Goodbye Tobacco And Free Speech!

The House Energy and Commerce Committee approved a bill that will give the FDA full regulatory control over the tobacco industry. If the bill passes it is expected to dramatically reduce tobacco marketing, ban many flavored cigarettes, and prohibit the labeling of cigarettes as “light” or “low-tar.” It makes me feel warm and fuzzy to know that the government would care for me so much that it would protect me from the evil tobacco industry. I guess flavored cigars will be next on the chopping block.

How does an agency, that is not headed up by an elected official, have the power to wantonly harass a whole industry? How can they tell them "Hey, your products are unhealthy and even though they are legal and people want to buy them you can't advertise"? If they place anymore restrictions on the tobacco companies and tax it anymore then they might as well either ban it altogether or nationalize it because there will no longer be a reason to work in the industry.

I have said this before and I will say this again. I don't smoke and I advise others not to smoke but I leave it up to them to make that decision. It is not the government's job to decide what is good and not good for its citizens and then pass legislation that takes the decision making power out of the people's hands and gives it to the government bureaucrats. People can protest against tobacco, boycott tobacco, advertise against tobacco, and decide for themselves not to smoke tobacco. Now the government wants that power.

Write to your Senator and Congressman and let them know that you want to keep your freedoms. Let them know that free speech is not just a tag line but a right that everyone has. And that our right to choose to smoke or not smoke is our choice and not the government. If you want to smoke an apple flavored cigarette who is the FDA to tell you that you can't.

Here is the article referenced in this post.

NJLP Shirt Design Pt. 1

Here is a NJLP shirt design idea. Let me know what you guys think.

My Foot In My Mouth!

Steve Adubato endorsed Rep. Rob Andrews which kind of contradicts my last post. Thought I would point that out before anyone else did. A lot of endorsements have been rolling out in the last day or two and despite the fact that Andrews has been getting a lot of support he is currently behind Lautenberg by 35%.

GOP Candidates Uknown And Dems Split On Lautenberg, What Does This All Mean For Us?

Fairleigh Dickinson University posted the results of a recent poll yesterday that shows how many people don't know who the GOP candidates are. When all voters were polled the numbers stood at Joe Pennacchio being unrecognized by 77%, Murray Sabrin by 84% and Andy Unanue by 90%. When narrowed down to just Republican voters the numbers come out to 29% saying they’ve heard of Pennacchio, 18% saying they’ve heard of Sabrin, and 12% saying they’ve heard of Unanue. (These polls were tricky to get because the Star Ledger article was linked to the wrong poll, what else can we expect from them?) Joe Pennacchio has been the front runner in gaining the endorsement of county organizations but this poll shows that the race is still wide open.

On the other side of the aisle we have Rep. Rob Andrews who is still deciding whether he wants to run against Sen. Frank Lautenberg while Morristown Mayor Donald Cresitello is convinced he can beat Lautenberg in the upcoming primary. Andrews has been getting support from the southern Jersey Dems of the George Norcross variety and Lautenberg has gotten support from the northern Jersey Dems of the Steve Adubato variety.

The big question is what does this all mean for the NJ Libertarian Party? Good news! Jesse Ventura got elected as a third party candidate to the position of Governor of Minnesota by allowing the Dems and GOP to fight among themselves while he led a clean and successful campaign. I also believe that the result of the Democratic primary will show how NJ voters how the establishment candidate is always the winner. The only reason why the GOP race is still open is because there is no real establishment candidate. "Joe Penn" and Unanue both have had their credibility riddle with holes with Unanue leaning on his money and "Joe Penn" leaning on his early momentum. Murray Sabrin wants to reform the current NJ Republican Party so that automatically scratches him off as a non establishment candidate.

The next big question is what do we do to take advantage of this opportunity?

1. Help Murray Sabrin's campaign. Go to his website at http://www.murraysabrin.com/. He is a libertarian in mind and heart and deserves our support.
2. Expand the party base. Hit the streets while voters are still confused and dismayed over the current state of NJ politics.
3. Contact elected officials who have drifted away from their party establishment such as Steve Lonegan and Cresitello and see if they wish to run on the Libertarian ticket. I know that Lonegan follows many of the libertarian principles and that Cresitello is one the most libertarian of the state Democrats.
4. Do something! We need to take advantage of this opportunity in every way we can so if you have ideas please email them to me and to any of our other party officers.

I have been closely following the progression of these campaigns and will continue to do so.