News & Discussion

Wed, July 27 @ 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm Learn about ballot access, running for local office, state and local issues, and developing a county party to support local candidates and issues. Jackie Ray’s Grill 20 Cromley St Ashville, OH 43103 United States Get directions and learn more: http://www.fclpo.org/event/regional-development-meeting-pickaway/

Thanks to everyone who volunteered and donated for our successful float and booth at the Stonewall Pride March and Festival! Kudos to Drake and Cooper Lundstrom for their patience and charm, spell binding the crowd with balloon twisting artistry!

During the 5/17/2022 business meeting for the Franklin County Libertarian Party of Ohio Central Committee the following actions were taken. The following individuals were elected to the following roles: Central Committee Chair – Michael SweeneyVice-Chair – John StewartTreasurer – Chris Gill Secretary – Ken Holpp Executive Committee Chair – Michael SweeneyVice-Chair – Drake LundstromTreasurer – Pat HoffmanSecretary – Ken HolppAt Large – Jordan BertkeAt Large – John StewartAt Large – Chris Gill After the elections we discussed and voted on the following changes to the FCLPO By-Laws: Bylaw D – Central Committee, Section 2. In the event the Secretary of State … Read more

The following individuals have been elected to the Franklin County Libertarian Party of Ohio Central Committee. John S. Stewart – Gahanna Ward 04Patrick J Hoffman – Madison TownshipKenneth D. Holpp – Worthington Ward 01Michael Sweeney – Gahanna Ward 03Jordan T Bertke – Hilliard Ward 04David Nadolny – Worthington Ward 02 The meeting of the full committee, election for Central Committee officers and Executive Committee officers, will occur  at the next regular county party business meeting on May 17th, 2022.

We need your help to get the Libertarian Party regain ballot access in Ohio. This article helps explain what ballot access is, why it is important to us, and why the Libertarian Party of Ohio does not currently have it. To volunteer, check the “Circulate Petitions” or “Validate Petitions” box on the Volunteer form. What is “ballot access”? “Ballot access” is the right to put a political party label under a candidate’s name on the ballot. Having ballot access also enables a party to hold a primary. Under Ohio law (ORC 3501.38, amended in 2013 by Senate Bill 193), a … Read more

TOMORROW, MAY 3RD is the first Ohio Primary Election for 2022. tl;dr If you are a Libertarian in Ohio, be certain to pull an "issues only" ballot for the Ohio Primary Election. If you intend to join or remain a member of the Libertarian Party of Ohio, and also intend to vote in the Ohio Primary, you must remember to request an "issues only" ballot from your poll workers.Be sure to verify that you were issued an "issues only" ballot and do not have primary candidates for the Republican or Democratic parties.If you do participate in either major party primary … Read more

The LPO Office will be open to the public for voting in the Central Committee Election from 9am to 6pm, May 3rd, 2022.

In March of 2003, the US invaded Iraq on the flimsiest of pretenses.  In February 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine, also on the flimsiest of pretenses.  We hailed our invasion as brave and valiant and necessary for our security.  We condemned their invasion as barbarous and the work of a power-hungry tyrant. I've been wondering just what the difference is between the two.  The only thing I've come up with is, when we invade a country it's good; when they invade a country it's bad. But wait, you say, we were attacked on September 11, 2001.  We were…but not by Iraq.  They didn't even have the stockpile of weapons … Read more

Medical Apocalypse – the dramatic climax of a very bad horror movie. The United States has massive problems to solve.  I believe the collapse or corruption of our health care system, our financial system and our election system are the most important to us as libertarians.  Any one of these three issues could destroy the country.  At the very least, our economy and our ability to compete on the world stage have been severely compromised. These issues feed directly into an unsustainably high cost of production which is in turn caused by an unsustainably high cost of living.  America’s costly … Read more

 There is talk of another round of lockdowns for the Omicron variant and the winter weather, since Covid does seem to be seasonal, so it seems reasonable to give them an evaluation so far.  There have been a lot of other, more informed people than me talking about whether lockdowns have been effective (my understanding of the peer reviewed literature is that they have not been shown to have statistically significant positive effects), but not much talk about the costs. That seems weird to me, haven’t people been talking more about the overdose deaths, destruction of the economy, and so … Read more

A reader wrote this in response to last month's Opinion Piece:Mr. Lundstrom makes a few good points in his essay, but I wonder how many of us may never have been here if mandatory polio and tuberculosis vaccines had not been received by our parents.  I would bet that, if choice were left to individuals, those diseases would still be a worldwide scourge.  We still cannot get rid of polio and TB entirely, only because some pockets of the world population are not vaccinated.It's long been a Libertarian principle that one's freedom extends only to the point that it endangers … Read more

The national government is mandating vaccination with the justification, paraphrased: “you have to take this to protect someone else”. This is an argument that governments have used time and time again, and it’s worth seeing how it has been abused in the past. Just the US over the last century or so has had many instances of this abuse of power.  Eugenics: The same Supreme Court case that allowed for mandated vaccinations also allowed for forcibly sterilizing people who were criminals or simply not smart enough. The famous quote from it is “three generations of idiots is enough”, and the … Read more

Some years ago there was a science fiction series called Babylon 5. As one of the many running storylines, one of the alien races called the Centauri invaded and occupied the homeworld of another alien race called the Narn.  In exchange for help from the former Narn ambassador in eliminating the insane Centauri Emperor, the Centauri ambassador promised to end the occupation of the Narn homeworld.As the Centauri were withdrawing, the Centauri ambassador's aide, one of the more sympathetic characters in the series, looked out a window to watch the Narn celebrations and said, "What was it all for?"On the eve … Read more

 It seems like everything and everyone has gotten more political over the past year.  Families and friends engaging in regular screaming matches about Washington.  But the funny thing about that?  You, me, and anyone you know personally (with rare exceptions) have almost no influence in what happens in Washington, and we are mostly ignoring the area where we do have lots of influence: our local governments.  The vast majority of people can’t name their mayor, much less their town council members.  Even less than that have ever been inside city hall, or their equivalent, and even less have been there … Read more

Robert Higgs identified the Leviathan as an opportunistic beast, using crises—real or manufactured—to expand its realm, to slither its tentacles into the remaining halls where large amounts of liberty are found. Any national or international event can be spun into the need for more government, more interventions, and more intrusions of its slimy appendages.We have seen this time and time again, as the Leviathan strikes while the masses tremble. Somehow we are calmed by the sight of this powerful yet ugly serpentlike creature, believing that it is only grasping what it needs in order to protect us, and praying that … Read more

59 years ago a wonder drug swept Europe and the UK promising a restful sleep to anxious expectant mothers.  FTA-By 1960, Thalidomide was marketed in 46 countries, with sales nearly matching those of aspirin. Around this time, Australian obstetrician Dr. William McBride discovered that the drug also alleviated morning sickness. He started recommending this off-label use of the drug to his pregnant patients, setting a worldwide trend. Prescribing drugs for off-label purposes, or purposes other than those for which the drug was approved, is still a common practice in many countries today, including the U.S. In many cases, these off-label … Read more

The Vaccine passports are an Orwellian nightmare descending on America with the support of the same politicians and spokespeople who have lied to us hundreds of times before.  And the worst part?  Unlike the 2 weeks to flatten the curve that is still ongoing, or the corporate bailouts with under 10% of the money spent on relief checks, this policy would stay forever. America has a long history of this.  The TSA was supposed to only exist for a few years, the federal income tax was sold as only a 3% tax on the richest of Americans.  The NSA would … Read more

We’ve got good news and we’ve got bad news. The bad news is the Libertarian Party of Ohio has lost ballot access… again. The November Presidential election did not provide the votes needed for Libertarians to retain our status as a minor party. The Ohio Secretary of State released guidance regarding our ballot access in response to a Libertarian Candidate in Hamilton County that does not favor us. What does this mean? Well, we’re back on the treadmill. We will need to collect ballot access petition signatures again to seek recognition for Minor Party Status. Based on the math we … Read more

For last month’s newsletter, I submitted the first of a two part series.  The first part featured two trending concerns: the death of personal liberty and the death of money.  This second part of the series focuses on the third trending concern, the death of democracy.   To be blunt, the topic could just be called election fraud, because that’s what this article is about.  Without honest and reliable voting, democracy does not exist.  Election fraud has been a concern of all political parties for quite some time.  Democrats complained bitterly about the results of the 2000 election.  Legislation called the Help … Read more

It’s time for Libertarians to be serious.  While libertarian philosophy has had some success, such as more realistic and rational drug laws and enforcement, there are three macro trends converging in 2021 that can take us far in the wrong direction.  It may take decades, or even lifetimes, to fix the damage. On the surface, personal liberty in the United States seems reasonably healthy, but there are termites in the foundation.  2021 is the year that foundation could crumble.  The problems have been going on for 20 years.  Most older libertarians are very aware of the damage to liberty that … Read more

There is this myth that Americans refuse to "do the right thing" when presented with information about risk and consequences. This myth has been perpetuated by well intentioned politicians, medical celebrities and even prominent Libertarians, despite the long history and recent evidence to the contrary.  Let's look at the example of masks. Despite medical celebrities adamantly telling us not to wear masks in Feb and March, many Americans did so. Nationwide adoption of mask wearing went from 5% to 70% between March and May.  The New York Times reports mask compliance continues to be about 60%, nationwide, with many urban … Read more

Jo is coming to Columbus! Rally will begin at 6pm at LPO HQ and will be followed by an exclusive dinner with Jo, LPOs Congressional candidates, and major donors and volunteers. Facebook Event | Directions

The Franklin County Libertarian Party of Ohio voted through their Central Committee to endorse candidates for the 2020 election. Robert Leist for OH Assembly Representative District 72https://www.leistforohio.com Kevin Kahn – Congress Ohio District 1https://kahn4congress.com/https://votefreeohio.com/congressional-district-1/ Steven Perkins – Congress District 4https://www.facebook.com/Perkins4Ohiohttps://votefreeohio.com/congressional-district-4/ Oscar Herrera – State Representative District 96https://electoscarherrera.com/https://votefreeohio.com/congressional-district-6/ Brandon Lape – Congress District 7http://www.lapeforohio.com/https://votefreeohio.com/congressional-district-7/ Dyrone Smith – Council District 8https://votefreeohio.com/congressional-district-11/ John Stewart – Congress District 12https://electjohnstewart.comhttps://votefreeohio.com/congressional-district-12/ Dr. Michael Fricke – Congress District 13https://www.facebook.com/mikefricke2020https://votefreeohio.com/congressional-district-13/

The Franklin County Libertarian Party has an opportunity to endorse candidates in our backyard and across the state.Please be aware this is notice of special meeting for the Franklin County Libertarian Central Committee on Tuesday, Sept 22nd at 7pm.We are starting the process to endorse candidates at the county party level.Voting by email will be open _immediately_ and close at 8pm, Sept 22nd. You can vote by email or attend in person to vote during the meeting.We will be scheduling interview opportunities so all County Central Committee members can speak with the candidates and become informed. Feel free to send along questions … Read more

Right now, there are literally thousands of people protesting in the streets all over America about the daily harassment from hundreds of “good intention” laws that police use as excuses to force confrontations. Social distancing and mask mandates are just another example in a long line of well intended, but poorly conceived and inconsistently enforced policies that always come to harm the most vulnerable communities. Govt is always reluctant to give up power it can use for unearned influence, especially when it’s enforcement is arbitrary and subjective. As mask wearing loses popularity, and people see less actual benefit as well as … Read more