chide older parties for $79 million 'welfare check'
ATLANTA -- Here's one reason that even non-Libertarians should celebrate
the Libertarian National Convention, which begins on Thursday in Atlanta:
The event is being paid for without one dime of taxpayer money.
The Democratic and Republican conventions, in contrast, will cost
taxpayers an astronomical $79 million.
"Because the Democratic and Republican nominees are both known in advance,
their conventions are just obscenely expensive, taxpayer-financed
political ads," said Geoffrey Neale, the Libertarian Party's national
chair. "They are having pretend conventions, but unfortunately they're
paid for with real money."
The organizers of the Democratic and Republican national conventions have
each already received checks for $14.5 million from the Federal Election
Commission to finance their events, which will be held in Boston and New
York, respectively. That $29 million, combined with the estimated $25
million in security costs that each will incur, means that taxpayers will
foot the bill for a staggering $79 million.
"The evidence is clear: The two biggest welfare queens in the United
States are John Kerry and George Bush," Neale said.
Even worse, Neale noted, is that the Democratic and Republican conventions
are invitation-only events, closed to the general public.
"Now there's an entitlement program with a twist," Neale said.
"Politicians are taking $79 million of your money for a private party that
you're not even allowed to attend!"
The solution is to privatize political conventions, Libertarians say.
"If you agree with the Libertarian message of limited government and
individual freedom, we welcome your voluntary support," Neale said. "But
if you disagree, you shouldn't have to finance that message with your
hard-earned dollars.
"In the same way, George Bush and John Kerry should ask their own
contributors to finance the debut of their campaign ads, rather than
forcing all Americans to pay.
"It's bad enough that Republicans and Democrats plan to saturate the
airwaves with another predictable, tedious yawn-a-thon masquerading as a
political convention. They should at least have the decency not to send
the victims the bill."
The Libertarian National Convention will run from Thursday, May 27 to
Monday, May 31 at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis Hotel and ballroom. The
800-plus delegates in attendance will also make changes to the party
Platform, listen to a wide array of speakers and entertainers and elect a
national chair.
Here's the most interesting speaker
Convention speaker to discuss Iraq War 'lies'
"We solved the things we're there to solve, but it's not what we were told we're there for," says retired USAF Lt. Col. Karen Kwiatkowski, who was working as an analyst for the Pentagon as the U.S. geared up to invade Iraq.
A registered Libertarian, Kwiatkowski will talk about the Iraq war at the Libertarian Party's national convention in Atlanta. Her primary thesis: The reasons for invading Iraq were manufactured.
...
"A lot of people may still believe this Iraq thing is part of the war on terror, that we're there to stop terrorism," Kwiatkowski said. "The terrorists [of Sept. 11, 2001] didn't come from Iraq. But now, the threat of terrorism coming out of Iraq is very real."
That's a major result of the Iraq invasion, she said: "A lot more people hate us now than before, so there's a whole new crop of terrorists.
I guess it's a copyrighted article, not a press release, so I won't quote more, but, there you go...
Sounds kinda familiar, doesn't it?
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