Madison, WI, April 17th, 2018 – Libertarian Party candidates for Governor and Lt. Governor call for elimination of the Wisconsin personal income tax.  

“As Governor, I will do everything in my power, including wielding the line item veto, to get rid of the state income tax,” stated Phil Anderson, Libertarian candidate for Governor. “For too long, Wisconsin government has overtaxed and overspent, rewarding cronies and mismanaging funds. It’s time for the gravy train to end.”

"All persons are entitled to keep the fruits of their labor. We call for the repleal of the income tax, the abolishment of the internal Revenue Service and all federal programs and services not required under the U.S. Constitution."~ LP.org/Platform

  “Clearly, the United States does not have a revenue problem,” said Libertarian National Committee Executive Director Wes Benedict. “It has a spending problem. The Democrats and Republicans refuse to address this addiction to spending. The best they can do is blather about waste, fraud, and mismanagement. Only Libertarians are willing to name exactly what kinds of federal government spending should be cut.”

WAUSAU 4/8/2018  ~ Last week Governor Walker said he is willing to send OUR Wisconsin National Guard to the Mexican border. That is not what they signed up for. They are willing to be activated in cases of a state or national emergency, not political stunts. 

Activating members of the Guard has many undesirable and disruptive consequences; on individuals, families, communities, and businesses, not to mention local Guard units themselves. Libertarians are concerned for the men and women members of the Wisconsin Guard being snatched away from classes, jobs or families to serve on the U.S. southern border.

Ed Thompson, former Libertarian candidate for governor once said, “The governor of Wisconsin has a responsibility to watch out for our citizens and the Guard members for which he is responsible.” In the interests of Wisconsin’s ‘homeland security’, Wisconsin Guard members belong in Wisconsin.

The use of the Armed Forces for law enforcement inside the United States would be legal only if authorized by Act of Congress or the President determines that the use of the Armed Forces is required to fulfill the President's obligations under the Constitution to respond promptly in time of war, insurrection, or other serious emergency."

If the President needs troops on America’s southern border, we remind him that there are thousands of Americans who remain stationed all over the planet as a result of past conflicts dating all the way back to the Spanish-American War. Bring them home.

Jim Maas, Chair
Marathon County Libertarians

Madison, WI, March 20th, 2018 – Libertarian Party candidates for Governor and Lt. Governor denounced recent responses to the renewed school shooting debate from Governor Scott Walker and leading Democrat challenger Tony Evers.

"Scott Walker proposes to address school safety by spending $100 million and expanding State bureaucracy," said Phil Anderson, candidate for Governor. "New reporting and policy requirements would be imposed on local schools; we oppose both the spending and the expanded reach of State government. Local schools should decide if and how they want to improve student safety. And they should pay for it."

"Where is Scott Walker getting this money?" asked Anderson. "This follows more campaign year giveaways in the recent budget; what's next?"

Lt. Governor candidate Patrick Baird called out Tony Evers’ proposal. "The State Superintendent of Schools also wants more spending; $50 million for mental health programs and programs for climate and culture. Neither Scott Walker or Tony Evers mentions allowing schools to arm teachers, a common-sense improvement in school safety with little financial impact."

I'm really tired of hearing about the Second Amendment! To be clear, that is because Wisconsin has a better constitutional amendment to protect our rights. 

• Some critics of the Second Amendment bring up the unfortunate wording about a well organized militia. I don't want to be sidetracked to a debate about a militia. Wisconsin's amendment is short, clear and to the point. It is hard to misinterpret. 

• Some critics note that the Second Amendment was written centuries ago and weapons were different then. Wisconsin's amendment was written in the 1990s. And, unlike the US Constitution, was approved, twice in statewide referenda!

Gun rights activists worked hard to pass our gun rights amendment then. Why don't they refer to it now?

Well, okay, Article I, Section 25 doesn't exactly roll off the tongue, does it? I still like the content.

"The people have the right to keep and bear arms for security, defense, hunting, recreation or any other lawful purpose."

If you agree, share.

The solution to school shootings in the Milwaukee area is to get the government out of education. Like every other program and service that is offered by the city, it is never properly managed and often the failing bureaucracy claims that they are underfunded to cover up their shortcomings. The problem has never been underfunding the problem is that government does not have adequate incentives to create an effective education system. Increasing taxes only further burdens citizens who would already have difficulty paying for private education. Some parents work multiple jobs just to make ends meet and are not able to spend enough time with their children to notice that they are developing behavior issues. Coupling that with the continued expectation that the government is capable of covering for our parental duties is creating this environment. 
What our current public school system often does is it puts children in large schools with large classrooms where each individual student’s needs could not possibly be met by the limited staff available to them. The promise by the government to act as a pseudo parent cannot possibly be fulfilled. Frustrations created out of feelings of being left behind along with the isolation that it creates for those who may not be as well equipped to deal with the stresses of maturing into adulthood are what causes a lot of these problems. 
Privatizing schools which allow each school to provide more individual care to each student would be far more effective at stopping the violence than placing armed guards and metal detectors in each school. These are supposed to be placing of learning and nurturing development. This cannot happen if the exterior appearance is indecipherable from a prison. The current public school system is based on an outdated model that has not been effective in decades (if it was ever truly effective at all) and is unlikely to change without competition. A private school system would encourage innovation to attract students.

Fitchburg, WI, February 20th, 2018 – Libertarian candidate for Governor of Wisconsin Phil Anderson has released a comprehensive plan for reforming the Wisconsin criminal justice system.

“The injustices that Wisconsin’s ‘justice system’ inflicts on our residents must end now,” insists Anderson. “This system will, by next year, incarcerate more people than ever before in Wisconsin history. Currently, the incarceration rate of African-American men is 2^nd highest in the country. This must end, and will end, if I am elected Governor.”

WASHINGTON Nickolas Sarwark, Libertarian National Committee

The president gave a speech on the State of the Union to Congress. It was a mixture of the good, the bad, and the ugly. Sadly, more of the latter, too. 

Let’s start with the good stuff. The president called for Congress to pass right-to-try legislation. That would be legislation that would let terminally ill people get experimental medications that would potentially save their lives, and get government out of the way.

That’s good.

He called for reducing regulations, and actually pointed out that this administration has reduced regulations more than any other administration in history. That’s also good, because every government regulation that goes away is another rule about how you live your life or run your business or raise your family that’s no longer standing between you and your pursuit of happiness.

He talked about the booming economy, which is really good, although not really the government’s fault. That’s the fault of people like you, working hard to feed your families and build a better life for yourselves. But we’ll give him credit for that, because there’s not really that much else.

There were tax cuts, and a lot of Americans are going to spend less on their tax bill. The Libertarian Party supports that. That shifts us into the bad a little bit, though, because with those tax cuts there were no government spending cuts. And everyone knows the simple math that if you don’t bring in as much money, but you keep spending as much money, you’re going to add to the national debt.

Even worse, the president called for a $1.5 trillion infrastructure bill — $1.5 trillion. There’s not going to be any more money to spend on that, and the government only gets money by taxing, so what that really means — to break it down into terms that are meaningful to you or me — is $4,658 for every man, woman, and child in this country. Since that money’s not going to be paid for now, that means that you and I won’t pay for it. It’ll be our children and our grandchildren crippled with a national debt that’s completely untenable, that will crush their dreams. So, that’s probably not so good.

Anderson for Governor: Walker Wants Millions to Bail Out Obamacare

Fitchburg, WI, January 23rd, 2018 – In what is clearly a panic move in response to recent GOP electoral setbacks, Scott Walker is proposing a series of interventions in the health insurance market that are aimed at propping up the failing Obamacare program.

Walker wants to spend $50 million in state tax money another $150 million in the form of a Federal giveaway to bail out health insurance companies and continue to duplicate Medicare Part D with a state program. Walker claims he will pay for the state portion with unspecified cuts to Medicaid.

“If the health insurance market is destabilized it is 100% because Madison and Washington broke it,” said Phillip Anderson, candidate for the Libertarian Party nomination for Governor. “It’s becoming clear that this bungled attempt to control healthcare is now a bipartisan disaster.”

Walker’s new proposal for health insurance giveaways follows a GOP budget that increased spending on schools, and a $4.5 billion taxpayer giveaway to Foxconn.

“Madison politicians on both sides of the aisle are joining forces, not to fix Wisconsin’s problems, but to find new and innovative ways to wreck markets and spend tax dollars to ensure their re-elections,” said Anderson. “And of course, they are moving quickly to protect insurance companies, as they do with all their sponsors.”

Phil Anderson is the Chair of the Libertarian Party of Wisconsin, and a candidate for Governor. He can be reached at phil@4PhilAnderson.org, or via www.TeamGuv.org