Welcome to Lebanon County. You can find a few useful links here in the meantime while I organize a layout. If you have more useful local area links please submit them to me. Also, if you area aware of any local committee meeting times and schedules I can maintain a calander for us all to utilise! Lets work together to stream as much county info as possable! - Chad Sweigert
The Pennsylvania Republican State Committee has shown us once again that it is politics as ususal in Harrisburg. The committee has taken it upon itself to anoint who it deems worthy of getting the GOP nod without regard to the voice of "we the people."
The conservative, grassroots groups have been holding protests and tea par ties in hopes of breaking free of the shackles that hold our political system hostage. This includes the "good old boy network" of the state committee, who took it upon itself to not allow the citi zens of Pennsylvania to choose who we want to represent our party.
The argument from the state commit tee would be that "we the people" elect them to make these decisions for us. The problem now is that they no longer listen to us.
Take the moment in history when they gave the GOP nod to Sen. Arlen Specter over Pat Toomey in 2004. This was against the will of many Pennsylva nians, yet the committee went ahead and endorsed Specter. Look at where that decision got us. We now have a once Democrat, turned Republican, turned back into a progressive Democrat, which gave President Barack Obama the 60 votes he needed to possibly push health- care reform through.
We are tired of these games. As I told Specter at a town-hall meeting this summer, "You have awakened the sleep ing giant. We are tired of this." My statement goes for the state GOP com mittee as well. It has overstepped its bounds and summarily dismissed the will of the people who stood outside and asked you to not endorse any candidate. I suggest members wake up as well to see that the tide is turning.
The state GOP committee has slammed the door on true patriotic lead ers such as Rep. Sam Rohrer, who is running for governor. It is time to wake up because "we the people" will no longer tolerate it.
A Lebanon County Common Pleas Court ruling on Thursday cleared the way for the city to raise the real-estate tax.
A three-judge panel ruled a portion of the city's Home Rule Charter dealing with taxation limitations is void. The judges also ruled the remainder of the charter is unaffected by their ruling and remains in effect.
In anticipation of a ruling in the city's favor, City Council on Tuesday passed a 7-mill property tax increase on introduction.
Council took action before the court ruling because 10 days must pass after introduction of an ordinance before it can go to a final vote.
The city wanted to pass the ordinance as quickly as possible so that the city's property tax bills could be sent out along with the county property tax bills later this month. It would have cost the city an additional $2,000 to pay for a separate mailing.
I'll be adding this to the Events Calander as well for anyone intrested check the county web page and RSVP. As a little background info, Senator Folmer originally spearheaded this group before running for office. Additionally the Lebanon 9/12 group will be actively attending these IOTC courses.
Lebanon Daily News Updated: 02/05/2010 04:34:26 PM EST
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The Constitutional Organization Of Liberty, a nonpartisan political action committee, is offering a course this month titled "Institute on the Constitution."
The course will introduce students to the religious, philosophical and legal concepts that inspired the creation of the U.S. Constitution, according to a news release. It will be held at Open Door Baptist Church beginning at 4 p.m. Saturday. Subsequent classes will be held Feb. 27, March 6, March 13, March 27, April 3, April 10 and April 24.
The cost to attend is $10 per session per person or $60 if full pre-payment is made, and all study materials are included. For more information, call COOL at 717-228-7524 or visit the Web site at http://www.reclaimliberty.com.
I want to start by stating that I am neither related to nor know anyone per sonally that is on the current Earned Income Tax Bureau board of directors. Also, I do not agree with their choice of Keystone Collections.
What I want to ask is, please, no more letters or guest opinions on the subject of the over- and underpayments to the various districts and therepayment plan that has been proposed. If you can come up with a better plan, please do so. Please spend your time on a solution rather than writing diatribes against the EIT Bureau.
I was at the meeting last year when the original repayment proposal was presented. I can't speak for anyone else, but I was thinking that theblame for al lowing the money to be taken in the first place wasn't completely the fault of Donald Foltz. Uninformed citizens plus uninvolved elected officials allowed this to happen.
Having this group of volunteers trying to clean up the mess after the fact made me realize that the punishment for my neglect might be higher taxes. I realized that Foltz was beyond earthly punish ment, but I wasn't.
To all the writers of opinions previ ously published in the News:
1. Did you ever attend a township meeting and ask about the yearly audit of the EIT Bureau?
2. Did you ever attend a school board meeting and ask them if they knew exac tly the amount of taxes due to them based on a concise list of properties, as sessments, etc?
3. Did you follow up with them to find out how and at what rate the money was coming in from the EIT Bureau?
4. If you were unable to attend in person, did you ever call or write to any of the county, city or townships officials and ask them these questions?
Me neither. So, here's my "guest opin ion:" Shut up and pay the piper. Shoul der your share of the blame. Stay informed. Don't vote for incumbents that aren't accountable for your tax dollars. Don't depend on Sunshine Laws for eve rything. Sometimes you have to actually show up, in person, for that law to work.
Lebanon County Commisioner Jo Ellen Litz (D) will be announcing her decision to run for State Senate against incumbant Mike Folmer (R). If you don't have plans why not pop in and see what she has to say? HOPEFULLY someone will be there to ask her some hardball questions on her position on many statewide issues. Leave m...e a message if you plan to do anything or invite her to speak.
Lebanon county's very own Katy Abram on Hannity reaffirming it is Americans for America, on Spectors "Act like a lady" comment, plugging Frank Ryan, and her own back-burner ideas for 2010!
Are you passionate about the great American principles of individual liberty, constitutional government, sound money, free markets, and a non-interventionist foreign policy?
Are you currently searching for an active role within the Campaign for Liberty which will train and equip you for battle and allow you to effectively channel your efforts, vastly increasing your ability to win back lost freedoms and then preserve them for future generations?
If these things apply to you, please consider signing up as a local coordinator. Our Local Coordinator Training will assist you in learning about the political figures and structure in your area, arm you with important details needed to direct your time and energy effectively, and provide you with specific information that you will be able to share with your fellow activists.
Once you have signed up as a local coordinator, please consider leading your county or region. You can nominate yourself, or a fellow local coordinator from your dashboard; simply scroll to the bottom of the page and look for "Coordinators" on the right-hand side of the page. You will notice the categories of "County", "Regional" and "State". If there is no coordinator in any of those categories, you will see the word "nominate". Simply click "nominate" and you will be taken to a page where you can voice your recommendations on who should fill that position.
We've come a long way since the Campaign for Liberty was formed. As we move forward, there will be battles won, and battles lost; we will face stiff opposition, and form important alliances. Building up our team of local, county and regional coordinators will greatly increase our ability to reclaim our lost liberties and boldly confront our adversaries and win!
I found this article regarding the current race for the senate seat in MA. This is well done by the author and inspired me to start asking around, How do we compile this breakdown to reflect our candidates for representation? Have a read: http://www.rightcondition.com/2009/12/examining-candidates-for-ma-s...
With a well thought list of issues and researched and credable information, people in Lebanon county can possably make well informed decisions based on a brief and fair assessment of their candidates. Something like this could go a long way if published in the LD News or Patriot. Anyone have any thoughts?
If you support a "public option," single payer system, and/or the Democrats' health bills in Congress, you probably believe that health insurance companies have too much power and not enough competition to keep prices low and quality high. You are absolutely correct.
Health insurance is too expensive, not enough people have access to it, and insurance companies bail on their customers and deny them the coverage they paid for at the worst possible times. Something has got to be done!
But Why?
But let's examine the root causes of these disorders in the market for health insurance to see if a public option is really the solution.
It seems as if the health insurance companies can charge whatever they want, bully their customers around when they have legitimate claims, and set all the terms of insurance contracts. Why is that?
The most important reason is that Americans cannot buy health insurance across state lines. States prohibit the purchase of health insurance that does not comply with their state regulations.
Regulations Empower Insurance Companies
These regulations usually consist of a long list of ridiculous coverage mandates that require customers to be covered for all kinds of things whether or not they want or need it.
So even if a woman in Maryland doesn't want to pay $500/month to be covered for in-vitro fertilization, morbid obesity treatment, smoking cessation, substance abuse, and hair prosthesis, she has no choice.
And she can't purchase more affordable insurance without any unnecessary coverage from another state because it would be non-compliant with Maryland's regulations and mandates.
Robbing You to Enrich Corporations
The reason states do this is to provide kickbacks of money to their campaign donors in the insurance industry without overtly raising residents' taxes- a corrupt and vicious policy.
So the reason health insurance companies have so much power and are so corrupt, is not an unregulated, dog-eat-dog market for health insurance, but a tightly regulated and controlled market- a government-protected cartel for health insurance.
If there were a way to put an end to this disgusting situation in one fell swoop- it would immediately make health insurance far more affordable, a better fit for people's real needs, and a quality industry that works hard to please its customers.
The Solution in One Easy Step:
And there is such a way! The U.S. Congress merely needs to pass a bill prohibiting the states from requiring residents to purchase health insurance from within their state and according to state regulations/mandates.
The beautiful thing is it doesn't take a whole lot of words to say this, certainly not thousands of pages! It's a simple, elegant, and profoundly effective solution.
A Constitutional Health Care Reform
It's also Constitutional. Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution says Congress has the power to: "To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several states, and with the Indian tribes. [emphasis mine]"
This Commerce Clause has been misused for decades as the justification for sweeping Federal powers that clearly do not fall under the scope of the clause.
In Wickard v. Filburn for instance, the Supreme Court ruled that even wheat grown on one's own land for one's own consumption can be regulated under the category of interstate commerce because it affects interstate commerce(!). Yet in the instance of health insurance, we have a perfect example of exactly what the Founding Fathers wanted the Federal Government to be able to prevent states from doing- interfering with trade across their borders.
The Result:
If Congress were to pass this one piece of simple legislation on just a few short pages, it would create revolutionary changes in the provision of health insurance and grant millions access through more affordable prices.
If an insurance company in Connecticut charges too much or has a reputation for bullying its customers when they need coverage, then its customers can leave and buy insurance from a more affordable, less corrupt insurance company based in Nebraska.
A Free Market Health Care Reform
This way companies will truly be forced to compete with each other for once. They will have to provide good service at affordable prices or they'll lose customers and go out of business. No more hiding behind state lines and corrupt state laws.
And that's how to end the monopolistic power of the insurance companies quickly, cleanly, and without diminishing our civil liberties or adding to the already insane national debt. It's a non-partisan solution that members of both party can agree to. Who's with me?
Take action
E-mail this article's web address to as many people as you know! Educate your friends and family. If you want to strip the health insurance companies of their monopoly power, then you must empower yourself with knowledge and solutions!
Also share a link to this article across various social media if you're web-savvy: Facebook, Twitter, and Digg would make a good start!
Last of all, send this article to the people who need to read it the most: your Congressman and Senators!
Yes, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, is the most watched city in the nation. It has 134 surveillance cameras on the street watching our own citizens. The Lancaster Community Safety Coalition (LCSC) is a private organization run by the prominent citizens of the city that spy on the rest of us claiming to be basically a "large electronic neighborhood watch".
Lancaster Coalition for Sensible Security (LCSS) is the opposition group, which I help coordinate, and we need your help to raise awareness. CBS and ABC have been here for a story on this and Katie Couric and Nightline will soon air their version of what is happening here in Lancaster. This is an "experiment" that will set the precedence for the nation. What we do here will effect the outcome of whether or not we will live in a surveillance society. I say, "Take the cameras down!"
What is really amazing, is that our City Council and Mayor say that they have no official stand on the cameras and have no power to remove them. The LCSC contracts with our state electricity company (PP&L) to put the cameras on their poles. A contract is a contract. Now what?
Campaign for Liberty is a 501(c)4 lobbying organization which neither supports nor opposes candidates for public office and claims no responsibility for the actions of individuals or groups of individuals who use the Campaign for Liberty logo or name or who may claim to act as representatives of the Campaign for Liberty without prior written consent of the Campaign for Liberty. [?]
County Coordinator
