Libertarian Party of San Francisco News

  • A Libertarian at City Hall?

    Submitted by lpsf on 18 September 2018 - 9:44pm
    Written by: 
    Aubrey Freedman
    John Dennis was officially endorsed by the Libertarian Party of San Francisco for District 2 Supervisor at our August meeting.

    Could a man raised in the densest Democratic county in America and now living in the bluest city in the country end up becoming Libertarians’ best chance to get a real freedom-loving politician into San Francisco City Hall?  Unlikely as it seems, yes, it’s actually possible this November. The lone Republican candidate for District 2 Supervisor, John Dennis is waging an enthusiastic campaign this fall to get a seat at the table. District 2, which covers primarily the Marina District, Pacific Heights, and Cow Hollow, is undeniably the wealthiest district in The City and probably the most conservative.

    float_right

  • First They Came For Your Boardroom

    Submitted by lpsf on 15 September 2018 - 9:23pm
    Written by: 
    Jon Sindell

    Unprecedented Power Grab By California's State Legislature

    Statism in California is not on the march, it's rampaging.

    On August 30, the State Senate passed SB-826, which would compel corporations to appoint specified numbers of women to their boards.

    Here me loud and clear, please, men and women alike:

    There is nothing wrong, and everything right, with a company choosing to appoint a woman or women to its board.

    But there is nothing right, and everything wrong, with using government power to force a company to put any person on its board (or in its management or anywhere else in the company). It is tyranny, plain and simple.

    float_left

  • Selective Anger At "Freeloaders"

    Submitted by Starchild on 4 September 2018 - 11:56pm
    Written by: 
    Starchild
    Cartoon artwork and concept – Barry Deutsch, LeftyCartoons.com. Added typewritten text – Starchild

        In my dialogues with defenders of statism, online and off, I routinely encounter people – usually though not always on the political right – who express feelings of anger, disgust, contempt, etc., toward those whom they characterize with terms like "lazy", "bums", "freeloaders", "parasites", "anti-social", "welfare queens", "druggies", "illegals", "junkies", "leeches", "the homeless", "non-productive members of society", etc. Most of the criticisms seem to boil down to resentment that the people who are the objects of their ire are in some way being assisted or provided for by government at the expense of others.

    float_right

  • N?NNN: Ballot Recommendations (November 2018)

    Submitted by lpsf on 28 August 2018 - 8:08pm
    Written by: 
    Aubrey Freedman

    It’s almost election time again, so these are the LPSF’s recommendations and thoughts on all of this fall’s local ballot measures. As always, the LPSF submitted arguments for the “free” official arguments to be printed in the Voters Handbooks, and we “won” the lottery for two of the ballot measures and submitted two paid arguments, all of which will appear in the Voters Handbooks mailed out in early October. As usual, our support of or opposition to a ballot measure hinges on whether it expands or shrinks the amount of governmental control of our lives. Increased taxes, debt, ordinances, bans, and mandates all tend to be the former, so that’s why the LPSF generally opposes most San Francisco ballot measures.

    float_left

  • Bonded

    Submitted by lpsf on 28 August 2018 - 7:10pm
    Written by: 
    Aubrey Freedman

    Since outright taxation, even for statists, has its limitations, bond measures have become the preferred method for politicians and vested interests to increase government spending, especially here in California. Since California voters passed Prop 39 in 2000 lowering the threshold for passage from 2/3 to 55% for school bonds, the approval rate for such bonds has soared to 80%. A report from the Little Hoover Commission, a “good government” independent state oversight agency, in 2009 pointed out the increasing problem of more and more long-term debt being approved both statewide and locally. It revisited the issue last year as the problem seems to have worsened as few of their recommendations from 2009 were adopted.

    banner

  • No Shame No Principles

    Submitted by lpsf on 22 August 2018 - 12:07am
    Written by: 
    Nick Smith
    No Shame No Principles

    Proponents of Prop C like to pose that the LPSF doesn’t think they have a plan to address homelessness in The City. In fact, we do believe they have a plan. This is a deflection from our real concern, which is that in order to fund their plans, they feel entitled to dip their fingers into local company coffers to “raise more revenue”. That’s a great euphemism for “stealing”.

    float_right

  • Uncommon Sense

    Submitted by lpsf on 30 July 2018 - 8:38pm
    Written by: 
    Aubrey Freedman

    Senator Wiener is at it again.  Teamed up with Assemblymember Phil Ting, they have introduced SB 221, which would ban the sale of all guns or ammunition at the Cow Palace beginning in 2020.  The Cow Palace is state-owned and located in Daly City on the cusp of San Francisco and San Mateo counties, and local officials have tried for years to shut down the guns shows held there.  This is the umpteenth attempt to pass such legislation, and previous attempts were vetoed by both governors Schwarzenegger and Brown, though with every school shooting that occurs, there’s been a greater push for “common sense” gun control.

    float_right

  • Mountains & Extortion

    Submitted by lpsf on 30 July 2018 - 8:35pm
    Written by: 
    Aubrey Freedman

    A $5,600 bill from the government for having an illegal chicken coop in the backyard?  A $31,000 fine for doing a minor expansion to your home without a permit?  A $4,200 bill for a Halloween decoration stretched across a road?  Sound too incredible to be true?  Think again.  In the world of government enforcement of “public nuisance” ordinances, nothing is impossible.  The cases cited above all occurred in California in the inland empire cities of Indio and Coachella.

    float_left

  • Underground SF Culture Still Has Its Charms

    Submitted by lpsf on 30 July 2018 - 7:39pm
    Written by: 
    Starchild

    Not too many people have heard of political writer and agitator Voltairine de Cleyre (1866-1912), so I was surprised and delighted when a performer at a "secret garden" party I attended here in San Francisco earlier this month announced that she was going to perform a song written by the 19th century individualist anarchist.

     
    Left-anarchist singer-songwriter Erica, who goes by Unwoman after the banished women in Canadian sci-fi writer Margaret Atwood's dystopian "A Handmaid's Tale", proceeded to give a beautiful musical rendition of VdC's haunting poem "Written In Red" on the electric cello, a performance somewhat similar to which you can view here:

    float_right