Free Republic

Did you account for the difference in the cost of living between regions? $1,000 in Mississippi can probably "buy" a lot more than $1,000 in New Jersey or DC.

A better question to ask is whether or not the New Jersey state constitution has a recall provision for the governor.

Article I, Section 2b of the Constitution of the State of New Jersey (1947) reads:

The people reserve unto themselves the power to recall, after at least one year of service, any elected official in this State or representing this State in the United States Congress. The Legislature shall enact laws to provide for such recall elections. Any such laws shall include a provision that a recall election shall be held upon petition of at least 25% of the registered voters in the electoral district of the official sought to be recalled. If legislation to implement this constitutional amendment is not enacted within one year of the adoption of the amendment, the Secretary of State shall, by regulation, implement the constitutional amendment, except that regulations adopted by the Secretary of State shall be superseded by any subsequent legislation consistent with this constitutional amendment governing recall elections. The sufficiency of any statement of reasons or grounds procedurally required shall be a political rather than a judicial question.

This is interesting. It seems like the opponents to this are taking the law to an illogical extreme to make policial hay here. We shall see what develops, I suppose.

This tries to emulate the US Constitution and the Bill of Rights, but it doesn't even come close to their simple, elegant, yet incredibly precise language.

Ah, but remember: you get no bread with one meat ball.

Here's a bumpity-bump to the top.

I must say, everyone, I am very impressed with this FReepathon -- it is very well organized, very well planned, very well staffed (service with a smile!), and being very well funded. Good job!

I was looking over the new system... I love the new automatic state scoreboard! Oh, I'm starting to reminice... I remember the days when I had to to that by hand -- hand, that is! I still think that I have the old files somewhere on my computer...

Anyhow, keep up the good work, and be sure to have a lot of fun while doing it -- you all certainly deserve it!

In fact, everyone in America will have more money. This will unleash the greatest prosperity America has ever known.

Can a resident economist from around here help me out here? Wouldn't a sudden infusion of cash into the economy creat lots of inflation rather than prosperity? Or wouldn't it? (I'm honestly not sure.)

Judge Wells, in her decision, gave examples of threats Traficant made about what he would do to FBI agents and how he refused to allow a home inspection or provide the whereabouts of his firearms.

Is this woman serious? Does she really think that a 61-year-old man is going to go and mow down FBI agents with an undocumented assault rifle? Mr. Traficant poses virtually no threat to anyone. I mean, the man was convicted of bribery and corruption, and he's lost the public office from which to further commit these crimes.

This refusal to allow him to go out on bail, and her sentencing him to more time than the government recommened, seems to indicate that this judge may have a personal bias, or an axe to grind. Or, possibly, this judge is just disgusted with corruption in high office and wants to make an example out of the former Congressman. Either way, he still poses little threat to society anymore.

And, seriously, doesn't everyone think that depriving the poor man of his 'hairpiece' (to put it lightly) is punishment enough?

Yes, apparently it does. According to S. 136: The Fast Track Trade Negotiating Authority Act, "fast track" authority is extended to December 31, 2004, after which, it apparently expires.

And what the NYT's didn't say is that he couldn't be tried and convicted in the Senate because if he were expelled, the RATS would lose control of the Senate. Therefore, he skates.

Actually, if Mr. Torricelli was expelled, the Democrats would not lose control of the Senate. Governor McGreevey (D-NJ) would just appoint another democrat to fill his seat.

This wasn't true about a year ago, when New Jersey had a "Republican" Acting Governor, but it's true now.

Imus doesn't do much for me. Giuliani's endorsement in NJ, however, is huge (IMHO). A lot of Jersey folks were intimately touched by 9/11 and Rudy's influence.

Rudy helps, but I don't think he helps that much. Last year, Bret had Rudy's unconditional support, and all it seemed to have done was win over some of the undecided Republicans (maybe the ones that thought Bret was "too conservative").

I think we need some real "hometown boys" to make and endorsement that has a significant effect (who that might be, don't ask me!). Anyhow, I think that endorsements are overrated, but, hey, I suppose they couldn't hurt.

Go Doug Go!

Bump to the top.

Sigh... this would be such a great thing to have here in New Jersey. If only, if only.

Too bad we don't have more people in Congress like Mr. Paul -- if anything, "Dr. No" seems to have integrity, which in government, is certainly a good thing.

The Roll Call vote roster is up here:
http://clerkweb.house.gov/cgi-bin/vote.exe?year=2002&rollnumber=346

Everyone voted "AYE" except for...

Gary Condit who voted NAY and

Representatives Bartlett, Ford, Paul, Bilirakis, Hostettler, Simpson, Callahan, Otter, and Young of Alaska who voted PRESENT.

Traficant did not vote.

Interesting stuff, huh?

"In addition to installing an American president, the current Supreme Court has invalidated federal laws at the most astounding rate in our nation's history," Clinton said to applause and laughter.

Is it not possible that the Congress has been enacting more unconstitutional federal laws than at any time in history?

Perhaps, just maybe, the problem lies with the Congress for a change, not with everyone else.

Hmmm... I'm confused here. They want to give the bondholders and creditors worthless stock? Is that supposed to be their plan?

Perhaps they should just file a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, and liquidate the whole thing. Have a garage sale -- just sell it all off to whoever wants it. Seems like that might be the quickest and cleanest way to handle this mess...

I believe that the property is owned by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

However, I believe that they contracted a private agency to administer the World Trade Center complex... but I'm not entirely sure about that.

Is there anything that McGreevey doesn't want to tax? He must be the kamikazi governor -- determined on destroying his chances of reelection.

Oh, well. In the great scheme of things, that's certainly better.

This can't be serious. It must be an April Fool's Day joke. I absolutely refuse to believe that, after all that turmoil and chaos that these people caused us less than two years ago, that there are still people there that cannot properly punch a hole through a piece of paperboard.

Wait, no. I just reread the article. They're not punchcard ballots, are they? They're touch-screen ballots. That's even more pathetic.

No, I just refuse to believe it. It just boggles the mind.

I get the Dilbert Newsletter from time to time, and it always makes me laugh out loud (if it doesn't to you, the problem is obviously on your end :), so I randomly felt like using it as an excuse to post my first article on the General Interest forum.

Enjoy!

The beta software you've designed looks much better now. It works pretty good, and it's pleasing to the eye, within reason. The current design is good, but if we have to change, the new stuff will be a good replacement.

I also like the new notification for new posts on our state boards, and the fact that it includes the latest post is really neat. The blue color for the bar is nice too.

However, the only cosmetic changes I'd like would be an option to change the font of the sidebars and topic menus to something less annoying -- like the nice font used to display the forum list in the upper-left hand corner. Also, it's be nice if you included an option to hide that flag background -- it's all nice and patriotic, and all, but it'd be nice if one had the option to hide and show it at pleasure, and one to disable the thin boxes around every element in the center of the sceen.

I apologize for my incessant whining, but those tiny little things were getting on my nerves, and I feel a little better after ranting about them. Anyway, the software's pretty good and I'm glad that you're working so hard to make FR so much better! Thanks!