Beitler boasts 10 percent

By William R. Toler

In a positive upswing for Libertarians, US Senate candidate Mike Beitler garnered 10 percent of a recent poll according to PoliticsDaily.com.

Republican incumbent Sen. Richard Burr pulled in a less-than-impressive 38 percent while Democratic nominee Elaine Marshall, current Secretary of State, had a showing of 33 percent.

Like most Libertarian candidates, Beitler is relatively unknown because of mainstream media’s lack of equal coverage.

Beitler is a business professor at UNC Greensboro. He also works as a business consultant and as host for the internet radio show “Free Markets.” Before teaching, he worked for a CPA firm and in the banking industry.

Supreme Court on trial

By William R. Toler

Two important cases were before the nation’s highest court last week, both involving issues stemming from the Bill of Rights.

One received major press coverage…the other did not. The one that didn’t get any mainstream mention, may be slightly more important, because of the ruling.

The Supreme Court voted 5-4 in McDonald vs. Chicago, striking down the Windy City’s 1982 ban on handguns, reaffirming the individual right to “keep and bear arms.” However, instead of just relying on the Second Amendment, the ruling majority based its decsion on the Fourteenth Amendment, incorporating Federal laws over the states.

While, in principle, I agree with the overall decision of the court, the application of the Fourteenth Amendment creates a slippery slope of diminshing states’ rights.