2011 changed the hierarchical paradigm.  “The Protester” was Time’s Person of the Year, and OWS took on the pepper spray and won.  Ron Paul, no longer “who?,” has put “libertarian” on the political table.  Gary Johnson, as a nationally-recognized name, will do the same for “Libertarian.”   This is an amazing opportunity for grass roots libertarians/Libertarians to be heard; and we Libertarians have been working for years on flipping the hierarchical paradigm in favor of the individual over the state.  Thus, in the spirit of the Libertarian mantra of individual liberty and individual responsibility, I hereby repost “People Over 35 Should be Dead.”  This anonymous hymn to the individual contains gems such as, “We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then rode down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes…We fell out of trees, got cut and broke bones and teeth, and there were no lawsuits from these accidents.”  In other words, we make the choice as to who is paramount, the individual or the state?  Best wishes for a great libertarian/Libertarian 2012!

 http://www.freedomradio.us/vof/humor-and-inspiration/466-people-over-35-should-be-dead.html

December 21, 2011, was the day of the Winter Solstice, when you celebrated that you survived the worst of winter.  Some who did not survive were remembered in San Francisco by the Coalition on Homelessness and Network Ministries.  We who did survive are either expressing best wishes for the Holiday Season or thinking Bah Humbug.   The Libertarian Party of San Francisco continues to work towards a City that believes the best way to help the most folks to survive and prosper is to unfetter and encourage entrepreneurs and small business.   May you enjoy and prosper.

The Occupy Wall Street movement (or Occupy, or OWS, depending on points of view on what the movement is attempting to accomplish) appears to be here for the long haul, and to have a chance of bringing about significant economic, political and social changes.  The inclusiveness of the movement allows for participation of libertarians, joining the Occupiers where there is common ground.  We at the Libertarian Party of San Francisco believe there is an additional reason for libertarian involvement in the movement – to offer solutions other than that of bigger and more intrusive government.

Although Occupiers are not in complete agreement as to their demands (or whether to have any demands at all), their overall message calls for jobs, educational opportunities, debt relief, reduction in the influence of corporations, and a more equitable distribution of wealth.   It would be difficult to argue against the desirability of any of these objectives!   The tools of implementation, however, do leave room for argument.  For example, instead of demanding that the government wield hefty minimum wages, libertarians might suggest removal of the infinite number of regulations that keep small business from thriving, competing, and hiring at higher wages.

In summary, we offer the following list indicating what in the Occupy movement we support and what we oppose.

Support:

1.  Engaging in peaceful freedom of assembly in public spaces.  Open, inclusive dialogue, and non-hierarchical decision making.

2.  Demanding an end to corporate welfare, corporate bailouts,  and the cozy relationship between Wall Street and Washington DC.

3.  Calling for abolition of the Federal Reserve Bank .

4.  Shrinking the military-industrial complex’s spending on endless wars.

Oppose:

1.  Destruction of private property.  Deliberate interference with commuters or blocking traffic

2.  Calling for tax increases (government forcibly taking and redistributing the people’s money).  Forcing non-government institutions to forgive loans to private individuals.

3.  Encouraging class warfare against the wealthy (many legitimately earned their money through hard work).

4.  Focusing on solutions that will result in a bigger, more intrusive government.

Turnout for the November 8 Municipal Elections was 40.36% of registered voters.  One would think that with such a low turnout, if all libertarians had showed up to vote, the results would have been more as the Libertarian Party of San Francisco recommended!  No?  Libertarians usually vote "No" on most all proposals; since most proposals call for more unbridled spending, more taxes, and/or more government reach into our lives.  Thankfully, voters agreed with the LPSF on Measure E (Repealing Initiatives and Declarations of Policy), Measure F (Campaign Consultant Ordinance), and Measure G (Sales Tax Increase).  Our "No" A (School Bonds) recommendation generated enough commentary to, we believe, bring some concern about using expensive bonds for other than construction and capital improvements.  Jeff Adachi, LPSF's preference for Mayor, received 6.46% of the votes cast; but succeeded in introducing unsustainable government pensions into the public debate.  

The Libertarian Party of  San Francisco at its Aug. 13. 2011 busines meeting made the following recommendations on the San Francisco ballot initiatives on the November ballot.

A School Bonds - Vote NO

B Road Repaving and Street Safety Bonds - Vote NO

C City Retirement and Health Care Benefits - Vote NO

D Retirement Benefits for City Employees - Vote YES

E Amending or Repealing Legislative Initiative Ordinances and Declarations of Policy - Vote NO

F Campaign Consultant Disclosures - Vote NO

G Sales Tax - Vote NO

H School District Student Assignment System - No Recommendation

Ron Getty

Vice Chair

Chair Initiatives Committee

The political arena in San Francisco, as well as the nation, is dominated by the two major political parties, with third parties such as the Libertarian Party or the Green Party trailing far behind in number of affiliated candidates.  While the progressive principles of Green candidates give them an edge in left-leaning San Francisco, the profound fiscal conservatism of Libertarians constitutes a double whammy!  Therefore, come November 8, there will be no major candidates affiliated with the Libertarian Party of San Francisco that we can endorse.  However, there will be some candidates that we prefer over others. 

Mayor:

#1 Choice – Jeff Adachi .   We support Proposition D, of which Mr. Adachi is the principal advocate.  Our next Mayor will face unprecedented economic challenges, and will need to accept the fact that the current public employees’ pension system is unsustainable.  We also support Mr. Adachi's strong record on civil rights issues.  His progressive economic record on issues other than pension reform concerns us, but we are hoping that as Mayor, he will place as much fiscal scrutiny on other challenges as he did on pension reform.

#2 Choice – Tony Hall.    We applaud Mr. Hall’s overall fiscal conservatism, and he would have been our first choice had it not been for Mr. Adachi’s more aggressive stance on the issue of pension reform.

Sheriff:

#1 Choice – Ross Mirkarimi.   Our only preference.  Libertarians are economically conservative but socially liberal, deeply believing in individual rights.   We reason, therefore, that Mr. Mirkarimi’s progressive politics will be appropriate for the office of Sheriff.

District Attorney:

We do not have clear preferences for this office.  However, we would like to mention Vu Vuong Trinh, who pledges to take politics out of the justice system; even though we do have concerns about his support of technology such as surveillance cameras.

Lest readers of our Voter Recommendations above think Libertarians are anti education based on our position on Proposition A, I would like to assure everyone that is not the case.   The Libertarian position on all issues favors personal responsibility, freedom of choice, and competition – educating children is no exception.  Libertarians would like to see more parental involvement, which greatly improves students’ success, as well as saves scarce resources.  As a working Mom, who found ways of volunteering more than 50 hours  per year for my child’s school , I feel comfortable saying that working full time and volunteering a few hours per kid can be done!   Libertarians would like to see San Francisco make it easier for charter schools, home schooling, and voucher programs to flourish in our City; which would give parents more choices as well as provide much needed competition to the one-size-fits-all traditional public school system.  The City is no longer as hospitable to families with children as it once was (who can afford a house or flat in this town that would fit two or three kids any more!), and families are moving out.  Therefore, it is time for the School District to innovate, not invest more taxpayer funds in the status quo.

And speaking of children’s education, one of our members has put together an excellent teaching tool, primarily appropriate for high school social studies teachers.  “An Educator’s Resource for Teaching Liberty” is non-partisan, but pro-liberty.  It can be downloaded at http://lpsf.org/teachercd.zip.