Author: LPChesco

The doors of the Pennsylvania Members-Only Primary Club will be open to all on May 18^th this year. This is because of some critical referendums on the ballot that every voter can voice an opinion on – Libertarians, Greens, Independents all get to vote in this primary.

While primary elections benefit only the major parties, everyone’s taxes pay for them. Unlike General Elections, thousands of us usually cannot vote in a Primary. Even major party members often ignore primary elections, assuming that their local political machines have already stacked the deck for their choices in the general election. This means even fewer voters participating in decisions that may change our state laws.

Such is the case in the May 18^th Primary. Critical proposed changes to the Pennsylvania constitution are on the ballot, and the Libertarian Party of Chester County would like to call your attention to these major proposals. Placing these proposals on a Primary ballot may receive less voter attention, while the changes involved will affect the rights of every voter in the state.

There are three important proposed amendments to the state constitution on the ballot, and the LPCC supports each of them. One is a joint resolution to prohibit discrimination due to race or ethnicity. This resolution is designed to ensure that our rights are not denied or abridged because of who we are. Another amendment places the responsibility to terminate or extend an emergency act back to where it always belonged, with the General Assembly. This decision should never have been placed in the hands of only one individual – a chief executive who wants to control the actions of constituents in a dictatorial manner, with no ability of constituents and their elected officials to affect this important decision.  The final proposed amendment returns the idea of a temporary emergency act to what it was always meant to be.  An Emergency Act is a limited circumvention of state laws in the event of extreme emergency on a temporary basis. The Emergency Act is specifically designed to last for up to 21 days, without the ability to endlessly extend this suspension of the constitution, thereby restricting the rights of the electorate.

The LPCC urges everyone, major and minor parties, as well as independents to vote YES on these ballot initiatives. This will send a message to the Assembly that we want them to pass these amendments that promote the ideals of freedom in Pennsylvania.

The pandemic is thankfully reaching its final stages, thanks to brilliant technology and the hard work of so many in the medical profession. But the damage caused to business, students, workers and families will unfortunately be with us for a long time, largely due to the poor decisions made by a single chief executive who felt he could ignore the will of his constituents and their elected representatives.

It is time to end the dictatorship. Support equal rights. Support our state constitution. Vote YES on the ballot initiatives on May 18^th.

About a month ago a teacher’s meeting in California aired some disturbing comments about the families these teachers worked for. One teacher mocked the student’s parents, claiming that “they wanted their babysitters back.” Another used profanity to threaten an unhappy parent. This all occurred at a meeting the teachers believed was not public, but it was. The district superintendent quickly issued an apology, saying in part, “I know our students deserve better from us.”

Here in Chester County, the President of the West Chester Area School District Board, Chris McCune, sent an email to the school system superintendent that said, “People need to start seeing public education as a privilege not an entitlement.” Despite this absurd sentiment being made public, Mr. McCune has not issued an apology to our student or parent community. In fact, he appeared to actually defend his statement at a recent board meeting on Monday, March 22, 2021.

Emergencies like the pandemic and resulting school disruptions tend to bring out the best in us, and for some, it also brings out the worst. We now have confirmation that a (hopefully) small number of educators care little about their charges or the parents who pay their salaries. In fact, they seem to feel free to insult the community, expecting other teachers to agree with how little they are concerned about the people they have pledged to serve.

The Libertarian Party of Chester County is made up of local parents with children in our public, private, and home schools. We support the idea that parents should determine the use of their taxes to school as they wish. Unfortunately, a reported 30% of state public school funding does not go towards education, but instead supports the growing pension costs of our ‘babysitters.”

We would like to believe that most teachers remain dedicated in their profession and understand that they are employed by the taxpayers. Obviously, some of their members feel otherwise. In most cases, we cannot do anything about this other than calling for greater transparency in educator meetings and communication.

It is no wonder that both charter enrollment and home schooling has gained ground during the past year, even as public schools continue to lose their student base. Parents are simply choosing better options, with educators that care about their children.

But we can do something here in Chester County. That is why the Libertarian Party of Chester County is calling for the resignation of Chris McCune. An educator who does not understand the most basic fundamentals about public education, one who declares that the massive burden on the taxpayers results in a ‘privilege” of some sort is not fit to serve on a school board in any capacity.

In fact, we believe that it is now time to look at the quality of the West Chester School Board members, as well as the boards of other Chester County school districts. Parents do not need babysitters in their schools, and we do not believe that public education is either a privilege or an entitlement. It is a service that we pay a great deal for. President McCune cannot be excused for his dreadful attitude towards his employers, but he can be excused from a position he is no longer fit to hold.

Of all the challenges facing Chester County this past year, few pandemic-related questions have been as contentious as the reopening of our schools. On the one side are the medical authorities, parents and students, and lined up on the other side is the teacher’s union. Reopening schools has been fought by unions across the country. No major paper has gone long without a photo of some teacher posing with handmade signs, fists in the air. Even when obviously alone, they make sure to be photographed wearing a mask.

No one wants a teacher to be put at serious risk of illness, and thankfully we now have the knowledge and tools to ensure a safe return to in-person schooling for most students and instructors. Yet even when offered free vaccinations, some teaching groups have refused to return to schools, even when their municipality and school boards require it. Every time a concession is made by communities, yet a new excuse or demand seems to appear from the unions. Clearly, the unions forget that teachers work for the community, not for a union.

How, in the face of mounting contrary evidence can some of these unions manage to prevent kids from resuming their critically needed education? The answer lies in the economics of the situation. A key market lesson is that when monopolies exist, service declines and costs increase. This is true for gasoline, hamburger, and housing. It is also true for schooling.

Public school unions have reached the point of entitlement. With a perceived monopoly on teaching positions, they are unconcerned about wielding power that runs against the interests of the communities they were hired to serve. With millions of dollars in dues and donations, they generate disinformation in order to win public sympathy. Since their power resides in a monopoly, the main goal needs to be the elimination of competition.

The unions begin by generating the myth that public schools “fund” private schools or charters. Somehow, constituent tax dollars do not below to students and parents but belong to the schools where they happen to work. But in reality, funds belong to the people being educated, who could spend those dollars at charters, for example, rather than at a public school. The unions attempt to paint their competitors as less effective than they are, but the national numbers indicate otherwise. Yet even if they did not, why are do so many charters have waiting lists of student admissions? The answer is obvious to everyone, including the unions. New York City alone has a charter school wait list of over 50,000 students, according to the Wall Street Journal.

One of our greatest thinkers, Thomas Sowell, has pointed out that fighting charter schools is tantamount to fight Black success. He has pointed out that in NYC charters are populated primarily by black and Hispanic students who outperform their public-school counterparts in both Math and English. Stealing funding from these schools is to reduce the chances of minority student success.

Poor virtual teaching results have forced many parents to turn to home schooling. In Connecticut, for example, the number of home-schooled students has jumped fivefold, with impressive increases around the county. Many of these families will undoubtably keep teaching at home, based on good quality results. Catholic Schools have largely remained open while public schools were shuttered. “What we said when we opened is we would follow the science,” explained Thomas W. Carroll, superintendent of schools for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston. “As long as it was safe, we would keep the schools open.” The result was an influx of 4,000 new students in Boston alone.

In Chester County St. Agnes in West Chester reopened in August 2020. This was followed by over 100 local Catholic schools across 5 counties. As of March 4^th, only a single case of virus transmission has been traced to an archdiocese school.

This is not to say that Chester County does not have serious problems with their schools. As Kristen Bishop, superintendent of Avon Grove Charter School has pointed out, over 30% of every dollar of Pennsylvania school funding now goes towards mandated pension costs. This is an absurd, unsustainable financial situation. Pennsylvania schools are also harmed by the poorly designed funding system commonly called “Hold Harmless”.

This insane system mandates that no school district may receive less funding than it did the previous year no matter what happens to the student population. A report by Public Citizens for Children and Youth demonstrates that five school districts, including Pottstown and Norristown, have lost one fifth of their student base since 1992, yet receive more funding every year. They estimate that almost $600 million goes to instruct students that do not exist.

Clearly, Pennsylvania has serious problem in funding education, and the poor quality of our leadership and legislators gives us little hope of correcting the financial problems any time soon. But we can make our local teacher organizations more responsive. Some great things are being accomplished by parents’ organizations. But the biggest tool that the public has at our disposal is simple competition.

The teacher’s union Pennsylvania State Education Association reportedly spends over a million dollars a year to influence political races. Governor Wolf has collected $2.4 million from teachers’ unions according to the Washington Examiner. Against this tide of money and entitlement is the ability for parents and students to choose their schools. By choosing charters or other alternatives to public schools, the power of the PSEA is reduced.

The Pennsylvania senate is considering a bill entitled Excellence in Education. It is designed to allow families to retain the tax dollars that rightfully belong to them. These dollars would be used for educational expenses including tutoring or private school tuition. The state teachers’ unions are understandably terrified at the prospect of increased competition for our tax dollars. What, they may ask, can they possibly do to gain the confidence of parents who they have fought against for so long?

They might start by allowing teachers to do their jobs and teach students in classrooms, just like their competition, charters and religious schools have. They might also stop pretending that education dollars already belong to them, when they actually belong to the parents that hire them. Also, the majority of dedicated, hard-working teachers can listen a little less to the small group of power hungry leadership and a bit more to the needs of the students that they have pledged their careers to support.

We all have seen the lists of outdated laws that make no sense but remain on our books somehow. Chester County has inherited plenty from Pennsylvania. (It is apparently illegal to catch fish with your bare hands, for example). Section 623 of our Penal Code prohibits discharging a cannon at any wedding (ruining many a celebration).

These ridiculous and amusing regulations disguise the problem of serious laws on our books that create financial hardship and worse in our communities. People have lost their freedom by being incarcerated for rules that mandate punishment for actions that few people believe should be illegal. Businesses are burdened with costs and threats of fines (or worse) that depress business growth and raise costs for Chester County consumers.

The Chester County Libertarian Party believes it is time to help focus some of our best minds on this problem of laws that should be stricken from our books. This is why the LPCC is announcing a student contest entitled ‘Unlawful Laws’. We are soliciting student essays that present the case for the removal of a law on our books. These laws may be Local, County, State or Federal. Students are asked to describe why a law should be removed, and how this removal will benefit Chester County and other Pennsylvania and national residents.

Too often, lawmakers create restrictive rules that either generate unintended consequences, or restrict freedoms in an effort to solve problems that never really existed. Politicians often feel that their role is to control a constituency that cannot self-regulate and should not be trusted to make rational decisions without a bureaucracy telling them how to think and act. Chester County has numerous examples of poorly thought-out regulations and bans on products and activities that serve no purpose other than pandering to special interests or providing a way for some minor politician to grandstand and pretend to save the voters from themselves.

Fixing this situation is largely up to the next generation of voters who are learning that personal freedom is more important than the narrow mindedness of our elected politicians. This is why the Unlawful Laws Essay Contest will be open to all Chester County Students over the age of 13, in grades 7-12. It is open to Public, Private, and Home School Students. Winning essays will be based on originality and adherence to the topic, as well as the strength of supporting information. Cash prizes donated by the LPCC members and supporters will be up to $250.

The LPCC feels that this will be an excellent opportunity for students, parents, and teachers to consider a vital topic that can improve the lives of every Chester County resident. It is our hope that the Unlawful Laws Essay Contest will encourage classes to discuss how often laws are created by thoughtless governments that create hardships for the voters that they are supposed to work for, and how to avoid this problem through enlightened thinking about personal freedoms.

Check out the Unlawful Laws Essay Contest, and tell students and teachers about the entry form and rules posted online here: https://lpchesco.com/contests/

If you would like to contribute a few dollars towards the liberty-supporting essay prizes, please click this link and mention Student Essay in the comment section: https://lppa.org/get-involved/donate/chester/

It is with great enthusiasm that we offer congratulations to Jordan Norley, the new non-elected mayor of West Chester Borough. While many residents agreed with The Libertarian Party of Chester County when we objected to yet another mayor being appointed without benefit of a free election, we now have come to see the light. Elections, after all, are complicated, and require voters to make decisions about how they are governed. This causes undo stress on an electorate already suffering from economic fallout, particularly in the borough.

It is especially gratifying to note that Norely will serve for almost an entire year before demanding that the residents of West Chester are forced to make the difficult decision of choosing a mayor in a free and public election. By refusing to resign until the exact time to trigger a non-elected mayoral choice, Mayor Herrin follows the honored tradition set by her predecessor, Mayor Comitta. This helped promote the convenient system of automatic candidates, where a mayor becomes a state rep, then a state senator, before receiving instructions on further advancement.

We Libertarians realize that some in the community will complain that having a non-elected authority is undemocratic and unusual. But we beg to disagree. While this may not be a shining example of democracy, it is hardly out of the ordinary. Unelected officials are used effectively in many major cities, for example, lovely Havana, or exotic Wuhan. If it works for them, it can work in Chester County.

Certainly, some may suggest that having an unelected mayor for such a long length of time violates the spirit of the Pennsylvania Constitution, which specifically prohibits anyone from holding two offices at a time. Even the borough charter, some will complain, does not allow two posts to be held at once, as our previous mayors did. But again, we disagree. The charter wisely has loopholes allowing someone to hold both a borough and state job at the same time – and we admire this stroke of political genius.

Again, we will hear calls for West Chester to amend the charter to allow voters to choose a mayor instead of having a committee point at someone and saying, “You’re It…for ten months!”. This is a cynical viewpoint that we must reject. There is no reason to believe that voters can make better choices in public than a small group of politicians make in private.

Fortunately, Non-elected Mayor Norely and the borough politicians can rest assured that in time, these annoying complaints will fade. Independents, the Green Party, Libertarians and others need not apply when even the previous mayor stated publicly that only a Democrat is likely to win when an election occurs (should it ever).

Where, you may ask, are the Republicans in this? Surely, they would see this as a need for change and an important issue for the voters? Then again, perhaps they would like to use this kind of loopholes for themselves. If so, we salute them for their astute political perspective.

The largest community in Chester County now has the benefit of an unelected mayor, and they will enjoy this situation for the rest of the year. Not knowing much about Unelected  Mayor Norely in advance only increases the chance of fun and surprise among the residents. And let’s face it, we could all use a little fun right now.

A stack of binders towered on the desk of the president on his very first day in office. Each one was a new Executive Order. He seemed in danger of spraining his wrist as he plowed through them, at one time admitting that there were so many that he was unsure which one he happened to be holding up. In short order, 22 Executive Orders were signed.

This effort was not the product of careful deliberation by lawmakers. Instead, much of this was a reversal of similar orders generated by the prior administration. Signing Executive Orders has become a showy maneuver designed to impress the masses, even when some of them have no practical effect. Presidents have come to love Executive Orders – since the Carter Administration they have averaged issuing almost 50 orders per year. (Biden may reach that number in his first 30 days!).

Yet none of the orders are actually laws. They do not involve elected lawmakers, and no one votes on them. They are simply a way for a chief politician to do whatever they like. As the American Bar Association points out, “Executive orders are not legislation; they require no approval from Congress, and Congress cannot simply overturn them.” 

Here in Chester County we may feel insulated from some of these orders, especially since many are ineffective political signaling, like pretending to end Federal use of private prisons (“Absolute 14006”, which neither ends the practice nor takes effect for years, and when it does, affects almost none of the prison system).

But there are Executive Orders that have a very real and often detrimental affect on Chester County. This is because Pennsylvania’s Governor Wolf has made copious use of his own Executive Orders to bypass the law and force businesses and citizens to do whatever he deems correct.

Lawmakers and voters have no say in these decisions. The state house may challenge them, and even the federal courts may declare the orders to be unconstitutional. But an army of lawyers and hand-picked judges can generate endless appeals that circumvent the system and cement Wolf’s mandates for months or worse.

Just reading the language in one of Wolf’s orders is enough to make you cringe: “WHEREAS,  in  addition  to  my  general  powers,  during  a  disaster  emergency  I  am  authorized specifically to  suspend   any   regulatory   statute   prescribing   the   procedures   for   conduct   of Commonwealth business, or the orders, rules or regulations of any Commonwealth agency if strict compliance with the provisions of any statute, order, rule or regulation would in any way prevent, hinder or delay necessary action in coping with the emergency” (Covid declaration, March 2020).

In other words, even if laws exist that prohibit the enforcement of my declaration, they are to be ignored because I say so. Therefore voters can put lawmakers in office, these lawmakers can deliberate and create laws at the behest of their constituents, and one chief executive can brush the system aside because he knows better than all the voters and law makers in Pennsylvania.

The result is suffering Pennsylvanians including business owners, students and parents. Populous Chester County has suffered tremendously.  State representatives are exasperated that ‘emergency orders’ can be extended endlessly, mocking the very concept of an emergency.

As Supreme Court Justice Alito said in a speech last November, “Every year, administrative agencies acting under broad delegations of authority churn out huge volumes of regulations that dwarf the statutes enacted by the people’s elected representatives. And what have we seen in the pandemic? Sweeping restrictions imposed, for the most part, under statutes that confer enormous executive discretion.”

Chester County voters may get a chance to curtail the powers of our governor at the May elections, if we are lucky. In the meantime, we must work towards removing mandates by power-hungry executives and put them back into the hands of the voters and their representatives. This May we may have our first chance to do that.

As Libertarians, we tend to be suspicious of lawmaking in general. But what we cannot abide is a politician taking the law into their own hands without discussion or legal recourse. We may not be able to soon stop presidents from these anti-freedom maneuvers, but we can start at home by supporting change in Pennsylvania.

If you follow the headlines and top news stories, it is easy to believe that our country is turning radical, camps of both Left and Right wing nuts, intent on imposing their will, sometimes violently. But while these anti-freedom groups get the headlines, the American voter has proven to be more sensible and freedom-loving than the media would have us believe.

All over the country, local voters chose freedom over authority, often overcoming millions of dollars in special interest spending. A great example is in California, where voters rejected Proposition 22. This law was designed to destroy the contract worker business like Uber, Door Dash and Lyft, removing the ability of individuals to select their own hours and job choices by forcing them into employee relationships. The legislature, as usual, attempted to create an anti-business law and force it on the public. Unfortunately for the authoritarians, California allows the voter to have a choice, and big money was spent on both sides to get voter support.

The voters rejected the proposition by almost 60%. This is good because the law would have forced control on all kinds of start-ups and people seeking contract employment under their own terms.

Also, on the slate in California was Proposition 16, attempting to overturn the ban on affirmative action when hiring public employees, assigning contracts, and in school admissions. Again, the voters rejected allowing the state to assign power to special interests in the legislature.

All over the US, voters passed laws legalizing recreational drugs or decriminalizing the use. This will reduce the terrible system of incarcerating addicts and personal possession offenders who have lost property and freedom for crimes that had no victim.

In Wyoming, a state representative was elected on the Libertarian ticket, and Libertarians all over the county made it onto the ballot in increasing numbers.

Here in Pennsylvania, our statewide candidates spend almost zero, yet earned enough votes to recapture Minority Party Status, which helps us in future elections and voter registrations. Local candidates did better than ever – Marc Bozzaco, of Montgomery County reached 23% of the vote, and will be running again to win.

The Pa. courts may be coming to their senses as well. Recently the Pa. Supreme Court ruled that warrantless searches of private vehicles, even with the (often imaginary) “probably cause” to be illegal. This ruling makes it difficult to harass drivers and passengers in violation of their rights.

There is much more to do in Pennsylvania in support of the rights of individuals. But if the inclinations of the average American voter is of any indication, Authority is slowly learning that they work for the Voter, and this Voter is asserting their rights in no uncertain terms.

Chester County was lucky to have some of the best restaurants in Pennsylvania. In fact, a local eatery was named Best Restaurant in Pennsylvania by a prestigious food magazine. Unfortunately, this wealth of dining options will be severely curtailed next year. Worse yet will be the many jobs permanently lost by servers, chefs and bartenders. Entire life savings will be destroyed by a governor and supporters who choose authority over science.

Chester County has several restaurants brave enough to defy the unconstitutional actions of Governor Wolf and his cronies. These establishments universally practice safe operation with cleanliness, masks, and expensive equipment to comply with the ever-changing mandates. The owners are willing to make these investments and curtail their capacity to serve groups in order to break even and keep their operations limping along.

What these establishments are not willing to do is to lie down and die, the way thousands of restaurants have already done. Recently CNN reported that over 110,000 restaurants have closed permanently in this country. In fact, 37% of all operating restaurants predicted that they would close within 6 months unless the situation changes.

Defiant restaurant owners have pointed out that no scientific study has traced virus surges in the US to eateries or gyms. The diners they serve practice recommended social distancing and precautions. The customers are there voluntarily, with no impact on others in the community. They want a semblance of normality in their lives and want to support small business owners so Chester County will still have them around next year.

Interviewed in the Daily Local News, one restaurant manager pointed out that this is their most profitable dining season, which is essential for remaining in business. He also pointed out that the malls and shops were crowded with customers, while his business is catering to only a handful of clients.

Like so many other unspeakable times in history, local restaurants have been victimized by neighbors who complained to authorities, although the only people being victimized are the restaurant owners and their staff.

Now, in a page straight out of Kafka, the politicized Pennsylvania courts have decided that instead of requiring the state to cite scientific reasons for closing restaurants, these small businesses are ordered to prove that being in business is safe. This is an impossible task, designed to impose authority and effectively end opposition and help close many of these small businesses permanently.

Members of the Libertarian Party of Chester County have been visiting and supporting these restaurants, and we urge all Chester County residents to do the same. Contact us at info@lpchesco.com and we will let you know which places remain open for business, despite the immoral actions of an authoritarian governor and his minions.