Our first of eight liberty principles is:

Make all laws and taxes fair and simple.  Apply them equally to everyone.

There is evidence to indicate that our complex tax laws are/were applied unequally giving more scrutiny to tea party groups, than what is given to non-tea party groups.   Representative Mike Kelly of PA had a wonderful exchange with an IRS representative that points out the unjust situation and gives voice to the sentiments of  many in our country.   The Blaze reports:

Kelly took his time during the hearing on the IRS’s targeting of conservatives to lambaste outgoing head Steven Miller, reminding Miller that while the IRS would like to chalk the organization’s recent actions up to a mistake, regular Americans do not get that luxury when dealing with the IRS.

“If you think it’s uncomfortable sitting over there you ought to be a private individual when the IRS is across from you asking you questions,” Kelly began, and that set the tone for the subsequent four minutes.

Some of the highlights:

• “I have a grandson who’s afraid to get out of bed at night because he thinks there’s someone under the bed that’s going to grab him. And I think most Americans feel that way about the IRS.”
• “This kind of reconfirms that, you know what, they [the IRS] can do almost anything they want to anybody they want, anytime they want. This is very chilling for the American people.”
• “This is a Pandora’s Box that has been opened and I don’t think we can get the lid back on it.”
• “I don’t believe the White House just found out about this in a news report.”
• “I got to tell you, where you’re sitting, you should be outraged — and you’re not. The American people should be outraged, and they are.”
• “This reconfirms everything the American public believes! This is a huge blow to the faith and trust the American people have in their government!”
• “Is there any limit to the scope of where you folks can go?”
• “It’s sure as hell intimidating. And I don’t’ know that I got any answers from you today.”
• “I am more concerned today than I was before. The fact that you all can do just about anything you want to anybody. You know, you can put anybody out of business that you want anytime you want.”
• “And when the IRS comes in, you’re not allowed to be shoddy, you’re not allowed to be run horribly, you’re not allowed to make mistakes, you’re not allowed to do one damn thing that doesn’t come in compliance. If you do, you’re held responsible right then.”
• “This is absolutely an overreach and this is an outrage for all America!”

Senator Jim Whelan has authored S2531 that would establish a mileage tax.   Liberty and Prosperity advocates eight liberty principles to improve life here in New Jersey.   Our first principle is “Make all laws and taxes fair and simple.  Apply them equally to everyone.”   New Jersey has too many taxes and fees.   The way to make our taxes more fair is to eliminate taxes, not create new ones.

Here is Save Jersey’s coverage of Senator Jim Whelan’s mileage tax.

Click here to listen to our radio update – The Old Chalfonte Hotel

(Image source – http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6067/6039658747_7dd5606698_z.jpg)

I. No eminent domain for private gain.

II. Enforce federal immigration laws. No amnesty. Deport illegal aliens.

III. Make tax and zoning laws fair, simple, and applied equally to everyone.

IV. Cut taxes by cutting government spending.

V. Post all government salaries, contracts, and budgets on the internet.

VI. Repudiate (refuse to pay) all unconstitutional debts. That includes all state government debt incurred without voter approval as required by Article 8, Section 2 of NJ Constitution. Also federal debt incurred for purposes not permitted by Article I, Section 8 of U.S. Constitution.

VII. Bring “government of the people, by the people, and for the people” back to our public schools and local governments. Let parents apply taxes allocated for their kids’ education to the qualified schools they choose. Don’t force government or public school employees to pay dues to unions without their consent. Let elected officials, not appointed arbitrators, again decide what salaries, pensions, and benefits we can afford to pay our public “servants”.

VIII. Hold frequent non-binding referendums (public votes) on all issues of public importance.

IX. Term Limits for all elected officials. Pensions for none.

X. Audit, reform or abolish the Federal Reserve Banking System and have Congress establish a stable currency secured by precious metals or assets with recognized and stable values. Have the United States withdraw from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and any organization which purports to require the U.S. Government to spend money without appropriation by Congress pursuant to the U.S. Constitution.

Here are two posts supporting our fifth point, “Post all government salaries, contracts, and budgets on the internet,” from NewJerseyWatchdog.org:

ESSEX COUNTY SHERIFF’S CHIEF SCAMS $860,000 FROM PENSION – by Mark Lagerkvist

&

ASSEMB. DAVE RIBLE & NJ’s RUNAWAY PENSION SYSTEM – by Mark Lagerkvist

LibertyAndProsperity.org is a unique and effective tax-exempt, education organization that has promoted American principles of liberty in South Jersey since 2003.     Each year, we ask for your financial help to continue our work.

We know that giving may be difficult in today’s bad economy.    But that bad economy is the result of bad government that smothers liberty—and prosperity.    The only way to again have a good economy is to again have a good government that equally secures liberty—including economic liberty—for everyone.

Please help us do that.  LibertyAndProsperity.org is unique and effective for several reasons.

First, we have no loyalties to any political party.     The “Tea Party” movement began in April of 2009 as a push-back against out-of-control borrowing and spending by President Obama and a Democrat controlled Congress.

But we started LibertyAndProsperity.org six years earlier.    At that time, we realized that neither George Bush nor the Republicans who then controlled both houses of Congress understood or respected the Constitution and the most basic principles of American liberty.  We formed this organization in 2003 to warn that Republicans and Democrats alike were leading America to disaster.

Second, we are a practical, New Jersey based organization.  We promote American history, liberty, and culture, but we also apply that general knowledge to  specific local issues that most people understand and relate to.    We do this with two-way talk radio programs, one minute radio announcements, and columns and letters to the editor in local newspapers.

Third, we sponsor weekly breakfast discussions and monthly liberty movies that encourage dozens of people each week to meet and discuss these issues.    These interesting and interactive events encourage critical thinking and improve public speaking skills.

Finally, we have purpose and discipline and do not rush to react to every initiative of the left.   We believe we are most effective when we explain what we are for, rather than what we are against.

We believe that when government applies these eight basic principles, we will quickly resolve most of the problems that now threaten us.

1.     Make all laws and taxes fair and simple.  Apply them equally to everyone.

2.     Teach every citizen and public official to know why written contracts that define and limit the power of government officials are important—and why the clear written words of the U.S. and NJ Constitutions must be understood and obeyed.

3.     Repudiate (refuse to pay) any New Jersey government debt not approved by voters as required by the NJ Constitution.

4.     Post all state, county, local, and public school salaries and contracts on the internet.

5.     Recognize the right of each individual to work at any job without being compelled to join or pay dues to any organization as a condition of employment.

6.     Distribute all “Property Tax Relief Fund” money from the New Jersey Income Tax equally as originally intended in 1976.   The income tax was supposed to cut all property taxes either with direct rebates to property owners or equal funding for all school districts on a per student basis.

7.     Let parents apply their children’s share of state public education money to the schools they choose for their children.

8.     Have frequent referendums (public votes) on issues of public importance.

We believe that most people in New Jersey would support each of these principles if they were properly explained.    Please give us your financial support so we can do that.

If you disagree with any of these core principles, or think something should be added to our list, please contact us.

Although we are a small group, our work has had much influence throughout the state.    In 2007 we teamed up with Steve Lonegan of Americans for Prosperity in North Jersey and sponsored activities that led to the defeat of a $450 million bond issue.

In 2008 we joined with others to raise public awareness (and opposition) to the plan by former Governor Jon Corzine to “monetize” the state toll roads for $30 billion–and raise tolls by more than 700%.

We also sponsored many events that explained how solar panels and wind turbines in New Jersey did little or nothing to reduce carbon emissions, but did kill businesses and jobs in the state by tripling electric rates.

We worked with the Somers Point Historical Society every September to honor the memory of Richard Somers, the American hero who died in America’s first war against Jihad terror in 1804—when Thomas Jefferson was President.

We put the image of the red cap and wooden pike on our letterhead so that Americans again recognize these once familiar symbols of liberty.   The red “liberty” cap was a badge of freedom for freed slaves in ancient times.   The simple wooden pike was the only weapon most farmers and villagers in Europe had.   In the hands of one man, it was useless against the sword of an armored knight on horseback.   But when everyone in the area turned out with that weapon to defend the rights of one family, the freedom of everyone was secure.

We only hold one major fundraising event each year.   We do this in the form of a morning breakfast and afternoon “way more than wine and cheese” reception at the Carisbrooke Inn by the Boardwalk in Ventnor on the last Sunday in February.    This year, it is February 24.

The breakfast, with the famous, special recipe Carisbrooke pancakes, is limited to ten major donors who give at least $250 each.

Tickets to the afternoon reception are $75 per person, or $100 per couple.   We need at least $15,000 from this event—one half of our yearly budget– to keep our current level of activity.   The rest of our budget comes from dues, movie night income, our Richard Somers Day event, and other donations we receive during the year.

In the past, our speakers for the breakfast and afternoon buffet included Steve Lonegan, Michael Doherty, Paul Mulshine, and Anna Little.

This year, our speaker will be Rick Shaftan of Mountaintop Media, a respected veteran pollster who is hired for election campaigns all over the country.  He will give a brief presentation on the topic “How Republicans win when they campaign for liberty, and lose when they don’t”.

Although Seth Grossman is still an active member of our organization, he may be temporarily stepping down as executive director to be a candidate for public office.

For that reason, our offices are moving to 1442 New Road, in Northfield, NJ  08225.   However, to save money, we are using the unused return envelopes with our old address from last year.

To participate in this year’s major fundraising event, please send your check for $250, $100, or $75 as the case may be in the enclosed, self-addressed envelope.  We will mail or deliver your tickets.   You can also pay or donate any amount via PayPal at  www.libertyandprosperity.org, in person at any Saturday breakfast or movie night.  You can buy your ticket from any member.

Thank you again for your support.

                  Sincerely,

                            DENNIS MAHON, President

Presents our annual fundraiser:

Sunday, 24 February

2pm – 4pm

@The Carisbrooke Inn on the beach block of Little Rock Avenue (105 South Little Rock Avenue)

Featuring Rick Shaftan of Mountaintop Media, a respected veteran pollster who is hired for election campaigns all over the country.   

He will give a brief presentation on the topic “How Republicans win when they campaign for liberty, and lose when they don’t”. 

Tickets are $75 each and $100 for a pair.

This event is “way more than a wine and cheese.”   You will enjoy good food, drink, and the company of good people while supporting the cause of restoring liberty and prosperity to our great state of New Jersey.

There is also an exclusive breakfast with Rick Shaftan limited to ten guests.   This exclusive event is $250 per person.

Please buy your tickets today.   You can do so online via PayPal or via mail:

Liberty and Prosperity

1442 New Road

Northfield, NJ   08225

Thank you, for your support!

http://libertyandprosperity.org/?attachment_id=2157

LIBERTYandPROSPERITY.org

Presents

RICK SHAFTAN, veteran pollster:

“Republicans win when they campaign for liberty

And lose when they don’t”.

Carisbrooke Inn

105 S. Little Rock Ave., Ventnor, NJ

Sunday, February 24, 2013

2:30 PM to 4:30

Wine, Cheese, and a Whole Lot More

Admit One — $75 Admit Two — $100

Rick Shaftan

President of Neighborhood Research and Mountaintop Media, companies that provide “polling and media for conservatives with the guts to win,” has worked in political campaigns since he was ten years old, volunteering for Richard Nixon and working through his teen years for conservative candidates John Marchi, Jim Buckley, Barbara Keating and Ronald Reagan.  At age 23 he was elected Conservative Party District Leader for the Northeast Bronx area running from Morris Park to Co-op City, City Island, Pelham Bay and Throggs Neck.

After completing college and law school, Shaftan served as a campaign and legislative aide to Congressman Joe DioGuardi of New York, press secretary to Congressman Connie Mack of Florida and administrative assistant to New Jersey Assemblywoman Marion Crecco.  He started his consulting business in 1988.

Having built a specialty in polling, microtargeting and hard-hitting media in small local races, Shaftan branched out in the late 1990s to handling campaigns throughout the South and Midwest and polling throughout the country.  Besides assisting in the election of numerous statewide and downballot candidates, Shaftan’s companies handled polling and media to defeat several liberal ballot initiatives including the Northern Virginia Sales Tax Referendum (2002), Alabama’s Tax Raising Amendment One (2004) and Questions One and Two in New Jersey that would have raised the sales tax and funded Embryonic Stem Cell “research” (2007).  In 2010 they also handled polling and produced media for the successful effort to remove three liberal Iowa Supreme Court Justices as well as numerous issue campaigns across the country.

Neighborhood Research is a public opinion research firm specializing in highly targeted data analysis and in-depth interviews that use open-ended questions to find issues and create unique media strategies.  Neighborhood Research has done national survey research and in-state polling over two decades in twenty-two states as well as for hospitals, trade associations, lobbying groups and corporate market research.  Intense demographic and geographic microtargeting provides highly detailed information for strategic planning.

Mountaintop Media is a full-service public relations and media firm specializing in helping conservative candidates and organizations, and private-sector clients, deliver effective, hard-hitting messages to a targeted audience at the lowest possible cost.  Over more than two decades, the firm has helped elect hundreds of candidates to federal, statewide, county and local offices, as well as organizations including Americans for Prosperity, Eagle Forum, the Club for Growth, New Jersey Right to Life, Minuteman PAC, the Virginia Tea Party Alliance PAC, the Alabama Republican Party and the National Republican Congressional Committee.

LibertyAndProsperity.org

What do you think of Seth Grossman’s proposed column on local housing ordinances to deal with high crime apartment complexes like “The Gates” in Somers Point?

1.  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) Monday, April 16, from 8AM to 10 AM.   Grossman has been appearing at this day and time on 1020AM for several weeks, and we hope this will continue for some time.   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.

2.  Do you know anyone who plays the drum?   We agreed to pay $50 to someone who can beat the drum for liberty at our information table at Bayfest in Somers Point on Saturday, April 28.   We also need more volunteers to set up and staff the table.   If you can help, please contact Seth Grossman at sethgrossman49@gmail.com.

3.  Correction—Steven Lonegan will be at Stockton College on April 24.   Please contact Seth Grossman if you can help with this event or any other event to help Stockton students learn more about American liberty. 4.  For more information, go to our website at http://www.libertyandprosperity.org.   If you like what you see, forward this e-mail to others.   If you don’t like what you see, tell us so we can be more effective.

4.  I would greatly appreciate it if you could again review my proposed column for  Current and Gazette newspapers this week.   Previous columns are posted at http://www.shorenewstoday.comand http://www.libertyandprosperity.org.   Your  comments, suggestions, and corrections are very helpful in allowing me to publish quality columns every week.   Please send them to me at sethgrossman49@gamail.com.
Thanks.

SETH GROSSMAN, Executive Director
LibertyAndProsperity.org

LOCAL ORDINANCES CAN’T FIX NATIONAL PROBLEMS

The Gates at Somers Point is a 202 unit apartment complex that should be a perfect place to live.    The apartments are roomy and well lit.  Many have large balconies with excellent views.   There is a swimming pool, and plenty of free parking.   It is right next to Shore Road with frequent buses to Atlantic City and Ocean City—and a five mile bike path to Northfield.  The Wawa across the street is open 24 hours a day.     Apartments at The Gates in Somers Point are within walking distance of the Dawes Avenue School, Shore Memorial Hospital, two major shopping centers, three marinas, and many fine restaurants.

Some thirty years ago, the Gates of Somers Point was known as the Atlantis Apartments, and I was there many times.   I was a young lawyer starting out in Atlantic City during the casino boom.   Several of my friends were young doctors  working at Shore Memorial Hospital in Somers Point.    One of them  lived  in apartment at the Atlantics, and we often me there for  dinner or other social events.
The  rents were low, and my friends quickly saved enough money for a downpayment  to buy a beautiful house elsewhere.

In the 1980’s, the202 apartments of the Atlantis Apartments, now known as The Gates of Somers Point, were a pleasant and important part of the American Dream.
Some  15 years later, I moved my law office out of Atlantic City and into Somers Point—one block away from the Atlantis Apartments, now known as The Gates.    By then the apartment complex had become what it is today—a beat up, high crime, debris littered slum.

Today, the complex is the highest crime area in Somers Point, with 515 calls for police in 2011.    What happened in those 15 years between the early 1980’s and mid-1990’s to ruin the place?   What can we do to fix it?
I need a year of research and writing a book to fully answer those questions.    I wish some Stockton professor would do it.   But since local governments in Somers Point and Hamilton Township (Mays Landing) are quickly making bad local laws that ignore the real problems and will make things worse, let me briefly suggest where to begin.
First, we must understand is that the high crime, litter, roaches, and bedbugs at the Gates in Somers Point—and other high crime apartment complexes in Galloway Township, Mays Landing, Atlantic City, and Pleasantville– are not local problems caused by bad landlords.

They are the result of  bad national and state laws and policies.   Starting with Republican President George Bush I in 1989 and a Democratic Congress, our national and state politicians—Republicans and Democrats—created national problems like these:

1:   Too many unskilled, uneducated legal and illegal immigrants.     We have 15 to 20 million illegal immigrants in America today.   We bring in 2 million legal and countless more  illegal immigrants each year.   We no longer expect native born Americans  to do unskilled  or unpleasant work for the wages we are legally required to pay them.

2:  Too many laws that make too many things illegal.   When the Titanic sailed, marijuana was legal, and Coca-Cola was made with cocaine.     At that time, my grandfather saved enough money working in a  textile factory to buy his own
sewing machine and start his own business.     Today, anyone who sells substances that 20% of Americans want is a criminal.  My grandfather could never  afford the lawyers, licenses and permits he would need to start a business today.

3:  Public schools give New Jersey the highest taxes in the country, but fail to teach most students basic writing, arithmetic, or business skills.

4:   Our jails and prisons put thousands of dangerous back on our streets each year—not because they are rehabilitated but because our state politicians spend the tax money elsewhere–where they can buy more votes.

5:   We have high taxes and electric bills so that too many people criminals without education or skills can get good housing, food, medical care, utilities, recreation, and cell phones without having to work at any of the unpleasant jobs  now done byimmigrants.

So too many Americans with no skills or interest in doing unskilled work end up in apartment complexes like the Gates in Somers Point– watching  TV and hanging around.    They depend on government—or crime—to get what they want.   Like getting a new “affordable” apartment when  they trash the old one.
You can’t fix this with a local ordinance.

LIBERTYandPROSPERITY.org

BADER QARMOUT is guest speaker  for breakfast tomorrow (Saturday) April 21.   His Republican Primary opponent, JOSEPH KYRILLOS will speak to us Saturday, May 5.

 We meet for breakfast every Saturday morning at the Shore Diner, Tilton and Fire Roads, Egg Harbor Township from 9:30 A.M. to 10:30 A.M.  By Parkway Exit 36

No admission charge or obligation to join–other than to buy a great breakfast with reduced price special breakfast menu for Liberty and Prosperity.

1. SPECIAL GUEST SPEAKER this Saturday Morning—BADER QARMOUT.    Quarmout is a Sussex County resident who announced as a candidate for U.S. Senate in the Republican Party primary election against Republican State Senator Joe Kyrillos.     The winner of that June 5 Republican Primary Election will run against Democrat Senator Bob Menendez.   We know very little about Bader Quarmout.   He appears to have little or no campaign money and little or  no campaign organization.   He chose no to speak at the Atlantic County Republican Convention last month.   According to various websites, he was born in Jordan and came to American with his family as a small child, and is very pro-Israel.   His main platform is a proposed immigration reform law.   The “Conservative New Jersey” blog blasted him over such small issues as putting up campaign signs without permits and not paying local property taxes,  but it the criticism seems out of proportion to the problems complained of.   BADER QARMOUT asked to speak to our breakfast tomorrow morning,  Saturday, April 21 at 9:30 A.M.  We invite you to come and hear what he has to say.

1.   JOE KYRILLOS, the Republican State Senator endorsed by most Republican leaders to run against Democrat Senator Bob Menendez also asked to speak to our breakfast.  He is scheduled to speak to us on Saturday, May 6 at 9:30 A.M.

1. SOMERS POINT BAYFEST, SATURDAY APRIL 28  10AM to 4PM.   We still need volunteers to be at our information table—and someone to beat the drum to attract a crowd.   We are offering to pay $50 to anyone who can beat that drum for 5 hours (with all breaks as set for by Musicians Union rules, of course!)     For more information—email sethgrossman49@gmail.comor call (609) 927-7333.

1. STEVE LONEGAN EVENT AT STOCKTON COLLEGE CANCELLED:    LONEGAN had a room reserved for April 24, but Stockton later cancelled it, saying it was too late in the school year for such an event.   Meanwhile, Stockton will be holding a special program that day to “celebrate” 25 years of mandatory recycling in New Jersey.   Former Governor Tom Kean will be the keynote speaker.    If you think mandatory recycling is good for the environment, think of how much hot water is used to clean those empty jars before you put them out, how much gas is burned making two trash pick-ups instead of one, and what is really done with all those newspapers.   (When nobody buys them after sitting in storage for a long time, they are  put in the same dump as all other garbage!)  The Atlantic County Utilities Authority pays for its recycling program by charging every town a fee that is added to local property taxes.

1. 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) Monday, April 16, from 8AM to 10 AM.   Grossman has been appearing at this day and time on 1020AM for several weeks, and we hope this will continue for some time.   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.

1. WHY ARE REPUBLICAN GOVERNOR CHRISTIE AND ATLANTIC COUNTY  ASSEMBLYMEN JOHN AMODEO AND CHRIS BROWN SILENT ON PROPOSED STATE GOVERNMENT PLAN TO USE FORECLOSED HOMES  FOR LOW INCOME HOUSING IN GOOD SUBURBAN NEIGHBORHOODS?        A friend who fails to defend us when needed is as dangerous as an enemy who attacks us.     Dealing with bad politicians is the same as dealing with bullies in the eighth grade.    We cannot change their behavior unless we fight them and beat them.   But we don’t have to fight all of them.  Knocking out just one or two will get the rest to change their behavior.    All three of these politicians will be up for election next year.   Anyone who wants to be a serious candidate to run against any of them next year must start preparing now.  (Liberty and Prosperity is not a political organization—we simply educate on the importance of politics—and how to be effective at it.)

1.  For more information, go to our website at http://www.libertyandprosperity.org.   If you like what you see, forward this e-mail to others.   If you don’t like what you see, tell us so we can be more effective.

1. Thanks to all who reviewed my proposed column for the Current and Gazette newspapers this week.   I explained how high crime apartment complexes  are caused by bad national and state laws and policies, and cannot be fixed with local ordinances.    Because of your suggestions, I made many improvements to the article, which is now posted at http://www.shorenewstoday.com/snt/news/index.php/politics/23576-national-state-policies-gave-us-high-crime-apartment-complexes.html and  http://www.libertyandprosperity.org.

SETH GROSSMAN, Executive Director
LibertyAndProsperity.org
(609) 927-7333

LIBERTYandPROSPERITY.org

(If you don’t like anything in this email, please tell us.  If you like this email, please forward it to your friends!)

Meet us at Bayfest this Saturday, April 28 after our regular breakfast.

Regular Saturday radio program on 92.1 FM 8AM to 9AM.    Breakfast at Shore Diner, Tilton & Fire Roads, Egg Harbor Township, by Parkway Exit 35, 9:30AM to 10:30AM every Saturday.  First breakfast free for high school and college students.

We are still looking for a student drummer for our information tent at Bayfest, and for the Memorial Day parade.    We have authorized a $50 stipend for each event.   If interested, contact Seth Grossman at sethgrossman49@gmail.com.

State Senator Joseph Kyrillos will be our guest at our May 5 Saturday breakfast.   Senator Kyrillos is the Republican candidate for U.S. Senate endorsed by the Atlantic County Republican organization, and all other Republican county organizations in New Jersey.     To earn the respect of Senator Kyrillos and other established Republican leaders, it is very important to show the strength of our organization by attending this event.

Business Meeting.  Saturday May 12.   We will be nominating officers and members of our Board of Trustees.   If you would like to hold a leadership position with our organization, please contact Seth Grossman at sethgrossman49@gmail.com or any Officer or Board Member.

[redacted]

Are your local officials giving themselves big pay hikes?   You don’t have to let them. New Jersey Statute 40A:9-165 lets citizens in all towns (not just Faulkner or Walsh Act towns) freeze all pay hikes for elected officials until they are approved by voters at the next election if 5% of the voters sign petitions.    Citizens can set the salaries of their elected officials for two years by submitting petitions signed by 10% of the voters.   Voters in all towns can also force referendums on any proposed bond ordinances to borrow money.    Last month, Atlantic City’s council voted to give the mayor a salary of “1% more than the highest paid employee in the town”.    That means no more checks and balances!   If the mayor gives big pay hikes to his employees, he automatically gets a pay hike for himself!   Will Atlantic City voters use petitions to block this pay hike?

Please review Seth Grossman essay before it is published in the Current newspapers of Atlantic County.    Last week, his essay was published in the Middle Township Gazette of Cape May County and several other issues.    You can read last week’s published article at http://shorenewstoday.com or http://libertyandprosperity.org.

Please send your corrections, criticisms, and suggestions to sethgrossman49@gmail.com.    If you compare the rough draft columns sent to you by email with the final product that is published, you can see how much your comments improve the quality and effectiventess of these essays.    Thanks.

Proposed LibertyAndProsperity.org column for April 26;

“All the key people and resources are in place for the first time. . . Atlantic City can take the next step toward becoming a distinguished, mature, destination resort.   However, we should all be alarmed about the negativity that surrounds us these days”.    Harry Hurley, Current Newspapers,  April 19, 2012

Harry’s column last week assumed as facts, the big lies that Republican Governor Chris Christie and Democrat State Senate President  (and Ironworkers Union leader) Steve Sweeney have fed us for the past two years.   These lies are repeated almost every day by their cheerleaders at our local daily paper, TV station and Stockton College– and by some local radio talk-radio hosts.

They tell us that Atlantic City’s  casino economy crashed because we South Jersey hicks could not run a casino resort in the new era of out-of-state competition.    They tell us that only Big Government  “experts” handpicked by Big Corporation (Christie) Republicans and Big Union (Sweeney-Norcross) Democrats can save the town.

These folks took over Atlantic City with their  Special Tourism District, their new Casino Reinvestment Development Authority (CRDA) of spending—not reinvesting, their government subsidized Revel Casino, and their Atlantic City Alliance (a private advertising company paid for with  $150 million of forced contributions from casinos).
Our  “mainstream” local media now reports their “progress”  every day the way communist regimes once reported their failed Five Year Plans for economic development as big successes—even they caused starvation.

People like me with dissenting views  were  ignored by the mainstream local media and the leaders of both political parties.    But Harry’s column is something new.   It seems like the regime that controls New Jersey state government—like he Obama regime in Washington—is preparing to blame its own failures on its opponents.

Atlantic City is a failure because of what was done and not done by those Big Corporation Republicans and Big Union Democrats who run the Big Government of New Jersey—and  their willing accomplices in the local media and  Stockton College.

In my opinion, these five  problems are killing Atlantic City:

1.         In Nevada, the casino industry has a strong voice in state politics.   In New Jersey, an unconstitutional state law deprives the entire casino industry of its constitutional right to support or oppose candidates and  speak out on public issues.     This taxation without representation is tyranny.   And tyranny kills business and jobs in Atlantic Citgy with high taxes, high electric rates, and corrupt government.

2.       National and state laws and policies flooded our country with legal and illegal immigrants to do unskilled work.   Meanwhile our public schools, the media and pop culture, and  vote-buying government programs by Republicans and Democrats got millions of native born Americans to grow up without an education or jobs skills—but with an attitude that they are “entitled” to good housing, food, utilities, health care recreation, and cell phones—all  without having to do unskilled work to earn them.    A lot of those folks live in Atlantic City.  They know they are “entitled” to  the same government benefits even if their crime and litter kill the tourism business.

3.       There are too many zoning, license, and environmental laws in New Jersey.  Atlantic City won’t even let you rent out your own condo or apartment to tourists–something done in almost every other successful resort.    For too many people, crime is the only profitable business an ordinary person can do in Atlantic City.   No permits or licenses are needed.

4.       Taxes are high in Atlantic City because spending is out of control.  Salaries are so high that newjersey.watchdog.org reports that  14 retired Atlantic City employees  now get  pensions of more than $100,000 per year.   Nobody cared when casinos (with no political voice) paid 80% of the local taxes.    But casinos once taxed at $400 million are now selling for $30 million.  They are paying much less in taxes, and everyone else must pay a lot more.  (The new Revel Casino is exempt from most taxes).

5.       You still can’t see the ocean from the Boardwalk.  Governor Christie promised to remove the ugly, state-mandated artificial sand dunes more than a year ago—about the time it took for Myrtle Beach, South Carolina to built its new Boardwalk and level its dunes.

Atlantic City will not address these problems and succeed until state government lets people again have liberty– Low taxes, limited government that lets each individual free to succeed or fail, and fair, and simple laws that apply equally to everyone.

Respectfully submitted,
SETH GROSSMAN, Executive Director
LIBERTYandPROSPERITY.org
sethgrossman49@gmail.com
(609) 927-7333