NEW MEXICO LIBERTY
“Let Freedom Ring”
The Official Newsletter of the Libertarian Party of New Mexico
July 2009
Table of Contents
Page 1
• Libertarian Media from New Mexico
• Notes from the Editor
Page 2
Events at a Glance
Page 3 – A Lesson in Politics
Page 4 – The Energy Web
Page 5 – Fascialism: The New American
System
Page 6 – Field Reports / Calendar
Page 7 – Contacts / Internet Resources
Page 8
• Administrivia
• The Unanimous Consent Challenge
Page 9 – Enrollment / Renewal Form
Page 10 – Authorization for Automatic
Transfers
Libertarian Media from New Mexico
not necessarily endorsed by LPNM)
Speaking Freely
hosted by Paul Gessing and Jim Scarantino
Saturdays 9 – 10 AM on KJOY 1550 AM
riograndefoundation.org/pg_rp.html
tinyurl.com/dcnpwm
Hemp TV – Tuesdays at 7PM
myspace.com/nmhemptv
The One Party State – Wednesdays 11PM
Contact Lance Klafeta
[ lklafeta@yahoo.com ] for details
Reeferhead – Saturdays at 6PM
myspace.com/reeferheadtv
The Fringe Element
thefringeelement.net / postpubco.com
http://lpnm.us v.2.2 N.11
Notes from the Editor
by Mike Blessing [ mikewb1971@gmail.com ]
2010 Annual State Convention
Next year's State Convention will most likely be hosted by the Bernalillo County LP in the
greater Albuquerque area. Jay Vandersloot has volunteered to be the Convention
Coordinator. The Central Committee will have a meeting immediately following the Die-Hard
Breakfast speaker on Sunday morning.
Contact Jay at email address yprocrastinate-emailme@yahoo.com to suggest speakers or
venue locatiions.
Spreading the Liberty Mindset
This Fourth of July has got to be the best one I've had in at least ten years, if not my life.
First, before I went to my day job that morning, I dropped off a milk crate full of libertarian-
oriented literature, from the LP and other stuff, at Telstar Construction for Elisheva Levin.
She contacted me through one of the Thursday night meetings as a representative of the
Albuquerque Tea Party, as the libertarian among the group's organizers. Since then, I've
appointed her as the Precinct 553 Chair for the Bernalillo County LP.
Anyway, she and others managed to give out about sixty percent of the brochures to Tea
Party attendees, and reported after the fact that not many of the brochures ended up on the
ground or in trash cans.
Following my day on the grind, I went home, fed the pets, and proceeded to speed north to
Santa Fe for the Celebrate American R3VOLUTION event sponsored by the Adam Kokesh
for Congress Exploratory Committee. After topping off in Bernalillo, I got back onto I-25,
accelerated to 80-100 mph, and didn't let up until I reached Exit 278.
At the Greer Garson Theater, I met former LPNM Vice-Chair Frank Martin, as well as LPNM
members Allen Cogbill and Bill Schudlich. The event was run for Adam by Ernie Hancock's
Freedom's Phoenix crew, out of Phoenix, Arizona.
Anyway, Adam Kokesh for Congress switched from an exploratory committee to an actual
campaign at 12:06 AM when he made the actual announcement. If the GOP doesn't want
him (YES, they are THAT stupid), the LPNM had BETTER snap him up, as he does have
his stuff together where the principles are concerned, he can articulate those principles and
he's an activist at heart.
After the event concluded and the equipment was removed from the theater, we adjourned
to the nearby Denny's and stayed there for about two hours. There I took advantage of the
chance I've been hoping to get for about ten years now – to pick Ernie Hancock's brain.
In 1993, I was a Republican and pissed off about the GOP's “support” for the Second
Amendment. It was an “assault raffle” (similar to the recent gun raffles by the San Juan
County LP) sponsored by Hancock and crew in Arizona that convinced me that the LP was
worth giving a shot.
When I asked Hancock what it was in Arizona that led to his group's success, he said it's
simple – get people thinking, ask them questions about their issues, and explain why you as
an LP member are a libertarian. (If you're an LP member and not a libertarian, I will make no
exucses.)
New Mexico Liberty – July 2009 – Page 1
 Events at a Glance Special Events
Bernalillo County – The BCLP is hosting two meetings per month, LPNM Central Committee Meeting – 13 September 2009
on Thursday, 2 July and Thursday, 16 July, 6:00 to 7:00 PM at The LPNM's Central Committee will have its regularly scheduled
Fiesta's Restaurant & Lounge (Carlisle & Montogomery NE). meeting on Sunday, 14 June 2009. Lunch at 12 PM, meeting from
Contact Mike Blessing for details [ mikewb1971@gmail.com / 505- 1 PM to 3 PM. For location, contact State Chair Ken Cavanaugh [
918-6567], or see the BCLP website – lpnm.us/bernalillo. 505-489-8099 / phloyd113@cableone.net ]. County and Campus
Mark Curtis and Jay Vandersloot have been manning a table at the Contacts encouraged to attend!
gun shows hosted in the Manuel Lujan Building at the State
LPNM Central Committee Meeting – 13 December 2009
Fairgrounds.
The LPNM's Central Committee will have its regularly scheduled
Elisheva Levin has been appointed as the BCLP's latest precinct
meeting on Sunday, 14 June 2009. Lunch at 12 PM, meeting from
chair (Pct 553 – Sedillo) and is considering a run for State
1 PM to 3 PM. For location, contact State Chair Ken Cavanaugh [
Representative, District 22.
505-489-8099 / phloyd113@cableone.net ]. County and Campus
See kcufmedia.xanga.com for more information concerning The Contacts encouraged to attend!
Weekly Sedition and New Mexico's Consumer Advocate.
2010 Annual State Convention
Dona Ana County – The next scheduled Dona Ana County Central
Committee Meeting is 13 January 2010 at 6:30 PM to plan for the The 2010 LPNM State Convention is scheduled for the weekend of
county convention. Contact chair for more information. The 16-18 April 2009 for the greater Albuquerque area. More details to
committee would be delighted to meet before then with any Doña follow soon.
Ana County Libertarian wishing support in running for office or with
any ideas to advance the party or political issues that the party
should address. Please contact the chair – lpdacnm@lpnm.us /
575-541-9079, or check the LPDAC website – lpnm.us/dona-ana.
Otero County – The Otero County LP meets on Wednesday, 1
July – contact Dr. Gilberto Heredia for more information [
thrill@zianet.com / 575-439-8234 ], or see the OCLP website for
details – lpnm.us/otero. The OCLP hosted this year's state
convention in April.
Sandoval County – The LPSC is having its monthly meetings on
the fourth Tuesday of each month. Tuesday, 28 July – The
Sandoval County Libertarian Party will meet – contact Ron
Bjornstad [ rbjornstad@earthlink.net / 505-288-4228 ] for details.

Santa Fe County – Ed Nagel is working on organizing an LPNM

county affiliate for Santa Fe County. Contact him at
ed123nagel@aol.com or call him at 505-471-6928. He'd appreciate
any help he can get. The Santa Fe County LP meets at the South
Library on Monday, 13 July at 6:30 PM. Contact Ed Nagel for
details [ ed123nagel@aol.com / 505-474-0300 ].
Ed specified these directions for the South Library –
Although the mailing address is on Jaguar St, the best way
to get there is to turn south off Airport Rd onto Country Club
Rd (by the golf course), proceed 6 tenths of a mile to
Valentine Way, and make a left (heading east), and an
immediate right into the parking lot of the South Library.

If you live in a county with an inactive affiliate and want to get

involved, contact the county chair.

The LPNM's Candidates

U.S. House of Representatives

District 1 – Alan Woodruff – alanwoodruff.com

State Legislature

State Representative, District 16 – Mike Blessing –

mikewb1971.xanga.com
(Exploratory committee at present)

State Senate, District 26 – Mike Blessing –

mikewb1971.xanga.com
(Exploratory committee at present)

New Mexico Liberty – July 2009 – Page 2


Voice of the Chair
by Ken Cavanaugh
[ phloyd113@cableone.net ]
Being a Candidate
Possibly one of the best ways to create new interest in a political
philosophy is to have candidates running for public office. By
having articulate people running for public office gives a philosophy
the opportunity to be heard through the media far better than any
other form of activism. But who has the time? We all do, if we make
it available.
Though it is true that running for office does take time from a
usually busy schedule, the rewards are tremendous, even if you do
not win. To be in the publics eyes and ears, providing your
philosophies, is reward enough; believe me, I have done it myself.
Does it take a lot of money to run for office? It can, but it needn't be
thought of as required. When I ran for U.S. Congress, I spent less
than $500, and that included the filing fees. Still, once I had my
name on the ballot, I was invited to all of the debates, which of
themselves, gave me publicity. On that note, a person could
feasibly run for a lesser office for even less investment. Of course,
having millions of dollars helps to place signs, run advertisements,
and other promotional efforts is always useful, but not an absolute.
I understand that running for office can reach a point where some
of a persons' history might be brought forward by unscrupulous
opponents. I can say that we all have skeletons in our closet, and
none were brought out against myself (though I admit that some
exist). Even at that, if a third party candidate reaches a point where
an opponent feels the need to dig that deep, that means they are
running scared. As a libertarian, most of anyone's past can be
washed away with the notion of our fundamental platform. Even if
the past contains some degree of ugliness, a solid libertarian could
still point out that any debt to society has been paid, and we should
move forward; lesson learned.
Running for office requires very little, except a bit of smart planning.
There are several different levels of offices to run for for, and most
of the local races do not merit spending a lot of effort on the LP
national platform. One cannot legalize drugs as a City Councilman,
so don't use that approach. One cannot eliminate the IRS as a
County commissioner, so leave that aspect out of it. Instead, these
are issues that should be reserved for higher office. Perhaps a
candidate for State Legislature could consider legalizing drugs, but
that comes immediately with a fight with the federal government (go
for it!!!). But if your stance is to continue to permit abortion, that
belongs to the Fed (if only for the Roe v. Wade ruling).
Let's face it. For the Libertarian Party, our most difficult position to
express is the one about legalizing drugs. If a person isn't running
for State or Federal office, there is little that one can do, even if one
wins the election. I can cite the example of a winer in Northern
California several years ago (I believe it was Mayor of a city in
Humboldt County), where the platform included a promise to
prohibit enforcement of the marijuana laws. That person won, and
the sheriff was pretty upset over it. Too bad!! Still, this would be a
rare success, and I can tell you that Humboldt County is the home
to some of the best quality marijuana in the world. So that
addressed the locals the best.
That is my point. Whatever office is sought, keep in mind the
immediate needs of the constituency. This can be best done by
using some of the points in my “activism” essay from last month. By
attending local city and county meetings, and\or directly speaking
with The People, are the best ways to find out the “hot buttons”,
which can help one succeed in having an impact in an election.
Also, it is okay to modify an LP platform once you find out where
The People stand. If running as a libertarian, it is fine to avoid the
demolition of the IRS (Harry Browne – 2000 presidential campaign),
but instead focus on specific areas of taxation and government
infrastructure that can be reduced or removed entirely.
Then, the elimination of the IRS is the second biggest difficulty for
the LP platform. Though we all agree on this, it has been, in my
experience, a difficult and time consuming conversation to make,
and most people walk away still not believing the idea. Take the
small steps, and leave the big steps to when we actually have
elected officials in such places as this can be properly put forward.
Get there first!!
Now, the most important thing about running for office is be
prepared to address any issue that might be put before you. At any
level of office, you would be asked about any possible platform.
Keep in mind that if the question is out of the authority of the office
being sought, you can express that in clear terms. That would
demonstrate your knowledge of the position, and understand its
functions, as well as limitations. Beyond that, expressing the long-
term intent of the LP platform then becomes difficult, if running for
City or County office, for example.
Look your best while appearing in public, but three-piece suits are
necessary. While running for U.S. House, the highest I reached
was sport coat, collared shirt with a loosely tied necktie. Even the
tie came off early in the debate. I found that the everyday people
received me better when I remained my usual casual self, thus
presenting myself as a regular everyday person. I can assure you
that gained more support by being myself, than trying to be
something I wasn't. That should be the last thing to put forward.
While talking with the public, listen more, and talk less. Let them tell
you what their “hot buttons” are. After which, you can mold your
solution to meet their expectations. Again, over time, you will get
the feel of the constituency and their more common solutions
sought after. Of course, if they all want bigger government (along
with the higher taxes that would go with it), then the position has to
be against the taxation for services that only few would need or
use. I need not go into detail, as I think we have all made that
argument in the past.
To return to the primary point (and I cannot emphasize this
enough), the best way to spread a political philosophy is to run
candidates for office. Anything else is a longer road. So I send this
message to our readers that the Libertarian Party of New Mexico
could really use this kind of visibility. Now, not April 2010, is the
time to think about, and start a campaign.
If you might consider it, but still have doubts, feel free to contact
me. I can research the past campaigns in your district, identify
typically unopposed races (the best opportunity to make a splash),
assist with the required paperwork, and to some extent, help
prepare you for public debate. Since I have run for office, I have
some experience in this area, and can take the time to help prepare
you for such an endeavor.
New Mexico Liberty – July 2009 – Page 3

The Energy Web
by Elisheva Levin [ elisheva@spinn.net ]
Friday, 26 June 2009
I have been reading a lot of science fiction and survival novels this
summer. I re-read Pat Frank's Alas, Babylon! and George R.
Stewart's classic, Earth Abides. I re-read the first book of S.M.
Stirling Emberverse series, Dies the Fire. On Tuesday, I was
browsing in the bookstore, looking for a new thriller for which I had
read a review, when I came across a new "end of the world" story
by William S. Forstchen called One Second After. About the
aftermath of an EMP attack on the North American continent, I
could barely put it down. So now I am reading that along with the
more hopeful novel of a libertarian revolution, Heinlein's immortal
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress.
I am re-reading and reading these kinds of books, because I have
been thinking about the complex web of interactions that makes up
a civilization. My original scientific training was in ecology and
evolution, such scientists do a lot of thinking about how energy
moves through ecosystems via species interactions (such as
predation) from the photosynthetic primary producers on to the
primary consumers, secondary and tertiary consumers, and how it
fans out to the scavengers at the edges. We call this the "food web"
but it is really about the movement of energy, gathered by plants
from the photons of the sun, and stored in carbon bonds, that are
broken by combustion in a process called cellular respiration, which
is the process of breaking those bonds in order to move the energy
into more easily spendable ATP molecules, which are the energy
currency of living cells.
Thus I was excited but not surprised when reading the Forstchen
book to come across this passage:
"The web of our society . . . was like the beautiful spider
webs he'd find as a boy in the back lot after dawn on
summer days, dew making them visible. Vast, intricate
things. And at the single touch of a match, the web just
collapsed and all that was left for the spider to do , if it
survived that day, was to rebuild the web entirely from
scratch."
(One Second After, p. 260).
Our whole advanced civilization is built of the gossamer webbing of
energy interactions, fueled by the ancient photon energy stored in
the carbon bonds of fossil fuels. We have not yet found an
alternative source of energy that is as efficient a supply of power by
which to run our complex web of interactions, except nuclear
energy, which we have made prohibitively expensive and difficult to
deploy through regulation.
Today, Congress is voting, and may well make those fossil fuels by
which we run our civilization prohibitively expensive by a tax system
they call cap-and-trade. We currently have no quickly deployable
alternative that is ready and able to run a complex, industrial
society.
For example, think about medicines, as the protagonist does in One
Second After:
"The medicines. Yes, they were out there, someplace. . . .
but the factories that made them were in the cities, and the
cities had no power, and the people who worked in the
factories were hunkered down or scattered refugees . . . And
even if the factories did suddenly turn on, the [medicine]
wasprocessed from genetically altered bacteria in labs . . . a
thousand miles away. The bottles it was then loaded into?
Perhaps made in Mexico and trucked to the lab a thousand
miles away and then loaded back aboard climate controlled
trucks, and taken to airports and priority shipped in
containers specially designed, those containers perhaps
made in Mississippi. And so it went."
(One Second After, p. 259).
And so it goes. For every single thing we ordinarily depend upon to
make our lives possible in such numbers. Do you know where your
water comes from? For most of us, pumps that require power are
used somewhere in the process of getting it from the source to our
homes and factories and places of business.
What about food? It takes energy to produce food in the abundance
necessary for an American farmer to feed his family, and 20
additional people somewhere in the world. Energy is required to run
the tractors for planting and harvest, and to produce the
insecticides and herbicides and fertilizers necessary to have
transformed farming from a subsistence operation to one that can
feed the world. It takes more energy to process the food, to make it
safe for human consumption, and to transport it to our cities and
towns.
And so it goes for every single thing we use to make our living on
this planet.
Living is not free. Not for the birds of the air, not for the bees in
honey, and not even for the lilies of the field, that do indeed 'toil and
spin' using that photon energy captured from the sun to make
glucose which they then use up in the business of living.
The difference between them and us is this. In the natural food
web, the efficiency between each node averages out at about 10%.
This means that when a plant captures the energy from the photon
into the carbon bonds in glucose, 90% of the energy is lost. And the
same thing happens when the grazer then eats the plant. And
again when the predator eats the grazer, and so forth across the
food web.
However, by the design and use of technology that converts fossil
fuels into energy – technology being the human ecological niche –
we are now able to get average efficiencies of 30 – 40%, which
means that we can support a much more intricate web than we
were able to as hunters and gatherers.
Sometimes I think that our leaders are like lemmings, inexplicably
leading us to to a very real and very deadly collapse of technology
for reasons that they (and we) do not understand and cannot
fathom. The cap-and-tax scheme will reduce the efficiency by which
we transfer energy for living throughout our civilization. And the
costs, defined in dollars, will be shouldered by all of us, from Nancy
Pelosi in her private jet, to the day-laborer driving that 1970's era
clunker to the job site.
We will pay more for food, for transportation, for heat and light, for
life-saving medicines and for life-giving water. And this economic
suicide, like all economic disasters, will hit the working poor first,
and hit them harder. Just as the English working mother of the
industrial revolution had reason to bless James Watt for the power
that provided her with clean cotton underwear every day, so will the
American working mother have reason to curse Congress for taking
that power out of her reach, condemning her and her children to
lower standards of sanitation, nutrition and comfort. She will be
forced to choose between heat, light, food, and/or medicine.
Our amazing energy web, delicate and beautiful, can be collapsed
very quickly by the irrational actions of Congress. Nature's learning
curve is far more steep.. It is human beings who will suffer.
These people in Congress are not benevolent. They live for a
momentary gain, and do not consider the future of tax slavery and
misery to which they condemn their own posterity. They are like
lemmings running blindly over a cliff.
And it will not matter one iota in the vast reaches of planetary time.
The climate cycles of the planet will continue to wax and wane in
great temporal cycles. Species will come, and species will go. Earth
abides.
New Mexico Liberty – July 2009 – Page 4

Who Will Regulate the Regulators?
by Thomas J. DiLorenzo [ tinyurl.com/oas5sv ]
lewrockwell.com/dilorenzo/dilorenzo173.html
19 June 2009
In government, failure is success. That’s what I call DiLorenzo’s
First Law of Government. When the welfare state bureaucracy fails
to reduce poverty, it is rewarded with more tax dollars and more
responsibilities. When the government schools fail to educate
children, they are rewarded with more tax dollars and more power
to meddle in education. When NASA blows up the space shuttle, it
is rewarded with a large budget increase (unlike a private airline,
which would likely go bankrupt). And when the Fed causes the
worse depression since the Great Depression, it is rewarded with a
vast expansion of its powers.
DiLorenzo’s Second Law of Government is that politicians will
never assume responsibility for any of the problems that they
cause. No one in society is more irresponsible than politicians,
especially ones like President Obama who blame today’s economic
crisis on an alleged lack of responsibility in the private sector. They
will always blame capitalism for our economic problems, even when
capitalism is not even the economic system that we live under (it’s
economic fascism, to end the suspense). Nothing is more
irresponsible than knowingly destroying what’s left of our engine of
economic growth with more and more governmental central
planning, even if it is given the laughable name of "public interest
regulation."
DiLorenzo’s Third Law of Government is that, with one or two
exceptions, all politicians are habitual liars. The so-called
"watchdog media" is a myth, for pointing out the lies of politicians is
the best way to end one’s career as a "prominent journalist." Do
this, and your sources of governmental information will be shut off.
Today’s Biggest Governmental Lie is that financial markets are
unregulated and in dire need of more direction, regulation, control,
and in some cases, nationalization, by the Fed or by a new Super
Regulatory Authority. This is all a lie because, according to one of
the Fed’s own publications ("The Federal Reserve System:
Purposes and Functions"), the Fed already has "supervisory and
regulatory authority" over: bank holding companies, state-chartered
banks, foreign branches of member banks, edge and agreement
corporations, U.S. state-licensed branches, agencies, and
representative offices of foreign banks, nonbanking activities of
foreign banks, national banks, savings banks, nonbank subsidiaries
of bank holding companies, thrift holding companies, financial
reporting procedures of banks, accounting policies of banks,
business "continuity" in case of economic emergencies, consumer
protection laws, securities dealings of banks, information
technology used by banks, foreign investment by banks, foreign
lending by banks, branch banking, bank mergers and acquisitions,
who may own a bank, capital "adequacy standards," extensions of
credit for the purchase of securities, equal opportunity lending,
mortgage disclosure information, reserve requirements, electronic
funds transfers, interbank liabilities, Community Reinvestment Act
sub-prime lending demands, all international banking operations,
consumer leasing, privacy of consumer financial information,
payments on demand deposits, "fair credit" reporting, transactions
between member banks and their affiliates, truth in lending, and
truth in savings. And of course it also engages in legal price fixing
of interest rates and creates inflation and boom-and-bust cycles
with its "open market operations." This is the Washington, D.C.
establishment’s definition of "laissez faire" in financial markets.
(Note that I didn’t even mention other financial market regulators
such as the SEC, Comptroller of the Currency, Office of Thrift
Supervision, and dozens of state regulatory agencies).
DiLorenzo’s Fourth Law of Government is that politicians will only
take the advice of their legions of academic advisors if it promises
to increase their power, wealth, and influence, even if they know
the advice is bad (or even devastating) for the rest of society. The
academics happily play along with this corrupt game because it
also increases their notoriety and wealth. The most glaring example
of this phenomenon today is the fact that there has been virtually
no discussion at all by government officials or the media of the vast
literature of the gross failures of government regulation to protect
"the public interest," a literature that documents the failures of
government regulation for more than a century.
There has always been some kind of government regulation of
economic activity in America, but the regulatory state got its first big
boost with an 1877 Supreme Court case known as Munn v. Illinois.
The two Munn brothers owned a grain storage business, and the
powerful farm lobby in their state wanted to essentially steal some
of their property from them by having the Illinois state legislature
pass a price control law that forced the price of grain storage down
below the free-market price. Such laws had previously been ruled
as an unconstitutional taking of private property or a violation of the
Contract Clause of the Constitution, but no longer. The plunder-
seeking farmers prevailed, and it was hailed by the Court as a great
victory for "public interest" regulation. Thus, the first example of
"public interest" regulation was unequivocally an act of legalized
theft for the benefit of a powerful and unscrupulous political special-
interest group at the expense of honest, hard-working small
businessmen.
Either through ignorance or corruption (or both), academics –
including the founders of the American Economic Association, such
as Richard T. Ely – sang the "public interest" tune with regard to
economic regulation for decades, creating the popular myth that
markets always fail, and government regulation is always
benevolent, omniscient, and correcting. They did this despite the
glaring evidence all around them that regulation was always and
everywhere a special-interest phenomenon. As historian Gabriel
Kolko wrote in his 1963 book, The Triumph of Conservatism, big
business in the early 20th century sought government regulation
because the regulation "was invariably controlled by leaders of the
regulated industry, and directed toward ends they deemed
acceptable or desirable." "Government regulation has generally
served to further the very economic interests being regulated," legal
scholar Butler Shaffer wrote some thirty years later in his book, In
Restraint of Trade. Kolko called this "the new Hamiltonianism" and
"a reincarnation of the Hamiltonian unity of politics and economics,"
referring to the mercantilist aspirations of the nation’s first treasury
secretary.
Most academic economists, seduced by the prestige and money
that came from being governmental advisors, ignored all of this
reality and instead spent roughly fifty years – from the pre-World
War I years until the 1960s – inventing factually empty theories
about the alleged "failures" of markets and the need for benevolent
and presumably omniscient government regulators to "correct"
these alleged failures. It was all based (and still is) on the quite
fraudulent technique of proclaiming that markets are not "perfect,"
but that government was, and would therefore correct any
imperfections in real-world markets (as though anything on this
earth is "perfect"). Economist Harold Demsetz mockingly labeled
this approach to the study of markets "the Nirvana Fallacy."
The Austrian School of Economics is the only school of thought
within the economics profession that never participated in this
corrupt charade. The same cannot be said of the famous "Chicago
School" whose acknowledged founder, Henry Simons, embraced
many "market failure" theories and was an interventionist by any
day’s standards.
New Mexico Liberty – July 2009 – Page 5
But the Chicago School performed a penance of sorts beginning in County Contacts
the 1960s with research and publications about the actual effects of
government regulation, including analyses of who benefits and who Bernalillo – lpnm.us/bernalillo
loses from it. Unlike the rest of the economics profession (with the Mike Blessing – 505-918-6567 / mikewb1971@gmail.com
exception of the Austrian School), they no longer simply accepted
the unfounded assumption that government regulation was
Colfax
unequivocally a good thing. Hundreds of books and thousands of
Richard Moore – 575-377-6849 / myliberty@mail.com
academic journal articles were published that essentially
rediscovered the old truth that "as a rule, regulation is acquired by
Dona Ana – lpnm.us/dona-ana
the industry and is designed and operated primarily for its benefit,"
Siebert Ickler – 575-541-9079 / lpdacnm@lpnm.us
as Nobel laureate George Stigler wrote in 1971. Stigler was
awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics for his research on "the
Lea
economics of regulation."
Christina Groth – 575-397-9366
This research was expanded over the years to account for different
kinds of regulation, such as regulation that is sought by one Lincoln
producer group that does not necessarily harm consumers but Richard Obergfell – 575-378-8025 / lplcnm@valornet.com
competing producers. Large corporations often lobby for onerous
government safety and environmental regulations, for example, Los Alamos
because they know the regulations will likely bankrupt their smaller Allen Cogbill – 505-662-7833 / acogbill@geopotential.com
competitors and deter the entry of potential rivals. In any event,
there now exists a gigantic literature on the economic effects of Luna
regulation that shows that, for over 100 years, it has rarely, if ever, Marilyn Steffen – 575-531-2556 / b_lamont5@hotmail.com
benefited consumers despite all the pro-consumer / public interest
rhetoric that is attached to it. All of this literature is studiously Otero – lpnm.us/otero
ignored by Ivy League "superstars" like Fed Chairman Ben Gilberto Heredia – 575-439-8234 / thrill@zianet.com
Bernanke, the former chairman of the Princeton University
economics department. It is a shameless act of academic fraud, but Roosevelt
unlike normal academic fraud, it will have tremendous negative Ken Sanders – 505-749-2085
real-world economic consequences.
A major thrust of this literature is the recognition that, historically, San Juan – sjclp.org
businesses that have tried to form cartels have always failed. Even Gary Wood – zang5775@msn.com
the infamous OPEC Cartel only had the power to raise world oil
prices for about seven years during the 1970s before it collapsed. Sandoval
Private attempts to cartelize or monopolize markets always fail Ron Bjornstad – 505-288-4228 / rbjornstad@earthlink.net
because of the powerful temptation to cheat on the cartel
agreement by cutting prices. Once one member of the cartel cheats Santa Fe
in this way, the whole thing breaks down as everyone else "cheats" Ed Nagel – 505-471-6928 / ed123nagel@aol.com
while the cheating is good and there are still profits to be made.
Businesses long ago discovered that the only way to have a Valencia
permanent or at least long-lasting cartel is to have the cartel Abran Gabaldon – 505-864-6870 / abran_d@yahoo.com
agreement enforced by government regulation, with the threat of
heavy fines and/or imprisonment for cheating. Thus, the railroad LPNM Vacancies
and trucking industries were cartelized by the Interstate Commerce
Commission, which set industry prices and was controlled for Central Committee (1)
decades by those industries. The Civil Aeronautics Board cartelized District 3 Representative, Seat A
the airline industry in a similar way for about half a century until it
was deregulated in the late 1970s. There was vigorous competition County Contacts (20)
and price cutting in the electric utility industry until it was ended by
government regulation and the creation of franchise monopolies by
government in most cities in America. AT&T enjoyed a telephone Catron / Chaves / Cibola / Curry / De Baca / Eddy / Grant
industry monopoly thanks to state government regulation that made Guadalupe / Harding / Hidalgo / McKinley / Mora / Quay
competition illegal for decades. The list is almost endless. Rio Arriba / San Miguel / Sierra / Socorro / Taos / Torrance / Union

Perhaps most importantly, the Fed was created to facilitate the College Contacts (3)
creation of a banking industry cartel and the creation of cartel
profits in that industry as well. As Murray Rothbard wrote in A Eastern New Mexico University (Portales)
History of Money and Banking in the United States, "the financial New Mexico State University (Las Cruces)
elites of this country . . . were responsible for putting through the New Mexico Tech (Socorro)
Federal Reserve System, as a governmentally created and University of New Mexico (Various Campuses)
sanctioned cartel device to enable the nation’s banks to inflate the Western New Mexico University (Silver City)
money supply . . . without suffering quick retribution from depositors
or noteholders demanding cash." Contact the state chair if you're interested in filling a slot.
In other words, giving the Fed even more regulatory "authority" is If you don't, who will?
like giving an alcoholic another bottle of whisky, a murderer another
gun, or a bank robber another ski mask. It is bound to make things
worse, not better. "We the people" have no ability to regulate the
regulators in any way. Our only hope is to end the Fed before it
creates an even greater depression than the one it has created for New Mexico Liberty – July 2009 – Page 7
us today.
New Mexico Liberty – July 2009 – Page 6
 LPNM Central Committee County Contacts
Chair Bernalillo – lpnm.us/bernalillo
Ken Cavanaugh – 505-489-8099 / phloyd113@cableone.net Mike Blessing – 505-918-6567 / mikewb1971@gmail.com
Vice Chair Colfax
Jay Vandersloot – 505-362-1733 / jayvandersloot@yahoo.com Richard Moore – 575-377-6849 / myliberty@mail.com
Secretary Dona Ana – lpnm.us/dona-ana
Siebert Ickler – 575-541-9079 / lpdacnm@lpnm.us Siebert Ickler – 575-541-9079 / lpdacnm@lpnm.us
Treasurer Lea
VACANT Christina Groth – 575-397-9366
At-Large Representative, Seat A Lincoln
Allen Cogbill – 505-662-7833 / acogbill@geopotential.com Richard Obergfell – 575-378-8025 / lplcnm@valornet.com
At-Large Representative, Seat B Los Alamos
Attila Csanyi – Allen Cogbill – 505-662-7833 / acogbill@geopotential.com
District 1 Representative, Seat A Luna
Mike Blessing – 505-918-6567 / mikewb1971@gmail.com Marilyn Steffen – 575-531-2556 / b_lamont5@hotmail.com
District 1 Representative, Seat B Otero – lpnm.us/otero
Bob Finch – 765-412-2374 / nmlibertarian@gmail.com Gilberto Heredia – 575-439-8234 / thrill@zianet.com
District 2 Representative, Seat A Roosevelt
Gilberto Heredia – 575-439-8234 / thrill@zianet.com Ken Sanders – 575-749-2085
District 2 Representative, Seat B San Juan – sjclp.org
Kathleen Hodgkinson – Gary Wood – zang5775@msn.com
575-437-6042 / hodgkinson@cybermesa.com
Sandoval
District 3 Representative, Seat A Ron Bjornstad – 505-288-4228 / rbjornstad@earthlink.net
Ron Bjornstad – 505-891-4541 / rbjornstad@earthlink.net
Santa Fe
District 3 Representative, Seat B Ed Nagel – 505-471-6928 / ed123nagel@aol.com
Mike Moss – 505-564-4905 / mmoss@plumbersoft.com
Membership Coordinator LPNM Vacancies
Ron Bjornstad – 505-288-4228 / rbjornstad@earthlink.net
Executive Committee (1)
Press Secretary
Bill Koehler – 505-264-0835 / bkoehler8@comcast.net Treasurer
Media Director County Contacts (21)
Bob Finch – 765-712-2374 / nmlibertarian@gmail.com
Catron / Chaves / Cibola / Curry / De Baca / Eddy / Grant
Guadalupe / Harding / Hidalgo / McKinley / Mora / Quay
Campus Contacts Rio Arriba / San Miguel / Sierra / Socorro / Taos / Torrance
Central New Mexico Community College [CNM] Union / Valencia
groups.myspace.com/cnmlibertarians College Contacts (4)
Mike Blessing – 505-918-6567 / mikewb1971@gmail.com
Eastern New Mexico University (Portales)
College of Santa Fe
Morgan Wells – mwells109@gmail.com New Mexico Tech (Socorro)
New Mexico State University [NMSU] University of New Mexico (Various Campuses)
Kathleen Hodgkinson –
Western New Mexico University (Silver City)
575-437-6042 / hodgkinson@cybermesa.com
Contact the state chair if you're interested
Internet Resources in filling a slot.
Official Website – lpnm.us If you don't, who will?
LPNM Forum – groups.yahoo.com/group/lpnm-forum
Caucus membership required, per the Central Committee
LPNM Discussion – groups.yahoo.com/lpnm-discuss YOUR ADVERTISING HERE?
Open forum (unmoderated for the most part)
Blog – lpofnm.blogspot.com
CONTACT THE EDITOR OR
Facebook group SEE PAGE 9 FOR DETAILS
facebook.com/group.php?gid=20233114967
or EMAIL mikewb1971@gmail.com
Ning.com social utility – lpofnm.ning.com
Myspace group – groups.myspace.com/lpnm

New Mexico Liberty – July 2009 – Page 7

 Administrivia Subscriptions and Correspondence
by Mike Blessing, Editor
For a print subscription, contact Ron Bjornstad for details. New
If you have news, interesting stories, op-ed pieces, a letter to the Mexico Liberty will be posted to the web, in PDF format, to the Files
editor, or timely information that you think belongs in the newsletter, section of the Google group I’ve set up for it –
please send it along. I can be contacted at 505-918-6567, or just
groups.google.com/group/nmliberty
send it to email address mikewb1971@gmail.com.
If you are moving or change your mailing address, please use keep
When sending your submission as an MS Word (or Open Office
us in the loop so we can keep your New Mexico Liberty coming to
Text) file, send it single-spaced in 9-pt Arial – like this is. Margins
you – contact Ron Bjornstad [ rbjornstad@earthlink.net ] if you're a
should be quarter-inch (0.25”) around, with no headers or footers. If
print version subscriber. Otherwise, contact the editor.
you send it in a text-only format, make it clear to me if you want
anything in bold type, underlined, in italics, struck-through, Advertising in New Mexico Liberty
different colors, etc. I’m not telepathic here, so help me out. And
Current rates for year-long spots
NO Wordperfect files – I can't open those.
Full page Ø60.00
Graphics (pictures, cartoons, etc.) – send the highest quality
Half page Ø30.00
graphics you can – email them to me at the address above, and I’ll
Quarter page Ø15.00
do what I can to get them in the next issue. In particular, what I
Business card Ø 8.00
want are pictures of YOU the LPNM members, either at LPNM-
sponsored events or at other peoples' events. Submission deadline Rates are subject to change at the discretion of the editor. The
for each issue – midnight, third Tuesday of the month. editor will do his best to make any such changes only when
absolutely necessary.
Articles
Inserts – For an insert into the PDF version that goes out over the
As for writing your article, It should be concise (no longer than a full
internet, contact the editor at email address . For an insert into the
page) and topical. A bit of humor helps, especially for op-ed pieces.
print edition, contact Ron Bjornstad at email address
What I'm really looking for in the way of articles is what's going on
rbjornstad@earthlink.net or phone number 505-288-4228.
in the LPNM – what YOU the membership are up to in spreading
the message. For example, an article about the stupidity, insanity Ø – The symbol for Federal Reserve Note(s), as used by Boston T.
and evil of the UN might get put in, depending on available space Party in his books. In plain-text message traffic (such as email), the
and the quality of the article. A group of LPNM members counter- acronym “FRN” will be used by the editor. See javelinpress.com for
protesting the raising of a UN flag by the city council WILL get put more information. Also see the Wikipedia page for “Federal
in, and probably will get first priority. Reserve Note” – en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Reserve_Note.
Editorial Viewpoint
THE LPNM OFFICIAL WEBSITE – lpnm.us
The basis for libertarian thought is the Zero Aggression Principle
LPNM OFFICIAL MAILING ADDRESS
[ZAP] –
AND PHONE NUMBER
A libertarian is someone who believes that no human being 918 Ivory Road SE
has the right – under any circumstances – to initiate force Rio Rancho, NM 87124
against another human being, nor to threaten, incite or 505-288-4228
delegate its initiation.
If the date on your mailing label reads before 08/01/09, it's time
New Mexico Liberty holds that Libertarian candidates, officeholders to renew your LPNM membership.
or appointed spokespersons at all levels of government or the Party
should refrain from advocating new or more restrictive laws, new or THE UNANIMOUS CONSENT CHALLENGE
more expensive spending programs, or new or higher taxes. To CASH Ø10,000 PRIZE
paraphrase from the medical profession, “First, do no harm.”
To the first person to write a logical and documented essay
Submissions Policy showing one of the following to be compatible with the Declaration
The editor reserves the right to refuse service to anyone for any of Independence:
reason. The editor will most often be willing to explain any such Sherman Anti-Trust Act of 1890
reasons. Appeals of the editor's refusal to post an advertisement, Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906
article, letter to editor, or anything else can be made to the LPNM's Federal Communications Act of 1934
State Chair, Central Committee and/or Judicial Council. National Firearms Act of 1934
Copyright Banking Act of 1935
The Internal Revenue Code
Copyright © 2003–2009 Libertarian Party of New Mexico. All rights Controlled Substances Act of 1970
reserved. Permission is explicitly granted for subscribers to recopy RICO Act of 1970
New Mexico Liberty for non-commercial purposes, specifically as Federal Elections Act of 1970
use as an outreach tool, provided that New Mexico Liberty is copied Plumbing Products Efficiency Act of 1992
in its entirety. Use your imagination here. Anti-Money Laundering Act of 1992
USA PATRIOT Act of 2001
Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002
This challenge is also on the web at tinyurl.com/hn982
To claim your prize, contact
Mike Blessing at 505-918-6567 or
send an email to mikewb1971@gmail.com

New Mexico Liberty – July 2009 – Page 8

 Libertarian Party of New Mexico
Enrollment / Renewal / Donation Coupon
(Please print in all areas)

Name ___________________________________ Address ____________________________________

City ___________________________ State ________ Zip ______________ Phone _______________

Email _______________________ Employer ____________________ Occupation _________________

[ ] I am registered to vote as “Libertarian” in the State of New Mexico and wish to [ ] join or [ ] renew as a caucus
member. I am paying $25 annual dues. I will receive a one year (12 issues) subscription to the LPNM state
newsletter “New Mexico Liberty” (the national “LP NEWS” IS NOT included) and I will have delegate status at state
conventions. I oppose the initiation of force to achieve social or political goals:

Signed _____________________________________________

[ ] I am not registered to vote as “Libertarian” in the State of New Mexico and/or [ ] I do not wish to sign the
statement opposing the initiation of force to achieve social or political goals. I am paying $25.00 for a one year (12
issues) subscription to the LPNM state newsletter “New Mexico Liberty” (the national “LP NEWS” IS NOT
included). I understand that I will receive no other benefits.

[ ] I am making a DONATION to the LPNM in the amount of $ ________ to be applied as follows:

$_____ General Fund $_____ Chairman's Fund $_____ Major Player Fund $_____ Win One Fund

TOTAL of DUES or SUBSCRIPTION plus DONATION $_________ to be paid as follows:

[ ] by enclosed CHECK payable to “LPNM” (Sorry, we cannot accept corporate checks)

[ ] by CREDIT CARD (circle one): VISA / MASTERCARD

Number: __ __ __ __-__ __ __ __-__ __ __ __-__ __ __ __ Expires: ____/____

Signature: _____________________________________________

Government mandated notices:

● The US Postal Service requires us to notify you that the annual New Mexico Liberty subscription cost is
included in your LPNM membership dues of $25.00.
● The Internal Revenue Service requires us to print “political contributions are not tax deductible” on all
fundraising appeals.
● The Federal Election Commission requires us to ask for the employer and occupation of each individual
whose contributions aggregate in excess of $200 in a calendar year.

The preceding notices alone should be enough reason to join the Libertarian Party, the only political party working
to increase your freedom.

COPY OR PRINT, FILL OUT, AND SEND TO:

LPNM c/o Ron Bjornstad

918 IVORY RD SE
RIO RANCHO NM 87124

New Mexico Liberty – July 2009 – Page 9

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New Mexico Liberty – July 2009 – Page 10