Rep. Grayson Posted by RipRyness

Posted 09/23/09

I love CFL because we are blind to party affiliation. Rep. Alan Grayson is a perfect example of the kind of leadership we need in this country and I'm proud to say I'm a big fan of his views on this economic crises.  Here's hoping the Republicans are wrong in thinking he will be an easy target in 2010.

Here is a great article on him in The New Repulbic.

A Judge to Admire Posted by RipRyness

Posted 09/14/09

"The SEC and Bank of America had sought the judge's approval of a consent decree to resolve charges that the bank concealed an agreement to pay up to $5.8 billion in bonuses to Merrill executives."

"In effect, Judge Rakoff found, the settlement would force the victims of the alleged misstatements--Bank of America shareholders--to pay an additional $33 million." "It does not comport with the most elementary notions of justice and morality, in that it proposes that the shareholders who were the victims of the bank's alleged misconduct now pay the penalty for that misconduct," the judge wrote.

"The proposed settlement suggests a rather cynical relationship between the parties: the S.E.C. gets to claim that it is exposing wrongdoing on the part of the Bank of America in a high-profile merger; the bank’s management gets to claim that they have been coerced into an onerous settlement by overzealous regulators. And all this is done at the expense, not only of the shareholders, but also of the truth."

Long Term Goals (Or actually 2 years from now.) Posted by TracySaboe

Posted 11/13/08

My Goal is to Coordinate the Llibertarian Parties, Constitution Parties, and Ron Paul Republicans in the area.

Num 1. We need to communicate with each other, so we're not stepping on each other's toes. This means that we need to if at all possible, given that we have limited resources we need to make sure the Libertarian and Constitution Party candidates aren't running in the same races. This dilutes our efforts.

Num 2. Largely, the Libertarian Party pulls votes from Republicans, and the Constitution Party ONLY pulls votes from the Republican Party. So, to have the biggest impact on policy, it's these Highly Gerry Mandered Republican Districts, that we should focus our efforts on.Only when Republican's start loosing races because of active 3rd party campaigns taking 15% of the vote, will the Republican Party start nominating principled small government candidates in those races.  And who knows, if they never do -- perhaps either a CP or LP person will get ellected. For these districts, perhaps we should have a Constitution Candidate running for the Senate, and a Libertarian running for House or vice versa. Since it's quite likely neither party has the resources to run a full slate in the district.

Num 3. It's going to be a few cycles before a LP or CP candidate actually gets ellected. We do need people in government right now, that agrees with our principles. Even if it's just 1 person in the State Legislature. So it's important that we're communicating with the Ron Paul Republicans. If such a Republican is identified, it's important that we communicate with that person, so the 3rd parties aren't hurting that person's chances.

Num 4. We all agree on pretty much all the issues, so it's important that we get involved in issue-based grassroots activism. Currently, for the most part I think we pretty much agree on every single issue (accept there are a few pro-choice Libertarians -- I would hope this coalition however would agree to be pro-life. Dr Paul is Pro-life -- and South Dakota is a pro-life state (e.g., most of the Democrats even in the legislature are Pro-life) so I think we need maintain this coalition as a pro-life coalition, or we risk hurting the rest of our message).

We're pro-gun.The reason we have a 2nd ammendment is to help protect our 1st ammendment rights. Now just from the occasional free-lance criminal -- but from institutionalized criminals employed by the state.

We're Pro state soveranty. We want the state to get out of all these federal mandates (Dangerous ID, No Beurocrat Left Behind, Etc.)

We all want radically lower taxes. I don't care that we're a lower tax state then most. The founders fought a revolution over less then a 3% excise tax. Now the State and City taxes 6% just in sales taxes, Plus fees, etc.

We're against the regulatory state that infringes on our private property rights.

Num 5.

Currently there are other grassroots organizations that are already running we can help-out. The Midwifery organization is one.

Tracy Saboe