Second conference on Religious Liberty to be held in Ocean County

Following up on June’s successful conference on religious Liberty held in Newton, Sussex County, a second conference is scheduled for Ocean County on August 27th in Toms River.

At the first conference, attendees heard from Senator Steve Oroho on the status of various legislative initiatives – including the Human Trafficking & Child Exploitation Prevention Act and the 20/20 bill, which recognizes that a fetus experiences pain at 20 weeks (all but 7 nations on earth recognize this FACT).

Rev. Mandy Leverett gave a talk about the threat of human trafficking in New Jersey and detailed a number of horrific cases.  There was a discussion about how a porous border and the Murphy administration’s Sanctuary State directive empowers human traffickers in the sexual exploitation of women and children. 

Christine Flaherty explained the importance of the 20/20 bill, also known as the "Babies in the Womb Feel Pain".  This legislation recognizes the scientific fact that a fetus or unborn baby is pain-sensitive at 20 weeks.  Every other country on earth recognizes this fact except North Korea, China, Vietnam, Singapore, Canada, and the Netherlands.  Similar legislation has been passed in nearly half the states and is moving forward in others in an attempt bring our laws into line with the rest of the civilized world. 

An ecumenical movement has formed called the 20/20 Project.  Its members represent many religious denominations.  It is actively supported by a number of organizations including the Respect Life Office of the Archdiocese of Metuchen, the Respect Life Office of the Archdiocese of Newark, Project LEARN, the New Jersey Family Policy Council, New Jersey Right to Life, the Center for Garden State Families, Corazon Puro, LifeNet, the League of American Families, among others. 

Of course, the 20/20 bill has been attacked by the death-cult wing of the New Jersey Democrat Party (there are still a great many religious Democrats who value life and recognize that their communities are being slaughtered for profit by Planned Parenthood).  As one activist said:  “They celebrate taking life and would do anything to maintain the barbaric practices that are illegal in most of the civilized world."

And speaking of attacks…  Since the first conference in Sussex County, one of the speakers has been attacked for his Biblical-based beliefs.   

Pastor Phil Rizzo, who spoke to the conference on the importance of religious freedom, was stalked and targeted by Sussex County Democrats for agreeing to help sort out a recent Twitter controversy involving the GOP county chairman.  State Democrats reached out to a political blog to arrange a “hit” on Pastor Rizzo, the gist of which was that he didn’t embrace Islam and wasn’t pro-LGBTQ+. 

The fact that those two world-views differ dramatically apparently didn’t dawn on the author of that hit piece, but the incident did offer up an important lesson:  There are Establishment forces who want to drive traditional Judeo-Christian beliefs out of the public square and to make it punishable (and eventually illegal) to express them. 

Despite the presence of good believers in the Democrat Party, the leadership of that party is in thrall to these forces – as is corporate media.  As evidence of this was the statement by the Sussex County Democrat Chairwoman that compared Pastor Rizzo to “Hitler” because he held traditional Biblical beliefs and the attack by an LGBTQ+ activist employed by the Star-Ledger. 

The battle lines are drawn and they are coming for your Bible.  They want to make reading it (or repeating what you have read) a “hate crime”.  And they will target and stalk anyone who stands for religious freedom.  Faith will either win this one or be driven into the wilderness. 

If you are interested in attending the Second Conference on Religious Liberty, please contact the Center for Garden State Families at

info@gardenstatefamilies.org

If you have a conflict, please contact the center and ask when the next one will be (at least four more are planned throughout the state).  Let’s get active!

And be of good cheer.  Faith can move mountains, while government and politicians and corporations and media and academics are all… “a small dust in the balance.”

Before sexualizing children. Why not have a debate?

By Rubashov

Is it the ACLU’s fault?  Or is it the people who fund them who have changed? 

We all remember how the ACLU stood up for Freedom of Speech – even when it meant protecting that freedom for people with whom they had absolutely no sympathy.   It was the ACLU who famously set the parameters of First Amendment protections in the 1970’s, when the organization defended the right of the American Nazi Party to march through Skokie, Illinois, a town chosen by the Nazis for its ethnic and religious make-up.  Placing their loathing of the Nazis aside, the ACLU stood with the American Bill of Rights to argue that the Nazis had the right to transgressive speech – the right to knowingly offend. 

Of course, transgressive speech is the very foundation of comedy, and there was some wisdom in the suggestion that we laugh at the Nazis, their silly uniforms, and that flag.  Better to laugh at them, to tolerate them, than to become them, so the wisdom went. 

But times have changed.

The ACLU is under pressure from the people who fund it, from its donor class, as are politicians from all parties and persuasions.  There is a new public religion and it is in the process of driving out its competition from the public square.

And just as transubstantiation demands that its believers accept that bread and wine is changed into flesh and blood, so in this new religion, a person with a penis can be made woman.  It is mystical, faith-based, beyond debate or reason.  It is religion.

Central to this new religion is a persecution myth.  Just as the early Christians had their martyrs and their festivals of remembrance, this new religion has its Stonewall, its AIDS epidemic, its accounts of martyrdom.  The carnality of it – the sex – is all scrubbed from the accounts.  The public face of this new religion is Neo-Victorian in its use of language – “No Sex, please” – this is all about “Love”.

Proselytizing to children is central to all religions, but especially so to groups who make the oppression of the faith central to their ideology.  This was so with Jim Jones, David Koresh, the “Children of God” cult, and many others.  Did they not all operate under the banner that children be sexualized at the earliest possible moment?  Did they not preach endlessly about “Love”?  That “Love is the Answer”, “Love is Love”? 

Sex is as addictive as tobacco and like the sellers of cigarettes (or narcotics) they like to get them while they’re young.  So they come for the children.  Public libraries host “drag queen story hours” for little children, with readings by folks with names like “Lil Miss Hot Mess”.  Isn’t “hot” an explicitly sexual term?  School curriculums now include such varied activities as “condom races” – in which 10 and 11 year-old girls compete to be the first to put a condom on a model of an erect adult male penis.  All watched by their male classmates.  Magazines like Teen Vogue – specifically marketed to children – argue that prostitution is just a job, work like any other, with no moral or psychological concerns whatsoever. 

This is all part of this new public religion.  So a new law, signed by Governor Phil Murphy, mandates the teaching of people from history based on how their alleged sexual practices conform to one of a series of letters (LGBTQ…).  It’s a rather shallow way to teach, for how can the endless ways in which human beings order their lives really be bound and categorized by a half dozen letters – or indeed, a thousand? 

Within the last few days, a School Trustee in Hackensack had the temerity to express an opinion on the new mandate that failed to conform to the new public religion.  In response, Garden State Equality (GSE) – the “LGBTQ” equivalent of Hezbollah – went all jihadist on the trustee, demanding that she be forced into submission or made to resign and shunned thereafter. 

An email from GSE made it clear that they weren’t stopping with her:  “It’s imperative that each and every education official across New Jersey understands that our curriculum law must be faithfully implemented.”  Each and every.  There is no place for religious dissent. 

A GSE supporter reached out and noted that the trustee in question used the term “repugnant” to describe “the LGBTQ lifestyle.”  The term is generally used when describing something that the user finds “distasteful” or that the user is “incompatible” with.  It must be noted that many of our fellow human beings do find such sexual practices as oral or anal sex “distasteful” and that they are “incompatible” with same. 

We are not speaking here for Phil and Tammy Murphy, or Valerie Vainieri Huttle, or Jim Tedesco, or Gordon Johnson, or Loretta Weinberg, or indeed for the other politicians who have condemned the use of the term “repugnant.”  What they find “tasteful”, what they are “compatible” with, what their appetites bend towards is entirely their business.  And we would defend their endorsement of oral or anal sex as much as we defend the right of others not to enjoy such things.  Whatever floats your boat, as they say. 

But expressing one’s sexual preferences, one’s choice, is not welcome by the new “public” religion.  Blank conformity is what is expected.  Every public statement, written or spoken must conform.  The new religion allows no public expression of older religions.  All must conform… or they will be made to conform. 

Having gained significant cadres amongst elites in government, the media, in education, and with One-Percenters who control the corporate world, the new religion is attempting a top-down takeover of the public square – bullying out older religions, forcing compliance and general conformity of expressed opinion.  They seem to forget that Americans are contrarian by nature.  Nonconformity is the way with us and we will continue to practice it, even while being oppressed and punished for doing so. 

Of course, this is another reason why they want our children.  But then they forget that generations of Soviet indoctrination did not extinguish the seed of traditional faith in Russia or in Eastern Europe. 

This is an interesting topic that should be debated openly and honestly.  Instead, jihadists like Garden State Equality are concerned only with bullying and banning public dissent.  They don’t care if people dishonestly mouth those allowed saccharine platitudes, so long as they mouth them.

Instead of punishing questioning minds, why not debate them?  Before we allow government – in service of the new public religion – to continue to sexualize children, why not have an open and honest debate on the subject? 

Maybe a group like the Center for Garden State Families or the New Jersey Family Policy Council will set up a series of open discussions on the Murphy administration’s sexualization of young children.  Then they can invite folks like Senator Loretta Weinberg and Assemblywoman Valerie Vainieri Huttle to explain what they like and don’t like – and how they came to embrace the new religion (HINT: Check their campaign finance reports, and you will know why).

Before the Murphy Democrats force one more unfunded mandate on the property taxpayers of New Jersey… have an open and honest debate about their need to sexualize children.

So-called “Equality Act” seeks criminalization of Faith

Look into the eyes of the young girl below.  See her fear.  What civilized nation would make her endure such a thing?

A male student claiming to be a female is shown wrestling a female student. Reality Check: There are distinct biological differences between the two sexes. If the so-called “Equality Act” passes, no female will ever have true equity in any physical activity. Gender specific activities will cease. No more boys or girls glee clubs, girls softball, only mixed gender activities will be allowed. It will be the death of female sports, the end of female athletes, all role models will be biologically male.  Total domination by patriarchy. Total.

Like the Law for the Protection of Blood and Honor, the so-called “Equality Act” is a monstrous violation of civil rights dressed up in some misleading frilly-sounding language. It is blatantly unconstitutional. It is a clear violation of the First Amendment. An even greater danger is posed by the presence on the Courts of  highly-polarized Leftist judges. Will they recognize this obvious attack on freedom of conscience and free speech or will they expand this barbarity and legislate from the bench?

Here is what the so-called Equality Act does:

• Churches would be forced to host same-sex ceremonies.  

• Churches will lose tax-exempt status for noncompliance. 

• Colleges will lose accreditation for noncompliance. 

• Noncompliant colleges will be ineligible to receive student loans, causing most religious schools to compromise their core mission or close. 

• If churches or religious organizations take overnight trips, including sports or mission trips, they cannot segregate rooms by biological gender.  

• Biological men will have access to bathrooms, showers, and nursing-mother rooms at any time, and stay as long as they please.  

• Churches would be forced to hire staff involved in LGBT conduct, even positions of authority in affiliated daycare classes and give them complete access to all children in the restrooms.  

• Cross-dressers could demand that they be greeters, ushers, Sunday School teachers, and more.  

• Even the smallest slight would give someone the legal right to sue the church. For example, if a person assumed they were turned down for a staff position because of a LGBT lifestyle, they could sue the church for damages, even if that was not the reason they were denied the job! 

Every single Democrat from New Jersey is a co-sponsor of this barbaric assault on Western values and religious freedom.  This should put to rest once and for all that there is more than a nickel’s worth of difference between a Murphy Democrat and a Norcross Democrat. 

Republicans like Mike Testa should take note.  Even so-called “conservative” Democrats like South Jersey’s Congressman Jeff Van Drew are enthusiastically participating in the gang rape of our constitutional freedoms – our personal right to a life of the soul and to live according to our own conscience. 

Let there be no doubt now.  The Democrat Party is the party of crony capitalist authoritarian pigs and the sooner they are all tossed onto the dung heap of history, the better. 

Call your Congressperson NOW!

Tell them to vote NO on HR5!

Capitol Hill Switchboard

202-224-3121

For more information, or to find out how you can help defeat the anti-freedom authoritarians, visit the website of the Center for Garden State Families…

https://www.gardenstatefamilies.org/

The Center for Garden State Families at the NEA→

The National Education Association (NEA), the largest union in the United States, held its annual meeting and Representative Assembly (RA) in Minneapolis, Minnesota over the family holiday of Independence Day. While in past years there were as many 11,000 delegates attending, this year there were less than 6,200. The RA was a stage play of irony and hangdog bitterness following the U.S. Supreme Court’s Janus vs. AFSCME decision against forced union membership for government employees. The decision also requires every government employee to request union membership (opt-in) rather being forced by unions to annually opt-out of union membership.

Christian, conservative, and Republican teachers have long realized that the NEA does not represent their viewpoint and they will now be able to drop their membership and stop paying dues. The situation was one of the top topics at the RA. 

The expected drop in revenue is forcing the union to make significant budget cuts. It has already laid off Washington DC based employees from its national headquarters and the cuts are likely to also affect the large amounts of money going out to state and local affiliates. The budget cuts will not apply, however, to the union senior management. NEA president Lily Eskelsen García’s annual salary will increase to $293,434, while the union's vice president and secretary-treasurer will each receive $257,954. In addition, each of these executives will receive 40 percent of their base salary — at least $103,182 each — to cover benefits and living expenses. 

DONATE

The National Right to Work Foundation has a website to inform union members of their new “Janus rights”. The website, https://myjanusrights.org/, has information for you whether you are a member of a union or a non-union member paying “fair share.” Contact The Center for Garden State Families at action@gardenstatefamilies.org if you need to find an attorney in NJ regarding your Janus Rights.

Like so many socialist based organizations, the NEA is obsessed with sexual identity rights. At last year's RA in Boston, some in the NEA Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Caucus members deliberately harassed the NEA Ex-Gays Educators Caucus. One GLBT Caucus member threatened the chair of the Ex-Gays Caucus with harm. After being called to task for their behavior, this year's NEA GLBT Caucus members were a bit tamer. The NEA GLBT Caucus provided its usual materials promoting the LGBTQIA+ lifestyle as normal and innate.

The Human Rights Campaign (the largest LGBT political organization in the nation) sponsored the “Welcoming Schools” exhibit, which displayed materials focusing not only on LGBT advocacy, but also put more emphasis on transgender acceptance among adults and students. Lists were provided at the “Welcoming Schools” exhibit of K-9 books advocating the homosexual lifestyle, same-sex marriage and same-sex parenting.

Chris Sgro of North Carolina won the 2018 NEA Human and Civil Rights Award, specifically the Virginia Uribe Award for Creative Leadership in Human Rights. In NEA’s words, “Chris Sgro has and continues to be a champion for LGBTQ advocacy.”

The NEA sponsored an anti-Trump/anti-Trump-policies rally before the assembly officially began. Many signs being carried by the delegates pertained to the illegal immigration issue and a substantial number of those signs called for free passes for all illegal immigrants. 

As usual, a straggling representative or two from the Socialist party could be found sharing the grounds with the rallying NEA delegates outside the Minneapolis convention center. The Socialists sold their wares, which appeared quite similar in theme to the signs and chants of the NEA delegates.

The majority of the New Business Items (NBI) dealt with at the assembly were focused on political or social issues, not educating children, test scores, teaching methods, classroom safety, etc. The following is just a sample of the more than 120 NBIs the assembly passed.

• NBI 4, which called for the NEA to “promote the Black Lives Matter Week of Action in schools during Black History month in 2019, using existing communication resources, specifically calling for clear efforts to demonstrate support for the three demands of the BLM Week of Action in schools.” An Asian American woman spoke to the NBI recommending that “Black Lives Matter” be changed to “All Lives Matter.” Her recommendation was rejected.

• NBI 11, which stated “NEA shall, using existing digital media, have all state and local affiliates encourage K-12 teachers to view a series of films called Creating Gender Inclusive Schools and use the accompanying study guides of the Youth and Gender Media Project (visit youthandgendermediaproject.org) to create inclusive communities for all youth, regardless of where they fall on the spectrum of gender identity and expression.” 

• NBI 32, which stated “NEA shall, using existing digital media, share with state and local affiliates a Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website (visit https://www.cdc.gov/lgbthealth/youth-resources.htm) that lists resources, government agencies, and community organizations for the LGBTQ+ youth, their friends, educators, parents, and family members to support positive environments.”

• NBI 36, really “took the cake” (yes, a pun on the Masterpiece Cakeshop SCOTUS decision). The NBI said “NEA shall, using existing digital media, post a list of known individuals with businesses who are committed to refusing services to same-sex couples and/or LGBTQ individuals. NEA can access a list of these individuals and their businesses from organizations such as THINKPROGRESS (thinkprogress.org), Southern Poverty Law Center, and Human Rights Campaign, and share it with all state and local affiliates on nea.org.”

• NBI 121, which stated “Using existing resources, NEA will release a public statement in opposition to conversion therapy, repairative [sic] therapy, reorientation, or any other process to alter a student’s orientation or identity.” While NEA, to its credit, has generally operated fairly and according to Roberts Rules of Order, the discussion on this item was clearly sabotaged. Normally, delegates are taken in the order of one speaker “for” and one speaker “against.” That was not the case here. One person who called in to submit an argument “against,” in fact spoke “for,” and when NEA President Lily Eskelsen Garcia caught the error, she said, “Wait a minute this is suppose to be against. Oh, but that’s okay.” A third person submitted an “against” position to speak to the item, but he simply said, “I’m against it.” Eskelsen Garcia said, “No reason?” and then added “Oh, I see what your doing.” Although at least one conservative delegate had submitted her request to speak against the item and stood at a microphone prepared to do so, when a delegate moved to close debate, Garcia said, “Yes,” quickly extinguishing any fair rebuttal.

It will be interesting to see what the NEA looks like in 2019 at it’s annual convention being held in Houston, Tx. The Center for Garden State Families will be in Trenton advocating for parental rights and focusing on real education objectives for New Jersey’s children.

Christmas Appeal: End Human Trafficking of Children

We have until January 8th to make this happen!

For the victims of human trafficking who will spend this Christmas in the nightmare of sexual slavery, time is running out. Please, help them.

---

Christmas Appeal:
End Human Trafficking of Children

For too many children, their road into modern slavery began on the Internet.

According to the U.S. Justice Department, as many as 300,000 Americans under 18 are lured into the commercial sex trade every year. The Internet is the vehicle for 76 percent of the transactions for sex with underage girls.

The average victim is between 11 and 14 years old. These victims come from all walks of life -- from every race, social, and economic background.

The problem is made worse by America's fluid borders. According to the United Nations (UNICEF), 2 million children are trafficked in the global prostitution trade. The U.S. State Department reports that from 600,000 to 800,000 people (mainly women and children) are bought and sold across international borders every year and exploited for slave labor and prostitution.

Human Trafficking has surpassed the sale of illegal arms and is set to surpass the illegal sale of drugs. The FBI reports that human trafficking is on the rise in all 50 states and represents a multi-billion dollar criminal industry.

New Jersey is a "hub for human trafficking," according to assistant New Jersey Attorney General Tracy M. Thompson. "We are easily accessible via Interstate 95, and the proximity to major tourist destinations like Atlantic City and New York City makes us more vulnerable and susceptible," she said. "Our diversity is what makes it so great to be part of this state, but traffickers prey on (people of) their own ethnicity. It makes is so hard for law enforcement to penetrate these activities."

YOU CAN END HUMAN TRAFFICKING OF CHILDREN NOW

In September, 14 people were arrested in a child-porn and human trafficking operation in Monmouth County. In October, the FBI announced that it had uncovered and arrested 42 child sex traffickers in New Jersey. The Star-Ledger reported that the 42 were arrested on charges that included sex trafficking, child exploitation and prostitution. A total of 84 children were rescued during the operation. At the beginning of December, 79 suspects were arrested on a host of charges that included sexual assault, using the Internet to send inappropriate images to children, and child pornography.

So why are the manufacturers of products and services that provide access to the Internet refusing to take responsibility for what they sell?

Every other producer of a product or service is held to account for what they sell. You can't sell an automobile to an 11-year-old, hand her the keys, and let her drive off the lot.

And with schools requiring young students to have access to the Internet, it is no longer about the parent. The government-run education system supplants the parents and requires the child to be connected to the Internet. For many children, it's like requiring them to walk to and from school on a dangerous, traffic-filled highway.

There is legislation that changes this and makes the corporations responsible for the products and services they sell. It is a bill championed by Republican State Senator Steve Oroho, and it has attracted substantial bi-partisan support.

The bill is called the Human Trafficking and Child Exploitation Prevention Act (S-2928). And it offers a constitutional way to prevent predators from using the Internet to sexually exploit children. It requires that those who sell products and services that allow children to access the Internet make their products safe from human traffickers engaged in the modern slave trade. It is supported by Thorn, an anti-human trafficking group that uses technology to defeat child sex traffickers.

Please make your tax-deductible donation by December31st for the fiscal year 2017

Despite having enough legislators committed to passing this legislation -- either as co-sponsors or supporters, the Democrats who run both chambers of the Legislature have held up passage. They are listening to objections from the porn industry, who have adopted a "no questions asked" attitude on where their profits come from. Porn is legal and the corporations who profit from it and their allies are the enablers of human trafficking.

The enablers of human trafficking know that S-2928 has enough votes to pass the Legislature and be signed into law by Republican Governor Chris Christie. They want to run out the clock until Democrat Phil Murphy takes office on January 16, 2018. Then the legislative books will be closed and the process will need to start all over again, under a Governor who has not expressed support for S-2928.

The holidays are here. Christmas is coming. Right now, in cities and towns across America, anti-human trafficking activists are working to rescue children who were lured into a life of slavery through the Internet. They are hoping to reunite them with their families in time for Christmas.

Think of how you would feel at this time of year if your child was in the hands of human traffickers. Wouldn't you want her back? Wouldn't you want to hold her? Wouldn't you want to break the nexus that makes such slavery possible?

We have a month to break the power of human trafficking and their enablers.

The human traffickers are counting on them to keep things the way they are. Can we count on you?

Your contribution to the Center for Garden State Families will be used to make sure that every legislator who sides with human trafficking and puts profits ahead of enslaved children is held to account. They will be forced to face the choice of standing with the slavers or with the victims of slavery. We trust that when faced with such a choice, they will do the right thing.

Can you please make your urgent contribution today?

GOP Senators Pennacchio, Cardinale, Oroho, and Doherty all support Lonegan for Congress

The tsunami of conservative endorsements continues for Republican candidate for Congress Steve Lonegan, with today's endorsement by State Senator Joseph "Jersey Joe" Pennacchio.  That puts all but one of the Republican State Senators representing portions of CD05 in Lonegan's camp. 

"Steve Lonegan has been a tireless fighter for our conservative principles for years," Sen. Pennacchio said.  "New Jersey conservatives have been grateful for his leadership and West Milford voters have richly rewarded him."

Pennacchio, who represents one of the two Passaic County towns in the Fifth Congressional District, was referring to Lonegan's dominating performance in the 2013 U.S. Senate election when he defeated Cory Booker with 62% of the vote in West Milford.

"West Milford knows and trusts Steve Lonegan to fight for our conservative values," Pennacchio said.  "Better jobs, lower taxes, term limits for Congress, the right to life, religious liberty, and a firm commitment to the Second Amendment -- these are all hallmarks of Steve's unwavering vision."

Lonegan thanked Pennacchio for his support and pledged to fight for West Milford and for all of North Jersey.

"Senator Pennacchio is among the most dependable senators New Jersey conservatives can look to," Lonegan said.  "He is a leader in pushing for lower taxes, less government, and especially the right to life.  I'm proud to have earned his endorsement and will work closely with him to make North Jersey a better place to live, work, and raise a family."

Each one of the Senators supporting Steve Lonegan is strongly pro-life, as is Lonegan.  Pennacchio's endorsement comes on a day when Lonegan's likely opponent in the primary -- liberal RINO John McCann -- confirmed to Politico's Matt Friedman that he supports abortion and would "enforce the laws as they are constituted."  Of course he will.  No different than liberal Democrat incumbent Josh Gottheimer.

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

Gas-Tax Repeal Rally a No Show

If the gas-tax repeal is Senator Tom Kean Jr.'s plan to save the endangered liberals in his caucus, it totally crapped the bed on Saturday when the kick-off rally to a series of rallies across the state was cancelled and a pro-Senator Steve Oroho rally popped up in its place.  The repeal is being pushed by "Red Shirt" movement leader Bill Spadea, cultural leftist Senator Kip Bateman, and the petroleum lobby. 

Slated for Newton Green on Saturday, October 22nd (11am-2pm), the rally was organized with support from the petroleum lobby by people claiming to represent the Tea Party and other groups.  The run-up to the rally benefitted from paid advertising and media coverage, including a front page story on the New Jersey Herald the day before.  Organizers claimed that the response had been huge and claimed to had lined up a dozen speakers -- including 5th District congressional candidate Michael J. Cino. 

Cino, has attacked conservative Congressman Scott Garrett and the Republican majority in Congress for its "traitorous" votes.  Cino runs a group known as the "Red Dogs" who are described as a sort of vanguard in the "rebellion against the establishment."  We don't know if there is a relationship between the "Red Shirts" and the "Red Dogs."

The morning of the rally was rainy and the forecast called for a light drizzle.  The rally was set expressly "rain or shine" but was canceled a couple hours before it was scheduled to begin "due to weather."

Having explicitly described the rally as "public" in its advertisements, gas-tax-repeal organizers became concerned when they heard that people who didn't agree with them were thinking of attending their public meeting.  The gas-tax repealers asked the police to intervene to "segregate" the rally.  The gas-tax-repeal camp was asked about the criteria they intended to use to "segregate" members of the public at a public rally.  They wouldn't provide a criteria.

A building trades union representing thousands of families in Northwest New Jersey stepped in and obtained  its own permit, which lay outside Newton Green.  But in the end, it wasn't necessary, because with Newton Green vacated by the gas-tax-repeal organizers of the advertised public rally, the people who they had attempted to keep out had the Green to themselves.    

So at 11am on Saturday morning -- instead of the gas-tax-repeal rally that was advertised -- 250 people showed up in support of the Tax Restructuring plan passed by the Legislature and signed into law by Governor Chris Christie.  They came to support conservative Republican Steve Oroho, who has been under attack by the Legislature's two most liberal Republicans -- Kip Bateman and Jennifer Beck -- and they came to combat the lies put out by the petroleum lobby that the 23-cent increase applies to home heating oil and baby ointment and polyester clothing.  All lies designed to frighten people and to inflame hatred and even violence.

The facts, as provided by the Office of Legislative Services, are that nothing new is taxed and that all the exemptions that were in place remain in place. This means the increase does not apply to home heating oil or baby ointment or polyester clothing.  In fact, the law now INCREASES the number of exempt products.  We will discuss these additional exemptions in detail in an upcoming column.

Saturday's crowd -- numbering more than 250 -- was made up largely of trade union members and their families, but many local Republicans turned out, including two Sussex County Freeholders and several local elected officials and GOP municipal leaders.  About a dozen Pro-Life activists were present as well as that many grassroots Second-Amendment campaigners.  About a half dozen people attended who were drawn by the newspaper coverage. 

Three speakers addressed the crowd.  Rev. Greg Quinlan of the Center for Garden State Families reminded those present that Senator Oroho is a leader in the fight to preserve traditional values in New Jersey and America.  He added that those who want to drive Senator Oroho out of office are followers of the two most culturally left-wing members of the GOP in the Legislature and that earlier this week the two had celebrated the deaths of millions of unborn children by honoring the racist memory of eugenicist Margaret Sanger and her Planned Parenthood organization. 

Economics professor Murray Sabrin explained how the gas tax is a user tax and that this is a moral form of taxation.  The gathering was reminded that President Ronald Reagan, the founder of the modern conservative movement, favored user taxes and used the gas tax to fund road and bridge construction in America.  Sabrin went on to remind the audience that those "Red Shirts" who are trying to make the gas tax the big issue of 2017 are doing so to deflect attention away from the real problem tax in New Jersey -- the property tax -- which is a driver of the state's highest in America foreclosure rate.  Those who say the gas tax is the problem do so to support the Abbott-system of spending the state revenue from income taxes.

Finally, a union leader from Sussex County reminded the rally that "this was supposed to be their (the petroleum lobby's) rally" and that they had been there to spread lies about the Tax Restructuring plan and hatred for Senator Oroho.  He went on to thank the working men and women present from Sussex, Warren, and Morris counties and the thousands of union families they represent who live, work, and vote in the 24th Legislative District.  He promised that they would be back again and again and again and again, door-to-door, to carry the message to EVERY household in the 24th District.

The event was topped off with two announcements:  First, that Franklin Mayor Nick Giordano, who had been moved to oppose Senator Oroho after listening to the propaganda of "Red Shirt" lies, had written a letter endorsing the Senator and the Tax Restructuring plan.  And second, that the Senator's youngest daughter had safely delivered a child.  Steve Oroho's new grandson.

Decision America Tour coming to Trenton Wednesday September 14, 2016

In cooperation with the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, The Center for Garden State Families is calling the faithful to our state capitol for prayer. The event begins sharply at 12 noon.

Capitol Front Plaza, 125 W State Street Trenton, NJ 08608

Our nation is in danger. Not only from forces abroad, but from the moral decline from within. It is time to search our hearts and repent for our nation and seek His forgiveness.

We the people are the catalyst for change. Only those whose who are called by His name can truly bring about a move from the Creator of all things. May God have mercy on us once again.

“Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.” Proverbs 14:34

Hoping to see you at the prayer rally.

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“Righteousness exalts a nation but sin is a reproach to any people” Proverbs 14:34
 

Visit us on the Web www.gardenstatefamilies.org

Or email us at info@gardenstatefamilies.org

Democrats Attempt Abortion Funding Again

Published on behalf of the Center for Garden State Families

7.453 million in Family Planning monies will go to Planned Parenthood the nation’s largest abortion provider.

This maybe the seventh attempt to pass the unnecessary appropriation of taxpayer dollars since Gov. Christie took office. The state is in financial difficulty, The Transportation Trust Fund is bankrupt and the Democrats in the NJ Legislature focus on more money for killing babies. Subsidizing Planned Parenthood who already gets $500 million dollars from the federal government.

There are over 130 Federal Qualified Health Centers in NJ (click to see). FQHC actually support the women’s health services on site that the 26 NJ Planned Parenthood Clinics claim to provide. FQHC also provide their services based on ability to pay. FQHC also do not trade in human fetal tissue. A3492/S2277 is politically motivated and fiscally duplicitous.

At the end of testimony in the Senate Health Committee, Chairman Joseph Vitale gave his usual condescending lecture to NJ Right to Life, League of American Families and the Center for Garden State Families. He actually stated that not all Planned Parenthood clinics provide abortion services. Vitale is apparently unaware that to be an affiliated Planned Parenthood provider you must provide abortion services. It is part of their charter.

John Tomicki of the League of American Families stated in the Health Budget Committee “Children are our future, Stop Killing them.”

More abortion legislation is being voted on. A1963/S1017 “Provides Medicaid coverage for family planning services to individuals with incomes up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level.” Again clearly politically motivated and repetitive funding for services that taxpayers already subsidize.

Contact your State Senator and State Assemblyperson at the link below and simply ask that they vote no on A1963/S1017 and A3492/S2277

Visit us on the Web www.gardenstatefamilies.org

Or email us at info@gardenstatefamilies.org

Contact your State Assemblyperson Here

Do politicians need more protection than vulnerable women?

If we are to avoid another performance like 2015, the Republican legislative caucuses of both chambers should use 2016 to prepare for 2017.  The most important thing is to do yourself no harm. 

We've detailed before how bills like S-283 have no base of support and how they could do enormous damage -- not only to the prospect of turning out our base -- but with any voters who believe in privacy between the sexes and with protecting vulnerable women and girls.  Polling shows large majorities in favor of traditional privacy no matter how the question is posed.

When educated as to the number of convicted male sex offenders who could use a law like S-283 to gain access to girls and women for their self-gratification, the response is off-the-charts. Republicans, Democrats, Independents doesn't matter.  Many in the LGBT community break ranks with their lobbyist class and oppose S-283 on the grounds that it leaves too many people vulnerable to sexual abuse, rape, and even murder.

Now comes this new threat to the fate of the GOP caucuses in 2017:  Legislation that puts politicians ahead of vulnerable women when it comes to the issuance of handgun carry permits. Here's what the sponsor said about his bill:

“I believe that if vulnerable public officials do not have to fear violent reprisals related to their duties, they will be able to better carry out their mission to serve the people of New Jersey. Our dedicated public servants are some of our greatest resources..."

And what about the vulnerable women who have suffered violence and sexual abuse?  What about women who have court orders against abusive individuals? 

The sponsor is a Republican member of the Senate, so we will refrain from naming names at this point, but a rethink is in order because some in the Second Amendment movement have caught wind of it and are pissed.  And if you think about it for more than ten seconds, you can see why. 

This proposed law lets the average New Jersey voter know that they have the standing of Medieval peasants -- that their lords and noblemen have the right of self-protection but nobody else's life is worth it. 

We exist at a moment when one major political party rigged its delegate-selection process to deny a populist (Senator Sanders) a shot at the nomination, while the other major political party is desperately looking for a way to deny another populist (Mr. Trump) its nomination.   When you consider the implications, laws like this one (and S-283) couldn't come at a worse time.  They ram home the point that average voters simply don't matter.  Their lives can be expended on ridiculous fashion-statement legislation.

How do legislators come up with stuff like this?  Who is advising them?  Do they exist in a bubble -- apart from the real world of everyday life, of voters and elections and consequences?

Ronald Reagan famously said that "personnel is policy."  He understood that it is no good having the best conservative intentions, if all you appoint around you to carry out those intentions is liberal wannabe Democrats and Republicans of convenience.  Sometimes we have to look behind the legislator and see who is whispering in his ear, gate-keeping, setting the agenda -- waiting on that pension to accrue and for the pay-day that comes when you can leave to become part of the lobbyist class.  How much good is trashed, how many legislators lose, because some staffer doesn't want to offend someone they expect to do business with as a lobbyist?

Isn't it time to examine those people of power who operate behind the scenes, out of sight -- like parasitic worms, eating away at the sinew and muscle of the party they don't care about? Isn't it time to examine them

We understand that the Center for Garden State Families will be conducting polling on issues like those above in key districts around the state.  No details yet as to which districts.  Stay tuned...