“This week, we celebrate the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.,who warned us that ‘an injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere,’” said Douglass Gaking, chair of the Boston Tea Party of Indiana. “Regardless of how you feel about the moral decisions of the GLBT (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgendered) community, individuals in a free society must refrain from forcing their morals upon others.”

“Leadership is defined as inspiring others to devote their greatest efforts toward a common goal,” added Chairman Gaking. “Change happens through the inspiration of leaders who, as Ghandi said, are the change they want to see in the world. Coercion through legislation that threatens the liberty of our society is no means to encourage others to adopt the morals you hope them to subscribe to.”

The BTP’s resolution came two days after the State Senate Judiciary Committee approved SJR-13, a joint resolution that “provides that only a marriage between one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in Indiana.” The resolution also “provides that a legal status identical or substantially similar to that of marriage for unmarried individuals shall not be valid or recognized.”

The BTP’s response cites a 1905 U.S. Supreme Court comment which declared the individual’s power of contract to be unlimited: “He owes nothing to the public so long as he does not trespass upon their rights”

The Boston Tea Party is America’s fastest growing libertarian political party. The party endorses candidates who agree with the party’s one-sentence platform: “The Boston Tea Party supports reducing the size, scope and power of government at all levels and on all issues, and opposes increasing the size, scope and power of government at any level, for any purpose.” The Indiana affiliate of the party was founded in June 2008 and endorsed the candidacies of Rex Bell for State Assembly and Andy Horning for Governor.

The complete BTPIN resolution passed on January 23rd reads as follows:

Whereas State Senator Carlin Yoder has proposed resolution SJR-13 which ”Provides that only a marriage between one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in Indiana. Provides that a legal status identical or substantially similar to that of marriage for unmarried individuals shall not be valid or recognized. This proposed amendment has not been previously agreed to by a general assembly;”

Whereas, the Senate Judiciary Committee passed SJR-13 on January 21st;

Whereas the United States Supreme Court declared in Hale v. Henkel, 201 US43 in 1905, “[The individual's] power to contract is unlimited, … he owes no duty to the State, … since he receives nothing there-from, beyond the protection of his life and property. His rights are such as existed by the law of the land long antecedent to the organization of the State….. He owes nothing to the public so long as he does not trespass upon their rights;”

Whereas in a free society ‘marriage’ would be a private contract between individuals of no concern to the state;

Whereas the state currently grants special privileges and immunities to those under formal state-sanctioned marriage-contracts, and

Whereas discrimination against ANY voluntary segment of society by government entities is both abhorrent and a violation of the Bill of Rights …

Be it RESOLVED that the Boston Tea Party of Indiana opposses Senator Yoder’s SJR-13.

Be it further RESOLVED that the Boston Tea Party of Indiana supports the rights of all people in Indiana (including Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgendered (GLBT) people) to equal rights, privileges and immunities under the law and calls for an immediate repeal of all state laws attempting or intending to restrict or define the term ‘marriage.

After accepting the appointment Raymond made the following statement, “I hope that I may help the cause of expanding liberty by taking on this important duty. I take this appointment seriously and will serve it with all its due seriousness. The Boston Tea Party is our best hope to restore the republic and to make us once again a free nation.”

As to the future Raymond said, “I hope that I can help Douglass in whatever capacity that I am called upon to do. I have many plans to help grow the party and our ideas at large, that I will expand upon in the coming days and weeks.”

Raymond Lady has been an active citizen in his community. Raymond is a member of the Libertarian Party of Indiana and continues to maintain his membership and an active role within that party. Raymond is currently a student at Bloomington High School North and is involved extracurricular activities at his school.

The Boston Tea Party is America’s fastest growing libertarian party. The party endorses candidates who agree with the party’s one-sentence platform: “The Boston Tea Party supports reducing the size, scope and power of government at all levels and on all issues, and opposes increasing the size, scope and power of government at any level, for any purpose.”

Bell writes on his web site, “I plan on working to move government in a libertarian direction. I will support any bill that promotes that, however incrementally. I won’t support any bill that moves government in a non-libertarian direction, however incrementally.”

This coincides well with the Boston Tea Party‘s platform of “reducing the size, scope and power of government at all levels and on all issues, and opposes increasing the size, scope and power of government at any level, for any purpose.”

Horning also recently accepted our endorsement. He was honored to receive it, while we are very excited about the strength of his constitution-based platform that will attract property tax protestors, education and child welfare advocates, and many other determined activists in Indiana.

The Boston Tea Party was founded by Tom Knapp in 2006 as a new libertarian alternative. It has grown tremendously in 2008, including the June founding of this Indiana affiliate. Bell and at least sixteen other candidates will represent the Boston Tea Party in nationwide elections this November.

The party’s first slate of candidate endorsements includes Phil Rhodes for Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina and Morey Straus for State Representative in New Hampshire. Both candidates are running on the Libertarian Party’s ballot line in their states.

Also endorsed is the party’s only sitting elected public official, Jim Y. Casarjian-Perry. Casarjian-Perry, a Town Meeting Representative in Billerica, Massachusetts, is seeking election to the town’s planning board.

“As a new party, we have our hands full seeking ballot access for the presidential ticket and building active organizations in the states this year,” says Boston Tea Party chair Jim Davidson of Lawrence, Kansas. “Endorsing qualified independents and candidates of other parties is a win-win proposition — it helps us build the party and it hopefully helps those candidates gain additional support for their efforts.”

The party’s national committee expects to endorse additional candidates between now and the November general election. The party requires candidates seeking its endorsement to certify that they support the party’s one-sentence platform: “The Boston Tea Party supports reducing the size, scope and power of government at all levels and on all issues, and opposes increasing the size, scope and power of government at any level, for any purpose.”

The party’s presidential candidate, Charles Jay of Florida, will appear on the November ballot in Colorado. The party expects to achieve ballot access in several additional states. It has recently chartered affiliate organizations in Alabama, Colorado, Florida, Indiana, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico and Texas.

The Boston Tea Party of Indiana is currently seeking candidates to endorse for the 2008 general election. If you are interested in receiving the BTPIN’s endorsement, join the Boston Tea Party at www.bostontea.us and contact our affiliate at btp.indiana (at) gmail.com.

During the first hour, he will talk to Darryl W. Perry, candidate for U.S. Senate in Alabama. Perry is heading an effort to collect 5,000 signatures to get Charles Jay and Tom Knapp on the presidential ballot in Alabama.

In the second hour, he will talk to Tom Knapp, Libertarian candidate for U.S. Congress in Missouri and Boston Tea Party nominee for Vice President. Knapp is the founder of the Boston Tea Party. He has made news this month by supporting the impeachment articles of Congressman Dennis Kucinich. He has also recently been very critical of Libertarian presidential nominee Bob Barr.

Today, Doug’s guest on the show was New York Times best-selling author John Perkins, who wrote Confessions of an Economic Hit Man and The Secret History of the American Empire.

On July 19, he will interview Kevin Barrett, Libertarian candidate for U.S. Congress in Wisconsin. Barrett is a professor at UW-Whitewater, a host on the GCN Radio Network, and a member of Scholars for 9/11 Truth.

Visit the IndyTruth Show site for details, access to the radio stream and chat room, and mp3s of previous shows.

My purpose as a vice-presidential candidate is to help find more shoulders for the next ticket to ride on. It’s to help define the battle lines, to persuade as many of you as possible to the right side of those lines, and to arm you with a weapon: Your vote — your check mark next to the names of candidates who stand for freedom, who stand with the productive class versus the political class, who are on your side, not just on a checklist of policy issues (although that’s important, too) but on the fundamental question of who is entitled to run your life.

Voting for the Boston Tea Party’s ticket this November constitutes a powerful moral statement that only you can make, and only for yourself. It is an announcement that you — not the state, not the state’s agents, not the state’s cronies, not the parasitic “power elites,” but you alone — own your mind, your body and the product of your labor, and that you intend to exercise and defend that ownership.

Knapp is running alongside presidential nominee Charles Jay. They will be on the ballot in a handful of states, but they are a write-in option in Indiana. They provide a true libertarian option that you will find in no other campaign this November.

Barnett is the Vice Chair of the Boston Tea Party. He was runner up for the party’s 2008 vice-presidential nomination. Gaking hosted the party’s presidential and vice-presidential debates last weekend. He founded the party’s Indiana affiliate. He writes for IndyTruth.Org and hosts the IndyTruth Show on Revolution Broadcasting.

The platform of the Boston Tea Party is one sentence long, and cannot be changed according to the national bylaws. It is as follows:

“The Boston Tea Party supports reducing the size, scope and power of government at all levels and on all issues, and opposes increasing the size, scope and power of government at any level, for any purpose.”

The BTPIN endorses and adopts that platform in its bylaws. It also shares the purpose of the Boston Tea Party,

“to empower lovers of freedom to reduce the size, scope and power of government through various means, including but not limited to: nominating and/or endorsing candidates for election and appointment to public office; affecting public policy through information, education & advocacy campaigns; and supporting the diverse and important work of the individuals and organizations comprising the libertarian movement.”

The BTPIN will run the Boston Tea Party’s candidates in presidential elections. It will run candidates for state and local offices in Indiana. And it will seek to gain ballot access for these candidates.

“The Founding Fathers were libertarians,” says BTPIN founder Douglass Gaking. “We seek to restore the constitutional, libertarian government that they created for us. Their revolution began with the Boston Tea Party in 1773. In 2008, the Boston Tea Party of Indiana starts a new libertarian revolution here in the Hoosier state. We will be a force for smaller government in campaigns, debates, and public office in Indiana.”

“When a representative in a constitutional republic considers a piece of legislation, they must ask themselves, ‘Is this constitutional? Does this reduce the size and authority of government?’” Gaking says, “Our politicians are failing to ask these questions. We will ask these questions, and if the answer to them is ‘no,’ then our votes for those resolutions will be ‘no.’”

Membership in the Boston Tea Party is open to anyone who endorses the party’s platform. You can join by going to the party’s web site www.bostontea.us and signing up at no cost. All business of the Boston Tea Party and its Indiana affiliate is conducted online.

At the 2008 online convention, June 15-16, the party nominated Charles Jay for President and Thomas Knapp for Vice President. Jay lived in Indiana before moving to Florida, and is also the nominee of the Personal Choice Party. Knapp is a Libertarian candidate for U.S. Congress in Missouri. They will be write-in candidates for President and Vice President in Indiana this November.

You can stay up to date about BTPIN news by visiting http://btpin.wordpress.com/

The BTP joins the Constitution, Green, Libertarian and Socialist parties, as well as the Committee for a United Independent Party, on COFOE’s roster of member organizations. BTP Chair Jim Davidson has appointed James Landrith of Washington, DC as the party’s representative to COFOE’s board.

COFOE’s mission is “to assert the freedom to participate in the electoral process and to overcome, at every level, the barriers to complete ballot freedom.” The organization lobbies Congress and state legislatures, and participates in litigation on behalf of lower ballot access barriers for political candidates and parties.

The Internet-based Boston Tea Party was formed in 2006 and fields its first candidate slate — Charles Jay of Florida for President and Thomas L. Knapp of Missouri for Vice-President — in this year’s presidential election. The party has submitted ballot access paperwork in Colorado, and expects to appear on the ballot in several other states.