Garden State Patriot

Since the outrageous Supreme Court decision in the Kelo case in 2005, which sanctioned “the use of eminent domain to transfer land from one private owner to another to further economic development,” eminent domain abuses have been numerous throughout the country. The decision has opened the door for corrupt politicians to target your property and unjustly fork it over to private developers. Essentially, our private property rights, which the Founders viewed as critical underpinnings of our form of government, have been discarded by a runaway, activist Supreme Court.

New Jersey has been one of the biggest offenders, with the one of the targets being Cindy and George Gallenthin. From Steve Lonegan, State Director of Americans For Prosperity:

New Jersey Continues to lead in Eminent Domain Abuse

Yesterday I attended a press conference in Trenton with Cindy Gallenthin. The conference was in front of the Department of Environmental Protection where bureaucrats were meeting to plan an aggressive use of eminent domain to take Cindy’s farm. Cindy was prohibited from attending or partaking in the very meeting that could determine her future.

This was the not the first time Cindy fought this battle. She and her husband George Gallenthin won a historic property rights lawsuit when the New Jersey Supreme court ruled 7 to 0 in their favor, defending them against an unlawful attempt to take their family farm by the Gloucester County Improvement Authority. The case took years and more than $500,000 in legal fees, as well as an emotional toll on the family.

When George Gallenthin left for Iraq with the Defense Department where he is currently embedded, he thought his farm was safe. He was wrong.

The Gloucester County Improvement Authority is planning another attempt to take the Gallenthin Property—this time using a different approach– claiming the land is needed for “public” access to a private business and therefore constitutes as “public use.” Cindy Gallenthin is alone and trying to defend the family farm against a coalition of Big Business and Big Government.

The Founding Fathers understood the importance of owning property without the fear of government powers interfering. Do not think the Gallenthin family farm is an isolated incident. Everyone reading this newsletter could become a victim of eminent domain abuse. I am urging all of our citizen activists to come to the aid of Cindy and George by calling your legislator, calling talk radio and writing letters to the editor. While George Gallenthin is in Iraq, that is the least we can do to stop this abuse.

As Steve mentioned, this is not an isolated case. AFP has documented other cases, including that of Mary and Fran Amaral:

I’d urge all of you to pass this along and do anything you can to help fight this. Not only do we need to stop these on-going abuses, but we need to put pressure on our legislators to reform our eminent domain laws. This should not be happening in America.

Is CNN’s Drew Griffin sloppy, ignorant or just another reporter who’s in the tank for Barack Obama?

Here’s the exchange from yesterday’s interview with Governor Palin:

CNN: Yeah. Governor, you’ve been mocked in the press. The press has been pretty hard on you, the Democrats have been pretty hard on you, but also some conservatives have been pretty hard on you as well. The National Review had a story saying that, you know, I can’t tell if Sarah Palin is incompetent, stupid, unqualified, corrupt or all of the above.

Palin: Who wrote that one?

CNN: That was in the National Review, I don’t, have the author.

Palin: I’d like to talk to that person.

So, what’s the problem? Griffin completely distorted the National Review article, written by Byron York. York wrote:

Watching press coverage of the Republican candidate for vice president, it’s sometimes hard to decide whether Sarah Palin is incompetent, stupid, unqualified, corrupt, backward, or — or, well, all of the above. Palin, the governor of Alaska, has faced more criticism than any vice-presidential candidate since 1988, when Democrats and the press tore into Dan Quayle. In fact, Palin may have it even worse than Quayle, since she’s taking flak not only from Democrats and the press but from some conservative opinion leaders as well.

York was criticizing the MEDIA, not Palin!

As reported on tonight’s O’Reilly Factor, when questioned about the distortion, CNN did not offer an apology or own up to the ‘mistake.’

But, hey, there’s no media bias, right? If a Fairness Doctrine is needed, it’s for network news operations like CNN and MSNBC which have taken journalism to new lows.

Here’s the entire interview:

The Left is preparing to silence talk radio. Make no mistake about this. (See New York Post article: Dems Set To Muzzle The Right).

In the past year or so, numerous Democrats (including Speaker Pelosi) have publicly advocated reinstating the Fairness Doctrine - the archaic government policy forcing radio stations to “devote some of their airtime to discussing controversial matters of public interest, and to air contrasting views regarding those matters.”

Off the bat, this begs a number of questions: How do we determine what is fair? How many voices get to speak? How much time do they get? How will the government force people to listen to these “opposing views?” But most of all, does anyone actually believe that in today’s modern society, with the vast number of resources across the web and with 24/7 cable news stations, that citizens do not have access to “contrasting views” on matters of importance to the country? The whole idea is utterly ridiculous and the Left’s motivation is clear: silence the opposition. 

Talk radio is the main arena where conservative voices are heard. And liberal attempts to succeed in the format (see Air America) have failed miserably. So, since they can’t compete, they’ve decided to go for the nuclear option: a stealth effort to shut down the Limbaugh’s and Hannity’s under the guise of ‘fairness.’

If the Fairness Doctrine is reimposed, stations will begin dropping talk rather than face being fined by the FCC for failing to adhere to arbitrary regulations being dictated out of Washington. It’s as simple as that. AM radio will return to playing elevator music. 

This is un-American. It’s anti-freedom, anti-free speech and anti-free markets. If we want our government to control content on our airwaves, then we are no longer much different than the likes of Venezuela or Cuba.

And it also has to make you wonder, if the Democrats will go to these lengths to silence the opposition, then what else are they willing to do to take away your freedoms and quash dissent so that they can keep power?

With a mere 2 weeks to go before Election Day, I would strongly urge all of you to read the following post over at hotair.com entitled, “The Comprehensive Case Against Barack Obama”. This is Barack Obama in his own words on abortion, taxes, his radical affiliations, foreign policy and more. Very. Scary. Stuff.

According to the Cato Institute’s Fiscal Policy Report Card On America’s Governors, Governor Corzine receives a big fat ‘F’. For more check out this excellent post over at Right Wing Nut!

Hat tip to Right Wing Nut!, also, for a great post about what will happen with your federal income taxes when the Dems allow the Bush tax cuts to expire in 2010.  Discover your hit by using the tax calculator found here. Enter your income for 2008 first then back the calculator up to Year 2000 (last year before the Bush tax cuts) to see how much more, ahem, ‘patriotic’ you’ll be two years from now. I’m looking so forward to my $2000+ increase. Sweet!

Residents of Hackensack ought to be concerned. In the wake of BCDO chairman Joe Ferriero’s federal corruption indictment, his friends are actively raising money and seeking to influence the city’s government.

As Charles Stile reports in yesterday’s Bergen Record, Howard Hurwitz and his wife, Lynn, who are “closely affiliated with the BCDO and its chairman (Ferreiro)” have formed the Hackensack Political Action Committee. Money is now coming in from “the A-List of donors and county vendors that have subsidized Ferriero’s machine over the last decade.” Nice.

For more, please read the full text of Mr. Stile’s column. (Stile: Fund-raising efforts continue under the radar),

The Monmouth University Polling Institute recently released a poll of 808 New Jerseyans which found that  “Only 1-in-10 New Jerseyans (10%) feel that the structure of their government, including both state and local government, works well enough as it is now.” What a shock, eh?

The Top 5 most serious problems fellow New Jerseyans feel are facing the state are: 1) Property taxes, 2) Cost of living, 3) Wasteful government spending, 4) Health care costs, 5) Political corruption.

Yet, this deeply blue state continues to send Democrats like John Corzine to Trenton. Maybe – just maybe – this is indication that they’ve finally had enough.

Wonder why spending is out of control in New Jersey and our taxes are the highest in the nation? Then check out this post from ‘A Blog For All’ which tells us a bit about just how New Jersey government works.

As a follow-up to my previous post on this subject, please check out the following reactions to the Governor’s ‘economic recovery’ plan:

• Statement from State Senator Phil Haines
• Statement from Assembly Republican Budget Officer Joseph Malone
• Tad DeHaven at Cato @ Liberty chimes on on targeted tax breaks for corporations (“Press Release Economics” in New Jersey)
• ‘GOP Strong’ comes out strongly against the Governor’s plans
• ‘A Blog For All’ focuses on the foreclosure proposals in the Governor’s plan.
• ON EDIT: One more good one from app.com (Mortgaging The Future)

The Wall Street Journal had a sobering piece today laying out what is at stake in this election. If Obama wins, it will result in the most left-wing leadership ever to descend on Washington DC. The Republicans will be powerless to stop the Left’s socialist agenda on issues ranging from Medicare to taxes to energy policy. And the piece doesn’t even mention the ramifications to our judiciary, where Obama appointments throughout the Court system will do untold damage through judicial activism for years to come. (WSJ: A Liberal Supermajority)