“Live From Court Street” to interview BTP presidential candidate Charles jay

Jason and Cilla Gatties’ “Live From Court Street” show has been rescheduled.  There will be no show tomorrow, but there will be a special episode on June 25th.

From their site:

We had to cancel the Saturday “Birthday Bash” because Jason actually got a really cool gift, which meant he had to leave town. We apologize for this, but again, we don’t get paid to do this show!

Charles Jay will be our guest this week on a special day & time. We’ll be on for an hour, so get your questions ready for the Boston Tea Party Presidential Nominee.

Happy birthday to Jason from Last Free Voice!

House passes surveillance bill

From MSNBC Breaking News:

WASHINGTON – The House Friday easily approved a compromise bill setting new electronic surveillance rules that effectively shield telecommunications companies from lawsuits arising from the government’s terrorism-era warrantless eavesdropping on phone and computer lines in this country.

The bill, which was passed on a 293-129 vote, does more than just protect the telecoms. The update to the 30-year-old Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act is an attempt to balance privacy rights with the government’s responsibility to protect the country against attack, taking into account changes in telecommunications technologies.

Click here to read the entire article.

George Phillies on accusations about his leadership of LPMass

The following is posted with the permission of its author, George Phillies.

To correct certain misleading statements about Massachusetts and region formation, I offer the following, taken in fair part from my report to my State Committee about what happened (hence, referring to me in third person):

Under LNC By-Laws, states may freely and voluntarily group themselves into regions. If your region has 10% or more of the national membership, it is entitled to one regional representative for every 10% of the membership it has. In mid April, Phillies contacted the other state chairs in the New England, New York, New Jersey and region, proposing arrangements. After a month, there had been no responses. Noting that OR, WA, and ID had severed from the CA region, and that local State Chairs were not interested in talking about region formation, the State Committee advised Phillies that we were interested in a region including New England if it also included the western states. We now advance to the National Convention.

New England, NJ, NY and WV tentatively formed a region. We were invited to join, but we had a small delegation on-scene, it appeared the deal had already been made, and the new region had sufficient people that we had no leverage: They had 10% of the membership. Several plausible Regional Representatives were felt by State Comm members on-scene familiar with the background to be inauspicious choices. (Phillies: Actually, one delegate threatened to strangle me if we joined a region that had either of two specified people as regional representative. On reflection, I realized that I would choose to help.) State Committee members on-scene agreed to decline the invitation. Among other things, there are real drawbacks to belonging to a region whose state chairs are not interested in it. Phillies was instructed by State Committee members on-scene that we could join a region, but the region (i) could not be simply the old NE, NJ, NY states, and (ii) could not include Texas.

Negotiations with OR and WA were somewhat complex. At one point OR was incorrectly led to believe, or so we were told, that we had joined the New England Region, so we drifted out of contact. The southeast states had a double region with two elected Regional Reps, Flood and Barr, but prior to the deadline Florida withdrew, leaving the previously double region with one allowed regional representative. Flood had received more votes than Barr, and Barr withdrew. Florida joined with OR, WA, ID, and HI to form a new region 7. We would have been happy to join this region, and apparently had an invitation to do so, but we learned about the region too late.

We were then told (i) WV joined a different region so NE, NY, NJ needed us in order to form a region, and then separately (ii) New England and points south had formed a double region, so we were not needed, but were invited to join. The Region caucus was simultaneous with Presidential candidates turning in their chits to get into the debate. After learning about (ii), McMahon and Phillies stepped out to find the other state committee members on scene to seek a decision. As soon as we left, the region people were incorrectly told that we had rejected the proposal; they promptly elected a regional representative. At this point Phillies, with the emphatic support of everyone on the MA delegation who knew the out-of-state personalities involved, emphatically declined further invitations to join that region.

For the next two years, we are not a part of any region. Phillies was then asked if he wanted to be elected Regional Alternate for the new Region 7, in which he does not live; he said he was available but that takers in that region should be preferred, and one was chosen.

We are therefore a free independent state, not subservient to any region. While we do not have our own regional representative on the LNC, our legitimate interests are still represented by the At-Large members and the Officers, probably better than in the past.

Reminder: LFV Live! with special guest Angela Keaton

Tonight at 7:30pm EDT, the ever-controversial self-described “Anarchist Bitch” will appear on LFV Live!

Angela Keaton is, of course, a multi-term elected member of the LNC, and in that capacity has repeatedly exposed the Libertarian National Committee, its inner workings, and its actions and practices, much to the chagrin of many of its other members.

Recently, right here on LFV, LNC Secretary Bill Sullentrup repeatedly called her a “brat”, and suggested she resign from the LNC to save them all the “trouble”. When she’s ruffling feathers to that extent, she must be doing something right.

This is a show you won’t want to miss!

New Hampshire formally places Phillies on the ballot; state does not allow replacement of Presidential candidate

George Phillies for President 2008

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Phillies Files Declaration of Intent

Concord, New Hampshire, June 19: Libertarian Party of New Hampshire Presidential candidate George Phillies has filed his candidacy papers with New Hampshire Secretary of State William Gardner. “Being nominated for President is the highest honor a political party can bestow on one of its members,” Phillies said, “and I will do my utmost to show that New Hampshire’s trust is not misplaced.”

Speaking of the National Libertarian Party, which separately nominated a different Presidential candidate, Phillies said: “The New Hampshire Party has been collecting signatures for me since Spring 2007. Unfortunately, the people of New Hampshire in their wisdom do not permit political parties to replace their Presidential candidate. I was chosen as the candidate, and so I must remain.”

Phillies says his campaign will emphasize an immediate end to the Iraq War, termination of warrantless wiretaps of most telephones with criminal prosecution of the wiretappers, and massive cuts in Federal spending of all sorts. “The people of New Hampshire pay far more in Federal taxes than they get back. The only way to fix the system is to leave your hard-earned money where it belongs, in your wallet,” Phillies said.

The New Hampshire Party has already completed petitioning for Phillies and other candidates, including U.S. Senate Candidate Ken Blevens of Bow, New Hampshire, Congressional candidates Robert Kingsbury of Laconia and Chester LaPointe of Swanzey, as well as candidate for Governor Susan Newell of Winchester.

To support the George Phillies campaign, please visit http://ChooseGeorge.org/donation today.

To arrange an interview or obtain a short quote from the candidate, contact:

Carolyn Marbry, Press Director pressdirector@phillies2008.org
(510) 276-3216

George Phillies for President 2008 http://ChooseGeorge.org

Barr Has Bipartisan Appeal…

…at least in Georgia, where the LP ticket is polling at unprecedented levels due to Barr’s notoriety there.

Most interestingly, his 5.6% polling performance pulls strongly from both Democrats (5.0%) and Republicans (7.5%), underscoring the appeal of the Libertarian Party to both sides of the “political spectrum.”

With McCain and Obama polling within the margin of error against each other, the Libertarian Party may be close to attaining the “light switch” power I’ve long advocated it needs — the ability to “flip the switch” towards one old party or the other, and gaining policy compromises and concessions in exchange for how it chooses to flip the switch.

In Georgia, Barr could run hard against McCain on taxes and the war, or against Obama on social issues and the war.

Hat tip to Delaware Libertarian for pointing out the survey.

Present Your Papers, Comrade!

One of the old-fashioned expectations that most Americans had was absolute freedom of movement within the country, without government checkpoints, “paper checks,” or other such nonsense.

Alas, in the era of the New Security State, the “internal passport” once mocked by Americans as a Soviet abomination is becoming a reality for numerous Americans.

For example, if you fly domestically, you used to be able to fly without presenting a government-approved form of ID — albeit with the caveat that you’d be subjected to “more extensive searches.” That option ends this Saturday, when a government-issued REAL ID-style driver’s license or other “official ID” will be required to travel domestically by air.

That’s right — without your government-issued mandatory ID (which often involves the taking of fingerprints, as in Texas, and may soon require biometric information as well), you may not travel long distances domestically.

Lest some Ron Paul states’ “rights” advocates step in, it’s important to note that local government is getting even more draconian than the feds. In numerous cities across the country, including theoretically federally-administered Washington DC, entire neighborhoods are being closed up and blocked — with all traffic being directed through a central checkpoint. Individuals must present a form of ID to “prove” they “belong” there, and their entry and exit is left to the sole discretion of the police. Don’t have your “papers?” You’re not getting in (or out).

These situations beg a few questions to be asked of the security statists:

1) The federal government has instituted a massive, draconian entry and exit requirement for all foreign nationals, requiring photographs and fingerprints to be taken at entry. These new requirements, we’re told, “keep us safe from terrorists and criminals.” So if no terrorists or criminals may enter the country due to this incredible system, why are individuals *already in the USA* subject to these internal passport controls? Didn’t the magical draconian border controls already shut all dangerous people out of the United States?

2) How does an ID check “enhance security?” If one has a piece of plastic with a name and photo on it, how does that ensure that he/she isn’t going to attempt violent behavior? Conversely, who are individuals who value their privacy in terms of movement and activities suddenly “suspicious?”

3) Why should we trust local, state or federal government to protect our privacy rights, when you’re already using these internal passports to violate our constitutional right to freedom of movement between states — not to mention our Fourth Amendment rights to freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures? What form of “probable cause” can be invoked to shut off entire sections of a city, or the country, unless an individual undergoes a draconian search and interrogation?

House approves $165.4 billion for war, with no deadlines for withdrawal

From MSNBC Breaking News:

WASHINGTON – The U.S. House Thursday approved enough new money to wage wars in Iraq and Afghanistan for another year, while abandoning attempts to set deadlines opposed by President Bush for withdrawing American combat troops.

By a vote of 268-155, the House approved $165.4 billion for the two wars, with most of the money going to Iraq. But lawmakers were expected to reduce that funding level to $161.8 billion in a subsequent vote in order to make room for some other spending initiatives.

Click here to read the rest of this article.