Cruz joins with Sussex Dems to oppose broadband in Sussex-Warren.

By Sussex Watchdog

If you lived through the pandemic in Sussex or Warren County you know how important Internet connectivity is. If your Internet service wasn’t reliable, you couldn’t work from home, or learn from home, or even order food from home. And it’s not just for the pandemic – expanding broadband in Northwest New Jersey so that there’s reliable access to the Internet is crucial for the region’s economic development – now, and in the future.

Elected officials from BOTH political parties understand the need for greater broadband access in the region and reliable Internet connectivity. That’s why they place their ideological differences aside to broadly work together on what should be an issue of mutual agreement.

So, on Friday, when Governor Phil Murphy and Congressman Josh Gottheimer visited Lafayette to announce $190 million in American Rescue Plan funding that includes broadband expansion in Northwest New Jersey, they were joined by Republicans who have worked side-by-side with them to achieve this. Only an asshole would oppose reliable Internet access for Sussex and Warren Counties.

Enter Dan Cruz, a former Democrat, who is the teachers union’s answer to the problems facing Northwest New Jersey. It’s not enough that many teachers opposed returning to the classroom – apparently Cruz opposes students having the Internet access they need to learn from home as well.

Cruz took to social media to go on a rampage against Republicans who have put their partisan feelings aside to help get Sussex and Warren Counties the 21st Century Internet service we need. Cruz attacked Senator Steve Oroho and, by extension, Assemblyman Hal Wirths, County Commissioner Director Dawn Fantasia, and the Republican mayors of Blairstown, Hardwick, Belvidere, Sussex Borough, Frelinghuysen, and others. All of whom showed up in support of expanding broadband access for rural New Jersey and to support state legislation to create a Broadband Access Study Commission.

Apparently, Cruz saw red when Governor Murphy said, “Along with our congressional delegation and our Legislature, we are working to ensure that those living and working in New Jersey have access to reliable high-speed broadband services.” Cruz profoundly disagreed with that statement and with the one made by Congressman Gottheimer:

“For the sake of our families, economy, schools, and health care, we must continue fighting for communities across Warren and Sussex Counties to help boost their broadband connectivity… Now, every county and town in Sussex and Warren County will be clawing back federal dollars that they can use to improve connectivity. We also need to get the dollars sent to the State of New Jersey for rural broadband to right here in Sussex and Warren. With partners on both sides of the aisle and at every level of government, I believe we can get this done.”

NJBPU President Joseph L. Fiordaliso, who was also at the announcement, said: “Ensuring the most hard-to-reach areas of New Jersey have access to high speed Internet is an absolute necessity, especially in light of the last year. It is crucial that we close the digital divide, so our schoolchildren and businesses have the same educational and economic advantages regardless of where they are located.”

What responsible leader would oppose working together to achieve a bi-partisan outcome that materially helps the people of Sussex and Warren Counties?

Is Cruz nuts, stupid, or just a liar? Are we really supposed to believe that Cruz would rather have an Internet desert in Northwest New Jersey if it means working with the Democrats who run Trenton (the Murphy administration) and Washington (the Biden administration)? He’s too educated to be that stupid – so it’s down to being a nut or a liar.

But it gets worse.

It is bad enough when a political wannabe is on the make and will do anything, say anything, to try to score – but when the Executive Director of the Sussex Democrats cheers him on and shops around such a stupid attack, that is truly remarkable. Especially as the Executive Director in question has just trousered a fat patronage job – courtesy of the very same Governor Murphy.

Speaking for the Republicans, who are a minority in the Legislature, Senator Steve Oroho said: “High-speed internet is an absolute necessity in our world today, yet there are too many homes and communities in New Jersey that lack the broadband service many of us take for granted. The last year with so many employees and students working from home through the pandemic, it underscored the need of being wired for reliable internet connectivity. The creation of the Broadband Access Study Commission will examine the logistics of developing community broadband networks in order to deliver high-speed internet access, especially to underserved communities like many in rural areas. From a competitive standpoint, closing the digital divide is a must.”

Unfortunately, Dan Cruz and the Sussex County Democrats would rather play politics than get anything done. Being spiteful losers might make them feel good, but it doesn’t address the problem, which is a very real one – all across America.

Here is an educational video, provided by the Wall Street Journal, for the edification of Dan Cruz and the Sussex Democrats.  These idiots should watch it.  Maybe they’ll learn something?  But don’t hold your breath.

 

“The more inept you are, the smarter you think you are.”

Tom Stafford

Gottheimer denies Commissioners’ legal counsel at NJOHSP briefing.

On March 22nd Congressman Josh Gottheimer sent an invitation to the Sussex County Board of Commissioners to attend a “briefing” by the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness (NJOHSP) on “the latest domestic terror threats in our State.”

The invitation, signed by Congressman Gottheimer and on official stationery, did not contain the date and time for the briefing or the location at which it was to be held. It did contain this paragraph:

“I will follow up with specific details on the briefing with NJOHSP and look forward to working together to stop hate, domestic terror, and extremism in all forms.”

But Congressman Gottheimer never did follow up with specific details. According to InsiderNJ’s Fred Snowflack, he instead politicized the briefing, using it as a political hit piece on the Commissioners. On a March 25th InsiderNJ post, Snowflack wrote:

“Today, Gottheimer, whose 5th District includes most of Sussex County, released a letter he sent to the county commissioners on March 22.”

Despite Gottheimer’s attempt to use the briefing as the basis for a political attack, his congressional office was contacted by Sussex County Commissioner Chris Carney, a union worker with Local 825 of the Operating Engineers. Carney, who was selected to fill the remainder of Josh Hertzberg’s term and who is running this year for a full term on the Board, demanded that Gottheimer hold the briefing.

In response to Commissioner Carney, Gottheimer’s office sent a follow-up to the Board of Commissioners, slating the briefing for today at 12:30pm by Zoom. The Board responded that it would be attending, along with the Board’s special counsel. After initially agreeing to this arrangement, Gottheimer’s office contacted the Board to inform them that their attorney would not be allowed to hear the briefing.

Why?

Why would the Board’s attorney not be permitted to hear a briefing by the Director of the NJOHSP? Might he ask some difficult questions? Would his presence make it more difficult to smear the names of private citizens and open the participants up to civil suits? Would he provide some unfortunate clarification as to what is or isn’t an actual crime?

So many of the NJOHSP “incidents” involve “flyers, pamphlets, and signs” that promote “white supremacy”, “white nationalism”, “neo-Nazism”, and “hate” of various kinds. But is this a crime when anyone can purchase Mein Kampf, by Adolph Hitler, on Amazon.com. What is more Nazi than Mein Kampf? Does each purchase count as an “incident” or is it uncounted?

The truth is that any government agency can increase or decrease the number of “incidents” by defining or redefining them in a way that expands or contracts their numbers. Is this what’s going on?

And here is another curious thing about this briefing. In January, Speaker Nancy Pelosi appointed Congressman Gottheimer to the U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security. But this is the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness (NJOHSP) – a STATE agency that has nothing to do with Congress.

As a Congressman, Josh Gottheimer has no responsibility for or oversight of the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness (NJOHSP). He doesn’t vote on their budget – the STATE legislators who represent Sussex County do. In fact, Senator Steve Oroho and Assemblyman Hal Wirths are ranking members of their respective chambers’ budget committees. So why were they not invited to this briefing? Might they ask questions too?

Is this briefing anything more than political theater, for the benefit of a political ally, provided by the appointee of a Governor facing re-election? As such is it an abuse of power, a fraud, and a waste of taxpayers’ money?

We suggest a proper, academic review of the history of terrorism and the causes of extremism. One that does not whitewash the part played by the CIA and other intelligence agencies. It could be named in honor of that great liberal – a true, old-fashioned liberal – United States Senator Frank Church, Democrat of Idaho.

“In examining the CIA's past and present use of the U.S. media, the Committee finds two reasons for concern. The first is the potential, inherent in covert media operations, for manipulating or incidentally misleading the American public.
The second is the damage to the credibility and independence of a free press which may be caused by covert relationships with the U.S. journalists and media organizations.”

U.S. Senator Frank Church
(Veteran. Burma campaign. WWII)

NJGOP destroys Trump narrative with on-line vote for Chairman

By Rubashov

What were they thinking?  While President Donald Trump is arguing that massive fraud occurred in the November presidential election, the NJGOP has undercut him, conducting its own election for Chairman using a company that is trying to transform elections in America away from in-person voting, embracing on-line technology.
 
Sources said that Tuesday night’s election for Chairman was conducted on-line, using software provided by a company called ElectionRunner.  NJ Globe noted that “Michael Mulligan, a state committeeman from Salem County, objected to the electronic vote and sought to delay the election.”  Mulligan noted the apparent incongruity between how the NJGOP vote was being conducted and a party that has criticized the move away from in-person voting.
 
One GOP leader called it “hypocrisy” that “undermines President Trump’s argument.”  The NJ Globe reported Mulligan as saying: “What we’re going to be doing caused major problems in this country.  We are jumping the gun at the present time.”
 
But Warren County Freeholder/State Committeewoman Jason Sarnoski didn’t see it as abandoning Trump’s argument, claiming that there was “no reason to delay the meeting.”  Sarnoski told NJ Globe: “This is the same process we’ve followed in the past.  We’re not voting on Dominion machines.  We’re going to be virtual for the time being.”
 
One state committee member contrasted the NJGOP’s Murphyesque social distancing for a meeting of such few people, with the hundreds that gathered at Trump National Golf Course on October 20th for the Arise-NJ event hosted by Pastor Phil Rizzo.  There were no reported cases of COVID-19 as a result of that event.  “If hundreds could gather and conduct business six weeks ago, why can’t the NJGOP safely hold an in-person vote of 42 people?”
 
Forbes magazine identified ElectionRunner as one of nine technology companies that want to “revolutionize” voting.  Forbes noted that “computer science professors warn that internet elections are seriously vulnerable to bugs and foreign attack.”

"The problems are growing in complexity faster than the methods to keep up with them. From that perspective, looking at a system that relies on the perfectibility of computers is a really bad idea," says Stanford computer science professor David Dill, who founded the Verified Voting Foundation. Beyond attack, voting online challenges traditional staples of the electoral process. Online, preventing voter fraud, guaranteeing anonymity and ensuring vote verifiability become considerably more difficult. 

Nevertheless, ElectionRunner – which makes a product that allows users to run elections on any device in any location – hopes to be able to expand its customer base beyond organizations and schools. Being able to claim that a major state Republican organization used their on-line voting app in 2020 (of all years!) is a big plus towards getting others to sign-on.

A follow-up NJ Globe story today portrayed the vote as a contrast between Mike Lavery’s hail-fellow-well-met personality and Bob Hugin’s impressive record of raising and donating money. Going forward, we will be watching to see how far the NJGOP can get by on a smile and a handshake.

Stay tuned…

“People that elect corrupt politicians, imposters, thieves and traitors are not victims... but accomplices.”

George Orwell

Democrat Gottheimer needs to spend less time condemning and more time explaining

By Sussex County Watchdog

He’s at it again.   Yesterday, in the midst of an actual shooting war between the United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran, Congressman Josh Gottheimer called a press conference to tell us that the real threat came from… other Americans.  Especially “white” Americans. 

Why is Gottheimer ignoring the existential threat posed to Israel and Jews around the world by the Islamic Republic of Iran?  Why is he trying so hard to change the subject?  Founded in the wake of the 1979 revolution, the Islamic Republic of Iran rests on a “foundation of three pillars.”  They are:  (1) The mandatory veil (hijab) for women; (2) Opposition to the United States of America; and (3) Opposition to Israel.  Look it up! 
 
Instead of trying to blame Americans for all the world’s troubles, perhaps Congressman Gottheimer should adopt a little humility, search his own past, and atone for some of his own actions.   Before he was elected to Congress in 2016, Josh Gottheimer followed his buddy Mark Penn, the Clintons' polling guy, to take over an international public relations/lobbying corporation called Burson-Marsteller.  These folks are a real piece of work. 
 
Hey, don't take out word for it.  Here's what MSNBC's Rachel Maddow had to say about the firm where Josh Gottheimer held the number two position as International Vice President (his buddy Mark Penn was International President):

Yep, Josh Gottheimer and his pal Mark Penn ran the "PR Firm from Hell"!
 
Maybe Josh Gottheimer should explain what he got up to at the "PR Firm from Hell"?  Maybe offer a little apology?

Like in 1991, the NJGOP needs to hold a convention.

Take yourself back to September 1991.  The legislative midterm elections were less than two months away.  New Jersey was in the second year of a Democrat Governor, following eight Republican years.  The State Senate had not been in GOP hands for 18 years.  The Assembly was last Republican in 1989. 

1,032 delegates from across New Jersey attended the State Republican Convention that year.  They were exhorted by former Governor Tom Kean, who reminded them “that they must do more than criticize Florio and Democratic lawmakers” to wrest control of the Statehouse in the November elections: “People want to know what you're for, not just what you're against,” he said. “Attacking the present administration is not enough.”

The delegates discussed and debated issues… adopted a state party platform… and defined who they were.  In November, Republicans won a landslide victory and took control of both chambers of the Legislature.  Two years later, they took the Governor’s office too.

In contrast to last month’s gathering of the GOP in Atlantic City, the 1991 convention at Rutgers University was about policy, message, and people – it had a grassroots feel to it.  While the current state party operation is dominated by Trenton-centered professional operatives and consultants, in 1991 the party was still one of stakeholders – people with networks in their communities and districts.

New Jersey Republicans are suffering a crisis of identity.  And it’s not just the old controversies over social issues.  The current “favorite” for Governor in 2021 – former Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli – called Donald Trump a “charlatan” who is “out of step with the Party of Lincoln” and an “embarrassment to the nation.”

The NJGOP can’t seem to make up its mind on something as basic as the tax restructuring package – championed by former Governor Chris Christie – that ended the Estate Tax, cut a bevy of other taxes, prevented a huge property tax hike, and provided enough property tax relief to enable places like Warren County to actually cut property taxes.  Some Republicans seem determined to run against one of Governor Christie’s hallmark accomplishments.  Let’s hash this thing out once and for all.  

Legalizing the sale and use of recreational marijuana is another issue.  Although both Senate Republican Leader Tom Kean Jr. and Assembly Republican Leader Jon Bramnick have done admirable jobs of holding their delegations together on this – there are all these lobbyists occupying party office who are nibbling away at the resolve of individual legislators and there is no formal party position on this or any other issue of substance.

A convention could be just the thing to resolve these conflicts, to pull everyone together around what we agree on, our principles and objectives, to create a message, and build that message out with a platform of policies – which could then be fleshed out by people like Regina Egea and her Garden State Initiative.  Thus far, the only prescriptions offered by the NJGOP have been which consultant a candidate should hire or new “game changing” technology to employ.  These do not take the place of having an actual message to run on – as the past few election cycles have shown. 

Once upon a time, New Jersey Republicans knew how to tell their story.  Now it seems they’ve lost the art – or at least the plot.  Nothing like a gathering to bring everyone together to remember who they are, put it down on paper… and then go out and sell it.

Is gun control just political theatre for Trenton Dems?

Trenton Democrats have an opportunity to show they are more than just b.s. artists when it comes to gun control.  They can follow the lead of many of New Jersey’s new Democrats in Congress and pass a resolution to condemn Washington’s radicalism that wants to make it easier to put guns into the hands of illegals in America.

Led by Congressman Josh Gottheimer (D-05), most of New Jersey’s freshman Democrats in Congress opposed the Democrat majority in Congress – run by Speaker Nancy Pelosi – who opposed common sense gun safety legislation that required ICE – Immigration and Customs Enforcement – to be notified when an illegal immigrant is trying to purchase a firearm.  Congressman Gottheimer and a number of other Democrats joined with Republicans to support this legislation, which is designed to prevent illegals with violent criminal records in their home countries – and recruits to violent gangs like MS-13 – from obtaining a handgun or semi-automatic rifle.  

Democrats like Tom Malinowski (D-07) stood with Speaker Pelosi in opposing this common sense gun safety legislation.   Malinowski and Pelosi say that Americans should undergo background checks when they seek to purchase a gun to protect their home homes and families, but not illegals.  Malinowski and Pelosi support giving new recruits to groups like MS-13 the means to make their mark on American society.

As the former campaign manager for Malinowski’s campaign in Morris County, Democrat Assembly candidate Darcy Draeger should be asked what she thinks about her Congressman’s bad vote on this common sense gun safety legislation. Draeger should be asked to step up and do something about it – at the very least to issue a statement from the (Lisa) Bhimani – (Darcy) Draeger for Assembly campaign that opposes Malinowski’s position in opposition to this common sense gun safety legislation.

In voting against this common sense gun safety legislation, Malinowski joined with professional gun-criminal coddler Congresswoman Bonnie Watson-Coleman (D-12) whose own sons were convicted of gun-crime – the armed hold-up of a toy store in central New Jersey.  It is disgraceful for Malinowski to endanger the lives of his constituents and their families in this way. 

As State GOP Chairman Doug Steinhardt of Warren County said:  “Tom Malinowski is way out of step with the people of North Jersey” and is “perpetuating a prioritization of coddling illegal immigrants rather than supporting taxpayers and keeping our communities safe.” 

Steinhardt added: “This was obvious and important enough to earn the support of New Jersey Congressional Democrats Van Drew (D-02), Kim (D-03), Gottheimer (D-05), and Sherrill (D-11), and, of course, Republican Chris Smith (R-04).”  Now the question is for Trenton Democrats like Senate President Steve Sweeney and Speaker Craig Coughlin to step up and show that all their “gun control” talk isn’t just political theatre and that they mean it, by adding their voices in support of this common sense gun safety legislation.

Pass a resolution to condemn Tom Malinowski and the other members of Congress who opposed this common sense gun safety measure, thereby putting all New Jerseyeans and their families at risk.

McCann gets support from weird sources outside NJ

Candidate John McCann is endorsed by an Arizona politician who opposed religious freedom .  In 2014, Jan Brewer became notorious for her flip flop on religious freedom -- opposing legislation (SB-1062) that gave individuals and legal entities an exemption from state law if it substantially burdened their exercise of religion. 

McCann's supporter allowed government to force people to do things that run counter to their religious beliefs and placed commerce above spirituality.  Despite these efforts, SB-1062 was passed by a large majority in both houses of the Arizona legislature. 

Another indication of where the McCann campaign is heading is his embrace of Dr. Darrell Scott.

John McCann's campaign released a statement that reads:  "Dr. Darrell Scott endorses John McCann for Congress."

Who is Darrell Scott? 

His Wikipedia page states:  "As a minor, Scott aspired to be a drug dealer and pimp; Scott sold drugs, used cocaine, stole automobiles and took his father's 9mm pistol to school at age 16 and was expelled for it.  While in his 20's, Scott became a born again Christian after being inspired by his wife who was born again months earlier, after a neighbor had urged her to attend church. 

Scott is the founder and pastor of New Spirit Revival Center, in Cleveland Heights, Ohio.  Scott's non-denominational church operates out of a former Jewish Synagogue built in 1924, a 115k square foot facility, that has a daycare, banquet hall and radio station, with 3,500 members as of 2005.  The radio station broadcasts under call sign WCCD (1000 AM) – branded Radio 1000. WCCD."

In the 2016 presidential election, Darrell Scott became a prominent African-American supporter of Donald Trump.  Speaking of Darrell Scott, candidate John McCann said: "Dr. Scott is an inspirational leader fighting for change in Washington.  I look forward to going to Washington to work with our President and Dr. Scott to revitalize our communities and win for every American."

What does this mean?

Well, in March of last year, Darrell Scott suggested to the President of the United States that he was in contact with the "top gang thugs" in Chicago and that they would agree to "lower the body count" if the Trump administration would agree to "come and do some social programs."

Yeah, no kidding.

There was a huge and damaging (to Trump) outcry over these comments and Darrell Scott had to walk them back.  His excuse was that he was tired when he made the comments.

Here is a video and story from Fox News in Chicago:

http://www.fox32chicago.com/news/local/ohio-pastor-walks-back-comment-chicago-gang-leaders-trump

But what we're interested in is where that title "Doctor" comes from.  As Darrell Scott is a pastor, we are quite content to honor him with the title "Reverend," but "Doctor" indicates that he holds a "Doctorate" in some subject and Wikipedia doesn't list any institution of higher education that he attended. 

So we looked into it a bit, and we discovered that Darrell Scott's "doctorate" is an honorary one, from an unaccredited institution.  Out of respect for Darrell Scott, we will not go into the details, but we suggest to the McCann campaign that they update their statement to read "Rev. Darrell Scott" and leave "Dr." for those who have earned that title.

The Democrats' moocher towns strike again

Congressman Josh Gottheimer (NJ-05) claims that some places "mooch" off other places when they get back from government more than they pay in.  According to Gottheimer, the country's top "moocher" is Mississippi, the state with the highest percentage of African-American residents -- 37 percent and growing -- because the state gets more back than they pay in. 

Is Gottheimer a racist?  Last Friday, Gottheimer was joined at a press conference by Democrats Phil Murphy and Tim Eustace to discuss ways to redress this "moocher" situation.  Are they coddling Gottheimer's racism?  If so, has anyone told the incoming First Lady?  New Jersey's answer to Madame Mao will not be amused.

If there are "moocher states" as Democrat Gottheimer claims, can we apply Gottheimer's measurement to other cases -- such as the relationship between municipalities or school districts within a state?  If, as the Democrat Congressman claims, there are places that "mooch" off the federal government, does it not also follow that there are places that "mooch" off state government?

We've already learned that towns like Sparta get back just 15 cents on every dollar they pay in state income tax to Trenton.  That's right, in what Congressman Gottheimer would call a clear case of mooching, Asbury Park paid in just a sixth -- in income taxes per person -- of what Sparta did, but got back 17 times more!

            Sparta Twp  $5,611,989 (received) / $36,267,481 (paid) = $0.15

            Asbury Park $57,632,816 (received) / $3,835,809 (paid) = $15.02

We've also learned how poor families in suburban and rural New Jersey are subsidizing rich people in chic urban hotspots.  Their cut of the revenue from the state income tax allows these hotspots to keep their property taxes comparatively low.  For example, despite being clearly being economically better-off, Hoboken gets its property taxes underwritten by the income tax revenue paid by rural Warren County:

 Warren County has double the population of Hoboken City (107,000 to 52,000) but the population of Hoboken has been growing while Warren is shrinking (5% vs. -1%).  And while Hoboken has just 800 veterans, Warren County has over 7,000.  The per capita income of Hoboken City is over $70,000.  This compares with Warren County, at $33,000.  The median value of an owner-occupied home is $550,700 in Hoboken but only $271,100 in Warren County.  The U.S. Census reported that 5.5% of the people in Hoboken are without health insurance vs. 12.5% of those in Warren County.  73.5% of those 25 or older in Hoboken have graduated from college.  In Warren County that figure is 29.6%.

Enter the State Highlands Act... Passed by a Democrat-controlled Legislature and signed into law by Democrat Governor Jim McGreevey, the Highlands Act undertakes the worthy cause of preserving the aquifer that supplies the drinking water for a large urban population in Northern New Jersey.  Unfortunately, it does so at the expense of rural and suburban property owners -- who saw their land rights seized and the use of their land forcibly regulated -- without compensation. 

The Highlands Region encompasses nearly 859,267 acres across seven counties -- including Sussex and Warren Counties.  In the phrase coined by Democrat Gottheimer -- upscale urban areas are "mooching" off economically disadvantaged rural areas and the state is refusing to provide compensation to those being "mooched" upon.

On Monday, in one of the last legislative acts of the year, Congressman Gottheimer's fellow Democrats made it a point to further piss on the hopes and property rights of the economically disadvantaged communities under the boot of the Highlands Act, by undoing a Christie administration rule that allowed a small measure of development in those areas affected.  With incoming Governor Phil Murphy urging them on from the sidelines, the Democrat-controlled Legislature rescinded the Christie rule and, in so doing, made the property in question next to worthless. 

As Josh Gottheimer would say, the Democrats once again gave more to the "moochers" and took away more from those being "mooched" upon.

Republicans like Senator Steve Oroho and Assemblyman Parker Space gave it their best, but with Phil Murphy's full support for the "moochers" and a Democrat-controlled Legislature, the resolution overturning the Christie rule barely passed the state Senate with the minimum 21 votes needed and the Assembly with 42 votes.  One of those votes to help the "moochers" at the expense of those "mooched" upon was cast by Assemblyman Tim Eustace -- who was at last Friday's press conference with Phil Murphy and Josh Gottheimer -- to complain about the "moochers"!  How is that for hypocrisy!

Why do Trenton Democrats continue to support allowing rich people in towns like Hoboken to "mooch" off poor families in places like Warren County?  Somebody needs to ask Democrats like Phil Murphy and Tim Eustace next time they hold a press conference with Josh Gottheimer to complain about "moocher states."

"Moocher" label: Democrat Gottheimer's coded racism?

Congressman Josh Gottheimer (NJ-05) has been throwing the "M-word" around again.  The Bergen County Democrat has taken to social media to decry what he calls "moocher states" -- which Gottheimer defines as those who get more back than they pay in. 

According to Gottheimer, the country's top "moocher" is Mississippi, the state with the highest percentage of African-American residents -- 37 percent and growing.  In contrast, New Jersey's percentage -- 13 percent -- is about a third of Mississippi's.  So what is Congressman Gottheimer trying to say and who is he calling "moochers"?

Perhaps the real reason Mississippi receives more in federal money than New Jersey does, is that the folks who live in Mississippi are -- on average -- much poorer than those who reside in New Jersey.  According to the latest data from the United States Census Bureau, Mississippi is the poorest state in America, with a median household income of just $40,593.  In contrast, New Jersey is the fourth richest state in America, with a median household income of $72,222.  Only Maryland, Hawaii, and Alaska had higher median household incomes, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. 

By another measurement -- covering the years 2010-2014 -- New Jersey is the second richest state in America, with a Per Capita Income of $37,288.  By this measurement, Mississippi is again the poorest state in America, with a Per Capita Income of just $21,036.

In applying the "moocher" label to Mississippi, Democrat Gottheimer claims that New Jersey gets back just 33 cents for every dollar it sends to Washington, while Mississippi receives $4.38 for every dollar it sends to Washington.  Despite Gottheimer's claims, the Pew Charitable Trust Reports that New Jersey received far more in actual federal money than did the state he mocks as a "moocher":

But the Democrat has raised an interesting concept in his claim that some places "mooch" off other places when they get back from government more than they pay in.  If there are "moocher states" as Democrat Gottheimer claims, can we apply Gottheimer's measurement to other cases -- such as the relationship between municipalities or school districts within a state.  If, as the Democrat Congressman claims, there are places that "mooch" off the federal government, does it not also follow that there are places that "mooch" off state government?

This was the central idea behind State Senator Mike Doherty's Fair School Funding plan, which he championed back in 2012.  According to Doherty (R-23) and his acolytes, the solemn promise made to the voters when the state income tax was established -- that the proceeds would be used so that property taxes could be reduced -- was broken by the state judiciary (the failsafe of the political establishment) when it absconded with the revenue from the state income tax and directed that it be used for social engineering purposes, in what became known as the Abbott Decision.  Worse still was that the two other branches of the State's government -- the Executive and the Legislature -- allowed the Judiciary to get away with it.

In effect, New Jersey's judiciary set up a "moocher" and "mooched upon" relationship within New Jersey, based on the municipality that you happened to reside in.  This is the world now -- as Democrats like Josh Gottheimer see it:  The "moochers" and those "mooched upon."

So who are the "moochers" in Democrat Gottheimer's brave new world? 

In 2012, Senator Doherty conducted a series of town-hall meetings in which he demonstrated how some municipalities in New Jersey were -- to use Democrat Gottheimer's phrase -- "mooching" off other municipalities.  Using data supplied by the Department of the Treasury, Department of Education, and the Office of Legislative Services, Doherty compared two towns -- one, a so-called "Abbott" District in Monmouth County; the other, a non-Abbott in Sussex County.

Like the federal income tax, New Jersey has a progressive income tax.  Those who earn more, pay more.  According to the figures provided to Senator Doherty, the top 1% of earners pay 38.5 percent of the state income tax, while the bottom 33 percent pay nothing.

Doherty compared Asbury Park, an Abbott District, with Sparta Township, a non-Abbott, and found that the average Sparta resident paid almost 6 times as much income tax as the average resident of Asbury Park:

Doherty also found that the average student in Asbury Park got back 17 times as much in income tax revenue as the average student in Sparta Township:

In what Congressman Gottheimer would call a clear case of mooching, Asbury Park paid in just a sixth -- in income taxes per person -- of what Sparta did, but got back 17 times more!

Senator Doherty made the point that New Jersey got back just 61 cents on every dollar it sent to Washington, DC, but noted that for non-Abbott towns like Sparta, the return was even worse on the state income tax money it sent to Trenton. 

            Sparta Twp - $5,611,989 / $36,267,481 = $0.15

            Asbury Park - $57,632,816 / $3,835,809 = $15.02

That's right.  Towns like Sparta get back 15 cents on every dollar they pay in state income tax to Trenton.

Senator Doherty noted that unlike everywhere else in America, New Jersey's school funding formula -- and its use of the state's revenue from the income tax -- left many of its towns without a basic threshold with which to educate their children.  And because of this, New Jersey needed artificially high property taxes to pay for the children in these revenue-starved towns.

The Trenton Democrats have argued that these so-called Abbott towns need all that revenue because they are economically disadvantaged.  Yes, they once were,  but the Democrats have ignored the economic gentrification going on in places like Hoboken, Jersey City, and Asbury Park -- and the enormous influx of wealthy professionals and rich corporations.  The Democrats' formula for apportioning the state's take from the income tax is locked in a time warp -- based on figures decades old. 

In fact, when the state commissioned a study on how effective its formula was at helping economically disadvantaged children, the state's own figures showed that it missed half the state's poor children -- those who lived outside the so-called Abbott towns.  That was a decade ago, the Abbotts have only grown collectively richer since then.

Today we have a situation where poor families in suburban and rural New Jersey are subsidizing rich people in chic urban hotspots.  Their cut of the revenue from the state income tax allows these hotspots to keep their property taxes comparatively low.  Why should rich Hoboken get its property taxes underwritten by the income tax revenue paid by rural Warren County?

 Warren County has double the population of Hoboken City (107,000 to 52,000) but the population of Hoboken has been growing while Warren is shrinking (5% vs. -1%).

And while Hoboken has just 800 veterans, Warren County has over 7,000.

The per capita income of Hoboken City is over $70,000.  This compares with Warren County, at $33,000.

The median value of an owner-occupied home is $550,700 in Hoboken but only $271,100 in Warren County.

The U.S. Census reported that 5.5% of the people in Hoboken are without health insurance vs. 12.5% of those in Warren County.

73.5% of those 25 or older in Hoboken have graduated from college.  In Warren County that figure is 29.6%.

So why do Trenton Democrats continue to support a system that allows rich people in Hoboken to "mooch" off poor families in Warren County?  Somebody needs to ask Democrats like Phil Murphy and Tim Eustace next time they hold a press conference with Josh Gottheimer to complain about "moocher states."

Is John McCann, attorney for the Sheriffs' Association, ineligible to practice law?

Candidate for Congress John McCann has been providing legal advice to Democrat Sheriff Michael Saudino for years.  The Bergen County Record calls McCann the "right-hand man" to Democrat Saudino.  McCann is also the lawyer for the New Jersey Sheriffs' Association. 

So how come he is listed as "ineligible" on the New Jersey Attorney Index?

View fullsize

View fullsize

Based on a search that includes both his private law office and the Bergen Sheriff's office, it appears that candidate/attorney John McCann is "administratively ineligible" to practice law in New Jersey.  Here is the exact definition of his status from the NJ Judiciary website, as reported in the New Jersey Attorney Index:

View fullsize

According to a records check by an employee of the NJ Courts, John McCann is ineligible to practice law in New Jersey as a result of his failure to pay required New Jersey Lawyers' Fund for Client Protection fees since October 2012.  If so, then he has been unable to practice for five years.  This could place some of the cases he's been involved with in some jeopardy. 

We invite Mr. McCann to pen a clarification or response to the information printed here.

Steve Lonegan endorsed by every NW NJ Legislator!

With today's announcement that Assemblymen John DiMaio and Erik Peterson, (both R-23) have both announced their support for conservative Republican Steve Lonegan in his campaign for Congress in New Jersey’s 5th District, Lonegan now has the backing of every legislator representing the Sussex and Warren counties portion of the 5th District. 

“Steve Lonegan has been a consistent conservative voice for Northwest Jersey,” said DiMaio, president of a general contracting firm.  “It's especially important to me that Steve understands the needs of small business owners who ultimately create jobs."

“Republicans believe in limited government and in empowering local governments -- which are most in tune with the people -- with the greatest responsibility," Peterson said.  "Steve has been a champion for lowering taxes and curtailing federal overreach."  

Both DiMaio and Peterson agreed that Lonegan's victory over Cory Booker in the Fifth Congressional District in the 2013 U.S. Senate election makes him the strongest candidate to take on and defeat Josh Gottheimer.

Earlier in the week, Assemblyman Parker Space and Assemblyman-elect Hal Wirths (both R-24) gave their support to Lonegan:

 “Steve Lonegan is a principled and unapologetic conservative who knows what the people of Sussex County believe,” Space said.  “No one would represent Northwest New Jersey more faithfully than Steve Lonegan.”

Wirths — a former New Jersey labor commissioner — said Lonegan’s focus on creating more high-paying jobs is especially important.

“Steve knows that America is strongest when Americans have opportunities for high-paying jobs,” Wirths said.  "Steve knows that good jobs provide a personal dignity that government programs never could.”

Lonegan’s campaign is focused on creating jobs, lowering taxes, and enacting term limits.

Space said the Lonegan agenda is just what North West New Jersey wants and what America needs.

“Congressmen Gottheimer is a far left ideologue masquerading as a moderate,” Space said.  “Whether on taxes, the second amendment, or the right to life, Josh is completely out of touch with the Fifth District — especially Sussex County.”

This is a view that has been echoed by Senators Mike Doherty (R-23) and Steve Oroho (R-24) who have both led in supporting Steve Lonegan for Congress.

“Steve Lonegan is the strongest and best candidate we can nominate in 2018 to take back the Fifth Congressional District,” Wirths added.  “He’s a solid, lifelong Republican who has been a tremendous standard bearer for our Party whenever we needed him.”

Lonegan has already been endorsed by the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), Bergen County State Senator Gerry Cardinale, Mrs. Ann Kievit, President of the Northwest New Jersey Taxpayers' Association, Rev. Greg Quinlan, President of the Center for Garden State Families, on behalf of New Jersey for a Conservative Majority, Alexander Roubian, President of the New Jersey Second Amendment Society (NJ2AS), United States Senator Ted Cruz, Warren County State Senator Mike Doherty, Sussex County Senator Steve Oroho, Passaic County Senator Joe Pennacchio, Assemblyman Parker Space, former Labor Commissioner (and Assemblyman-elect) Hal Wirths, and Sussex County State Committeewoman Jill Space.

Poll: Oroho strong re-elect, Phoebus upside-down

A recent survey of 425 likely Republican Primary election voters in New Jersey's 24th Legislative District throws cold-water on the attempt by certain political insiders to promote the candidacy of Gail Phoebus.  The poll, which was conducted before Phoebus announced that she was challenging incumbent Steve Oroho for the Senate seat, indicates that Oroho is in a strong position to be re-elected, while Phoebus would have work to do to hold on to her Assembly seat.

Here are snapshots taken directly from the poll's "toplines":

Phoebus is under water:

The poll was conducted by Magellan Strategies of Colorado, a nationally recognized polling firm that has conducted thousands of surveys for national and statewide candidates, congressional and legislative candidates, state and national party organizations, and business interest groups.  Legislative District 24 is made up of all of Sussex County, eleven towns in Warren County, and one town in Morris County.  Some of the other details in the survey include:

And in the Sussex County portion of the district, which makes up about 70 percent of the electorate, the survey indicates that the most popular local elected official by far is Sussex County Sheriff Mike Strada.

While the least popular elected official in Sussex County is the outgoing Freeholder Director, George Graham:

Phoebus' supporters -- primarily cabal of lawyers associated with the Morris County Improvement Authority's Sussex solar scam -- will have a difficult time selling her candidacy with numbers like these.  Jersey Conservative will be releasing more data as we receive it.