July 2, 2011 Breakfast Meeting Agenda

Agenda July 2, 2011

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1) The Pledge of Allegiance

2) Introductions

3) We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men

???? are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain

???? unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of

???? Happiness.

4) 10? principles of Liberty approved at our last board meeting

????? 1)? No eminent domain for private gain.

????? 2)? Enforce federal immigration laws.?? No amnesty.?? Deport illegal aliens.

?3) Make tax and zoning laws fair, simple, and apply them equally to

???? everyone.

? 4) Cut taxes by cutting government spending.

????? 5) Post all government salaries, contracts, and budgets online.

????? 6) Repudiate (refuse to pay) all state government debts incurred without

?????????? voter approval in violation of our State Constitution.? Repudiate all federal

?????????? government debts incurred for purposes not permitted by Article I,

?????????? Section 8 of our Federal Constitution.

??? 7) Bring ?government of the people, by the people, and for the people? back

????????? to our public schools and local governments.?Let parents apply taxpayer

??? ??????money spent to educate their children to the qualified schools they choose.

????????? Don?t force public employees to pay dues to unions they don?t want to

????????? join.?Let elected officials again decide what salaries, pensions, and benefits

???? ????to pay our public ?servants?.

??? 8) Hold frequent non-binding referendums (public votes) on

???? all issues of public importance.

9)???? Term limits for all elected officials.? Pensions for none.

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?? 10) Make a public audit of the Federal Reserve Banking System.

????????? Audit, reform, or abolish the Federal Reserve Banking System and

????????? have Congress establish a stable currency secured by precious

????????? metals, or assets with recognized and stable values.? Have the

????????? United States withdraw from the International Monetary Fund (IMF)

????????? and any Organization which purports to require the U.S. Government

????????? to spend money without appropriation by Congress pursuant to the

????????? U.S. Constitution.”

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5) Liberty and Prosperity has a new website: www.libertyandprosperity.org

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6) Radio shows: Saturday morning WVLT 92.1 FM 8:00 ? 9: 00 Am

??? http://wvlt.com/listenlive.html

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??? Monday and Wednesday afternoon from 3 to 4 PM on 1400 WOND

??? WOND is now under new ownership and they have now fixed their

??? Internet connection: http://tunein.com/tuner/?StationId=21757&

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7) Events:

??? ?Many members of L & P were away last Saturday at Campaign School, which

???? was an all day class that was beneficial to all.?

The Fair School Funding Resolution was submitted to Northfield City Council,

lets see if they pass it next month. You can do the same in your town, ask how.

a)??? July 4th Smithville Parade gathering at 8 AM at the food town shopping plaza.? Our position is J-83. We need as many volunteers as possible.

Picnic after parade. Everyone bring something to share.

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? ??b) Movie Night Movie for rest of year:

??????? ??1.?? 07/13/11 ? “Nine Days That Changed The World”? http://youtu.be/u-KirlURR2A

???????? ?2.? 08/24/11 “Amazing Grace”??? http://youtu.be/Q6Cv5P9H9qU

???????? ?3.? 09/14/11 “The Birth of Freedom”? http://youtu.be/QLpGs5zlcxM

???????? ?4.? 10/19/11 “A City Upon A Hill”??? http://youtu.be/oQsCW1hbOGw

???????? ?5.? 11/16/11 “Fire From The Heartland”? http://youtu.be/JqmPm-AfGqg

???????? ?6.? 12/14/11 “In the Face Of Evil”?? http://youtu.be/cOi4VaFpzvM

8) How can an over 55 community be changed to all ages after the community has

been operational for several years? This is what is happening to Absecon Gardens

in Absecon NJ. Stay tuned for more information as we dig deeper into this scheme.

9) Topics for Discussion: We can discuss these topics or what every you want to

??? discussion:

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???? a) How can we make Congress accountable to the constitution and to the

????????? people?

????????? Can we have a principled and limited government and what would it take?

????????? I would believe if I asked folks on the street, I?m sure they would give the

????????? following answers:

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??????????? a) It would take too much time and effort

??????????? b) It already a lost cause

??????????? c) It doesn?t matter any longer, the changes to our society has changed too

??????????????? much that the constitution is not a valid document.

??????????? d) There is no hope any longer

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??????????? Do you agree or do you think we still have a chance to safe this country?

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??? ????????A recent news story portrayed the same story how American students

??????????? don?t know our basic constitution and history. Well if our students don?t

??????????? know this, do the parents of these students know the same material? Do

???????? ???our elected leaders know what our constitution is? It appears that they

??????????? don?t.

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??????????? I recently took a civics test, which I missed three questions out of 33, one

??????????? that I still believe I was right, but that is not to be debated here. But after

??????????? I saw my results, I saw the same results from members of Congress, which

??????????? had dismal results. Most elected leaders couldn?t answer the basic civic

??????????? questions.

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???????????? So how do we expect our elected leaders to know what the rule book says

???????????? if they never studied it?

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???????????? This becomes our Procedural change that we need to make in Congress:

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??????????????? 1) In the 2010 freshman class of Congress, all were required to read and

???????????????????? listen to classes on the constitution, which drew criticism from the

???????????????????? liberal media, but provided the ground work for our newly elected

???????????????????? leaders.

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????????????????? 2) Back in the mid 90?s Congressman Shadegg of the 104th Congress

????????????????????? put forth the Enumerated Powers Act. This is a proposed law that

????????????????????? would require all bills introduced in the U.S. Congress to include a

????????????????????? statement setting forth the specific constitutional authority under

????????????????????? which each bill is being enacted.? In every Congress since the 104th

????????????????????? Congress as introduced the Enumerated Powers Act, although it has

????????????????????? not been passed into law. At the beginning of the 105th Congress,

????????????????????? the House of Representatives incorporated the substantive

????????????????????? requirement of the Enumerated Powers Act into the House rules

????????????????????? and is required for all bills being submitted.

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???????????????????? ?????Sadly, I can?t say the same for the Senate, it is still in Committee

????????????????????? after all of these years.

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????????????????????? Our elected leaders of today need to follow the same path as
????????????????????? Congressman Col. David Crockett, who back in April 1829 fought a
?????????????????????? bill that would have given $ 20,000.00 of tax payers money to the
?????????????????????? benefit of a widow of a distinguished naval officer. Several
?????????????????????? beautiful speeches had been made in its support. The Speaker was
?????????????????????? just about to put the question when Crockett arose:

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??????????????????????? “Mr. Speaker–I have as much respect for the memory of the

?????????????????????? deceased, and as much sympathy for the sufferings of the living, if

?????????????????????? suffering there be, as? any man in this House, but we must not

?????????????????????? permit our respect for the dead or our sympathy for a part of the

?????????????????????? living to lead us into an act of injustice to the balance of the living. I

?????????????????????? will not go into an argument to prove that Congress has not the

?????????????????????? power to appropriate this money as an act of charity. Every

???????????????????? ??member upon this floor knows it. We have the right,

????????????????????? as individuals, to give away as much of our own money as we please

????????????????????? in charity; but as members of Congress we have no right so to

????????????????????? appropriate a dollar of the public money. Some eloquent appeals

????????????????????? have been made to us upon the ground that it is a debt due the

????????????????????? deceased. Mr. Speaker, the deceased lived long after the close of the

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????????????????????? war; he was in office to the day of his death, and I have never heard

????????????????????? that the government was in arrears to him.

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????????????? ????????After being told that he wouldn?t get this farmers vote,

????????????????????? Congressman Crockett convinced his colleagues that it was wrong to

????????????????????? use taxpayers money for non-constitutional items.

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????????????????????? So to condense this down for the procedural side of change, we need

????????????????????? to have our congress follow our constitution and only what is

????????????????????? declared in those fine words be followed.???????? ?

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???????? ?????b) How do we get the population back engaged in our government?

???????????? ?????We need to teach civics and the responsibilities that are required of

????????????????? this ?republic to know and participate in it. If I had it may way, I

????????????????? would want all to take a civics test to ensure they know what the

????????????????? responsibilities are, but that would never fly.?

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c)?? New Jersey lawmakers tonight voted to enact a sweeping plan to cut public worker ?

????? benefits ?after a long day of high-pitched political drama in the streets of Trenton and

????? behind closed doors.

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??????????? Union members chanted outside the Statehouse and in the Assembly balcony, and

??????????? dissident Democrats tried to stall with amendments and technicalities. Although they

?????????? ?successfully convinced top lawmakers to remove a controversial provision restricting

??????????? public workers? access to out-of-state medical care, they failed to halt a historic defeat

??????????? for New Jersey?s ?powerful unions and a political victory for Republican Gov. Chris

??????????? Christie.

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?????????? ??Together, we?re showing New Jersey is serious about providing long-term fiscal

???????????? stability for our children and grandchildren,? Christie said in a statement released

???????????? after the vote. ?We are putting the people first and daring to touch the third rail of

???????????? politics in order to bring reform to an unsustainable system.?

Christie and Republicans banded together with Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D

?????????? -Gloucester) and Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver (D-Essex) to advance the bill despite

?????????? opposition from the majority of Democrats who control the Legislature.

?d) RGGI is back: The Democrats claim Gov. Christie doesn?t have the authority to

????? unilateral authority to withdraw the State from the compact.

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???? This bill has now moved out of committee and will be up for the full senate to vote

???? and house.

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???? S2250 Repeals ?Global Warming Response Act? and related sections of Regional Greenhouse

Gas Initiative implementing law sponsored by: Senators Doherty, Oroho, Ciesla,

???? A.R.Bucco, O’Toole, Addiego, Bateman, Beck, Kyrillos, Pennacchio, Connors, Cardinale,

???? Sarlo, Allen, Van Drew, S.Kean and Singer

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??? The following senators are not yet on board with repeal of the RGGI Cap & Trade energy

???? tax.??

??? Contact them now and tell them to vote ?NO? on S2946!

??? Sen. Minority Leader Tom Kean (R-21) |?SenKean@njleg.org | 908-232-3673

??? Sen. Jim Whelan (D-2) | SenWhelan@njleg.org | 609-383-1388?????????

??? Sen. Stephen Sweeney (D-3) | SenSweeney@njleg.org | 856-251-9801??????????????

??? Sen. Fred Madden (D-4) | SenMadden@njleg.org | 856-401-3073??????????????????????????

??? Sen. Donald Norcross (D-5) | SenNorcross@njleg.org | 856-547-4800???????????????????

??? Sen. James Beach (D-6) | SenBeach@njleg.org | 856-429-1572??????????

??? Sen. Linda Greenstein (D-14) | SenGreenstein@njleg.org | 609-395-9911??????

??? Sen. Shirley Turner (D-15) | SenTurner@njleg.org | 609-530-3277??????????????????????????

? ??Sen. Bob Smith (D-17) | SenBSmith@njleg.org | 732-752-0770?????????

??? Sen. Barbara Buono (D-18) | SenBuono@njleg.org | 732-205-1372?????????????????????????

??? Sen. Joseph Vitale (D-19) | SenVitale@njleg.org | 732-855-7441???????

??? Sen. Raymond Lesniak (D-20) | SenLesniak@njleg.org | 908-624-0880??????????????????

??? Sen. Nicholas Scutari (D-22) | SenScutari@njleg.org | 908-587-0404?

??? Sen. Richard Codey (D-27) | SenCodey@njleg.org | 973-731-6770??????????????????????????

??? Sen. Ronald Rice (D-28) | SenRice@njleg.org | 973-371-5665??????????????

??? Sen. Teresa Ruiz (D-29) | SenRuiz@njleg.org | 973-484-1000???????????????

??? Sen. Sandra Cunningham (D-31) | SenCunningham@njleg.org | 201-451-5100??

??? Sen. Brian Stack (D-33) | SenStack@njleg.org | 201-861-5091?????????????

??? Sen. Nia Gill (D-34) | SenGill@njleg.org | 973-509-0388??????????????????????????

??? Sen. John Girgenti (D-35) | SenGirgenti@njleg.org | 973-427-1229?????????????????????????

??? Sen. Loretta Weinberg (D-37) | SenWeinberg@njleg.org | 201-928-0100????????????

??? Sen. Robert Gordon (D-38) | SenGordon@njleg.org | 201-703-9779??????????????????????

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??? Why does PSEG want to keep the taxpayers of NJ and rate payers from knowing how much

???? Of these credits they have purchased?

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??? Governor Christie budget address: ???http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpUgKdRmaY0

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Quiz spoken about in discussion 1

http://www.isi.org/quiz.aspx?q=FE5C3B47-9675-41E0-9CF3-072BB31E2692

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Are You Smarter Than a Politician?
Of the 2,508 People surveyed, 164 say they have held an elected government office at least once in their life. Their average score on the civic literacy test is 44%, compared to 49% for those who have not held an elected office. Officeholders are less likely than other respondents to correctly answer 29 of the 33 test questions. This table shows the ?knowledge gap? for each question: the difference between the percentage of common citizens who answered correctly and the percentage of officeholders who answered correctly.
Theme of Question Citizens Elected
Politicians
Knowledge
Gap
1. U.S. ? Soviet Tension in 1962 70.09% 56.51% -13.58%
2. Declaration of Independence 83.09 69.78 -13.31
3. Sputnik 74.1 62.82 -11.28
4. Definition of Free Enterprise 41.45 32.08 -9.37
5. M. L. King?s ?I Have a Dream? 80.5 71.5 -9
6. Electoral College 65.88 57.31 -8.57
7. Scopes ?Monkey Trial? 67.76 59.21 -8.55
8. Susan B. Anthony 80.84 72.98 -7.86
9. Power to Declare War 53.6 45.82 -7.78
10. Business Profit 49.11 41.38 -7.73
11. International Trade 37.47 30.45 -7.02
12. FDR?s Government Programs 66.63 59.73 -6.9
13. Abortion 50.77 43.94 -6.83
14. Federal Branches and Foreign Policy 54.71 48.39 -6.32
15. First Amendment Freedoms 79.58 73.32 -6.26
16. Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Aquinas 29.49 23.29 -6.2
17. FDR and the Supreme Court 25.07 19.24 -5.83
18. Taxes and Government Spending 27.7 22.12 -5.58
19. Free Markets vs. Centralized Planning 16.25 10.71 -5.54
20. Action Prohibited by the Bill of Rights 26.41 21.24 -5.17
21. Commander in Chief 79.04 74.46 -4.58
22. Anti-Federalists and the Constitution 38.22 33.82 -4.4
23. Source of phrase ?a wall of separation? 18.92 15.07 -3.85
24. Policy Tool of the Federal Reserve 43.12 40.48 -2.64
25. Powers of the Federal Government 75.01 72.69 -2.32
26. World War II Enemies 68.76 66.58 -2.18
27. The Puritans 19.1 17.32 -1.78
28. Definition of a Progressive Tax 51.26 49.97 -1.29
29. Three Branches of Government 49.65 49.32 -0.33
30. Definition of a Public Good 27.6 28.03 0.43
31. Gettysburg Address 21.06 22.95 1.89
32. Fiscal Policy for Economic Stimulus 36.07 39.93 3.86
33. Lincoln?Douglas Debates 19.06 23.62 4.56

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  • Seth Grossman

    Seth Grossman is executive director of Liberty And Prosperity, which he co-founded in 2003. It promotes American liberty and limited constitutional government through weekly radio and in-person discussions, its website, email newsletters and various events. Seth Grossman is also a general practice lawyer.

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