What is Agenda 21?

Saturday, February 2, 2008

PA Constitution Party state meeting

The Constitution Party State Meeting and Banquet will be held:

March 1st 2008
at the

Hotel Carlisle in the Windsor Ball Room

1700 Harrisburg Pike

Carlisle, PA 17015

717-243-1717



Executive Meeting is from 10:00 am -12:00 pm

State Meeting is from 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm

Banquet is from 5:00 pm – 9:00 pm


Ticket Price

$40.00 per person

or

$70.00 per couple


Please R.S.V.P. 724-586-9739

Speakers to be announced at later date.

Thursday, January 31, 2008

National Taxpayers Union: Only Ron Paul Would Cut Spending

NTU Report: Other Republicans would increase spending by billions

According to a report released Tuesday by the National Taxpayers Union, Texas Congressman Ron Paul is the only remaining presidential candidate who proposes net spending cuts.

According to the report, Congressman Paul’s proposals would cut government spending by over $150 billion, a conservative estimate of the spending reductions Dr. Paul has proposed. The report concludes that the other remaining Republican candidates, Mitt Romney, John McCain and Mike Huckabee, have proposed spending increases of $19.5 billion, $6.9 billion and $54 billion respectively.

“It should come as no surprise that when you crunch the numbers Ron Paul is the only Republican who would actually shrink the size and cost of the federal government,” said Ron Paul campaign economic advisor Don Luskin. “Romney, McCain and Huckabee don’t hold a candle to Ron Paul – the only true fiscal conservative running for President.”

In ten terms in Congress, Ron Paul has never voted for a tax increase or for an unbalanced budget.

www.ronpaul2008.com

Sunday, January 27, 2008

Why should taxpayers fund closed primaries?

By Larry Reisman (Contact)
Thursday, January 24, 2008

BOCA RATON — I didn’t bother to ask how I got a front-row aisle seat in the media room for Thursday night’s GOP presidential debate at Florida Atlantic University, just in front of the columnist who generates the single most reader complaints for me: Maureen Dowd.

It’s clear the center of American political debate was here Thursday — Ron Paul fans lining Glades Road to New York City firefighters blasting Rudy Giuliani on the entryway to campus.

There were numerous TV satellite trucks, hordes of TV cameras and makeshift studios. Even NBC News anchor Brian Williams spent a few minutes on the other side of an interview while technicians set up the chilly debate hall.

Despite the fact the national parties claim they will severely punish Florida delegates because the state will hold its primary too early — Tuesday — the debate and primary have been made into big deals.

It’s too soon to tell whether that’s just media hype. Only 78 percent of Florida’s 10.2 million registered voters have an opportunity to tap a candidate Tuesday — the other 22 percent are not affiliated with the Republicans or Democrats.

Those independents — greenies, libertarians, reformers and more — will play a key role in the general election. Why? Even though there are more that 300,000 registered Democrats than Republicans, there are 2.2 million independents.

Unfortunately, they won’t have a say in who the final nominee is and — to add insult to injury — they’ll help pay the tens of millions of dollars counties will pay to hold the primary.

“Basically, each county is running an election for the parties,” noted Vicki Davis, Martin County’s supervisor of elections, who budgeted $145,640 for the election.

This is exactly the kind of unfunded mandate county officials are talking about when they complain about Legislature-imposed caps on local government spending. It was the Legislature, after all, that called the election.

In the case of Tuesday’s primary — based on the Democratic Party’s pledge not to seat delegates — counties will spend tens of millions of dollars for the benefit of only 37.5 percent of registered voters. Fiscal responsibility?

It’s about as wacky a system as the one in Washington state. Two decades ago, Washingtonians passed a referendum to hold and fund presidential primaries. Democratic leaders, though, still do their own thing. They select their delegates through caucuses while others vote.

“The interesting thing will be if party activists who attend the caucuses pick one candidate but the Democratic primary voters pick another,” said Kate Riley, an editorial writer for The Seattle Times. “It could happen. In 2000, only 60,000 attended the caucuses, while another 1.3 million voted in the primary (which reportedly cost $9.7 million).”

It begs the question of why pay for primaries of private organizations — some journalists refer to them as country clubs — anyway?

Publicly run primaries, said Kevin Wagner, assistant professor of political science at FAU, began to ensure the selection process was done in the “best interest of the public.” Nationwide, proponents of publicly run primaries say the government can ensure that all party members have access to the selection process.

There are options. This was the first year, for example, that South Carolina taxpayers have paid for a primary. Many other states, such as Kansas and Missouri, have debated whether to pay for a presidential primary, according to Kay Stimpson, spokeswoman for the National Association of Secretaries of State. These states opted not to, so parties will caucus to select delegates, much like what was done in Iowa.

North Carolina also is frugal. Its primary is May 6, the same time as other primaries for state and local races.

Another potential option — no states do it anymore — is to charge parties to hold primaries, as was done in South Carolina until this year. Given the fact that statehouses are dominated by party faithful, don’t expect this to happen anytime soon.

No matter which option you choose, Florida’s presidential primary (especially if the property tax amendment fails) likely will be a boondoggle in a state that already has financial problems. For 2012, the options ought to be: get the parties to pay for it, or stick it in the budget of the Florida Legislature.

No debate required.

laurence.reisman@scripps.com