Since 1994, Frank LoBiondo of New Jersey has served the state’s 2nd Congressional District as it’s representative, and is seeking the Republican Party’s nomination in June 8th’s N.J. primary for a ninth term.
LoBiondo faces competition, however, from two very interesting challengers. According to Shore News Today, Linda Biamonte and Donna Ward are questioning LoBiondo’s loyalties. Biamonte believes LoBiondo does not represent the will or the needs of the people in the second district. “I don’t like his principles,” she said June 1. “He’s a career politician. I one-hundred-percent disagree with cap and trade, which he voted for. It will be the biggest tax increase we have seen on the people and it has nothing to do with capping emissions, rather Wall Street making tons of money on American people.”
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Biamonte has the support of the state’s many Tea Party organizations. She works as a sales vice-president in the advertising technology field and her platform, based on a claim “if it doesn’t pass Constitutional muster, I will not vote YES on it,” mirrors others popping up around the country as the electorate voices it’s disgust with current government policies. Biamonte doesn’t go quite far enough though, when she claimed that the “will or the needs of the people of the Second District” should be sovereign. In a republic such as the United States is, the U.S. Constitution, not the will of the voters, should rule.
Therefore, a more intriguing contender for the race is Donna Ward. Her understanding of what the Constitution really means seems to run much deeper than either of the other contenders. Shore News Today wrote “using the standard of The New American magazine’s Freedom Index, [Ward’s] website states LoBiondo rates 25 percent out of a total 100 percent, according to his voting record.” That is a much truer measure of a candidate’s stand on issues. The New American’s Freedom Index is the gold standard for measurement of whether or not congressmen adhere to constitutional principles of limited government, fiscal responsibility, and a traditional foreign policy of avoiding foreign entanglements. The document is very clear on these principles. Scores are derived by dividing a Congressmen’s constitutional votes on ten key issues by the total number he cast and multiplying by 100. According to the Index, LoBiondo’s record was a paltry 25 out of 100 percent, a score not in accordance with the Republican Party platform. Ward’s website reveals another clue to her understanding of the issues. She’s a student of the Austrian School of Economics, and supports a true free market system. Her website further claims Ward is running for Congress as a “Constitutional Republican. It’s a very simple concept. Any bill coming before Congress must comply with all of the provisions of the Constitution of the United States of America.”
Mrs. Ward seems to have not only read the document, but understands it, unlike too many current candidates. She says neither major party supports the U.S. Constitution. Her website even includes a tab to read the story of Davy Crockett’s refusal to appropriate money when no congressional authority existed to do so. Since Congress holds the country’s purse strings, it should exercise it’s constitutionally authorized power to close the purse unless the document authorizes an expenditure. In this ingenious example of a “check or balance,” the legislative branch holds slightly more power than the executive, and so should it be. Mrs. Ward’s understanding of these principles is soundly reflected in her study of the Freedom Index.
The New Jersey race reflects a positive trend surfacing around the nation as candidates respond to voter frustration and well-earned criticism that we do indeed have a rulebook and are demanding adherence to it. We recommend study of the Freedom Index to learn how your Representative votes.
Photo: U.S. Rep. Frank LoBiondo, R-N.J., left, received congratulations from former Speaker of the New Jersey Assembly Jack Collins, right, after announcing that he would consider running for reelection to a seventh term in 2006: AP Images.
