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Queens Libertarians

Libertarian News, Views, Discussion and Advocacy from Queens County, New York

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LPNY On How to Write-In Larry Sharpe for Governor

From a recent release by new LPNY Chair Andrew Kolstee:

Write-In Larry Sharpe for Governor!
Could This Be the Last Chance for New Yorkers to have a
Nationwide Libertarian candidate on our ballot in 2024?

Fellow Libertarians:

Larry Sharpe earned over 30,000 petition signatures and nearly 100,000 votes for Governor in 2018. According to New York State law at that time, that should have been enough for the Libertarian Party simply to assign him our party line on this year’s gubernatorial ballot.

But then-Gov. Cuomo and his machine devised a plot to deny him and us that earned right. Now it appears we have lost all our court challenges and appeals to keep Larry Sharpe’s name on the printed ballot. This also limits our ability to have a Libertarian candidate for President on the 2024 ballot.

At this point, almost the only way to restore our ability to get the nationally-chosen Libertarian Presidential candidate on the New York ballot in 2024 is if Larry Sharpe gets a minimum of 130,000 write-in votes, likely more to reach the 2% threshold, in the coming month.

This would be a record number of write-in votes by any candidate, but not by much. Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska exceeded 100,000 write-in votes in her successful re-election campaign in 2010. And last November, Mayor Byron Brown of Buffalo won his re-election campaign with over 36,000 write-ins.

Having spent so much money on our ballot-access court battles, we don’t have much to promote Larry Sharpe’s write-in campaign. So we will hope that you, our members and friends and allies, will step up—not with money but with a bit of your time. Just spread the word about this write-in campaign by forwarding this email to as many of your friends as you think might be open to hearing about it.

And who wouldn’t be open to writing in Larry Sharpe for Governor? For the first time since 1946, and the second time since 1872, New Yorkers have only two candidates for Governor to choose from on their printed ballot. The incumbent candidate would continue the wasteful spending, over-taxation, and single-party rule that has driven millions to leave New York. The other candidate supports fraudulent election claims by a former President, and he was willing to tolerate his own campaign’s fraudulent photocopying of 11,000 petition signatures, so as to put him on multiple party lines and thereby crowd out any real third choice on the printed ballot for Governor.

In contrast, Larry Sharpe and Libertarians have consistently fought for you and everyone to have a chance to vote for a variety of minor parties—not just our own. We partnered with the Green Party (very different from us in policy preferences) in a lawsuit to roll back Part ZZZ of Cuomo’s 2020 state budget, which the Legislature approved without committee hearings or debate, and which blocked ballot access for us and the Green Party and numerous other minor parties.

So please, use the sample ballot below as a guide, and share this email widely.

In Liberty,
Andrew Martin Kolstee
Chair, Libertarian Party of New York

 

Judge Nap on the Impact of Dobbs on the Right to Life

The esteemed jurist and libertarian analyst Judge Napolitano critically discusses the effect of the Supreme Court’s recent Dobbs decision on the right to life as it applies to abortion:

 

Growth Hacking Liberty Redux

Reminder– QL is again moving its monthly meeting venue. Join us on Saturday, October 8, 2022 at 12:00 pm (noon) at Eternity Halal Indian Restaurant, 120-35 83rd Ave by Lefferts Blvd in Kew Gardens. Topic will be “Growth Hacking Liberty 2.0” by John Clifton. He will review creative techniques for political movement growth he introduced in remarks on the same matter four years ago, with comments on subsequent events and current new wrinkles. Summary of his previous “growing liberty” concept presentation is on his blog here.  QL ball caps will again be available for new attendees. Details and directions.

 

Gun Rights Vs. Gun Bans, Round Two

Excerpted from another recent gun email discussion, where libertarian philosophy meets gun safety considerations:

Mark Glogowski:

James, You have made a good point about kids under the age of adulthood. We should treat their use of guns the way we treat their use of automobiles. We don’t restrict the type of automobile they use, and we don’t restrict the size or cost of that vehicle. The standard for automobiles is to train those who are young, and once approved, the can drive as long as they do no harm to another. But, all the gun training classes were removed from schools. Laws are being created that restrict and prevent everyone from carrying a gun – no matter how responsible they are. What has happened in society is that society has lowered the standards of expectation concerning what responsible people will do. Apparently it is OK for responsible adults to stand around, helpless, as kids and other adults (teachers) are shot.
It is a fact of human nature that people will live up to society’s lowest expectation, because society’s lowest expectation is what the average person will enforce.  Our society’s lowest expectation, when it comes to the use of guns, is that some people will commit mass shootings.  Since that is the lowest of society’s expectations, adults stand by, helpless, and just let it happen over and over. It will not be until society says enough is enough and adults are allowed to intervene on behalf of would be victims that such shootings will stop. Increase the restrictions on people preventing them from intervening and all you are accomplishing is lowering still the expectations of society.
So, let’s bring guns back into schools and start raising the expectations of society concerning their use. Let’s stop going down the road of safety based on the elimination of personal responsibility.

Steve James:

Mark, you say: “It will not be until society says enough is enough and adults are allowed to intervene on behalf of would be victims that such shootings will stop. . . So, let’s bring guns back into schools . . ” Do you have evidence to validate your assertion? Do you know teachers who are willing and able to comply with your suggestion? I think the US could learn a lot from the Australia and New Zealand’s models: “It is illegal to carry a gun or any weapon in public in Australia, concealed or otherwise.” (Google)

Australia confiscated 650,000 guns. Murders and suicides plummeted.– https://www.vox.com/2015/8/27/9212725/australia-buyback

Gun control: New Zealand shows the way.– https://www.ibanet.org/article/3e4700a8-8a7b-4766-b7cc-f59474f4a894

The Second Amendment is antiquated and does not do what gun fetishists say it does. It is a militia amendment intended to enable states to respond to slave rebellions and Indian uprisings. It needs to be repealed and a serious gun debate needs to take place. I agree “enough is enough.” “Reuters/Ipsos poll of 6,800 Americans in February 2019 found that 69 per cent of respondents supported strong or moderate restrictions on firearms.” (See ibanet article referenced above.) Let’s let democracy handle the issue instead of the Supreme Court, gun lobbyists, and a corrupt Congress.

John Clifton:

Steve’s contention that the Second Amendment (2A) is merely a state militia amendment is belied by the Federalist Papers, 225+ years of US case law, and two recent Supreme Court re-affirmations of it being an INDIVIDUAL right to keep and bear arms (in the Heller and Bruen decisions). Since those two rulings happened in the last 15 years, the understanding that it is a right is not an antiquated, but current view. There would also be no need for 2A to have a “shall not be infringed” clause, since implicit in the theory that 2A meant state-run militias is that it could be freely controlled and infringed upon by those states. According to Bearing Arms, the left is
“wrong about the effectiveness of Australia’s sweeping gun ban. Homicides were already trending down in Australia long before the ban and confiscation efforts took effect, and while it continued to drop for several years afterwards the number of homicides have been increasing again in recent years.

 

Dave Smith On Free Immigration Vs Open Borders

The amazing Martha’s Vineyard episode, where wealthy liberals who were for open borders and being a “sanctuary state” for non-legal immigrants suddenly went all hostile and NIMBY, once a handful of them were brought to their doorstep, has evoked discussion nationwide. Here is podcaster, comedian (and possible 2024 LP candidate for President) Dave Smith on the matter:

 

Queens Libertarians Try Out New Meeting Venues Through the Rest of 2022

In light of unexpected service issues that emerged with Tu Casa, and the apparent end (for now) of the COVID mandates, QL members have decided to test out three different locations for our monthly meetings, then decide on the best one to continue with from 2023 onward. Two of the three remain in the Kew Gardens/Forest Hills area, while one is located in Flushing, and all stay within the basic central region of the borough. Meeting time remains on the second Saturday, at lunch time (12:00 – 2:00 pm).

The October 8 meeting will be held at Eternity Halal Indian Restaurant, and the topic will be “Growth Hacking Liberty 2.0” by John Clifton. He will review creative techniques for political movement growth he introduced in remarks on the same matter four years ago, with comments on subsequent events and current new wrinkles. Eternity is not far from Tu Casa (120-35 83rd Ave by Lefferts Blvd, about a three block walk up from Metropolitan Ave) and is basically right at the Kew Gardens LIRR station, so is accessible by the same two buses (Q10 or Q54). Menu can be checked out here.

The November 12 meeting will be at the “other” OBA Grill at 104-02 Metropolitan Ave in Forest Hills, with the same cuisine as the one in the Queens Blvd area (Mediterranean Grill). Topic will be “Authoritarianism and Democracy” by Robert Luster, which features his exploration of ideologies, and his view as to why libertarianism never seems to arise in countries like China or Russia. Location can be reached by the Q54, and the Q23 (two blocks away), and menu options are here. Both this OBA, and Eternity appear to be quieter facilities than previous venues QL has utilized.

The December 10 meeting, which will once more double as our Christmas or Holiday luncheon, is tentatively planned to be at the Lake Pavilion Chinese Restaurant in Flushing at 60-15 Main St (NE corner of Main St and Horace Harding Expressway/LIE). Venue is accessible by the Q44 and Q88 buses, as both stop at that corner, and their menu is here. No speaker is scheduled for this social year-end gathering, but it will serve for QL to celebrate the end of Michelle Yaskel’s annual toy drive, and to decide on our permanent meeting location. As always, “details and directions” for our meetings can be found on our meetup events page. 

UPDATE: Upon further review, Lake Pavilion will not be our December location. QL will meet at OBA Grill on Metropolitan Ave, details to be announced.

 

Libertarian Club of NY Abandons Sharpe, Endorses Zeldin for Governor

Note: The Libertarian Club of New York (LCNY), an independent political club licensed by the state of NY,* has announced it is endorsing GOP candidate Lee Zeldin for Governor, as a “Plan B” in light of LPNY candidate Larry Sharpe failing to make it on the ballot. The club did so despite the Zeldin campaign having participated in submitting over 13,000 fake petition signatures to BOE to also get on the ballot on a separate third party line. Sharpe himself is continuing his campaign on a write-in basis following the appeal hearing on the issue on September 9, where the judge basically ignored all of his arguments (including constitutional ones) for LPNY to be restored to official ballot status. QL continues to support LPNY nominee Sharpe, who has provided an update on his situation in the video below.

*As LCNY lists no staff or members on its site, from its rhetoric Queens Libertarians suspects the group was started by “the Tarnoff/Donoyan group” from Long Island who smeared and railroaded QL/original LPQC out of its charter in 2016 as a chapter of LPNY. It as well disrupted other chapters at that time, and still wants the state organization to return to its bylaws apparatus of 2018, whose rules it gamed to revoke then-LPQC’s charter. For the record, QL has not pursued having a state license as it does not regard itself as a political club, but more as a party chapter in exile, that is eventually transitioning into a PAC. Excerpt from the LCNY release:

Fellow Libertarian,

As you may already know, the Libertarian Party of New York lost automatic ballot access when it lost official party status, after the November 2020 elections. Now, it must petition as an independent nominating body in order to obtain ballot access. It did not collect enough signatures to gain ballot access for NYS Governor. It is not included in the NYS Board of Elections listing http://publicreporting.elections.ny.gov/WhoFiled/WhoFiled. Thus, there will not be a Libertarian Party candidate for Governor of New York State on the ballot in the November 2022 election. It should go without saying that the probability of that decision being overturned is low.

Rather than just give up and passively accept a Kathy Hochul reelection, let us consider the best alternative. We can identify the most libertarian of the opposition candidates and endorse him. You will recall that we, the Libertarian Club of New York, put the question of a gubernatorial endorsement to our members in a poll. The result was a tie between Lee Zeldin and Rob Astorino. Now that Lee Zeldin has won his party’s primary election, he has the club’s unconditional endorsement. Please note that we have endorsed one specific candidate for one specific office. We have no position on any other candidates of any party who are running for any office. This endorsement has been in the works for many months and we are now ready to go with a detailed plan of action. We intend to publicize our endorsement far and wide. If the election is close, the libertarian voting bloc could wield the decisive votes…

 

Sharpe Urges “Pack the Court” Appeal Effort This Friday In Albany

This court appeal is THE MOST IMPORTANT EVER. I NEED you to show up if you can make it to Albany.

Date: Friday, September 9th
Time: 9:30am
Location: Robert Abrams Building, Empire Plaza, 5th Floor, State Street (near corner of Park Street), Albany New York

The last court case didn’t go our way in part because the judge didn’t understand—or worse, DIDN’T CARE about why ballot access is so important to democracy in New York and around the country. If we don’t get on the ballot, this will be the first election in almost 80 years where only two candidates appear on the ballot. More than that, 2024 may be the first Presidential election where no third party will have 50 state ballot access in a really long time.

Come to ALBANY THIS FRIDAY. Show your support. Send a MESSAGE to the JUDGE that our VOICES MUST BE HEARD in this election. It matters.

If you can’t make it, ASK ONE FRIEND TO SHOW UP IN YOUR PLACE. We need to fill the room with people who love liberty.

As always, we need your help too. If you responded to the last email, THANK YOU. We will finish reaching out to people by Monday.

Right now, we need DRIVERS. The campaign will cover gas & tolls. I just need help getting from point A to point B. Additionally, we always need help with coordinating new events, social media, content creation, and social media. Can you help?

Register to Volunteer Here

We need FUNDING. As you know, fundraising has been slow since the last court decision, and we need money to keep moving forward with the appeal, and with our WRITE-IN CAMPAIGN. Stand with me to save New York before it’s too late.

Click here and send whatever you can

In liberty,

Larry Sharpe

 

Have Middle Class Families Been “Tricked and Fleeced?” Taleb on Student Loan Bailouts

Zerohedge columnist Tyler Durden cites a provocative economist on Biden’s recent announcements about student loan forgiveness:

Economist Nassim Nicholas Taleb has slammed President Joe Biden’s student loan debt bailout plan.

In a brief Twitter thread, the author of the bestselling books that deal with the extreme impact of rare events and argues for systems to be built “anti-fragile”, argued that the cost of Biden’s “debt jubilee should be borne by universities, not taxpayers.”

The economist went on to say that “middle class parents were tricked & fleeced” by the implicit promise that a U.S. college degree would guarantee a good job.

“If a U.S. college degree appears to be useless, it is by design,” he said, arguing that liberal arts degrees amount to “training for upper class free men (liber) who were above having a profession.”

Vocational and professional schools, on the other hand, are meant to prepare people to take on jobs that pay money, he added.

“You learn to earn $$ in vocational or professional schools.”

Taleb’s tweets prompted a number of responses on both sides of the ideological debate but this one from @Ofer_Rubinseemed to sum things up well for many…

The White House says Biden’s student loan forgiveness scheme is estimated to cost $24 billion per year, or $240 billion over a 10-year period. Projections by the Penn Wharton Budget Model and the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget put the figure at between $330 billion and $500 billion over a decade, respectively.

Under Biden’s sweeping forgiveness plan, taxpayers will absorb up to $10,000 in outstanding student debt for individual borrowers earning less than $125,000 per year or $250,000 for married joint filers.

Taleb joins a growing chorus of both Republicans and Democrats that have panned the debt wipeout as unfair to people who sacrificed to pay off their student loans or never racked them up in the first place but now have to foot the bill for other people’s debts.

Taleb did not weigh in on the fairness of the forgiveness scheme itself but aimed his criticism chiefly on the U.S. education industry, but as Tom Ozimek writes at The Epoch Times, Taleb’s remarks that universities – rather than taxpayers – should bear the cost of the student debt jubilee dovetails with the view that it’s unfair for America’s working class taxpayers who didn’t go to college to have to pay for the student loans of those who racked up debt for advanced degrees that have proven of little value on the job market.

 

“We Have to Keep Fighting”–Larry Sharpe Update

Sharpe provides the latest on the battle to restore the LPNY’s ballot status, and his gearing up for a write-in campaign in his race for Governor:

We Have to Keep Fighting. Who’s In?

@thelarrysharpe ♬ International Harvester – Craig Morgan

The judge ruled against us, but the war isn’t over. We identified flaws in his ruling, and we’re working on our appeal to fight for ballot access. In the meantime, I’m back on the road!

We’re moving forward with the court appeal, and a WRITE IN CAMPAIGN. This weekend, I travelled all over New York State and visited with farmers, small business owners, and everyday people like you and me. New York is a disaster, and we need to turn it around. Can you help?

Right now, we need volunteers. Most urgently, we need people who can cut up videos into clips and do very basic editing, and posting to social media. We also need people who can work on setting up events from now until November.

Register to Volunteer Here 

If you don’t have the time, then we could use your money. As you know, fundraising has been slow since the court decision. We’ve got bills to pay, court costs, and a campaign to see through to the end. Stand with me to save New York before it’s too late.

Click here and send whatever you can  

In liberty,

Larry Sharpe

 

Corrupt FBI Connection Between the Whitmer Fake Kidnapping and the Jan. 6 Fake Insurrection?

Did the same senior FBI agent coordinate both the bogus ‘fednapping’ of the Michigan Governor, and the mostly FBI-staged provocateur activity in DC on January 6? Was the point of both ops to smear or entrap people, so as to cast all pro-liberty protestors as violent extremists? Inquiring minds, such as (formerly OAN) online commentator Liz Wheeler, want to know (update–Wheeler has also commented on the verdict just in on the re-trial):

 

Cookinham On His New Book About Atlas Shrugged

Join us on Saturday, September 10, 2022 at 12:00 pm (noon) at Tu Casa Spanish/Peruvian Restaurant (119-05 Metropolitan Ave in Kew Gardens, New York) to hear author and tour guide Fred Cookinham speak on his new book about Objectivist and libertarian icon Ayn Rand, and her defining masterpiece. “My latest book,” writes Cookinham, is “Atlas Shrugged, Line by Line: Commentary and Study Guide to the Novel that has Inspired Millions.” He will explain “How I came to write it. How it differs from my previous books. How it relates to my walking tours.” His presentation will be followed by extensive discussion of Ayn Rand and her legacy.

Details and Directions