 This coming fall you and I (and every person in all 50 states and Washington DC) will have the opportunity to vote for Gary Johnson in our state and as such I think that it's very important that we get a chance to see him in the nation debates along with the Republican and Democrat candidate.
Currently the Congressional Debate Commission is using a standard of being over 15% in the polls, but that is a very flawed metric. The question that is asked is "If the election were held today, who would you vote for?" That question is DESIGNED to not have people answer "I don't know yet" and it punishes any "new" candidate if their party does not have an established base of voters who always vote the party ticket. The question is designed to not allow people to answer "I want to know more about them and make an informed decision." Why is asking people who they would vote for RIGHT THIS SECOND considered a good way to determine who should be in the debates to inform the public? Why is the poll question trying remove the influence of the people who want to make an informed decision BASED on the debates. Similarly, if 100 people are polled and 10 of them respond that they don't know who they are voting for yet, those votes are not counted as supporting Gary Johnson specifically, even those people have specifically said they are not convinced to vote for the Republican or the Democrat. The polls should not be asking people who they would vote for. The poll question that determines who should be in the debates should read as follow: "The following candidates will be on the ballot for President in your state. Please indicate all of them that you would like to see in the debate." It's very simple -- if a poll is being used to determine who is in the debates, that poll should ask about the debates. When that question is asked, 76% of Americans respond that they would like to see Gary Johnson in the debate. Count me among that 76%. Tony Jones is the Libertarian Candidate for North Kingstown Town Council and the RI State Director for Johnson/Weld 2016 PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND (May 30, 2016) – On the heels of the Libertarian Party's selection of former governor of New Mexico Gary Johnson and former governor of Massachusetts William Weld to the presidential ticket at its convention this weekend, North Kingstown resident Tony Jones steps up as the state director for Johnson | Weld 2016 for Rhode Island. Jones is the at-large member of the executive committee of the Libertarian Party of Rhode Island (LPRI) and a state delegate to the national convention – which saw the largest attendance in the party's history. Under the Libertarian banner, Jones also ran for Lieutenant Governor of Rhode Island in 2014, on the platform to eliminate the office. The LPRI will become a state recognized party if the ticket receives at least five percent of votes. A recent national poll has Johnson receiving 10 percent of support from registered voters, drawing his strongest support from respondents under 35. Another national poll showed 44 percent of registered voters would want a third party to run against Republican presumptive nominee Donald Trump and the likely Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. The Libertarian Party is the only third party with ballot access in 50 states. This means Johnson will be the only alternative to Trump and Clinton available to all voters in this election. Libertarians represent a growing plurality of Americans who are neither “left” nor “right” but who lean libertarian on issues of preserving individual rights and Constitutional liberties, smaller government, limited foreign intervention, and balancing the federal budget. To volunteer for the Johnson | Weld 2016 campaign, or for more information about the Libertarian Party of RI, Rhode Islanders should call 401-206-9194 or email Tony Jones at [email protected].  RI Free Radio: How did you become a Libertarian? Mr. Perry: I wrote about this in my book A Rebel's Journey: My Path to Liberty. I first learned about libertarianism from Neal Boortz in 1999 when he was talking about the Fair Tax. I somehow found the World's Smallest Political Quiz, scored a 70/100 (on the border between conservative/libertarian), and first joined the Libertarian Party. I've been a Life Member of the LP since 2008. RI Free Radio: Are there any Libertarian principles you are particularly interested in? Mr. Perry: Equality of rights. Specifically that no person has more rights than anyone else, and can not delegate a right they don't have. RI Free Radio: Do you have plans to grow and/or improve the Libertarian Party? Mr. Perry: We improve the Libertarian Party by consistently promoting libertarian principles, not watered-down half measures disguised as libertarian principles. RI Free Radio: Are there any "pet" issues that you are particularly interested in? Mr. Perry: My "pet issue" is reforming election laws, specifically ballot access laws to allow for equal treatment of candidates and voters. RI Free Radio: What can be done to improve the current economic situation? Mr. Perry: Abolish coercive taxes, which would allow people to keep more of their money to spend on goods and services that will improve rather than destroy their communities. RI Free Radio: What is your thoughts on monetary policy? Should be Fed be abolished? Mr. Perry: The legal tender laws need to be repealed to allow the creation of competing complementary free market currencies. Absolutely, and should be done along with repealing legal tender laws. For more information on the Perry Campaign go to: darrylwperry.com Note: Mr. Perry will be in Rhode Island on Saturday, May 7th. First for an hour long interview on Coalition Radio on WPRO with Host Pat "P.O. Taxpayer" Ford and guest co-host Tony Jones @ 6pm (the interview will also be video streamed live via: facebook.com/TheCoalitionRadio) and then for a meet & greet @ Agave Restaurant in Bristol starting @ 7:30pm Note: The 2016 Libertarian Party National Presidential Nominating Convention will be held over Memorial day weekend in Orlando, FL.  Washington, DC – Attorneys for presidential candidate Gov. Gary Johnson, the Libertarian Party, 2012 Green Party candidate Jill Stein, the Green Party and their respective vice-presidential candidates have filed a 55-page brief in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia opposing motions to dismiss their anti-trust lawsuit against the Commission of Presidential Debates (CPD), Gov. Mitt Romney, and President Obama.
Bruce Fein, attorney for the Plaintiffs, explained that campaigning for the presidency is a multi-billion dollar business whose objectives include not only winning but attracting sufficient votes to influence the national political agenda. He added: “Frank Fahrenkopf, co-chair of the CPD, has touted presidential debates as ‘the Super Bowl of politics,’ whose advertising or brand value to Obama and Romney in 2012 approached $1 billion each.” Fein noted that independent experts have placed the value of free media earned by candidate Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential race to date at a staggering $2 billion. Johnson and the other plaintiffs in the lawsuit claim that participation in presidential debates is an “essential facility in the multi-billion dollar business of campaigning for the presidency; that presidential debates cannot be duplicated because the defendants agreed in writing in a Memorandum of Understanding to boycott all debates of joint appearance events with rivals outside CPD’s sponsorship; that defendants acting in concert arbitrarily denied Johnson and Stein access to presidential debates by establishing a 15% polling criterion to cripple competition in the business of campaigning for the presidency; and, that presidential debates can be conducted to optimize voter education by abandoning the 15% criterion but requiring debate participants to have qualified on enough state ballots to have a mathematical chance of winning an Electoral College majority. Applying that standard historically would have resulted in presidential debates with four to seven candidates, including Johnson and Stein in 2012, and would have enriched voter education. The United States Supreme Court has lectured: “Historically political figures outside the two major parties have been fertile sources of new ideas and new programs; many of their challenges to the status quo have in time made their way into the political mainstream. In short, the primary values protected by the First Amendment—‘a profound national commitment to the principle that debate on public issues should be uninhibited, robust, and wide-open,’—are served when election campaigns are not monopolized by the existing political parties.” Fein argued that Citizens United v. FEC “changed the business of campaigning for the presidency as profoundly as the internal combustion engine changed the business of transportation or the Internet changed the business of communications. The decision unleashed limitless corporate, union, and other funds into presidential campaigns that shattered all prior business models.” Fein amplified based on antitrust precedents: “Freedom to campaign for the presidency, including participation in presidential debates, means freedom for all and not for some. Freedom to campaign for the presidency, including participation in presidential debates, is guaranteed by the Constitution, but freedom to combine to keep others from campaigning or participating is not. Freedom from government interference under the First Amendment does not sanction repression of that freedom by private interests.” Fein further noted that “the CPD was born in original sin intending to limit presidential debates to the nominees of the Republican and Democratic parties” by “hijacking their sponsorship from the League of Women Voters.” The CPD, Gov. Romney and President Obama earlier this year filed motions to dismiss the lawsuit. In a filing this week, the plaintiffs responded to those motions and urged the Court to allow the case to proceed."  RI Free Radio: How did you become a Libertarian?
Mr. Kerbel: I first knew about the Libertarian Party in 1980, which was my first election that I was legal to vote. I picked Ed Clark, so I suppose that I have been a Libertarian all my adult life, since I never have been a member of any other political party. As the years went by, and I saw not only the political environment in our nation, but the attacks from government against our personal liberties and small business, it only solidified my Libertarian views. RI Free Radio: Are there any Libertarian principles you are particularly interested in? Mr. Kerbel: While the LP platform as a whole makes a great deal of sense to me, the principle of self ownership is the one that strikes me the most. Our nation was conceived in Liberty, and to attempt to legislate others with regard to the personal choices that they make is a gross violation of the first amendment in many cases. We are born with the freedom to live our chosen lives in peace, and we need to fight w! ith all our might the actions of those who want to take away this freedom. RI Free Radio: Do you have plans to grow and/or improve the Libertarian Party? Mr. Kerbel: I absolutely do plan to grow the party. As a candidate for President of the United States, I have already brought in many people to the movement. I also recently accepted the position as Chair of the Libertarian Party of El Paso County Colorado, so my intent is to grow the Liberty movement at all levels. RI Free Radio: Are there any "pet" issues that you are particularly interested in? Mr. Kerbel: My pet issues revolve around individual liberty and its connection to peace in our world. Governments take away liberties. Governments desire and fight wars. The more that government is removed from the personal lives of the people, the better lives we will all live and the less enemies we create. RI Free Radio: What can be done to improve the current economic situation? Mr. Kerbel: In my opinion, government regulation, excessive lawsuits, and high tax rates have harmed our economy significantly. If regulation were reduced or eliminated, it would allow small business to compete and thrive. If there was! a punishment for bringing fraudulent lawsuits, there would be less lawsuits and therefore a more productive economy with more beneficial risk taking. If personal and corporate income tax were removed and replaced with a less punitive system with far lower expenses to pay, the economy would be flooded with capital and the economic situation of many more people would be very strong. Government is the drain to our economic system and needs to be reduced to levels promulgated by the constitution. RI Free Radio: What is your thoughts on monetary policy? Should be Fed be abolished? Mr. Kerbel: The Fed needs to be abolished due to the inherent corruption within it. Profit taking from hundreds of millions of Americans for the benefit of a few investors is not only wrong, the institution enslaves us all with an ever increasing debt and the ultimate control over our interest rates and hence housing prices, access to capital, and the complete battering of any semblance of a free market. For more information on the Kerbel Campaign go to: stevekerbel2016.com Note: The 2016 Libertarian Party National Presidential Nominating Convention will be held over Memorial day weekend in Orlando, FL. Be sure to frequent this blog for more candidate interviews.  In a statement released today, the Gary Johnson 2016 campaign confirmed that plans are underway to schedule a nationally-televised Libertarian Party presidential debate on the popular “Stossel” show on the Fox Business Network. While details are pending, Gov. Johnson’s campaign indicated that dates in March are being discussed.
A statement from the campaign stated, “The Gary Johnson 2016 campaign has confirmed with Fox Business's Stossel that Gov. Johnson will be delighted to participate in a televised debate among Libertarian Party presidential candidates, hopefully in March. We will of course leave the formal announcement of the debate details and date to the Stossel show, but want to express our gratitude to Mr. Stossel for working to find a date for this important event that will not disrupt any planned Libertarian Party activities and that is actually doable for all the candidates who are involved.”  Two-term Governor to seek Libertarian Nomination
January 6, 2016, Santa Fe, NM -- Former New Mexico Governor and 2012 presidential candidate Gary Johnson announced today that he is seeking the 2016 Libertarian nomination for President of the United States. Johnson made the announcement during an appearance Wednesday on Neil Cavuto’s “Coast to Coast” on the Fox Business Network. Johnson placed third in the 2012 presidential race, receiving more votes than any Libertarian candidate in history. Announcing his candidacy, Johnson said, “One need only to look at the Republican and Democrat nomination races to see that 2016 may very well be a ‘tipping point’ election year. The American people are clearly fed up and running out of patience with the status quo. I’m fed up with it also. “By the time Barack Obama leaves office, the national debt will have reached $20 trillion. It has doubled while he has been in office, just as it doubled while George W. Bush was President. Obviously, it doesn’t really matter which of the two so-called ‘major’ parties is in control of the White House or Congress. The government just keeps growing, the spending just keeps increasing, and the debt keeps piling up. “After two wars, seemingly endless foreign interventions and failed attempts at nation-building, can anyone credibly suggest that we are somehow safer today than we were 15 years ago? To the contrary, the threats to our safety and our liberty from violent jihadists are increasing, and if anything, we are less safe. The American people are tired of chaotic foreign and military policies that are obviously not fulfilling the government’s fundamental duty to keep the homeland and our freedoms secure. Voters are correctly demanding that their leaders focus on that most basic responsibility of the federal government. “And the American people are fed up with politicians -- both Republican and Democrat -- who are determined to replace liberty with government overreach, control and intrusion into our daily lives. The United States was founded on a rejection of warrantless searches, oppressive taxation, and government interference with the free exercise of speech, religion, and personal choices. Today, we have a generation of young people growing up believing their own government to be the greatest threat to their privacy and their freedom to pursue their dreams. “Our politicians and their refusal to abandon failed policies have sadly turned the governance of America into something the Founders would hardly recognize, much less embrace. "America needs a President who will push back against the growth of government -- and mean it. That begins with proposing a federal budget that doesn’t spend more than it takes in, and using the veto pen to enforce it if necessary. Government spends too much because it does too much, and a President who is serious about making government do and spend less can make it happen. “America needs a President whose idea of national security isn’t to spy on American citizens and pry into their personal and financial lives without warrants or due process. The failed War on Drugs needs to end, along with the surveillance, incarceration rate and needless prosecution it has given us. “And we need leaders whose idea of immigration reform consists of something more thoughtful -- and effective -- than building bigger walls, imposing unconstitutional religious tests, and militarizing our borders. “Our system is broken. The two ‘major’ parties have become slightly different shades of the same big government, big debt and ineffective status quo. I am convinced that Americans are ready to send Washington, DC, a message, to reject the status quo and break up the political duopoly that can’t even come up with a real budget and that is fundamentally incapable of change. What is missing is a belief that there is an alternative, a belief that the rigged game can, indeed, be broken up. “As a successful former Governor, an entrepreneur and a proven advocate for smaller government and greater freedom, I intend to offer Americans the alternative they seek. “Liberty and the freedom to succeed are the real American values, and I’m running for President to restore those values, make America genuinely safe, and put an end to a tired status quo that has given us nothing but debt, less freedom and well-founded fears about the future we are creating for our children and grandchildren.” For more information visit: GaryJohnson2016.com  “There's also more of an ethical issue of why is there this position in state government that's one and only job is to sit around and wait for the governor to die?” - Kris Frieswick
As a Libertarian I don’t care what you do in the privacy of your own home or bedroom. Nor do I care what you choose to put in your own body. However, I am fiscally conservative, that is, I expect the government to run as lean as possible and I ask that they be good stewards of taxpayer money. As our own state, and states across the country struggle with poor economic conditions I, like many before me, have to ask the question: “Do we really need a lieutenant governor?” several states say no, as do I; that’s why I’ve decided to run for said “office”. As your next (and hopefully last) Lieutenant Governor I would be happy to serve voluntarily, but I would collect no salary and hire no staff, thereby saving taxpayers over $1 million for each year of the term (totaling $4 million over the term’s duration) I would also work toward abolishing the office of Lieutenant Governor. If I win Even should I win, a constitutional amendment would be needed to abolish the lieutenant governor’s office. Here's how the RI Constitution addresses the “job”"Article IV, Section 3: "When the governor-elect shall die, remove from the state, refuse to serve; become insane, or be otherwise incapacitated, the lieutenant governor-elect shall be qualified as governor at the beginning of the term for which the governor was elected.”Article IX, Section 9: “Section 9. Vacancy in office of governor. -- If the office of the governor shall be vacant by reason of death, resignation, impeachment or inability to serve, the lieutenant governor shall shall fill the office of governor, and exercise the powers and authority appertaining thereto, until a governor is qualified to act, or until the office is filled at the next election." So, in essence, everybody who is seeking or gets elected to this office is simply using it for their own pet projects, while in reality, they have no actual power vested from the office. They are asking the taxpayers to pay them to hang out as they promote their own personal agenda, whatever it might be…on your dime. Constitutional Role We do have a Constitutional provision for the absence of a lieutenant governor:"Article IX, Section 10. Vacancies in both offices of governor and lieutenant governor. -- If the offices of governor and lieutenant governor be both vacant by reason of death, resignation, impeachment, or inability to serve, the speaker of the house of representatives shall in like manner fill the office of governor during such vacancy." Now, I'm not a constitutional scholar, but it appears it would only take a simple amendment or revision to the RI Constitution to eliminate the office. Yes, there is precedence for this: Up until 2003, the lieutenant governor served as presiding officer of the RI State Senate, however in 2003 the Senate was allowed to elect its own officer (Art. VIII, Sec. 1 and 2). Moreover, a quick scan of the full text of the RI Constitution shows that there have been at least three articles repealed since its ratification. I submit to you that Rhode Island does not need this office, and that by eliminating the Lieutenant Governorship we could save the taxpayers over $1 million per year. |
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