Reported live from Luzerne County Community College, Nanticoke, Pennsylvania.
"We are putting incumbents on notice. Your days are numbered," said Michael Harrison (dressed as Patrick Henry) of the Campaign for Liberty as he opened the Challengers Town Hall event at 6:30pm, Saturday evening April 10th. A crowd of 60 people cheered lower taxes, the free enterprise system, and a return to constitutional values at Luzerne County Community College.
The Campaign for Liberty is a nationwide group, claiming over ===== members. It's mission is to promote and defend the great American principles of individual liberty, constitutional government, sound money, free markets, and a noninterventionist foreign policy, by means of educational and political activity.
Candidates in attendance were Jake Towne, Independent 15th Congressional; Lou Barletta, GOP PA 11th Congressional; Dave Madeira, 10th Congressional; Sam Rohrer, GOP governor; Peg Luksik, GOP US Senate; Betsy Summers, Libertarian 14th Senate; Tim Mullen, Libertarian 120th House; Brian Bergman, Libertarian 119th House; and James O'Meara, GOP 121st House.
"We are on a dangerous course. It's not just the Democrats, but the big government Democrats," said Towne. "Need to repeal and remove the $1 trillion "tax" of the health care. The economic mess we're in today is due to excess federal spending. We cannot print our way to prosperity."
"The majority of the challenges that face the commonwealth have not accrued overnight," said Rohrer. "Tax are too high. We must reduce capital stock and franchise tax to help create jobs. We have to reduce corporation income tax two points. Pennsylvania needs to be a right to work state, and because it is not is the major reason why Pennsylvania loses jobs."
"2010 allows us to drive away from the precipice instead of driving into it," said Luksik. "When I say I am pro life, I am pro life without exception."
Luksic's biggest round of applause came when she called for repeal of the 16th Amendment. The 16th Amendment, passed in 1913 and allowed for the federal government to tax income. She said income tax revenues should be replaced by a "consumption tax." A consumption tax is a tax on spending on goods and services.
Barletta started his talk with a brief history of the beginnings of his political career, but quickly moved to the story of how crimes by illegal immigrants in Hazleton lead him to the forefront of the fight against illegal immigration. He spoke of how felt that the federal government wasn't addressing the illegal immigration problem, so he decided to do something about it.
"This country will not be saved by Uncle Sam," said Barletta as he began to address the issues facing the 11th Congressional district. "It will be saved by the Moms and Pops across this great country."
"I have a message for Nancy Pelosi," Barletta said "I'll keep my guns, my God, and my money, and you can keep the change."
We spoke to Barletta before the event about his campaign and his fund raising efforts.
"The campaign is going great," said Barletta. "I'm seeing a lot of excitement out on the trail, not only here in Luzerne County, but in Columbia, Monroe, and Lackawanna. It's seems that the voters are waking up.
"We're fortunate that we don't have a primary battle, not that we didn't want a primary. I believe sometimes primaries are good, because it gets you into fighting shape and let's you tune your issues. We have been campaigning as if we had a primary opponent, " Barletta concluded.
The Campaign for Liberty claims over 230,000 members nationwide and a little over 9,000 members in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. There national headquarters is in Springfield, Virginia. The minimum annual membership dues are $35.
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Comments
Lou Barletta is the kind of Patriot we need in office. He stands up for what is right and he stands up for Law Abiding Americans against this unarmed invasion we are experiencing. God Bless Lou Barletta!! I am sending him Cash!
The tin foil hat business must have been booming down there in Nanticoke last night.
"It's not just the Democrats, but the big government Democrats"
I think he said big gov't Republicans :)
Alex, I don't believe there were any tin foil hats in attendance. But you know I think I would rather wear one of them than a dunce cap you are sporting.
See that's the problem with the tin foil hat crowd. They think everyone else is stupid. What they don't realize is that they have a fundamental misunderstanding of the world around them. That is why it is so easy for demagogues like Sam Rohrer and Peg Luksik to whip them up into a panic. They confuse opinion with fact and sit around in echo chambers, patting each other on the back for repeating platitudes.
Lou Barletta offers noting but platitudes and hate. If he would examine his own ethnic heritage, he would understand how Italians were marginalized and cursed at the turn of the 20th century. They were seen as alien criminals: dirty and clannish. Since they were unwelcome and discriminated against, they formed their own groceries, churches, fraternal organizations and spoke Italian, not English, among each other. Does this sound like another immigrant groups? Within two generations Italian integration into mainstream American is so complete Sam Alito sits on the Supreme Court. Why does Lou Barletta try so hard to denigrate others?
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