News
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- Written by: Richard A. Lee
- Category: Latest News
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Richard A. Lee, Director of Communications for the Hall Institute of Public Policy – New Jersey, has 30 years of professional experience in journalism and public relations. At the Hall Institute, he is responsible for media relations and all promotional and marketing activities. He also conducts research and writes papers for the institute, focusing on media, government and politics. |
Having been in the room eight years ago when the State House Press Corps staged a mini-revolt in reaction to the McGreevey Administration’s attempt to set a new set of ground rules for a press briefing on the state’s fiscal condition, I must admit I was mildly amused to learn that history seems to have repeated itself in the early days of the Christie Administration.
Back in 2002, reporters walked out of a budget briefing when they were told they could not tape record the session nor could they quote by name the officials who would be outlining the issue and answering questions.
Fast forward to 2010 and the special address on the state’s budget crisis that Governor Christie delivered to the Legislature last week. According to Sunday’s Star-Ledger, the Governor’s staffers insisted that reporters refrain from using tape recorders and from quoting those conducting the briefing by name. The ground rules didn’t sit any better with the press corps this time around, but apparently a compromise of sorts was reached. Reporters were allowed to record the session, but still could not identify the officials giving the briefing.
What makes this case of déjà vu all the more intriguing is that Christie and McGreevey are on opposite ends of the political world – and that this is not an isolated similarity.
Shortly after he was elected in November, Christie tapped David Samson to head his transition committee — the same David Samson whom McGreevey chose as his Attorney General eight years earlier.
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- Written by: pugmaster
- Category: Selected Blogs
Over a period of a few years, there have been individuals that have been claiming that the subject of Global Warming is real as well as a scientific fact. From individuals such as Robert Kennedy, Jr., Al Gore, Arianna Huffington, and others making this claim, they have all spoke in unison and stated that the debate was over and that no further discussion was necessary. Now, we find out that the science concerning this issue is faulty and that the debate is far from over. Nevertheless, the Global Warming alarmists, including the press, continue to peddle this belief that there is no need for further discussion or inquiry. One must ask "What is the reason for this?" The answer, to some, will be surprising.
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- Written by: Webmaster
- Category: Preempted Ordinance Repeal Project
Guttenberg is latest to repeal 'outdated' loitering and disorderly persons ordinances
Wednesday, February 17, 2010By KARINA L. ARRUEJOURNAL STAFF WRITERGUTTENBERG - Loiterers and loafers here are getting a break. The town recently repealed two ordinances - one for loitering and another for disorderly persons - that are considered out of date. Other towns with similar ordinances on the books are being asked to repeal them as well.
The two ordinances were tossed at the request of the New Jersey Libertarian Party's Preempted Ordinance Repeal Project, which has successfully had such ordinances removed in dozens of municipalities throughout the state.
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- Written by: pugmaster
- Category: Selected Blogs
There are people in the U.S. that are connoisseurs of wines, soft drinks, guns, food, music, books, television movies and shows, as well as cheese. Me? I am a connoisseur of cars and trucks. I love all kinds of motor vehicles: Classics, Multi make, domestic and foreign.
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- Written by: Webmaster
- Category: Preempted Ordinance Repeal Project
Wanaque amends its anti-loitering law
Sunday, February 14, 2010
BY TERESA EDMOND
Suburban Trends STAFF WRITEREleven years after the Supreme Court of the United States declared anti-loitering laws unconstitutional, the mayor and Borough Council on Feb. 9 adopted changes to the borough's anti-loitering ordinance to bring it into compliance with federal law.
Wanaque's repeal is "great," said John Paff, chairman of the Preempted Ordinance Repeal Project for the NJ Libertarian Party.
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- Written by: John Paff
- Category: Preempted Ordinance Repeal Project
Two more municipalities--Guttenberg (Hudson County) and Maplewood (Essex County) -- have repealed their loitering and similar ordinances at the request of the NJLP's Preempted Ordinance Repeal Project. For the list of towns that have so far repealed their ordinances, see http://www.lpcnj.org/OGTF/Loiter.html.
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- Written by: pugmaster
- Category: Selected Blogs
Today I was reading two stories concerning the debt crisis in Greece. For more than three decades, Greece’s government, under both socialist and conservative control, has always caved to union and worker concerns by promising handouts and government services and support. Greece’s deficit is estimated to be 12.7% of Gross Domestic Product with the country’s overall debt way above 110% of GDP. The situation reached a crescendo when it was announced by the government of George Papandreou, that there was no more money in the state coffers. Papandreou went on to state that Greece would have to take austerity measures to deal with the debt crisis. This decision angered thousands of Greek civil servants, so much so that they protested at Klafthmonos Square, an area known to hold rallies for dissent.
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- Written by: John Paff
- Category: Police Accountability Project
The NJLP Open Government Task Force joined forces with the Union County Watchdog Association to ask why Gennaro Mirabella, a 17 year veteran of the Garwood Borough Police Department (and brother of a Union County Freeholder) was not prosecuted after reportedly having been caught on videotape breaking the law.
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- Written by: pugmaster
- Category: Selected Blogs
The Department of Homeland Security was created as a government institution to monitor and stop foreign and terrorist threats to the United States Homeland. However, particularly under President Barack Obama, the Department has been literally used as an instrument to label individuals and groups who disagree with his administration’s policies as “threats to the homeland.” This Department has labeled soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan as threats to national security, including gun owners and libertarian and conservative groups.
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- Written by: John Paff
- Category: Preempted Ordinance Repeal Project
At the request of the Libertarian Party's Preempted Ordinance Repeal Project, the Borough of Wanaque (Passaic County) repealed the invalid portions of its "Peace and Good Order" Code on February 8, 2010. See http://www.lpcnj.org/OGTF/Loiter.html.
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- Written by: pugmaster
- Category: Selected Blogs
On Monday, February 14, the City of New York will be launching a new “Panel Management Program.” This program will work with medical practitioners in the city who use electronic heath records to find needy patients. Afterwards, an outreach specialist hired by the city will work with these medical practices and phone these patients for check ups. Once again, the Nanny State has reared its ugly head.
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- Written by: Jay Edgar
- Category: Latest News
The big government tendencies of the Republican party has caused many conservatives to question what they really believe in. Many are finding the Libertarian Party as a viable alternative to their beliefs. Some are right, some are wrong. While some may be discovering the true values of liberty, others are bringing their big government social agendas and belief in a pro-interventionist foreign policy with them.
TakeBackTheLP.info is an attempt to bring the LP back to its original belief system.
Greetings, libertarian! We need your your help with a special project -- restoring the party of principle.
America needs a Libertarian Party worthy of pride and respect -- a party it can look to for the right answers to the big questions.
America needs a presidential candidate who talks about the non-aggression principle.
America needs a platform and national candidate to advocate no-compromise abolition; to explain that there are ways to fulfill the world’s social needs without the violence of a coercive state.
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- Written by: Jay Edgar
- Category: Latest News
After a contentious battle the Stillwater Township Committee has voted to disband their police force. The decision was based mostly on financial reasons. There were allegations of police harassment of those who supported disbanding the police on Free Talk Live this past week.
Read the full story...By ELISA D. KELLER
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. STILLWATER — There were tears and quiet complaints from a defeated crowd of police supporters Thursday night, as a special meeting of the Stillwater Township Committee ended with a unanimous vote to disband the municipality’s local police force in favor of coverage by the New Jersey State Police.
“I want to thank all of you for coming out,” Stillwater Township Police Chief Anthony Kozlowski said to the crowd of around 100 people before the committee’s vote.
During the nearly four-hour meeting, many of the people in attendance spoke out in favor of a continued police presence in Stillwater, offering up personal stories of Stillwater police officers delivering babies, saving children’s lives, and responding to the scene of an accident in record time.
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- Written by: John Paff
- Category: Preempted Ordinance Repeal Project
The city of Long Branch in Monmouth County, at the NJ Libertarian Party's Preempted Ordinance Repeal Project's request, repealed its loitering ordinance on January 26th.
Of note is that Long Branch made the news last year when they detained Bob Dylan for loitering.
Subcategories
NJ Libertarian Blog
Imported from NJ Libertarian News from the published feed
Videos
This is a page of various videos that we have either created or found interesting. Be sure to check out and follow our YouTube page.
Open Government Advocacy Project
The Open Government Advocacy Project is a committee of the NJ Libertarian Party. Its goal is to ensure transparency and accountability at all levels of government. Articles posted here are a subset of the work of the committee. For more information visit the Open Government Advocacy Project blog.
If you would like to demand accountability and ensure that your local governing body or school board adheres to the Open Public Records Act we can help you request information from them. Contact John Paff, the project chair here.
Insight New Jersey
NJ government is huge and complex. Private industry is shrinking while the size and cost of government bureacracy continues to grow. The articles posted here provide a guide of the NJ State Government and can be used by citizens and candidates for office to evaluate what departments can be reduced drastically in size.
We'll start with just some of the departments and provide a breakdown on what they do (or purport to do), how many employees they have and how big their budget is.
Preempted Ordinance Repeal Project
The New Jersey Libertarian Party's Preempted Ordinance Repeal Project (“the Project”) seeks to get New Jersey municipalities to repeal loitering ordinances that should have been -- but were not -- repealed when the New Jersey Code of Criminal Justice was enacted in 1979. The Project has successfully had loitering ordinances repealed in over 30 towns. For a summary listing of all the towns see Preempted Ordinance Repeal Project page.
Police Accountability Project
The Police Accountability Project is a committee of the NJ Libertarian Party. Its goal is to search out cases of police misconduct, file former Internal Affairs (IA) complaints when appropriate, and to publicize violations of rules and laws by the police. There may be other stories posted on the NJLP Police Internal Affairs Complaint Blog page.
If you would like to help or know of a case we should be looking at, contact the committee at
Legislative Affairs Committee
The Legislative Affairs Committee was created to allow a select core of Volunteers to take action on legislation and policies which directly affects the people of New Jersey.
[INTRO VIDEO - HOSTED ON NJLP STATE YOUTUBE AND EMBEDED HERE]
Staff
Legislative Director and Committee Chair
Volunteers: