Jeremy Levan

==Background==
* Candidate for PA House in 2006 general election
* JeremyWLevan -at- aol.com
* http://www.VoteForJeremy.com 
==Candidate Tips:==
* Don't be afraid to raise money from outside your district. 
* Talk to the unions early.
* Don't be afraid to get help from people outside the district.
* To avoid voting location confusion remind everyone they can get provisional ballots.
* You don't need a million signs, you just need 1 sign and a million people to see it. Standing by the road with your sign helps.
* Start a candidate myspace page and send out 200 friend requests a day. Don't be afraid to send people multi-requests. If you piss them off they wern't going to vote for you anyway.
Idea: When getting signatures take a second petition with you for fair media coverage. Use the media petition as leverage when newspapers won't cover you fairly.
== Final Message==
Spending Time, Making Change
I want to thank everyone for their support this election season. We weren't running a money campaign we were running an effort campaign. Money from special interest groups have been turned down and with the small amount we were able to raise we were able to cover some of the essential election programs. We were able to send a 30 second message to over 17,000 phone numbers the Berks desk of elections provided. We were also able to send out a mass mailing to all the Libertarian addresses that were also provided on the list. If you didn't receive a call or a letter you were not on this list and if you would like to be added you can send that information to us.
The General Election is on Tuesday which means voters will be going to the polls. You can show support by printing some flyers and handing them to people as they go into the voting station. Be sure to smile and say "Vote for Jeremy Levan, the Libertarian for representative in the general assembly." Some people might ask you why they should so here's a good response.
"Cox and Evans both support the Commonwealth caucus plan which gets rid of just school property taxes while Jeremy supports the primary residence protection program which would stop property taxes on the primary residence so the elderly won't lose their homes."
Property taxes were the biggest issue this year so if you would like to learn more about this plan you can visit www.VoteForJeremy.com to learn more about the plan or you can go to www.GrandOldUSA.com to see even more on it.
If you can't print flyers you can always spend some time just greeting people as they go into the polls and tell them to vote Libertarian and to give them some quick information on the primary residence protection program.
You might want to carpool to go voting because parking situations might be limited.
Again, thank you for your support this season. Running for office has been a lot of fun and a great experience, I recommend it to anyone. We did the best we could with the resources we had available but ultimately it is the choice of the voters.
Yours In Liberty,
Jeremy Levan
Libertarian Candidate for District 129.
http://www.VoteForJeremy.com 
==Issues==
=== Homes and Property Owners===
PA Constitution: Article 1, Section 1.
All men are born equally free and independent, and have certain inherent and indefeasible rights, among which are those of enjoying and defending life and liberty, of acquiring, possessing and protecting property and reputation, and of pursuing their own happiness.
Question: Is the government protecting your property when it can take your property away from you if you can't pay the constantly reoccurring property tax?
Answer: Probably not!
The majority of the people I talk to want property tax gone! I highly support the The Primary Residence Protection Program. There are other plans but this is the best one. This plan is the only true property tax reform proven fiscally sound and workable according to a study conducted by the legislative budget and finance committee according to a study that was released in February. It is more business friendly than the commonwealth caucus plan which is tax shifting disguised as property tax reform. This program also fixes many other problems the other plans do not and from what I see is our best chance at helping those on a fixed income from losing their homes.
Read Article: THE ONLY ONE Visit http://www.GrandOldUsa.com to learn more
The Primary Residence Protection Program would abolish all property taxes—school, county and municipal--on all homesteads only! A homestead is a citizen’s owned-occupied, primary residence.
These plans are doable and would give more incentive for businesses to come here, stay here, or start here. 
Question: Why have past attempts to remove the property tax failed?
Answer: Because the current assembly won't agree to change their spending habits to make room for it.
As a Libertarian candidate, I will encourage and protect property rights. Libertarians will work for smaller government and less government spending.
I also would like to see home owners more informed about the many incentives PA already has for updating homes with independent energy sources resulting in lower bills and in the long run a healthier more vibrant future for the coming generations.
I oppose the so-called “Smart Growth” program because it robs people of their chance to own property. This plan leads to overcrowded cities and over-dependence on public transit systems. Smart growth concentrates air pollution within the city limits.
===Education===
Getting a handle on educational spending is a high priority, we must make sure it's doing it's job.
Teachers are there to teach, not to baby-sit so mandatory attendance should be eliminated. Parents should still be contacted if their child is absent from school but parents should not be afraid of getting fines for their kid missing to much school or playing hooky.
I support bringing back the discipline spankings in school with parental consent, the schools had this practice in the past and insubordination was less of a problem.
I also support opening up the educational marketplace and allowing qualified independent educators to offer their extra curricular services in the schools to provide a wider selection of courses and price ranges. This would effectively mean privatizing extra curricular activities. I feel that tax payer dollar should be focused on the primary education because it's something that people need throughout their life and on a daily basis.
I support the voucher program for public schools.
Classrooms are too crowded, we need group home schooling incentives / tax breaks. There are also many substitute teachers who would benefit from this program by helping teach home schooling groups.
If we were to increase the availability of apprenticeships it would become easier for our younger generations to become skilled and would raise the prospects of a brighter future.
If less children are in public school those public resources would not be needed as much. It makes sense to me that this should result in more efficiency and some relief. 
If you home school or send your children to private school you should not have to pay school taxes.
===More Jobs===
Group home schooling could help take care of the over crowded classroom problems and give substitute teachers more chance of employment. Increasing the quality and concentration of education will make for a more educated population which always means brighter prospects for our future.
Make more room for apprenticeships to increase the amount of skilled workers.
If we work to cut prison labor until it was just to give skills to inmates for rehabilitation, that would free up a bunch of jobs. It would also eliminate any potential to imprison people just to make them work for minimal, at best, wages.
Keeping an eye on those getting tax cuts intended to create jobs should make sure more jobs are created.
If we could give immigration enforcement authority to the local police officers and healthcare workers it would result in sending back more illegal aliens, opening those jobs, or they would go somewhere more lenient on them being there.
The minimum wage laws stop those who have no other way of getting employment from willingly working with employers for less than minimum wage and acquiring skills that they could use in the future. I support a consensual waver to allow people who would work for less than minimum wage to be able to still get jobs.
Evidence Shows Minimum Wage Hikes Increase Unemployment
Sense and Nonsense on the Minimum Wage
Pennsylvania has a lot of good things going for it. According to the PA section on netstate.com " Manufacturing of computer and electronic equipment ( semiconductors and other electronic components, scientific instruments, communications equipment ) is the state's third most valuable manufacturing activity. " Technology is, and most likely forever will be, the wave of the future. I feel we should try to make PA more attractive to businesses and with all these business taxes and regulations we are not being as business friendly as we should be. Less government spending is needed if we are going to lessen the need for this tax money. Would you rather they replace the funds by taxing something else to be less burdensome on our job market? 
===Government Reform===
Politicians make too much money and I think they all need a cutback in pay. You know, there is a more free state where states representatives make $100 ( yes, one hundred ) dollars a year. Guess who reaps those benefits?
I would like to see more Incumbent recall systems.
We must protect against the Gerrymandering happening in PA.
As a general rule, I fight for smaller government and want it off the peoples backs.
Smaller Government = Less Government Spending = You Keeping More Cash
===Abortion Issue===
Spending tax money on abortions makes everyone pay for abortions, including those who are strictly pro-life and would rather not see their money spent on abortions. The best thing I can come up with is stopping tax payers from paying for abortions. If you eliminate all abortion options you end up with back ally clinics.
===Banks===
Have you ever noticed how when you go to an ATM your balance might be different because of things coming out than what it may be if you go inside and ask them how much you have? It's your information, your account, your money, and the information could be accessible. Why isn't that on your receipt too?
Check out E-Gold or Silver. If we were to get attacked again and our economy were to suffer you would wish you had access to something backed by gold or silver. 
Buy Back Our Wealth link = http://www.midasresources.com
===Rights and Liberties===
Company policy should not be an excuse to violate your rights but a company should always have the right to fire you just as you have the right to leave. 
I do not agree that the PA state legislature should be reduced. If cost is the issue lets address those issues first.
Apparently getting in trouble for skateboarding in public is liberty. I guess getting pulled over for not wearing your seatbelt, that's liberty too. Getting in trouble because you want to put a sign out on your property, like the 10 commandments, or "support the troops", or parking your car in your driveway and leaving it there because you can't afford to take it to the shop, that is defiantly liberty. [ sarcasm ]
I also want to point out the dangers of these identification and money cards with RFID ( Radio Frequency Identification ) technology. I don't believe there has been enough debate on whether the technology can be created or obtained by criminal elements to be used for identity/information theft. I believe that there is such a danger and does not properly secure our "papers" against unreasonable searches and seizures. As such it would be a violation of the 4th amendment of the US Constitution, and a violation of article 1 section 8 of the PA State Constitution. I guess you could say it goes double.
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
:http://www.voteforjeremy.610knows.com/FlexYourRights.mp3
===Welfare and Poverty===
We need to take a look into the welfare system and make sure that those who paid into it and need the help are getting the help they deserve while at the same time seeking out those who deliberately fraud the system and hold them accountable. 
We need to focus on not just how to take care of those who depend on being sustained by the system but how we can get those who are less disabled, retrained and independent contributing members of society again. 
===The Community===
Get to work on the power lines! I saw several articles where tiny storms in PA were knocking out power for thousands of people. It's all fun and games until the power goes out.
The youth want the most basic and inexpensive skateboarding equipment available at the playgrounds it gives them exercise and something else to do besides play video games all day long.
Libraries are also hurting for funds. There is a reason why book stores don't hurt for money, have a full staff, and can provide a wider array of services. Private libraries are cheap and can provide high-quality service even to people who can't afford to pay for it. This has been successful everywhere it has been put into effect. There are also unique ways libraries can generate revenue and improve the community that are not even being looked at, such as low power, low budget micro-broadcasting equipment. Look at Hollywood video or Blockbuster. They are nothing more than pay-to-play libraries of movies and lots of people of all income levels use them everyday.
I have seen plenty of articles where PA is in the top 10 for contaminated water. If we are spending tax money on everything else, shouldn't this be on the top 10 things to take care of?
===The Corporation===
* State business taxes per capita in Pennsylvania are 45% above the national average.
 
* State individual taxes per capita in Pennsylvania are 13% above the national average.
The minimum wage laws stop those who have no other way of getting employment from willingly working with employers for less than minimum wage and acquiring skills that they could use in the future. I support a consensual waver to allow people who would work for less than minimum wage to be able to still get jobs.
[ New Evidence Shows Minimum Wage Hikes Increase Unemployment ]
[ Sense and Nonsense on the Minimum Wage ]
 
We should try to make PA more attractive to businesses and with all these business taxes and regulations we are not being as business friendly as we should be. Less government spending is needed if we are going to lessen the need for this tax money.
===Agricultural===
I'd like to see local farmers get a nicer piece of the holistic medicine market since it seems to keep getting bigger.
I also realize there is a great debate about the use of bio-solids on farmland and their safety to the population. I would like to see more testing done on the potential dangers of bio-solids to protect farmers from setting themselves up for potential liability. If there is a danger of liability we should determine where that liability rests. Continued testing and monitoring of bio-solid samples should determine what the real dangers are, thus helping to bring closure to this debate.
I would also to like secure and maintain power for the farmer in the biofuel industry by pushing for more accessibility to biofuel.
I love farmland and I think everyone on this planet knows how important farmland is. I would like to see the Adopt an Acre program get more publicity, if more people knew it existed I'm sure more people would contribute.
The biggest thing hurting farmers are too many pointless government imposed regulations. The answer to this problem is not regulation but restitution. If a particular farmers bad farming habits starts damaging other people's land it is their responsibility to provide restitution for their damage. Over regulation punishes everyone for the mistaken of a petty few or at least makes for more paperwork and fee's. 
===Troops And Veterans===
* A Note To Veterans: Change your pin numbers article
Coverage for Veterans should be continued and I would like to set up some funds for returning troops to get additional testing done to look for any contamination incase they feel they need additional testing. With so much other Government needing to be shrunk I think the Veteran's benefits is not where we should be looking. 
===Tax Reform===
* State business taxes per capita in Pennsylvania are 45% above the national average.
 
* State individual taxes per capita in Pennsylvania are 13% above the national average.
No matter what, something can and must be done with property taxes, or even shifting to land tax instead of property tax, there are many alternatives available. 
We must get a handle on education spending and make sure it's doing it's job, if the classrooms are too crowded, we should make some incentive for group home schooling. This would lighten the need for such high school taxes and would stabilize the student / teacher ratio and open employment opportunities for unemployed teachers.
Tax cuts were for the rich to keep making more good paying jobs, lets make sure that's what's happening and instead of making it permanent, lets not make it permanent so the threat of them losing those tax cuts remain in the event that they are not following through with their end of the deal. 
I'm sure that there are programs not doing their job and throwing more money at them is not the answer, it is only putting off the issue for a little while longer. We need to examine what we are paying for and find out if we still need it.
===Gun Control===
You can't take all the criminals guns.
The American people have the right to bear arms to protect themselves from criminals with guns.
Any question?
Levan
category:Planks_from_elsewhere