Good Govt NJ Style - Hide the Senator!

Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) has decided to come off his mountain and debate Dick Zimmer on November 1, 2008. The State of New Jersey is awash in government corruption scandals. The perpetrators in these scandals are almost exclusively Democrats. Lautenberg is allegedly one of the parties leaders and yet, he refuses to debate, speak or really appear in public that much.

At the heart of good government is the access citizens have to the process and the people who run it. Every citizen of this state has a right and a responsibility to hear from the candidates from elected dog catcher to governor to (yes, Mr Lautenberg) Senator. Yet, Frank Lautenberg refuses to even pretend that he has to act like he wants our votes. True, this state has a lot of people who will vote for this man because they are told to by their union or their boss. But there are also people in New Jersey that want to hear from the man.

But even then we are shortchanged. For example, in a recent Newsday story about King Frank agreeing to a late debate, there were plenty of quotes from Zimmer. But from Lautenberg-only a "spokesman". This was the same trend during the primary. Is this man even alive anymore? Can someone check his pulse? (I can't wait for a spokesman for Lautenberg to issue a press release that yes indeed, the senator is alive)

New Jersey citizens have a right to hear from you Mr Lautenberg.

Lautenberg is 7th-Richest Member of Congress

As noted here, he's worth over 55 million dollars. Here are the people who beat him out:

1. Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.)
$230.98 million
2. Rep. Jane Harman (D-Calif.)
$225.96 million
3. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.)
$160.62 million
4. Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.)
$80.40 million
5. Rep. Robin Hayes (R-N.C.)
$78.96 million
6. Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-Fla.)
$65.49 million

Lautenberg up in polls and NJ residents just don't get it!

From this article in Newsday:

A new poll shows incumbent U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg enjoys a comfortable lead over Republican challenger Dick Zimmer heading into the fall election season.

The Fairleigh Dickinson-PublicMind poll has Lautenberg up by 11 percent, with the low-key Zimmer still struggling to get his name known to the electorate.

Here is what I don't get:

1. Lautenberg has frankly presided over the largest decrease in net return of federal taxpayer dollars to NJ residents in history.

No one cares.

2. Lautenberg is one of the leaders of the Democrat party that has had more that 100 of its elected officials convicted of public corruption in the last four years.

No one cares.

3. NJ keep debating gun rights and abortion in our state elections, neither of which matters in the live of many NJ residents. Issues that do matter like taxes, standard of living, education and government spending never get discussed.

No one cares.

4. NJ residents pay more taxes that any other state.

No one cares.

5. NJ has experienced the largest outflow of business and people of any state in the country EXCEPT Michigan in the past four years.

No one cares.

6. The Democratic legislature is only capable of spending more of residents money and enacting meaningless legislation (slavery apology).

No one cares.

7. Both Democrat and Republican apologists for the status quo have no ideas, no answers, no ethics and no action plan to change anything.

And no one cares.

Lautenberg - Let them eat cake!

From this article in Newsday:

Sen. Frank Lautenberg is facing some criticism over some comments he made to ABC World News about parties hosted by lobbyists.

In Denver for this week's Democratic National Convention, Lautenberg told ABC News' Brian Ross "with a smile" that it is his "duty" to attend the parties.

"Of course, you must visit, make sure that the food they serve is OK, that it passes the taste test and the liquor is the right vintage," Lautenberg said.

Is it not bad enough the we have a constant wave of Democrat politicians in this state being investigated, indicted and going to jail for influence related criminality? Now we are supposed to laugh off comments made by a Senator that owes his seat to another ethically challenged Senator (remember, NJ politicians don't retire, they go to jail).

Lautenberg does not serve the people in this state. He serves himself. Just as he told ABC.

Obama's Supporters Think The Soprano State's Leaders Are Doing A Great Job

Want Yet Another Reason not to vote for an Obama-nation? How about the fact that his backers think New Jersey legislators are to be commended?

N.J. eco-group backs Obama, gives lawmakers high marks
2 senators, 8 congressmen get perfect scores

A state environmental advocacy group yesterday announced its endorsement of Sen. Barack Obama for president and gave New Jersey's two U.S. senators and eight of its 13 congressmen perfect scores for their environmental records.

Environment New Jersey based its report card on 10 votes between January 2007 and February 2008 that involved combating global warming, promoting clean energy, protecting air and water, and opposing offshore drilling, Executive Director Dena Mottola Jaborska said at a Statehouse news conference.

So if you're interested in the kinds of things that make Obama friends, it's business-unfriendly government. And half-measures aren't enough. You have to really hate business. For example:

Erica Elliott, Garrett's [Rep. Scott Garrett (R-5th Dist.)] spokeswoman, called the congressman's poor marks "an unfair representation," and issued a list of his environmentally-oriented advocacy. It includes his introduction of a bill to expand the National Wallkill Wildlife Refuge in Sussex, and his support of getting a toxic waste site in Ringwood re-listed on the Superfund National Priorities List.

Scott, of course, scored the lowest in the state, which may be good or bad, but I certainly can't tell from the negative picture painted by this environmentalist group. After all, look at who they like:

Voting environmentally friendly 100 percent of the time were U.S. Sens. Frank Lautenberg and Robert Menendez, both Democrats, and Reps. Frank LoBiondo (R-2nd Dist.), Chris Smith (R-4th Dist.), Robert Andrews (D-1st Dist.), Frank Pallone (D-6th Dist.), Bill Pascrell (D-8th Dist.), Steve Rothman (D-9th Dist.), Rush Holt (D-12th Dist.) and Albio Sires (D-13th Dist.).

80% or them are Democrats, of course, including some of our worst, and I have to suspect that LoBiondo and Smith are RINOs; especially when you consider who also scored low alongside Rep. Garrett: Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-11th Dist.), and Rep. Mike Ferguson (R-7th Dist.). You don't get a Democrat until you tie him with another Republican for a 69% score. Clearly "bipartisan":

"Being green in the Garden State is a bipartisan issue and we applaud our delegation's environmental heroes, especially the leadership from Sen. Menendez and Sen. Lautenberg," Mottola Jaborska said.

Sounds like a lot of Jaborska to me.

NJ Residents Support Offshore Drilling!

As Emporor's Menendez and Lautenberg continue to fiddle at the expense of New Jersey's taxpayers, a new poll sheds some light on what the people in our state think about their policies on energy.

From MyCentralJersey.com:

With the cost of gasoline hovering near $4 a gallon, a majority of New Jersey residents say they would support drilling for oil off the Jersey coast, according to a Monmouth University/Gannett New Jersey poll released today.


Fifty-six percent said they would favor drilling for oil or natural gas off the Jersey Shore, while 36 percent opposed the idea.

So, slightly more that 1/3 oppose drilling offshore but Senator Menendez can send me a letter speaking down to me on energy policy that contained nothing of any substance that would help people. But, out politicians say, "let them eat cake!".

New Jersey's political leaders have traditionally fought against offshore oil drilling, and they said they would continue to do so, in spite of the poll results.

"New Jersey's coastline is the lifeblood of our economy and a fragile environmental treasure that helps shape our way of life, and the governor intends to fight any attempt to jeopardize it," said Sean Darcy, spokesman for Gov. Corzine.

As we continue to say at NJ Tax Revolution, until we threw this entire pack of bought-and-paid-for politicians and replace them with a representative government of, by and for the people of New Jersey, we will continue to feel the pain of their incompetence.

Read the entire article here.

Zimmer hold Lautenberg Accountable

For far too long, Senator Frank Lautenberg has been happy to thoroughly trash his opponents whether they are Democrats or Republicans. His engine to spew slime is as well known as the corrupt tactics that put him in office the second time around after his corrupt predecessor was forced to withdraw he bid for re-election. But in a response to an editorial, Dick Zimmer took some serious shots at Lautenberg record in this article from the Dailyrecord.com:

Our incumbent Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., certainly has never agreed with your contention that the gap between what New Jersey sends to Washington and what we get back is a phony issue. Back in 1982, when he first ran for the Senate, he complained that we ranked 45th out of the 50 states in the percentage of our tax dollars we got back from Washington and promised that he would change it. He certainly did. As your editorial correctly notes, we now rank dead last among all 50 states, a position we have held for many years. We currently receive back only 61 cents for every dollar we send to Washington.

These are serious words from a congressman with a solid track record of fiscal responsibility. While he will likely be completely sullied throughout this process by the Lautenberg machine, we shouldn't ignore some of the facts that represent our current Senator's record. Lautenberg will try to make this about Zimmers record while refusing to talk about his own. But he has one.

Lautenberg has not only failed New Jerseyans on the money we get from Washington, but he has failed us on the taxes we send there as well. He opposed the tax cuts of 2001 and 2003 on the grounds that they benefit the "rich." But, because New Jerseyans' incomes are relatively high, our state benefited from those tax cuts 33 percent more per capita than the nation as a whole. In fact, 3.4 million New Jersey tax payers saw savings because of the cuts. If Lautenberg had his way, and those tax cuts never went into effect, the return on each dollar we paid in taxes would not have been 61 cents; it would have been only 58 cents. Yet, Lautenberg wants to repeal most of those tax cuts.

This piece is a must read. Let's take Senator Lautenberg to task for once.

Lies and Taxes - Liberals lie and we pay!

This morning I read an excellent blog entry on Powerline that discussed "who pays the taxes". If you have never read Powerline, it is an excellent blog and the one most famous for taking down Dan Rather and his bogus hit job on President Bush during the last presidential election cycle. The net of theis post today is this:

1991
Top 1%
Reported 13% of the income
Paid 24.6% of the taxes
Top 5%
Reported 26.8% of the income
Paid 43.4% of the taxes
Bottom 50%
Reported 15.1% of the income
Paid 5.5% of the taxes

2007(from the Wall Street Journal)
Top 1%
Paid > 40% of the taxes
Top 50%
Paid 97% of the taxes
Bottom 50%
Paid 3% of the taxes

The first point here is that the media constantly talks about Bush giving tax breaks to his rich buddies. It seems to me that we have a far greater problem with Corzine and Obama giving people's hard earned money to individuals who are not holding up their end of society's joint burden. Liberals lie-We pay!

And for your information, the median taxpayer last year earned $31,000. So, it you make this number or above (this represents most of the working class of New Jersey) you are paying 97% of the taxes.

So the next time you hear John Corzine or Barack Obama tell you that you are not paying your fair share, remember these numbers. It's easy to blame the other guy and say he should pay. It is much harder to stand up and say "what's fair is fair for all of us".

Read the Powerline post here.

Roberts at it again! Suburbs beware!!!!!

I just read one of the best descriptions of the property tax mess summarized in one article. In the article "A Property Tax Disaster", Michael Patrick Carroll (on Politicker.com)discussed the looming danger non-city taxpayers face:

Every legislator claims to favor property tax relief, but by their actions shall you know them. The present majority gave us the fraudulent "millionaires’ tax", rebates with borrowed money, etc. But none of these rookie efforts compares with the threat posed by A-500.

Therein, Speaker Roberts and a cadre of urban legislators draw a bead on suburban taxpayers. Should this proposal pass – and be coupled with even more coercive COAH regulations – it could mean property tax increases in the hundreds of millions, of billions, of dollars.

Lest we feel that this article is overstating the case, it clearly lays out the rationale for believing that we may be close to an acceleration of the disaster already propagated upon taxpayers in the past 6 years. The setup is COAH dictating to a local district that they need more low income housing to the tune of 1,000 units (which would be paired with 4,000 market rate units).

5,000 units; let’s assume 1 kid per unit = 5,000 new students. That’s, what, 10 new schools? Not being an Abbott district, the entire cost of that construction would fall on the shoulders of the existing taxpayers. Let’s be generous and assume that each unit pays $7,000 in annual property taxes. Bridgewater presently spends (roughly) $12,200 per kid, which means that present taxpayers will see their taxes increase by $26 million (5000 new kids at $5,200 deficit each), not including the costs of school construction.

But wait, there’s more. If the Abbott folks are correct – students from poor families need spending of roughly $25,000 per year to compensate for their poverty – that makes the deficit for 1000 of those kids roughly $18000 per annum. Oh, and the state contributes a princely 8% of the costs of educating a child in Bridgewater.

This development, then, would be an unmitigated property tax disaster for the local residents.

This entire situation as some level starts to make you sad. As the gas situation gets worse, my commuting cost continue to skyrocket and even food costs are going out of site, the luxury of living in the State of New Jersey is becoming less and less affordable. And the fact that the urban districts in this state will continue to look at people like me and those that read this blog as a pack of rubes ripe for the fleecing. Speaker Roberts is frankly just chief grafter in this pack. Carroll has some ideas in this regard:

Of course, it doesn’t have to be this way. We can address the housing problem by addressing the school funding problem: give each child an equal, state funded voucher.

If each kid came with a voucher, municipal opposition to housing construction would abate, because they’d be assets, not liabilities. A fair number of them would attend private schools, making their parents’ property tax payments pure municipal profit. And those who attend public schools would, now, pay their own way. The need for tens of billions of new construction spending on Abbott district schools would vanish. The incentive – and the ability – for Newark or Keansburg to lavish excessive salaries or reward employees with sweetheart deals would evaporate.

In short, kids, their parents, and the property taxpayers would benefit massively. Only those with a financial stake in the present, hugely expensive and horribly unfair system would suffer.

The funny thing here is that once the regular citizens of this state realize what is going on, it will be far too late. "Leaders" like Lautenberg, Menendez, Roberts and Kean Jr are all vested in a system that doesn't serve the state . And only after New Jersey starts to resemble Michigan will they get it. The productive people in this state are leaving in the 10's of thousands every year. One day, the teachers union may wake up and realize that not only isn't there a golden egg, the goose left long ago.

Read this excellent article here.