***** NORTHEAST REGION LPO *****

George Baluk	Chair	(440)-871-5110
Keith Donat	Newsletter Editor	(216)-295-0155
Rob Logan	Secretary	(440)-473-4373
Garry Seman	Media Director	(440)-734-8143
Paul Scudiere	Treasurer	(216)-521-1397
Dave Macko	Regional Representative	(440)-248-8620

The Northeast Region LPO the last fourth Tuesday of each month at Denny's restaurant, 1600 Snow Road (398-7076). Get off at I77 at Rockside, turn West on Rockside, continue for about 2 1/2 miles and Denny's is on the right. Dinner is from 6PM to 7PM, and the speaker starts at 7PM.

I must say that "Expanding Liberty's Horizons," our recent convention held in Akron, was quite successful. There were numerous new attendees this year, and we held a significantly larger attendance overall from our 1997 state convention in Springfield. I believe the reasons are because we had an especially attractive slate of speakers, because we are engaging in more activites as a party, and especially because we have an invigorated spirit due to these activities and a larger membership. The spirit stressed at the convention was one of broadening our membership and contributing base with greater inclusiveness. We must broaden our message to include not just philosophical libertarians, but everyone who is interested in cutting government and restoring our rights as Americans.

During the convention, we established a table representing our region (Northeast Ohio), including literature about Jury Rights, withdrawing from the United Nations, Separation of School and State, some of our locally-designed outreach literature, and the most recent issues of The Northcoast Liberty Review. Attendants from our region included Rob Logan, Keith Donat, Garry Seman, Christian Warren, Paul Scudiere, and Bernald Baltic. Dave Macko, who is usually present for our annual LPO conventions, unfortunately was unable to attend this year due to surgery and recovery from an illness, but he is now fully recovered and able to continue assisting us in our struggle for liberty in our lifetime.

On Friday night, several attendees of the convention participated in a meeting sponsored by P.J.'s supper club, which occured at The Spaghetti Warehouse in Akron. The guest speaker was Lynn Scarlett of the Reason Public Policy Institute. Mrs. Scarlett mentioned how we must acknowledge arguments and issues relating to pollution and ecological issues. The main focus was on E-check, and how we must be willing to admit that without some program to control the CO emissions from low-mileage or outdated automobiles. As libertarians, we should not direct our energy towards repealing all pollution control initiatives, but to challenge the inefficiency of E-check, and how communities should discover better alternatives. After all, she noted, the issue of pollution is not going away in the minds of voters and concerned citizens, so we should at least moderate our arguments to accompany the concerns of the community.

The first speaker of the Convention was Mrs. Scarlett, discussing the role of think tanks as activists for economic and personal freedom. Mrs. Scarlett stated two methods of thinking within the LP - the Constrained vision and the Unconstrained vision. The Unconstrained Libertarian tends to be concerned with exactly how our political system should operate, while a Constrained Libertarian tends to be concerned with amending the present with achievable reforms as part of an evolutionary process. Our freedoms did not disappear overnight, so we shall not regain them overnight. She mentioned that think tanks tend to hold the constrained vision, encouraging reforms such as cutting back Medicare, legalizing drugs for medical purposes, and replacing the current tax system with a flat tax. Important skills for being a think tank advocate include high credentials (such as educational degrees and experience in prominent professions) and charismatic ability to communitate effectively. In our present age, emotional appeal is a definite plus. As Rick Gaber stated, "People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care!"

Jack Matheney, our now past chair, took time to congratulate the various regions for their activities. He congratulated the Central Region for establishing the VAST (Voters Against Stadium Taxes) coalition, and for sponsoring a recent debate on Issue 2 (which would raise sales taxes to fund government schools). In the Central Region, Jim Schrader was almost elected as Milcreek Township Trustee, but lost by a small margin. However, Mr. Schrader will be running for U.S. Representative in 1998. Mr. Matheney congratulated the Northwest Region for chartering the Sandusky/Ottawa/Erie County chapter (along with the Lucas/Wood chapter), and they plan to charter other counties, too. He also congratulated the region for establishing the PIST (People Incensed at the Stadium Tax) coalition, and for participating in our annual Tax Protest on April 15th. The Southeast Region (with Tom Broderick as Chair), the Southwest Region, and the West Central Region have not yet organized, but Mr. Matheney (who resides in West Central Region) complimented activists in Dayton for conducting the annual Tax Protest there. He congratulated the East Central region for most recently chartering the Stark County chapter, and will soon charter a Mahoning/Trumbull County chapter. Activists from East Central Region have also assisted the Northeast Region (our region) with various outreach activities. Mr. Matheney congratulated our region (the Northeast Region) for our new chair, George Baluk, who is crucial to reviving our region from a previous two-year slump. Mr. Matheney also congratulated us for engaging in the annual Tax Protest in three different cities (Elyria, Medina, and Cleveland).

Our next speaker, David Boaz of the Cato Institute, talked about the history of liberty, with its roots in Ancient Greek and Roman philosophy. Since then, the history of Western Civilization can be summarized as the ongoing struggle for liberty by the disgruntled masses against the nobility. By 1800, the world has hardly changed, until market economies were established and individual rights were starting to be crafted into the laws of Western Europe. One hundred years later, the Western world had changed dramatically, to the point of being uncomparable to the 18th Century. Our standard of living had reached points never before even dreamed of, thanks to Liberalism and the Enlightment. But since 1900, power mongers in Washington D.C. have and are currently trying to remove the blessings of liberty and free markets that have created prosperity. For example, Bill and Hillary pose a great danger even to our way of life, because or their abhorent belief in the sovereignty of the State ("It Takes a Village" represents the ultimate anti-individualist manifesto). We must develop the proper image necessary for stopping D.C., which means emphasizing virtue in humanity, and sressing that freedom and responsibility are inseparable. We must redefine ourselves as defenders of what made Western Civilization great.

After lunch, the Convention was adressed by our National LP Chair, Steve Dasbach. It was a great honor to recieve him, since he is an excellent service to our party. His stunning and hilariously witty press releases can't be beat, and his appearance on countless talk radio shows has helped improve our image and communicate our message to more prospects. In his radio interviews (and his press releases - which influence them), he often criticizes Republicans for decieving people into thinking that they stand for liberty, when Rebublicans are really overly-concerned with power. Former Republicans are the best to convert to the Libertarian Party, which has occured with Project Archimedes, and we have made great progress in membership over the past four years. Four years ago, the Libertarian Party contained a mere 9,500 members and an $860,000 budget, but now has achieved 25,600 members and a $2,000,000 budget! The key to becoming even greater and competing with the Republocrats is (in the following order): Organization, Money, Volunteers, and the Quality of our Candidates.

Next, David Bergland, author of "America's Libertarian Heritage" and "Libertarianism in One Lesson" occupied the stage as one who is proud of our history as a party, and what we have accomplished. The Libertarian Party was founded in 1971, mostly because of Richard Nixon, who imposed wage and price controls and officially eliminated the gold standard in that year. The founders of the party were also enraged by the shameful, tyrannical, Unconstitutional conduct of the U.S. Government known as The Vietnam War. These events angered David Nolan, who then decided to congregate with his friends, create The Libertarian Party, and establish our eternal Statement of Principles. In 1972, John Hospers and Tonie Nathan ran for President under our party, appearing on the ballot in two states. In 1976, Mr. Bergland was a Vice-Presidential candidate to Roger MacBride - the Presidential candidate for the LP. In the late '70's, the party was largely funded by David Coke, who ran with Ed Clark in 1980. The Libertarian Party was at its peak. However, in 1982 and 1983, our party experienced heavy infighting and division, which almost destroyed our party, and the LP was especially devastaded when Mr. Coke slammed the brakes and pulled his funds out. Since then, we have been slowly recovering (but have yet to reach our level in 1980), with David Bergland running as President in 1984, Ron Paul/Andre Marrou in 1988, Andre Marrou/Nancy Lord in 1992, and finally Harry Browne/Jo Jorgensen in 1996. We must appeal to all individuals, with various personality types (Energy-lovers, Conservatives, Romantics, and Intellectuals) if we are to grow any further. Most libertarians contain an Intellectual personality, but we must percieve matters in the same manner our audience does (which varies with different audiences) in order to infiltrate the political climate of the nation. Mr Bergland shall be running for Chair of the National LP this year.

Our final speaker was our 1996 candidate for President of the United States of America, investment advisor, and author of various books, including "You Can Profit From a Monetary Crisis," "How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World," and "Why Government Doesn't Work," -- Harry Browne. Mr. Browne complimented local Libertarians across America, including Ohio, for becoming more active in recent years and trying to build the party from the grassroots. Mr. Browne started by inquiring the audience why they covet freedom. For most people, the answer is to live their lives free from the burdens of intrusive government. People are naturally and rightfully self-interested, tuned to WIIFM (What's In It For Me?). Therefore, we shouldn't attempt to gain converts to Libertarianism with economic charts or philosophical lectures. All we need to accomplish is to convince people that getting government out of their lives will set them free to pursue their own dreams and follow their own destiny without restrictions from the State, and that Libertarians will banish the government from their pocketbooks, bedrooms, and their lives! There are four common objections we must deal with. Some people claim that government is necessary for certain things, such as the environment, helping the poor, or fighting drugs. Object by stressing that government doesn't work, but voluntary cooperation does. and if the audience relinquishes their favorite government programs, they will be liberated from the vile Income Tax. Some people claim to benefit from government. Object by proclaiming that if the audience relinquishes their favorite government programs, they will be liberated from the vile Income Tax. Some people claim they don't trust their neighbor with freedom, due to his or her licentiousness. Object by requesting the audience not control their neighbors, so they themselves may not be controlled by the government. But the most common claim is that Libertarians can't win, so why should we support them? We must overcome that by building membership, acquiring more volunteers, generating more funds, improving our communication skills, and all other requisites for building a party large enough to compete with the Democrats and Republicans. It's a tough job, but Mr. Browne feels we can accomplish it. Mr. Browne is confident that we can recieve major press coverage in 2000, elect a Libertarian President in 2004, then a Libertarian Congress in 2006, and finally, in 2007, set the nation free, once again establishing the United States of America as the Land of the Free, and the Home of the Brave.

Our Saturday night banquet featured nationally recognized comedian Tim Slagle, who gave us a deliciously funny presentation, mocking those who would enslave the citizens of America with ridiculous propaganda and statist socialism. The topics of his sketch included global warming, recycling, political correctness, warning labels, smoking and the handicapped, speed limits, air bags, hemp and marijuana, our tax system, assault weapons, and old glory. Throughout the routine, our new LPO chair Jim Babka conducted a fundraising seminar, along with Harry Browne. The contributions were allocated towards our petition drive for ballot access in Ohio.

On Sunday, Mr. Bergland discussed how to appeal to those with different personality types. A panel also took place with the various LP activists around Ohio. The activists involved were: Bob Debrosse - who led the CROE (Commission to Repeal Ohio E-check) coalition, Dena Bruedigam - who led the VAST (Voters Against Stadium Taxes) coalition, and Donald Gallick - who led the successful effort to stop SECO (the Southeast Ohio Narcotics Task Force - a paramilitary, fascist-style anti-drug police force). Another panel also took place, which featured David Bergland, Steve Dasbach, and Harry Browne - all of the convention attendants from the National LP.

Overall, "Expanding Liberty's Horizons," our 1998 LPO Convention, was a brilliant success. Many thanks to Bob Neumann and Chet Sutherland, who both planned and engineered the convention. Even though this was only my second convention, I believe it has been the best one I have attended, and hopefully it will be topped in the following years ahead. Our 1999 LPO Convention shall take place in the Toledo area, and our 2000 LPO Convention (a major one, due to the election year) shall take place in Columbus. Hope to see you there! Also, I hope to see as many of you as possible at the upcoming National LP Convention in Washingtion D.C., occuring July 2nd through July 5th. This will be my first national convention, and the speakers are phenomenal. Don't miss out!