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| The Unknown Taxpayer made an appearance at the tea party on the Morristown Green. He was there representing the thousands of New Jerseyans who were afraid to show their faces in opposition to the IRS for fear of audits or harassment. |
Yesterday, members of the NJ Libertarian Party attended Tea Party Rallies across the state. The citizens of this state and the NJLP are outraged over the enormous growth of government at both the state and federal levels. The Bush-Obama bailouts are just the straw that has broken the camel's back.
The NJ Libertarian Party has held tax day demonstrations across the state every year since 1972. We are happy to see a revival of the same libertarian principles that our founders espoused and look forward to the day that government intrusions into our bedrooms, our relationship, and our wallets are rolled back by our elected leaders.
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Study from Nation's Largest Taxpayer Group Shows Individuals, Corps., Spending Nearly $300 Billion on Tax Compliance
(Alexandria, Va.) -- Complying with the nation's Tax Code now costs American families and businesses more time, money, and frustration than ever, according to the 362,000-member National Taxpayers Union's (NTU) 11th annual study of tax complexity trends. Taxpayers using any of the 1040 tax form series will spend an average of 26.4 hours and $209 completing their returns for the most current tax year, up from 25.4 hours and $185 four years ago.
"Just in time for the Tax Day 'Tea Party' revolts being held around the country tomorrow is the unsurprising news that taxpayers are bedeviled by increasingly complex federal income tax regulations," NTU Senior Counselor and study author David Keating said. "If our study tells us anything, it's that Americans are ready to toss the U.S. Tax Code overboard and start anew with a simpler and more transparent version."
NTU has conducted comprehensive examinations of Tax Code complexity since 1999, providing historical trends of the burden on Americans to comply with IRS demands. Among 2009's findings:
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There is nothing more intense and passionate than when men and women debate political, social, judicial, religious, philosophical and economic issues. Debates have a tenacity to raise voices, evoke feelings and raise the blood levels up a notch. They are also morally stimulating and, at least to me, morally fulfilling (what can I say, I like to joust).
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Over a period of years, I have witnessed the deterioration of the public discourse with regard to politics, social and economic issues and religion and so on. I have witnessed this with churches being attacked, because they oppose abortion or gay marriage; I have witnessed this in the colleges and universities, where invited speakers have been assaulted, heckled, spat upon, bum rushed and shouted down; I have seen this with the mainstream press, where if someone strays away from an individual, collective, editorial position, or even an ideological position, that person is tarred, feathered and personally attacked along with his or her family; and I have even seen this when a private citizen has been attacked and investigated solely because he or she dares ask a question of a politician regarding his or her position or policy.
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There have been politicians that have ran for executive offices such as governor or president, that have promised that they were going to deliver great changes to the state and to the country. Often times, the moment that these politicians are sworn in, is the moment that reality hits them. They find that it is difficult to bring about changes and reforms because the legislative branch is controlled by the opposition party with its own agenda, and because some of the executive branch's own party members may not be on board. This situation can not only be seen in Washington, D.C. but also in the northeastern states, in California and elsewhere.
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This article is not yet complete.
The Law and Public Safety Division is currently run by Christopher Porrino, Attorney General for the State of NJ. This department was reported to have 7,780 employees in 2008. 914 (11.7%) of them made more than $100,000. The 2010 budget estimates spending at $566 million in 2009 and $546 million in 2010. Their mission statement is described as:
The mission of the Department of Law and Public Safety is to protect the safety, security, and quality of life of the people of New Jersey through an integrated and coordinated structure of law enforcement and regulatory agencies. The Department represents the public’s rights and interests in all legal matters. With ten divisions, as well as independent commissions and boards, the department has wide-ranging responsibilities critical to the people of New Jersey. The Attorney General, as head of the department, serves as the state’s chief law enforcement officer and legal advisor, and is responsible for the management and administration of the department. The Attorney General oversees the criminal justice system, protects the safety of the public, and defends the state against lawsuits. The Department regulates the casino, boxing, alcoholic beverage and racing industries. The Department also protects consumers against fraud. While these responsibilities are varied, the Department is singularly united in protecting the safety and security of all those who live, work, and visit New Jersey.
The Division is broken down into twelve categories.
NJ State Police
In 2008 the NJ State Police employed 4,485 employees. The State Police functions include general police service, general highway and traffic enforcement, investigative and intelligence services, emergency management, support for local law enforcement, maintenance of criminal records, and regulation of "certain" commerce.
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Our current income tax system, inaugurated in 1913 with the adoption of the 16th Amendment, began with a 1 percent tax on taxable income above $3,000 ($4,000 for married couples). A series of surcharges of up to 6 percent were applied to higher incomes, with the maximum rate being 7 percent on taxable income over $500,000. Less than 0.5 percent of the population ended up paying income tax.
From these humble beginnings, the income tax soon blossomed, thanks to World War I, into a tax with a minimum rate that doubled and a maximum rate that reached 77 percent on income of over $1 million.
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The James Madison Center filed two federal lawsuits on Friday, April 3, 2009, to challenge the IRS definition of "political intervention," which has been used by the IRS to stifle the legitimate speech activities of many non-profit organizations.
For decades the IRS has applied an "all the facts and circumstances" test to the grass roots lobbying, issue advocacy and voter education activity of non-profits to determine if the non-profit has actually engaged in prohibited political activity. Furthermore, this vague IRS test has been exploited by some liberal groups to threaten and harass churches and other non-profits, causing many of them to be fearful of IRS retribution if they discussed moral or public policy issues. Non-profits have even shied away from legitimate grass roots lobbying activity in fear that it will be considered political intervention. As a result, the legitimate speech activities of many non-profits have been chilled and their free speech rights infringed.
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Over a period of time, I been hearing this phrase that there are "businesses that are too big to fail." Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey stated that of the automobile industry with regards to General Motors, Chrysler and Ford when he wrote me in response to an online letter that I sent him. Now it seems like that is the case with regard to every industry, particularly the newspapers.
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Washington DC - Effective September 1, 2009 the federal government shall be transitioning to four digit acronyms for all of its agencies. The current use of three digits only allows for only 1,692 combinations (accounting for unusable acronyms due to current usage). Transitioning to four digits will allow for over four hundred thousand combinations.
This change is necessary because with the current growth rate the federal government is expected to run out of usable acronyms by the summer of 2010. Existing agencies will have an A added to the end (unless such use conflicts with an existing usage).
The Office of Federal Registry (OFRA) shall shortly be publishing a list of all updated acronyms.
Heard on Off the Hook.
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Read the full article...The mother of the New Jersey girl whose death inspired Megan's Law is criticizing prosecutors who charge teenagers with child porn for distributing nude photos of themselves.
Maureen Kanka said Thursday that the prosecutors are harming the children more than helping them.
Her comments came as authorities in Passaic County charged a 14-year-old girl with child pornography for posting nude photos of herself on MySpace.com.
If she is convicted, she would have to register with the state as a sex offender under Megan's Law.
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Hello Libertarians,
The NJ Libertarian Party Convention was a rousing success. It was wonderful to see other Libertarians who saw the future with as much optimism as I do. The speakers were fantastic, including Wayne Allyn Root, Jim Bennett, Howard Kupferman, and Walter Luers. I cannot imagine a better lineup than what we had at this convention. We have video of the speakers and when it has been posted online I will inform everyone. The elections also went well with the following results:
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: