Sabrin pummels young Dem on taxes. Grossman weighs in on Kate Smith

When a young Democrat suggested that a frustrated property taxpayer was wrong for pulling up stakes and leaving the Garden State, libertarian stalwart Murray Sabrin, a finance professor at Ramapo College beat him about the head (rhetorically) with a large dose of economic reality.  Here’s what Sabrin had to say:

In a nj.com guest column millennial entrepreneur and Kinnelon Board of Education member Jason DeAlessi criticizes a previous guest columnist who explained why he is leaving New Jersey for Pennsylvania where taxes are lower.

DeAlessi’s criticism reflects the prevailing collectivist ideology that has been embraced by individuals from all generations who believe: “From each according to his ability to each according to his needs.” If this sounds familiar it should, because it is the foundation of Karl Marx’s vision for the world.

DeAlessi makes the egregious assertion that successful people should be the “cash cows” for social welfare spending. This is the heart of the rationale for all taxes in contemporary America. Taxes have become the prime vehicle for politicians to “buy” the votes of the public who believe the redistribution of income will make them better off and not have any negative consequences for the economy.

The millennial critic of anyone who does not want to pay exorbitant taxes states: “But year after year, the value of your stock portfolio, IRA, and 401K goes up – on the backs of your fellow hard-working New Jerseyans.” This is not only false but defamatory. People earn their money by providing goods and services in the marketplace. In other words, they improve living standards for those who buy their produces and use their services. Entrepreneurs like DeAlessi are dependent on customers who value their services and pay their employees a wage or salary reflecting their value to the firm. This how a free market economy works.

Finally, an analogy should lay to rest the notion that people should stay in New Jersey despite the high taxes. If a slave owner prior to the Civil War decried the escape of slaves from his plantation with the assertion that their labor is needed to keep the plantation functioning, anyone who values individual liberty would consider that an outrageous assertion. Slavery being the most egregious involuntary relationship is no different than taxation, which is the modern equivalent of “slavery.” Why? Both slavery and taxation abuse and individual’s right to liberty.

In short, escaping a slave plantation and leaving a high tax state are not “selfish.” They are noble actions to be free and have more freedom over one’s income and wealth.

You can read more by Professor Sabrin at his blog…

https://www.murraysabrin.com/

Meanwhile, former Atlantic County Freeholder Seth Grossman is kicking some socialist ass of his own.  In an email blast earlier today, Grossman wrote: 

Last year, Stockton University lied about its namesake Richard Stockton and removed his statue.   Last week, the same "progressive" mob lied about Kate Smith, and bullied the Philadelphia Flyers into covering her statue, and taking away her song.   Today, they took away her statue.
 
Details at https://libertyandprosperity.com/kate-smith-latest-victim-of-fake-education-real-hatred-taught-by-colleges-public-schools-today/
 
This did not happen overnight.   This is the latest result of 50 years of people who hate our country, our freedom, and our independence using our public schools and colleges to lie to our children.

Richard Stockton and his family dedicated their lives to ending slavery in America.   Yet Stockton University professors falsely taught its students that he and his family were racists because they temporarily owned some slaves while in the process of giving them educations and preparing them to live on their own.  The real reason Stockton professors hate Richard Stockton is that they hate the Declaration of Independence he signed, and the America based on limited government and individual rights that he helped create.

Kate Smith introduced America to Irving Berlin’s “God Bless America” at a time when it was needed most.   But our schools and colleges are now teach the lie that she was a racist because the perfectly acceptable language she used 86 years ago is now considered offensive by some.

Get the facts on what is going on, and what we can do about it.

Few people in America have more knowledge on this subject than Dr. Duke Pesta.   One of our members, Steve Jones will host a workshop and discussion featuring Dr. Pesta’s latest video presentation this Wednesday, April 24, at the Shore Diner in Egg Harbor Township.

Topic:  Campus Carnage:  Moral Chaos and Indoctrination in the University.
Video Presentation by Dr. Duke Pesta
This Wednesday, 7pm at Shore Diner
6710 Tilton Road (corner of Fire Road near Parkway Exit 36)
Egg Harbor Township, NJ  08234

No charge, but please order and pay for dinner off the menu and tip your server.
Please RSVP with Steve Jones at  sjones-LP@See-More-Facts.com.  Or leave a message at (609) 927-7333. Feel free to contact him for details.    Thanks.
 
Seth Grossman, Executive Director
LibertyAndProsperity.com
453 Shore Road
Somers Point, NJ  08244
info@libertyandprosperity.com
(609) 927-7333

Seth Grossman on why the “Convention of the States” should concern us.

Our U.S. Constitution provides two methods to amend or change it. They are both found in Article V.   One is for 2/3 of both houses of Congress to propose amendments.   The other is for 2/3 of the State Legislatures to "call a Convention for proposing Amendments".  Amendments proposed by either method become effective "when ratified by the Legislatures of 3/4 of the states by Conventions in 3/4 thereof".

Our Constitution was amended 18 times since it was first adopted in 1787.   The first ten amendments were adopted together as our "Bill of Rights" in 1791.   It was then amended 17 times during the next 227 years.  Each of those 27 amendments was proposed by 2/3 of both houses of Congress.  So far, the states never called a "Convention of States" or "Constitutional Convention" to amend our Constitution.

During the past few years, several well known conservatives proposed a "Convention of States" (Constitutional Convention) to amend or change our Constitution.  They claim that such a convention can propose amendments with good ideas like term limits and limits on borrowing and spending. 

However,  Communists, socialists, and "progressive" Democrats also want to change our Constitution.   They are proposing many bad ideas.  They want to get rid of the First Amendment so that "hate speech" (speech by anyone who disagrees with them) can be punished like it is in Europe, Great Britain, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand.  They want to get rid of the 2d Amendment and outlaw all private gun ownership.    They want to get rid of the 10th Amendment that limits the power of the federal government.  They want to get rid of the Electoral College so a handful of big, socialist "sanctuary states" like California, Illinois, New York and New Jersey can pick all future Presidents.

If we have a "Convention of States" to propose changes to our Constitution, who would control it?  Whose proposed amendments would come out of it?   Even if 3/4 of all states fail to ratify bad amendments, there will be enormous pressure to change the ratification process if the big socialist states with a majority of the population support them.    Look at how they are already undermining  the  Electoral College!

Since 2014, Legislatures in 29 states adopted resolutions calling for a "Convention of States" to change our Constitution. There will be a Constitutional Convention if 2/3 (34) or just 5 more states adopt the resolution.

Most conservatives agree that America was great when our Constitution was understood, respected, and enforced as written.   We also agree that most Senators, Members of Congress, Judges, and State and Local Officials today routinely ignore and violate our Constitution.   Why not work to elect officials who will  "preserve, protect, and defend" our Constitution?   If those officials ignore the clear written language of the Constitution we have now, why would they respect and comply with a different Constitution?

Last year, our organization LibertyAndProsperity.com voted overwhelmingly to oppose any "Convention of States".  However, during the past few breakfasts, several guests and members asked us to talk about this issue again.

For that reason, we are having a special two hour breakfast program on the Convention of States Issue this Saturday, March 23.  We will begin at our regular 9:30AM time.   There will be special video presentations and speakers during the first hour moderated by Steve Jones.     There will be an optional Question and Answer session and discussion for those who wish to stay during the next hour. from 10:30AM to 11:30AM.

If you like our work, please support us with a tax deductible donation or be a $30 per year supporting member.   Pay online at LibertyAndProsperity.com, or at any Saturday Breakfast Discussion.   Or mail or drop off your check at our Somers Point office.   Thanks!

For More Information contact:

Seth Grossman, Executive Director
LibertyAndProsperity.com
Email:Info@libertyandprosperity.com

Once, we had open & honest conversations about important issues

When America Was Great Before, We Had Open & Honest Conversations on Important Issues.

For the last 40 years, I wrote and published thousands of articles and comments about important and controversial issues.  I did it to make people aware of important issues that affected their lives.  Not everyone agreed with me all the time.  However, I was trusted and respected by all segments of the community as a lawyer, elected official, radio talk-show host, guest columnist, adjunct college professor, and executive director of LibertyAndProsperity.com. 
 
All that changed five weeks ago.  That was when I won the Primary Election, and became the Republican candidate for Congress in South Jersey.   Now, Democrats all over the country are falsely calling me a hater, racist and bigot.

America's culture of free and open discussion on public issues started long before the First Amendment to our Constitution.  Back in 1731, Benjamin Franklin wrote:  “If all printers were determined not to print anything till they were sure it would offend nobody, there would be very little printed”.  

Franklin also wrote:  “When men differ in opinion, both sides ought equally to have the advantage of being heard by the public.   When Truth and Error have fair play, the former is always an overmatch for the latter”. 

When America was great, Americans freely and openly voiced their opinions on public issues.   They also respected others, even when they disagreed.  Back then, Americans got smarter by learning from each other.

Today, far too many Americans are afraid to openly express their opinions for fear of losing friends, customers, or their jobs.   Too many Americans use arguments to ridicule or bully those who disagree.  Too many Americans blame others for problems, while doing nothing to work with others to fix those problems. 

Two of our biggest problems today involve race and immigration.   Those are problems that few people dare to discuss openly.   These are problems that are getting worse every year.

I am running for Congress, because I think Democratic Party politics made problems in our cities worse during the past 50 years.   I think Republican President Donald Trump is taking a different approach, and making things better.   Record numbers of blacks and Hispanics are working again   I think we can make even more progress if we  honestly talk about what worked and didn't work in the past and what we should do and not do in the future. 
 
This week, I plan to discuss these topics at the following three forums:.

This evening, Tuesday, July 10, at 7pm:   Atlantic City Republican Club.  Choice Bar and Grill, 470 North Albany Ave. (Route 322), Atlantic City, NJ.

Thursday, July 12 at 7pm:   Civil Discourse Forum on Immigration.  Bethany Grace Community Church, 31 N. Pearl Street, Bridgeton, NJ   (The admission fee for the forum is a non-perishable food item to be distributed at the church’s food pantry program for the public. The forum is open to the public, but advance registration is required and seating is limited.  Register online at:  http://www.bethanyinbridgeton.com/perspectives-forums.html 

Saturday, July 14 at 7:15AM to 8:00AM.   Radio Interview with Seth Grossman.  WVLT 92.1FM Radio. Heard in most of South Jersey from 7:15AM to 8AM.  (I will be the first guest on the “Bob and Steve Show” which begins that day). 

For more information, visit GrossmanforCongress.com, GrossmanforCongress Facebook, and @Grossman4NJ on Twitter.   Please “like” and “share”.   Thanks!

Seth Grossman

GrossmanforCongress.com
453 Shore Road
Somers Point, NJ  08244
(609) 927-7333
info@grossmanforcongress.com

Help Liberty & Prosperity at Stockton University

Here is a message from Seth Grossman, former Atlantic County Freeholder and one of the state's most outspoken and indefatigable libertarians.  Seth and his organization, Liberty & Prosperity, are taking the battle to Stockton University and signing up the next generation of conservative leaders.

Please help us at Stockton!

Tomorrow and Wednesday, Sep 19 and 20.

Any time between 10 am and 4pm.  Meet us at Table #24 at F Wing Atrium (outside library).

We need to talk to students about LibertyAndProsperity.org at Stockton's "Get Involved Fair".

Stockton University spends lots of time and money for students to “get involved”  with off-campus “community service agencies”.

Tomorrow, September 19,  and Wednesday, September 20, we and 30 other off-campus groups will be at tables set up in the F Wing Atrium (outside library) of the Stockton campus to meet students.    We will be there from 10 am to 4pm.   We need your help to hand out postcards, bring students to our table, and persuade them to sign up for our email updates and meetings on campus.

Stockton University is by Jimmie Leeds Road in Galloway Township between Exits 41 and 44 of Garden State Parkway.

More than half of the other 30 groups directly or indirectly promote the “democratic socialist”, Obama/Clinton Democrat political agenda.

Some falsely blame “capitalism” and “racism” for poverty and “income inequality” in America.   They suggest that those who work hard to live a comfortable, middle-class life should feel guilty about their “white privilege”.

Some demand “safe spaces”, special funding and all sorts of special privileges for certain “politically correct” groups of “victims” who they falsely claim are unfairly treated by a hateful, intolerant, and unjust America.

Other groups falsely blame America for “climate change” and even hurricanes!   They promote “green” energy projects that do little or nothing to affect climate, but do a whole lot to kill jobs, triple electric bills, jack-up heating bills,  and make Americans miserable and poor.

  Although Stockton claims to embrace “diversity”, we are the only group on campus that openly offers students different points of view.

We alone explain how America was “conceived in liberty” on July 4, 1776 when our Declaration of Independence held these truths to be “self-evident”:

“We are all created equal.  We are endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights.  Among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.  To secure these rights, governments are instituted among us, exercising their just powers from the consent of the governed”.

We alone explain that although Stockton University displays a giant mural of that Declaration of Independence outside the Campus Center, that mural is designed so that it is nearly impossible to read those self-evident truths.

We agree that America is not perfect.  However, we remind Stockton students that when Americans understood and respected our Constitution and those founding principles of liberty, America brought more wealth, opportunity, and justice to more people than any other nation in history.   We explain that this is the meaning of New Jersey’s motto “Liberty and Prosperity” since 1776.

We alone point out that earth’s climate has constantly been changing for billions of years.  We remind students that half of New Jersey was covered with giant ice sheets until “global warming” began more than 10,000 years ago.

Our goal tomorrow and Wednesday is to persuade 10 Stockton students to sign our Liberty and Prosperity Club roster.    If we succeed,  we will be recognized as an official Stockton student club.   This will give us funding and access to Stockton’s meeting rooms, bulletin boards, and TV monitors.

If you can join us on campus tomorrow or Wednesday, please contact Seth Grossman at info@libertyandprosperity.org or (609) 927-7333.

For more information, please also visit LibertyAndProsperity.org, Liberty and Prosperity Facebook page, and RepudiateNJ.com

If you cannot be with us on campus this week, please forward this email to any Stockton student you know -- or the family of any student.   If you know a student who may be interested, please let us know so we can contact that student.

We also have scholarship and stipend money for students who help us deliver our message on campus.

Thank you for your support.

Seth Grossman

LibertyAndProsperity.org

453 Shore Road

Somers Point, NJ08244

(609) 927-7333

Seth Grossman stands up for Tom MacArthur

Seth Grossman, one of the state's foremost libertarian-conservative leaders, has come to the defense of Congressman Tom MacArthur.  Seth, who some at Jersey Conservative have had policy differences with, particularly on social issues, has made a well-reasoned argument in support of the Congressman:

Two months ago, Republican leaders in Congress (including South Jersey Congressman Frank LoBiondo) met in secret and tried to ram though an Obamacare replacement that was just as bad as Obamacare.   They were stopped only by the determined opposition of some three dozen conservative Congress members known as “The Freedom Caucus”.    

For weeks, it looked like no repeal of Obamacare was possible.   That was when our own Republican Congressman Tom MacArthur of Ocean/Burlington County stepped forward and became a game-changer. 
 

Tom MacArthur reached out to conservatives in the Freedom Caucus and found common ground with Republican moderates.   MacArthur almost single handedly worked out the compromise that includes some very good conservative ideas.  If Republicans in the Senate do their part, MacArthur’s bill can bring free markets, competition, better care, and lower prices back to our health care system. 
 

The Republican Establishment is now punishing MacArthur for doing the right thing.  Earlier this week, they forced MacArthur out of the “Tuesday Group”– some 40 “moderate” Republicans who include anti-conservative NJ Republican Congressmen like Leonard Lance, Frank LoBiondo, and Chris Smith. These “Tuesday Group” Republicans are generously funded by “the swamp” that Trump promised to drain.  

It is not enough to just criticize and politicians when they oppose us.  We must also thank, support, and help officials when they do the right thing--even when they are not Constitutional or conservative on some other issues.   That is why every conservative in New Jersey should now publicly thank and support Republican Congressman Tom MacArthur. 

The compromise package he put together is not the simple and complete repeal we favored.   However, it is much better than what we have now.  It also gives President Trump and the states new power to restore individual choices and costs in the future.    Finally, it also won recognition and respect for conservative, Freedom Caucus members who are too often ignored or marginalized by Establishment Republicans.

Please contact Tom MacArthur's office and thank him yourself.  Please visit is webpage for contact information at https://macarthur.house.gov/contact 

Also, please forward copy, paste, email, “like” and “share” this post with everyone you know in MacArthur’s district of Ocean and Burlington Counties.  Please do it every way you can. 

Please post your support in the comments section of newspapers like the Asbury Park Press at www.app.com.     You can submit a letter of 200 words or less for publication there to yourviews@app.com

For more information or help, please contact me at info@libertyandprosperity.org or at (609) 927-7333. 

And let's talk more about it over breakfast.   This and every Saturday morning at the Shore Diner, 6710 Tilton Road, Egg Harbor Township/Northfield, NJ.   Thanks.

Seth, who is supporting Jack Ciattarelli for Governor, has some insights into the upcoming Republican gubernatorial primary on June 6th.  It must be noted that some of our contributors here at Jersey Conservative are supporters of Pro-Life, pro-Second Amendment candidate Steve Rogers.

This is what Seth has to say:

The Governor's Race:   Conservatives have no interest in who gets the Democratic nomination this year.   At the debates, all Democratic candidates agreed, "We are all progressives!".   Here is the latest Stockton University poll for June 6 Republican primary:  
Kim Guadagno:   37%
UNDECIDED:        31%
Jack Ciattarelli:    18%
Steven Rogers:      4%
Joseph Rullo:         3%
Hirsh Singh:           3% 

Republicans have 12 days to stop this trainwreck.  Guadagno is tied to a very unpopular Christie. She also improperly let top officials collect both salaries and state pensions as Monmouth County Sheriff.  Many local Republican officials privately worry that Guardagno will be an anchor around the neck of every Republican candidate in Atlantic County this November. But they publicly support her.

Polls eight years ago showed only 11% of Republicans undecided in the primary battle between Chris Christie and conservative Steve Lonegan. Today, 31% are undecided. That is more than enough to tip the election to conservative Jack Ciattarelli.   

However, this poll indicates that there are not enough undecided voters to elect Rogers, Rullo, or Singh.   The only way Ciattarelli can defeat Guadagno is if most undecideds and some Rogers/Rullo/Singh supporters switch to conservative Ciattarelli.  

 Seth Grossman, Executive Director. Liberty and Prosperity

Beck set off GOP primary stirrings for 2017

It started with GOP Senator Jennifer Beck, looking for an issue to run on next year, and soon got crazily out of hand.  Beck, a member of the GOP Senate leadership no less, got NJ 101.5's Bill "pulled-pork" Spadea to start the movement to publicly call for running primary campaigns against Republican legislators in 2017 and it took off from there.

Next it was taken up in the pages of the SaveJersey blog, with a call for open Republican-on-Republican warfare:

And who are these offending Republicans? Here’s the Rogue’s Gallery – read it and make them weep:

Jon Bramnick, LD 21 (Union, Somerset and Morris); Chris Brown, LD 2 (Atlantic):  Rob Clifton, LD 12 (Monmouth, Ocean, Burlington and Middlesex);  BettyLou DeCroce,  LD 26 (Morris, Essex and Passaic); Joe Howarth, LD 8 (Burlington, Atlantic and Camden);  Sean Kean,  LD 30 (Monmouth and Ocean); Nancy Munoz,  LD 21 (Union, Morris and Somerset); David Rible,  LD 30 (Monmouth); Maria Rodriguez-Gregg, LD 8 (Burlington, Atlantic and Camden) and Scott Rumana, LD 40 (Passaic, Bergen, Essex and Morris).

Note that many of this exceedingly motley crew are in the GOP leadership in the Assembly, including Assemblyman Bramnick, the putative leader of the caucus.

...For their support of the gas tax-hike abomination, the Gang of 10 need to be primaried, hounded, called out, denounced, condemned and run to ground as traitors to the state’s already oppressed taxpayers.

The writer also explicitly fingers the new GOP "Solutions NJ" super PAC as being "GOP up-and-comers who loathe the idea of a gas-tax hike." 

Why did the leadership of the Senate Republican Caucus encourage one of their members to negotiate a tax cut/TTF-funding deal, while a member of GOP leadership itself was allowed to publicly make war on that deal?  That miscalculation has opened up the possibility of primaries against legislative Republicans across the state.

The so-called "left" of the conservative movement in New Jersey -- represented by the anti-government, libertarian-leaning Liberty & Prosperity group of Atlantic and Cape May counties -- got into the act, calling for an Argentina-style "repudiation" of the $16 billion debt used to fund the TTF.  Yes, they want to default on the debt, walk away from it, and they have what could be a sound legal argument for doing so.  They also want to "identify, recruit, train, and support qualified candidates to run against (Assemblyman Chris Brown and others) in the Primary Elections next June."

Assemblyman Brown is one of three Republicans in the state who share a legislative district with two Democrats.  He is hyper-vulnerable in 2017.  If he is defeated for re-election, it will be the fault of Senator Jennifer Beck and the GOP Senate leadership for riling up and galvanizing the opposition against him.

Coming from the social-conservative "right" on this issue is the New Jersey Family Policy Council.  In an email blast in which they remind readers that they "don't usually get too involved in fiscal issues," the NJFPC goes after Governor Chris Christie, Assembly Republican Leader Jon Bramnick, and other Republicans for voting for A-12, which increased the gas tax while reducing the sales tax and eliminating the tax on retirement income for most retirees.

Curiously, the NJFPC uses the talking points of far-left former Democrat State Senator Gordon MacInnes' Policy Perspectives group, and lifts its points directly from another publication.  MacInnes is an old-Great Society social warrior and former White House staffer under LBJ (for those of you too young to remember, that stands for President Lyndon Baines Johnson).

This is being follow-up with a political campaign seminar tomorrow at the Church of Grace & Peace in Toms River.  The seminar is run by a campaign professional from out West named George Khalaf, dubbed by NJFPC's Len Deo as "the Lebanese Lion from Arizona."  We don't know a soul who calls him that, by-the-way, apart from maybe his pal Paul Weber. 

George Khalaf is the former political director of the Arizona Republican Party, who started his own polling and general consulting firm two years ago and is now out looking for new clients.  The seminar tomorrow promises to "change the culture by winning campaigns... at all levels of elected offices, from School Board to Town Council, to County Office and all the way up to the State and Federal elections!"

Well the Lion has come to the right place to do some hunting.  New Jersey is one of the last breeding grounds of that nearly extinct creature -- the culturally far-left Republican elected official.  These people can't even tell the difference between boys and girls.  They want adult male sex offenders showering with the high school girls' soccer team.  In Arizona, their heads adorn every political consultant's office in every county. 

But it gets better.  The NJGOP lost legislative seats even with a popular Governor at the helm.  The GOP couldn't pick up a single Senate seat even when the Governor was winning by 20 percentage points.  In contrast, in Pennsylvania the GOP won 12 new legislative seats while their incumbent Governor was LOSING by 10 points!  Going into 2017, the NJGOP isn't going to have enough money to protect its vulnerable incumbents in the GENERAL ELECTION.  Forget about having the spare money for one or two or more or a bunch of primaries.

And as a pollster of some repute, George Khalaf will soon discover that most Republicans in the Garden State are over 60 years old and think culturally more like average Republicans do in Arizona than GOP "leaders" do in New Jersey.  New Jersey Republicans are utterly turned-off by these creatures who claim to represent them, their culture, or their country.  So let the Lion loose and... good hunting!  Or should we say, good dining?

By-the-way, great work Senator Beck... great work!

Atlantic City--The canary in the coal mine

By Seth Grossman, Esq.

I am an attorney and former Atlantic City councilman and Atlantic County freeholder.   I also teach history as an adjunct at our community college, and am Executive Director ofwww.libertyandprosperity.org.   I ran for Governor against Christie in the 2013 Republican Primary because I and most people in this area saw first-hand how his policies were making a bad situation in Atlantic City worse—and nobody else was running against him.    Most home and business owners in the beach towns also knew Christie was completely wrong about sand dunes.   We all know that most storm flooding comes from the back bay and that wide beaches and wooden seawalls protected the ocean side of most towns south of Brigantine since 1944.   Most local Republicans privately tell me they agree with these views: 

1.     Bankruptcy or a state court insolvency is the quickest, most orderly, and fairest way to give Atlantic City a fresh start and chance to recover from past mistakes:    Here is link to my recent published column in Star Ledger:     http://www.nj.com/opinion/index.ssf/2016/03/bankruptcy_is_the_best_solution_for_atlantic_city.html

2.     Donald Trump opposed a State Government takeover of Atlantic City in 1989 by correctly pointing out that state policies and actions caused most of the problems :  http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/opinion/commentary/seth-grossman-trump-weighs-in-on-state-takeover-of-atlantic/article_d9acb5b4-0f84-53a8-bbd7-07283f1159b0.html

3.      Our organization filed suit against the City and State officials last month.    We cannot understand why the NJ State Department of Community Affairs refuses to make Atlantic City comply with the Local Budget Law which requires every town and county to approve a balanced “cash basis” budget by February 10 each year.   Although the Department of Community Affairs often grants extensions to March and April, last year’s Atlantic City budget was not approved until September 22—when it already spent far too much money at unsustainable rates.  It is now May and Atlantic City has not even introduced a proposed budget!    We also alleged that the proposed PILOT (Peanuts In Lieu of Taxes) for casinos is blatantly unconstitutional and unfair.   Please ask your Legislators how they can seriously vote for a bill that declares the 8 most valuable properties in Atlantic City are “blighted areas” as described in NJ State Constitution?    Since the casinos now pay more than half the taxes in Atlantic City and one fourth of county taxes, how can any non-casino property owner afford paying double tax hikes during next ten years , so casino properties get no tax hikes?   Please find more details on our www.libertyandprosperity.org website.

4.     Years ago, coal miners brought a caged canary when they worked underground. If it stopped singing, they knew there was poison that would soon kill them too. Atlantic City government is like that canary in the coal mine.  What is now choking Atlantic City is already making the rest of New Jersey sick.    We need to identify and get rid of the poison—not give mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to the canary!

Seth Grossman is the Executive Director of the taxpayers' group Liberty and Prosperity.  For more information on the group, visit their website at www.LibertyAndProsperity.org

GOP for 2017: Abolish the State Income Tax

Why not?  The tax is a scam based on a lie.

It was passed on the promise of property tax relief... and then the Courts, that failsafe of the political and corporate establishment, got in on the action to redirect (steal) most of the money paid by suburban and rural taxpayers to urban political machines so that they can give generous tax breaks to their corporate co-conspirators.  Of course, they gave the poor as their reason for doing so and forty years later... New Jersey is facing a poverty explosion with the highest poverty levels in 50 years. 

So it wasn't done for the poor because the poor are still poor and there are more of them than ever before, but there are lots and lots of politicians who got very fat and very rich off the income tax scam and lots and lots of corporations that got millions in tax breaks because of it.  Why should suburban and rural taxpayers subsidize rich corporations and make corrupt political machines more powerful?

After 40 years, maybe suburban and rural taxpayers are tired of the scam, built on a lie?

After 40 years, maybe the urban poor are tired of having their hunger-wracked bodies used as a means to make the rich richer and the corrupt more powerful?

Maybe it is time for some truly revolutionary action like abolishing the state income tax?

Professor Murray Sabrin thinks so.  Here is his opinion column from today's Bergen Record/ NorthJersey.com:

Opinion: Why New Jersey should abolish the state income tax

JANUARY 27, 2016    LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 27, 2016, 1:21 AM

BY MURRAY SABRIN

THE RECORD

NEW JERSEY'S motto, "Liberty and Prosperity," was adopted in 1777, a year after the colonists declared their independence. Although the state motto implies that New Jersey would be a free and independent state, the truth of the matter is that New Jersey's state government has adopted an anti-liberty agenda for decades.

In a free society, which is based upon a market economy, all participants make voluntary choices in order to improve their lives. I call this a Mutual Consent Society, where no one is coerced to buy or sell any good or service against their will. Isn't this the "American" way? The freedom to choose?

In other words, involuntary exchanges — theft, robbery, murder, etc. — which Frederick Bastiat identified as "illegal plunder" in his 1850 monograph, "The Law," are prohibited in a civilized society, because these acts violate the natural (property) rights of every individual in society.

Conversely, Bastiat then concluded that governments must not engage in "legal plunder," for the same reason individuals cannot engage in illegal plunder. They are acts of aggression and coercion. Bastiat identified legal plunder — progressive taxation and public schools, among other government polices — as detrimental to a harmonious society.

For Bastiat, the law (force) should not be used to force people how to live their lives and spend their money. Using the law to coerce people, argues Bastiat, negates the principle of justice and violates the rights of individuals.

Although most people across the political spectrum consider "public education" an indispensable institution in a democracy, the truth of the matter is that education has become a political football. Instead of providing students with the skills necessary to become independent thinkers, our public schools have become indoctrination centers.

In place of having a curriculum that focuses on basic skills, yes, the three Rs, K-12 public education has morphed into a cheering gallery for anti-free-enterprise propaganda, extolling the virtues of activist government policies to solve social problems.

Legal plunder

An income tax, whether it is progressive (tax rate increasing as incomes increase) or flat (one rate on all incomes, usually with a substantial standard deduction, making a flat tax somewhat progressive in reality), is a classic example of legal plunder, because it is a gross violation of private property.

In the 20th century, a stinging critique of progressive taxation by Frank Chodorov, "The Income Tax: Root of All Evil," was published. He argues that the so-called ability-to-pay doctrine is a pernicious assault on private property and undermines the productivity of the economy. Chodorov shows that the income tax, ironically, hurts poor people more than wealthy income earners, because taxation in general and the income tax specifically reduces the amount of capital in society and therefore job creation.

As far as New Jersey's 40-year income tax is concerned, it began in 1976 with only two rates, 2 percent and 2.5 percent, and was enacted to provide property tax relief and increase school aid. As the U.S. economy was on an upswing from the depths of the 1973 — 1975 recession, tax revenue flowed to Trenton, making Gov. Brendan Byrne's promise a reality.

Over the years, New Jersey's income tax has become more progressive. Currently, incomes less than $20,000 are taxed at 1.4 percent and incomes greater than $500,000 are taxed at 8.97 percent, a far cry from the relatively flat tax that was imposed in 1976.

The income tax was supposed to provide tax relief for all taxpayers but instead has turned into a massive redistribution of income from suburban taxpayers to urban school districts, courtesy of a series of state Supreme Court decisions calling for more state aid to provide a constitutionally mandated "thorough and efficient education" to all public school children.

Eliminate school funding

The reforms needed to create a Mutual Consent Society in New Jersey is clear: Abolish the state income tax and eliminate taxpayer funding for K–12 education and pre-K, so education decisions can be made by parents and provided by competent teachers instead of career bureaucrats in Washington and Trenton.

In addition, abolishing the income tax would provide the fuel for a more robust economy, the best anti-poverty program there is.

The wisdom of both Bastiat and Chodorov is more relevant today given the widespread legal plunder that exists in New Jersey and throughout the country. If the people of New Jersey want to live up to the state's motto, "liberty and prosperity," we must abolish the state income tax and return education decisions to parents and teachers.

Murray Sabrin is a professor of finance at Ramapo College.