Meeting the Candidates in Middletown

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

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"

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

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

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

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)

Perth Amboy Tea Party

On Saturday, Sep. 5, the first day of the Labor Day weekend, I went to the Perth Amboy Tea Party. A lot of people warned me that this is a dangerous area, and it might not be a good place for an anti-socialist event, but while the downtown looked a bit scary, the Circle Park where the tea party took place was a very nice, safe venue. There were not too many people, no more than a hundred, but this was a tough day for a protest. Very nice day, maybe the last nice summer weekend, when people would rather be at the beach, or having a barbeque at home. So thank you to everyone who attended.

The first thing that struck me was that, while the other protests I've been to seemed very disorganized, here you had a few well-organized groups. One was that of independent gubernatorial candidate Jason Cullen's and his associate running for Aseembly, Jim Poesl. The other one was the FairTax.org organization. And there were maybe 30-40 other people who showed up spontaneously, including a few that I've seen at out Middletown rallies.

Kurt Epps as Gov. William Franklin

The tea party organizers had a nice setup, with a podium for speakers, under an arch which held the "We The People" sign. The speakers were both good and bad. To open, we had a guy dressed up as Gov. William Franklin, who had a funny speech, combing the history of the NJ colony and current events. Then, we had Jason Cullen, who might be a smart conservative guy, but I don't think he's doing us any service. As a conservative candidate, he'll just drain votes from Chris Christie, which ultimately means votes for Jon Corzine. His speech wasn't bad, and he's a nice guy, but I think he's just a self-absorbed young politician who wants his 15 minutes of fame.

The first good speech was from Michael Johns, a well-known blogger and conservative activist, who's worked for the White House and spoke as many tea parties nationwide. He offered us a broad view of the Obaministration's socialist plans, focusing on the healthcare reform. But probably the best surprise was the impromptu speech of Brian, a simple guy from the attendance, who asked for the microphone and gave us a spontaneous 10-15 minutes speech which drew everybody's attention. He spoke to us about the way Government is taking our freedoms, trampling the Constitutions, going against everything America stands for. He didn't need a script, and everything he said was right from his heart, it was a very inspiring speech. And even more, he's a union carpenter, and unions are the last place where you'd expect a passionate conservative, but as Brian said there are a lot of smart people in the unions who see that the union leaders' positions are plainly wrong.

Michael Johns addressing the crowd

There were a few snoozers taking the podium, but two more speeches stood out. One was from a very passionate African-American lady, who was Obama's hardest attacker, and who explained that disliking Obama has nothing to do with race. Then it was my friend Joe Schilp who gave a very factual talk on business and taxes, and how socialism is bad for business, therefore for us, Americans.

Joe Schilp delivering his speech

But the highlight of the tea party was probably Col. Manly Rash's final appearance. Manly Rash is another well-known blogger, who regularly appears in a Continental Army uniform. You can read about this tea party on his blog, complete with videos, but check back soon since he's having a series of postings.

Manly Rash suffered the most at this event, since it was so hot and his full uniform must've been baking him inside. But he didn't complain, he waited for his turn, and I'm glad I stayed until the end. Col. Rash climbed on the NJ Liberty Bell monument, opposite the podium in the park, and started by ringing the bell with his sword. Then followed a very inspirational speech, focused on the history of our Republic, the Constitution, and the principles our Founding Fathers stood for. He slipped in and out of his Revolutionary character, talking about our current situation, and what we must do to protect our freedoms. He was the only speaker on that day who didn't say anything negative. We all know what's bad about Obama, his plans, his bills, and socialism in general, so we didn't need to hear it again. What we heard from Col. Rash was the positive, what we must do as a nation to make sure we survive Obama's term.