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Archive for the ‘Local government’ Category

Is Secession The Wave of The Future? 

10 Nov

The disuniting of America in the cards?  If California leaves the Union, a Democrat would never be elected president, ever! 

Source: Calexit!

 
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Posted in Democrats, Donald Trump, Federal Government, Local government

 

How to fund education in a free society

15 Sep

Another commission.  Puleez!  The only solution to “school funding” is to make each government school a 501(c) 3 tax exempt nonprofit funded by tuition, grants, endowment income and other non-coercive means.  No more commissions, no income tax, no school property tax, no more politicians running schools, no more federal government mandates,  no more state mandates…and finally teachers in control of curriculum and other educational matters and accountable to parents for the quality of their teaching.  As far as the educational needs of low income students throughout the state, families would create co-ops to educate their kids.

If you support the above proposals, you are a “revolutionary” who wants to create a free society.  Otherwise, you are a tinkerer of the status coercive quo.

“As the Senate President Steve Sweeney has the power to get his school-funding reforms enacted into law; instead he’s proposing setting up yet another committee…”

Source: Steve Sweeney could pass his school-funding reforms; instead he’s creating a commission

 
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Posted in Education, Federal Government, Free markets, Local government, New Jersey, Nonprofits, State government

 

What Donald Trump should have said last night

22 Jul

Donald Trump’s acceptance speech at the Republican convention last night could have been a lot shorter and focused on espousing the virtues of limited government and free enterprise.

First, Donald should have used several props, such as the first 1040 form, which was only four pages long. He should have said that a tax return of 1914 was simple and allowed the federal government to raise the funds it needed to pay for its expenses 100 years ago, when only 2% of the American people had to pay any income tax. In addition, today large and medium-sized businesses need an army of accountants and attorneys to comply with the tax code. That’s money that cannot be used to buy better equipment, modernize their factories, and thus make American workers more productive, which would earn them higher salaries.

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Another dubious distinction for New Jersey

15 Jul

Guess what they all have in common?

“America is facing an infrastructure crisis. CNBC reveals which states have the worst roads, bridges, ports, airports and rail lines.”

Source: Crumbling America: 10 states with the worst infrastructure

 
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Posted in Democrats, Infrastructure, Local government, New Jersey, Politicians, Politics, Republicans, State government

 

So much for “police protection,” if true

15 Jul

Next week we will see if the police protect the public from thugs. If they don’t, then the myth of police protection wil be shattered. 

“If you’re attending the RNC, do not travel alone.”

Source: Cleveland Police have Issued “Stand Down” Order at RNC » Alex Jones’ Infowars: There’s a war on for your mind!

 
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Posted in Crime, Donald Trump, Local government, Police, Politicians, Politics

 

Walter Williams lays down the gauntlet

12 Jul

“President Barack Obama and his first attorney general, Eric Holder, called for an honest conversation about race. Holder even called us “a nation of cowards” because we were unwilling to have a “national conversation” about race. The truth of the matter is there’s been more than a half-century of conversations about race. We do not need more. Instead, black people need to have frank conversations among ourselves, no matter how uncomfortable and embarrassing the topics may be.”

Source: Challenges for Black People

 
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Posted in Corruption, Crime, Democrats, Education, Employment, Federal Government, Gun control, Local government, Police, Politicians, Politics, Poverty, Race, Welfare state

 

Blame it on the Progressives

12 Jul

“To understand both what’s wrong with law enforcement today and how to fix it, we need to examine the history and evolution of police forces in the US.”

Source: The Progressive-Era Origins of Authoritarian Policing in the US | Foundation for Economic Education

 
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Posted in Corruption, Crime, Local government, Politicians, Politics

 

A new “formula” for education

11 Jul

Former Ramsey Mayor Richard Muti asserts in The Record that Gov. Christie’s “fairness formula” for state education aid to local school districts would result in “chaos”. Mr. Muti bases his conclusion on the premise that so-called children in poor districts have “substantial needs” that cannot be supported by local property taxes. Thus, he concludes, the New Jersey Supreme Court’s 1990 Abbott v. Burke decision that created the aid formula that has funneled tens of billions of dollars of taxpayer dollars to primarily urban school districts was correct, because it provided a “thorough and efficient” education that the state constitution requires.

However, Mr. Muti, also writes the following: “The ruling was unanimous — all seven justices concurred, Republicans and Democrats alike. They acknowledged that equal funding alone would not cure the problem of failing schools in urban districts. (emphasis added) ‘We realize our remedy here may fail to achieve the constitutional object,’ Chief Justice Robert Wilentz wrote. ‘No amount of money may be able to erase the impact of the socioeconomic factors that define and cause these pupils’ disadvantages. We realize that perhaps nothing short of substantial social and economic change affecting housing, employment, child care, taxation, welfare will make the difference for these students; and that this kind of change is far beyond the power or responsibility of school districts.’ “ (emphasis added)

By its own admission, the Court made a “sociological – political” decision, not one based on sound legal principles. Moreover, “equal spending” that the court ordered has been turned on its head. Asbury Park spends more than $33,000 per pupil, and receives nearly $29,000 per pupil in state aid, while Cherry Hill spends almost $18,000 per pupil and receives slightly less than $3,000 in state aid for each public school student. In other words Asbury Park receives 10 times per state aid per pupil than Cherry Hill. The discrepancy in state aid not only is beyond the pale but Asbury Park only has a 66% graduation rate compared with 94% in Cherry Hill. The Supreme Court was correct; money is not providing educational success in the so-called Abbott school districts.

Instead of debating back and forth the proper aid formula for local school districts, the public, legislators and policy wonks should focus their energies on evaluating the whole premise of government schools.

Instead of debating which education funding law is constitutionally sound and compatible with the states constitution “thorough and efficient” clause, we should embrace the insight of Frederick Bastiat in his classic monograph, The Law, where he wrote the following about education and the state.

 

“You say, “There are men who want knowledge,” and

you apply to the law. But the law is not a torch that sheds

light that originates within itself. It extends over a society

where there are men who have knowledge, and others

who have not; citizens who want to learn, and others who

are disposed to teach. It can only do one of two things:

either allow a free operation to this kind of transaction,

i.e., let this kind of want satisfy itself freely; or else preempt

the will of the people in the matter, and take from

some of them sufficient to pay professors commissioned

to instruct others for free. But, in this second case there

cannot fail to be a violation of liberty and property—legal

plunder.

Bastiat wrote passionately about the structure of a free society. He combined the insights of sociology, economics, politics, and philosophy to describe what the law would be in a free society. Education, an important element of human development, is the responsibility of parents, not the state. Until this paradigm becomes one of the components of our society, the conflict over education spending and “fairness formulas” will be endlessly debated.

Gov. Christie fired the first shot in this continuous and contentious – and needless – argument over how to distribute money extracted from taxpayers. The next “battleground,” which the two sides in the education state aid formula must address is why the state and local governments have socialized education. This debate is long overdue and when cooler heads on both sides of the current debate take a timeout, we will finally address one of the most important issues in the country, how we can desocialize education, which in the final analysis will increase educational opportunities for all children and provide the much-needed tax relief for taxpayers throughout the state.

 
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Posted in Education, Local government, New Jersey Supreme Court, State government

 

The financial hole of state and local governments

09 Jul

And people still have faith in government–and Republicans and Democrats???  This is just the tip of the iceberg.  The federal government’s unfunded liability is more than $200 trillion. 

“If the Actuarial Standards Board enacts recommendations from its Pension Task Force, actuarial valuations for state and local government pensions will report unfunded liabilities of over $5 trillion a…”

Source: Are State and Local Government Pensions Underfunded by $5 Trillion? – AEI

 
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Posted in Democrats, Economy, Federal Government, Local government, Political parties, Politicians, Politics, Republicans, State government

 

Taxpayer funding of religious institutions declared unconstitutional in New Jersey

06 Jul

Virally all spending by government is unconstitutional.  This is one of the most flagrant examples.  Taking money from people (taxation) to pay for spending that violates people’s consciences is sufficient reason to end the funding or make it voluntary   Government schools, known as public schools, is the best example of the improper use of taxpayer dollars.  Schools, no matter how they are structured, should be funded by fees, scholarships, private grants, donations. etc.  

Source: Landmark Ruling Halts Unconstitutional Taxpayer Funding of NJ Yeshiva and Seminary

 
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Posted in Civil liberties, Constitution, Education, Federal Government, Local government, Property taxes, State government, Welfare state

 

Socialism does not work, so why do we have government schools?

20 Jun

If you believe government should provide education to all youngsters, then you have lost the argument against the proponents of socialism. If you support taxpayer-funded education, why then shouldn’t the government provide health care, transportation, housing, energy, banking, food, etc.? In fact, government has been heavily involved in virtually every aspect of our economy and our lives. In short, America is already heavily “socialized.”

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Posted in Education, Income taxes, Local government, New Jersey, State government

 

One way to create affording housing

07 Jun

Today’s Record (Bergen County, NJ) features an article about the need to create affordable housing in the Garden State.  The long history of litigation is another example of judicial overreach–the courts ordering towns to have “affordable” housing goals.

There is one way to create affordable housing, it is called the free market.  Ryna McMaken spells it all out in this essay.

 
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Posted in Judiciary, Local government, New Jersey, State government

 

Who should shore up the Jersey Shore?

23 Nov

The devastation caused by Hurricane Sandy will be felt by Shore residents for years if not decades.  Nevertheless, the destruction at Shore communities will cause some residents to relocate and not try to rebuild their homes and businesses.  Other residents will rebuild and hope that another “storm of the century” is just that, 100 years away.

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Posted in Federal Government, Local government, New Jersey, State government

 

Economic freedom comes to Bergen County

11 Nov

On Sunday, November 11  history was made in Bergen County.  For the most time in recent memory all commerce could be conducted legally in every town in the County.  How apropos economic freedom came to Bergen County on Veterans Day, the holiday we commemorate the service of the men and women who fought to keep America a free country.

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Posted in Civil liberties, Local government, New Jersey

 

Suspend the blue laws…permanently

04 Nov

Sunday blue laws in are suspended in Hackensack and Mahwah today because of Hurricane/tropical storm Sandy.  Bergen County Executive Kathleen Donovan wants  the state to suspend blue laws throughout the county today as well…but only for today.

Here is a better idea.  Suspend the blue laws permanently so consumers have choices seven days a week.  Sunday blue laws are a defacto establishment of religion.  If people want a “day of rest” they don’t need a law to take a day off.  For those of us who want to shop on Sunday, leave us alone.

 
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Posted in Local government, New Jersey