The Libertarian Party of New York (LPNY), our state affiliate, will hold its Annual Convention on April 30th. Get your registration in before prices go up April 10th.
See details below:

39th Annual State Convention

Saturday, April 30th

Lily Flanagan’s Pub
345 Deer Park Avenue
Babylon, New York
Mere steps from the LIRR Station

Click here for Google Map

Click here for Directions

Registration Information:

Send a check to:

SCLO, PO Box 728, Bellport, NY 11713

Please include proper amount and indicate the package you are purchasing:

Registration @ 9AM Contn’tl Breakfast with lunch Package*
Business Meeting 10 – 12 noon @ no charge
VIP Speakers table – $80 by 10 Apr, $100 after
Food/Speakers Package* – $60 by 10 Apr, $80 after
Speakers only [no food] – $30 by 10 Apr, $50 after

Buffet Luncheon includes one of three entrees: chicken, beef, or fish, which will be chosen the  day of event.

Convention Speakers

Schedule of Events

With all the hubbub over state budget cuts, unions, and collective bargaining agreements, I thought I’d do some fact checking. That eventually led me to a Wiki entry on right-to-work. Below is an excerpt from that piece on the Libertarian perspective.
I was wondering what is the perspective of this group.
From Wikipedia:

“Libertarian Capitalist View”

From a libertarian capitalist perspective, right-to-work laws may be argued either for or against, depending on whether the focus is on the freedom of the employee or the freedom of the employer. A right-to-work law can be seen as either freeing individual employees from being coerced into joining a union,^[21] or as restricting the right of an employer to enter into a voluntary contract with its labor union. For example, the Libertarian Party’s affiliate in the state of Georgia includes an endorsement of right-to-work laws in its party platform.^[22] The national Libertarian Party has included talking points in its platform which have explicitly called for the repeal of private sector right-to-work laws.^[23][24] That platform plank was pulled in 2006, but after substantial internal debate, the platform again is squarely in favor of ending restrictive measures: “We support the right of free persons to associate or not associate in labor unions, and an employer should have the right to recognize or refuse to recognize a union.”^[25]
(The full Wiki entry can be found here.)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

STATEN ISLAND, NY, February 22, 2011 –The Staten Island Libertarian Party announced two key appointments to the organization’s media communications team. Charter member Jennifer DeSanctis-Narby is now serving as Communications Director. She is responsible for supervising the development of all public relations materials and news content for the party, and providing editorial oversight.
A coffee aficionado and former coffee house entrepreneur, Ms. DeSanctis-Narby holds a B.A. in psychology from the College of Staten Island, City University of New York (CUNY), and is currently completing her final semester in the M.A. program for Mental Health Counseling at Brooklyn College, CUNY.
Ms. DeSanctis-Narby also interns with the LGBT Center of Staten Island, specializing in individual and group therapy for the adolescent LGBT community. In addition, she assists the Center’s staff in providing lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals and their family members with access to culturally competent programs, events, and activities that promote overall well being.
Born and raised in Rochester, Ms. DeSanctis-Narby is the granddaughter of Italian immigrants. Now a 12-year island resident, she lives in Silver Lake with her husband, Dave Narby, the party’s 2010 New York State Assembly candidate in the 61st District.
Westerleigh resident Robert DeSio, a recent arrival to the party, will take on a newly created role as Director of Media Relations. He will complement those efforts of Ms. DeSanctis-Narby, with Web media strategy and administration of all digital channels. He will also act as the party’s media liaison officer.
Mr. DeSio is a 20-year veteran of the police force, having worked with all three departments; Transit, City, and Housing. Ten of those years were in service to Staten Island, including eight with the 123 Precinct. In addition to patrol duties here, he has served as the precinct’s Community Affairs Officer, and worked in helping area youth, coordinating school crossing guards, and improving highway safety.
A Lower West Side native, Mr. DeSio’s distinguished police career began in Manhattan. There he volunteered for the NYPD Anti-Crime unit, and Transit’s Anti-Crime Strike Force. He is the recipient of 22 official commendations.
An advocate of continuing education, Mr. DeSio is a student of psychology and sociology. He is also the proud father of two children. His son is a mechanical engineer, and his daughter works as a project coordinator for New York University.

# # #

From the article, “NY tax refund checks not in the mail” (The Business Review), with emphasis added:

New York state has temporarily stopped issuing income tax refund checks, hoarding money to help the state pay more than $14 billion of bills due this month.
Refund payments will not resume until April 1…
State law caps the amount of refunds paid from January through March every year at $1.75 billion.
This year, for the first time in a decade, Gov. David Paterson lowered the cap to $1.25 billion to preserve the state’s cash flow. The state hit that lower cap on March 12…[Governor David] Paterson has warned for a few weeks now that the state lacks the funds to pay all of its estimated $2.2 billion of bills due this month, which include everything from Medicaid reimbursements to benefits for state workers.

Happy days in Albany, for sure.
Albany’s fiscal irresponsibility
Since 1999, total government spending in New York State has risen from $62.2 billion to $112.5 billion — an 81% increase– as shown in the chart below.

Granted, due to inflation, a dollar in 1999 was worth more than a dollar in 2010. Despite that, even when counting inflation, state spending has increased by 47% in the past 11 years.
But state population has gone up since 1999; shouldn’t that make things look better? Sadly, no; spending per person in inflation-adjusted dollars has still gone up by 43% since 1999. (Source: usgovernmentspending.com)
Final scary number: total public debt has gone from $76.56 billion in 1999 to $123.04 billion in 2010.(Source: usgovernmentspending.com)
The verdict: New York State is spending 43% more per person today than it was in 1999, and has increased its total debt by 61% in the same time span. For those that have lived here in that time period, would you say that living conditions in New York State today are twice as good as they were in 1999, since our combined spending and debt obligation has roughly doubled? I doubt it.
In layman’s terms: Imagine you were earning $50,000, spending $50,000, and had a $40,000 mortgage. If, eleven years later, you were earning $90,000 a year, spending $90,000 a year, and had a $74,000 mortgage, would you say you were on the path to success?
Only someone from the Albany legislature could say “yes” to such a question.