Republican Liberty Caucus Encourages Mark Sanford to Pursue Presidency

The National Board of the Republican Liberty Caucus has passed a resolution encouraging South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford to seek the Republican nomination for U.S. President in 2012.

“Governor Sanford had an outstanding record in Congress, often voting his conscience on tough issues rather than just following the party line,” said RLC National Chairman Dave Nalle. “In Washington, Sanford opposed pork barrel projects even when they benefited his own district and he honored his term limits pledge and stepped down in 2000. In his two terms as governor of South Carolina, Sanford has shown independence and creativity and acted as a vigilant guardian of taxpayer interests,” said Nalle.

Sanford was the first U.S. Governor to reject a portion of the federal stimulus money earmarked for his state last March. Sanford also worked out a compromise with state legislators to accept federal funds, provided that the politicians eliminated the state’s debts.

Mark Sanford has consistently been one of the strongest voices in the nation for fiscal and individual responsibility. At a Cato Institute event in 2008, Governor Sanford explained that “there's a battle line in our society: with government on one side and liberty – the hallmark of the American experiment – on the other.”

He also earned the endorsement of the Republican Liberty Caucus when running for Congress and Governor. Consistently ranked at the top of the RLC's “Liberty Index” – which began tracking votes in Congress on social and economic liberty in 1991 – Sanford's overall rating was 82%.

“The nation needs a champion of fiscal responsibility and individual liberty now more than ever,” added National RLC Secretary Aaron Biterman, and “Sanford has demonstrated his commitment to those ideals and an ability to communicate them to voters.”

Although it is still early in the process and Governor Sanford has not yet announced his intentions for 2012, the Republican Liberty Caucus urges its members and other concerned citizens to encourage Governor Mark Sanford to seek the Republican nomination for U.S. President in 2012.

Founded in 1991, the Republican Liberty Caucus exists to promote individual rights, limited government, and free enterprise within the Republican Party by promoting those ideals among Party officials and its various organizations, identifying and supporting candidates sympathetic with them, and promoting Caucus membership among Republican Party registrants, officials, and officeholders.

Election Results

The state Web site has the unofficial results updating throughout the evening too. Here.

Of course, I find it odd that with 0 of 46 counties reporting, CNN and others are calling the state already.

Third Party Candidates Debate Today

A third party debate will address economic issues Thursday, October 30th at 4:30 PM at the City Club of Cleveland, 850- Euclid Ave, Cleveland.

The forum, organized by the City Club will effectively break the media blackout on viable third party candidates running in the presidential race. Third party candidates in the debate include Independent Ralph Nader, the Green Party’s Cynthia McKinney and the Libertarian Party’s Bob Barr.

C-Span will be there and should air it tonight. (Probably the only media that will be there)

Obama's 30 min. Ad

What did you think of Obama's primetime 30 minute ad?

Presidential Candidate Giving Away a Firearm

The donor who makes the highest contribution to the Barr Presidential campaign online before 12:00 midnight EDT October 29 will receives this fine example of American technology and craftsmanship, an autographed 12 gauge Mossberg Model 590A pump shotgun.

Barr says that, "Unlike many politicians who claim to be pro-gun, Bob Barr walks the walk. Yes, he exercises his right to own and carry firearms, just like me and millions of other law-abiding Americans. And when he does, it's a .45 Glock that he has holstered."

Barr loses ballot status in Conn. due to bureaucratic failures

A U.S. Federal District Judge yesterday allowed the state of Connecticut to keep Libertarian Presidential Nominee Bob Barr off the November ballot despite Barr meeting the legislative requirements for ballot access.

The Libertarian Party of Connecticut properly submitted over 12,000 signatures to meet the 7,500-signature requirement of the state.

The state miscounted the number of petitions submitted by the Libertarian Party of Connecticut and improperly struck hundreds, if not thousands of voter signatures denying Bob Barr access to the ballot. The administrative mistakes of the state bureaucracy were quickly uncovered.

Judge Janet Hall, based her decision on the inability of the state to quickly reprogram electronic voting machines and reprint machine-readable ballots before the election.

"We are outraged by the decision of Judge Hall. To allow a candidate for the highest national office to be unlawfully excluded from an election because it would inconvenience state workers or interfere with bureaucratic procedures goes beyond the pale," stated Russ Verney, campaign manager for Bob Barr.

Verney continued, "It takes a few days to print good, old paper ballots which served us well for over 100 years. Throw the machines in the river and allow democracy and justice to take precedent over technology. If the state of Connecticut maintains a level of incompetence so great that they cannot print ballots before the election, I encourage them to look to private industry and call Kinkos."

Libertarian Party Presidential Nominee Bob Barr's name will appear before 95% of Americans when the vote on Election Day – more than any other third-party or independent candidate.

Final Presidential Debate

If you missed the last presidential debate last night, you can watch it here.
Once you have watched it, please post your comments about the debate and who you think won/lost and why in the comments.

Can't Beat 'em Join 'em

Through the miracle of modern technology, voters will finally have a chance to compare Bob Barr with Barack Obama and John McCain.

Starting this evening at 9 p.m., live and concurrent with the broadcast of the closed debate between the Republican and Democratic nominees, you will be able to see where Barr differs with his opponents. Using digital video recording technology, Barr's responses to the moderator's questions will be spliced in in real time for viewing at the campaign's Web site at www.bobbarr2008.com/counterdebate. Bob will be broadcasting from Newport News, Virginia on the campus of Christopher Newport University before a live audience.

Cynthia McKInney on the Bailout

Points for Congressional action immediately in the wake of the financial crisis now gripping our country:

1. Enactment of a foreclosure moratorium now before the next phase of ARM interest rate increases take effect;
2. Elimination of all ARM mortgages and their renegotiation into 30- or 40-year loans;
3. Establishment of new mortgage lending practices to end predatory and discriminatory practices;
4. Establishment of criteria and construction goals for affordable housing;
5. Redefinition of credit and regulation of the credit industry so that discriminatory practices are completely eliminated;
6. Full funding for initiatives that eliminate racial and ethnic disparities in home ownership;
7. Recognition of shelter as a right according to the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights to which the U.S. is a signatory so that no one sleeps on U.S. streets;
8. Full funding of a fund designed to cushion the job loss and provide for retraining of those at the bottom of the income scale as the economy transitions;
9. Close all tax loopholes and repeal of the Bush tax cuts for the top 1% of income earners; and
10. Fairly tax corporations, denying federal subsidies to those who relocate jobs overseas repeal NAFTA.
11. Appointment of former Comptroller General David Walker to fully audit all recipients of taxpayer cash infusions, including JP Morgan, Bear Stearns, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and AIG, and to monitor their trading activities into the future;
12. Elimination of all derivatives trading;
13. Nationalization of the Federal Reserve and the establishment of a federally-owned, public banking system that makes credit available for small businesses, homeowners, manufacturing operations, renewable energy and infrastructure investments; and
14. Criminal prosecution of any activities that violated the law, including conflicts of interest that led to the current crisis.

Bob Barr's Election Updates

Libertarian candidate Bob Barr will be in Charleston on Tuesday, September 30th. You are invited to a Fundraising Dinner with Bob at the Sunfire Grill in West Ashley at 7:00. With a minimum contribution of $30, you will receive dinner, a sign for your yard, and a bumper sticker. Dinner is a choice of a 10 oz Ribeye over mashed potatoes topped with a red wine demi or Pan fried stuffed chicken over mashed potatoes topped with a mushroom cream sauce. You can prepay by credit card, but contributions will also be accepted at the door. Seating is limited. Please make reservations early. Contact wwoolsey@comcast.net or call (843) 795-5062.
Barr will speak at 10:00 to Citadel cadets, to the Charleston Rotary Club at 12:30, and at the College of Charleston at 2:30.

Also, a study released today by the National Taxpayers Union (NTU) listed Bob Barr as the most fiscally responsible candidate running for president, noting a Barr presidency would cut federal spending by a whopping $200.9 billion.
The study found that Sen. John McCain would raise federal spending by nearly $100 billion, compared Sen. Barack Obama's plans that would raise spending by almost $300 billion.

The figures are compiled based on campaign statements up to September 19, and do not include bailouts proposals supported by Senators McCain and Obama.

"Both the McCain and Obama campaigns have tried to keep pace with the political issues of the day -- largely by responding with proposals for new programs and regulations that could reach deeper and deeper into taxpayers' pockets," NTUF Senior Policy Analyst Demian Brady said. "On the other side of the spectrum, Bob Barr's Libertarian philosophy is strongly reflected in a platform that is built upon cutting programs and slashing spending."

The study finds that the bulk of Barr's spending cuts comes from withdrawing troops from Iraq ($92.4 billion in annual savings) and eliminating the Department of Education ($92.4 billion in annual savings).

Statement from Independent Candidates

Statement from Independent Presidential Candidate Ralph Nader and Libertarian Presidential Candidate Bob Barr on McCain's Call to Delay Debates:

The fact that a candidate can call for changing the date of the debate only two days before it is scheduled indicates how easy it would be for the candidates to also call for the inclusion of the leading third party and independent candidates, which would bring fresh ideas to the table on how our country can truly tackle this heavy challenge.

Bailout talk from 2 candidates

From the Nader/Gonzalez Campaign: Haste Makes Waste.

Independent presidential candidate and longtime consumer advocate Ralph Nader said today that he opposes giving Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson -- heralded as King Henry on the cover of Newsweek -- what amounts to a blank check for $700 billion with nothing more than a promise to keep the U.S. financial system from imploding. Nader said that any bailout should have strict accountability, conflict-of-interest, regulatory, and oversight rules attached, including a cap on executive compensation and stock warrants for the rescuing taxpayers.

"Of all the insults Bush's monarchy has ever hurled at Congress, a supposedly co-equal branch of government, this one breaks new ground in shattering the bedrock principle of separation of powers and checks and balances under our Constitution and replacing it with blanket Congressional surrender of its authority to Bush's White House.

"Rather than race home to run for re-election, members of Congress should do what they were sent to Washington to do: carefully draft the legislation that will serve the needs of Main Street and Elm Street, not the greed, fraud and recklessness of Wall Street.

"Why should the American taxpayers bail-out fraud, recklessness and criminal irresponsibility?" asks Nader. "Why should the American people trust the judgment of the very administration that has gotten us into this mess?"

Nader expressed strong agreement with William Greider of The Nation who recently wrote that "If Wall Street gets away with this, it will represent an historic swindle of the American public -- all sugar for the villains, lasting pain and damage for the victims."Nader also calls for changes to the bill that would include:
• Provisions for homeowners to stay in their homes in default, or rent them at market value.
• A cap on executive compensation and disgorgement of ill-gotten gains.
• A stimulus package for infrastructure repair and upgrade to generate new community jobs.
• Comprehensive regulation of and disclosures by the financial industry and Wall Street to prevent this from occurring again.
• Prudent margin requirements on derivatives trading and a tax on securities derivatives transactions.
• Shareholders control over the corporations they own.
• Tougher criminal enforcement against culpable firms and executives.

From the Green Party (not on the SC ballot):

Cynthia McKinney / Rosa Clemente Campaign Update.

Last week's statement, issued in the wake of the $81 billion give-away to AIG is now seeming more prescient every day, with another $700 billion give-away proposed for the very bankers who's gambling in the derivatives market created the crisis. Meanwhile we watch as both parties in Congress continue to ignore a related foreclosure crisis that is putting more and more people on the streets every day.

We hope you will use this week to empower people in your community, to share the questions Cynthia raises and the proposals for 'fundamental change' she identifies and use the following piece to let folks know that we do have a choice in 2008. Ours is a real choice, not one between banker-financed candidates parroting policies already set in motion to destroy this planet and its peoples. We get to choose between peace and war, between justice and avarice, between voting for our highest hopes and aspirations, rather than merely against our worst fears.

Ron Paul supports Chuck Baldwin for President

Former GOP presidential candidate, Texas Congressman Ron Paul announced today he is endorsing Constitution Party presidential candidate Chuck Baldwin.

In a letter to supporters, Paul wrote, “I’m supporting Chuck Baldwin, the Constitution Party candidate.”

Paul went on to say, “There is no real choice between the two major parties and their nominees, only the rhetoric varies. The amazingly long campaign is designed to make sure the real issues are ignored.”

Baldwin, a conservative commentator, columnist and pastor of a church in Pensacola, FL, campaigned for Ron Paul during the congressman’s run for president. After receiving Paul’s endorsement, Baldwin said, “I am humbled and deeply grateful to Dr. Paul for his support. There could not be higher praise. I am committed to carrying on the Ron Paul Revolution for a return to constitutionally limited government.

While this is all well and good for Chuck, he's not on the South Carolina ballot.

Happy Constitution Day! with Quiz

Learn more here and here and at CSPAN.


Nader for President 2008 sent out the following five-question Constitution Day civics quiz:

1) Which candidate opposed the snoop enabling FISA law and the immunity bailout for the telecom companies?
2)Which candidate called for the impeachment of George Bush and Dick Cheney for all of their crimes from the illegal war in Iraq to illegal wiretapping of unsuspecting Americas?
3) Which candidate opposed passage of the Patriot Act and calls for its repeal?
4) Which candidate opposes the death penalty?
5) Which candidate would work to repeal corporate personhood --- and shift the power from the corporations back into the hands of the people?

Click here for the campaign's details.
(The answers are all Nader)

Bob Barr Files Suit in Texas to Remove McCain, Obama from Ballot

Bob Barr, the Libertarian Party's nominee for president, has filed a lawsuit in Texas demanding Senators John McCain and Barack Obama be removed from the ballot after they missed the official filing deadline.

"The seriousness of this issue is self-evident," the lawsuit states. "The hubris of the major parties has risen to such a level that they do not believe that the election laws of the State of Texas apply to them."

Texas election code §192.031 requires that the “written certification” of the “party’s nominees” be delivered “before 5 p.m. of the 70th day before election day.” Because neither candidate had been nominated by the official filing deadline, the Barr campaign argues it was impossible for the candidates to file under state law.

"Supreme Court justices should recognize that their responsibility is to apply the law as passed by the Legislature, and the law is clear that the candidates cannot be certified on the ballot if their filings are late," says Drew Shirley, a local attorney for the Barr campaign, who is also a Libertarian candidate for the Texas Supreme Court.

A 2006 Texas Supreme Court decision ruled that state laws "does not allow political parties or candidates to ignore statutory deadlines."

"The facts of the case are not in dispute," says Russell Verney, manager of the Barr campaign. "Republicans and Democrats missed the deadline, but were still allowed on the ballot. Third parties are not allowed on the ballot for missing deadlines, as was the case for our campaign in West Virginia, yet the Texas secretary of state's office believes Republicans and Democrats to be above the law."

Barr will be holding a press conference this Thursday at the Texas Supreme Court at 11:00 a.m.

SOURCE: Barr 2008 for President Committee

More election news

Tune in tonight 7 p.m. Central, 8 p.m. EST. Live from Minneapolis. It's Ralph Nader. And Matt Gonzalez. And Jesse Ventura. And a lot more. The Nader/Gonzalez Open the Debates Rally.
You can watch it the live stream here.

Election Updates

Innovative Campaign Idea
Baldwin/Castle '08 Campaign is looking for truck drivers, especially, but not limited to, those who are independent and who haul "over the road," to help carry the Baldwin/Castle '08 Campaign Across America. Please contact us at: contact@baldwin2008.com or call 1-800-2- VETO IRS (toll free) or (717) 390-1993 and provide us with the following information: Your name, cell phone #, email address, your state and please indicate that you are a trucker. The campaign would also like you to tell us (in just a few words) what you believe is the most important issue of the 2008 Campaign.

The Green Party Package
Cynthia McKinney is scheduled to appear on Road to the White House, scheduled to air on on CSPAN-1, Sunday, September 7 at 6:30 pm EST and again at 9:30 pm EST that same night.

Interesting email from Bob Barr

Below is an excerpt from a Bob Barr for President email newsletter:

As it stands now, Bob Barr is the Lone Candidate in the Lone Star State.
As the filing deadline passed this week, Bob Barr was the only presidential candidate legally certified on the ballot in Texas.
The new Texas law is clear:

A political party is entitled to have the names of its nominees for president and vice-president of the United States placed on the ballot in a presidential general election if . . . before 5 p.m. of the 70th day before presidential election day, the party's state chair signs and delivers to the secretary of state a written certification of the names of the party's nominees for president and vice-president . . .

Given that the deadline passed on Tuesday, Senator Obama was nominated on Wednesday, and Senator McCain has not even announced his selection for Vice President, the Republican and Democrat parties in Texas were technically unable to certify their candidates by the deadline.

--snip--

Do you think that John McCain and Barack Obama's names will eventually be printed on the ballot in Texas?

I would be willing to make an educated guess and say that we're going to have to fight our hearts out to get on the ballot in the states above while the Republican and Democrat candidates won't have to lift a finger to secure their place on the Texas ballot.

. . . that is unless we make a stand in Texas.

And that's exactly what we're going to do.

This situation in Texas is a perfect opportunity to highlight the double standard that exists in our nation.

Does that double standard matter to you? Please post your comments and discuss.

Biden picked as Dems VP nominee

Obama’s VP choice Biden a recent visitor


Delaware Sen. Joe Biden brought his own presidential campaign to Coker College in March of 2007, before bowing out. Biden was selected by Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama as his vice presidential candidate this past weekend. While at Coker, Biden, a guest of Sen. Gerald Malloy, mostly touted his exit strategy from Iraq, which he called one of the most detailed and workable plans. He also emphasized health care.

Tax Proposals Effect

From the Washington Post, here is a chart of how John McCain and Barack Obama's tax policies would change what you pay Uncle Sam.

If you make more than $160,973 per year, McCain's tax plan is better for you.
If you are part of the other 70% of Americans who make less than $160,000 per year, Obama's tax plan would benefit you more.