Table of Contents:
Government phone, Internet snooping demands immediate, dramatic downsizing of all spy agencies, repeal of Patriot Act, FISA, NDAA
The National Security Agency (NSA) is currently collecting the records U.S. customers of Verizon under a top secret court order issued in April. It is requiring Verizon to give the NSA information on all telephone calls in its system — and also demanding Verizon’s silence on the order.
The secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court granted the order to the FBI on April 25, giving the government unlimited authority to obtain the data for a specified three-month period ending on July 19.
In addition, the Washington Post reports that the NSA and the FBI are tapping directly into the servers of nine leading U.S. Internet companies: Microsoft, Yahoo, Google, Facebook, PalTalk, AOL, Skype, YouTube, and Apple. Under a program called PRISM, they’re extracting audio and video chats, photographs, emails, documents, and connection logs that enable government analysts to trace a user’s network of associates.
“How many violations of the Bill of Rights will it take for civil libertarians to abandon their support of a president who has not only continued — but escalated — the sins of the Bush administration?” asked Geoffrey J. Neale, chair of the Libertarian Party.
The FBI/NSA’s broad surveillance of domestic calls is allegedly authorized by the Patriot Act and by 2008 reforms of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Then–U.S. Sen. Barack Obama voted in favor of the reforms.
“Full repeal of FISA, the Patriot Act and the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) and massive downsizing of federal spy agencies is the only answer,” said Neale. “Not maybe. Not later. Now. This will stop the incremental yet rapid decline of our privacy and civil liberties, put a check on government power, and help to ensure that every American is afforded due process and justice if charged with a crime.”
Read at LP.org!
Why don’t Democrats (and most Republicans) apologize to the American people when the stock market goes up?
“So, after an almost uninterrupted bull market since March 2009 and six consecutive months of stock market gains, why haven’t politicians who are against any kind of privatization of Social Security apologized to the American people?” asks William Redpath, Libertarian National Committee member and a former National Chairman, who is a licensed CPA in Virginia and a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA).
Recent reports released by the Congressional Research Service state that the Social Security “Trust Fund” will become insolvent within the next 20 years. With no accumulated assets, it relies on payroll taxes to make payments to today’s retirees.
“More than two thirds of workers pay more in payroll taxes than the individual income tax. That is money that is forcibly taken from them by the government that they could invest to build real wealth over the course of their working lives, or money that could be spent to make their lives better today. Instead, workers are forced into a system in which their payroll taxes are immediately given to current retirees or spent by the government in other ways.
“People should be free to keep their payroll taxes and use those funds as they see fit. If they choose to save and invest, it doesn’t have to be in the stock market. It could be in more conservative investments. However, the stock market has been the best investment over the long run, and attempts by politicians to demonize it harm the American people,” Redpath said.
Read the rest at LP.org!
LP joins court case to remove limits on political speech
The Libertarian Party has always stood firmly in favor of the fundamental right to freedom of speech and freedom of the press represented by the First Amendment to the Constitution. A right to free speech is nearly meaningless if it's not accompanied by the right to pay for the dissemination of one's views, which is why the LP platform calls for "the repeal of all laws which restrict voluntary financing of election campaigns."
McCutcheon v. FEC would reaffirm both the freedom of speech and the freedom of association in the context of political discourse, by removing the limit on individual and corporate direct contributions to political campaigns. Deregulating and repealing campaign finance laws are central to the Libertarian Party's advocacy of constitutional rights and a small, accountable government.
Read the rest at LP.org!
Most Americans want small government, says LP Executive Director Carla Howell
"The Democrat and Republican politicians are no different," said Howell. "But the people who support them, the rank-and-file Republicans, are very much like Libertarians, and some Democrats are as well. Most Americans, across the board, want less government. They think government is too powerful, they think government's doing too much, and they think government is spending too much. And that's what the Libertarian Party is here for — to advocate to expressly reduce government power, government intrusion, government spending, and government foreign meddling."
Howell pointed out that politicians habitually use language that conceals their true intentions, misleading the voters who believe that government is far too large and powerful to support parties and political leaders to provide more of the same failed policies. Only the Libertarian Party has a consistent message of slashing government spending, shrinking debt and deficits, and eliminating the laws and bureaucracies that interfere with people’s lives and livelihoods.
Read the rest at LP.org!
Libertarian Bill Slantz calls to end DHS, TSA, EPA, DEA, IRS in MO congressional race
Bill Slantz,
LP Missouri
Candidate for
Congress
"If elected, I will immediately sponsor legislation to eliminate the DHS (they have served their purpose), the TSA (let the airlines take care of their own security), the EPA, the DEA, and the IRS," Slantz wrote. "Also, I will immediately sponsor legislation to cut the budget of every other federal agency by 10 percent each year over the next four years."
Read the rest at LP.org!
Please donate today to the Libertarian Party today. Shrink government — expand liberty.
2600 Virginia Ave, N.W. Suite 200, Washington D.C. 20037
Content not authorized by any candidate or candidate committee.
Government phone, Internet snooping demands immediate, dramatic downsizing of all spy agencies, repeal of Patriot Act, FISA, NDAA
The National Security Agency (NSA) is currently collecting the records U.S. customers of Verizon under a top secret court order issued in April. It is requiring Verizon to give the NSA information on all telephone calls in its system — and also demanding Verizon’s silence on the order.
The secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court granted the order to the FBI on April 25, giving the government unlimited authority to obtain the data for a specified three-month period ending on July 19.
In addition, the Washington Post reports that the NSA and the FBI are tapping directly into the servers of nine leading U.S. Internet companies: Microsoft, Yahoo, Google, Facebook, PalTalk, AOL, Skype, YouTube, and Apple. Under a program called PRISM, they’re extracting audio and video chats, photographs, emails, documents, and connection logs that enable government analysts to trace a user’s network of associates.
“How many violations of the Bill of Rights will it take for civil libertarians to abandon their support of a president who has not only continued — but escalated — the sins of the Bush administration?” asked Geoffrey J. Neale, chair of the Libertarian Party.
The FBI/NSA’s broad surveillance of domestic calls is allegedly authorized by the Patriot Act and by 2008 reforms of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Then–U.S. Sen. Barack Obama voted in favor of the reforms.
“Full repeal of FISA, the Patriot Act and the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) and massive downsizing of federal spy agencies is the only answer,” said Neale. “Not maybe. Not later. Now. This will stop the incremental yet rapid decline of our privacy and civil liberties, put a check on government power, and help to ensure that every American is afforded due process and justice if charged with a crime.”
Read at LP.org!
“So, after an almost uninterrupted bull market since March 2009 and six consecutive months of stock market gains, why haven’t politicians who are against any kind of privatization of Social Security apologized to the American people?” asks William Redpath, Libertarian National Committee member and a former National Chairman, who is a licensed CPA in Virginia and a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA).
Recent reports released by the Congressional Research Service state that the Social Security “Trust Fund” will become insolvent within the next 20 years. With no accumulated assets, it relies on payroll taxes to make payments to today’s retirees.
“More than two thirds of workers pay more in payroll taxes than the individual income tax. That is money that is forcibly taken from them by the government that they could invest to build real wealth over the course of their working lives, or money that could be spent to make their lives better today. Instead, workers are forced into a system in which their payroll taxes are immediately given to current retirees or spent by the government in other ways.
“People should be free to keep their payroll taxes and use those funds as they see fit. If they choose to save and invest, it doesn’t have to be in the stock market. It could be in more conservative investments. However, the stock market has been the best investment over the long run, and attempts by politicians to demonize it harm the American people,” Redpath said.
Read the rest at LP.org!
The Libertarian Party has always stood firmly in favor of the fundamental right to freedom of speech and freedom of the press represented by the First Amendment to the Constitution. A right to free speech is nearly meaningless if it's not accompanied by the right to pay for the dissemination of one's views, which is why the LP platform calls for "the repeal of all laws which restrict voluntary financing of election campaigns."
McCutcheon v. FEC would reaffirm both the freedom of speech and the freedom of association in the context of political discourse, by removing the limit on individual and corporate direct contributions to political campaigns. Deregulating and repealing campaign finance laws are central to the Libertarian Party's advocacy of constitutional rights and a small, accountable government.
Read the rest at LP.org!
"The Democrat and Republican politicians are no different," said Howell. "But the people who support them, the rank-and-file Republicans, are very much like Libertarians, and some Democrats are as well. Most Americans, across the board, want less government. They think government is too powerful, they think government's doing too much, and they think government is spending too much. And that's what the Libertarian Party is here for — to advocate to expressly reduce government power, government intrusion, government spending, and government foreign meddling."
Howell pointed out that politicians habitually use language that conceals their true intentions, misleading the voters who believe that government is far too large and powerful to support parties and political leaders to provide more of the same failed policies. Only the Libertarian Party has a consistent message of slashing government spending, shrinking debt and deficits, and eliminating the laws and bureaucracies that interfere with people’s lives and livelihoods.
Read the rest at LP.org!
Bill Slantz,
LP Missouri
Candidate for
Congress
"If elected, I will immediately sponsor legislation to eliminate the DHS (they have served their purpose), the TSA (let the airlines take care of their own security), the EPA, the DEA, and the IRS," Slantz wrote. "Also, I will immediately sponsor legislation to cut the budget of every other federal agency by 10 percent each year over the next four years."
Read the rest at LP.org!
Please donate today to the Libertarian Party today. Shrink government — expand liberty.2600 Virginia Ave, N.W. Suite 200, Washington D.C. 20037
Content not authorized by any candidate or candidate committee.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please leave a comment. All that we ask is that you keep it civil and clean. Thanks.