Mediaboss Marketing

In Ukraine, libertarian think tanks and politicians are already making plans for the period after the war. The future of Ukraine was one of the major topics at the Europe Liberty Forum 2022 on 12 and 13 May, organized by the Atlas Network, the leading global association of libertarian think tanks. The event was originally due to take place in Kyiv, but was moved to Warsaw because of the war.

One of the guest speakers was Maryan Zablotskyy, a Member of the Ukrainian Parliament and of Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy's ruling party. Zablotskyy also used to be a member of the Ukraine Economic Freedom Foundation, a libertarian think tank founded in 2015. Income tax in Ukraine, Zablotskyy said, was recently lowered to two percent, and numerous regulations and tariffs have been abolished.

We are currently the most economically free country in the world, he tells me.

It is beyond extraordinary for a country to cut taxes and abolish regulations while it is at war. Normally, in wartime, governments massively increase taxes and expand their reach. In 1942, the US government passed the Victory Act, causing the top tax rate to skyrocket to 88 percent, a level that rose further, to 94 percent in 1944, as a result of various surtaxes. In Britain, the top tax rate rose as high as 98 percent in the 1940s, and in Germany it climbed to 64.99 percent in 1941.

We believe that we are stronger when we are economically freer, Zablotskyy said.

Due to the billions of dollars in international aid flowing into the country, Ukraine is an anomaly of history: a country engaged in a bitter war that is more economically free than ever. The goal, Zablotskyy says, is to ensure that these economic reforms, which were adopted as temporary measures, remain in place after the war.

After the war is a phrase that echoes repeatedly throughout the Europe Liberty Forum.

No one from Ukraine discussed how the war might end, instead they focused solely on the opportunities that will arise after victory. Nataliya Melnyk, representative of the Bendukidze Free Market Center in Kyiv, said it would be wrong to aspire to rebuild Ukraine.

We cannot aim to return to the conditions of the pre-war period, we need to create something new, Melnyk explains

She speaks of a window of opportunity and refers to the findings of the Heritage Foundations Index of Economic Freedom, which ranks Ukraine as the most economically unfree of 45 countries in the European region. In the global ranking, Ukraine comes 127th, trailing countries such as India and Nicaragua. The Heritage Foundation identifies Ukraines property rights, rule of law and labor market regulations as the greatest deficits.

Roman Waschuk, Canadas ambassador to Kyiv from 2014 to 2019 and now Business Omdudsman for Ukraine, takes a more nuanced view: Ukraine is not as economically unfree as the Heritage Foundations Index and other statistics would have us believe. Such rankings only evaluate official statistics, which fail to capture Ukraines enormous shadow economy, Waschuk explains.

Many people in the West, he says, have been surprised by the fact that Ukraines army is in a far better state than they assumed. And the same, Waschuk says, is true of the countrys economy.

Especially in the IT sector, which according to Nataliya Melnyk comprises at least 250,000 technology specialists, companies make extensive use of tax loopholes. The top rate of tax in the Ukraine used to be 20 percent, but there is a regulation that allows individual entrepreneurs to pay just 5 percent. Actually, Waschuk says, this tax was originally designed for small-scale sole-traders, but it has also been used by entrepreneurs, including IT specialists.

Everyone agrees that there is an urgent need for reform, especially as so many of the regulations in force in Ukraine date back to the Soviet era of the 1970s. Tom Palmer, Executive Vice President for International Programs of the Atlas Network, suggested that Germanys post-war Minister of Economics Ludwig Erhard, who introduced the market economy after the Second World War, could serve as a model for the future Ukraine. There are also frequent calls for a Marshall Plan for Ukraine. Palmer believes that it is not a Marshall Plan that will help Ukraine, but only market-economy reforms similar to those introduced by Erhard.

Palmer is undoubtedly right. The economic course charted by Erhards free-market policies clearly contributed more to the Federal Republic of Germanys subsequent economic miracle than the Marshall Plan, named after the then American Secretary of State George C. Marshall, which provided aid to relieve the suffering and hunger of populations across Europe after the war. The programme had a volume of $13.1 billion. Despite the British receiving more than twice as much from the plan as the Germans, Great Britain did not develop anywhere near as well as Germany. While the British were governed by socialists, Erhard introduced the market economy in Germany having already devised his policies during the war.

Libertarian think tanks in Ukraine have closer links to the countrys politicians than similar think tanks in most other Western countries. Alexander Danilyuk, co-founder of the Free Market Centre, was Ukraines finance minister from 2016 to 2018, and Zablotskyy, a member of parliament, believes that a majority of Ukraines parliamentarians subscribe to libertarian principles. However, the libertarian Atlas Network also helps Ukraine in a very practical way.

Atlas has raised $2.3 million to date in support of Ukraine. Germans and Americans who belong to the network not only contribute money, but also supply medicines, night vision equipment, drones and body armor to Ukraine. An article in The Spokesman-Review appeared under the headline: In Ukraine, an informal web of Libertarians becomes a resistance network.

The libertarian program for Ukraine is clear. When we talk about the new Ukraine, we mean three things above all, says Nataliya Melnyk, fighting corruption, rule of law, and economic freedom.

Maybe it sounds a bit dramatic, she says, but freedom is our religion. Throughout the Atlas event, at every opportunity, people implore each other: Next year in Kyiv.

Rainer Zitelmann is a German historian and author. His latest book is Hitlers National Socialism which was published on 22 February 2022.

Originally posted here:
How Ukraine Could Become the Most Libertarian Country in the World Once Peace Is Achieved | Dr Rainer Zitelmann - Foundation for Economic Education

After Tuesdays primary runoffs, the general election ballot is set. But your ballot was determined by not quite 105,000 voters in Dallas County, which is actually an improvement over the primary elections in March, where a little more than 92,000 voted.

Thats not a lot of people deciding everyones choices for midterm elections.

Heres how some of the bigger races on that ballot will shape up after yesterdays election (you can find statewide results here).

Incumbent Dallas County Commissioner District 2 Commissioner J.J. Koch will face Democratic opponent Andrew Sommerman in November. Sommerman is also part of the team of lawyers representing Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins in a lawsuit over mask mandates filed by Koch.

Incumbent Dallas County Clerk John Warren gets to keep his seat after beating opponent Ann Cruz in the Democratic primary. There were no Republican challengers.

Former U.S. Rep. John Bryant beat attorney Alexandra Guio and will face Republican Mark Hajdu in November for the Texas House District 114 seat that is being vacated by John Turner, who opted not to run again.

Former Dallas City Council member Sandra Crenshaw lost her bid for the District 100 seat to Democrat Venton Jones, CEO of the Southern Black Policy and Advocacy Network, which means hell be replacing Jasmine Crockett (more on that in a minute), since there was no Republican challenger for that race.

With all of those races now firmed up, voters will also decide between Lauren Davis and incumbent Clay Jenkins for Dallas County Judge; Dallas County District Attorney John Creuzot and Republican Faith Johnson (who was his predecessor); Dallas County Treasurer Pauline Medrano and Republican Shelly Akerly; District 108 State Rep. Morgan Meyer and Democrat Elizabeth Ginsberg; Texas Senate District 16 incumbent Nathan Johnson and Republican Brandon Copeland; and State Board of Education, District 12, Republican incumbent Pam Little will face Democrat Alex Cornwallis and Libertarian Christy Mowrey.

Jan McDowell narrowly beat Derrik Gay to face U.S. Rep. Beth Van Duyne for U.S. District 24, which is wide enough to include both East Dallas and Watauga.

U.S. Rep. Colin Allred and Libertarian Nathan Bosley will face Wingstop founder Antonio Swad in November, after last nights District 32 Republican runoff election.

State Rep. Jasmine Crockett and Republican James Rodgers will vie for the District 30 seat of Eddie Bernice Johnson, who is retiring.

U.S. Rep. Mark Veasey will face off with Republican Patrick Gillespie and Libertarian Ken Ashby for District 33.

I dont have to tell anyone how important it is to vote in midterm elections, not just presidential ones. The above list? Those are the people that will be in Austin making decisions. These are the people who will be sitting in the commissioners court plotting the countys continued emergence from the pandemic.

A professor of mine once said, as he canceled class so we could all go vote in a municipal election, that there are no minor elections, just progressively larger erosions of rights.

Make your plan to vote.

Early voting for the Nov. 8 General Election starts Oct. 24. The last day to register to vote is Oct. 11. To make sure youre registered, or to start the process, head here.

Dallas most important news stories of the week, delivered to your inbox each Sunday.

Bethany Erickson is the senior digital editor for D Magazine. She's written about real estate, education policy, the stock market, and crime throughout her career, and sometimes all at the same time. She hates lima beans and 5 a.m. and takes SAT practice tests for fun.

View post:
Primaries Are Over. Here's What Your November Ballot Could Look Like - D Magazine

Breadcrumb Trail Links

Libertarian candidate says pandemic revealed political path

Michelle Lashbrook never saw herself as a politician.

This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.

But the candidate for the Libertarian Party in the June 2 provincial election didnt like what she saw happening around her.

I have been very much involved in the community, Lashbrook says, working with the Womens Business Network of North Bay, with international exchange students through the Rotary Club and helping seniors at the Chartwell Barclay House.

You get to know people, really enjoy people when you work with them like that, Lashbrook says. You see what makes people tick.

Everyone has a story.

But when the COVID-19 pandemic struck, there was so much that wasnt right, she says.

We locked down in the first three weeks. But why were Wal-Mart and the LCBO open? Why could the big corporations stay open while small businesses were shut down? Why did our politicians continue to get raises? They were imposing their will on us. Friends were charged because they were hugging someone.

It was a huge abuse of power.

Lashbrook, the chair of the Northern Freedom Riders who spent several weeks in Ottawa earlier this year when truckers and protesters descended on the city to oppose the mandates surrounding COVID-19, said the only good thing to come out of the mandates was exposing the cracks in the system.

Education, hospitals, government, they were all faulty. COVID brought everything to light. A lot of things (government enacted) were taken right from the Nazi handbook.

She went to Ottawa during the protests to see for myself the stuff that was reported from the Northern Freedom Alliance.

This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.

It was frustrating, she says, when you see some of the stuff that is reported.

She said a protest in North Bay which ended up at the North Bay Mall in 2021 was nothing like what really happened.

Several of the protesters were charged with theft and vandalism, but there were zero thefts. Nothing was damaged. There were zero threats.And it took the police four months to charge seven people, mostly women over 60 years of age.

A North Bay business person was also charged under the COVID-19 protocols, she says, although those criminal charges were vacated. When she and other supporters of the business woman protested at the North Bay courthouse, they tried to run us off the grounds.

The political leaders, she said, do absolutely nothing to help the general public.

The PCs (Progressive Conservatives) are like the Liberals, the Liberals partner with the NDP.

The Libertarian Party has been in existence since 1975, and its major focus, Lashbrook says, is very much about freedom of choice.

That freedom, she says, comes with responsibility, and brings back accountability to political leadership in the province.

Nobody now is accountable. The buck keeps being passed. Government has created massive issues in the province.

There is too much government. There is too much over-reach. We need less government, fewer mandates. When you cut those things, local business is able to thrive. There is more money in their pockets.

This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.

Right now, she says, just being able to build a house is overburdened with regulations and codes, slowing down the approvals and making a home more expensive than it should be.

That should be on me. Government doesnt belong there. Government shouldnt be able to tell us how to raise our kids.We need less restriction.

And while the country was gripped by the pandemic, little was done to tackle issues such as the opioid crisis.

Right now is a critical time in our history. There are a lot of unhappy people. The (protest) convoys attracted thousands of people.

People are just done. They are looking for options.

Its time people take their country back.

This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.

Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion and encourage all readers to share their views on our articles. Comments may take up to an hour for moderation before appearing on the site. We ask you to keep your comments relevant and respectful. We have enabled email notificationsyou will now receive an email if you receive a reply to your comment, there is an update to a comment thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information and details on how to adjust your email settings.

Continued here:
'COVID brought everything to light' - The North Bay Nugget

Incumbants Kim Schrier, Phil Fortunato, Drew Stokesbary and Eric Robertson will all see competition this year.

Candidates in Washington state officially filed for the 2022 election last week, several of them seeking local offices. The primary election this midterm year is August 2, while the general election will be held November 8.

Heres a breakdown of whos running for what.

State Legislative District 31 (Represents Enumclaw, Buckley, Bonney Lake, Sumner area)

For state senator:

Incumbent Phil Fortunato (Republican, Auburn), Chris Vance (No party preference, Sumner) and Clifford Knopik (No party preference, Bonney Lake)

For state rep. position 1:

Incumbent Drew Stokesbary (Republican, Auburn), Brandon Beynon (Republican, Bonney Lake) and Holly Stanton (Democrat, Tacoma address given)

For state rep. position 2:

Incumbent Eric E. Robertson (Republican, Sumner) and Ted Christie (Democrat, Edgewood)

U.S. Congressional District 8 (Represents Issaquah, Maple Valley, Auburn, Enumclaw, Buckley and Bonney Lake area)

Incumbent Kim Schrier (Democrat, Issaquah)

Emet Ward (Democrat, Covington)

Keith Arnold (Democrat, Auburn)

Reagan Dunn (Republican, Issaquah)

Matt Larkin (Republican, Sammamish)

Dave Chapman (Republican, Auburn)

Jesse Jensen (Republican, Bonney Lake)

Scott Stephenson (Republican, Fall City)

Ryan Dean Burkett (No party preference, Issaquah)

Justin Greywolf (Libertarian, Renton)

Patrick Dillon (Concordia party, Issaquah)

Original post:
Here's who you can vote for in the August primaries | Courier-Herald - Enumclaw Courier-Herald

The contest for CD-5 is going to result in a conservative congressman, regardless of the outcome.If incumbent Democrat Josh Gottheimer, captaining a multi-million dollar campaign warchest, is returned to office, the congressman frequently bashed by CD-5 based progressive groups as being a Republican-in-all-but-name (he isnt) will serve another two years.Following re-districting, the new CD-5 will have more of a Bergen County orientation, although there is still plenty of territory in Passaic and Sussex Counties to be represented.This change may require a slight ideological shift left for Gottheimer, but the congressman who prides himself on being a bipartisan champion, should remain, for the most part, a case of what you see is what you get.

Love him or hate him, there are no surprises when it comes to Gottheimer.He wont be aligning himself with The Squad and hes not a Bernie Bro but that doesnt mean the CD-5 Republicans wont throw everything they have at him.

The question is, which of the Republicans will be the one to do it?

They say to win the Republican nomination, you lean to the right; to win the election, you lean to the left.In the purple region of north-east New Jersey, that is certainly a truism.Looking at CD-5s Republican primary candidates, they seem to be swaying together in almost perfect synch.Nick De Gregorio, a former marine who saw action in Iraq and Afghanistan, is the Bergen County Republican Organizations favorite.The Fair Lawn father-of-two is running against Frank Pallotta, a businessman and banking executive whose resume includes Phil Murphy-familiar turf such as Goldman Sachs, but also Morgan Stanley.He has also founded financial firms of his own, including one which focuses on Canadian residential assets.

Also in the race is Sab Skenderi, a libertarian Republican from Wyckoff, Gottheimers hometown.Skenderi was a Ron Paul delegate when the former congressman made his last bid for the presidency a decade ago.

Fred Schneiderman, who earlier said he was undaunted by his poor showing with the BCRO, cited family matters anddropped out of the race.

Pallotta tried to unseat Gottheimer in 2020, besting John McCann in the primary and coming up 45% to Gottheimers 53% in the general.Bergen County establishment support for Pallotta fizzled out in the years since.De Gregorio swamped Pallotta in the BCRO vote for the line, taking 69% to go up against Gottheimer.Passaic County, however, went for Pallotta.

The exchange between Pallotta and De Gregorio turned sour.The latter accused the former of denigrating his military service in saying that Pallotta was better qualified for the job.Pallotta countered, saying he did not mean any disrespect to De Gregorios military background, but that his background in finance made him the better choice for handling CD-5s economic challenges.

By their own words, from policy perspectives, De Gregorio and Pallotta seem very similar.The Englewood Cliffs debate, (which did not include Skenderi, a candidate who most likely wouldve shown some interesting deviations from Republican Standard) demonstrated that they both essentially agreed with President Bidens commitment to stand by Taiwan, but took swipes at Biden anyway.They both agree with the idea of concealed carry and their interpretation of the 2ndAmendment.Both believe that parents should have input on what kind of potentially controversial gender-identity material is taught in classrooms, although that is a state issue and they are running for a federal office.

Pallotta touted his NJ Right to Life endorsement and posited himself as the ultimate pro-life choice between the two, but De Gregorio is on the same page, saying he would support a bill to ban third trimester abortion, and require parental notification if a minor is to have an abortion.

On border security and immigration, they seem to be in lockstep; likewise in support of SALT deductions, using the tried-and-true Republican talking points of high taxation and how expensive New Jersey is to live in.Few people can argue that.

All in all, there does not appear to be all that much daylight between the two candidates as far as policy goes.

Pallotta, who calls himself an outsider and a reformer, although his financial background shares some similarities with former Governor Corzine and Governor Phil Murphy, has put himself forward as the guy with the best resume to take over Josh Gottheimers job.He claims he has the business expertise to address CD-5s biggest issues, which he says are fiscal onesClinton strategist James Carville said it crudely but accurately in 1992, Its the economy, stupid.Pallotta also has tried to make lemonade from 2020 electoral lemons, asserting that he has traveled around the district and is campaigning on behalf of the whole, while trying to frame De Gregorio as having his focus just on Bergen County.

De Gregorio, younger than Pallotta, is new to politics and is a politically fresh clean slate.By touting his experience as a Marine Corps officer, he says that he is the man best equipped for the task.He also characterized himself as a suburban everyman, concerned for the well-being of his family and those of other families with young kids.

Looking at the numbers, according to the FEC as of March 31, De Gregorio had $454,466 cash on hand to Pallottas $83,216.Gottheimer had $13,071,464 to put to use.De Gregorio assailed Gottheimer, saying that he is afraid, and has been interfering with the Republican Primary on behalf of his 2020 rival, Pallotta.Pallotta denies this and says, perhaps unsurprisingly, that Gottheimer is actually afraid of him, and trying to erode at his base of support.

So, in essence, De Gregorio and Pallotta seem to agree more than they disagree on the issues, so Republican voters should be reasonably content with whomever the winner is.Each candidate also agreed to support the Republican nominee as well, echoing one another in saying that defeating Gottheimer was more important than their own victory.Bold rhetoric, indeed, but perhaps comforting for CD-5s casual GOP rank and file.Where they do disagree appears to be on themselves: specifically, matters of qualification and experience.They also seem to disagree as to whom Gottheimer is more worried about, but that is a given.Ultimately, the voters will determine whether Gottheimer goes for a second round against his banking executive rival, or head to head with the combat veteran determined to carry the flag forward and victoriously plant it on election day.

(Visited 350 times, 350 visits today)

See the original post:
Who Will Face Gottheimer? - InsiderNJ