Obama: The “Anti-Stimulant”

By Howard Rich
Mere days after winning the presidency on the strength of his proposed “middle class tax cuts,” U.S. President Barack Obama switched gears and began outlining his vision for a massive “economic stimulus” — one that he promised would create three million jobs.

“We have to make sure that the stimulus is significant enough that it really gives a jolt to the economy,” President-elect Obama said in November 2008.

After spending two months preparing his plan, Obama’s economic forecasts for its success grew even rosier. In fact, according to a January 2009 report prepared by his top economic advisors, as many as four million jobs were to be created within two years.
“A package in the range that the President-Elect has discussed is expected to create between three and four million jobs by the end of 2010,” Christina Romer, Obama’s chief economic advisor, wrote in the report. “More than 90 percent of the jobs created are likely to be in the private sector.”

The price tag for these new jobs? “Only” $787 million.

Additionally, the “stimulus” was touted as an investment in American infrastructure, in the so-called “Green Jobs” of the future and in middle class taxpayers.
“The jobs we create will be in businesses large and small across a wide range of industries,” Obama proclaimed in a radio address just days before his inauguration. “And they’ll be the kind of jobs that don’t just put people to work in the short term, but position our economy to lead the world in the long-term.”
These were the numbers — and the spin — used to sell this monstrosity to the American public.
Of course that was just one side of the story.
Get full story here.

Left in Disarray

By Adam Bitely
With the results in, and the House in Republican hands, the Democrats are now figuring out how to rebuild from the elections that have devastated their party. They still have the White House and the Senate, but future elections loom on the horizon that can change that too. At this point, it is evident that the left is in complete disarray.

Who leads the House Democrats?

With Pelosi out of the Speakership, it is hard to imagine that she returns in the next session of Congress. Further, the losses for House Democrats on Tuesday were focused around the more moderate members of the Democrat caucus. The remaining Democrats are the hard left — a group that would choose a left-wing progressive to lead them.

This means that House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) is in trouble when he runs for the Minority Leader spot. The Democrats may toss him aside and choose an even more radical Democrat to lead their party.

The future of Harry Reid in the Senate

Harry Reid is thanking his lucky stars that he escaped defeat on Tuesday. But that might not be so if certain events transpire in the Senate.

New York radical left-winger Chuck Schumer has been salivating to get his hands on Harry’s top spot in the Senate. He was probably more disappointed on election night to see Reid win than the GOP was. But Schumer has his best chance to defeat Reid now for Senate Majority Leader than at any time. He can argue that Reid cost them seats in the Senate, and further, Schumer was the number one financial source for key Senate races for the Democrats this year. He has a lot of people coming back to the Senate that are now in debt to him — and not to Reid.

And just like the House Democrats, the new Senate caucus is much more radical than it was before Election Day. Reid could fall to Schumer when it comes time to choose the next Senate Majority Leader.
Get full story here.

Statehouse elections set the course of the nation for the decade to come

By Rick Manning

While all the media attention on November 2nd was focused upon the battle over control of the U.S. Congress, the elections that will impact the nation for the next ten years at the state level were overwhelmingly won by Republican candidates.

After the census is taken, Congress and state legislative districts are reapportioned in order to ensure that each district has roughly the same number of people in them. This is important so every individuals vote counts roughly the same due to their having approximately the same amount of voters in their voting district.

According to Polidata, many of the states where Republicans made astounding gains on Tuesday, will be losing at least one Congressional seat in 2012, as their population has shifted south to Texas (with a projected pick up of four seats), Nevada, Colorado, Utah, Washington, Florida, Georgia or South Carolina. Republicans now control 25 state legislatures outright, and many others are divided.
Get full story here.

Fed to Print $600 Billion to Pay the Debt

By Robert Romano
The sovereign debt bomb is ticking — and time is running out before it goes off.
On November 3rd, while the American people were soaking in the results of the Republicans’ historic rout of congressional Democrats, the Federal Reserve had its long-awaited meeting to discuss the implementation of “QE2”, or the second round of so-called quantitative easing.

The central bank ultimately announced its intentions to purchase of $600 billion of treasuries over the next eight months. According to the Fed, “To promote a stronger pace of economic recovery and to help ensure that inflation, over time, is at levels consistent with its mandate, the Committee decided today to expand its holdings of securities.”

Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson, however, is skeptical of the Fed’s motivations for making the purchases. He believes that the real reason is to paper over the debt.

Wilson said, “The Federal Reserve’s reckless program to purchase $600 billion of treasuries over the next eight months is taking the U.S. into uncharted waters, where the nation’s central bank will be the largest holder of the national debt in the entire world next year. The Fed already holds $834 billion of treasuries, and was already on pace to have over $1 trillion in treasuries by August, 2011, more than China, Japan, or any other foreign creditor.”

Wilson continued, “With another $600 billion on top of the Fed’s expected trillion-dollar stake in the debt, the signal we are sending to the world is that the way to pay for our obligations is to print a ton of new money.”

That would bring the Fed’s stake in the national debt to about $1.6 trillion in just the next year. In comparison China only holds $868.4 billion of the national debt as of August 2010. Japan has $836.6 billion.
So, why wasn’t the trillion dollars of purchases already planned enough? Wilson explains: “In the next three years alone, $5.2 trillion of debt will be coming due. In addition, the Obama Administration plans on increasing the debt another $3.6 trillion over that same period. That means that the Treasury has to sell $8.8 trillion of debt over three years, or $2.93 trillion every year.”

But, that “$2.93 trillion a year is more than the Treasury has ever had to sell,” Wilson noted, adding, “Approximately $630 billion more than it has ever sold. So it is little surprise that now the Fed is coming out saying it is buying another $600 billion of treasuries. This action by the Fed has nothing to do with ‘a stronger pace of economic recovery,’ as the central bank claims. It has everything to do with the fact that we are broke, and we’re printing money to pay the bills.”

So, the nation, after decades of being warned that the national debt is unsustainable — it now totals $13.6 trillion — has finally reached the point where it cannot sell enough treasuries just to roll the debt over. So the Fed is just going to print the money.
Get full story here.

Breaking News: France Arrests 2 Men in Terrorist Plot

French authorities are questioning two men suspected of plotting a serious terror attack in France. The incident comes after a series of heightened warnings including one by al Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.

In an interview on French television Thursday morning, Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux said two men were being questioned on suspicions of terrorist activity after being detained the day before outside Paris.

Hortefeux says the men are brothers of French nationality. He says they are suspected of plotting a serious terrorist attack on French soil.

In September, France notched up its terrorist alert to reinforced red - its second highest of four levels - following a series of warnings and threats.

Last week, the television network al Jazeera broadcast an audiotape apparently by al Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, warning France it would face killings and kidnappings if it did not withdraw its troops from Afghanistan. The recording also took issue with a new French law banning veils that cover the face.

Hortefeux says the audiotape was almost certainly authentic and it represents the first time al Qaida had exclusively targeted France.

There have been other recent, and more general, threats, including packaged explosives heading to the United States and.

In addition, booby-trapped packages have been found in Greece, including one addressed to French President Nicolas Sarkozy. Greek authorities suspect they are the work of anarchists.

On Wednesday, the French government announced tougher security checks on airline passengers traveling to France.

Hortefeux says 85 people have been questioned so far this year on terrorist suspicions. About 27 are in jail.

Chris Linton Beating: Boston Police Beat a Youth on Camera

The beating of Chris Linton was sad to watch. A 16-year-old black male was beaten by Boston Police until his face was bloody. When I took a look at the video on YouTube, it had been viewed nearly 30,000 times, reminding us of the perils of doing your dirt in a world with cell phone cameras.

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The event in question took place at Roxbury Community College, where Linton was inside one of the buildings charging his cell phone. He is not a student at the university, but had stopped to get the cell charged so he could take pictures of his new daughter at the hospital.

While it is not clear why police were following him, the story is that Linton had just escaped from a local youth detention center and had been tracked to the university. That's when the beating began.

The commentary on the video comes in loud and clear, as the woman holding the camera curses at the officers and tells us she's going to put the video on YouTube. Linton is now facing a plethora of charges, including resisting arrest and possession of marijuana with the intent to distribute in a school zone. Other circumstances surrounding the incident remain unclear.

The beating of Chris Linton is a shame. We have to feel empathy for anyone in that situation. The problem, however, is that the officers can certainly argue that they were justified in using force to apprehend a suspect who'd previously escaped from police custody.

Additionally, from what I saw on the video, I am not sure there is clear evidence that police used excessive force. In other words, the case of Chris Linton is not as clear-cut as the case of another teenager, Jordan Miles, who was beaten by police on his way to his grandmother's house. In that situation, Miles didn't appear to be doing anything wrong, and police have yet to present any reason for chasing him in the first place.

Without knowing what happened in the case of Chris Linton one way or the other, there are a few things that seem clear: The life of Chris Linton seems to be stereotypically sad and familiar. Here is a situation of a 16-year-old boy who allegedly broke out of juvenile detention to visit the new daughter who he likely isn't in a position to provide for.

He wasn't a student at the university, but was stopping through to charge his cell phone. Oh yeah, he also happened to have marijuana on him that he was allegedly attempting to distribute. I am certainly not one to write Chris Linton off one way or the other (there's always hope and I've seen people come back from worse), but my heart drops when I picture this young man's journey through life and the criminal justice system. My heart sinks even further when I think about the life of his new daughter. Yes, we need to stand up and cheer for the power of young black males, but we must also acknowledge when some of us have gone astray.

Either way, there should certainly be an investigation in to the Chris Linton beating to determine if there was any police misconduct. Based on what I've seen thus far, it appears that no one will be disciplined. There is, however, the question of just how much force police should be expected to use when apprehending a suspect.

I keep wondering why men shot in the back by police officers almost always happen to be black, and why those police beatings on YouTube tend to feature black suspects. It appears that black people are still under a police state, where our margin of error is far slimmer than everyone else's. I can say that as bad as Chris Linton's criminal activity might have been, there are plenty of white college students on every campus in America who carry around just as much marijuana. So, let's not pretend that black males are the only people with the capacity to engage in criminal activity.


Dr. Boyce Watkins is the founder of the Your Black World Coalition and a Scholarship in Action Resident of the Institute for Black Public Policy. To have Dr. Boyce commentary delivered to your email, please click here.

Is Your Boyfriend Behind Bars?

I don’t buy into all the “there are no good black men” drama. I know several upstanding brothers out here. However, when a friend sent me this article about how the mass incarceration of black men hurts black women, I couldn’t deny that there are also quite a few “good” black men behind bars.

Did that raise an eyebrow? How could a brother be both “good” and incarcerated? Granted, he may not be  a “good catch” — at least not anymore — but I wholeheartedly believe there are men in jail who might have been productive members of society if they hadn’t made dumb decisions in their youth. And who isn’t guilty of that?

When I read the article, my mind went straight to my relatives. I have three male cousins, just around my age, who have been locked up for the majority of their lives. They went into jail as teenagers. They haven’t come out.

Yes, they made some wrong choices, but could they have been great assets to their communities, great husbands and great fathers? I think they could have. Maybe I’m biased, but I remember funny, charming, handsome, intelligent adolescents who had promising futures.

Then, I remember hearing they were imprisoned.

As much as that’s a personal tragedy for my family, I think it most definitely affects society as a whole. To bring it to the SIS perspective, maybe one of my cousins – had he the opportunity – would have been introduced to one of my girlfriends at a family function and fallen madly in love with her. Maybe they’d be off somewhere making a home and raising future generations.

Hey, it could have happened. We’ll never know.

Is there an actual correlation between the number of men in jail and the number of single women? If so, does it have more to do with the absence of available men to date or the fact that incarcerated fathers aren’t around to be good examples of manhood for their daughters?

Again, I have mostly questions and no answers, but it’s a topic my many single, female cousins and I discuss when we’re gathered at a family function lacking male companionship in a way that’s much deeper than not having a date.

By sistah1

Is Single Motherhood a Wise Option?

I stumbled upon this article today, and several things came to mind. Not the least of which was, “Really? Haven’t I been seeing articles like this since second grade when I was using the newspaper as my finger painting canvas?” Sigh.

The article, like many before it, offers statistics on how poorly many blacks are doing achieving the “American Dream.” According to a study done by a Harvard professor, male incarceration, lack of educational opportunities and single-parent households are factors that have led to or are a result of our community’s troubles. According to the scholar, 70% of black children are born to single mothers.
A second study, this one from the Educational Testing Services’ “Black-White Achievement Gap,” is quoted in the article and suggests that “increasing marriage rates and getting fathers back into the business of nurturing children” is one way to improve the chances of young people in our communities.

The studies’ findings made me wonder: for the SIS who is more interested in Baby Right than Mr. Right, is planning to have a child out of wedlock a wise choice?

I am not “over the hill,” but even at my youthful age, I’ve been asked whether I’ve considered having children on my own. Just last year my younger cousin, an HBCU undergraduate, not-so-subtly hinted that it was time for me to pop him out some new kinfolk. I responded that I’d like to be married first. His comeback: “That’s antiquated.”

I know several successful and healthy adults who are products of single-parent homes. So, while the study results included in the aforementioned article are depressing, there is living proof that one person – especially with the help of extended family – can do a fantastic job rearing a child.

However, as one close friend of mine consistently tells me, “It’s hard.” She remembers her mom’s struggles and doesn’t recommend it.

So, there you have the SIS’s dilemma.

Should she miss out on motherhood just because there’s no marriage? Does she forge ahead and have a child on her own when she’s ready, or is that the selfish decision, realizing that her child might face more struggles and disadvantages being raised in a single-parent home?

Some suggest adoption is the answer for the SIS, but this option doesn’t solve for the single-parent household issue. If both parents raising a child is the Holy Grail, then adoption still falls short of that ideal.
Honestly, my biological clock is ticking very softly. Having children is not something I spend lots of time thinking about, but I don’t doubt there will come a time when the alarm sounds, and I think I’ll hear the bells loud and clear whether I’m married or still single.

St. Louis & Minnesota Muslims arrested in terror funding case

via Federal Bureau of Investigation – The St. Louis Division

ST. LOUIS—St. Louis resident Mohamud Abdi Yusuf has been indicted and arrested on four charges of providing material support to a designated terrorist organization and one charge of conspiracy to structure financial transactions, U.S. Attorney Richard G. Callahan announced today. Minneapolis resident Abdi Mahdi Hussein was also indicted and arrested on a charge of conspiracy to structure financial transactions.

According to the indictment returned on Oct. 21, 2010 and unsealed this morning, from February 2008 through at least July 2009, Yusuf and a third defendant, Duwayne Mohamed Diriye, a resident of Kenya and Somalia, were involved in a conspiracy to provide funds to al Shabaab, which was designated by the U.S. Department of State as a foreign terrorist organization in February 2008.

The indictment alleges that Yusuf sent funds to al Shabaab supporters in Somalia, including Diriye, from licensed money remitting businesses operating in the United States, in part by using fictitious names and telephone numbers to conceal the nature of their activities. Yusuf is also charged with conspiring with Abdi Mahdi Hussein, an employee of a licensed money remitting business, to structure financial transactions to avoid record keeping requirements.

Al Shabaab, which loosely translates to “The Youth,” operated as a terrorist organization based in Somalia whose objective was the violent overthrow of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG), the ouster of African Union support, and the imposition of Shari’a law in Somalia.

Special agents of the FBI arrested Yusuf on Nov. 1, 2010, in St. Louis, and arrested Hussein on Nov. 2, 2010, in Minneapolis. Both defendants made initial appearances in federal court yesterday. Diriye remains at large in Kenya or Somalia. Diriye is charged in the indictment with one felony count each of conspiracy to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization and providing material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization.

The indictment alleges that members of the conspiracy discussed al Shabaab in coded language to plan the means by which they could provide funds to al Shabaab. Yusuf solicited funds from inside and outside the Eastern District of Missouri, and coordinated the transfer and transmission of the funds to al Shabaab. Diriye facilitated and coordinated the receipt and distribution of funds to al Shabaab from inside Somalia and Kenya by seeking and identifying al Shabaab members, supporters, and affiliates in Somalia and Kenya, to receive the funds, and by providing members of the conspiracy who were collecting the funds with information concerning al Shabaab’s operations and activities in Somalia.

by creeping

Another Military Building Shooting?

[Guest post by Aaron Worthing; send your tips here.]

The Washington Post reported the other day that there was another shooting at a military building, this time at a U.S. Coast Guard recruiting center in Woodbridge, Virginia.  I decided not to blog about it until they got ballistics back on it and, well, we got the answer: this is the same gun used in the other attacks.

As usual, the vandalism was done late at night or early in the morning, and the shooter only did property damage—he or she doesn’t even seem interested in harming people.  The only deviation from previous cases is I don’t see any Marine Corps connection.

And it is worth noting that nothing happened at the Marine Corps marathon.  Which is probably a good sign that this person really won’t try to hurt people, but nonetheless, this has to be stopped.  This person might be doing some mere vandalism as protest; or this might be some kind of dry run for something more serious.
[Posted and authored by Aaron Worthing.]

Shawntia Hardaway drops assault charges against R&B singer Mario

The mother of R&B singer Mario today dropped the assault charges she filed against her son in October, admitting she was intoxicated at the time.

Shawntia Hardaway, who accused the Baltimore-born performer on October 1 of assaulting her and trashing their Fells Point apartment, appeared before the District Court of Maryland for Baltimore City this afternoon and asked for the charges to be dropped.

She has battled heroin addiction in the past.

Prosecutors dismissed all charges against the singer, whose full name is Mario Dewar Barrett.

Hardaway's attorney, Richard Woods, said she was upset when she filed the police report.

"It was much to do about nothing," he said. "I met with her, she told me what happened and there wasn't any criminal action on the part of Mario."

Barrett's attorney, William "Hassan" Murphy III, said her action vindicated his client.
For the full story, click here.

Photo: Central booking

Cathy Cohen: A Message to President Obama

Special to NewBlackMan

"Now is not the time to veer away from those who supported you today—Blacks, young people, Latinos and Asian Americans.”

A November 3rd Message to the President
by Cathy J. Cohen

“With the Republicans in control of the House and increased numbers in the Senate, the question now is what do the President and Democratic Party need to do to correct their course before the 2012 election?

First, they have to listen to the economic fear that voters expressed in exit polls and set their focus on the creation of jobs, jobs, and jobs.

Second, they have to deal with the fact that they lost white women and independents to the Republicans and find a way to explain to those constituencies why the adoption of health care reform, wall street reform, credit card reform, and other parts of the President’s agenda have impacted their lives in a positive way.

Third, we have to hope that the President does not pander to the center, making silly statements like Representative Boehner did in speaking of some homogenous “people’s agenda.” There is no people’s agenda, instead there are conflicting interests and preferences among the American populace. It would be easy for this administration to point to the losses among progressives such as the defeat of Russ Feingold as a lesson about the negative consequences of moving too far left from the center. President Obama and the Democratic Party must remember that they have to work to secure those parts of their base that supported them today, especially Blacks, young people, Latinos and Asian Americans.

This will mean taking on issues such as immigration reform and support for urban cities, while remembering that if individuals are provided a living-wage job they are more likely to support a progressive agenda.

***

Cathy Cohen is the David and Mary Winton Green Professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago, co-principal Investigator on the Mobilization, Change and Political & Civic Engagement survey, and author of Democracy Remixed: Black Youth and the Future of the American Politics

Posted by MAN

Lil Wayne Released from Jail

He's out.

Lil Wayne was released from Rikers Island in New York City on Thursday after serving almost eight months of a one-year jail term on a weapons conviction.

Wayne, 28, whose real name is Dwayne Michael Carter Jr., will celebrate his homecoming with a lavish party Sunday at a Miami strip club, according to MTV.

Mack Maine, the president of Wayne's Young Money record label, said the rapper's friends plan to "treat him like a king, like the royalty that he is, and make him feel like we really missed him and welcome him back to the family, basically."

Wayne, who worked on new music while behind bars, could also be back on stage sooner rather than later. Maine and others have hinted that he could make a special cameo appearance at a Drake concert on Saturday in Las Vegas.

After first pleading not guilty to gun possession after a July 2007 arrest, Wayne changed his plea to guilty last October in exchange for a reduced 12-month sentence. With good behavior, he served just the eight months.


SOURCE

Breaking News: Cargo bomb from Yemen had 17 minutes to explode

Brice Hortefeux, the French interior minister, has revealed that one of the two mail bombs, which were set to explode last week was defused approximately 17 minutes from exploding.

The French official provided no other details when he was interviewed for France's state-run France-2 television. He also did not provide where he got the information about the timing.

Investigators isolated the Chicago-bound packages and removed them from the cargo planes in England and the United Arab Emirates Friday. There, they found the explosives wired to cell phones and concealed in toner cartridges for computer printers.

Communication cards had been removed so that the phones could not receive calls, the Chicago Tribune reported. This detail made it likely the terrorists intended alarm or timer functions to detonate the bombs, noted the newspaper.

In October, an alert about an al-Qaida plot in Europe had been issued, indicating the terror group was "expecting to be active" on the continent, officials said.

French officials put the Saudi Arabian intelligence in the context of alerts issued in September based on intelligence from Interpol and Algeria, saying the information was "serious and reliable," the EUobserver said.

"I can tell you -- and it's not information that's been made public yet -- that even a few hours, a few days ago, there was a new message, from the Saudi services, indicating to us that al-Qaida on the Arabian Peninsula was certainly active, or expecting to be active, in Europe, especially France," Hortefeux said.

Hortefeux said the French national security alert level would remain "reinforced red," a step below the maximum "scarlet" level.

The minister said France, which has 61 people imprisoned on terrorism charges, is monitoring extremist Web sites and "a certain number of people who study at extremist Koranic institutes" who are planning to return to France from North Africa.

We Are Humans, We Are Citizens

photo by: http://www.nigroartist.com/ civil rights marchin Forsyth County, GA Bill Clark

 

I know that immigration as the media goes is not a very big topic anymore with similarities to New Orleans and Haiti. I however want to further add my comments to the “ongoing” conversation about immigration. I was watching the news this morning, (I cannot recall which show I was watching, so bear with me). I heard a speaker, expert or maybe activist on immigration, make a statement something pertaining to Latinos and the work that they do in America. Part of her opinion for immigration reform was based on the very fact that Latinos are doing jobs that most Americans will not do!

                I am not condemning this lady or anyone else because the truth is I have made ignorant statements like this myself.  I must admit, this is clearly a misunderstanding of the humanity of Latino’s. We as people who are looking for reform and equality for minorities (this statement does not include homosexuals) should not look at this situation as a benefit to America or any other country. Allowing Latino’s into this country is not and should not be because they are doing the “servant jobs” that no one else is doing or because they are willing to work for less money. Rather, they should be allowed to stay because they are humans who are in desperate need to feed their families.

                If we pass laws, march and advocate on the strength that Latino’s are great workers we run the risk of maintaining racial or ethnic inequality. Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves with the emancipation proclamation, so these former slaves, my ancestors, were free and yet not treated as equal to the white establishment of our nation. We hail Pres. Lincoln for taking the step forward and we also acknowledge many who fought for the freedom of African-Americans. However, the Emancipation Proclamation fell short of one thing and it was huge, equality amongst all. See, though the slaves were free physically they were still held captive in others mind as being less than human. It would be years later until the civil rights movement began; many sacrificed their lives to fight for another freedom, freedom that was forgotten in the Emancipation proclamation. Out of this civil rights movement arose Martin Luther King Jr. and his slogan was equality for black Americans. He and others recognized that America had not held up to that Christian ideology that guaranteed every man “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

                Let us not repeat history and allow illegal immigrants to become citizens because they are modern day indentured servants. Don’t allow them to become citizens because they do the jobs that we are not willing, due to a selfish heart of entitlement. If we pass shallow laws, and march shallow marches, and advocate shallow advocacy all in the name of false equality and shallow love. In a couple years another revolution will began but not for jobs because they will have them, this time for equality in all forms. We will all see Latino’s of every color take the streets, boycott as they recall what King did; they will call the politicians’, and advocates of the past unjust and un-loving. Their hearts will be heard in the streets, chanting “WE are humans, We are citizens!”

Posted By Da Writar to Inkkulture

Thanks But Not Goodbye By Joe Siano

To my friends, supporters and all others that I have met along the way,

With the 2010 elections behind us, I want to extend my deepest appreciation and gratitude to all. I thank those of you who:

·         Allowed me to share the floor at your meetings

·         Offered advice and counsel

·         Contributed your time, effort and hard earned cash

·         Listened patiently and who stepped up to challenge me

·         Voted for me or gave my campaign serious consideration

I want extend special thanks to my wife, Sue, who allowed us to sacrifice many evenings, weekends, vacation days as well a good deal of money on this campaign.  I must also acknowledge Jay Edgar who built my website and Daryl Brooks, my campaign manager, who spent countless hours with me riding around in the Golden Toyota of Liberty.  (It actually says Liberty Toyota on the license plate frame.  True fact.)

Finally, I need to thank my employer, The Sawtooth Group and our CEO Bill, for their incredible indulgence and support over the past eight months.  This is truly the best workplace in Jersey.

From the beginning of this run, I made a strategic decision to focus my efforts on the liberty and freedom movement including the Tea Party, 912 Project and Campaign for Liberty.  This is because libertarian and Constitutional movement conservatives share a common DNA going back to Barry Goldwater who taught us that: “extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice (and) that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue!”

Although libertarians and conservatives may part ways on some issues, we share a common passion for promoting a voluntary civil society, free trade, individual liberty, personal responsibility and fiscal restraint within the framework of a limited Constitutional government.  We are all committed to the Rule of Law and stand opposed to the tyranny and whims of men.

Therefore, I plan to continue working with all of you on goals that many of us share including:

1.      Passing a Balanced Budget Amendment.

2.      Requiring that all future federal legislation cite its Constitutional authorization.

3.       Overturning Obamacare and instituting free market reforms to drive down healthcare costs and expand consumer options.

4.      Closing the IRS and freeing Americans from the burden of income tax planning, preparation and audits.  For this I prefer the Fair Tax.

5.      Protecting the value of Americans’ money by closing the Federal Reserve and restoring America to a hard currency standard.

6.      Balancing the budget by closing unconstitutional federal agencies such as the Departments of Education and Energy, the EPA and Health and Human Services among others.

7.      Transition to a privatized fiscally sustainable approach to retirement and senior care.

On the state level we need to:

1.      Free parents and students from zip code monopoly schools by implementing free market school choice reforms.

2.      Related to this, we need to free taxpayers from the tyranny of public employee unions including NJEA, AFSCME and the SEIU.

3.      Root out corruption and double and triple dipping on government jobs and pensions at all levels.

4.      Combat the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative – i.e. East Coast Cap and Trade

5.      Institute welfare reforms that discourage a lifetime of dependency on the State

I congratulate Congressman Smith on his victory.  Let’s be vigilant to commend him when he supports the cause of liberty and to chastise him when he reverts to his old statist / liberal voting habits.  I also commend my three other opponents in the race for submitting their ideas for public scrutiny.  

Let me close by reminding us that the struggle for freedom is ongoing.  Let’s take inventory of our losses and gains and prepare for the battles ahead, particularly those that may be waged during the coming lame duck session of Congress.

God bless America!

Yours in Liberty

Joe Siano

2010 NJ Libertarian Candidate for Congress

NJ District 4