header-image

Queens Libertarians

Libertarian News, Views, Discussion and Advocacy from Queens County, New York

News

Paid Petitioning Opportunity To Help Get LPNY on the Ballot

As you may know, at last week’s state nominating convention the state committee (LPNY) selected a POTUS (Larry Sharpe) and VP (Rich Purtell, 2nd Vice Chair LPNY and Legislative Affairs Director) place holder candidates to run petitions for. This is because the NY independent nominating petition period April 16 -May 28 occurs before the delegation to the national convention selects the party’s nominee for

Queens,West Nassau Area of CD 3

President and VP. When ballot access is achieved, the place holder candidates are expected to give their lines to the LP’s nominees selected at the national convention on May 26.

If you have the time and are willing to roll up your sleeves and put in the work needed to get alot of signatures you can receive a $3000 stipend to collect signatures for NY. Complete this form– Libertarian Ballot Freedom Fighters. Bill Redpath, the National Ballot Access Coordinator for the Libertarian Party, will be in contact with you. Redpath explains it below (you can also contact QL about county level activity to get a LP congressional candidate on the ballot in CD 3):
—–

Paid Petitioning Opportunity! Help the LP with Ballot Access!

A Message from National Ballot Access Coordinator Bill Redpath

We’ve all seen too much price inflation over the past few years. That we all know.

But, you might not know where inflation has possibly been the worst. The cost of paid petitioning has gone through the roof. Why? More presidential candidates this year who need to get on the ballot. And well-financed sponsors of initiatives in many states who drive the demand for people to gather signatures for them.

As advocates for the free market, we don’t begrudge anyone making an honest living to their own benefit. But, this situation has placed the Libertarian Party in a difficult situation this year out of no fault of our own.

Because of signature price escalation this year, we probably can’t afford to complete petition drives in the states of New York and Illinois, and in the District of Columbia, for our presidential ticket in the usual manner.

So, we need to dig deep and get resourceful. We need to do something special. Something unprecedented in the history of the Libertarian Party.

We are seeking activists dedicated to liberty to come to Illinois, New York and DC from late March until early August to gather signatures for the LP presidential ticket to get on the ballot there, so that 50 states plus DC ballot access for our presidential ticket can again be achieved.

We’ll pay you a monthly stipend of $3,000, plus housing in an airbnb. Modest compensation, we admit. But, the result of this effort can make sure that once again all Americans will have Libertarian candidates on their Fall 2024 ballot.

Please let us know if you are interested in learning more about this opportunity to maximize ballot access for our presidential ticket and other LP candidates this year.

If you or anyone you know may be interested in helping and getting paid work as a Libertarian Activist, please click the link below.

I’ve signed up to be a petitioner. Please join me and others in this noble and worthwhile effort for liberty, not just in our lifetimes, but in this year.

Bill Redpath

National Ballot Access Coordinator
Libertarian Party

Sign Up Here
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc_X7Dm344S3n27sCSUbcBNOpaphzNepyzw3_PSRlhGnP1D1A/viewform

Luster On–Is China’s Economy Failing?

QL meets on April 13 at noon to hear retired Professor Robert Luster speak on the topic of “Paper Tiger, Fading Dragon? China’s Economy.Discussion will be held at our Woodside location at Donovan’s Pub on 57-24 Roosevelt Ave, in the family room area. This address will follow its monthly business session, covering Queens LP planning and subcommittee updates. Luster will go over the state of China’s economic instability, or even decline due to recent events, and the long term structural problem of the government trying to be committed to Communist principles, and pro-market policies at the same time.

Also come by to help LPQC find a team of petitioners to support the statewide petition drive to get Larry Sharpe on the ballot in New York for President (the drive starts April 16). We also need to endorse a candidate for Congress in CD 3 (covers Douglaston, Little Neck, and Northern Nassau). Please attend to vote, or even run for local office!    Details and Directions

 

Schoenberg On the Presidents

Here is the revised text of the talk presented by Dr. Philip Schoenberg at the QL March meeting, on his perspective about the various US Presidents’ impact on Liberty.

US Presidents–Who did the Most and the Least to Advance Liberty? © 2024 by Philip Ernest Schoenberg, PhD

Explain how a president should advance, promote, and protect liberty?

Rank choices from one the best to twelve the worst and explain why in a single sentence..

Who do you think is the best president in terms of liberty and why?

Who do you think is the worst president in terms of liberty and why?

___ A. George Washington (1789-1797)—role model of a leader who served for a period of time and then stepped down. He was greater than the nation when he became president but thanks to his efforts, the nation had become greater than him. He set up the federal government in operation. In private, he railed against what he felt was unfair criticism by the press but refrained from shutting down his critics. Unlike so many Latin American “liberators,” Washington did not become a dictator and stepped down to resume his life as a private citizen. On the other hand, President Washington pushed the Indians westward. George Washington could have set an example by freeing the 150 slaves he owned while he was president instead of telling his wife to free them when she died. She did not wait to avoid giving into temptation to end her life… Read the rest.

 

Appeals Court Rules In Favor of Over-Prosecuted Jan 6 Protestors

Glenn Greenwald reviews the case of the 800+ non-violent January 6 protestors and their persecution by the swamp. Recently the jailing and demonization of the dissenters has even extended to journalists who covered the events sympathetically:

 

Which Presidents Helped or Hurt Liberty?

Join Queens Libertarians (in its topical event for LPQC) on March 9 at noon. Dr. Phil Schoenberg will lead an open discussion on the topic of “US Presidents—Who Did the Most and the Least to Advance Liberty?,” an informative presentation by a Presidential Expert, belatedly in honor of Presidents’ Day (topic was delayed from last month).  Discussion will be held at our Woodside location at Donovan’s Pub on 57-24 Roosevelt Ave, in the family room area.  This talk will follow the monthly business session, covering Queens LP housekeeping and subcommittee updates.

Details and Directions

Post-County Convention Notes: The current officers of the LPQC executive committee were re-elected to serve in 2024. The office of Secretary is still open (until filled, LPQC/QL may elect to use online summaries or video recordings to act as a “virtual Secretary” to cover its events). Vice Chair Francisco Olvera will be exploring upgrading the QL website over the next few months, including perhaps merging it with the LP Queens site.

This site has updated the Join/Renew and donation page to reflect updated options to pay (such as Paypal and Venmo). The History page has also just been updated to include a note about this being the 30th year of LPQC’s operation. And Dr. Phil Schoenberg is belatedly noted as local Libertarian winner of the 2023 Thomas Stevens Award (as announced at the January meeting).

 

US Senate Candidate in NYC Sunday

As recommended by Daniel Donnelly, LPNY State Committee Elected Representative:

Diane Sare, running for U.S. Senate, appears in Manhattan on Sunday, February 18th, 10am at the International Presidents Day Conference. As you may remember, Sare courted the Libertarian Party of New York for cross-endorsement and was rejected but got on statewide ballot nonetheless in 2022. She is the LaRouche Independent candidate with some positions compatible with Libertarian principles, such as opposition to military adventurism which has characterized much of U.S. foreign policy since the 1950s.

Though I may not agree with Sare on all her stances, her candidacy appeals to me much more than re-electing Kirsten Gillibrand. To that end, I invite you to join me at this event, to hear out Diane Sare, who will be taking questions.

Tickets are $25 per attendee. For security concerns, venue will be disclosed to ticketholders closer to the event’s date/time. I hope to see you there!

https://www.sareforsenate.com/presidents_day_conference

LPQC Holds 2024 Convention and Winter General Meeting February 10

Join us for QL’s 2024 county convention as the Libertarian Party of Queens County (LPQC) on February 10 at noon. Discussion will be held at our Woodside location at Donovan’s Pub on 57-24 Roosevelt Ave, in the family room area. This official LP county committee function will serve as our full general meeting, where officers will be nominated or re-nominated, and committee or subcommittee members are to be appointed. Members are reminded to pay $20 to LPQC by, or during the proceedings in order to vote.

Dr. Phil Schoenberg will also speak, in the topical section, on US presidents—who did the most and the least to advance liberty? An open discussion will follow, concerning ballot access in New York, and about recent controversies with the LNC and LPNY going into the spring national convention (plus remarks by one or more local LP candidates (tentative) in the speaker/topical section). In this session members will again be offered to serve as LPQC officers (such as Secretary), and as key persons or “team members” for the following positions: media contact, membership/fundraising, candidate/activist outreach, youth/campus outreach, community/business outreach. Please attend, and volunteer to help in one of these areas!  Details and Directions

 

YOU Can Help in Downballot Petitioning for LPNY Candidates

LPNY Secretary Braiman has a message for new (or renewing) LPNY members seeking to enable the party to obtain statewide ballot status this year, while assisting local candidates at the same time. A few prospective candidates may attend the LPQC Convention on February 10, come to Donovan’s Pub and meet them!:

Mark Braiman, Secretary

secretary@lpny.org

We Need Your Help as a Co-Petitioning Downballot Candidate

Libertarian Party of New York (LPNY) member:

I am writing you as a member of a recently-formed LPNY committee planning to get Libertarian candidates onto New York’s ballot for the November 2024 election. This includes a “stand-in” Libertarian candidate for the U.S. Presidency.

Why just a “stand-in”? Due to New York’s onerous and complicated petitioning rules, along with the National Libertarian Party’s nomination rules, we need to collect well over 45,000 signatures statewide during a 6-week period that ends Memorial Day weekend, the same weekend the Libertarian National Convention will be underway in Washington, D.C. to choose a national candidate for President. You can help us achieve this challenging task if you volunteer to collect signatures.

You can be of special help, if you collect signatures as a Libertarian candidate yourself, for a downballot race. New York’s Election Law makes a lot of things about petitioning hard, but one provision makes things easier. Certain downballot candidates can appear on the same Independent Nominating Petition sheet as the Presidential candidate. So a single signature counts for all candidates on that sheet, as long as the downballot candidate is running in a district that includes multiple counties, at least one of which must be outside New York City.

Running in a multi-county district for Congress, State Senate, or Assembly can all work. Here are the districts that qualify:

Assembly Districts (42 in all): 9-11, 94-95, 98-104, 106-108,110-118,120-122, 124-127, 130-133,139-140, 144-145,147-148, 150

State Senate Districts (20 in all): 8, 34, 36, 39-41, 43-46, 48-54, 57-58, 62.

Congressional Districts (13 in all): 2,3, and 16-26

I did such co-petitioning in service to Larry Sharpe’s gubernatorial candidacy in 2018, as a candidate in NY’s 53rd State Senate district. I was personally able to collect over 500 signatures, plus a few more collected by some close friends. This was not enough to get me on the November ballot, but it helped get Larry there, where he won enough votes to gain us (temporarily) official party status in New York.

Let me tell you, it’s much easier to walk up to a voter and say “I’m running for office for the first time. Please help me get on the ballot as a third-party candidate,” rather than “Please help us reserve a spot on the ballot for a different guy”. Especially “an unnamed Libertarian Presidential candidate who we won’t choose until a few days or weeks from now”. The voter sees a friendly face, and can ask you questions about yourself. A good 50% of the time, the voter will be happy just to get a new choice on the ballot. Especially this year.

We are initially prioritizing candidates for Assembly, at least for Upstate areas. The number of signatures required to actually get on the ballot is only 1,500, much smaller than for State Senate (3,000) or Congress (3,500). We are particularly interested in young candidates, since voters are especially open to helping young petitioners with their first run for office. Candidates for Assembly (or State Senate) only need to be 18, whereas Congressional candidates must be 25. And there is a chance that due to a court case, Congressional districts will not be finalized until very close to the petitioning period in April, or even later.

Voters are not as demanding of qualifications and detailed positions—as long as the office is a “starter” office like Assembly. And finally, for the April-May petition period, young candidates collecting signatures are likely to be more welcome on busy community-college and state college campuses.

Even if you don’t think getting yourself onto the November ballot is a likelihood, we hope that you will view putting your name on a shared petition so you can reap voter signatures as a desirable strategy. PLEASE consider this if your goal is to see someone on the Presidential ballot in NY not named Biden or Trump.

However you envision your goals, and whatever your age, we will work on helping all such candidates coordinate with each other on issues and petitioning strategies. We already have one smart and eager Assembly candidate from the 107th district covering parts of Rensselaer and surrounding counties, 21-year-old Evan Lebrecht who just announced on his Facebook page.

Having heard the possibilities, won’t you please email me back at secretary@lpny.org, and let me know as soon as possible (but in no case later than March 30) that you would consider putting yourself out there to help with this petitioning strategy. We need to know by then, so that we can design and print the petition forms with your name and statewide candidates on them. Getting those forms designed correctly is the most important way we in the Libertarian Party of New York can help you to help us.

Call to Action: Who else would you want to be on your ballot?

Even if you can’t possibly envision yourself as a petitioning candidate, please pass this email on to a friend you think might be interested!

JOIN OUR FIGHT FOR LIBERTY IN NYS.

Please click below to join the LPNY today, and learn how you can help to get Libertarian candidates on the ballot in 2024.

JOIN LPNY

 

Has COVID Been Our Biggest Challenge?

Join Queens Libertarians (in its speaker event for LPQC) on January 13 at noon, in a meeting on the topic “Covid: The Greatest Challenge to Liberty and Reason.” Discussion will be held at our Woodside location at Donovan’s Pub on 57-24 Roosevelt Ave, in the family room area, and the presentation will be by Phillip Ernest Schoenberg, PhD. This discussion will follow the monthly business session, covering Queens LP housekeeping and subcommittee updates. NOTE: LPQC Chair John Clifton will be back for this meeting!

It’s been four years since Covid, the lockdowns and the mandates. What have we learned or realized? Is our response now any more reasoned or freedom-minded than it was then, have our eyes been opened, or will we fall again into mass conformity? Schoenberg will provide historical and logical background on the controversy. As he has stated in the past: “We should not scapegoat and demonize dissenters, or enjoy schadenfreude at the sad consequences of their actions or failures to take action…” Details and Directions