Email from LPHQ. Posted to IPR by Paulie.
An Urgent Message from the Libertarian Party:
Dear friend,
Yesterday I invited you to a “Tea Party.”
Today I’m urging you to bring a gift.
You see, we just unveiled about an hour ago the “Libertarian Party Prosperity Agenda.”
Rooted in the Libertarian Party Platform, it’s a common sense legislative program that Barack Obama and the Republicans aren’t going to like.
It ends the income tax and abolishes the IRS.
It adopts a Balanced Budget Amendment to the Constitution, and it balances the budget by cutting spending, not borrowing or taxing.
It outlaws corporate welfare and bailouts.
And you can download it, print out copies and bring it to tomorrow’s Tea Party by going to http://www.lp.org/files/Prosperity_Plan_Layout_1.pdf
.
You see, the Libertarian Party is America’s only party that believes in lower taxes, smaller government and more freedom.
Not only are we proud to say that, and not only do elected Libertarians actually cut taxes and spending because it’s what they believe in — but now you can share it with your family, friends, neighbors and fellow freedom activists.
So please go to http://www.lp.org to read the Libertarian Party Prosperity Plan for yourself and print it out.
And remember, when invited to a Tea Party it is always proper to bring a gift.
With optimism,
Donny Ferguson
Director of Communications
Libertarian National Committee
[email protected]
https://independentpoliticalreport.com/2009/04/applicants-sought-for-lnc-vacancy/
Nothin’ about bringin’ home those troops we pay for stationed all around the world. Surely someone can see that they are part of a larger corporate welfare project.
I just got this forwarded to me off the state chairs list. Can someone with posting privileges make this a separate thread?
——————–
Dear LNC Members,
We have vacancy on the LNC. Lee Wrights effectively resigned by not maintaining his Sustaining Membership in the LP, which Article 8, Section 4 of our Bylaws require as a necessary condition of LNC service. Lee became a Sustaining Member on April 7, 2008 and expired last week.
If Lee reestablishes his Sustaining Membership before the July meeting, we would have the option of selecting him to fill the vacancy.
Attached below is the notice I sent to Lee earlier this evening.
Meanwhile, I am copying the state chairs on this message should any Sustaining Member wish to apply for the seat. Please direct applicants to me at [email protected].
Bob Sullentrup, Secretary
Libertarian National Committee
From: Bob Sullentrup [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Tuesday, April 14, 2009
To: Lee Wrights At Large
Cc: [email protected]
Subject: Notice of Vacancy
April 14, 2009
Dear Lee,
One of the duties of LNC Secretary is to keep the LNC’s official membership roll. Article 8, Section 4 of our Bylaws mandates a necessary condition of serving on the LNC is to be a Sustaining Member. I regret I must inform you that your Sustaining Membership lapsed on April 7, 2009, making you ineligible to serve on the LNC. Accordingly, on April 8th the National Committee seat you previously held became vacant.
I have always respected your courage to hold fast to your personal convictions. It is my understanding you made clear at our most recent LNC meeting, when you announced during one of the breaks, that you will never again give a dime to this Party. However, our Bylaws are quite clear in this regard. One must be a Sustaining Member to be eligible to serve on this body.
I’ve confirmed with Robert Kraus that you were mailed two renewal notices (one in February and one in March), so I imagine you made this decision after considerable thought and reflection.
If you should choose to become a Sustaining Member of the LP again, you would then become eligible to be appointed by the National Committee to fill the vacant seat – which will presumably be filled at the July LNC meeting.
Thank you for your past service and dedication to Liberty.
Bob Sullentrup
National Secretary
The PDF flyer version of this is pretty nice. I’m going to see if I can get copies of it made for tomorrow’s St. Louis Tea Party (I was planning to just hand out the general LP brochure).
A Balanced Budget Amendment that works (not necessarily would pass, but would work), would have to have the following elements at a minimum:
1) Expenditures for any given fiscal year must not exceed 80% of the revenues of the previous fiscal year.
2) The remaining 20% of expenditures shall be for debt principal reduction, unless the Congress exercises its proper fiduciary duty and dissolves or abolishes the Federal Reserve. Once the debt is resolved, the remaining 20% shall be rebated to the taxpayers.
3) No federal (or state or local) taxes, excises, levies, or fees shall be raised without a two-thirds vote of the people, and not for more than two years.
4) No expenditure shall be made for any item that is not within the strictly-circumscribed scope of the powers of Congress under Article 1, Section 8, and the “Necessary and Proper”, “Commerce”, and “General Welfare” clauses of that section shall be most narrowly construed to only allow minimal expenditures, and shall be properly bound by the limits of the Tenth Amendment.
Related press release
Press Release
For Immediate Release
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Libertarian “Prosperity Plan” repeals income tax, ends corporate welfare
Plan scraps IRS, balances the budget, curbs tax hikes, prohibits bailouts
WASHINGTON — The Libertarian Party seeks to abolish the income tax, enact a balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution and eradicate corporate welfare under an ambitious three-point legislative plan unveiled by America’s third largest party Tuesday.
“Tens of millions of Americans are angry, fed up and demand real reform,” said William Redpath, Libertarian National Committee Chair. “The Libertarian Party is the only party that agrees with those tens of millions of Americans that government should stay out of both their pocketbook and their personal decisions.”
The “Libertarian Prosperity Plan” seeks to repeal the income tax and abolish the IRS, enact a constitutional amendment requiring a balanced federal budget without tax increases and repeal all corporate welfare programs and bailouts.
“The ‘Libertarian Prosperity Plan’ is rooted in the Libertarian Party platform and bedrock libertarian principles. Unlike the other parties, we don’t promise tax cuts to just grab enough votes to win and then do nothing. Elected Libertarians enact tax and spending cuts because it is what we believe in,” said Redpath.
The Libertarian Prosperity Plan can be read and downloaded at http://www.lp.org and http://www.lp.org/files/Prosperity_Plan_Layout_1.pdf. The Plan would:
1) Repeal the income tax: Adopt legislation repealing the income tax and abolishing the Internal Revenue Service. Until the income tax is repealed, adopt legislation preserving the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts and enacting across-the-board income tax cuts.
2) Adopt the Balanced Budget Amendment: Adopt a constitutional amendment requiring the federal budget be balanced, and balanced exclusively by cutting expenditures, not by raising taxes.
3) Abolish corporate welfare and bailouts: Adopt federal legislation prohibiting any federal spending program that provides payments or unique benefits and advantages to specific companies or industries, terminating programs that provide direct grants to businesses, eliminating programs that provide research and other services for industries and ending programs that provide subsidized loans or insurance to businesses.
For more information on this issue, or to arrange an interview with the Libertarian Party, please call Director of Communications Donny Ferguson at 703-200-3669 or 202-333-0008, x. 225, or email [email protected].
If the congress already doen’t follow the “Enumerated Powers” section of the Constitution, what would force them to follow a Balanced Budget Amendment?
They could simply claim “hardship” or whatever other loophole they create for themselves
Adopt a constitutional amendment requiring the federal budget be balanced, and balanced exclusively by cutting expenditures, not by raising taxes.
Is it possible that a constitutional amendment would mandate that taxes can never be raised? I could see a balanced budget amendment possibly passing, but I don’t see how it would pass with such a provision.