Document:LP News 1974 March-April Issue 19
TAX PROTEST, APRIL 13!
Libertarians across the nation will be staging a massive series of demonstrations against the Internal Ripoff Service next month, on Thomas Jefferson's birthday, April 13.
The events will be launched with a national press conference on the 12th, at which spokesemen for the Libertarian Party and the Society for Individual Liberty will present the case against taxation to the American people. Both SIL and LP will also be sending out press releases to hundreds of newspapers, magazines, and radio/TV stations in advance of the actual Tax Protest Day, to help build public awareness and interest.
On Saturday the 13th, over 1,000 libertarians will participate in a nationwide program of literature distribution, designed to get over 100,000 pieces of anti-tax material into the hands of the American people. Participants in this drive will include LP members, SIL members, and members of the Liberty Amendment Committee.
In order to encourage the widest possible participation in this project, LP National has prepared a special tax-protest leaflet. It is 51?2 by 81?2 inches in size, and is printed, front and back, in blue ink. One side consists of a reprinted newspaper story about the LP and its opposition to taxation; the other contains information about the Liberty Amendment.
Prices for this leaflet are as follows: 100 for $2.50; 250 for $5; 500 for $9; and 1,000 for $16. These prices include airmail shipment to you.
In order to make sure that all orders are received in time for distribution on the 13th, we are asking you to send your orders directly to WEST-BERG ENTERPRISES, 1815 DePaul, Colorado Springs, CO 8O9O9. Checks should accompany orders, and should be made out to the Libertarian Party.
All orders will be shipped airmail, no later than April 5th. (Order deadline: April 3rd.)
National Tax Protest Day offers an unmatched opportunity to reach the American people with information about the LP, at a time when they will be most receptive to our ideas. Don't pass up this chance to win friends and influence people!
(Please review ordering instructions carefully, to prevent mixups and delays.)
TAX PROTEST TIPS
*Get together a group for your activities; it's more fun if you have friends along.
*Prime sites for leafleteering: In front of Post Offices, IRS Offices, and at supermarkets.
*Contact the local news media beforehand.
*Have an anti-tax rally afterwards, and invite responsive people to attend. Have a party for leafleteers and new converts.
H.R. Gross is first
in Royce Ratings again The second edition of The Royce Report on Congress, covering the second half of the 1973 session, has been published, and veteran isolationist-abolitionist H.R. Gross of Iowa leads the honor roll again, with an outstanding score of 92. Second highest scorer in the House is John Rarick of Louisiana with an 855 Steve Symms is third with 76. Louisiana also has the lowest scorer in the House; Otto Passman, who scored a 9.
In the Senate, Scott of Virginia tops the list again, with a 70, followed by Helms of North Carolina with a 68. And, as he did last time, Gale McGee of Wyoming runs dead last with an 11. Henry Jackson and Adlai Stevenson III tie for second-worst in the Senate, scoring 16 each. Senate scores, overall, remained about the same as in the first Royce Report, with 14 Senators scoring above 50% . House scores plummeted, however; only 25 of the 435 Congressmen scored above 50%, as compared to 66 relative "good guys" last time.
Saddest news to come out of Congress recently is that H.R. Gross is retiring at the end of this term; unless a new champion steps forward, the forces of liberty will have suffered a great loss. The people of America owe a tremendous debt to Gross, and we take this occasion to salute him for his consistent dedication to principle, his courage, and his tenacity.
SPOTLIGHT ON STATE PARTIES
ALASKA LP now has 29 members; if every state had as many members per capita, we'd have about 30,000 nationwide. Their state convention will be held March 29-31, and Tonie Nathan will be the keynote speaker.
ARIZONA LP held its convention February 24; Ben Davis of the Liberty Amendment Committee was a featured speaker. ALP also sponsored Dr. Antony Sutton as a speaker at Phoenix College on February 28. State Chairman Ken LaFave was featured in a writeup on libertarianism in the U. of Arizona paper, the Daily Wildcat, and the Arizona Republic, largest-circulation paper in the state, will have a major feature on the ALP in its Sunday supplement, Arizona Magazine, in April.
CALIFORNIA LP held its convention February l6-l8, with about 150 members participating; total membership is now about 600. A full slate of candidates for public office was chosen (see Candidates, next page). Santa Clara County|LP sponsored a talk by Murray Rothbard, which drew a crowd of over 250, and San Diego LP demonstrated against the postal monopoly on March 2nd, the day postal rates went up. State Vice-Chairman Ed Crane delivered an editorial against socialized medicine on KNBC-TV recently. John Hospers is one of the lecturrers in a new course on "Liberty, Property, and Contemporary Social Programs" being offered by the University of California.LP]] sponsored a talk by Murray Rothbard, which drew a crowd of over 250, and San Diego LP demonstrated against the postal monopoly on March 2nd, the day postal rates went up. State Vice-Chairman Ed Crane delivered an editorial against socialized medicine on KNBC-TV recently. John Hospers is one of the lecturers in a new course on "Liberty, Property, and Contemporary Social Programs" being offered by the University of California.
COLORADO LP, in addition to supporting the candidacy of John James for Congress (see Candidates, next page) will be supporting a petition to abolish "victimless crime" laws in Colorado.
CONNECTICUT LP Chairperson Fran Moore and Bob Moore spoke on WDRC radio in Hartford for 30 minutes, January 13, and received an enthusiastic response.
FLORIDA LP continues to grow, and now has its own newsletter. Chairman Charles Breeden has spoken on radio stations several times in the past few months.
HAWAII LP has a new Chairman, Jerry Dickson, who has also been on the air many times in recent weeks; Jerry is setting up a regular 5-minute "editorial commentary" program called Libertarian Commentary, which will be aired on KHVH radio Monday nights. The state party has been active lately, rallying opposition to gas rationing, and building support for a massive Tax Protest movement; press coverage on these activities has been extensive.
ILLINOIS LP's Georgia Shields participated in a talk show on WBBM-TV January 19. LPI is in the process of setting up a telephone communications network for "rapid roundups" of members to attend public meetings on short notice. Paul Stout, Bernie Sommer and State Chairman Steve Nelson have been active in a drive to prevent the creation of a tax-supported Regional Transportation Authority, which would raise taxes on all for the benefit of a few.
KENTUCKY LP regretfully reports the departure of its Chairperson, Susan Brown, who has moved to California to work for the Campus Studies Institute; Susan received an extensive writeup in the Louisville Times before she left, in connection with the LPK-sponsored Free Woman's Seminar. Paul Siegler is now Acting Chairman.
LOUISIANA LP held its convention January 19-20, and elected Crayton "Sparky" Hall as its new Chairman; former State Chairman Jerry Millett was nominated to run for Congress in the 7th District, and Jeff Daiell was chosen to run for Commissioner of Public Safety in Shreveport.
MARYLAND LP is pushing at the 100-member mark, and is concentrating on tax protest activities; MLP is working closely with the Liberty Amendment Committee in support of the L.A. Resolution currently before the legislature. MLP's newsletter, Toward Liberty, is one of the best state LP publications in the country.
MINNESOTA LP recently held a Gold Investment Symposium featuring several top authorities in the field; LP National ExecComm member Bob Meier of Illinois was the moderator. LPM has some of the best-looking graphic materials we've seen, including a very impressive looking newsletter, The Reasonable Answer.
NEW HAMPSHIRE LP Vice-Chairman Art Ketchen is one of the plaintiffs in a suit filed by Andrew Melechinsky of Connecticut against Nixon, the Senate, the House, and six major oil companies. The suit charges the defendants with conspiring to fix oil prices and extort the American people through controls. Contributions to aid the plaintiffs may be sent to Andrew Melechinsky, c/o The George Mason Movement, 45 College Road, Enfield,Conn. 06082.
NEW JERSEY LP selected Larry Totams as its new Chairman, at their state convention February 9, and is moving into high gear on Bob Steiner's Congressional campaign. Bob is being supported by the NJ Taxpayers Assn, and by the former chairman of the now-defunct NJ Conservative Party.
NEW YORK'S Free Libertarian Party will hold its annual convention March 29—31, Roger Lea MacBride will be the keynote speaker. The FLP is planning to run someone for Governor, and hopes to get the 50,000 votes necessary to become NY State's fifth "permanent" party; this would give FLP candidates automatic ballot listing in the future.
URGENT!
If you have not yet contacted your two Senators, your Congressman, and President Nixon, expressing your opposition to Federal financing of elections, please do so immediately! We must defeat this scheme.
NORTH CAROLINA LP is in the process of forming; Temporary Chairman is Douglas Lerner of Charlotte, with G. Randall Davis of Saxapahaw as Temporary Co-Chairman.
PENNSYLVANIA LP has formed a chapter in Pittsburgh, and is in the process of setting up campus organizations at Bucknell and Edinboro. Spokesman Byron Fink gave a one minute message on "victimless crimes" which was telecast three times on KYW-TV, Philadelphia, January 22.
TEXAS LP continues to prepare for the LP national convention in Dallas this June. Meanwhile, the Harris County (Houston) chapter has been active in helping with a petition to legalize off-track betting, and also held a rally protesting censorship of the movie "Deep Throat," on January 28. Veteran libertarian Mike Holmes debated a member of the Young Socialist Alliance before a crowd of 120+ at the University of Texas in Austin, February 5; audience response was enthusiastic.
UTAH LP Chairman George Chapman appeared for one hour on KBYU-TV, February 20, as part of a program on the relationship between gov’t and business; George pointed out that gov't "control" of business is simply coercion by a "criminal element," which destroys freedom and harms the economy. ULP is currently in the process of gathering 500 petition signatures to gain ballot status.
VIRGINIA LP will hold its first annual state convention in Richmond on March l6; new officers will be elected. VLP now has a newsletter, The Virginia Libertarian, edited by Eric Scott Royce (of Royce Report fame). Scott has announced that he intends to seek re-election as a Regional ExecComm member in Dallas.
WISCONSIN LP is forming groups in Milwaukee and Madison, and is establishing an Inform ation Center to facilitate replies to collectivist-oriented editorials. A number of new members have been recruited via ads in an "underground" newspaper.
NEWS OF LP CANDIDATES
JOHN B. JAMES is running for Congress in Colorado's First District (Denver), and hopes to exhibit enough strength early in the game to keep the GOP out; present incumbent is Patricia Schroeder, a "liberal" Democrat, who won by a narrow margin in 1972. If the GOP stays out, John has a fair chance of winning, so early campaign contributions are important. To date, John has raised and spent about $1,500. John is one of the earliest members of the LP, and served as Colorado Vice-Chairman in 1973. He plans to make taxes and inflation his main issue, and has received good media coverage so far. Contributions should be sent to Committee for a New Liberty, 411 Cook Street, Denver, Colorado 80206.
GUY RIGGS, of Poughkeepsie, NY, has announced that he will try again for a seat in the NY State Assembly (99th District). Guy was unable to make the ballot in '72, but is in a far stronger position this time, thanks to a good FLP organization in his district.
JERRY TUCCILLE has announced that he intends to run against Jake Javits for US Senate in New York, as the candidate of the FLP.
SANDY COHEN, meanwhile, continues to move forward in his Congressional race (NY's 25th Congressional District). He plans to enter both the Liberal and Conservative primaries, and his supporters are holding a fund-raising party with John Hospers as the featured speaker, on April 20th. Sandy recently got some excellent news coverage, when the incumbent Congressman, Hamilton Fish, Jr., refused to talk to Sandy in front of some reporters.
LOUISIANA LP is fielding Jerry Millett for Congress in that state's 7th District, and Jeff Daiell for Commissioner of Public Safety in Shreveport.
CALIFORNIA LP is fielding a large slate of candidates; some ten have announced (and have been endorsed by the party) to date. For Governor, the Californians are backing The Libertarian Champion of the West, John Hospers; John already has good name recognition throughout the state, as a result of many dozens of radio and TV interviews over the past twenty months. Bill Susel is the party's choice for Lieutenant Governor. Other California LP candidates are Bill White for US Senator, Dave Bergland for Attorney General, Veronica Meidus for Secretary of State, Lloyd Taylor for State Treasurer, Kathy White for Controller, and Hal Jindrich for Superintendent of Public Education. Jindrich's race is of special interest at this time, as he will be on the ballot, and the election is in June. Contributions should be rushed to Hal at 555 W. Middlefied, S-201, Mountain View CA 94043- SPECIAL ELECTION! Liz Jacobsen is running for the Congressional seat vacated by William Mailliard (California 6th C.D.). She will be on the ballot, and the election is in June. Rush contributions to: Jacobsen for Congress, c/o Richard Winger, 3201 Baker' Street, San Francisco.
DAVID MERRICK is running for a seat on the Santa Cruz (California) County Board of Supervisors, and has received fair press coverage. Contributions to: Merrick for Supervisor, 414 Dufour St, Santa Cruz CA 95060.
‘On falling off the edge...’
AN EDITORIAL
It should come as no surprise to readers of LP NEWS that your editor is no great fan of that Great American Sacred Cow, "the two party system." If freedom is to become a reality, we must have a multi-party system, and, within limits, the more parties the better.
Thus, it is with some sadness that we must report on recent developments in the two other significant minority parties in this country—the American and People's parties. For, while we have many serious differences of opinion with these two groups, it would be nice to see them making inroads into the territories of the Dems and the GOP, and helping to convert the public to the idea of multi-party politics.
In recent months, however, both the AP and the PP have been moving further and further away from becoming broad-based, viable alternatives to the two major parties.
The American Party, which began as a vehicle for George Wallace's Presidential candidacy in 1968, and then became a vehicle for the dissemination of Birch-style conservative ideology in 1972, is now on the verge of collapse. A major portion of its state affiliates have broken away from the national leadership, and we know of at least seven states where AP leaders, dismayed at their party's head-on plunge towards lunacy, have made overtures toward our people.
The reasons for these developments are many, but we are convinced that one major factor is the National AP's increasing tendency towards the worst sort of right-wing kookiness.
In recent months, the AP has increasingly drifted away from its JBS line, and is now openly displying ties with Liberty Lobby, a Washington, DC outfit controlled by one Willis Carto. Carto at one time was a supporter of the American Nazi Party.
Other evidences of AP derangement include their accepting an ad for the Minutemen in their monthly newspaper, and an increasing inability on the part of their Chairman, Tom Anderson, to distinguish between politics and religion; at the rate Anderson is going, he will have driven everyone who isn't a rabid religious fanatic out of the AP within six months.
As for the People's Party, it seems bent on becoming nothing more than another left-wing splinter group. Until about a year ago, the PP maintained an "open door" policy, trying to draw in a broad spectrum of left-liberal dissidents. Now, however, apparently only hard-core socialists are welcome, and the February issue of their newspaper, Grass Roots, openly promotes Communist literature.
Needless to say, Communism—at least when pre sented as Communism--has about as much appeal in this country as does the Bubonic Plague. Thus, the People's Party, too, appears to be doing its best to put itself out of business.
There is a bright side to this turn of events, of course. And that is that as the AP and PP self-destruct, it leaves the field open to us as the credible third party in America.
There is also a lesson to be heeded here. And it is that any third-party movement must always be on guard against becoming too narrow in its appeal—and must always be wary of its own lunatic fringes.
Fortunately, the LP has a relatively small lunatic fringe. But it is there, and would like nothing better than to capture the party in the name of some great "reform" or "purification." And this, more than any other development, is the one thing which could destroy us.
Let us learn from the examples of the American and People's parties, and make sure that it does not happen.
-/- DFN
IRS shafts small parties
Most of you may remember that last year, the IRS initiated a "tax checkoff" program whereby taxpayers could "contribute" $1 of their Federal Income Tax towards a Presidential Election fund.
When this program was launched, it was stated that those who participated could designate which party would receive the dollar. Now, however, the rules have been changed—after the first year's contributions were received.
As things now stand, the provision for designating the recipient of the dollar has been eliminated, and the fund will be divvied up by the GOP and the Dems only.
In all likelihood, LP National will launch a suit to block disbursement of the funds in '76. But for the moment, we counsel all LP members not to participate, and to write a nasty letter to the IRS.
Convention choice: Sept.
The results of the opinion survey conducted via a ballot in the last LP NEWS indicate that a vast majority of members favor changing the National LP convention from June to some other time. Most popular of the alternatives suggested was that of having conventions in September, with business in odd-numbered years (e.g. our '76 nominating convention in September of 1975). Number-two choice was to have business conventions in the fall of odd years, and rallies in the summer of even years. The final decision on changing convention times will be made in Dallas this June.
POLITICAL PERSPECTIVE
XV. SCENARIO FOR A NIGHTMARE
I'm not one of those people who is prone to seeing The Final Collapse every corner, but lately I've been terrible vision of how things could go in the next few years.
It begins with a massive Democratic landslide in the Congressional and Senatorial races this November; the GOP is publicly conceding that they could easily lose 55 seats in the House, and some Dems are gleefully predicting 75. This would leave the GOP with perhaps 125 seats to the Dems' 310.
The economic situation worsens, and the unstoppable Democrat majority imposes all kinds of new controls in '75 and '76. This, of course, makes things even worse.
The Democratic party goes into its '76 convention with approximately half the delegates behind a Kennedy-McGovern style liberal (or perhaps several), and the other half behind Wallace. To avoid tearing the party apart, they "compromise" on that great super-statist, Henry Jackson, who combines the worst aspects of both wings of the party.
The GOP, still struggling under the burden of Watercloset, mounts a half-hearted campaign behind some nebbish. And the public, fed up with the depressed economy (and, mostly unfairly, blaming it on the GOP, despite the Democrat-controlled Congress) turns en masse to Jackson, while re-electing the Democratically-lopsided Congress.
And lo, the U.S. has become, for all practical purposes, a one-party country--with the very worst element of that party in the White House. Controls are piled upon controls. Rioting breaks out. The National Guard is mobilized. The government takes over most of the transportation and communication facilities. Virtually everything is rationed. And, perhaps, to top everything off, Jackson drags us into World War III.
It can happen here. And, I am afraid, it will...unless we can establish the Libertarian Party as a real, viable alternative to the Democrats by 1976. The GOP has had it; even at its best, it was nothing to rave about, and it is weaker today than it has been since Roosevelt's semi-dictatorship.
And if Roosevelt could take a largely free country and turn it into a semi-socialist state, I shudder to think what Henry Jackson could do starting at a point far, far further down the road to slavery than it was in 1932.
Not a pleasant thought, is it? If this scenario disturbs you as much as it does me, then I sincerely suggest that you start working your tails off, right now, to prevent it. Because, like it or not, we, the LP, are America's last, best hope. If fascism comes to America, it will be because we didn't prevent it.
-/- DFN
BITS & PIECES
ST. JOHN QUOTES ROYCE REPORT ON "SPECTRUM"
Libertarian-conservative commentator Jeffrey St. John devoted his portion of the CBS radio program Spectrum to a discussion of The Royce Report, February 2nd. St. John noted that two of the top scorers, Congressman H.R. Gross, and Senator Sam Ervin, would be retiring this year, and voiced his regrets. Copies of the new Royce Report, covering the latter half of the '73 session, are now available from LP National.
KARL BRAY OFFERS SEMINARS ON LAW & TAXES
LP Life Member Karl Bray has announced that he is available to give seminars on legal strategy and tactics for people who want to fight Federal domination over their lives, with special emphasis on taxes and regu- lation. Inquiries should be sent to: Counselor at Law, 150 S. 900 E., Salt Lake City, Utah 84102. Telephone (801)532-1571-
HAGEDORN ATTACKS GOV'T ECONOMIC CONTROLS
George Hagedorn, staff economist for the National Ass'n of Manufacturers, has been turning out a number of excellent columns on the failure of economic controls. You might try to get your local paper to reprint some of these; information is available from NAM, 1776 "F" Street, NW, Washington, DC 20006.
NEW LIFE, LIFE SUSTAINING MEMBERS
We are proud to announce that five people have become Life or Life Sustaining members of National LP since the first of the year; the new Lifers are Dale Wilson of Kansas, Troy Lindsay of Georgia, and Robert Lehman of Ohio. Our first new LS Member is John F. Fox of Pennsylvania; the other has asked that we not announce his name at this time. Next, please?
A NOTE TO NEW READERS
If this is the first issue of LP NEWS you've seen, because you just joined, or received this copy in response to one of our magazine ads, you may be puzzled about the meaning and origin of the Libersign emblem, symbol of the libertarian movement. Put simply, this emblem symbolizes the fact that libertarianism is a new direction for society, which breaks away from and rises above the traditional left-right spectrum. On a two-axis "map" of political ideologies, the arrow points toward the location of maximum economic and social freedom. A full explanation is contained in the article on "Classifying Systems," which is available from National LP; see the enclosed Order Form. Pins in the shape of this emblem are also available from us.
A NOTE ON MATERIAL ORDERS
In order to simplify the transfer of the LP to the next party administration this June, we will be letting our supplies of material run out, starting in May. There will be no Order Form in the May/June issue of LP NEWS, and no material orders will be taken during the month of June. For these reasons, we urge you to stock up on any items you'll be needing this month. As an added incentive, we will send a free copy of Jean Dewees'novel, Beholden to None, to the person who places the largest material order during the month of April (see review, page 5). Tax Day leaflet orders will count double in determining the winner...but remember to send those to West-Berg Enterprises, and not to LP HQ.
"YEAR OF THE JACKPOT" ???
Streakers. Skyrocketing silver prices, as a Texas billionaire tries to corner the market. Political kidnappings. A possible Presidential impeachment. Has the world gone mad? And who could have foreseen it all? For one possible explanation, pick up a copy of Robert Heinlein's sci-fi novelette, Year of the Jackpot, pub- lished back in 1952; it's included in The Menace From Earth, and you might find it entertaining, although it's not to be taken seriously... we hope.
CONVENTION NOTICES
Questions about the 1974 LP Convention in Dallas this June? Here's where to write.
INFORMATION ON DELEGATE ACCREDITATION
Georgiann Trammell, 3734 Drummond, Houston Texas 77025
INFORMATION ON ACCOMMODATIONS, COSTS
Guy Story Brown, 800 E. Elwood, Irving Texas 75061
SUGGESTIONS FOR PLATFORM REVISIONS
Edward E. Clark, 2373 Kenilworth Ave., Los Angeles, California 90039
SUGGESTIONS FOR CONSTITUTION & RULES CHANGES
Bill Westmiller, 448 E. Lancaster Blvd., Lancaster, California 93534
ANNOUNCEMENT OF CHAIRMAN CANDIDACY
LP NEWS, Box 31638, Aurora, Colorado 80011 (include biography, platform, photo.)
LP NEWS is published bi-monthly by the National Office of the Libertarian Party. Items of interest to LP members are welcome. David F. Nolan, Editor. Subscription: $3/6 issues; $5/12 issues.