Dodd: "Maybe Teddy's Passing" Will Spur GOP To Act On Health Care

The headline above is taken directly from the Huffington Post. I have a question for Senator Dodd: Why does he think that the passing of someone who

• Didn't have to deal with the insurance problems normal Americans do,
• Has some of the best healthcare in the world, and
• Wouldn't have been included under any of the current healthcare "reform" plans

...would make us want to overhaul a system he didn't use, and never would?

Here's an idea -- let's overhaul the Congressional healthcare system to bring it more in line with Medicaid and Medicare!

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#Capntr8r - Adler at Energy Expo August 26 from 4-7

A reader sent us a mail tonight about Representative John Adler who supported Cap and Trade thereby costing New Jersey Families big time while appeasing environmentalists. And now he wants to save us money? Our reader called it a "whack a mole" moment because Adler has not reared his head in this recess until now. Here's the information about this appearance:

Energy Expo
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
4:00 pm — 7:00 pm
Burlington County Institute of Technology (Westampton Campus)
695 Woodlane Road
Westampton, NJ

Join Congressman Adler to learn how seniors, middle class families and small businesses can save money on utility and gas bills. Participants include NJ Transit, Pinelands Preservation Alliance, Solar Design Consultant, Wired 2 Save, Burlington County Government, American Capital Energy, NJ Natural Gas and more!
http://adler.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=134&Itemid=55

Treat this as a Town Hall kind of heads up Burlington County! Get out and hold Adler accountable!

Hat tip to Bill!

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Let's investigate Goldman Sach's alumni conflict of interest Mr Corzine

As Jon Corzine continues his hypocritical accusations of Chris Christie, maybe it is time for a real account of the ties between Goldman Sachs alumni like Corzine and government influence. From this article in the Policy Examiner:

The Times points out that Goldman alums include:

Former treasury secretary Hank Paulson
Paulson's bailout chief Neel Kashkari
Interim Treasury investment officer Reuben Jeffrey
Key Treasury players Dan Jester, Steve Shafran, Edward C. Forst, and Robert K. Steel
Key New York Federal Reserve players Stephen Friedman (head of the New York Fed board of governors, who sat on Goldman's board and owned a substantial stake in Goldman while he was making official decisions - and see this), William C. Dudley (head of the New York Fed's unit that buys and sells government securities), and E. Gerald Corrigan (charged with convening a group to analyze risk on Wall Street)

Of course, the avalance of former Goldman alumni seemed to start with Jon Corzine. From this opinion piece in the Trentonian:

That $300 million-plus that Corzine left Goldman Sachs with and used to bankroll a mid-life-crisis career change to politics was “fattened” by IPOs, says Taibbi.

He says Goldman Sachs manipulated the price of IPO stock by encouraging “best clients” to get in early at low prices and clean up before the suckers were enticed in at higher prices, driving up Goldman Sach’s take. That tactic is called “laddering,” says Taibbi.

Then, before moving on to other alleged Goldman Sachs iniquities, the writer takes a parting pot shot at Corzine. “One of the truly comic moments in the history of America’s recent financial collapse came,” writes Taibbi, when Corzine insisted, “I’ve never even heard the term ‘laddering’ before.”

Jon Corzine. Ethically challenged. Mathmatically challenged. A weak Governor. Not quite the lion we were promised (not even a cowardly lion) rather a mouse with the political courage of an anonymous political staffer the media so adores.

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What Astroturf Looks Like

I got this from Twitter, and I apologize for not being able to give credit -- I don't remember which link I clicked.

Check out this August 20 email (link is a PDF) from Kelly Gallaher (communityforchange@gmail.com) in which she details the campaigns of Democratic operatives' plan to overwhelm Paul Ryan's listening sessions in the 1st Congressional District in Wisconsin. I've transcribed most of it below. The subject line was "Paul Ryan's Roadmap to Hell(th) Tour".

Hi Everyone!

Congressman Paul Ryan is touring the 1st CD next week, we met yesterday and laid out a plan. He has 17 listening sessions scheduled and it is our intention to overwhelm each session with reform supporters.

The Democratic Party of Wisconsin (1st CD Dems), Organizing for America (OFA) and Community for Change are working together to promote attendance at these sessions.

Here are the plans: (Thank you Meg for taking GREAT notes! and it CANNOT be forwarded enough!)

At each session, we will have 2 tables with a banner. At the tables, we will have information on:

1 "Organizing for Health Care" (a glossy 4 page brochure),
2 Information on why Paul Ryan's health care plan is wrong for the 1st CD
3 Contact information for Ryan, Feingold, Kohl and OFA
4 Sign up sheet for those interested in joining us
5 Rally signs

If we encounter official resistance to our table, we will have bags to carry all the same information. The rally signs may not be allowed in the actual meeting place.

There may be an opportunity for people to go online and print their own 8 1/2 by 11 sheet for display IN the session from www.barackobama.com

It is intended that people rally (keep moving) and carry the signs before the session.

We are scheduling 2 Teams each day. The teams will leapfrog each event, so we are set up in advance and ready to go before the previous event ends. Each team will have a table and materials. Team Leaders each day will be assigned to one or more sessions. In addition, each team will have:

1 Maps showing location(s) for the day
2 Locations of fast food restaurants in the area
3 Questions for key people in the session
4 Information for those who might be interviewed by the media

The Team Leaders will:

1 Get the tables and materials the night before (for their first session of the day)
2 Get to the location about an hour before scheduled start time
3 Set up and staff the table
4 Be prepared to move the table (or take it down, if officially required)
5 Stay at the table during the session
6 Remain at the table after the session, until all people have gone
7 Sometimes, the team leaders will move to another session already in progress (particularly at the end of the day which have the biggest locations (Kenosha, Racine, Janesville) [sic]

For each day we will have 2 teams per day.

Here's where you come in. We'd like help staffing these tables, bringing supporters and attending as many sessions as you can. OFA is very active in Racine and we will provide at least one person per session.

Please let me know if you can help. We still need some team leader names in a couple of far flung locations.

We will be phonebanking active volunteers and reform supporters, but turning your people out is essential.

Here is the schedule!

Please look it over and contact me to fill in the blanks:

Monday, August 24

EAGLE: Kelly Gallaher and _______________
11:30am-12:15pm, Village Hall, 820 East Main Street

NORTH PRAIRIE: Glenda Alexander and _____________
1:30-2:15pm, Village Hall, 130 North Harrison

Tuesday, August 25

SHARON: Glenda Alexander and __________________
9:00-10:00am, Community Center, 125 Plain Street

GENOA CITY: Kelly Gallaher and _________________
10:30-11:30am, Village Hall, 715 Walworth Street

PADDOCK LAKE: Glenda Alexander and Meg Andrietsch
12:00-1:00pm, Village Hall, 6969 236th Avenue

KENOSHA: Kelly Gallaher and Meg Andrietsch
2:15-3:45pm, Gateway Technical College, Madrigrano
Auditorium, 3520 30th Avenue

You get the idea. Wednesday, Thursday, and Monday are similarly blocked out. Under Thursday, there's this comment:

For the Racine session, which runs until 230, we have reserved the room until 5pm, so the session can continue with or without Paul Ryan. (That is a bit of a secret, so don't tell Paul Ryan!)

She closes with this:

Thanks for reading this far. If you call me and say "I thought it was Highway to Hell", Meg will buy you coffee.

To volunteer, ask questions and submit ideas, please email or call me!

Thank you!

Kelly Gallaher

I leave you with this quote from Nancy Pelosi:

This initiative is funded by the high end — we call call it astroturf, it’s not really a grassroots movement. It’s astroturf by some of the wealthiest people in America to keep the focus on tax cuts for the rich instead of for the great middle class.

She was talking about tea parties, but... hmmm...

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Democrats announce major astroturf push!

Politico today announced that Democrats would be making a big healthcare push. The article begins with a laudable goal:

Faced with a souring public mood on health care reform, Democrats and their supporters are launching a national grassroots push Wednesday to show lawmakers that the majority of Americans still support overhauling the system.

Grassroots. I get that. And if they are the majority, it should be easy to get people out just like the town halls...right? Note the way they are going to do it:


Reform supporters are planning to hold more than 500 events between Wednesday and when lawmakers return to Washington Sept. 8, ranging from neighborhood organized phone banks to professionally staffed rallies with hundreds of people.

Paid volunteers. Paid protestors. Paid outrage. I wonder if these people even consider what they say versus what they do?

Read the entire article here.

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Announcement: North Jersey Tea Party Event - September 3

From our friends at the North Jersey Tea Party Group:

Fellow Tea Partiers,

*** BIG NEWS!!! The North New Jersey Tea Party Group will host a TEA PARTY PROTEST at Montclair State University (in Montclair, New Jersey) on Thursday, September 3 starting at 3:00 PM!!! ***

This date and time were chosen because on September 3 from 4-6 PM, U.S. House of Representatives member Bill Pascrell Jr. (D-NJ) will be hosting a Town Hall Meeting at Montclair State.

Please read all of the following important details:

* The Pascrell Town Hall Meeting -- which we urge you to attend immediately after our tea party protest -- will be held on Thursday, September 3 from 4-6 PM. The location is the Conference Center at Montclair State, 1 Normal Avenue, Montclair NJ 07043.

* For driving and parking directions, most definitely refer to:

http://www.montclair.edu/conferencecenter/campus_parking_directions.pdf

(Note: scroll down on that link to obtain a visual of exactly where the Conference Center is located on campus.)

* Parking at Montclair State is LIMITED, so we suggest you plan accordingly (taking public transportation is highly encouraged). If you can't park on campus, find a legal place to park off-campus, and walk from your parking spot to campus. ARRIVE EARLY to the extent you can, and you probably won't regret it. If you arrive before 3 PM, GREAT! Feel free to kick off the protest prior to 3 PM!

* We are starting our protest at 3:00 PM, ONE HOUR BEFORE the Pascrell Town Hall Meeting begins. This is in part to encourage you to come early, because many folks showing up at various town hall meetings on time are finding no seats available due to capacity already being reached.

* ***BRING A PROTEST SIGN!!!*** Homemade signs are GREAT, store-made signs -- for example at FedEx Office, formerly known as Kinko's -- are GREAT. (I will be bringing my 2' x 2' sign.)

* You can search the internet for suggested sign slogans. For example, Google the term "tea party slogans healthcare" and that will bring up several websites that have dozens -- hundreds -- of suggestions each.

* Our protest will take place just outside the main entrance to the Conference Center. Just look for our signs and join us!!!

* Bring a camera, and especially if you are able, bring a digital recording device. This will help us document the event, and also, these devices serve as great deterrents to any thugs who might wish to infringe upon OUR UNALIENABLE MORAL RIGHT TO SPEAK FREELY.

* I HIGHLY RECOMMEND that you check out the following "20 Questions for Your Congressman" by our Facebook group member Robert W. Tracinski (thank you Robert!).


* We are a PEACEFUL organization. We do not expect this Tea Party Protest to be anything but peaceful. Please conduct yourself accordingly at all times (unless self-defense becomes necessary). Should anybody threaten you physically during our protest -- not that we expect this to happen, although we always want you to be prepared just in case -- please do your best to defuse the situation peacefully (which often means simply walking away, and sometimes means simply calling the police).

* Pascrell's campaign website shows his belief that "health care is a right." Pascrell is wrong; health care is NOT a right. If it were a right, then any individual could FORCE a health-industry worker (doctor, nurse, etc.) to provide the care, and FORCE somebody else (for example, peaceful and economically productive citizens -- a.k.a. taxpayers) to pay for it. Doctors, nurses, and taxpayers ARE NOT SLAVES. There is no such thing as the "right to health care" because there is no such thing as the "right to enslave" those who provide it and those who pay for it.

http://www.pascrellforcongress.com/healthcare
* Although free speech includes angry speech, please DO NOT disrupt the Town Hall Meeting in any way that prevents peaceful discourse (for example, joining in a multi-person chant which drowns out whomever is speaking).

* Please be aware that the Town Hall plans could change at any time -- particularly if Pascrell decides he lacks the courage to face pro-liberty Americans like you and me. If you become aware of any changes, please let us know, so that we can change our Tea Party Protest plans accordingly.

*** FORWARD THIS INVITATION ON TO ALL OF YOUR PRO-LIBERTY FRIENDS AND FAMILY!!! ***

I look forward to seeing you -- and your pro-liberty friends and family! -- at Montclair State on Thursday, September 3!

Mark Kalinowski
Founder
North New Jersey Tea Party Group
Liberty, Free Markets, and Individual Rights!

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Christie's 46k loan to a friend? And Corzine's 470k loan to a major union negotiator.

According to the New York Times, Chris Christie made a loan and failed to declare it on his campaign forms. From the Times:

A contrite Christopher J. Christie, the Republican former prosecutor running for governor on a platform of corruption busting and ethical reform, apologized Tuesday for failing to report a $46,000 loan to a top aide on his tax returns and financial-disclosure forms.

Christopher J. Christie, the Republican candidate for governor, on Tuesday.
“When I make mistakes, I’m going to admit them,” he said, adding that he had already amended some of those filings and would finish the rest by Friday. “It was certainly nothing that I was trying to conceal or hide.”

Ok. I suppose that he is guilty of some administrative violation and maybe poor judgement in helping a friend. But let's balance that against Jon Corzine's 470,000 loan to Carla Katz his alleged girlfriend and a major union representative from the states top union. Remember this?

Senator Jon S. Corzine provided a $470,000 mortgage to the president of a union that represents thousands of New Jersey state employees in late 2002, then forgave the debt two years later.

Senator Jon S. Corzine with Carla Katz at a ball in the Pierre Hotel in 2002 .
The union president, Carla Katz, was Mr. Corzine's girlfriend at the time. The senator said on Wednesday that an investment company he owns gave her the mortgage, then canceled it in December 2004, several months after they had stopped dating.

So he made a loan and forgave it for ten times what Christie has allegedly done. And this loan and other communication is at the heart of ethics charges against Corzine. And Christie is still collecting on the loan to a friend. Seems like Corzine has picked chosen an outrageously stupid bone to pick.

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Healthcare: Alternative ideas but the White House and Democrats aren't listening!

Whenever you read in the paper that Republicans are obstructionists and the people are just complaining at town hall events, there is a common thread in the story. And it is that no one is offerring alternative ideas to the load of garbage being put forward by House Democrats and the White House. The sad thing is that there are a lot of ideas suggested to fix both the cost and the coverage aspects of healthcare that our current crop of politicians absolutely refuse to comprehend.

And all while Obama insists on demonizing insurers. The unfortunate thing is that the industry is far from healthy and is hurting in a major way. In my business, we work with all kinds of organizations and the insurance companies have been shedding employees for the past 5 years. They are not making massive profits. As a matter of fact, if you graph Barack Obama's and Chris Dodd's last eight years revenue against individual companies in the insurance industry, you will find that both Obama and Dodd fared far better in terms of growing their revennue base. The insurance industry in fact makes less than 1 penny for every dollar in premium received (Forrester research).

We have the Obama and Democrat narrative:

- Insurance companies are evil and healthcare unions are good
- Companies that provide insurance are bad and government providing insurance is good
- Competition is bad when private companies do it, good when the government fixes it
- People that speak at town halls are astroturf while union thugs beating them up are good
- Anyone questioning Democrats is fake while paid protestors are good
- Old people are bad but illegal immigrants are good
- Doctors are bad but Tort lawyers are good

It's no wonder people are fed up.

Here are some ideas that will never find their way into the debate despited being offerred up by Republicans, the insurance industry and free market advocates:

Controlling cost and adding flexibility

1. Insurance Portability. Make it a requirement that all insurance it portable. If every firm needs to accept the rule, it will be so. The insurance industry has already agreed to do this early into the debate.
2. Tort Reform. I know I know. The Democrats need to protect poor Dicky Scruggs so that he can own ten airplanes while filing bs lawsuits against doctors, hospitals and pharmaceutical firms. But you cannot control costs without addressing frivilous lawsuits.
3. Drop interstate limitations on competition for insurance. Right now we have 50 different states plus the Federal government regulating insurance and blocking competition. Remove these barriers and then maybe Joe Smith in New York will stop paying 5 times what Jim Smith in Tennessee is paying.
4. Have a discussion about moving the responsibility for insurance from the employer to the employee. And help provide a transition from the business entity which will gain long term in cost control to the employee. Then the employee will be free to take advantage of the increased competition to buy the kind of coverage that will be optimal for their family.
5. Health savings accounts. Cash is king even in the healthcare marketplace. Remove the requirement to submit claims for insurance completely and the doctor can perform certain care much more efficiently and cost effectively.
6. Eliminate government based care and hospital mandates so that the private sector can stop underwriting goverment programs and citizens are not paying twice for the same thing. For example, we all pay for medicare at both the state and federal level. Then the goverment only pays the hospital 5 dollars for a 20 dollar procedure. Who pays the rest? We do through private insurance as we will get charged 35 dollars to make up for it. This is goverment competition and is contributing to our current damaged system. Obama and Democrats just don't talk about it.
7. A national fraud database to track both doctors patients who abuse the system and real penalties when they are caught.

Once costs are brought under control, we can have the discussion about insuring the 12 million people who legitimately may need assistance. Not the illegal aliens. Not people who can afford insurance but choose to keep their money in their pocket. And not the fictitious people who cannot get insurance until you really investigate their story and find out they really do have coverage.

All of these things would add to the debate but you will never hear them proposed. Why? Because they don't add power to the unions and Democrats in congress.

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Healthcare Bill - Why are people so angry?

Many on the left trully do not understand why people are so angry about the healthcare legislation. And because they do not understand, they assume that the protestors are ginned up by insurance company and lobbyists. The sad thing is that their lack of understanding contributes to their ignorance and in a spiral to anger generated by their comments.

Reason 1. The holier than thou claim that they are the only ones who want to fix healthcare.

Perhaps the problem with this reasoning is that not everyone is trying to fix the same thing. Most people are happy with the current healthcare ranging from 54-80 percent agreeing depennding on the poll. The rub for many is the rising cost as a percentage of personal expenses that health insurance consumes (even if your company pays for most of it). To fix this problem you need to have a serious discussion of the subsidization of government Medicare and Medicaide patients by private health insurance patients. You also need to discuss torts and their impact on Doctor behavior, insurance company allocation and Pharmaceutical firm pricing policies. You also should add to the mix the growing number of illegals being treated for free at emergency rooms around the country.

But very little of the items above have been discussed. In addition, Barack Obama wants to fix the "50 million uninsured". We will discuss that below. Nancy Pelosi wants to penalize health insurance companies. If you cannot agree on the nature of the problem, you cannot take corrective action.

Reason 2. No one believes the 50 Million Uninsured number.

And the President keeps repeating it as fact. Lets take some facts from the Business Media Institute study on this number:

Myth: There are between 40 million and 50 million uninsured Americans. President Obama referred to “46 million uninsured Americans” in May 2009.

Fact: Anyone who reports that there are more than 46 million uninsured is exaggerating since the Census Bureau puts the number of uninsured at 45,657,000 people.

Fact: Nearly 10 million (9.7) of the 45.7 million uninsured are “not a citizen.” That makes every media claim of uninsured Americans higher than 35.9 million is wrong.

Myth: The 40 million to 50 million uninsured cannot afford health insurance.

Fact: More than 17 million of the uninsured make at least $50,000 per year (the median household income of $50,233) – 8.4 million make $50,000 to $74,999 per year and 9.1 million make $75,000 or higher. Two economists working at the National Bureau of Economic Research concluded that 25 to 75 percent of those who do not purchase health insurance coverage “could afford to do so.”

Myth: The 40 million to 50 million uninsured do not get health care.

Fact: The National Center for Policy Analysis estimates that uninsured people get about $1,500 of free health care per year, or $6,000 per family of four.

Fact: An Urban Institute study found that 25 percent of the uninsured already qualify for government health insurance programs.

Myth: People will remain uninsured without government assistance.

Fact: The Congressional Budget Office says that 45 percent of the uninsured will be insured within four months. CBO Director Douglas Holtz-Eakin also said that the frequent claim of 40+ million Americans lacking insurance is an “incomplete and potentially misleading picture of the uninsured population.”

Fact: Liberal non-profit Kaiser Family Foundation put the number of uninsured Americans who do not qualify for government programs and make less than $50,000 a year between 8.2 million and 13.9 million. (The 8.2 million figure includes only those uninsured for two years or more.)

Fact: CBO analysis found that 36 million people would remain uninsured even if the Senate’s $1.6 trillion health care plan is passed.

Reason 3. Democrats desire to ram the legislation through congress.

We have commented here many times on the "rush to bad legislation" technique perfected by this congress. Haste makes waste and this Congress and President are experts at waste. And the citizens have caught on. The know their legislators are not reading the legislation and are wondering why. They are also wondering who is really writing the legislation and suspect that there is far more influence coming from lobbyists than from many representatives. They KNOW that they do not have a seat at the negotiating table yet George Soros does and they don't like it.

Reason 4. You reap what you sow.

Democrats have long espoused that dissent is important to the democracy and they are correct. But once normal people start dissenting, all of a sudden they don't like it. For years they have dispatched unions, Code Pink, Al Sharpton, Jessie "extortion" Jackson and a variety of other organnized protestors to events to put pressure on various entuities and lawmakers. Regular people have woken up and after 7 years of watching these organnized groups protest George Bush, they have decided not to stand up for themselves.

Reason 5. Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid have disdain for the citizens of this country.

We all know when we are being talked down to and mocked. Barack Obama tries to demonized those who do not agree lockstep with everything he espouses. Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid declared in the USA Today that the protestors are fake and un-American. Here is a statistic for you. Since I work in New York City, I know a lot of people who are very left of center. I also have numerous conservative friends. I do not know one single person who has attended a peace demonstration during the Bush years. And I know at least 10 who have attended tea parties or town halls on healthcare. And they didn't get bussed in-the drove their SUV's.

Astroturf. I don't think so. All of this is pissing people off. Assuming the Democrats continue on their current course, it will get worse long before it gets better.

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Real protests vs Astroturf

I have always wondered how party leaders like Reid and Pelosi can criticize normal citizens who attend tea parties and now town hall meetings. When I normally see the photos, I see homemade signs by the tea party people yet the standard Democrat party protestor has printed signs. And the normal people are the fakes?

This post at Lookingattheleft.com explains it all and is a MUST see.

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NJ bond outlook lowered to NEGATIVE

From Marketwatch this morning:

Moody's Investors Service lowered its outlook on the State of New Jersey, reflecting challenges to the state's financial operations and repeated use of nonrecurring revenue to plug budget gaps. The outlook was lowered to negative from stable. The outlook affects about $2.5 billion in outstanding general obligation bonds and $28.5 billion in annual appropriation debt. The revision comes as the state plans to sell $200 million in school-construction bonds in the coming week, rated A1 by Moody's. The state's GO rating is Aa3. Moody's also noted the state has one of the highest debt burdens and, like many states, has depleted its reserves. "It is anticipated that economic recovery in New Jersey will be at a slower pace than the nation as a whole," Moody's said in a release late Monday.

When a State continues to avoid addressing key fiscal issues and instead pursues a policy of tax and spend, this is what happens. The result will be increased interest on borrowing which will eventually create problems all its own. Remember when Corzine said he was cutting the budget and we documented here at njtaxrevolution that he was actually increasing borrowing by 3.9 billion for school construction? Well guess what, the cost of that just went up.

Congratulations Jon! You have one again demonstrated your fiscal prowess.

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NJ New Liquor Tax Starts Today - Buy in Delaware instead!

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that another tax goes into effect today in New Jersey:

New Jersey's tax hike on wholesale wine and hard liquor goes into effect today, and those in the business say customers will most surely pay more than the fraction of a cent per drink that the extra 25 percent levy on spirits amounts to for distributors.

Gov. Corzine proposed the 25 percent increase and the Legislature approved it on wine and liquor - but not beer - as one of many measures to help balance the budget in a recession year. The extra tax is expected to raise about $22 million a year.

When you really think about it, purchasing liquor and wine are not exactly last minute impulse items and can be planned. Given that a significant portion of our state border other state, my suggestion is to go to PA, Delaware or NY to buy. I know that this suggestion is bad for business in New Jersey but until businesses in this state stop just accepting asinine policies from or dysfunctional state government.

Due to pricing policies in our surrounding state, Delaware is the place to go if you want to save money. And for those of you concerned about the legality of transporting liquor into our state, here are the rules from the Attorney General's office where they will make sure you go to jail for buying fireworks in NJ but not if you are a public official and accept bribes for your vote:


8 Are New Jersey consumers permitted to order alcohol from a catalog or via the internet and have it delivered to their homes?

New Jersey residents are not permitted to purchase beverage alcohol via telephone, mail order or the Internet from producers and retailers in other states. These sales, commonly known as “mail order sales,” are illegal because they bypass the State’s regulatory system for controlling liquor. Some of the problems caused by mail order sales involve the delivery of alcoholic beverages to underage persons, loss of tax revenue and the fact that entities, not licensed in New Jersey, are delivering and selling alcohol in this State. Most states in the country prohibit mail order sales for these and other reasons, and in some states, violations are treated as a criminal offense.

A person may personally purchase alcoholic beverages in another state and transport them into New Jersey only if (1) the alcoholic beverages are intended to be used solely for personal use and (2) the alcohol is personally transported in a vehicle into New Jersey. The amount of alcoholic beverages transported into New Jersey for personal use cannot exceed l/4 barrel or one case containing not in excess of 12 quarts of beer and one gallon of wine and two quarts of other alcoholic beverages within any consecutive period of 24 hours. If a person wishes to transport alcohol for personal use in excess of the above amounts, an application must be made to the Director, who if satisfied of the good faith of the applicant, and upon payment of a $50 fee, may issue a special permit permitting the transportation of alcohol into New Jersey in excess of the amounts listed above.

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