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- Written by: Jay Edgar
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The Atlantic has posted an excellent analysis of the ills of our current health care system. David Goldhill presents the problems and shows that Obamacare will do nothing to solve the problems.
After the needless death of his father, the author, a business executive, began a personal exploration of a health-care industry that for years has delivered poor service and irregular quality at astonishingly high cost. It is a system, he argues, that is not worth preserving in anything like its current form. And the health-care reform now being contemplated will not fix it. Here’s a radical solution to an agonizing problem.
How American Health Care Killed My Father
Illustration by Mark Hooper Almost two years ago, my father was killed by a hospital-borne infection in the intensive-care unit of a well-regarded nonprofit hospital in New York City. Dad had just turned 83, and he had a variety of the ailments common to men of his age. But he was still working on the day he walked into the hospital with pneumonia. Within 36 hours, he had developed sepsis. Over the next five weeks in the ICU, a wave of secondary infections, also acquired in the hospital, overwhelmed his defenses. My dad became a statistic—merely one of the roughly 100,000 Americans whose deaths are caused or influenced by infections picked up in hospitals. One hundred thousand deaths: more than double the number of people killed in car crashes, five times the number killed in homicides, 20 times the total number of our armed forces killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. Another victim in a building American tragedy.
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- Written by: Jay Edgar
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The Unseen Cost of Minimum Wage Laws
The media are never better at displaying their economic illiteracy than when they report on the minimum wage.
"Workers got a raise on Friday when the federal minimum wage was hiked 70 cents to $7.25 an hour," the Christian Science Monitor reported last week. "They'll be shouting, "Olé!"
They assume that if politicians declare that workers should get a raise, they will actually get it. But the idea that government can increase wages by decree with only good consequences rests on a serious economic fallacy: that employers set wages arbitrarily. If wages are very low, it must be that employers are stingy.
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- Written by: Jay Edgar
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While truth can shine a light, it usually takes lies to generate heat.
Take the immigration debate, which is about to get underway again. President Obama has said that he intends to pursue comprehensive immigration reform. And recently, New York Senator Chuck Schumer said that he planned to have a bill written by Labor Day. We can expect six to eight months of spirited debate before Spring 2010, at which point Congress will either have passed the bill or defeated it.
Whenever we talk about immigration, much of the heat that is generated comes from myths and assumptions masquerading as facts. These are things that people know in their bones to be true, even though they aren’t really true at all. An example is when people say immigrant birthrates in the United States are going up, but all the available research points to the fact that newcomers are having smaller families — mostly for economic reasons.
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- Written by: John Paff
- Category: Open Government Advocacy Project
On June 2, 2009, the Open Government Advocacy Project filed a complaint with the Hasbrouck Heights (Bergen County) Ethical Standards Board alleging that twenty-six Borough officials failed to file the Financial Disclosure Statements that were due on April 30, 2008.
I recently was informed that the Ethical Standards Board will meet on August 10, 2009 to "determine the penalty that shall be imposed upon those who were charged with respect to violation of the 2008 Financial Disclosure Statement." The meeting, which will start at 8 p.m. and be held at Borough Hall, 320 Boulevard, is open to the public.
The officials could each be fined between $100 and $500.
The complaint and notice of the meeting are on-line at http://ogtf.lpcnj.org/2009208PC//HHEthComplaint.pdf
John Paff, Chair
New Jersey Libertarian Party's
Open Government Advocacy Project
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- Category: Latest News
There's an article in today's Star Ledger about a judge ruling that a marijuana-growing defendant cannot inform the jury that he has multiple sclerosis and grew the 17 plants for medicinal purposes.
It strikes me that this would be a good case for the LP to take interest in, as it deals both with re-legalization and jury nullification. In fact, the Judge mentioned nullification in his ruling--that allowing the medical defense to be raised "would create a powerful emotional argument in favor of jury nullification because it gives defendant a sympathetic reason for breaking the law."
FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP -- A Somerset County man won't be able to use multiple sclerosis as a defense for the 17 marijuana plants police found growing behind his house, a Superior Court judge ruled today.
A claim of personal use simply does not apply to the charges against Franklin Township resident John Ray Wilson, Judge Robert Reed said, following a hearing today in Somerville.
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- Written by: John Paff
- Category: Open Government Advocacy Project
The North Plainfield Citizens for Community Rights (NPCCR) has submitted a petition to the North Plainfield Borough Council that will force a "Sunshine" referendum to the ballot. The referendum, if approved by the voters, will require the Borough government to be much more open and transparent. A copy of the petition is on-line a here.
The NPCCR was able to do this because North Plainfield has a form of government chartered under the Optional Municipal Charter Law of 1950 (OMCL), also known as the Faulkner Act. All such forms of government allow citizens to bypass their elected officials and put binding laws on the ballot for voter approval.
More information on the OMCL and an unverified list of municipalities that have Faulkner charters are, respectively, at the following links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faulkner_Act_(New_Jersey)
http://www.economicexpert.com/a/Faulkner:Act:Mayor:Council.htm
Readers living in a Faulkner municipality should consider petitioning for a referendum similar to North Plainfield's. Those living in a non-Faulkner municipality should consider petitioning for adoption of a Faulkner charter (see N.J.S.A. 40:69A-1 et seq.)
John Paff
Somerset, New Jersey
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- Written by: Jay Edgar
- Category: Candidates and Elections
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Kenneth Kaplan announced today that he has chosen John Paff as his Lieutenant Governor. Paff has chaired the New Jersey Libertarian Party’s Open Government Advocacy Project for the past 5 years. Praising his work in that capacity, Kaplan said, “Paff has served as a watchdog for New Jersey citizens, assuring that the workings of local government are properly recorded and made available for public scrutiny. If we are elected, I will appoint him as Commissioner of the Department of Community Affairs, where his expertise on local government will stand New Jersey residents in good stead. He will only draw one salary. There will be no double dipping in a Kaplan administration.”
Paff is a 1979 graduate of Rutgers University, where he majored in economics. He was president of City Line Insurance, Inc from 1979 – 1988, and currently manages rental real estate. A resident of Franklin Township for the past 23 years, he has been a member of the Middlebush Volunteer Fire Department in Somerset for 17 years and has been president of that fire company since 2008. He and his wife, Diane, are the parents of 2 children.
Said Kaplan, “I cannot be happier that John has agreed to be my running mate. I have admired his long time volunteer work on behalf of open government in our state, and I am excited about what he would be able to do as the head of the Department of Community Affairs.
For more information contact the campaign.
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LP Founder, David Nolan, has posted the following letter to the LNC:
Herewith, my best wishes to the members of Libertarian National Committee as it convenes for business in St. Louis, Missouri. You are voluntarily spending your own time and resources to advance the cause of liberty in America, and I commend you all for your commitment.
I hope that you will proceed in a spirit of amity, and urge you to use your time productively. Do not waste it on internal bickering, attempts to censure or expel other Libertarians, and other such trivia. Our country is in deep trouble. Now, more than ever before, the Libertarian Party must offer a coherent and compelling alternative to the stale policies of statism. People are ready to hear our message -- if that message is stated clearly and boldly. The success of Ron Paul's 2008 campaign and its outgrowth, the Campaign for Liberty, show that millions of Americans are hungry for real change.
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Found on freedomwatch.uservoice.com This case shall be the subject of tonight's Peace, Freedom, and Prosperity Movement Radio Show.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
NEW JERSEY'S WAR ON LEGAL GUN OWNERSABOUT THE VICTIM:
Brian Aitken is a 25 year old father of a one year old son. He is a Publisher by trade who grew up in New Jersey and attended Rutgers University. He spends his free time snowboarding, surfing, volunteering and reading.
Brian has been falsely imprisoned, charged and indicted of a crime he did not commit. If found guilty he faces seven (7) years in jail. There is reason to believe his 2nd, 4th and 5th Amendment Rights have been violated... and he needs your help.
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There are now thousands of internet radio stations that you can choose from using either a computer or an internet enabled radio player.
I've bought myself an internet radio appliance (Roku) and have been listening to the many libertarian oriented talkshows that are available. I'm going to create an index to the radio stations that I've found here.
NJLP radio commercials, along with selected music have been indexed by playlist.com and can be listened to using our radio player.
NOTE: Originally published some time ago. I've removed dead links and added some shows. I apologize if some of these shows are more right wing than freedom oriented. I haven't had a chance to listen to all of them. I'm sure there are more that I haven't found yet.
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- Written by: Alex Pugliese
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Imagine, if you will, a single young lady with three children working a job making $12,000 to $18,000 annually. A woman that literally is struggling to make ends meet and provide food and shelter for her children. One day, she creates a product in her apartment and markets the product by creating a stand outside her home. People are in awe of it. Overnight, this product becomes a sensation and makes the young lady a millionaire. She enjoys the success she has achieved.
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NEW YORK (Reuters) - Two northern New Jersey mayors, several rabbis and other politicians were arrested on Thursday in a federal investigation into public corruption and international money laundering, U.S. authorities said.
Among the approximately 30 people arrested were Hoboken Mayor Peter Cammarano, who took office 23 days ago, Secaucus Mayor Dennis Elwell, state Assemblyman Daniel Van Pelt and Jersey City Deputy Mayor Leona Beldini, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Newark.
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Our Warped Tour booths in Camden and Oceanport were a resounding success.
We exposed hundreds of youth to the party, while enjoying ourselves at the festivals.
We administered the World Smallest Political Quiz to 204 individuals. This quiz is used to educate and identify political ideologies. Everyone who took the quiz got a sticker posted at their location on a poster size version of the political map. The Quiz is an excellent outreach tool in that it allows us to educate voters on freedom and identify those who agree with us while respecting the beliefs of those who disagree with us.
The results were very encouraging and I believe represent a shift in our youth towards liberty. I also noticed our booth was more popular than the several left leaning booths that were at the festival.
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Yesterday my daughter and I attended a screening of Bob Bowdon's documentary, The Cartel. The Cartel is being showcased by the Jersey Shore Film Festival.
The Cartel effectively presents what is wrong with our schools and presents some ideas for fixing the problems. Data is presented showing how poorly NJ schools perform compared to the rest of the world and the nation, despite having the highest funding in the world. Solutions presented all involve breaking up the NJ education cartel and cultivating a free market approach that rewards the best schools and teachers.
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H.R. 2454: American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 will result in a totalitarian centralization of the American economy in the administrative agencies of the federal government, especially the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). This 1,300 page horror is a prime example of congressional modus operandi -- no one in Congress actually had the opportunity to read the bill which was, incidentally, being amended as it was debated on the floor. As H.R. 2454 shows, this axiom still holds true: the more benign the title of a congressional bill, the more draconian its contents. After all, who could be against clean energy or security? The real goal of H.R. 2454 has nothing to do with either of these; it is a power grab, pure and simple.
While we have all heard much about the tax implications of H.R. 2454 and that every American family could see a $3,000 a year increase in their energy costs, H.R. 2454 does much more than that. H.R. 2454 is a fascistic fait accompli, giving the government expansive powers to regulate, subsidize, and tax more sectors of the economy. The bill authorizes more federal government control over the electrical grid, state and local building codes, lighting and appliances, industry, the financial markets, and, perhaps most ominously of all, the health care system. In addition, it includes wealth redistribution measures and would allow increases in foreign aid.
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I just returned from the Jackson Tea Party. I'm not sure whether to get excited about the popularity of the Tea Parties or to get depressed. The large attendance at the many tea parties represent an awakening political movement revolting against our high taxation. However, the Tea Parties have been taken over by right wing conservatives. This is the same group who was silent while the Bush Administration pissed all over our rights.
Conservatives are not libertarians of any sort. Conservatives have demanded government intrusions into the privacy of our bedrooms, jailing of those who ingest non mainstream drugs, and want government to control marriage. They often want to stop the human right of free travel demanding more control over legal immigration based on protectionism. They believe in free markets in products, but carve out an exception in the free market when it comes to labor.