Article: New Jersey Impeach Time

http://www.impeachthem.com/sites/impeachthem.com/files/new_jersey_impeach_time_oped.pdf In January 2007, a delegation is meeting with New Jersey General Assembly Assistant Majority Leader Reed Gusciora in Trenton to prepare the introduction of a resolution in the legislature. New Jersey Impeach Time People in New Jersey chafe at tired jokes from exhausted comics and the pictures they project of a repulsive turnpike about our eastern highway corridors. Still, we enjoy superlative characters like the fictional Tony Soprano, and the real life genius of our native performers and writers such as Steven Van Zandt, Bruce Springsteen, Allen Ginsberg, William Carlos Williams, Frank Sinatra and too many others to try to list. We're also the home of America's greatest neglected patriot, Tom Paine. And what may be America's greatest secret, our state contains some of the most beautiful lands and waters in the country. Paul Robeson was born in Princeton, as was I; it's a gloriously gorgeous town. Yet here in the Garden State things don't look so rosy these days. Though our state enjoys life above the national average, there are really disturbing trends that prove we're moving in the wrong direction. According to the latest census figures, New Jersey ranks first in median household income at $61,700; BUT - --- NJ income was down by 2.8% last year; our state lost 2,200 jobs in October; --- The NJ poverty rate is up by almost 1%, from 7.8 to 8.7% since 2000; --- New Jersey's schools are underfunded by $190-million; --- Our state's debt is $29.7-billion; the unemployment rate is 4.5% and rising; --- An estimated 38% of New Jersey homeowners, and 47% of tenants, spend more than 30% of their incomes on housing costs; --- The number of New Jersey people without health care continues to climb, from 14.6 to 15.2%. These numbers are a direct result of Bush policies. As of November 16, 2006, according to Survey USA, a private company which monitors public opinion for 50 television news organizations and many radio stations, President Bush is disapproved more than approved in 48 states. Only Idaho and Utah approve more than disapprove him. In Alabama and Mississippi, which went for Bush in the 2004 election, Bush is disapproved today by 53% with only 45% approval. In New York, 74% disapprove Bush with only 24% supporting him. In New Jersey today 65% disapprove Bush and 32% like what the president's doing. Nationwide Bush has 36% approval against 62% disapproval. If you're fed up with Bush, you're in the majority by a landslide. We're proud of our American heritage, so we have to wonder what future generations will think as we continue doing nothing when we actually know the truth, that the President and his Vice President knew there were no weapons of mass destruction, and that the White House consciously and deliberately lied in order to put our country to war against Iraq. That violates our Constitution, an impeachable offense. The United States of America is now plagued with perpetual fear, perpetual war, constant mission creep and increasing cost - $2-billion+ per week and climbing - with no sense in sight. We were told that Iraq, presently sitting on top of two trillion gallons of unrefined crude, would be able to pay its own reconstruction. Three years ago, the Bush administration had that specific proposal before it and failed to pursue it because it was a Democratic idea. This Administration almost never vetoes spending bills and now faces nine trillion dollars of debt. An incomprehensible number: $9,000,000,000,000.00. Forget for a moment the understandable fear of what happens when countries like China decide to call in their notes on the dollars they own and purchase euros instead. Let's first ask how on earth can anybody wrap his head around such a number? Nine trillion? Well, I guess that could build a lot of schools, pay for enough people in our division of youth and family services to do their jobs in protecting the lives of children in fractured, dysfunctional families, plus even raze abandoned, dangerous and substandard homes and replace them with new ones. Here's a way to understand: nine trillion dollars equals 450-million $20,000 cars. Guess that means such a huge amount of money could support hundreds of thousands, gosh maybe even millions of jobs, jobs that could really serve the commonwealth such as cleaning our waters, planting trees and tending to our lands, setting up efficient, cost-effective mass transit, even set up the mass production of 100% electric cars to practically eliminate the carbon emissions that come from our cars and trucks. But for the Bush administration, mismanagement is understatement; we're really facing five years of corruption, incompetence, lies and warmongering. Remember the Downing Street Memo? The memo of a meeting of the British Prime Minister and his ministers documents that the Bush team "fixed" the intelligence on Iraq so it would support the president's mania for war. It's another violation, another impeachable offense. And the memo was swept under the table. The normal responses by this White House are change the theme and fire anybody who disagrees with its official version. Enough is enough. Look at the damage done. America can't afford more Bush. As of January 1st, 2007, there are 750 days left of Bush. His gang must be stopped. Honesty, integrity and trust are crucial to our country's life, and we can't afford more damage. The Bush administration demonstrates consistent contempt for all Americans. They cut taxes on the richest of us and turn their backs on the people they order to battle. They send our service people to battle without adequate body armor even though they can easily acquire the best body armor. They put our service people on the road to death in Iraq in humvees with no armor. And they issue orders that no pictures can be taken of flag-draped coffins of our troops being shipped into Dover Air Force Base. They authorized torture in Abu Ghraib and in Guantanamo prisons in violations of the Geneva Convention, the Nuremberg Convention, and the United Nations charter, to all of which our country is a signatory and constitutes the supreme law of our United States. They initiated programs of wholesale spying on Americans without justification, let alone warrants. Now they killed habeas corpus, the foundation of justice. More violations, and more impeachable offenses. We are citizens who have come to the sad conclusion that the present leadership of the United States betrays the people, and the Bush administration must be held to account and investigated for criminal actions and treason against the United States. The great Thomas Jefferson had the vision to anticipate a time when a Congress is become so corrupt, or bribed, or decadent, that it's no longer responsible to the needs of the people they are elected to serve. In Jefferson's Manual of Parliamentary Practices, which is part of the rules of the US House of Representatives, he created a mechanism by which a state legislature can transmit a resolution to impeach to the House of Representatives in Washington, and effectively direct the US House to address the question of an investigation to determine whether to impeach a civil officer of the United States, a judge, or a president. The evidence proves George Bush and Richard Cheney subvert the Constitution and engage in conspiracy to impose fraud and deceit on the United States. Our country is in a state of intense crisis. We don't believe the situation is hopeless. People in New Jersey are can-do people, and it's not too late to save our country. As citizens of our troubled, great, beloved country, we have an obligation to fix it. We can do this in New Jersey. The bottom line for us all is the fact that success is not guaranteed does not relieve our state of its obligation to do all it can to defend the United States Constitution according to the oath of our officers. We believe our legislators can meet this obligation and offer a true profile in courage. The politicians cannot meet this obligation by themselves. It requires large and vocal support from us. It requires citizenship and devotion to democracy. When treason is committed we are compelled to take action. If you're fed up, it's time to stand up for democracy. It's time to stop the spinning and focus on winning. Now's the time to act to save our country. Democracy is our birthright. Resolutions to Impeach are pending in California, Illinois, Minnesota, and Vermont. The introduction of a Resolution to Impeach in New Mexico is pending. Accordingly, people in New Jersey are joined in a campaign to pass in our state legislature, A Resolution to Impeach the President and the Vice President. In January 2007, a delegation of us is meeting with New Jersey General Assembly Assistant Majority Leader Reed Gusciora in Trenton to prepare the introduction of the resolution in our legislature. We believe our legislators can meet the challenge. We are one group among several in our state dedicated to removing the Bush administration from power. Our group's membership is 80, and hundreds more citizens within NJ regular democrats and republicans, Democracy for America, Progressives Democrats of America, conservatives, libertarians and others have collected hundreds of petitions to impeach, and New Jerseyans from all over support our campaign. As word spreads of our efforts, and as the situation abroad and here gets worse, more people will join this effort. We expect concerned patriots to work to restore democracy and reclaim our country. We hope people contact us. The text of our resolution is taken from a draft by the Center for Constitutional Rights in New York, http://ccr-ny.org and another by http://pdamerica.org - http://impeachbush.tv - http://afterdowningstreet.org and modified to meet the requirements of our legislature. Stuart Hutchison organizes for ImpeachThem.com, the North Jersey Impeach Group http://www.impeachthem.com