate or greatly simplify all state medical regulations and licensing standards which impede the
  supply of health care. Replace the state monopoly on regulation and licensing with an open market for testing and
  review of products and services to ensure more accurate, timely and cost-effective ratings and controls on quality.
• Provide tax credits, exclusions and above-the-line deductions (without “percentage of income” limits)
  for medical education, educational savings accounts, charitable contributions to medical schools, facilities, service
  providers, medical research and construction of medical facilities.
  Streamline permit processes and zoning variances for construction of medical facilities and schools.
• Reclaim our Tenth Amendment right to control pharmaceuticals distributed within the state. Reduce the
  function of the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) to be a merely advisory body rather than a licensing authority.
  Allow drugs which have been proven to be safe to be marketed even if not yet proven effective. Allow patients access to
  unapproved drugs upon informed consent.

To read the full program, visit:
Ca.LP.org/about/program-3

The current LP California platform is available by visiting:
Ca.LP.org/platform

LIBERTARIAN SOLUTION

Expand marketplace of health care practitioners

by Michael H. Wilson

Historically, occupational licensing laws and other regulations have deprived midwives, denturists, chiropractors, and others of
an opportunity to practice. This deprives patients of a choice and denies workers their right to practice in their professions.

Occupational licensing laws are some of the last Jim Crow–era laws, serving to protect professions from competition,
rather than protecting the interests of patients.

Republicans running for office…will attack their Democratic opponents’ support of Obamacare, but will offer no concrete
solutions to expand health freedom. One of the ways that Libertarian candidates can distinguish themselves from their
Republican rivals is by proposing to reduce government authority over who may or may not practice medicine.

Repeal occupational licensing laws that restrict advance nurse practitioners:
Seventeen states and Washington, D.C., allow advance nurse practitioners to set up their own practices
independent of doctors. In the other states, they are required to be supervised by a doctor or
work in collaboration with one. Repealing the laws in the states that restrict
advance nurse practitioners will give the patients more choices and save tax dollars.

Occupational licensing laws are some of the last Jim Crow–era laws, serving to protect professions from competition, rather than protecting the interests of patients.

Repeal occupational licensing laws that restrict direct entry midwives: Nurse midwives are recognized in all
states, but direct-entry midwives, who did not study nursing, are prohibited from practicing in many states. Direct-entry
midwives may have learned this craft through an apprenticeship or by attending a college that trains midwives. Twelve states
prohibit direct-entry midwives, and in the others, the right to practice varies. Studies have shown midwives to be as good as doctors —
if not better — and less expensive. Midwives would be especially beneficial to Native American and African-American infants,
whose mortality rates are significantly higher than those of white infants.

Almost 50 percent of births nationwide are paid for by Medicaid, so expanding the opportunities for midwives would
save significant tax dollars and result in healthier children. Economist John C. Goodman explains, in his book
Priceless: Curing the Healthcare Crisis, that although the nurses and midwives at Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas,
Texas, deliver high-quality care at a lower cost, “the infant mortality rate is only half the national average.”

Abolish or privatize the state medical boards: The state medical boards are controlled by the professions.
They do little or nothing to protect patients and are a classic example of what is known as “regulatory capture.”

Repeal the Certificate of Need laws: [The majority of] states have some form of Certificate of Need laws.
In many states, Certificate of Need regulations are being used to slow or halt the development of lower-cost alternatives,
such as retail health clinics. Retail health clinics offer a low cost alternative to people needing immediate care, instead of going to an emergency room. One study suggests that retail clinics save about 80 percent of the costs of an emergency-room visit. In jurisdictions where they are allowed, retail health clinics have grown significantly since 2006.

Abolish the FDA: There is no reason that the functions performed by the FDA cannot be carried out by a
private organization, such as Consumers Union. Prescription medicine was supposedly originated to protect patients, but in
reality it does more to keep costs high and protect the profits of the pharmaceutical industry. We should abolish the need for a prescription. If nothing else, we should let pharmacists prescribe medicine as they did in the past.

If the government didn’t manage the health-care industry for quality, who would? One good example is the National
Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA). Founded in 1990, this nonprofit has a large influence in the health-care industry.
Organizations using the NCQA seal must pass a demanding review and report yearly.

These common-sense solutions would provide people with more choices, cut costs, improve health-care quality,
and save tax dollars. They would also create jobs for many qualified practitioners, and greatly increase access to needed
health-care services.

Reprinted with permission from LP News, Volume 43 Issue 4 (December 2013).

Correction:  The theme of the 2016 Libertarian National Convention was #LegalizeFreedom, not #LegalizeLiberty as was
indicated in the Aug. 12 issue (“Icebreaking for introverts: How to talk with voters and other prospective Libertarians”).
—Editor

 

Join us.

Yes: I’d like to support the Libertarian Party of California as a dues-paying member!

Visit:
Ca.LP.org/membership and follow the instructions to join (or renew),
or print out the form, below, and mail it to us at
770 L Street, Suite 950, Sacramento, CA 95814-3361.

Yes: I’d like to volunteer!

Visit:
Ca.LP.org/volunteer

Yes: I’ll chip in to help your efforts!
I’m not ready to be a card-carrying member,
but I like what your elected officials and candidates are doing
to increase my freedom and lower my taxes.

Visit: Ca.LP.org/donate

---

 

The California Libertarian Activist serves Libertarians
in California and beyond, and is published by the Libertarian Party of California
(an affiliate of the Libertarian National Committee).

Chair: Ted Brown

Executive Director: Janine Kloss

Editor: Elizabeth C. Brierly

Contributors: 
Susan Aquino, Ted Brown, Joe Dehn, Aubrey Freedman, Mark W.A. Hinkle, Robert Imhoff,
Jonathan Jaech, Sandra Kallander, Michael H. Wilson

Send affiliate and campaign updates and announcements via e-mail to Editor@Ca.LP.org.

 

Executive Committee:

Officers:  Ted Brown (Chair), Brian Thiemer (N. Vice Chair), Jonathan Jaech (S. Vice Chair), Kevin Duewel (Secretary), Gale Morgan (Treasurer)

At-large reps: 
Alex Appleby, Dave Bowers, Bill Hajdu, Jeff Hewitt, Wendy Hewitt, Mark Hinkle, Boomer Shannon, Eric Vaughnes, Susan Marie Weber, Jason Wu

Alternate at-large reps: 
Starchild, Gail Lightfoot

 

 

The Libertarian Party of California  |  Less Government, More Freedom

(916) 446-1776  |

 Ca.LP.org 
|
 Office@Ca.LP.org

770 L Street, Suite 950, Sacramento, CA 95814-3361