Opinion: Assemblywoman DeCroce is a conservative

By Wm. Winkler

The other day, I read an opinion piece by a Mr. William Felegi which argued that Assemblywoman BettyLou DeCroce was not a conservative because Americans for Prosperity (AFP) had given her a "D" grade.  The writer seems to miss the fact that AFP is not a conservative organization, but rather a libertarian one.  Ideologically, there is a great difference.

When I was a Reagan delegate, back in 1980, the founder of AFP was the Vice Presidential candidate on a ticket opposed to Ronald Reagan, running on a platform of unrelieved social liberalism and international defeatism.  Thank God they were not successful and Reagan was.  President Reagan broke the Soviet Union and consigned Marxist Leninism to the dustbin of history.

The American Conservative Union is a conservative organization.  For the same period as that rated by AFP, it gave Mrs. DeCroce an 84% -- hardly a "D".  To show you just how ideologically different AFP is, here are a few comparisons:

Legislator                                                      AFP                 ACU

Jon Bramnick (R-21)                                  F                      95%

Joe Pennacchio (R-26)                              B                      95%

Nancy Munoz (R-21)                                 C                      91%

Mike Doherty (R-23)                                 A+                   89%

Michael Patrick Carroll (R-25)                A+                   89%

BettyLou DeCroce (R-26)                         D                     84%

Tom Kean, Jr. (R-21)                                 A                     75%

Dawn Marie Addiego (R-8)                     F                      75%

Jennifer Beck (R-11)                                  B                      70%

Ron Dancer (R-12)                                     B                      59%

Chris Brown (R-2)                                      B                      23%

Nia Gill (D-34)                                             D                        0%

Assemblywoman DeCroce received an Award for Conservative Achievement from the American Conservative Union (ACU).  Obviously, the libertarian AFP is pursuing a very different  agenda from that of the conservative ACU. 

Under the leadership of Steve Lonegan, New Jersey's AFP affiliate did take a more traditional conservative path.  That was all due to Lonegan.  I know, I worked for Lonegan.  Much to the chagrin of national AFP, Steve pursued a vigorous conservative agenda on social issues, the Second Amendment, and illegal immigration.  But Lonegan is long gone from AFP, and as its latest scorecard makes clear, AFP is back to being libertarian and not conservative.

Even so, AFP took credit for the work done by Assemblywoman DeCroce.  AFP State Director Erica Jedynak wrote that the tax reform legislation Mrs. DeCroce supported "saved state taxpayers $1.4 billion in tax cuts-once completely phased in-in the final omnibus bill, including a repeal of the estate tax which saved taxpayers $320 million alone and will protect families from the government raiding inheritances when a loved one dies."

The conservative taxpayer advocacy group, Americans for Tax Reform (ATR), wrote that the tax reforms Assemblywoman DeCroce supported "abolished the state death tax, cut the state sales tax and reduces income taxes on retired New Jersey voters."  ATR called it "a victory for taxpayers."  Forbes magazine called her tax cuts one of the "5 best state and local tax policy changes of 2016" nationwide.  Further praise came from the Tax Foundation, the oldest such conservative organization in the nation.

Mr. Felegi goes so far as to call Mrs. DeCroce a "liar" for stating, quite truthfully, that she "ensured money for roads and bridges will be dedicated for their intended purpose rather than pet projects."  The Assemblywoman supported the ballot question that accomplished that in the face of stiff opposition led by radio talk show host Bill Spadea.

The Assemblywoman's voting record, her ratings by ideologically conservative groups, plus her 100% Pro-Life rating and her endorsement by the NRA, make her, on balance, a conservative in the humble opinion of this old winger.

AFP admits its score card was a screw job

Instead of transparency, the New Jersey affiliate of Americans for Prosperity (AFP) has tried to cover-up their "process" by shoveling more shit over it. 

Instead of telling us who came up with the scheme to do away with the rating process AFP used when Steve Lonegan was in charge and which Trenton staffers AFP conspired with, they have tried to defend what is simply indefensible and inexcusable corruption.  This will be made abundantly clear to them when they have to explain themselves to the Internal Revenue Service.  After all, AFP is a tax exempt organization and their scorecard is meant to be educational -- not a thumb on the scale created for the purposes of party political communications in the form of direct mail, broadcast and cable advertisements, and Internet ads. 

Something is clearly wrong with an organization that puts out a press release taking credit for a vote that -- in AFP's own words -- "saved state taxpayers $1.4 billion in tax cuts-once completely phased in-in the final omnibus bill, including a repeal of the estate tax which saved taxpayers $320 million alone and will protect families from the government raiding inheritances when a loved one dies" -- and then uses that same vote to give every Republican Senator who voted for it an "F" grade.

AFP is either psychotic or sadomasochistic.

AFP actually bragged that the passage of A-12 last October was one of its biggest "accomplishments of 2016" -- before turning around and screwing everyone who voted for AFP's biggest accomplishment of 2016!

Here is the actual email AFP sent around in advance of its 2016 "screwcard":

Americans for Prosperity-New Jersey had some big accomplishments in 2016, and it's all thanks to you and activists like you who dedicated your time to fight for freedom in the Garden State.

As we ramp up our efforts for this year's battles, I wanted to highlight last year's victories to remind you how much we can accomplish.'

What AFP-New Jersey Accomplished in 2016

• Winter : Saved state taxpayers $60 million by fighting against corporate welfare and film production incentives.

• Spring : Saved Morris County taxpayers $1.5 million by fighting against a union mandate initiative for big public works projects.

• Summer : Saved state taxpayers $4-5 billion by fighting against a constitutional amendment that would have frozen current pension benefits as-is and prevented meaningful reforms to the system.

• Fall : Saved state taxpayers $1.4 billion in tax cuts-once completely phased in-in the final omnibus bill, including a repeal of the estate tax which save taxpayers $320 million alone and will protect families from the government raiding inheritances when a loved one dies.

• Playing defense: Blocked numerous legislative efforts to increase red tape in New Jersey, and defeated every attempt at increasing occupational licensing requirements that AFP-NJ engaged on.

You can see that AFP-NJ had a great 2016. It took a lot of hard work and dedication from all of our volunteers, and I sincerely thank you for your efforts to hold our government accountable and protect taxpayers.

There's no time to rest on our laurels-we must continue the fight to bring true affordability and good government back to New Jersey. Be sure to  Like us on Facebook and  follow on Twitter . AFP-NJ posts daily updates about developments in Trenton, Washington, D.C., and your local government.

I look forward to working with you this year to add even more to our list of accomplishments.

In Liberty,

Erica L. Jedynak
New Jersey State Director
Americans for Prosperity

This email was sent to: 
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Here are just ten of the nearly 100 detailed questions regarding their screwcard that we have for the psychos/ sadomasochists at AFP:

(1) If the "Gas Tax" was the point of the exercise -- as has been suggested by bloggers, media types, Senate staffers, and AFP insiders -- then how did Republican Senator Sam Thompson get a "B" for proposing that the "gas tax" be increased without any tax cuts or tax reform at all?

(2) While handing Thompson a "B" for his gas tax increase only legislation, AFP cranked it up the buttholes of five Republican Senators who voted for that big "AFP accomplishment" of $1.4 billion in tax cuts (including the elimination of the Estate Tax) because the legislation also contained a gas tax increase.  Why did Thompson get a "B" and those five GOP Senators get an "F"? 

(Of course, we know why.  AFP was asked to help out with Thompson's primary by members of the GOP Senate staff and AFP complied.  Politics as usual.)

(3) AFP actively campaigned for the passage of Public Question 2 at the November 8th General Election last year.  The debate over Question 2 was directly related to the gas tax/tax reform discussion.  Somehow AFP forgot this or didn't think it important enough to include.  Most probably because it would have helped the scores of those it was meant to screw.  

(4) Assemblyman Declan O'Scanlon (R-13), a candidate for the Senate received an "A+" for his vote on the so-called "gas tax" (actually, the Tax Reform package that included 5 tax cuts as well as the gas tax increase), while Senator Joe Kyrillos (R-13) got an "F" for taking the exact same vote on the "gas tax."

(5) Legislation to get rid of the Estate Tax in five years that went nowhere, is marked as a positive.  The legislation that actually did get rid of the Estate Tax in less than two years, is marked as a negative. 

(6) Assemblyman Jay Webber (R-26) gets credit for sponsoring legislation (A-1059), while running-mate Assemblywoman BettyLou DeCroce gets no credit for co-sponsoring the same legislation.

(7) A bill (ACR-213) proposed by far-left Democrat John Wisniewski (D-19) which would allow voters to over-turn all of Governor Chris Christie's vetoes of anti-Second Amendment legislation passed by the Legislature was rated as a POSITIVE by AFP.  Does that make AFP anti-gun?  It certainly seems so.  On top of this, they assigned credit or blame incorrectly.  For instance, AFP credited Senator Michael Doherty even though he hadn't sponsored a Senate version (none exists).

(8) Legislation to spend millions to fund Planned Parenthood, legislation to oppose ObamaCare, legislation regarding Paid Sick Leave, and legislation to provide Welfare to Drug Dealers -- none of this was important enough to include in AFP's screwcard.  On the other hand, legislation regarding interior designers, hair-braiding, music therapy, and drama therapy all were more important, according to AFP.  Really?  Did someone take a dump in their brain and forget to flush it?

(9) AFP is apparently hostile to legislation proposed by Senator Steve Oroho, called the Human Trafficking & Child Exploitation Prevention Act.  It appears to fly in the face of what AFP national chair David Koch calls "free trade." However, the scores of some legislators, such as Senator Tom Kean Jr., improved dramatically.  Kean, who just a session ago was in the high 50 percentile range, suddenly got an "A"!

(10) Of all the hundreds of votes taken in the Legislature, AFP "counted" just nine Assembly votes and six in the Senate -- and one of those they got wrong because they cherry-picked it from a previous session.  In other words, either the ass-monkey can't read a date correctly or somebody really wanted to screw someone.

Now we come to Jersey Conservative's weekly corrective to the AFP screwcard.  Yes, AFP sucks large and somebody has to step in and make it right.  We didn't look for this duty, but as Ronald Reagan once said:  "If not us, who?  If not now, when?"

One of the good things that came out of the Tax Reform package was the increase in TTF money going to fund local road and bridge maintenance.  That's real property tax relief at a time when many local governments are setting their budgets and property tax rates.

A bill (S-3076) to send $400 million to county and municipal governments was passed in the Senate on March 13th.  Only one Senator voted against it -- Democrat Ray "Lord of Ass" Lesniak (lifetime ACU rating ZERO).  Thirty-six other Senators, from Mike Doherty to Jennifer Beck, from Steve Sweeney to Dick Codey, all voted "Yes". 

Yesterday, it was voted on in the Assembly.  Three voted against it.  Democrat John Wisniewski (lifetime ACU rating ZERO), Erik Peterson (R-23), and Jay Webber (R-26) voted "No", while 67 voted "Yes". 

We found it strange... and worth mentioning.

Stay tuned...

NJ GOP legislators who screwed Trump this week

Should legislators be required to disclose tax returns?

A lot of Democrat legislators appear to think so. . . then again, maybe not.  They believe that Presidential candidates should or at least a certain Presidential candidate who is now the incumbent President.  Fair enough.  This is the New Jersey Democrats' version of what some southern Republicans got up to after Barack Obama was elected President.  Their tool was to mandate production of birth certificates.  The Jersey Democrats want tax returns.

It seems America now does that third world country thing of de-legitimizing the winner of every national election.  We now place faction or party ahead of country.  Hopefully we don't go the whole hog and start the violent coup thing any time soon, but there are an awful lot of idiots out there on both sides.

Assembly Republican Leader Jon Bramnick raised the question of having legislators and gubernatorial candidates disclose their tax returns at Thursday's Assembly session.  It is good to see some Republicans calling the Democrats out.  Unfortunately, there are others who would rather back the Democrats up .

Yes, it is time for the first installment of Jersey Conservative's weekly corrective to the ridiculous "screw card" scores shat out by the crew over at AFP (Anarchists for Petroleum. . . subsidized petroleum, that is).  We didn't want to go down this road, but the sheer ignorance and blissful trashing of the state's most consistently pro-business/ pro-tax cut legislators left us no choice.  We have been forced to apply balance.

On Monday, the Senate voted for S-3048, which is legislation designed to screw over and embarrass Republican President Donald Trump.  The bill "requires candidates for President and Vice-President of United States to disclose federal income tax returns" in order to be allowed to appear on a ballot in New Jersey, and it "prohibits (the) Electoral College electors from voting for candidates who fail to file income tax returns." 

Yep, that is a middle finger to President Donald Trump.  Look, we all get why the Democrats are doing this -- they are in deep denial and are allowing tribe to come before country (they wouldn't be in this mess if they had let Bernie win, but that is a story for another time) -- but why would a Republican join in? 

Here's what you need to know about the anti-Trump Koch organization that runs AFP.  One of their heroes is Republican Senator Jennifer Beck.  She got a good mark on the "screw card," and she also voted to screw President Donald Trump on S-3048.  Two other AFP "heroes" who also happen to be GOP Senators joined in on the screwing too.

Shouldn't Senator Beck and her colleagues be required to release their tax returns too?  This is all they have to release at present:

In their effort to embarrass and demean President Trump, AFP "hero" Beck also took a shitty vote that instructs state officials not to cooperate with federal officials on matters of national security and terrorism.  S-3011, "directs State and local governments to refrain from disclosing to the federal government personally identifiable information, regarding the religious beliefs, practices, or affiliation, or national origin or ethnicity, of any individual, which the federal government requests for compiling a list, registry, or database of individuals based on religious affiliation, national origin, or ethnicity... The bill further prohibits the use of money, facilities, property, equipment, or personnel by State and local law enforcement authorities to investigate or enforce any criminal, civil, or administrative violation, or warrant for a violation, of a requirement that individuals register with the federal government or any federal agency based on religion, national origin, or ethnicity."

Apparently the Senator and her colleagues who voted for this (thankfully, she was joined by just one other Republican, also an AFP "hero") have never heard of a religious group called the Peoples Temple of the Disciples of Christ.  It was founded in 1955 by the Reverend Jim Jones.  According to Wikipedia, the group preached a religious message that mixed "Christianity with socialist politics, with an emphasis on racial equality." For a time, it was headquartered in San Francisco and boasted more than 20,000 communicants.  Later, the group moved to Guyana to establish a commune.  In 1978, the group murdered five people -- including a United States congressman and three journalists -- and forced or induced 918 people to consume poison or otherwise take their own lives.  276 children were murdered as a direct result of the "practices and beliefs" of this religious affiliation.  It was "the greatest single loss of American civilian life in a deliberate act" until September 11, 2001.

Another bad, bad vote this week by AFP "hero" Senator Beck was intended as a slap in the face to efforts by President Trump to make good on his campaign promises regarding illegal immigration.  You won't believe the language in SCR-134:  "As amended, this concurrent resolution expresses the Legislature’s intent that school districts and public institutions of higher education continue to serve as safe zones and resource centers for students and families threatened by immigration or discrimination; and that school districts and public institutions of higher education continue to protect the data and identities of undocumented students, family members, and school employees who may be adversely affected by future federal policies or executive action that results in the collection of personally identifiable information.  Since the conclusion of the 2016 presidential election, school districts, public institutions of higher education, and the students and families they serve have raised increased concerns about the possibility of impending action by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that may impact undocumented students and their families.  As a result of this heightened concern, school districts and institutions of higher education across the country have adopted resolutions and policies reaffirming their intent to continue to act as safe zones and resource centers for students and families threatened by immigration or discrimination and to protect the identities of and data related to undocumented students and their families."

AFP "hero" Senator Jennifer Beck, was the only Republican to vote for this howler.  There are many important votes.  Illegal immigration matters.  Terrorism matters.  Defending America matters.  Don't let the Trump-haters at the Kock organization tell you that only the gas tax matters

Senator Beck and her collaborator at AFP push their pro-illegals, anti-Trump, social liberal agenda.

This ends the first installment of Jersey Conservative's corrective to the AFP "screw card."  Stay tuned. . . 

AFP supports Planned Parenthood

How does ANY organization worthy of the name CONSERVATIVE give someone an "A+" who voted to pass a formal state commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the abortionist Planned Parenthood?  Well, the New Jersey chapter of American for Prosperity did.  Whether this was because of AFP State Chair Frayda Levy's personal position on abortion or the time AFP Executive Director Erica Jedynak (nee Klemens) spent with W.A.N.D. (Women's Action for New Directions) we cannot tell. 

Jersey Conservative is unique among political blogs in New Jersey in that we never pick fights.  That cannot be said about other blogs.  And that goes for groups like Americans for Prosperity (AFP) too.  You know the way they operate.  Some innocent conservative is just minding his or her own business when one of these wind-bags just has to start slinging crap.  They start the crap because they want to be noticed (basic primate behavior) or because someone somewhere has some grand stupid plan to take us back to 1991 or something or other (advanced primate behavior). 

So now the innocent conservative is under attack -- the victim of a drive-by -- and so off we go, to place things in perspective, provide some balance, and set the record straight.  Of course, this is perceived as an attack by the handjob who started it in the first place, because handjobs firmly believe that they and only they should be permitted to talk crap about other people.  And under no circumstances should anyone be permitted to talk crap about them.  See, this is the lack of balance that we seek to correct.

A lot of smiling goes on in Trenton.  Smile, smile, smile. . . but don't let those smiles fool you.  There are lots of smiling Jacks and Jills who when you're not looking are eyeing up the back seat of your trousers.  They go around with these barbed-wire enemas and they'd like nothing more than to stick them where the sun doesn't shine.  So back away if someone is smiling too earnestly at you. 

AFP has long been purveyors of the barbed-wire enema.  But back when its guiding mind was Steve Lonegan, an economic and social conservative, its annual scorecard was a means of rewarding conservative friends while dissing members of the GOP establishment.  All that has changed now.

Whereas an event under Lonegan's tenure would have featured a renegade like New York's Lt. Governor Betsy McCaughey or someone like Michelle Malkin, now AFP rallies around that enduring figure of traditional values and conservative principles. . . Senator Tom Kean Jr.???   Really?  Back when AFP meant something in New Jersey, back when Steve Lonegan was running it, they knew who was and who wasn't a "movement" conservative and there were just three "movement" conservative legislators in all New Jersey. 

No, not Jay Webber.  He had the chance but ended up taking a dump on Ronald Reagan's platform. 

Under Lonegan, AFP used its scorecard to shepherd legislative efforts -- like repealing the RGGI energy tax -- and to help legislators articulate conservative principles.  Yes, it was built around those "movement" legislators who were so often shit on by the establishment -- and it often employed vote "searches" in order to find ways to reward a legislator who was "trying" to be a conservative. 

These are certainly corruptions of a kind, but under Steve Lonegan, AFP never turned its rating system over to the GOP establishment -- to bestow a "seal of approval" on their moderate economic mush and social issues assbanditry.   And Lonegan never participated in the mass screwing of Republicans that the two "handmaidens of the establishment" now running AFP just allowed to happen.

So when does a pig get to call itself a sheep?  When it grows a wooly covering.  When do liberal Republicans get to call themselves "conservatives"?  When they get AFP to grossly corrupt its process to provide that covering.

So this is where we come in.  A corruption has occurred.  There are victims of this corruption.  Republicans have been injured (and injured by other Republicans, on purpose, mind you).  We are the corrective.  We seek to bring things back into balance.

We would like to have seen AFP take responsibility for their craven sell-out, for the flip-flop on the "success" story they put out just a few weeks ago.  But these rich social liberals are so used to getting their way that we feel it would take too long to educate them that we are not the typical American working people that they are used to screwing.

So here is what we propose.  AFP assigned high grades to certain people.  We will make sure that they earn them -- every voting session.  We will report on EVERY bad vote, every voting session, every week, by every phony.  We will report on your bad votes in committee.  Every committee, every week, every phony.

You will be exposed for who you really are, week upon week, or you will become good conservatives -- at least on paper.  You may have found it easy to corrupt AFP and engineer a phony grade, but you will find that it is a much more difficult thing to live up to.

Stay tuned. . .

The Screw card: Who engineered those AFP ratings?

A whistleblower copied us on a letter sent to the Internal Revenue Service, among other organizations.  The letter outlines the on-going collusion between the New Jersey affiliate of Americans for Prosperity (AFP), a tax-exempt organization, and legislative staff and political campaign operatives in the creation of the group's so-called "scorecard." 

AFP's scorecard is a rating system that internal memos show has been engineered to benefit individual legislators for various purposes.  For instance, one legislator, Gail Phoebus, recently hired an AFP donor's child to her legislative staff.  For doing so, she received an "A+".  That's taxpayers' money that paid for that grade.

There was corruption evident in each of AFP's scorecards in the past, but this most recent edition -- the release of which was timed to coincide with a major AFP fundraiser hosted by Senate Republican Leader Tom Kean Jr. -- is so corrupt, so convoluted, that it begs description.  Instead of counting actual votes, the "engineers" behind the screw card fashioned a subjective mix of assigned "points" for the effort of proposing legislation -- even if that legislation was never posted for a vote.  That said, in order to injure some legislators and enhance others, co-sponsorship of legislation wasn't given credit  or, on bad bills, deductions.  And even though the rules on the number of sponsors vary in each Chamber, this wasn't taken into account.

Some of the more glaring incidents of corruption:

- Legislation to get rid of the Estate Tax in five years that went nowhere, is marked as a positive.  The legislation that actually did get rid of the Estate Tax in less than two years, is a negative.  Curiously, AFP actually touted the success of the legislation they marked as "negative" in a press release detailing their "legislative successes" for 2016.  In fact, most of the "successes" they used to raise money from their donors came from legislation they marked as "negative."   

- Assemblyman Jay Webber (R-26) gets credit for sponsoring legislation (A-1059), while running-mate Assemblywoman BettyLou DeCroce gets no credit for co-sponsoring the same legislation.

- A bill (ACR-213) proposed by far-left Democrat John Wisniewski (D-19) which would allow voters to over-turn all of Governor Chris Christie's vetoes of anti-Second Amendment legislation passed by the Legislature was rated as a POSITIVE by AFP.  Does that make AFP anti-gun?  It certainly seems so.  On top of this, they assigned credit or blame incorrectly.  For instance, AFP credited Senator Michael Doherty even though he hadn't sponsored a Senate version (none exists).

- Assemblyman Declan O'Scanlon (R-13), a candidate for the Senate received an "A+" for his vote on the so-called "gas tax" (actually, the Tax Reform package that included 5 tax cuts as well as the gas tax increase), while Senator Joe Kyrillos (R-13) got an "F" for taking the exact same vote on the "gas tax."

- There was no mention of legislation to spend millions on Planned Parenthood.  Whether this was because of AFP State Chair Frayda Levy's personal position on abortion or the time AFP Executive Director Erica Jedynak (nee Klemens) spent with W.A.N.D. (Women's Action for New Directions) we cannot tell.  Apparently, legislators get no credit for being Pro-Life from AFP.  Neither do they get it for preventing taxpayers' millions from being spent on abortion facilities.

- AFP is apparently hostile to legislation proposed by Senator Steve Oroho, called the Human Trafficking & Child Exploitation Prevention Act.  It appears to fly in the face of what AFP national chair David Koch calls "free trade."

- A great deal of important legislation, like Senate legislation on paid sick leave, was treated as if it didn't exist.  The scores of some legislators, such as Senator Tom Kean Jr., improved dramatically.  Kean, who just a session ago was in the high 50 percentile range, suddenly got an "A"!

-  Of all the hundreds of votes taken in the Legislature, AFP "counted" just nine Assembly votes and six in the Senate -- and one of those they got wrong because they cherry-picked it from a previous session.  In other words, either the ass-monkey can't read a date correctly or somebody really wanted to screw someone.

(Jersey Conservative has some of best legislative watchers in the state and we will be putting together a comprehensive scorecard of the top 100 votes in the Legislature for 2016 in plenty of time for the June primary.  Instead of the subjective contortions used by the Kock organization's screw card, Jersey Conservative will use as our guide, the RNC platform that Chairman Webber so studiously avoided adopting.)

Who was behind the convoluted calculations that appear to damage some for a primary, while creating an advantage for others?  Whose thumb was on the scale?

We have asked this question before, of a different group that issues ratings -- the American Conservative Union (ACU).  When we spoke with their national office last year, they were most cooperative and forthcoming.  They readily informed us that the office of the Senate Republican Leader had assisted them in picking and choosing which votes to highlight. 

Perhaps that was the reason the ACU left out important votes like providing drug-dealers with taxpayer-funded welfare benefits.  Whatever, because it was child's play compared to what just happened over at AFP.

We can't imagine why a Republican Leader or his staff would have anything to do with an organization that went out of its way to crank it up the ass of five of his own incumbent Republican caucus members.  Are they trying to weed out anyone with a spine or just those who have never thought about visiting the Bohemian Grove?  Is this laying the groundwork for a Republican-NJEA alliance for November with the hope that conservatives will keep focused on "the gas tax" long enough to have their guns confiscated and the institution of co-ed high school showers.  Time will tell.

As for AFP, anyone who dips their snout in the toilet bowl with it can be labeled as working with the petroleum lobby, the illegal immigration lobby, the open borders for terrorists lobby, and also with that peculiar brand of Koch libertarianism that sincerely believes children have the rights to recreational narcotics and to sell their bodies for sex.  We suspect that candidates will be hearing a lot more on this as their campaigns progress through the primary and general election processes. The digging will get deep and the shit will be random. 

Let us leave you with this quote from the Liberty & Prosperity blog run by Seth Grossman.  Grossman was a founding member of New Jersey's AFP affiliate, so he knows of whom he speaks:

"Frayda Levy of Bergen County also supports amnesty for all illegals without taking any measures to stop, arrest, or deport future illegals.   Frayda is one of the super-rich donors who donated more than a million dollars to Americans for Prosperity created by Charles and David Koch."

People like the ones running AFP like illegal labor because it drives down wages and makes average Americans take-it-or-leave-it wage slaves.  Next time some surrogate for these modern day slavers complains about a working man in Morris County supporting a candidate who helps him keep his family fed, clothed, and a roof over their head, we will detail how much dough the folks on the other side are swimming in and the causes they use it on.  Special interests?  What in the hell are the Koch Brothers! 

AFP flip-flops on tax cuts

What a difference a few weeks and hiring a donor's kid makes. 

Earlier this year, AFP issued a press release detailing what the group "Accomplished in 2016".  It's most recent accomplishment was:  "Saved state taxpayers $1.4 billion in tax cuts-once completely phased in-in the final omnibus bill, including a repeal of the estate tax which save taxpayers $320 million alone and will protect families from the government raiding inheritances when a loved one dies."

Instead of thanking the legislators who voted for these $1.4 billion in tax cuts that AFP is now bragging about as their "accomplishment," AFP decided to screw them and to mark the vote that they listed as a "success" as a "bad" vote. 

Groups like AFP use these appeals to illustrate their effectiveness and ask for money.  This is fraud.  AFP cannot be on BOTH sides of an issue like this.

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AFP opposes President Trump on illegal immigration

Last month Time magazine reported that the "powerful policy and politics network organized by the billionaire Koch brothers made official what many had expected: an opposition to President Trump’s ban on visitors from seven countries with Muslim majorities.  In a statement provided to reporters covering the Kochs’ twice-a-year retreat, top official Brian Hooks said Sunday that the groups under his umbrella would not support Trump’s move."

On February 21, 2017, the Washington Times reported on the attack by Tim Phillips, the president of Americans for Prosperity (AFP) on President Trump's attempt to build a wall between Mexico and the United States.  AFP calledTrump's efforts a "tax increase" on business . 

State AFP affiliates have threatened to give pro-Trump Republican members of Congress an "F" rating if they support construction of a border wall.

The Koch Political Network is a special interest lobby group funded by the brothers' extensive holdings in the petroleum industry.  According to figures provided by Koch Industries, they spend between $300 million and $400 million on political activity every election cycle.

The Koch network, officially known as Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce, operates groups such as the grassroots focused Americans for Prosperity (AFP), the data-centered i360 and Latino-eyeing Libre Initiative.  Together, they spent roughly $250 million on last year’s elections—while sitting out the White House race.  Over the next two years, they plan to spend as much as $400 million.  

Americans for Prosperity (AFP) is run by David H. Koch, a New York City billionaire ($43.3 billion and counting) who is an owner at Koch Industries and whose core business is the refining and distribution of petroleum. 

The Chairman of AFP -- yes, the same David H. Koch -- is a social liberal.  But don't take our word for it.  Here is what Wikipedia had to say about him:

(David) Koch considers himself a social liberal,[22] supporting women's right to choose,[23] gay rights, same-sex marriage and stem-cell research.[3][24] He opposes the war on drugs.

Ronald Reagan was a social as well as an economic conservative.  He believed in an America built on Judeo-Christian values and the Western tradition of free speech and free markets.  David Koch is no Reaganite.  In fact, he opposed Ronald Reagan in 1980 -- as the Libertarian Party's candidate for Vice President -- running on a platform  that included the following planks:

"We therefore call for the elimination of all restriction on immigration, the abolition of the Immigration and Naturalization Service and the Border Patrol, and a declaration of full amnesty for those people who have entered the country illegally."

" We support an end to all subsidies for child-bearing built into our present laws, including all welfare plans and the provision of tax-supported services for children. We further support the repeal of all laws restricting voluntary birth control or the right of the woman to make a personal moral choice regarding the termination of pregnancy."

"We defend the rights of individuals to engage in (or abstain from) any religious activities which do not violate the rights of others. In order to defend religious freedom, we advocate a strict separation of church and state."

"The repeal of all laws regarding consensual sexual relations, including prostitution and solicitation, and the cessation of state oppression and harassment of homosexual men and women, that they, at least, be accorded their full rights as individuals".

"We believe that 'children' are human beings and, as such, have the same rights as any other human beings. Any reference in the Platform to the rights of human beings includes children."

"The repeal of all laws prohibiting the production, sale, possession, or use of drugs, and of all medical prescription requirements for the purchase of vitamins, drugs and similar substances".

"The repeal of all laws interfering with the right to commit suicide as infringements of the ultimate right of an individual to his or her own life".

"We support recognition of the right to political secession. Exercise of this right, like the exercise of all other rights, does not remove legal and moral obligations not to violate the rights of others."

"We call for the withdrawal of all American troops from bases abroad. In particular, we call for the removal of the U.S. Air Force as well as ground troupes from the Korean peninsula."

"We favor immediate independence for all colonial dependencies, such as Samoa, Guam, Micronesia, the Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico".

"Government interference in transportation is characterized by monopolistic restriction, corruption, and gross inefficiency. We therefore call for the dissolution of all government agencies concerned with transportation, including the Department of Transportation, the Interstate Commerce Commission, the Civil Aeronautics Board, the Federal Maritime Commission, Conrail and Amtrak. We demand the return of America's railroad system to private ownership. We call for the privatization of the public roads and national highway system."

And that, as they say, is how David H. Koch rolls...

Americans for Prosperity (AFP) says “Yes” on Question 2

Americans for Prosperity (AFP) a group that consistently opposed the gas tax increase, dispels all the nonsense being pushed by liberals like Harvey Roseff and Ray Lesniak, and makes its position clear on Question 2.

Americans for Prosperity Advocates “Yes” Vote on Public Question 2

Ballot measure would increase constitutionally dedicated revenues to the Transportation Trust Fund

Boonton, N.J. – Americans for Prosperity, the state’s leading grassroots advocate for economic freedom, is encouraging voters to support Public Question 2 this November which concerns the dedication of certain remaining revenues to the Transportation Trust Fund (TTF).

Specifically, the referendum asks voters to approve dedicating the remaining 3 cents from the 13.5 cent tax on diesel fuel, as well as all of the revenues from the petroleum products gross receipts tax to the TTF. The current dedication from the petro tax is a minimum of $200 million. The tax has generated $215 million in each of the past two fiscal years.

AFP state director Erica Jedynak provided the following statement.

“Americans for Prosperity supports the ballot measure and constitutionally dedicating the remaining revenues collected from the tax on diesel and the petro tax to the transportation fund.

“At the same time, AFP wants voters to be clear that this referendum does not authorize a gas tax increase, nor does it in any way resolve the transportation challenges the state is facing. The remaining revenue from these two taxes amounts to less than $30 million, a mere fraction of the $1.2 billion collected for the TTF last year.

“Americans for Prosperity is steadfast in our opposition to a gas tax hike. We continue to urge lawmakers to pursue reforms to rein in wasteful spending and to ensure our transportation dollars are used solely for our roads and bridges.”

For further information or an interview, please contact Mike Proto at MProto@afphq.org or 201-400-3666.

Americans for Prosperity (AFP) is a nationwide organization of citizen-leaders committed to advancing every individual’s right to economic freedom and opportunity. AFP believes reducing the size and intrusiveness of government is the best way to promote individual productivity and prosperity for all Americans. For more information, visit www.americansforprosperity.org state and taxpayers

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AFP/Koch screwing NJ taxpayers on jobs

AFP is at it again.  They are putting the corporate priorities of the Koch brothers over the economic well-being of the taxpayers of New Jersey.

The reason that BOTH wings of the corporate establishment party -- the Hillary Clinton Democrats and the Mitch McConnell Republicans -- have done nothing to secure our borders or to attempt to monitor those who come into this country legally and then overstay their visas, is because their corporate masters depend on illegal labor to suppress American wages.  For the past forty years, the American worker has lost ground and passing minimum wage laws mean nothing when there are millions of wage slaves in the gray economy to exploit.

The Koch brothers know this and that is why they have done their best to undercut the presidential campaign of Republican nominee Donald Trump. 

The Kochs' lobbying wing, the so-called Americans for Prosperity (AFP), likes to portray itself as a "membership" organization, but unlike other membership organizations here in America, AFP's members don't get to vote on who leads its national and state organizations.  Those decisions are made for them by individuals closely connected with the owners of Koch Industries.   That means that AFP is essentially a lobby group, so we understand why it would disadvantage New Jersey taxpayers to advance the agenda of Koch Industries.

Earlier today, the New Jersey outpost of AFP issued yet another attack on legislation designed to protect skilled American workers from illegals looking to take their jobs. 

The bill under attack is Senate Bill 2173/Assembly Bill 2863.  This is EXACTLY how the bill description reads:

This bill requires every contract subject to State prevailing wage requirements to require each worker employed under the contract to be enrolled in, or have completed, a registered apprenticeship, unless the contractor or subcontractor certifies that the worker is paid not less than the journeyworker wage rate.

Under the bill, a “registered apprenticeship program” is an apprenticeship program which is registered with and approved by the United States Department of Labor and which provides each trainee with combined classroom and on-the-job training under the direct and close supervision of a highly skilled worker in an occupation recognized as an apprenticeable trade and meets the program performance standards of enrollment and graduation under 29 C.F.R. Part 29, section 29.6.

This is the LIE being promoted by AFP:

At the heart of the legislation is a requirement that " each worker employed under the contract to be enrolled in, or have completed, a registered apprenticeship" program. Since apprenticeship programs are offered primarily by labor unions, this bill would all but shut out competition from non-union shops and drive up project costs at the expense of New Jersey taxpayers.

The truth is this:  There are 676 active apprentice programs in New Jersey, only 15 of which are affiliated with a construction union.

Illegals cannot gain access to apprenticeship programs because they are in the United States illegally.  As it is now, unethical contractors hire a qualified worker (per the law) and then place a dozen or dozens of unqualified illegals under him (or her), pay them less, and increase profits.  Why should taxpayers pay for unqualified illegal labor?

SB 2173/A 2863 makes sure that the workers hired are qualified workers or worker trainees in an approved apprenticeship program, who have a legal right to be in the United States. 

And contrary to what AFP is telling you, if there is no apprenticeship program covering a particular job-description, a worker may be hired provided that the contractor sign a statement that he is legally permitted to work in America.  Now, why would ANY group calling itself CONSERVATIVE oppose that!

What's up with AFP NJ?

Back when Steve Lonegan ran AFP in New Jersey, there was a level of competence that seems lacking now.  Lonegan communicated with other conservative and used AFP to support the conservative movement as a whole -- even when it went against the corporate interests of the Koch brothers. 

In contrast to the Koch brothers and the current regime running AFP NJ, Lonegan was solidly Pro-Life, Pro-Second Amendment, he opposed same-sex marriage, opposed amnesty for illegal immigrants, and supported American cultural values.  The current leadership are culture warriors for the Left.  No less than conservative Senator Mike Doherty was stiffed by them when he asked the financial backers of AFP NJ for help. 

Whether due to incompetence or by design, AFP NJ has once again exhibited that they don't understand the legislation they are opposing.  Conveniently ignoring the purpose of the legislation to push the Koch agenda isn't helping the conservative movement in New Jersey. 

AFP goes LEFT again: Supports reverse discrimination

In a bizarre missive sent out today by AFP's New Jersey leadership, the group put forward the arguments of a left-wing artist and an organization that supports mandatory, government-enforced quotas for businesses based not on the quality of work they do, but on subjective and arbitrary factors such as the gender of the owner.  This kind of reverse discrimination is abhorrent to most clear-thinking Americans and abusive of taxpayers. 

AFP NJ is part of the Koch Brothers' national lobbying group, Americans for Prosperity (AFP).  Yesterday, AFP NJ issued a different attack on the same legislation targeted by today's missive: Legislation designed to protect skilled American workers from illegals looking to take their jobs. 

The bill under attack is Senate Bill 2173.  This is EXACTLY how the bill description reads:

This bill requires every contract subject to State prevailing wage requirements to require each worker employed under the contract to be enrolled in, or have completed, a registered apprenticeship, unless the contractor or subcontractor certifies that the worker is paid not less than the journeyworker wage rate.

Under the bill, a “registered apprenticeship program” is an apprenticeship program which is registered with and approved by the United States Department of Labor and which provides each trainee with combined classroom and on-the-job training under the direct and close supervision of a highly skilled worker in an occupation recognized as an apprenticeable trade and meets the program performance standards of enrollment and graduation under 29 C.F.R. Part 29, section 29.6.

This is the LIE being promoted by AFP:

At the heart of the legislation is a requirement that " each worker employed under the contract to be enrolled in, or have completed, a registered apprenticeship" program. Since apprenticeship programs are offered primarily by labor unions, this bill would all but shut out competition from non-union shops and drive up project costs at the expense of New Jersey taxpayers.

The truth is this:  There are 676 active apprentice programs in New Jersey, only 15 of which are affiliated with a construction union. 

Illegals cannot gain access to apprenticeship programs because they are in the United States illegally.  As it is now, unethical contractors hire a qualified worker (per the law) and then place a dozen or dozens of unqualified illegals under him (or her), pay them less, and increase profits.  Why should taxpayers pay for unqualified illegal labor?

SB 2173 makes sure that the workers hired are qualified workers or worker trainees in an approved apprenticeship program, who have a legal right to be in the United States. 

And contrary to what AFP is telling you, if there is no apprenticeship program covering a particular job-description, a worker may be hired provided that the contractor sign a statement that he is legally permitted to work in America.  Now why would ANY group calling itself CONSERVATIVE oppose that!

What's up with AFP NJ?

Back when Steve Lonegan ran AFP in New Jersey, there was a level of competence that seems lacking now.  Lonegan communicated with other conservatives and used AFP to support the conservative movement as a whole -- even when it went against the corporate interests of the Koch brothers. 

In contrast to the Koch brothers and the current regime running AFP NJ, Lonegan was solidly Pro-Life, he opposed same-sex marriage, opposed amnesty for illegal immigrants, and supported American cultural values.  The current leadership are culture warriors for the Left.  No less than conservative Senator Mike Doherty was stiffed by them when he asked the financial backers of AFP NJ for help. 

Whether due to incompetence or by design, AFP NJ has once again exhibited that they don't understand the legislation they are opposing.  Conveniently ignoring the purpose of the legislation to push the Koch agenda isn't helping the conservative movement in New Jersey.  Next time, pick up a telephone and talk to a fellow conservative before going off half-Koched.