Libertarian Party of NY -- '98 Counts! -- Press Info

Press Contact:

To schedule appearances or interviews with Chris Garvey, Don Silberger, or the other 1998 Libertarian candidates, please write to Campaign Manager Richard Cooper at: LPNY98campaign@hotmail.com

Internet URL: http://ny.lp.org/

NY Libertarian Campaign '98 Press Releases:

Date: 8/24/98
For Immediate Release:

The Libertarian Party candidates challenging the state's political establishment qualified for this year's elections after gathering 28,000 signatures for statewide offices. Christopher Garvey, a Long Island patent attorney, will run for Governor against Republican Pataki (whom he terms "Cuomo Lite") and the Democratic nominee (whom he terms "Cuomo 2"). Garvey makes an offer to New Yorkers. "Give up your favorite state program while everyone else gives up theirs, and you will never have to pay state sales tax again."

Why is Chris Garvey different than Republican Pataki and Democrat "X"? The candidate explains they are just different flavors of the same recipe: more government, more intrusion, more spending of your money. I will attempt to dismantle as much of the government as possible. I will try to repeal as many laws as possible. I will veto unneeded spending and taxing at every opportunity. For me, liberty of the citizens is the primary goal of good government."

Who is Christopher Garvey? He is a Roslyn, Long Island patent attorney and lives in Amityville. He graduated Sacred Heart High School in Yonkers, then from Columbia College of Columbia University, and earned his law degree with honors from Yeshiva University Law School. He has labored as a sailmaker, telephone installer, medical instrument technician and instructor. Besides, his legal work, Chris Garvey is a sailing instructor and charter boat captain making him sensitive to environmental issues.

Chris Garvey rejects the corporate welfare subsidies and other Big Government programs which the politicians use to gain votes, contributions and power. Garvey opposes the LILCO bailout and its Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) state takeover as corporate welfare and socialist interference in one neat package that evaded the State Constitution's requirement that bond issues be subject to voter approval. Instead of the LILCO/LIPA scheme Garvey (who has written patents for energy technologies) calls for competition and deregulation.

Garvey calls for "separation of state and sports", opposing taxpayer financing for facilities such as Yankee Stadium and the Nassau Coliseum which are also examples of the corporate welfare he denounces as "legalized theft." The State's taxpayers are now being tapped for a baseball stadium on Long Island. Would you believe NY State owns three ski resorts? Garvey says sell them and the stadiums.

Reporters and voters ask "What would you eliminate from the budget?" Garvey answers "My short list of corporate welfare legalized theft programs would include: Department of Economic Development- (development comes from low taxes and deregulation, not from professional grant seekers); Energy Research and Development Authority; Empire State Development Corporation; Affordable Housing Corporation; Housing Finance Corporation; Housing Trust Fund Corporation; State of New York Mortgage Agency; Olympic Regional Development Authority; NY State Science and Technology Foundation; State Liquor Authority. None of these carry out the sole legitimate functions of government, dealing with the initiators of force and fraud against persons and their property."

Not only does the Government go beyond the protection of persons and property, according to Garvey, but it both fails to do so properly and attacks the property rights of New Yorkers. "Various property rights were stolen from voters by means of incomprehensible referendums that hid the meaning of amendments to the state constitution. For example: until such an amendment in 1962, homes could not be seized for a missed tax payment--I support the OSCAR lawsuit to declare these "amendments" null and void."

Garvey is steadfastly devoted to individual rights. Garvey declares himself a First Amendment absolutist for freedom of expression, including broadcasting and the Internet. He is equally vocal in his support for the Second Amendment and firearms ownership. Garvey contends that "As a matter of principle, self-defense is an inalienable right. I will veto legislation that would infringe this right. Repeal the Sullivan Law--it has protected muggers since 1911." Garvey challenges the Governor to mitigate the harm of the Sullivan Law by enrolling women and those over the age of 45 into the unorganized state militia and authorizing the adult population, except convicted felons and the mentally ill, to exercise their right to keep and bear arms free of the politicized discretionary authority of local police.

Garvey denounces the war on drugs as an invasion of our freedom and a means for increasing the government's power and wealth. "Take New York out of the war on drugs. Prohibition is not working, but drug prohibition causes crime, murder, accidental death and spreads diseases such as AIDS and hepatitis. The war on drugs is an excuse for the phony "crime" of "driving while Black" and the war on financial privacy. Government has no business telling us what we cannot put in our bodies, whether marijuana or tobacco or alcohol." Garvey would restore the 18 year legal drinking age recently taken away by politicians. "It is also unfair that 18 year olds, who can vote, serve in the military, and pay taxes, can't drink legally." He also calls for the abolition of the State Liquor Authority and the licensing fees imposed on bars, delis, restaurants, nightclubs, and other alcohol sellers.

The Libertarian Party stands for individual liberty, free markets, and personal responsibility in order to promote a society that enjoys justice, abundance and security.

Joining Chris Garvey on this fall's Libertarian Party lineup are William McMillen, a Delmar C.P.A., for U.S. Senate; Daniel Conti, a Hempstead criminal defense lawyer, for Attorney General; Donald Silberger, a New Paltz math professor, for Lieutenant Governor; and Robert Goodman, a Bronx biochemist, for Comptroller. Directing the Garvey and Conti campaigns as Chairman of NY Libertarian Campaign '98 is Richard A. Cooper, a Westbury business executive.

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