[Lnc-business] Email Ballot 2016-15: Censure John Moore

Tue Nov 1 02:27:39 EDT 2016

Alicia,

I share your discomfort with Mr. Moore actions and his even more deplorable letter justifying those actions.

I would note that a Libertarian theme in this unusual election cycle has been to encourage Libertarians, independents and members of other parties to vote their conscience rather than their party line. With regard to the alleged routine behavior within the LNC contrary to our external theme of urging others to vote their conscience, perhaps we should extend that invitation to all LNC members. It is the height of hypocrisy to encourage others to vote their conscience and then turn around and violate that principle within the LNC.

We all run the risk of making mistakes of conscience but I cringe at the alternative of voting other than by the dictates of conscience. My personal pledge to myself and to any I might represent is to always be honest about my views and vote my conscience regardless of the consequence. While I do not agree with Gary Johnson on a number of Libertarian issues, I proudly voted for Gary not only because of his clearly expressed personal credo of always telling the truth but more importantly because of his commitment to live by the principle that most of society’s problems could be solved if we just voted our conscience.  

Alicia, if what you say is true about LNC members routinely voting against their conscience to reflect the views of those whom they represent, perhaps we all need to reexamine our conscience and our political, personal and moral priorities when we vote within the LNC. Perhaps we also need to take a hard look at the notion that all elected representative democracy officials should reflect the views of their constituents regardless of any moral considerations and conflicts. Might our country be a better place if all elected officials always voted their conscience? I think the answer to that question is obvious. That is what this motion to censure is really about.

Thoughts?

Celebrate Life, Set the Bar High and LIVE FREE

~David Pratt Demarest

Region 6 Representative, Libertarian National Committee (IA, IL, MN, MO, ND, NE, WI)

Secretary, Nebraska Libertarian State Central Committee

Nebraska State Coordinator, LP Radical Caucus

Secretary Pro Tem, LNC Affiliate Support Committee

Cell:      402-981-6469

Home: 402-493-0873

Office: 402-222-7207

From: Lnc-business [mailto:lnc-business-bounces at hq.lp.org] On Behalf Of Alicia Mattson
Sent: Monday, October 31, 2016 9:36 PM
To: lnc-business at hq.lp.org
Subject: Re: [Lnc-business] Email Ballot 2016-15: Censure John Moore

I vote no.

This whole situation makes me cringe.  I'm as unhappy about the stadium vote as the rest of you.  Sadly, the communication from Mr. Moore to the LNC made me cringe more, not less.

I share some of the concerns voiced by Ken and Joshua.  Unfortunately I have been WAY too busy to follow up further on my potential alternative motion.

It is routine in an LNC meeting to hear someone say that their personal opinion on a motion is "no", but they are voting "yes" because their region wants it, or because they feel the membership at large wants it.  Then we censure Mr. Moore for doing the same thing?  I agree that there was an awfully basic libertarian value trampled by his vote, but I sometimes think that about some votes cast by my LNC colleagues, too.  :-)

Every donor to a political campaign is doing so on faith that the candidate will perform as expected.  It is painful to have those hopes dashed.

I'd rather not turn the LNC into the elected Libertarian policing agency.  The LPNV censured him already, and I think that is sufficient.

-Alicia

On Fri, Oct 21, 2016 at 10:20 PM, Alicia Mattson <agmattson at gmail.com <mailto:agmattson at gmail.com> > wrote:

We have an electronic mail ballot.

Votes are due to the LNC-Business list by October 31, 2016 at 11:59:59pm Pacific time.

Co-Sponsors:  Harlos, Demarest, Hayes, Vohra, Starchild, Goldstein, Redpath

Motion: 

Whereas Nevada Assemblyman John Moore, a former Republican who in January 2016 switched to the Libertarian Party while in office, has during the past month voted not once but twice in the span of as many days to raise taxes on his constituents, including a vote to support a "More Cops" tax which the Libertarian Party of Nevada has tirelessly and thus far successfully opposed, and a vote to provide a $750 million subsidy to finance a billionaire-owned sports stadium at the expense of, among others, indigent persons renting weekly rooms in motels; and

Whereas the elected leaders of our state affiliate party in Nevada have rightfully voted to censure Assemblyman Moore for these egregious votes; and

Whereas we wish to convey a strong message to all and sundry that while we welcome sitting legislators in the Republican or Democrat parties who decide to switch to the Libertarian Party as an act of conscience, we do not welcome them if they intend, as members of our party, to continue voting and acting like Republicans or Democrats;

Therefore be it resolved that the Libertarian National Committee hereby censures Assemblyman Moore for his recent votes in support of tax increases, requests that he return the $10,000 campaign contribution which the LNC this season voted to send him, and admonishes him to henceforward be a better champion of the values held by members of the political party with which he has chosen to affiliate if he intends to remain a Libertarian.

-Alicia

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