NJGOP: Will Bob Hugin cause a civil war for Jack Ciattarelli?

By Rubashov

First, a hearty welcome to our new readers in the Washington Metro area.

Later today, former U.S. Senate candidate Bob Hugin will become the new Leader of New Jersey’s Republican Party. Ideologically, Hugin is very different from the last two men at the helm of the NJGOP. Outgoing Chairman Mike Lavery is a behind-the-scenes guy who shares a similar issue grid with the Chairman he replaced, Doug Steinhardt, an unashamed conservative on issues like the Right-to-Life, the Second Amendment, illegal immigration, taxes, and traditional values.

Of course, Hugin spent $36 million on a campaign to convince voters that he wasn’t a conservative. Nevertheless, he had more than enough connections with President Trump for the Democrats to define him. His campaign provided insiders with six-figure jobs, made some consultants rich, but was otherwise a disaster. While suppressing the GOP base, Hugin drove up swing Democrat turnout in several congressional districts that Hugin won – and the Republican Congressman or congressional candidate lost.

Last December, Hugin ran for Chairman of the NJGOP and came up short. Since then, the former Big Pharma executive has busied himself with changing the face of the GOP. Since his 2018 campaign, Hugin appears to have more deeply embraced identity politics.

For example, an independent expenditure committee controlled by Hugin called Women for a Stronger New Jersey spent around $30,000 on direct mail, text-messaging, robo-calls, and social media in an attempt to defeat a conservative State Committeewoman in Mercer County and replace her with what would have been the first transgender State Committeewoman to represent the GOP. The effort ultimately failed, but one can only ask why such resources – scarce in the best of times – would be wasted on such a silly primary, for such a silly cause. Surely, with so few legislators and counties in the GOP column, $30,000 would be better used to defeat Democrats.

Women for a Stronger New Jersey is run by Bob Hugin’s 2018 U.S. Senate campaign manager, who also benefits as a vendor to the committee. Hugin’s spouse is a member of the three-member board that runs the committee, according to its webpage. And as if anyone needed clarification as to the ideology of the candidates the committee is looking to promote, the Women for a Stronger New Jersey website is very clear on this:

“We're working to grow the number of women serving in elected office at the state and local level by building a diverse network of moderate Republican and Independent women throughout the state and expanding the pool of women considering public office.”

That’s right, conservative Republican women need not apply. But independents – as in non-Republicans – are okay. That’s kind of a sucky formula, isn’t it?

Earlier this year, when the state’s senior Pro-Life Senator decided to run for re-election, Women for a Stronger New Jersey was there wasting resources and urging a primary. And there was a primary – not for the Senate, but for the Assembly – with another enormous waste of resources. In total, Republicans have pissed away about $2 million on avoidable primaries – and that’s not counting the gubernatorial race. Insider vendors and consultants trouser the proceeds and benefit, but the party doesn’t. Because money doesn’t come easy.

Women for a Stronger New Jersey is not the only committee Bob Hugin has set-up that seems drawn to killing its Republican brethren. Jersey Real is a federal independent expenditure SuperPAC that has spent hundreds of thousands in Republican congressional primaries in seats that we later failed to pick-up. The Treasurer of Jersey Real happens to be that same candidate who was hoping to become the first transgendered Republican State Committeewoman. Small world.

Jersey Real is already active fomenting primaries in two congressional districts for next year: CD05 and CD03. Jersey Real’s choice in CD05 worked on Hugin’s 2018 campaign. It doesn’t appear to matter to anyone that the Democrat incumbent is sitting on $9 million. Nobody has asked, let alone answered, the question about how Republicans spending a million or more dollars bashing each other is going to help that arithmetic. Hey, the consultants and vendors will trouser a lot of cash – but the poor GOP donors shouldn’t expect a return on their investment.

One high-ranking party boss in South Jersey said that Bob Hugin told him the NJGOP wants “new” looking candidates… youth, women, “minorities”, anything but old white guys. What’s going on in your head doesn’t matter… issues, policies, ideas, solutions, ethics, integrity, honesty… these things don’t matter. It is all about how you look and how they can market you. Sad, especially because they almost always lose anyway.

After the scandal of Watergate, steps were taken to make our election process more democratic. In the time since, the Courts have destroyed those reforms, ruling that money is speech. Today, the average voter feels shouted down by a few very rich oligarchs who count for a very few votes but whose money allows them to scream very loudly and shout down millions of voters.

This disparity led a Princeton University study (Gilens & Page, 2014) to conclude: “The preferences of the average American appear to have only a miniscule, near zero, statistically non-significant impact upon public policy.” Voters believe in the ideal of democracy but increasingly understand they do not have it.

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

In an opinion column, published in yesterday’s New Jersey Globe, Fairleigh Dickinson’s Peter Woolley wrote: “Jack (Ciattarelli) barely mustered half of the Republican primary vote though running against two candidates who were, to put it most charitably, marginal.”  It’s actually worse than that, because most Republican voters weren’t excited enough or mad enough to vote at all. 
 
Bob, you have been chosen to lead the NJGOP by the 2021 gubernatorial nominee.  His name is Jack Ciattarelli.  He is job one.  Along with every legislator and legislative candidate and all the county offices and local elected offices.  The party has candidates who face do or die THIS November. 
 
Don’t get ahead of yourself worrying about how to put your stamp on the 2022 congressional primaries so that the GOP establishment nominates a bunch of lefties nobody cares about.  If you are going to do that, you might as well take Alan Steinberg’s advice and just embrace critical race theory and then – for all your money – prepare to be the state’s third party.
 
Finally, you need to accept that this is a grungier, more blue-collar party now.  A candidate can get by perfectly well just by repeating the word “Trump”.  Of course, that is not a policy or a solution.  But neither is the first transgendered (fill in the blank).  More than branding, the GOP needs thinking.  Come up with solutions to the problems voters face and then tell the story of how you are going to do it, so that they believe at least you’ll try.          

“Every great cause begins as a movement, becomes a business, and eventually degenerates into a racket.”

Eric Hoffer

No GOP Platform: Kushner and Stepien got their way.

By Rubashov  

The Republican Party Platform – the platform that grew out of the Reagan movement – died today.  It has ceased to exist.  It is no more.

Conservatives saw this coming.  Over the Memorial Day weekend, John Robert Carman posted a story from the website Axios, regarding “secret talks to overhaul the GOP platform.”  The Axios article – which was picked up by a number of national publications – details the efforts of Jared Kushner and Bill Stepien in minimalizing the Republican Party platform from its current 58 pages down to a one page document with ten bullet-points.  

According to those present at the on-going meetings held “in the Secretary of War Suite in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building next to the West Wing of the White House”, Kushner wants words like “freedom” removed from the platform, as well as statements of principle like: “We support the right of parents to determine the proper medical treatment and therapy for their minor children.”

You can read the full Axios story here:
https://www.axios.com/republican-platform-jared-kushner-56cb19ee-d6c7-409e-93e5-088eebd82825.html

Jared Kushner is the President’s son-in-law.  Bill Stepien is his campaign manager.  Various apologists have argued that Kushner and Stepien are simply attempting to “dumb down” the platform to “make it more relevant” to people accustomed to social media like Twitter.  Maybe, or perhaps something else is going on.
 
Jared Kushner has not been a registered Republican for very long.  The scion of a wealthy Democrat family, his father was the fundraising muscle behind Democrat Governor Jim McGreevey.  He got caught up in the corruption and went to prison.
 
Kushner wasn’t a registered Republican when his father-in-law was on the ballot in the primaries and General Election of 2016.  He became a registered Republican only in 2018.  Before that, he was a major fundraiser for the Democrat Party and promoted the candidacies of some very socially liberal Democrats. 

Bill Stepien owes his political redemption to Kushner, who assisted him after the Bridgegate scandal in which he was dismissed by Governor Chris Christie.  He is a talented political operative. 
 
Stepien is not a movement Republican, or movement conservative, or movement anything.  He is singular in his focus – and that focus is always on the candidate who employs him.  When he worked for Governor Christie, the NJGOP steadfastly refused to support the platform of the Republican Party.  The argument put forward was that having ideas on paper and committing to them got in the way of the politics of power.  One wonders what America would be like if gentlemen like these had written – or rather, not written – the Constitution and Bill of Rights. 
 
Of course, this had its downside.  The 2013 re-election campaign Stepien ran for Governor Christie was successful, but that 20-point win did not result in a movement victory.  The Republican Party did not gain ground in the Legislature.  The victory was singular, contained, it went no further than the top-of-the-ticket.
 
Stepien’s method of campaigning runs like this:  We did a poll. The voters say they like cheesecake.   Our donors are not adverse to cheesecake, so we can safely say we like cheesecake.  It was summed up very well earlier this year, by a former executive director of the NJGOP, who rejected the idea of arguing for the Second Amendment and who found it “ridiculous” to fashion language and arguments with which to defend this Constitutional right. 
 
So now the Republican platform is simply a man.  Where once there were ideas, now there is a photograph that may be conveniently pointed to.  Kushner and Stepien have won.  They got their way.  Now here is the full sum of what you need to know about the Republican Party in 2020…

Here is the full edict, released today, announcing the demise of the Republican Party Platform.  You can judge for yourselves as to the tone and the excuses made.  Does it sound as authoritarian to you, as it does to us?  A sadden day.  
 
  RESOLUTION REGARDING THE REPUBLICAN PARTY PLATFORM

  WHEREAS, The Republican National Committee (RNC) has significantly scaled back the size and scope of the 2020 Republican National Convention in Charlotte due to strict restrictions on gatherings and meetings, and out of concern for the safety of convention attendees and our hosts;
 
WHEREAS, The RNC has unanimously voted to forego the Convention Committee on Platform, in appreciation of the fact that it did not want a small contingent of delegates formulating a new platform without the breadth of perspectives within the ever-growing Republican movement;
 
WHEREAS, All platforms are snapshots of the historical contexts in which they are born, and parties abide by their policy priorities, rather than their political rhetoric;
 
WHEREAS, The RNC, had the Platform Committee been able to convene in 2020, would have undoubtedly unanimously agreed to reassert the Party’s strong support for President Donald Trump and his Administration;
 
WHEREAS, The media has outrageously misrepresented the implications of the RNC not adopting a new platform in 2020 and continues to engage in misleading advocacy for the failed policies of the Obama-Biden Administration, rather than providing the public with unbiased reporting of facts; and
 
WHEREAS, The RNC enthusiastically supports President Trump and continues to reject the policy positions of the Obama-Biden Administration, as well as those espoused by the Democratic National Committee today; therefore, be it
 
RESOLVED, That the Republican Party has and will continue to enthusiastically support the President’s America-first agenda; RESOVLVED, That the 2020 Republican National Convention will adjourn without adopting a new platform until the 2024 Republican National Convention;
 
RESOLVED, That the 2020 Republican National Convention calls on the media to engage in accurate and unbiased reporting, especially as it relates to the strong support of the RNC for President Trump and his Administration; and
 
RESOLVED, That any motion to amend the 2016 Platform or to adopt a new platform, including any motion to suspend the procedures that will allow doing so, will be ruled out of order.
 

"Every book has been rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street and building has been renamed, every date has been altered...History has stopped. Nothing exists except an endless present in which the Party is always right."

George Orwell
(Eric Arthur Blair)

Pallotta demands explanation from Murphy on Second Amendment shut-down

MAHWAH – Governor Phil Murphy’s Executive Order 107, issued on March 21st in response to the Coronavirus crisis, mandated the indefinite closure of all “non-essential” businesses.  The order applies to all businesses except those specifically exempted.  Gun stores and ranges were not listed as exempt.

The Association of New Jersey Rifle & Pistol Clubs (ANJRPC) obtained a “clarification” from the Governor’s office that specified the following:

“Gun stores are not deemed essential and are therefore ordered closed; The National Instant Check System in NJ (NICS) for processing all firearms and ammunition transactions has been shut down completely; and All ranges (indoor and outdoor, public and private) are ordered closed under a restriction on recreational activities.”

The ANJRPC makes the point that “two major parts of the Second Amendment (means of firearms acquisition and means of developing firearms proficiency) have been shut down completely, without an end date, by a single government official, by executive order. Social distancing protocols, utilized elsewhere to justify keeping certain other supposedly essential businesses open, are not even part of the equation when it comes to firearms, ammunition, and ranges.”

Congressional candidate Frank Pallotta (R-CD05) asked: “Given the Governor’s statements and record regarding the Second Amendment, I have to ask if this is anything more than a crass attempt by Governor Murphy to use a health emergency to pursue a political agenda?”

Pallotta noted the abysmal level of testing in New Jersey – home to many of the world’s pharmaceutical giants: “In South Korea, they have tested one of every 150 citizens.  That is 30 times the capita we are doing.  Instead of aggressively testing, the Governor has opted to, in essence, “jail” most of the population by stripping them of their freedoms under the Bill of Rights.”  Pallotta added, “Who gave him the power to use a health crisis to specifically target the First and Second Amendments?”

Pallotta is formally asking the Governor to be transparent and to explain the decision-making processes that led to including Second Amendment-related businesses and activities in his office’s “clarification” of Executive Order 107.  Pallotta also asked for a full disclosure of the Attorney General’s legal advice in this matter.

“Everyone is suffering, the economy is being destroyed, and the Governor has no plan to preserve the financial wellbeing of the citizens of New Jersey.  If, in addition to this, he is using the emergency to advance his own partisan political agenda, I would ask him to think about it and reconsider his decision to exclude Gun stores from the exempt list and deem them essential businesses”.

For those of you who would like to thank Frank Pallotta for his stance on protecting the Second Amendment and Bill of Rights, you can contact him at Info@PallottaforCongress.com

NOTE: If any campaign would like to submit a press release on this subject or any other, please feel free to do so.  Thank you.

Despite resistance from some NJ Republicans, 2nd Amendment advocates score victories

By Sussex County Watchdog

What began in Virginia as an important demonstration of popular support for the Second Amendment has spread all across America with towns and counties formally passing resolutions declaring public support for the Second Amendment and the Bill of Rights.  These resolutions have served as a rallying point for political action – bringing people together, educating voters, recruiting new activists – which has manifested itself in grassroots political action and lobbying.
 
What started out as a movement to pass pro-Second Amendment resolutions in Virginia became a grassroots effort that shaped a surprise win that successfully blocked passage of an “assault weapons” ban in the Democrat-controlled Virginia Legislature.  The resolution movement quickly turned into a wide-reaching and comprehensive grassroots movement that frightened 4 Democrat legislators into joining a solid block of Republicans to kill the “assault weapons” ban. 
 
Here in New Jersey, grassroots activists Bill Hayden and Mark Cheeseman have led a similar pro-Second Amendment resolution effort that has led to the passage of resolutions in towns and counties across the state.  This effort has aided the work of longtime Second Amendment advocates – like the 2nd Amendment Society’s Alex Roubian – who successfully stopped two anti-Second Amendment bills on Monday. 

(click on image for video)

The Second Amendment Society has taken legal action against 28 towns in New Jersey and won every battle.  They have sued the state 3 times and won every time – winning back legal fees of more than $200,000.
 
Imagine the grassroots movement that could be built if even just a portion of New Jersey’s Republican establishment would lend a hand?  There have been some notable heroes – the District 24 legislators, particularly Parker Space, as well as freeholders from half a dozen counties, particularly Sussex County’s Dawn Fantasia – but too many pretend not to notice as the Bill of Rights is assaulted. 
 
Worse still are those who actively talk down the work of Second Amendment advocates and the grassroots resolution movement.  This includes the campaign of Mayor Michael Ghassali of Montvale, a Republican candidate for Congress in CD05. 
 
Ghassali has resisted passing a pro-Second Amendment resolution in his town, which is controlled by the GOP.  But he had no hesitation in adopting a leftist “anti-hate” resolution authored by a Democrat “social justice” activist and elected official.  
 
And Ghassali’s campaign has gone even further, by publicly crapping on the pro-Second Amendment grassroots movement itself.  His campaign issued this statement in a two-part social media post yesterday:
 
“The 2nd Amendment on its face is the right to bear arms as such, why would a municipality need to pass a 2A resolution?”
 
“Exactly, it’s one of the dumbest things I’ve heard…”
 
While we don’t expect establishment GOPer’s to possess the imagination to energize the Republican base, they should at least have the intelligence to copy what conservatives in Virginia and many other states are successfully doing.  The grassroots resolution movement is producing victories, which is more than can be said of these establishment types.
 
Ghassali is a victim of one of those GOP confabs where a few insider consultants are presented as “experts” (while their actual win-loss record are, shall we say, glossed over if mentioned at all).  For some establishment GOPers, the idea of a grassroots movement mobilizing the Republican base and bringing in thousands of new pro-Second Amendment voters is a nightmare that disrupts all their calculations.  They don’t want that.  That doesn’t serve their interests.
 
But Mayor Michael Ghassali – who after all was mentored and urged to run by Steve Lonegan – should have better instincts than those he hired to run his campaign.  We expect better from anyone who is a Lonegan person and Michael is a Lonegan guy.  So what’s the deal?  Is Ghassali afraid to take a stand and help grassroots conservatives?
 
Steve Lonegan had no problem standing up for what was right.  Say what you will, the guy had balls.  Does that make Michael Ghassali a Steve Lonegan without the balls?
 
Michael Ghassali needs to get real and soon.  And stop taking the advice of GOP establishment wimps.    

NJ Republicans must have the courage to engage on the Second Amendment

There are three kinds of people who favor gun control: (1) Those who do so in reaction to horrific events and the media coverage of those events. (2) Those who emotionally or intuitively dislike guns or the idea of weapons. (3) Those looking for power, whether in the form of votes or other forms of power as would come from the confiscation of firearms.

Conservatives like United States Senator Ted Cruz (Republican-Texas) are taking a lead in the process of finding common ground with the first group and engaging with the second, which represent most of those who say they want stricter gun control. Here, Senator Cruz meets with prominent gun control advocates…

Senator Cruz has given a lot of thought to the Second Amendment and he knows who he is, where he stands, and why he stands there. This is important, because in order to have a conversation with those who hold a different position, you must first have a position of your own.

Most New Jersey Republicans get nervous around the Second Amendment. Most, not all, but most. This is an institutional thing that goes back decades. Sad to say, but even Bernie Sanders had a better voting record on the Second Amendment than did many New Jersey Republicans. When President Bill Clinton pushed a bill through Congress that required a seven-day waiting period for the purchase of a hand gun, Congressman Sanders (Socialist-Vermont) voted “NO”, while all but one of the Republicans in the New Jersey congressional delegation supported the bill.

Forget the Trump Revolution, New Jersey Republicans never really embraced the Reagan Revolution The brain and nervous system of the party tends to reject new stimuli. Nevertheless, the world has moved on, and the body of the party – those who identify or who could identify as Republicans – bears no resemblance to the past. Too often, the brain and nervous system reacts to them as outsiders and actively rejects them, looking, as they often do, like the Democrats of old.

So the Republican Party in New Jersey – the brains and nervous system of it – needs to adjust itself to its new body, for just as the body cannot function without a brain, the brain is fairly useless without a body to command. Step one in this process is an intellectual one. It requires engagement – brain with body – to learn again who it is and what it wants to do.

Before attempting to convince “swing” voters or Undeclared voters or “soft” Democrats… New Jersey Republicans must first know who they are, what they stand for, and what they would do in power. Only then can they engage in a dialog and adjust their message to sell their beliefs more effectively – that’s sell… more effectively, not scrap. And it really does help to get literate about this and to write it down, as an outline or a platform or whatever you wish to call it, so that it may be referred to and passed along.

As for the more tactile branches of the body – the activists – it is good to keep in mind the advice of Benjamin Franklin to the citizen who wished to know the form of government that we’d got. “A Republic,” he answered, “If you can keep it.” By this Franklin was instructing that citizenship is a daily duty. It does not end with a victorious election but begins there. The body sends a continuous flow of messages to the brain. It does not celebrate and then go dormant. Neither can the activist – or the good citizen.

Sussex Fair: Murphy recall gets over 1,000 signatures in an hour

Adding to the joyful hoopla of a genuine country fair, people have been lining-up to sign the petition to recall Governor Phil Murphy.  At its high point last weekend, petitioners were getting more than 1,000 signatures an hour. 

“Murphy is wildly unpopular,” said one Second Amendment supporter.  While a Republican candidate described it as the “best day of campaigning” he’d ever had. 

The recall petition is being hosted by the Sussex County Republican Committee.  It is being run by the Skylands Tea Party, under the leadership of Bill Hayden.  The Fair runs through Sunday, August 11th.  

Bill Hayden calls on taxpayers to Recall Gov. Murphy

Conservative leader Bill Hayden makes the point that “New Jersey is Not Lost!”

Hayden is the President of the Skylands Tea Party and is active with a number of other conservative and Second Amendment groups around New Jersey.  Hayden recently made these points about the Garden State and the Governor whose controversial policies and new taxes have added to its woes:

While things in the Garden State look bleak with Phil Murphy at the helm, there is light at the end of the tunnel!! 

How we ended up with Governor Murphy is a mystery, as he promised a sanctuary state, 2nd Amendment rights trampled, higher taxes, and all the other misery he has brought.
But the adage, for every action there is an reaction is still true!!!!
New Jersey is waking and we can all be part of the movement to take back the state. 

Hayden urged fed-up taxpayers and freedom-loving citizens to join the Recall Gov. Murphy effort and volunteer by following these links…

https://m.facebook.com/RecallPhilMurphy/

https://helpsavenj.com/

Hayden added:  “Please if you can, join in the efforts and let’s not only rid us of this scourge, called Governor Murphy and the Democrats, but restore sanity to public office.”

Meanwhile, here is a fascinating video on the forces behind the “new” Democrats that now occupy Congress…

Is AFP even a conservative organization anymore?

Can we get serious?

In America, there is a consensus, a generally accepted agreement as to what the word “conservative” means.  Take a poll.  Ask the average voter what the word means.  The four pillars of modern American conservatism are pretty easy to remember:

(1) The Right to Life.  Conservatives, real conservatives, Reagan conservatives, we oppose abortion.  Full stop.  

(2) The Second Amendment.  Hey, how many court rulings do you need before you finally get that the government has no duty to protect you?  In a Republic, that is on you.  Conservatives oppose the anarchy of crime.  We support gun rights, local police, and laws that are tough on crime – especially violent crime.

(3) Less Government/ Lower Taxes.  Conservatives know that smaller government and less government regulation leads to less spending and debt, which enables governments to cut taxes.  Conservatives also know that crony capitalism is a form of political corruption and as such is itself a tax on the goods and services used by ordinary citizens.

(4) Illegal Immigration.  Conservatives like America and American culture.  We welcome anyone from anywhere who wants to come here and join us and become an American.  We don’t want to be colonized by foreign cultures with authoritarian or anti-democratic traditions.  We don’t want to be told that we need to change to accommodate those who gate-crash the laws of our country. 

In order to call yourself a conservative in America, you pretty much need to be all four of the above.  Maybe you can get away with being a little mushy on one and still be considered a “soft” conservative.  But if you are bad on more than one, you need to think about why you are a Republican.  (Hey, haven’t these people ever read the PLATFORM of the party they claim membership of?)

That’s not to say that anybody is a “bad” person.  It’s just saying that you’re not a conservative.  See, the word “conservative” actually does mean something.  It’s not just a term of praise used in the proper setting to describe people we happen to like… or want to suck-up to. 

“Conservative” doesn’t mean “libertarian”.  It is per se a traditionalist point-of-view.  Conservatives want to C-O-N-S-E-R-V-E the traditions and values of our American Republic.  Unlike our libertarian brethren, we don’t want to replace Mom and Apple Pie with the Orgasmatron and the Orb.

That’s not to say that conservatives and libertarians (or anyone else for that matter) can’t agree on certain issues and work together.  But having a conservative point of view on this or that issue doesn’t make one a conservative.  Heck, Bill Clinton called himself a “fiscal conservative” – that didn’t make him a conservative.  It made him a liberal who saw the political advantages of conservative policy on issues like welfare reform.  He was still a liberal. 

And so we come to the especially Jersey-style, end of year crap that recently went spewing itself all over the Internet.  For years now, New  Jersey has been working very hard at being the place words go to lose their meaning.  Reading “The Right 40 Women to Watch in 2019” (written by AFP’s head honcho in New Jersey) it’s now clear that this trend has reached new depths of meaninglessness – with many of those mentioned being members of the “Right” only in the way that Hillary Clinton can be considered being to the “Right” of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. 

AFP – Americans for Prosperity – is the group formed by the super-rich Koch brothers as the political and lobbying arm of their business empire.  Anyone who knows anything about the Koch brothers knows that they come out of the Libertarian Party – in fact, one of the brothers actually ran against Republican Ronald Reagan on the Libertarian Party ticket in 1980.  Yes… THAT Ronald Reagan. 

And what a ticket that was… it supported everything from the decriminalization of narcotics and prostitution to America’s standing down as a world power.  If that crew had been elected, we’d still have the Soviet Union (and maybe they would have won).  But happily, Reagan won and the Koch operation was forced to rebrand itself as fake “conservative” – a move that started the process of unwinding the meaning of the word. 

Over the last decade or more, the Koch operation has done much to corrupt the conservative movement in America – in an effort to remake it in their own crony capitalist image.  Now they’ve come full circle and are back to advocating a soft-on-crime approach while pushing to flood the open market with recreational marijuana… this, in the midst of an opioid epidemic that is killing upwards of 50,000 people each year.

In fact, AFP in New Jersey has become so crony capitalist, so establishment, so anti-conservative values, that it has taken to shilling for far-Left politicians like U.S. Senator Cory Booker.  Just before Christmas, AFP paid for a mailing that lauded Senator Gropicus (a great moniker, courtesy of SaveJersey’s Matt Rooney) for a soft-on-crime package of feel good “reforms” that miss the problem entirely, but make for good media ads for his 2020 run against President Donald Trump.  Why the heck would AFP do something like that?  The Democrats don’t need the resources – they already have George Soros – now they have the Koch operation’s millions too? 

Among those women on “the Right” we were asked to “celebrate” were a half dozen who made the list because of their service on the just completed campaign of Bob Hugin for United States Senate.  Now maybe the writer didn’t get the memo, but Bob Hugin didn’t run from “the Right” and his campaign did all it could to distance itself from said “Right” – starting with millions in advertising assuring the electorate that he was a “different kind of Republican” who explicitly rejected at least one of the four pillars of modern American conservatism.  So WTF?

And since when did the legalization and sale of marijuana become a conservative issue?  Hasn’t anyone read about the vaping problem in our schools?  And this is with nicotine… imagine what it will be with marijuana?  And edibles?  How will policing the use of chocolate bars, peanut butter cups, and cookies work?  Candy for children… So how the heck did the “co-founder and executive director of the New Jersey Cannabis Industry Association” make a list of “women on the Right”???

Get out of your offices and talk to average people sometime!  Ask them if they think legalizing and selling an entry level drug in the midst of an opioid epidemic is a conservative political position?  Average voters will think you have lost your mind.  But there she is, on the list for being “at the helm” in her quest to “unleash a new industry within the State.”  What’s next?  Narcotics?  The legalization of human trafficking?  Prostitution?  Body parts?   Wait… it will come.

Rosemary Becchi made the list too.  She’s the president of a “new grassroots advocacy organization” formed in 2018 “to fight Jersey’s high taxes and propose policy solutions to the state’s complex financial problems.”  Except that she hasn’t.  Ms. Becchi is a DC lobbyist who has donated to the Democrats.  Hey, we get that lobbyists do that kind of thing, but let’s not call it conservative. 

Nobody has seen Ms. Becchi testifying in Trenton, or providing information to legislators, or even returning telephone calls from those interested in finding out more about her “organization”.  Cynics would say that it is nothing more than a front – a cover for her personal ambition to run for Congress.  This is something she openly explored against incumbent Congressman Leonard Lance (R-07) a year ago, with her “grassroots” organization forming a kind of parentheses between that and her expected formal announcement for 2020.

But as far as labeling her a “conservative” – we don’t really know where she stands on big government and taxes, leaving aside her unknown positions on abortion, the Second Amendment, and illegal immigration.  So who is trying to fool who here?

Finally, AFP’s list is memorable because of the genuine conservatives – four pillar conservatives – that it leaves out.  Champions like Marie Tasy and Christine Flaherty and Rev. Mandy Leverett… they are fighting to maintain the value of human life, to recognize the threshold of fetal pain, to end the trafficking of human beings and the sexual exploitation of women and children.  Of course, in today’s cash register world of “new industries” like pot and such, none of that matters – except that it does matter to conservatives, and there are a great many of us.

Also dissed were Freeholder Deborah Smith of Morris County – a great advocate for the Second Amendment – and incoming Sussex County Freeholder Dawn Fantasia who took down an incumbent Freeholder by winning 63% of the vote!  Nobody who made AFP’s list ever beat an incumbent.  Why are conservative winners ignored and pot pushers lauded as “conservatives”?   And how about an operative like Kelly Hart, the executive director of the Sussex County Republican Committee.  A four pillar conservative who actually won for Bob Hugin by more than was expected – outperforming everywhere but receiving scant recognition for it.  Obviously, there is a “cool girls” table, just as in high school, and some are not part of it… no matter how much they actually WIN elections. 

So in future, be a bit more judicious in who you label “conservative.”  Be honest with voters.  Stop telling them that you are something you’re not. 

Yes, we expect to hear arguments from pro-abortion, mushy on illegal immigration, soft-on-the-Second Amendment types who claim that they “feel” they are conservative.  But isn’t that just the times we live in?  We’ve all heard of gender-fluidity… well, these people are ideologically fluid.  And just as our chromosomes determine whether we are male or female, how we stand on the four pillars make us conservative – or something else.

Hey, don’t worry.  Not being conservative doesn’t make you a “bad” person.  And it doesn’t mean that you don’t hold conservative points of view on this issue or that.  You can still work with conservatives.  It just means that you recognize that you don’t come from the same ideological place that conservatives do.  And in your heart, you already know that, so let’s cut the bull and get honest with the voters.  Restoring their faith in the labels politicians apply to themselves will perhaps restore some measure of trust… for when the very words people use to describe themselves have no integrity, what confidence can voters have in anything?

Ohio just voted to end gerrymandering. NJ can too.

How does a party that can win a statewide election by 20 points hold so few seats in the New Jersey Legislature?  The answer is gerrymandering, drawing district boundaries that favor one political party over another or, as is often the case, so that only one party can win. 

New Jersey Republicans could be competitive in at last ten more legislative districts if the district lines were drawn fairly.  Oh, and the guy who did the last bit of gerrymandering for the Democrats -- Bill Castner -- has just been rewarded with a job by Governor Phil Murphy as the state's new "gun czar."  Well, if he adjudicates on firearms the way he did on boundaries, there goes the Second Amendment to the Bill of Rights.

But the good news is that Ohio just voted down gerrymandering.  The people did it.  They got tired of the Bill Castner-types and did something about it.

This is a huge victory in the fight to end gerrymandering, stop political polarization, and give power back to the voters. Ohio is a center point of American politics, and one of the most gerrymandered states in the country. If the people can organize and pass a statewide law in Ohio, it can be done in New Jersey.

Thousands of volunteers from the Fair Districts = Fair Elections coalition collected more than 200,000 signatures, which pressured the legislature to put gerrymandering on the ballot. Groups like Represent.Us got involved and its members joined the fight, hosting 23 phone banks to contact voters, joining forums, and reaching more than 100,000 people with a video about the problem of gerrymandering.

This is just the first of five statewide gerrymandering campaigns that could pass this year. Here's a snapshot of the other four:

• In Michigan, thousands of volunteers in the Voters Not Politicians campaign gathered more than 425,000 signatures in less than four months to put a gerrymandering reform measure on the ballot this November. 

• In Missouri, Represent.Us members joined volunteers and organizers in the Clean Missouri coalition to put gerrymandering reform on the ballot. Last Thursday, they submitted more than 345,000 signatures for a measure that will fix gerrymandering, ban lobbyist gifts to politicians, and increase transparency in state government.

In Colorado, voters will have the opportunity to vote on a measure that would have a transparent and independent commission draw congressional and legislative lines, thanks to the hard bipartisan work of Fair Districts Colorado and People Not Politicians. The plan won unanimous support in the state Senate and House, and it will appear on the November ballot.

• In Utah, Better Boundaries submitted nearly 190,000 signatures in support of a ballot initiative to create a non-partisan redistricting commission to draw legislative, congressional and school board district lines. 

If you want to do something about gerrymandering, contact this website and we will put you in touch with the people who are working to make it happen:

Jersey Conservative

Represent.Us is a good place to start.  You can check them out here:

                                                            https://represent.us/

On gun-control, McCann tries to have it both ways.

When phonies want to appear as though they support the Second Amendment, they have a nice photograph taken of themselves with a firearm of some kind.  So following in the footsteps of John Kerry and Barack Obama, candidate John McCann posted a photo of himself playing with a gun.

(FYI:  Gilson works for McCann.  One lies, the other swears by it.)

All this play-acting aside, when John McCann was asked to fill out a questionnaire that would put in writing where he stood on the issues affecting the Second Amendment, hunting, school safety, and such -- McCann refused.  He will show up and spew some b.s. (so long as he isn't video-recorded) and take a picture, but he won't put in writing where he stands.

McCann dissed the NRA when they asked him to step up and tell them where he stood on the issues of importance to their members.  McCann wants it both ways.  He wants NRA votes and Brady Campaign votes.  That's dishonest.

Typical lawyer?  Well, there are good, pro-Second Amendment attorneys out there, so we think it is more a case of typical urban political machine lawyer.

Candidate John McCann served as the right-hand-man to the Democrat Sheriff of Bergen County (according to the Bergen Record).  He's the guy who switched Bergen County from GOP red to Democrat blue.  In 2016, the Sheriff ran on a ticket headed by Democrats Hillary Clinton for President and Josh Gottheimer for Congress.  John McCann worked for the Democrat then, celebrated that victory with his boss, and continued to work for the Democrat until late last year, when he departed to run for Congress as a Republican.

Why would McCann do such a thing?  He had 167,000 reasons a year plus benefits.  That was reason enough for McCann.

John McCann has been in bed with Democrats for years.  A case in point is John McCann's sneaky little way of getting contributions to Democrat candidates.  Take this example from Passaic County.

McCann's wife used her maiden name and her office address in New York City to slip $1,000.00 to a Democrat running in Wayne Township.  Here is a copy of the report, filed with the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission (NJELEC):

SINGLE CONTRIBUTOR VIEW

John McCann is a phony -- a b.s. artist.  He is supported by corrupt convicts and thug life.  Politics is worse for his presence on a ballot.

General Majority PAC and NJ Democrats should give back Melgen money

Great work by the I-Team at NBC News 4 New York.  They are pushing politicians you took money from crook Salomon Melgen to give it to charity.  And they are getting results:

"New Jersey Sen. Robert Menendez said his campaign has given away $19,700 in donations it received from convicted Medicare cheat Dr. Salomon Melgen. Melgen was sentenced last month to 17 years in prison after prosecutors said he stole nearly $100 million from Medicare over the years."

But two organizations that haven't given the money back are the New Jersey Democrat State Committee and the General Majority PAC run by Sue McCue.  You remember Sue, don't you?  She's the far-left Democrat whose SuperPAC gave Republican legislators so much trouble the last few cycles.

For screwing over and defeating Republican legislators, McCue was rewarded by Governor Christie with an appointment to the Rutgers Board of Governors.  That's right, the two-party paradigm is an illusion in New Jersey.  Christie made the appointment as a genuflection to Democrat party super-boss George Norcross.

According to sworn statements she made to the federal government, Rutgers Governor Sue McCue did political consulting work for such decidedly un-progressive corporations as Walmart and the American Gaming Association, a national lobby group for the casino gambling industry.  McCue provided "consulting services" for Walmart and "public relations and policy consulting" for the gambling industry.  Both are described as ongoing "clients" of "Message Global" which is, according to McCue sworn statement, a company formed in 2009 that she owns in its entirety.

McCue was also pocketed consulting fees from the notorious lobby group that advocates for continued and unrestrained violence in entertainment, the Motion Picture Association of America.  McCue provides "consulting services" to this ongoing client of Message Global.

McCue also runs the Rutgers SuperPAC (AKA General Majority PAC) that inflicted serious damage on Republican legislators in Monmouth, Somerset, and Cape May counties.  One attack leveled at these legislators was their position on the Second Amendment.  It is deeply dishonest to not address the issue of gun control in its context of violence in our culture.

Think about it.  France passed legislation a few years ago that bans overly thin models from the fashion industry because studies show that young women are influenced by the sight of these models to develop eating disorders.  Britain is banning the consumption of alcohol on broadcasts because government studies show that it leads to alcohol-related disorders.  Here in America, we have long banned tobacco commercials for the same reason.  But DC party gal McCue and her Rutgers SuperPAC would have us believe that subjecting an average child to 8,000 murders on TV before finishing elementary school and, by age eighteen, 200,000 acts of violence on TV, including 40,000 murders, has no effect on his or her development at all.

We've known that violent-content acts like a drug on childhood development since President Bill Clinton first highlighted the problem in the aftermath of the Columbine shootings.  He pointed to study after study and the marketing documents of the entertainment industry itself.  All the evidence was there.  Then he went further and ordered a study by the Federal Trade Commission.  The study, released on September 11, 2000, can be accessed below:

https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2000/09/ftc-releases-report-marketing-violent-entertainment-children

In response, the entertainment industry increased its campaign contributions by 1,000 percent and spent hundreds of millions on lobbying and soft money to convince Congress to forget every study it had read.  Then September 11, 2001, occurred and concerns over media violence were ignored in the run-up to war.

We are sick of watching self-righteous drug and violence advocates like Senator Loretta "Mother Roach" Weinberg happily allowing grandchildren to watch a Tarantino bloodbath on TV, while they strip single moms of the right to defend themselves and their children.  "Rely on the police," they are told when -- because of the economy people like the Senator has bestowed on them -- they must live and work in dangerous areas and police response times are simply too long.  You and your children can not hide for that long a time and expect to survive. 

Of course, the Senator and her colleagues have money and live in low crime areas with good police protection.  And although they work in Trenton, they work in buildings protected by dozens and dozens of men with guns.  Thick, burly, well-trained men who know how to kill if the need arises.  Politicians value their lives, even as they devalue the lives of everyone else.  As do the rich "activists" like the billionaire Bloomberg and all those Hollywood people and New York celebrities from the ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY.

In 2019, Sue McCue and the Rutgers SuperPAC will again want to make a fashion statement that overturns the Bill of Rights and leaves the poor, working, and middle classes defenseless -- while she lobbies for an industry that makes wheelbarrows full of money feeding the culture of violence.  We need to be ready for her -- and make sure that she gags on her own attacks.

FACT: John McCann defends political corruption

FACT:  There is one thing that rigs an election more that gerrymandering.  It is called "the line". 

WHAT IS "THE LINE"?

A few county party organizations in New Jersey (both Democrat and Republican) have usurped the actual government-prepared ballot so that they can use it to advertise who their "official" candidates are.  That's right.  A few party bosses in a few counties are using the taxpayer-funded ballot to "instruct" the voters of their party on how to vote.

This doesn't happen anywhere else in America, and it happens in New Jersey only because the state's unelected courts have allowed it to happen.  Of course, these are the same courts that have given us Abbott Districts (where all the money for education goes to a few counties controlled by urban political machines). Because of Abbott we have the highest property taxes in America.

The same courts that have allowed political party bosses to usurp power with "the line" have eroded our Second Amendment rights to make us less safe.  The same courts that have refused to allow citizens the right to take legal action against government when it fails to protect them from violence and murder.

If you want to know why you pay so much, look no further than "the line" which keeps the same corrupt party machines in power, selecting the same insider politicians, who make the judges who inhabit the courts.  So if you are content with paying the highest property taxes in America, keep supporting the same party bosses and go on voting "the line."

Candidate John McCann has defended this misuse of the official ballot by political party bosses.  He has done so even when the party boss is someone like Passaic County's Peter Murphy, who was convicted of public corruption and sent to prison.

Passaic County Republican Chairman Is Indicted on U.S. Bribery and ...

www.nytimes.com/.../passaic-county-republican-chairman-is-indicted-on-us-bribery-a...

Dec 5, 2000 - The chairman of the Passaic County Republican Party was indicted today on federal bribery and mail fraud charges in a continuing investigation of the Republican-dominated county government that has already resulted in guilty pleas by two other officials. ... For most of that time ...

Once prosecuted by Christie, Passaic GOP power broker poised for ...

https://savejersey.com/2015/07/christie-passaic-murphy-rumana-traier/

Jul 16, 2015 - Former Passaic GOP chairman Peter Murphy of Totowa ultimately plead guilty to mail fraud back in 2003 after a lengthy prosecution and conviction (the ... involving dishonesty or moral turpitude or which constitutes a felony in either the State of New Jersey, Federal jurisdiction or equivalent of same in ...

Why would anyone in their right mind support someone like Peter Murphy?  Isn't politics corrupt enough already?

Not only is "the line" an aberration used nowhere in America outside a few political machine controlled counties in New Jersey, it wouldn't pass muster in a Third World election overseen by the United Nations.  "The line" -- the McCann endorsed vehicle for public corruption -- is arguably in violation of several United Nations General Assembly Resolutions, including A/RES/46/137 (1991), A/RES/55/96 (2001), as well as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR, 1966).

So while we send American service men and women far from home to make the world "safe for democracy," a few county politicians in New Jersey are laughing at them by corrupted the process and are making a mockery of the sacrifice of those young lives.  They should be ashamed but corrupt party bosses like Passaic County's Peter Murphy are beyond shame.

And candidate John McCann is right there with them.

President Donald Trump was criticized recently for employing the term "shithole" to describe some Third World nations.  Well, as far as political processes go, there are quite a few "shithole" county party committees (both Democrat and Republican) who are making an effort to turn New Jersey into a political and economic "shithole."

And candidate John McCann is right there with them.

The dishonesty of Democrat Lacey "Kooky" Rzeszowski

The first thing that strikes you about Lacey Rzeszowski is her kind of attractively kooky intensity.  But then all that saccharine language hits you square in the brain and you remember where it was that you heard this false earnestness before -- it was on television, in those badly acted 1980's soap operas. 

And then there's the lies she tells.

Hold on to your shorts, because here comes a big one...

"Statistics tell us that the states with the weakest gun laws are the ones whose citizens suffer the most from gun violence."  Well, not really.

Here's a tip for Kooky Rzeszowski -- never claim "sanity" when inverting statistics.  Dyslexia maybe, sanity no.

The District of Columbia has the toughest anti-gun laws in America... and the highest murder rate. 

States with pro-Second Amendment gun laws like New Hampshire, Wyoming, West Virginia, and Colorado all have vastly lower murder rates than New Jersey.

There are cultural and socio-economic factors that are far more accurate in predicting the level of gun violence than is the presence of so-called "anti-gun" legislation.  If merely passing laws mattered all that much, then illegal drugs would have been unavailable the whole time Kooky Rzeszowski was growing up and going to college -- as they would be today.  And yet, somehow we suspect that the wealthy enclave in which she resides is not entirely free from the sale of illegal drugs.  Even if Kooky scrapped the Constitution and repealed the Bill of Rights, why would she believe mere laws would make guns any more difficult to buy than narcotics?

What new laws do is send men with guns into new areas of "enforcement."  If Kooky really believes that "Black Lives Matter" or indeed, that any lives matter, she should think long and hard before criminalizing something else.

In his famous article on the subject, conservative columnist George Will argued that "overcriminalization" was responsible for the death of Eric Garner, a sidewalk merchant who was killed in a confrontation with police trying to crack down on sales tax scofflaws.  Will raised the question of how many new laws are created by state legislatures and by Congress in the rush to be seen to be "doing something." 

In other words -- it is not the police who are the problem, it is the politicians who send them.  The cops only go where they are ordered to go.  It's the damnable politicians who give the orders.  And Kooky wants to give more orders, not less.

Will's brilliant column is a must read for folks like Kooky Rzeszowski -- who jump in with a solution even before the reason has yet to be determined.  Legislators preparing to propose their next round of laws that will end up being enforced by men with guns should think before they legislate.  An excerpt from Will's column is printed below:

America might at long last be ready to stare into the abyss of its criminal-justice system.

By history’s frequently brutal dialectic, the good that we call progress often comes spasmodically, in lurches propelled by tragedies caused by callousness, folly, or ignorance. With the grand jury’s as yet inexplicable and probably inexcusable refusal to find criminal culpability in Eric Garner’s death on a Staten Island sidewalk, the nation might have experienced sufficient affronts to its sense of decency. It might at long last be ready to stare into the abyss of its criminal-justice system.

It will stare back, balefully. Furthermore, the radiating ripples from the nation’s overdue reconsideration of present practices may reach beyond matters of crime and punishment, to basic truths about governance.

Garner died at the dangerous intersection of something wise, known as “broken windows” policing, and something worse than foolish: decades of overcriminalization. The policing applies the wisdom that when signs of disorder, such as broken windows, proliferate and persist, there is a general diminution of restraint and good comportment. So, because minor infractions are, cumulatively, not minor, police should not be lackadaisical about offenses such as jumping over subway turnstiles.

Overcriminalization has become a national plague. And when more and more behaviors are criminalized, there are more and more occasions for police, who embody the state’s monopoly on legitimate violence, and who fully participate in humanity’s flaws, to make mistakes.

Harvey Silverglate, a civil-liberties attorney, titled his 2009 book Three Felonies a Day to indicate how easily we can fall afoul of America’s metastasizing body of criminal laws. Professor Douglas Husak of Rutgers University says that approximately 70 percent of American adults have, usually unwittingly, committed a crime for which they could be imprisoned. In his 2008 book, Overcriminalization: The Limits of the Criminal Law, Husak says that more than half of the 3,000 federal crimes — itself a dismaying number — are found not in the Federal Criminal Code but in numerous other statutes. And, by one estimate, at least 300,000 federal regulations can be enforced by agencies wielding criminal punishments. Citing Husak, Professor Stephen L. Carter of the Yale Law School, like a hammer driving a nail head flush to a board, forcefully underscores the moral of this story:

Society needs laws; therefore it needs law enforcement. But “overcriminalization matters” because “making an offense criminal also means that the police will go armed to enforce it.” The job of the police “is to carry out the legislative will.” But today’s political system takes “bizarre delight in creating new crimes” for enforcement. And “every act of enforcement includes the possibility of violence.”

Carter continues:

It’s unlikely that the New York Legislature, in creating the crime of selling untaxed cigarettes, imagined that anyone would die for violating it. But a wise legislator would give the matter some thought before creating a crime. Officials who fail to take into account the obvious fact that the laws they’re so eager to pass will be enforced at the point of a gun cannot fairly be described as public servants.

Garner lived in part by illegally selling single cigarettes untaxed by New York jurisdictions. He lived in a progressive state and city that, being ravenous for revenues and determined to save smokers from themselves, have raised to $5.85 the combined taxes on a pack of cigarettes. To the surprise of no sentient being, this has created a black market in cigarettes that are bought in states that tax them much less. Garner died in a state that has a Cigarette Strike Force.

To continue reading... http://www.nationalreview.com/article/394392/plague-overcriminalization-george-will

George Will is a Pulitzer Prize–winning syndicated columnist at The Washington Post.  The above column was published on December 10, 2014.

Police response time shouldn't determine life or death

The police work very hard to do a good job for the citizens who pay them.  But many people fail to understand that the police are crime orientated.  They stop it if they see it, respond when it is in progress, investigate it after the fact, and help prosecutors convict and punish the bad guys.  That's a lot to do-- in addition to maintaining a general level of public safety (on highways, at crosswalks, crowd control and the like).

The police are not personal security guards for each and every citizen.  They will certainly respond if called, but it is not their job to ensure your personal safety.  You cannot sue the police in civil court if they fail to arrive in time to prevent you from being harmed or worse.  As long as they reasonably attempted to respond to a 9-1-1 call they have done their job. 

In America, individual citizens are their own first line of defense.  That's been the idea since the founding of our nation.  We are responsible for protecting ourselves until the cavalry -- the men and women in blue -- get there to secure the situation, investigate what happened, and so on.

Those who wish to do away with legal firearm possession (because they will have as much success with illegal firearm possession as they have had with illegal drug possession) had better be prepared to formally change this concordat, placing the police firmly in charge of the personal protection of every resident, vastly increase budgets and taxation to pay for this, and allow individuals to bring civil actions against government when it fails to protect them.  This would be a reasonable starting position in any discussion about "swapping" government protection for the rights and duties under the Second Amendment to the Bill of Rights of the Constitution of the United States of America.

Unfortunately, this is not the starting position advanced by those who profess "gun control."  They are fixated on the bad that firearms can do and ignore their necessity as part of that first line of defense, possibly because they mistake what the police are there for.  As the number of lawsuits brought against government for "failing to protect" (all tossed by the courts) shows, many do not understand the role of the police and what the citizens' role is in his or her own self-protection.

Like the automobile, the firearm is a piece of technology -- a tool.  It should be used safely, but how it is used depends on the user.  Misuse either and you can lose your freedom.  But some in the so-called "gun control" movement would extend "misuse" to simple possession, ignoring the absolute need for firearms as the best means of self-protection, the duty of which falls to all of us as individuals.

Unfortunately, in New Jersey the state has thrown up regulatory and legal hurdles to self-protection -- while its courts have insisted that state, county, and local governments are not responsible for the lives of the people who live there.  There have been a number of well-publicized cases where vulnerable members of society have been denied the right to protect themselves or the implementation of that right was held up in red tape, and they ended up as victims of homicide.

That is why new federal legislation is so important.  Introduced in the US House of Representatives as HR38 and the US Senate as S446, these bills will allow people licensed to carry a concealed firearm in their own state to do so legally in all states.  Among New Jersey's congressmen, Tom MacArthur is taking the lead.

Legislation proposed in the New Jersey Legislature by Assemblyman Parker Space,  AR-221, memorializes Congress and the President of the United States to enact HR38.  Space and Assemblywoman BettyLou DeCroce are the prime sponsors of this legislation.  Joining them are Assemblymen Anthony Bucco and Ron Dancer.   Below is the text of the Space-DeCroce legislation:

An Assembly Resolution memorializing the Congress and the President of the United States to allow reciprocity for the carrying of certain concealed firearms.

Whereas, There exists a public interest in individuals maintaining the ability to protect themselves and their families from violence; and

Whereas, The right to keep and bear arms is enshrined in the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution and recognized by the Supreme Court of the United States; and

Whereas, The ability of law-abiding citizens to legally carry concealed firearms to defend themselves is a fundamental right; and

Whereas, It is in the best interest of our nation that citizens be able to travel freely from state to state without sacrificing the right to protect themselves and their families; and

Whereas, States currently may decline to recognize permits to carry concealed firearms issued by other states, thereby causing our citizens to forego the ability to protect themselves and their families when traveling outside of their home states; and

Whereas, Requiring all states to recognize a concealed carry permit issued by another state would rectify this inequality; and

Whereas, H.R. 38 of 2017-2018, the “Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2017,” has been introduced in the United States Congress in an effort to protect our citizens’ Second Amendment rights, allowing them to travel between states without sacrificing the ability to protect themselves and their families; and

Whereas, H.R. 38 permits a person carrying a valid identification document containing a photograph of the person and a state concealed weapons permit to carry a concealed handgun in any state, so long as the individual is not prohibited from possessing a firearm under federal law or from carrying a concealed firearm in the individual’s state of residence; and

Whereas, At present 22 states recognize other states’ permits to carry concealed firearms or allow law-abiding non-residents to carry a firearm without a license; and

Whereas, Enactment of the “Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2017” will enhance citizens’ Second Amendment rights by permitting reciprocity among all the states for the carrying of concealed firearms; now, therefore,

     Be It Resolved by the General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

     1.    The Congress and the President of the United States are respectfully memorialized to enact H.R. 38, the “Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2017.”

     2.    Copies of this resolution, as filed with the Secretary of State shall be transmitted by the Clerk of the General Assembly, to the President and Vice President of the United States, the Majority and Minority Leaders of the United States Senate, the Speaker and Majority and Minority Leaders of the United States House of Representatives, and each member of the United States Congress elected from this State.

Is Kean out to make Codey Senate President?

There are two kinds of labor unions -- those whose rank and file membership voted for Trump and those whose membership voted for Clinton.

President Trump and Republicans who want to build a sustainable GOP majority for the future, seek to work with those unions whose members are inclined to vote Republican or who will consider voting Republican.  These are the largely blue collar trade unions -- Teamsters, Ironworkers, Carpenters, Cabinetmakers, Plumbers, Bricklayers, Electricians, Heavy Equipment Operators, Laborers -- the Building Trades and such. 

On the other end we have the teachers, professors, administrators, and white collar government bureaucrats, clerks and such.  They love everything the Democrats stand for.  They voted for Hillary Clinton -- although some would prefer a "real socialist."  We aint getting these people.  Ever.  Not unless we lose everyone else.

So why are some Republican candidates this year running around telling conservatives that they have the backdoor support of the NJEA and it is a "game changer"?  Haven't we been here before?  Doesn't anyone remember the aftermath of Whitman years when the NJEA and those other liberal unions whose butts we had kissed for eight years turned on us and helped usher in this endless Democrat legislative majority?

We get that Senator Tom Kean Jr. still holds a grudge against the Governor and Senate President for interfering in his leadership election in 2013.  He had every right to be pissed.  It was a legit gripe.  But there comes a point when you have to do the Christian thing and let it go.  But as the AFP screw card showed, it hasn't been let go, it's been expanded to those members of the GOP caucus who sided with the Governor. 

There was more evidence this week, when the Senate Staff -- those same folks who conspired with AFP on the screw card -- sought to crank it up the asses of a few GOP Senators with a release about repealing the tax reform package and replacing it with... Nobody seems to have got that far.

We could go with the plan Senator Jennifer Beck came up with that froze state education aid for seven years to ensure seven years of brutal property tax increases.  Any takers?

In suggesting that they can "repeal the gas tax" what these assbandits actually mean is that they will repeal the Tax Reform package, the whole thing.  So every assbandit candidate who tells the voters that he or she supports "repealing the gas tax" is actually saying that he or she wants to get rid of $1.4 billion in tax cuts, which is just another way of saying that you want to raise taxes by $1.4 billion.

Here are the $1.4 billion in tax cuts these candidates want to shit-can: 

- A tax cut on retirement income.  Most New Jersey retirees will no longer pay state income tax. This tax cut would be worth more than $2,000 annually to the average retiree.

- Elimination of the Estate Tax. This will protect family farms and businesses from being forced to close to pay taxes.

- Tax cut for veterans.  Honorably discharged active duty, guard, and reserve veterans get an additional $3,000 personal income tax deduction.

- Tax credit for low-income workers.  Worth $100 annually to the average worker.

- Sales tax cut.  Worth another $100 annually to the average consumer.

- TTF local government aid:  $400 million in property tax relief for local governments.

That's a pretty sucky platform.

If these machinations are successful and Senator Dick Codey replaces Senator Steve Sweeney as Senate President, conservatives and Republicans who believe in their party's platform will go from having a pragmatic Democrat who from time to time screws us in order to pander to the Democrat base; to a genuine far-left, true-believer, who will spend his every waking hour screwing us simply for the joy of it.  That's not to say that Senator Codey isn't a charming man with a certain integrity.  He just really doesn't buy anything we have on offer and thinks that conservatives and Republicans (the RNC platform variety) are all just full of horse manure. 

Take the Second Amendment for instance.  Senator Codey has proposed two bills to do away with the Second Amendment in New Jersey.  Both S-1159 and S-351 "prohibited the sale, importation, possession and carrying of handguns except by certain authorized persons."  Now why would anyone calling him or herself a conservative or a Republican or even an American ever want to see this despoiler of the United States Constitution and the Bill of Rights in ANY position of power?

Our worst nightmare will be Governor Phil "Jon Corzine II" Murphy, Senate President Dick Codey, and a Leftist Democrat Speaker.  Then we will know the meaning of being screwed.  Republicans and groups like AFP should not be conspiring to get us there.

Dirtbag behavior: Sad to report, it's not only the Left

Last week, we all witnessed some of the more ridiculous antics of the Left, and there has been a lot of commentary about how certain people allowed their emotions to get the better of them.  Madonna made her threats, while others went in for displays of very bad taste.

Jersey Conservative reported on this, and we were quickly reminded that such poor behavior doesn't begin or end with the ideological Left.  Those reminding us were none other than those denizens of the new ideological "Right" -- the Tea Party.  Not everyone in the Tea Party behaves like a 15-year-old who got into his parents' liquor cabinet, but enough do to give the movement a bad name. 

Last week, an innocent family had an aerial view of their family home placed on a public Facebook page with the words "target acquired" posted underneath and the statement, "got to love drones LOL," posted under that.

The organizer of a draft campaign committee for Gail Phoebus publicly posted those personal details, believing that they belonged to a "political consultant" who works in Sussex County.  But as with so much that comes from these people, the Phoebus campaigner -- who is also a key figure in the Skylands Tea Party of Sussex County -- got it all wrong.

The home "targeted" by the Phoebus campaigner/ Tea Party activist is in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, and it belongs to a perfectly innocent family with young children.  It is not the home of the "political consultant" that Mr. Tea Party seemed intent on injuring.

After a Sussex County blog reported this, the Phoebus campaign "administrator" appealed to his fellow Tea Partiers.  They responded with threats of violence and personal harm:

The "political consultant" (who is, in fact, a free lance writer) has already been the"target" of malicious and injurious acts by officials in Andover Township, where Phoebus once served as mayor.   They will have to shoulder some of the responsibility if one of their more emotional "supporters" gets a little too motivated and acts out against the consultant or even an inadvertent "target" of their hate.

If what these people post on their Facebook pages is anything to go by, they are certainly able to back up their anger with something a lot worse than words.

Instead of hate, maybe these folks should try calming down long enough to have a polite, rational, dignified policy discussion.  As the writer Isaac Asimov reminded us, "violence is the last refuge of the incompetent."

But this keeps going from bad to worse.  Earlier this week another "administrator" of the Phoebus campaign and Tea Partier decided that he wasn't going to be outdone by the Left when it came to posting tasteless images.  He took the image below and explored an even lower range of human discourse.

Yes, this Tea Partier photoshopped the images of several Sussex County Republicans onto vaginas.  The images included a Republican State Senator, a Republican Assemblyman, a Republican candidate for Assembly, a Republican candidate for Freeholder, and a Republican free lance writer from Bucks County, Pennsylvania.  The photograph of the last, courtesy of Andover Township, New Jersey.

Mind you, the person photo-shopping Republicans onto vaginas isn't a member of some Left-wing organization protesting Donald Trump.   This person claims to be a Right-winger and member of the Tea Party, who had his photo taken earlier this month with Steve Rogers, the GOP candidate for Governor he says he's supporting.  Everyone involved is a Trump supporter.  This is how crazy some people act when they disagree with someone who agrees with them most of the time, imagine how nuts they'll get when it is someone on the other side?

The people trashed by this Tea Partier are among the most conservative in New Jersey, with perfect voting records on the Second Amendment and the Right-to-Life; top ratings from Americans for Prosperity and the American Conservative Union; who have consistently been there for the conservative movement and the Republican Party.  Heck, the free lance writer once worked for the National Rifle Association as a congressional district Election Volunteer Coordinator. 

Now we know people in the same Tea Party group -- the Skylands Tea Party.  They have names like Tom and Doug and Roseann and Sue.  They are grandparents and business owners and professionals.  How would they explain these images to their grandchildren?  Would they teach their grandchildren how to photo-shop the images of people who have helped them and their community onto a vagina?  Would they explain to them that this is the right way to deal with people when they fail to agree with you 100 percent of the time?  It's 100 percent or your face goes on a vagina! 

In closing, let us leave you with this image, posted at Halloween, by one of your members.  Our advice to you is to chill.  Push the restart button and begin to act like responsible adults.  End the rhetoric of hate.

Measuring voting records for 2017

2016 was a very strange year, in that you had Tea Party people running around calling Senator Jennifer Beck a "conservative."  That's funny, because not even Senator Beck calls herself "conservative."  In fact, it's a label she actively runs away from.

There are those who called Seth Grossman, an activist and former Atlantic County elected official,  a "conservative" -- even as he pushed a radical left social agenda that many liberals think goes too far.  His plan to repudiate the state's debt is a solution only if your town and county and state want to pay cash for everything -- up front -- from now on.  Try building a bridge without financing and see what that does to your property taxes.  It is the Argentina model.  Hardly what you would call "conservative."     

Then there are the raters -- groups like the American Conservative Union (ACU) take their cues from GOP legislative leaders who are not especially "conservative" when they choose the handful of votes by which they rate a legislator.  And so they miss big ones like welfare for drug dealers and liberal legislators suddenly become more "conservative" without changing their voting habits at all.

The truth is that what it means to be a "conservative" has changed a lot since Ronald Reagan ran for President in 1980.  That year, one of the Koch brothers who have come to so dominate modern conservative politics ran against Reagan on a libertarian ticket with a platform that made many liberals blush.

Instead of swallowing a special interest group rating hook, line, and sinker -- we need to examine who is doing the rating, what is their history, their agenda as it pertains to the votes they selected, and what did they leave out.  Knowing these things will give the reader a better idea of who the rater is.

No one rating system is going to satisfy everyone calling themselves "conservative," so for 2017 Jersey Conservative is going to put together ratings based on a  broader range of conservative identities.   In this way, individuals can decide which legislator or candidate comes nearest to their selected "identity."

There are Reagan conservatives with issue interests different from libertarians, Tea Party conservatives, Evangelical conservatives, the Pro-Life movement, the Second Amendment movement, Trump conservatives, Chamber of Commerce Republicans, and "It's My Party Too" Republicans.  We also have the platform of the Republican National Committee as a benchmark. 

If you are a traditional Reagan conservative, it would be helpful to know not only how a legislator or candidate rates based on a "Reagan" issues grid, but on a "Trump" one as well, a "Koch" one, or a "Whitman" one.  It will broaden the perspective and provide more information than the simple "conservative" label does currently.  

This is going to be a collaborative effort, so we will be looking for your input on both issues and votes.  Write to us with your ideas.

Which one do you identify with?

A challenge to AFP

Yesterday, AFP circulated an arrogant missive filled with lies about Senator Steve Oroho, one of the most consistently conservative legislators in New Jersey.  You know the Steve Oroho we're talking about  -- the guy who started attending Right to Life marches when he was a teen.  Oh, that's right, AFP doesn't support the Right to Life, we forgot.  On the Second Amendment, Steve Oroho rates an A+ for his leadership -- but that wouldn't impress AFP, because they couldn't care less about the Second Amendment. 

The people who fund AFP aren't much on Religious Freedom or traditional values, but they wouldn't mind legalizing prostitution and narcotics.  The thing they are really passionate about it not raising taxes on petroleum products -- like gasoline.  And that's because they make their billions in the petroleum industry.

The email was circulated by AFP's field director, a young man who doesn't need to worry about property taxes, because his mom and dad do.  There's nothing wrong with being young, but should he really be the one lecturing us on life choices?    

Steve Oroho has spent his life trying to squeeze the most out of a dollar.  As a young CPA, he worked for W. R. Grace when the leadership of that company was charged by President Ronald Reagan to find ways to cut spending and make the federal government run more efficiently.  Steve honed those skills as a senior financial officer of an S&P 500 company, as the Sussex County Freeholder who saved money and reformed the budget process, and as the conservative leader on the Senate Budget Committee.

The state is faced with a very difficult choice on how to fund roads and bridge repair -- raise property taxes or raise the gas tax.  Approximately one-third of gas tax revenues in New Jersey come from out-of-state drivers.  All property taxes come from the people of New Jersey.  So which do you think is the best way to pay for improvements to roads and bridges, an increase in the gas tax or an increase in property taxes?

Steve Oroho has worked very hard to fashion a plan so that raising property taxes will not be necessary to fund road and bridge repairs.  Instead, a modest increase in the gas tax to fund the TTF would be balanced with several tax cuts.  These would include the elimination of the tax on retirement income and a phase-out of the estate tax. 

So who at AFP instructed their young field director to tell us that a property tax increase is preferable to a gas tax increase, that the end of the tax on retirement income isn't worth fighting for, and ditto for the phase out of the estate tax?

How does AFP decide on which issues to fight for and  which to ignore?  Who decided that the tax on retirement income should remain and that property taxes should fund roads and bridges instead of a tax on petroleum products, and at what level was the decision made?

The paid staff at AFP have titles like "field director" and "executive director", but excuse us -- did anyone vote for you?  Did anyone elect your state chair or your leadership? Steve Oroho is a Senator because he won a contested election in 2007 and then three more elections after that.  Steve Oroho won an election in which every member of the Republican establishment in Trenton supported his opponent.  And this wasn't his first victory as an underdog, in 2004 he defeated an incumbent Freeholder Director who had the support of her county party.  What elections have you won?

AFP's executive director loves to brag that the group has over 100,000 "members."  Okay then -- do those members get a vote?  Are they really members or just consumers?  You know, consumers of the bullshit AFP dishes out to them when its real "members" -- its billionaire shareholders -- decide to turn it on to lobby to prevent at all costs a tax on one of their petroleum products?

We're just asking.  Now AFP can prove that their "members" are really members.  All it takes is a vote.  Here in America, we're big on votes.  So here's the challenge to AFP. Send a private mailing to each of your members and ask them to mark on a secret ballot which of these taxes they would most like to see eliminated:

-- the gas tax

-- the property tax

-- the tax on retirement income

-- the estate tax

Then, with the consent of your "members" and guided by their will, they can direct that young field director as to which issues to push and which to ignore.

AFP boss says Clinton would make better President than Trump.

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...

The Nastiness of Senator Loretta Weinberg

Every day, thousands of fellow human beings suffer household accidents.  Most involve falls -- in the bathtub, shower, on the stairs, or when improperly using a step stool or ladder.  Others are injured while using appliances and tools -- electric saws, nail guns, and the like.  All of these are personal tragedies for the people involved, which often involve one family member injuring another, like when an 11-year-old daughter accidentally ran over her mother with the family SUV.  The two were in the car together, the mother got out to check on something, the car accelerated over her and the mother was pronounced dead at the scene.  Her daughter and her other children were deeply traumatized by the tragedy.

Yesterday, a mother was accidentally shot in the back by her 4-year-old.  It seems she was driving her car, her son strapped into a child seat, and she made the mistake of leaving a loaded firearm where the child could find it.  The firearm was legal and was being transported legally.  Nevertheless, it was a careless and stupid mistake and one for which the mother has grievously paid.  She survived and is in stable condition.

To avoid such tragedies, young children must be carefully monitored.  They must be prevented from touching hot surfaces in the kitchen, electric outlets, power tools, sharp implements, and firearms.  Parents must be very careful with children around plastic bags and water -- even an inch or two in a bathtub can cause a child to drown.

This is not how Senator Weinberg reacted to the news of this tragedy.  Instead, she "celebrated" it, posted it on her Facebook page as an "I told you so" -- because the accident involved a gun.  Senator Weinberg politicized a family's tragedy.  She allowed her ideology to get the better of her humanity.

Senator Weinberg says she hates guns.  She would limit the ability of people of a lower socio-economic class than her to have firearms for self-protection.  But as a member of the Legislature, she enjoys the protection of men with guns.  Lots and lots of them. 

In America, the only real crime is not to have money.  If you are a billionaire pedophile and convicted sex offender, like Jeffrey Epstein, you can expect to be forgiven by the rich and powerful.  The good times roll on like before and the likes of Bill Clinton, Katie Couric, George Stephanopoulos, and Charlie Rose party with you as though nothing happened.  Men with guns guard your private island, your many yachts, your private jets, and your person.  Those guns are apparently okay by the likes of Senator Weinberg.  Epstein is rich, a celebrity, and, therefore, worthy of the protection afforded by the gun.

But if you happen to be a plain-living plebian, a working class nobody, you are not worthy.  You must rely on the response time of your local police.  Yes, those same police who have been demoralized and demonized by the very political class that seeks to take away your right to protect yourself.  "Don't worry," they say, "It's the job of the police to protect you -- and if they attempt to do so, we'll have them up on charges quick as a whistle."  It's a real Catch-22. 

America is the world's largest consumer of private military and security services.  It is a $350 billion market.  That's a lot of security for some.  It's also a lot of guns, but the political class approves of these guns because of who it protects. 

Face it, Senator Weinberg, Michael Bloomberg, Mayor Fulop. . . they don't care about you.  You have nothing they want.  You are not rich enough, powerful enough, influential enough, or cool enough to matter to them.  You don't merit protection or the means of self-protection.   Can't you hear them?  They're telling you to "Drop Dead"!