PACleanSweep
Poll... Joan Orie Melvin is a Superior Court justice in Pennsylvania. She recently returned to state coffers $14,402.55. It is good to see her return the money. Why? Sometime back, the legislature had given themselves and the judiciary pay raises while ignoring a constitutional requirement that any such raise could only take effect after the next election. Politicians began feeling the heat right away. But the Supreme Court justices thought they were immune to public outcry. So they approved the raise. They were wrong. There was an outcry. Prominent citizens called the ruling "twisted." And judges are beginning to squirm. There's a retention vote for judges coming up. Voters can say "Yes" to their judges (local and state-level), or "No." There is no competition. A "Yes" majority means the judge is re-elected. A "No" majority means the judge is out and there is a new election. A group called PACleanSweep is telling Pennsylvanians that they can take back their government. They are urging voters to just say "No" to every judge who accepted the pay raise against the explicit wording of the constitution. It's quite an effort. I hope on election day Pennsylvanians will prove true to their constitutional heritage, throwing out all judges complicit in undermining the rule of law in such a self-serving way. On a happy note, PACleanSweep has taken Judge Melvin off their hit list; she's returned her ill-gotten gains. Good for her, good for CleanSweep, and good for Pennsylvania. This is Common Sense. I'm Paul Jacob. http://www.samadamsalliance.org/common_sense/id.2900/sense_detail.asp
PACleanSweep
Poll... In November 2005, PACleanSweep campaigned against the retention of state Supreme Court Justices Sandra Shultz Newman and Russell Nigro. Nigro became the first appellate judge in Pennsylvania history to lose a retention vote, giving the reform movement a significant boost. While Newman was narrowly retained, she quit the Court shortly afterward, claiming the job was no longer fun. A retention vote is strictly a yes/no vote, where voters are asked if they want to award the judge in question another 10-year term. There are no opponents in these races. If the voters say no, the seat is vacated and a competitive election is held later to fill it. In November 2007 there will be eight appellate court judges up for retention: one Supreme Court justice, four Superior Court judges and three Commonwealth Court judges. These are statewide races and every registered voter is eligle to cast a vote, regardless of party affiliation. Additionally, 60 local judges scattered across Pennsylvania will be on the ballot for retention in November. These races will be limited to those local areas, but every voter in those areas will be eligible to cast a vote. Generally speaking, Pennsylvania's local courts serve as a "farm system" for the statewide appellate courts. Local judges work their way up through the system to land an appellate court seat. All judges in the Commonwealth accepted the pay raise, which was upheld for the judicial branch of government by the state Supreme Court in a highly controversial and widely criticized decision. Please take a few minutes to participate in our 2007 Retention Poll. PACleanSweep will be using the results to craft plans for the fall election season. If you'd like to stay informed about the results of this poll, please subscribe to receive regular PACleanSweep Alerts using the gray box on the left after you click this link to the PACleanSweep Poll: or copy and paste this web address: http://www.pacleansweep.com/cgi-bin/poll.cgi
PACleanSweep Opinion
Why We Need A Constitutional
Convention We come here today in the midst of two important anniversaries. 231 years ago this week, 56 brave souls gathered in this Commonwealth to pledge their lives, fortunes and sacred honor in pursuit of self-government. Our state constitution is a direct descendant of the efforts of those freedom fighters. Although Pennsylvania's original constitution - in comparison to those of other revolutionary era states - was considered to be the epitome of self-government, an assault on those liberties began almost immediately. That assault reached its high water mark, we pray, two years ago this week when lawmakers in this Capitol twisted self-government into an instrument of self-service. The people - echoing the true spirit of those who signed the Declaration of Independence twelve generations ago - rose up, put their proverbial foot down and said, "No More." While things may have changed here in Harrisburg - even to the point where some observers consider those changes to be massive, relative to the institutions where they've occurred - from the viewpoint of self-government, the shift has been miniscule and evasive at best. Even today, we stand witness to elected officials who refuse to adhere to the simplest portion of the ultimate will of the people - the constitutional mandate to adopt a fiscal plan by a fixed date on the calendar. If they cannot abide by this very elementary provision, how on earth can we expect them to uphold some of the more complex mandates of our most fundamental law? The utter failure of the legislative, executive and judicial branches to carry out the provisions of our Constitution are major reasons why this Commonwealth is in desperate need of a constitutional convention, but they are not the only reasons. Pennsylvanians are now realizing that a carefully crafted convention could also go far in addressing our broken public education system, eliminating wasteful and overlapping local governmental fiefdoms and repairing our inherently unfair electoral system. There are currently two bills to initiate a convention - HB649 and SB291 - sitting in committee waiting for action. Both are seriously flawed and in need of major amendment, but they are there nonetheless. Another bill - HB1179 - calls for an appointed commission to study constitutional change. This bill is equally flawed in that it puts elected officials in charge of the process. The only path back to self-government is to convene a delegation of citizens - without ties to the current establishment - to review and propose changes to our Constitution and submit them to the electorate for ratification. Anything less is simply unacceptable. For an acceptable starting point, we recommend to the "Citizens' Constitutional Convention Act of 2007" as posted at www.pacleansweep.com. Taking this path to change would not only lead us back to self- government, but would also remove the black cloud which has been hanging over state government for the last two years. At PACleanSweep, we will be attempting to educate elected officials of the dire need for a convention in the coming months. Perhaps they will listen; perhaps they won't. If they don't listen now, maybe the impetus for action will come from their political opponents in 2008. Only time will tell. Elected officials who refuse to move in the direction of a constitutional convention of the people do so at their own peril. Article I, Section II states in no uncertain terms that the people "have at all times an inalienable and indefeasible right to alter, reform or abolish their government in such manner as they may think proper." We are not bound to do so with the consent or agreement of any elected official, but we do think it proper to pursue consensus at this time. If we do not achieve consensus between the people and elected officials, the divide between the two will only become greater and the cloud over this building will only grow darker. The time is proper for a constitutional convention, and a more opportune time may not come again for generations. If the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence could see what has become of Pennsylvania over the course of 231 years, they would certainly be appalled. We owe it to them to prove that their sacrifices were not in vain - and that we have not lost sight of their gift of self-government - by holding a convention of the people at the earliest possible opportunity. Contitutional Convention Q & A Citizen's Constitutional Convention Act of 2007 About PACleanSweepPACleanSweep is a non-partisan effort dedicated to reforming state government in Pennsylvania. For more information, please visit www.PACleanSweep.com. We are a very active group in PA READ ALL ARP of PA ARCHIVE ANNOUNCEMENTS & ACHIEVEMENTS HERE
The Republican and Democratic parties
have monopolized the political system by capturing the money that runs elections,
preventing worthy challengers and third parties from fair access to the ballot,
and blocking open political debate. This has debased our democratic institutions
and degraded the quality of politicians who seek to hold public
office.
The former independent Governor of
Connecticut and three term U.S. Senator Lowell Weicker wrote, “The two-party
system owes its continued existence to the self-aggrandizement of Republicans
and Democrats and to many in the news media who look upon change as expensive
logistically. The public is miles ahead of the politicians and the press
in seeing the irrationality of the
present {duopoly}
system.”
The
Last Straw
When our elected officials made bribery
legal by calling it campaign contributions and declaring money to be free
speech, that was more than we The people could, or would, take. Citizen distaste
for the two parties is a long established fact. The natural consequence of
such distaste, logically thinking should be the creation of a third major
political party, a party that is centrist, addresses the broad spectrum of
issues and produces true competition and superior
government.
Political and Economic
Objectives:
·
Restore
trust and integrity in government
·
Reduce
government spending and size
·
Increase
disposable income for families
·
Institute
long-term fiscal policies
·
To
insure intergenerational
equity
Campaign Finance Reform:
·
Reduce
the influence of money and special
·
Interest
in campaigns
·
Establish
public funding options for clean elections
·
Shorten
election cycles.
·
Eliminate
soft money from corporations, unions and wealthy
individuals.
·
Prompt
Internet disclosure of campaign contributions and voting
records.
·
Lobbyists
provide information, not money.
Election/Electoral Reforms:
·
States
must grant fair ballot access for third party candidates and
independents.
·
TV
and Radio debates and forums must include ballot-qualified third- party and
independent candidates.
·
Publish
uniform statewide voters guides.
·
Term
limits for elected officials, legislative leaders and committee
chairs.
·
Proportional
representation; require courts, not political parties, to construct equal
legislative voting districts.
·
Open
primaries: a single unified ballot so voters can choose candidates of any
party.
·
Cumulative
voting options, instant runoff.
·
NOTA
(none of the above) on the ballot line as a voters
choice.
·
Recall
vote to remove legislators.
·
Replace
Electoral College with popular vote.
·
Citizen
initiative and referendum laws in all states and also as national
advisories.
Foreign Affairs:
·
Keep
our United Nations dues current, meet international obligations and humanitarian
needs and stay engaged in world affairs as a political and economic leader
of the free world.
·
Restore
normal relations with
Cuba.
Trade Policies and Jobs:
·
Eliminate
the trade deficit, pursue fair trade policies and reestablish the nations
creditor status.
·
End
fast track passage of trade agreements and require congressional
accountability.
·
Require
trading partners to meet standards in human rights, workers rights, labor
laws and environmental laws.
·
Retain
U.S. manufacturing capacity and keep high paying technical jobs at
home.
Immigration Policies:
·
Keep
a record of all Visa holders and foreign visitors and send them home when
their visa runs out.
·
Establish
a firm cap of 200,000 immigrants per year until the current wave of mass
immigration is assimilated.
·
Limit
family reunification to spouses and minor children of legal
immigrants.
·
Ban
future amnesties for illegal immigrants and review political asylum
claims.
·
Enforce
job eligibility verification as well as all immigration laws and
regulations.
National Health Care:
·
Establish
a universal, single-payer health program across the States and
Nation.
Environment/Conservation:
It
is the responsibility of the American people to be stewards of the earth
down to the seventh generation. We therefore support policies for clean air,
clean water, endangered species, land and water conservation and stabilization
of U.S. and world population growth.
·
Conserve
open spaces for human enjoyment and natural habitats for wildlife, safeguard
state and national parks, national forests, wildlife refuges, rivers, lakes,
seashores, wetlands, wilderness areas and
fisheries.
·
Eliminate
subsidies to companies that pollute natural resources and threaten public
health (mining, energy, grazing and timber). Prevent dumping of toxic waste
and chemicals into oceans and waterways.
·
Negotiate
agreements with other nations to protect the global
environment.
Our purpose in joining together to form this party
is to initiate a process of American renewal under the constitution of the
United States of America and to attract to this cause others who share our
concerns. We intend to engage in the public debate in a manner that emphasizes
the contrast between the future and the politics of the
past. We shall contribute to the intellectual foundation of a new American Political Force which will build community, create sustainable economic growth, preserve our natural resources, remove barriers of discrimination, unify our society and restore integrity and decency to public life and governance.
Yes I want to change this darned political
system For Comments, Questions or More Information About the Pennsylvania ARP - Contact Us:
Bettyjean Kling -
bj@pondarama.com -
PARTY SECRETARY
AMERICAN REFORM PARTY - Changing Our Present for the
Future
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