Yesterday there were four real Jersey guys on the radio from 5PM-6PM for what might have been the last LaRossa and Gallagher Radio Show on WIFIAM1460.
I’m not knocking THE Jersey Guys, Casey, Rossi and Bob Ingle on Fridays, formerly of 101.5 FM. I enjoyed their show and listened to it whenever I was on the road in the afternoon. My favorite all time show was Casey screaming, “YOU’RE LOSING VOTES RIGHT NOW” at gubernatorial candidate Chris Christie during the 2009 primary campaign while Christie was trying to finesse an answer to a particularly blunt question.
I think 101.5 was nuts to cancel the show that they themselves promoted as the most successful afternoon radio show in the country. I doubt the petition to get the show back on the air will make any difference, but if you want to be part of it, you can do so here.
As good as the show was, my friend Tommy DeSeno is right. As talented as they are, Casey, Rossi and Ingle are not really Jersey guys. Casey’s from California, Rossi from Brooklyn and Ingle from Georgia. They’re not Jersey guys like the four natives who were on the radio yesterday afternoon, my partner Senator Dick LaRossa born in Trenton on July 1 (Happy Birthday Dick!), Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon, Fair Haven Mayor Mike Halfacre, and yours truly.
Straight Talk On The Pension and Health Care Reforms
While our show was not nearly as funny as THE Jersey Guys, it was the most informative and honest report of the pension and benefits reform package anywhere to date, if I do say so myself.
My hat is off to Declan O’Scanlon for coming back on the show for second week in a row knowing that I was not buying the hype of the “landmark” nature of the reforms and for answering our questions frankly.
O’Scanlon is high on the impact the reforms are making compared to what would have happened if the status quo continued. However, with only a little dancing, he did acknowledge that without significant economic growth, New Jersey will be in deep doo doo as the taxpayers increase their state pension contributions by $500 million each year over the next seven years. That doesn’t include the municipal pension contributions that come from property taxes.
Botton line…there is a very real possibility that the pension reforms in particular will lead to large tax increases on the state and local levels and/or draconian spending cuts. O’Scanlon did not dispute that. He argued things would be much worse had the administration and legislature done nothing.
During the second half hour Halfacre was upbeat about 1) the fact that the deal could have been done at all given the historical nature of things in Trenton, and 2) the savings Fair Haven taxpayers will realize from the health care end of the reforms.
The highlight of the show was Halfacre’s explanation of how he and the Fair Haven Council have been able to lower property taxes three years in a row and counting: 1) Saying no, 2) Pissing people off, 3) Standing firm when the pissed off people are yelling at you, 4) Doing all of that and getting reelected.
Why was Tuesday’s show perhaps the last LaRossa and Gallagher Show? Dick and I are thinking of changing the name of the show to The Jersey Guys or The Real Jersey Guys. We’re hoping Millennium Radio will issue and cease and desist letter or maybe even sue us so we can get lots of free publicity and beat out Deminski and Doyle on Tuesday afternoons.
Alex Desevo officially resigned his candidacy for Middletown Township Committee this afternoon, less than 8 hours after MMM reported that he was still a candidate despite press reports to the contrary.
According to The Asbury Park PressMiddletown Democratic Chairman Joe Caliendo faxed Desevo’s resignation letter to Monmouth County Clerk of Elections Bertha Sumick at 3:30 this afternoon.
Caliendo told the APP that the Democrats have three volunteers to choose from to replace Desevo and that a decision will be made on Thursday evening.
Bio-tech entrepreneur and Navy intelligence reservist John Crowley will not be a candidate for the GOP nomination to challenge Senator Robert Menendez next year, according to his friend and political adviser Bill Spadea speaking to Politickernj.
Crowley stepped down as CEO of the firm he founded, Amicus Theraputics, in April in order to focus on “public policy, civic service and philanthropic endeavors.” An “unnamed political adviser,” said at the time that Crowley was likely to compete for the 2012 U.S. Senate nomination.
Earlier today Amicus announced that Crowley would be returning as CEO in August after his reserve duty with Naval Intelligence.
Last weekend The Star Ledger’sAuditor reported that someone was anonymously circulating opposition research about Crowely in an attempt to thrwart his candidacy. Spadea told MMM that the Auditor piece had no impact on Crowley’s decision not to run, “if anything it was just the opposite.” Spadea said that a Senate run “was not possible given the weight of John’s commitments to his family, to bringing new drugs to market and to the military.”
At this early stage, the Republican contest to challenge Menendez is shaping up to be a race between State Senators Joe Kyrillos (Monmouth) and Mike Doherty (Warren).
I’m sure you remember the row that took place a few years back when it was revealed that “Jersey Guys” Craig Carton and Ray Rossi weren’t exactly Jersey Guys.
It all blew up when that shivering pantywaist Carton ran away from the studio in fear because the state police held a presser and pictured a copy of his license plate, showing he was a “Pennsylvania” guy. Carton actually claimed people would try to hurt him, and left the state. What a punk. It was his second time running like a rabbit. The first time fled the studio was when he thought Dick Codey was going to kick his ass for taking cheap shots at Mrs. Codey. I wish Codey had.
Rossi is a guy who spent most of his life not from here, but moved here to take the Jersey gig. Not exactly a Jersey Guy himself.
Carton left and was replaced by a new “Jersey Guy,” Californian Casey Bartholemew.
The only Jersey connection I could see to the show was frequent guest and Gannett writer Bob Ingle. However I can’t tell you how Bob did because I refused to listen after the hypocrisy of a station whose tag line is “Not New York…Not Philadelphia” was revealed to be “not New Jersey, either.”
Now the faux New Jersey station has fired the faux Jersey Guys and are bringing back the old team of Deminski and Doyle – who have been DJs in Michigan for the past 12 years.
The headline in the Asbury Park Press print edition said “Candidate Quits” but as of yesterday afternoon, Alex Desevo was still a Democratic candidate for Middletown Township Committee, 10 days after his arrest for possession of crack cocaine at the Holmdel Motor Inn.
Bertha Sumick, Monmouth County Clerk of Elections, said she has not received a letter of resignation from Desevo.
Desevo might have been able to save his family the embarrassment of his troubles being front page news had he resigned his candidacy as soon as possible…like the Monday morning after his arrest. However, judging by the reaction of Middletown Mike, the Middletown Democrats didn’t learn of Desevo’s situation until after the APP published the details.
This could be great for business. The longer Desevo drags this out in a Weineresque style, the more traffic and silly comments from Middletown Democrats this site will get.
Maybe Anna Little will launch a DESEVO MUST RESIGN ad campaign.
Word on the street is that Desevo was always intended only to be a “place holder” candidate, while Middletown Democratic Chairman Joe Caliendo searched the township for “a candidate who can really represent Middletown well.”
Caliendo’s problem is that all of the people who represent Middletown well are Republicans.
Just to be neighborly (and to demonstrate to awesome reach of MMM) I’d like to help Caliendo out. Any Democrat who wants to run for Township Committee, should contact Joe Caliendo at [email protected]. Hey Joe, even Mike didn’t do that for you! No charge this time.
Assembly Republican Budget Officer Declan O’Scanlon returns to the LaRossa and Gallagher Radio Show this afternoon at 5 PM. O’Scanlon will continue the conversation we started last week on the impact of the new pension and health care system for government employees and fill us in on the moving and shaking happening this week in Trenton with budget negotiations. The State must have a new budget by Thursday night at midnight.
During the second 1/2 hour of the show we will be joined by Fair Haven Mayor Mike Halfacre. Halfacre will be discussing the impact of the pension and health care reforms on municipalities.
The LaRossa and Gallagher Radio Show, sponsored by Repatriot Radio, features former State Senator Richard LaRossa and your favorite blogger. It is broadcast every Tuesday afternoon from 5PM to 6PM on WIFI AM 1460 and on the world wide web here.
Listeners are encouraged to call into the show with questions and comments. The call in number is 609-447-0236.
Leaders of the Middletown Democratic Party met last night to select a new running mate for Jim Grenafege on the ticket for Township Committee, according to a report in the Asbury Park Press.
Even though the Dems have 92 members of their party committee, including Grenafege, there was no announcement of who will replace Alex Desevo on the ballot. The APP article indicates that it could take the Dems until September to select a candidate.
Municipal party chairman Joe Caliendo said, “We believe we have a good chance of winning this November, so we want to find a candidate who can really represent Middletown well,” according to the APP.
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo are both being hailed in the media for the “landmark” legislation they were able to get passed by their respective legislatures last week. Christie got his pension and benefits compromise passed and Cuomo led New York into becoming the sixth state in the nation to give homosexuals the right to marry.
In what could be considered a level of dissatisfaction with the current field of 2012 presidential candidates, including President Obama, there is now a media buzz about both Christie and Cuomo competing for their respective party nominations for President in 2016.
While Christie and Cuomo have put together similar records of bringing fiscal discipline to their state’s budgets and pension systems, the two governors part ways over gay marriage. Christie says he believes that marriage should remain between one man and one woman and points to the Democrats inability to pass a marriage equality law during the lame duck session in 2009-2010 when they controlled both the legislature and Governor’s office.
Besides gay marriage, the other big difference between Christie and Cuomo is how use the media.
Christie is all over the national media…Piers Morgan on CNN two weeks ago, the Today Show last week, Meet The Press yesterday, MSNBC, Fox and Friends and Imus today, followed by Steve Malzberg on 710 AM radio and his monthly NJ 101.5 Ask The Governor gig tomorrow.
Cuomo has taken the exact opposite approach. He told his staff not to discuss or speculate about his presidential ambitions and has turned down most requests for interviews from both the national and New York media during his first six months in office, according to Fredric U. Dicker writing in the New York Post:
Cuomo ordered his staff not to discuss or even speculate on the possibility that he harbors presidential ambitions.
He also directed his aides to turn down invitations to appear on several high-profile national news shows to discuss gay marriage, believing the media would turn them into discussions of a possible presidential campaign, administration insiders said.
“He’s seen this dance before, with his father,” said a source close to Cuomo, referring to former Gov. Mario Cuomo’s flirtation with a presidential run in 1992.
“It’s distracting and possibly destructive to a governor, and you have to shut it down immediately, immediately, because it will begin to fuel itself if you don’t.”
Cuomo has repeatedly turned down most requests for interviews by national and New York news outlets during his first six months in office, but interest exploded following Friday night’s gay-marriage vote.
“The governor also views the speculation as disrespectful to the position of governor, and it would make the governor look like just another politician looking to take the next step on the ladder, which is not the case,” the source said.
We’ve seen the Christie for President in 2012 or 2016 buzz fuel itself and be encouraged by the Governor.
When was the last time you saw a national TV interview with Mitch Daniels? Daniels withdrew from consideration for the GOP 2012 nomination and hasn’t been heard from on a national level since. Christie has repeatedly denied any interest in the 2012 race, saying he’s not ready. Yet Christie and the national media can’t get enough of each other.
Christie doesn’t see the national attention as being a distraction from his job. He’s made it part of his job. Christie’s probably the most televised governor in New Jersey history. And he hasn’t done a “Perfect Together” tourism commercial.
One thing I’ve come to believe about Christie since I started observing him in early 2009 is that he always has a purpose and a plan. Even when he speaks off the cuff, he’s on purpose and forwarding his plan.
Christie and his team are too smart to believe that all the attention he is getting now will have an impact in 2016. If he’s not running for President now, as he insists, what could his purpose be in fueling all the national media attention?
My life is like a stroll upon the beach, As near the ocean’s edge as I can go.
– Henry David Thoreau
I’m a son of a beach. Sand between my toes and white stuff on my nose. People have many different places they feel closest to God. Church comes to mind. Others enjoy the serenity of a garden, forest or mountain. I’m betting the ubiiquitous Dave Carter feels something for an open road. For me, sitting on a jetty with the waves lapping around me fills me with the Holy Spirit.
My absolute favorite time to go down the beach is just after sun up when it is truly hot and sunny – still over 80 degrees at sunrise. The ocean looks like it’s covered in diamonds and there is a sizzling sound when the wave breaks and crawls upon the sand. No tourists yet. Just me and my safe place until they get here.
By the way – “down the beach” – that’s a colloquialism used by beach boys. We never go “to the beach,” it’s always “down the beach.” There is at least a decade-long moratorium against newcomer assimilation should we hear you say “down the shore.” Never say “shore” if you want to fit in with the locals.
Despite the spiritual love we in New Jersey have for the sand and surf, our state is one of the few places in the world to charge people to walk on the sand to get to the ocean. Jersey strange. First we charge you $2 per hour to park next to the beach, then $8 per person to walk onto it.
The law is truly odd. The public has a right to the high water mark left by the ocean. Government can’t charge you for being there. The problem is, not even Carl Lewis on his best Olympic day could long jump the 75 or so yards of sand to get from the boardwalk to the high water mark. Land in the sand and you get arrested.
For sure there are places in New Jersey where you can get on the sand free of charge. But that’s a vestige of the “separate but equal” mindset of yesteryear, because as every local knows, you can’t go to just “any old beach.” Beaches are as personal to people as their undergarments, and held just as closely.
Don’t marry a beach girl or boy until you first work out which beach you’ll frequent. Some love waves. Some love little coves. Some want shade. My wife digs Avon-By-The-Sea since it’s a big family beach. I body surf in Asbury Park because there are at least a dozen venues where I can swill adult beverages right on the boardwalk. So we split our time between beaches. My wife and I treat our beaches like divorced parents treat their children – we get visitation every other weekend.
The point is, don’t tell me I can go miles away to a free beach I don’t like and all is the same. It’s like telling me to wear shoes that don’t fit. I can’t get comfortable.
The political debate that rages in New Jersey, as it now rages again, is not whether government should decide if you can swim. It is “which government” gets to decide if you can swim. Some lobby for state rule (big government monolithic solution) and the more conservative (so they claim) want “home rule” where each town gets to decide the rules.
I don’t know why there needs to be any rules. New Jersey towns will tell you they have to pay for life guards and beach cleanup, so they should get to charge for beach access.
I counter with Aruba. Bermuda. Cancun. Jamaica. Bahamas. Every state on America’s east coast. These are all places I’ve been where I didn’t have to pay a dime to park near the beach, walk on the sand or swim in the Ocean. All of them have governments that work, with taxes and costs of living far less than the Garden State. So, Mr. New Jersey Mayors – your excuse is sooooo bogus (said in my best Jeff Spicoli voice)!
How about MMM? What do you think? Let me pose a polling question that is fair, unloaded and in no way leads you to an answer I personally hope you give:
Should New Jersey towns honor the freedom and liberty that our Americanism promises since the time of our founding by making beaches free, or should they continue their neo-fascist, big government corruption by charging money for the God given right to shred a waive?
