Erik Gerhardt Wants More Liberty And Less Government

Erik Gerhardt Wants More Liberty And Less Government

By Bob Small

Erik Gerhardt clearly states his manifesto on his campaign website: The Constitution was written to control the power of the Government, not to constrict the Liberties of its people.

Gerhardt, 37 of Pennsburg, is the Libertarian candidate for US Senator in Pennsylvania.

“We can promote the independence our founding fathers intended by eliminating property taxes,” he said. “Most taxes are nothing short of theft”.

Erik Gerhardt Wants More Liberty
Erik Gerhardt

He also stated the “non-aggression principle” (NAP) his party embraces, namely there is no right to use force except in retaliation.  

With regard to abortion, Gerhardt defends the Dodd decision but wants the issue decided in Pennsylvania via referendum. He says he’d like the morning-after pill to be readily available.

“The court’s decision was the right one and the states and their people should have a constitutional question added to the ballot to have the people decide on the issue,” he said.

Gerhardt began working in construction at the age of 16 and started his own business ECG Carpentry, in 2015.

Gerhardt says se need better education for our children, less and fewer taxes and sustainable business plans to not steal from our citizens. 

In this GoErie.co interview, Gerhardt describes his three step plan to assist small business, which include triple deductions for businesses with four employees or less, another health care deduction when they break that threshold and health care not being bound by state lines.

His plan for police reform, as described in this Williamsport Sun-Gazette article, includes jujitsu training for recruits.

Hopefully, this 37 year old from Pennsburg can bring many of his ideas to the public during this election cycle. 

Erik Gerhardt Wants More Liberty And Less Government

Fracking Motivates Green Gubernatorial Candidate In Pa

Fracking Motivates Green Gubernatorial Candidate In Pa

By Bob Small

It’s crystal clear what movitivates Upper Uwchlan resident Christine “PK” Digiulio candidacy for Pennsylvania governor. 

It’s the Mariner East Pipeline. The Green Party nominee says she wants the  waters around her to remain pure.

She is the co-founder of Watchdogs of Southeastern Pennsylvania (WASEPA) and the Better Path Coalition 

Fracking Motivates Green Gubernatorial Candidate In Pa
Christine “PK” Digiulio

She notes that the Pennsylvania Constitution states The people have a right to clean air, pure water, and to the preservation of the natural, scenic, historic and esthetic values of the environment Article 1, Section 27

Ms. Digiulio, aka PK Ditty, was an analytical chemist for the US Department of Defense. She is a graduate of Lock Haven University. 

She said that Energy Transfer Partners, the owner of Sunoco Logistics Partners which is building Mariner East, has paid more than $20 Million in fines and penalties related to pipeline construction that began in 2017. 

She calls this the “pay to pollute” regulations of corporations.

Fracking Motivates Green Gubernatorial Candidate In Pa

Anti Trump Group Headed By Democrat?

Anti Trump Group Headed By Democrat?

By Bob Small

At first glance the Republican Accountability Project (RAC) sounds like the beginnings of an uncivil war between the pro and  anti-Trump factions of the Republican Party.  Possibly similar to the Socialist Workers Party (SWP) being expelled from the Communist Party in 1938.

Or maybe how the Biden/Clinton factions have dealt with the AOC/Sanders faction. 

Well, yes and no.

“We can’t support a Republican Party that is too extreme to govern,” the RAC says.

Their website features Liz Cheyney, Mitt Romney and Pat Toomey, among many.  No one can question their bonafides or legacy.   We’ve definitely arrived at the anti-Trump section of the Republican Party.

They’ve even launched a campaign “Republican Voters against Mastriano”

They also list five other gubernatorial candidates they are against.  See their website for details.

Anti Trump Group Headed By Democrat?

However, and this is a big however, when you look at their chairman of the board, it is none other than a favorite son of Harvard, one Bill Kristol, professional intellectual.

Bill Kristol, was the founder and editor of The Weekly Standard, now editor-in-chief of The Bulwark. He was also Dan Quayle’s chief of staff to Dan Quayle and called “Dan Quayle’s Brain” by The New Republic.  

What’s wrong with this picture, then.  Well, let me just quote a tweet from Bill Kristol from Feb. 1, 2020: “Not presumably forever, not perhaps for a day after Nov. 3, 2020: not on every issue or in every way until then. But for the time being one has to say: We are all Democrats now.”

How do we regard this organization then, with both GOP and Democratic leadership?  Is this a GOP Fifth Column or merely a bi-partisan effort to save the GOP from extremism.

The decision is yours.

Hoeppner Socialist And Only Challenger To Dwight Evens

Hoeppner Socialist And Only Challenger To Dwight Evens

By Bob Small

The Socialist Workers Party (SWP) is one of at least 20 communist/socialist parties listed in Politics1.com

Why so many? The factions run candidates as a way to get their message out.

The separations started in 1938 when CPUSA (Communist Party of the USA) expelled all Trotskyites, under orders from Joseph Stalin. who was then halfway through his dictatorship.  Stalin allegedly ordered the assassination of Trotsky less than two years later.

The three Communist/ Socialist Parties had received over one million votes in the 1932 election, a high water mark for the Left in this country, with James Hudson Mauer of Pennsylvania being the running mate of Norman Thomas.  

Chris Hoeppner is the only surviving member of four SWP members originally on the Pennsylvania ballot, a story that the Constitution, Green and Libertarian Parties are all too familiar with and requires a separate post.

He is the only opposition to incumbent Democrat Dwight Evans in the Pennsylvania’s 3rd Congressional District as the Republicans neglected to put up a candidate.  The district includes  most of center city Philadelphia, along with parts of North and West Philly.  It is the most Democratic congressional district in the nation.  In 2020 it gave Joe Biden 91 percent of the vote.

Hoeppner is a freight rail conductor and a member of the Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation union (SMART). He lives in South Philly.

Chris was quoted in a September Article of the Militant, the offical newspaper of the SWP regarding the looming railroad strike strike.

“Railworkers need to get our voices heard. The big-business media is only going to tell the companies side of the story,” he said . “The problems we face, particularly the challenges of having a life outside of work, of spending time with our families, is widespread in the working class”.

Hoeppner Socialist And Only Challenger To Dwight Evens
Hoeppner Socialist And Only Challenger To Dwight Evens

Assange And Free Speech Defended At D.C. Rally

Assange And Free Speech Defended At D.C. Rally

By Bob Small

Speaking about the oath he took when he joined the Marines, Scott Ritter said “Not that I will defend the President no matter what, but that I will defend the Constitution.”

Ritter was one of the many speakers, Sunday, Oct. 8 in D.C. front of the Department of Justice. 

Whether this is now the Department of Injustice is a topic for another discussion. 

We, the audience and the speakers, and the still independent media were here to show support for  Julian Assange — the rally was named Hands Off Assange after all– and to defend what we have left of a free press.

Three of us had driven from Swarthmore, Pa to Washington, DC and attended our first DC rally in however many years.

We had attending many rallies getting both arrested and even injured for various causes. 

Assange And Free Speech Defended At D.C. Rally

At a certain point, I found myself repeating Admiral James Stockdale’s line,“Who am I and what am I doing here”.

When I could no longer find grace in going to these events, it seemed like there was no real reason to go.

So why return?  There are many reasons including defending the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights.

The very blog you’re reading is covered by this, as are all blogs in the USA no matter how much with them you may disagree.

Britain is only now about enshrine free speech in a Bill of Rights.

Boris Johnson first proposed it and became a good argument for it.

If we are not activists for the rights in our Bill of Rights, they revert to only being words.

As to the rally itself, most of the hundred or so people remained till the end encouraged, no doubt, by the free ice cream provided by one of the speakers, Ben Cohen who is the Ben in Ben and Jerrys.

Assange And Free Speech Defended At D.C. Rally

Libertarian Matt Hackenberg In His Own Words

Libertarian Matt Hackenberg In His Own Words

By Bob Small

We can be pretty sure that Nov. 8 won’t begat Libertarian Governor Matt Hackenberg.

Pennsylvania’s next governor will either be Republican Doug Mastriano or Democratic Josh Shapiro and few, if any of Hackenberg’s Libertarian positions will be adopted.

So here is a chance to see them.

All quotes from his campaign tweets.

Matt Hackenberg

As long as you’re not hurting anyone, you have the right to choose how you live.

In Pennsylvania, even if you own your house, you’re still always renting from the State.

As parents know best how to raise our kids, and the State shouldn’t come between us.

We must end the theft of taxation and restore our prosperity.

We are not free if we don’t have bodily autonomy.

(I) don’t want to see our men and women sent overseas to die.

(I) won’t stand for our kids being muzzled and abused”. 

And more than anything, he wants individuals be the ones that decide how (they) live our lives.

Matt describes himself as “a veteran against war”, married to “a nurse against medical tyranny”. 

He is a computer engineer.

Matt will not be our next governor but, hopefully, like many of those we have profiled this fall, some of his ideas will be heard beyond the rarefied walls of Alternative Party politics.

There are numerous discussions of his campaign.

Just a few are listed below  (both print and online);  

 https://www.butlereagle.com   ・libertarian-candidates-for-gov-lt-gov-meet-voters

 https://www.youtube.com   Take Human Action PA Ep 14 w/Matt Hackenberg – LPPA Candidate for Governor

 https://www.youtube.com   The Race To Liberate Pennsylvania | With Matt Hackenberg

 https://news.yahoo.com   libertarian-candidate-governor-brings-campaign-100700318.html

Libertarian Matt Hackenberg In His Own Words

Richard Weiss Is Green Party Senate Pick

Richard Weiss Is Green Party Senate Pick

By Bob Small

Richard Weiss is an attorney who has the Green Party nod for Pennsylvania’s U.S. senate seat.  He ran before for attorney general and a judge.

He has a number of issues for which he proposes green solutions.

One solution he proposes for the Covid controversy is that “we could have hours of operation for those who want masking”.  Further on, he proposes that we could have “mask-only buses and mask optional buses”. 

These may or may not be practical solutions, but they’re at least possible solutions.

He believes that we should seek to negotiate peace in the Ukraine and revoke the authorization for use of military force (AUMF) instituted on Sept. 18, 2001 in response to the 9/11 attacks.

He wants to reduce overseas bases to pre-911 levels, bring troops home and spend that (my italics) money at home. He supports the Stop Arming Terrorists Bill proposed by Tulsi Gabbard”, and wants to free Julian Assange.

He wants to end civil asset forfeiture and qualified immunity, and ban fracking

During an extensive electronic interview he said supports approval voting which he says would eliminate any spoiler effect, backed criminal justice reform and single payer healthcare, and explained why he is running as a Green.

“The Green Party is in favor of ending forever wars, closing oversea bases, and bringing troops back home,” he said.

His campaign email address is RichardLeonardWeiss@gmail.com.  He can be followed on Twitter @RichardLWeiss

Full disclosure. I’ve been affiliated with the Pennsylvania Green Party for almost a quarter of a century.

They represent enough of my values that I continue to support them. If I wanted a party that supported all my values, I’d have to form one. 

Richard Weiss Is Green Party Senate Pick
Richard Weiss Is Green Party Senate Pick

Libertarian Seeks Fitzpatrick Seat

Libertarian Seeks Fitzpatrick Seat

By Bob Small

Libertarian Seeks Fitzpatrick Seat

Caroline Avery is a Libertarian who is running for the US House of Representatives in Pennsylvania’s 1st Congressional District. The incumbent is Republican Brian Fitzpatrick. The Democrat candidate is Ashley Ehasz.

Caroline, like too many independent Democrats and Republicans, had her petitions challenged in court, and was not permitted to run as a Republican. However, she secured the Libertarian endorsement to continue her battle against Fitzpatrick.

She is strongly endorsed by the Gun Owners of America (GOA).

“Caroline earned GOA’s support because of her high marks during her rigorous candidate endorsement process, and she earned a 100-percent score on our 2022 gun-rights candidates’ survey,” says the GOA.

And she enthusiastically accepts the endorsement.

“In a time of skyrocketing lawlessness and crime, the far left calls for defunding the police and attacks the rights of law-abiding gun owners. As a strong supporter of our Constitution and the Second Amendment, I won’t stand for it, and I’m proud to be endorsed by Gun Owners of America,” she says.

Gun rights are not her only issue. In a  fiery posting on Facebook, she issues a challenge to Covid treatment orthodoxy, discussing how friends in Australia and Finland were punished for  denying this orthodoxy.

On her website,  she describes herself as a  “world explorer , not a vacationer” and claims to have been in every state except Alaska. She says she is “the daughter of a mastery Gunnery Sergeant who served in WW2, Korea,  and Vietnam”. She goes on to say “I am my father’s daughter” and “I’ve lived a big life”. She cites here work experience as including bartender, a forklift driver, a sales representative for gold and silver smithing industries, and a worker in various jobs in the equine industry.

Her current job is a “buyer of fine antiques and artifacts.”

She and her longtime husband, Joe, live in Bucks County.

The 1st Congressional District has a storied history.

The first man to hold the seat was Federalist Thomas Fitzsimmons, one of the signers of the Constitution, in 1789.

Democratic godfathers Bob Brady and Tom Foglietta served the 1st District when it included South Philadelphia and the Delaware County waterfront.

Of course, so did Michael “Ozzie” Myers of Abscam infamy, (no relation to the slasher in the “Halloween” films), who was one of the few to actually be expelled from Congress.

On June 6th  of this year, he plead guilty to a vote fraud conspiracy.

He was also quoted saying “money talks and bullshit walks” but appears to have stolen that line,  too. 

Also the representing the district was the fictional and hapless Peter Russo, who was suicided by Kevin Spacey in the first season of the House of Cards.

Libertarian Seeks Fitzpatrick Seat

Ron Johnson For Pennsylvania Senate Seat

Ron Johnson For Pennsylvania Senate Seat

By Bob Small

Ron Johnson is a write-in candidate for the US Senate from Pennsylvania, with the support of the Pennsylvania Constitution Party.   

No, not the incumbent senator from Wisconsin. This Ron is a disabled veteran of the Iraqi War who has worked in construction and for Walmart, until his disability caused him to quit.

He is a self-described Constitutionalist.

The Pennsylvania Constitution Party was unable to secure enough signatures to  place him on the ballot hence the write-in campaign.

Johnson’s issues include the  border wall, immigration, opposition to Covid mandates, support for parental rights in education, and  the weaponization of federal agencies.

Johnson says that he has been at the Convention of States   and at the signing of the Liberty Pledge  in New Hope    

Johnson says he’s running to “keep our freedoms intact”.

He appears to be the only write-in candidate associated with an established political party.

Ron Johnson For Pennsylvania Senate Seat
Ron Johnson For Pennsylvania Senate Seat

New Keystone Party Has 3 State-wide Candidates

New Keystone Party Has 3 State-wide Candidates

By Bob Small

The brand new The Keystone Party of Pennsylvania has on this year’s ballot candidates for governor, lieutenant governor, senator, and State House 93rd District. 

Joe Soloski, one of the founders, is the gubernatorial candidate. 

“I did not leave the Libertarian Party, the Libertarian Party left me,” Soloski said. 

The breakup  occurred at The Libertarian Party Convention in March. 

“The Libertarian Party became anything but an inclusive organization promoting personal liberty”, he said. “. . .Keystone was formed to promote the ideals of personal liberty, human rights,  and to be a potential new home for those independent voters that have not been able to feel at home with any party”

Their platform includes alternative currency, ending qualified immunity, an independent redistricting commission, jury nullification,  a part-time legislature, reduction of non elected and overreaching authority, and term limits and gun rights.

There has been some opposition to their formation from within their former party, The Libertarians.

“They’re a small  group of disgruntled Libertarians who ran the party for the last few years but were handily tossed out of power at the 2022 State Convention, ” said Libertarian Ken Krawchuk. “The Keystoners were more interested in playing political shenanigans on fellow libertarians than on the old party candidates.”

Krawchuk did see a bright side though.

“There are now TWO  political parties in  Pennsylvania that are pushing the Libertarian agenda,” he said.

The Keystone Party of Pennsylvania is not to be confused with Keystone United, a skinhead group.

New Keystone Party Has 3 State-wide Candidates
New Keystone Party Has 3 State-wide Candidates