LibertyAndProsperity.org Update
Why it is important for you and your kids/grandkids/nieces/nephews to march with us in parade down Atlantic City Boardwalk this Wednesday.
1.?????? March with us on the Atlantic City Boardwalk this Wednesday at 5:30 P.M. for the Military Appreciation Day Parade.?? The parade begins on the Boardwalk? near the Showboat Casino near? the northern (uptown/Inlet) section of the Boardwalk.?? We will march or walk south for about two miles to Albany Avenue.?? You can park free at either the beginning of the parade route at the vacant lot at New Jersey and Pacific Aves.??? Or at the Atlantic Club Hotel (ACH) parking lot at Albany and Atlantic Ave.?? Jitneys make regular runs up and down Pacific Avenue for $2.25 exact change.?? We will attempt to co-ordinate rides.?? Please contact Dennis Mahon at (609) 204-2511 or dmahon1@yahoo.com or Doug Stroz at (609) 432-7322 or stroz4@comcast.net.? ?This is important to co-ordinate rides, and to make sure we have enough poles, caps, and sashes.??? We will assemble at 5:30 P.M.?? You should recognize us by the wooden poles draped with red caps we will be holding.?? The parade begins at 6:30 P.M.?? We are scheduled to be in the middle of the parade, and will probably start walking about an hour later..
2.????? Why is it important to march with us???? Although we are one of the largest and most active organizations in South Jersey, and represent the views of many citizens, we are completely ignored by the daily newspaper and TV station.???? By being part of a visible event seen by roughly 100,000, the public sees who we are without the media?and there is a chance that a ?random act of journalism? may put us on TV or in the paper.
3.????? We need a minimum of 24 marchers to make an effective presentation.?? Anything less makes us look weak and ineffective.?? Anything more makes us appear very strong.??? We carry the symbolic wooden pikes draped with the red liberty caps that were symbols of the American Revolution, and which are held by the Goddess of Liberty on the New Jersey State Flag.??? If you are not familiar with why we carry these symbols at these events, go to ???http://
4.????? ?Regular Breakfast Discussion this Saturday, August 4 from 9:30AM to 10:30AM at the Shore Diner. Tilton and Fire Roads in Egg Harbor Township. Regular radio program on 92.1FM heard in most of South Jersey Saturday 8AM to 9AM. ?Seth Grossman will be guest on Larry Trulli and Dan Klein radio programs on 1020AM (Ocean City) until Monday from 8AM to 10AM.??? Roughly 35 to 45 people now attend our breakfast discussions on a regular basis.? They are not the same people.? We don?t expect you to attend every breakfast meeting, but you should attend one meeting every month or two?and bring a friend.
5.????? ????At one time, most Americans were active members of volunteer church, civic, fraternal, sports, or charity organizations, and took part in at least one meeting or discussion each week.???? These discussions once gave Americans skills in discussing problems and events with others, and proposing discussions.? According to French scholar Alexis DeTocqueville, this is why democracy was a success in America, but a failure in France where few citizens got involved in such organizations.??? Our breakfast discussions are a useful way to learn those and practice those people skills.?? Our other activities also give useful skills, experience, and contacts to anyone who wants to be a winning candidate for public office.
6.????? The American patriots who beat the British Army from 1775 to 1783 (including George Washington) learned their military skills by fighting with the British army against the French? during the war of 1757-1763.????? The best way to learn skills you need to be a winning candidate next year is to work with a political campaign this year.??? Americans for Prosperity is setting up a ?call center?? at in Galloway Township by Jimmie Leeds and Pitney Roads ?to make calls to voters throughout South Jersey on varies issues that pertain to our basic principles.?? More volunteers are needed to make calls several hours a day, for one or two days a week for the next three months.?? Please contact Seth Grossman at sethgrossman49@gmail.com or Dennis Mahon at dmahon1@yahoo.com or (609) 204-2511? for more information.
7.????? Trevor Loudon of New Zealand will speak to us at 9:30 AM on Saturday morning, September 1 at the Shore Diner.?? The Shore Diner is at Tilton and Fire Roads by Parkway Exit 36 in Egg Harbor Township.?? Trevor Loudon has long been recognized as one of the leading conservatives who brought low tax, limited government to ?New Zealand and revived their sick economy.?? He created a sensation in this country by doing extensive investigation on how ?professionals in the KGB (secret police and army special operations) of the old Soviet Union paid and cultivated the people who befriended and promoted Barack Obama and launched his political career.?? We will have this program instead of our August movie. ??We do not necessarily endorse or agree with all of his conclusions, but do agree that he presents important facts that have been suppressed by the mainstream media.
8.????? ?Buy and sell tickets for Richard Somers Day ceremony and fundraiser.?? The ceremony will be sponsored by the Somers Point Historical Society led by Sally Hastings on Sunday, September 9 at 2PM.?? We will hold our fundraiser from 3PM to 4:30 PM at Gregory?s Restaurant and Bar one block away at 900 Shore Road in Somers Point.?? Tickets are $25 per person, $35 per couple, and includes dinner and cash bar.?? We ?at Gregory?s Bar and Restaurant in Somers Point. For details, go to http://www.
9.????? Mitt Romney gives New Jersey conservatives? a challenge and an opportunity.?? Chris Christie says only ?moderate? Republicans like him can win in ?blue? states like New Jersey.??? Now Romney picked conservative Paul Ryan? to be his vice-president running made instead of? Christie.??? Is the best way for conservatives ?to? protest Christie?s ?bi-partisan? and ?moderate? policies ?this November turning out a big vote for Romney-Ryan this November??? And a big vote for Senate candidate Kyrillos?and a big ?No? Vote on the $850 million bond issue.
10.? The headlines of the ?mainstream? Press of Atlantic City gave lots of bad news last week.?? ?More South Jersey residents falling into poverty, and qualifying for state and county assistance, and applying for low income housing.? . . , , ?Atlantic City casinos earning 9% less from casino games this year.?? Revel Casino not making enough to pay back its $1.2 billion debt. . . ? (Including $400 borrowed from the NJ Economic Development Authority to be paid back with 20 years of state and local tax breaks.)? ?They act surprised, but why??? Liberty brings prosperity.?? New Jersey now has less prosperity because we have less liberty, more government spending, more taxes, more debt, more laws, and more? government restrictions.??? But yet the Press, Christie Republicans, and Sweeney Democrats all want to ?fix? our economy by giving us even less liberty, and even more taxes, more debt, more government spending, more laws, and more government restrictions!
11.? By the way, the Press also reported that home values are declining in New Jersey because taxes are too high, and so many homeowners are leaving the state.?? So why is the government raising taxes even more to pay for ?affordable housing??
12.? If you rent out any real estate, don?t forget to fill out and submit the ?Annual Statement of income and Expenses for Income Producing Properties? you just got from your local tax assessor!?? If you fail to do so, you will be barred from appealing your real estate taxes next year!
13.? ?India in Race to Contain Untreatable Tuberculosis. . .? Spread if the strain could return tuberculosis to the fatal plague that killed two-thirds of people afflicted before modern treatments were developed in the 1940?s, said Mario Raviglione, director of the Stop TB Department of the World Health Organization. . . ??? Wall Street Journal, 6/20/2012.??? Is this another reason to enforce immigration laws?
14.? ?Attorney general warns against price gouging during states of emergency.?? Violations are punishable by stiff fines.? Consumers encouraged to report gougers and scams??? Current Newspapers, July 5, 2012.?? (Of course, this only applies to private business.?? Union government employees are ?entitled? to overtime and holiday and weekend double time when they do clean-up work for emergencies.?? Most of the losses claimed by local governments from the June 30 ?derecho? windstorm were payment of overtime for government employees.
13.?? ?Become a full voting member of LibertyAndProsperity.org! Dues are $60 per year, attend 3 business meetings each year, and work on at least one volunteer project each year. Or be a non-voting supporting member for just $30 per year, with no other commitment
14.? ?Last week, local newspapers reported that a retired Ocean City Police officer was arrested and charged with having improper sexual conduct with a 17 year old female beach badge inspector he supervised.??? But details about the officer?s pay and early retirement pension are just as disturbing as the criminal charges.?? Please ?read the rough draft of that column for the Current and Gazette weekly newspapers in Atlantic and Cape May Counties and forward your corrections and suggestions for improvement to Seth at sethgrossman49@gmail.com. Thanks.
Last week, a 49 year old retired Ocean City police officer was arrested for alleged unlawful contact with a 16 or 17 year old female Ocean City beach badge inspector he supervised.?? The arrest brought to light details about police pay and pensions that are? as disturbing as the criminal charge?yet ignored by most people.
This officer joined the Ocean City Police Department in 1986 when he was 23 years old.?? ?I vaguely recall that rookie officers were paid less than $32,000 per year back then.? The combined contributions of employer and employee to the pension fund was less than 10% of that?less than $3,200 per year.
There are no bars or liquor stores,? and little violent crime and hard drug trafficking in Ocean City.??? Most crimes seem to be petty thefts and burglaries during the off- season when much of the town is empty.
This officer did not seem to assume any advanced, specialized,? or supervisory duties during the next 25 years.??? None of the newspapers reported him as a sergeant, lieutenant, or captain.? During his last two years, the officer worked Monday through Friday, 8AM to 4PM during the school year as a ?resource officer? for Ocean City High School.?? His job was ?to mingle, talk to the kids, be a liason?.?? He probably did regular patrol work during the summer?when he was needed as a police officer.
Comedian Woody Allen said ?Eighty percent of success in life is just showing up?.??? It sure works for government employees.?? When this officer retired at age 48 in 2011, he was earning $102,920 per year according to DataUniverse at app.com.
Our daily newspaper reported that this officer was ?an outspoken member of the local police union? who ?publicly advocated? for higher police pay in both Ocean City and Linwood.
This officer ?retired? from the police force at age 48 after 25 years of employment.??? His pension is $66,898 per year (65% of his highest salary), plus free lifetime medical benefits worth roughly $10,000 more per year.
Right after he ?retired? from the police department, this officer got a ?new? job with the Ocean City Board of Education doing similar work as a ?supervisory aide? at Ocean City High School.??? At the end of the school year, he was re-hired by Ocean City local government to be? Director of Beach Fee Collectors.
What was his salary???? I don?t know because DataUniverse only goes to 2010.??? For the past nine years, LibertyAndProsperity.org urged every local government and school district to prominently list its employees and their salaries on its official website.
If people could easily get this information any time on the internet, they would understand why taxes are so high, and why so many businesses are failing or leaving New Jersey.?? So far,? the Republicans and Democrats we elect would rather please our public ?servants? than we, the public.
But ?double dipping? is not the real issue.??? The real issue is that according to the official New Jersey mortality table, this officer is likely to live 32 more years to age 80.??? This would cost the pension funds $2,464,000?more than the? total salary this officer earned during the 25 years he was working!
Thousands of other police officers, firefighters, public school teachers, and other state and local government officials are getting the same big salaries and early retirements every day.?? We only know about this officer because of the criminal charges.
Joshua Rauh of the Kellogg School of Management predicted that the New Jersey pension funds will run out of money by 2018.
This is partly because for many years, both Republican and Democratic governors and legislators failed to contribute the employer?s share of pension funds.? And the powerful public employee unions backed most of the officials who did this!
But the biggest problem is that the whole New Jersey pension system is a Ponzi scheme designed to give a handful of early ?baby-boom? retirees far more than they paid in by scamming younger workers who are fooled into thinking they will get the same benefits when they retire.
Chris Christie Republicans and Steve Sweeney Democrats are bragging that they fixed the public employee pension system last year.?? But this officer proves they are lying.
All these people will be up for election next year.?? The only way to get them out is to beat them is in next year?s June primary elections.?? The time to prepare is now.?? Do more than vote!