Weekly Update – October 2, 2010
BREAKFAST DISCUSSIONS?EVERY SATURDAY, 9:30AM to 10:30 AM. Shore Diner, Tilton & Fire Roads (By Parkway Exit 36), Egg Harbor Township, NJ
Two Live Two-Way Talk Radio Programs:
A. 92.1FM Vineland (Covers most of South Jersey) every Saturday, 8AM to 9AM. Live on-air call-in number is 856-696-0092. Details at http://www.libertyandprosperity.org.
B. 1400 AM Linwood (South Jersey shore area from Barnegat to Cape May): Monday and Thursday, 3PM to 4PM. Live on-air call-in number is 609-927-1100.
TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION:
1. Seth Grossman Current-Gazette column for this week: ?Repudiating state debt should be a key tea party issue?.?
?Bankruptcy has become an acceptable and, in many ways, successful way for debt-burdened companies and consumers to get a fresh start. Airlines do it. Auto companies do it. ? . But reneging on debt remains a rarity among U.S. state and municipal governments ?
?This is because Chapter 9 of the bankruptcy code, the one that applies to local governments, is so unwieldy. ? ?? David Wessel, The Wall Street Journal, Sept. 23, 2010
But David Wessel is wrong. We New Jersey taxpayers can easily rid ourselves of the oppressive and unsustainable debts and pension obligations that are killing our economy. We just have to apply our state constitution. . . ?
For full column, go to http://www.libertyandprosperity.org/…article&id=635
2. Special Guest Speaker for the first 20 mins:
Cynthia Rose Cortopassi of the ?Chariots of the Sky? gondola project for Atlantic City. Doppelmayr CTEC is an Austrian manufacturing giant that installed 14,000 gondola projects in 82 countries. They are seeking permits to install a gondola system in Atlantic City. For more information before the meeting, contact Cynthia at 609-601-8877 ext. 4, email her at cynthiar@voicenet.com or go to http://www.chariotsofthesky.com/default.html.
3. Margate officials defy the citizens they are supposed to serve?and the law. Last Monday, a petition with the signatures of 870 Margate voters was filed with the City Clerk Tom Hiltner. This was nearly double the signatures needed to freeze a bond ordinance to borrow $2.3 million to fix up a firehouse, and force a public vote pursuant to New Jersey Statute 40:49-27 at: http://lis.njleg.state.nj.us/cgi-bin/om_isapi.dll?clientID=851906&Depth=2&TD=WRAP&advquery=protest%20against%20the%20incurring&depth=4&expandheadings=on&headingswithhits=on&hitsperheading=on&infobase=statutes.nfo&rank=&record={FC78}&softpage=Doc_Frame_PG42&wordsaroundhits=2&x=37&y=13&zz=. But City Solicitor Mary Siracusa instructed the City Clerk to ignore the petition. She claims that NJ Statute 40:49-27, which clearly applies to every town in New Jersey, does not apply to Margate. Margate City Commissioner Maury Blumberg publicly said he plans to award the contracts & borrow & spend the money anyway next week. But to issue bonds and borrow the money, Margate officials must first sign documents falsely swearing that no protest petition was filed. And if they award contracts, they must falsely swear that the money is available when it is not. How much money will these Margate officials waste before they figure out that no Wall Street broker will touch these bonds without approval by Margate voters?
4. Are cops, firefighters and public school teachers overpaid? That question has been asked over and over again on local talk radio. And it is very easy to find out the answer. How many qualified people apply for each vacant position? Roughly 200 to 400 qualified applicants apply for every open teaching job in suburban schools like Linwood. How many people apply for openings in quiet, suburban police departments? If we can cut public employee salaries and benefits and still get more than enough qualified applicants for every position, why don?t we?
5. Arizona Sheriff Gets Favorable Audit – A federal audit gave favorable grades to Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio for his treatment of inmates in his custody. The U.S. ?Justice? Department did an 18 month probe into Arpaio?s operations to retaliate against Arizona?s strict enforcement of immigration laws, but they found no evidence that Arpaio mistreated or discriminated against Hispanic inmates or anyone else. This news item appeared in the back pages of the Wall Street Journal, but hardly anywhere else.
6. Republicans and Democrats in New Jersey government are working on plans to bail out the stalled Revel Casino Project in Atlantic City (with tax breaks, loan guarantees and free road improvements), and the horseracing industry, the Xanadu entertainment complex and the Meadowlands sports complex in North Jersey (with slot machines called video lottery terminals). Every time gov’t ?stimulates? the economy in one place by giving money, tax breaks or other special deals to one business, it cripples the economy elsewhere by taking money and opportunities away from other businesses. This is why planned economies failed in Russia, Mexico and Cuba and never worked anywhere! That is why New Jersey adopted the motto “Liberty and Prosperity” 234 years ago.
7. Sen. Whelan says that state government must bail out the Revel Casino to give Atlantic City a ?wow? casino. But what happened to Whelan’s “wow” $16 million baseball stadium? His (and Senator Gormley’s) “wow” Boardwalk Hall (the old Convention Hall on the Boardwalk) is used less than once a month, but costs a fortune in heating, maintenance and loan payments.
8. Stockton College bought the abandoned Ponderlodge Resort in Cape May County from the state last year. It wants to use the place for ?environmental education?, but since Stockton used ?Green Acres? money, that use is not permitted. This year, Stockton bought the failing Seaview Country Club and Hotel in Galloway. Why? Is Stockton buying this land to benefit students, or to bail the old private owners out of bad investments?
9. By the way, why is State Government building a new facility for parole violators right in the middle of a residential neighborhood in Galloway Township where there is no public transportation, and when most offenders live in Atlantic City or Pleasantille? Does State Government really have a good reason to build there, or did it pick that particular property to bail the property owner out of a bad real estate investment?
10. Headlines from Wall Street Journal that never made the local paper: September 25: ?Credit Unions in Bailout. Federal government backs $40 billion in bonds to stabilize key institutions; subprime legacy?. September 27: Banks Keep Failing, No End in Sight. Since Washington Mutual Fell in 2008, 279 Lenders have Collapsed; Lost Jobs, Curtailed Lending, and the Big Get Bigger?. Meanwhile, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are still guaranteeing billions of dollars of new subprime loans. What part of Article I, Section 8 of our Constitution permits any of this?
11. http://www.kitco.com/ reports gold price of $1,309 per ounce, mostly because of the weaker dollar. Silver is $21.74 per ounce. Meanwhile, as the Federal Government borrows trillions of dollars to pay for the bailouts and ?stimulus? programs by selling government bonds, the Federal Reserve Bank, which is permitted to create money by instructing the government to give it newly printed money, is using that money to buy most of those bonds. How can the Federal Government print trillions of dollars of paper money, give that money to the Federal Reserve Bank, and then have the Federal Reserve Bank loan that money back to the Federal government? What part of Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution permits that? Article I, Section 8 states in part: “The Congress shall have the power to lay and collect taxes. . . To borrow money on the credit of the United States to coin money, regulate the value thereof. . . ” How can Congress delegate that power to a private bank? If the Constitution only lets Congress borrow money for the purposes described in Article I, Section 8, can Congress in the future refuse to pay loans that paid for unconstitutional spending?
12. Liberty and Prosperity Ten Core Principles for 2010:
I. No eminent domain for private gain.
II. Enforce federal immigration laws. No amnesty. Deport illegal aliens.
III. Make tax and zoning laws fair, simple, and apply them equally to everyone.
IV. Cut taxes by cutting government spending.
V. Post all government salaries, contracts and budgets online.
VI. 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.
VII. 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”.
VIII. Hold frequent non-binding referendums (public votes) on all issues of public importance.
IX. Term limits for all elected officials. Pensions for none.
X. 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.
WE NEED YOUR HELP TO GET OUR MESSAGE OUT!!! We are only reaching a small fraction of the people we need to reach to make a difference. If you have not yet done so, PLEASE pay $30 for 2010 to support the work we have done so far, and to help us do more in the future. If you live near a well traveled rural road, please let us put a sign there! If you previously called and we did not get back to you, it means the message on the answering machine was not clear, so please call again. Contact Seth Grossman at grossman@snip.net or (609) 927-7333.
Liberty and Prosperity 1776, Inc. is a non-profit, education organization. We are registered and recognized by both the State of New Jersey and the IRS as a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt charity. Our mission is to learn and teach why ‘Liberty and Prosperity’, New Jersey’s motto since 1776, is still true and relevant today — and how Americans can again be free and effective citizens.”
MEMBERSHIP REQUIREMENTS: Voting Members: $60 dues; attend 3 business meetings per year; work on one board approved project per year. Non-Voting Members: $30 per year; no attendance or volunteer requirements.