The Nov. 4 Retention Election in Pennsylvania is not a partisan issue. The Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania is urging voters to vote ❌NO to retention for Justices Wecht, Donohue, and Dougherty. The three left-leaning justices ignored the state Constitution and supported Gov. Tom Wolf's harsh COVID-19 restrictions.
The Fed is the biggest bastion of central planning in the American economy, and eliminating it would both move us toward a freer market and remove history’s most powerful enabler of government waste. If that’s politically impossible, auditing the Fed would at least peel away the bank’s veneer of inscrutable wizardry to reveal the feckless dithering at the heart of U.S. monetary policy.Read the full article, "How to Slash the State: 14 ways to dismantle a monstrous government, one program at a time," here.
With Democrats and Republicans in the Legislature conspiring with Gov. Ed Rendell to bankrupt Pennsylvania, it seems the only political force willing to speak the truth is Pennsylvania's third-largest political party.The state legislature keeps finding new ways to disappoint Pennsylvanians at budget time. While our last budget was unconscionably late, this one is a mix of failure and fantasy.For more about the Libertarian Party, visit www.LP.org or www.LPPA.org
This budget fails to cut spending at a time when our fiscal position is precarious. General fund spending increased from $27.8 to over $28 billion while the state’s total operating budget jumps from $65.9 to $66.4 billion. The budget ignores the past two years of revenue collection decreases that led to a general fund $1.2 billion gap last year and a $3 billion gap the year before.
The budget fails to cut pork and reintroduces "Walking Around Money" (WAM) reported by the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review to be between $65 and $100 million. In addition, it provides millions for the construction of the John P. Murtha Center for Public Policy and the Arlen Specter Library Project Center. It irresponsibly ignores both the coming public pension crisis that will require a $5 billion increase in annual payments in 2010 and the coming loss of federal stimulus funds in 2011-2012 fiscal year.
In June, The Commonwealth Foundation released “A Taxpayer's Budget 2010: Responsible Spending for Pennsylvania” which identified opportunities to cut over $4 billion in wasteful state spending in Gov. Rendell's proposed FY 2010-2011 budget. Their report also offered a series of recommendations for resolving the current revenue shortfall and reducing the size and burden of government on Pennsylvanians. The budget failed to take advantage of these opportunities.
Instead, our state legislature fantasizes in their budget calculations that Pennsylvania will see a 3.2 percent increase in revenue collections at a time when unemployment is growing and business is receeding. An even greater fantasy is that the budget calculation assumes $850 million in Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) funds that have yet to pass Congress. According to Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi, "No one, including the governor, thinks we'll receive $850 million."
Commented Brian Bergman, State House Candidate in the 119th district, "Yet again, Pennsylvania's government has failed to pass either a balanced budget or an on-time budget. Where are the incentives to do either? There is nothing currently in the PA Constitution or statutes that puts any penalty on the representatives in Harrisburg if they fail in their duties. It's time to hold them accountable - vote them all out and elect new people that will truly work FOR the citizens of Pennsylvania and will enact consequences when the Legislature fails so completely in their duties."
Mark Crowley, LPPa Media Relations, summarized "It's no surprise that this budget was created behind closed doors. They suspended the rule requiring a public comment period. The disappointing result certainly shows this lack of transparency."
America's third-largest political party has compiled a list of the 10 biggest blunders of Barack Obama's first year in office.Top 10 disasters of the 2009 Obama administration (in no particular order):Wes Benedict, Libertarian Party executive director, commented, "Republicans and Democrats keep expanding government and creating more and more problems. We're encouraging as many Libertarians as possible to run for Congress in 2010. In Texas, the state with the earliest filing deadline, Libertarians have already filed for 31 of 32 Congressional seats."
1. Cash for Clunkers
2. War escalation in Afghanistan
3. Giant government health care expansion bill
4. Post office loses money hand over fist
5. Stimulus package
6. Expansion of "state secrets" doctrine
7. Big increase in unemployment
8. "Bailout" Geithner as Treasury Secretary
9. Skyrocketing federal spending
10. Huge federal deficits
Top 10 disasters of the 2001-2008 Bush administration:
1. Cash for Car Companies
2. War in Iraq
3. Giant Medicare expansion bill
4. Post office loses money hand over fist
5. Stimulus "rebate" checks
6. PATRIOT Act
7. Big increase in unemployment
8. "Bailout" Paulson as Treasury Secretary
9. Skyrocketing federal spending
10. Huge federal deficits
While hypocritical Democrats were hiding under their beds today instead of pointing out that Barack Obama has turned into Lyndon Johnson, the Libertarians Party is not afraid to call out the president on his ill-conceived "surge-then-surrender" strategy in Afghanistan.
Pa. budget adds up to bankruptcy
The Libertarian Party suggested Friday that in the future the announcement date every year for Nobel Prizes be moved to April 1.
The Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania doesn't have a voice in the Pennsylvania Legislature, but party officials want to say loud and clear they disapprove of the way Democrats and Republicans are handling the state's finances.Last year, Pennsylvania general fund tax revenues fell below $25,000,000,000. Our representatives in Harrisburg ignored the revenue shortage and spent over $28,000,000,000. Instead of facing reality for the upcoming year and joining taxpayers in tightening their fiscal belts, our representatives have proposed a general fund 2010 budget of $27,950,000,000.For more information about the Libertarian Party, visit www.LP.org or www.LPPA.org
To make matters worse, while most "budget" references are to the general fund portion of the budget, state government's total operating budget exceeds $61,000,000,000.
Where will the money come from? Increased taxes for one. The most recent budget plan retroactively increases the Capital Stock and Franchise Tax (CSFT) – the tax which Governor Rendell had said was the most harmful to the Pennsylvania economy In addition, we would be charged a sales tax for admission to performing arts programs (such as music concerts and theaters) and other cultural venues (such as museums, parks and zoos). Smokers will also pay an additional tax for cigarettes.
But, these taxes will not be enough to meet Harrisburg's hunger for spending. So, Governor Rendell and legislators appear to be counting on federal bailout dollars and may exhaust Pennsylvania's Rainy Day Fund to delay facing economic reality until next year.
Media Relations Chair, Doug Leard, stated "Harrisburg's approach to belt tightening is like the man who comes home from work and tell his wife 'Times are tough at work – no bonus this year and 10% pay cuts across the board. Boy, it’s hot today. Let's put in a pool.'"
Based on recent budget proposals, The Commonwealth Foundation, an independent, non-profit research and educational institute, projects a budget deficit of $846,000,000 next year that will grow to $14,400,000,000 in 2012 as federal stimulus money disappears and pension obligations for Pennsylvania's School Employees' Retirement System (PSERS) and the State Employees' Retirement System (SERS) come due.
The Libertarian Party denounces both the Republicans and Democrats along with their bankrupt vision of spending, taxing and regulating Pennsylvania into even deeper hardship. If voters want to escape from this budgetary death spiral, the only option is Libertarian Party candidates for the General Assembly. After all, the status quo has proven yet again to be no choice at all.
America's third largest party has called on Barack Obama and the Democratic Party to end what appears to be "a budding campaign of union violence targeted at citizens who differ with the White House" over Obamacare. "The Libertarian Party is founded on one principle. We do not support the initiation of force to achieve political or social goals," said Donny Ferguson, Libertarian National Committee Communications Director. "Democrats seem to think differently. When the Obama administration ordered Democrats to 'punch back twice as hard' against citizens who question them, Democrats responded. This Chicago-trained White House has brought Chicago-style union violence to small towns across America."For more information on this issue, visit Libertarian Party Web site at http://www.LP.org
A Tampa Bay Tribune story and a video posted to the Drudge Report both report physical assaults on dissenting citizens by union organizers brought to meetings by Democrats. In Tampa, union organizers blocked citizens who differed with the White House from entering a public town hall with Rep. Kathy Castor (D-FL,) and allegedly scuffled with some of them. A video posted to YouTube appears to show union organizers physically attacking citizens who disagreed with the White House.
"The White House told Democrat leaders Thursday (Aug. 6) to 'punch back twice as hard' when citizens express disapproval. That kind of irresponsible rhetoric is never proper when discussing popular dissent. The also made it clear they will bend Senate rules and force through government-run health care whether or not America supports it. That is a frightening departure from the traditional American practice of governing though popular will," said Ferguson.
"If bringing in union thugs is an attempt by Democrats to scare citizens into not questioning them, it won't work. Union violence may be how communities are organized in Chicago, but the American people won’t stand for people who think violence is the proper response to the fact they no longer have majority support."
"Americans still believe in the consent of the governed. Libertarians urge Democrats to listen to the American people, call off their union enforcers and drop their wildly unpopular scheme of government-run medicine," said Ferguson.
The jobless rate has jumped to 9.4% as of May, the highest in 26 years. More than 14.5 million Americans are out of work. The economic policies of Barack Obama and Congressional Democrats are prolonging the recession.With unemployment exploding to 9.4 percent in May instead of decreasing as Obama promised with passage of his "stimulus" package, America’s third-largest party urges Congress to instead consider tax and regulatory relief to give the nation "the jobs Americans need."For more information on the Libertarian Party, visit http://www.LP.org
"There is no doubt our economy will recover. Americans have always overcome adversity with our tenacity, creativity and optimism," said Donny Ferguson, Libertarian National Committee Communications Director. "But as unemployment continues to rise when it should be falling by now, it begs the question of how long will recovery be delayed by Obama's Big Government agenda?"
"The Libertarian Party seems to be the only party promoting a smart program of tax and regulatory relief aimed at freeing up capital," said Ferguson. "History shows it’s the most effective way to give those 14.5 million unemployed the jobs Americans need."
"Sadly, Obama instead chose to exploit this tragic situation to advance his personal agenda of bigger, more expensive government – which has unemployment now skyrocketing to its highest levels in a quarter-century," said Ferguson. "Because of Obama, our economic recovery has been seriously stunted and delayed."
Figures released Friday by the Labor Department show unemployment rose to 9.4 percent in May from 8.9 percent in April as the number of unemployed persons increased by 787,000 to 14.5 million. Unemployment is highest among blacks (14.9 percent) and Hispanics (12.7 percent.) The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) increased by 268,000 over the month to 3.9 million according to the Labor Department.
"Unfortunately, it looks like the Libertarian Party was proven right when we said back in January that Obama's explosive growth of government and out-of-control spending would delay our economic recovery. We should be further along in our recovery, but Republican and Democrat spending and bailouts are delaying that," said Ferguson.
"History has proven time and time again that decreasing the size of government, cutting taxes and freeing up people to create jobs and business are the best way to stimulate growth," said Ferguson. "Libertarian urge Congress and the White House to take these real, proven measures, instead of exploiting people's misfortune to inflate the size of government."
Sotomayor is best known for the Ricci v. DeStafano case, in which the New Haven, Conn. fire department decided it didn’t like the results of an officers promotion exam in which whites and Hispanic firefighters outperformed black firefighters. The city threw out the results of the exam, denying several firefighters promotions solely because of their race. The firefighters sued the city, claiming racial discrimination under Title VVI of the Civil Rights Act and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
The Cato Institute, Reason Foundation and the Individual Rights Foundations filed briefs on behalf of the firefighters, citing the absurdity of allowing public employers to throw out the results of valid, race-neutral exams that produce racial disparity because the racial disparity produced wasn't politically correct. The firefighters and the libertarian foundations filing briefs argued that public employment practices should be color-blind.
Sotomayor disagreed, ruling the city has a right to discriminate against white and Hispanic public employees to construct a politically correct racial mix in hiring, even if it goes against the results of a racially-neutral competency exam.
The case is now before the Supreme Court. Sotomayor has had her rulings thrown out by the court a troubling four times. In three of those cases, the Court ruled Sotomayor had incorrectly interpreted the law.
"It is troubling that Obama, who won the highest elected office in the world without racial preferences, would nominate someone who openly admits the government should racially discriminate against its own citizens to serve the needs of political correctness," said Redpath.
"Libertarians believe that, while the First Amendment's guarantee of freedom of association allows private parties to hire whomever they please, government has no right to discriminate. Public employers should treat all citizens of all colors, races and ethnicities with equal respect and value and Sotomayor’s radical rulings are a jarring departure from that principle"
For more about the Libertarian Party, visit http://www.LP.org
“[W]e mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.” — The Declaration of Independence.Read the full column, "We're all wearing yellow stars," at GetLiberty.org
As the shroud of fascism fell on Italy, Germany, and throughout Europe in the 1920's and '30's, it is often portrayed that it was without resistance that Hitler became master of that continent. But in fact, it was not with a whimper that liberty fell. Nor will there ever be a bloodless rise of tyranny in this country—no matter how ruthlessly Janet Napolitano's Department of Homeland Security attempts to suppress and oppress “right-wing extremists."
And so it was before. The casual observer of history may forget, but there were actually very legitimate, forceful acts of resistance against the fascists of the past on their path to hegemonic, totalitarian control of society.
As the Nazis descended on the Warsaw ghetto, for example, the Poles met the enemy with stiff resistance. The patriots of the Warsaw Uprising there persisted for some 63 days, for love of country, their homeland, and their families. More than 200,000 perished, including some 16,000 insurgents who fought against the invading forces.
Long before the invasion of Poland, the fascists incrementally and systematically created the framework for totalitarianism using the instrumentalities of government.
As a political movement, the fascists concocted boogeymen, utilized scapegoats, and perfected the art of political theatre, to explain the dismal economic and political state of affairs after World War I. They routinely used political violence against the scapegoats.
When the fascists took power, those scapegoats were then labeled as subversives and enemies of the state. It was the natural extension of their ideology.
That is why the recent memo by the Department of Homeland Security is so remarkably chilling. It broadly labels as "rightwing extremists" about half of the population of America — or in laymen's terms: conservatives, libertarians, and Republicans.
With tens of thousands of Americans gathering all across the country to protest runaway government spending and taxation, everybody wants to take credit for the "Tea Parties" held on April 15."It's important for people to realize just what government is doing to them. The national debt right now, and it grows by millions of dollars every single day, is approaching $11.5 trillion. Every man, woman and child in this country, not just taxpayers, but every man women and child, owes, because of that debt, approximately $40,000. That's money coming out their pocket, it comes out of their businesses, it is dramatically limiting the freedom people have in this country to do what they want to do with their lives. And that's power the government is taking from them."
1) Repeal the income tax: Adopt legislation repealing the income tax and abolishing the Internal Revenue Service. Until the income tax is repealed, adopt legislation preserving the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts and enacting across-the-board income tax cuts.You can download the entire Libertarian "Prosperity Plan" at http://www.lp.org
2) Adopt the Balanced Budget Amendment: Adopt a constitutional amendment requiring the federal budget be balanced, and balanced exclusively by cutting expenditures, not by raising taxes.
3) Abolish corporate welfare and bailouts: Adopt federal legislation prohibiting any federal spending program that provides payments or unique benefits and advantages to specific companies or industries, terminating programs that provide direct grants to businesses, eliminating programs that provide research and other services for industries and ending programs that provide subsidized loans or insurance to businesses.
