NY Libertarians Kick Martial Arts Proposal
theshooter
Libertarians in New York opposing a proposed law that would regulate
martial arts instruction in New York. If we had more Libertarians in
office in this country, vale tudo fighting events would be legal.
Libertarian Party of NY -- Press Release --
NY Libertarians Kick Martial Arts Proposal
"The Libertarian Party of New York will strike a blow for freedom by
opposing the proposed martial arts licensing bill before the
legislature," declares State Chair Richard Cooper, a Westbury executive.
"The Marchi-Straniere bill would give open-ended powers to the State
Commissioner of Education to license martial arts instructors and any
school or organization which offers martial arts instruction. We face a
solution in search of a problem. We condemn this legislation as
abridging our freedom to teach, freedom to learn, freedom to trade."
Cooper credits the Libertarian Party's Legislative Watch Coordinator and
Livingston County Chair, Albert Dedicke, for bringing this issue
forward. Dedicke is a day care teacher from Mount Morris. He is a brown
belt student of Isshinryu at Champion Martial Arts in Avon. Dedicke
contends "This bill is an unnecessary intrusion into a relationship
between teacher and student that has existed for thousands of years. As
an unintended side effect, it would also prevent experienced students
from helping new students, decreasing the quality of all martial arts
instruction for all students."
New York City Council candidate James Lesczynski is a financial services
marketer and a yellow belt in Tae Kwon Do. He strikes back too. "Given
the state's decades of failure in education and the martial arts
instructors' millennia of success, we should keep them as far apart as
possible. In fact, rather than regulate the martial arts schools, the
legislature should look to them as an example of the virtues of
separating school and state. Attendance is not compulsory, no government
curriculum is mandated, no taxes are levied to subsidize the schools.
Yet somehow, thousands of students of every age and economic status are
successfully educated by instructors who demand the highest standards of
discipline and performance."