by J.J. Summerell
LPNC Chair

About 60 days late and many, many dollars short, Republican legislators have finally agreed on a state budget. There are some commendable provisions but overall the budget is still not the best deal for North Carolina. 

They continued moving in the right direction by lowering the personal income tax rate again. They also took a small step toward ending corporate welfare by eliminating renewable energy tax credits. But these positives are offset by adding a sales tax to some services, increasing in driver's license and vehicle registration fees, and reinstating historic preservation tax credits. 

Reducing everyone's income taxes is good. But expanding the sales tax and increased DMV fees, while seemingly fair, will actually have a greater impact on those with lower incomes. That's not good for anyone. 

The national Libertarian Party has set up a web page for recognized candidates for the Libertarian presidential nomination:

The Libertarian Party recognizes 2016 Presidential candidates who have campaign websites, are dues-paying members of the LP, have met all U.S. Constitutional requirements to serve in office as president, and are not running for the nomination of any other political party. They have filed with the Federal Elections Commission, with the exception of Darryl Perry, who has chosen not to file as a protest against the FEC, claiming it lacks constitutional authority.

Another source for listings and information about possible LP candidates is the Independent Political Report.

The Libertarian Party applauds the efforts of Campaign Zero to go beyond merely protesting the injustices perpetrated by law enforcement on citizens of the United States to proposing specific, well thought-through changes in government policy. They include:

• Prohibiting excessive use of police force
• Ending the use of military equipment by police
• Ending “policing for profit” where law enforcement agencies get to keep the assets they seize from citizens in police raids,
• Giving citizens the authority to set policing policies in their communities,
• Requiring body cameras on police, and
• Ending protections written into union contracts that put police above the law.

"The measures proposed by Campaign Zero are a great start," said Nicholas Sarwark, chair of Libertarian Party. "But we need more. The failed and deadly War on Drugs is the driving force behind many of today’s unjust police practices."

Read the LP press release here.

by Ken Penkowski

It’s Labor Day 2015 today, here in Wake County (and probably where you are, if that “where” is in the U.S.) If you are a member of the productive class, you are probably celebrating the last long weekend of summer and not thinking too much of it. If you are in the ruling class, working for some government bureaucracy, thank you for being a little less of a burden on the rest of us today.

And while this government holiday’s stated purpose—to recognize “the social and economic achievements of American workers”—sounds admirable, the litany of regulation, licensing and taxation that face today’s productive American worker does everything possible to retard those achievements. According to the 2015 Index of Economic Freedom, the “land of the free” doesn’t even break into the global top ten.