Dear Senator Burr, 

When you became Senate Intelligence Committee chair, you said that you would conduct vigorous oversight and ask the tough questions. Libertarians and all those concerned about the erosion of civil liberties and the wholesale violation of Constitutionally-guaranteed rights, were encouraged by this promise. 

However, according to the Washington Post, you recently sent a letter to the Executive Office demanding they return all copies of a report critical of CIA interrogation techniques, claiming it is “highly classified” and a “committee sensitive document.” This action is troubling and not consistent with your pledge. 

In the hope that you will renew your promise, we ask you to consider answering these tough questions: 

President Barack Obama made it clear in his State of the Union address Tuesday that his goal remains the same: make Big Government even bigger.

Libertarian National Committee Vice Chair Arvin Vohra responded in a video.

The president wants to extend federal spending for education by offering "free" community college to students. "But federal intervention has driven up the price of higher education," Vohra said.

The president wants to increase the minimum wage. But this "will destroy one of the most important forms of education in this country," Vohra noted. "Many young people develop responsibility and marketable skills in entry-level, minimum-wage jobs. Those skills make workers more attractive to future employers."

"Mr. President, over the last weeks you have repeatedly argued that Americans should be able to go online without risking their privacy," Vohra observed. "But your words, Mr. President, don’t match your actions. You have funded and enabled the surveillance state."

Several Cato Institute also responded to the president's annual address.

The Haywood County Libertarian Party is leading the opposition to the county's emergency management ordinance, which gives the county manager unlimited and unchecked authority during emergencies. Nearly 60 people attended their meeting Wednesday to hear Sheriff Greg Christopher speak about his position on the ordinance. 

The most troubling section of the ordinance, according to Haywood LP Chair Jess Dunlap, allows the county manager to confiscate your food, livestock, money and other property, without notice, without compensation, against the owners will and with armed force. 

“The wording upsets me. It’s unconstitutional,” Dunlap said, referring particularly to language allowing the seizure or condemnation of property without following individual protections built into existing law and the U.S. Constitution.

“No man's life, liberty or property is safe when the legislature is in session.” - Mark Twain.

by Brian Irving
LPNC Communications Director 

The N.C. General Assembly is back in session. At least they were for a day. The assembly officially convened their 2015-2016 “long session” yesterday, then recessed for two weeks. In those two weeks, most of the legislators will hold fundraising events, just as they did in the days before the session opened. It's never too early to start collecting money for the next election. 

One of the first actions in the House of Representatives was a unanimous bipartisan vote to elect Rep. Tim Moore (R- Clevland) speaker. That will probably be the only unanimous bipartisan vote of the session. 

Most of the members of the General Assembly were sworn in Wednesday, all except for Rep. Edgar Starnes (R-Caldwell) who took the oath early – so he could resign before the session convened to accept a job with the state treasurer's office. Starnes was slated to be the House majority leader.