Earlier this month, the Missouri Libertarian Party held its state convention in Jefferson City. During that convention, the party elected Glenn Nielsen of Columbia the new state Chairman.

Nielsen: "I want to see the party move from an all volunteer organization to one which has an office with professional staff. Too often volunteers get burned out doing routine administrative tasks rather than what they really want to do: spread the message of freedom and liberty."

Nielsen: "First the good news. In the last few years libertarians have become more active in their local communities. Working on local issues, getting appointed to local boards and commissions, even running for local office and winning. In addition, great progress has been made building relationships with single issue organizations working to reform eminent domain, fight the National Animal Identification System (NAIS), fight smoking bans and those protecting our Second Amendment rights.

"The bad news is that the state party hasn't done enough to help these local libertarian activists."

Nielsen: "1. Improve communications to the public, media and party members. 2. Build stronger relationships with single-issue organizations with whom we agree in principle. Such as organizations reforming eminent domain, fighting the national animal identification system (NAIS) and protecting our Second Amendment rights. 3. Put in place the necessary infrastructure to make the work of our volunteers and local activists easier. The more success they have the more the party will grow."

Nielsen: "After all the debate on the science and economics of smoking bans it all comes down to the property rights of the business owners to make their own policies of what behavior is acceptable on their own property. Select small restaurants and bars are the ones most likely to be harmed and have the least amount of free time to fight city hall. They appreciate and will remember our efforts to defend their rights and livelihood."

Nielsen: "The Missouri Libertarian Party is opposed to NAIS. These regulations promulgated by the US Department of Agriculture place a huge burden on owners of small farms while making exemptions for large agri-business. Rural Missourians are strongly opposed to NAIS. Our 2006 US Senate candidate Frank Gilmour campaigned against NAIS and did very well in rural Missouri counties."

"With all the regulations regarding health care there is no free market and little competition to keep prices down. Government has encouraged health care policies which cover every little thing. This inflates the cost of coverage because the doctors charge extra for all the paperwork and the insurance companies need to pay for their overhead and profit. Imagine what your auto insurance would cost if it covered routine oil changes and new tires? The only positive change in recent years was the creation of tax exempt Health Savings Accounts."

Nielsen: "The first goal is to achieve at least 2% of the vote in a statewide race so we can maintain our status as an established political party in Missouri with ballot access. After that it is up to the number and quality of our candidates and voters willing to cast a vote for real change."

"An individual’s vote is their own and can never be wasted if they vote their conscience. I would encourage voters to consider voting for one or more third party candidates. The more votes third parties receive, the more politicians will realize how dissatisfied we have become with big government. I hope voters will see that Libertarians in Missouri are working hard on issues to earn their vote.

"I will close this with a quote from Michael Badnarik, the 2004 Libertarian Party Presidential Candidate. ‘If you were on death row and had a 50% chance of dying by lethal injection, a 45% chance of dying by the electric chair and a 5% chance of escaping. Which would you vote for?’"