News
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- Written by: Joe Siano
- Category: Latest News
The 2013 Farm Bill needs to be reconciled between the Senate version and the House version. Let’s think about this. The Farm Bill incentivizes farmers to be unproductive in order to drive up food prices. This was instituted during the New Deal in the 1930’s.Thirty years later the Foods Stamps program was passed into law as part of President Johnson’s Great Society agenda. Presumably this was to help lower income people afford the food that the federal price supports had made so costly.
Did anyone in Washington, DC ever notice that the goal of capitalist, free market system is to create innovative methods of production and distribution so as to make so as to make goods more affordable and accessible to the masses? Occam’s Razor demands that farm price supports be lifted so that an abundance of affordable food can be provided to a hungry world.
I wonder who’s paying for all this anyway?
As a perplexed Ricky Riccardo might lament, “Lucy, you have some ‘splainen to do”.
Has anyone other than me ever noticed the ever declining prices of flat screen TVs, computers, smart phones, tablets and such?
Perhaps it’s time we had a TV Bill, and a Computer Bill and a Smart Phone Bill? Are you listening, Washington?
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- Written by: radiofriendly
- Category: Latest News
It’s been just over a month since the NSA’s dragnet surveillance program was leaked to the public. Tomorrow, Congress is voting on an amendment that would block funding for NSA programs that collect the call records of innocent Americans.
A win tomorrow may start a chain reaction – but it won’t happen unless we speak up. We have one day to convince Congress to act.
Congressional Switchboard Number: (202) 224-3121
A critical vote is happening tomorrow, July 24th, on the Defense Appropriations Bill in the House of Representatives. The bill gives taxpayer money to fund defense programs, including NSA surveillance.
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- Written by: John Paff
- Category: Open Government Advocacy Project
Following is my July 15, 2013 letter to the asking it to a) adopt my more precise and informative form of closed session resolution and b) to stop discussing general policy matters in closed session. Unfortunately, violations such as these are common among local governments.
I encourage readers to submit Open Public Records Act (OPRA) requests to their own town councils and/or school boards. Simply request "the resolutions, as required by N.J.S.A. 10:4-13, authorizing the three most recent closed or executive sessions held by [name of governing body]." If you receive resolutions that, like Winslow's, describe the closed session topics broadly and vaguely, you may want to modify the form of resolution I sent to Winslow for your town and/or school board and encourage them to adopt it.
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- Written by: Mark Lagerkvist
- Category: Police Accountability Project
O
riginally published at newjersey.watchdog.org - republished under agreement.
Joe Derrico – the disabled New Jersey cop turned roughhousing repo man on reality TV – took a hard punch today from the state Police and Firemen’s Retirement System.
The PFRS board of trustees stripped Derrico of his $69,703 a year tax-free disability pension and declared him fit to return to work for the Hamilton Township police. The action was sparked by an investigative report by New Jersey Watchdog and NBC 4 New York two months ago.
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- Written by: Mark Richards
- Category: Letters to Editor
Originally published at Suburban Trends newspaper
Dear Editor:
In the July 3rd Suburban Trends, Holly Ennist Stewart in her "My Word" column starts off by talking about the erosion of the civil liberties since 9/11 (no argument from me on that score, although the war on individual liberty started long before 9/11). From that point on, Holly’s article seems to go downhill (in a leftward direction very fast). Growth of government interference in our lives is actually the fault of the business community according to Holly, not the politicians who enact unconstitutional laws and the bureaucrats who enforce them. Did it ever occur to Holly that businesses wouldn’t have lobbyists were it not for all the unconstitutional regulations they have to deal with?
Free-market capitalism isn’t the problem; rather it’s the lack of it! As to the Voting Rights Act of 1965, what Holly doesn’t understand is that the federal government has no constitutional authority to determine state and local elections laws and policies. I have several of those pocket-sized editions of the Constitution courtesy of groups as divergent as the ACLU, the Libertarians Cato Institute, former Congressman Ron Paul, and the John Birch Society. Not one of those copies of the Constitution shows any federal power granted over local election laws. The powers of the federal government are supposed to be, as James Madison said, "few and defined."
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- Written by: Webmaster
- Category: Open Government Advocacy Project
A judge has ordered that a report on a Egg Harbor Township police officer found asleep at the wheel at a light in Northfield be made public.
John Paff, Chair of the NJ Libertarian Party Open Government Advocacy Project, tried to obtain the report in 2011 however Northfield refused to release the report. He filed suit to have the report released.
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- Written by: Patrick McKnight
- Category: Candidates and Elections
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Patrick McKnight is a Libertarian Candidate for Assembly in the 16th District. See mcknight1776.com. |
The United States Constitution is a formal agreement between a free People and their chosen form of government. As such it is the most important type of binding legal contract. The wisdom of the Constitution is in the establishment of a limited government with clearly-articulated individual freedoms. The adoption of this system and the accompanying Bill of Rights represented a singular historical triumph for civilization, as for the first time a government was established in liberty and reason rather than in plunder and force. Our Constitution, though not perfect nor a panacea, remains the bulwark of our freedom and the source of our national greatness.
This contrast is written in the blood of Patriots who made the ultimate sacrifice so that their children could live in a free, solvent United States of America. Only the Libertarian Party realizes that freedom requires constant struggle because the nature of government is to always revert backwards into illegal tyranny.
Not so long ago the American people suffered under the unlimited power of a feudal monarch. Today the monarch has been replaced by federal bureaucracy but still we are not free. Lest we forget that in an empire the individual is nothing more than government-property with legal rights essentially equivalent to an animal or inanimate object. Likewise, in an empire there can be no justice because there is no rule of law, only the arbitrary whim of monarchs and despots. In an empire human beings exist only to be exploited, sacrificed in military adventures and oppressed politically. This is the essence of the imperial-feudalism our country was founded to oppose. In America We the People are the Constitutional Sovereigns and first branch of government.
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- Written by: Alex Libman
- Category: Selected Blogs
Tent City is a voluntary institution that exists as the result of local supporters and mutual aid, saving the taxpayers 1-2 million dollars a year! It is a perfect example of how more can be accomplished on a voluntary nickel than on a dollar that has been stolen from the taxpayers by the corrupt and inefficient racket called the Welfare State! The government here has done nothing to help the homeless, and everything that it could think of to try to shut this place down... The film covers the personal stories of several individuals, as well as the never-ending harassment from the local government.
Destiny's Bridge is an authentic look into the lives of otherwise-homeless individuals living in a little village of about 100 tents and shanties - a homestead that has been built on "public" woodland over the past 7-8 years. This film will be particularly enjoyable to people interested in off-the-grid living, agorism / homesteading, the small house movement, government corruption, protests / civil disobedience, and voluntary charity. It also explores some very complex issues, like the underlying causes of homelessness in America, artificial scarcity, sustainable living, personal responsibility, addiction, love, hope and despair.
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- Written by: Webmaster
- Category: Police Accountability Project
PATERSON — A group of Paterson police officers repeatedly punched and kicked a handcuffed, nearly unconscious suspect during a 2011 arrest, according to a civil rights lawsuit filed in federal court last week.
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- Written by: John Paff
- Category: Police Accountability Project
June 27, 2013
Mary Beth Jahn, Committeewoman
Township of Neptune
25 Neptune Blvd
Neptune, NJ (via e-mail to
RE: Neptune Police Department Internal Affairs Procedure
Dear Committeewoman Jahn:
I invite your attention to our blog entry entitled "CLOSED: Internal Affairs Complaint - Neptune Township" which is on-line here.
As you will see, the blog post contains our Internal Affairs Complaint against Neptune Police Lieutenant Robert Mangold with a link to the Internal Affairs Unit's June 24, 2013 letter which exonerated Mangold. From a careful reading of the complaint, the court opinion upon which our complaint was based and the IA Unit's response, it appears that: a) Mangold directed a subordinate officer to conduct a warrantless strip-search of an arrestee; b) two courts, finding that the strip-search was illegal, suppressed the evidence that was the fruit of the search and c) neither Mangold's nor the subordinate officer's actions violated any departmental rules, procedures or other standard.
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- Written by: John Paff
- Category: Open Government Advocacy Project
In a twenty-three page opinion issued on June 25, 2013, Atlantic County Superior Court Assignment Judge Julio L. Mendez ruled that the public is allowed to see a report written by Egg Harbor Township Police Sergeant Michael Hughes soon after Northfield Police found an off-duty Egg Harbor Township officer named Jeffrey Lancaster asleep behind the wheel of his personal vehicle during the early morning hours of February 27, 2011. Judge Mendez's opinion and order are on-line here and background on the lawsuit is on-line here.
Judge Mendez found that since there was no internal affairs investigation pending at the time Hughes wrote his report, it was not subject to the Open Public Records Act (OPRA) exception that restricts access to records that "pertain to an investigation in progress." Judge Mendez, noting that police officers serve "in a position of trust" found that disclosure of the report "will only fortify the trust and credibility afforded to the Egg Harbor Township police department by its citizenry."
The court did allow certain "legitimately confidential information" to be redacted from Hughes' report and denied access to Lancaster's preliminary and final disciplinary records that arose from the incident.
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- Written by: Webmaster
- Category: Candidates and Elections
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NEWS RELEASE from KENNETH KAPLAN, Libertarian Party Candidate for Governor
A long-time supporter of marriage equality, Kenneth Kaplan, Libertarian Party candidate for Governor, applauded the two Supreme Court decisions on that subject today. "This is a great day for Americans of all sexual orientations. It is a civil rights victory that we should all celebrate together!" He went on to say, "Chris Christie vetoed a bill that would have established marriage equality in New Jersey, and voters should remember that in November."
See Ken testifying before the New Jersey Civil Union Review Commission in 2008 in this video.
In the year 2019 the worst economic collapse in history has rocked the United States and many questions have been left unanswered. Federal Reserve Investigator, Jay Nelson (De’Lon Grant), is assigned to a suspected arson case where a group of homes, owned by the Federal Reserve Bank, have been burned to the ground. His investigation soon leads him to a thriving, underground Rebel movement that is poised to destroy the Federal Reserve. Jay realizes there is much more to this arson case than meets the eye, and after being baited by the beautiful and vigilant Rebel leader, Zoe Taylor (Philana Mia), Jay begins to question his allegiance to the Fed. With an ageless, yet well-timed message against corruption, Silver Circle is a story that may feel a little too close for comfort.
We will be screening this movie at dusk during our picnic on July 13th. The picnic is a joint effort of the Campaign for Liberty and the New Jersey Libertarian Party. We start our meetings around noon with a picnic afterwards. There is a hot tub and plenty of room for camping out. See our meetup page for more details.
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- Written by: John Paff
- Category: Open Government Advocacy Project
Today, June 21, 2013, the Appellate Division of the Superior Court affirmed a lower court's dismissal of Michael Taffaro's false arrest lawsuit against the Borough of Ridgefield and Borough Mayor Anthony A. Suarez. The court's opinion is on-line here.
According to the opinion, Taffaro, who claimed to have been put on Suarez's persona non grata list after having publicly criticized him during his mayoral campaign, had been convicted of fourth degree contempt,had been convicted of fourth degree contempt, a conviction that was later reversed by the New Jersey Supreme Court. But, before the Supreme Court's reversal of the conviction, Taffaro had submitted an Open Public Records Act (OPRA) request form to the Borough Clerk that contained the standard language regarding the requestor's conviction status. On the form, Taffaro certified that he had not been convicted, even though the Supreme Court had yet to reverse his conviction.
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- Written by: Patrick McKnight
- Category: Candidates and Elections
I am proud to be the Libertarian candidate for New Jersey Assembly in the 16th District. It is my honor and privilege to represent the cause of freedom here in the Crossroads of the American Revolution. I am not a career politician. I am a fourth-generation Skillman, New Jersey farmer. I graduated from Rutgers University with highest honors, a 3.96 GPA and degrees in Philosophy and Sociology. I have taught US History and Economics at Camden Academy Charter High School in Camden, NJ. My band has performed 80 shows, received airplay on over 200 radio stations and recorded four studio albums in Hillsborough. My 2012 Libertarian run for US House in the NJ-7th earned 4,078 votes.
New fashion statements are often not accepted by the majority - including me. We have all seen the kid walking down the street with his pants down below his butt and his underwear showing. When the fashion started I would often remark to kids - "Your pants are falling down!" For some reason I was always ignored. Such differences in fashion sense are often accompanied by differences in generations, ethnicities, and musical tastes.
Last night, the Wildwood Board of Commissioners have decided to ban the wearing of baggy pants on the boardwalk. These three old white guys have made the first offense a fine of up to $100. A second offense carries a fine of $200. Community service can also be forced upon these dangerous criminals.
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- Written by: John Paff
- Category: Open Government Advocacy Project
In a decision handed down today, June 13, 2013, a three-judge panel of the New Jersey Superior Court, Appellate Division, ruled that the New Jersey State Firemen's Association (NJSFA) "is a public agency under the Open Public Records Act (OPRA)."
I am the plaintiff in the case. I have served since 1992 as a volunteer firefighter and am a life member of the NJSFA. I submitted an OPRA request to the NJSFA in September 2011 which was denied because the NJSFA asserted that it was not subject to OPRA. With Richard Gutman of Montclair as my attorney, I filed suit challenging the denial and my suit was dismissed on February 17, 2012 by Union County Superior Court Judge Regina Caufield. I appealed and the Appellate Division, in a published decision, reversed the dismissal and remanded for further proceedings. Caufield's decision is on-line here and the Appellate Division's is on-line here.
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- Written by: Alex Pugliese
- Category: Selected Blogs
Recently at a gathering in Rome, Pope Francis stated that in order to help out the poor and the downtrodden, government must do more. While I admire the Pope’s adoration for the less fortunate and those at the bottom of the economic ladder, I believe that government assistance is the last thing that they need. After more than 70 years of the Welfare State, and the implementation of social programs designed to help the poor, the state has failed and, instead of helping the poor and the downtrodden, it has enslaved them, so much so that they consider it a lifestyle. They have become so dependent on the state to assist them in housing, food etc. that they do not want to be self-sufficient, moving up the latter and being independent. They have chosen to become slaves of government.
Most people will then ask me the following question: “If the state cannot help the poor and the downtrodden, then who can?” Here’s the answer: Churches, Synagogues, Non-Profits, Businesses, Institutions, Individuals and others. If given the opportunity, these entities not only can help out the poor and the downtrodden, but they can also teach the value and worth of being independent, having dignity and being free in a free society. Furthermore, they would be the teachers and helpers of the free market and upward mobility whereas the state cannot do that.
At this time, this viewpoint is not welcomed by most Americans. However, with the enormity of the national debt and with the enormity of trillions in unfunded liabilities to fund these social programs, this will be considered and it should be. I believe in the future that the help of the private sector will be more welcoming than the help of government and that the American people will be the better for it.
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- Written by: Jay Edgar
- Category: Latest News
In a recent Star Ledger column, Paul Mulshine, argues that opponents of the current bill that raises the legal purchase age of tobacco products from 19 to 21 are “crackpot libertarians.” He makes an accurate and convincing argument that tobacco use is not good for anyone, and I certainly don’t condone the use of tobacco by anyone, regardless of age. However, mandating the use of government power to control the behavior of consenting adults is wrong.
The age of majority has traditionally been 18 in the United States. At 18 you can vote, be treated as an adult in the criminal justice system and be shipped off to a foreign country to fight a war for our politicians (even forcibly via conscription). Yet at the age of 18 one can not make the choice of what they can do with their own bodies? It doesn't matter if the age of adulthood and responsibility is being dictated by the State or by the Federal Government. Either you own yourself, or as Mulshine is arguing, the government owns you.