Right In Jersey

Tony Fiore and Stephanie Murray to Run for Middletown Township Committee

2011-04-12T08:25:00.000-07:00

Deputy Mayor Pam Brightbill Not Running for Reelection

After Six Years of Dedicated Service to the Township

MIDDLETOWN—Middletown Township Mayor Tony Fiore and Zoning Board Member/Housing Authority Commissioner Stephanie Murray today filed petitions seeking the Republican nomination for Middletown Township Committee for 2011.

“I know Stephanie Murray will serve the taxpayers of Middletown well based on her record of service on the Zoning Board and as a Commissioner on the Housing Authority,” said Mayor Fiore. “Stephanie is not only a tireless member of our community, but also a dedicated wife and mother to three children whose family has lived in Middletown for 10 years.”

“While my commitment to public service is no less now than it was six years ago, I feel that it is the right time to pass the baton to another active member of our community, which is why I am pleased to support Stephanie Murray for Township Committee,” said Deputy Mayor Pam Brightbill. “I know that Stephanie will make an excellent addition to the Committee and help preserve the quality of life we all enjoy in Middletown.”

“It is an honor to have received a tremendous amount of support to continue my public service to Middletown by seeking to serve as a member of the Township Committee,” said Stephanie Murray. “I am looking forward to the challenges ahead to help maintain the quality of life we all enjoy while keeping taxes low in one of the largest municipalities in New Jersey.”

In addition to serving as a member of the Zoning Board and a Commissioner on the Middletown Housing Authority, Mrs. Murray has also served as a member of the Township’s Parks and Recreation Advisory and Open Space Committees. Stephanie is also the founder of a community group known as “Middletown Mornings” which is an open forum for residents of Middletown to meet with their local public officials. Murray holds a B.A. from Fordham University and runs a small publishing company.

Legislative Races in Monmouth County

2011-04-09T17:18:00.000-07:00

By now, we have a pretty clear picture of what are the races for State Senate and Assembly this year in Monmouth County. Here they are:

11th District
Senate: Jennifer Beck (R) vs Ray Santiago (D)
Assembly: Mary Pat Angelini & Caroline Casagrande (R) vs Vin Gopal & Marilyn Schlossbach (D)

12th District
Senate: Sam Thompson (R) vs Bob Brown (D)
Assembly: Rob Clifton & Ronald Dancer (R) vs Catherine TinneyRome & ?? (D)

13th District
Senate: Joe Kyrillos (R) vs Christopher Cullen (D)
Assembly: Declan O'Scanlon & Amy Handlin (R) vs Kevin Lavan & Patrick Short (D)

30th District
Senate: Robert Singer (R) vs Steve Morlino (R)
Assembly: Sean Kean & Dave Rible (R) vs Howard Kleinhelder & Shaun O'Rourke (D)

Redistricting, 101

2011-04-04T11:15:00.000-07:00

by Assemblyman Michael Patrick Carroll

Our two-month-long redistricting saga wound down to a wholly predictable conclusion: a registered Democrat college professor handed the Democrats a victory.

One can only assume that if the Democrats submitted the map that the tiebreaker eventually supported, it will ensure that Democrats remain immune from their failure to secure the electoral support of the majority of voters casting ballots in legislative elections.

Some history. In 1966, confronted with the “one-man-one-vote” mandate from the SCOTUS, New Jersey responded by scrapping its old, county-based system of legislative representation, settling on the 40 district Legislature presently extant. Apparently concerned about partisan gerrymanders of legislative districts – which, of course, DO present a problem, as they enable today’s majority to entrench itself against the desires of future electorates – the Framers settled on the Commission system: each party would appoint five delegates, and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court would appoint a tiebreaker.

Alas, this elegant theory has not worked out well in practice. Instead of districts drawn by folks (at least theoretically, if often marginally) answerable to the people, we have created a monster, in which one man, answerable to no one, wielding essentially absolute power, and bound by no popularly enacted standards, can impose his whim upon the electorate.

Various theorists and political scientists have their own individual standards which apply to drawing legislative districts. The problem presented by giving one man essentially unbridled power is that his quirky standards shape the political landscape for (at least) a decade. In 1991, the tiebreaker chose an assertedly Republican map, but only Jim Florio's mistaken confusion of his electoral victory for a mandate for hard left policies – including the most massive tax increase in history – produced hefty Republican majorities. The Dems won seats in every election from 1993 to 1999.

The tie breaker in 2001, perhaps mindful of the consequences of drawing fair districts, corrected that error, creating districts in which one Democratic Assembly Representative routinely secures election with a paltry 20,000 votes, while one of her Republican counterparts receives in excess of 50,000. GOP legislative candidates, collectively, routinely outpoll the Democrats, but the map nonetheless ensures wholly disproportionate Democratic majorities. During Chris Christie’s defeat of Jon Corzine, Republicans picked up precisely one Assembly seat. Not a single Democratic incumbent lost.

Now, although persuasive, none of this demonstrates that the map is wholly unfair. Residents in heavily Democratic districts, often, take their civic responsibility to vote less seriously than do Republicans. Were there a realistic possibility that the local Democratic candidate might actually lose, the local population might actually be motivated to vote. We do not operate under a parliamentary system, and no one can predict what the results of an election held thereunder might be. Alternative histories, or counterfactual hypotheticals, make for interesting discussions, but do not much inform the debate.

Rather, the question is whether a naked partisan gerrymander, such as that imposed on the people of New Jersey in 2001 – the results of which were used as the baseline for this year’s map – smells any better for having been imposed by an allegedly “neutral” third party. Had standard political practices employed in other states applied here, the map would be very different, as the partisan Democratic legislative majorities would have faced the check of a likely gubernatorial veto.

Instead, the Democrats procured essentially what they wanted, because the opinions of the tiebreaker, and not the standards the people themselves might have adopted, produced the map. And there is nothing whatsoever that the people can do about it.

Take just one standard considered by the tiebreaker: “continuity of representation”. For those not familiar with academic speak, that translates as “incumbent protection”. Such was (allegedly) one of the key concerns of the tiebreaker this year. (It actually works out to "Democratic incumbent protection"; many a Republican finds herself in difficulty, as you'd expect with a nakedly partisan map.)

Why? While 120 people care passionately about “incumbent protection”, 9 million folks don’t give a rat’s patoot. Why should the careers of 120 legislators make a tinker’s damn worth of difference? Believe it or not, the state would survive – and, perhaps, prosper – if a significant number of incumbents were obliged to find another line of work.

(Note: the process also demonstrates the foolishness of the federal Voting Rights Act. Thereunder, special attention must be paid to ensure that folks with the right last names or the right skin pigmentation secure a proportionate share of legislative seats. This group-think mentality is profoundly anti-American and profoundly offensive, as it implies (a) the people will vote along group lines, and (b) that only someone who shares the electorate’s ethnicity can provide adequate representation. Both of those concepts are poisonous, and should be forthwith consigned to the ash heap of history.)

Whatever one thinks of the merits of the tiebreaker’s factors, one thing is clear: the people NEVER endorsed those factors. Instead of the people, or their representatives, making the determination, one unelected man, answerable to no one, wields the power to impose his essentially unrestrained whim by diktat. Such is simply not the hallmark of a representative system; in a republic, the people make the rules.

This is not to argue that the standards the GOP committee proposed ought to govern (although they were more responsive to actual votes). Instead, the people ought to set the standards by which districts are drawn, essentially removing all discretion from folks who – however well intentioned (or disinterested) they might believe themselves to be – might be sore tempted to shape the state in accordance with their own political predilections.

The only truly fair way to reapportion is to preclude as many opportunities for political hanky panky as humanly possible. So, create a simple metric: equality of population and compactness. Essentially, start in Montague and keep adding towns until one reaches the magic number, then move on, coming as close to a square as circumstances permit. Only a map in which population numbers are better, and districts more compact, would suffice as a challenge.

Of course, there will still be room for partisanship: do we add this (Republican) Town or this (Democratic) Borough in order to reach parity? But, at least, incumbent protection and “partisan fairness” (whatever that means) would be off the table.

Searching for perfection is a fool’s errand. But having now endured two straight reapportionment cycles in which rank partisanship masquerades as impartiality, it seems appropriate to reconsider the system, and move to one which empowers the people rather than college professors.

Bayshore Tea Party Reveals Legislative Map

2011-03-26T14:16:00.001-07:00

The Bayshore Tea Party Group just released its legislative district map. It was built by its passionate members based on Constitutional requirements, taking into account recent court decisions. Preserving incumbent seats and creating safe districts was not a criteria, which is why the two parties would probably never consider such a map. The BTPG Redistricting Committee Chairman, Sean Spinello said:

The People’s Map is based solely on Constitutional criteria in the interest of all the people of the State of New Jersey and without regard to partisan politics. Commission members who truly represent the people would support the same map as a member of the public as they will as Commission members. Therefore, we expect the Commission to support a non-gerrymandered and Constitutional map such as ‘The People’s Map’.

Here is what the map looks like:

Monmouth University polling expert Patrick Murray also commented:

Except for what appears to be an inadvertent split of Egg Harbor Township between districts 1 and 2 (which will require some re-tooling), the map's parameters are solid. It also maintains and perhaps enhances minority representation (basically as well as the map proposed by the minority coalition!) and provides for real competition for control of the next legislature. Of course, it is unkind to incumbents, and thus contrary to what Rosenthal has laid out as his priorities. On the whole, a map worth adding to the discussion.

Art Gallagher also made this observation:

The map is unkind to incumbents. In Monmouth County, Senators Joe Kyrillos (Middletown) and Jennifer Beck (Red Bank) are both in a new 13th district comprised of Bayshore and Two River towns. Old Bridge is moved, along with incumbent Assemblyman Sam Thompson, from the current 13th to an all Middlesex County 19th. Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon (Little Silver) would join Assemblywoman Amy Handlin as incumbents in the lower house.

The NJ Redistricting Commission is set to release the official map by April 3rd.

Mayor Tony Fiore Clarifies the Middletown Library Rumors

2011-02-16T12:39:00.001-08:00

The Middletown Township Committee issued a press release on Sunday, presenting some cost-saving measures. These included asking the Library to return some of its surplus in order to meet a township budget shortfall of $4.4 millions. A lot of people thought the Township is closing the Library, killing it, defunding it, demolishing it, when this wasn't the case. Libraries in New Jersey receive a state-mandated budget based on a formula. This is a lot more than many libraries need, and the Middletown Township Library has a $1.2 million surplus. They have so much money that they fly first class to various conventions, and are booking acts from Timbuktu to perform for 40 people.

So today, Mayor Tony Fiore issued this statement:

Dear Township Residents:

I felt it was necessary for me to respond to the recent flurry of comments and emails regarding the Middletown Township Library. It is unfortunate that some have chosen to engage in the spread of completely false information with regard to the Township Committee’s request of the Middletown Library Board. So let me set the record straight.

First let me make it very clear that neither I nor any member of the Township Committee has ever suggested or proposed closing any library facility in the Township. We would simply not do such a thing.

The situation the Township finds itself in is not unlike that being faced by towns throughout New Jersey. With revenues sharply down due to the economic downturn we remain in and with state-mandated costs ever on the rise, we are now faced with an extraordinary fiscal challenge. This includes the potential for the layoff of a number of employees and even possibly police. Be assured that we do all we can to avoid layoffs and we take the matter very seriously.

The Library budget is different from the Township budget in that state law specifies how much must be allocated to the library each year, whether it is needed to operate the library or not. The result of this is that the library now has a surplus of $1.2 million. While some portion of this surplus is needed for ongoing support of library programs and initiatives, the vast majority is not needed for continued operations. I personally met about two weeks ago with the Library Director and the Board Chairman and asked that they bring back to the library board a request to transfer approximately $700,000.00 - $800,000.00 of their surplus to the Township’s budget. This would be used to offset layoffs and to help fund the continuation of many vital Township services and help to offset the impact of over $4 million in tax appeals.

The Township Committee is fully aware that the library board cannot be forced to do this. However we are asking that they work with us in a unified effort to help all of the residents and taxpayers of the Township. I would note that the Township Sewerage Authority dedicated a portion of its surplus to the Township last year and we anticipate them doing the same again this year.

Many people have expressed concern that the Township Committee is seeking to transfer operation of the library to the Monmouth County Library System. Let me be clear that the Township Committee has taken no action to do this. Such a move would be an absolute last resort, but without the transfer of some of the library surplus it may become a fiscal necessity. Not an option, a necessity. Should this action have to occur, the library would not close, it would simply move under the umbrella of the county and the staff would become county employees rather than be Township employees. Again, we do not want to make this move. We would like to see our library continue as the great Township facility it is. Our hope is that we can work with the Library Board as a team with the best interests of the Township as the goal.

Sincerely,
Anthony P. Fiore, Mayor

Residents Hate Wind Turbines. Politicians Keep Forcing Them Onto the People

2011-02-13T09:25:00.000-08:00

On Feb 8th, Gov. Chris Christie both vetoed the liquified natural gas project off the coast of New Jersey, and enacted a law to allow wind turbines on Atlantic City piers.

I'm not even gonna go into killing the LNG project, and the savings in heating costs that he refused. But why is he so adamant to get more wind turbines at the Jersey Shore? Residents have recently strongly opposed windmills in Union Beach and in Sea Girt, this last one prompting legislation to restrict building of turbines near residential areas.

It's very trendy to advocate wind turbines to save the planet, when it's not in your neighborhood. But what happens when wind mills COME to your backyard? Michele Francese lives in Ocean Gate, NJ, near one of the first New Jersey wind turbines. Here's what she tells us:

I live directly across from a wind turbine in Ocean Gate. It has completely destroyed the quality of life that we once enjoyed in our quiet little town. Not only is the noise deafening at times, the reflection in our windows makes you feel like you have a disco ball spinning from your ceiling. I'm all for green energy, but more studies must be done before any more are located in residential neighborhoods. Unfortunately, another one is being constructed as we speak in Ocean Gate. I'm very disappointed that what could have been a positive thing has become an albatross around my neck. The concept is great but the result has failed terribly.

Andrew Walden just wrote a great article for the American Thinker, titled Wind Energy's Ghost. There, he discusses all the failed wind project throughout the US, including the abandoned farms in Hawaii and California. Most of them have been abandoned. Hundreds of wind turbines lay unused because keeping them up cost more than the energy they produced. Wind turbines have to run all the time to keep the oil running, so if they get wind 20% of the day (which would be a very big number), they actually have to use energy from the power grid the rest of the 80%.

Ben Lieberman, a senior policy analyst focusing on energy and the environment asked the key question:

If wind power made sense, why would it need a government subsidy in the first place? It's a bubble which bursts as soon as the government subsidies end.

Walden describes the reality of the wind industry:

The new paradigm created by the generation of 1968 is more political and less economy. Without government intervention, utilities normally avoid wind energy. Wind's erratic power feed destabilizes power grids and forces engineers to stand by, always ready to fire up traditional generators.

So as all evidence points to wind turbines being non efficient and destined for failure, while residents near such windmills complain about lost property value and decreased quality of life, why do politicians keep pushing these bad policies?

A Letter from Michelle Obama

2010-12-08T08:43:00.000-08:00

I'm honored to have received this letter from the First Lady, a couple of weeks ago:

Dear Chris,

For only the second time in my adult life, I am not ashamed of my country. I want to thank the hard working American people for paying $242 thousand dollars for my vacation in Spain . My daughter Sasha, several long-time family friends, my personal staff and various guests had a wonderful time. Honestly, you just haven't lived until you have stayed in a $2,500.00 per night suite at a 5-Star luxury hotel. Thank you also for the use of Air Force 2 and the 70 Secret Service personnel who tagged along to be sure we were safe and cared for at all times.

Air Force 2 only used 47,500 gallons of jet fuel for this trip and carbon emissions were a mere 1,031 tons of CO2. These are only rough estimates, but they are close. That's quite a carbon footprint as my good friend Al Gore would say, so we must ask the American citizens to drive smaller, more fuel efficient cars and drive less too, so we can lessen our combined carbon footprint.

I know times are hard and millions of you are struggling to put food on the table and trying to make ends meet. I do appreciate your sacrifice and do hope you find work soon. I was really exhausted after Barrack took our family on a luxury vacation in Maine a few weeks ago. I just had to get away for a few days.

Cordially,
Michelle Obama

P.S. Thank you as well for the $2 Billion trip to India we are currently on! Love ya, mean it.

What I Want the House Republicans To Do

2010-11-05T09:05:00.001-07:00

The House GOP received a mandate from the voters to try to bring America back on the right track, after Pelosi, Reid and Obama tried to derail it for the past 4 years. They're in a very delicate position, because if they don't deliver, the Republicans won't recapture the White House and the Senate in 2012. And if they stray again, they'll be back where they were a few months ago.

Now it's obvious that they won't succeed in passing any remedial legislation. Nothing would go past the Senate or past Obama's veto. The best thing right now is the gridlock - meaning no more damaging legislation is going to pass, and the uncertainty about the future may be gone. But the challenge for the GOP is to prove they're not the "party of no" and never were, and try to lead from the House. So here is what I'd like them to do (in approximate order):

1. As soon as the new Congress reconvenes, move to extend the Bush tax cuts all across the board, including middle class, job creators, capital gains and estate taxes. It's possible that some of these will be extended by the current Congress, but there should be no compromise and the House should move to extend all of them. If the Senate or Obama refuse it, they should clearly explain how raises those taxes will be damaging for our economy.

2. Repeal and replace the healthcare bill. Of course it has to be repealed, but if they do only that, it will fuel the calls for the GOP being the party of no. They must present an alternative bill, as short as possible, in a very clear format for the voters. It should include all the common sense proposals, like tort reform, reducing the mandates, allowing interstate purchase of insurance, provide the same tax deductions for individuals that employers have, replace Medicaid spending with vouchers and so on.

3. For any damaging, anti-business bill that would originate in the Senate, offer an alternative, free market bill in the House. They'll never be reconciled, but the voters will be able to see the two options and make a decision for themselves.

4. Before next fall, offer a viable budget with minimal deficits. We've heard the Pledge to America, Jack Ryan's alternative budget last year, now it's time to deliver in real terms. I think the 2012 GOP races will depend on the budget proposal. After years of escalating spending n their own watch, it's time for the Republicans to get back to fiscal conservatism - and offer a real solution.

It's not that hard. Of course, it's not easy, but that's their only job right now. As you know, I don't call myself a Republican, but a conservative, and I'll never hesitate to call them on every mistake!

Markets Celebrate the GOP Wins

2010-11-04T15:36:00.000-07:00

Today, the Dow closed at 11,434 and the S&P 500 at 1,221, which are the highest closings since the summer 2008. That is, since before Lehman failed, since before TARP and all the stimuli. It tops a trend that started in September, when it became clear that the GOP will recapture the House and the only question remaining was by how much.

The reason is not only because of the huge Republican win, but because there is a legislative gridlock now. What has hampered the recovery the most, and prolonged this recession for longer than normal, is the huge uncertainty about the future. For 18 months, we didn't know what was gonna happen, what new anti-business bills we were gonna get. It was the healthcare bill, about which we discover more and more which every week passing. It was the question or whether we'll have a cap&trade bill, another financial regulations bill, card check, and on and on. Since Obama took office, any smart business didn't plan any new operations, growth, or hiring, because they weren't sure what's gonna hit them next. There's is no credit crunch, as only 9% of businesses recently polled said that getting credit is their main problem. American companies are sitting on a record $2 trillions in cash, which for now sits much better in protected securities than risk being taken over by new Government mandates, regulations or taxes.

But the takeover of the House, while the Democrats remain in control of the Senate and the White House, means we'll have two years of legislative gridlock. That means that no major bill has any chance of passing! It's exactly what we need, what the markets need, what businesses need: for the Government to stay of our lives. We've had many recessions in the past, and the shortest ones where the ones where the Government didn't do anything, and just let the economic cycle turn everything around. When the Government got involved the most, we got FDR's Great Depression, and Carter's double recession and inflation. We probably had the fastest recovery after the 1988 market crash when Reagan, to everybody's despair, did the right thing: nothing.

So now, we'll have legislative gridlock, and no more bills to squeeze our economy and businesses. It's time to finally start recovery, and the markets showed they're ready.

Why the GOP Should Be Grateful for the Tea Party

2010-11-04T11:35:00.000-07:00

The most common lines I hear from establishment Republicans recently is that the Tea Party lost us the Senate seats in Nevada and Delaware. Looking back at September 2010, that could be partly true. The establishment picks that Sharron Angle and Christine O'Donnell beat in the primaries were much better positioned (at that time!) to beat the Democrat candidates.

What the GOP fails to see is what seats the Tea Party DID win for them!

You don't have to look that far back. Take the summer of 2009, barely 16 months ago. The Republicans had suffered devastating losses. The Democrats had just won a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate and a large majority in the House. The GOP was called "a disappearing species" or "a regional party". While a few House seats were expected to be gained in the midterms, there was a 0 chance of them winning back the House. With more Republican Senators up for re-election than Democrats, a few more losses in the Senate could've been predicted.

Then what happened around June/July 2009? The tea parties started. All of a sudden, the disillusioned Republican voters (many of them who skipped the 2008 elections) were becoming energized. People who never cared about local politics got involved. The wave was started. The first Republican wins appeared.

Now fast forward to the summer of 2010. 10-11 Democrat-held Senate seats wer ein play, while no Republican was vulnerable. Up to 90 Democrat-held House races became competitive (in a normal midterm election there are about 30-40). One year after the tea party got involved in Republican politics, we were EXPECTED to win back the House, and were having a remote chance of regaining the Senate as well.

So before blaming the tea party for losing Nevada and Delaware, you gotta thank the tea party for winning Massachussetts, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Arkansas and Pennsylvania. And also thank the tea party for saving the Senate seats in Florida, Ohio, Kentucky and Missouri.

And a note to my local Republicans: Before blaming the tea party for "losing" the NJ-6 congressional race, you have to thank them for winning about 40-50 more House seats than we were expected to win before the tea party started.

My Thoughts on the Midterm Election

2010-11-03T15:39:00.000-07:00

I think it was a great night for Republicans. Not all our favorites won, but it was pretty big anyway. Look at the map on the right. We painted America red again. There are still some pockets of liberal resistance, but we'll take care of many of those in 2 years.

NJ Assemblyman Michael Patrick Carroll said it best: "Essentially the only places you see blue are where they have tall buildings or hippies."

In the House we won about 64-65 seats. The Republicans haven't enjoyed such a large majority for almost 70 years. Now I know many of my friends are disappointed because Scott Sipprelle and Anna Little lost. But let's be realistic now: they were long shots anyway. If Republicans won ALL toss-up races, we would've got 90 seats. But neither NJ-6 nor NJ-12 were toss-ups. To win NJ-12 (Leaning Dem), we would've been in the 110-seats pick-up range. And if we won NJ-6 also (Likely Dem), we must've reached the 130-seats victory territory. But we won about half of the toss-up races, which is very good! Nancy Pelosi is no longer Speaker, and Alan Grayson is no longer in Congress! About 15 states switched to a Republican delegation majority, some of them who didn't have it since the 19th century.

We were hoping to get more seats in the Senate. We still got 6 or 7 and keep in mind that Democrats had very few incumbent seats to defend, 19 total, so we snatched one third of that from them. Chris Dodd, Russ Feingold and Arlen Specter are not Senators anymore. Neither would Obama be, since we won his seat also.

Probably the biggest disappointment of the night was Harry Reid's win. But there is a major upside to his win: Chuck "Schmucky" Schumer is not the Senate majority leader! That guy must be miserable, after spending the last 3 weeks in front of his mirror, pumping his fist and practicing his speech.

Middletown Democrat Thugs Vandalize Election Signs

2010-10-27T13:38:00.000-07:00

By now, we're used to the regular election sign wars in Middletown: signs being stolen, moved or taken down. It usually happens to Republican signs, and an active member of the Democrat executive committee was arrested and subjected to a fine a couple of years ago, after being caught in the act.

But this year, the sleazy Midddletown Democrat thugs are using new tactics. After taking down at least one 4x4 board sign, since last Friday night they started spraying those 4x4s with grafitti. It happened almost every night for the past 4-5 days, and some of those hoodlums are even tagging them with gang signs. You can see this happening on Tindall Rd, East Rd, Leonardville Rd and other places.

Maybe it's time for Joe Caliendo to remind his thugs that this is not Hudson or Union county, and this kind of gang vandalism is not welcome in Middletown. Or maybe the local committee people would know more. Most of the thuggery occurred in District 23 (Thomas Mahon and Annaliesa Meloro). It was also seen in the neighboring districts, 13 (Steven Borbely and Lynda Cordasco) and 34 (Peter Geronimo and Mary Yule).

Below you can see an example of this new type of Democrat vandalism.

Candidates Face the Northern Monmouth Chamber of Commerce

2010-10-14T12:23:00.000-07:00

On Oct 13th, the Northern Monmouth Chamber of Commerce invited Congressional and county candidates for a forum at the Bayshore Senior Center in Keansburg. The crowd was smaller than you'd expect, but most candidates showed up. It wasn't a debate, and no Q&A. Each candidate received the same series of questions in advance and were invited to respond.

Scott Sipprelle, running for Congress in the 12th district, was first. Probably has the most business credentials from all the candidates present, and he relates to the audience. Scott attacks the healthcare bill for the provision requiring all businesses that receive more than $600 from another business to send a 1099. In his example, if you're a transportation company, and buy gas at dozens of gas stations in the Northeast, identifying all of them and getting their tax ID's (since they're all independently operated) would be a nightmare.

Scott's opponent, Rush Holt, isn't here. But he has an excuse. He doesn't know where Monmouth County is.

6th district candidate Anna Little speaks about her conservative history and attacks the healthcare bill. She makes it clear she'll fight to repeal it. She speaks about her vision of water transportation in the Bayshore, from South Amboy all the way to Red Bank. She advocates the "flat tax" and at the end mentions the Fair Tax.

I can't say I wasn't surprised that Anna's opponent, Frank Pallone showed up. He doesn't like to appear in public recently, and it took guts for him to come face a group of small business owners, considering that everything he does in Congress is against business owners. Even more, he came well prepared and was on point with his answers. I don't agree with them, but he didn't avoid the issues, even if he read most of his speech.

One of the questions all the Congressional candidates were asked was whether they support the healthcare bill. Frank (who repeatedly said it's his bill, that he wrote it himself) spoke for over 10 minutes about it, but didn't say whether he voted for it or not, or whether he supports it or not. I'm yet to find a Democrat incumbent who's boast his vote for the healthcare bill in his/her campaign speeches/ads, except Harry Reid. Pallone said he's actively working to fix the bill. Does this mean he accepts it's broken?

Eventually, a surrogate for Rush Holt found the Chamber of Commerce. She struggled to read his answers, and not even halfway through her plea, people were leaving. I can't say it was more or less exciting than if Holt would've spoken. It was the same boring, meaningless blabber than you'd expect of him.

John D'Amico, Democrat running for Freeholder, was almost as boring as Holt's surrogate (his Dem colleague on the Monmouth Cty Board of Freeholders, Amy Mallet). It felt like half an hour and can't remember one thing he said.

Tom Arnone, mayor of Neptune City and Rep. candidate for freeholder, was probably the most interesting speaker. He didn't have any notes, he spoke completely free about his achievements as Mayor and President of the NJ Conference of Mayors, as well as his plans once he's elected.

Tom was followed by a blonde lady wearing a Halloween pirate costume. Her name is Janice, she's from Spring Lake, and she's running for freeholder as a Dem. She spoke for about 10 minutes about what she's done as a councilwoman to improve the business climate, and she would do to help companies, how the freeholders should get involved in business, and what elected representatives should do to help small businesses. And then all of a sudden, she ends with "... and I think Government should get out of the way of small businesses!". For anybody who listened to her speaking exclusively about how Government should get involved in the business environment, it must've been like a shock.

The Dem candidate for Sheriff, a short lawyer named Brophy, spoke briefly. He focused on spending by the current Sheriff's Department. According to him, the department is "losing about $2,500 per day. Over the year, this adds up to $8-9 million". Hmmmm. Maybe, but he's wrong by a 0 (a factor of 10). Won't blame him personally for this, after all if you're an Obama supporter you start mistaking trillions for billions and billions for millions.

Last candidate to speak was Brophy's opponent, current Monmouth County Sheriff Shaun Golden. He boasted his experience, as undersheriff for many years and acting Sheriff since the beginning of 2010. He challenged Brophy's calculations and said they're not losing money from the federal contracts. And he informed his young opponent that the department's contracts and budget are determined by the freeholders, not the Sheriff.

It was a good, informative forum, but I would've liked more local business owners to show up. Also, the ability to ask direct questions to the candidates would've been nice, but in that case I'd probably still be there at this hour.

The Road to Hell

2010-10-13T08:36:00.000-07:00

by Thomas Stokes

The road to hell, it is said, is paved with good intentions.

The current economic crisis, resulting from the sub prime mortgage meltdown, is certainly a perfect example of this.

Politicians had the major role in creating the current problems, starting with the admirable intention of having low-income families own their own homes.

The Community Reinvestment Act, passed by a Democrat Congress in 1977 to reduce alleged discriminatory credit practices in low income areas actually encouraged lending to uncreditworthy borrowers. Amendments to the CRA in the mid-1990s, raised the amount of mortgages issued to otherwise unqualified low-income borrowers, and allowed the securitization of CRA-regulated mortgages, even though many were subprime.

Those who opposed this faced charges of racism from the more liberal politicians and activist groups like SEIU and ACORN (both of these organizations are international and no information is provided as to foreign funding of their political activities in the US).

In 1982, a Democrat Congress passed the Alternative Mortgage Transactions Parity Act (AMTPA), which allowed creditors to write adjustable-rate mortgages, including option adjustable-rate, balloon-payment and interest-only mortgages.

Approximately 80% of subprime mortgages were adjustable-rate mortgages.

By 2008, the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac owned, either directly or through mortgage pools they sponsored, $5.1 trillion in residential mortgages, about half the total U.S. mortgage market.

When concerns arose in September 2008 regarding the ability of Fannie and Freddie to make good on their guarantees, Washington placed the companies into a conservatorship, effectively nationalizing them at the taxpayers' expense.

What has been the result of this?

The worst economic crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930's. In 2009, almost 3 million homeowners faced foreclosure. Huge drops in home values for those who manged to keep their homes with many now "under water" (values below the mortgage owed). Double digit unemployment, poverty levels higher than when President Johnson waged a "War on Poverty". This attempt to help people has not only hurt those same low-income families. but has also hurt each and every one of us.

In New Jersey, politicians have created the Council on Affordable Housing (COAH) which imposes mandates on communities, like Middletown, to provide low-income, high density housing at taxpayer expense. This has a major impact on services, especially schools, and the property taxes we pay.

Professional politicians, of both parties, always searching for more votes, ignore the unintended (but not unforseen) consequences of their actions. Yes, the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

November is Coming to Middletown

2010-10-01T21:21:00.000-07:00

October 1st, 32 days before election day, the AFP bus made a stop in Middletown for the grand opening of the Bayshore Tea Party HQ. Bayshore TP is one of the first tea party groups that appeared in NJ in early 2009. Since then, it continued to grow in numbers, it became more and more active in the local community and is currently conducting an unprecedented grassroots campaign for Anna Little. And now, due to AFP, its NJ director Steve Lonegan, and its grassroots campaign November is Coming, Bayshore has its one HQ!

There are a lot of local patriots who made all of this possible: Barbara, Dwight, Brian, Bob, Lynn and many others. They achieved so much in just over one year and! Having Steve Lonegan and the November is Coming bus stop here is a great honor for the tea party.

Steve addressed a crowd of almost 100 people, gathered in a parking lot on busy Route 35, and started by saying that the current tea party efforts will make "Acorn look like Little League baseball". In 2006 and 2008, taxpayer-funded Acorn conducted a very aggressive GOTV campaign, but that's being dwarfed now by the more numerous, more dedicated, more enthusiastic conservative volunteers.

What the AFP is offering Bayshore TP, besides a very nice HQ, is a state-of-the-art phone banking system and a micro-targeting voter database, which will optimize the volunteers time so they can reach those voters most likely to swing their votes. It cost AFP a lot of money raised through private donations, but it's all free for the Bayshore tea partiers!

Anna Little also stopped by and energized the crowd with a short speech, while trucks carrying huge Little signs were driving up and down the highway. Not even a disgruntled liberal neighbor who called the cops couldn't interrupt the party. Mayor Scharfenberger of Middletown and township candidate Kevin Settembrino stopped by, as well as representatives from Scott Sipprelle's campaign and the Monmouth County Republican Committee, signaling that all Republicans in NJ are joining forces against the Democrats.

AFP is targeting three incumbent Democrats, Adler, Pallone and Holt, with the last two being in the coverage area of the Bayshore TP. Steve Lonegan predicted a 100-seat swing in the House, and Anna Little, Scott Sipprelle and Jon Runyan will be part of this new wave of Republican representatives.

The Bayshore Tea Party HQ is located at 275 Route 35 in Middletown, just North of Pool world. Please stop by and join the conservative grassroots efforts!

November is Coming

2010-10-01T10:03:00.000-07:00

The "November is Coming" headquarters in Middletown has its grand Friday night at 7pm. It will be managed by the Bayshore Tea Party, being the first tea party HQ sponsored by AFP. Here's the press release:

New Jersey’s Flagship ‘November Is Coming’ Tea Party Headquarters will be first of its kind in nation, Friday, October 1st, 7PM

RED BANK– Americans for Prosperity is announcing the grand opening of its ‘November Is Coming’ Tea Party headquarters in Middletown, located at 275 Highway 35, on Friday, October 1st at 7PM. The opening will coincide with arrival of the free market organization’s ‘November Is Coming’ Bus Tour.

The ‘November Is Coming’ Bus Tour will be making stops in key districts across the state earlier in the day, including Cherry Hill, Toms River, and Somerset.

New Jersey state director Steve Lonegan hailed the opening of the headquarters as groundbreaking.

“The Tea Party movement has been enormously effective in recruiting activists. These patriots have mobilized for rallies and protests but now they will have a central place where they can meet, organize and execute the grassroots voter reach out that is necessary to ensure a conservative victory in November.

“This is truly a remarkable step. Nowhere else in the country do Tea Party activists have such an operation in place. All the momentum and energy in the Tea Party movement will now be focused on our ‘November Is Coming’ grassroots effort. They realize the time for rallies is over and the time to get the troops on the ground to make a difference has come.

“The passion and intensity in the conservative Tea Party movement is palpable. And now these activists will be using this energy toward the biggest voter education and outreach effort ever undertaken by the conservative movement. By the time we are done, this will make ACORN look like Little League baseball.”

Activists participating in the ‘November Is Coming’ project will be encouraged to go door-to-door and implement a state-of-the-art phone banking system as part of a citizen education effort. Activists will let people know where incumbent representatives stand on the issues and encourage them to contact their representatives to tell them to stop the out-of-control spending and big government policies.

The New Jersey campaign will focus on educating voters about the big government, big spending records of incumbents of Frank Pallone, John Adler, and Rush Holt.

The grand opening of the November Is Coming Tea Party headquarters is free and open to all conservative Tea Party activists.

What: Grand Opening of November Is Coming Tea Party Headquarters – Middletown

Who: Americans for Prosperity, Tea Party Activists

When: Friday, October 1st at 7 p.m.
Where: New Jersey November Is Coming Headquarters
275 Highway 35
Red Bank, NJ 07701

Media: Media are invited to attend. Please contact Michael Proto at mproto@afphq.org or (201) 487-8844/(201) 281-2700.

For more information, please visit www.NovemberIsComing.com

A Reaction to Chris Christie's Education Reform Proposals

2010-09-29T09:26:00.000-07:00

Ed Mazlish sent us the following response regarding the Governor's education reform agenda:

Governor Christie called the Legislature into special session for a Constitutional Amendment to deal with the crisis of school funding and the high property taxes mandated by the Abbott decisions. Did he propose an Amendment to overrule th...e Abbott decisions? No. He proposed yet another cap on property tax increases - instead of dealing with (1) the Court's blatant violation of separation of powers by ordering spending and tax increases to support such spending; and (2) the misguided Constitutional provision that the Court used to justify such violation of separation of powers (the Public Education Clause). If he "loved children" and really wanted to deal with the education crisis - both from the perspective of failing schools and skyrocketting property taxes - he would have urged a very different Constitutional Amendment. And he certainly would not be trying to override taxing and spending decisions dealing with education made by local school boards and centralize such decisionmaking in Trenton.

What's even worse is that he had a very creative, committed Education Commissioner in Bret Schundler who has demonstrated novel thinking on solving education problems. Instead of implementing some of the vouchjer and charter school proposals Schundler has championed and pioneered, he threw Schundler under the bus at the first opportunity.

The solutions to the education problem are really not that difficult. Conservative thinkers and politicians have been providing the justifications necessary to implement real change in the education arena - these arguments have been available for at least all of Governor Christie's adult life, if not longer. He is either aware of them and chooses to ignore then, or he is willfully ignorant of them. Either way that does not demonstrate his love for the children.

Bashing the teachers unions makes for good soundbytes (and I am no fan of those unions, or any other unions for that matter). But it does not make for sound policy. It would be nice of the Governor had a better solution to the education crisis than artificial caps on property taxes (that have more holes than swiss cheese), redistributing wealth from rich districts to poor ones (otherwise known as raiding the surpluses of districts that actually saved money for a rainy day over the years), and demoralizing the teachers who will ultimately be teaching most children in New Jersey. We deserve better from a Governor who promised to shake things up.

Chris Christie on Education Reform

2010-09-28T20:40:00.001-07:00

Today, Sep 28, I attended Governor Chris Christie's townhall meeting in Old Bridge, focused on his proposals for education reform. It's the first time I go to a townhall organized by someone I support. The ones I've attended before were organized by Democrats and resulted in a lot of frustrated attendees, vociferations, protests and so on, due to the extreme views of the speakers. Rush Holt even decided that "townhalls have a negative connotation", without thinking that maybe his ideas have negative implications. So in a way I expected a lot of discontent union members to show up, especially in Democratic Old Bridge from Democratic Middlesex County. To my surprise, most of the people inside the packed room (a few hundred peoples) were supporting the Christie Reform Agenda, were enthusiastic about his proposals, and have him many rounds of standing ovations.

The Governor started kinda like an E! channel show, with about five minutes dedicated to movie reviews. He talked about The Cartel, but especially about the newly released Waiting for Superman. There's no coincidence, as these movies are about failed public school systems. So he went straight to the topic of the day - education. And today he didn't speak about compensation, benefits, guaranteed pay raises or (lack of) contributions to health insurance, but about one thing: teacher quality.

Packed room in Old Bridge

His first example, as it relates to his recent joint appearance with Mayor Booker of Newark and CEO Mark Zuckerberg (or Zuckerman as Booker repeatedly called him) of Facebook, was about the abysmal Newark school system. Over there, only 1 in 2 children graduate from high school. You can say this is bad enough. But 95% of those students who decide to go to college need remedial education to bring them up to the level of college admission knowledge! What this means is that high school tests are rigged so those teachers can make themselves look good and keep their jobs!

The problem with public (unionized) education in NJ (and other states) is that it doesn't take into account AT ALL teachers' performance. The system doesn't reward good teachers and punish bad teachers. It just maintains a status quo where everyone has a guaranteed job, a guaranteed salary, a guaranteed pay raise. Imagine another enterprise, a private company, where at the end of the year, the boss comes to one of the worst employees and says "Congrats for surviving one more year! Here's your bonus and your 5% raise for next year!". Does anyone see that possible?? Well, it's the reality of unionized education, where the only test you have to pass in order to keep your job and get a raise is "to breathe". That's all you have to do!

Chris Christie said "I don't attack teachers. I attack BAD teacher". And later: "I don't bash teachers, I bash stubborn, self-interested unions". It's the unions that have created the so called "rubber rooms" in New York City. A rubber room is a room where the worst teachers are sent to just do nothing... watch TV, read newspapers, play cards, while getting paid full salary and benefits. Just because it's so hard and expensive to fire them that it's more economically feasible to pay them full salary to do nothing! That's the reality of public education.

The Governor said the NJ Legislature needs to act on several bills. One is about prohibiting using seniority as a basis for deciding compensation. It goes back to the previous example. Right now, salaries, benefits and pay raises are obtained automatically, simply by breathing for one more year. It doesn't matter if you're the best or the worst teacher, you get the same. I don't think it's even necessary to ask what's then the incentive to be a good teacher?? Christie's proposal is very simple: compensation should be based only on merit. Good teachers get paid more, and bad teachers get paid less or get FIRED. Also, he suggested that additional degrees shouldn't be a criteria for boosting a salary, as a lot of teachers get free Masters' degrees (I mean, paid by the taxpayers) in non-related subjects, just to get a pay increase.

Chris Christie's 2nd legislative proposal is about tenure. The way tenure is used now in public education is illogical. Tenure was introduced in higher education in order to stimulate professors to be free thinkers and to engage in creative debate, without fearing for their job. But it's been adopted by the public education system as a synonym for "job guarantee". 3rd grade teachers don't engage in phylosophical debates, the hide behind tenure as an excuse for their performance. Imagine the following discussion a principal can have with a parent: "Your daughter's 3rd grade teacher is really bad, but you know we can't fire her. Lucky us, we got more funding from the state, so we're gonna give her a pay raise this year, and try to talk to her into bettering herself. And who knows, maybe next year she'll do a better job". The thing is that the daughter of that parent has only one year in 3rd grade. And that more money won't make that teacher better. But this is the reality of our public, unionized education.

I think teachers should be like eveybody else working in this country: you do your job well, you keep it. You do a bad job, you get fired. Chris Christie's proposal wasn't that common sense (or "radical", as the Democrats would call it), he just proposed that tenure should be granted or revoked based on teacher performance. I'm sure it would still be very hard to revoke someone's tenure, but it's a small step forward.

Christie takes on the unions

After his speech, the Governor said he's ready for "the fun part of the program, the one most likely to get on YouTube": questions from the public. He responded pretty much on point to all of them, as they were about common sense issues like education (mostly) or public employees. He seemed a little bit upset only when the issues of accrued sick time was raised. In case you didn't know, public employees are allowed a certain amount of sick days per year, which accrue unlimited over their career, and when you retire you get PAID for all those unused sick days. Sounds sick, doesn't it??? The Governor errupted saying that "if after 20 years on the job you haven't used any sick days, you shouldn't asked to be paid for that, you should go to church, get on your knees, and thank God for your good health". But really, can anyone find any similar arrangement in any other American enterprise? There were people who retired this year and were paid by the State (meaning us, taxpayers), $900,000 (Nine Hundred Thousand Dollars) in accrued sick time. This makes ME sick! The best the Governor could do was to cap those payments at $15k/person. Still a lot, but the best you can achieve with a Democratic legislature driven by special interest groups (read: Unions).

Someone asked about RGGI, which is the local equivalent of Cap & Trade, used by several liberal Northeast states. I was looking forward to hearing the Governor's opinion about this, and can't say I was very satisfied. He said he's a bit opposed to it, because big industrial states like Pennsylvania are not participating, so the program is totally ineffective and even more, creates higher costs of doing business in NJ, while Pennsylvania can attract more of those businesses away from NJ. But Chris Christie didn't specifically address the fact that it costs small businesses a lot of money and ultimately we, the citizens of NJ, have to pay all those costs associated with Tax&Trade.

Finally, Chris Christie's best quote about Democrats came as related to a question about vouchers and charter schools: "They don't like choice, because it allows people to walk away from failures". This is true about so many aspects about our life. Democrats would like to mandate and regulate everything (what to eat, what car to drive, what light bulbs to use, etc), because people won't "choose" something they don't like unless they're forced to or left with no other choice.

Rush Holt "Darling" Appointed as Consumer Protection Czar

2010-09-17T13:09:00.001-07:00

Today, Pres. Obama announced that he will appoint Elizabeth Warren to be an Assistant to the President and Special Advisor to the Secretary of Treasury on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, circumventing the Senate confirmation process. Sen. John Cornyn issued the following statement:

“Another day, another unelected czar is added to the Obama Administration. The President’s reliance on unelected czars to implement his radical agenda skirts the very checks and balances our nation was founded upon, and directly contradicts President Obama’s pledge to be the most transparent Administration in history. What is transparent is that making Elizabeth Warren his ‘consumer czar’ is an obvious political favor to special interest groups – like labor unions and liberal grassroots organizations – meant to invigorate them 50 days before an election.”

Back in July, Rush Holt was asked at a "press conference" if he'd support Elizabeth Warren was a consumer protection czar. He became very excited about that question. He couldn't stop praising her. Holt said that Warren "distinguished herself by speaking for the little guy", and that "some say she's a liberal, but she just wants to help the little guy". He also said Warren "SHOULD BE the 1st director of a Consumer Protection Agency", but because it would be practically impossible to confirm such a radical leftist (with communist sympathies) in the Senate, Holt said he hopes that the President can circumvent the Senate and appoint her.

So Rush Holt's months-long scheme came true, Elizabeth Warren being appointed as a czar without the due process of Senate confirmations.

Desperate Career Politician Holt Resorts to Negative Smear Campaign Against Sipprelle

2010-09-08T10:24:00.000-07:00

Sipprelle slams Holt TV Ad as "mean-spirited and full of fabrications"

Princeton, September 8, 2010 - Career politician Rush Holt (NJ-12) launched his campaign today with a negative cable television commercial filled with personal attacks and complete fabrications in a desperate attempt to smear his opponent and distract voters from his failed record in Congress, charged his challenger, businessman Scott Sipprelle.

The ad is in stark contrast to the positive, issued-based ads Sipprelle has aired this summer detailing his positions on important issues facing the country.

"After 12 years in Congress, all Rush Holt has to offer is dishonest attack ads to distract people from his failed record on jobs, reckless government spending and extreme partisanship," said Sipprelle. "His decision to go negative on me in his first ad is the clearest indication yet that our positive campaign message of economic renewal and political reform is catching fire with voters and that Mr. Holt's political career is on life support."

Sipprelle chided Holt for, again, resorting to personal smears and complete fabrications about Sipprelle's stance on the issues.

"Let me be perfectly clear, I have never once advocated for denying women equal pay for equal work. On behalf of my wife and daughter, I challenge Mr. Holt to produce one single shred of credible proof that I have ever taken that position," said Sipprelle. "Furthermore, Mr. Holt's retreat into class-warfare politics in attacking my plan for comprehensive tax reform isn't surprising from a professional politician who has made a career out of promoting tax-hikes and tax loopholes."

Sipprelle added, "My position on this issue has always been crystal clear - my flat tax plan would cut taxes for all individuals and corporations, while eliminating tax breaks, credits, earmarks, and special deductions. That's not a tax cut for the rich, it's a tax cut for working people and an end to Washington's shady culture of tax loopholes. This will create a fairer, simpler system and help spark our economy."

Sipprelle concluded by saying he relished a fight with his opponent over who best represents the American Dream.

"My immigrant grandfather began his American dream by picking vegetables in farm fields, while Mr. Holt comes from a line of established politicians," charged Sipprelle. "I started from the bottom and worked my way to success through personal sacrifice, toil and dedication, while Mr. Holt has spent his entire professional life in the sheltered confines of a college campus ivory tower or roaming the Halls of Congress. I coached town baseball and fund educational scholarships for the disadvantaged, while he parties and cuts deals with lobbyists and political insiders who help preserve his increasingly tenuous cling to power. When it comes to the American Dream, I am the living embodiment of it, while Mr. Holt promotes policies that are moving the American Dream out-of-reach for future generations of Americans."

See Holt's TV Ad here:
http://www.rushholt.com/content/holt-campaign-releases-new-tv-spot

Is a Severe Recession Obama's Plan for 2012?

2010-09-03T15:10:00.000-07:00

If you thought we barely passed through a bad recession, then wait for 2011. The huge tax increases that will occur when the tax cuts of 2002-2004 expire will deal a severe blow to our economy, which could send us into a much severe recession that the one we didn't even recover from.

Despite all the lies that come out of Obama's mouth (and I'm shocked at how he can keep a straight face while telling them), small businesses will suffer a deadly hit after January 1st. As you can read in today's Wall Street Journal, 48% of small business income will see a tax rate increase from 35% to 40.8%. That's a 5.8 tax rate increase, or more precisely, a 16% increase in the tax liability. At the end of 2011, as a small business owner, you should be happy to still be in business.

Now consider the fact that the GOP will take over the House (according to a study published by the Huffington Post, there's a 79% chance of that happening). Also, the GOP is very close to also getting the Senate. According to the RCP averages, Republicans will win 8 seats. That leaves them to win 2 of the other 3 competitive races (Wisconsin, California and Nevada), which is very probable.

So what's gonna happen? Republicans will control the full Congress, Obama will prevent them from passing any relief measures, and will blame the recession that he engineered on an inept GOP Congress. Then he will run on this in 2012. It seems like the only thing that could still save him, given the total support from the media.

AFP Applauds Sen Doherty and Oroho for Introducing Cap-and-Trade Repeal Bill

2010-08-25T17:29:00.000-07:00

Legislation Would Repeal Global Warming Response Act, End New Jersey’s Participation in RGGI Cap-and-Trade Scheme

BOGOTA, NJ – Americans for Prosperity is praising Senator Michael Doherty (R-23) and Senator Steven Oroho (R-24) for introducing legislation that would lead to New Jersey’s withdrawal from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) “Cap & Trade” program.

The legislation, which mirrors the bill introduced in the Assembly earlier this summer by Alison Littell McHose (R-24) and Michael Patrick Carroll (R-25), would repeal the Global Warming Response Act and the companion legislation that created the RGGI cap-and-trade-program originally passed in 2007 under Jon Corzine.

Currently, New Jersey is one of ten states participating in the RGGI cooperative. To date, eight RGGI auctions have taken place extracting over $660 million in revenue. New Jersey’s share of $65 million was diverted by Governor Christie in the FY 2011 budget to plug the revenue shortfall. And last week the governor announced plans to use RGGI funds to subsidize a wasteful windmill project off of New Jersey’s coast.

Senator Doherty issued the following statement: “There are many credible members of the scientific community that have questioned the theory of global warming. New Jersey's citizens and businesses do not need economically damaging regulations or energy based taxes that are prompted by the global warming hysteria of recent years.”

Americans for Prosperity state director Steve Lonegan thanked both legislators for taking a stand on this issue.

“Senators Doherty and Oroho both recognize that cap-and-trade is nothing less than an insidious tax on energy. They understand that such a tax will make our state less competitive, kill jobs, and force ratepayers to bear the cost in the way of skyrocketing utility bills.”

“In recent weeks, we have also discovered some stunning and disturbing news about the way the RGGI program operates. There is a total lack of transparency with RGGI bureaucrats refusing open records requests and failing to disclose the salaries of their employees; salaries paid by the taxpayers of New Jersey,” said Lonegan. “The clandestine way in which this program operates is all the more reason RGGI needs to be repealed and New Jersey needs to withdraw from this scheme now.”

“We thank Senators Doherty and Oroho for their courageous effort to put an end to the ill-conceived RGGI program and we look forward to other legislators, and the governor, joining with them to do what is in the best interests of our state.”

For more information on New Jersey’s cap-and-trade program, please visit www.NoNJCapAndTrade.com.

Anna Little Closes the Gap at 6% on Frank Pallone

2010-08-23T17:33:00.001-07:00

Anna Little’s Grassroots Strategy Keeps Sixth District Race Close

Repeated Votes on Spending Also Keeping Incumbent’s Numbers Down

Highlands, NJ – In a poll released by the Anna Little for Congress campaign, Anna Little is only six points behind 22-year incumbent Frank Pallone. The poll, conducted by National Research Inc., shows Pallone at 40% and Little closing the gap at 34%. Perhaps most telling is that Pallone has nearly 100% name ID among voters in the district. “The more people learn about Anna Little, the more they like her and can see her as the right alternative to the incumbent. The voters already know about Frank Pallone and becoming increasingly uncomfortable with his out-of-touch voting record. He’s been in Washington too long and has become a bit too cozy with Nancy Pelosi.” commented campaign chair, Leigh-Ann Bellew.

Aside from Pallone’s voting history and strong support of Speaker Pelosi’s agenda, Anna’s campaign is running an unprecedented ground effort that is taking her message directly to the voters. During the past five weeks, Anna Little’s volunteer army has knocked on more than 10,000 doors in the Sixth District. A tireless campaigner, having won her past five elections for Mayor and Freeholder in similar fashion, Anna is comfortable taking her message directly to the voters.

Little said she was heartened and gratified by the results, though she admitted she is not surprised: “The arrogance of Frank Pallone and Nancy Pelosi aside, New Jersey voters have sent and are sending an unmistakable message to Democratic incumbents - stop spending money we don’t have and bankrupting our children. It seems that neither Governor Christie’s election nor the unsustainable path on which the Democrats in Congress have put America matter to entrenched incumbents like Frank Pallone and Nancy Pelosi. As Frank Pallone said at his town hall last year, he just knows better what’s good for us.”

Little’s ground game arrives in Manalapan this Saturday, August 28th, beginning with a meet and greet followed by dozens of volunteers and the candidate spending the day in the neighborhoods. The details will be announced on Wednesday, August 25th. All are welcome and members of the press are encouraged to attend.

An Afternoon at Frank Pallone's Open House

2010-08-17T08:06:00.001-07:00

Aug 16, 4pm, Congressman Frank Pallone hosted an open house at his Long Branch office. About 30 tea partiers gathered outside to protest, while 25-30 people gathered on the porch and in the hallway hoping to see their representative. While waiting on the alley, there was very little evidence that anybody (including those coming out) managed to see Pallone, who apparently was hiding in his upstairs office.

It was a hot afternoon. One protester said he's as sweaty as a Democrat on election night. The tea partiers were told they can't "stand" on the sidewalk, so they marched up and down the road in front of the building. One of their chant was "Get out of Anna's house!"

Staffers invited me inside. One of them told me I have a nice camera and I can take pictures. Then she said I can't take pictures, but I can take notes. But the Congressman held only one-on-one meetings, and I can't join any of those. So I could only take notes of what? People sweating in a crowded room with no A/C?

One lady in her 80s comes out and she says Pallone couldn't help her. When asked what she needed help with she said "I need help getting into my grave". Silence followed. I wanted to suggest that Pallone co-authored ObamaCare, and thus he's actually helping her, but she continued with a rant about her husband's will, and how the grave was left out of it, and his son won't let her use it.

A teenage scout girl brings out candy. My friend Art asks her if she wants to see the Congressman and the girl is in shock. "Congressman?? I thought this is the funeral!" Quite understandable, since the people waiting in line to see Frank Pallone looked quite grim. Meanwhile, the tea partiers kept having fun, waving flags, responding to honks, and chanting.

Art is also talking to a senior lady who twice said that her relatives fought in the Revolutionary War. She says she came here to save the horses. No, not the horse racing at Meadowlands or Monmouth Park, but the horses out west which are slaughtered for the Europeans to eat.

After waiting for more than 2 hours in some cases, people are leaving the building. Pallone's staffers come outside to serve Kool Aid to the overheated people. All the staffers are very short and thin girls. And a boy. At least now I know what's his type.

I'll post a few more updates once I'm able to identify some people who actually spoke to Congressman Pallone. In the meantime, enjoy a few pictures!

Holt vs Sipprelle: Jobs

2010-08-16T08:30:00.000-07:00

Rush Holt has a new section on his website dedicated to comparing his positions to Scott Sipprelle's. It's appropriate that he put JOBS at the top of the page, since economy and the jobs seem to be the most serious issue on the voters' mind going into the November elections. Here's the comparison that Holt makes:

Rush Holt:

Helping create jobs with tax credits for small businesses.
Created the New Jersey Technology Center to build the jobs of the new economy.
Demanded that big banks that took government bail outs make more loans available.

Scott Sipprelle:

Opposes raising the minimum wage.¹
Opposes equal pay for equal work for women.²
Profited by investing in and promoting corporations that shipped American jobs overseas.³

Let's go through the list, starting with Scott Sipprelle:

1. Economists are unanimous in agreeing that raising the minimum wage results in unemployment. It's a basic economic principle. Raising the minimum wage is good posturing as social justice, but it results in higher unemployment for those categories of workers that work at minimum age, especially teenagers. After the last minimum wage increase, teenage unemployment skyrocketed.

2. Holt still has to document Sipprelle's opposition to equal pay for women. What Sipprelle opposed is not equal pay, but a new law mandating it. Wages are settled on the labor market, and interfering with the free market always has unintended consequences. If a woman is paid less than a man in a certain job, that can be due to a lot of factors. Mandating equal pay, since it imposes artificial wages for certain female employees, will results in less jobs for women. Again, Sipprelle's position would prevent an increase in unemployment.

3. Did the rocket scientist ever wonder why would a company ship jobs overseas? It's because of the high payroll taxes they're subjected to here, to the vast array of Government regulation which increases the cost of employing in the US, and (especially now) because of the climate of incertitude regarding new taxes and regulations that may come (like health care insurance costs, union mandates, carbon taxes, expiring or not expiring tax cuts). Scott Sipprelle's positions would definitely help contain all those reasons for companies to outsource jobs overseas. Holt still didn't mention what his incentives for companies to hire are.

Now on to Rush Holt:

1. What credits exactly? I have a small business and I'm not receiving anything. I just have to pay more and more taxes and I see no logical economic reason of hiring anyone right now.

2. What? Where? How does that help?

3. Wait, isn't that how our current crisis started? By Government forcing banks to make loans to borrowers who should't have otherwise received them? If a bank considers it safe to make a loan, it will make it, that's how banks make profits and bankers get rich! If they don't make a loan to someone, it's because they consider the risk outweighs the benefits. And now Holt again wants to force banks to make loans to borrowers who might be able to pay back??

The bottom line is: who would you trust more about the economy and jobs? A bookish rocket scientist, or an investor and small business owner?

Anna Little Held a Press Conference During the President's Visit

2010-07-29T16:36:00.000-07:00

Mayor Anna Little, Republican Candidate in 6th District held a Press Conference during the President’s visit to address the continuing economic challenges facing many Businesses in New Jersey’s 6th District.

Yesterday, Anna Little, Republican Nominee for Congressional District 6 joined with residents from the 6th district in greeting President Obama in Edison, NJ. After being relocated twice by Secret Service officials, Little made statements to the press via an open demonstration promoting Liberty and Economic Freedom, and outlining the ineffectiveness of economic stimulus legislation to date.

"New Jersey has lost more than 85,000 jobs since Obama entered office in January 2009, and the New Jersey unemployment rate has stagnated at more than 9% since May of 2009,” said Little, with tea party demonstrators at her back. Little continued to explain that President Obama's budget for 2011 generates nearly $10 trillion in cumulative deficits and increases the national debt to 90% of US economic output by 2020.

While tea party demonstrators shouted "Liberty" and "Freedom" along the curbside at Plainfield Avenue and Lincoln Highway (Route 27) in Edison, NJ, Little continued the conference stating, "The stimulus plan obviously has not created jobs in New Jersey, but rather has resulted in debt, deficit and taxes to be paid by our children and grandchildren."

Congressman Frank Pallone along with this administration's bailout sent a trillion US tax dollars to foreign banks on the backs of struggling American families,” stated Little. "A healthy economy depends upon vibrant and successful small business. Free market principles coupled with across the board tax reductions would set the stage for economic growth."

The group joined in singing "God Bless America" before closing the conference.

Obama Visits Edison

2010-07-28T14:38:00.000-07:00

President Obama was in Edison, NJ today. He had a "sandwich summit" at the Tastee Sub Shop on Plainfield Ave, where he met with a few local business owners. Of course, this was a great occasion for local conservatives who disagree with his policies to show up and show their discontent.

We set up on the SW corner of Plainfield Ave and Rt 27, a block from Tastee. All corners were full of people, must've been hundreds, but the tea partiers ruled our corner, especially members of the Bayshore Tea Party. Actually, I kept wondering where are the other groups, since only Bayshore seemed to be organized.

Although there was a mix of Obama protesters and opponents, the event was very peaceful. We had many conversations with the radical liberals, but we kept disagreements on topics, not on a personal level. One of them even brought us drinks (tea!) and we all sang kumbaya together. The only incident occurred after people started leaving, when some Obama girls (on drugs, maybe) started yelling racist stuff in one of our friends' face, until the State Police came and removed them.

There was a lot of press embedded in our group, so the secret service had to behave in a civilized manner. The spoke nicely to us, and didn't even push us waaay back, like they pushed two groups of Obama supporters on the opposite corner. When the motorcade drove by, there was loud booing, and waving of American and Gadsden flags. What happened inside Tastee? You'll have to find out from someone who was there. Now here are some pictures:

The Tea Party corner:

The Bayshore Tea Party in the front row:

State police attempting to push back the crowds:

This is still Frank Pallone's district, but not for long:

Getting ready for Obama's arrival. Snipers in position on Tastee's roof, pockets of Obama supporters being pushed back.

The Presidential motorcade arrives. Obama kept the windows shut and didn't acknowledge the crowd. The car with the big antenna is the teleprompter's command center.

A bunch of crazy Obama girls (arguably on drugs) started yelling racist stuff at one of our tea party protesters. The State Police intervened and pushed them aside, but one of them was still struggling and hitting back at the officer.

Off all these hundreds of people, there must have been a stupid liberal anarchist who got himself arrested. Note how everyone has their fists raised, holding their cameras!

"Town Halls" Having Negative Connotations for Liberals?

2010-07-27T14:20:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Rep. Rush Holt (NJ-12) was supposed to have a "town hall meeting" at Greenbriar in Marlboro. Well, at the last moment, they changed the name to "press conference" (the new name was taped over the original one). When asked, one of the local organizers said that "town hall has negative connotations".

I checked the definition, and it is: "A town hall meeting is an informal public meeting. Everybody in a community is invited to attend, voice their opinions, and hear the responses from public figures and elected officials."

So which part of this has negative connotations for Rush Holt? Is it the public? The voicing of opinions? Having to give answers? Anyway, the event was supposed to be secret liberal shindig, and the change occurred after Holt's people found out that there will be conservatives in the audience. He would've liked to keep it private, but since he was there in his position of Congressman (so the event was taxpayer-funded), they couldn't deny admission to anybody.

Oh well, and the press conference went really well, Rush Holt took 3 questions from the public, after which he said he has a train to catch and left.

The NAACP and the Tea Party

2010-07-23T06:09:00.000-07:00

by Pastor Shannon Wright

As someone who has had the opportunity to participate in both NAACP and Tea Party initiatives I am struggling to see what makes these 2 groups so adversarial. All of the attention focussed here takes us off the real issues and there are many! Instead of working so hard to tear each other down perhaps we should be looking at our shared common ground. Lower taxes is not a race issue, job creation is not a race issue, immigration is not a race issue, quality public education is not a race issue, healthcare that makes sense is not a race issue.

African American voters along with other minorities have been taken for granted and or just over looked for decades as uninterested or unresponsive. Our votes have been based on tradition and propaganda rather than the issues. The Tea Party movement has made it's progress based on what it knows and what it has heard. Perhaps if both sides put aside their preconceived notions and sat together to discuss the issues we would all get farther. We all have far more in common than what we actually differ on. Perhaps if both side would be willing to sit down have have a dialog about the issues we all agree on we could put forward a unified agenda and move forward to identify candidates that fit that agenda based on what really matters, the issues.

For far too long New Jersey has gone down in education, gone down in job creation and retention, and gone up in taxes. Something has to give. If we don't find a way to work together what is going to give is the backs of all the families struggling to raise families and survive in our great state.

To both sides I say remember a house divided cannot stand! Who benefits if we are divided? Not the small business people struggling to do business in New Jersey, not the home owners struggling with ever rising property taxes, not families looking for a good education for their children, and certainly not those who want to see New Jersey thrive.

If I were a conspiracy theorist which I am not, I would say it is the incumbent Democrat that benefits from this division. If they can keep everyone at odds people that do vote in an off year will vote the way they always vote and in New Jersey, a typically blue state you do the math. Hmmm, something to think about isn't it? If we want real change that makes sense we need to change how we operate.

So, to both the NAACP and the Tea Party movement I issue a challenge. Let's set a date and time to get together and discuss the issues. Let's formulate an agenda. Let's invite the Congressional candidates. Let's make this about the issues. Any takers?

Pallone Lies to the People on Their Dime Concerning Government Healthcare Takeover

2010-07-16T10:03:00.000-07:00

Congressional Candidate Anna Little Refuses to Accept his Arguments

Highlands, NJ—Congressman Frank Pallone’s most recent “Constituent Update”, paid for by constituents of the 6th District, ostensibly seeks to dispel “myths” about government-run healthcare. Congressional candidate and Highlands Mayor Anna Little agrees with most American citizens that the only myths about the healthcare reform bill are those that Pallone would advocate as truth.

First, Pallone claimed that government healthcare will not lead to rationed care, noting that “reform takes insurance company executives out of the decision making process for your family.” Anna Little has retorted by noting that “the vast majority of people would rather make their health care decisions after consultation with their doctor than with a government bureaucrat”. Mayor Little realizes that a lack of competition among insurance companies has led to today’s broken system and has developed an alternative to Pallone’s disastrous bill:

o Tort reform: Lawsuits, and the “threat” of lawsuits, add tens of billions of dollars to health care costs requiring doctors and hospitals to practice “defensive medicine”.
o Allowing health care insurance providers to sell policies across State lines to increase competition, lower cost and increase availability.
o Demonstrating a real commitment to stopping Medicare and Medicaid fraud, estimated to account for 20% of those programs’ total cost to taxpayers.
o Eliminate taxpayer subsidized health care for those illegally in the United States.
o Encouraging HSAs – Health Savings Accounts, which would put people in direct control of their healthcare, without any third party interference.
o Remove antitrust protection for insurance companies.

While Pallone’s healthcare bill would merely compound the problem, Little’s suggestions would target the root of the crisis and produce genuine, lasting results.

Next, Pallone made the statement, “We can afford healthcare reform”. Mayor Little asks, “Who can afford Healthcare reform?” The taxpayers will bear an increased burden and see a decrease in the quality of healthcare due to a dizzying new array of government bureaucracy and an increase in the number of individuals who have coverage. Because Congress is exempt from abiding by the reform, Frank Pallone can afford healthcare reform. The taxpayers in the 6th District and the rest of the Country, however, cannot.

Little recognizes that “reckless taxing and spending has created a staggering 14 trillion dollar federal debt and a 1.5 trillion dollar budget deficit, both of which are clearly unsustainable. Government has over stepped its bounds, and must be turned back. No more bailouts and corporate welfare; we will not borrow and spend our way to prosperity. I support a balanced budget amendment and the elimination of earmarks and pork barrel spending.”

Mayor Little will continue to fight against this radical healthcare bill and encourages all Americans to do the same: “The current health insurance bills written by Frank Pallone, proposed by both chambers of Congress and signed by the Obama Administration, should be opposed under any circumstance as they will effectively “socialize” our entire health care insurance and medical delivery system and will ultimately create a single payer government run healthcare system…These provisions will bankrupt businesses and increase the double digit unemployment rate in NJ.”

Open Letter to Tea Party Founders and Members

2010-06-25T12:45:00.000-07:00

by Dwight Kehoe, of the Bayshore Tea Party

Dear Patriots,
First, I wish to thank all those taking part in and helping to organize the multi-group meeting in Toms River this past Wednesday. With a special thanks to Connie and Clark.

In that meeting, the passion each speaker displayed was, while not surprising, still amazing, and to see these wonderful patriots, giving of their time on a hot humid night, when sitting on the patio with families and friends would be so enjoyable, is nothing short of inspiring. When you see what these people sacrifice, weighed against the total apathy of 95% of the electorate, which stayed home this past election, it would be easy to fall victim to dismay and gloom. But, please do not. The fact that we are here, in rather large numbers, most of us having been part of the past lethargy, is proof there is hope.

As each speaker made his or her point, it dawned on me that so much of what we have done and accomplished, in such a small time, has been astounding. But also, and alas, much of what has been done, was ineffective and non-productive.

There are those that are still pushing for a 3rd party. This is so foolish that it is hard to gather the time to dispel it. Yes, we got our noses bloodied in most places in this last election. But we are fledgling. We will grow. We are growing everyday. It is not time to throw in the towel and hand every election to the libs. That is clearly what would happen, as bad as the RINOs are, they won't destroy this country as the Democratic party is doing. If one needs any proof about this 3rd party scenario, just ask yourself how elated you would be if George Soros announced he was creating and funding a Progressive Party that would compete for votes from the Dems.

Also, we heard from those, so disappointed that the GOP beat them and their candidates, that they were considering, not voting for the Republican Primary winner. This, of course, while on an emotional level may be soothing, but on a practical one, is disastrous. A true patriot falling into the same category of the apathetic. Any no vote, is a vote for the enemy. A final note on this. What do you get when conservatives punish the Republican Party? The answer.....President Obama!

Several of the speakers made it clear that their Tea Parties do not endorse or support candidates. The next question then, must be, what the heck are you doing? Does your Tea Party have hundreds of thousands of dollars to "educate" the voting public in competition with the millions the well heeled RINO's will spend? For what purpose does your group exist? To satisfy the feeling that you are at least "doing something"? Because, without endorsing and supporting, as a group, that will be and was, all it accomplished.

There were about 14 Tea Party groups in the room on Wednesday. Thirteen of them had something in common. They all lost their congressional races and, in some cases, by a large margin. What else do these groups have in common? None of them chose to endorse or support a "Tea Party Approved" candidate. Some, it's true, gave tacit approval that never went beyond a one day press release. Compared to the hundreds of thousands of dollars spent by the RINOs, melting the Arctic with a Bic lighter may have gotten better results.

So, as the primary voter goes into the booth, taking a brief time out from his normal activities, as he scans the ballot he sees the GOP candidate, has heard his name and seen his picture, hundreds of times over the past month. Oh!, there is another name there, but who the heck is he? Which candidate is going to get his vote? No brain-er.

On the other hand, the same voter goes into the booth, scans the ballot, again he sees the familiar GOP name but now he also sees, Republican- "Tea Party Approved". He may not have heard that persons name but he sure as heck has heard of the Tea Party and knows what they stand for. At least, now the voter has a choice. The same old GOP or a Tea Party constitutionalist.

Is this a proven winning scenario? The facts speak for them selves. The answer is a resounding Yes! The Bayshore Tea Party Group, endorsed and supported two candidates. Both those candidates used the slogan "Republican- Tea Party Approved" on their ballot. Our two candidates were out spent by the RINO's by a total of $1,060,000.00 to $70,000.00. The regular GOP had name recognition, for sure, but our candidates did too. The name "Tea Party".

As everyone knows, Anna Little won her primary and by a very small number. But it was an astounding victory and upset. Our other candidate, Dave Corsi did not win, but in a sense, what he did was even more of a victory for him and the Tea Party than Anna's. Dave spent $6,000. to Sipprelle's estimated $640,000.00. Dave actually beat the GOP guy in Monmouth County by over 1,300 votes. If it were not for Sipprelle getting the support from a Philadelphia group of "handi-cappers", which allowed him to muddy the waters in Middlesex, by claiming "Tea Party Endorsed" in his commercials, Dave actually could have won too.

This letter is meant in no way to disparage or demean any of the fine, hard working Patriots that have endeavored to help get our country back. It is meant only for each group's edification and evaluation. If our movement is going to continue to grow, and we are going to continue to request sacrifices form our members, it is important for them to know the time away from their families is being well spent and productive.

Each of our groups have to look at the other to see what has worked and what has not. Where mistakes were made and what directions show success. We at Bayshore Tea Party Group, made a few errors during this campaign that we are in th process of correcting for the next cycle. If anyone would like to take part in those discussions, please come to our next meeting, Sunday, June 27th, 4:00 PM at the IHOP in Keyport.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and in the words of one of our leaders, Mark Falzon, "Charge, Dammit".

Sincerely,
Dwight Kehoe
Bayshore Tea Party Group

Oil Drilling - What's Next?

2010-06-22T20:42:00.000-07:00

The BP oil spill has already been covered by every possible media outlet, but there's still debate over what's next. First of all, the moratorium on new drilling is idiotic. It's like banning all commercial flights after a plane crash. Yes, BP's Deepwater Horizon rig exploded and created all this disaster, but that doesn't mean that all BP rigs will explode, or that all the other oil companies (as well as their employees and mutual funds that own their stocks) should be punished. Today, a federal judge rightfully struck down the drilling moratorium.

We keep hearing about how we must stop our dependence on foreign oil - you can only reduce reliance on foreign oil by extracting domestic oil! Which brings us to the question that a lot of people are asking - why are we drilling a mile deep under the sea in the first place? The answer is very obvious - because of environmentalist and clueless politicians. It's much easier and more economically efficient to drill in shallow waters or on land (like in Alaska), plus there were no major accidents and no environmental disasters EVER resulting from shallow water or land drilling. But our federal Government has put all obstacles against that kind of oil exploration, so we can only drill where anyone is legally allowed to (including the Chinese and Russians) - a few miles farther off-shore in deep waters.

As blogger Art Gallagher found out, one of the reasons we're drilling at a mile deep is the Outer Continental Shelf Deep Water Royalty Relief Act (DWRRA) of 1995. And this is where our local "shore" Congressman Frank Pallone comes into play. He voted for DWRRA in 1995. Also, it's known by now that BP reported cracks in the sea floor as far back as February (2 months before the explosion), and the administration was informed. Among the responsible parties that were informed is the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, that Frank Pallone is a member of! Now Pallone is bragging about how much he cares about the Gulf, after he was part of the reason BP had to drill so dangerously, and he ignored all warnings because he was too busy with PalloneCare (aka ObamaCare, but he's an author of that bill too!)

So did anyone call Pallone on all this stuff? Of course, and that was his opponent Anna Little who said:

"The recent news that our federal government knew of serious problems with BP’s operations in the Gulf of Mexico as early as February, two months before the explosion that killed 11 people, caused billions of dollars in economic turmoil and unimaginable environmental damage is appalling. As a senior member of the congressional committee with oversight jurisdiction of these operations, Frank Pallone is culpable. It is appalling that our government, through the Minerals and Mining Service and the House Committee on Energy and Commerce could have and should have prevented this disaster, yet did nothing."

Little also said today at a campaign meeting that "All this happened on Pallone's watch, and now we need someone new in Congress to fix it." Let's hope there will be some change in Congress this November, before we go further down the Slippery Slope To Tyranny, as Thomas Sowell has called the Obama's administration's recent actions.

Marlboro GOP Calls the Cops on Republicans They Don't Like

2010-05-25T06:54:00.000-07:00

The Marlboro Republican Club had scheduled an event for the Republican Congressional Candidates in the 12th and 6th Districts, on May 24th. In March, David Corsi, Diane Gooch, Anna Little and Scott Sipprelle were invited to address the group. On Sunday, Corsi and Little were "uninvited" as the Marlboro Republican Club "leaders" decided only to allow the "party line" candidate to speak.

After a great idea from Charles Measley, David Corsi decided to show up and hand out flyers. In the meantime, the "leaders" apparently were not happy about them being there and called the police saying they were "causing a disturbance."

The police officers who responded were terrific and determined were doing nothing wrong. It's interesting that the initial response officer, upon receiving the call that there was a "ruckus going on," rushed to the scene and almost had an accident. That officer could have been injured just because someone inside the building did not like the fact that Republicans outside of the inner Marlboro GOP circle were outside handing out flyers and telling folks to have a nice evening.

However, some of the attendees going inside were not happy that Dave was being excluded (a good sign for us). All in all, Charles and Dave thought there were approximately 30 people attending the event.

Now can anyone find an irony here? Last fall, the Marlboro GOP was supposed to have an event at the Bella Vista Country Club, and Mayor Hornik pressured the club to cancel that event, because he didn't like the Republican opponents. Now the Marlboro Republicans cancel their "opponent's" appearance for the same reason. No wonder Republicans keep losing in Marlboro.

NJ Election Law Doesn't Allow Party Endorsements Before a Primary

2010-05-20T18:58:00.001-07:00

Interesting article in the NJ Election Statute. 19:34-52 says:

Indorsement of candidate by party committee before primary.
No state, county or municipal committee of any political party shall prior to any primary election indorse the candidacy of any candidate for a party nomination or position.

Should I start making a list of people in violation of this law?

Rush Limbaugh recommends Anna Little

2010-04-30T12:03:00.000-07:00

From Rush Limbaugh's Facebook page:

Let's profile another conservative candidate! Check out Anna Little, a great candidate running for Congress in the 6th district in New Jersey! Her facebook page is here, go become a fan:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mayor-Anna-Little-R-for-Congressional-District-6-New-Jersey/326551613995?v=info&ref=ts
She seems to have a great platform, and we want to see her elected in November!

That's quite an endorsement for the candidate who can finally unseat Frank Pallone!

Anna Little on Immigration and the Arizona Governor

2010-04-28T22:03:00.000-07:00

Highlands, NJ– Mayor Anna Little announced her support for Gov. Jan Brewer’s bold position on immigration in Arizona. She stands with the Governor and people of Arizona who declare that the federal government has failed to protect them from criminals coming into this country illegally.

“Section 287g of the Immigration and Nationality Act is evidence of the intention of the federal government to delegate responsibility to state and local officials for enforcement of immigration law. The Arizona state legislature merely followed the suggestion of the federal government in passing their own state legislation similar to provisions of 287g to assist in immigration enforcement,” said Mayor Little, who is an immigration attorney.

The March 27 shooting death of rancher Rob Krentz on his property in southeastern Arizona demonstrates that not all individuals who cross the border illegally are interested in becoming productive residents. This incident proves that there are violent criminals coming across our borders illegally.

Under Arizona's new law, immigrants unable to produce documents showing they are allowed to be in the country could be arrested and jailed for up to six months as well as fined $2,500. Arizona law enforcement officers could arrest people found to be undocumented and turn them over to federal immigration officers. This procedure is very similar to what section 287g of the Immigration and Nationality Act already permits.

Yuk Wong, a citizen of Hong Kong, residing legally in Hazlet says “I’m a minority and I don’t mind to show police my identification if it means that I will be safer, and my tax money won’t go to provide benefits for people who should not be here. I believe that everyone should go through the process of legal immigration. It cost me a lot of money and took many years to get my permanent residence status. Why should people come here illegally and get treated better than me? I love this country, and I respect its laws. I question whether people coming to this country illegally care about this country, because they obviously don’t respect its laws.”

Mayor Little stated, “A civilized society can live by only one rule of law, the written law. It is time the United States conformed government practice to the written law in immigration enforcement. Illegal immigration must be eradicated, and lawful immigration practices must be upheld as the only means of entry to the United States.”

Primary Lineups

2010-04-13T06:47:00.000-07:00

Now that the petition deadline has passed, here are the candidates in some of the local NJ Congressional districts (with the counties where most of the votes are coming from). I included the number of signatures on their petitions which, while not very relevant, are good for bragging rights. I also marked REP or DEM the official establishment picks, and mentioned the slogan for their primary contenders.

CD-6 (Middlesex, Monmouth)
Republicans:
Diane Gooch (355) - REP
Anna C. Little (402) - Republican Tea Party Approved
Democrats:
Frank Pallone Jr (447) - incumbent DEM
Mark A. Falzon (239) - Democrat Tea Party Approved

CD-12 (Monmouth, Middlesex, Mercer)
Republicans:
Scott Sipprelle (504) - REP
David Corsi (280) - Republican Tea Party Approved
Democrats:
Rush Holt (798) - incumbent DEM

CD-3 (Ocean, Burlington)
Republicans:
Jon Runyan (639) - REP
Justin Michael Murphy (413) - Traditional Republicans
Democrats:
John Adler (722) - incumbent DEM
Barry D. Bendar (319) - Progressive Democrat

CD-4 (Monmouth, Ocean, Burlington, Mercer)
Republicans:
Christopher H. Smith (720) - incumbent REP
Alan Bateman (395) - Tea Party Republican Putting Taxpayers First
Democrats:
Howard Kleinhendler (332) - DEM

6th District Petition Deadline News

2010-04-12T09:01:00.000-07:00

On the day that petitions are due in New Jersey, we have two news in the 6th District, currently held by Frank Pallone:

On the Republican side, Shannon Wright suspended her campaign. She also endorsed the establishment pick Diane Gooch in the primary. This may come as a surprise, as Shannon previously seemed to lean towards a tea party platform.

On the Democrat side, Frank Pallone got a last minute challenger in Middletown's own Mark Falzon. For people who know Mark, this is an even bigger surprise. We'll have more details very soon, but Mark will test the appeal of tea party democrats. A well-known tea party leader, Mark Falzon issued this brief statement:

The Tea Party Movement is not just about Republicans anymore. Get out there and defeat these radicals in their own primaries. We must limit their sacred ground and limit their comfortable ports of call. We can and will assault them from every quarter. We are a true grassroots Movement impacting both parties, tens of millions of us rising to save this beloved nation.

I am preparing myself every way possible for the blistering assault that will be directed my way. I hope and pray many of you will assist, because I sure will need it, this Movement will need it. Follow me please as we take on this crusade of striking the radical leftist in their own heartland.

Republican Candidate Donated $50,000 to Democrat Governor Campaign

2010-04-06T07:52:00.001-07:00

It's no secret by now that the husband of Diane Gooch, Republican candidate for the NJ's 6th Congressional District, is a regular donor to Democratic campaigns.

But it appears that Diane herself has a history of supporting Democratic candidates. In 2006 she donated no less than $50,000 to Democratic Nassau County Executive Tom Souzzi, for his campaign for NY Governor. In the NY State, Diane's husband also contributed $51,000 to Souzzi as well as $10,000 to Andrew Cuomo.

Did Sam Thompson's Office Break the Law?

2010-04-05T08:58:00.001-07:00

The law of the land is clear. You can not use a taxpayer-funded legislative office to perform ANY kind of campaign work. If you want to see how serious this is, just call Amy Handlin's office, and ask any questions about her future campaign. They'll hang up on you immediately. However, it's rumored that her running mate, Sam Thompson, is not abiding by the same ethics.

It's well-known by now Thompson's active campaigning for Scott Sipprelle in the 12th district. There have been allegations of strong-arming municipal chairmen and other candidates, and there's of course his classless performance at the convention. But new information is coming out. This is coming from sources that prefer to stay anonymous for now:

"Katz’ wife probably broke the law with her campaigning for Sipprelle from Thompson’s legislative office. Someone should OPRA those phone records and time sheets. Check out the time her emails were being sent. They were sent on state time, as I recall. Political activity on state time, from a legislative office... the Middlesex County Prosecutor should look into that."

And another one:

"I was registered to be a delegate and got a call on my cell phone about Sipprelle from someone in Assembly Thompson’s office. I will look at my incoming calls on cell phone bill."

Democrats Celebrate Sipprelle's and Gooch's Victories

2010-03-31T07:12:00.000-07:00

After the Monmouth and Middlesex Republican organizations endorsed Scott Sipprelle and Diane Gooch for Congress, in the 12th and 6th district, the Democrats are celebrating. If the public dislikes something more than Congress, that is Wall Street, and that's exactly what the GOP choose to oppose incumbents Rush Holt and Frank Pallone in the 2 Democrat-leaning districts. It will be total class warfare, and that's exactly what the incumbents were looking for.

This is a message that I received from Dem. consultant Vin Gopal:

"Your party leaders got shown the $$$ - they picked 2 Wall Street candidates who don't resonate with their districts at all. Mr. Sipprelle has such disdain for blogs and new media and people in general and Ms. Gooch's Rumson credentials won't resonate at all in Asbury Park, Plainfield and Keansburg. Between both their donations to Schumer and Pallone, I don't know who did a better job of supporting the Democrats, the candidates running or the party bosses who picked them."

Sam Thompson's Disgraceful Performance at the Middlesex Convention

2010-03-29T10:05:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, Assemblyman Sam Thompson had another classless performance at the Middlesex County GOP convention. After Mike Halfacre's speech, Chairman Joe Leo introduced presumed future Chairman Sam Thompson to nominate Scott Sipprelle. Why did that happen?? At the screening committee, Halfacre beat Sipprelle by 22-14. So Sipprelle was about 10 votes short of being nominated by the county committee. So why did the two party bosses play this game?

Halfacre got sand bagged, and everybody knew about it: Leo, Thompson, Sipprelle. It was all political theater. After all, Sipprelle and Thompson spent the previous night schmoozing at the same table, at the Monmouth County candidates night.

Even worse, Thompson introduced Sipprelle with unnecessary comments on Mike Halfacre's speech: "I'm tired of you questioning this man's (Sipprelle) Republican credentials, dammit!". Thompson almost flipped out when Halfacre won the screening committee, but cursing kind of crosses the line.

Sam Thompson called me a liar when I wrote about convention voters being strong-armed by him into voting for Sipprelle. He spent a week trying to find out who's talking about his doings. This time there were over 700 witnesses. I wonder what his reaction will be this time.

Art Gallagher reported from the convention here and here. Matt Rooney also reported here and here. Mike Illions wasn't present, but he commented on Sam Thompson's disgraceful behavior here.

Convention voter Elaine said:

"Thompson introduced Sipprelle and I thought that was inappropriate because it seemed like he was presenting Sipprelle as the screening committees recommended candidate. Then he berated Mike, in front of the entire convention, because he did not like the type of campaign that Mike is running. And he cursed. It was such an uncomfortable moment, and he was so incredibly rude and out of line. Sam Thompson is indeed a cranky old jerk. He was so incredibly rude and offensive, that my sister and I went to confront him. He cursed and called Mike Halfacre a liar. It was beyond inappropriate."

Jim was also a 12th district voter:

"Hearing Thompson was like hearing Obama. He was a disgrace to Republicans and should be forced to at least apologize or step down. He sheer lack of professionalism when addressing his nomination for Sipprelle and directing the anger that he did at Halfacre was appalling. My wife had to contain me from confronting him in front of the voting body. Pure showing of someone who had a lot at stake if Sipprelle didn't get the nomination. I have to know what "sweetheart deal" Sipprelle made with Thompson."

A Princeton blogger reported:

"Sam Thompson's defense of Scott Sipprelle was inappropriate and a buzzkill. He sounded angry and bitter. He does not inspire much enthusiasm, only frustration."

Another attendee, Ashlee:

"Sipprelle has been the one going extremely negative in the last month. I have gotten numerous letters and phone calls from his campaign pointing out negatives and half truths about Mike. Funny how its now twisted around as Mike is the negative one! Yesterdays convention was a nightmare. I was ashamed to see our so-called leaders rants on stage. Not only Sam Thompson, but Leonard Lance was a shame to the party we belong to."

Tony P. also reports:

"I was there and witnessed the whole scene. I do not condone the actions of Assy Thompson or Chairman Leo. I have seen those tactics used time and time again BUT when you are at the podium you should be absolutely sure that what you say is above board and totally honest."

Are Unions Trying to Intimidate Council Members?

2010-03-23T09:32:00.001-07:00

Earlier this month, the Matawan-Aberdeen Regional Board of Education voted to eliminate 78 jobs. Like almost every town, Matawan is facing budget cuts and they HAVE to find ways to save costs in order to keep property taxes stable. At the same time, the teachers union are demanding a 5% raise! Top pay in the district is around $90k, which is way more than most of the residents who are supposed to approve it are making. The teachers' jobs are safe, but among the layoffs required by the board are the school custodians, and their activities would be outsourced to a private company (which, by definition, is more efficient than any Government-operated enterprise).

This Sunday morning, freshman Matawan Councilwoman Toni Angelini woke up to find her porch smeared of grape jelly and her trees full of toilet paper. She'd just been graped and TP'd overnight. Was it a prank? Her three children are way too young for their friends to do it. Or could it have anything to do with Ms. Angelini's positions? She told us: "I believe that the teachers are going full force behind the custodians because they believe that they are next. If they are so concerned about the custodians, they could offer up some solutions (i.e., taking a % cut in salary or donating time) instead of trying to scare parents into begging for the status quo."

Toni Angelini hopes it's just a coincidence and she's not accusing anyone of being responsible for this.

Instead, the teachers had just sent an email to parents, from which we're quoting: "Well, our Board of Education wants to fire our school’s custodians and instead, hire strangers to be around your children." Ms. Angelini's position is that "the safety of our children will not be compromised due to the background checks that will be done by the private companies themselves". And I can bet that the private companies will hire probably some of the people being laid off, only that their bureaucracy and overhead will be lower than the Board can ever be.

The teachers' fear-mongering goes even further: "I can keep your children safe in the classroom, but what about in First Grade, when they are using the hallway bathrooms?" Now I'm not implying anything, but if they're using these kind of scare tactics, I've heard of more child abuse cases coming from teachers than from security guards...

To continue... "Our Union and teachers understand the need to explore cost savings options, but refuse to support any measure that does so at the expense of our children." So what about doing it at the expense of the union itself? Like not demanding a 5% raise in a recession year with basically no inflation?

Ms. Angelini tells us: "I do not hold the teachers responsible for this mess, however if they begin to stand in the way of making the proper adaptations to school board budgets, they will become part of the problem. To become a teacher is a calling, I truly believe it is a gift to be able to educate and inspire students on a daily basis. I have a tremendous amount of respect for the profession. However, I do NOT respect the NJEA. I have been able up until this point to keep the two very separate. It will be up to the teachers as individuals to ensure that they too maintain the distance between teaching our children and representing a union's best interest."

So to get back to the original point: Is the vandalizing of the Councilwoman's house on the day before an important Board of Education meeting an intimidation attempt by the teachers union? She doesn't think so, but if that were true, Ms. Angelini should be glad she's not an elected official in Staten Island, or she would've found a horse head on her steps.

Is Sam "Rahm" Thompson Losing It?

2010-03-18T06:50:00.000-07:00

With every day closer to the Middlesex Republican Convention, it's clear that Assemblyman Sam Thompson is going crazy. Both More Monmouth Musings and Conservatives with Attitude have reported about his desperate attempts to deliver Scott Sipprelle the county line.

Sam Thompson is (or was) expected to be the new Middlesex chairman, and in this position he took the lead in pushing real hard for Sipprelle to win the county. Apparently there are a lot of checks waiting to be cashed out if he delivers. Sam was very sure Sipprelle would win the screening committee, but Mike Halfacre won it 22-14. Considering that the 7 people at Joe Leo and Sam Thompson's table voted for Sipprelle, that leaves a 22-7 vote for Halfacre by the municipal representatives. Apparently, the Middlesex executives decided that the person who should beat Rush Holt in November is a well-known conservative Mayor with a tax-cutting record, and not a Wall Street insider who think he can simply buy a nomination, the way he bought favors from Chuck Schumer, Joe Lieberman and 5 Democratic representatives.

Sam Thompson had already endorsed Sipprelle (read: had been bought off) before the screening meeting, quite unusual for a county leader, but, well, he's not a county leader now, he's just an Assemblyman. At the screening, he got angry at a freeholder candidate for supporting Halfacre, saying he shouldn't do that before the convention. Look who's talking, Rahm Thompson who had done it weeks ago.

After the crushing vote, Thompson went ballistic. He couldn't believe it. He's now threatening municipal chairs and other candidates who are supporting Halfacre. A few municipal officials asked to be removed from Halfacre's endorsement list until the convention, because they feel intimidated.

Rahm Thompson has 9 days left for his intimidation, threats and arm-twisting tactics. As CWA reports:

I have received phone calls and emails from the threatened people, thanks to them being pointed in my direction, that all have the same theme and mention the same culprit as the caller or on behalf of. I am also receiving word that Thompson is working the rounds on other Middlesex candidates in other races and activists who have been publicly supporting Mike Halfacre and have been told to either shut the hell up or asked to switch sides, with consequences being mentioned as punishment for daring to disobey Sam Thompson.

Rahm Thompson's chief of staff explained that the Middlesex Chairman's policy was not to endorse anyone before the convention, like it happens in most counties. But she said Thompson doesn't agree with that, and he's made his choice. Apparently, when there's so much money on the line, old policies don't matter anymore. And, also, Rahm Thompson has no county leadership function now. And I think elected officials shouldn't be also part-time county leaders.

I asked the same chief of staff what will Thompson's position be if Halfacre wins the county line. She said that he will continue endorsing Sipprelle until he becomes Chairman in June. That will be interesting. Supporting the losing candidate while trying to get the votes to become that county's Chairman. It's the perfect opportunity to mount a serious challenge to the "grumpy old man".

Halfacre Wins Middlesex Screening by 22-14

2010-03-10T22:02:00.000-08:00

Mayor Mike Halfacre won the Middlesex County screening committee's vote on the CD-12 candidates by 22-14. His opponent, Scott Sipprelle, was previously endorsed by Assemblyman Sam Thompson, who is expected to become the new Middlesex GOP Chairman. Middlesex County votes for endorsements in an open convention that will be held on March 27th. Any registered Republican can attend and vote, by filing an application before March 13th.

Halfacre Would Beat Holt 46%-41%, Sipprelle Would Lose 20%-55%

2010-03-09T15:27:00.000-08:00

National Research, the company of Chris Christie's former pollster Adam Geller, conducted probably the first poll about the NJ-12 Congressional race. Most significantly, 39% of the voters want Congressman Rush Holt to be re-elected, while 41% prefer someone else. Geller last polled the district in 2004, when Holt's favorability was 51%-23%.

As it's quite clear that the 12th district voters want someone else instead of Rush Holt, the next questions were about the 2 main Republican contenders.

Mike Halfacre, Mayor of Fair Haven, who cut spending and lowered taxes over the past 3 years, would beat Rush Holt 46%-41%. Scott Sipprelle, a Wall Street millionaire who donated to Chuck Schumer and five House Democrats in 2009, would lose 20%-55%.

National Research polled 300 likely voters and has a margin of error of 5.66%.

The poll's results reflect the spirit of the tea party movement, which mobilized most of the Republican grassroots, and which is leaning more towards a proven tax cutter than simply to a guy with lots of money and no record to run on. Scott Sipprelle very low number against Rush Holt could be explained by the fact that, while the left-leaning voters which make up almost half of the 12th district are dissatisfied with Holt's 12 years record in Congress, they have a general distrust towards Wall Street since the last recession.

It should also be noted that this was not a push poll, but a message test. Also, Adam Geller is a Fox News contributor and is doing internal polling for Mike Halfacre.

What Politics is, The Preamble

2010-03-07T12:41:00.000-08:00

by Shannon Wright

What politics is is a method by which we can communicate our thoughts ideas and issues to those that can turn our collective concerns into that which can benefit us all~

Our great nation was founded by groups of community and self appointed leaders who came together because they were angry and were not going to take it anymore. Well most of us today are angry about something or another. It could be taxes, education , healthcare, or any number of issues that plaque our communities.

How many of you know the words of the preamble to the Constitution? It starts by saying "We the People". It goes on to say: We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

No where in the preamble does it say anything about we do this for the select few. No where in the preamble does it say for those with big check books. No where in the preamble does it say when it is convenient. The preamble says "for ourselves and our posterity", for us and all of us to come. Somewhere along the line we lost that.

I am running for Congress to bring that back. I am running for Congress to represent the people of my district. I am running for Congress to be the voice of reason that makes others in Congress pause for thought about the concerns of the citizens of their own districts. I am running for Congress to bring the voices, issues, and concerns of my district to where they need to be heard.

To get there we need your help. If you believe in preserving life, if you believe in lower taxes, if you believe in responsible healthcare, if you believe in education reform, or if you believe in what our great nation was created to be please help us reach our goal of raising $50,000 in 50 hours.

Please go to our website and donate what you can, but please don't stop there share this with all of your friends and ask then to donate and share with their friends. Together all of us everyday citizens can let the few in the back rooms know we will not go away and we will be heard!

Please go to www.wrightfornj.com and voice your support by making a contribution

Scott Sipprelle Wants Government to "Super-Regulate" the Financial Industry

2010-03-02T09:13:00.000-08:00

12th District Congressional candidate Scott Sipprelle just issued a press release in which he argues for creating a Government super-regulator of the financial industry:

One Super-Regulator with the Power to Avert Systemic Crisis Proactively
Wall Street financial institutions form an inter-connected web where the failure of any one firm has a ripple effect on the entire system. In a severe financial panic the system is only as strong as its weakest link. Historically, this has presented regulators with a terrible choice if a large firm begins to fail. Either bail the firm out to save the system or let the firm fail and risk an unraveling of confidence in credit that could cause a severe depression, as occurred frequently in the early years of our nation’s history. It is for this reason that our financial markets require a single, vigilant, and powerful form of oversight to replace the dysfunctional form of current regulation.

As if we don't have so many Government bureaucrats meddling with the free markets, now Sipprelle wants a super-beast, a mega-czar to decide which way the financial markets should work.

Can you believe a "Republican" actually used the phrase "One Super-Regulator with the Power"? This guy should be on Obama's economic advisors team!

For some reason, his release makes me paraphrase Lord of the Rings: "One Czar to rule them all, and in the darkness bind them!"

Meeting the Candidates in the 6th and 12th Districts

2010-03-01T20:15:00.000-08:00

The Jersey Shore Tea Party Patriots had another candidates night in Ocean Twp today, and it was a full house. The first ones to speak were the candidates from the 12th Congressional District, currently represented by Rush Holt.

Scott Sipprelle went first, and he repeated his Wall Street success story, but for the first time I saw him angry. He usually comes out as a nice laid back person, but tonight he was nervous and antsy. But let me say, kudos to him, I'm surprised he came. After all, his supporters have been calling tea partiers on forums and blogs as "tea baggers", a syntagm that usually Democrats who despise conservatives use. Also, Scott said he's running a 50 employee business. His supporters have been berating Mike Halfacre for being just the mayor of a 6,000 people town, saying that it's not enough to qualify for a Congress position.

Mike Halfacre came next, and he started by saying Wall Street and Washington got us into all this trouble, which is both true, and a jab at his primary opponent. He brought up the fact that Rush Holt was just ranked as the most liberal member of the House, to the left of Nancy Pelosi. Answering similar questions about healthcare reform that Scott had been asked, Mike reminded people that he was giving the same answers as early as October last year. He also declared that he would fight for abolishing the Department of Energy.

David Corsi was last and he looked very amateurish. He has good knowledge of real estate and financials, but he is the outlier in this race.

After a short break, we switched to the "less mature" 6th District race (as the MC called it). There wasn't much activity until now in Frank Pallone's district, as most people are afraid of the 4 millions his campaign has in the bank.

We were first introduced to Fabrizio Bivona. He is a fireman and a 9/11 first responder, but he was also a bit amateurish. However he showed a lot of passion and really connected with the audience (unlike Corsi). He was "on a roll", like a kid having fun, and his main strength seems to be national security and 2nd Amendment rights.

Then came Anna Little, the popular Mayor of Highlands, who just announced a few days ago that she's running. Speaking of the 2nd Amendment, Anna responded to a questioner by saying she wouldn't be opposed to someone buying a tank, since the Government is not Constitutionally allowed to decide that. She had a passionate speech about representing the little guy in Congress and being our representative there and about the limited power of Government. She mentioned her past, when she was at odds with the Republican machine, and said she would run in the primary even off the party line.

Finally we heard from Shannon Wright, one of the first candidates to announce her run, who didn't have much time allowed since it was getting very late. She presented her campaign's main points: educational freedom, no Government involvement in healthcare and lower taxes. Shannon said that only by putting money in the pockets of the grassroots voters can we spur economic development.

While in the 12th, it's obvious that the conservative candidate to represent the tea parties is Mike Halfacre, it's still too early to decide about the 6th, where both Anna Little and Shannon Wright have good credentials, but nobody knows yet about their ability to run a campaign, especially since they'll have to face the money and organizational support of Diane Gooch.

Shannon Wright Launches Campaign Against Frank Pallone (NJ-6)

2010-02-19T13:07:00.000-08:00

February 15, 2010 – Plainfield, NJ – Community leader Shannon Wright officially launched her campaign for New Jersey’s 6thCongressional District with a tour of the district.

Prior to her first visit of the day, Wright commented, “Today we begin a journey to correct the damage the establishment in Congress has caused us over the last several years. We sent our Representatives to do our work, but instead they decided to do the work of PACs, lobbyists, and the extremists that have taken over government”.

Wright concluded her brief remarks by saying, “Before we can solve healthcare, a broken economy, runaway spending, urban renewal, and education, we must change Washington. Change is not just a Democrat or Republican theme; it’s the theme of the thousands of people in the 6th Congressional District who have misrepresented for far to long.”

Campaign Advisor Corey Maness, stated, “We will be running a strong campaign against the record of Frank Pallone, Nancy Pelosi, and many others.”

Shannon’s experience enables her to best fight for more and better paying jobs, a more robust economy, a stronger health care system, and community-oriented solutions to our country’s most pressing problem such as education, crime, and the environment.

Born in White Plains, New York, Shannon moved to East Orange, New Jersey at age five. After graduating from high school in Berkeley Heights, Shannon went on to attend Virginia State University for a Bachelor’s Degree in business communication and economics. Shannon continued her education at New York University earning a certification in Peer Assistance Mediation and is currently working on a certification in Public Policy.

After pursuing a career in retail, Shannon decided to turn her focus to working in her community. Since making this commitment, Shannon has been a community leader, civic organizer, and passionate advocate for those who are in most need of it. In 1999, Shannon and her husband, Michael Wright, founded Signature Solutions a strategic planning and advocacy firm. Some of the many organizations she has assisted are Summit Child Care, American Diabetes Association, Consolidated Finance, Thruway Insurance, and the Grace and Mercy World Outreach.

Shannon also had the opportunity to serve as 1st Vice President of The Yonkers New York Branch NAACP in January 2002. During her tenure she was one of the lead negotiators for a landmark housing and education desegregation case against the Board of Education and the City of Yonkers, N.Y. The case ended with a $300 million dollar settlement with proceeds going to helping the many disaffected citizens of Yonkers.

In 2004, Shannon was ordained Reverend of the church and made her radio debut on WKMB 1070 AM Know Your Community with former Plainfield Mayor Rev. Richard L. Taylor. On this show, Shannon provides timely information for the community.

Since September 2006, Pastor Wright has served as the Youth Commissioner for the city of Plainfield. This sparked her keen interest in local politics and has since worked on various local, state, and national campaigns. She was an active supporter of Governor Chris Christie, but has shown an ability to work with both parties. She even considered running for governor in 2009, before deciding to support Governor Christie.

Frank Pallone's Retirement Party

2010-02-14T07:29:00.000-08:00

On Feb 12th, I joined the Bayshore Tea Party and Jersey Shore Tea Party for a symbolic protest and Congressman Frank Pallone's (NJ-6) office in Long Branch. Despite the heavy snow, the cold, and it being a business day, about 30 people gathered. It was very peaceful, with people holding signs and flags, while most passing cars were honking and giving us thumbs up (only a couple of them yelled profanities at us).

Pallone's staff was very polite and curteous. They welcomed us into the office, and we even got a private tour of the historic building. Only thing I didn't understand is why they needed 7 paid staffers (paid by us, the taxpayers) slacking around, and I assume he has the same staff at each of his offices.

Frank Pallone lately pretends not to hear what his constituents are saying

Upstairs in front of Frankie's office. The "tour guide" on the right was freaking out about having her picture taken because she was afraid it would show up on some conservative website.

Staffers at work

The theme of this protest was giving Frankie a pink slip, after 22 years of supporting the most left-wing policies in Congress. His stance is becoming increasingly unpopular in his gerrymandered district, and Chris Christie easily won the 6th district last November. The climax of the rally was bringing a pink cake into the office. The staff was very amused by this, initially they said they love cake, but then they realized how embarrassing this would be and tried to convince us to leave. We had paper plates, knives, forks, very well prepared, but they didn't know how to hide the cake any faster and prevent us from taking pictures. I have to stress how friendly this was. We were outnumbering them by at least 3 to 1, and we were all laughing. They said they're not allowed to receive free gifts, we said we can bill them for it, and eventually left.

The pink slip delivered in the downstairs office

The celebratory cake

We still ate the cake at a tailgating party, and it was pretty good. It's funny that the parking lot was across from a funeral home, and the owner came to tell us that people can't come out of a wake to see us eating cake. Not sure if there's regulation in NJ against eating cake in front of a funeral home, but the guy called the cops, which probably arrived after we were done.

Two candidates were present there. One was David Corsi, who's running in the 12th district against Rush Holt, and the other was Fabrizio Bivona, a 9/11 first responder who just announced his intentions of challenging Frank Pallone. Also to be noted, I was interviewed by an Asbury Park Press reporter. She asked my opinion about the healthcare bill and she was trying to argue with me what it is good for us. I thought reporters are supposed to "report", not spread the message.

Candidate David Corsi with our own Barbara G

Pallone said last summer at a town hall that Nancy Pelosi is one of his favorite people in Washington

Mike Halfacre on Health Care

2010-02-10T17:19:00.000-08:00

By Mike Halfacre

With the election of Republican Scott Brown to the Senate from the bluest of blue states- Massachusetts- the healthcare debate will change in Washington DC. Brown specifically campaigned as the 41st vote against the healthcare bill being considered in the Senate and the voters of Massachusetts elected him.
More than that, Brown’s election became a rallying point for people all over the United States who saw his election as a way to tell Washington that they weren’t buying what Congressional Democrats were selling on healthcare legislation. Money and manpower poured into the Brown campaign in the closing weeks of the election from all over the country. The message from voters to Congress is now clear: ignore us at your peril in 2010.

The President and Congressional leaders should take this opportunity to refocus the healthcare debate. There is an old saying: you don’t kill a fly with a sledgehammer. Clearly there are reforms which should be made to the healthcare system; the question is whether to take a market based approach or a one-size-fits-all, centrally planned government approach. I would argue forcefully for the former, and it seems as though the majority of Americans who say they oppose the current healthcare bill agree.

The United States has a health insurance problem, moreso than a healthcare problem. In most cases, the employer owns the insurance policy, and patients are completely disconnected from the actual cost of their healthcare. Would you give your credit card to someone you didn’t know and ask them to go food shopping for you- and not ask to see the receipt? Of course not. They’d have no incentive to shop for a good deal and might even buy things you didn’t want.

Yet this is exactly what happens every day in healthcare: you pay your $20 co-pay with no idea of what you’re paying for. It only costs you 20 bucks, so you don’t object, and your doctor knows that more than likely he’ll be paid for whatever procedures or tests he performs. Neither patient nor medical provider has proper incentives to increase healthcare quality and/or decrease its costs.

Your policy also covers a whole host of things that you may not want or need, yet you are forced to pay for them. If your cable TV company told you that in order to subscribe you had to pay for HBO, Cinemax, and Starz, whether you wanted to or not, you’d think they were crazy.
True health insurance reform requires implementing a “patient-centered” approach which will give the proper incentives, responsibilities and choices to both patient and healthcare provider.

We can do this in the following ways:

1) Encourage individual ownership of insurance policies-The current tax rules that allow employers to own our insurance and receive the tax benefit for it, should instead provide those deductions to individuals. Businesses would then be free to pay a large portion of the money they save on an employee’s healthcare back to the employee in salary or other benefits of equal value.

2) Encourage Health Savings Accounts- These accounts empower individuals to monitor their health care costs and create incentives for individuals to use only those services that are necessary.

3) Allow interstate purchasing of insurance. Some states have more affordable health insurance because they have fewer bells and whistles. Consumers should be able to decide which benefits they need and what prices they are willing to pay.

4) Reduce the number of mandated benefits that insurers are required to cover- Let consumers choose and price their own benefits. This also will increase individual responsibility and “connectedness” to their healthcare.

5) Reallocate the majority of Medicaid spending into simple vouchers for low-income individuals to purchase their own insurance- An income based voucher program would eliminate the massive bureaucracy needed to sustain the current, soon to be bankrupt (within 10 years) Medicaid system.

I believe these 5 policy recommendations would unleash the power of the free market on our healthcare system and dramatically drive down the costs of health insurance. Those reduced costs would then make it more attractive to younger people, many of whom currently find the cost of health insurance prohibitive, to buy insurance. Enlarging of the risk pool with younger (read: healthier) people would spread costs over a larger base, thereby further lowering healthcare costs. For once we could see a spiral downward in healthcare costs instead of upward, and it would be done through free market incentives, rather than the government trampling our rights by forcing us to buy health insurance- or else.

Whether through polls or recent elections, the American people have consistently and clearly shown they want Congress to re-think their approach on healthcare reform. Ignore them at your peril.

Jersey Shore Tea Party Hosts Congressional Candidates

2010-02-08T20:11:00.000-08:00

Tonight I attended a Jersey Shore Tea Party meeting in Ocean Twp which had a few important guests: Steve Lonegan, Mike Halfacre, Scott Sipprelle and Alan Bateman. I'll keep this short, as the event wasn't as explosive as some people might have expected.

Steve Lonegan was the first speaker, talking about the importance of winning several Congress seats in New Jersey, in order to stop Obama's socialist agenda. He also touched state issues, mainly the Senate bill #1, which is supposed to abolish COAH. Introduced by Dem. Senator Ray Lesniak, this bill will replace COAH with something much bigger and much worse ("COAH on steroids", as he called it).

And then, the Rush Holt opponents in the 12th District spoke. It was not a debate, just a speech by each candidate, followed by a brief Q&A. Mike Halfacre went first and after a short bio portion he spoke against Government spending, in favor of less Government and strong national defense, against Rush Holt's record and so on. There were no hard questions (except a few weird ones), and Mike handled them all very well. He didn't say anything about his primary opponent, and neither did Sipprelle, which was very polite of both of them.

Scott Sipprelle also told his life story, repeatedly presenting himself as a representative of the middle class (well, probably Wall St middle class, as his wealth approaches $100 mil). He explained his Wall St background as something not as negative as many would think it is, and I agree with him, I don't like the continual vilifying of the banking and investment industry. Scott presented himself as the opposite of Rush Holt in all the economic issues. His main points were about reducing spending, including withdrawing our troops from all our fronts. In the Q&A section, he again refused to answer John Menella's question about his donations to Chuck Schumer. Scott acknowledged that it's the third time he gets that question, and he dodged it for the third time. He also blamed the blogs who keep bringing up the issue (thanks for the shout-out, Scotty!). He also quoted Rush Holt's claim that "America is a rich country because of Government spending", and so far this has only been mentioned on this blog as well as in my letters to the editor. Glad to have him as a reader. Sipprelle also made it clear that he's not pro-life, he just wants less abortions. He said that abortions are caused by economic conditions, and he'll fix that by improving the economy.

It was quite a big crowd, and besides the usual tea partiers there were a lot of Monmouth GOP people that have never attended a tea party meeting. It was the result of a successful phone offensive by Sipprelle's campaign who kept calling municipal chairmen around the county asking for support at tonight's meeting (he was probably afraid of the tea party "nuts", as he knows he doesn't fit their mold - details in his recent interview; no word yet on the size of the checks he sent them).

Alan Bateman (whose editorial we published earlier today) also spoke for a few minutes, referring to his primary opponent, Chris Smith' abysmal record (voting for cap&trade and for Pelosi's light bulb bill, against the Bush tax cuts, against drilling in ANWR, sponsoring card check).

Mike Halfacre was endorsed by two big tea party groups, and it's interesting how will Scott Sipprelle address the conservative grass-roots from now on.

Garden State Showdown: Conservative Challenges Another RINO

2010-02-08T08:04:00.000-08:00

by Alan Bateman

Should a congressman with this record be rewarded with a 15th term in office?

• Voted for Cap and Trade

• Co-sponsored Card Check

• Voted twice with Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats against making the 2001/2003 tax cuts (Bush tax cuts) permanent

• Voted to allow the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to sue companies that require employees to speak English

• Voted with Nancy Pelosi to defeat a 2008 Republican budget resolution which would reduce spending $12 billion and impose a moratorium on pork barrel earmarks

• Voted twice to increase taxes on domestic energy producers (which is passed on the consumer)

• Vote three times against drilling at ANWR

• Voted for the Pelosi light bulb bill in which the government will decide the type of light bulbs you can use in your own home

• Voted for Barney Frank’s housing trust fund

• Voted against free speech when he supported a bill to regulate the Internet including, email and blogs

• Accepts tens of thousands of dollars from Big Labor Unions each election cycle

Would you have guessed that these votes came from a Republican?

This is the record of 28-year incumbent Republican Chris Smith from New Jersey’s Fourth Congressional District (NJ-4). Believe it or not, these are just a few of his votes from the last two legislative sessions. Is it a wonder why Smith has earned the ranking as one of the most liberal Republicans in the House by the American Conservative Union. This goes along with his “F” rating from American Gun Owners and “D” rating from the NRA.

Smith has proven that he has no intention of upholding the Constitution or protecting the best interest of the people of the district or of the country. He has spent his entire adult life in Washington. For the past 28 years, Smith’s entire information base has been formed by Washington lobbyists and special interests.

Smith has no real life experience creating jobs or building a business. He has no basic understanding of economics or budgeting. As a result, he has no knowledge to draw upon when making decisions that affect our lives. Smith has to rely on lobbyists and special interest groups to do the thinking for him.

Nancy Pelosi and Barack Obama can always count on Smith to move their progressive agenda forward. Smith’s vote for Cap and Trade will result in massive job losses nationally. New Jersey alone will lose 30,000 jobs. In exchange for his votes, he has received tens of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from labor unions and green groups. He was also rewarded by Barack Obama with an appointment to the United Nations as a congressional delegate. Clearly, Smith sold us out.

To add “insult to injury,” this is the candidate the Republican Party has chosen to support. Why? Because he is an incumbent? Smith dealt a serious blow to the Republican Party when he voted for Cap and Trade and co-sponsored Card Check.

What makes the Republican Party stand apart are our conservative principles. The same principles which our Founding Fathers held when they wrote the Constitution, the same principles Lincoln held when faced with restoring a divided nation and the same principles which Reagan held when rebuilding after the economic disaster of the last progressive attempt to socialize our country under Carter.

It is “Republican Conservative Principles” which are our best hope for rebuilding and restoring our country from the Obama progressive agenda. We must be diligent now to elect those who not only hold these principles but have the courage to fight for them, namely, less government, job growth through a robust economy and strong national security.

These cannot be accomplished unless our elected officials uphold and abide by the Constitution. After all, they took an oath to do so! Without a strong adherence to the Constitution, we will lose our freedom. Without freedom, nothing is possible.

Any elected official -- including Republicans -- who ignores the Constitution and destroys our freedoms must go. No excuses!

Any party which ignores its principles in order to increase its elected members should be taken back by the people.

Accountability and solid conservative principles are what the people want and what is needed to get our country back on track. This is exactly why the tea parties were born -- out of frustration. People want and expect that their leaders serve them and to do what’s in the people’s best interest -- not to serve the interests of the lobbyists.

This June in New Jersey Congressional District Four (NJ-4), the people will have the opportunity remove 28-year Washington insider Chris Smith and replace him with a true conservative. I am that candidate.

I believe we need to recommit to the principles of the Constitution and to encourage a spirit of individualism and self-reliance. We need to strive to leave the country a better place for the next generation. Bigger government is not the answer. In fact, government needs to get out of our wallets, out of our businesses and out of our lives.

In the 2010 congressional election year, the first opportunity to say “no more” to a Washington statist will come this June in the NJ-4 Republican primary. We can and will restore America by electing a representative who will adhere to the Constitution. If we stay the course that our Founding Fathers set, following the Constitution and sticking to our Conservative Principles, we will surely see victory and once again know the greatness that is the United States of America.

Alan Bateman is the former Deputy Mayor of Holmdel, NJ and is running for Congress in NJ-4. He is raising his campaign funds from the people and needs your help. To learn more about Alan and how to donate, go to www.BatemanForCongress.com. Email him at alan@batemanforcongress.com

Halfacre Endorsed by NJTeaParty for NJ-12 Congressional GOP Primary

2010-02-07T11:14:00.000-08:00

NJTeaParty has voted unanimously to support Mayor Michael Halfacre of Fair Haven, NJ for the Republican nomination in New Jersey's 12th congressional district spanning Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth and Somerset Counties.

The decision was announced following a four-part vetting procedure established by the organization including research, written commitments by the candidate on 21 policy positions, an intensive two-hour hearing, and final review by the membership ending in a vote.

"We are proud to endorse Mayor Halfacre's candidacy for the Republican nomination in the New Jersey 12th congressional district," said Michael Illions, spokesman for the group. "We believe that he is the best candidate to defeat Congressman Rush Holt in November, 2010."

Asked why Halfacre took the endorsement over GOP primary opponent Scott Sipprelle, Illions said the biggest factor was Sipprelle's June 2009 donations to five Congressional Democrats who voted for legislation that the conservative organization opposes.

NJTeaParty is an association of the leaders of individual Tea Party organizations and other conservative organizations for the purpose of maximizing their collective influence.

Sipprelle's Struggles With Rank and File, Grassroots

2010-02-05T11:53:00.001-08:00

By John Menella

Last night I went to an East Brunswick Republican Club meeting. As I walked in, and to my surprise, who did I see sitting there but Scott Sipprelle. As the meeting Started Mr. Sipprelle stood up in front of the room and introduced himself. He began by telling everyone in the room that Mike Halfacre has been going around bashing him, and that he follows Regan's 11th commandment, and will never bash another Republican.

He then began to explain why he donated money to 5 Democrats and to Chuck Schumer. he explained that in 2009 he donated money in the hopes of getting them to vote no on the health care bill. He stated that 4 out of 5 of them did in fact vote no, and went on to say, "that was money well spent."

He then explained that he donated money to Chuck Schumer in 2002 and in retrospect made a mistake doing so. I then stood up and introduced myself and reminded Mr. Sipprelle that we had met a few weeks earlier at an event in East Brunswick. he remembered, and I refreshed his memory as to our conversation. I told him that when I asked him about his donation to Chuck Schumer, several week earlier, his reply to me was that he was told to by the senior partners at Morgan Stanley and ultimately resigned because of it.

I explained to him I had 2 problems with that, the first being that to cave into his bosses demands and contribute to Schumer, concerns me with how he would hold up to Pelosi's or Obama's demands. Secondly I informed him that he left Morgan Stanley in 1998 and donated in 2002.

At that point you could briefly feel the tension in the room as his mouthed tightened while he attempted to answer. The problem was he reiterated the love for his country, how bad things have become etc. etc., but never addresses the discrepancy about 1998 and 2002.

I then asked him a follow-up question pertaining to his contributions to the other 5 Democrats, and explained my concerns. I asked what would lead me to believe that if he were in congress a Democrat would not contribute to him to sway his vote in an attempt to get reciprocation for their votes.

Again he somewhat danced around that as well, although in fairness, he explained it by basically saying he won't do that, and again he did not seem to like that question very much

At one point another member of the group asked him how he believes health care should be fixed and what he would do. His answer was actually spot on, however after his answer yet another member told him that the answer was very good, but Mike Halfacre has been saying that exact thing for months now. He went on to ask him where he was six months ago, when Mike Halfacre was already doing what he is doing now. Mr. Sipprelle went onto say that 6 months ago he was running his business, and now he has received a different calling.

In the end we shook hands and I once again made it clear that my support would be for Mike Halfacre, but wished him well as we exited the meeting.

John Menella is a law enforcement officer and a Middlesex County Republican.

Scott Sipprelle Dodges Questions About Constitution, Healthcare, Stimulus, Abortions, Gay Marriages

2010-02-04T11:02:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, US-1 (Princeton's Business and Entertainment Newspaper) published an article by Richard K. Rein about his discussion with NJ-12 Republican hopeful Scott Sipprelle. Rein starts with a short bio of Sipprelle, going through his family's past unsuccessful runs for office, his career as a Wall Street insider, finally getting to a few questions about Sipprelle's stand on the current issues:

I had a short list of questions: Where did he stand on the Supreme Court’s free speech ruling, don’t ask, don’t tell, healthcare reform, the stimulus plan, and Roe v. Wade.

Simple questions for a conservative, right? Only that...

Unlike the professional political correspondents [...] I was easily dodged by Sipprelle. “I intend to promote a mainstream agenda for economic recovery,” he responded. “Regardless of the issues that you view as important, a country that is bankrupt can do nothing.”

Very true. Actually, keeping the country out of bankruptcy should be a basic requirement of any public servant. There was no further word on this "mainstream agenda". But back to the conservative issues:

I tried again to turn the conversation to the incendiary, litmus test issues of the Republican far right. Sipprelle did another sidestep: “I don’t think stringent litmus tests are good for our party or for our country. I say that you should evaluate a candidate holistically — there’s no reason why you have to agree with someone on every position in order to vote for them.”

So, the positions that Rein asked about referred to: free speech (and upholding the Constitution), gay marriage, national heathcare, stimulus and.. well.. life and death. For the 2nd time, Sipprelle refused to answer to any of these. Rein continues:

In fact, if you are used to the Tea Party crowd and town hall hecklers that are often the face of Republicans on the national news shows, you might be surprised to find some close to home who don’t fit the mold.

This is probably the most interesting statement. Mainly because as very recent history showed, the Republican party is returning to its Conservative grassroots represented by the tea party people. People that don't fit the mold - like Dede Scozzafava - are weeded out. A recent Rasmussen report showed that a tea party candidate would poll higher than an establishment Republican. And the identification of the tea party crowd with just hecklers reminds us of Democrati Rep. Baron Hill calling these townhall protesters "political terrorists". Oh well, Sipprelle was one of the contributors to Hill's campaign.

It's also notable to mention that Scott Sipprelle has repeatedly refused to meet with representatives of tea party groups and conservative grassroots organizations. But who knows, maybe we'll eventually get a chance to find out what his positions on the issues are.

NJ-6: Diane Gooch's Husband Funded her Opponent's Campaign

2010-02-01T15:54:00.001-08:00

It's now confirmed that the NJ GOP is really interested in having Diane Gooch run against Frank Pallone in NJ's 6th district. I don't know much about Mrs. Gooch, except that her family is wealthy, they own the Two River Times, and she is a vice-president of the Monmouth Republican Committee. Her political positions are pretty much unknown, as she is mostly known around the county only for writing big checks to the Committee.

I can't say much else until she talks on the issues. Until then, I can only be afraid that she's yet another person who thinks she can buy a Congressional seat, like Jon Corzine (or, more recently, Scott Sipprelle). She hasn't been involved in politics so far (except for writing those checks), but she's willing to put $2 million dollars in the campaign against Frank Pallone, who has the most cash on hand from all incumbents - $4 millions.

Now speaking of Pallone's treasure chest, here's a very interesting tidbit. Diane's husband, Michael Gooch, has donated $4,000 to Pallone in 2008. (besides $4,800 to other Democratic candidates, and compared to only $2,300 to Republicans). He donated another $2,400 to Pallone (who's one of the sponsors of the healthcare bill) in March 2009, as well as another $8,000 to other Democrats over the same year (Republicans got $4,900 of Gooch money last year).

I'm sure this will become a major campaign issue. It's not always that a candidate's spouse heavily contribute to the candidate's opponent.

Other possible Republican candidates in the 6th District are Assemblywoman Mary Pat Angelini, former freeholder Bil Barham, Pastor Shannon Wright and Leigh-Anne Bellew.

My Thoughts on the State of the Union

2010-01-28T08:45:00.000-08:00

By now I bet you've probably read everything you wanted to hear about the State of the Union speech, but if you want my take on it, here it goes. Personally, I was a bit confused, because the TOTUS (Teleprompter Of The United States) kept switching between being an ignorant idiot, and an outright liar. So here's my play-by-play of just the SOTU's highlights:

I hear about them in the letters that I read each night. The toughest to read are those written by children, asking why they have to move from their home, asking when their mom or dad will be able to go back to work.
You can just answer that it's your Administration's economic policies that discourage businesses from hiring their parents.

They don't understand why it seems like bad behavior on Wall Street is rewarded, but hard work on Main Street isn't.
It's because the Administration was more interested in bailing out Wall Street than in giving tax cuts for Main Street.

It's time the American people get a government that matches their decency, that embodies their strength.
Yes, we'll start doing this in November 2010, and finish in 2012.

And if there's one thing that has unified Democrats and Republicans -- and everybody in between -- it's that we all hated the bank bailout. I hated it.
But you voted for it.

And if we had allowed the meltdown of the financial system, unemployment might be double what it is today.
No, mister President, you said that if you don't bail them out, unemployment would go over 8%. Well, you had your way, and unemployment is still at 10.2%. So much for your labor market forecasts...

Now, I know Wall Street isn't keen on this idea, but if these firms can afford to hand out big bonuses again, they can afford a modest fee to pay back the taxpayers who rescued them in their time of need.
They already paid back, with confiscatory interests rates and fines, which almost bankrupted some smaller banks.

...and passed 25 different tax cuts. Now, let me repeat: We cut taxes. We cut taxes for 95 percent of working families. We cut taxes for small businesses.
WHAT???? Are you mocking us, Mr. President? Is the teleprompter playing a prank on you??

Now, because of the steps we took, there are about 2 million Americans working right now who would otherwise be unemployed.
Really? Which ones? Last time I checked, there were about 2 million more American out of work since you took office.

And we're on track to add another 1.5 million jobs to this total by the end of the year.
And probably 1.5 million others will lose your jobs because of your policies.

But government can create the conditions necessary for businesses to expand and hire more workers.
Hint: The only thing Government can do to help businesses expand and hire more people is by reducing regulations and cutting taxes.

... and give rebates to Americans who make their homes more energy efficient
You mean, if my neighbor wants an energy efficient appliance, I should pay for it??

And to encourage these and other businesses to stay within our borders, it is time to finally slash the tax breaks for companies that ship our jobs overseas
What?? Is there a tax break if I outsource a job off-shore? How do I get it? Can you give me some specifics?

We can't afford another so-called economic "expansion" like the one from last decade, what some call the "lost decade," where jobs grew more slowly than during any prior expansion, where the income of the average American household declined.
First of all, in the last decade we had the longest period of jobs growth in our entire history. Second, stop using "household"-related statistics, because household sizes is decreasing. Why don't you use simple reference points like "per capita"? Oh, because that income is growing and it doesn't help your populist tirade?

You see, Washington has been telling us to wait for decades, even as the problems have grown worse. Meanwhile, China's not waiting to revamp its economy; Germany's not waiting; India's not waiting.
Yes, you're right, they're lowering business and corporate taxes. China is drilling for oil 90 miles from Florida, while you don't let us do it.

You can see the results of last year's investments in clean energy in the [...] California business that will put 1,000 people to work making solar panels.
...Which no one is buying, because if there would be a demand for that, you'll have a lot of businesses building them without any help from the Government.

But to create more of these clean-energy jobs, we need more production, more efficiency, more incentives, and that means building a new generation of safe, clean nuclear power plants in this country. It means making tough decisions about opening new offshore areas for oil and gas development.
Now he's joking again, right? Democrats have been opposing nuclear and oil refineries for DECADES. Do you have any idea when the last nuclear plant or oil refinery was built in the United States??

And, yes, it means passing a comprehensive energy and climate bill with incentives that will finally make clean energy the profitable kind of energy in America.
Now back to the previous affirmation, will you be fair and provide the exact same incentives to clean energy AND to nuclear and oil drilling businesses?

I know that there are those who disagree with the overwhelming scientific evidence on climate change.
Yes, for example yourself, Mr. President, seem to disagree with the overwhelming evidence that global warming is a hoax.

So tonight, we set a new goal: We will double our exports over the next five years, an increase that will support 2 million jobs in America.
Oh man, did I just hear that? It reminds me of communist Romania, when the Great Leader would decide that we'll double production over 5 years, and then tell us it happened after only 4 years, although there was no factual support for that?

And let's tell another 1 million students that, when they graduate, they will be required to pay only 10 percent of their income on student loans, and all of their debt will be forgiven after 20 years, and forgiven after 10 years if they choose a career in public service, because in the United States of America, no one should go broke because they chose to go to college.
Did the Obamination really say that? So taxpayers are supposed to subsidize people who want to work for the Government? As if we don't support a bureaucracy that's already way too big and expensive? Listen Obozo. People shouldn't go bankrupt because they went to college. They should go to college because they expect better opportunities (which doesn't include a dead-end do-nothing Government job). And if they think it's not worth it, then nobody's forcing them to go to college, if not going to college will make you better off financially.

And by the way, I want to acknowledge our first lady, Michelle Obama, who this year is creating a national movement to tackle the epidemic of childhood obesity and make kids healthier. Thank you, honey. She gets embarrassed.
Obesity is not a disease, therefore it's not an epidemic, and taxpayers shouldn't be on the hook for other people's bad choices. And by the way, is it me, or did Michelle have the same look on her face that Hillary used to have when Bill was cheating on her?

And according to the Congressional Budget Office, the independent organization that both parties have cited as the official scorekeeper for Congress, our approach would bring down the deficit by as much as $1 trillion over the next two decades.
So this will cost us $1 trillion per year, but will save us $50 billions every year? Is that what you're saying?

Still, this is a complex issue. And the longer it was debated, the more skeptical people became. I take my share of the blame for not explaining it more clearly to the American people.
Now he's telling us we're stupid.

As temperatures cool, I want everyone to take another look at the plan we've proposed. What??? Did global warming just stop??

But if anyone from either party has a better approach that will bring down premiums, bring down the deficit, cover the uninsured, strengthen Medicare for seniors, and stop insurance company abuses, let me know.
OK, there you go:
- bring down premiums: allow competition across state lines
- bring down the deficit: the deficit is a Government thing, so just jeep the Government out of this altogether
- cover the uninsured: which ones? Poor people: they're covered by Medicaid; Illegals: send them home; People who choose not to get insurance: well, I thought you're pro-choice
- stop insurance company abuses: Reduce regulations so companies don't need to find ways to go around them

So let me start the discussion of government spending by setting the record straight. At the beginning of the last decade, the year 2000, America had a budget surplus of over $200 billion.
Oh my... Here it goes again. THERE WAS NO BUDGET SURPLUS. THAT WAS AN ACCOUNTING GIMMICK. THE DEBT STILL WENT UP DURING THOSE YEARS.

By -- by the time I took office, we had a one-year deficit of over $1 trillion and projected deficits of $8 trillion over the next decade. Most of this was the result of not paying for two wars, two tax cuts, and an expensive prescription drug program.
So why $8 trillions over 10 years? Meaning $800 billions per year? With two wars, two tax cuts and the expensive prescription drug program, Bush kept the deficit around $3-400 billions. I understand you'll stop the wars, increase taxes and kill the elderly, so why is your deficit doubling or even tripling?

Starting in 2011, we are prepared to freeze government spending for three years. Spending related to our national security, Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security will not be affected, but all other discretionary government programs will. We will continue to go through the budget line by line, page by page, to eliminate programs that we can't afford and don't work. We've already identified $20 billion in savings for next year.
Now he's mocking us again. So he'll keep spending trillion after trillion on his pet projects but thank God he's saving us $20 billions! Can you believe him?? It's like ordering 2 supersize double cheeseburgers with large fries - and a diet coke.

That's what I came to Washington to do. That's why, for the first time in history, my administration posts our White House visitors online.
Yes, I've seen those two visitors online - on YouTube mocking your White House security.

That's why we've excluded lobbyists from policy-making jobs or seats on federal boards and commissions.
Are you lying in our face? Your Administration is filled with lobbyists! From the Attorney General to almost everybody in the Treasury Department, the Secretary of Agriculture, and tons of czars and other jobs!

Tonight, I'm calling on Congress to publish all earmark requests on a single Web site before there's a vote so that the American people can see how their money is being spent.
Would it be the same website which showed thousands of jobs created in districts that don't exist?

But what frustrates the American people is a Washington where every day is Election Day.
You're dam' right! So please stop acting like you're still campaigning! Mr. President, you gave 400 speeches in your first year, don't you think it's a tad too much??

The confirmation of well-qualified public servants shouldn't be held hostage to the pet projects or grudges of a few individual senators.
Are you referring to months of filibustering of Judge Sam Alito? Or to the dozen federal judgeships that were open for 8 years because they couldn't get to an up-or-down vote in the Senate?

I'd like to begin monthly meetings with both Democratic and Republican leadership. I know you can't wait.
Ah! Now you have to do it! For one year you never had at least ONE meeting with the Republican leadership, because you didn't think it necessary, with a large majority in the House and supermajority in the Senate. But now that Scott Brown won, you'll have to do it!

I know that all of us love this country.
No kidding. "Us"? YOU really love this country? Then why do you keep apologizing for it everywhere you go. It's like saying you love your wife, but everytime you'd meet a stranger you'd say sorry that she's fat, sorry that she speaks too much, sorry that she doesn't clean the house. That's not love, Mr. President!

As a candidate, I promised that I would end this war, and that is what I am doing as president.
What exactly do you mean by "end this war"? In my view, you "win" a war, or "lose" a war, that's how it ends. So, can you clarify? Because sorry, but I don't understand this concept of "ending a war".

I've embraced the vision of John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan [...]
Hahahahahahahahahohohohohohohohihihihihihi

And at April's Nuclear Security Summit, we will bring 44 nations together here in Washington, D.C., behind a clear goal: securing all vulnerable nuclear materials around the world in four years so that they never fall into the hands of terrorists.
So let's hear, what's the plan on getting Iran ad North Korea on this deal?

And as Iran's leaders continue to ignore their obligations, there should be no doubt: They, too, will face growing consequences. That is a promise.
Yo yo yo. What did you say? Is that a threat? Whatchu gonna do, huh? Will you post something on their Facebook? Will you throw Michelle's purse at Ahmadinejad next time you see him at the UN?

Every day, Americans meet their responsibilities to their families and their employers. Time and again, they lend a hand to their neighbors and give back to their country.
Harry Reid is yawning. Janet Napolitano is dozing off.

I campaigned on the promise of change, change we can believe in, the slogan went.
I was playing Modern Warfare 2 the other day and I was imagining a secret operation with a commando unit that would infiltrate the White House basement and neutralize the teleprompter' power generator. Can you imagine that? I can see the President remaining limp like a zombie... or like those drones from Attack of the Clones.

Unfortunately, too many of our citizens have lost faith that our biggest institutions -- our corporations, our media
Oh, that's how you explain the tanking ratings of CNN, or the fact that MSNBC has fewer viewers than the fishing shows on Versus?

We don't quit. I don't quit.
No worries. We'll vote you out.

Local Conservatives on FoxNews

2010-01-27T11:41:00.000-08:00

Today, Mark Falzon of the Jersey Shore Tea Party was invited on Fox News to discuss the Rush Holt townhall from 2 days ago. You can see here the entire clip. Pay attention to the beginning, which features Rhoda Chodosh fighting for the microphone with the Congressman.

More from Rush Holt's Townhall - Video and Images

2010-01-26T08:24:00.000-08:00

First, you should read my detailed account of the townhall.

And for some media coverage:

- Alesha Williams Boyd talks about heckling Holt in the Asbury Park Press

- Paul Mulshine blogged about it on Star Ledger

- Fox5 was there and here is a brief news story:

And now here are some of the photos that were taken through the night:

Having some immature fun:

Quality time with my Congressman:

Rush Holt is asked about Scott Brown's win in MA:

I take the stage, asking a question, and waiting for an answer:

Funny moment of the night:

Mike Halfacre has a new fan:

An Evening with Rush Holt

2010-01-25T19:09:00.000-08:00

You can now read my follow up, with news clips, video and photos.

Tonight I attended Congressman's Rush Holt townhall in Marlboro. I was really wondering whether people are still sensitive to these liberals and the policies they're forcing on us, and yes, they are. When I got there 45 minutes in advance, there were just a handful of people in the room (all friendlies), but eventually there were about a 100 and I should say no more than 5 were Holt supporters. I have to admit it must be depressing for a guy like Rush Holt to keep facing the electorate only to find out that a large majority of his constituents don't like him.

The "uniqueness" of Rush Holt so far has been that he doesn't like dialogue. At all his townhalls last year, he'd have people write questions on pieces of paper, put them in a box, he'd pick them "at random", and if he'd like them he'd read them and give a response. No matter if he wasn't even responding to the question, there was no kind of dialogue. And they choose this format for today too.

At the start, Rush Holt came to me, as I was standing in the front row, and asked if he can sit next to me. Well, next to me was Rhoda's seat, and there were all kind of anti-Holt signs. So he mvoed one seat over. Pictures of him next to "Fire Holt" signs will be posted later. After a short introduction by Marlboro's Democratic Mayor Jon Hornik, Holt began his ultra-boring speech. He kept reading from his folder, and people got irritated, start shouting at him, asking questions, trying to get him to justify his positions, but Holt was totally unphased. No emotion, no reaction, just like a radio show you can ignore. At one point, someone shouted that it's like a "breathing robocall", to which even the Mayor (who was very cool through the evening) couldn't help laughing.

And then, the Q&A started. Meaning, Hornik would pick a question, would "evaluate" it, pass it to Holt, he'd read it, and give a lecture. People were getting angrier and angrier because he was avoiding direct answers, would say lots of lies, and again, would refuse to clarify his answers or stay on point. There was a lot of shouting back and forth. And then it was Rebel Rhoda's turn. She's Canadian-born, so her question was related to Canadian healthcare. Besides saying that "Canadian healthcare is not good", Holt avoided a clear answer. Rhoda got up, went to him, grabbed his microphone, and Holt wrestled it back from her. Holt whined that there's not a civil climate for discussion, and people yelled that HE doesn't want a discussion. Mayhem erupted, Holt's goons came in, and finally Mayor Hornik found a compromise solution: The writer of that question would come forward, read his question, and be allowed to follow up. Which meant, turning this into a real town hall! Something Holt has never done before! Following this change, spirits calmed, and it was a real dialogue with Holt.

So here are a few brief comments from the townhall:
One real gem from Rush Holt, answering a question on illegal immigration:
"How do you distinguish between legal and illegal immigrants?"
(You can check for their ID's. Or ask them something in English, to break the ice)

Asked how to fix the bankrupt Social Security system, he said:
"Social security... err... needs a... err... financial tune-up"
(Really? Just a tune-up?)

Someone asked how does he feel about Scott Brown's victory. Holt was confused, then smiled and said:
"I'm glad I live in New Jersey"
Of course, people shouted "not for long" at him.

Then the mayor picked my question... Actually one of my 5 questions, because I filled up multiple forms, and it was the worst of them (last one I wrote). I was asking him if he'd vote for the healthcare bill in the version that passed the Senate. I was curious, because unless the House votes for the Senate bill without modifications, it would have to go back to the Senate where the Dems don't have enough votes to pass it. Holt said he wouldn't vote for it because it doesn't go far enough, and it needs to be amended.

Holt repeatedly said that he's not worried about the way the Administration's spending is increasing deficits. He even said:
"Sometimes, it's not bad to borrow."
But then, a constituent questioned his votes in 2001-2002 against tax breaks and tax incentives. Holt's response was that it would've increased the deficit. The Bush 3-400 billions deficit bad. Obama 2 trillion deficit good.

And finally, another memorable Rush Holt gem:
"America is such a great and rich country because of Government spending!"
Might I comment that if that were true, then the Weimar Republic would've become the greatest nation on Earth, and wouldn't have resulted in hyperinflation and the rise of Adolf Hitler.

The conclusion is that Rush Holt remains the same unapologetic ultra-leftist liberal. He might have a niche in his district, but recent elections are showing that people are getting tired with that. And in the two of his townhalls that I attended, I didn't really see who's supporting him. And by the way, the meeting ended with Brian getting to the microphone and saying "Let's get rid of this loser. Vote Mike Halfacre!"

Mary Pat Angelini to Run Againt Frank Pallone?

2010-01-25T12:14:00.000-08:00

PolitickerNJ is reporting that Assemblywoman Mary Pat Angelini might be interested to run against Frank Pallone in NJ's 6th District. While there are plenty of candidates running in other NJ districts, so far nobody officially announced in the 6th yet.

Other names recently mentioned are Bill Barham and Diane Gooch. Former candidate Leigh Anne Bellew is also interested.

3 Reasons to Keep Bernanke in his Position

2010-01-24T07:06:00.000-08:00

I disagree with the GOP trying to block Ben Bernanke's reappointment as Fed chief for 3 reasons:

1) He did a pretty good job keeping the dollar stable despite the administration's disastruos policies. The dollar didn't crash and the money supply is in check despite irresponsible spending.
2) A good Fed Chairman is an unpopular one. You don't want a populist in that position.
3) You don't want Obama to appoint yet another ignorant crook (like his czars) to head the Federal Reserve

IPCC Admits It Lied About Glaciers Doomsday Forecasts

2010-01-24T06:50:00.000-08:00

The IPCC (UN's climate change center) recently admitted that its predictions that Himalayan glaciers would disappear by 2035 were... errr.. false. But its head, Dr Rajendra Pachauri refused to resign, although he also admitted there might be other errors in the 2007 report. He also threw his team under the bus by saying it wasn't his fault, but "a collective failure by a number of people".

According to the Times:

The IPCC’s 2007 report, which won it the Nobel Peace Prize, said that the probability of Himalayan glaciers “disappearing by the year 2035 and perhaps sooner is very high”.

But it emerged last week that the forecast was based not on a consensus among climate change experts, but on a media interview with a single Indian glaciologist in 1999.

The IPCC admitted on Thursday that the prediction was “poorly substantiated” in the latest of a series of blows to the panel’s credibility.

Isn't this typical? An official UN report on which policy decision are supposed to be made was based on a media interview with one person? Isn't this like basing our energy policy on an Al Gore fictional movie? Oh wait... it is!

But there's even more. Apparently, even that glaciologist, Syed Hasnain, claims he's been erroneously quoted. He didn't say the glaciers will disappear, but they will shrink. And here's the good part. He said that glaciers “will likely shrink from the present 500,000 to 100,000 square kilometers by the year 2035”. There are only 33,000 square kilometers of glaciers in the Himalayas.

Quote of the Day: On Kennedy and Brown

2010-01-22T08:41:00.000-08:00

Since the dean of conservative bloggers picked it as the Quote of the Day, here it is, as published on Facebook (although I won't take full credit, I paraphrased something I read):

If Ted Kennedy would see his Senate seat taken over by a Republican, he'd probably drive off a bridge.

Scott Sipprelle: Democrat or Republican?

2010-01-21T10:16:00.000-08:00

Self-proclaimed Wall Street insider was donating to House Dems only months ago

Tom Fitzsimmons, campaign manager for 12th District Republican Congressional candidate Mike Halfacre, today questioned why self-proclaimed Wall Street insider Scott Sipprelle was making donations to five Congressional Democrats just seven months ago, in June of 2009.

"Last June was the height of the battle for Congressional Republicans," said Fitzsimmons. "The Democrats had rammed through the stimulus, cap and trade was being debated, government-run health care was on the table- and in the middle of all that, Scott Sipprelle made donations to not one, not two, but five separate Democrats."

Fitzsimmons continued "It begs the question: why? Why, in the heat of the battle against the unprecedented Pelosi/Reid/Obama agenda of government expansion, would he give money to the enemy if he opposes that agenda? And more importantly, why should voters in a Republican primary support a Wall Street insider who, seven months ago, was hedging his bets by donating to Democrats? Scott Sipprelle has a lot of explaining to do."

Fitzsimmons pointed out that of the five- Allen Boyd Jr., FL-2; Charles Melancon, LA-3; Heath Shuler, NC-11; Barron Hill, IN-9; Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, SD-1:

three voted for cap and trade (which passed by two votes)
three voted for the bloated stimulus package
four voted to increase national debt limit (which passed by one vote)
one voted for the healthcare bill

Fitzsimmons also noted that Sipprelle made the donations after Governor Chris Christie had emerged as the winner of the Republican gubernatorial primary.

"At the time we had an historic opportunity to elect a Republican Governor in New Jersey, one who needed to raise money to defeat the Corzine attack machine, and Scott Sipprelle gives more money to Democrats in Congress than he does to Chris Christie. I think that speaks volumes about what kind of "Republican" Scott Sipprelle really is."

Fitzsimmons concluded by saying "Scott Brown's victory in Massachusetts on Tuesday showed once again that voters want someone with the courage of their convictions to go to Washington and oppose the Pelosi/Reid/Obama agenda. Mike Halfacre will go to Washington and oppose that agenda at every turn; Scott Sipprelle was supporting it just seven months ago. The choice for District 12 voters, in June and in November, is now clear.

Scott Brown Wins The “People’s Senate Seat”

2010-01-20T19:33:00.000-08:00

Bayshore Tea Party Press Release
January 19, 2010
www.bayshoreteaparty.com

Another Bayshore Tea Party Group’s victory in our battle to
Take Back America

The Bayshore Tea Party Group, and other National and NJ Tea Party groups, have been working with Scott Brown’s team for nearly 2 months, long before the media or national GOP knew his name. The Tea Parties have sent Patriots by car, bus and train to Massachusetts to work for Scott and the American people. We have been calling Massachusetts voters with Scott’s web based calling system. We have been donating money via the internet donation system. He has been getting over a $1,000,000 in donations per day. These systems will be used in our next elections battles.

We have been working with national groups who share the same goals as the Bayshore Tea Party Group, such as the NRA-ILA, GOA-PVF and RTL. We all wanted to win the People’s Seat. It feels like 1992-93 all over again, but as a National Coalition this time. It is widely acknowledged that the Tea Parties won back the People’s Seat, not the Republican Party.

Just like King George, The Political Ruling Class must recognize that there is a Revolution against Obama’s Socialist policies, closed door legislative creation, and outright bribes for votes. We never thought Obama could make the GOP viable again in less than a year. But the GOP must have Tea Party approved candidates. RINOs will not be allowed anymore. We had enough RINO lies.

We don’t know if the GOP understands the message. Half of the MA and NJ voters are
independents – not Democrats and not Republicans…. all the polling shows that these voters are Tea Party folks … so wake up GOP or face a Third Party. If we have to form a Third Party, the GOP will become another Whig Party.

The 2009 Tea Party Revolt has turned into a 2010 Tea Party Revolution. The NJ Democrats Socialists and RINOs better start their job search – it takes a long time to find a job in the Obama Economy.

A Special Note to Comrades Rush Holt and Frank Pallone: YOU ARE NEXT!

Stop Worrying about a Double-Dip Recession

2010-01-05T08:53:00.001-08:00

We simply never had a double-dip recession. Ever. People who threaten us with the specter of a double-dip recession (mostly the ignorants in the media) are refusing to look at any historical facts. Never in our economic history have we had such a thing. In every case they're invoking, there were actually two separate recessions:
- In the 30's, we had a recession a few years after the Great Depression, which was caused by the prior heavy government intervention into the way business worked. It was separate from the Depression.
- Early 80's: The 1980 recession was followed by a new one in 1981, which was caused by a combination of skyrocketing fuel prices and the government's efforts to control inflation

So as you can see, it's was either Government, or external factors, that caused a close, new recession. But by the way the economic cycle is working, there is absolutely no reason to fear a double-dip recession.

Sen. Baucus (Dem - Montana) Drunk on Senate Floor

2009-12-27T16:52:00.001-08:00

Sen. Max Baucus (Dem - Montana) is one of the main authors of the horrendous health care bill. It's a disgrace he had to go drunk on the Senate floor and defend it. Or was he trying to honor the memory of one of the pioneers of Government healthcare - Ted Kennedy?

Taxpayer Money Earmarked for SC End Up in CA

2009-12-18T13:13:00.000-08:00

Because there still are a few idiots who think that Government can efficiently manage $2.5 trillion dollars... Earmark meant for the library in Jamestown, SC, ends up in Jamestown, CA. Which doesn't even have a library. Government efficiency at its best.

Read here the full story.

Chris Christie Names Liberal Paula Dow for AG

2009-12-15T06:55:00.000-08:00

Governor-elect Chris Christie named today Essex County Prosecutor Paula Dow as his AG.

For many, it's just another disappointing move from Christie. Dow is a Democrat, and is known as a bleeding-heart liberal. Her record shows she's just one of those liberals who are reluctant to prosecute crime, for various social reasons. Here are some examples (I'm sure many more will surface in the following days):

September 2009 - A man whose long and violent record includes killing a witness to one of the bloodiest crimes in Newark's modern history was sentenced just on weapons charges, to a maximum 10 years in prison. Paula Dow agreed to drop the murder charge and recommend Michael Melvin be sentenced to no more than 16 years in prison.

August 2007 - Dow declined to arrest the suspect in a schoolyard shooting that left three college students dead. The NY Times article highlights the strained relations between police (that gets criminals off the street) and prosecutors (that lets them back on the street) in Newark:
Some officials in Newark Police Headquarters and City Hall, who have complained in the past about Ms. Dow’s reluctance to make arrests in murder cases that rely on a single eyewitness.
This is not acceptable in a very high crime area lie Newark.

June 2009 - She failed to get a indictment against Jose Gabriel Vega, who shot a man last year in Newark.

Obama Encouraging More Irresponsible Behaviour

2009-12-14T19:54:00.000-08:00

In a meeting with bankers today, Obama implored top bankers to increase lending.

So after a recession caused by a credit crisis created by easy money, foreclosures and other loan defaults, how can this ignorant idiot keep a straight face while telling banks: "You gotta lower your lending standards even more, guys".

About Raising the Debt Ceiling

2009-12-10T09:55:00.000-08:00

The Congress Democrats are planning to raise the debt ceiling by a staggering $1.8 trillions as soon as possible, so they don't have to do it before the 2010 elections. I previously heard the argument that they'd have to do it no matter what, and there's no way they can't do it.

Really? Can't they? So what if the debt ceiling is not raised? I mean, there are people who were foreclosed, and had their credit card accounts cancelled... What do they do, the first thing? They stop spending. Wouldn't that be an interesting exercise? To see what the Government would do when they reach the legal debt limit (think of it as the credit card limit) and they can't go over it?

Eco-Hypocrites Converging on Copenhagen

2009-12-01T11:27:00.000-08:00

This is a very comprehensive article about the eco-hypocrites:
Taking the private jet to Copenhagen

Examples:

Sheryl Crow, leading a Stop Global Warming concert tour across America. It was revealed that while Crow travelled in a biodiesel tour bus, her 30-person entourage followed in a fleet of 13 gas-guzzling vehicles.
John Travolta produced in 2006 an estimated 800 tons of carbon emissions, more than a hundred times the output of the average Briton.
Harrison Ford makes do with a smaller Cessna Citation Sovereign eight-seater jet, four propeller planes and a helicopter.
U2 is estimated to produce the carbon equivalent of the annual emissions of 6,500 British homes.

Stimulus is Working in NJ

2009-11-17T08:10:00.000-08:00

The Obama administration set up a website, Recovery.gov, to track stimulus spending throughout the country, and its results, especially the numbers of jobs saved. It's an extensive operation, financed with about $84 millions, and it's almost a real-time aggregation of various data, sortable by zip codes, congressional districts, industries, etc.

I looked at the New Jersey page, and the data is very encouraging. 384 jobs were saved in the 40th congressional district! 3 millions spent in the 17th district! That's great news!! There's only one problem. New Jersey only has 13 congressional districts. So what's going on here? Is it a programming error, or a way to hide spending?? Obama's website shows that $5,637,012 has been spent in the 15th district, and $7,095,859 more in the 0th district. Wouldn't that be called "money laundering"??

Despite this data being publicized in recent days (it applies to almost every state), there was no official explanation from the White House, and no attempts to fix it.

NJ Congressional Races in 2010

2009-11-12T06:06:00.000-08:00

Now that the election is over and NJ turned red, it's time to start thinking about winning back the Congress next year. It is supposed to (finally) be a good year for Republicans, and many incumbents are vulnerable. I looked over the NJ congressional races, and here's a summary:

Most vulnerable:
NJ-3: John Adler (Jon Runyan??)

Vulnerable:
NJ-6: Frank Pallone (no challenger yet)
NJ-12: Rush Holt (Mike Halfacre)

Potential:
NJ-8: Bill Pascrell (Ian Walsh)
NJ-9: Steve Rothman (Steve Lonegan??)

Note that Mike Halfacre is the only established challenger so far. Ian Walsh just announced he's running. Former Eagle Jon Runyan said he's just considering. Steve Lonegan said that the world must end before he's running for Congress, but the rumors are hot.

Adler seems to be the most obvious target. Don't be deceived by his vote against the healthcare bill. He narrowly won in a strongly Republican district, maybe he was trying to save his job, but he's still a Dem. I'd say NJ-3 should be ours, if we can take 1-2 more seats in NJ, it would be a huge victory. We need at least 30 nationwide.

Government is Denying Twice As Many Claims as Most Private Insurers

2009-11-11T12:11:00.000-08:00

How many times have you heard the complaints that the evil medical insurance corporations are denying claims and leave people to die? And even more, that we need the Government to step in, and fix this problem? So you think that once Government takes over healthcare, you'll have a less chance of having your claim denied? Let's look at some facts.

The American Medical Association is publishing reports on health insurers' performance, split by lots of criteria. I'm looking at their report card for 2008 and I went to Page 5, which summarizes claim denials:

Payer	Count of Records	Denied Records	Percent Of Claim Lines Denied
Aetna	637,239	43,317	6.80%
Anthem	250,070	11,546	4.62%
CIGNA	263,728	9,060	3.44%
Coventry	40,487	590	2.88%
Health Net	4,975	193	3.88%
Humana	143,026	4,142	2.90%
Medicare	6,938,431	475,566	6.85%
UHC	1,127,691	30,177	2.68%

Interesting, isn't it? Medicare (the Government) has the highest percentage of claim denials. And if you exclude Aetna, the Government is denying about twice as many claims as all the other evil private insurers!

But go ahead people, drink the Kool Aid, and keep dreaming that Government-run healthcare will mean your treatment will be more likely approved. As facts shown, you'll be twice as likely to be DENIED!

Thank you Mike Proto for finding this information!

V-Day in Monmouth County and the State of NJ

2009-11-04T07:01:00.001-08:00

"Middletown Democrats got Byrned and came up Short" - Art Gallagher

Last night I attended my first victory party, with the Middletown Republicans at the Lincroft Inn. By the time I got there, our local races were pretty much settled.

Steve Massell won by a huge margin, of 24%. I think everybody was expecting him to beat incumbent Patrick Short, but few expected the victory to be so big. I think this will bring a bit more sanity to the township committee meetings, now that Republicans return to a 4-1 lead. Everybody was happy last night, Steve brought his entire family and was surrounded by his new colleagues, Mayor Brightbill, Deputy Mayor Scharfenberger and Committeeman Fiore.

Steve Massell delivering his victory speech

When I got there, Assemblywoman Amy Handlin was still watching the results, but she told me everything looks good. She and Sam Thompson won easily, by a 2-1 margin, against Bob Brown and Jim Whatshisname, despite some bogus Dem polls showing that the race is close. All in all, the Republicans swept all four Assembly races in Monmouth County, by an average of 2-1, so a big congrats to all of them: Handlin, Thompson, O'Scanlon, Casagrande, Rible, Angelini, Malone and Dancer.

Me and re-elected Assemblywoman Amy Handlin, on Sunday

We were also relaxed about John Curley's race for freeholder. Last year, he lost by a handful of votes, in what was a bad year for Republicans. But he didn't give up, John came back and campaigned as hard as he could. I've never seen a better, stronger campaigner than John Curley. He faced unfavorable odds: Democrats had won the previous three freeholder races in Monmouth County, breaking the 5-0 majority that Republicans had enjoyed for over 20 years. Our slogan this year was "Take back Monmouth County", as barely 9 month into power the Dems started running it into the ground. Last week, John told me he was polling 17% ahead of Middletown committeeman Sean Byrnes, but he didn't trust that and he'd cut it in half. Well, on election night he won by almost 21%! I don't think anybody expected such a big margin, even his most optimistic supporters. This means he'll join Lillian Burry and Rob Clifton and starting January 1st they'll do what they do best - keep Monmouth County a great place to live.

With new freeholder John Curley and re-elected Assemblyman Dave Rible, last Thursday at Bar A

So by around 9pm, we had three races nailed, and one remaining - the big one. Chris Christie against unpopular incumbent Jon Corzine. Everything was against Christie, especially NJ being a very blue state, where no Republican has won a statewide election since 1997 and Obama won last year by 15% (but also, no Democratic Governor has been re-elected here since 1978 - says a lot about what a great job they've been doing). When I first met Chris in February, he was a long shot, and all we could do as hope. Then over the summer he went to a comfortable lead in the polls, but in the last weeks before the election Corzine's negative adds paid off and they became statistically tied. But it was still better than recent years, when no Republican candidate went into election day with real hope of winning.

Back to Lincroft Inn. Around 10pm, the networks started calling the race for Chris Christie, as he was leading by 4-5% with two thirds of the vote counted. There was an explosion of hapiness in the room, but somehow it quickly calmed down, as it was still quite close and everybody was afraid the number could reverse in the end. It was extremely tense, as everybody left their tables and we were all stuck around the TV, cheering every time the percentage of the vote counted went up, and the difference stayed the same. Then Patrick Short made his way to the crowd, and went to Steve Massell to congratulate him for his own. I was a bit surprised and I think it was a nice gesture. He thanked him for a clean campaign, and forgot about all the mud he'd thrown at Steve's family. I wonder if he said again, like on his inauguration day, that "The People have spoken". Must've been a really short party for the Democrats, as they lost all their races.

Pat Short conceding the race

Minute after minute, it became more and more clear that we can't lose this victory, and the Christie-Guadagno won, by 49% - 44%. And 3rd party candidate Daggett got only 5%, despite polling around 10% or higher. It's a very big margin, it was never close as even Republicans had forecasted. And I think that what turned the tides was the strong endorsements, just over the past weekend, from the most conservative Republicans. People that had attacked Christie for month, and vowed to write in another name or vote for a 3rd party candidate, decided with a few days before the election that getting rid of Corzine is more important and, led by Steve Lonegan, urged all their followers to go out and vote for Christie. Without these endorsements, I'm afraid it would've been very close or Corzine might've stolen the win.

So it was a great night for the Monmouth Republicans. All state contests were won by around 2-1, including the Governor's race. In February, Chairman Joe Oxley promised Christie a 27,000 votes win. He delivered 64,000. Congrats to Joe who, in his first full year as Chairman, stopped the Democrat surge and won big in all the county-wide races. And it trickled down to many township races. Incumbents were thrown out, like in Middletown, the county's biggest township. In Howell, Republicans won their first seat since 2004. In Freehold Boro, the first since 2001. Even losing in Red Bank, a Dem stronghold, they lost by only 8 votes.

This is only the beginning. The great wins in NJ and VA should send a strong message to Obama and his cronies. And next year is even bigger than this one, as we have to take back the House, and stop Pelosi from trying to destroy America. We have Mike Halfacre here, taking on Rush Holt, and we need a strong candidate to take on Frank Pallone. If formerly blue New Jersey could do it, I'm sure America can do it.

Who Am I Voting For

2009-11-02T14:59:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow is finally Election Day. Although it must be pretty clear for followers of this blog, here's how (and why) I'm voting for:

STEVE MASSELL for MIDDLETOWN TOWNSHIP COMMITTEE
I've been asked several times how will Steve change things in Middletown, how will he make it better. The thing is that Middletown is doing pretty well now. I think it's called "the best-run town in New Jersey". I see new construction here almost every month, so people are moving into Middletown. So the idea is to keep Middletown as it is now - a great place to live. Steve's opponent, Pat Short, is focused mainly on opposing the good things the Republican leadership is doing. And he's in favor of COAH which would negatively affect our way of life here in Middletown. Steve is the young voice we need on the committee.

JOHN CURLEY for MONMOUTH COUNTY FREEHOLDER
Monmouth County is one of the best counties to live in not only in New Jersey, but in the entire nation. For 30 years, the Republican majority has made sure it stays like this. The Democrats have been in power for just one year, and they're already trying to run in into the ground. They fired police officers and hired their political cronies. They want to privatize the county jail, but keep the useless youth detention center. They want to remove essential programs, but introduce a lot of wasteful spending. One year was enough, and I think Monmouth residents woke up and will vote for John Curley so you can Take Back Monmouth County.

AMY HANDLIN and SAM THOMPSON for STATE ASSEMBLY
Amy's and Sam's record on ethics and controlling spending is very clear. They're two of the most dedicated Republicans in the Assembly. We can't afford to lose any seat there, as we're trying to cut into the Democratic majority. It won't happen this year, but maybe it will in 2-3 years, and then I'm sure Amy will have an important role in the new leadership.

CHRIS CHRISTIE and KIM GUADAGNO for GOVERNOR/LT GOVERNOR
This is of course the main race in our State. Republicans have a unique chance to win their first statewide election in 12 years. Since Christine Todd Whitman won in 1997, no Republican candidate went into Election Day with clear chances of winning. I know there's a lot of disagreement on Christie's positions, but it's clear that he'll reduce taxes, control spending, and appoint more conservative judges on the Supreme Court. He also promised to help us get rid of COAH. This will be a close election, so everybody must go out and vote for Christie. His former opponent, Steve Lonegan, said it best on Sunday: "you must not vote for a third party candidate, or write in someone's name; only a vote for Christie will ensure that we don't get four more years of Corzine". We can't afford Corzine any more, and voting for Chris is the only way to prevent that. I'm very glad to see that even the most conservative Republicans changed their mind and have publicly declared their intention to vote for Chris&Kim. When Rick Shaftan, Mike Illions, Mike Proto or Steve Lonegan urge people to vote for Christie, you know we can't lose this election!

Pre Election Sunday Rallies

2009-11-01T14:07:00.001-08:00

On the last Sunday before the elections, I attended two very different rallies, but both had the some goal: getting people to vote for Christie, and get rid of Corzine! There've been many differences between the moderate and the more conservative Republicans, and I know there are a lot of Republicans who don't like Christie, but for now he is the best (and only) choice in this election. I understand some friends took a vow not to vote for him, and kept saying they'll write in some other name, or vote for a 3rd party candidate, but that is equivalent to voting for Corzine, and I never understood how any of them could think that four more years of Corzine would be somehow better than electing Christie.

My first event today was the Morristown Tea Party, in front of Washington's Headquarters. The Morristown group is famous as being one of the first ones in NJ, and attracting the biggest crowds at each of their rallies. I met Jeff Weingarten, the Morristown leader, and we both agreed that the tea party groups should come together, go to the events together, and clear their differences. Now I know there are quite a few other tea party leaders who don't like Jeff, and I think this is really dumb. I can understand where the conflict between conservative Republicans and moderate Republicans comes from, but the conflict between conservatives who like Jeff and conservatives who don't like Jeff is beyond me. The thing is, tea partiers don't really care about that, they're just looking for a forum to express their beliefs, and this bickering just puts some leaders in a bad light.

The event was nicely organized, a crowd of maybe a couple hundred people, and there was a band to entertain the people during the breaks. The first speaker was Steve Lonegan, who came out strongly for Christie in recent days. I think this is a big victory for Christie's campaign, to get Lonegan on his side, as this could finally determine the conservative "rebels" to not waste their vote on a meaningless candidate. And we saw the first results. I met there Mike Proto, very conservative blogger, who despite all his claims over the past few months, said he'll vote for Christie (although he formulated it very differently). I also met Alice (the one with the Restaurant) who's also determined to vote for Christie. At the end of his speech, Steve Lonegan thanked his primary voters, and urged all of them "not to write in his name, but vote for Christie to make sure Corzine doesn't get four more years".

The highlight of the Morristown Tea Party was the appearance by Congressman Joe Wilson of South Carolina, the one who famously told Obama "You Lie!" when the president tried to mislead the nationwide audience. To make that clear, Joe Wilson called Obama on his claim that the healthcare bill doesn't cover illegal immigrants. People at home could've believed that, but Joe knew it very well, because Republicans in the house had tried 3 times to introduce an amendment to deny coverage to illegals, and 3 times had the Democrats voted it down. So it was not a mistake, or a provision that could be interpreted, Obama's people have intentionally refused to keep illegals of taxpayer-funded insurance. And Democrats reacted quickly, the day after Joe Wilson called that like they discreetly voted the amendment into the law.

Joe Wilson was a very friendly guy, he was funny and witty, but he was dead serious in his speech when he said that we have to vote for Christie, not only because we couldn't stand four more years of Corzine, but a victory here and in Virginia would send a clear message to Nancy Pelosi that Americans are waking up, and the Democrats' rule in Congress is coming to an end. Wilson started by making a few ties to New Jersey (best line was that he likes our shore... although it's not really Hilton Head), praised Reagan on the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, and then hammered the healthcare bill that the House will be voting on. As he said, it's a 2,000 pages bill, and 2,000 pages can't be a bill on healthcare, but a bill on taking over America and taking control of our lives. It's about replacing the doctor-pacient relationship with a doctor-53 government agencies-pacient relationship. It was very nice of Congressman Wilson to come to NJ and help our cause in the upcoming election.

It was a very good event in Morristown and it's the first time that I see Chris Christie supporters and tea partiers really mingling together and rallying for the same cause. From Morristown I drove back to Middletown where the Bachstad Tavern hosted a stop on Chris Christie's bus tour. And of course I found my local fellow tea partiers there, who stopped their weekly protest short and came in full force to support our candidate. The Tavern was packed, there were hundreds of people, all the local officials: assemblymen, senators, mayors, committeemen, GOP officials, Middletown republicans, and many more. Our freeholder candidate, John Curley, gave a passionate speech, as did Senator Kyrillos, Chairman Oxley, NJ GOP Chairman Jay Webber, Lt Governor candidate Kim Guadagno and, of course, Chris Christie. Chris mentioned everything that's wrong about Corzine, told us how the DNC is paying robocalls in favor of Daggett, and reached out to Lonegan supporters, thanking him for helping with his campaign. The crowd was very energetic, and I left with a very good vibe that NJ Republicans might finally win a statewide election for the first time in 12 years.

Only less than two days are left and now it's more important than ever to get everybody out to vote, and to vote for the only candidate that can assure the democrats' defeat: CHRIS CHRISTIE!

Meet DeMaurice Smith, the New Football Czar

2009-10-29T08:47:00.000-07:00

I think not too many people are aware that the director of the NFL Players Association is for the first time not a player, but DC attorney and Obama friend DeMaurice Smith. So indeed we now have an NFL Czar. The players union, last led by Gene Upshaw, has always been directed by players, until this political appointment. DeMaurice Smith worked for Washington lobbyists, for Eric Holder's DOJ, and was a part of Obama's transition team. Last year, he contributed $3,300 to Obama's campaign.

FYI, he was the one who opposed Rush Limbaugh's involvement with the St Louis Rams. The players contract expires next year, and DeMaurice Smith threatened with a strike in case Limbaugh is allowed to invest in the Rams.

Protesting Obama and Corzine at FDU

2009-10-22T07:07:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, on Oct 21st, Obama made his second visit to NJ to endorse Jon Corzine for Governor... A national failure coming to endorse a local failure. Like last time, at the PNC Arts Center, a few groups came to protest both guys, although now it was more focused on Corzine.

I hooked up with a few College Republicans coming from all over the state and we met at BCRO, which was impressive, a huge HQ with dozens of phones, lots of space for meetings, and tons of volunteers working. After we got about 15 people, we drove as close to FDU as we could - which was right across the road. Our "mascot" was George dressed up as a chicken. The Chicken had two meanings... one was that he was representing Corzine, who chickened out of disclosing his campaign contributions, one was that he was holding up a sign saying "Cluck-U Corzine!"

Me and the one, the only, the Chicken!

As we were looking for a place for our protest, we first passed by a group of people with "Support our Troops" signs. I insisted there's something fishy, but we ended up stopping to talk to them. First of all, they told us not to take their pictures. Why? Because we are fascists. Actually, they called me fascist about 4-5 times (or was it 7?). I asked why and they couldn't say, they just told me I'm a fascist, that's all. One lady pointed to my sign, and said "that's why". My sign read "Obama, welcome to Corzine's retirement party". I tried to find out what was fascist about it, but still no answer. We suggested that support for the troops is a bipartisan issue, but they said it's not, because we are fascists. They asked us to take OUR picture, so they can show the press what kind of fascists Chris Christie is sending. To make things clear, I was aware of that group, it's some kind of far-left communists, the kind that think Obama is a right-wing nut. And they all looked like the hippies protesting the war in the 60s, only that they haven't shaved, bathed or changed clothes ever since. The next group we saw were the ubiquitous Lyndon La Rouch freaks. What can be weirder than a group of black guys holding up a big poster of Obama as Hitler?

Finally, the biggest group were our tea party friends, mostly from the Hackensack area, about 30-40 of them, with the usual anti-socialist, pro-freedom signs and the yellow flags. We joined forces with them for the rest of the day, and more and more people joined us on the corner of the access road into FDU. The College Republicans put up a fun protest, with music and dancing (by the Chicken, of course). They had bullhorns, so we could chant pretty loud, favorite chants being "Two more weeks", "Bye Bye Corzine", "Goldman Sachs / Take him back", and of course the "Na-na-na-nah, hey-hey-hey good bye!".

The Chicken Dance

Most of the cars apssing by were honking, and waving at us in support. There were about 3 cars that shouted obscenities at us and interestingly enough, all 3 of them were Priuses. But we had fun, and many others, young and old joined us for about 2 hours. Even some EMT guys who were standing nearby came to us to take pictures. At one point, a Hackensack police officer came to us and told us city ordinances prohibit the use of bullhorns, and asked us not to use them anymore. We asked if being dressed as a chicken is against any ordinance, and he said that no, it's hysterical, and he would take a picture with us if he weren't in uniform.

Around 5:30, all traffic was stopped and it became eerily quiet (good occasions for us to chant our slogans). After a few minutes, we realized that the POTUS would take another access road into FDU, and we all marched to the next corner. Lot more people joined us, mostly workers from the nearby stores. The motorcade showed up, and from his limo I'm sure Obama saw us and heard us, since we were shouting as loud as we could. And then he went in, and he addressed the bused-in union members telling them how great Corzine is, and that if we want him to continue his failed policies, we should vote him again.

Tea partiers lined up to wait for the President

Lyndon LaRouche freaks

I didn't go to many anti-Obama protests, but this was definitely the best. The College Republicans (the best party on campus) put up a good show, and although I know this doesn't accomplish anything, it's a way of showing people and the media that not everybody is in awe of the Messiah, and more and more Americans disagree with him.

Thomas Stokes' Statement on Sean Byrnes' Unethical Behaviour

2009-10-20T06:57:00.000-07:00

By Thomas Stokes
October 19, 2009

Please refer to the attached documentation that I submitted with my formal complaint against Sean F. Byrnes, Esq., to the local Finance Board in Trenton and to the Attorney Ethics Committee in Monmouth County. I believe you will find it complete, but I ask that you independently verify these facts before going with this story.

It seems very clear that the Democrat candidate for Monmouth County Freeholder is guilty of unethical conduct as a township committee member in Middletown. I am tired of public officials thinking they are above the law, regardless of political party affiliation. Both parties have had their share of problems relating to this "culture of corruption". This is just another example of such arrogant behavior.

Marcus Tullius Cicero, in an address to the Roman Senate, once said, "The arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled, and assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed lest Rome fall". How timely these words are, even though spoken more than 2000 years ago! Every public official, from local officeholder, to the president, should be forced to memorize these words (and, hopefully, adhere to them).

The Law is quite clear in this matter.

40A:9-22.5 Provisions requiring compliance by local government officers, employees
Local government officers or employees under the jurisdiction of the Local Finance Board shall comply with the following provisions:

d. No local government officer or employee shall act in his official capacity in any matter where he, a member of his immediate family, or a business organization in which he has an interest, has a direct or indirect financial or personal involvement that might reasonably be expected to impair his objectivity or independence o/judgment;

The democrat candidate for Monmouth County Freeholder has been involved in an adversarial relationship with myself, through litigation, since at least 2001. Yet, even though he had this business and personal, adversarial relationship, he failed to recuse himself when my appointment to the Township of Middletown Sewer Authority was discussed. As an attorney, he knows, or should know, better. His refusal to obey the law in this regard should disqualify him from holding any public office, let alone a higher office.

It is indeed unfortunate that I did not discover his personal involvement (I thought it was another Law Firm) until very recently. I only discovered this when he issued a subpoena. After doing diligent research, I discovered he has been involved in litigation as opposing counsel since at least 2001. Litigation is still ongoing, and I was to be deposed by the democrat candidate for Monmouth County Freeholder this Tuesday, October 20. (I was told at 4PM today that it has now been cancelled.) The final portion of the evidence presented, Exhibit VI, I discovered on October 16, 2009.

On January 6, 2008, while I was in an induced medical coma, after my near death experience of December 26, 2007, the democrat candidate for Monmouth County Freeholder both discussed and voted on my appointment to an independent authority. The township committee meeting minutes confirm this and that his vote was against my appointment.

In an editorial, a daily newspaper endorsed the democrat candidate for his being a, "proponent of openness" and “increasing transparency”. Let me see, the record reveals he has refused to obey state ethics law and hides his conflicts of interest by not revealing his involvement. Some “openness”, some "transparency"! Marcus Tullius Cicero also said, "Ability without honor is useless."

Is it any wonder why the majority of people, of all parties, are disgusted with public officials whose arrogance and elitism lead them to believe that "the law does not apply to them" and that the law only applies to others.

One more point, the democrat candidate for freeholder and his supporters seem to be trying to hide his membership in the Public Employees Retirement System (PERS). In the interest of “openness and transparency”, the fact is, as a matter of public record, the democrat candidate is a member of PERS, has 10 years and 3 months pension service credit (apparently from a political patronage job, or jobs, one of which was in Atlantic Highlands). He actually has enough PERS credit now to file for a retirement. If he were to be elected to the freeholder position, this would only substantially pad his pension entitlement at taxpayer expense. Now that’s a fact he and his supporters don’t want you to know about. (I had to search the Star Ledger public employee database for 2007 (showing 2006 records), as this will not show up in the 2007 or 2008 records.)

“Openness and transparency” seem to be swept under the rug by the democrat candidate for Monmouth County Freeholder.

Lord Monckton's Warning on the New Climate Treaty

2009-10-19T18:27:00.000-07:00

Last week, Lord Christopher Monckton gave a very dire warning about the new upcoming climate treaty. Lord Monckton is a British scientist, former adviser to Margaret Thatcher, who unsuccessfully challenged Al Gore to a debate on global warming, and got a British court to acknowledge 9 factual errors in Al Gore's Inconvenient Truth.

This is the full speech Lord Monckton gave in St Paul, MN, on Oct. 14th:

At Copenhagen, this December, weeks away, a treaty will be signed — Your president will sign it. Most of the third-world countries will sign it because they think they’re going to get money out of it. Most of the left-wing regimes around the world, like the European Union, will rubber-stamp it. Virtually nobody won’t sign it.

I have read that treaty and what it says is this: That a world government is going to be created. The word, government, actually appears as the first of three purposes of the new entity.

The second purpose is the transfer of wealth from the countries of the West to third-world countries in satisfaction of what is called, coyly, a ‘climate debt,’ because we’ve been burning CO2 and they haven’t and we’ve been screwing up the climate. We haven’t been screwing up the climate, but that’s the line.

And the third purpose of this new entity, this government, is enforcement.

How many of you think that the word election or democracy or vote or ballot occurs anywhere in the 200 pages of that treaty? Quite right. It doesn’t appear once.

So, at last, the communists who piled out of the Berlin Wall and into the environmental movement and took over Greenpeace so that my friends who founded it left within a year because they’d captured it. Now the apotheosis is at hand.

They are about to impose a communist world government on the world. You have a president who has very strong sympathies with that point of view. He’s going to sign. He’ll sign anything. He’s a Nobel Peace Laureate. Of course, he’ll sign it.

And the trouble is this: If that treaty is signed, your Constitution says that it takes precedence over your Constitution. And you can’t resile from that treaty unless you get the agreement from all the other states, parties. And because you’ll be the biggest paying country, they’re not going to let you out.”

So thank you America. You were the beacon of freedom to the world. It is a privilege merely to stand on this soil of freedom while it is still free. But, in the next few weeks, unless you stop it, your president will sign your freedom, your democracy and your prosperity away forever and neither you nor any subsequent government you may elect will have any power whatsoever to take it back again.

That is how serious it is. I have read the treaty. I have seen the stuff about government and climate debt and enforcement. They are going to do this to you whether you like it or no.

But I think it is here, here in your great nation which I so love and I so admire. It is here that, perhaps — at this 11th hour, at the 59th minute and 59th second — you will rise up and you will stop your president from signing that dreadful treaty. That purposeless treaty for there is no trouble with the climate — and even if there were, economically speaking, there’s nothing we can do about it.”

So I end by saying to you the words that Winston Churchill addressed to your president in the darkest hour before the dawn of freedom in the Second World War. He quoted from your great poet, Longfellow: “Sail on, oh Ship of State. Sail on, oh Union, strong and great. Humanity, with all it’s fears, with all the hopes of future years, is hanging, breathless, on thy fate.” Thank you.

Dem Freeholder Candidate Sean Byrnes Facing Ethics Charges

2009-10-19T07:27:00.000-07:00

Thomas Stokes of Middletown just filed over the past few days formal complaints against Democrat Middletown Committeeman and Freeholder candidate Sean F. Byrnes, Esq, with the Finance Board in Trenton and the Attorneys Ethics Committee in Monmouth County.

Mr. Byrnes has been involved (as an attorney) in litigation against Mr. Stokes over the past years. Despite this adversarial legal relationship, Mr. Byrnes refused to recuse himself (as a township committeeman) when Mr. Stokes appointment to the Middletown Sewer Authority was discussed. Mr. Byrnes made comments on that appointment and voted against it.

This is against the state law, which states:

40A:9-22.5 Provisions requiring compliance by local government officers, employees
Local government officers or employees under the jurisdiction of the Local Finance Board shall comply with the following provisions:

d. No local government officer or employee shall act in his official capacity in any matter where he, a member ofhis immediate family, or a business organization in which he has an interest, has a direct or indirect financial or personal involvement that might reasonably be expected to impair his objectivity or independence o/judgment;

As an attorney, Sean Byrnes should've been aware of this statute and obey the law. Tom Stokes has been in litigation against the law firm of McKenna, Dupont, Higgins and Byrnes since 2001. Litigation is still ongoing, and Mr. Stokes will be deposed by the Freeholder candidate on Oct 20. However, on Jan 6, 2008, committeman Byrnes both discussed and voted against Mr. Stokes' appointment.

Thomas Stokes' supporting evidence can be downloaded here.

Meeting the Candidates in Middletown

2009-10-15T07:06:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Oct 15th, the Lincroft Village Green Association hosted a candidates night in Middletown, moderated by the League of Women Voters. It was a good occasion to meet the local candidates and hear them speak, although people in attendance were quite partisan, meaning that everybody already knew who they're voting for in November. The meeting was set up like a Q&A session, with the moderator asking a question, and the candidates answering it in turn. There was no actual debate, although some shots were fired. The questions were mostly about local issues and generally, with very few exceptions, all candidates seemed to agree on the same positions, although differently formulated.

So here are the candidates we met last night:

Steve Massell is the Republican candidate for the Middletown Township Committee. He was the new kid on the block, the only candidate with no prior political experience. He seemed nervous in the beginning but as he got more comfortable he was getting better and better at expressing his views. He was right on point with all the questions. His main point is about preserving the quality of life in Middletown, the city where he was raised and where he returned to raise his own kids.

Steve Massell

Patrick Short is the Democrat candidate in Middletown. He's running for his second term and in his first 3 years he leaned strongly left, following the Democrat party line coming down from Corzine, Cryan, Caliendo, Norcross and the other party bosses. When he wasn't reading the answers, he was hard to follow as he was often losing his train of thoughts.

John Curley is the Republican running for the 2nd year in a row for the Monmouth County Board of Freeholders. Among all five candidates present he stood out as the best speaker and he's a great campaigner. He has both the most experience in politics and also in business, as the owner of a GM car dealership.

Sean Byrnes is a Democrat Middletown Committeeman and he's also running for Freeholder. He was the lawyer in the group, and he was just talking and talking and talking, without really conveying any message, but he was very good at filling the entire space allotted for each question. The appeared the same way he's in the committee meetings, arrogant and with an air of superiority. He was trying to look cool and gave the impression that he doesn't belong with the crowd, but it's something he has to do.

Stan Rosenthal is an independent running for Freeholder and was the big unknown of the meeting. He's obviously an outsider, and he performed like an outsider. He looked amateurish, and his main selling point was the need of an independent on the board. Not sure if anyone understood what his positions are, other than that. He also delivered the funny quote of the evening, saying that when 40 politicians were arrested in July, none of them were independents, they all had a D or an R next to their names. He also answered very honestly to a few specific questions, saying that he doesn't know the problem to well, and wouldn't want to comment on something he doesn't know. Very straightforward, and more politicians should say that, although it makes them look bad. After all, the candidates knew the question before, so there's no excuse for researching the issue.

I won't go into all the questions and issues discussed, I'll just talk about a few of them.

COAH
This is becoming a major issue in NJ, especially for nice suburban towns like Middletown. Building hundreds of low income housing units as mandated by the State would gravely affect the quality of life, with overcrowding of schools and streets and raising crime rates. It's interesting that both Massell and Curley but also Short and Byrnes seemed to agree on that point. But Steve Massell (who promised to fight COAH with all his means, if he's elected) correctly called Pat Short and Sean Byrnes for voting against a resolution condemning COAH in the Middletown Township Committee (the resolution passed 3-2). Byrnes and Short went on the defensive, and they explained their vote by a technicality - claiming that some of the numbers in the resolution were not accurate. But they didn't openly show support for COAH, although they're secretly for it (but they know you can't win in Monmouth County if you support COAH). John Curley went further, asking for a complete dismantling of this program, while Rosenthal was the lone COAH supporter, saying his daughter lives in affordable housing and it's a good thing to use taxpayers money on. The COAH issues came up a few times, including in regards to the Avaya property in Lincroft where Middletown has to build its quota of low-income housing.

Sean Byrnes

The problem with COAH is that towns and counties have little say in it, as it's a state regulation. Even more, it's not a statute but a court ruling, so if elected even Chris Christie can't do much about it (despite his strong claims), the only thing he can do being to gradually appoint conservative judges to the Supreme Court, but he'll meet strong opposition from the legislature on that.

Committees
Two questions were asked regarding the formation of committees. The first one was about a finance committee in Middletown. Massell spoke against it, while Short supported it. Personally I can't say I'm totally against it. It shouldn't be done the way the Democrats wanted, like an ad-hoc committee that would just delay the budget approval, but could be a general committee. Middletown is a big enough township to need its own finance corps, as none of the committee members are economists.

The other questions about the creation of an ethics board, both at township level and at county level. John and Steve were against it, calling it just a layer of bureaucracy, while Sean and Stan supported it. As John said, we don't need this new bureaucracy, we already have a very good ethics board called the FBI, which arrested quite a few politicians in recent years. Pat and Stan seemed to avoid answering the question.

Patrick Short

Traffic
A few questions revolved around traffic management issues, especially on Route 520, which seemed to be the only road in town since it was so prominently featured (or maybe it's because the meeting was held on Route 520). One of these issues was about creating roundabouts on 520 to help with traffic management. Everybody except Rosenthal (who said he doesn't know the problem well enough) seemed more or less in favor of it. I think they just didn't know what position to take and skirted around the issue. And by showing any level of support it was clear they have no clue about it. Roundabouts are a traffic hazzard, and the trend is to eliminate them (as it recently happened in the Wall Twp area, although there are still a few dangerous ones around there). I am against them from 2 personal experiences. First, as a cyclist, I often have to go through the existing roundabout at Brookdale, but I usually ride into incoming traffic and cut to the paths of Thompson Park, rather than having to go through that nightmare. Second is that they seem to be quite popular in Europe, especially France, where they're a nightmare. I drove 200 miles from Paris to Normandie, and I went through probably 40 roundabouts, and they're a big, dangerous nuisance. But it's typical politician attitude, to support something that sounds good even if the proof is to the contrary. At least John Curley said he'd first listen to an engineering research on this. I'm relieved to know that there are a few committee members in Middletown who wouldn't vote for it.

Another traffic issue was the installation of speed bumps and speed humps on side streets. Massell took the time to explain to us the differences between humps and bumps, gave the example of accidents happening because of the roundabouts, but didn't openly oppose them. Short delivered again the politician response, saying let's install them (plan, pay, use the resources), and then see if they're good or not (the general Democrat party line, used in the stimulus, health care and other bills). Byrnes said... well, no idea what, but he spoke for a minute and a half, while Curley gave the best response, saying that as the owner of an auto shop he's all for speed bumps, as he likes getting all the shock absorbers repair business. Rosenthal, as expected, said he's not familiar with the issue. If you ask me, I'm ready to send all my suspension repair bills to the township committee members, if that happens (but again, some existing committee persons are already against it).

John Curley

There were many other questions asked, about pollution, Belford flooding, etc, but there were no big differences between the answers, no controversies. I think both Steve Massell and John Curley will win by large margins, and there are Democrats who already admitted defeat.

Steve Massell Plans to Put Taxpayers First in Run for Middletown Township Committee

2009-09-27T19:39:00.000-07:00

As a father of four born and raised in Middletown, Steve Massell was compelled to run for Township Committee this year out of a growing concern over the disastrous impact that policies dictated by Jon Corzine are having on Middletown. Rather than complaining while watching tax bills increase, Massell decided to get involved.

“Trenton takes millions more from Middletown taxpayers each year while sending less money back and requiring Middletown, by decree, to provide low income housing and other unfunded mandates,” said Massell. “This is simply unacceptable — Middletown cannot maintain the quality of life we all enjoy while certain local elected officials embrace these policies.”

When pressed for details, Massell explained that his opponent, Democrat Pat Short has regularly voted in line with Jon Corzine. Earlier this year, Short did vote against Resolutions condemning Corzine’s State budget and the expansion of COAH — the Council On Affordable Housing — which, Massell added: “requires Middletown to provide obscene amounts of low income housing at immense taxpayer expense.”

“I am not suggesting that Pat Short is a bad person, in fact, while I didn’t vote for him, I had high hopes that he would do what he promised three years ago and help us lower property taxes,” explained Massell. “Instead, Pat Short has towed the Democrat party line with Jon Corzine and Middletown taxpayers simply cannot afford another term for either one of them.”

In addition to his fight for lower taxes and against State-mandated low incoming housing, Massell suggested that there are many other local issues that are of significant concern that need to be addressed.

“Middletown is one of the largest and most diverse communities in the State and each section of town faces different challenges that need to be addressed by the Township Committee,” Massell says. “For years, Lincroft residents have had to contend with unsafe and overcrowded roadways in a predominately residential area of town, and residents in the Bayshore have endured years of flooding that was supposed to be addressed by the federal government, but has not been despite decades of false assurances from Congressman Pallone.”

In both of these instances, Massell believes that local governments in suburban communities like Middletown are being forced to take a more active approach while politicians in Washington and Trenton redistribute billions to inner cities that have been devastated by decades of high taxes and corruption that drove out the businesses and residents that once contributed to their tax base.

Having worked in the private sector his entire life, Steve Massell believes that it is time for him to give something back to the community he grew up in. Steve already serves on the Middletown Planning Board and wishes to expand this public service to promote smart growth policies, such as preserving Middletown’s remaining open spaces and continuing implementation of the Green Initiative to help reduce taxes and traffic when on the Township Committee.

You can find out more about Steve Massell’s campaign for Middletown Township Committee at www.middletown2009.com

Amy Handlin to Dems: "You're So Out of Touch, No Wonder You're Extinct"

2009-09-23T17:40:00.000-07:00

Tonight I attended Assemblywoman Amy Handlin's reception. Amy had a short speech and what stood out was a reference to Jurassic Park. When Jeff Goldblum discovers that dinosaurs can't see in the dark, turns off the lights, and teases the T-Rex: "You're so out of touch, no wonder you're extinct!" This so perfectly applies to Democrats in NJ and elsewhere, and they'll start being extinct here after Nov. 3.

One reason is: 115. This is not the answer to the ultimate question about life, universe and everything. It's the number of tax increases in 4 years of Corzine rule. Everything is taxed in NJ, even taxes are taxed (see the corporate surcharge tax). Amy mentioned that only the air we breathe is not taxed, but I think it will be, once the tax&trade bill passes.

Rush Holt and Frank Pallone Vote to Fund ACORN

2009-09-18T09:47:00.000-07:00

Our local representatives, Rush Holt and Frank Pallone, again showed they're out of touch with reality, as they were among the 75 democrats in the House voting to fund Acorn. This means, they voted to keep sending money to an organization that provides advice on tax evasion, finances brothels, and approves or teenage prostitutes.

Besides Holt and Pallone, 3 more NJ congressmen voted for Acorn funding: Bill Pascrell, Albio Sires and Donald Payne.

Rush Holt's opponent, Mike Halfacre, responded to this:

Once again, Rush Holt has shown how out of touch he is with the people of the 12th Congressional District and that his attempts to portray himself as a moderate are just that- a portrayal. He was to the left of even his own party on cap and trade; he is to the left of his own party on healthcare reform and now, when 70% of his own party voted against giving any more funding to this controversial group, once again, Rush Holt stood with the far left of his party to continue funding them with taxpayer money. We seem to have a representative who thinks he represents San Francisco and not central New Jersey.

Proof that the Fed is Monetizing the Debt

2009-09-16T14:46:00.000-07:00

I hear a lot of people who're saying that nooo, the Fed is not monetizing the debt, because there are many buyers interested in our debt. For those who don't know what monetizing is, it means that when the Treasury doesn't have investors to finance our national debt, the Fed prints the money and buys the debt. Printing the money just creates fictitious money which only results in inflation.

And here's an easy proof of what's going on. First check out this Treasury debt sale:
http://www.treasurydirect.gov/instit/annceresult/press/preanre/2009/R_20090730_1.pdf

It's on July 30th, note the instrument's ID: 912828LD0.

Then go to the New York Fed's search page (that's the office which runs open market operations for the Fed):
http://www.ny.frb.org/markets/pomo/display/index.cfm?fuseaction=showSearchForm

As date range, enter 8/6/2009 - 8/6/2009. It's one week after the Treasury debt auction mentioned above. And look in the results. 3rd row from the top, surprise! The same 912828LD0 debt instrument that was sold barely a week before to interested investors!

If that's not obvious that we're heavily monetizing debt, then I don't know what is. Instead of the Fed buying the debt outright and admitting monetization, it's using a 3rd party to hold the debt for a week before buying it back. I wonder who that 3rd party is, and if this wouldn't qualify as conspiracy.

Remember folks, this happened when they had trouble selling $300 billions of debt. Few people were interested to buy it. What will happen with the other 9 trillions that Obama is planning to spend??

Credit for this story go to Glenn Beck and Chris Martenson.

Cash-for-Clunkers Savings and the Government's Genius Business Plan

2009-09-12T07:53:00.000-07:00

A vehicle at 15 mpg and 12,000 miles per year uses 800 gallons a year of gasoline.

A vehicle at 25 mpg and 12,000 miles per year uses 480 gallons a year.

So, the average cash-for-clunker transaction will reduce US gasoline consumption by 320 gallons per year.

Government bought 700,000 vehicles so that's 224 million gallons / year.

That equates to a bit over 5 million barrels of oil.

5 million barrels of oil is about ¼ of one day's US consumption.

And, 5 million barrels of oil costs about $350 million dollars at $75/bbl.

So, we all contributed to spending $3 billion to save $350 million.

How great a deal was that ???

They'll probably do a great job with health care though.

(Thank you Joe Schilp for the information and numbers)