Neither threatening winter weather nor a dutiful park ranger could keep about a dozen LPNC members from gathering on Saturday, January 12 to volunteer trash cleaning efforts at Guilford Courthouse National Military Park in Greensboro.

Like other federal properties, this site of an important 1781 Revolutionary War battle is in the crosshairs of a different conflict: the ongoing government shutdown. LPNC Chair Susan Hogarth explained to local reporters that the group's cleanup work showed the people can maintain public resources without Washington's assistance.

"A big thing for Libertarians is that people will take care of the things that are important to them," Hogarth told Spectrum News. "In fact, we don't think the federal government should be owning park lands or any lands. So as part of that, we'd like to show that it's possible for it to be taken care of without the government doing that job."

Jeff Scott, the Libertarian candidate in the now disputed race for Congressional District 9, says the way to resolve the issue is to offer immunity to people who can provide evidence of ballot fraud.

"Republicans and Democrats should be interested in such an approach if it would end alleged ballot harvesting," he said.

Republican Mark Harris filed a petition with the Wake Superior Court Jan. 3 asking the court to declare him the winner. Scott said he agrees with the legal arguments Harris made and accused Democrats of orchestrating a circus-like spectacle.

“I think the Democrats, to their credit, are smart enough to know that they can turn this into a huge carnival of shame where everybody is afraid to say anything” at an evidentiary hearing because they don’t know what penalties they might face, Scott said.

“Nobody is going to speak up if they think they’re going to be prosecuted down the line,” Scott said.

Scott was interviewed for an article by Don Way of the Carolina Journal. You can read the full article here. 

This opinion piece was published in the Herald Sun on December 1, 2018.

On behalf of the citizens and taxpayers of Orange County I urge GoTriangle and the local government agencies to cease wasting time and money on the Durham-Orange Light Rail Transit project.

After millions of dollars planning a critically flawed program, the plan is literally coming off the rails. Splitting downtown Durham up is the final nail in the coffin of this program. The hubris of continuing to assume that any federal funding is going to happen for this project is appalling.

With the limited commercial tax base in Orange County property taxes will end up going through the roof to support the inevitable cost overruns and wildly optimistic planning for what is a vanity project to primarily benefit UNC Hospitals and Duke Medicine along with the property speculators along the DOLRT path. If the rail does not go to the airport it is not a viable option.

End the dream to save us from a nightmare down the road. Duke has already spoken volumes in reference to the lack of foresight on this project. It is time for everyone to come together to say, no more wasted time or effort on this doomed project.

Matthew Clements

Orange County

The Libertarian Party of North Carolina Executive Committee will be meeting at Positano in Asheboro on Saturday, November 17 from 2-4 p.m. Before the meeting (1-2 p.m.) we will have lunch and informal discussion. Libertarians and guests are welcome to attend. There may be a special event before or after the meeting - details will be posted on the event page and the LPNC Facebook page.

The LPNC Executive Committee meets roughly every other week. The meetings are open to the public and are typically virtual presence meetings. This means you can call in by phone or join us online. We endeavor to also make in-person meetings, like this one, accessible via virtual presence. Please RSVP here or contact the LPNC Secretary at [email protected] for instructions.

The LPNC Executive Committee members are looking forward to seeing you!