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The Official e-newsletter of the Philadelphia Libertarian Party
2010: The Fight for Freedom and What Makes America Special Greetings and happy New Year! I am very glad to have been elected to chair the Philadelphia LP for 2010. I believe we stand at one of the most pivotal times in our country's history in terms of major threats to our liberty and freedoms. We are in the midst of massive expansion of government and its designs on taking over the private sector, exponentially exploding debt, and increased government control of our everyday lives and most personal decisions. We face serious threats to our ability to provide the best health care for ourselves, wealth redistribution schemes disguised as environmental protection, weakened, politically correct-compromised national security, and a threat to our fundamental belief system of individualism vs. collectivism. I joined the LP last year after the 2008 elections. Like many, I was profoundly concerned about the ideologies of the people elected in, and see with great concern their all-out assault on changing our country from one based on freedom and faith in the individual to one of totalitarian government rule. Statism can only lead to reducing our economy and limiting our freedoms, as its false promises quickly give way to reality. We see the radical left engaged in an all-out attempt to install their agenda while they have a window of power to ram through extreme legislation. Some may ask why be a member of the LP when it is difficult to be elected third party? That is a good question. For me, I've held Libertarian values throughout my life, and thought that the Republicans held similar values. What we've seen though is that supposedly fiscally conservative, limited government Republicans have been anything but, and have failed to an extent that extreme leftists (posing as centrists) were considered a better alternative and were voted into office. Another big difference I see between the Republicans and Libertarians is a refrain I hear among Republican leadership that when they embrace true conservative values, then they win, and when they act like Democrats they lose. They seem to be constantly wringing their hands over how they should behave. Should they compromise with the left so they can appear non-partisan and socially compassionate? Should they risk leftist media derision if they stand up for conservative values? Too much fretting over if they should act according to what they supposedly stand for! The Democrats have allowed their party to be taken over by America-hating statist crusaders who want to "change" our country into something resembling the former U.S.S.R. One thing is for sure: the concentration of ideology in both the major parties does not represent the wishes of American people who just want to live their lives without the heavy, clumsy hand of government prodding into their every activity. With the Libertarian Party, our members know exactly where we stand and the party acts accordingly. Government bound in size and scope by its constitutional limits. Faith in the free market as the historically proven best economic system. A belief in not encroaching on an individual's right to keep the fruit of their labor and making their own decisions on how to best spend it. There's no wrangling over whether we should behave as Libertarians or not. Our principles are not negotiable to statist corruption. If you are an existing member we are glad to have you with us. I encourage everyone to be as involved as possible in the coming year, a crucial time leading up to the November 2010 elections in which the statists in power will face the wrath of the constituents they stopped listening to and representing. As chair, I would like to see several things. I aim to grow the party large enough that we can become an officially charted chapter of the LP. I would like to see more people out at our monthly meetings. We plan to have a variety of things of interest at the meetings − special topics, speakers, activism, discussion on concrete actions we can take to stem the tide of growing government. I would also like to reach out to similarly minded local groups to bolster our efforts. Though last year our country was walloped by the radical leftists occupying our highest offices, this stirred a counter response of activating millions of citizens at the grass root level to take back our traditional way of life. Our numbers in the Philly LP may be small, but our efforts make a difference. Join us this year in the battle for the future freedom and prosperity of our country.
Philadelphia has a new District Attorney − Seth Williams. Mr. Williams, who was sworn into office on Monday, January 4, certainly has an impressive resume that conveys a great legal mind and an experienced leader: President of the Black Caucus as a student at Penn State University; a graduate of Georgetown University Law School; and ten years as Assistant District Attorney, during which he created and led the Repeat Offenders Unit. But if you go by Mayor Michael Nutter's remarks at Williams' inauguration, all of this is really secondary to his most important qualification − being African American. Now that Philadelphia has an a African American Mayor, Police Commissioner, and District Attorney, Nutter believes they can finally tackle the problem of violent crime in the African-American community. "And so now... three African-American men must come to grips with what I have referred to in the past as black genocide," said Mayor Nutter. What about focusing on economic policies that will attract businesses and jobs to Philadelphia − severely reducing our corporate, city-wage, and sales taxes, for example? Maybe the first step in reducing violent crime in Philadelphia should focus on creating more opportunities for the unemployed. Could it be that a big reason Philadelphia's youth are killing each other is that they have no jobs and nothing but time on their hands to get into mischief? How about those oppressive prohibition laws that turn potentially productive teenagers into murdering, territorial drug lords? It's nice to think that being African American would be the key for this political trio at the head of our city's government to realize what incentives our inner-city youths need to put their guns down. But if I had money to wager, I'd bet that we're in for more of the same.
Starting in 2010, certified sustainable businesses located in Philadelphia qualify for a $4,000 tax credit under the new Sustainable Business Tax Credit. I am never a fan of new bills, or the idea that the government has the right to collect taxes, then give it back to who those they think are worthy (i.e. redistribution of wealth). I do not in any way endorse this bill or agree with it. I would never vote for anyone who proposed this. I would also never vote for this specific bill if in a position to do so. But even after all of this, if you qualify, sign up! Any way to get money back from the government and in the hands of businesses is a-okay in my book. More info & and event listing: http://sbnblab.eventbrite.com/ Voter Choice Act Call to Action Help move the Voter Choice Act forward by getting it back in the public eye. Write a letter to the editor today. The Green Party of Pennsylvania, along with other third parties, has been pushing the passage of the Voter Choice Act this year. Unfortunately, the recent budget crisis sucked up all the attention of state legislators. We need to act now to get the Voter Choice Act back in the spotlight. This week, we were handed YET ANOTHER golden opportunity. Seven Democratic staffers plead guilty to charges related to Bonusgate. This will be in the news for at least a few more days. Let's use the attention this story is getting to remind the public of the Voter Choice Act. The way we can link these 7 Democrats to Voter Choice is through Bonusgate. Let's remember that part of the Bonusgate scandal was paying staffers to spend time creating the challenge to Carl Romanelli's signatures. In fact, two of the seven admitted specifically to working on the Romanelli challenge as part of their illegal activities. Let's remind the public of this connection. Your mission is to write a letter to the editor it next few days responding to any article about the 7 Democrats and/or Bonusgate. It's best to write your own personalized letter, so I'm not going to provide a template, but here are some general tips. 1. Thank the paper for calling attention to the corruption in Harrisburg When you've written your letter, feel free to send a quick email to the list to tell us which paper(s) you've written. Thanks! p.s. Please call your State Senator as well and ask them to co-sponsor the Voter Choice Act. p.p.s. For those of you that need a bit of a refresher on the Voter Choice Act, see our original Call to Action below. You can also read more at http://www.paballotaccess.org/ Support Democracy in Pennsylvania! When I was in school, I was pretty good at math. But you don't have to be a math genius to know that 2,000 and 25,000 are not equal. That's what the Board of Elections and the State Supreme Court want you to believe. Right now, Democrats and Republicans need only 2,000 signatures to get their statewide candidates on the ballot. Independents, Greens, Libertarians, and other third party candidates need much more − usually around 25,000. That's not equal, it's not fair, and it's undemocratic. Especially when the major parties spend taxpayer money to pay party hacks to find fault with all those third party signatures. State Senator Mike Folmer wants to change that. He has introduced the “Voter Choice Act” which would make the signature requirement for all parties the same. 2,000 = 2,000. Right now, we need more State Senators to co-sponsor the Voter Choice Act. Contact your Senator today to tell her to support this bill. Call, email, fax, and visit in person. Tell them why you think we should have more choices on Election Day. ___________________________________________________________________ Articles reflect the views of the authors and not necessarily those of the Philly LP. Have a letter to the editor, article, event, or suggestion? Send it along to Vice-chair@lpphilly.org! We want our newsletter to fit the interests and needs of our members. |
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If you attend a local event, send a review along to Vice-chair@lpphilly.org.  Aerial view of the fundraiser with the crowd enjoying the music!  John Karr recieving an acheivement award from LPPA for this continued support of the Libertarian cause. Award is being presented by the new LPPhilly Chair, Anthony. Our Forum: Meetup Calendar:
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