Interview with Independent Presidential Candidate Laurence Kotlikoff

The following was originally published as part of the August 2016 edition of Wikinews’ On the campaign trail series

Kotlikoff in 2011.
Image: Hung-Ho Vergil Yu

In August, economist Laurence Kotlikoff, a Boston University professor and former senior economist of President Ronald Reagan‘s Council of Economic Advisers, secured ballot access for his unconventional presidential campaign in Louisiana and Colorado. In addition, he plans to obtain write-in status in 41 more states. Wikinews reached out to Kotlikoff to discuss his campaign.

Kotlikoff announced his candidacy last May. He named Edward E. Leamer, a professor of economics at UCLA, as his running mate. This is not Kotlikoff’s first run for the presidency. In 2012, he sought the presidential nomination of Americans Elect, which ultimately did not field a candidate. He also briefly sought the Reform Party presidential nomination that year.

Chronicle of the 2016 Reform Party Presidential Race

The following is adapted from the July 2016 edition of the Wikinews series On the campaign trail.

Reform Party logo

“[T]here was and is a party that was opposed to NAFTA, CAFTA, the WTO and other unfair trade agreements and which is still deeply committed to the Hamiltonian idea of protecting U.S. jobs and industry as we proceed into the 21st Century”

-Darcy Richardson

Two individuals who each previously spoke with Wikinews sought the 2016 presidential nomination of the Reform Party of the United States. Historian Darcy Richardson and businessman Rocky De La Fuente each decided to seek the nomination in July. Both previously ran for president as Democrats.

Ivanka Trump Wins Reform Party Nomination

Adapted from IPR

Ivanka Trump
Image: Seeds of Peace

According to the New York City Board of Elections, businesswoman Ivanka Trump, daughter of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, won the Reform Party’s primary election for U.S. Congress in New York’s 12th Congressional District.

Trump received 2 write-in votes.  Three other candidates each received one.

The 12th District includes parts of Manhattan, Queens, and Brooklyn.  Democrat Carolyn Maloney is the current representative.

Ex GOP Congressman Joins LP, Seeks VP, Then Leaves

Adapted from the Wikinews series On the campaign trail and originally posted at IPR

As soon as Donald Trump secured the Republican presidential nomination, Libertarian Party (LP) membership applications doubled. Longtime Republican consultant Mary Matalin, former Massachusetts governor William Weld, and former Congressman Kerry Bentivolio of Michigan, were among those who left the GOP in May to find a new home in the LP. While Matalin enthusiastically backed Libertarian presidential runner-up Austin Petersen, and Weld won the party’s vice presidential nomination; Bentivolio, who had endorsed Dr. Ben Carson for president before joining the party, had a much different experience.

Is the LP About to Nominate a Gun-Grabbing Big Government Neocon?

William Weld in 2014.
Image: Patrick Whittemore

Libertarian Party presidential candidate Gary Johnson tapped former Massachusetts Governor William Weld as his pick for the Libertarian Party’s 2016 vice presidential nomination.  Though ardent Johnson supporters laud the move as making the Libertarian Party ticket “viable,” there has been a strong backlash from those who do not believe Weld is libertarian.  Analysis of Weld’s policy positions gives credence to the detractors.  Delegates to the Libertarian National Convention ought to consider Weld’s history carefully when they meet to select a ticket at the Convention later this week.  They may just be on the verge of making a gun-grabbing big government neocon, a standard-bearer of the party.

IPR’s Third 2016 Libertarian Party Presidential Preference Poll Results: Johnson & Petersen Tie Amid Voting Anomalies

The below article was lost from IPR following a switch to a new server.  It is posted below (with comments intact) as it looked before the switch.

IPR conducted a poll with SurveyMonkey from May 20–23 asking readers to select their preferences for the Libertarian Party’s 2016 presidential and vice presidential nominations.  303 individuals participated in the poll.

Gary Johnson: Jewish Bakers Should Be Forced to Bake Nazi Cakes

Originally posted at IPR

Gary Johnson
Image:Gage Skidmore

During the first hour of the Libertarian Party presidential forum that aired Friday night on the Fox Business Network, leading Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson admitted that in his view, Jewish bakers should be forced by government to bake wedding cakes for Nazis.

The issue arose when fellow Libertarian presidential candidate Austin Petersen brought to the attention of moderator John Stossel that in an earlier debate in Oregon, Johnson declared that bakeries should be forced to bake wedding cakes for gay couples.  Johnson affirmed the position, arguing that being able to discriminate on the basis of religion is a “black hole.”  

Interview with Democratic Presidential Candidate Rocky De La Fuente

De La Fuente at the Lesser-Known Candidates Forum, January 2016.
Image:Marc Nozell

Originally published at Wikinews

Businessman Rocky De La Fuente took some time to speak with Wikinews about his campaign for the Democratic Party’s 2016 presidential nomination.

The 61-year-old De La Fuente resides in San Diego, California, grew up in Tijuana, and owns multiple businesses and properties throughout the world. Since getting his start in the automobile industry, De La Fuente has branched out into the banking and real estate markets.

Walter Block Announces Formation of “Libertarians for Trump”

Originally published at IPR

Walter Block.
Image: Gage Skidmore

Last week, libertarian theorist Walter Block announced the formation of Libertarians for Trump (LFT), a group supporting the election of businessman Donald Trump, the 2016 Republican Party presidential front-runner.

Block, an economics professor at Loyola University, writes at LewRockwell.com that he and retired cardiac surgeon Dr. Donald W. Miller Jr. created LFT to mobilize the “massive support for Donald Trump within the libertarian community.”

Although Block admits that Trump is not perfect on the issues and that whoever the Libertarian Party nominates will likely have views more aligned with his own, he considers Trump the closest to libertarianism among the candidates with a chance of winning the election.  He argues: