Dear Fellow Libertarians,

Please join us on Saturday, December 5th for a Candidate Forum. The following
Libertarian candidates are scheduled to speak and answer your questions:

* Lex Green for Governor
* Ed Rutledge for Lt. Governor
* Josh Hanson for Secretary of State
* Mike Labno for US Senate

The candidates will be appearing at the following locations and times:

* 10:00 a.m. at the Old Bridges Restaurant, 1935 W. Golf in Schaumburg

* 1:00 p.m. at the Texas Roadhouse, 2856 Patriots Lane in Naperville (on North
Aurora Road, just east of Rt. 59)

* 3:30 p.m. at Nikarry's Restaurant, 1055 N. Lake St. in Aurora (on Route 31
just south of Indian Trail next to McDonalds)

Please attend the event closest to you and support our candidates. Also, posting
this notice to other groups is greatly appreciated. Greater attendance will help
draw media attention, so please invite everyone you can.

Semper Fi

Michael Fogelsanger
Activism Director Libertarian Party of Illinois
815-899-2351

• contact person for area activists
• distribution point for campaign literature and yard signs
• collection point for petitions
• scout for potential campaign stops
• identifier of local media

Freedom isn't free. We all have to work together and earn it. If you have a skill or area of interest that you would like to offer to our campaigns or would like to volunteer as a Campaign Coordinator for your area, please contact Crystal Jurczynski, LP Illinois Campaign Director, at 630-876-1935 or campaign@....

Greetings from the DuPage Libertarians,

In the last month, the Libertarian Party of Illinois has seen significant
progress in the declaration of candidates for 2010 campaigns.  Even more
exciting is that several of these candidates have committed to running active
campaigns, as opposed to functioning as "paper candidates" only.  One of these
candidates, Mike Labno, is a member of the DuPage Libertarians and has already
begun seeking supporters for his campaign for U.S. Senate.

The DuPage Libertarians are now seeking assistance from those with experience
running for office, running political campaigns, or working for campaigns. 
Specifically, we need people who have technical knowledge of compliance with
legal requirements, effective fundraising strategies, successful advertising
efforts, etc.  If you feel that you have anything to contribute, even if you
don't have time or money, please contact Josh Hanson, chair of the DuPage
Libertarians, at 630-200-9527 as soon as possible, so that we may begin
consolidating information to help our candidates reach the largest audience
possible.

Finally, there are still many openings for Libertarian candidates in 2010.  If
you are coming to realize that now is the time to act, please consider running
for office as a Libertarian.  The more candidates we have on the ballot, the
more attention we will receive, and consequently, the more our current political
representatives will sit up and take notice.

Thank you,
Josh Hanson
Chair, DuPage Libertarians
630-200-9527
DuPageLibertarians.org

All,

I don't know about you, but I'm excited!  With the Republicans and Democrats continuing to work together against the citizenry, people are coming out of the woodwork to find an alternative.  At last month's Downers Grove Heritage Fest, we brought in 30 new contacts, and we hope to repeat that performance at next week's DuPage County Fair!

Monthly Meeting

Date: Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Time: 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM

Location: Wheaton Park District – Atten Room – 1777 S. Blanchard St., Wheaton, IL. Once inside, you can ask the front desk for directions to the room, or just go up the stairs to the left and look for us. Click here for a map! 

Topic: Libertarianism 101! Now, more than ever, we need to be able to clearly explain what it means to be a Libertarian and how our ideas serve the public better than any others.  If you'd like to do some pre-meeting reading, I'd suggest our "What Is A Libertarian?"  page or Mary Ruwart's Short Answers to Tough Libertarian Questions.

Other Events

The DuPage Libertarians will also have a booth at the DuPage County Fair (July 22-26).  We'll be needing people to help staff the booth, and also to provide ideas on how to make these booths as effective as possible.  If you're interested, please contact Jim Waldron at 630-717-1830.

We're also putting together a fundraiser and a joint social event with the DuPage County Campaign for Liberty, so keep an eye out for more details soon.

Thanks,

Josh Hanson

Chair, DuPage Libertarians

630-200-9527

It's easy for Libertarians to get used to being ignored.  Sometimes it feels
like everywhere we go, people are more concerned with which American Idol
contestant was eliminated the night before than they are with the loss of their
liberties.  As much as this should encourage us to work harder, it's not at all
uncommon for hopelessness to set in or to see philosophical libertarians return
to one of the two major parties where they can get some attention.  Thankfully,
if our experience last weekend at the Downers Grove Heritage Festival is any
indication, that's finally beginning to change.

From June 26-28, a handful of volunteers staffed a booth next to the Downers
Grove Township Democrats to help spread the message of liberty.  Thankfully, we
didn't have any real problems with the neighbors, but the real highlight of the
weekend was the steady flow of visitors to our booth.  People seem to be coming
out of the woodwork to express an interest in the Libertarian Party (or just a
frustration with the two-party system).  In previous years, it has been
difficult to obtain even a handful of names, but in three days, the DuPage
Libertarians received 30 new names, increasing our contacts by fifty percent. 
This brings us to an increase of over 1000% since the beginning of the year. 
While we still have a long way to go, this should give all of us great
motivation to redouble our efforts to get the message out.

As encouraging as it is to see people coming to the Libertarian Party, the
unfortunate reality is that many of these same people expressed that they were
not even aware that there was a DuPage County affiliate of the Libertarian
Party.  While we may often feel that we're already working hard enough, we
should never stop looking for better and more effective ways to reach our fellow
citizens.  If you have an idea, don't keep it to yourself.  Reach out to the
leadership and ask how you can bring it about.  Post Libertarian-themed updates
to your social networking sites.  Run for office as a Libertarian candidate. 
The opportunities for involvement are limited only by your imagination.

As a way to increase the coordination and organization of the DuPage
Libertarians, we have created the position of Township Chair for those who would
like to help build up the Libertarian Party in their respective areas.  The
duties of this office can be as involved as you make it, but at a minimum, we
are looking for people who can keep track of local events (festivals, parades,
etc) and function as a primary point of contact for other Libertarians in their
township.  Interested parties can join us at our monthly meetings or contact any
of the leadership to express an interest.

Josh Hanson
Chair, DuPage Libertarians
630-200-9527

All,

As this notice is about bylaw amendments, you can delete it now if you're not
interested.  Otherwise, read on!

At our last meeting, we voted to amend the bylaws and a template of sorts was
put together to get us started.  As this is a complete rewrite of the bylaws and
could take some time to cover, we felt that it would be best handled outside of
the regular monthly meeting.  The purpose of this e-mail is to see how many of
you are interested in debating, revising, and voting on these changes.  I'd like
to hold this special "bylaw convention" during the week of 6/7 through 6/12, and
I imagine this meeting would only take a few hours to complete.  If you are
interested in attending, please reply to DuPageLibertarians@... by
Tuesday, June 2 with two or three days/times you will be available during that
week.  We will do our best to select the best time based on the responses.

Please keep in mind that one must be a dues-paying member in order to vote on
these changes.  Prorated dues for June are $14.00 for adults and $7.00 for
students.

Thanks,
Josh Hanson
President, DuPage Libertarians
630-200-9527

On April 15, 2009, Americans across the nation gathered together to protest the growth of government and reckless economic policies being pursued by the Federal Government.  At the time, advocates of limited government were invigorated by the nationwide show of support for their ideals.  Carrying on this tradition, a new nationwide Tea Party is in the works for execution on July 4, 2009.  That movement has been titled 'ReTea Party'  and is centered on four main principles:

• Respect for the integrity of the Constitution as framed by the Founders.
• Protection of individual freedom and free markets
• Adherence to strict fiscal discipline and responsibility
• Defense of National sovereignty

As I see it, the main problem of the Tax Day Tea Party was that as it grew, it began to be seen as nothing more than a conservative movement.  Once it did so, and regardless of its merits, it became easily dismissed by those who are also very concerned about the loss of liberty and who oppose the direction our nation is heading, but may not naturally run with the "conservative" crowd.  ReTea Party is not merely a Republican/Libertarian movement, but a movement belonging to all citizens who are appalled at at the ever-increasing excesses of government power, regardless of whether these excesses are enacted by Republicans or Democrats.

In general, libertarians believe that the origins of government lie in a voluntary agreement of individuals to abide by certain rules and to submit to enforcement of these rules.  If government is a voluntary association with authority granted by its members, then it is impossible for the members to grant authority that they themselves do not have.  For example, the people cannot grant the government authority to carry out redistributive taxation, as the people themselves to not have the authority to forcibly take money from someone to give to someone else.

In my view, the guiding principles of this new Tea Party movement echo those of the Declaration of Independence that all of humanity (not merely American citizens) are endowed with "certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed".

Josh Hanson
President, DuPage Libertarians
630-200-9527

For those who missed it, it was decided at our last meeting that the DuPage
Libertarians would hold a logo design contest to come up with a new logo for our
organization.  If you would like to participate, please submit your design (or
designs) to DuPageLibertarians@... by Sunday, June 14 so that we can
reveal the winner at our next meeting on June 16.  The prize for the winner will
be one item of your choice (under $25.00) from either Laissez Faire Books
(http://www.lfb.org) or Mises.org (http://www.mises.org/store/).  It has been
confirmed that as an affiliate of the Libertarian Party we are able to use all
or part of the logo of the national Libertarian Party in our design.

Thanks,
Josh Hanson
President, DuPage Libertarians
630-200-9527

All,

I wanted to pass along a few important updates as the Dupage Libertarians have undergone a few administrative changes. 

Website

You may have noticed that the old website is down.  We've transferred the website to a new host to allow for quicker, easier updating, and it is now located at http://dupagelibertarians.wordpress.com  One exciting feature is that the new site allows comments to be left directly on certain pages of the site.  Once we iron out some registration issues, we will direct the old domain, www.dupagelibertarians.org to this new site.  We also have a group and a page on Facebook, so you can keep track of us there as well.

E-mail

As our hosting has been transferred, our former e-mail address is no longer operational.  For the time being, our e-mail address is DuPageLibertarians@..., but again, once registration issues are resolved, we can move back to the more familiar DPL@....

Upcoming Meeting:

Our next meeting will be Tuesday, June 16 at 7:00 PM.  Stephen Chojnicki, LPIllinois Newsletter Editor, will be leading a discussion on how the Libertarian Party can better market ourselves to the left.  Libertarian philosophy does have some overlap with the left, particularly on social issues, but we typically have trouble communicating this effectively. 

As for the location, we have outgrown our typical meeting place, so we are looking for suggestions for a new spot.  If you have a good idea, please let us know as soon as possible so we can make arrangements.

Thanks,

Josh Hanson

President, DuPage Libertarians

LibertyJAH@...

630-200-9527

"the usurpations and the infractions, one and all, of law and Constitution, by the President and those under him; their repeated and persistent arbitrary arrests, the suspension of habeas corpus, the violation of freedom of the mails, of the private house, of the press and of speech, and all the other multiplied wrongs and outrages upon public liberty and private right, which have made this country one of the worst despotisms on earth for the past twenty months...".

The Campaign For Liberty is a group focused on spreading libertarian
ideas whereever they can be found, regardless of party. They will be
meeting tonight, 2/18 at Panera Bread in Wheaton (same location as the
DuPage Libertarians meeting). If you're interested in meeting other
liberty-minded groups in the area, or learning more about what liberty
means, feel free to stop by.

Date: February 18, 2009

Time: 6:00 PM

Location: Panera Bread, 25 Rice Lake Square in Wheaton, IL (near the
intersection of Butterfield and Naperville Rds).

Thanks,
Josh Hanson
President, DuPage Libertarians

All,

The Illinois State Board of Elections will be holding a Campaign
Disclosure Seminar this Saturday, Feb 7, from 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM.
This will be a video downlink seminar which you can see by visiting
one of 11 sites in Illinois, or by logging on to the website at
www.elections.il.gov and clicking on "Campaign Disclosure".  In DuPage
County, the location will be at College of DuPage, 425 Fawell Blvd.,
Room OCC106, Glen Ellyn, IL.  I hope you will take advantage of this
free seminar to help get the Libertarian Party back on sound footing
for future elections.

For more information, visit the link below:

http://www.elections.il.gov/DocDisplay.aspx?Doc=/Downloads/CampaignDisclosure/PD\
F/flyer09.pdf&Title=2009%20Campaign%20Disclosure%20Seminar%20Flyer

Thank you,
Josh Hanson
President, DuPage Libertarians
630-200-9527

Welcome to 2009! I'd like to take the opportunity to introduce myself
as the new president of the DuPage Libertarians. So you know a little
about me, my name is Josh Hanson, and I've been living here in DuPage
County since 2002 when I entered Wheaton College. I've worked with
the Libertarian Party of Indiana during the 2004 election season, and
recognize that the Libertarian Party of Illinois has tremendous
potential for growth.

With an exiting President of the United States who has trampled on
civil liberties, and an incoming President who seems determined to
repeat the mistakes of the Great Depression, we have plenty of
opportunities to present an alternative to the masses of Americans
looking for something different. That's where you come in.

By the time this year is over, I want to see the Libertarian Party in
DuPage County leaps and bounds ahead of where it is today. To do
that, though, we need ideas. I'm officially requesting any and all
ideas any of you have that you believe would help the Libertarian
Party grow. Feel free to e-mail me at LibertyJAH@... or call
me at 630-200-9527. I'd also be more than happy to set up a time to
meet with anyone who's interested.

Thanks in advance for your help, and I hope to be hearing from you
soon.

Josh Hanson
President, DuPage Libertarians

I hope you are planning to join us at the Panera Bread in Wheaton on
Tuesday, January 20, for our next DuPage Libertarians meeting. As it
will be Inaugural Day, it will be particularly interesting to take up
our meeting topic: "Dissecting Anti-freedom slogans" as so many are
floating about these days. Optional dinner/conversation starts at 6:30
and the meeting at 7 p.m.

Annual dues are payable in January for people who would like to
support our activism at the local level. Dues are $24--that's only $2
per month for freedom. Many will pay at the meeting, but if you cannot
attend, you can also support our Chapter by paying for a membership
online or by check. Our website, www.DuPageLibertarians.org has all
the details. Just follow the link on the homepage to the membership page.

Jim Waldron, our State Organizing Committee representative, and I will
be headed to Bloomington on Sunday for the quarterly in-person state
meeting, but if you are not, the "We The People Foundation For
Constitutional Education" organization is hosting "Bowling for
Freedom" on Sunday, January 18 at 1 p.m. at Wheaton Bowl. There will
be representatives from a number of freedom groups present. The Meetup
is: http://www.meetup.com/lpdekalb/calendar/9496145/.

There is also an April 15 "Tea Party" Tax/Federal Reserve Protest in
downtown Chicago in the works. Details are TBD, but mark your calendar
now.

For more information about either of these events, contact Mike
Fogelsanger - mike60178@... - 815.899.2351.

For fans of national politics, the Libertarian State Leadership
Alliance (LSLA) Conference will be 2/27 through 3/1 in Charleston, SC.
  The conference is open to anyone who has an interest in the future
and direction of the Libertarian Party and is an ideal opportunity for
Libertarian Party leaders to network.
The Libertarian National Committee and the LP Bylaws Committee will
meet there that weekend as well. Both meetings are open to conference
attendees.

In addition there will also be panels and discussions on topics
ranging from Race and Politics to Parliamentary Procedure to a
Critique of the 2008 Presidential Race to Campus Organizing to updates
from the national office.

Details, including package information, are available at
StateChairsConference.org. Sign up before January 27 for the lowest rate.

In liberty,

Crystal
630.876.1935

The "We The People Foundation For Constitutional Education"
organization is hosting "Bowling for Freedom" on Sunday, January 18 at
1 p.m. at Wheaton Bowl. There will be representatives from a number of
freedom groups present. The Meetup is:
http://www.meetup.com/lpdekalb/calendar/9496145/.

There is also an April 15 "Tea Party" Tax/Federal Reserve Protest in
downtown Chicago in the works. Details are TBD, but mark your calendar
now.

For more information or to get in the loop about either of these
events, contact Mike Fogelsanger - mike60178@... - 815.899.2351.

-------------

I hope you will also join us for the next DuPage Libertarians meeting
on Tuesday, January 20, 7:00 p.m. at the Panera Bread in Wheaton.
(Optional dinner/conversation starts at 6:30.) During the business
portion of the meeting, we will elect chapter officers and discuss LP
Illinois plans for the year as well as our own. The Program for the
meeting will be a group dissection of Anti-Freedom Slogans. For
example, we'll discuss the real meaning of the Obama chant, "Yes We Can."

Crystal Jurczynski
President, DuPage Libertarians
630.876.1935

Happy New Year to all my fellow Libertarians! Now's a great time to
rev up your involvement in the liberty movement.

The Libertarian Party of Illinois will be developing goals and
objectives for the next 2 years at the State Organizing Committee
(SOC) meeting on January 18th. If you have any suggestions, you can
send them to our SOC representative, Jim Waldron, at jacwa@....

Within our own DuPage group, we will elect our Chapter officers at our
next meeting on January 20th and also discuss future activities. We
will walk through the steps to dismantling anti-freedom slogans.
Meeting details can be found on our website, DuPageLibertarians.org.

Hope to see you there,

Crystal Jurczynski
President, DuPage Libertarians
630.876.1935
crystal@...

Please join us for the next DuPage Libertarians meeting on Tuesday,
December 16. Dinner (optional) and conversation starts at 6:30 and the
meeting at 7 p.m. We meet at the Panera Bread in Wheaton--all details
are on our website, DuPageLibertarians.org.

This month we were planning to discuss local elections, but with
recent events, there's no doubt we'll be talking about larger offices
as well. This is a great time for Illinois Libertarians to decide to
run for office, from your local school or library board right on up to
governor or US Senator.

Libertarians are the anti-corruption party--it's something we can
capitalize on right now. Anyone interested in running for office
should join us at the meeting and/or contact Jan Stover, LP Illinois
Campaigns Chair,  by email at campaigns@....

Another great opportunity for Libertarians this month is to learn from
a master of the US Constitution, Michael Badnarik. He will be teaching
his acclaimed Constitution class on Saturday, December 20, from 9 a.m.
to 6 p.m. For all the details, visit meetup.com/lpchicago.

In liberty,

Crystal
630.876.1935

Every person on this list is needed to vote for our Libertarian
candidates, Bob Barr for President and Larry Stafford for US Senate.

You can take advantage of early voting until October 30 at locations
across the county or you can vote at your polling place on November
4th, but please vote.

Every single vote counts. Many of us have been working hard all year
to inspire votes for our candidates. With 5% for either Bob or Larry,
we will obtain the immensely valuable "established party" status for
the 2010 governor's race.

I also ask that you to reach out to people that you know and/or write
a letter to the editor of your local paper and ask for Libertarian
votes. Don't know what to say? Here's a sample that you are welcome to
use:

Are you angry that both US Senators from Illinois, Dick Durbin and
Barak Obama, chose to reward the big corporations that put us in the
current economic mess with outrageous bailouts? Are you tired of
hearing excuses for the never-ending war in Iraq, rather than news
that we're bringing the troops home? Join me in voting for Libertarian
Party candidates Larry Stafford for US Senate and Bob Barr for
President. Vote to bring strong leaders to Washington who will "just
say no" to corporate bailouts and unconstitutional wars. Vote Stafford
and Barr on November 4th.

After you've cast your vote, join us at the election night party at
the Lincoln Restaurant, 4008 N. Lincoln, in Chicago. The Party starts
at 6 p.m. with plenty of political conversation as the returns roll
in. Larry Stafford will be there--be sure to thank him for a job well
done as our US Senate candidate for 2008.

I hope to see you there,

Crystal
630.876.1935

The DuPage Libertarians will have a booth at the Progressive Film
Festival October 18-19 at the College of DuPage. If you are interested
in helping out, contact Rob at 630.946.9142.

Libertarian movie night will be at Ron MacArtney's home in
Hinsdale on October 18 starting at 6 p.m. The film will be Fiat
Empire: Why the Federal Reserve Violates the U.S. Constitution. If you
plan to attend, RSVP to Ron at (630) 986-8495, so we know how many
dinners are needed. There may be no such thing as a free lunch, but
there is a free dinner when you join us for movie night.

The next DuPage Libertarians meeting will be Tuesday, October 21, at
the Panera Bread in Wheaton. Socializing and dinner at 6:30 and the
meeting starts at 7 p.m. We'll be recapping the Illinois Convention,
talking up the election, and continuing our round-table discussion of
Tough Libertarian Questions. Further details can be found on our
website, DuPageLibertarians.org.

See you there,

Crystal
crystal@...
630.876.1935

The LP Illinois Convention is next weekend, October 3-5 in Oak Brook.
It's a great opportunity to mingle with Libertarians from around the
state and learn the latest in Libertarian thought, including those of
our Presidential candidate, Bob Barr. Register by Tuesday if you would
like to be guaranteed a meal package. See LPIllinois.org/convention
for all the info and registration.

The next DuPage Libertarians meeting will be October 21. All the
details can be found on our website, DuPageLibertarians.org. Please
plan to join us.

We are going to be staffing 2 outreach booths in October. The first is
at the Candidates' Fair at the UIC on October 3, from 4-8 p.m. for our
US Senate candidate, Larry Stafford. The other will be for the DuPage
Libertarians at the Progressive Film Festival October 18-19 at the
College of DuPage. If you are interested in helping out with either
booth, let me know.

Finally, Libertarian movie night will be at Ron MacArtney's home in
Hinsdale on October 18 starting at 6 p.m. If you are planning to
attend, RSVP to Ron at (630) 986-8495, so we know how many dinners are
needed. There may be no such thing as a free lunch, but there is a
free dinner when you join us for movie night.

If you have any questions, contact me,

Crystal
crystal@...
630.876.1935

Updates to upcoming activities are included below.

DuPage Libertarians September Meeting

The next DuPage Libertarians meeting is Tuesday, September 16 at the Panera Bread in Wheaton. Among other happenings, we will discuss Tough Libertarians Questions and Answers. Have you ever been asked a question about libertarianism that stumped you? Know a great answer to a tough question? Bring them along to the meeting. Details can be found on our website, DuPageLibertarians.org.

If anyone is interested in Bob Barr materials, we can get them at cost through the Illinois Party. Bring along some cash to the meeting if you would like to order any of the following:

Illinois Constitutional Convention Debate

The Fox Valley Freedom Coalition is hosting a debate on the pros and cons of holding an Illinois Constitutional Convention (a.k.a. ConCon) in 2009.  The question will be on the ballot in the November 4 election and few Illinois voters know enough about it to make an informed decision.

The debate will be held at Family Taxpayers Foundation, 8 East Main St., Carpentersville, from 2 to 4 p.m. on Saturday, September 20. For more information contact Julie Fox at jfox1214@... or at 847-528-1126.

Stafford for Senate BBQ

Ed Rutledge will host a BBQ for Larry Stafford's campaign at his home in Wrigleyville in Chicago on Sunday, September 21. Larry will speak at the event and everyone is invited to attend. For more information call the Stafford for Senate phone line (312) 771-0090.

By the way –Larry has a new website. Checkout Stafford4Senate.com and tell your friends there is a great choice in 2008: Larry Stafford, Illinois Libertarian for US Senate!

LP Illinois Convention

The annual Illinois Convention is coming up fast, October 3-5. The Convention theme is Vote Libertarian – Win a Free Country with the headliner being Libertarian Presidential Candidate Bob Barr. Everyone is invited to attend what will surely be a great weekend to be enjoyed with fellow libertarians.

If you know any organizations that would benefit from either a table display at the Convention or an advertisement in the Convention program, please contact them and tell them about this great opportunity. Details are on the Convention page of the Illinois website, LPIllinois.org/convention.

The Convention is on our doorstep this year in Oak Brook. That's an opportunity that probably won't come around again for a while, so register as soon as you can.

At the Convention we will elect all state party officers for a 2 year term. Descriptions of the positions are on the LPIllinois.org website in the About Us area. Becoming an officer is a great way to lend your support to the liberty movement in Illinois.

So far, we have heard from at least 1 person interested in each office except for Fundraising Chair and Legislative Chair. If you are interested in any of the offices or being a deputy to any of the offices, call State Chair Val Vetter at (800) 735-1776 or talk to me at the meeting.

Voter Registration

If you are not registered to vote, please do, so you can vote for our Libertarian candidates. It's critical for us to get 5% or more in this election to set us up as an "established party" for the 2010 governor's race. The last day to register to vote is October 7. General information about voting and elections is available on the Illinois Board of Elections website, including information about registering to vote (pdf). There will be early voting available October 14-30 at locations around the county. Plan to vote early and vote Libertarian!