Libertarians push for recognition, political gains in upcoming election

America's third largest political party is switching into high gear for November's elections. The Libertarian party is supporting 113 candidates in Indiana and more than 1,400 nationwide.\nLibertarian Jim Billingsley, a Monroe County resident, said he wants people to know that a vote for Libertarians is not a vote wasted. \n"What is worse than wasting your vote is lying with your vote," Billingsley said during an organizational meeting last week.\nLibertarian senatorial candidate Paul Hager agreed. \n"In 1992, against what I knew was right, I voted for (Bill) Clinton," he said. "I had never regretted a vote until that one -- I would never wish upon anyone the feeling I had after voting."\nOf all Libertarian races in Indiana this election year, Brad Klopfenstein, executive director of the Libertarian Party of Indiana, said Bloomington resident Steve Dillon's bid for judge is the most promising. Dillon, founder of the Indiana Chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), is running against incumbent judge Douglas R. Bridges. The Democratic Party has not entered a challenger.\nDeconstruction of the federal government and its role in everyday life is the Libertarians' primary concern, said acting secretary Bob Boyken.\n"It's like when you drive around without a seat belt. I mean, it's just stupid to drive without a seat belt -- but we have a right to be stupid," Boyken said. \nFirst-time attendee Arizeder Urreiztieta agreed.\n"I'm here because I want to keep my firearms," he said. "But it's the same if somebody wants to smoke a joint -- it's their body, you know?"\nLibertarians advocate eventual abolition of all income taxes. \n"Gradually," said Erin Hollinden, Monroe County Libertarian Party chair, "but government needs to be about half the size it is now. To fund the remaining government, we can use excise taxes or sales taxes or tariffs -- it's voluntary that way. If you don't want to pay the tax, you don't buy the product."\nHollinden said government has doubled in size since 1960. \n"People pay more in taxes now, on average, than they do for food, housing and clothing put together," she said.\nLibertarians also favor laissez-faire policies over commerce, including the repeal of minimum wage. \n"It's just like this: if an employer has $20 to spend on paying employees, and the government says he has to pay everybody $5, he can only hire four people," Klopfenstein said. "But if he could find a few people who are willing to work for less, he can give more people jobs. It just cuts down on unemployment," explained Klopfenstein. \nHollinden said she agreed.\n"We just think that all voluntary relationships between consenting adults should be allowed," Hollinden said.\nUrreiztieta, who said he was previously affiliated with both major parties only to become disillusioned by them, said he has some thinking to do about the Libertarian Party. But he illustrated his optimism by quoting Ralph Waldo Emerson: "The invasion of armies can be resisted, but not an idea whose time has come"