Do South Jersey Democrats control a non-profit “church”?

 By Rubashov

Is it the Church of the Most Holy Sweeney?

No, it’s a non-profit called Volunteers of America Delaware Valley. It’s a Camden-based organization. GuideStar and BoardSource (which now operate as Candid) report: “This organization is not required to file an annual return with the IRS because it is a church.” Now that’s something you don’t see every day… and it’s a $62 million operation to boot!
 

According to Candid: “Daniel L. Lombardo has served as President/CEO of Volunteers of America Delaware Valley, Inc. since 1988, transforming the organization from Chapter 11 status to a booming $62 million operation. Lombardo has been a Camden County resident for 23+ years – active in professional and community organizations throughout the region and serving in multiple public policy capacities. A passionate advocate for vulnerable populations, Lombardo’s professional highlights include appointments to New Jersey’s first-ever Sentencing Policy Study Commission and Philadelphia’s Mayoral Task Force on Management and Productivity. Additionally, during his career, Lombardo was selected by New Jersey Governor’s to serve on both the New Jersey Family Development Advisory Board and Parole Advisory Board, where he was elected Chairman. In addition, Lombardo has been appointed by last five New Jersey Governors to serve on their transition teams for corrections, parole and juvenile justice.”
 

This is interesting, because NJ Globe reported last week on a “dark money group tied to South Jersey Dems” that was spending $530,000 on cable TV “tying GOP candidates to (Senator Ed) Durr.” The Globe explained:
 

A new dark money group with ties to South Jersey Democrats has purchased about $530,000 of Philadelphia network and cable TV ads seeking to tie Republican candidates in three South Jersey districts to controversial comments on abortion made by State Sen. Edward Durr (R-Logan).
 

Brighter Future Forward accuses State Sen. Vincent Polistina (R-Egg Harbor Township), GOP State Senate candidate Christopher Del Borrello, and Assemblymen Michael Torrissi, Jr. (R-Hammonton) and Brandon Umba (R-Medford) of standing by while Durr “spews hate.”
 

Alexis Degan, a Democratic operative who previously served as chief of staff to the 5th district legislative delegation, filed the new group as a non-profit in June.  No filings have been made with the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission…
 

Degan worked for the Camden County Democratic Committee and then the Camden County Office of Constituent Services before joining the 5th district office in 2012.  She worked for State Sens. Donald Norcross (D-Camden) and Nilsa Cruz-Perez (D-Barrington), Assemblymen Angel Fuentes (D-Camden), Whip Wilson (D-Camden), and Arthur Barclay (D-Camden), and Assemblywoman Patricia Egan Jones (D-Barrington).
 

She is currently vice president of development and communications for Volunteers of America/Delaware Valley.  Degan did not immediately respond to a message left with her assistant.
 

Under “Ethics and Transparency”, Candid reports that the VOA DV “board and senior staff” has not “reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year.”
 

In addition to former Assemblywoman Patricia Egan Jones, the VOA DV’s board of directors has a number of interesting folks on it, not least of which is the former Clerk of the Gloucester County Freeholder Board, Robert N. DiLella.
 

Bob DiLella was the fulltime Clerk of the Gloucester County Freeholder Board for 28 years – much of that under Freeholder Director Steve Sweeney – but that wasn’t his main job. DiLella also ran a political consulting agency that did much of the direct mail for Camden and Gloucester County Democrats.
 

DiLella’s firm – Strategic Message Design Group – boasts a client list that includes national and international clients, both corporate and political. Their “partial client list” includes: The National Party of Grenada, Prime Minister Herbert Blaize of Grenada, COPEI Party of Venezuela, Movimiento Electoraldi Pueblo of Aruba, Prime Minister Nelson Oduber of Aruba, Prime Minister Miguel Pourier of Curacao, President Zhelev of Bulgaria, Prime Minister Evelyn Weaver Croes of Aruba, the Aruba Tourist Authority, Dupont, Natural Gas Supply Association, Sunoco Logistics, Valero Energy, and the Camden Charter School Network.
 

DiLella became somewhat infamous while serving as Sweeney’s Clerk of the Board of Freeholders. It was in his role as a consultant to the Aruban government and that country’s tourist authority. DiLella provided “crisis communications” during the disappearance of Natalee Holloway, an Alabama teenager who went missing during a class trip, was never found, and is presumed dead.
 

Holloway’s family blamed Aruban authorities for the way the case was handled. The prime suspect in the case was the son of an Aruban judge who was later prosecuted for human trafficking and found guilty of murdering a young woman in South America. He was never prosecuted for his role in Natalee Holloway’s disappearance.
 

The Holloway family was particularly angry for what they believed was Aruba’s attempts to blame them for the tragedy. Archives related to the disappearance describe DiLella’s role:
 

“In June of 2005, Robert DiLella and Stephen Cohen met with the Aruba Tourism Hotel Authority (ATHA) and the Aruban Tourism Authority (ATA) in order to create the Strategic Communications Task Force (SCTF). SCTF’s mission was to control the media coverage of the Natalee Holloway case. Members of the Steering Committee for this Task Force included many of the Island’s most influential people who were all heavily invested in Government or tourism.”
 

As does contemporary media coverage:
 

Boycott has little effect on travel, agents say (tuscaloosanews.com)

The old NJ Conservative Online website, then operated by the late Rob Eichmann, wrote a good background piece on DiLella:
 

Sweeney’s cronies: Taxpayer rip-offs? | (wordpress.com)

Coincidentally, Fox News and the New York Times are reporting that a major breakthrough in the Natalee Holloway case is set to come out tomorrow in federal court in Birmingham, Alabama:
 

Suspect in Natalee Holloway case expected to reveal new details about her death (fox10tv.com)

Stay tuned… 

CAIR-NJ targets Pascrell/ pushing Election Day Voter Registration

By Rubashov

There is a shocking solipsism to the statements coming from CAIR-NJ and its partners – like American Muslims for Palestine New Jersey (AMP-NJ) and the Palestinian American Community Center (PACC). They keep insisting that humanity is divided into “sides” and that only those who they identify as being on their side can experience loss and suffering.
 

But that is a false construct. There are no sides, only actions. When a “soldier” rapes a woman, murders her, and then displays her body so that other “soldiers” can desecrate her corpse – that is an action against humanity itself. The members of CAIR-NJ, AMP, PACC share our common humanity and must, on some level, understand that what those men did is an action against all humanity, of which they are a part.
 

Later today, CAIR-NJ and American Muslims for Palestine New Jersey (AMP-NJ) will take a crack at Congressman Bill Pascrell. They are holding a “Joint Press Conference Calling on New Jersey Officials to Support Ceasefire in Gaza.” They must know the futility of a ceasefire that does not acknowledge Hamas’ deliberate attacks on civilian noncombatants, but neither group ever mentions this or the civilian women and children who have been adducted and held by Hamas.
 

They plan to hold the press conference at Congressman Pascrell’s office in Paterson. It is set for 1pm today.
 

CAIR-NJ and AMP-NJ’s press release reeks of an almost pathological solipsism:
 

“CAIR-NJ and AMP-NJ continue to mourn Israel’s massacre of Palestinians stand firmly in unwavering solidarity with Palestinians and their right to freedom. The two groups continue to call on New Jersey elected officials to respond to Palestinian civil society and Palestinian American’s calls to action as the Palestinian death toll in Gaza rapidly climbs.”
 

Screw humanity. We only care about our “side”.
 

CAIR-NJ and AMP-NJ are specifically targeting Pascrell because they believe they can exercise political power at the polls:
 

“Aside from issuing a statement on October 7 in support of Israel, Rep. Bill Pascrell has remained silent in the wake of Israel’s war on Gaza, even as Israel launched an airstrike on a hospital in Gaza, killing over 500 Palestinians, bringing the overall death toll in Gaza from the past week to over 1,000. The congressman represents a sizeable Palestinian and Muslim constituency.” 
 

Which brings us to CAIR-NJ’s number 1 ask for New Jersey legislators: A bill that allows voter registration at polling places.

Currently, voters who recently moved to New Jersey must also live at their address for 30 days to be considered a resident. One month to show that you have skin in the game is too much for CAIR-NJ. They argue that changing this “is more reflective of who we are as a country”. What with homelessness on the rise and borders-in-name-only perhaps it is, but is that a good thing?
 

Given that residency requirements to vote (or even run for office) are notoriously weak – essentially you live where you say you live – the 30-day rule is all that is keeping us from the possibility of roving voters. Imagine people showing up on election day to throw an election one way or another. Hey, I moved in with my friend today, I say I live here so I can vote. Nothing would prevent them from moving on to a new voting district for the next election.
 

The legislation is A1966/S247. 19 Democrats are proposing it in the Assembly. The Senate version is cosponsored by Vin Gopal and Andrew Zwicker, among other Democrats. There’s one Republican cosponsor: Jon Bramnick.

Here’s Bramnick explaining why he believes this is a good idea: 

Anti-Jordan NY Congressman has political connections to NJ

By Rubashov

Conservative activists have been lobbying the “anti-MAGA” GOP holdouts who refused to confirm Conservative Congressman Jim Jordan as Speaker. They circulated a handy list and urged grassroots Republicans inside and outside their districts to call the offices of those GOP holdouts.
 

One of those GOP incumbents – New York’s Michael Lawler – is potentially more exposed than the others. Lawler founded CheckMate Strategies with Chris Russell, Jack Ciattarelli’s strategist, and their political consulting firm came to dominate New Jersey Republican politics. The State of New Jersey’s corporate filings lists him as co-owner of the firm as does his congressional financial disclosure statement (made as a candidate) for 2022.
 

CheckMate Strategies is listed as the administrator on numerous campaign social media pages. For example, on the Facebook page used by Assemblyman Parker Space’s Senate campaign, the disclaimer reads: “CHECKMATE STRATEGIES LLC is responsible for this Page.”
 

CheckMate runs numerous campaigns in New Jersey and before his election to Congress in 2022, Lawler handled many of those accounts personally. It is also noteworthy that on his 2022 congressional financial disclosure statement, Congressman Michael Lawler lists that he earned income as a lobbyist for International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) Local 825. 

Senator Vin Gopal has a Back-Pedaling Problem

October 20, 2023

From NJStandsUp

NJ State Senator Vin Gopal (Dem-Monmouth County) has a habit of causing a problem then backtracking with “new” legislation to “fix” the problem he caused in the first place. Gopal’s a back-pedaler.
 

As one of NJ’s most powerful senators, Gopal sits on three State committees, and is Chair of the Senate Education Committee.  What have the people of Monmouth County and the State of NJ gotten from his leadership?  Gopal has not called a meeting of the Education Committee since March. Why not? Could it be because Gopal was the primary sponsor of the controversial 2020 bill which led to the NJ Board of Education passing the most radical sex education curriculum NJ has ever seen?  After an outcry from furious parents in both parties, even Governor Murphy had to step in to quell the anger.  He ordered a review of the new sex education standards.  Of course, this “review” changed nothing; it was all a show.
 

Gopal responded to the sex ed curriculum by back-pedaling, distancing himself from the whole debacle, "I am horrified by some of these words I'm seeing in some of these sample lesson plans," said Gopal said last April. "No district has to (or in my opinion should) use the words 'masturbation' or others discussed in the examples listed within those standards."
 

Since Gopal is so “horrified” why didn’t he take steps to fix it?  Is it all just platitudes?  Does he not know who is creating the NJ State sex and health curriculum?  With an organization like Advocates for Youth steering the sex education lessons of innocent NJ kids, what did Gopal expect?  Advocates for Youth’s mission statement reads: “Young people understand that reproductive and sexual health and rights are inextricably tied to social justice and the fight for liberation. Join thousands of youth activists and adult allies as we build a better and more equitable world.”
 

AHEM, Excuse me?  These are your tax dollars at work.  What does social justice have to do with preparing NJ school children for a healthy understanding of their bodies and sexual health?
 

Knowing he had to take some action to fix the mess he took part in creating, Gopal blazed in like a hero wearing a Superman cape and came up with a new bill: "Transparency in Health & Sex Education Curriculum." This bill would require school districts to post curriculum online for parents to view.  Of course, the bill, which was introduced last year, has gone nowhere.  So now parents are left with an out-of-control State Board of Education stomping all over parental rights and exposing our youngest kids to age-inappropriate gender instruction in elementary school.  The Democrats are being forced to respond to these burning issues, but they do nothing about it, even though Governor Murphy holds control over the Department of Education and the Democrats.  These are not neat “liberal” versus "conservative" issues. They affect all parents throughout the State.
 

And the problem just keeps getting worse. This past August the NJ State BOE passed the controversial “Chapter 7,” curriculum guidelines for all NJ schools.  These guidelines completely erase biological sex, eliminate the terms “male” and “female,” replace gender-specific sports teams with gender identity preference, and replace the term “equality” with “equity” in every aspect of public education.   What does Vin Gopal have to say?  Nothing.  Absolutely nothing.
 

Gopal is a back-pedaler.  VOTE OUT GOPAL and let’s open the State House doors for him as he back-pedals his way out of Trenton.
 

NJStandsUp is a non-partisan, grassroots advocacy group dedicated to supporting and maintaining medical and civil freedoms. We collaborate to preserve constitutional rights, protect health freedom, and advocate for parental rights. All are welcome here - the only requirement for membership is a desire to stand for freedom and build community.
 

MISSION STATEMENT: To unite the people of New Jersey who are passionate about defending and preserving American liberty and choice. Promote education and citizen action through events, shared resources and advocacy. Build community through in-person gatherings. For more information contact: info@njstandsup.org or visit https://njstandsup.org/.

To find an organization in your county and see when it meets, visit https://njstandsup.org/current-county-meetings. 

Support Parental Rights! State School Board Meeting Wed, Sept 6

A Message from our friends at the Center for Garden State Families.

By Rev. Greg Quinlan

It has been said that "Life goes to those who just show up."
 
The battle over Parental Rights in New Jersey is fierce and the Governor and his Attorney General (AG) are not letting up. Lawsuits by the government of New Jersey have been filed against four New Jersey school districts who stood up for the God-given rights of parents to direct the education of their own children. Two important events are taking place next Wednesday, September 6th.
 
First:
The Hanover Twp., School Board was sued by the Attorney General in June over a parental rights policy they passed regarding the right of a parent to be notified of any gender identity issues regarding their child. The Hanover Board amended the policy in June, and a second injunction was filed against the district last Friday. A court hearing is scheduled in Morris County Superior Court at 9:30 a.m., next Wednesday morning September 6, regarding the State's request to implement the injunction and prevent the district from implementing the policy. We are asking members of the public to show up to support the Board's efforts. The hearing will take place at the Morris County Court House, on Court St.
 
Second:
The NJ State Board of Education, in August, voted 6-5 in favor of adopting amendments to Chapter 7, Equity and Equality in Education. At that meeting, the state school board erased equality and replaced it with the word equity. They also removed all references to male and female, erasing biological human genders.  The Board passed the amendments, even though it was obvious that some of them didn't understand what they were voting on. The regulations violate all definitions of traditional human sexuality as well as parental authority. Following their vote, multiple politicians from both parties in the legislature complained. We understand that several of those who voted against biological reality are now having second thoughts about their vote. They do have the authority to bring up the issue again and have a revote.
 
This Wednesday at 10 a.m., the State Board of Education will meet in Trenton at 100 Riverview Plaza. Public testimony will begin at 2 p.m. on any educational topic. This Open Testimony only takes place three times per year. Registration has been closed, as it has reached capacity. But even if you haven't registered, or have been closed out, we are asking people to show up to rally for Parental Authority at 1 p.m. before the hearing begins. Anyone can attend the hearing.
 
ADDITIONALLY:
There is a process to appeal a regulation passed by the NJ Board of Education. We are asking for every NJ citizen to file a petition to repeal the new regulations. Every petition needs to be answered by the Commissioner. Our goal is to have hundreds and possibly over 1000 petitions filed BEFORE the Board meeting.
 
It's very easy to do. PLEASE do this TODAY!
 
Here's the link:
https://www.nj.gov/education/code/petitions/submit.shtml
 
The code in question is: N.J.A.C. 6A:7
 
Reasons for Repeal:
* Unconstitutional-violates the 14th amendment and the long-standing legally recognized parental authority and oversight of children.
* Anti-Science- "There are no replicated scientific studies supporting any specific biologic etiology for LGBTQIA-XYZ+++ identities."
* Violates Religious Freedoms- the policy in fact endorses the faith-based assumption of the alphabet soup.
* Harms Children New Jersey government schools transgender ideologies along with alternative sexual identities is being pushed on children as early as preschool!
* Government over-reach -This is outside the constitutional definition and parameters of state government.
* Socialist in nature - this is social engineering, the methods by which the state of New Jersey, the Gov. and his Atty. Gen. is using to implement these ideologies smacks of Marxism!
 
For additional ideas, here's a letter written by the Association of Physicians and Surgeons to the State Board to oppose the new Standards: https://aapsonline.org/aaps-opposes-nj-board-of-education-anti-science-vote-to-enact-harmful-equity-code/
 
Action requested: Repeal of new regulations and return to previous standards.
 
The Center for Garden State Families urges all New Jersey citizens to become involved and to seek the divine protection of Almighty God for our children and families.
 
Please attend and be in prayer. Please find the information, date, time, and address of the meetings and protests. Make your voices heard. It is your First Amendment right! 

For more information, visit:
https://gardenstatefamilies.org

The GOP & Parental Rights: Principled Leadership vs. Mixed Messages

Last week’s Monmouth University poll reported that 77% of New Jersey voters support notifying parents if their children seek to change their gender identification in school.

By Rubashov

Last week, Senators Doug Steinhardt and Mike Testa stepped up and provided the principled leadership New Jersey Republicans so desperately need. Senators Steinhardt and Testa filed motions to intervene on behalf of Hanover, Manalapan-Englishtown, Marlboro, and Middletown Public School Districts in support of the parents and elected school boards of those districts and against Attorney General Matt Platkin.
 
Steinhardt and Testa unambiguously placed themselves in the fighting ranks of parents and against government indoctrination and overreach. Senator Steinhardt made the bedrock conservative argument that the right of a parent to be involved in the raising of their child is a God-given natural right – and not a privilege granted by government:
 
“I can’t sit by idly while an activist Attorney General abuses the power of his office by trying to assert the State’s will over the God-given rights of good parents everywhere to protect and love their own children. It’s wrong, and they won’t be silenced – not on my watch.”
 
This was strongly reinforced by Senator Testa: “Raising your kids is a fundamental right that no unelected liberal politician in Trenton will take away from New Jersey families on my watch.”
 
Today, they were joined by Assemblyman Bob Auth and Senate candidate Mike Byrne. Auth and Byrne announce the formation of a “Moms for Liberty Coalition of Candidates” on the November ballot in New Jersey.
 
Moms for Liberty was founded to stand up for parental rights at all levels of government and now includes chapters in 45 states with six chapters in New Jersey alone. The goal of the new Moms for Liberty Coalition of Candidates is to win control of the state legislature and reverse Phil Murphy's radical, anti-family policies:
 
“Moms for Liberty is the fastest growing, pro-family, pro-child, pro-parental rights organization in America,” Auth said.  “The work they're doing to hold politicians, bureaucrats, and school boards accountable is vital.”
 
"The moms of Moms for Liberty know that the future of our country is inextricably linked to the strength of families," Byrne said.  "No one can hold a family together like a strong mom and Moms for Liberty is proving that no one can save a country like a group of moms."
 
In New Jersey, chapters of Moms for Liberty have been formed in Cape May, Burlington, Mercer, Ocean, Morris, and Bergen counties.  Auth and Byrne recently spoke at the monthly meeting of the Bergen County Chapter of the organization.
 
“Bergen County needs a strong Moms for Liberty organization to promote and defend the integrity of the family unit,” Auth said.  “And New Jersey needs Moms for Liberty to end Phil Murphy's secretive gender identity policies in our schools.”
 
Auth and Byrne noted that the recent Moms for Liberty National Summit in Philadelphia drew four of the top Republican presidential candidates as speakers: President Donald Trump, Governor Ron DeSantis, Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, and Ambassador Nikki Haley.
 
“All across the country, Republican lawmakers are uniting with Moms for Liberty to protect parental rights and preserve the innocence of American children,” Byrne said.  “We're proud to stand with them and endorse their work in New Jersey.”
 
The principled leadership of Republicans like Doug Steinhardt, Mike Testa, Bob Auth, and Mike Byrne stands in contrast with the schizophrenic GOP playbook being executed by GOP establishment operatives across New Jersey. The state’s GOP establishment has played both sides of the parental rights issue. Just follow the money. No less than 14 incumbent GOP legislators (along with Assembly candidate Al Barlas) have the endorsement of the anti-parental rights NJEA. Senate Republican Leader Tony Bucco has taken money and support from and is endorsed by the anti-parent NJEA. Earlier, then Senate Republican Leader Steve Oroho pulled the plug on a pro-parental rights campaign in targeted legislative districts. SRM chairman Senator Bob Singer – along with Senators Jon Bramnick and Vince Polistina – voted to make Murphy’s anti-parent sock-puppet Matt Platkin the state’s Attorney General. Consultants for SRM and ARV advised GOP Senate and Assembly candidates to “stay away” from the pro-parental rights group Moms for Liberty. NJGOP Chairman Bob Hugin is affiliated with a pro-transgender PAC that targeted a GOP State Committeewoman for defeat simply because she was a biological female. In the June primary, the GOP establishment defeated parental rights advocates using dark money from a union that endorsed Joe Biden for President.
 
This latest “mixed message” was posted today on the Trenton News Network: 

To stay up to date on Trenton News visit the Trenton News Network: https://twitter.com/TrentonNewsNet

“It was a thoughtless, mindless action… It’s really disturbing to think that the kids were targeted.”
 
Dr. Paul Saxton, Fort Lee School District

"If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear."

George Orwell

A “medicine chest” or a Pandora’s box: Is NJ politics addicted to Big Pharma?

The first in a lengthy examination.

By Rubashov

Former Governor Chris Christie has famously called New Jersey the “Medicine Chest of the World.” That “Medicine Chest” is known by another name too – “Big Pharma”.

Ordinary citizens once felt they had the freedom to question Big Pharma. That was before the pandemic – and the enormous pressures from establishment media and an intense regime of unquestioning censorship by social media giants. Political practitioners of neo-Marxism came up with pejoratives for skeptics – which were used to make social outcasts of those who expressed doubt. People lost friends, family, jobs – the means to life – over their failure to conform.

The obedience to Big Pharma’s line turned everything America had learned from the Opioid Scandal on its head. The clock had been turned back to the days of “just shut up and take your medicine.”

As a candidate for President, Chris Christie – or his campaign’s pollsters – must be aware that this newfound conformity hasn’t worn comfortably with the American public. Christie pointedly railed against Big Pharma’s advertising regime when he announced his candidacy in June.

Later that month, Bloomberg’s Gregory Korte wrote an interesting story about Chris Christie’s ties to Big Pharma. Korte’s reporting reinforces the commonsense approach to politicians that advises voters to ignore their words and follow the money:

…the former New Jersey governor made no mention of his role in the pharmaceutical industry, where he serves on the board of Pacira BioSciences Inc., a maker of pain management drugs marketed as opioid alternatives in television ads.

Pacira’s 30-second ad doesn’t reference the company’s brand names, instead directing consumers to a website to “learn more about non-opioid options for managing pain after surgery.” The ad has been running since at least 2020 and continues to appear intermittently, according to tracking firm AdImpact.

Christie joined Pacira as a consultant after leaving the governor’s mansion in 2018. He made $801,000 before joining the company’s board in 2019. Shareholders at Pacira’s annual meeting in Tampa, Florida, were expected to reelect Christie to a new three-year term on Tuesday. Board members make $325,072 a year.

(NOTE: Pacira’s website currently lists Chris Christie as a member of its Board of Directors, https://www.pacira.com/about-board-of-directors)

…He leveraged those ties in 2017, when he served as chair of a blue-ribbon commission on opioid addiction under former President Donald Trump, the man he now seeks to dislodge as the frontrunner for the Republican nomination for president.

Among the drug executives he invited to testify was Pacira CEO David Stack, who told the commission that federal Medicare reimbursement policies should give doctors more incentives to prescribe non-opioid pain drugs.

Pacira’s recommendation was part of Christie’s report to Trump. “We should incentivize insurers and the government to pay for non-opioid treatments for pain beginning right in the operating room and at every treatment step along the way,” Christie wrote.

Christie’s letter had the potential to be a “game-changer” for Pacira, wrote Randall Stanicky, then an analyst at RBC Capital Markets.

In 2019, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services published a new rule that specifically changed how it reimburses hospitals for Pacira’s flagship product, Exparel, which accounts for the bulk of its sales. Previously, the drug was classified as a surgical supply, with the price bundled into the cost of the procedure. The agency, citing the commission’s recommendations, allowed hospitals to charge Medicare separately for the medication.

Pacira didn’t return requests for comment.

Christie was also a registered lobbyist in 2020 and 2021, representing a range of hospitals, drugstores and pharmaceutical companies including diabetes drugmaker Novo Nordisk, which paid him $120,000 to lobby on Medicare drug coverage.

Novo Nordisk is the same Big Pharma corporation that employs the company Assembly candidate Mike Inganamort is a partner in to do its ESG compliance work. ESG is short for Environmental, Social and Governance. In the words of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, ESG is “a direct threat to our American way of life.” But if you want the short version of how ESG actually works, take a moment to watch this video from the Heritage Foundation, America’s largest conservative think tank:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8SP8DTy_v8

Yes, the point we are making is that Big Pharma is very much in the forefront of Woke corporate social engineering. Some argue they do that to keep consumer advocates on the Left off their backs when they produce products – as they frequently do – that do things like giving women ovarian cancer.

The Opioid Scandal – or Opioid Epidemic if you prefer – is back before the public again. This time as a Netflix series called “Painkiller”. Journalist and author Barry Meier wrote about it in yesterday’s edition of The Free Press, editor Bari Weiss’ excellent source of old-school journalism.

Barry Meier is an investigative reporter who wrote for the New York Times. He was a member of the Times team that won the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting. In 2003, he authored a truly great book that every knowledgeable citizen should read: “Pain Killer: A Wonder Drug’s Trail of Addiction and Death.” In 2018, a new edition was published as “Pain Killer: An Empire of Deceit and the Origin of America's Opioid Epidemic.”

Here are some excerpts from yesterday’s column:

My book documents how Purdue turned OxyContin, a drug valuable for treating severe pain caused by cancer or chronic health issues, into a billion-dollar blockbuster by launching the biggest-ever pharmaceutical marketing campaign for a powerful and potentially addictive narcotic.

It was built on the lie, pushed by Purdue’s sales team, that OxyContin’s special formulation made it safe to use for back pain, dental pain, and other common problems. In fact, a single tablet of OxyContin contained up to sixteen times the amount of oxycodone, a powerful narcotic, than found in traditional painkillers.

Purdue’s promotional strategies included falsely claiming to well-meaning doctors that scientific studies showed the risk of patient addiction from OxyContin was “less than one percent.” Such studies didn’t exist, but Purdue and its medical allies engaged in an ideological “War on Pain” by cherry-picking data from clinical trials and distorting their findings. The company also used its money to buy influence, by hiring physicians to promote OxyContin, giving money to law enforcement organizations, and making contributions to professional medical groups.

A U.S. attorney in Maine who first sounded the alarm in that state soon went on Purdue’s payroll, as did the FDA official who, at the company’s urging, approved the specious labeling claim that OxyContin’s time-release formula might reduce its potential to be abused. While researching Pain Killer, I discovered the founder of the Sackler dynasty, Dr. Arthur Sackler, developed many of these techniques in the 1950s when he pioneered the prescription drug advertising industry.

Read the whole story on The Free Press here: https://www.thefp.com/

And here's the Netflix series: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11816814/

“It was a thoughtless, mindless action… It’s really disturbing to think that the kids were targeted.”

Dr. Paul Saxton, Fort Lee School District

"If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear."

George Orwell

We welcome your commentary.
If you would like to submit a column for publication, please contact us at jerseyconservativetips@protonmail.com

Is Chris Christie the anti-Trump warmongering candidate the neocons will get behind?

PHOTO CREDIT: BING

The former governor wants to carry the neocons water in the general election

by MURRAY SABRIN

AUG 12

Chris Christie, the former New Jersey governor (2010-2018) and 2016 GOP presidential candidate and former Trump advisor, has emerged as the most vocal critic of Donald Trump’s presidential bid.  Christie’s anti-Trump rhetoric has earned him tons of media coverage especially with an extensive Wall Street Journal interview. It is worth reading to get a sense of Christie’s strategy to win the GOP presidential nomination.

Christie is appealing to the neoconservatives who want a pro war GOP presidential nominee, who is “right” on climate change and pays lip service to fiscal responsibility and shuts his mouth about the Federal Reserve. 

The neoconservatives, who gave us two Middle East Wars, the overthrow of Kaddafi in Libya the continued attempt to overthrow Assad in Syria, and the current proxy war in Ukraine, will demonize any anti-interventionist presidential candidate like RFK Jr. in this presidential cycle and just like they did to Ron Paul in 2008 and 2012.   No antiwar presidential candidate will be allowed to become the nominee of either major political party.  This is the reality of American politics in 2023.   

As far as Christie is concerned, he wants to be known as a fiscal conservative despite his lie about his first state budget. 

“First is that we’ve got to go back to controlling government spending. It’s what caused the inflation that we’re still living with. And the fact is that I dealt with this when I was governor. . . . I inherited $11 billion deficit on the $29 billion budget and everybody said that I was going to have to raise taxes to balance it.” (emphasis added)

He did not “inherit” an $11 billion budget deficit.  It was $1.2 billion.  Christie, a self-admitted “not good at math” individual, apparently moved a decimal point to make an unfounded claim on the campaign trail about his fiscal conservative credentials.  Whether journalists fact check his gross exaggeration remains to be seen.

In addition, Christie revealed his lack of understanding of what causes inflation, which he blames on government spending.  Christie should read Rothbard’s money monograph as should all the candidates.  Any presidential candidate who does not criticize the Federal Reserve for causing inflation and the boom-bust cycle is in effect “controlled opposition.”

On the international scene Christie is “begging” the neocons to get behind him with this excerpt from his interview. 

“In terms of our posture around the world, I am an unabashed supporter of Ukraine. I absolutely believe this is a proxy war by China against us. They are funding the Russian war effort; they are coordinating the provision of more sophisticated weapons to Russia with Iran. And we need to fight this fight there and now because otherwise we’ll be fighting it with American troops someplace else in the world at China’s instigation, directly or even indirectly.” (emphasis added)

Christie is making the case he will be faithful to the neocons interventionist foreign policy.  For that reason alone, Christie should be opposed tooth and nail by noninterventionists.  Someone should ask Christie if he would force his children to join the military if he became the next commander in chief. 

In the final pitch to the neocons Christie stated his “climate change” bona fides.  He should take some time on the campaign trail and read the material published by the CO2 Coalition to get the truth about “climate change.”   

“I believe in climate change, but we’re not going to solve it by ourselves and our Western European friends.” (emphasis added)

Chris Christie may emerge as Trump’s major challenger if he comes in second in the New Hampshire primary.  Whether he would get any more traction would be problematic if GOP primary voters take a close look under the hood of another big government, pro war candidate. 

*************************************************************************************************

My latest piece on the economy was published in Fortune, https://fortune.com/2023/03/27/recession-2023-layoffs-tech-finance-unemployment-outlook-fed-rates-murray-sabrin/  This is an update of my 2021 forecast, https://fortune.com/2021/12/09/next-recession-heres-everything-bubble-markets-2021-2022-covid-murray-sabrin/ 

*****************************************************************************

Murray Sabrin, PhD, is emeritus professor of finance, Ramapo College of New Jersey. Dr. Sabrin is considered a “public intellectual” for writing about the economy in scholarly and popular publications. His new book, The Finance of Health Care: Wellness and Innovative Approaches to Employee Medical Insurance (Business Expert Press, Oct. 24, 2022), and his other BEP publication, Navigating the Boom/Bust Cycle: An Entrepreneur’s Survival Guide (October 2021), provides decision makers with tools needed to help manage their businesses during the business cycle.  Sabrin's autobiography, From Immigrant to Public Intellectual: An American Story, was published in November, 2022.

Murray’s Newsletter is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

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Is a Neo-Marxist running for school board in Mt. Olive?

Jersey Conservative is now read by thought leaders in key 2024 primary states.

By Rubashov

It is important to know where ideas come from. Especially the ideas that fall from the lips of public officials and wannabe public officials. Some fashions and trends might look fresh and new because they appeared on social media just yesterday, but a little examination will reveal they’ve been around for some time, with roots that are often very dark and scary.
 
As playwright and politician R. B. B. Sheridan might have remarked: There’s a lot of putrefied wine being served out of new bottles these days.
 
Neo-Marxism is basically Marxism for rich people. Originally, Marxism was about advancing the working class at the expense of those economically above them. How an individual was defined and where he or she fit in was determined by their economic status.
 
A new breed of Marxists like Herbert Marcuse changed all that in the 1960s. Marcuse was one of the proponents of neo-Marxism, which held that identity was everything, and mattered more than economic class. This turned the old Marxism on its head. Now a very rich man could be the victim of oppression – provided he was “LGBTQ+” – with very poor people defined as oppressors if they held “unfashionable” opinions.
 
Marcuse gave neo-Marxism the Orwellian principle of “liberating tolerance”. Neo-Marxists reject the idea that “tolerance” is the equal application of fairness to all. Instead, neo-Marxists believe it is permissible to be intolerant of people and institutions that hold views that differ from yours – and that you should label these with the broad brush of “right-wing”. Neo-Marxists tell their fellow believers that they should only be “tolerant” of people who agree with them.
 
This is why neo-Marxists can claim to be “tolerant” even as they punish those they disagree with for exercising free speech. What they’re doing seems illogical and hypocritical to most people – but it is ideologically sound if you are a neo-Marxist.
 
Which brings us to Anthony Giordano, a member of the Mount Olive board of education and the superintendent of the Mansfield school district. Consciously or unconsciously, Giordano is pushing the neo-Marxist ideology of “liberating tolerance” in Morris County.
 
The parental-rights blog Chaos and Control reported on Giordano’s request that the board of education “pass a policy to ‘ban town council members’ from the school facilities during school hours.” In true neo-Marxist form, Giordano targeted Mt. Olive Council Member Alex Roman, “for making ‘hateful and divisive’ comments about the Pride movement, and even went so far as to suggest that the town council member should ‘step down.’”
 
Giordano’s statement is odd, because the very act of taking individual citizens and placing some into metaphorical silos indicated by letters of the alphabet, while leaving others out, is an act of extreme divisiveness. Further, suggesting that some silos deserve preferential treatment and that others do not is bound to create resentment and bad blood – thereby manufacturing the very hatefulness neo-Marxists claim to oppose.
 
Reportedly, Giordano didn’t end it there, Chaos and Control writes: “He (Giordano) finished by requesting that the school board write a resolution denouncing the councilman’s comments because the school district is ‘all inclusive’.” The blog continues:
 
Pro-parental rights Councilman and Vice President Alex Roman, had addressed the community at the June Town Council meeting in regards to the Pride month proclamation that had recently been passed. He described it as “innocuous and laudable”. He then went on by saying that he had been a previous supporter of pride proclamations, “but the pride movement that encouraged protests to counter societal shame with gay pride, and to demand equal rights and protection, has morphed into something else. An ideology that encourages the mutilation of young boys and girls. An ideology that can no longer define what a woman is. And has no problem with men invading, what used to be, protected women’s spaces.”
 
This sentiment is shared by a growing number of self-identified “progressive” gay and lesbian writers. They point out that the self-named “LGBTQ+ movement” has destroyed the short-lived consensus enjoyed after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on same-sex marriage. Up to that point, the argument was about the civil rights of consenting adults. What followed was a debate about the proselytization and indoctrination of young children.
 
We are collecting the thoughts of some of the prominent gay and lesbian writers who have discussed this for a lengthy examination in September.  Stay tuned… 

Renowned author and social critic Douglas Murray argues that our modern fixation on group-identity politics 'strips the individualism out of individuals'. Murray ridicules the common interpretation of society as based upon interest groups divided by gender, sex, sexual orientation and race.
 

Mt. Olive school board member Anthony Giordano is currently running for re-election.
 
To read the full Chaos and Control article on Substack, visit:
 
https://chaosandcontrol.substack.com/p/proposed-ban-on-town-council-member

“It was a thoughtless, mindless action… It’s really disturbing to think that the kids were targeted.”
 
Dr. Paul Saxton, Fort Lee School District

 

"If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear."

George Orwell

N.B. We welcome a conversation on this and all topics raised on this website.  Jersey Conservative is entirely open to your ideas and opinions.  To submit a rebuttal, clarification, an opposing opinion or any column for publication, please contact the Editor at info@JerseyConservative.org.

Are legislative Republicans ignoring Moms for Liberty?

Jersey Conservative is now read by thought leaders in key 2024 primary states.

By Rubashov

Two independent sources have confirmed that GOP legislative candidates in several districts have been instructed by statewide GOP legislative campaign arms – the Senate Republican Majority (SRM) and Assembly Republican Victory (ARV) – to ignore outreach from Moms for Liberty, including questionnaires. Moms for Liberty is America’s foremost parental rights organization.
 
The questions asked in a Moms for Liberty questionnaire are:
 
Candidate Information
Your name as it will appear on the ballot
Position you are seeking (include district number if applicable)
Email
Phone Number
Campaign Website
Link to campaign social media
 
Yes or No Questions
Do you believe parents have the fundamental right to direct the upbringing, education, and care of their children?
Yes
No
Do you believe all reasonable accommodations should be made to enable parent participation in school board meetings, including a robust public comment section?
Yes
No
Do you believe a parent should have the right to determine if they mask their child in school?
Yes
No
Do you support a parent’s right to opt their child out of sex education?
Yes
No
Do you support a parent’s right to homeschool?
Yes
No
Do you believe students should read and study the Declaration of Independence and Constitution before graduating?
Yes
No
Have you read the Constitution of the United States in the past year?
Yes
No
Have you read the section(s) of your state constitution, county charter, and/or local statutes that govern your position?
Yes
No
Do you believe that the legitimate role of government is limited and should be confined to what is clearly defined by the Constitution?
Yes
No
Do you support the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance each school day?
Yes
No
Do you support student led prayer in school?
Yes
No
Do you support school choice measures?
Yes
No
Do you support the teaching or training of critical race theory?
Yes
No
Do you believe public school libraries should be curated to ensure students are not exposed to sexually explicit or age inappropriate content?
Yes
No
Do you believe parents should have a voice in curating public school libraries?
Yes
No
Do you support teaching minors that they can change their gender?
Yes
No
Do you support parental notification when a child expresses interest in changing their pronouns, the restroom they use, or other gender related issues?
Yes
No
Have you been endorsed by or sought the endorsement of the teacher’s union?
Yes
No
 
Short Answers
- If you can only accomplish one thing once elected, what would you hope to accomplish?
- Who do you believe is the most important stakeholder in education?
- What does liberty mean to you?
 
Permissions
Select the most applicable:
- I am seeking a public endorsement from your Chapter.
- I do not want a public endorsement but want your members to know where I stand on issues important to them.
 
From time to time, the national organization may publicize or promote endorsed candidates. Do you welcome public promotion on the national scale?
- Yes
- No, I prefer to keep it local
 
While we will absolutely respect your desire to keep public promotion to the scale you have indicated, all endorsed candidates are listed on the national website at some point in a campaign. If you do not wish to be listed publicly do not select that you are seeking an endorsement above.

+++ 

We note that Republican legislators in several districts have received and accepted the endorsement of the NJEA (the state public teachers’ union), while others – including members of the GOP’s legislative leadership – have taken money from the NJEA. Could this be the reason why other GOP legislative candidates have reportedly been instructed to ignore Moms for Liberty?
 
The NJEA is a far-Left organization that is notoriously anti-parent. Last year, the NJEA produced and distributed this noxious anti-parent ad: 

What’s up with the NJGOP?




 

“It was a thoughtless, mindless action… It’s really disturbing to think that the kids were targeted.”
 
Dr. Paul Saxton, Fort Lee School District

"If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear."

George Orwell

Who owns the NJGOP and its candidates?

Jersey Conservative is now read by thought leaders in key 2024 primary states.

By Rubashov

Politics was once a lot less corporate than it is today. The message a candidate brought to a campaign was a collaboration of core values, local advice, and a campaign manager who often remained with the candidate throughout his or her career. If you want to read about what it was like at the very beginning of the process that led to what we have now, find a copy of Sidney Blumenthal’s The Permanent Campaign (1980).
 
Money changed politics and political campaigning. The sheer cost of campaigning made securing resources more important than anything else. Appealing to the values of those writing the checks became more important than the candidate’s values or those of the local community the candidate was hoping to represent.
 
For most candidates today, personal values and beliefs, and the platform and policies of the party, no longer matter. Promises that impact policies are made in exchange for checks. How a candidate votes once in office, how he or she governs, is determined by who pays for the campaign.
 
That’s not a problem if the values of those paying for the campaign are in sync with those of the party the candidate wants to represent and the voters the candidate is trying to appeal to. But what if they’re not?  
 
In a democracy worthy of the name, candidates take their values into a party with them. Those values are tempered by the party’s platform and what emerges is a set of policy-based principles on which the candidate’s campaign is based.
 
The job of the campaign is to figure out a message that convinces enough of the electorate that those principles are worthy of their votes. Policy is present in advance of the campaign. Polling is used to help convince voters that those policies are best.
 
If the candidate is elected, he or she governs based on the promises made to the electorate – the people who voted for them – reflecting the values and policies they agreed to. This is governing based on principles.
 
With principled candidates, how they vote and how they govern is a continuum of the language of their campaign. This is how it should be.
 
But it's not how it is. The current trend in political consulting argues that the message used to win doesn’t matter, because it has no bearing on how the winning candidate intends to vote or govern. That’s already been settled by who the candidate took checks from.
 
The modern political campaign is a short-term marketing campaign. Polling is used to determine the words the campaign will use to sell its product – the candidate. Policies don’t matter, because they will be forgotten as soon as the campaign is over – and the language of the next campaign might be completely different. Politicians brought up this way flip-flop and ping-pong as a matter of course. It is built into their careers from the start.
 
The modern campaign doesn’t believe in words, it degrades them. Instead of serving as a means to a long-term negotiation between voters and candidate – a democratic contract based on a promise of delivery – language is pimped out for a short-term fix. Voters are deluded, for the briefest moment, into believing the words are true, that their vote means something. Morning comes, and in the clear light of governing those words are found to have meant nothing. The results are voter frustration, disillusionment, and apathy.
 
What damage is this doing to the ideal of democracy and to the Republic?
 
Recent polling reports that only 25% of voters believe government today has the consent of the governed, while 59% think it does not. 16% say they are not sure. 74% of Republicans, 47% of Democrats and 58% of unaffiliated voters say the government today does not have the consent of the governed.
 
Why do Republicans report more disillusionment than Democrats? Is it because GOP candidates are more pimped out than Democrats? Is the letdown greater for Republican voters?
 
For Democrats in New Jersey, the values of those who underwrite campaigns is more in sync with those of core Democrat voters. And so, by happenstance, the campaigns are more likely to reflect those values. So too, the policies a candidate governs with once elected are more likely to agree with the values of the average Democrat. Because of this, Democrat voters are more likely to believe they know what they are getting in exchange for their votes.
 
But not Republican voters. According to the latest ACU/CPAC scoring, in New Jersey, Democrat voters have a 100% chance that the Democrat candidate they vote for will vote ideologically at least 90% of the time. Republican voters have only a 12% chance that the Republican candidate they vote for will vote ideologically even 80% of the time.
 
Maybe this is why 70% of self-identified conservative voters say the government today doesn’t have the consent of the governed, an opinion shared by 55% of moderates and 45% of liberals. Does this level of disillusion impact voter turnout? And, if it does, which party is hurting more?
 
So, the question of who owns the NJGOP and its candidates is an important one. Because who writes the checks matters. Because it seems to have a negative impact on core Republican turnout. Not getting what you believe you are voting for doesn't make for repeat customers.
 
Those writing the checks get the joke. The NJEA is perfectly fine with a Republican legislator saying he supports parental rights – knowing that it will never amount to more than lip service. A GOP Senator can beat his chest and claim to be a “conservative” – but the union underwriting his campaign knows that he will, in the end, support higher gas taxes to fund projects the union desires. The joke is on the voters who buy that he’s a “conservative”.
 
New Jersey’s 24th legislative district is one of the state’s most conservative – anchored by a county that gave Donald Trump 60% of the vote in 2020. In the recently concluded legislative primary every GOP candidate ran as a “conservative”. But who was the district’s biggest donor? Who will call the tune when it comes time to govern?
 
In addition to the candidates’ own warchests, hundreds of thousands in dark money flowed into the primary – all of it going to support GOP establishment candidate Dawn Fantasia and her running mate. A chunk of that dark money came from something called Women for a Stronger New Jersey – an independent expenditure PAC run by NJGOP Chairman Bob Hugin’s 2018 U.S. Senate campaign manager. It was founded by Hugin’s spouse and Laura Overdeck, a name often mentioned as a future candidate for statewide office.  
 
Women for a Stronger New Jersey’s website is very clear as to the ideology of the candidates they support:
 
“We're working to grow the number of women serving in elected office at the state and local level by building a diverse network of moderate Republican and Independent women throughout the state and expanding the pool of women considering public office.”
 
Conservative Republican women need not apply. It might be helpful to note that, despite running as a “conservative”, the independent national conservative rating organization, iVoterguide, rated Dawn Fantasia as “Moderate” on the issues.
 
In 2020, Women for a Stronger New Jersey spent $30,000 trying to elect the first transgender GOP State Committeeperson. They targeted an incumbent State Committeewoman simply because she’s a biological woman – and stood in the way of “making history”. In 2021, when the state’s senior Pro-Life Senator decided to run for re-election, Women for a Stronger New Jersey urged a pro-abortion woman to primary him.
 
Laura Overdeck made a contribution of $80,000 on May 1, 2023. There has been only one other contribution made to the PAC this cycle. It was for $50. The PAC spent $103,552.10 – mainly on attack ads targeting Fantasia opponent Josh Aikens, a school board president and one of the state’s most prominent parental rights advocates. The PAC is currently $17,161.82 in debt.
 
It should be remembered that Laura Overdeck was a featured speaker at the 2017 March for Science – organized to protest the Trump administration’s position on climate ideology and government subsidized “green” energy. The New Jersey protest was organized by the far-Left group Action Together NJ. Other organizers included Environment NJ, NOW Northern NJ Chapter, and the Sierra Club-New Jersey.
 
Does anyone doubt what Dawn Fantasia will do when she gets a call from Laura Overdeck? Despite running as a “conservative”, how Fantasia votes in the Legislature will inevitably follow the values of the people who paid to get her there. Of course, her consultants will tell her to “talk” conservative, to pay the party and the voters lip service, but Dawn Fantasia will always be constrained by those who paid for her ticket into the Legislature. 

Donations like Laura Overdeck’s hurt democracy.
 
The United States Supreme Court has ruled that money is speech. If so, then Laura Overdeck is talking over the average voters of the 24th District. She doesn’t even live in the district and she is shouting them down!
 
It takes hundreds of little donations to match Laura Overdeck’s $80,000 check – and thousands of small donors to match all the other dark money that poured in and special interest money that went directly to the candidates. Average people can’t compete over the rude shouting done by the big checks of Laura Overdeck and others.
 
Two Princeton University researchers published a study on this in 2014. Martin Gilens and Benjamin Page gathered data on a large, diverse set of policy cases between 1981 and 2002 in which a national survey of the public asked questions about proposed policy. A total of 1,923 cases met four criteria: dichotomous pro/con responses, specificity about policy, relevance to federal government decisions, and categorical rather than conditional phrasing. Of those 1,923 cases, 1,779 cases also met the criteria of providing income breakdowns for respondents. What they discovered was this:
 

“The preferences of the average American appear to have only a miniscule, near zero, statistically non-significant impact upon public policy.”

 
The Gilens & Page study indicates that while establishment elites obtain legitimacy by operating under the claim that America is a democracy, America does not function as a democracy. More and more average voters recognize this (which likely impacts voter frustration and voter participation).
 
This video by the reform group, RepresentUs illustrates the harm done by big doners like Laura Overdeck and organizations like Women for a Stronger New Jersey:
 

Corruption is Legal in America – YouTube

“It was a thoughtless, mindless action… It’s really disturbing to think that the kids were targeted.”
 
Dr. Paul Saxton, Fort Lee School District

"If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear."

George Orwell

N.B. We welcome a conversation on this and all topics raised on this website.  Jersey Conservative is entirely open to your ideas and opinions.  To submit a rebuttal, clarification, an opposing opinion or any column for publication, please contact the Editor at info@JerseyConservative.org.

Joe Biden: Liar in Chief and how the media shields him

Biden will be dumped by the Democratic Insiders and journalists need to become journalists instead of shills for the Biden Crime Family

MURRAY SABRIN

Note:  If you become an annual paid subscriber, you will receive an autographed copy of my memoir. Please send me your address and I will mail you my book. 

Robert Wright’s review of my book captures the essence of my journey in America. 

“There is a right way and a wrong way, always choose the right way.”  Abraham Sabrin (1914-2001)

Yesterday former Hunter Biden partner Devon Archer testified behind closed doors to the House Oversight Committee about his knowledge of Joe Biden’s involvement in Hunter’s overseas business dealings.  William McGurn provides an excellent overview of Archer’s testimony including calling out Joe Biden for lying through his teeth during the 2020 presidential debates, when he did his best impression of Hogan’s Heroes Sgt. “I know nothing” Schultz.

The American people elected a congenital liar in 2020, an individual who has spent all his adult life in the belly of the beast as a US Senator, Vice President, and President, and amassed a substantial net worth on a federal government salary, and earned multimillions after he left the vice presidency. 

And Hunter Biden earned multimillions overseas for his (sarcasm alert) business acumen.  Hunter, whom Biden called his son the smartest man I know, was never hired by an American company for his business insights.  And the answer is clear, Hunter was “selling” the Biden name, no more, no less.   

Where has the mainstream media been on reporting the Biden’s influence peddling?  Crickets. 

The politicization of the media is why newspapers and the echo chamber of CNN and MSNBC, two cable networks I have not tuned in for decades; they have become propaganda arms of the Democratic Party. 

Once upon a time journalist reported all the news about unfolding scandals in DC, but ever since Trump entered the political arena and defeated the other Democratic congenital liar, Hillary Clinton, the media have been on shilling for the Bidens and refuse to acknowledge the existence of the Deep State.   

America is at the crossroads.  We are either go down the road to liberty or down the road to serfdom.  The next several years will determine if our constitutional rights are indeed guaranteed or if they will go down the memory hole of history.   

My latest piece on the economy was published in Fortune, https://fortune.com/2023/03/27/recession-2023-layoffs-tech-finance-unemployment-outlook-fed-rates-murray-sabrin/  This is an update of my 2021 forecast, https://fortune.com/2021/12/09/next-recession-heres-everything-bubble-markets-2021-2022-covid-murray-sabrin/ 

Murray Sabrin, PhD, is emeritus professor of finance, Ramapo College of New Jersey. Dr. Sabrin is considered a “public intellectual” for writing about the economy in scholarly and popular publications. His new book, The Finance of Health Care: Wellness and Innovative Approaches to Employee Medical Insurance (Business Expert Press, Oct. 24, 2022), and his other BEP publication, Navigating the Boom/Bust Cycle: An Entrepreneur’s Survival Guide (October 2021), provides decision makers with tools needed to help manage their businesses during the business cycle.  Sabrin's autobiography, From Immigrant to Public Intellectual: An American Story, was published in November, 2022.

The GOP should stop the whisper campaign against veterans.

By Sussex Watchdog

An old operator we knew once demonstrated how – through the use of rumors and gossip – someone could make something false become common and accepted knowledge. It was said of a prospective female candidate that she “was the only woman who could scratch her back with her hind leg.” One person was told, then another, and another… and soon enough, upon meeting this candidate, people would take to eyeing her up strangely, wondering how she managed it. It was the one thing everyone seemed to know about her.
 
This is called the “whisper campaign” style of politics and it used to be the way political campaigns were conducted in Sussex County (and elsewhere). This oral, pre-literate style of politics was challenged by the printed word in the news coverage provided by the old New Jersey Herald. The introduction of a more democratic, modern style of campaigning in the county also helped to sweep away the primacy of the mouth-to-mouth gossiping that went on between the 500 or so people who “mattered most” in the county. The Herald reached a lot more than 500 “insiders” as does modern campaigning, provided you have a message and the resources to broadcast it.
 
The decline of newspaper coverage in less populated counties, like Sussex, matched the rise of digital coverage through local news platforms and blogs. About 2006, blogging became a thing in Sussex County. This was in response to a particularly nasty whisper campaign concerning the health of then Senator Bob Littell. The gossips had an assist from a Trenton-based blog, now defunct, and from the Trenton establishment itself. This included the NJGOP and the GOP Senate caucus. Both were conducting a Jihad to “retire” incumbent GOP Senators of a certain age.
 
In 2012, a local blog uncovered a plot to turn county waste disposal over to a private vendor at an enormous cost to taxpayers.  Their coverage nixed the deal and the county had to admit that the current landfill, operated by SCMUA, would be adequate for at least three more decades.  The power of citizen journalism was evident again during the solar scandal that ripped-off taxpayers in several counties, including Sussex and Morris. And again, during the Andover nursing home scandal – when bodies were piling up and the County Commissioners did an about face and meekly backed down on investigating what later proved to be a corrupt enterprise. We will never know how many might have been saved if the Commissioners had acted.
 
With the loss of the local news coverage once provided by the New Jersey Herald, the old whisper-campaign is making a comeback. The gossips’ latest targets are veterans – in particular, veterans who served in combat.

Recently, veterans -- combat veterans, in particular -- have been targeted by bureaucrats in the Biden and Murphy administrations. It is the cruelest irony that the limp politicians who talk war and send people to fight and die, betray them this way. Just as they betray those who come home with the scars of war, when they toss them to an underfunded and undervalued VA.
 
Among those combat veterans prominent in Sussex County Republican circles are County Sheriff Mike Strada (Desert Storm), Republican Chairman Joe Labarbera (Afghanistan and Iraq), and former Lafayette Mayor Carl Luthman (Vietnam). Mayor Luthman challenged Chris Carney for County Commissioner in 2021 and is a possible candidate for Dawn Fantasia’s vacant seat on the Commissioner Board, in the likely event that she wins an Assembly seat in November. Luthman is a decorated helicopter pilot who served in Vietnam, where he was severely wounded and among the first amputees to return to active military duty. 
 
Those on the receiving end of the whisper campaign report that the gossips are attempting to raise concerns over the “stability” of combat veterans. It is a filthy slander, aimed at those who have given the most to defend America, and spread about by people who never served a day in uniform.
 
Of course, the way to address gossip is to bring it into the sunlight and debate it directly through the written word. The gossips – oral and subliterate as they are – always attack the vehicles that turn their shadowy gossip into open debate. Now is no different, and there have been calls by these gossips to suppress the written word. Some politicians and their supporters have even suggested that a law should be passed to have government suppress free speech that is inconvenient or unsupportive of status quo politicians. This recalls the late Chris Hitchens’ famous rejoinder to such nonsense:  

Hitchens' words address those who support New Jersey's first-in-the-nation "misinformation" mandate for schoolchildren.

Schools must re-examine the definitions their policies are based on

Jersey Conservative is now read by thought leaders in key 2024 primary states.

By Rubashov

Yuri Bezmenov was a Soviet KGB media and propaganda specialist who defected to the West in 1970. In 1984, he gave a now famous interview in which he described the “slow process of ideological subversion” and the “demoralization” of Western societies. Bezmenov claimed the Soviet Union had been actively engaged in this process since at least the 1950s and that the conduit used was the West’s education establishment, where it was relatively easy to introduce Marxist-based ideology.
 
According to Wikipedia, “Bezmenov's ‘Soviet subversion model’ has been studied and interpreted by faculty and staff at the Joint Special Operations University (JSOU) to analyze historical events, including the decade-long Russian campaign that preceded the 2008 Russo-Georgian War. His work has also been cited by senior director of UPenn's Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement, and former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, Michael R. Carpenter. His lectures have also been used by Yale senior lecturer Asha Rangappa, to illustrate the concept of active measures in Russia's historical disinformation campaigns in the United States.”
 
After the fall of Soviet Communism, it has been suggested that academic elites in America and elsewhere in the West acted as unwitting “sleeper cells”, carrying on “active measures” in the name of an ideology they had grown up in. This view places modern Marxist “identity” ideology in a rather ominous light.
 
Whether this perspective is accurate or not, the use of definitions by the education (and political) establishment in New Jersey concurs with the “active measures” described by Yuri Bezmenov. The argument goes that if you can get a population to accept your definitions, then it follows that they will also accept your views. For example, this is why the definition of “human life” is so important in the abortion debate. One’s viewpoint inevitably follows from that definition.
 
Go to any school district website in New Jersey. Click on the section with the Board of Education “policies”. Now, go to the policy most likely labeled “Transgender Students” or numbered as policy “5756”. The policy statement begins with a list of definitions.
 
Let’s use the Hopatcong School District in Sussex County as an example. This is in politically “red” Sussex County – a county where Donald Trump got nearly 60% of the vote in 2020. And the Hopatcong School Board was where Jill and Parker Space turned when they sought a new Chairman of the Sussex County Republican Committee.
 
The Space choice for GOP party chairman was a former School Board member (now a trustee for the Sussex County Community College) who voted for policy 5756. But it wasn’t just Jill and Parker’s choice. Steve Oroho, Hal Wirths, Dawn Fantasia, Gary Chiusano, Jack DeGroot, and Chris Carney all enthusiastically backed the Space choice. And they all claim to be “conservative”.
 
Nobody looked at the policies their choice supported and voted for. Being recommended by another “Goodfella” was enough. But if someone had taken the time to properly vet their choice – and the time to read the policy their choice supported and voted for – they would have found that it begins with 11 definitions that (if you accept them) cannot help but lead the reader to embrace Marxist “identity” ideology. Just like Yuri Bezmenov predicted.
 
Let’s look at just one of those definitions: “‘Cisgender’ refers to individuals whose gender identity, expression, or behavior conforms with those typically associated with their sex assigned at birth.”
 
“Cisgender” wasn’t even in the dictionary until 2015. The Oxford Dictionary defines the word as “denoting or relating to a person whose gender identity corresponds with the sex registered for them at birth; not transgender.”
 
Wikipedia states: “The word cisgender is the antonym of transgender. The prefix cis- is Latin and means on this side of. The term cisgender was coined in 1994 and entered into dictionaries starting in 2015 as a result of changes in social discourse about gender. The term has been and continues to be controversial and subject to critique.”
 
The term cisgender has its origin in the Latin-derived prefix cis-, meaning “on this side of”, which is the opposite of trans-, meaning “across from” or “on the other side of”. It is a wholly ideological term, manufactured to describe an ideological perspective.
 
Karl Marx took the term “capitalists” and used it to define economic liberals who supported the free market. He did so to create a “them vs. us” binary – pitting employees against those who employ them.
 
The practitioners of Marxist “identity” politics have created a new binary by using the words “cisgender” and “transgender”. No longer is the binary “men” and “women” but rather, “cis” and “trans”.
 
And – because “oppression” and “struggle” and “revolution” are central to Marxist ideology – you can imagine who the bad guys are. Up the revolution! Down with the oppressors!
 
As dominated by the Left as the New Jersey Legislature is, we don’t believe the Office of Legislative Services uses terms like “capitalist” and “proletariat” when drafting legislation. So why are "cis" and "trans" used in official policy? 
 
How did a “controversial” word, like “cisgender” – a term out of Marxist “identity” ideology – end up in the education policy manuals of nearly every school district in New Jersey? These policies were installed around 2015 – the same year “cisgender” became a recognized word. They were updated around 2019 – so everyone had a good look at them again. Why is it there, defining a new binary and using it to indoctrinate a generation of young people in Marxist “identity” ideology?
 
And why wasn’t it questioned? Can the Republican Party not be relied on anymore to catch such assaults on the state’s children? Can they not be relied on to read, sound the alarm, and lead the fight? Or are they too busy with something else? 

Yuri Bezmenov warns the West.
 

NOTE: The Space choice for Sussex County Republican Party Chairman was defeated, losing to a career military officer who perfectly understands the threat posed by Woke Marxist “identity” ideology.


 

“It was a thoughtless, mindless action… It’s really disturbing to think that the kids were targeted.”
 
Dr. Paul Saxton, Fort Lee School District

My Take on Chris Christies Presidential Bid - Murray Sabrin, PH.D

by Murray Sabrin, PH.D

Robert Wright’s review of my book captures the essence of my journey in America. 

“There is a right way and a wrong way, always choose the right way.”  Abraham Sabrin (1914-2001)

Yesterday former New Jersey governor and US Attorney for New Jersey Chris Christie announced he will seek the GOP presidential nomination.

I have a history with Chris Christie which goes back to 2009 when he called me for his support and I endorsed him for governor in the GOP primary instead of former mayor Steve Lonegan whom I enthusiastically supported in 2005 when he sought the GOP gubernatorial nomination.

In 2008, I was a GOP candidate for the US Senate and asked Longean to endorse me. He refused because of my opposition to the Bush invasion of Iraq in 2003, even though we were basically on the same page on domestic issues. 

When both Christie and Lonegan were seeking the 2009 gubernational nomination Steve proposed a flat income tax.  I reviewed his plan and concluded it would raise taxes on low and some middle-income taxpayers.  I was the only analyst to point this out.  No political reporter analyzed his plan.  Any plan that raises taxes on any income group is not worthy of my support.  Taxes should be cut for everyone.

Christie’s campaign used my analysis in his TV commercials and won the nomination by 13 points and went on to win the general election against Gov. Corzine.  I never heard from Christie again. 

When I sought the 2014 GOP US Senate nomination, I thought I had a good shot at becoming the nominee as the following essay points out, which I wrote in June 2014.  The primary reason Christie did not want me to become the GOP nominees is that he believed even though it would be a tough race against Sen. Booker, I would not support him in his 2016 presidential bid if Sen. Rand Paul entered the race.  I had been a longtime supporter of the senator’s father, Ron Paul, for decades and was his surrogate in New Jersey during the 2008 GOP presidential primary.  The last thing Christie wanted is to have a prominent GOP New Jerseyan not endorse him for president. 

The lesson from the above is clear. Politics is not only dirty but mostly about a candidate’s self interest.

Behind the scenes of the GOP U.S. Senate primary. (June 2014)

Jeff Bell won the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate on June 3 despite not having won any of the county “lines,” the ballot position that signifies the endorsement of the party bosses and/or Party County committee members.   The candidate with the most lines, businessman Brian Goldberg, came in third. 

Mr. Goldberg raised virtually no money; had no message except reiterating on the campaign trail that he is a conservative and a loyal Republican.  Yet at The Record editorial board meeting Mr. Goldberg tried to differentiate himself from the three other candidates, including me, stating he's the only “moderate” in the race. He received The Record’s editorial endorsement on June 1. 

So how did Mr. Goldberg woo these county chairman and county committee members even though he was the least experienced of the candidates and was told by Bill Layton, the Burlington County chairman, not to run for U.S. Senate but seek a town Council seat instead?

I entered the race after I had a conference call on February 10th with Sen. Joe Kryillos (and long time Christie supporter) who encouraged me to seek the nomination stating that I would be the best candidate in the field because of my extensive knowledge of economic and financial issues.  In fact, Senator Kryillos said “the county chairmen would be lucky to have you as the U.S. Senate candidate."

Encouraged by Senator Kryillos’ remarks and my conversations with many of the Republican County chairmen and women, I was confident of winning many of the county lines.  And on February 17 at the GOP Monmouth County Lincoln Day dinner, Lt. Gov. Kim Guadango thanked me for entering the race.    

Was Lt. Gov. Guadango sending a signal that Gov. Christie was pleased that I was seeking the U.S. Senate nomination even though GOP State Party Chairman Sam Raia told me, the party is “neutral” in the race.   But, after all, I endorsed Chris Christie in the 2009 gubernatorial primary race.  Returning the favor was the least the governor could do.

On February 22 my opponents and I met at the Passaic County screening, where we each made a five-minute presentation followed by Q&A from the audience. Although no decision was going to be made that day about awarding line, I was confident based upon the feedback from the attendees that I had the inside track of getting the line when the executive committee was going to vote in about two weeks.

Before Passaic County was going to decide who would be awarded the line, Union County held its convention on March 1 at Kean University.  In the reception area before the presentations and the vote awarding the line, I walked over to say hello to Bill Palatucci, the governor’s closest advisor, who didn't say hello but said with a scowl on his face, “Have you ever written anything critical of Christie”?  I was stunned by the question and responded that I write about issues on my blog, and do not remember every commentary about state issues.

Needless to say, I found it very strange that Gov. Christie's closest advisor would be at the convention.  I soon realized that the fix might be in for the nomination even though state GOP officials professed that the governor and other high-ranking GOP officials were neutral in a selecting the U.S. Senate nominee. 

The Union County convention awarded the line to Rich Pezullo even though he almost wasn't nominated.  In fact, one of the county committee members who agreed to nominate me was conspicuously silent from the floor of the convention.

After the Union County convention, we drove to the Ocean County screening committee where George Gilmore, the county chairmen, and his colleagues focused on one issue, how much money I could raise for the general election.  My answer was simple. As a longtime friend and supporter Ron Paul who raised $41 million in his last presidential campaign, I told the screening committee I was confident I would be able to raise several million dollars for the general election.

At the Ocean County convention on March 19, Brian Goldberg was awarded the line, a newcomer to New Jersey state politics. In the meantime, Passaic County also awarded him the line even though the county chairman John Traier supported me as well as enough people for me to be awarded the line. However, several of my supporters did not show up for the vote.  Hmmm. 

On March 18, Bill Layton, the Burlington County chairman, and I met and told me in his Trenton office that he was awarding me the line.  Mr. Layton said would send over to paperwork to my campaign to sign so I could be awarded the line.  On the drive home I called my political consultant and said this is the acid test.  If Mr. Palatucci were working behind the scenes to undermine my candidacy, the paperwork would not be sent. Just as we suspected, the paperwork never came and Burlington County had an "open" primary.  Someone got to Bill Layton.

Soon other counties started awarding their lines to Brian Goldberg, a candidate with no message, no fund-raising ability and as we now know according to one of his former staffers someone who allegedly violated campaign finance laws by using corporate funds to pay his staff.

During this time period, I had a brief conversation with Al Gaburo, the Somerset County chairman, who told me that he was told I was going to be awarded the line in voter rich Ocean County.  So despite team Christie's best effort to anoint Brian Goldberg the U.S. Senate nominee, Jeff Bell won the nomination despite not participating in the county conventions.  In short, Mr. Palatucci did not achieve his goal, having the least experienced run against the “invincible” Cory Booker. 

Why would the GOP insiders rally behind the scenes around the candidate who would be no match for Cory Booker in the general election? There was only one plausible explanation. Team Christie did not want to have a strong competitor against Cory Booker given the friendly relationship with the governor has had with the former Newark Mayor. In other words, Governor Christie and/or his advisors may prefer to have Cory Booker reelected instead of a conservative Republican win the seat. 

More evidence that Governor Christie may be secretly rooting for Cory Booker.  He did not call Jeff Bell to congratulate him on June 3.  As head of the New Jersey Republican Party, Governor Christie should be overjoyed that a solid fiscal conservative would challenge our celebrity senator in the fall.   Instead, Governor Christie’s behavior speaks volumes about his political strategy.  It’s all about Chris Christie. 

My latest piece on the economy was published in Fortune, https://fortune.com/2023/03/27/recession-2023-layoffs-tech-finance-unemployment-outlook-fed-rates-murray-sabrin/  This is an update of my 2021 forecast, https://fortune.com/2021/12/09/next-recession-heres-everything-bubble-markets-2021-2022-covid-murray-sabrin/ 

Murray Sabrin, PhD, is emeritus professor of finance, Ramapo College of New Jersey. Dr. Sabrin is considered a “public intellectual” for writing about the economy in scholarly and popular publications. His new book, The Finance of Health Care: Wellness and Innovative Approaches to Employee Medical Insurance (Business Expert Press, Oct. 24, 2022), and his other BEP publication, Navigating the Boom/Bust Cycle: An Entrepreneur’s Survival Guide (October 2021), provides decision makers with tools needed to help manage their businesses during the business cycle.  Sabrin's autobiography, From Immigrant to Public Intellectual: An American Story, was published in November, 2022.

Murray’s Newsletter is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Parental Rights School Board candidates must file by July 31st.

Jersey Conservative is now read by thought leaders in key 2024 primary states.

By Rubashov

The parental rights blog Chaos and Control has issued a call for school board candidates. The blog provides this checklist for potential candidates:
 
- You must have lived in your town for over a year.
 
- You must be a U.S. Citizen and registered to vote before filing.
 
- Each county has a unique petition that is used for school board candidates to file so reach out to your county clerk to request the actual form.
 
- The deadline to file is July 31st.
 
- Being on the ballot is important. As elections get closer, people pay more attention to the races and decide to run, but the deadline will have already passed to be on the ballot. It is much harder to win as a write-in candidate.
 
- If you have more than one seat up for election, running in a slate with the same slogan can also improve your chances of winning.
 
Barbara Eames of New Jersey Working Together makes these important points:
 
If you're watching what is going on in NJ schools and doing NOTHING about it, you're part of the problem. If you're mad enough to get involved… It is more effective to run as a team, because it takes less time to “clean house” of puppets of the Governor's sick and demented education policy. Talk to someone already on your board. Go to a meeting. Ask questions. And take action NOW!
 
And consider your responsibility as a person of faith - whatever that is - to take a stand against immoral and tyrannical policies inflicted on the citizens of a republic.... before we cease to be one. The future is in YOUR hands, and it will affect YOUR children and grandchildren, if you take NO action.
 
Seth Grossman of Liberty & Prosperity provides these points on why you should be a candidate for your local school board:
 
1.  Just by being an active candidate, you will quickly meet others who share your concerns and learn important information about our public schools.
 
2.  If you win, you will be one of nine people who decide what is taught, how it is taught, and who is hired to teach it at your public schools. You will also gain access to important inside information not available to us now. You will give us a seat at the table so we are not on the menu.
 
3.  Whether you win or lose, you will show the people now running our public schools that many members of the community are not happy with what happened to our public schools, and that we are learning to do what it takes to make the changes that are needed.
 
4.  Whether you win or lose, you will give hope to others who are discouraged by the decline of our public schools and the unsustainable taxes we pay for them.
 
Click Here For the Link To Becoming a School Board Member: Candidate Kit - New Jersey School Boards Association (njsba.org)
 
If you are in southern New Jersey, a good resource is Seth Grossman of Liberty & Prosperity. You can reach him by email at info@libertyandprosperity.com or by leaving a voicemail at 609-927-7333.
 
If you are in northern New Jersey, reach out to Barbara Eames of Working Together for New Jersey. She can be reached at Barbara@WEames.com.
 
For guidance about running for school board from anywhere in New Jersey:

Contact Rev. Greg Quinlan at gquinlan@gardenstatefamilies.com or Josh Aikens (of Arise-NJ) at aikensjosh18@gmail.com.
 
There are several Moms for Liberty chapters in New Jersey. For more information, contact morrismoms4liberty@outlook.com.
 

email info@jersey2st.org

“It was a thoughtless, mindless action… It’s really disturbing to think that the kids were targeted.”
 
Dr. Paul Saxton, Fort Lee School District

"If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear."

George Orwell

Has the NJGOP gone “Toxic”?

Jersey Conservative is now read by thought leaders in key 2024 primary states.

By Rubashov

A telephoned threat to a local Republican leader has folks wondering.
 
The NJGOP under Chairman Bob Hugin employs a stable of legacy consultants and operatives. These folks are employed regardless of merit. Whether they win or lose doesn’t matter. And apparently, they are immune from criticism for even the most bizarre behavior.
 
On July 10th, correspondence was circulated to GOP leaders as well as the Trenton-based blogs. It brought to their attention the story of a local Republican municipal chairman who was hosting a fundraiser for Republican legislative candidates at his family restaurant.  
 
The local Republicans involved with the event reached out to the NJGOP to “coordinate efforts with the NJGOP to hold a vote-by-mail training session at the event.” As the event approached they were anxious to receive a reply.
 
Eventually, the owner of the family restaurant – the Republican municipal chairman hosting the event – did receive a telephone call. The call was made on behalf of the NJGOP but came from an operative affiliated with political consultant Chris Russell and the Ciattarelli for Governor campaign.
 
The caller left a recorded message for the restaurant owner/ local Republican municipal chairman.  We have confirmed with the relevant parties that the call is genuine, and that the caller has admitted to leaving the message. 

Harsh. 

Is Chris Christie’s definition of“conservative” accurate in 2023?

Jersey Conservative is now read by thought leaders in key 2024 primary states.

By Rubashov

Earlier this year, Mark Levin dissected this comment by Chris Christie:
 
“I don’t think Ron DeSantis is a conservative, based on his actions towards Disney. I mean, you know, where are we headed here now, that if you express disagreement in this country the government is allowed to punish you?
 
To me that’s what I always thought liberals did.”
 
Christie was criticizing Florida Governor Ron DeSantis over his opposition to state government continuing to subsidize the Woke Disney Corporation and its advocacy for ESG in business and the Trans agenda in school curriculums. Levin, who has been asking Christie to discuss this on his show for quite some time, addressed Christie’s attack on DeSantis:
 
“Well Chris, you didn’t lay the case out properly.
 
It’s not if somebody expresses disagreement that you’re punished. This is a corporation that has a responsibility to the shareholders, not to changing the state of education and policy in the state of Florida. And it is a corporation that hasn’t been punished, it’s been subsidized for half a century. So, if putting it on an equal footing with all the other corporations in Florida – which is what capitalism is all about – and not subsidizing it – which is what conservatism is all about – how is that punishing them?”
 
To one degree or another, the current GOP establishment in New Jersey are all acolytes of Chris Christie. All followers of Christie during his eight years as Governor and – for a great many – up to and including today. If Chris Christie, their leader, is so confused about the meaning of the word “conservative” in 2023, how confused must they be.
 
Along with an enormous host of thinkers – Right and Left -- scholars at the Federalist Society have written about the threat to freedom posed by the modern Woke corporation. Disney is the embodiment of the excesses of the modern Woke corporation. The fact that Disney acts as an ideological wingman to Woke government policy, while being subsidized by government makes it a prime example of the corruption rotting out our political system.
 
Apparently, Chris Christie doesn't see this. Christie sees a corporation, believes corporations are good, and that money should have its way. If your perspective is that of an ideological conservative, Chris Christie places himself on the wrong side of the so-called culture wars, the wrong side of the battle for parental rights, and the wrong side in the effort to defend freedom from the modern corporate state.  
 
Christie’s slander against Ron DeSantis – arguably the most dynamic conservative Governor in America – is reminiscent of the attacks made by GOP establishment “language pimps” against grassroots conservatives in New Jersey during the recent primary. The use of money from Biden-backing unions and Trans advocacy PACs to question the conservatism of grassroots conservatives is now standard operating procedure in New Jersey. Apparently, Christie seeks to take it national.
 
During a recent segment of The Mark Levin Show, Levin asked what Christie did for a living: “What does Chris Christie do for a living? I don’t know. Does anybody know? Anybody have any idea what Chris Christie does for a living?”
 
Chris Christie is a lobbyist. His lobbying business is called Christie 55 Solutions. He is listed as the Managing Partner. His wife, Mary Pat Christie, is listed as a Partner.
 
Rich Bagger – the former Mayor of Westfield, Assemblyman, Senator, and Christie’s gubernatorial Chief of Staff – is a Partner and Executive Director. Bagger is an alumnus of Big Pharma, where he “led state, federal and international government relations and public policy for both Pfizer and Celgene.”
 
Rounding out the Christie 55 Solutions stable is Bob Martin, the Managing Director. Martin served in Governor Christie’s cabinet as Commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection. From 2010 to 2018, Martin ran that regulatory octopus. Today, his work at Christie 55 Solutions includes servicing clients involved in “renewable energy”, specifically “offshore & onshore wind, solar, battery storage and hydrogen”.
 
According to its website, Christie 55 Solutions “represents corporate, government and association clients on a wide range of issues across numerous sectors of the economy. We develop and execute customized strategies and action plans based on each client’s business objectives and public policy priorities. The firm’s current practice areas focus on Business Strategy & Transformation, Crisis Management & Communications, Disaster Response & Recovery, Environmental & Land Use Strategy & Regulations, Financial Services, Government Relations & Public Policy Strategy, Health Care, Life Sciences, Utilities & Energy, and Transportation & Infrastructure.”
 
The former Governor commands rather large sums from his clients – such as pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk. The quarterly report below indicates a payment of $120,000 for lobbying the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services with regards to “regulation with respect to coverage of drug categories in Medicare Part D.”   

Novo Nordisk is one of the corporations we wrote about earlier in the year with regards to ESG, which stands for Environmental, Social and Governance. ESG is like the social credit score they use in places like Red China. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, calls ESG “a direct threat to our American way of life.”
 
President Donald Trump called ESG a “woke financial scams” and “radical left garbage”, adding: “The entire ESG scheme is designed to funnel your retirement money to the maniacs on the radical left.”
 
We wrote about Novo Nordisk because it is an ESG client of Assembly candidate Mike Inganamort. He is a partner in a company whose business is ESG. The company is called ASG Advisors and it advertises itself on its website as a means for its corporate clients to “drive social change.”
 
Inganamort’s company calls itself a “specialized ESG practice” advising companies “on Environmental, Social & Governance strategy, reporting and disclosures, and thought leadership.” Its specialized areas include: Diversity, Equity & Inclusion; Inclusive Prosperity; Gender & Women; Education, STEM & Up-Skilling; Circular Economy; Conservation & Natural Resources; Youth; Civics & Public Service; Democracy & Freedom.
 
Small world. 

“It was a thoughtless, mindless action… It’s really disturbing to think that the kids were targeted.”
 
Dr. Paul Saxton, Fort Lee School District

 "If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear."

George Orwell

 

N.B. We welcome a conversation on this and all topics raised on this website.  Jersey Conservative is entirely open to your ideas and opinions.  To submit a rebuttal, clarification, an opposing opinion or any column for publication, please contact the Editor at info@JerseyConservative.org.

Tucker Carlson sets the new tone for conservative media.

Jersey Conservative is now read by thought leaders in key 2024 primary states.

By Rubashov

There were two big conservative gatherings over the weekend. Like the Moms for Liberty summit in Philadelphia and FreedomFest in Memphis, these gatherings are setting the national debate in advance of next year’s presidential contest.
 
The Family Leadership Summit ’23 was held in Des Moines, Iowa. Billed as the Midwest’s largest gathering of “Christians seeking cultural transformation” – it attracted over 1,700 grassroots activists – as well as presidential candidates Ron DeSantis, Mike Pence, Tim Scott, Nikki Haley, Vivek Ramaswamy, and Asa Hutchinson. Both Donald Trump and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. were among those invited to speak at the gathering. Curiously absent from the list of confirmed or invited guests was Chris Christie.
 
At the event, former FOX News host Tucker Carlson interviewed each of the presidential candidates before a live audience. Carlson didn’t pull any punches with the candidates, exemplifying what is the new role of conservative media – to hold Republican politicians to account for their words and actions. This is especially needed for those who get elected using the “conservative” label.
 
Watch how Carlson dissects the conflicts between presidential candidate Asa Hutchinson’s words and actions as Governor of Arkansas. It defines the new role of conservative media: 

“New Jersey is totally wrong in suing the school districts that want to be able to tell parents… parents have to have information. They shouldn’t be denied the ability to know what’s going on in the school with their child.”

Former Governor Asa Hutchinson

Meanwhile, over the weekend in West Palm Beach, Florida, Turning Point USA held its Student Action Summit. Founded in 2012 by Charlie Kirk, Turning Point is a populist conservative organization that boasts 260,000 donors. Its activist base is made up of students and young adults and it can truly be said that it represents the future face of the Republican Party.
 
Donald Trump spoke at the Student Action Summit – and Asa Hutchinson was booed. Reporting on the summit’s straw poll, conducted yesterday, The Hill wrote (07/17/23):
 
Former President Trump gloated over his big win in Sunday’s Turning Point USA straw poll, calling the results a “blowout.”
 
“Just heard that I (WE!) won the big Turning Point Straw Poll in a BLOWOUT, getting 85.7% of the Vote,” Trump posted on Truth Social.
 
“Ron DeSanctimonious came in a solid 3rd with 4.3%, Vivek got 2%, and Sloppy Chris Christie, as usual, got a big, fat, ZERO!” the former president added. “Turning Point put on a GREAT event in West Palm Beach, setting all kinds of records, including in attendance!”
 
The Turning Point straw poll showed Trump garnering more than 85 percent support among attendees of the conservative group’s event. Michigan businessman Perry Johnson (R), who announced his long-shot bid for the White House in March, followed with nearly 8 percent.
 
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) came in third place with 4.3 percent support and conservative entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy had 2 percent. Other GOP presidential candidates, including Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R) and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R), registered 0.0 percent support, according to the poll.
 
When asked who their second choice for president would be, Ramaswamy topped the poll with about 51 percent support, followed by Trump with about 21 percent. DeSantis received about 13 percent and Scott received nearly 6 percent. No other candidate had more than 5 percent support.
 
All this national activism offers a bold contrast to New Jersey’s insider establishment brand of Republicanism. The New Jersey GOP is dominated by people who make money from politics – while the vast majority of those who vote Republican simply want candidates they can trust to vote and behave like “Republicans”.
 
As the recent GOP primaries demonstrated, New Jersey is perhaps the worst place in America to run as an outsider. The state has that unique bar to outsiders known as “the party line” – plus a set of campaign finance laws that clearly favor establishment insiders. And those laws just got worse.
 
The state has a monolithic political establishment, with everyone drawing financial support from the same, largely transactional mix of special interests. Activist, true believers on the Democrat side have developed an ideological funding base, but the same can’t be said for Republicans. In New Jersey, Republicans content themselves with the detritus that slops out of the same trough the Democrats feed from.
 
To make matters worse, labor unions that support corporate Leftists like Democrats Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi, and Chuck Schumer have started calling the shots in Republican primaries. It was a Biden-backing union that supports higher taxes on gasoline that played the pivotal role in blocking the nomination of activist Republican candidates – including leaders in the parental rights movement, a vaccine choice activist, and a prominent Evangelical Christian. Instead, this union advanced the agenda of Islamic lobbyists, ESG, and the Woke LGBTQ+ cabal within the Republican Party.
 
In New Jersey, who the Democrats get money from is in sync with the policies they advocate, so that Democrat voters know what they are getting in exchange for their votes. This is why Democrats elect ideological candidates and Republicans do not. According to the latest ACU/CPAC scoring, Democrat voters have a 100% chance that the Democrat candidate they vote for will vote ideologically at least 90% of the time. Republican voters have only a 12% chance that the Republican candidate they vote for will vote ideologically at least 80% of the time.
 
If Republican operatives are wondering why GOP turnout in New Jersey isn’t better, look no further. Operatives get paid to participate in politics. All that average Republican voters ask is for the Republican candidates they vote for to behave like Republicans once elected. And they don’t. So, they ask, why bother?
 
The job of new conservative media is to make sure that the average Republican voter gets what he or she voted for. If a candidate runs as a “conservative” in the primary, that candidate should continue in that vein in the general election and, most importantly, govern or vote that way once in office. Holding elected Republicans to account, ensuring that average voters get the party they voted for, will address voter frustration and support voter turnout.
 
Currently, most GOP operatives in New Jersey talk their candidates into a “bait and switch” scam that sees them run as “conservatives” in the primary and “moderates” in the general election. And once in office, many vote in ways that are scarcely distinguishable from the Democrats. This is expected because they get money from the same people funding the Democrats.
 
Many establishment Republicans in New Jersey adopt a “my party, right or wrong” approach and cheerlead all Republican nominees, regardless of whether or not those nominees have any allegiance at all to the national party platform. Of course, such establishment Republicans – lobbyists, vendors, professional operatives, paid staff, government employees, and paid politicians – all have a financial incentive to close ranks after a primary.
 
But it is not enough to lie one’s way through a primary and then expect to inherit the support of voters who aren’t paid and who simply want what they voted for. Nominees and officeholders should understand that they must earn their Republican nomination every day as a general election candidate and every day in office.
 
Nominees should indelibly engrave those promises they made to the Republican voters who awarded them the nomination – and return to those promises daily, before every vote, every thought, every word. Remember who you said you are and be who you say you are.
 
New conservative media exists to help you keep your word to the citizens who gave you their votes.


 

“It was a thoughtless, mindless action… It’s really disturbing to think that the kids were targeted.”
 
Dr. Paul Saxton, Fort Lee School District

"If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear."

George Orwell

Does the SPLC and Platkin support a form of torture in America’s schools?

Jersey Conservative is now read by thought leaders in key 2024 primary states.

By Rubashov

Amnesty International defines torture as “when somebody in an official capacity inflicts severe mental or physical pain or suffering on somebody else for a specific purpose. Sometimes authorities torture a person to extract a confession for a crime, or to get information from them. Sometimes torture is simply used as a punishment that spreads fear in society.”

Amnesty notes that “torture methods vary” and can be of a “physical nature”; a “sexual nature”, like “sexual humiliation”; or a “psychological nature”. Amnesty states:

Under international law, torture and other forms of ill-treatment are always illegal. They have been outlawed internationally for decades. To take just a couple of examples, 172 countries have adhered to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which prohibits torture and other forms of ill-treatment, and 165 countries are parties to the UN Convention against Torture which Amnesty International campaigned hard to create.

But many states have failed to criminalize torture as a specific offence under their national laws, and governments around the world continue to defy international law by torturing people. Between January 2009 and May 2013, Amnesty International received reports of torture in 141 countries, from every region of the world.

Torture can never be justified. It is barbaric and inhumane and replaces the rule of law with terror. No one is safe when governments allow its use.

The United States Department of State, in its Country Reports on Human Rights Practices (2004), quotes a report by the Committee for Human Rights listing various psychological methods which it describes as torture. These include non-physical methods such as “fear and humiliation” and “sexual and cultural humiliations” such as “public nakedness”, exposure to nudity, and “forced nudity”.

An International Red Cross report on torture and sexual taboos (2007) concludes: “The methods used to break such taboos can be psychological as well as physical and can, depending on a variety of factors, amount to cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or torture. In most cases, they involve crude male-on-female abuse ranging from lewd remarks and innuendos, having to undress and stay naked in front of males, crass groping or pawing, and ultimately sexual rough treatment and (but not always) rape. Rape, meaning sexual aggression with penetration, has now been officially defined as being a form of torture. It should be recognized, however, that the other forms of sexual abuse mentioned above, apart from rape, can also have devastating effects, precisely because of the psychological trauma they cause.”

Having to undress and stay naked in front of males is the fate many culturally traditional females are having to endure as a matter of official government policy in states like New Jersey. Government is inflicting emotional and psychological suffering on school-aged females in the furtherance of an ideological purpose. Does it amount to torture?

If a military occupation force made young women and girls take off their clothes or use the toilet in front of men, might they end up before a war crimes tribunal at The Hague? This is government policy in many New Jersey school districts, and it is being enforced by a militant Attorney General named Matt Platkin.

Here are details of the government policy in force in the Hopatcong school district in supposedly “red” Sussex County, New Jersey:

“The school district shall honor and recognize a student’s asserted gender identity and shall not require any documentation or evidence in any form, including diagnosis, treatment, or legal name change.”

“A school’s obligation to ensure nondiscrimination on the basis of gender identity requires schools to provide transgender students equal access to educational programs and activities, even in circumstances in which other students, parents, or community members raise objections or concerns.”

“With respect to gender-segregated classes or athletic activities, including intramural and interscholastic athletics, all students must be allowed to participate in a manner consistent with their gender identity.”

“The school district shall: Provide transgender students with the same opportunities to participate in physical education as other students in accordance with their gender identity; Permit a transgender student to participate in gender-segregated school activities in accordance with the student’s gender identity”.

“All students are entitled to have access to restrooms, locker rooms, and changing facilities in accordance with their gender identity”.

“The school district shall allow a transgender student to use a restroom or locker room based on the student’s gender identity.”

The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) is leading an attack on Moms for Liberty, one of the few organizations asking questions about the possible psychological and emotional torture of young women and girls in America’s schools. SPLC’s attacks have been described as “dehumanizing” and providing violence-prone individuals with an excuse to threaten and physically attack members of Moms for Liberty and their families.

Tyler O'Neil linked the SPLC to a series of threats in a Daily Signal article yesterday, titled: “‘I WILL… ERADICATE YOU’: Moms for Liberty Threatened, Treated as ‘Subhuman,’ After SPLC Attack.” O’Neil’s article is informative and worth reading:

Moms for Liberty Receives Death Threats After SPLC Attack (dailysignal.com)

Moms for Liberty cofounders Tiffany Justice, left, and Tina Descovich, right.

Tyler O’Neil is Managing Editor of The Daily Signal and the author of Making Hate Pay: The Corruption of the Southern Poverty Law Center. You can purchase his book here:

https://www.amazon.com/Making-Hate-Pay-Corruption-Southern/dp/1642934399

Racial discrimination. Sexual harassment. Off-shore accounts. Inflated and biased attacks on “hate.” These are some of the many reasons Americans should mistrust the Southern Poverty Law Center.

The Southern Poverty Law Center started with noble intentions and has done much good over the years, but a pernicious corruption has undermined the organization’s original mission and contributed to a climate of fear and hostility in America. Hotels, web platforms, and credit card companies have blacklisted law-abiding Americans because the SPLC disagrees with their political views. The SPLC’s false accusations have done concrete harm, costing the organization millions in lawsuits. A deranged man even attempted to commit mass murder, having been inspired by the SPLC’s rhetoric.

How did a civil rights group dedicated to saving the innocent from the death penalty become a pernicious threat to America’s free speech culture? How did an organization dedicated to fighting poverty wind up with millions in the Cayman Islands? How did a civil rights stalwart find itself accused of racism and sexism?

Making Hate Pay tells the inside story of how the SPLC yielded to many forms of corruption, and what it means for free speech in America today. It also explains why Corporate America, Big Tech, government, and the media are wrong to take the SPLC’s disingenuous tactics at face value, and the serious damage they cause by trusting this corrupt organization.

“It was a thoughtless, mindless action… It’s really disturbing to think that the kids were targeted.”

Dr. Paul Saxton, Fort Lee School District

"If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear."

George Orwell