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...building the libertarian future...
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Wed Apr 18, 2012 at 00:00:00 AM EDT
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Meeting called to order on February 19th, 2012 at 2:18pm in Worcester. Present were committee members David Blau, George Phillies, Dick Martin, Alwin Hopfmann, Bob Underwood, Bob Clark, Chris Maden (arrived at 2:45). We were joined by two guests Shirley Underwood and Joyce Paul.
The agenda for today's meeting is
Officer Reports.
• Working Group Reports.
• Old Business.
• New Business.
• Support of presidential candidates, by our state organization, prior to the nomination.
• Discussion of Constant Contact and Vertical Response.
• A fund drive.
• Assembling a slate of electors, and a senate candidate.
• The Boston Pride festival.
• Reimbursements to George and David.
• Wiki.
WGAW radio station.
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Mon Apr 09, 2012 at 00:00:00 AM EDT
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Every year, we spend large sums of money in support of Libertarian activities and candidates in Massachusetts.
Money does not grow on trees.
Without money, our activities would be impossible: No more meetup groups. No more web pages. No more outreach appearances. No more candidate support. No more trifolds.
If you want out Libertarian Association to continue, we need your financial support.
By the way, this is a Presidential election year. The State Association has traditionally contributed to the costs of putting a Presidential candidate on the ballot. This year, we have already spent several thousand dollars on litigation expenses to improve Massachusetts Ballot Access laws. Your targeted contributions to 2008 ballot access support may make the difference on whether or not you have a Presidential candidate for whom you can vote in the Fall.
If you want a successful state association, you need to support it with your checkbook. You can donate on line at LPMass.org. You can mail a check to Libertarians, POB 1154, Worcester MA 01613.
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Wed Apr 04, 2012 at 00:00:00 AM EDT
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We still have openings for our National Convention delegation.
The National Convention is in Las Vegas the first weekend of May, at the Red Rock Resort.
The Red Rock is very much on the city's outskirts. There are a number of nearby hotels and motels that are relatively inexpensive places to stay.
If you have been a member of our Libertarian Association, and if you are interested in becoming a National Convention delegate. please email David Blau chair@LPMass.org or telephone George Phillies 508 754 1859.
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Tue Mar 27, 2012 at 00:00:00 AM EDT
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Robert Underwood rjunderwood2000@yahoo.com
Robert J Underwood of Springfield has launched his campaign to run for State Representative.
Bob is a long-time Libertarian. He is a loyal and active member of our Association's State Committee. If you live in his District, he has earned your support.
Bob is currently actively collecting signatures. He reports that local Libertarians Pitt Warren and Paul Norton are already helping him to gather signatures., Fortunately, this year we have had wonderful Spring weather, making it effective to start signature collection in March.
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Mon Mar 26, 2012 at 00:00:00 AM EDT
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Arkansas
Their 2012 state convention will be held April 14th at the Comfort Inn and Suites Downtown Little Rock! They will be nominating candidates for office, and after the regular convention they will be hosting the first Libertarian Presidential Debate in the state of Arkansas! On May 18th, 2011, the Libertarian Party of Arkansas submitted 16,139 signatures to the Arkansas Secretary of State to become an official political party in Arkansas and run candidates. On June 16th, 2011, the Secretary of State certified the Libertarian Party of Arkansas as an official party. David J. Pangrac will be the Libertarian candidate for US Congress in the 3rd congressional district of Arkansas.
Alaska
Jim McDermott is the Alaska Libertarian Party candidate for Congress. The Alaska Libertarian Party is issuing coffee mugs with their state party logo.
Maine
The state convention will be Saturday, March 31, 2012 at the Ramada Saco, 352 North Street, Saco, ME 04072.
New Hampshire
Richard Kahn ran for Hudson Board of Selectmen and finished fourth out of seven in a race for two openings.
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Sun Mar 25, 2012 at 13:52:32 PM EDT
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WASHINGTON -- Libertarian National Committee Chair, Mark Hinkle, released the following statement today:
"While President Obama and the Republicans in Congress spend time debating whether religious groups must provide their employees free contraceptives, a far more fundamental issue is being ignored: if we want better health insurance for all, why are we making it illegal?
"ObamaCare, known in Massachusetts as RomneyCare, effectively outlaws true health insurance. Insurance, if you think about it, should exist to protect you against catastrophic expenditures. For example, car insurance doesn't cover the cost of gas and oil, as it would be outrageously expensive due to the incentive for increased driving. Similarly, health insurance should not cover ordinary and predictable costs, yet remains outrageously expensive because it does.
"Then why do consumers continue to buy overpriced insurance that covers predictable costs? Government. First, the senseless connection of health insurance to employment is the result of a system that taxes cash wages but not health benefits, punishing employees who would rather have higher cash wages while making their own personal choice of health coverage. Second, special interests in every state have lobbied legislators to mandate coverage for their particular product or service. Finally, regulation not only drives up the cost of healthcare, but also restricts entry into the field, leading to even higher prices.
"The result is this: if you want inexpensive health insurance, but don't want coverage for alcoholism, weight loss programs and baldness treatments, and would prefer a deductible based on your personal finances: TOUGH. Even if you're not stuck with your employer's choices, the type of individually tailored coverage you want is illegal.
"Instead of ObamaRomneyCare, we need to decriminalize good health insurance. Eliminate the coverage mandates, the laws against purchasing health insurance across state lines, and the unfavorable tax treatment of personal insurance policies. Remove the regulations that block entry of new insurers, including charitable organizations which could provide catastrophic protection for the poor and the club-based insurance policies that were once popular before the insurance industry and American Medical Association both pushed to make them illegal.
"As for contraception? Women shouldn't need a permission slip from their doctor to have safe sex. Removing the prescription requirement would massively reduce the cost of contraceptives, making it far more affordable. In turn, this would ease the burden on groups such as Planned Parenthood that have long provided free contraceptives to those in need."
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Sun Mar 25, 2012 at 13:44:21 PM EDT
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There is still time to take out nominating papers and run for office in Massachusetts.
To run for State Representative, you only need 150 valid signatures (a safety margin is wise; 225 registered voters from your district should do).
Every member of this organization except me (I'm your Treasurer and thus legally disqualified) who is a registered Massachusetts voter can legally run for some office.
Please run! For a starting batch of nominating papers and other material, please call me as soon as possible 508 754 1859 or phillies@4liberty.net
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Mon Mar 12, 2012 at 00:00:00 AM EDT
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Issues Below the Fold
Candidate Vetting Process
Use of Registered Libertarian Voter Lists
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Sun Mar 11, 2012 at 00:00:00 AM EST
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Issues below the fold:
LSLA Data Sharing -- Huge Software Project
Data Privacy
Reimbursements
Presidential Ballot Access
Electors
Delegates to the National Convention
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Fri Mar 09, 2012 at 00:00:00 AM EST
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Officer Reports:
David asked if there was one place where we have a list of candidates. He said it would be good if we had something like that. Chris asked if we have an internal Wiki, which we currently don't have. David pointed out that if someone asked him how many candidates we support, and where they are, he wouldn't be able to answer it. George suggested using the forum, and David agreed that's probably the best approach. David and Chris were uncomfortable putting this information on anything more public like Google Docs. There should be information from each time we make contact with them, which should be available regardless how indefinite they are about running, and it should be private to the committee members so we don't worry about what we say.
Chris said he would like to discuss ballot access when it's appropriate. Below fold: Newsletter Editor, Political Facilitator, Technology Facilitator
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Thu Mar 08, 2012 at 00:00:00 AM EST
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The Boston Area Meetup group, which is organized by David, is still meeting on a regular basis.
David has continued to post on Facebook and Twitter, on a near daily basis, and he has verified that the posts have been showing up on the Twitter feed on the front page of our web site.
Chris asked how many attendees show up at the meetup group, and David replied that it's usually just a few. Chris also asked how many Twitter followers we have. David replied that he wasn't sure. We do get new followers on a regular basis. We've gotten twelve new followers this month, and it's only half over. This includes Wayne Root, James Ogle, the Ron Paul and Carl Person campaigns, and the Massachusetts Pirate Party.
Bob asked if the changes in the Meetup schedule follow the changes in the state committee schedule. In other words, since the state committee's meeting was changed from the 4th to the 3rd Sunday this month, is the meetup schedule also going change. David said yes, but Bob pointed out that the meetup calendar still says the 29th.
David said he was considering changing from a sit-down dinner meeting to a "let's get together and have a drink" kind of event. This seems to work better for other groups. Chris said when he considers attending a meeting, he would be less comfortable if it's a meal, because if you decide you don't want to stay, you can't just get up and leave. With drinks there's a shorter time commitment.
Below fold: Membership Secretary, Treasurer
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Wed Mar 07, 2012 at 00:00:00 AM EST
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Meeting called to order on January 15th, 2011 at 2:16pm in Worcester. Present were committee members David Blau, George Phillies, Chris Maden, Alwin Hopfmann, and Bob Clark.
Here is the agenda for today's meeting:
• Officer Reports.
• Working Group Reports.
• Old Business.
• New Business.
• LSLA data sharing technology.
• Candidate vetting process.
• George wants to talk about advertising on Facebook, data security, getting someone to help with a notebook, and reimbursements.
Without objection, these were adopted as the agenda.
The latest revision of last month's minutes were distributed by email on January 14th, and these were adopted without objection.
Officer Reports
Chair
David said he has received and responded to a number of information requests. Over the last month there have been six from the national party, four of which were responded to by email, and two more still need to be sent information. He also received six contact emails from our state web page, but a number of those were just "I'm planning on running for a position in Massachusetts", and not so much for information request. When David gets those, he forwards then to the other committee members.
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Mon Mar 05, 2012 at 00:00:00 AM EST
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Having two major parties gives us the feeling of having a choice. But to be a choice, doesn't there need to be differences between them? Let's see ...
- Republicans say they'll cut spending, but Reagan, Bush 41 and Bush 43 all ran up larger deficits than their predecessors.
- Democrats say they'll protect personal freedoms like same-sex marriage, but the majority of congressional Democrats voted for the Defense of Marriage Act, and it was signed into law by a Democratic President.
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Sun Mar 04, 2012 at 00:00:00 AM EST
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[Your Editor has been a bit slow writing this one. The following is a selection form a longer set.]
It was a great conference and I was glad to be a part of it. I am glad that everything went well. Let me know if you ever need help with any events in the future. The antiwar movement is important to me and is vital if we ever want to see Liberty in our lifetime. ...Alex Petersen
Thanks for the invitation to the conference. I learned a lot from being there. As I told Ernie Hancock, although I agree with the LP on a few things, I think I know how to recognize a room full of principled people. And I felt that I was in such a room on Sunday. ...John Walsh
I enjoyed the opportunity to participate in your event. I hope things met your expectations. Perhaps we will have an opportunity to work with each other again sometime. best regards, Loren Spivack
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- Welcome to Gold Mass Group, the place for polite discussion of Massachusetts politics and political action from a libertarian perspective.
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