Democrat and Republican Affiliation Drops While Libertarian Party Numbers

SurgeLibertarians See Increase in Active Duty Military Numbers and Improved Election Results

(Washington, DC) - At a time when Libertarian Party membership continues to rise, a recent Rasmussen Report survey indicates that Republican Party affiliation continues to decline while Democratic Party affiliation is decreasing, as well.

Republican numbers have been dropping since the November 2004 elections and they continue to decrease with no bottom in sight. For the last four consecutive months, the amount of self-identified Republicans continued their decline - from 31.1 percent to 30.8 percent in a telephone survey of 15,000 adults.

The number of self-identified Democrats fell to 36.3 percent, its lowest number in seventeen months. Democrats have suffered losses in the last three consecutive months, resulting in a six month decrease of 4.5 percent.

At the same time, Libertarian Party membership numbers have been on an upswing. For the last five months, people willing to pay at least $25 per year for Libertarian Party affiliation have increased at a rate of approximately 2.7 percent per month, which is a 14 percent increase from December's figure.

Additionally, Libertarian Party fundraising is increasing at the same time the GOP dismissed their entire telephone solicitation staff. According to the Washington Times, "declining contributions and a donor backlash" against Republican policy was the cause for their dismissal.

"These are certainly encouraging data, but not at all surprising," said Libertarian National Committee Chairman William Redpath. "Despite the electoral barriers thrown our way by the Democrats and Republicans, their numbers are decreasing while ours are simultaneously increasing. Americans desire fiscal responsibility, social tolerance and oppose the continued deaths of our soldiers in Iraq. Unfortunately, neither major party is willing to effectively address these important issues."

Current U.S. foreign policy, as well as proposals from the new Democrat-controlled Congress, are significant reasons for the increase in Libertarian Party membership. So far this year, the LP has attracted fourteen times the expected national average of active duty service members. The LP's soldiers, sailors and airmen range in rank from junior enlisted personnel to Vice Admiral (Ret.) Michael Colley, who now serves on the Libertarian National Committee.

Based on required Federal Elections Commission reporting data, seven percent of new LP members have reported their employer as a branch of the Armed Forces.

"It is heartening for me to see that the men and women who serve our nation are finding a principled alternative to the Republicans and Democrats," said Libertarian Party Executive Director Shane Cory, who first noticed this trend. While noting that Libertarian members of our military have the discipline necessary to accomplish the mission they are handed, Cory noted "the men and women of our fighting forces are intelligent, informed, and, yes, opinionated."

Increased support for the Libertarian Party is beginning to translate into election results, too. While significant national media attention highlighted Republican losses in 2006, over 13,400,000 votes were cast for Libertarians in the same elections.

"Since the Democrats have taken control of Congress, our numbers continue to improve," said Libertarian Party Political Director Stephen Gordon. "In 2007, we've already won over a quarter of the races where we've fielded candidates. In April's Midwestern contests, we won seven out of eleven of the campaigns we ran. When third party candidates start showing these sorts of returns, it's obvious that the mood of the electorate is changing."

"Democrats didn't win the elections in 2006; Republicans lost them," said Chairman Redpath. "Since then, Democratic leaders have failed to show leadership on the Iraq War, are talking about tax increases and beginning to have ethical problems of their own. Americans continue to look for a viable alternative to the two-party system - one which better represents the values most Americans find important. To those who are becoming involved with the Libertarian Party, we'd like to say 'Welcome home.'"

The Jail Tax

As many of you heard, the Hamilton county commissioners passed a raise in the sales tax to build a new jail and to start social programs to keep people from preventing crimes. In November, the voters soundly rejected a similar, yet cheaper tax increase. Now the county commission wants to raise the sales tax without a vote of the people. Why do I have the feeling that this will end out being another government programs that will not do its job and it will be nothing but a burden on the taxpayers?

The jail expansion barely adds more jail space. $777 million is expected to be spent in this program. Of the $777 million, only $190 million actually goes to build a jail. And it will only add 400 new beds! This will either barely make a dent in jail overcrowding, or perhaps there is not that much of a problem with overcrowding. If the sheriff need 400 more beds, there are certainly cheaper ways of doing it.

Also, this plan will simply throw money at a broken problem. The remaining $587 million will be spent on new programs aimed at keeping people from turning to a life of crime. The County Commission even hired an outside consulting firm to study their programs and see what need improving. The consultants concluded that the problem was not a lack of funds or resources, but rather a lack of accountability. People were not doing their job! So the solution is to give them more money?

It will also fund continuously running programs. Even though the tax is to be retired in 15 years, the expenses will not. Despite what the county commission is promising, common sense shows that this tax will be at least partially permanent.

This jail plan will not solve any problems. It is more expensive, rewards mediocrity, and is downright stupid. The voters spoke up once and said they did not want this tax. I am sure most Libertarians don’t either. The only way to keep this foolish tax from going into effect is to help in the petition drive. Visit http://www.WeDemandAVote.com or contact me directly if you can help collect signatures or if you need to sign a petition.

http://www.hamiltoncountyohio.gov/administrator/bsi/jail.asp to read the Voorhis report.

Send an e-mail to SWRegion@LPO.org to collect signatures or to sign a petition.

Dear American Taxpayers

Dear American Taxpayers,

I know that you have all been hard at work, but I need some more tax money to pay for all the great government programs the new Congress is planning on initiating.

Now, I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking: Isn’t the federal government big enough? Didn’t Congress grow the government by unprecedented levels over the past several years? But I am writing to reassure you that this Congress will grow the government better than in years past. Taxpayers often think they know the best way to spend their own money, but the truth is your senators and representatives can usually think of a better way. For example, you might want to save your money for your children’s college years, but wouldn’t it be better if we put that money toward peanut storage in Georgia instead?

As Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, I am proud to tell you that the Committee has recently released a plan to raise the highest income tax rate 4.3 percentage points to 39.3% as part of a plan to reform the Alternative Minimum Tax. Think of all the new, wonderful government programs we can fund with that money. And still, there’s more! When Congress lets the Bush tax cuts expire, the top income tax rate will soar to 44%—even more than it was under Bill Clinton! (Oh boy, it sure is fun to be in control again!)

In conclusion, I am looking forward to receiving your additional tax dollars and to growing government even more. If you have any new ideas for raising taxes, I am always interested in hearing about them. You can reach me at (202) 225-4365.

Sincerely,
Charlie Rangel
Rep. Charles B. Rangel (NY-D)

Thanks to Club for Growth
www.ClubForGrowth.org

www.WeDemandAVote.com

This weekend the Libertarian Party of Ohio formed a coalition to putthe county tax on the ballot. We will need close to 30,000 goodsignatures by June 30! That actually equates to about 55,000 rawsignatures, or about 2,400 signaturs a day as of this Wednesday! Asimilar tax was voted down by the voters last November, so the newly elected Democratic Hamilton County Commission is trying to pass this tax tofund a new jail and many social programs. Some issues about this new tax:

- It will bring about only 400 new beds
- The new 'temporary tax' will fund on-going programs. If the spending does not go away, you know the tax never will.
- This plan is 2.5 time more expensive than the plan that voters rejected last November.
- Liberal groups like the NAACP and Cincinnati Progressive Action and conservative groups like the Coalition to Additional Spending andTaxation (COAST) are a part of this coaltiion.
- The Cincinnati Fraternal Order of Police has spoken out against this jail plan.

We can be a part of something big here, but we need a LOT of help.

You can download petition at www.WeDemandAVote.com. There will be training for petitioning. This training will occur every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday of the petition drive.

Write letters to the editorUnlike other petition drives, this one will be a lot easier. With so many people against this issue, a lot of signors will be approaching you to sign it.

Throughout the drive, we will be setting up Libertarian petitioning stations. Our first one will be at Findley Market this Saturday. If you know of any other places that gets a lot of foot traffic, let us know.

In Liberty
Josh Weitzman
http://www.WeDemandAVote.com