Mercer County Community College had a fund raising for their flight team last weekend. I took the opportunity for Kailtyn and Ellie to have a flight in a Cessna 172. The river out of Kaitlyn's window is the Delaware River. We crossed it and went into Pennsylvania and then headed back.
Jason Scheurer was excluded from the televised debates by News 12 NJ. All candidates should receive unbiased coverage from the media. As soon as a media outlet chooses which candidates it will promote with it's recourses, it ceases being a media outlet and becomes a political action committee.A video of Jason's exchange is below and it was also covered by politicsNJ.com.
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Here is a very short clip of the Ron Paul for President 2008 booth at the Ewing Township Community Festival. The kids really enjoyed the festival and there were lots of free activities. We registered Republican voters who wanted to support Ron Paul and handed out about 175 brochures. The reception to Ron Paul's message of freedom was overwhelmingly positive.
I have had a few people express interest in the Ewing Township Liberty Club. I will host the first meeting on Wednesday, October 17th at 7pm. If you are interested, you can rsvp and get a map to the meeting location on our meetup.com site.
If we cannot convince our current representatives that Ewing's taxes are already high enough and that they need to reduce spending and debt, we have the duty to replace them. The future of our town is at stake. We cannot burden our children with the debt of our generation. I think "Recall Them All" would look good on a sign ;), but three council members are up for reelection next year, so maybe we can wait.
Tamra and I couldn't go to the New Jersey CWA GOP Presidential Candidate Forum and Straw Poll Saturday morning. Ron Paul ended up winning with over 70%!!! But, Tamra and I promoted Ron Paul at the Mercer County Italian American Festival. We had a good time. Below is a video of the girls walking with signs. Well, they pretty much stopped walking every time I pulled out the camera, but they were cute.
There was also a small petting zoo at the fair:
This past weekend we went to the Howell Living History Farm for the annual Potato Harvest. We saw horses pull a plow like tool through the dirt that lifted the potatoes to the surface and then we went out and put them in buckets. We filled two buckets full of potatoes and then enjoyed some cookies and lemon aid. We also packed a picnic lunch and enjoyed it by the farmhouse. After lunch, which included fresh potato chips cooked outside the farmhouse, we visited the farm animals. The potato picking is on the first video and the animals are on the second video.
Dear Mayor Ball,
I believe your administration may have lost touch with why the voters chose you as their mayor and what role the voters wanted you to fill. Below, I will touch on a few points that you can use to guide yourself towards an electoral victory in the future while satisfying the needs of Ewing's voters.
Ewing should not be dependent on any other organization in meeting the needs of Ewing's citizens. To say we need state aid is an admission of the failure of our elected officials to manage our resources properly. Claiming that Ewing is in need of any aid is one of the
symptoms of too much spending. The solution is to reduce spending by eliminating services and departments and selling financed assets in order achieve a level of spending that we can afford.
Ewing does not need to have the debt restructured. Debt is a symptom of purchasing something that you could not afford. We need to look back at what we purchased and either sell the item we purchased or pay-off the item within the next two to four years. Our current generation loves to make bankers rich by purchasing things they cannot afford. If it's not worth saving up for, it's not worth purchasing. Government debt is the process of passing on our responsibility to pay for something to our children. We cannot let today's elected officials make decisions for the next generation. They will have their own issues to resolve with their resources. Let's not commit the next generations tax dollars to paying off our extravagances.
Following these suggestions will not be easy. A very loud minority will rise up and fill the meeting rooms whining that they want everything under the sun without paying for it any time soon. While you're eliminating departments and services, remind this loud minority that you are not eliminating their ability to seek out these services from private parties.
I hope that you agree that we need to separate our needs from our wants to restore Ewing's financial future. Following these suggestions will also avoid an oppressive tax increase. If you follow the suggestions above, history will honor you as the Mayor that saved Ewing. Thank you for your time.
Ken Bireta
There seems to be a lack of fiscal conservatives in elected positions in New Jersey. I have decided to see if there would be support for a group that would be interested in actually lowering taxes here in Ewing Township. I have created a website for a club and created a group on meetup.com to coordinate activities.
Whether you are a liberal, conservative, or an independent, please join the Ewing Township Libertarian Club if you would like to reduce debt, spending, and taxes. We need to separate the luxuries from the necessities in Ewing.
Official Website:
Ewing Township Libertarian Club
Interactive Meetup.com Group Site:
Ewing Township Meetup.com Group
At the meeting of the Ewing Republican Club, Mayor Jack Ball said the next years proposed budget would include a tax increase of over 50% and the Republicans there applauded him for the great job he's doing. I was shocked, but everyone there seemed fine with it. I guess the new breed of conservatives are not opposed to oppressive tax increases. Not one person raised the idea of cutting the budget, eliminating a service/department, or selling an asset of the city that the city could not afford (like a financed park). Imagine if we lowered the tax rate in Ewing instead of raising it. Hmm, maybe that's why Jack Ball was elected, to do something different? Well, unless we recall him, were stuck with more big government taxing and spending in Ewing, New Jersey.
Either way, I might give the Ewing Republican Club another chance. But if they are not fiscal conservatives, then I don't think I could support their candidates. Is there a difference between a Republican and a Democrat in New Jersey?
Here is Kaitlyn at the first Mercer County, New Jersey, Supporters of Ron Paul Meetup.com event. Our next event will be at the Freedom Fest in the Mercer County Park. My brother Matt Bireta took this photo for us.
Mercer County Supporters of Ron Paul
I have decided to support Ron Paul for President. Even though he is a Republican, anybody called Dr. No on capital hill is worthy of my support. He's been against the war from the beginning, understands you can't have a war against an idea (terrorism is an idea/method of warfare), and knows that our active involvement overseas has contributed to the way we are being targeted. If we would drop the role of world nation builder/controller/police, we would not be targeted by anyone. How many planes have flown into buildings in Canada?
I have created a group on meetup.com for Mercer County Supporters of Ron Paul. Our group has over 25 members already. I think we can be successful in making Ron Paul New Jersey's GOP Candidate of choice. This group seems like it consists of people willing to be activists which is what you need to win an election. Maybe the Libertarian Party can learn something from this. I offered ideas to our local libertarian group and all except one were nixed. They were willing to set up a table at Freedom Fest, but the $650 was out of our budget. I emailed about walking around to raise awareness of our candidates and nobody responded willing to do that. Oddly enough, the organizer for Freedom Fest told me that walking around with information will not be permitted in the free public county park during the festival. Yea, Right!!! We'll see. I scheduled a meetup.com event to promote Ron Paul at this event since our libertarians were not interested.
I also sent the paperwork off for the Ron Paul group to march in the Ewing Independence Day Parade which appears like it may be televised. There is a Republican section and a Democrat Section of the parade. I would like to see a Libertarian section in the parade next year, but New Jersey Libertarians don't seem to want to do much to promote the party. Our local group nixed this idea, too. As Jason points out on his blog, Jersey Libre, we need visibility if voters are going to take us seriously. Are we a philosophy club or a political party!!!
I also scheduled a meetup to promote Ron Paul at the first of the Music In The Park series at the Mercer County Park on July 7th which is in the 14th State Assembly District. There will be a music event every Saturday evening through July and August. Our local libertarians did not want to promote our candidates there either. We are running two state assembly candidates that need to get their names out there. Instead, we seem to be too distracted to get our hands on the taxpayers money offered in District 14 if both candidates can get 400+ $10 donations from within the district. I'll leave my comments on the hypocrisy of accepting taxpayer dollars for a libertarian campaign for another day. State Certified Candidates and State Funded Elections are a VERY BAD idea.
Well, the signatures to obtain ballot access were not very forthcoming and I will not be on the Ballot for Mercer County Freeholder. All the hours it takes to collect the signatures, people who cannot think outside of the two party system, and a pledge buried in the petition stacked the odds against obtaining ballot access. It was an interesting experience, but I am not sure I would recommend it to anyone.
I was surprised by the number of hours it would take to gain ballot access and be listed as a candidate for Mercer County Freeholder. It takes so long because of the reluctance of people to talk to others and the dominance of our two party system. When someone leaves the library/store, they want to head home. Many people avoid responding to you at all by walking as far away as possible, not caring what you want. Others are willing to take a moment and say "not now", or "later," like I would ever see them again. Some are willing to stop and talk for a few, but they do not want to support anyone who is not in the same party as them. A few will actually sign the petition after talking with you or, more rarely, without even asking a single question. If we had more of the latter or a change in the laws, we would have more choices on our ballot.
I am also surprised that people, in our educated society, would so willingly plug themselves into a political category like Democrat or Republican. I cannot recall a person I agreed 100% politically, let alone a political party. People who asked what I stood for seemed to like what I had to say, but most people asked for my party affiliation and that kept them from signing my petition to get on the ballot. I plan on ordering a book from Amazon.com, "The Myth of the Rational Voter: Why Democracies Choose Bad Policies", written by economist Bryan Caplan, which may shed some light on the issue. I have also wondered if I were an independent candidate, instead of a libertarian, if I would have received a more favorable response.
On the second to last day of petitioning, a voter flipped over the petition to the front page and read the whole page. What she discovered, surprised me, and actually gave me something to think about. Buried in the petition is a pledge to vote for the candidate petitioning. I read the petition a long time ago, but that phrase didn't stand out to me. I quickly thought of a response and told her I didn't agree with placing that requirement on signors. It really is absurd. What if I was hit by a bus, are the signors still pledged to vote for me? What if a candidate flip-flops, does something stupid (like a DUI)? I believe the signors of the petition should have the right to make the best choice based on all the candidates campaigns from June to November. The signors of the Democratic or Republican petitions do not have to pledge to vote for the candidate in the general election. I hope this gets fixed fast. It would be best if the petition read that the signor would like the opportunity to vote for the candidate in November.
I think Congressman Dr. Ron Paul, 2008 Presidential Candidate, summed it up very well last night on the Daily Show, "We’re overseas spreading the message of democracy, but here, if you’re in a third party, you can’t get on ballots…you spend all your time getting on ballots…you have to be a Ross Perot to get on all the ballots…The two parties are very much in control of the system, and they exclude individuals who aren’t in that mold." (Quoted from Ballot Access News)
Well, the petitions are due next Tuesday, June 5th. A candidate for Freeholder in Mercer County needs 100 verifiable signatures from registered voters who can vote for the candidate in order to get on the ballot. I was advised to get at least 130 to make sure I don't get excluded if my petition is challenged. I need about 100 more to meet that goal. It's difficult to get out there with a 1 and 3 year old underfoot. We'll see how this goes. I might end up being a write-in candidate. Other than my wife, I have one other person collecting signatures, but he is also collecting signatures for his own campaign for State Assembly. Between our three petitions, I probably have about 25-30 signatures.
Looking on the bright side, I can use my write-in candidacy to collect petition signatures for next year ;)
The car topper and the door magnets have arrived. Hopefully my t-shirts arrive before my next petition gathering outing. If you would like me to stop by and personally collect your signature, please contact me. Thanks.
During the Trenton Computer Festival, at The College of New Jersey, I met potential voters and collected petition signatures. Unfortunately, as you can tell, I didn't think I would need sun protection so early in the year. I went out Saturday night and purchased some for Sunday. I really enjoyed meeting everyone and hope to meet more people at future events.
I'm getting excited. Today, my magnetic bumper stickers arrived. They are very readable at a size of about 4x12 inches. I only ordered a few, but since I have limited funds I will not be able to just give them out (unless a couple hundred of dollars in donations came in). I like magnetic because many people may like to take it off their car after the election which is much easier than regular bumper stickers. They could also save them for future elections.
My business cards arrived today and I have the beginnings of a Ken Bireta for Freeholder website started. I'm glad the cards came in time for the Libertarian Party of Mercer County's outreach event at the Trenton Computer Festival this weekend.
Earlier this week, I set up an account at our bank, "Ken Bireta for Freeholder" for my campaign. Fortunately, our bank has a branch on the same street as the Election Law Enforcement Commission so I was able to drop off my papers all in one trip. Now I can order business cards, set up a website, get some magnetic bumper stickers, magnetic signs for the car, a car topper, a few yard signs, and maybe even a postcard I can mail and use as a handout. Postcards might have to be paid for by donations, though, so I wont get my hopes up. They may even have to wait for next year, if I don't win this year. Tamra and I will probably not be able to spend more than $700-$1000 this year and that may not last all the way through my list.
The weather forecast predicts a very nice and warm weekend. Tamra and I will definitely have to take the kids out. Yes, I know I still need to get 100+ signatures, but I'm confident that will not be an issue.
I created sites on Facebook.com and Myspace.com to help network and spread the word about my campaign for Freeholder of Mercer County, New Jersey. I'm also going to create libertarian groups on those sites for Mercer County as well. I would like get together a large group of libertarians in our county in order to spread the word on how libertarian ideas could improve our townships, cities, counties, and our state.
At the New Jersey Libertarian Party's Convention, I was elected chair of the Libertarian Party of Mercer County and I received the party's endorsement to run for Mercer County Freeholder. I picked up the papers I need to run as freeholder. I have to find 100 verifiable registered voters of Mercer County to sign my petition in order for my name to appear on the ballot. If you have a little money, you could probably hire college students, etc., to help collect petitions for you, but I don't see any donations in the near future.
The campaign laws are very strict here. If I plan on spending anything for my campaign, I have to open a separate account for my campaign and it has to be at a bank with a branch in NJ. Even if you do not spend anything, you have a campaign finance form you have to fill out, but it's simpler and only needs to be filed once. I'll also have to fill out forms at least every quarter for that account and more often just before and after an election. I hope to open that as soon as possible so I can order business cards. I'm also thinking about getting a car-topper for parades, but Tamra isn't interested in driving our Taurus in a parade with some magnetic signs and a car-topper while I walk along side and hand out fliers, business cards and/or brochures. I haven't found a parade yet, but I'd be there if I could. I bet Kaitlyn, my three year old daughter, would love to drive in a parade so I'll have to wait until she's old enough. Yes, I'm thinking way ahead of myself her, but I am excited. Anyways, the first step will be getting the signatures to get on the ballot.
I'm open to any campaign or petitioning ideas ;)
