Thursday, March 1, 2007
New Southwest Region of PA Chairman
Jim Barr of West View was named the new Southwest Regional Chairman of the Constitution Party of PA. Jim will be responsible for helping to organize the eleven counties in the southwest region. There are three counties in the region already organized, they are Allegheny, Butler and Westmoreland counties. If any one wishes to organize in any of the surrounding counties please come to one of our Alleghney County meetings posted on the blog or email Jim at james.barr1@att.net. Also Jim is running for the West View council this election, Good Luck Jim!!
Blue hairs rush into new casino
Why do the "news" channels show the opening of a casino in such a positive light? I am personally against gambling and thats what it is, not gaming. That being said I think people should be able to gamble if thats what they want to do with their hard earned money. It bothers me to see all these senior citizens rushing in to play the slots. Is this not the same group of people who are always complaining that they are on a fixed income? Is this how responsible they are with their money? They want the government to pay for their presciptions yet they gamble away what little they do have. Maybe I am wrong, maybe all those seniors are the rich ones who do'nt complain about high prescription prices.
Now I do not mean to pick on our seniors, but it troubles me to see our grandmothers and grandfathers suckered into to a get rich quick scheme. Gambling is a high risk undertaking that no one,young or old, should be taking. The fact that our elected representatives and news outlets encourage this behavior just points out the fact that we can not depend on others to look out for our well being. We must take responsibility for our actions and make wise decisions. To the seniors and others rushing to the casinos, save your money and invest it. It may not be flashy and exciting but it is wise.
Joe Murphy
Now I do not mean to pick on our seniors, but it troubles me to see our grandmothers and grandfathers suckered into to a get rich quick scheme. Gambling is a high risk undertaking that no one,young or old, should be taking. The fact that our elected representatives and news outlets encourage this behavior just points out the fact that we can not depend on others to look out for our well being. We must take responsibility for our actions and make wise decisions. To the seniors and others rushing to the casinos, save your money and invest it. It may not be flashy and exciting but it is wise.
Joe Murphy
Monday, February 26, 2007
Sheriff: Elect or Appoint
Allegheny county will have a special election this year to fill the seat of Sheriff. Also being talked about is whether it should be an elected position or an appointed position. We should carefully consider if we want to give up our duty to elect the chief law enforcement officer in the county. Do we want to put it into the hands of politicans, who will no doubt appoint someone who will serve the government and not the people. This all seems trivial because the post of Sheriff is more for show than actual law enforcement. Somewhere along the way the Sheriffs department became officers of the court, protecting the court is now their duty. Originally Sheriffs were to serve and protect the people of their respective counties. They were accountable to the people and swore to defend the constitution not judges and lawyers.
I would call for another referendum to be placed on the ballot. Return our Sheriffs department to a place of honor and dignity. Give the Sheriff back the power to enforce the constitution, even if it means going after those whom they now protect. Get rid of corporate police forces and give the power back to the freely elected Sheriffs department. Vote NO on eliminating the Sheriffs department and keep them independant from county government officials.
In Liberty,
Joe Murphy
I would call for another referendum to be placed on the ballot. Return our Sheriffs department to a place of honor and dignity. Give the Sheriff back the power to enforce the constitution, even if it means going after those whom they now protect. Get rid of corporate police forces and give the power back to the freely elected Sheriffs department. Vote NO on eliminating the Sheriffs department and keep them independant from county government officials.
In Liberty,
Joe Murphy
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Republicratic progress in action
WASHINGTON (AP) - The welfare state is bigger than ever despite a decade of policies designed to wean poor people from public aid. The number of families receiving cash benefits from welfare has plummeted since the government imposed time limits on the payments a decade ago. But other programs for the poor, including Medicaid, food stamps and disability benefits, are bursting with new enrollees.(associated press)
How long will this country continue to vote for the two major parties? There is very little difference between the two in practice. The democrats push social "justice" while the republicans enact it, all the while bickering over the details. We need to build the Constitution party as a viable alternative to the two party straglehold of lies over this country.
If you have not yet done so,please go to our state website and learn more about our party and help return america to its roots, a constitutional republic.
In Liberty,
Joe Murphy
How long will this country continue to vote for the two major parties? There is very little difference between the two in practice. The democrats push social "justice" while the republicans enact it, all the while bickering over the details. We need to build the Constitution party as a viable alternative to the two party straglehold of lies over this country.
If you have not yet done so,please go to our state website and learn more about our party and help return america to its roots, a constitutional republic.
In Liberty,
Joe Murphy
Quotes From Prominent People on money
VOLTAIRE (1694-1778)
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value ---- zero."
PRESIDENT JAMES A. GARFIELD
"Whoever controls the volume of money in any country is absolute master of all industry and commerce."
HORACE GREELY
"While boasting of our noble deeds, we are careful to control the ugly fact that by an iniquitous money system, we have nationalized a system of oppression which, though more refined, is not less cruel than the old system of chattel slavery."
SIR. REGINALD MCKENNA, former President of the Midland Bank of England
"Those who create and issue money and credit direct the policies of government and hold in the hollow of their hands the destiny of the people."
SIR JOSIAH STAMP, (President of the Bank of England in the 1920's, the second richest man in Britain)
"Banking was conceived in iniquity, and was born in sin. The Bankers own the Earth. Take it away from them, but leave them the power to create deposits, and with the flick of the pen, they will create enough deposits, to buy it back again. However, take it away from them, and all the great fortunes like mine will disappear, and they ought to disappear, for this would be a happier and better world to live in. But if you wish to remain the slaves of Bankers, and pay the cost of your own slavery, let them continue to create deposits."
ANSELM ROTHSCHILD
"Give me the power to issue a nation's money; then I do not care who makes the law."
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value ---- zero."
PRESIDENT JAMES A. GARFIELD
"Whoever controls the volume of money in any country is absolute master of all industry and commerce."
HORACE GREELY
"While boasting of our noble deeds, we are careful to control the ugly fact that by an iniquitous money system, we have nationalized a system of oppression which, though more refined, is not less cruel than the old system of chattel slavery."
SIR. REGINALD MCKENNA, former President of the Midland Bank of England
"Those who create and issue money and credit direct the policies of government and hold in the hollow of their hands the destiny of the people."
SIR JOSIAH STAMP, (President of the Bank of England in the 1920's, the second richest man in Britain)
"Banking was conceived in iniquity, and was born in sin. The Bankers own the Earth. Take it away from them, but leave them the power to create deposits, and with the flick of the pen, they will create enough deposits, to buy it back again. However, take it away from them, and all the great fortunes like mine will disappear, and they ought to disappear, for this would be a happier and better world to live in. But if you wish to remain the slaves of Bankers, and pay the cost of your own slavery, let them continue to create deposits."
ANSELM ROTHSCHILD
"Give me the power to issue a nation's money; then I do not care who makes the law."
Saturday, February 24, 2007
State Senate discusses constitutional convention
Friday, February 23, 2007
By Ann Belser, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Voters in Pennsylvania could have a new state constitution to ratify as soon as the next presidential election.
But there's a lot to do if that's going to happen.
The state Senate Government Committee, headed by Sen. Jeffrey E. Piccola, R-Dauphin, held its first in a series of hearings yesterday on convening a constitutional convention for the first time in 40 years.
Sen. Jim Ferlo, D-Highland Park, was the first speaker on the proposal at the hearing held at Duquesne University Law School. Mr. Ferlo had proposed a bill calling for a constitutional convention during the last legislative session and has introduced his bill again.
Mr. Ferlo said a constitutional convention could address legislative salaries, the size of the Legislature, "procedural issues such as lame duck sessions and the process for the introduction, amending and adoption of bills."
"While I am a relatively new member of the Senate, I have been in public life long enough to have learned that the legislative and judicial process is replete with actual as well as perceived abuse," Mr. Ferlo said. "The 2005 pay grab is merely a microcosm of the problems that have grown in many state institutions over the years by exploiting loopholes in the state constitution modified in '68, the last time the public had their chance to discuss, debate and modify our state's most important document."
Bruce Ledewitz, a Duquesne Law School professor, said if the constitutional convention did nothing else, it should trim the powers the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has taken under Article V, which suggests that the court has authority that is superior to the Legislature's.
He said the court "has shown itself capable of interpretations of the text of the Pennsylvania Constitution that confound its plain meaning and the intentions of those who drafted it."
He said the best example of that is that the constitution states that no bill is to be "altered or amended on its passage through either House, as to change its original purpose."
Yet the court allowed the pay raise in 2005 in which 22 pages of legislation was substituted and adopted in the place of a one-page bill that said no members of the executive branch could be paid more than the governor. He said it didn't help the public's opinion of the court that by the time it reviewed the pay raise, and upheld it, the law had been repealed by the Legislature so that the court, essentially, was able to turn it into a pay raise for judges.
He said the same thing happened on the gambling legislation when a 145-page bill was substituted for a one-page bill calling for background checks on horse racing applicants. The 2004 gambling legislation was passed in three days after the substitution and upheld by the court.
He said the court's rule-making has led to secret meetings in which the court suddenly changes its rules to match legislation passed.
"There's a habit of meeting behind the scenes," Mr. Ledewitz said.
"I never have participated in secret meetings, but I know they have existed," Mr. Piccola said.
"I know senator," Mr. Ledewitz said. "No one ever participated in those meetings."
Joel Fishman, the co-director of Duquesne University's Pennsylvania Constitution Web Site, gave a possible time frame for a constitutional convention which called for the current hearings to wrap up in March; the general assembly to pass an act calling for a constitutional convention by June; the electorate to vote for the convention in November; a primary election for the delegates in April 2008; and the convention to run from May through August with the final step being the adoption of the new articles from the convention in November 2008.
By Ann Belser, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Voters in Pennsylvania could have a new state constitution to ratify as soon as the next presidential election.
But there's a lot to do if that's going to happen.
The state Senate Government Committee, headed by Sen. Jeffrey E. Piccola, R-Dauphin, held its first in a series of hearings yesterday on convening a constitutional convention for the first time in 40 years.
Sen. Jim Ferlo, D-Highland Park, was the first speaker on the proposal at the hearing held at Duquesne University Law School. Mr. Ferlo had proposed a bill calling for a constitutional convention during the last legislative session and has introduced his bill again.
Mr. Ferlo said a constitutional convention could address legislative salaries, the size of the Legislature, "procedural issues such as lame duck sessions and the process for the introduction, amending and adoption of bills."
"While I am a relatively new member of the Senate, I have been in public life long enough to have learned that the legislative and judicial process is replete with actual as well as perceived abuse," Mr. Ferlo said. "The 2005 pay grab is merely a microcosm of the problems that have grown in many state institutions over the years by exploiting loopholes in the state constitution modified in '68, the last time the public had their chance to discuss, debate and modify our state's most important document."
Bruce Ledewitz, a Duquesne Law School professor, said if the constitutional convention did nothing else, it should trim the powers the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has taken under Article V, which suggests that the court has authority that is superior to the Legislature's.
He said the court "has shown itself capable of interpretations of the text of the Pennsylvania Constitution that confound its plain meaning and the intentions of those who drafted it."
He said the best example of that is that the constitution states that no bill is to be "altered or amended on its passage through either House, as to change its original purpose."
Yet the court allowed the pay raise in 2005 in which 22 pages of legislation was substituted and adopted in the place of a one-page bill that said no members of the executive branch could be paid more than the governor. He said it didn't help the public's opinion of the court that by the time it reviewed the pay raise, and upheld it, the law had been repealed by the Legislature so that the court, essentially, was able to turn it into a pay raise for judges.
He said the same thing happened on the gambling legislation when a 145-page bill was substituted for a one-page bill calling for background checks on horse racing applicants. The 2004 gambling legislation was passed in three days after the substitution and upheld by the court.
He said the court's rule-making has led to secret meetings in which the court suddenly changes its rules to match legislation passed.
"There's a habit of meeting behind the scenes," Mr. Ledewitz said.
"I never have participated in secret meetings, but I know they have existed," Mr. Piccola said.
"I know senator," Mr. Ledewitz said. "No one ever participated in those meetings."
Joel Fishman, the co-director of Duquesne University's Pennsylvania Constitution Web Site, gave a possible time frame for a constitutional convention which called for the current hearings to wrap up in March; the general assembly to pass an act calling for a constitutional convention by June; the electorate to vote for the convention in November; a primary election for the delegates in April 2008; and the convention to run from May through August with the final step being the adoption of the new articles from the convention in November 2008.
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