Document:New York Newsletter June 2000 Free New York

FREE NEW YORK June 2000

CONTENTS

Inside This Issue

1.) Clifton Receives US Senate Nod

2.) "NY Libertarians Spring Into Summer"

3.) Five Freedoms for the 21st Century

4.) Campaigning for Freedom

CLIFTON RECEIVES US SENATE NOD

John Clifton won the Libertarian Party of New York's nomination for U.S. Senate at the party's convention on April 29. Over 70 people attended the LPNY convention at the Royal Regency Hotel in Yonkers. Clifton defeated three other contenders for the nomination: Donald Silberger, Marc Romain and Thomas Loughlin, Jr. He won the nomination on the third ballot when he finally obtained the 2/3 majority necessary to nominate him.

Clifton is a Navy veteran who currently lives in Queens. He works as a drug counselor in Bedford- Stuyvesant. He is the first African-American the party has ever nominated for statewide office. He said that he will portray the choice between Hillary Clinton and Rudy Giuliani as a choice between a nanny state and a police state. Mayor Giuliani, of course, has since dropped out of the race.

Party Elections

The party also elected members of the State Committee for the coming year. Richard Cooper was elected as chair; Blay Tarnoff and Audrey Cappozzi were re-elected as vice-chairs. Caryn Cohen was re-elected secretary and John Clifton was re-elected treasurer. Brad Arter, John Ayling, Robert Goodman, Bonnie Scott and Donald Silberger were elected as at-large members of the committee.

Two of the contenders for the Libertarian presidential nomination addressed the convention. Barry Hess said that he is in "a no-compromise mode" when it comes to libertarian principles and that "Only one who can see the invisible can do the impossible."

Harry Browne said, "We are going to win eventually because we have the strongest political message." He also said that he hoped to have a series of 30 and 60 second TV ads ready in May. There will be ads on Social Security, the war on drugs and the income tax.

Browne also said that the Zogby polls have started including 3rd party candidates as an option.

Steve Dasbach, the LP National Director, said that every dollar that LPNY spends this year to help get the presidential candidate on the ballot will be matched by national LP in 2002 to help get the gubernatorial candidate on the ballot. Over $4000 was raised at the convention for the petition drive and the campaign.

Prof. John Lott, Jr.

John Lott, Jr. was the speaker after lunch. Lott is an economist and a Yale research scholar. He is the author of the book More Guns, Less Crime. He said that guns are used two million times per year to thwart crimes, and 98% of the time shots are never fired. He also talked about the myths that have arisen about guns and crime. One of them is that passive action is the safest thing to do when confronted by a criminal. That is true only if you compare passive action to all forms of active resistance. Some forms of active resistance, such as brandishing a gun, are much safer than passive action.

Steven Landsburg, author of "The Armchair Economist" and "Fair Play" was among the afternoon speakers. He talked about what parents teach their kids and what kids can teach parents. "Nobody teaches their kids that it's okay to take toys away from another kid who has more toys," he said, "and nobody deals with a schoolyard bully by telling him to steal a little less each week."

Reginald Jones spoke about "hip-hop entreprenuership". Jones, an African-American, who grew up in the south Bronx, said, "Freedom is the cure for racism." He said that the mainstream black leadership draws its power from the government, and thus is opposed to real change because it would destroy their power. "The problem black people have is not racism," he told the audience. "It's socialism."

"NY LIBERTARIANS SPRING INTO SUMMER"

by Richard A. Cooper, Chair LPNY 2000 - 2001

The Libertarian Party of New York is on the move. We had a great convention that started generating publicity before it was held (see New York Times, profile on John Clifton 4/26/00 by John Tierney). Our nomination of LPNY Treasurer John Clifton went out on the Associated Press (AP) wire going to 2200 outlets nationwide. We know that stories appeared on April 30th in The New York Times, Buffalo News, and Journal-News (did it appear in your newspaper?), highlighting our nomination of John Clifton for US Senate. The same great convention in Yonkers elected me your new State Chair. Thank you.

My priority and the theme of my campaign was "Making A Difference in New York." We can make a difference in New York--and we already have. The Town of North Hempstead is trying to seize St. Luke's Pentecostal Church in New Cassel (Nassau County) by eminent domain. As Nassau LP Chair, I rallied to their defense. Our efforts bore fruit -- the US House of Representatives passed the amendment to the housing bill on April 6th sponsored by Ron Paul (R-TX) and Carolyn Kilpatrick (D-MI) barring the use of federal funds to seize religious institutions. It is expected that this will become law.

A victory brought about by the Libertarian Party of New York, which had inspired it and proposed it.

The struggle on behalf of St. Luke's continues. I suggest that we make fighting eminent domain cases a principal part of our arsenal for freedom. It is morally sound and politically beneficial -- an ideal combination.

Our top priority this summer is putting our Presidential and Senatorial (John Clifton) candidates on the ballot. We must get 15,000 signatures statewide with 100 in each of half the Congressional districts. In practice, to guard against possible challenges we need to get at least 25,000 signatures.You will get a mailing after our convention July 4th weekend with petitions and instruction sheets. Please go out and get those signatures. Copy the petitions for yourself and others. The more you get yourself the less we will have to rely on paid petitioners -- the more we can spend on building a vibrant, growing Libertarian Party of New York -- your Libertarian Party of New York. If you are in a position to go out and get substantial numbers of signatures but cannot do so for free, please contact our petition coordinator -- Jeff Russell. (JRuss1776@aol.com or 518/371-3641) The first day to gather petitions is July 11th and the first day to file with the Board of Elections is August 22.

Could you be a Libertarian candidate for office in 2000? Yes, there is still time to decide, but you need to hurry. New Yorkers will be electing Representatives to the US House, New York State Senators and Assembly Representatives, besides various local offices. The same petition period applies. If you are interested, please call 5l6/746-5769 and give me details.

Where chartered (county or multi-county) organizations exist, they will decide whom to endorse. Where there are none, the State Committee will decide. Organizations exist in Suffolk, Nassau, Queens, Brooklyn, Hudson Valley, Capital District (Albany), Monroe (Rochester, Erie/Niagara (Buffalo) and Central NY (Syracuse).

Organizing new areas is a priority. If you live in the above areas please see the contact information elsewhere in LPNY. If you live somewhere else, please call me at 516/746-5769 or email me at nylibertarian@hotmail.com, or write Libertarian Party of New York, PO Box 728, Bellport, NY 11713, Attn: Chapter Development.

How can you help LPNY? Be a candidate, county campaign coordinator for petitioning or statewide campaigns. Organize a new county or multi-county organization. Attend your local meetings. Write your newspapers, radio or tv stations, civic organizations, chambers of commerce and so forth about John Clifton, the Libertarian Party of New York's candidate for US Senate in 2000 and the LP in general. If you are active in an organization, try to get them to invite John Clifton or other Libertarians to speak.

Send money. Ask people to send money. We need to advertise to obtain votes and members. We have been successful at garnering publicity, but you can never solely rely on publicity to get the word out.

We can be as successful as you help us to be. As Chair, I am dedicated to an LPNY that Makes A Difference, where the media asks us what we think and where politicians wonder where we will strike next. With your efforts, your money, your enthusiasm and your commitment this is possible.

FIVE FREEDOMS FOR THE 21ST CENTURY

by John Clifton, LPNY Candidate for US Senate

We need a culture of liberty to displace the culture of tyranny that exploded into full fruition in the last century. I submit the following humble measures to move in a pro-liberty direction to start the new millenium:

Tax Freedom

The income tax, and all other taxes for that matter, constitutes a double assault on liberty. All income, payroll, and estate taxes should be sunset.

Every American is either a past or present welfare recipient, considering the vast array of direct and indirect subsidy programs out there. The culture of dependency is not consistent with a culture of liberty; personal and corporate welfare commits billions in extorted funds that could be more justly distributed on a voluntary basis to private charities, to address any 'safety net' issues.

Gun Freedom

We need gun freedom, that is, a repeal of the culture of control freaks, and a restoration of gun rights.

Gun control equals Gun confiscation equals rights confiscation; if you cannot freely keep and bear arms, you cannot freely practice self-government.

Drug Freedom

I think that as with alcohol, the health and behavioral problems associated with substance abuse are separate from the crime issues. Just as the crime issue associated with alcohol prohibition went away after prohibition ended, the crime issue with drugs will also fade once drug prohibition ends, although the health problems will remain. The drug war is also the most devastating weapon being used by the state to eliminate the basic civil liberties of all Americans, and adds to the "Incarceration Nation" that has imprisoned tens of thousands based on non-violent offenses.

Personal Freedom

We need personal freedom in a time dominated by mattress-tag moralists, and database-armed privacy invaders. We must oppose any and all assaults on our financial privacy, medical privacy, and identity via centralized databases.

As a Christian Libertarian, I affirm many of the controversial behaviors under this category to be indeed immoral, but it does not follow they are therefore subject to sanction by civil government. I feel the best way to introduce such freedoms is through a localist approach, where local communities are encouraged to freely choose to decriminalize prostitution, gambling, drugs, etc. Those who perceive they are injured (reduced property values, increased crime) would have the freedom to relocate to communities exercising opposite tendencies.

Peace & Freedom

When I raised my hand and made an oath to serve the Navy, I pledged to defend my country's interests in war, not NATO's, not the UN's, not the EU's, not any international bureaucracy or internationalist interest.

We must end the urge to play 'superpower' (read policeman). The job of the military is to defend our borders, not to initiate force abroad; fifty years after WWII and ten years after the Cold war, it is time to bring home our troops and shrink our forces to a level to protect our country alone.

Contact/Donations to:

Elect Clifton Inc. 164-01B 89th Ave #110 Jamaica, NY 11432 (877) 407-5493 clifton2000@ureach.com

Brief intros to some of our candidates CAMPAIGNING FOR FREEDOM

Robert "Bo" Missonis Candidate for State Senate

Mr. Missonis has just finished his second year as an eighth grade Social Studies teacher from the Central Bronx. He plans to demonstrate to his students democracy in action and feels that it is important to get younger people interested in and excited by politics and discourse. Having spent this past year debating his students on a wide variety of subjects, he wants to demonstrate to them that even with "soft" money and entrenched political parties, any person can rise to have his voice heard.

Bo Missonis has been a Libertarian since writing a term paper on the LP while in high school. He will focus the attention of his campaign to three major issues: taxes, education, and the legalization of drugs. One of his students summarized his campaign by saying, "So you believe in common sense?" "This is exactly what my campaign is promoting," claims Mr. Missonis, "a government that runs using its common sense to do what is best for its people."

To contact Mr. Missonis:

Robert Missonis 2503 Hughes Ave. Apt 4C Bronx N.Y. 10458

718-563-3869

E-mail: missonis@erols.com

Bob Armstrong Candidate for 8th CD

Mr Armstrong describes himself as "an independently middle-class 55 year old bachelor." His total assets are about equal to two years salary of a US Congresscritter ($141,000/yr). He claims to have no accumulated Social Security benefits.

Having a brain-damaged brother, he has worked very hard to make sure his brother does not have to depend on the State for his welfare. Mr. Armstrong is also known to host memorable Mid-Winter parties, open to everyone.

He will be vying for NY's 8th US Congressional District against the incumbent, Jerrold Nadler. The main issue of his campaign will be "the Restoration of HONOR to the governance of our piece of this Capital of the World."

"If I get 100,000 votes, we win," claims Mr. Armstrong. "With John Clifton for Senate, we have opportunities for lots of synergies. Your dollars will have great leverage concentrated in my district of 600,000 fellow citizens."

To contact Mr. Armstrong:

Bob Armstrong 42 Peck Slip #4B New York, NY 10038 212-285-1864 E-mail: bob@cosy.com http://www.boba-in-y2k.org

Bill Bombard Candidate for 109th AD

Mr. Bombard is currently a Mental Health Counselor; divorced, with two daughters.

A six year veteran of the U.S. Army, he received an Honorable Discharge in 1987.

He is a graduate of Adirondack Community College and the University of Maryland, with a B.S. in Business Management.

Bill Bombard is active in numerous civic and political groups and advocacy causes including Chairman of Citizens for Constitutional Government.

His main issues will be legal reform and political reform.

Among Bombard's proposed reforms are: repealing the Family Court Act and the creation of citizen advisory and investigative boards for the legal profession.

Politically, he would like to see easier access for independent candidates and a reform of the primary system.

As for local issues, he would eliminate the trash plant problem from public financing and dissolve the Adirondack Park Agency,

Last but not least, he plans on having fun!

To contact Mr. Bombard:

Bill Bombard PO Box 882 Glens Falls, NY 12801 (518) 743-0108 E-mail: bombard109@aol.com

Other LPNY candidates needing your support are:

Tim Wehner 2nd Congressional District

Scott Jeffrey 15th Congressional District

Adam Martin 3rd Assembly District