Rex Bell advertising montage

As we noted earlier, Rex Bell is only 2% away from winning his race for Indiana State House district 54. He is doing some impressive advertising which might just pull that 2% in his favor. According to state chair Mark Rutherford, Bell started running the following print ad in local newspapers this week:

Bell is also running the following television ad on these cable channels:

CNN News
Fox News
History Channel
ESPN2
TBS
Weather Station

Good luck Rex!

posted Nov 1st, 2006 by disinter
  • undercover_anarchist

    I like the ad. Don’t like the message. Why not advocate the elimination of state income taxes or sales tax (if IN has one) instead? Oh well, this guy is a great candidate running a marvellous campaign, and I wish him all the best.

  • Rance Muhamitz

    The state recently adopted a new method to calculate property taxes. There are a SHIT LOAD of pissed off property owners in this state right now! This is the perfect tax to pick on in Indiana this year. I’m sure Rex hates the income and sales tax (6%) as well, but saying he wants to ax all three is probably too much.

  • undercover_anarchist

    I figured I should hold my tongue since I didn’t know the particulars of the state tax system. Thanks for the clarification, Rance.

  • DAP

    Go Rex!

  • George Whitfield

    Go Rex! I am glad you are doing so well. Best wishes for election success.

  • http://www.lpalabama.org/blog/14 paulie

    I like the ad. I like the message.

    From what I’ve heard so far I like the candidate.

    Hope he wins, and doesn’t get cheated out of a victory.

  • Chris S.

    Rex is running a great campaign. Even though I’m about “maxed out” on campaign contributions this cycle, I just reached in and sent Rex $250.

    Everybody reading this should try to send him something. This seems to be the LP’s best chance at a breakthrough this cycle, and we’ll all be kicking ourselves if we could have helped and he narrowly loses.

  • Chris S.

    I should have added this!

    http://www.lpin.org/index.php?q=node/58

  • Benjamin Todd

    I wanted to add something about the LRC. I hope eveyone supporting Rex and bashing the LRC knows that Rex is a member. The only thing the platform changes mean is that it now reflects what we are trying to accomplidh now. Not in some distant future.

  • http://allencountylp.blogspot.com/ Mike Sylvester

    I was not planning on donating anything more this cycle; however, I sent Rex Bell $100 because I cannot imagine anything better for the Libertarian Party then Rex Bell being elected to the Indiana Statehouse…

    Mike Sylvester

  • http://www.chrisbennettfromillinois.blogspot.com Chris Bennett

    I think that Indiana Libertarians from around the state should do a 72 hour blitz like the Republicans and Democrats do on Rex Bell’s race. If I had the time and means I would do myself and I live in Illinois! Go Rex Go!

  • http://www.lpalabama.org/blog/14 paulie

    I wanted to add something about the LRC. I hope eveyone supporting Rex and bashing the LRC knows that Rex is a member.

    Not very important. He’s running for government office, not LNC. From what I know of his run for government office, he has not advocated anything I disagree with, so I have no problem endorsing him. If he runs for LNC on a Reform Caucus platform, I will probably find a different candidate for the same spot I like better.

  • TerryP

    Keep it up Rex!

  • disinter

    I wanted to add something about the LRC. I hope eveyone supporting Rex and bashing the LRC knows that Rex is a member.

    Good for him. He might be a member of a lot of other bizarre groups as well. Newflash: Rex Bell is an individual.

    Unlike the LRC, I would like to see Libertarians elected – whether they are LRC nuts or radical purists.

  • Zander C

    Is it just me, or does Rex look like a High School Football Coach? ($100.00 just sent to Rex Bell’s campaign!)

  • http://www.reformthelp.org Carl

    I agree with Undercover Anarchist. Hate the message. Property taxes are the closest tax there is to a user fee for protection services. The part about hurting young people is questionable. The land component of property taxes does not affect the total cost to new purchasers (an economic theorem that goes back to Adam Smith, at least). The tax on the improvements, does drive up housing costs.

    But income and sales taxes hit the young trying to build up a down payment.

    —
    That said, the LP needs to be big enough to have room for those for those who disagree on such matters, if it is to be a real political party.

  • Timothy West

    lib·er·tar·i·an audio (lbr-târ-n) KEY

    NOUN:

    1. One who advocates maximizing individual rights and minimizing the role of the state.
    2. One who believes in free will.

    this definition encompassses the beliefs of a shit load more people than what the force pledge will allow.

  • Brian S

    Carl, property tax is effectively the worst tax, because it is rent money you pay to the state. You can never simply withdraw to your own property and disengage from the state; rather, you have to go out and make money so you can pay rent to the government. It screws retirees and invalids the most, for that reason.

  • disinter

    Reason why we need to get a libertarian elected to office:

    Question: The Libertarians are running a candidate in Hagerstown, Rex Bell, who might be able to take the seat from the Republican incumbent Tom Saunders. Bell is polling at 33% right now and could win the seat. There is a well known connection between media coverage and voter perception of a candidate’s chances of winning. Why do pundits like yourself refuse to remove the two party blinders even when evidence supports a third party candidate can poll well and even win races? Will your coverage of the Libertarians change if Bell wins?

    Newspaper response on next message….

  • disinter

    Newspaper response:

    Matt Tully. First, yes, if a Libertarian is elected to the Indiana House, my coverage of Libertarian candidates will change dramatically. Second, if I am not mistaken, your numbers come from a Liberarian poll that many people have dismissed as unreliable (of course, I have never seen a poll that wasn’t dismissed by someone as unreliable). I am not willing to agree at this point that Bell has a real chance of winning. If he does, I will admit the error of my ways. As an aside, I think it would be fun to have a third party in the Statehouse.
    Now, I do understand your frustration about news coverage of third-party candidates. But many candidates from the major parties also don’t get attention from the media. Newspapers have limited resources and typically try to cover the races and candidates that are the most competitive.

    http://blogs.indystar.com/politicaljunkie/archives/2006/11/political_junki_9.html

  • TerryP

    UA and Carl, my guess is that he is going after the property tax because it the tax that is most hated in our society. Why, because nearly everyone pays it and in many places it is very large. While the SS tax is likely larger many people think they are going to be getting something back from it. Majority of people do not pay income taxes. Sales taxes seem small to people since they pay it in many different transactions.

    Secondly because it is a tax that just keeps on going. Once you own a piece of property you are taxed on it every year until you sell it, and if the tax goes up even if you can’t afford it too dang bad. Whereas with income or sales tax they are one-time things.

    Actually I thought you might like some of his ideas on the PP tax that called for more of a flat tax on property so that improvements wouldn’t be taxed. Guess I was wrong.

  • http://allencountylp.blogspot.com/ Mike Sylvester

    I absolutely hate property taxes…

    Property taxes are a large political issue in Indiana. Over the last six years my property taxes have went from just over $2000 per year to over $4500 per year and large increases are on the way…

    Both Democrats and Republicans acknowledge that Property taxes are going to keep increasing in Indiana…

    I feel that it is very smart to advocate lowering property taxes…

    Mike Sylvester
    Fort Wayne Libertarian

  • disinter

    my property taxes have went from just over $2000 per year to over $4500 per year and large increases are on the way”¦

    I wish mine were that low.

    Property taxes are evil to the core. You cannot truly own anything with them. If you wanted to buy a large piece of land and live off it, you can’t. You will always have to do something to earn money in order to pay your rent to the government. Why don’t Libertarians, of all people, understand this?

  • disinter

    If you are retired and have your house paid off, tough luck. You will still have to pay rent – to the government. And we aren’t talking about chump change, especially in Texas. Where I live the property tax is 2.8%. So if you live in a $300,000 house for example, your yearly property tax is $8,400 or $700 per month.

  • http://www.mikekole.com Mike Kole

    Rex *is* campaigning against property taxes. He has a large poster at his events that charts the rise of property taxes over the last 20 years.

    Kenn Gividen was the LP candidate for governor in 2004 and put the elimination of property taxes on the table in the tri-partisan debates. The issue was then seriously discussed in the legislative circles, but not advanced because the cities started freaking out, addicted as they are to spending.

    Their response has been to advance a piece of legislation called “Hometown Matters”. It would allow at once the state to eliminate or reduce property taxes *and* allow cities to raise municipal taxes. (Cities need state ok to do that in IN.) So, they’re trying to turn it into a zero-sum shell game.

    Typical major party BS. But, try to compress all that, plus everything else you want to say, into an ad. Not easy!

    Maybe he can buy more ads to get a more complete message out there. nudge, nudge!

  • http://www.reformthelp.org Carl

    TerryP: all I heard was the quick ad. I have not looked at the details on his web site. I just dislike the message contained in the video ad.

    Obviously, many Libertarians disagree with me on this issue. Some believe that there should be a special class of citizen (those who live off the land) who don’t have to pay for the cost of the government. I think you should pay for services rendered, and government services should be limited so those payments are low.

    (If government services were zero, you’d pay MORE for certain services like protection. The world is crowded; land is valueable; you’d have to put in quite a bit of effort/payments to hold your title were there no government.)

    Furthermore, property taxes are traceable. It is possible to have a tuition tax credit based on property taxes. No so with sales. It is also possible to deduct property taxes from your federal income taxes.

    All this said, do support Rex Bell! No one, including me, should demand perfection.

  • http://www.lpinscr.blogspot.com Mark Rutherford

    Bell’s campaign today added HGTV (Home and Gardens), TNT and MSNBC to his list of channels for his cable buy.

  • Timothy West

    Ben Brandons property tax exemption for seniors should be a mainstay of 08. He’s gone, but we know from his effort that seniors will vote to eliminate their share of funding local schools, lowering their taxes accordingly, and making the public schools put more of the burden on people that use the system.Where it should be as long as we have such a system.

    This position is a huge winner. It puts money in the hands of seniors, takes money out of the hands of government and schools, and seniors vote. What happened in Dade Co GA. could happen all over the country where such a law can be passed at the county level.

  • disinter

    I think you should pay for services rendered,

    So do I. But, unlike the Retard Caucus, I think those services should be provided by the private sector and not the government.

  • http://www.lpalabama.org/blog/14 paulie

    Those who believe we owe for “services rendered” without or choice or consent: can I get your help with a quick signature?

    http://www.geocities.com/yossarian70038/PIANOSA9/social_contract_1989.html

  • IanC

    Paulie — give that BS schtick up already. I’ve denuded the social contract rejection you continue to portray over and over. *s*

    Mike Nelson — good luck getting that to work. Then again; you just implied that only LRC members can be minarchists, and further that minarchists aren’t “real libertarians.”

    Again: good luck with that.

    (For the record; property rights enforcement, arbitration of disputes, prevention of violent crime, and defense of the borders are the sole areas where government has a legitimate role. This is mainly because in practicable terms, they are the sole areaas where concentrated control is actually *A FREEDOM ENHANCING THING.*)

  • http://www.lpalabama.org/blog/14 paulie

    You have? Refresh my memory. All I recall was an invitation to email you.

  • Timothy West

    worse than the prospect of the state doing some things is that they wont. The prospect of my rights being held hostage to the highest bidder, or the rule of law being applied to only those that can afford the price. at least using the state makes such things a slight bit harder to do, and requires a lot more effort at.

    Ian, yes – people like you and me are not libertarians at all, to them. thats where the shit about “real, true” libertarians come from.

  • http://www.lpalabama.org/blog/14 paulie

    On the contrary, I think the state makes such things easier.

    BTW can I get you to sign? (30)

  • disinter

    Paulie – I have never seen that contract before. Brilliant! I love it.

  • paulie

    Unfortunately the only people who like it so far are the ones who won’t sign it.

    It’s really difficult to get a signature on that issue.

    They should pay a lot on this one :-)