Fantasia enlists the "Mastermind of Bridgegate" in war against free speech.

By Rubashov
 
For many years, the political consultant David Wildstein operated anonymous blogs with names like PoliticsNJ, PoliticsPA, and PolitickerNJ. Then he, known then as “Wally Edge”, was outed by one of the folks who writes for this blog – an embarrassment he has never forgiven.
 
Wildstein was very close to Chris Christie when he operated those blogs – providing coordinated coverage of Christie’s political corruption investigations when Christie was U.S. Attorney. Later, Christie rewarded Wildstein with a fat appointment at the Port Authority. This position had never existed prior to Wildstein's appointment and had no job description, but he received an annual salary of $150,020.
 
David Wildstein made national headlines in 2015, when he admitted his guilt in the Bridgegate Scandal – a criminal enterprise timed to disrupt the first day of school.  Dr. Paul Saxton, superintendent of Fort Lee’s schools, called the plot “an act of terrorism,” adding, it was “premeditated action designed and targeted toward the kids.” In a statement that made national news, the Bridgegate plotters, including Wildstein, had dismissed concerns that children might suffer, by saying that they were the children of their political opponent.
 
So, we find it remarkable that Sussex County Commissioner Dawn Fantasia would turn to David Wildstein, who was described as the “Mastermind of Bridgegate” to go head-to-head with a blog that has been critical of her. Even more so, as she runs a school herself – albeit a controversial one affiliated with an Islamic cleric who himself has been labeled a “terrorist” in his native Turkey.
 
Missing from David Wildstein’s article in the New Jersey Globe was the quote taken from a front-page story in the Star-Ledger newspaper. This quote is the key to this story:
 
“Like Jim Cunneely, Dawn Cunneely [Fantasia] believes he will never commit a similar crime. She calls him a good father, and she has granted him joint custody of the children.”
 
Fantasia’s statement was made on the front page of the November 10, 2014, edition of the Star-Ledger, the largest circulation newspaper in New Jersey. In a story concerning her former husband, a school teacher who was convicted of a sex crime against one of his students (and “required to register as a sex offender under Megan's Law and… undergo parole supervision for life”, ibid April 18, 2008).
 
Nobody made this up. It is on the front page of the state’s largest newspaper. And we’re not discussing events that happened at the time of her husband’s arrest and trial – but rather, statements made years after, when Dawn Fantasia was pursuing political office. Further, it appears the 2014 front page story was in aid of marketing a book, written by Fantasia’s former husband. Published in 2013, it is called “Folie A Deux” and is 374 pages of public disclosure. Anyone can buy it on Amazon for $19.95.
 
Our opinion, which we are allowed to express under the First Amendment in the Bill of Rights, is that Commissioner Fantasia’s statement suggests she might be open to policies that allow registered sex offenders, convicted of sex crimes against children, to be granted custody of minor children. That is why we asked her for a clarification of her statement. We even invited her to publish her clarification, unedited, on our website.
 
Fantasia has steadfastly refused to issue a clarification, even though, if she is successful as a candidate for the New Jersey Legislature, she will be voting on bills that affect Megan’s Law and mandatory sentencing, and sex crimes, and child custody. In Wildstein’s column today Fantasia claims that the newspaper was wrong – 9 years after it appeared on the front page. She then tries to blame the judge, making the utterly fantastic statement that a judge would grant custody of minor children to a registered sex offender without the positive agreement of the mother of those children. We would like to see the court transcript of that! Where, in America, does that happen?
 
The issue before us is very simple: Do voters have a right to know candidate Dawn Fantasia’s position? Because that is all we’ve been asking.
 
Micah Rasmussen, Director of the Rebovich Institute of New Jersey Politics at Rider University, provides this answer: “Voters can't make informed decisions unless they're informed. If you asked any self-respecting constituent of George Santos, they'd tell you they wish they knew then what they know now.”
 
Commissioner Fantasia makes the false accusation that this blog coordinates with campaigns. That is untrue and has been investigated by the Federal Election Commission (FEC) and found to be untrue. A complaint was made in 2020 and, after a thorough investigation by federal authorities, there was no indication whatsoever that coordination had occurred. Anyone who knows anyone connected with this blog or its affiliated blogs knows that we take direction from nobody. That’s why they get so angry at us. Unlike most political blogs in New Jersey, we don’t even take advertising from politicians.

Commissioner Fantasia claims that a male consultant runs this blog. That is untrue. The administrator of this blog is a woman. Several people contribute. The administrator of the Sussex County Watchdog blog is a different woman. Neither the consultant or anyone else can post an article without their consent. Those are the facts. 
 
In today’s New Jersey Globe article, Commissioner Fantasia pledges to “stop” conservative media outlets like this from asking politicians tough questions. That’s not what anyone would call a conservative or constitutionalist legislative agenda.
 
Dawn Fantasia is a politician. She is paid by an organization that receives millions in taxpayer funding. She is an elected official who gets paid by the taxpayer. She is seeking higher public office – and a substantial pay raise. Dawn Fantasia does not get to decide what is or isn’t journalism.
 
She might think she’s a big deal, but the United States Supreme Court has over-ruled her. They have determined that blogs are indeed journalism and that bloggers are indeed journalists. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled repeated on anonymous speech and has upheld and protected it as a sacred American tradition. The Society of Professional Journalists agrees as well.
 
Dawn Fantasia is an example of how politicians become when there is no local media to scrutinize them. They become apoplectic when asked questions about statements they made to the largest newspaper in the state.
 
Tucker Carlson reminds us, “Free speech is the main right that you have. Without it, you have no others.”

- - -

Senator Steve Oroho’s longtime political consultant was contacted and responded to this claim, published in the New Jersey Globe today: “After growing weary of his tactics, I did not enlist him for my current campaign,” Fantasia said.  “As such, I am his current target.”
 
The consultant states that the Commissioner is a public office holder and a candidate for public office. He is not. He further states that the accuracy of Commissioner Fantasia’s statement will be tested in a court of law, as he intends to bring a legal action against her and her campaign.
 
He notes that Senator Oroho asked him to be part of the team that vetted all the prospective Assembly candidates in LD24 in December 2022. The consultant’s concerns about her suitability as a candidate and the vulnerabilities she had were discussed and recorded in writing – including the incident described in the Star-Ledger article of November 10, 2014.
 
He further notes that he was lobbied by numerous individuals in an effort to get him to work for Commissioners Dawn Fantasia and Chris Carney for Assembly. These included Ms. Kate Gibbs of ELEC825 and the two candidates themselves, who made a trip to New Hope, Pennsylvania, to take the consultant to dinner in an attempt to convince him to work for them.
 
The consultant refrained from using the word “lie” as, he says, “That is a matter for the court to determine.” The consultant anticipates calling many witnesses and introducing a plethora of documentation that negates Commissioner Fantasia’s statement. 

Commissioner Fantasia should pay close attention to the free speech advocate in this video.

“Voters can’t make informed decisions unless they’re informed.  If you asked any self-respecting constituent of George Santos, they’d tell you they wish they knew then what they know now.”
Micah Rasmussen
Director of the Rebovich Institute of New Jersey Politics at Rider University

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

Shouldn’t FIGHTING FIRES FOR FREE give you the right to express yourself at your own event?

Volunteer firefighters put their necks on the line every time they get a call to come out for a fire or some other emergency. Because they do it for FREE, as an act of kindness to their neighbors and community, they save taxpayers millions each year in Sussex County (billions nationally).

Now Democrats and their far-Left allies are trying to destroy the fire protection services in one Sussex County town. Initially, they called town halls to request that volunteer firefighters be “fired” or “removed” because the Democrats were “offended” when the volunteers displayed a Trump banner at THEIR parade.

The Democrats have gone to the IRS with the claim that by displaying the flag, the volunteers “endorsed” a candidate. The Democrats are pushing to have the fire department investigated by the IRS and “eliminated”.

One snowflake actually wrote about how he feared that volunteer firefighters would not show up to rescue someone of a different political point of view. To make matters worse, the Editor of the New Jersey Herald – a newspaper that has a number of good writers – came out in support of the IRS complaint against the volunteers and repeated this same nonsense.

Well here is a newsflash for that snowflake… and for the Editor of the New Jersey Herald: The membership organizations of paid firefighters endorse candidates for public office ALL THE TIME – every year, every election, every office. So does the PBA and the FOP for the police. They take sides… and send money. Is anyone concerned that these formal endorsements will affect the services they provide? Has the Editor of the New Jersey Herald ever expressed concern about this?

And how often does Governor Phil Murphy use law enforcement as props at political announcements? He orders them to stand behind him when he comes out with nonsense like the Sanctuary State directive which law enforcement plainly believes is dangerous. The Governor is not a police officer or a firefighter but he uses them for politics, pure and simple.

How many political organizations have a non-profit side to go with their political action committees and lobbying organizations? There are literally hundreds that operate in New Jersey. People like George Soros and the Koch Brothers have created political empires while hiding vast fortunes in so-called “non-profits” that are little more than a means for them to shape policy and get their way (and make more money). But there are lots of smaller lobby/political operations disguised as “non-profits” too. They keep just this side of the letter of the law, mostly, while grossly violating the spirit of the law. Where is the outrage?

The group Action Together New Jersey claims that it is a non-profit. Most of the leadership of the Sussex County Democrats belong to it. It is a shadowy, far-Left group, but you won’t read about what it gets up to in the New Jersey Herald.

On February 10, 2018, Action Together New Jersey accepted an award from Linda Sarsour. Among those accepting the award was Action Together New Jersey’s Sussex County Co-Chair. Linda Sarsour was recently kicked out of the Women’s March for her anti-Semitism.

Sarsour is a controversial Democrat activist who has praised the notoriously anti-Semitic Louis Farrakhan, cop-killer Joanne Chesimard, and the anti-Semitic BDS movement. In 2017, Sarsour famously called for “Jihad” against the elected government of the United States of America…

The award that the Sussex County Co-Chair picked-up was in recognition of the political campaigning done by Action Together New Jersey in coordination with a group called CAIR, the Council on American-Islamic Relations. Presenting the award was CAIR National Chairwoman, Roula Allouch, and CAIR-NJ Founder, Ahmed Al Shehab.

Due to its apparent ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, one of America’s most important Islamic allies – the United Arab Emirates – has designated CAIR a terrorist organization.

The New Jersey Herald actually covered an event organized by Action Together and CAIR – a pro-Sanctuary State rally on Newton Green – but nobody mentioned that the group was officially designated a “terrorist” organization. And it is an Islamic nation that gave CAIR the designation. An Islamic nation in which American military personnel are currently serving in peril to their lives – our neighbors, sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, fathers and mothers. We think that’s important. We think you should be aware of that. There are those in the media who would sooner suppress that information.

Action Together New Jersey is in the forefront of the drive to push the Democrat Party in New Jersey to the far-Left. They even bash other Democrats who get in the way of their agenda. For instance, they have joined CAIR in opposing the bi-partisan efforts of New Jersey Congressman Josh Gottheimer (D-5) to push back on members of the so-called “Jihad Squad” (far-Left Democrats Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, and Rashida Tlaib) in their attempt to promote the anti-Semitic BDS movement. It’s a fact. There was a vote taken. You might not read about it. But there it is.

If the Democrats and their allies succeed in breaking the backs of the volunteer firefighters in one community in Sussex County, what will happen? Will the current trained firefighters be “removed” as the Democrats have asked? And who will they be replaced by, the next time a fire happens, or some other emergency? A paid department that will require a large property tax hike?

And curiously enough, that new paid department will have a membership organization that will most certainly ENDORSE POLITICAL CANDIDATES and write checks to political campaigns. Then you will have both higher property taxes and real political activity to contend with, not the one-off expression of a group of un-paid volunteers having some fun at THEIR event that they earned by risking their lives again and again and again.

The far-Left is on the march, taking over or destroying every community organization and service in its path, pushing out common sense and fiscal responsibility. The Action Together New Jersey crew represents the very radical far-Left of the Democrat Party – and it has taken over the Sussex County Democrat Committee.

The GOP is the natural party of suburban New Jersey.

Matt Rooney is right.  The Democrats’ “unwillingness to end the redistribution of funds from the suburbs to failing urban schools remains the single biggest driver of our state’s nightmarish, neighborhood-killing property taxes.”

The Democrats could – and should – be challenged on their cruel insistence that economically distressed families in suburban and rural New Jersey be made to subsidize rich corporations and wealthy professionals in places like Jersey City and Hoboken.  The tax breaks with which urban Democrat bosses favor contributors to political campaigns are paid for with subsidies from struggling communities throughout New Jersey. 

There is more than enough corporate and professional money in urban New Jersey to cover the education of the children who live there.  If those interested parties were made responsible for the children of their communities the educational systems there would be subject to a greater degree of local oversight and on-the-spot scrutiny by those stakeholders.  Absent that, under the current system of subsidy from afar, those subsidized stakeholders are more than content to allow political corruption to flourish, just so long as they keep getting their discount. 

It is shameful for One Percenters like Phil Murphy, Steve Fulop, Lacey Rzeszowski, and Saily Avelenda to don their pussy hats and try to argue that their tax breaks are about “helping poor children”.  Not when their “philanthropy” is paid for by over-taxed, working class families trying to stay out of foreclosure. There is nothing LIBERAL about screwing over working class families to pay for propping-up corrupt urban political machines. 

As far back as the administration of Governor Jim McGreevey, the Democrats knew that half of the state’s economically disadvantaged children lived outside the over-funded urban Abbott school districts.  More than a decade has passed since the state Supreme Court issued its report on this – and NOTHING has been done to overturn the fundamental unfairness of the state’s system of funding education. 

Since the economic crash of 2008, suburban and rural poverty has grown in New Jersey and throughout the United States.  That’s what the liberal to centrist Brookings Institute has argued in their published studies.  Brookings’ experts also note that, since the 1960’s, most of the nation’s anti-poverty programs have been aimed at the cities.   

Rural and suburban New Jersey lack even the basic infrastructure to help get people back on their feet – on top of which local municipalities are robbed of the property taxes that could help with this.  Everything is taken from them – in the name of the urban poor – but for the use of the One Percent and the corporations they control. 

Corrupt urban political machines, corrupt vendors, rich corporations, and wealthy professionals all make out under the Abbott regime.  The genuinely poor remain trapped in schools that, for all the money spent per pupil, fail to educate their students or prepare them for the working world.  The kids are used as pawns, as an excuse, for the corruption and those getting rich from it.

More than a decade ago a prescient writer by the name of Paul Mulshine argued that the life of every child mattered and that the state needed to provide a uniform baseline of funding.  Instead, the Democrats have ensured that the money continues to miss those poor children living outside the Abbotts, while failing to help those living within the Abbotts. 

The question is, will those currently charged with leading New Jersey Republicans into their next battle recognize these stark facts starring them in the face?  Will they make use of them?  If not for their own political ambitions and those of their party – Republican leaders should be urged to do so on behalf of over-taxed working people, their children, and for the child pawns being used but not served.

New Jersey Republicans face extinction.  Their fighting prowess is minimal.  It has reached the point where any plausible Democrat candidate with a modicum of funding can expect to simply march in and take most of their remaining legislative seats.  Not in Northwest New Jersey mind you, where every Democrat on the ballot was just ruthlessly slaughtered and where the Democrat who challenged Senator Steve Oroho in 2017 lost her school board seat.  This is where the pussy hats run into a phalanx of flannel shirts (and those are the women!).  

In his column (https://savejersey.com/2018/11/n-j-republicans-are-letting-sweeney-appropriate-their-strongest-argument-rooney/), Matt Rooney raises the question of whether Assembly Republican Leader Jon Bramnick is up to the task of fighting the Democrats next year.  Whether he is a “wartime consiglieri” or not.  We hope that he is, but at the present, he appears to be more concerned about how he is perceived within the “bubbles” of Trenton and Westfield (whose median income is double that of Sussex County). 

Assembly Leader Bramnick would do well to break out of this bubble.  “Bubble land” doesn’t understand America.  It is too rich, too privileged, too unconcerned with the basics of shelter and debt to worry about those who are.  Bubble land never understood the rise of Donald Trump.  Never got the levels of pain and disappointment that the eight gray years of Barack Obama brought to those working class people who voted for him in 2008.  They put it down to “racism” when it was really about the threat of foreclosure – of losing… everything.

We urge Jon Bramnick and the other leaders of the NJGOP to embark on an experiment in listening and learning.  Not the usual photo-op in Newark… go to where the new poverty is.  Visit a food pantry in what everyone thinks is a middle class town.  Watch the people who once had a good job, with benefits and a pension, but who now work three without.  Notice the high priced automobiles, now over a decade old.  Drive around and take note of the “for sale” signs.  Visit an encampment of working people who have lost their homes.

This isn’t a time for rallying around a corrupt Establishment that – uses poor people as an excuse to rape working people to make rich people richer.  No matter how you personally feel about the Democrats responsible, these are bad policies and they must be challenged.  The choice must be one of clear-blue-water between the parties.  Again, if not for your own political ambitions and those of your party, do it for the over-taxed working people, for their children, and for the child pawns being used but not served.

Matt Rooney makes the point very clearly:  “Taxpayers want an advocate… not a mediator.”  Amen.

William J Hayden: Do You Agree With President Trump That Americans Should Come First?

**William J. Hayden is the Vice President of Skylands Tea Party**

In society we protect what we love and care for. 
Our families are protected at night by a minimum of a locked door. And by possibly a weapon of some type.
The rich and connected, have fences, security systems, and armed guards.
And in all instances, we want to know who we are letting in, before they come in, for our protection. 
Our banks, and government buildings all protected as well. And in many instances again, you have to show who you are, or at least show you are not a threat.

So why would we let people into this country without knowing who they are?  
After all, this country is our collective home. We all live here, we should all know that those coming here are at least not a threat. 

Here is a stat that should put things into perspective as to why we want to know who is here.

95% of foreign nationals in federal prison are illegal aliens 

Actually 23% of all federal inmates are illegal

Your safety should be #1 and illegal immigration is unsafe

Liberal think-tank: NJ gets $9 Billion Fed Tax cut in 2019

While Democrat Congressman Josh Gottheimer has been engaging in histrionics of the most dubious kind, a liberal think-tank has been doing its research and calculations.  What it's come up with undermines the hysterics put out by Nancy Pelosi, Gottheimer, and his status-quo allies in the "problem keepers" caucus.

The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), a liberal advocacy group, recently concluded that New Jersey would save nearly $9 billion in federal taxes in 2019, thanks to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.  Please review their findings yourself by clicking here for a spreadsheet with their analysis: https://t.co/GW6n37OXUn

Contrary to what Nancy Pelosi, Gottheimer, and the "problem keepers" have been saying, the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy concludes that New Jersey will pay less in federal taxes under the new tax reform and job creation legislation passed by Congress.  The study includes these key findings:

- New Jersey residents will save nearly $9 billion in federal taxes in 2019;

- 81% of New Jersey residents will receive a tax cut and a further 8% would see no change in their taxes at all;

- The vast majority of taxpayers in every personal income bracket will see a tax cut, with most receiving a substantial tax cut;

- The average taxpayer in New Jersey will get a tax cut of more than $2,000.

Along with 81% of taxpayers getting a tax cut, small businesses are going to pay much less.  It will be the lowest tax rate since World War II -- drawing in new investment for the expansion of existing enterprises, allowing new start-ups, creating thousands upon thousands of new jobs and opportunities.  With billions less going from New Jersey to Washington, that money will be freed up to spend in our communities.

Even before the new tax reform and job creation legislation was passed, there was a sustained positive reaction from companies with local employees -- like OceanFirst Bank, AT&T, Comcast, Wells Fargo, Boeing, and Bank of America -- providing bonuses and pay-hikes to their employees.  These businesses are already using their anticipated savings to invest in their employees for the future, and it is clear that the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act is going to put more money in the pockets of hardworking taxpayers in New Jersey.

The doom and gloom coming from Nancy Pelosi, Gottheimer, and the "problem keepers" only works if you distort the figures.  The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy study makes clear that the doom and gloomers make sense only if you allow them to erroneously assume that Congress will allow the tax cuts to expire -- and even then this is only true for tax years beginning in 2027. 

Nancy Pelosi, Gottheimer, and the "problem keepers" are arguing in the face of history, which has taught us consistently that politicians who want to be re-elected -- even liberal Democrats like President Obama -- do not end tax cuts when faced with the option, but rather, extend them.  And with the broad consensus being that middle-class tax cuts must be made permanent (even Bernie Sanders says so) there is little chance that the scenario upon which Pelosi, Gottheimer, and the "problem keepers" base their doom and gloom will, in fact, ever materialize.

Instead of the drunken hysterics and all the mental illness being shopped around by the media about this (when they are not focused on a royal wedding or the latest installment of who touched who) interested citizens should be doing their own research and soberly studying the changes and benefits in the new tax reform and job creation package.  It will be well worth the time spent.

Phoebus fires staff for Thanksgiving

"Your services are no longer required.  Your position is hereby terminated, effective immediately."  (Gail Phoebus to her employees)

Happy Thanksgiving!  Merry Christmas!

Assemblyperson Gail Phoebus sent terse, one paragraph letters to the career civil servants at her legislative office staff and fired them all.  In their place, she is hiring personal friends with no legislative qualifications and questionable backgrounds in the skills needed to handle constituent services.

We haven't seen this kind of indifference to the humanity of employees since Leona Helmsley -- the Queen of Mean! 

It also marks another flip-flop or lie by Phoebus.  When Alison Littell McHose announced that she would not be seeking re-election in 2015, Phoebus personally solicited the support of legislative staff members with the promise that their jobs were safe with Phoebus as their new boss.  Apparently that promise wasn't worth very much, as it has now been broken.

Phoebus refused to meet with her employees before firing them, did not provide a reason for their firing, and did not give them notice face-to-face.  The firings did not provide for the customary two-week notice. 

One source described Phoebus' actions as a "cruel and undiplomatic way of thanking loyal employees."  Another noted that Phoebus' friends need and want the money and the taxpayer-funded benefits (health care and pension), so she's put them before the needs of her constituents. 

Either way, Assemblyperson Gail Phoebus has made for a miserable Thanksgiving for her employees' families.  That's not very nice.

What's up with Jay Webber?

Assemblyman Jay Webber looks the part of a statesman.  Central casting, send us a Governor!  But looks are not always reality.

On October 14, 2014, the Star-Ledger published a column by Assemblyman Webber.  Its title was "Fixing transportation and taxes together."  Jay Webber was writing about how to raise the gas tax, while offsetting that tax increase with cuts to other taxes.  He zeroed in on the estate tax:

"NEW JERSEY leaders are grappling with three major problems: First, New Jersey has the worst tax burden in the nation. Two, New Jersey's economy suffers from sluggish growth. And third, our state's Transportation Trust Fund is out of money. There is a potential principled compromise that can help solve all of them.

Of the three problems, the Transportation Trust Fund has been getting the most attention lately, and for good reason: It's broke. There is just no money in it to maintain and improve our vital infrastructure. Without finding a solution, we risk watching our roads and bridges grow unsafe and unusable and hinder movement of people and goods throughout the state. That, of course, will exacerbate our state's slow economic growth.

...we should insist that if any tax is raised to restore the TTF, it be coupled with the elimination of a tax that is one of our state's biggest obstacles to economic growth: the death tax. By any measure, New Jersey is the most extreme outlier on the death tax, with worst-in-the-nation status...

New Jersey's death tax is not a concern for the wealthy alone, as many misperceive. We are one of only two states with both an estate and inheritance tax. New Jersey's estate-tax threshold of $675,000, combined with a tax rate as high as 16 percent, means that middle-class families with average-sized homes and small retirement savings are hit hard by the tax.

It also means the tax affects small businesses or family farms of virtually any size, discouraging investment and growth among our private-sector job creators. Compounding the inequity is that government already has taxed the assets subject to the death tax when the money was earned. Because of our onerous estate and inheritance taxes, Forbes magazine lists New Jersey as a place "Not to Die" in 2014.

That's a problem, and it's one our sister states are trying hard not to duplicate. A recent study by Connecticut determined that states with no estate tax created twice as many jobs and saw their economies grow 50 percent more than states with estate taxes. That research prompted Connecticut and many states to reform their death taxes. New York just lowered its death tax, and several other states have eliminated theirs.

The good news is that New Jersey's leaders finally are realizing that our confiscatory death tax is a big deal. A bipartisan coalition of legislators has shown its support for reforming New Jersey's death tax..."

Unfortunately, when the time came for Jay Webber to be counted as part of that bipartisan coalition, he couldn't be counted on.  Jay got scared off by the lobbyist arm of the petroleum industry and what's worse is that he's now attacking those who did what he advocated doing only a short time ago.  And it only makes it worse that he's so darn pompous about it.

It was the same way back when Jay Webber was NJGOP chairman and he didn't have it in him to stand up to Governor Christie over the state party adopting the national Republican Party platform.  Not only did Jay fail to stand up for the principles of our party, he failed to defend those who did, and even attacked those who wouldn't sell out.

There's a lot more too, but this isn't about bashing Jay Webber, this is about a request for some humility.  Look, we all understand that sometimes people can't do what they said others should do -- but that doesn't mean that you kick at them and play holier-than-thou when they follow your advice and do it.

Now in fairness to Jay he did write these words in that column two years ago:  "Any gas-tax increase should be accompanied by measures that will help alleviate, or at least not increase, the overall tax burden on New Jerseyans."  And it is these words on which Jay is basing his current bout of ill temper.

Jay Webber thinks the bipartisan tax restructuring package worked out by the legislative leaders (minus Senator Kean Jr.) and the Governor will result in a net tax increase.  Others, like Senator Steve Oroho, disagree with him.  Now Jay is a lawyer and by all accounts a good lawyer.  Steve is a numbers man. He's a certified financial planner and CPA.  Before beginning his career of public service, Steve Oroho was a senior financial officer for S&P 500 companies like W. R. Grace and  Young & Rubicam.  Now you take your advice from whom you think best.

There is one word you won't find in Jay Webber's 730-word column.  That word is debt.  Yep... D-E-B-T.  Because there are a whole lot of Republicans who don't think on that word too much.  To their minds we can spend and spend and leave it for another generation to pay. 

We hope that Jay Webber isn't one of these Debt & Spend Republicans.  There sure is a lot of it going around.  They think that never voting to raise a tax makes you a conservative, but that's just silly.  Conservatives, real conservatives, balance their expenditures with their revenue.  They enter into debt for long term projects only when they have a plan and the means to pay it back.  Real conservatives don't starve revenue for political points while piling debt upon debt.  That's not being conservative, that's being bankrupt.

If Assemblyman Webber is truly determined to take on what he describes as New Jersey's "worst tax burden in the nation," he's going to need to focus on the state's highest in the nation property taxes.  It is the state's property taxes that gives it the highest foreclosure rate in America.

To do that, New Jersey is going to have to take a step that Jay Webber, as a lawyer, might find distasteful.  New Jersey is going to have to elect its State Supreme Court.  It was the unelected Supreme Court that seized the Legislature's power nearly 40 years ago and with it the people's income tax revenue. It is the unelected Supreme Court that to this day uses that money to its ends and not for the ends promised to the people, namely property tax relief.  And because this money is wasted, New Jersey must have the highest property taxes in America to pay for the education  of its children.   

Until you wrest away that money by voting them out of office, you will never have a low tax, low debt, and prosperous state.

The Debt and Spend Republicans

There was a time, way back, when Republicans balanced the books.  Yeah, you could trust those Democrats to maybe go off on some flight of fancy, some childish attempt to throw money at a problem, but Republicans were the party of the adults, straight-laced and bottom-lined.  Those years when the Democrats were in charge and went off the rails -- spent too much, ran up debt -- those would be followed by lean years with the Republicans cutting spending and paying down debt.

That's not how it works anymore.  Like modern families, both political parties have learned that the shortest route to becoming "most favored parent" is to buy it for the kids and put the debt on the credit card.  Under no circumstances must the voters be taught lessons in budgeting and that spending money you don't have has consequences.

The debate over the funding of the Transportation Trust Fund has produced a curious dichotomy within the GOP.  On the one hand, you have a small group of starched-assed Republicans who simply refuse to continue the Santa Claus myth that a revenue source can remain constant for nearly three decades and magically fund all our transportation needs. 

They know that the last time the revenue collected from the gas tax covered the cost of the transportation program it was designed to fund was in 1990 -- 25 years ago.  Year after year we've fallen further and further behind in debt, to the point where last year the tax on gasoline and diesel brought in just $750 million.  That same year the cost to pay the debt was $1.1 billion.  It had to be paid before a single pothole was filled.  And paid it was -- with more debt. 

For 25 years we've been using roads and bridges that we couldn't afford to pay for and nobody seemed to notice, nobody seemed to care.  And anytime anyone dared to suggest paying off some of that debt you could hear the howls and cries of the children's chorus.  Why is it that we only hear calls for savings when there's talk of paying more?  Why doesn't anyone ever notice the debt until the credit card statement is due? 

For 25 years we have watched our incomes rise in an attempt to keep up with inflation, while those on Social Security received cost-of-living adjustments to combat inflation --  increases of 5.4% in 1990, 3.7% in 1991, 3% in 1992, 2.6% in 1993, 2.8% in 1994, 2.6% in 1995, 2.9% in 1996, 2.1% in 1997, 1.3% in 1998, 2.5% in 1999, 3.5% in 2000, 2.6% in 2001, 1.4% in 2002, 2.1% in 2003, 2.7% in 2004, 4.1% in 2005, 3.3% in 2006, 2.3% in 2007, 5.8% in 2008, zero in 2009, zero in 2010, 3.6% in 2011, 1.7% in 2012, 1.5% in 2013, 1.7% in 2014, and zero in 2015 -- but the price we paid to maintain our roads and bridges remained the same?  Didn't we ever wonder how?      

New Jersey is a fiscal mess because it has the nation's highest property taxes and runaway debt.  According to the Tax Foundation, New Jersey has the worst business climate in America -- 50 out of 50 states -- because, and let's quote them here:  "New Jersey is hampered by some of the highest property tax burdens in the country, is one of just two states to levy both an inheritance tax and an estate tax, and maintains some of the worst-structured individual income taxes in the country."

So the adults in the Republican Party, fashioned a plan to attack a big part of this sorry state of affairs.  Being in the minority, in both chambers of the Legislature, they had to work out a compromise with the Democrats.  But they had an ally in Governor Chris Christie, who wouldn't let anything less than comprehensive get past his veto pen.  Painstakingly, they worked out a very detailed plan that gets rid of the estate tax before the Governor leaves office, eliminates the tax on retirement income for most seniors, cuts the sales tax to boost commerce, provides a tax credit for working people with low-paying jobs, and provides a personal tax exemption for veterans.  The plan also addresses debt by raising the tax on gasoline and diesel to make up for all those 28 years it hasn't been adjusted for inflation. 

Even with the increase, all of the existing tax and the first 10 cents of the increase is needed just to start paying down the irresponsible debt New Jersey ran up while nobody wanted to pay attention.  Without a 23 cent increase, we cannot maintain and repair our roads and bridges, fund our transportation system, and start to pay down the debt.

You know that meetings have been held with Republicans around the state, asking for ideas on what to cut and how to cut to make transportation construction more efficient and less costly to taxpayers.  And we have to tell you, that the same people who demand savings have been less than forthcoming with specifics.  Everyone has a hashtag but nobody has specifics.  And how did it come to pass that Republicans are so scared shitless of numbers?  Lots of hooting and waving of hands until you ask somebody to put it down on paper, run the numbers.  They look at you as if you asked them to go to the moon.  If we are going to have savings, we are going to have to do better.

Can  you hear the howls?  They're coming from the debt and spend Republicans.  See the hashtags?  They read #NOGASTAX.  Now there is a responsible plan... isn't it?  With such a plan we can solve all New Jersey's debt issues.  Three short words squished together gets it done.  Brilliant!

Remember when Republicans busied themselves with spreadsheets instead of hashtags?  Remember those Republicans in the boring white shirt sleeves and ties, who had survived Patton's winter drive through France, who had lived through MacArthur's island-hopping, and who came out of it to remake the Republican Party and launch the new conservative movement?  Remember them?

Well, they are not with us anymore.  Oh, there are a few who keep to the path begun by them. But for too many, understanding spreadsheets and budgeting is hard work.  Reading requires attention.  So the new Republican is content to be a celebrity-chaser who has given up reading white papers for hashtags and tweets, who requires entertainment instead of facts, ice cream lies instead of hard honesty.  Piss on knowledge.  Lie to me, they say, lie to me and make me feel righteous in my anger.  It feels so good to play the victim.

When Benjamin Franklin was leaving Independence Hall at the end of the Constitutional Convention of 1787, he was asked by a Mrs. Powel, "Well, Doctor, what have we got -- a Republic or a Monarchy?"  To which Dr. Franklin replied:  "A Republic, if you can keep it."

Citizenship was never meant to be easy.  It requires attention, interest, and vigilance.  Hashtags are no substitute for reading the legislation or for understanding the numbers.  Tweets should not replace books. 

As residents of America our distractions are many but as citizens of America our attention must be to the Republic.  We have self-governance in our hands if we merely make time for it.  But that will mean putting aside those with the too-simple-to-be-true answers that allow us to happily keep to our distractions. If we want our Republic back, we are going to have to grow a set of balls, learn to read the bills and understand the balance sheets, demand to be told the unpleasant truths, and brook no easy lies. 

And yes, we are going to have to wean ourselves off debt and learn to pay our way.  Because if we don't, we will condemn our children and our grandchildren to be debt slaves to Red China.   

AFP/Koch screwing NJ taxpayers on jobs

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

This is the LIE being promoted by AFP:

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

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

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

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

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

What's up with AFP NJ?

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

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

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

Starting with Atlantic City, State Focus Should Return to Fiscally Responsible Management

By Harvey Roseff

For too long now, New Jerseyans have been subjected to a political nightmare with each Political Party pandering to its constituency.  The New Jersey Taxpayer Association ("NJTA") asks for a return to prudent management and respect for the State taxpayer.  It should start by the State exiting from any involvement with Atlantic City's plight.

Atlantic City's fiscal problems are local in nature.  Without involving the State taxpayer, there exist proper State and Federal legal venues to resolve business disputes between creditors, employees and residents.  It is irresponsible for State party politics to now insert itself and expose the State taxpayer to heavy burdens of distracted management focus, expensive legal actions and what always happens in the end, an unacceptable, uncalled-for State bailout packed with expensive contractors and professional legal "help".

Forty years ago, the State of New Jersey handed Atlantic City, a city endowed with an incredible gift from nature, an additional prize that most municipalities would die for - a windfall in the form of a statewide business monopoly (casinos).  This came at the expense of the rest of the State and became quite a "cash cow". 

How the State and local municipalities invested their individual takings from the "cash cow" is today of their respective responsibilities.  On their own volition, each individually derived out-sized benefits and exposed themselves to future liabilities.  Therefore, the State taxpayer should not be involved with Atlantic City's Master Plan, employee pay scales or bond debt responsibilities.  Neither should Atlantic City residents and creditors have access to State taxpayers' pockets and free legal and professional help to pay for their choices. Each should re-prioritize and restructure without external interference and should not place burdens on outsiders. 

NJTA is quite concerned that Atlantic City's unfortunate circumstance has led to a State partisan fight that will eventually attack the State taxpayer pocket. The State legislature and Governor should not be picking sides, nor adjudicating disputes, between local labor, management and creditor groups.  The fact that this is happening only means the State taxpayer is being set up to pay for something that is  fiduciary  wrong.

The State taxpayer doesn't need added burden that delivers nothing to their lives and communities.  If the local parties can't resolve their business and financial issues, Atlantic City belongs in bankruptcy court - a venue that will not burden and tax the general State public to pay for a local dispute. Bankruptcy court has recently and well served Jefferson County, AL and California cities. It is bankruptcy court that was designed for the plight of Atlantic City, not so our legislative and executive branches. Don't now stack the deck against State taxpayers.

Harvey Roseff is the Vice President of the New Jersey Taxpayers Association.  You can read more about the group and its work at njtaxes.org.