Maryland Board of Elections Certifies the Libertarian Party

Salisbury, MD: It’s official – the Maryland Libertarian Party will be on the ballot through 2014. Maryland Libertarian Party Chair Bob Johnston announced today that the Maryland Board of Elections certified 11,113 valid signatures, which certifies the Libertarian Party in the State of Maryland.

This means that Libertarian Muir Boda will be on the ballot in the First District challenging Incumbent Republican Andy Harris and Democrat Wendy Rosen. First District and all Maryland Voters will have the opportunity to vote for Libertarians Dr. Dean Ahmed for the U.S. Senate and former two term New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson for President.

Muir Boda stated, “We are so grateful for the hard work put into this drive for ballot access. This was a true grassroots political effort that will offer real alternatives to the two major political parties. Thank you to all who petitioned and to all who signed the petition giving voters more legitimate choices in November. Liberty is on the ballot!”

For more information on these candidates and where they stand on the issues you can visit their websites. Muir Boda’s website is http://www.boda4congress.com, Dr. Dean Ahmed’s website is http://www.ahmedforUSsenate.info and Gov. Gary Johnson’s website is http://www.garyjohnson2012.com.

The Libertarian Party is America’s third‐largest political party, founded in 1971 as an alternative to the two main political parties. You can find more information on the Maryland Libertarian Party at http://www.md.lp.org and the Libertarian Party by visiting http://www.LP.org. The Libertarian Party proudly stands for smaller government, lower taxes and more freedom.

Medicare Reforms

We find ourselves in a difficult place with the astronomical costs of entitlement programs. For many of my generation, we are coming to realize that these programs will not be there for us if reforms are not enacted – now. Though Medicare was created with good intentions, it was setup for failure from the beginning. It has increased costs, fraud is rampant throughout the system and it is projected to have Trillions of Dollars  in unfunded liabilities in the near future.

If we do not make serious changes to the program now, it will create a financial disaster for government that will be impossible to manage. It will lead our nation to financial ruin and catastrophe. Taxing ourselves to making this and other entitlement programs solvent, well, is like Winston Churchill said, “We contend that for a nation to tax itself into prosperity is like a man
standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle.”

I have again partnered with the CATO Institute in proposing reforms to Medicare. Michael Cannon and Chris Edwards have put forth a proposal on downsizinggovernment.org. For the benefit of District 1 voters, I have posted it below.

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Michael Cannon and Chris Edwards

Overview

The federal government subsidizes medical care for more than 45 million elderly and disabled Americans through Medicare. Medicare is the third-largest federal program after Social Security and defense, and it will cost taxpayers about $430 billion in fiscal year 2010.¹ Medicare is one of the fastest-growing programs in the federal budget, with spending likely to double over the next decade and to surpass Social Security spending by 2028.² Numerous studies suggest that about one-third of Medicare spending is wasted.

Chicken Sandwiches, Same-Sex Marriage and Free Speech

With the recent controversy over same-sex marriage, comments made by the CEO of Chick-Fil-A and free speech, I thought it appropriate to weigh in on this issue. I am often perplexed as a Christian and a Libertarian at the level of emotion that this issue generates. I also think the main problem with this issue is that people fail to separate their personal and religious beliefs from their political and public policy positions.

Read the rest at Cecil Whig

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