“I just don’t think she possesses the mental capacity to be the President of the United States. She’s a goofball!”

So everyone’s favorite host of Freedom Watch has weighed in on Sarah Palin. To me, she’s a completely divisive figure. People seem to either idolize her or loathe her. I don’t think she has much chance of being the next POTUS. In fact, I’d be surprised if she did better than Giuliani did in the GOP primaries of 2008.

For more about what lead up to the Judge’s “straight talk” listen to the audio:

(Thanks to Media Matters for the audio)

Originally published November 8, 2009 at http://towneforcongress.com/economy/towne-for-congress-invites-dent-and-callahan-to-debate-2

Jake Towne, running as an independent private citizen for United States Congress in Pennsylvania’s 15^th District encompassing the Lehigh Valley and parts of Berks and Montgomery counties challenged Republican incumbent Charlie Dent, and Democrat challenger John Callahan to a public debate on the issues facing the district and the nation.

In his letter, Towne noted a great need for a healthy public debate on topics ranging from our health care, the wars abroad, the economy, and the stability of the dollar. He related that many people in the district are hurting financially, and they want answers from their candidates for government now.

Towne is a Lehigh Valley native raised in Nazareth and holds a chemical engineering degree from Lehigh University. He returned home earlier this year from a nearly 4-year stint in Shanghai, China working in the semiconductor industry to run for Congress. His experiences living abroad have given him a deep appreciation for America’s freedoms and quality of life.

Towne strongly believes that the actions of career politicians in Washington, DC, are leading our country down a path of both moral and economic ruin. He has created a novel-yet-simple plan of transparent and accountable government called the “Our Open Office” concept which can be read in detail at the campaign website, www.TowneForCongress.com.

Last week Towne raised over $2700 from 74 donors in a single day in an online “money bomb” created by grassroots supporters not affiliated with the campaign. This week he will be interviewed by Judge Napolitano at the FOX News studios in New York. Two weeks ago, Towne was part of a panel of FOX’s Freedom Watch show taped on the campus of Drexel University. Towne extends an invitation to any local group to invite him to meet their members, listen to their concerns, and explain his campaign. Talks given to past groups can be viewed at [link edited for length].

Contact: Campaign Manager Jessica Roth

Email: [link edited for length]

Website: TowneForCongress.com

November 8, 2009

Dear Congressman Dent and Mayor Callahan -

I respectfully challenge either of you to a debate concerning our congressional race. I am open to either one-on-one debate or debating both of you at the same time.

While I can understand a reluctance on your parts to a debate so early before the November 2010 election – and that since you both are members of political parties that use the optional primary system so additional challengers are still possible – there is a great need for a public discourse on the troubles facing our nation. We are the only three candidates currently registered with the FEC.

The times we live in are not normal. The dollar is in crisis and unemployment is rampant. Civil liberties are restricted more with each passing day. We have apparently endless wars continuing in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. I am traveling the district and the people are hurting. Congress’s solutions of more spending through the stimulus plan and more taxation via the Cap and Trade bill on energy and even our health care seem dubious at best.

Regardless of our differences in views as candidates, we owe it to the public to debate on these issues. Mayor Callahan, per the FEC you began your campaign on July 31, 2009. As of today, your website only contains an email sign-up. Why have you been unable to provide a website to the people with your stances on the critical topics facing our nation after 3.5 months as a candidate?

Congressional races should not be similar to sports teams duking out a popularity contest, we should have a healthy debate on the issues – for the good of the PEOPLE.

Reply if you like by simply confirming whether you are open to one-on-one debate with me, or a group debate between the three of us FEC-registered candidates, or both. After the next ten business days, I will deem no reply as a negative to both questions.

Respectfully,

Jake Towne

2010 Candidate for US Congress, PA-15
Liberty, Sound Money, the Rule of Law, and Accountability
TowneForCongress.com

“If there must be trouble, let it be in my day, that my child may have peace.” – Thomas Paine, “The American Crisis,” 1776

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Jake Towne is running for U.S. Congress in Pennsylvania’s 15th District in the 2010 election as a citizen unaffiliated with any political parties. Jake also writes at www.LibertyMaven.com, www.NolanChart.com and www.CampaignForLiberty.com. A novel campaign website where you can comment on articles and start discussions is available at TowneForCongress.com. [Reach the Author Here!]

_______________________________________________________________________

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

As always, unlike the NFL, the author grants full permission to allow any accounts of, rebroadcasts, retransmissions, repostings of this article to your blog or anywhere else in order to promote the Restoration of our Republic.

Veritas numquam perit. Veritas odit moras. Veritas vincit. Truth never perishes. Truth hates delay. Truth conquers.

Tu ne cede malis sed contra audentior ito. Do not give in to evil but proceed ever more boldly against it.

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Other Recent Articles by the Author

Jake Towne to Nancy Pelosi – Are YOU Serious?

Abolish the Federal Department of Education!!!

Jake Towne’s Iraq War Plank

On the Dollar – Congressman Charlie Dent Answers a Question from Jake Towne

America’s Military Empire (UPDATED)

THE OPEN OFFICE – An Open Letter to Congressman Dent

Jake Towne’s Bailout and Corporatism Plank

Jake Towne’s Veterans Plank

Jake Towne’s Plank on the Federal Reserve

If you don’t know what Freedom Watch is then please check out http://freedomwatchonfox.com/. It’s an online only show hosted by the Judge catering to freedom-loving people everywhere.

Check out the excellent discussions from the show today below.

It would be very difficult for me to not support Johnson if he were to run for President in 2012. As of right now, In my view he is the best positioned candidate to carry forward the message of liberty within the Republican Party. He may not be perfect on specific issues here or there, but Ron Paulians would be hard pressed to find another Republican candidate with his record and political viability. He served as a Governor for eight years. He didn’t raise taxes as Governor once. He promoted private business and free markets over government corporatism and regulation. Finally, and perhaps most pertinent, he enthusiastically endorsed Ron Paul for President.

There has been very minimal evidence for a Johnson 2012 bid until now. Jason Pye at UnitedLiberty.org reports that Johnson has formed a PAC and is set to release a book in December entitled “Seven Principles For Good Government”.

A few web sites have been set up by supporters in an effort to coax Johnson into running for President such as JohnsonForAmerica.com.

With this latest news it appears that Johnson is warming up to jump in the fray. I can see it now at the first GOP primary debate sometime in 2011:

Fox News Debate Moderator: Governor Johnson, you’ve been an outspoken critic of the drug war and support the decriminalization of marijuana. These positions don’t seem like Republican positions. This raises questions about your electability. Do you have any sir?

Gary Johnson: Who am I, Ron Paul?

Let us hope so, but this time, let us hope he wins.

by John Browne – Senior Market Strategist, Euro Pacific Capital

In a small bit of Washington irony, a government panel convened this week under the guise of ensuring ‘expressive freedom’ on the Internet, while at the same time the Obama Administration put Fox News on notice that ideological rectitude would be a prerequisite for White House engagement.

This heightened wrangling with the media comes at a time when ordinary Americans are rapidly becoming disillusioned with the major parties. Their disgust is evident in innumerable web discussion sites that, for many, have replaced the major media outlets as the primary source of information. In its focus to keep control of the conversation, the Administration is seeking to disguise the fact that the ‘change’ Mr. Obama promised in the election is unlikely to materialize.

Wishful thinking of the Nobel committee aside, what we have seen thus far from Obama is simply more of what had been delivered by the prior administration.

Obama renewed our military commitment to the quagmire that is Afghanistan. But he is hesitating now that the United Nations has uncovered fraud in the recent presidential elections there. Whether or not one believes the war is winnable, this type of hollow chest-pounding did not help anyone under G. W. Bush, and will not under Obama.

Domestically, Obama has re-enforced the doctrine of ‘too big to fail,’ which essentially involves ’socializing’ the costs of reckless Wall Street failures while ‘privatizing’ the gains made through their use of taxpayer funds. As a result of this policy, elite investment bankers are now seeing bonuses that rival those at the bubble’s peak. As an answer to Bush’s publicly funded rescue of GM and Chrysler, Obama gave some $10 billion to the very trade union that had brought Detroit to its knees. In the first nine months of his Administration, Obama has increased the Treasury debt by some 20 percent to almost 100 percent of GDP, or a staggering $12 trillion dollars.

Even facing the vast $104 trillion of additional, ‘off-balance sheet’ government obligations, Obama is pushing ahead with a new Health Bill. This is not even a populist measure, as most Americans are sensibly standing in opposition to this attempt to bankrupt their country. The legislative momentum is wholly provided by a small ideological core of Democrats at the expense of the greater good, a pattern set by Bush and his zealous Republican base.

It is becoming clear, even to Democrats, that Obama doesn’t aim to implement better policies, but to make the public feel better about the same old policies.

Unfortunately for the President, America is a free enterprise, capitalist and right-of-center country that does not take naturally to socialist policies. What is so concerning is that rather than learning this lesson, the White House is trying to silence the voices of opposition.

It is widely accepted that a free press will foster a healthy and vibrant cross section of views. While it is clearly susceptible to hyperbole, Fox News has nevertheless been instrumental in exposing the radical, socialist and even communist backgrounds of a surprising number of advisers and unelected officials close to the President. Their efforts in this regard have served the public.

These revelations about left-of-center tendencies would not have been damaging if the public were indeed in a mood to be led by leftists. If that were the case, the Administration would have dismissed Fox News as a network for conservatives to gripe to themselves. Perhaps the official uproar indicates Obama has noticed that some 50 percent of the Fox News audience is composed of Democrats and Independents.

Certainly, no credence can be given to the official position that the Administration is opposed to deliberate bias. On the other side of the aisle, MSNBC is just as partisan as Fox News, and in many ways functions as the media arm of the Democratic National Committee. Yet the President does not spar with that network. Perhaps he is attacking Fox News in response to MSNBC’s dismally low ratings, proof that the latter network really is just a forum for socialists to gripe to themselves.

At its core, this issue transcends left-right bickering. Politicians across the spectrum are feeling increasingly threatened by an unregulated media. The media is more accountable to the public than politicians, as ratings are measured in real-time, not election cycles. Fox News is benefiting from the reality that Americans believe in limited government, lower taxes, unhampered enterprise and personal responsibility. Although both parties pay lip service to these ideals, their actions reflect a clear belief in more control, less freedom and bigger government. This has led to a deep voter frustration and disenchantment with the two major parties.

It’s common sense that if the President wants to regain voters’ trust, the answer is to listen to their concerns. If investors are moving their wealth overseas, the answer is to become more competitive at home. This feud with Fox News shows that the President has not yet heeded this advice, and, really, would rather not hear it.

For a more in-depth analysis of our financial problems and the inherent dangers they pose for the U.S. economy and U.S. dollar, read Peter Schiff’s 2008 bestseller “The Little Book of Bull Moves in Bear Markets” and his newest release “Crash Proof 2.0: How to Profit from the Economic Collapse.” Click here to learn more.

More importantly, don’t let the great deals pass you by. Get an inside view of Peter’s playbook with his new Special Report, “Peter Schiff’s Five Favorite Investment Choices for the Next Five Years.” Click here to dowload the report for free. You can find more free services for global investors, and learn about the Euro Pacific advantage, at www.europac.net.

Fox News legal commentator Judge Andrew Napolitano’s Internet program Freedom Watch is one of the most fascinating phenomena in the history of the libertarian movement. There’s never been anything like it and if it were to break out to the Fox News television channel, it would constitute nothing less than a revolutionary development in American politics.

Take a look at the guests that Napolitano has been having on his show: Lew Rockwell, Bob Higgs, James Bovard, Paul Armentano, Ron Paul, Roger Pilon, Tom Woods, Pete Eyre, Nick Gillespie, David Boaz, Peter Schiff, Walter Block, and many more. Every one of them is a major figure in the libertarian movement. I myself have been on Napolitano’s show twice.

How many times have you seen any of these guests on the mainstream television talk shows or even on the cable television talk shows? My hunch is that your answer is “Rarely, if ever.”

For years, conservatives and liberals have played their little games of pretending to have debates over policy, acting as if there were fundamental philosophical differences between the two. In actuality, the debates have always been over which form of statism is preferable — conservative statism or liberal statism.

Read the rest here.

I attended a FFF sponsored event at George Mason University last night. Robert Higgs delivered one of the best speeches I’ve heard yet. He compared and contrasted the Great Depression with our current economic woes. Look for the video later this week. You don’t want to miss it.

As for the content of the program, Stossel states:

In my new job, I want to dig into the meaning of the words “liberty” and “limited government”.  ABC enabled me to do some of that, but Fox offers me more airtime and a new challenge.

I’m still considering what I will do with my own show, one hour each week.   Economics certainly.  Exercises in understanding libertarianism.  My “take” on the issues of the day.   Kind of like this blog.  In fact, maybe we’ll call it, Stossel’s Take?

In fact he asks for your ideas if you care to submit them.  I look forward to his program, since it appears he won’t be hampered as much by the whims of the ABC editors and producers.  At least, his new program will be less likely to be pushed out by Michael Jackson news.

Back in May of 2007 I wrote the following words about Ron Paul following the first GOP Primary Debate:

Ron Paul seems to have the views I (mostly) agree with, but I’m convinced he is the wrong messenger.

Much of what happened after I wrote that pushed me down a path of hope but to this day I still feel Ron Paul leaves a lot on the table when it comes to thinking on his feet and framing his arguments for general appeal. Then again part of his appeal to me and for many others is his brutal honesty.

Unfortunately no matter how right he is there are many people who will always see him as “that crazy Ron Paul guy.”

The only way to combat that sentiment is to frame the same positions in a more appealing way and not actually be Ron Paul.

Enter Rand Paul. All I’ve seen and heard from Rand Paul thus far makes me believe he can succeed where his father could not (winning over more “mainstream” Republicans). His interview yesterday with Glenn Beck gives us further proof of this ability.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIcNFKmuq20

NOTE: Beck has a lengthy introduction prior to the Rand Paul interview.

Please pledge and donate to Rand Paul’s campaign on August 20th: RunRandRun.com.

He is also scheduled to be on with Glenn Beck this morning on Beck’s radio show.

I’ve said this before, but the more I see and hear Rand Paul the more I like him and think he’d be a wonderful addition to the U.S. Senate. Don’t forget to pledge and donate during the RunRandRun money bomb on August 20th.

Here is his announcement on Fox News Channel with Neil Cavuto:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGWy-dPATRM

Here is his appearance on Happy Hour:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9rtlL4nq3c

And if you’d like a more in-depth interview see this interview with Rand’s local ABC affiliate:

http://www.wbko.com/video/?autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=4018317&flvUri=

From Kentucky.com:

FRANKFORT — Bowling Green eye surgeon Rand Paul is expected to announce his Republican candidacy for the U.S. Senate on Wednesday on a national television news show.

Paul, who has been exploring a U.S. Senate bid for several weeks, is to appear on Glenn Beck’s show on the Fox News Channel at 5 p.m. Wednesday and will hold a media conference call at 9:15 a.m. Thursday, said campaign manager David Adams.

Rand Paul’s father was painted with the fringe brush by his fellow Republicans during his 2008 Presidential campaign. All indications at this point are that the Republicans are about to make the same mistake again. The establishment is supporting and funding Rand’s likely opponent Trey Grayson. Could succeeding in raising a million dollars in a single day change all of that?

Hopefully we get to find out.

Still, Cavuto allowed Ron Paul to speak to the point where I barely recall Cavuto asking more than one or two questions. A few choice quotes from Paul and the clip are below.

“It’s pretty scary…”

“It makes you stop and think though because she was originally a George Bush appointee”

“This appointment, if it goes through is just adding more fuel to the fire of bigger government, more meddling, and nationalizaiton.”