[Lnc-business] Measure & Report our Government Compliance Costs?

[Starchild]

	I sent this message last week, but inadvertently sent it to the unused LNC-discuss list which my email software sometimes auto-fills in the recipient field rather than to this list, so only Tim Hagan (who was copied on the original) would have received it. Anyway, resending now. What do you think, Tim? Others?

Love & Liberty,

                                   ((( starchild )))
At-Large Representative, Libertarian National Committee
                       RealReform at earthlink.net
                                (415) 625-FREE
                                   @StarchildSF
 

On Jul 4, 2017, at 2:08 AM, Starchild wrote:

> 	It occurs to me it would be useful to publicize the total annual costs of government to the Libertarian Party. When we add up all the time/money spent on ballot access, filing FEC reports, taxes paid on things we buy, etc., how much is it costing us in money, hours, and as a percentage of our budget? Here are some benefits of tracking and reporting this information:
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> • Reporting and commenting on the numbers (whether they are up or down, etc.) will make good grist for press releases and blog posts (for instance, when we pass the LP's own version of "Tax Freedom Day" each year)
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> • The Libertarian Party taking and publicizing this step will encourage other organizations to do likewise
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> • The more organizations start to measure and report these costs, the more people will be talking and thinking about the costs of government, and the more they do that the more likely they are to reach libertarian conclusions
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> • Announcement of the annual numbers, and whether they are up or down, would serve as a kind of marketplace signal, and people are generally better off when markets function efficiently by virtue of having good information
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> • We'll be able to make strategic decisions as needed based on the data (if, for instance, we were spending 90% or more of our revenues on government compliance, it would clearly be time to either give up on the LP as a vehicle to advance freedom, or take an entirely new approach!) 
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> • Letting government officials know how much their mandates cost organizations like ours will make them more sensitive to increasing that burden* (*Just a little joke to see if you're paying attention – as if they ever care about the harm they cause!)
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> 	Tim, is this information you would be willing/able to include as a special category in your reports as treasurer? Personally I'd be ready to vote to add it to the job description in the Bylaws!
> 
> Love & Liberty,
> 
>                                      ((( starchild )))
> At-Large Representative, Libertarian National Committee
>                          RealReform at earthlink.net
>                                   (415) 625-FREE
>                                     @StarchildSF