News
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- Written by: Mark Lagerkvist
- Category: Selected Blogs
There’s a ‘Heck’ of hypocrisy in Chris Christie’s call for disability pension reform during his State of the State address.
“Our pension system is burdened by some who collect disability retirement because they claim they are ‘totally and permanently’ disabled, but are now working full-time,” said New Jersey’s governor, ignoring the problem in his own office.
Adam J. Heck, one of Christie’s state lawyers, has collected a $110,000 salary plus nearly $45,000 a year in tax-free disability retirement checks from the state.
At age 28, Heck retired as a Middletown Township police officer in 1993. He was struck on the hand with a hockey stick while responding to a domestic dispute, according to state pension records.
Heck is one of 18 ‘disabled’ state employees who double-dip $2.2 million a year – $1 million in tax-free accidental disability pay plus $1.2 million in salaries – named in a New Jersey Watchdog investigative report last year.
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- Written by: Ed Krayewski
- Category: Selected Blogs
Yesterday, I wrote about the burgeoning Chris Christie scandal (please don’t call it #bridgegate), involving the apparently retaliatory nature of several lane closings on the George Washington Bridge last September. Christie was accused of creating a traffic jam to get back at the mayor of Fort Lee, a Democrat who declined to endorse him in his re-election bid. Christie initially laughed off the allegations, claiming the lane closures were part of a “traffic study.” My original first line for that blog post was “Governor Chris Christie may have shown how Jersey politics can rival the Chicago style,” but I excised it because, well, the scandal was about Christie, not President Obama.
Read the full story on Reason's Hit and Run Blog...
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- Written by: John Paff
- Category: Police Accountability Project
New Jersey Police Accountability Project of the
New Jersey Libertarian Party
P.O. Box 5424
Somerset, NJ 08875
January 6, 2014
Internal Affairs Unit
Highland Park Police Department
222 S. Fifth Ave.
Highland Park, NJ 08904
(Via webform submission)
Dear Sir or Madam:
I chair the New Jersey Libertarian Party's Police Accountability Project and ask that you accept this letter as our Internal Affairs complaint. We would like your agency to investigate whether Lieutenant Gary Panichella and other officers and personnel employed by your agency acted in accordance with department policy and the law regarding a September 18, 2008 incident involving Jerome Shaw and Ada Knowles.
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- Written by: John Paff
- Category: Open Government Advocacy Project
Judge O'Connor significantly revises her "generator" decision
Judge O'Connor called both attorneys in Paff v. Warren County Prosecutor's Office today and held a Case Management Conference via telephone at 4 p.m. today (Monday, December 23, 2013). The judge's purpose in calling the conference was to modify her previous order so that the identities of the official(s) who misused the county-owned generators would also be redacted from the documents that will provided in the case.
O'Connor's December 18, 2013 order stated that the Prosecutor's office "shall redact from the documents the names of any person who provided a statement to [the Prosecutor's office], as well as his or her position of employment, birth date, home and cellular telephone numbers, home address, and any personal identifier."
Economist and former Libertarian nominee for Governor, Murray Sabrin, has written and produced the documentary "The Federal Reserve: 100 Years of Boom and Bust." Watch the entire documentary below.
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- Written by: Alex Pugliese
- Category: Selected Blogs
Free-market Capitalism has helped a great many people who have been poor and down and out, move up the economic ladder, move up in mobility and has fostered the creative power and genius of individuals far better than other economic system that has existed and failed such as socialism, communism, fascism and feudalism. Capitalism as a system is not, nor it has ever been, a four letter word as some people would have us believe. However, what is an abomination to free-market capitalism, and freedom overall, is crony capitalism.
Crony Capitalism (Or State Capitalism as it is also called) entails government enacting laws, rules, regulations, tax monies and favoritism to one business over another. For example, if a small pharmaceutical company had founded a medicine to cure cancer and went to the Food and Drug Administration to get it approved, a bigger company with vast resources, money and lobbyists can influence am FDA bureaucrat or a politician to sit on the approval for years or reject it entirely. Another example would be when a regulation is enacted that forces smaller companies into compliance so that bigger companies do not face head to head competition. Or, when tax monies are given to companies because they are politically favored or to keep these companies afloat so they do not have face situations like bankruptcy or reorganization when the market is not to their liking.
Crony Capitalism, State Capitalism, is the norm in countries such as Argentina, Communist China, France, Italy and, sadly, the U.S. If people should be outraged and angry that anger should not be directed at Capitalism, but at governments the choose winners and losers. By showing no favoritism of one entity over another, society, freedom, the economy and free-markets can flourish. It is only when Crony Capitalism occurs that everything stays stagnant and stale. When government practices economic neutrality, equality of opportunity can bloom, and that is what real capitalism is all about.
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- Written by: Jeffrey Morgenthaler
- Category: Latest News
Today is the 80th Anniversary of the repeal of Prohibition of alcohol! Celebrate by having a drink of your choice today.
From http://www.repealday.org/:
What is Repeal Day?
The turn of the twentieth century was a dark time in America. The Women's Christian Temperance Union, which had been promoting Prohibition for many years, believed alcohol was the cause of many, if not all, social ills. Mistruths like this were spread. Lines were drawn. Bars and taverns were vandalized. People were killed. On January 16th, 1919, Congress passed the Volstead Act, outlawing alcohol and ostensibly putting an end to drunkenness, crime, mental illness, and poverty.
Ironically, America's thirst for alcohol increased during Prohibition, and organized crime rose up to replace formerly legal methods of production and distribution. While proponents of Prohibition argued that the amendment would be more effective if enforcement were increased, respect for the law diminished and drunkenness, crime and resentment towards the federal government ran rampant.
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- Written by: John Paff
- Category: Police Accountability Project
On Monday, April 8, 2013, I reported that Oaklyn Borough (Camden County) Councilman Ronald C. Aron, who also serves as a police officer in nearby Haddon Township, had sued in Superior Court to challenge a police disciplinary charge that had been lodged against him.
In the same blog entry, I also reported that Aron had settled his lawsuit and appeal with the Township and agreed to: a) plead guilty to "conduct detrimental to the good order of the police department," b) accept a 10 day unpaid, disciplinary suspension, c) forfeit 80 hours of accrued sick time and d) accept a "one year demotion from the rank of sergeant to patrol officer" which had already been served.
What I didn't know then, but have subsequently learned, is the nature of the conduct that caused the disciplinary action to be taken against Aron.
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- Written by: John Paff
- Category: Police Accountability Project
Something interesting is going on with the Wildwood Crest Police Department. I've been submitting Open Public Records Act (OPRA) requests to try to find out what's going on, and this is what I've found out so far.
On October 24, 2013, the Wildwood Crest Board of Commissioners passed Resolutions 1131-13 and 1132-13, which, respectively, a) hired Joseph Beisel as a "special outside investigator for purposes of conducting an internal affairs investigation concerning employees administrative proceedings," and b) hired William G. Blaney, Esq. to perform some unspecified, but apparently related, services regarding the same investigation. Yet, according to Borough Clerk Janelle M. Holzmer's November 26, 2013 responsive e-mail "no contract was entered into for Mr. Beisel."
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- Written by: John Paff
- Category: Open Government Advocacy Project
Mayor Carl Groon, and members of the
Wildwood Crest Borough Commission
via e-mail to
Dear Mayor Groon and Commissioners:
In response to a recent Open Public Records Act request, I received redacted minutes from the Board's November 18, 2013 nonpublic (i.e. executive or closed session). I have placed these minutes on-line here.
I invite your attention to the sentence within the minutes that states that "[d]iscussion was also had regarding the hiring of a special investigator." As you know, this special investigator was hired to investigate a police internal affairs matter. The rumors circulating throughout the Borough are that the investigation relates to a police employee who has earned the rank of lieutenant or higher. Regardless of the truth of these rumors, this is a matter of great public interest and it's very important that there is sufficient information available so that Borough voters and taxpayers, at least at some point in the future, can understand the nature of the investigation and draw their own conclusions as to whether the Borough's elected and appointed officials acted reasonably.
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- Written by: Webmaster
- Category: Open Government Advocacy Project
John Paff was interviewed on Channel 9's "Chasing New Jersey" news program regarding the lack of transparency at the Port Authority of New York/New Jersey. This aired last night.
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- Written by: Jay Edgar
- Category: Latest News
Steven J. Uccio and the New Jersey Libertarian Party invite you to give Heat for the Homeless!
In Lakewood, NJ there is a community of about 100 people who live in a wooded area called "Tent City." These people have no where else to go and are not asking for any assistance from the local government. They live in tents, shacks, and are supported by mostly private charity to better themselves.
- Details
- Written by: Mark Richards
- Category: Letters to Editor
'Our View' editorial draws reaction
Suburban Trends
‘Our View’ editorial draws reaction
Dear Editor:
In your "Our View" editorial ("What do Republicans and Democrats look like?") in the Sunday, Nov. 10 Suburban Trends, you mention "the need for moderates or least not the ideologically-driven to stand up and help put an end to the endless partisan bickering." Isn’t that another way of saying that political leaders of both parties should be "wishy-washy" and not stand up for any real principles or convictions?
In the 1850s would you have approved of politicians who took a "moderate" stand regarding the expansion of slavery unto the Western territories? Or if it was the early 20th century would political leaders who only took a "moderate" stand on women getting the right to vote, have met with your approval? Somehow I doubt it!
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: