Gloria Romero for Lt. Governor.

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This year California voters will choose a new Lt. Governor. The incumbent is running for State Treasurer, and several hopefuls are hoping to fill the open position. There is no Libertarian Party candidate for Lt. Governor. Among the others, the best choice for Libertarians is Gloria Romero, running this year as a Republican.

Gloria Romero was long an active Democrat. She served as Majority Whip in the California Assembly. Later she would become the first woman to serve as Majority Leader in the California Senate. She also served as Chair of the Senate Education Committee. This position laid the foundations for her later political activism.

As Chair of the Senate Education Committee, she came to understand how our government schools are failing the students they are supposed to teach. Sen. Romero authored the Parent Trigger and Open Enrollment Act, which gave parents some real control over the education their children would get. She has been “a consistent advocate for charter schools, parental empowerment, and merit-based education reform, believing education to be the central civil rights issue of our time.”

After leaving the California Senate, Gloria Romero became involved in the movement for school choice. School choice leaders were glad to have a public supporter from outside the Republican Party. But Democrats officeholders continued to oppose school choice, and Gloria Romero joined the Republican Party where her views on education were more welcome.

Education is the main issue of her campaign. You do not need to be a State Senator to know California schools are not providing an adequate education to many of our students. As long ago as the 1980s, newspapers reported that more than half of the students in the California State University system were enrolled in remedial English classes, and more than half were in remedial math classes. The California State University system accepts the top 33% of high school graduates, and this is the result.

To make her campaign a success, she needs support from outside the Republican Party, just as the school choice movement does. And the Republican Party needs a post-Trump generation of new leaders. The only hope for the Republican Party is to move away from Trump’s nationalist platform and re-adopt a commitment to limited government. The current leadership of the California Republican Party has been too supportive of Donald Trump, and it has marginalized itself. The Golden State, once home to Ronald Reagan, is now the abode of the incredible shrinking Republican Party.

A vote for Gloria Romero is a vote for education reform, for the idea of school choice. That is more important than party affiliation. But we can also hope that Gloria Romero offers a different type of Republican candidate, not controlled by the Trump nationalists who pose a threat to the Republican Party, and, more importantly, to the American Republic.

For more information, visit Gloria Romero’s campaign site @ https://www.gloriaromero4ltgov.com/

Tom Steyer Wants to Take Your Money

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As California voters prepare to pick candidates for the November elections, the state is facing a variety of problems that have take some of the glow off the Golden State. California has a housing shortage that has made it hard for many to find a home to buy, or even a rental apartment they can afford. Higher operating costs, higher taxes and excessive regulation makes it hard to create or sustain a business, whether a joint-stock company or a family owned retail shop or cafe.

California has a legal marijuana market that is so overtaxed and overregulated that otherwise law-abiding citizens continue to buy on the black market. California has a crime problem – Republicans respond with too many new laws and too much punishment. Democrats have tried to correct this, but too often fail to protect citizens from real crimes of theft and violence.

Tom Steyer has spent more than 100 million dollars to make himself one of the leading candidates for Governor in the upcoming primary. Steyer is trying to prove he is a progressive by supporting new government programs and new taxes to pay for them. A billionaire, he has announced his support for a new wealth tax on billionaires. The tax is popular with progressives, and Tom Steyer wants their votes. Progressives think they can limit this tax to the very rich, but the history of taxation tells a different story.

In 1914, when Congress passed the first income tax, few Americans had to file a return, let alone pay the tax. Only the very rich were required to file a return and pay income tax. The rest looked forward to benefitting from the tax burden of people better off than them. Within a few years, America entered the European war, and tax rates went up. More importantly, people who thought they would never have to pay the new tax, found that Washington DC wanted their money for the war. 20 years later, another war brought new hikes in tax rates, and new taxpayers subject to new taxes.

Tom Steyer is not planning to wait for the trickle down taxation that will follow adoption of a wealth tax. Middle class homeowners already pay a wealth tax – the property tax – on the house they own. Family owned businesses pay a wealth tax – the property tax – on any real estate, including improvements – that they own. Property taxes are collected every year – in two semi-annual payments – unlike the proposed tax on billionaires, which will be a one-time collection.

We know the effect of property taxes on middle class families. Before Proposition 13 limited property taxes, it was common for people to face devastating increases in their tax bill. Retired homeowners forced to sell because they could not afford a higher property tax. Families inheriting a business – a store or a cafe – and selling the building because property taxes made the business a losing proposition. Proposition 13 prevented many tragedies like this. Proposition has enabled families to have a secure homestead, and it has made it possible for independent retailers and family-owned restaurants to survive and pass down to new generations.

Proposition 13 is popular among California homeowners, regardless of party affiliation. Democrat candidates know better than to threaten this protection for homeowners. So the progressive Democrats have proposed several times to modify proposition 13 by creating a split roll -with a higher tax rate for commercial property. Higher tax rates for that family owned Mexican or Chinese restaurant you like; higher rates for that independent book shop you patronise. Higher rates for the business that a family counts on to pay the bills.

Tom Steyer wants to schedule a special election to create a split roll. He says the state needs more tax money, and it cannot wait.

Private prisons and ICE detention centers have not had a problem with property taxes. The tax funded payments they get from governments cover those costs and a healthy payback for Tom Steyer and other investors. Tom Steyer does not worry about the cost that middle class families pay every year to keep their property from being confiscated by the state of California. His businesses don’t need the space that a retail shop or a restaurant needs. He has no sympathy for the small business owner. His only goal is to get votes from progressives who don’t trust billionaires. And he might do it, with his vast sums.

Raising taxes on business property would create an existential threat to every small business in California. It would threaten local communities across all demographic lines. Small business needs the same protection from high taxes that families need in their personal life. Tom Steyer personafies that threat, with his call for higher taxes on middle class businesses, already hurt by Donald Trump’s tariffs and the Trump’s immigration crackdown.

San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan has denounced the wealth tax that Steyer supports. Mahan has denounces Steyer’s call for changing Proposition 13 as “crazy.” Matt Mahan has pointed out that in the last six years spending by the state government has climbed by 75%. He has pointed out that the real problems in California are aggravated by high taxes and too much regulation. Taxes and regulation make it twice as costly to build a house in California as in Colorado.

Matt Mahan opposes the wealth tax, and he opposes increasing property tax on businesses in California. The California Libertarian Report recommends a vote for Matt Mahan for Governor on June 2

To find out more about Matt Mahan, visit his campaign site @ https://www.mahanforcalifornia.com/

Cato Experts React to U.S. Attacks on Iran

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President Donald Trump says the U.S. has begun “major combat operations” in Iran after Israel also said it ⁠had launched missile attacks against the country. 

In response, Cato foreign policy experts have released the following statements: 

Jon Hoffman, Research Fellow: 

Trump’s decision to bomb Iran is indefensible. This was not about preempting an imminent threat—it was a strategically misguided power play, with no discernible endgame. Vague objectives, inflated threat perceptions, and regime-change fantasies threaten to pull the United States into a costly war that Americans don’t want. The United States is barreling toward another Middle East crisis of its own making.

Brandan Buck, Research Fellow: 

The President’s use of military force in Iran risks drawing the United States into yet another open-ended conflict in the Middle East, with no plausible casus belli, no congressional authorization, and no clear conception of victory. This action contradicts the administration’s own national security strategy, which explicitly sought to shift American attention away from decades of “fruitless ‘nation-building’ wars.” Instead, the President is repeating the same pattern of strategic self-deceit that has ensnared his predecessors—promising limited action while inviting prolonged conflict.

Katherine Thompson, Senior Research Fellow: 

The President’s use of offensive military force against Iran is a clear and blatant overreach of executive authority. Under the Constitution, the power to take the nation to war belongs to the United States Congress. The President’s decision puts U.S. forces and bases in the region in the crosshairs of retaliation. Defending American personnel—and Israel—against sustained attacks beyond what we saw during Operation Midnight Hammer is poised to strain already finite U.S. defensive resources. War is not abstract. It costs American blood and treasure. The Founders placed the power to initiate it in Congress precisely to ensure those costs are confronted and debated before the country walks into battle.

Source:Cato Institute @ https://www.cato.org/blog/cato-experts-react-us-attacks-iran

FIRE sues Bondi, Noem for censoring Facebook group and app reporting ICE activity

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  • The First Amendment protects the right to discuss, record, and criticize what law enforcement does in public.
  • The federal government strong-armed Apple and Facebook to remove ICE activity monitoring from company platforms.
  • It’s unconstitutional for the government to coerce private companies into censorship.

CHICAGO, Feb. 11, 2026 — Two concerned Midwesterners are fighting back after the platforms they created to report on public Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity were censored by government officials.

The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression is suing Attorney General Pam Bondi and Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem on behalf of Kae Rosado and Mark Hodges, who respectively created a Facebook group and an app that hosted video footage of ICE operations to inform the public and hold our government accountable. 

“As U.S. citizens, we have the right to keep each other informed about what our government officials are doing and how they’re doing it,” said Mark, who developed an app called Eyes Up that allows users to store and view videos of ICE activity nationwide. “Government transparency and accountability are fundamental in a free society.”

Mark runs Kreisau Group, which aims to preserve evidence of governmental abuses of power. On his Eyes Up app, users can upload videos, record new videos, or access uploaded videos, which Eyes Up arranges on a map of the United States after Mark and his moderators review and approve each video. 

Kae, who has her own jewelry business, started a Facebook group in January 2025 after seeing fear in her community about the impact of ICE raids on daily life in Chicago. She and other small business owners noticed attendance dropping at community events where they’d set up shop. The aim of the group — “ICE Sightings – Chicagoland” — was for fellow small business owners, friends, and family to share information about ICE operations in Chicago. The group remained small until Sept. 2025, when ICE commenced and publicly touted an enforcement surge in Chicago dubbed “Operation Midway Blitz.”

Documenting and criticizing law enforcement are protected by the First Amendment, and it is unconstitutional for the government to coerce private companies like Apple and Facebook into censoring content on their behalf. However, in October, Bondi and Noem pressured Facebook to take down Kae’s group and Apple to remove Mark’s Eyes Up from its app store.

In a statement to Fox News, Bondi boasted on Oct. 2 that “We reached out to Apple today demanding they remove the ICEBlock app from their App Store — and Apple did so.” In fact, Apple had removed several ICE-related apps, including Eyes Up. Though Apple had closely examined and approved the app the month before, Apple now claimed that the app violated the app store’s prohibition on “mean-spirited” content.

Less than two weeks later, the same thing happened to Kae’s Facebook group. On Oct. 12, political activist Laura Loomer flagged Noem and Bondi in an X post identifying Kae’s group, falsely suggesting that it was “getting people killed.” Kae advocates nonviolence and created the group so members could stay informed and stay safe. She prohibited group members from posting anything threatening or promoting violence. Nevertheless, following outreach from Bondi’s Department of Justice, Facebook disabled her Facebook group the next day. Bondi claimed credit on X for the removal. 

Full Post @ Foundation for Individual Rights & Expression https://www.thefire.org/news/fire-sues-bondi-noem-censoring-facebook-group-and-app-reporting-ice-activity

MN Gunowner’s Caucus Responds to the Shooting Death of Alex Pretti

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January 24, 2026By//  by Bryan Strawser

We are deeply concerned by this morning’s reports that a federal law enforcement operation in Minneapolis resulted in the fatal shooting of 37-year-old Alex Pretti by federal agents. According to local officials, the man was legally armed, a firearm was recovered at the scene, and he is believed to have been a lawful gun owner and permit to carry holder.

Many critical facts remain unknown.

We do not yet have an independent account of what initiated the encounter or what triggered the use of deadly force. Despite widespread speculation regarding intent, there has been no evidence produced indicating an intent to harm the officers. We are calling for a full and transparent investigation by both state and federal authorities.

Every peaceable Minnesotan has the right to keep and bear arms—including while attending protests, acting as observers, or exercising their First Amendment rights. These rights do not disappear when someone is lawfully armed, and they must be respected and protected at all times.

Source:MN Gunowners Caucus https://gunowners.mn/press-release-shooting-death-alex-pretti/

Twin Cities Bookstores Contend With ICE

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Just as booksellers in Washington, D.C. and Chicago faced hardship when the Trump administration sent National Guard members and federal agents to their cities, Minneapolis and St. Paul’s indie booksellers say they have been negatively impacted by the deployment of ICE agents that began in December and accelerated after the holidays.

While most of the dozen booksellers that PW spoke to this past week report that the financial impact has been minimal, as sales typically slow down in January, every bookseller stressed the emotional toll the experience has taken on them and their customers, especially following the murder of poet Renee Good by an ICE agent on a residential street in Minneapolis on January 7.

All of the booksellers PW spoke to emphasized their commitment to serving as a community hub, where information about one’s Constitutional rights and resources for non-citizens are readily available. Every bookstore is currently handing out free whistles; some are also giving away anti-ICE posters and signs and participating in patrolling and protesting.

Inkwell Booksellers, located in a large industrial space across the Mississippi River from downtown, has established itself as a place for activists to drop off and pick up deliveries. “We have the space,” owner Elizabeth Foster told PW.

A few Minneapolis booksellers requested anonymity: one bookseller expressed concerns for the store’s “more vulnerable customers,” saying that ICE is harassing and detaining Indigenous people, as well as children.

“One of the concerns that we have about talking,” an employee at one bookstore in the vicinity of Good’s murder said, “is we don’t want the stuff that we are doing to make our store and our staff a target.” Like every bookstore PW reached out to, this bookstore is maintaining regular hours and an unlocked door, with signage stating that all are welcome to enter except for ICE agents.

Full Post @ Publishers Weekly https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/bookselling/article/99471-twin-cities-bookstores-contend-with-ice.html

Greenland decides for itself!

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The Bureau of Liberal International strongly condemns the flow of threats from the President of the United States and members of his administration against the Kingdom of Denmark and the autonomous region of Greenland.

The American President has claimed that the United States must control Greenland for reasons of American national security. He and members of his administration have mentioned various means of gaining control, ranging from a purchase to outright military aggression.

The Bureau of Liberal International strongly supports the position of the Governments of Greenland and the Kingdom of Denmark that only the people of Greenland can decide the future status of Greenland.

Any American aggression against Greenland would violate international law. Such aggression would also be thoroughly absurd, as Greenland, the rest of the Kingdom of Denmark, and the United States are all members of NATO.

The Bureau of Liberal International notes that the United States has signed declarations in which it guarantees that it will not challenge Greenland’s status as part of the Kingdom of Denmark. The Bureau further notes that Denmark and Greenland have concluded agreements with the United States that effectively allow the establishment of any defence installations the United States may wish to build in Greenland, as well as the conduct of any security activities it may wish to pursue.

Liberal International stands for a world order based on the rule of law and respect for national integrity and sovereignty. This commitment includes respect for the right of the people of Greenland to determine their future, as established within the legal framework of the Kingdom of Denmark.

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Minnesota sues Trump admin over sweeping immigration raids in Twin Cities

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Lawsuit comes nearly a week after ICE agent shot and killed 37-year-old Minneapolis woman during federal operation.

Greg Wehner Reports @ FOX NEWS

Minnesota and the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul sued the Trump administration Monday, seeking to block a massive federal immigration enforcement surge they say has flooded the Twin Cities with armed agents, sparked fear and unrest, and interfered with state and local authorities, according to court filings.

The lawsuit names Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem, top officials with DHS, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), including Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons and Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino, along with the federal agencies themselves.

“We’re here to announce a lawsuit we’re filing against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to end the unlawful, unprecedented surge of the federal law enforcement agents into Minnesota,” Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said during a news conference Monday. “We allege that the obvious targeting of Minnesota for our diversity, for our democracy and our differences of opinion with the federal government is a violation of the Constitution and of federal law.”

Ellison said the deployment of thousands of armed and masked DHS agents to Minnesota has done “serious harm” to the state, calling for what he described as a “federal invasion” of the Twin Cities and Minnesota to stop.

The plaintiffs accuse federal immigration agents of carrying out militarized raids across the Twin Cities, including stops at schools and hospitals, engaging in racial profiling, warrantless arrests and excessive force, and overwhelming local law enforcement, while claiming the operation was politically motivated retaliation rather than legitimate immigration enforcement.

“DHS agents have sown chaos and terror across the metropolitan area,” Ellison said. “Schools have gone [into] lockdown. Entire districts have had to cancel school for tens of thousands of students to ensure safety and offer online education.”

“Local businesses are struggling,” he added. “Revenues are down, and some retail stores, daycares and restaurants have actually closed because people are afraid to go out.”

The lawsuit comes nearly a week after an ICE agent shot and killed a 37-year-old Minneapolis woman during a federal enforcement operation in south Minneapolis.

Full Report @ Fox News https://www.foxnews.com/us/minnesota-sues-trump-admin-over-sweeping-immigration-raids-twin-cities

Liberal International Supports a Peaceful Democratic Transition in Venezuela

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05/01/2026

The people of Venezuela have for too long been denied the right to be governed by their democratically elected representatives. In the 2024 presidential election, Edmundo González, with the popular support of María Corina Machado, won the mandate of the Venezuelan people. That victory stands in stark contrast to preceding decades marked by stolen elections, systematic human rights abuses, political repression, and the forced exodus of millions of Venezuelans.

When “Chavista” Nicolás Maduro’s authoritarian regime entrenched itself in power in 2012, liberals gathered one year later at the 59th Congress of Liberal International to demand “the restoration of democracy, rule of law, and freedom” in Venezuela. That Congress further affirmed its full support for the democratic opposition in its peaceful and united efforts to restore a democratic system that guarantees civil and property rights for all. Today, the Bureau of Liberal International welcomes the long-overdue opportunity for the Venezuelan people to finally realise these fundamental rights.

The Bureau of Liberal International is clear: the international community, together with Venezuelans around the world, will accept nothing less than a credible and transparent roadmap for a peaceful and prompt transition to full democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law. This transition must be led by the democratically elected President of Venezuela, Edmundo González, supported by parliamentarians elected democratically in 2015 . In pursuit of this goal, strong and coordinated international engagement — including clear diplomatic and security guarantees — is essential in order to avoid chaos and bloodshed and to uphold stability in the region. The Bureau further underscores the need for the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners, as an essential step toward rebuilding trust.

Liberal International remains steadfast in our conviction that all countries have a duty to uphold international law, democracy, and fundamental freedoms.

Source:Liberal International @ https://liberal-international.org/news-articles/democratic-transition-venezuela/

DHS Warns Any Action By Americans Will Be Treated As Domestic Terrorism

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The Onion reports

January 8, 2026

WASHINGTON—Claiming that the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent who fatally shot 37-year-old Minneapolis resident Renee Good as she drove away from him was “fully justified,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem warned Thursday that any action taken by Americans would be treated as domestic terrorism. “Make no mistake: Anything and everything Americans do, from the second they wake up to the second they fall asleep, will be treated as a national security threat and dealt with accordingly,” said Noem, who added that even seemingly trivial activities like picking up groceries, calling friends on the phone, or sneezing would warrant the use of lethal force by a federal agent. “To any U.S. resident currently considering leaving your house, walking down the street, breathing, or hugging your loved ones, you have been warned. We will find you. And we will kill you.” Noem added that she had formally charged over 340 Americans with acts of domestic terrorism for engaging in the act of being born.

Source:The Onion https://theonion.com/dhs-warns-any-action-by-americans-will-be-treated-as-domestic-terrorism/