Professional Documents
Culture Documents
The LPNM's Candidates As if it wasn't easy enough to run for office, it just got a bit easier.
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It turns out that you can file to be a write-in candidate with just a
Other Groups to Network With, and Their
declaration of candidacy. There's no need to gather signatures on
Events a nominating petition – just print out and sign a delcaration of
Page 3 Blue Cross rate hike: Symptom, not cause candidacy from the Secretary of State's website –
by Paul Gessing, Rio Grande Foundation www.sos.state.nm.us/sos-elections.html – and submit it to the
County Clerk or Secretary of State on Tuesday, 22 June 2010.
Page 4 Idiocracy Rising
by William Norman Grigg The main downside to this is that you won't be listed on the ballot,
and thus will garner significantly fewer votes.
Page 5 Harry Brown, the Movie
Of course, it's ridiculously easy to gather the required signatures to
Page 6 Contacts / Internet ResourcesThe be on the ballot for a State Representative race – there are usually
only 100-200 signatures needed. If you live in Albuquerque, you
Page 7 Administrivia can get these just by walking around your neighborhood with a
The Unanimous Consent Challenge clipboard and some blank nominating petition forms.
Page 8 Enrollment / Renewal Form The Weekly Sedition Returns to Ch.27
The Weekly Sedition will be returning to Albuquerque Comcast
Libertarian Media from New Mexico
Channel 27 on Thursday nights at 8 PM, starting July 1st. For those
(not necessarily endorsed by LPNM) who don't get Channel 27, the show can be viewed over the
The Weekly Sedition – Thursdays at 8 PM internet at the Ch.27 website –
(July – August – September 2010) quoteunquoteinc-biz.doodlekit.com/home/public_access_tv
kcufmedia.xanga.com
A New National Committee for the LP
Hemp TV – Tuesdays at 7PM Over Memorial Day weekend, the LNC hosted the 2010 National
myspace.com/nmhemptv Convention for the LP in St. Louis, Missouri. At that convention, a
new National Committee was elected by the membership –
The One Party State – Wednesdays at 11PM
Contact Lance Klafeta [ lklafeta@yahoo.com ] for details Chair – Mark Hinkle
Vice Chair – Mark Rutherford
Reeferhead – Saturdays at 6PM Secretary – Alicia Mattson
myspace.com/reeferheadtv Treasurer – James Oaksun
The Fringe Element At-Large Representatives
thefringeelement.net / postpubco.com Kevin Knedler David Nolan
William Redpath Wayne Allyn Root
YOUR ADVERTISING IN Mary Ruwart
NEW MEXICO LIBERTY? Region 4 Representative – Norman Olsen of Colorado
Region 4 Alternate – Don Wills of Wyoming
CONTACT THE EDITOR OR Region 4 comprises Arizona, Colorado, Hawaii, Kansas, Montana,
SEE PAGE 7 FOR DETAILS Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming. The LPNM was
previously affiliated with Region 1.
EMAIL mikewb1971@gmail.com
For the full list of the LNC members, go to the requisite page at the
National LP site – lp.org/leadership.
“I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the
government from wasting the labors of the people under the
pretense of taking care of them.”
– Thomas Jefferson
On Saturday, 5 June and Sunday, 6 June, Mark Curtis will be Thursday, June 17, 5-7 PM: The Rio Grande Foundation hosts
staffing a table at the NMGCA Gun Show at the Manuel Lujan Liberty on the Rocks in Albuquerque at the Chama River Brewing
Builidjng at the State Fairgrounds. Company. The guest speaker will be Rob Nikolewski, who will be
taking over Capitol Report New Mexico. For details, see this page –
Dona Ana County – The next scheduled Central Committee riograndefoundation.org/pg_ev_lotr.html
meeting is August 14, 2010 time and place to be annnounced. Any
county Libertarian wanting support in running for political office or Friday, June 18, 12 PM: The Rio Grande Foundation hosts it
having party or political issues that they wish the county party to second annual Lights of Liberty luncheon. This year's featured
address prior to then can call a meeting of the County Central speaker will be Deroy Murdock of National Review Online. For
Committee by gaining the approval of at least half of the Committee details, see this page – riograndefoundation.org/pg_ev_lol.html
members via email or phone request. Saturday, June 26, 1-4 PM: Coordinated National Screening of
Please contact the chair or check the LPDAC website for more Don't Tread On Me! Rise of the Republic. Contact Elisheva Levin at
information – elisheva@spinn.net for more information. Popcorn provided!
Tuesday, June 29, 5-7 PM: The Rio Grande Foundation hosts
lpdacnm@lpnm.us / 575-541-9079 / lpnm.us/dona-ana.
Liberty on the Rocks – Las Cruces at the Cattle Baron Steak &
If you live in a county with an inactive affiliate and want Seafood Restaurant on the 4th Tuesday of every month. Our next
to get involved, contact the county chair. See Page 6 for event will be Tuesday, June 29, 2010. Guest speaker TBA. The
a list of county chairs, campus contacts and Central Cattle Baron will offer happy hour prices and a full menu for food
Committee members. selection. For details, see this page –
riograndefoundation.org/pg_ev_lotrlc.html
Special Events Sunday, July 4, 2 PM – whenever: July 4 Cookout. Contact
Central Committee Meeting – Sunday, 13 June 2010 Elisheva Levin at elisheva@spinn.net for more info. Burgers, hot
dogs and lemonade provided. Bring side dishes, desserts, and
Lunch at 12:00 PM, meeting from 1:00 to 3:00 PM. All Caucus
other drinks to share. NO FIREWORKS ALLOWED due to
members are welcome to attend. County Chairs and Contacts
proximity to the National Forest.
and candidates are encouraged to attend! Location – Quarters
BBQ at 3700 Ellison NW in Albuquerque – see tinyurl.com/27rhyrn Saturday, July 10 and Sunday, July 11: Pistol Class in Farmington
for map and directions. by Cope Reynolds. Contact Milt Cumiford at
milt.cumiford@excelmanufacturing.com for registration papers and
Central Committee Meeting – Sunday, 12 September 2010
more info.
Lunch at 12:00 PM, meeting from 1:00 to 3:00 PM. All Caucus
Wednesday, July 28, Thursday, July 29, and Friday, July 30: The
members are welcome to attend. County Chairs and Contacts
Rio Grande Foundation hosts Dr. Matt Ladner, Vice President of
and candidates are encouraged to attend! Location – Quarters
Research at the Goldwater Institute in Arizona for a presentation of
BBQ at 3700 Ellison NW in Albuquerque – see tinyurl.com/27rhyrn
"Turning Around New Mexico's Public Schools –- The Florida
for map and directions.
Model" in Albuquerque, Las Cruces and Santa Fe. See this page –
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ riograndefoundation.org/pg_ev_ml.html – for details.
The LPNM's Candidates +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
There has recently been a great deal of consternation and concern To make health care more accessible and less costly, we have a
over the rate increase enacted by Blue Cross Blue Shield New competitive, mostly market-based model to follow in car insurance,
Mexico (BCBS). The company, a “mutual” firm which is legally but Congress is taking us in the opposite, more heavily-regulated
obligated to re-invest any profits back into the company, had direction that locks in the third-party-payer model that caused these
originally requested a 24.6 percent rate increase. Then, just as the rate increases in the first place. Now, more than ever, we need
Public Regulation Commission (PRC) was holding public hearings change, but the change we need is to empower individuals to pay
on the issue, an agreement was reached that allowed Blue Cross to for and wisely use limited health care resources.
raise rates by 21 percent this year. Approval of the rate hike, Paul Gessing is the President of New Mexico’s Rio Grande
absent public input, generated a public outcry. Foundation. The Rio Grande Foundation is an independent, non-
But I believe that anger at Blue Cross is misplaced. It is our political partisan, tax-exempt research and educational organization
leaders in Washington and Santa Fe, who have gotten us into this dedicated to promoting prosperity for New Mexico based on
mess and, given the recently-signed health care law in Washington, principles of limited government, economic freedom and individual
are continuing to make the situation worse. The problem we face in responsibility.
New Mexico (and nationwide) is the rapid rise in health care costs.
The truly unfortunate thing is that Washington’s “reform” bill will do
nothing to mitigate this problem and is actually designed to make
the situation worse.
Notably, the rate hike agreement applies to individual plans, but not
group plans. I happen to own an individual health savings account
plan and will be among the 40,000 New Mexicans impacted under
this rate hike (this is a much smaller group than the 825,000 adults
aged 18-64 who are insured in some form of group plan in New
Mexico).
As a result of the PRC decision, my insurance costs will rise
despite the fact that health savings accounts like mine actually
reduce health care costs. In Indiana, for example, the state
government has given government workers a health savings
account option. Participants in the new plan ran up only $65 in cost
for every $100 incurred by their associates under the old coverage.
Not only are these “consumer-driven” plans not encouraged in the
health care bill, the new law is actually going to make consumer-
driven plans like my health savings account less attractive through
additional, onerous rules and regulations.
Consumer-driven plans are just one possible solution, however. In
a competitive health care market, there would be no need for the
PRC to hold hearings on rate hikes, nor there a need for
government-enforced transparency. Take the car insurance
marketplace, for example. There are dozens of companies
competing to provide New Mexicans with the best, lowest cost car
insurance. Why is that? The single biggest difference is that car
owners pay for their insurance and they have incentives to both
shop around and not over-use their insurance.
What can be done? The simple fact is that at this point, if we want
to control health care costs, we need to rely on the courts to
abandon ObamaCare. This is a real possibility as the federal
government has never forced Americans to purchase any product
in the past, so there are real Constitutional questions here.
Obama’s health care plan is doomed to fail because, by mandating
that individuals purchase health insurance, it only reinforces the
third-party payment system and further reduces incentives for
people to be responsible and care what they spend on health care.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"Civilization is the progress toward a society of privacy. The
"Where there is an income tax, the just man will pay more and the
savage's whole existence is public, ruled by the laws of his tribe.
unjust man less on the same amount of income."
Civilization is the process of setting man free from men."
– Plato, The Republic (Book 1)
– Ayn Rand, The Fountainhead
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conventions. I certify that I do not advocate the initiation of force to achieve political or social goals.
Signed _____________________________________________
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$_____ General Fund $_____ Chairman's Fund $_____ Major Player Fund $_____ Win One Fund
Signature: _____________________________________________
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The preceding notices alone should be enough reason to join the Libertarian Party, the only political party working
to increase your freedom.