US holiday retail sales growth weakest since 2008

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. shoppers spent cautiously this holiday season, a disappointment for retailers who slashed prices to lure people into stores and now must hope for a post-Christmas burst of spending.

Sales of electronics, clothing, jewelry and home goods in the two months before Christmas increased 0.7 percent compared with last year, according to the MasterCard Advisors SpendingPulse report.

That was below the healthy 3 to 4 percent growth that analysts had expected — and it was the worst year-over-year performance since 2008, when spending shrank sharply during the Great Recession. In 2011, retail sales climbed 4 to 5 percent during November and December, according to ShopperTrak.

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Source: Daily Caller

VIDEO: Rand Paul's Holiday Message

This is actually Senator Rand Paul's 2011 holiday message endorsing his father Congressman Ron Paul for President.  Still, we felt that everything Rand says about his father is true, and the holiday wishes are genuine.  Enjoy!

Source: Ron Paul 2012 presidential campaign

 

Liberty candidate David Miller: MERRY CHRISTMAS

 

May you and your family be blessed with love and kindness this Christmas season.

As we look forward to 2013 in anticipation of what our future will be; as a family, community and Nation, we know that our love and kindness will influence those around us.

Just as Christ came to be the light of the world may we allow our light to shine in 2013.

I know many of you are wondering what our next steps will be in the political process here in the San Gabriel Valley - rest assured I will be sending out an update right after the first of the year.

For now may you enjoy your family and friends.

In Christ,

David L. Miller

Happy Holidays from the Free and Equal Family!

During this time of goodwill and merriment it is important to know that there is good news abroad in the land – news of peace and freedom for all.

Thank you to all our Supporters – 2012 has been a tremendous Year:

• Free & Equal, hosted an open presidential debate moderated by Larry King of OraTV in Chicago, and another debate followed on the eve of the election.
• Our debates were a top 10 trending subject on Twitter.
• The open discussion touched the youth who stood up to be counted and make a difference politics.
• Other media outlets stood up and paid attention: C-SPAN, MSNBC, Al Jazeera, YouTube, CNN Radio, LA Times, Washington Post and RT America.
• A national audience of over 20 million heard candidates talk about the erosion of our precious civil liberties, a foreign policy that breeds war, taxation, monetary policy and the Federal Reserve and more. 

The news from Free & Equal is all good – and getting better. Here are our plans for 2013:

The Journey of 1000 Miles Starts with a 10 City Bus Tour

In February of 2013 we’re going to take Free & Equal on the road with a 10-city university bus tour with these speakers and musicians being considered: Ron Paul, Dennis Kucinich, Jesse Ventura, and Ralph Nader,  Adam Levine of Maroon 5, Billy Corgan of Smashing Pumpkins and many more.  The tour will be a powerful way to get our greatest resource —young people— engaged and acting now for free and open elections.

Free & Equal Honest Media News Network

The Free & Equal Foundation is putting together the Honest News Network, a Los Angeles-based studio which fosters open discussion on a range of issues from electoral reform, to foreign and domestic policy, the war on drugs and more.

National Elections Database

Free & Equal’s elections database will include information on every candidate, including voting history, associated private interest groups, and more.  The Free & Equal database will effectively revolutionize the way candidates and private interest groups are examined and will help make activist’s voter education efforts tremendously effective.

Free & Equal’s New Year’s Resolution Never Changes

Every year we resolve to work for free and open elections, political choice and the power of the individual voter. Every year we make great strides towards our goal to break the stranglehold of the two-party system. Every year is better than the last. 2013 will continue that tradition and be a powerful year for supporters of free and equal elections.  We are the MOVEMENT!  With help by social media and of the voting youth becoming involved, everyone will be reached and heard!
                      

More Voices, More Choices

          
Please support us in our 2013 objectives. Please click HERE to donate now! We’re a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization so your contributions are completely tax deductible.

Merry Christmas from Campaign for Liberty

Dear friend of liberty,

What a year it’s been!

As my staff and I gear up for 2013, I just wanted to express my gratitude for how much you have helped our organization accomplish.

And before we all take a much needed respite from politics tomorrow, I also wanted to wish you and yours a Merry Christmas!

Campaign for Liberty has truly changed the dynamic in Washington, while establishing quite a reputation for refusing to take the pressure off the statists.

Thanks to our dedicated volunteers and contributors, we’ve been able to do things no one imagined possible just a few short years ago.

This year, our members dialed up the heat and ensured Audit the Fed passed the House of Representatives by a three-fourths majority!

And while it would appear that, short of a Christmas miracle, Harry Reid will prevent Audit the Fed from receiving a vote in the Senate this Congress, we’ve made incredible progress.

Before it became our top legislative priority, the Federal Reserve was shielded from any substantial public debate and scrutiny.

When Audit the Fed was first reintroduced in 2009, it had only five original cosponsors.

Now, hundreds of elected officials know they had better be on the right side of the American people on this issue.

If Harry Reid thinks Audit the Fed will simply go away, he’s got another thing coming.

All of the success we’ve experienced so far is just a warm-up for what comes next!

This next Congress will present many challenges, but it will also grant us tremendous opportunities to further our cause.

Together, you and I can make Audit the Fed the law of the land, and our grassroots mobilization efforts will leave Bernanke, the Fed, and their statist allies wondering what hit them.

Thanks again for your continued support and efforts to reclaim the Republic, restore the Constitution, and advance the message of liberty.

From all of us at C4L, have a Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year!

In Liberty,

John Tate
President

Merry Christmas from Young Americans for Liberty

To the tune of "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town":

 

You better watch out,

You better not cry,

Better not pout,

I'm telling you why:

Lib-er-ty is coming to town!

 

YAL's making our plans

For twenty-thirteen,

Fighting for freedom like you've never seen

Lib-er-ty is coming to town!

 

Identify, educate,

Train, and mobilize

Youth activists from coast to coast

We'll soon see liberty rise!

 

Oh, you better watch out,

You better not cry,

Better not pout,

I'm telling you why:

Y-A-L is coming to town!

From everyone here at YAL, we wish your family a blessed holiday season—and we look forward to resuming the fight for freedom in the New Year!

Remember, you can review our 2012 End of the Year Report here, and there's still time to help us organize a busy 2013  with a tax-deductible donation securely online here: https://www.YALiberty.org/contribute/nonprofit

The President and First Lady Extend a Holiday Greeting and Thank our Troops for their Service

In this week’s address, President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, and thank our brave troops and their families for their service. The President and First Lady ask the American people to visit JoiningForces.gov to find ways to honor and support our veterans and military families, and say that we must all come together, as we always do, to care for each other during this holiday season.

Watch President Obama's weekly address.

Merry Christmas from the Ron Paul Family

Originally from 2007, this video is still sure to warm your heart.

Source: RonPaul.com

Gary Johnson: Best Wishes for Great Holidays

Best Wishes for Great Holidays

From Governor Gary Johnson

December 21, 2012

Friends,

Wow.  2012 has been quite a year, and as we wrap it up with the holiday season, I am once again overwhelmed with gratitude for all the great friends and supporters who joined together for the very important task of restoring liberty, economic freedom and smaller government to the nation’s dialogue.

We accomplished much, we built an amazing foundation for the future, and we began the process of showing America that things don’t have to be the way they are.

None of that would have happened without you, and I just want to take a moment to again say: Thank You!

As we gather with family and celebrate according to our respective traditions, please accept my deepest appreciation for your friendship --  and Best Wishes for a wonderful holiday.

My family and I are doing something a little out of the ordinary:  We are in South America heading out for what we hope will be a successful climb of Aconcogua, the highest mountain in the Americas and the fifth of the Seven Summits I am determined to reach.  As you know, achieving goals is important to me, and it is amazing to have my family joining me for such a great experience.

At the same time, we are very mindful that many Americans are not as fortunate this holiday season, especially those who have suffered unimaginable tragedy.  Our thoughts are with those who are enduring difficult times.

Making America better is the goal we all share, and I am excited about what we have planned for 2013.  I am returning to my role as Honorary Chairman of the Our America Initiative, and will be visiting  college campuses across the nation, taking our message to the media, and otherwise building on the great foundation we have built.  I look forward to having your continued support in all those important efforts.

Enjoy the Holidays, enjoy some time with friends and loved ones, and know that I value your friendship and support more than I can possibly express!

Best Wishes,

Governor Gary Johnson

LP: Hope and Possibility for Liberty – A Christmas Message to You

Dear Fellow Libertarian,

 

We are fast approaching Christmas and New Year’s Day. Days of hope and possibility. Days of thanks and new beginnings.

 

This is a time of love and good cheer. Of gratitude and giving.

 

Thank you for your commitment to liberty. Thank you for the many things you have done to advance the cause of liberty and small government.

 

Who you are and what you do fans the flames of freedom. Your support gives oxygen and fuel to the torch of liberty.

 

For the last 12 years, Big Government politicians have radically increased government spending, taxing, and borrowing. Republican and Democratic politicians have slashed and burned our liberties and our livelihoods.

 

But in 2012, in this darkness, our Libertarian Party candidates re-ignited America’s torch of liberty. 

We gave new heat and light for the America we could have and should have: a Libertarian America.

2012 was NOT the high point for liberty and the Libertarian Party.

 

2012 was a glimmer and a glimpse of what is possible for us: a New Dawn for freedom in America. 

“Freedom is not a fluke,” said Gary Johnson. “It’s the future.” 

 

We face choices and chances.

 

If you and I and our fellow Libertarians make the right choices, we can increase our chances.

 

Inaction is the wrong choice. Inaction gives aid and comfort to the opponents of freedom in America. Inaction paves the path to Big Government.

 

“All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing,” wrote Edmund Burke.

Action is the right choice. Intelligent, rational action.

 

Small government is the right chance. The right path to liberty.

 

The only way to expand liberty is to shrink government. The only way to restore liberty is make government small.

 

Our 2012 Libertarian Party campaigns – and our results – prove that there is a huge untapped demand for individual liberty and small government.

 

But our 2012 Libertarian Party campaigns were just a taste of what’s to come for liberty…IF we embrace the hope and possibility of the Christmas Season.

 

It’s a season to celebrate and cherish - and give the gift of liberty.

 

Will you give a gift to the Libertarian Party – so we can give the gift of liberty to your family and friends and co-workers?

 

Why give a Christmas Gift donation to the Libertarian Party?

 

When you donate to the Libertarian Party, we give liberty to everyone you love.

 

The Libertarian Party exposes and informs more Americans each year on the nature and value of liberty than all other libertarian organizations combined!

 

Each Presidential Election Year, our LP candidates may well attract and enroll more new people into the libertarian movement than all other libertarian organizations do in a decade.

 

Week after week, year after year, the Libertarian Party advertises and publicizes the libertarian alternative on key issues in the news. We offer libertarian solutions to America’s social and economic problems.

 

We give hope to the discouraged – and possibility to those who haven’t seen the way out: liberty!

Isn’t liberty the gift you want to give?

 

The Libertarian Party isn’t a fad, isn’t a fluke: it’s the future.

 

Would you take a moment right now and affirm your love of liberty, your hope for liberty, your desire for liberty in your lifetime?

 

If 2012 has been a good year for you, if you’ve made your own “good fortune” through your thought and judgment and efforts, would you please donate $10,000 or $5,000 or $2,500 now, as your generous Christmas gift donation? 

 

If “It’s a Wonderful Life” for you and your family, if you are moved and inspired, will you please donate $1,500 or $850 now – in this Season of Giving?

 

Will you be the “Miracle on 34th Street” for the Libertarian Party? Will you please contribute $250 or $500 today?

 

Will you help the Libertarian Party “Make a Miracle” for liberty?

 

Please give the gift of hope and possibility today. Please click and donate now or mail your donation to the address below with "A Christmas Gift for Liberty" in the memo.

 

Thank you.

 

Live and let live, Give and Let Give.

 

Yours in liberty,

 

Carla Howell, Executive Director

Libertarian Party

 

P.S. We only have only 7 days left until Christmas, only 7 days to put your gift “under the tree.” Your Christmas gift donation to the Libertarian Party lets us share the gift of  liberty with hundreds of thousands of Americans. Will you please help us share the blessings of liberty with your donation of $250 or $150 today? Thank you. And may your Christmas and New Year’s be filled with joy and love.

Merry Christmas

Dear lover of liberty,

 

Just a couple of days ago, Congress gave the American people the tremendous gift of finally adjourning and leaving town.

 

C4L will be ready to once again put the pressure on as soon as our legislators return to D.C. in January, and we’ll need your help every step of the way to finally pass a thorough audit of the Fed in 2012 and continue the rest of our fight to reclaim the Republic and restore the Constitution.

 

Thank you for keeping C4L on the frontlines of the battle for freedom.  We're looking forward to even more successes on the local, state, and national levels in the coming year.

 

Merry Christmas!

 

In Liberty,

 

Matt Hawes

Vice President

VIDEO: Wishing You All the Best

Dear friend of liberty,

 

This has been an incredible year for the liberty message.

 

Thanks to you, my campaign is reaching millions of voters, and we're surging at just the right time.

 

As we prepare to make our final push in Iowa and New Hampshire, I wanted to thank you for all of your generous support.

 

If you haven't seen it yet, I hope you'll take a moment to watch our campaign's Christmas ad, which features my son, Senator Rand Paul.

 

It's running on television today in Iowa, and that's only possible because of you and your fellow grassroots patriots.

With a busy campaign season about to get even busier, I'm greatly enjoying getting to spend time with my family today, and I hope you're also able to spend a relaxing day surrounded by family and friends.

 

From Carol and I, and all of our campaign staff, have a Merry Christmas!

 

For Liberty,

 

Ron Paul