Libertarian National Committee Chair Nicholas J. Sarwark released the following statement today:

“The CIA’s practice of torture confirmed by the Senate Intelligence Report released on December 9 shows the agency engaged in reprehensible and illegal behaviors that were, in effect, war crimes.

“The CIA and politicians redacted the bulk of the government’s report, which remains withheld from public view. One can only speculate as to the additional horrors that lie within the rest of the report, given the gravity of what was revealed.

“These acts of torture were immoral, disgusting, and un-American. And worse still, they were ineffective.

“Yet the CIA and the Department of Justice, which sanctioned the torture, claim that it was legal and exhibit a shocking lack of remorse for the brutality inflicted on its victims.

“Whether it’s choking a man to death for selling loose cigarettes in New York or torturing prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, the government refuses to prosecute government employees who brutalize the vulnerable. When the government investigates itself, it almost always clears itself of any
wrongdoing.

“This is why we must shut down the CIA. Its 70-year history is littered with episodes of human rights violations, illegal activities, and deception, including:
•Targeted killings and assassinations
•Overthrowing democratically elected governments,
•Human experimentation, including giving the hallucinogenic drug LSD to U.S. and Canadian citizens without their knowledge
•Dealing heroin in Asia
•Spying on Americans, members of congress, and foreign leaders,
•Shipping war prisoners to foreign countries where torture is permissible (‘extraordinary rendition’).
•Lying to Congress

“The CIA is one of sixteen U.S. spy agencies that should have been severely downsized if not abolished during the alleged ‘consolidation’ of the U.S. government’s spy apparatus in 2004.

“But rather than downsize, politicians merely added another layer of bureaucracy, increased government spending, and expanded government authority.
Full release from The Libertarian Party @ http://www.lp.org/news/press-releases/libertarian-party-calls-for-shutting-down-cia-criminal-prosecutions

Eric Garner’s final words may be the ultimate political litmus test:

Every time you see me, you want to mess with me. I’m tire of it. It stops today. (…) I’m minding my business, officer, I’m minding my business. Please just leave me alone. I told you the last time, please just leave me alone. Please. Please, don’t touch me. Do not touch me. (garbled) I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe.

That’s the statement of a man who was being choked figuratively long before he was choked literally. He is asserting his dignity, and then he’s being killed for it. Commentators have seen a host of social problems in Garner’s death: the impunity of abusive cops, the literally lethal consequences of criminalizing so much nonviolent behavior, the ways the effects of both that impunity and that criminalization fall more heavily on blacks than on whites. And they’re right on all those counts. But underlying all that is something more primal and universal. Eric Garner died because he decided to demand what should be the first right of any human being in a decent society: the right to peacefully live your life without being molested.

Jesse Walker looks at what is really the dividing line between libertarians who defend a civilization based on live and let live, and the barbarians who are turning America into a police state http://reason.com/blog/2014/12/04/eric-garners-final-words

On November 4, Californians voted on 6 statewide propositions. The Libertarian Party took a stand on 5 of the issues https://calibertarianreport.com/2014/10/30/libertarian-party-on-the-california-propositions/

California voters sided with Libertarians on 3 of the propositions:
Voters joined with Libertarians in rejecting Proposition 45, which would have given the State Insurance Commissioner new powers to regulate rates charged by companies for medical insurance. Competition is the only way to limit the cost of medical insurance; excessive regulation drives companies out of the California market, and reduces competition.

Voters also sided with Libertarians in rejecting Proposition 46, which had two parts. The main part of Prop. 46 would have raised the cap on punitive damages in medical malpractice cases from $250,000 to $1,100,000. Punitive damages are in addition to actual pain and suffering damages, which are not limited. Raising punitive damages would result in higher costs for medical malpractice insurance and resulted in higher costs for medical procedures and for medical insurance.

Californians joined with Libertarians in voting to pass Proposition 47, which downgraded many non-violent crimes, including many drug offenses, from felony to misdemeanor. This will help to reduce overcrowding in California prisons and more importantly, stop the destruction of peoples lives that results when they are punished as felons for victimless crimes, or crimes that can be more easily remedied.

The top two system adopted by California voters several years ago has hurt alternative parties in the Golden State. But the results of the California vote in 2014 show that the libertarian message is still welcome here.

(By Gene Berkman, Editor, California Libertarian Report)

On Tuesday, November 4, California voters will make decisions on a water bond issue along with 5 other statewide propositions. The Libertarian Party of California has made recommendations on 5 of the ballot issues:

Proposition 1 Water Bond for $7.12 Billion
Authorizes the state to issue bonds for projects related to water supply and infrastructure. $2.7 billion of these funds will be dedicated to water storage projects, dams and reservoirs. Additional funds will be dedicated to activities including flood management, contamination reduction and environmental protection.
It will take 40 years to pay off these bonds, and with interest and bond expenses, the total cost of the bill will likely be closer to $15 billion. Water projects are best managed and financed by local water boards. We recommend a NO vote.

Proposition 2 State Budget Stabilization
Would require 3% of state General Fund revenue be deposited in a “rainy day” fund, and allows up to 10% of revenue be deposited in this account. The measure would allow the rainy day funds to be spent only in the event of a drop in annual revenue below the preceding year, adjusted for population and inflation, or in a declared emergency.
Most features in this measure will lead to more fiscal responsibility; however, the requirement for school districts to reduce reserves will make schools more dependent on state government funding. We prefer local control of education. We recommend a NO vote.

Proposition 45 Health Insurance Rate Changes
This measure will give the Insurance Commissioner power to decide health insurance rates. More government interference in the marketplace where bureaucrats have caused the problem and Prop 45 will (they hope) fix the problem. Bureaucrats have limited the number of insurance companies offering insurance to California consumers through excessive rules and regulations, which has led to less competition and higher prices. The fix is an “Insurance Czar” who will decide if insurance rate increases are reasonable to “protect” the consumers from “price gouging.” The loosening up of regulations so many more insurance companies can sell to Californians will do more to lower rates.
We recommend a NO vote. –

Proposition 46 Drug & Alcohol Testing of Doctors
This measure will require random testing for substance abuse and raise the cap on malpractice lawsuits for pain and suffering. The medical insurance industry already monitors doctors and will not insure doctors with problems or will charge them higher rates for the added risk. Mandatory testing will only add to the already high cost of health care. Raising the cap on lawsuits for pain and suffering will encourage more lawsuits. We are concerned about the requirement in this measure that requires doctors to turn in doctors “suspected” of substance abuse, and the requirement to use a government database before issuing certain prescriptions; government databases have a history of problems. We recommend a NO vote.- See more@

Proposition 47 Criminal Sentences This measure will downgrade many less serious crimes from felonies to misdemeanors, thereby reducing the number of people incarcerated in California’s prisons and jails. In particular, it reduces the penalty for possession of most drugs for personal use from felonies to misdemeanors. Locking up people in prisons for less time for victimless crimes is a good start toward ending the drug war—and freeing up the criminal justice system to focus on violent crimes. We recommend a YES vote.

The Libertarian Party of California has No Position on Proposition 48, related to Indian Gaming.

Source:Libertarian Party of California @ http://ca.lp.org/resources

On Thursday, September 18, the people of Scotland will vote on whether to become independent or to remain a part of the United Kingdom. Advocates of independence in Catalonia, Alaska and other regions will watch the vote and its aftermath as they decide on their own strategies to promote independence.

In his book “Liberalism” – first published as “Liberalismus” in 1927, and translated into English by Ralph Raico in 1962, Ludwig von Mises sets forth the principle of self-determination:

The right of self-determination in regard to the question of membership in a state thus means: whenever the inhabitants of a particular territory, whether it be a single village, a whole district, or a series of adjacent districts, make it known, by a freely conducted plebiscite, that they no longer wish to remain united to the state to which they belong at the time, but wish either to form an independent state or to attach themselves to some other state, their wishes are to be respected and complied with. This is the only feasible and effective way of preventing revolutions and civil and international wars.

The entire chapter on Self-Determination can be read @ http://mises.org/liberal/ch3sec2.asp