LIBERTY & PROSPERITY playing by the rules 5-16-12

By Seth Grossman, Political Columnist

“Laws are to govern all alike – those opposed as well as those who favor them. I know no method to secure the repeal of bad or obnoxious laws so effective as their stringent execution.”

–President Ulysses S. Grant, 1868

Somers Point has a delightful Bayfest street fair on the last Saturday of April each year. City Council makes special laws to close Bay Avenue to vehicle traffic, and to allow amusements, and the sale of all sorts of crafts and food in the street. The noise ordinance is ignored so the best local bands can do loud, open-air concerts all along the street. This year the weather was perfect, and thousands of out-of-town visitors thoroughly enjoyed the day.

But a few dozen of them got an unpleasant surprise this year when they got back to their cars. They found tickets for violating the new Somers Point permit parking ordinance. Since June of last year, only local residents can park on four streets close to Shore Medical Center and various doctors’ offices.

First offenders are fined $25 to $50, and a court appearance or formal plea by mail is needed. That adds another $27 bringing the minimum penalty to $52.

I doubt that any of these people thought they were breaking the law. All of the side streets had barriers manned by volunteers who waved traffic in and out. Every parking space was filled, yet nobody was warned of the parking restrictions. The new law was not there the year before. It was very easy to miss the signs – or assume that they did not apply to the Saturday of Bayfest.

One of the volunteers on the Bayfest Committee told me they did not ask to waive parking permits because nobody thought about it – that law was not there the previous year.

The police originally decided not to issue tickets that day unless someone complained. But a resident on Higbee Avenue did complain. He said if he had to buy a $5 permit to park in the street in front of his own house, nobody else should park for free. And so the police ticketed the car of every Bayfest visitor in the area.

This “stringent execution” of the law is exactly what Republican President Ulysses S. Grant said should be done with all laws.

It is now up to the legislators – the mayor and council members of Somers Point – to re-think whether or not these parking restrictions are “bad or obnoxious” and should be repealed.

If you believe in liberty, you want any proposed new law that gives special privileges to a few selected people to be very closely examined, and adopted only when absolutely necessary.

When laws are simple and treat everyone equally, government is more honest, fair, and less expensive. As the Roman statesman Tacitus observed 2,000 years ago, “The more numerous laws, the more corrupt the state.”

Somers Point adopted these parking regulations 10 months ago when some residents complained that employees, patients, and visitors of the nearby hospital and doctors’ offices were taking up too many parking spaces during the day.

The tax-exempt hospital now has its own garage for its employees, patients, and visitors. Is the parking restriction still needed to keep them off the nearby streets?

As for the doctors’ offices, don’t they pay the same taxes as residential homes? And since most of the residents have private driveways, isn’t it more of a hardship for sick, disabled, and elderly patients to park far from their doctors’ offices, especially in cold and rainy weather?

In a bad economy with lots of empty office buildings, should Somers Point encourage doctors to move their offices to other towns where parking is less of a hassle?

If Somers Point council members now find this new parking law has turned out to be “bad” or “obnoxious”, they should repeal it. At the very least, they should minimize its impact by allowing visitor parking for one or two hours (Atlantic City permits three hours) and on weekends, like Bayfest weekend, when most doctors’ offices are closed.

What about the folks who got tickets at Bayfest this year? If the municipal prosecutor and the police agree that these out-of-town visitors were not given fair and reasonable notice that these restrictions were in effect during Bayfest, they should dismiss the tickets. If these laws must be “stringently executed,” maybe the Bayfest Committee should pay all or part of the fines. But no matter what, everyone should be treated equally.

(Reprinted from May 16, 2012 Current-Gazette Newspapers of Atlantic and Cape May Counties, http://www.shorenewstoday.com/snt/news/index.php/politics/24793-parking-permit-law-has-unintended-consequences.html)

Somers Point attorney Seth Grossman appears on 92.1FM 8-9 a.m. Saturday. For information see www.libertyandprosperity.org, email sethgrossman49@gmail.com or call (609) 927-7333. Breakfast discussions are held 9:30-10:30 a.m. every Saturday at the Shore Diner on Fire and Tilton roads in Egg Harbor Township.

(Image sources – http://cuppacafe.com/images/blogimages/image5/unintended1-293×300.jpg & http://www.insidesocal.com/sgvgov/parking-ticket.jpg)

LIBERTYandPROSPERITY.org  UPDATE

Northfield, Linwood, Somers Point Memorial Day Parades– Monday, May 28 at 8:00 A.M.

1.  For several years, we marched in the Memorial Parades of Northfield, Linwood, and Somers Point.     We meet at the home of  Dennis Mahon at 7 Twelve Oaks Lane in Northfield for coffee at 8AM.
At 8:30 AM we drive to where the Northfield parade starts at 9AM.     We put on sashes of red, white, and blue, and walk in the about 1/3 of a mile in the Northfield parade carrying  various symbols of liberty—our “Liberty and Prosperity.org” banner, the American, New Jersey, and “Don’t Tread on Me” flags—and our symbolic wooden pikes draped with the red liberty cap like the one that appears on the New Jersey state flag.   These were important symbols of the American Revolution—if you don’t know why, go to http://www.libertyandprosperity.org.

At the end of the Northfield parade, we drive to the Linwood parade that starts at 10AM.   Then we walk in the Somers Point parade that starts at 11AM.   We then return to the home of Dennis Mahon in Northfield for lunch, beverages, and conversation.

We are in these parades is to not only honor the dead on Memorial Day, but to do what Abraham Lincoln wanted us to do at these events.   To also  dedicate we, the living, to their unfinished work of protecting and defending liberty today.
In the past 12 to 16 of us walked in these parades.   This year, we would like to have 20 to 30.  We also hope to have 14 year old Matt Lewis of Estelle Manor beat the drum for us—as he did last month at Bayfest.   We can also use one or two other drummers.    We are offering a stipend of $50 for drummers who walk with us in all three parades this Memorial.   If you can join us in any capacity, please contact Seth Grossman at 609-927-7333 or sethgrossman49@gmail.com.

2.    We are happy that Republican Governor Chris Christie finally vetoed the state law that would have started ObamaCare in New Jersey.   We are not happy that he waited until the last possible day to do it, and acted only after conservatives lobbied hard for him to take that action.     If Governor Christie were a real conservative, he would be leading, not following.

3.   If conservatives have no real political power in New Jersey, we have nobody to blame but ourselves.   The Declaration of Independence says that we are endowed by our Creator with certain  “unalienable rights”.   But it is up to us men and women to institute governments to secure them.    In a democracy, that means holding public office and helping others win elections to hold public office.   That takes certain knowledge, skills, discipline, sacrifice, financial commitment, and work.

4.   Here in South Jersey,   we are only aware of two  “Tea Party” conservatives running serious campaigns for public office.   In Northfield, Tea Party conservatives organized a “New Republican Club”  and are supporting Jim Travagline for city council in the June 5 Republican primary election against the candidate endorsed by establishment Republicans.     In Millville, Clay Mikolasy was appointed as the Republican municipal leader after running candidates for Republican County Committee against the established Republican organization two years ago.   If anyone else is running, please let us know.

5.   Hopefully, next year will be a different story.   All 80 members of the New Jersey state assembly will be up for election, along with at roughly half of the State Senate and many county freeholders.    So far,  it looks like the only Tea Party conservatives who ran serious campaigns for state or county-wide office were Steve Lonegan for Governor, Senator Mike Doherty, and Assemblywoman Allison McHose in North Jersey, and Dr. Bob Villare and Ron Brittin in Gloucester County in 2009—and the re-election of Doherty and McHose in 2011.       With 40 state election districts and 21 counties in New Jersey, that is not very good.

6.   If you are serious about becoming an effective and winning candidate for State Senator, State Assembly, County Freeholder, or local office next year—or the manager of an effective  an winning campaign for someone else—now is the time to prepare.   Get involved this year on a campaign for the most conservative candidate you can find in any race that is close to you and get some  training and experience.    But find out how to get the training, contacts, exposure, and practice you need right now.     We will be spending a lot of time and energy at our movie nights and Saturday breakfasts—and in projects with other Tea Party groups, prepare ordinary citizens to be extra-ordinary candidates.     If you have the knowledge and the talent, please come forward and use them.     Otherwise, nothing will change.

7.    BIG STATE GOVERNMENT DOUBLES DOWN ON “SAVING” ATLANTIC CITY.     The $1.2 billion Revel Casino did nothing to improve the Atlantic City economy.   Casino earnings for the town were down another ten percent last month.   The Revel Casino is the government-run and paid for version of General Motors.   The Revel Casino project was, bailed out with more than $400 million of state government borrowing (without voter approval), tax  breaks, zoning breaks, state government subsidies of salaries, special approvals,   government funded advertising etc.    The State Government take-over of Atlantic City did nothing to make the town cleaner or safer.    The shootings continue.   Ordinary taxpayers were crushed with another big tax  hike as local government spends more, while casinos pay less.    So what are Republican Governor Christie and Democrat Senate President Steve Sweeney doing?    A massive $150 million government funded advertising campaign to tell everyone how great things are in  Atlantic City!

8.     Liberty and Prosperity on the Radio.   Our Executive Director, Seth Grossman will be a guest on the Larry Trulli and Dan Klein programs on 1020AM WIBG Radio (Ocean City and much of South Jersey)  tomorrow (MONDAY) and most Mondays  from 8AM to 10 AM until further notice.   Grossman also hosts his own program on 92.1FM Radio (Vineland and most of South Jersey) Saturdays from 8AM to 9AM.   We also hold a breakfast discussion every Saturday morning from 9:30 A.M. to 10:30AM that is open to everyone who wants to learn more about liberty.   It is held at the Shore Diner, Tilton and Fire Roads by Parkway Exit 36 in Egg Harbor Township.

9.     IMPORTANT BUSINESS MEETING:  THIS SATURDAY MORNING, SECOND SATURDAY OF EVERY MONTH—RIGHT AFTER THE BREAKFAST ENDS AT 10:30 A.M.    Many of you are now attending our breakfasts on a regular basis.  Why not take the next step and become a voting member—or even a leadership position as an officer or director?  If interest, please contact Dennis Mahon, Seth Grossman, or any voting member.

10.     BECOME A MEMBER.   You can joint as a non-voting, supporting member for $30 per year and attend and take part in all business meetings.    Voting members must pay  $60, attend 3 business meetings per year, and participate in at least one volunteer project per year.

11.   PLEASE REVIEW AND SUGGEST CORRECTIONS AND IMPROVEMENTS FOR PROPOSED SETH GROSSMAN COLUMN FOR THE CURRENT AND GAZETTE WEEKLY NEWSPAPERS IN ATLANTIC AND CAPE MAY COUNTIES.    Previous columns are posted at http://www.libertyandprosperity.org and the “Politics” section of http://shorenewstoday.com.

“Laws are to govern all alike—those opposed as well as those who favor them. I know no method to secure the repeal of bad or obnoxious laws so effective as their stringent execution.”  Republican President Ulysses S. Grant, 1868

Somers Point has a delightful Bayfest street fair on the last Saturday of April each year.    The city council makes special laws to close Bay Avenue to vehicle traffic, and to let vendors set amusements and sell all sorts of crafts and food in the street.   Platforms are set up for bands to perform open air concerts all day.    This year the weather was perfect, and thousands of out-of-town visitors thoroughly enjoyed the day.

But a few dozen visitors to Bayfest got an unpleasant surprise this year when they got back to their cars.    They found tickets for violating new Somers Point Permit Parking Ordinance.   Since June of last year, only local residents can park on four streets close to Shore Memorial Hospital and various doctors’ offices.

First offenders are fined $25 to $50 and a court appearance or formal plea by mail is needed.   That adds another $27 bringing the minimum penalty to $52.
I doubt that any of these people had any idea that they were breaking the law.    All of the side streets had barriers manned by volunteers who waved traffic in and out.  Every parking space was filled, yet nobody was warned of the parking restrictions.   The new law was not there the year before.  It was very easy to miss the signs—or assume that they did not apply to Bayfest.

One of the volunteers on the Bayfest Committee told me that no action was taken to suspend these restrictions because nobody thought about it—they were not there the previous year.
The police originally decided not to issue tickets that day unless someone complained.    But a resident on Higbee Avenue did complain.   He said if he had to pay $5 for a permit to park in the street in front of his own house, nobody else should park for free.   And so the police ticketed the car of every Bayfest visitor in the area.

But this “stringent execution” of the law is exactly what Republican President Ulysses S. Grant said should be done with all laws.
It is now up to the legislators—the mayor and council members of Somers Point to re-think whether or not these parking restrictions are “bad or obnoxious” and should be repealed.

If you believe in liberty, you understand that any proposed new law that creates different rules for different people should very closely examined, and adopted only when absolutely necessary.
When laws are simple and treat everyone equally, government is more honest, fair, and less expensive.  As the Roman statesman Tacitus observed 2,000 years ago, “The more numerous  laws, the more corrupt the state”.

Somers Point adopted these parking regulations ten months ago when some residents complained that employees, patients, and visitors of the nearby hospital and doctors offices were taking up too many parking spaces during the day.
The tax-exempt hospital now has its own garage for its employees, patients, and visitors.    Is the parking restriction still needed to keep them off the nearby streets?

As for the doctors’ offices, don’t they pay the same taxes as residential homes?   And since most of the residents have private driveways,  isn’t it more of hardship for sick, disabled, and elderly patients to park far from the offices—especially in cold and rainy weather?

In these hard economic times, with lots of  empty office buildings, should Somers Point encourage doctors to move their offices to other towns where parking is not such a hassle?
If  Somers Point council members now find that this new parking law has turned out to be “bad” or “obnoxious”, they should repeal it.   At the very least, they should minimize its impact by allowing visitor parking for one or two hours (Atlantic City permits three hours)—and on weekends,  like Bayfest weekend, when most doctors offices are closed.

But what about the folks who got tickets at Bayfest this year?     If the municipal prosecutor and the police agree that these out-of-town visitors were not given fair and reasonable notice that these restrictions were in effect during Bayfest, they should dismiss the tickets.   But if these  laws must be “stringently executed”, maybe the Bayfest Committee should pay all or part of the fines.   But everyone should be treated equally.

Thank you, Seth, for bringing this to our attention.

By Seth Grossman, Political Columnist

Last week, Spirit Airlines gave the American people an important teachable moment about New Jersey’s motto, “Liberty and Prosperity.”

Republicans like Assemblymen John Amodeo and Chris Brown of Atlantic County could have used that moment to explain that liberty does not only allow us to enjoy the rewards of the good choices we make, it also means accepting the consequences of our bad choices, and learning from them. Liberty creates wealth and prosperity because it makes people smarter and more responsible. It motivates us to make better choices in the future.

But instead, Amodeo and Brown became useful idiots for the left, and taught Spirit Airlines this far different lesson. Liberty, rules, and contracts now mean nothing in America. What counts is being a celebrity, a victim, and/or a member of some group entitled to special treatment.

Spirit Airlines is one of the few examples of economic success in New Jersey. It began in 1980 with charter flights from Detroit to and from various tourist destinations including Atlantic City. In the early 1990s, it bought some jets, changed its name to Spirit Airlines, and began scheduled airline service. Spirit became a national success by offering the cheapest flights in the country.

It did so with some creative cost-cutting techniques. It avoided expensive big city airports and used Atlantic City as its hub. (Before Republican Gormley and Camden County Democrats took over, Atlantic City Airport had free parking and low landing fees).

Flight attendants worked the ticket counter. No meals were served. Fares were discounted until planes were full. Telephone customer service – and leg room – were non-existent. You paid for checked bags. And there was no refund for cancelled flights for any reason, unless you paid $14 extra for flight cancellation insurance.

Locals complained about Spirit. Stand-up comics joked about it. But Spirit planes were full because the complainers and the comics loved the low prices.

Last year, another airline gave me a $300 voucher when it left me stranded overnight at Midway in Chicago. But I never used it because Spirit was always more than $300 cheaper.

In short, Spirit Airlines is a great example of liberty and prosperity at work. If you want meals, personal customer service, and refunds when you change your plans, you are free to fly on a different airline and pay three to four times more. But if you just want reliable service for the lowest price, you book with Spirit and follow their rules.

Liberty gives you the freedom to make your own choices. If you choose Spirit, you save a lot of money on your ticket. But you also take the responsibility of losing money if you don’t pay the extra $14, and later cancel your flight for any reason, even a good one.

Jerry Meekins, a 76-year-old Florida resident, had been sick with throat cancer for a long time. Last month, he booked a round-trip flight to Atlantic City on Spirit Airlines for $197 to visit his daughter. He could have bought flight-cancellation insurance for $14 more. But he freely chose not to. He could have bought a $600 ticket on another airline that allows cancellations and offers refunds, but he freely chose not to.

Two weeks before the flight, Meekins was told by his doctor that his condition had worsened, and that he should no longer fly. So he demanded a refund of his $197.

Spirit Airlines refused, and released this public statement: “We receive many requests for refunds every day for similar situations… We will not make customers who follow the rules pay for those who don’t.”

So Meekins made himself a victim – and a celebrity. He called the liberal daily newspaper and the local TV station and stood in front of the Tampa Airport Terminal with a sign denouncing the “corporate greed” of Spirit Airlines. He wore his VFW hat to win the sympathy and support of fellow veterans.

The left-wing Huffington Post posted the story on AOL and made Meekins a national hero of the Occupy Wall Street crowd. Then, Republicans like Assemblymen John Amodeo and Chris Brown, piled on. They called for a resolution of the New Jersey Legislature “condemning Spirit’s maltreatment of veterans and terminally ill patients.” They publicly urged Gov. Christie to intervene.

The media and the politicians won. Spirit Airlines gave the refund and changed its policy. Thousands of customers who change their plans will now get doctor’s notes, and refunds. Everyone will pay higher fares. Liberty and prosperity lost.

(Reprinted from May 9, 2012 Current Newspapers of Atlantic and Cape May Counties, http://www.shorenewstoday.com/snt/news/index.php/politics/24526-spirit-airlines-ticket-flap-a-loss-for-liberty.html)

Somers Point attorney Seth Grossman appears on 92.1FM 8-9 a.m. Saturday. For information see www.libertyandprosperity.org, email sethgrossman49@gmail.com or call (609) 927-7333. Breakfast discussions are held 9:30-10:30 a.m. every Saturday at the Shore Diner on Fire and Tilton roads in Egg Harbor Township.

What does Spirit Airlines tell us about Liberty?   Check out our radio update:

By Seth Grossman, Political Columnist

On Jan. 28, 1969 an offshore oil rig six miles off the coast of Santa Barbara, Calif. blew out when it hit high-pressure natural gas. Some 210,000 barrels of crude oil poured into the ocean each day. It took 10 days to seal the well and stop the oil from pouring through nearby cracks in the ocean floor

The enormous spill covered miles of nearby beaches with crude oil. Every day, the ABC, CBS, and NBC TV networks showed graphic color images of thousands of dead and dying birds – and hundreds of dead and dying seals, dolphins and sea lions. They also showed area schoolchildren in tears over what they saw. Government and oil industry officials appeared heartless when they took pride in quickly stopping the leak without the loss of a single human life.

Most Americans were convinced that there was and urgent crisis, and that government action was needed. Liberal college professors who blamed the Vietnam War on corporate greed now accused big corporations of destroying the planet.

Democrats saw this crisis as an opportunity to win back young voters who had turned against Lyndon Johnson and Hubert Humphrey in 1968, and let Republican Richard Nixon be president. In September of 1969, Democratic Sen. Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin spoke to the United Auto Workers convention in Atlantic City. He urged every college in the country to devote one day the following spring for a “teach-in” to “bring an overall insistence of the new generation to stem the tide of environmental disaster.”

The New York Times and all three TV networks gave Nelson and other environmentalists nonstop front-page or prime time national coverage for the next seven months.

April 22, 1970 was supposedly picked as the date for this teach-in because it was warm enough for outdoor events and did not interfere with either Easter break or cramming for final exams. But some argue that left-leaning professors deliberately picked the same date chosen by communists to observe the 100th birthday of their former leader, Vladimar Lenin, with “community service.”

Organizers claimed 20 million Americans in 2,000 colleges and 10,000 public schools took part in that first Earth Day in 1970.

The event was so successful that few people noticed that the massive oil spill near Santa Barbara had completely disappeared. Or that there was little, if any, long-term damage to the environment. Virtually no fish were killed or made toxic. Oil-eating bacteria removed virtually all oil and tar from the ocean and beaches within a year. Bird and marine mammal populations quickly returned to pre-spill levels.

Still, I and many conservatives supported the Earth Day movement back then. Traditional principles of American liberty never said it was OK to dump raw sewage into the back bays of Atlantic City, which gave anyone who swam in the bay at low tide “the doggies” (a skin rash). Nor did those principles say that it was OK to dump and burn trash right in town where the Harrah’s and Borgata casinos stand today, or to poison wells with toxic chemicals dumped in the pine woods.

And so I supported the goals of that first Earth Day in 1970. We needed county government (but not an unelected Atlantic County Utilities Authority) to spend public money to process our sewage and dump the mostly clean water deep out in the ocean. We also needed trash dumps in more remote areas, and safe ways to dump and process toxic chemical waste.

But power and money corrupt everyone – including “friends of the earth.” When they succeeded in giving us the cleanest air and water since the Civil War, they demanded even more power and money.

In the 1990s, the now well-paid professors, researchers and government officials said we needed new laws to control carbon dioxide, the essential gas of life that we breathe out, and that plants breathe in. They said too much carbon dioxide was causing global cooling and a new ice age. Then they said it was causing global warming. The truth is that the earth warmed and cooled for billions of years before we humans got here.

Today, Earth Day teaches lies about the environment to scare us into giving up our liberty and prosperity. Its sponsors this year were monopolies or government agencies we are forced to pay for, like Atlantic City Electric (fourth highest electric rates in country), the Atlantic County Utilities Authority (overpriced monopoly on the trash business), Stockton College and our public schools (high tuitions and property taxes).

(Reprinted from May 2, 2012 Current-Gazette Newspapers of Atlantic and Cape May Counties, http://www.shorenewstoday.com/snt/news/index.php/politics/24173-environmental-movement-has-been-corrupted-by-another-kind-of-green.html

Somers Point attorney Seth Grossman appears on 92.1FM 8-9 a.m. Saturday. For information see www.libertyandprosperity.org, email sethgrossman49@gmail.com or call (609) 927-7333. Breakfast discussions are held 9:30-10:30 a.m. every Saturday at the Shore Diner on Fire and Tilton roads in Egg Harbor Township.

(Image source – http://watermarked.cutcaster.com/cutcaster-photo-100148429-Environment-cash-concept.jpg & http://environmentalimpacts.webs.com/Money_versus_environment.jpg)

Dennis, thank you, for bringing this video to our attention.

LIBERTYandPROSPERITY.org Update

1. SPECIAL GUEST SPEAKER this Saturday Morning, May 5—JOE KYRILLOS, candidate for U.S. Senate in the June 5 Republican primary election.    The winner of that election will run against incumbent liberal Democratic Senator Bob Menendez in November.   Kyrillos is a close personal friend of Republican Governor Chris Christie and is endorsed by most Republican organizations.    Both State Senator Mike Doherty and Anna Little dropped out of the race.   Bader Quarmout, another candidate spoke to us last week.   Joe Rullo is scheduled to speak to us on May 19.  Neither of them are running serious campaigns.   Whether or not you choose to support JOE KYRILLOS, it is very important to attend this Saturday morning.    After the breakfast this Saturday JOE KYRILLOS will tell his friend Governor Christie and other Republican leaders how strong (or how weak) we are.

2.       MONDAY, MAY 7  at 7:00 P.M.:  AMERICANS FOR PROSPERITY ECONOMIC FREEDOM TOUR at Ocean City Library, 1735 Simpson (17^thStreet), Ocean City, NJ.    Learn about economic freedom and how liberty and freedom creates prosperity.   Then learn important Facebook and Twitter techniques to be more effective in delivering our message of liberty and prosperity to others.    For details, go to http://www.EmbraceEconomicFreedom.com.

3.     TUESDAY, MAY 8, at 6:30 P.M.:   THE SAME AFP ECONOMIC FREEDOM TOUR will be at the Absecon Clarion Suites, 342 White Horse Pike, Absecon, NJ.    We are grateful to Steve Lonegan for giving us two opportunities to achieve our dual mission:    Learn how  and why liberty brings prosperity—and how and why tyranny and despotism destroy it.   And how to effectively teach our message of liberty.

4.  WHY ARE REPUBLICAN GOVERNOR CHRISTIE, AND REPUBLICAN ASSEMBLYMEN CHRIS BROWN AND JOHN AMODEO STILL SILENT???   On State Plan to use another gimmick to borrow  $2 billion without voter approval.  The money will be used to bail out banks again by paying top dollar for foreclosed homes in good suburban neighborhoods.  And then rent those homes to “hard to house” people—like criminals released from prison, juveniles coming out foster homes and youth detention centers, “recovering” drug addicts and sex offenders, etc.     Democrat Senator Ray Lesniak publicly denounced Steve Lonegan for making this secret plan public and said, “There is a special place in Hell for Steve Lonegan”.     But liberal Democrats like Ray Lesniak (and Republicans who enable them) have turned New Jersey into Hell.     Senator Lesniak sponsored the special legislation that stripped Atlantic City residents of their right to vote on special tax breaks for the Revel Casino.   When Seth Grossman testified against Lesniak’s plan two years ago, Lesniak ordered State Senate Security to physically remove Grossman from the microphone.

5.   THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO MADE OUR LIBERTY AND PROSPERITY PRESENTATION AT BAYFEST SUCH A SUCCESS IN SOMERS POINT LAST SATURDAY.    Ocean City High School Student Matt Lewis beat the drum while Mark Hutchinson and Bob Glaser dressed in colonial garb.  This attracted a big crowd that allowed them and Dennis Mahon,  Clarence Abbott, Bruce Barkoff, Mary Kazmarck, Doug Stroz and others to hand out more literature and talk to more people—especially young people—than ever before.

6.     Liberty and Prosperity on the Radio.   Our Executive Director, Seth Grossman will be a guest on the Larry Trulli and Dan Klein programs on 1020AM WIBG Radio (Ocean City and much of South Jersey) Mondays  from 8AM to 10 AM until further notice.   Grossman also hosts his own program on 92.1FM Radio (Vineland and most of South Jersey) Saturdays from 8AM to 9AM.   We also hold a breakfast discussion every Saturday morning from 9:30 A.M. to 10:30AM that is open to everyone who wants to learn more about liberty.   It is held at the Shore Diner, Tilton and Fire Roads by Parkway Exit 36 in Egg Harbor Township.

7.     IMPORTANT BUSINESS MEETING:   SECOND SATURDAY OF EVERY MONTH—RIGHT AFTER THE BREAKFAST ENDS AT 10:30 A.M.    Many of you are now attending our breakfasts on a regular basis.  Why not take the next step and become a voting member—or even a leadership position as an officer or director?  If interest, please contact Dennis Mahon, Seth Grossman, or any voting member.
8.     GO TO OUR WEBSITE at http://www.libertyandprosperity.org.   If you like what you see, forward this e-mail to others.   If not, tell us so we can do a better job.

9.  PLEASE REVIEW THIS SETH GROSSMAN PROPOSED COLUMN TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE CURRENT AND GAZETTE WEEKLY NEWSPAPERS OF SOUTH JERSEY.  These columns  are also posted in the “Politics” Section of http://shorenewstoday.com and on our own website at http://www.libertyandprosperity.org.

IN 1970, THE FIRST EARTH DAY TAUGHT A LOT OF THINGS THAT WERE TRUE.   BUT TODAY, EARTH DAY TEACHES LIES.    (Please email your comments, corrections, and suggestions to sethgrossman49@gmail.combefore 11:AM tomorrow (Monday).   Thanks.

On January 28, 1969, an offshore oil rig six miles off the coast of  hit a pocket of high gas pressure and blew out.   Some 210,000 barrels of crude oil poured into the ocean each day.     It took ten days to seal the well, and stop the oil from pouring through nearby cracks in the ocean floor.

The enormous spill covered miles of nearby  beaches crude oil and tar.  Thousands of birds and hundreds of seals, dolphins, and sea lions suffered slow and painful deaths.   Every day, the TV news showed graphic photos of dead and dying birds.  And of area school children in tears over what they saw.   Government and oil industry  officials appeared heartless when they took pride in quickly stopping the leak without the loss of a single human life.
Most Americans were convinced that there was urgent crisis, and that drastic government action was needed.   Liberal college professors blamed the Vietnam War on corporate greed now accused big corporations of destroying the planet.
Democrats saw this crisis as an opportunity to win back young voters who had turned against Lyndon Johnson and Hubert Humphrey to allow Republican Richard Nixon to win the election in 1968.     In September of 1969, Democratic Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin spoke to the UAW (United Auto Workers) convention in Atlantic City.    He urged every college in the country to devote one day the following spring  for a “teach-in” to “bring an overall insistence of the new generation to stem the tide of environmental disaster”.

The New York Times and the ABC-CBS-NBC  TV networks gave Nelson’s speech –and other environmental disaster stories– non-stop front-page/prime time national coverage for the next seven months.
April 22, 1970 was supposedly picked as the date for this “teach-in” because it was warm enough for outdoor events, and did not interfere with either  Easter Break or cramming for final exams.    But some argue that the left leaning professors who picked the date must have known that Communist leader Vladimir Lenin was born on that date exactly 100 years earlier.

Organizers claimed 20 million Americans in 2,000 colleges and 10,000 public schools took part in that first Earth Day in 1970.
The event was so successful that few people noticed that the massive oil spill near Santa Barbara had completely disappeared, causing little, if any, long term damage to the environment.    Virtually no fish were killed or made toxic.     Oil-eating bacteria removed virtually all oil and tar from the ocean and beaches within a year.     Bird and marine mammal populations quickly returned to pre-spill levels.

Still, I and many conservatives supported the Earth Day movement back then.    Traditional principals of American liberty never said it was OK to dump raw sewage into the back bays of Atlantic City.   (which gave anyone who swam in the the bay at low tide  “the doggies”, a skin rash.)   Or that it was OK to dump and burn trash right in town where the Harrah’s and Borgata casinos stand today.   Or OK to  poison wells with toxic chemicals dumped  in the pine woods.
And so I supported the goals of that first Earth Day of the 1970’s.    We needed county government (but not an un-elected Atlantic County Utilities Authority) to spend public money to process our sewage and dump the mostly clean water deep out in the ocean.   And a county dump so we would not dump and burn trash within Atlantic City.   And a safe way to process toxic chemicals.

But  power and money corrupt everyone—including “friends of the earth”.       When they succeeded in giving us the cleanest air and water Americans enjoyed since the Civil War, they demanded even more power and money.
In the 1990’s, they said we needed new laws to control carbon dioxide—the essential gas of life that we breathe out, and that plants breathe in.   They said there was a danger of global cooling and a new Ice Age.    Then they said It was causing Global Warming.      The truth is that the earth has warmed and cooled for billions of years long before we were here.

Today, Earth Day teaches lies about the environment to scare us into giving up our liberty—and prosperity.   Its sponsors this year were monopolies or government agencies we are forced to pay for.   Like Atlantic City Electric (4^thhighest electric rates in  country), the Atlantic County Utilities Authority (overpriced monopoly on trash business), Stockton College, and our public schools (high tuition and property taxes).

Respectfully submitted,

SETH GROSSMAN, Executive Director
LibertyAndProsperity.org

Thank you, Dennis, for sharing this video.