Questionnaire from the Alibi -- My Answers

Name:		Mike Blessing
Party:		Libertarian Party / Boston Tea Party
District:		16
Website:		http://mike4nmh16-2010.blogspot.com/

1. What qualifies you for this position?
   
   I am a sapient (self-aware) resident, registered voter and taxpayer of the District.
   
   What qualifies me over my opponent? What qualifies him over me? What qualifies either of us over any other resident of the District?
   
   Beware the person who tells you that they have all the answers to all of your problems, if only you surrender a bit of your liberty to them. To paraphrase what Lord Acton said, "Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. All great men are bad men." And no, I don't see myself as being immune to this tendency.
   
   
2. What should be done to address ethics reform and transparency?
   
   Open up all closed-door conference committees in the Legislature.
   
   Require that all State spending over $1000.00 be posted to a publicly-viewable website within twenty-four hours. Considering that you can be tracked in real time when you use your credit card to pay for gas, fast food, etc., this is a very doable idea.
   
   Allow private citizens to make audio and video recordings of all Legislative and regulatory-agency proceedings.
   
   
3. How can we balance the state's budget?
   
   We can start by using a zero-services baseline, and put all of the State budget onto the table for discussion.
   
   As for cutting specific budget items, we can start with the Rail Runner and the Film Office.
   
   Refrain from expanding existing programs without cause, or from creating new programs or agencies that do the jobs of existing agencies or programs. Consolidate duplicative programs and agencies. Require every agency and program to justify its existence and budget on an annual basis.
   
   
4. Should New Mexico allow domestic partnerships for same-sex couples?
   
   Inasmuch as the State requires any form of permission slip for two consenting adults to engage in romantic or sexual relations, the State should NOT discriminate against anyone of the gay / lesbian / bisexual / transgender / polyamorous / kinky persuasions, especially when it's often clear that such discrimination is done just because of this factor.
   
   Still, it should be remembered that marriage-licensing laws started out under "Jim Crow" in the post-Reconstruction South as a way to enforce segregation, by outlawing interracial marriages between whites and blacks.
   
   
5. Do you favor rehabilitation instead of jail time for nonviolent drug offenders?
   
   The current "rehabilitation" programs offered by the State as an alternative to jail or prison can often be more intrusive and onerous than incarceration.
   
   Instead, let's try repealing the stupidity, insanity and evil known as Drug Prohibition. Consider that all it really does is corrupt law enforcement. Until I hear otherwise, I will assume that anyone who supports Drug Prohibition also supports the 10,000 drug-related murders per year in America caused by Drug Prohibition. Drugs being illegal won't stop people from wanting them, and someone else will find ways to make money providing them.
   
   
6. What do you think of the state's film initiatives?
   
   The Film Office is just as much a corporate welfare handout program as was Isotopes Stadium when it was built, as is the Balloon Fiesta Park. Eliminate them from the public budgets, and then cut the gross receipts tax, cut the personal income tax, so that poor people can save some more money to support their kids. Let the Hollywood studios, all owned by multimillionaires, pay their own way. How many of the jobs created by the production companies still exist after the movie is completed?
   
   
7. How can we improve public education?
   
   APS is one of the State's biggest spenders and employers, yet apparently the following was written by someone in the eighth grade:
   
   ABOUT THE "All Work, No Play" article, I disagree with the run artical on how if the students do poorly on the standard based test then they cant have an elective. I feel bad that you feeled on the test.
   
   See http://tinyurl.com/2a7fmuf for more.
   
   And we should give APS MORE money?! When I was that age, I would have been ashamed to write that. Is APS even fixable?
   
   I'm more focused on charter schools, private schools, and homeschoolers.
   
   
8. Should New Mexico change its laws surrounding immigration?
   
   All of this hysteria about Mexicans coming north like Genghis Khan's Golden Horde is just that – hysteria. Joe Miller, the Alaska GOP's candidate for U.S. Senate, unwittingly reinforced my point when he said that East Germany was "effective" about enforcing its border around West Berlin – http://tinyurl.com/25mf2ml – nice guy, isn't he?
   
   Seriously, what kind of society do we want to end up with – one with fences, walls, scanners, regulations and subgun-toting guards all over the place, or one where people can interact with each other on a basis of voluntary consent?
   
   
9. What kind of infrastructure improvements does your district require?
   
   The usual kinds that just about every other district needs – the roads are the most visible ones. Driving around some parts of Albuquerque can be like four-wheeling, considering the potholes, cracks, bumps, etc. that I often see around town. This is what we spend millions on road bonds for every two years?! There has to be a better way to build roads.
   
   One thing that needs doing around here is speed-bump removal – people still routinely go over them at 40 MPH, and I wouldn't want to be a patient in an ambulence going over them.
   
   
10. What issues do your constituents care about most?
    
    I haven't had the cash to do any surveys or polling, but I'm guessing that they would want their individual rights to life, liberty, property and the pursuit of happiness to be respected by State government. I suspect that they want to provide for themselves and their families in a productive manner by interacting with others on a basis of mutual consent. State (and local, and federal) government should do what it can to defend that liberty, while not infringing that same liberty. Other than protecting those freedoms, government should leave people to their own devices.

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NOTES

1. alibi.com page
   
   
2. Reposted –
   
   
   1. Personal blogs – Wordpress / Xanga
   2. KCUF Media – New Mexico's Consumer Advocate / The Weekly Sedition
   3. New Mexico Liberty / The BTPNM Blog / The LPNM Blog

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Copyright © 2010 Mike Blessing. All rights reserved.   

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Unsolicited Good Press in the Alibi

Even when we're dead in the water, we can still get good press – It Ain't Easy Being Green – Or Libertarian, or Independent . . .

Here's the important part of the article for right now^[1]:

Libertarians

Though New Mexico has no third-party candidates in statewide or national races this year, the Libertarians do have two for state Legislature seats, which represent small districts. The Libertarians filed the necessary signatures to get their party on the ballot and then collected more for their candidates.

Mike Blessing is running as a write-in in District 16 against Democratic Rep. Antonio "Moe" Maestas. Mark Curtis is running in District 19 on the ballot against Republican Anthony Romo and Democratic incumbent Rep. Sheryl Williams Stapleton^[2]. The Libertarian Party is a minor party in New Mexico with 2,249 members as of March 2010.

The state's Libertarian chairperson, Jay Vandersloot, says the point is not to disrupt election results. "Some people say the Libertarian Party draws votes from Republicans, and some say it pulls from Democrats. Libertarians are fiscally conservative and ideologically liberal. Our purpose is not to draw votes from another party." Instead, he says, they're in the race to win. They also want to promote an ideology that upholds the Constitution, and values liberty and freedom. "Candidates have been swayed by other candidates."

But it's hard for the party to find contenders. "The Libertarian view is such that we just want to be able to live our lives without interference from others or government," Vandersloot says. "So a lot of us are not interested in running in politics. Those that do run feel strongly enough that they need to get in there – not to be a career politician – but to get in there and make a change for the better."

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NOTES

1. Links to the campaigns of Mark Curtis and myself added on my end.
2. For those wanting to help out, Mark can be contacted at 505-256-1993 or macurtis@webtv.net
3. Reposted –
   1. Personal blogs – Wordpress / Xanga
   2. KCUF Media — Xanga / New Mexico's Consumer Advocate / The Weekly Sedition
   3. New Mexico Liberty

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Copyright © 2010 Mike Blessing. All rights reserved.   

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Support "Adam Vs The Man" and the message of liberty! PLEASE READ AND SHARE

by Adam Kokesh on Monday, September 13, 2010 at 11:40pm

Dear friends of liberty and fans of radio ads,

My radio show, Adam Vs The Man on KIVA 1550 AM, has been rocking and rolling for over a month now and the audience has been growing organically without ANY promotion outside of my own facebook page. We have secured a slot on the local public access TV station (Saturday from midnight to 2am)^[1] to play the best of the week from our UStream feed from the webcam in the studio. We are also getting more frequent local callers (at first, most callers were from outside of NM, listening or watching online) which is a good sign that more and more people are deliberately tuning in to the radio broadcast!

The broadcast radius covers over one million potential listeners from Santa Fe to Socorro including the entire Albuquerque metro area. We also draw a unique audience of liberty lovers online with a growing base of loyal daily listeners. The audience of Adam Vs The Man tends to be younger, affluent, politically inclined, and of course, spends lots of money on consumer goods and services with a flagrant disregard for authority. Statistics routinely show that a talk show audience is much more engaged and attentive to the broadcast than, for example, an easy listening audience. The point is that our broadcast advertisements do get heard; they are not just background noise.

Without the financial support of sponsors, we cannot maintain our deal with the radio station, but as the show continues to grow, you will be glad to have gotten in while it was cheap! If you are interested in reaching out to the local audience of over one million potential listeners covered by our broadcast radius and our distinct online audience, please consider signing up for one of the following sponsorship packages:

$150 / week

• Sponsor credit during Adam Vs The Man
• 5 30-second ads per week during the show
• 14 30-second ads during prime time on KIVA 1550AM
• Banner ad at adamvstheman.com

$250 / week

• Sponsor credit during Adam Vs The Man
• 5 live 60-second endorsements per week during the show (great way to reach online audience, as ads will be cut out of the final podcast)
• 21 30-second ads during prime time on KIVA 1550AM, 3/day
• Banner ad with top placing at adamvstheman.com

$350 / week

• Sponsor credit during Adam Vs The Man
• 5 live 60-second endorsements per week during the show
• 5 30-second ads per week during the show
• 28 30-second ads during prime time on KIVA 1550AM, 4/day
• Banner ad with top placing at adamvstheman.com plus a rotating feature at the top of the page

Individual ads to play during Adam Vs The Man:

• 30-second ad: $20
• 60-second ad: $25
• 60-second live endorsement: $50

In addition, if you sign up for 13 weeks of $250/week sponsorship, the station will throw in 14 additional 30-second ads on our sister station, Real Oldies 1600. Sign up for 13 weeks of $350/week sponsorship and it's 21 more ads. We can do all the audio production here in the studio. If you have any questions, please feel free to call me at (505) 899-5029. If you can't reach me there, please feel free to ask for our executive producer, Mark Owen, or email me at adamvstheman@gmail.com.

Any advertising message takes time to generate a response. We suggest an initial commitment of 13 weeks, which will extend well into the holiday shopping season. After the initial advertising period, we will suggest specific promotional tie-ins to allow each sponsor to measure the direct impact. I would be happy to consider any and all possibilities for on air give-aways of your product or service for free exposure.

Thank you for your continued support of the message of liberty.

Love, faith, respect,

Adam Kokesh

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NOTES

1. If you're not a subscriber to Albuquerque Comcast, you can watch over the internet at the Channel 27 site. NOTE: You will need to have MS Windows Media Player or the MS Windows Media components for Quicktime installed to see the show. Unix-based OS users, consult your local LUG for assistance if needed.
2. Original article
3. Reposted –
   1. KCUF Media – Blogspot / Xanga
   2. Mike Blessing for State Representative

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LPNM Going Into "Hibernation" Until Further Notice

Friends of Liberty:

Due to an ongoing legal situation, the Libertarian Party of New Mexico has been forced to suspend all of its current business except for handling that same legal situation, including regular meetings, Central Committee meetings, etc.

Due to this, we have also placed our long-running email discussion list into "hibernation" by means of requiring moderator approval for any and all postings.

How long will this situation last? I honestly don't know.

On a good note, I have received confirmation from the Bernalillo County Clerk's Office, Election Bureau, that Mark Curtis, nominated for State Representative in District 19, has been officially placed on the ballot for the general election coming up this November.

For more information, contact State Chairman Jay Vandersloot at 505-362-1733.

________________________________________________________________________
Mike Blessing / Phone – 505-515-7015 / Yahoo IM – mikewb1971 / PGP Public Key

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NOTES

1. Reposted –
   
   1. New Mexico Liberty /
      The LPNM Blog
   2. Facebook Groups – New Mexico Libertarians
   3. Myspace Groups – /
   4. Yahoo! Groups – Personal email archive / Albuquerque Campaign for Liberty / FYI-NM-Politics

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September 6, 2010

Dear Friend of Liberty,

It's hard to celebrate Labor Day when unemployment is 9.6 percent.

Government interference is the single biggest cause of unemployment. Minimum wage laws, OSHA, ADA, etc., etc., make it difficult both to hire and to fire workers. (And when it's difficult to fire workers, it's much less likely that they will be hired in the first place.) To reduce unemployment, we need to start repealing laws!

Section 2.7 of the Libertarian Party platform states: "We support repeal of all laws which impede the ability of any person to find employment. We oppose government-fostered forced retirement. We support the right of free persons to associate or not associate in labor unions, and an employer should have the right to recognize or refuse to recognize a union. We oppose government interference in bargaining, such as compulsory arbitration or imposing an obligation to bargain."

I read today that President Obama wants another $50 billion in Keynesian stimulus spending. Stimulus supporters think that government spending creates jobs. What they don't seem to understand is that the money is taken out of the private sector, which decreases private sector spending and investment, and that destroys jobs. I believe that stimulus spending destroys more jobs than it creates. We'd be much better off with the laissez-faire policies advocated by Austrian economic theory.

It makes me mad to think of all the ways the Republican and Democratic congresses, and presidents Bush and Obama, have hurt the private sector with all their stimulus and bailout programs. (Remember George W. Bush's 2008 "Economic Stimulus Act" with all the $600 "rebate" checks?)

If you'd like to help fight them, please participate in Quiz Across America.

Sincerely,

Wes Benedict
Executive Director
Libertarian National Committee

P.S. If you have not already done so, please join the Libertarian Party. We are the only political party dedicated to free markets and civil liberties. You can also renew your membership. Or, you can make a contribution separate from membership.

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NOTES

1. Reposted —
   
   1. KCUF Media
   2. New Mexico Liberty / The LPNM Blog
   3. Yahoo! Groups — [LPNM-discuss] / Personal email archive

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How to handle Ronald Reagan? [LP Monday Message]

August 23, 2010

Dear Friend of Liberty,

As the 2010 election approaches, a lot of Republican politicians are trying to posture as government-cutters, and they often hold up Ronald Reagan as an example.

But although Reagan often talked about supporting smaller government, most Libertarians know that in practice he did exactly the opposite. For example:

• Reagan boosted import tariffs and trade restrictions.
• Reagan cut marginal income tax rates, but he also raised Social Security taxes.
• Reagan increased farm subsidies.
• Reagan sent the federal debt through the roof.
• Federal spending under Reagan grew from $678 billion to $1.14 trillion.
• Reagan set the record for the highest average spending as a percent of GDP over his administration. (Obama may beat him.)

Many people are complaining right now about unemployment under Barack Obama. In the first 18 months of Obama's presidency, unemployment has increased from 7.7 percent to 9.5 percent.

Did you know that during the first 18 months of Reagan's presidency, unemployment increased from 7.5 percent to 9.8 percent? That's even worse, but I don't hear a lot of Republicans mentioning it.

Many Republican politicians, operatives and talk show hosts like to talk positively about Reagan and try to portray him as delivering smaller government. They don't say that about George W. Bush. I presume that's to try and convince voters that Bush was bad in some ways, and we should all try to be more like Reagan.

Some polls show Reagan is reasonably well-respected these days. I think the positive reactions are often based on misconceptions, and that brings up an interesting point: how should Libertarians deal with the Ronald Reagan myth?

To address that question, we put up a new poll today. Please share your opinion.

Sincerely,

Wes Benedict
Executive Director
Libertarian National Committee

P.S. If you have not already done so, please join the Libertarian Party. We are the only political party dedicated to free markets and civil liberties. You can also renew your membership. Or, you can make a contribution separate from membership.

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NOTES

1. Original article
2. Reposted —
   
   1. KCUF Media — Blogspot / Xanga
   2. New Mexico Liberty / The LPNM Blog

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BTP National Committee opposes National ID

BTP National Committee opposes National ID

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Branson, Missouri, United States of America (Free-Press-Release.com) August 25, 2010 —

On August 24, 2010 the Boston Tea Party National Committee passed a resolution opposing a national ID "or any other bill that would establish a National ID card that includes biometric scanning or tracking devices" 5-0 (with 2 not voting).

Whereas governments that truly want to protect liberty have no need to track the every move of their citizens; and

Whereas privacy from government is a chief cornerstone of our liberties, enshrined in the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution; and

Whereas in the past, many Members of Congress, instead of taking steps to actually end our illegal immigration problem, have chosen instead to use the issue to dramatically expand government intrusion into our lives; and

Whereas the so-called "Comprehensive Immigration Reform" proposal being touted by Senators Chuck Schumer and Lindsey Graham includes a de facto National ID card that would be required for all U.S. citizens in order to hold a job legally; and

Whereas biometric scanning technology would be included in the card which could allow government bureaucrats to track citizens' every move; therefore,

Be it resolved, the Boston Tea Party National Committee urges the Congress of the United States of America to vote to defeat any legislation requiring U.S. citizens to obtain a National ID card just to get a job — or any other bill that would establish a National ID card that includes biometric scanning or tracking devices.

Party Chair Darryl W. Perry writes, a national ID system would include a "National database of personal information that can be accessed by any Law Enforcement Officer and/or Fusion Center anywhere the barcode on the Driver's License can be scanned. This database of personal information would be controlled by the very people with access, so you will have no say as to what information they keep. This could include not only your driving and/or criminal record, but could potentially include unrelated information such as your medical records, library records and any other host of information that some bureaucrat deems 'necessary'. Voting history perhaps? How about party affiliation?"

Plank 4 of the 2006 program of the BTP reads "The Boston Tea Party calls for the immediate repeal of the REAL ID Act and any and all National ID plans." Perry adds, "it only takes two more steps to become Germany's Third Reich, 'Where are your papers? Your papers, please!'"

The Boston Tea Party was founded in 2006 with a one sentence platform, “The Boston Tea Party supports reducing the size, scope and power of government at all levels and on all issues, and opposes increasing the size, scope and power of government at any level, for any purpose.” In October 2008, the party's National convention adopted the four point program of the Campaign for Liberty. Their program calls for an end to overseas occupation, a restoration of privacy and other liberties, no increase in the national debt, and a thorough review of the Federal Reserve. During the 2010 convention the Party adopted a new program to End the Wars of Aggression, End the Fed, End the War on Drugs, End the Abuses of Liberty, End the Immigration Fiasco.

For more information, contact Darryl W. Perry

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NOTES

1. Reposted —
   
   1. Personal blogs — Wordpress / Xanga
   2. KCUF Media — Blogspot / Xanga
   3. New Mexico Liberty / The BTPNM Blog

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