If you answered YES to any of those questions, consider yourself invited to our next open meeting!

Meetings are held the last Tuesday of each month at the main branch of the Ocala library (on Silver Springs Blvd) at 6:30 PM.
Our next meeting is on April 27 in meeting room ‘C’.
Call Billy for details: 895-4135 and be sure to sign up for our mailing list on this site.

Schedule of Events

Saturday April 24th 2010
9:00 AM to 5:00 PM: Business meeting
Keynote Speaker will be Alexander Snitker, Candidate for US Senate.
To be a delegate one must be a registered to vote Libertarian and must sign the non aggression pledge. “I do hereby certify that I do
not believe in or advocate the initiation of force as a means of achieving social, economic, or political goals.”
6:30 PM to 7:30 PM: Cocktail Hour
7:30 PM to 12:00 AM: Banquet
Dr. Randall Holcombe will be the Dinner Speaker at our State Convention, Saturday April 24th.

Sunday April 25th 2010
9:00 AM to 1:00 PM: Workshops available
Building the Libertarian Party and Building Brand Name Recognition.
Mark Hinkle Candidate for LNC Chair
Building the Libertarian Party in Florida through “Strike Force”
Alex Snitker and Jote` Thompson
“The Free State Project” and other items
Adam Carroll, from New Hampshire
“Full Slate – 2012” and how we will fill the ballot
James Coakley

Unlike libertarians, most conservatives simply don’t want small government. They want their own version of big government. Of course, they have done a pretty good job of fooling American voters for decades by repeating the phrases “limited government” and “small government” like a hypnotic chant.

It’s interesting that conservatives only notice “big government” when it’s something their political enemies want. When conservatives want it, apparently it doesn’t count.

* If a conservative wants a trillion-dollar foreign war, that doesn’t count.
* If a conservative wants a 700-billion-dollar bank bailout, that doesn’t count.
* If a conservative wants to spend billions fighting a needless and destructive War on Drugs, that doesn’t count.
* If a conservative wants to spend billions building border fences, that doesn’t count.
* If a conservative wants to “protect” the huge, unjust, and terribly inefficient Social Security and Medicare programs, that doesn’t count.
* If a conservative wants billions in farm subsidies, that doesn’t count.

It’s truly amazing how many things “don’t count.”
Conservatives like Rush Limbaugh can’t ever be satisfied with enough military spending and foreign wars.
Conservatives like Mitt Romney want to force everyone to buy health insurance.
Conservatives like George W. Bush — well, his list of supporting big-government programs is almost endless.

Ronald Reagan, often praised as an icon of conservatism, signed massive spending bills that made his the biggest-spending administration (as a percentage of GDP) since World War II.

Some people claim that these big-government supporters aren’t “true conservatives.” Well, if a person opposes the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, opposes the War on Drugs, opposes border fences, and opposes mandatory Social Security and Medicare, it’s hard to believe that anyone would describe that person as a conservative at all. Most people would say that person is a libertarian (or maybe even a liberal).

Obviously, most liberals don’t want limited government either. It’s just that their support for big government leans toward massive handout and redistribution programs.

The fact is, liberals and conservatives both want gigantic government. Their visions sometimes look different from each other, but both are huge. The only Americans who truly want small government are libertarians.

An article posted at CNS News, linked prominently from the Drudge Report, noted that the Obama administration is on track to beat the Franklin Roosevelt administration in terms of average federal spending as a percentage of GDP. However, the article failed to note that the Reagan Administration already beat the Franklin Roosevelt administration easily. Roosevelt’s average was 19.4 percent of GDP, while Reagan’s average was 22.3 percent of GDP. (Source: White House OMB data)

Speakers:

Keynote Speaker: Bob Barr

Bob Barr represented the Libertarian Party as our 2008 candidate for the Presidency of the United States of America. On November 4, 2008 he received 523,686 votes, 0.4% of the national vote. This was the second highest number of votes nationwide that a Libertarian Party presidential candidate has received. He is a former federal prosecutor and a former member of the United States House of Representatives (1995 – 2003). In the 2004 presidential election, Barr left the Republican Party and publicly endorsed our Libertarian Party presidential nominee Michael Badnarik. In 2006, he became a member of the Libertarian National Committee, serving as the Representative for Region 4 until 2008. As one of his numerous projects, Bob is currently a weekly columnist for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Neal Boortz: For those of you who don’t know, Neal Boortz has been a Talk Show Host in Atlanta, Georgia since 1969. He is now in his 40th year of talk radio. Since 1993 Neal has been holding forth on News Talk 750 WSB, a radio station with a 50,000 watt afterburner. Since early 1999 his show has been syndicated on radio stations from Maine to California and from Alaska to Florida. The program airs live from 8:30 to 1:00 pm each weekday. The Neal Boortz Show has about five million listeners nationwide and is carried on around 230 radio stations.

Jeff Davis: A North Carolina native and descendant of the Confederacy’s President Jefferson Davis, Jeff lives in Hollywood and among other things produces ‘The Thought Zone’, a series of radio spot commentaries frequently mentioning Libertarians and championing libertarian sentiments. The accompanying website is dedicated “to the great thinkers, few of whom aspire to run for public office. The Thought Zone (is) creative commentary for the common sense mind.”

Dave Nolan: Mr. Nolan was the prime mover behind the formation of the Libertarian Party in 1971. He holds a degree in political science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and his career has included work in publishing, advertising and marketing. Aside from his role in founding the LP, Mr. Nolan is best known as the originator of the “Nolan Chart,” a two-dimensional map that shows how different political systems relate to one another. This map has largely replaced the old left-right linear political spectrum, and is the basis for the World’s Smallest Political Quiz. Its impact on political thinking led to Mr. Nolan’s being selected for inclusion in 2000 Outstanding Intellectuals of the 20th Century, a reference work published by the International Biographical Centre (Cambridge, England) in 2000. A recent Google search using the phrase “Nolan Chart” turned up more than 30,000 references. Mr. Nolan was a Libertarian candidate for U.S. Congress in California (2000) and Arizona (2006). He is currently chairman of the Pima County, AZ Libertarian Party.

Wayne Allyn Root: Wayne is one of the most charismatic, colorful, passionate, fiery, and outspoken political personalities in America today. Wayne was the 2008 Libertarian Party Vice Presidential nominee. A college classmate of Barack Obama at Columbia University (Class of ‘83), he is now the face and voice of Libertarian politics in the mainstream national media. The media calls him “the Anti-Obama.” Wayne calls himself a REAGAN LIBERTARIAN- modeled after his heroes Ronald Reagan, Barry Goldwater and Thomas Jefferson.

Mary J. Ruwart, Ph.D: Ms Ruwart is the author of the award-winning libertarian primer, Healing Our World. A free download of the 1992 version is available at her website at ruwart.com. Dr. Ruwart also wrote Short Answers to the Tough Questions, based on her popular e-zine column with the Advocates for Self-Government. Dr. Ruwart currently serves as an At-Large Representative on the Libertarian National Committee. She also serves on the Board of the International Society for Individual Liberty (ISIL) and was elected Chairman of the ISIL in January of 2010.

Schedule:
Friday (May 28)
1:30pm to 5:00pm Libertarian National Committee Meeting
7:00pm to 10:30pm Welcome Reception

Saturday (May 29)
7:00am to 8:30am Breakfast (Mary Ruwart, Speaker)
8:45am to 12:00pm Convention Business
12:00pm to 1:30pm Award Lunch (Jeff Davis, Speaker)
1:30pm to 2:30pm Keynote Speech (Bob Barr, Speaker)
2:30pm to 5:30pm Convention Business
6:00pm to 7:00pm Torch Club Cocktail Party
7:00pm to 8:30pm National Chair Candidates Forum

Sunday (May 30)
7:00am to 8:30am Breakfast (David Nolan, Speaker)
8:45am to 12:00pm Convention Business
12:00pm to 1:30pm Lunch (Wayne Allyn Root, Speaker)
1:30pm to 5:00pm Convention Business
5:30pm to 6:30pm Pre-Banquet Cocktail Hour
6:30pm to 9:30pm Banquet Dinner (Neal Boortz, Speaker)

Monday (May 31)
8:45am to 12:00pm Convention Business
1:30pm to 5:00pm Libertarian National Committee Meeting

November 24, 2009
December 22, 2009

The main branch of the Ocala library on Silver Springs Blvd. We’ll be in meeting room A. Ask anyone and they’ll direct you. Drinks and food are not allowed, only a water bottle.

One of the most important questions asked was;

Is there anything else you’d like to add so voters know why you’re running and why you should enter the Florida executive office?

He replied (in part);

….most voters are quickly becoming fed up with both the democrat and republican parties. I often ask myself why, after so many years of these parties being in power, are people just now coming to realize they don’t like what is going on. The answer, believe it or not, is because their Libertarian leanings are surfacing.

You see, most people, by nature, are Libertarians. Everyone wants to be free. While this entire time people were willing to tolerate the intrusions because they were minor, the government impositions are no longer trivial. They are affecting the very ability for people to survive.

As a member of the Libertarian party, I present the only viable option in a political party that will answer the needs and solve the conundrum currently facing the people. Anything other than a Libertarian in the executive office will only end up as more of the same. The people are tired of business as usual and want change, change in their favor, and I am the only candidate in a political party that can provide the desired change.

Click for the entire interview:
John Wayne Smith interview