On Monday, October 25th, I went to Trenton to attend an event organized by the New Jersey Conference of Mayors, which is the largest and oldest Mayor’s organization in the United States. The purpose of the event was to meet with Governor Christie, the Assembly Republicans and the Assembly Democrats to urge the passage of a key provision of the Governor’s “Tool Kit” reforms: capping interest arbitration awards to the 2% property tax cap passed by the Legislature and signed by the Governor last Summer.
Many of you may remember that when both Republicans and Democrats passed the Governor’s budget, there was much hoopla about the 2% property tax cap, and there was an emphasis on the need for passage of the “Tool Kit” reforms that would enable local governments to manage the cap. While the Tool Kit is composed of many Bills, there is almost universal agreement among Mayors that arbitration reform that mirrors the cap is vital.
There is currently pending before the Legislature two versions of arbitration reform. In one version, A-3283, arbitrators, mediators or fact finders would be prevented from recommending or awarding any settlement that would exceed by more than 2% the total economic impact on the public employer.
The other version, A-3393 has already been reported out of Committee, and may go before the full Assembly any day. This version does not require an Arbitrator to adhere to the 2% cap, rather, it simply adds the cap to a list of nine criteria that should be considered by the Arbitrator in making a decision.
For obvious reasons, the need for a hard cap on arbitration awards is vital to the success of the hard cap on property taxes. To provide otherwise will slowly and inexorably eat away at all governmental functions until all that are left are those functions that are carried out by collective bargaining unit employees. Eventually even those “protected” employees will be downsized to feed the public sector union monster.
The group from the New Jersey Conference of Mayors was made up of Mayor’s from both sides of the aisle. Republicans, Democrats, large towns and small, all who have engaged in the municipal budget process recognize the need for this reform. The need for arbitration reform is not a partisan issue, it is an issue of economic and financial necessity.
The Governor graciously met with the approximately 35 Mayors who attended. He was introduced by David DelVecchio, Democrat Mayor of Lambertville. The Governor gave us as much time as we needed, and answered questions. Governor Christie emphasized the need for a hard cap on arbitration awards, and asked us to take his message to the Assembly.
The group of Mayors then walked to the Assembly Republican caucus room, where virtually every Republican member of the Assembly listened as Mayor Arnone, Republican of Neptune City and Mayor Tarantolo, Democrat of Eatontown, gave their pleas for enactment and reform. The Assembly Republicans asked their own questions, and agreed that real reform meant a hard cap on arbitration awards.
The overriding message brought to Trenton by the Mayors is that we have done almost all we can on our own. We have shared services, some have laid off employees, some have laid off police, some have cut services drastically. We have, often, done all we can do to stabilize property taxes in our towns. What we need now is help from Trenton. For too long, Trenton has helped itself, and not given the State’s municipalities the tools needed to stop the rise of property taxes. Now there is an opportunity to pass meaningful reform, and we can not let it slip away.
After leaving the Assembly Republican Caucus room, we went across the hallway to meet with the Assembly Democrats in their Caucus room.
The Assembly Democrats did not let our bipartisan group of Mayors in to speak with them. An anonymous staffer came out and said that the Assembly Democrats would be in caucus for at least another hour, and then the Assembly would go into session. Assembly Speaker Oliver would not come out to speak to us, nor would any other Assembly Democrat.
Our bipartisan group of Mayors, organized by the bipartisan New Jersey Conference of Mayors, were left out in the cold by the Assembly Democrats.
When people ask me why the Great State of New Jersey has the highest property taxes in the Country, I now have yet another first-hand account: Because the Assembly Democrats don’t care about your property taxes.
Even Frank Palloneknows his negative ad claiming Anna Little an extremists is ridiculous. So much so that he put his “I’m Frank Pallone and I approved this message” disclaimer at the front of the ad, rather than at the end of the ad as is customary.
This morning on FoxNews this ad ran:
The next frame on the TV screen was “I’m Frank Pallone and I approved this message.”
(HIGHLANDS, October 27) – Republican Congressional challenger Anna Little today maintained her campaign’s focus on Frank Pallone’s recent silence on his role in the passage of the government takeover of health care, frequently referred to in New Jersey’s 6th Congressional District as “PalloneCare.”
“Back in the spring, when he thought it was going to be popular, my opponent infamously said of the government takeover of health care, ‘This is not Obama’s bill. This isn’t Nancy Pelosi’s bill. This is MY bill,'” said Little. “But now that the public has learned more about what’s in it, and it’s not nearly as popular as he thought it was going to be, he’s gone radio silent – why, his campaign web site’s ‘On the Issues’ section doesn’t even MENTION health care!”
“Sadly, this is not surprising,” said Little. “All we’ve heard from Frank Pallone is distortions of my views, rather than an explanation for the votes he cast for a failed trillion-dollar stimulus package, a failed cap and trade policy that would raise everyone’s electricity bills, and the government takeover of health care.
“Of course, it’s perfectly understandable – if I had cast a vote to cut Medicare by $500 billion, reduce patient choice, put government bureaucrats between doctors and their patients, and raise taxes, I probably wouldn’t want to draw attention to it, either.
“But that’s the big difference between Frank Pallone and me – I would never have cast that vote in the first place!
“In six days, New Jersey will vote, and we’ll have a chance to send a fresh face to Washington,” said Little.
“If you think we’re headed in the right direction, then Frank Pallone is your man,” said Little. “But if you think we’re moving in the wrong direction, if you think you’re ready for a change, then I need your vote – because you cannot change Washington without changing the people we send to Washington!”
A screen capture of Pallone’s campaign web site “On the Issues” section, taken early this morning, is attached.
It is sad to watch a highly esteemed member of our community be so easily manipulated by a heartless politician shamelessly fighting to save his career.
Make now mistake about it. Rush Holt is, and has been, manipulating Greg and Linda Bean, the former editor of the Greater Media Newspapers and his wife, for his own desperate political purposes.
Back in September, Greg accused this blog of conspiring with the Sipprelle campaign to play “dirty tricks” on the Holt campaign. Bean said he was convinced that the Sipprelle camp had put me up to posting “Abram Spangel’s” Rush Holt Champions Infanticidepost and that Spangelis a pseudonym of mine. The truth is that the Sipprelle campaign wanted to distance themselves from Spangel’s posts before Greg reacted to that one. I am not Spangel. Bean milked the controversy he created for a couple of weeks in his column in the Greater Media newspapers and on their website. I maintain that Bean was looking to attack Sipprelle and used this blog as his excuse to get started.
In case your unaware, Greg and his wife Linda lost their son Coleman to suicide in September of 2008. Coleman had served two tours in Iraq and was seeking treatment from the VA for post-traumatic stress syndrome. Holt and Bean blame Coleman’s suicide on a “gap in the system” that doesn’t serve members of the Individual Ready Reserve (IRR), reservists who are not assigned to a unit. Greg wrote:
“He fell through the cracks. He had no advocate, no Army machinery to help him find his way through the system. He felt he was literally on his own. He made appointments with the VA to have an ulcer treated and to obtain treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder. Those appointments were postponed. He was still waiting when he took his own life.”
Holt reached out to console the Beans after their loss. Whether his initial gesture was genuine or political only he and God know. Since then, Holt has obviously been exploiting his relationship with the Beans for political purposes. During the spring of this year Holt promoted the legislation he introduced “to close the gap” in mental health care available to members of the IRR with great emotion and fanfare. He had the Beans testify in Washington and “earned” a lot of free media in the central jersey papers.
In his closing remarks at the Rider University debate with Sipprelle, Holt brought up the Bean legislation–“out of nowhere”–it had not been a topic during the debate–as a reason to reelect him.
Now the Holt campaign has an ad featuring the Beans tugging on the heart strings of 12th district voters, as if Holt’s efforts on their behalf are a reason to give the congressman another term:
In the ad, Greg Bean says Rush Holt has “worked on this (legislation) tirelessly.” Holt hasn’t work on it tirelessly.
Linda Bean says, “what we are talking about is legislation that will save someone’s life.” The legislation will not save anyone’s life.
Greg says, “Congressman Holt has actually been better than his word.” He hasn’t.
Holt approved the message and he has orchestrated the manipulation of the Beans.
Holt’s Congressional website, the one we taxpayers pay for, says the legislation he introduced in memory of Sgt. Coleman Bean has passed the House and awaits action in the Senate. It has not passed the House. It is buried in the Military Personnel sub-committee of the House Armed Forces Committee. Holt lied to the Beans and he is lying to his constituents on the website they are paying for.
Holt’s Congressional site, the one we pay for, goes on to say that on July 28 the House unanimously passed his amendment to allocate $20 million into the Fiscal Year 2011 Department of Veterans Affairs budget for direct advertising and the use of online social media for suicide prevention outreach. The House passed the funding bill for the Department of Veterans Affairs, and it awaits Senate passage.
Amendment to what bill Holt doesn’t say. But that it awaits passage in the Senate means it hasn’t happened.
If Rush Holt actually has worked tirelessly on his Bean legislation, he is incompetent. The legislation is not law. It is a campaign piece. It will not save any lives. If Rush Holt has been “better than his word” that is because his word has never been any good.
There is a strong argument to be made that Holt is incompetent. In the current Congress he has introduced 38 pieces of legislation. None became law. In the 110th Congress he introduced 52 bills. None became law. In the 109th Congress Holt introduced 50 bills. One, a resolution (not a law) passed the House and the Senate. That resolutionrecognised the 40th Anniversary of the Second Vatican Council’s promulgation of Noestra Aetate. None of them became law. And so it goes.
Holt knows that the legislation he introduced for the Beans will never become law. He’s just using them for his campaign.
Hopefully the Beans will not be too bitter, or embarrassed, when they smell the coffee.
And hopefully Greg’s involvement in Holt’s campaign hasn’t cost him his column at Greater Media. His byline has been removed from their websites. Maybe that is just temporary until the election is over. If not, my offer to Greg to be published here stands.
UPDATE
Greg Bean’s column is back at Greater Media! MMM is pleased that GM didn’t pull a NPR on GB.
For such a good writer, you would think Greg would have better reading comprehension.
In his first column back from his trip to Colorado to celebrate his brother’s birthday, Grego takes another swipe at this blog. His headline, The truth isn’t always apparent at first blush , is a reference to my questioning the absence of his byline on the Greater Media sites last week in the original post of this piece. As you can see by scrolling up a few lines, I expressed my hope that Greg’s involvement in the Rush Holt campaign did not cause him to be NPR’d by GM. Greg said, “…because my column didn’t appear in the paper, and my name wasn’t in its usual place on the newspapers’ website, the local right-wing bloggers said I must have gotten fired. ” That’s not what I said at all! The truth of what I said was apparent at first blush, just as it is at this second blush. You just have to read it and not twist it.
Funny, Greg used to complain about this blog being written anonymously. When he wrote about this blog in September, accusing us of conspiring to commit “dirty tricks” against the Holt campaign, he named the blog but didn’t link to it. Now he doesn’t even name it, refering to MMM as “local right-wing bloggers.” That’s OK. This piece will be picked up by CNN’s news feed (which is why I am really reposting it, I could care less what Greg did last week) and Greg’s won’t.
Sad, that while Greg obviously read the original posting of this piece, he who thinks he has a special gift for spotting dirty tricks, didn’t mention the dirtiest trick of the NJ-12 campaign….the one played on him by Rush Holt who lied about getting the bill named for Greg’s son passed by the House of Representatives.
He also didn’t write about the dirty trick Holt is perpetuating by falsely advertising that Scott Sipprelle used his volunteer service in Princeton for his own financial benefit. As Sipprelle has protested, Holt has falsely, and knowingly, accused Scott of a crime. That’s a pretty dirty trick.
No, Greg used his first column back from his brother’s birthday party to defend NPR’s right to fire Juan Williams.
I’m proud to be a “right-wing” blogger. When will Greg come clean about his leftist leanings and stop ranting about phantom “dirty tricks” to advocate for his candidate? Why won’t Greg, and Rush Holt for that matter, simply argue their ideological cases, rather than fabricating dirt about their opponent? Why? Because they know they would lose if they were honest.
The Asbury Park Press has a front page piece about the Monmouth University Poll on CD-6. There is even a positive headline for Anna Little, Poll: Little closing in on Pallone in 6th District race. Good for the Nudniks, they easily could have written, Little still trailing Pallone.
They’re probably trying to get back into the CNN news feed.
Actually the credit should go to Patrick Murray. The Nudnik article was basically a rewrite of his press release for the poll.
With this line, Frank Pallone will need to bet on a strong turnout in more Democratic areas of this district to fend off this challenge,” Murray acknowledged that the incumbent is not winning this race. The poll predicts a strong Democratic turnout in its sample. Such a turnout can not be counted on.
There is no question this race will be determined on turnout. As my friends at InTheLobby write today, Independents are siding with Republicans nationally by 14%. In NJ-6, Little leads Pallone by 21% among Independents, according to Murray. Up from 14% three weeks ago. The increase in support among Independents correlates with Little’s increased name recognition. Three weeks ago, 45% of the voters had no opinion of her. Now that number is down to a still very high 31%.
Frank Pallone is on the verge of losing to a relative unknown. As Little becomes more known, her support swells. She’s easy to vote for, despite Pallone and Barbara Buono trying to paint her as extreme and out of the mainstream.
Murray credits the “Anna’s Army” ground game, lead by “General” Russ Cote, as the reason that Little has closed the gap so significantly in three weeks. There is no question that The Bayshore Tea Party’s passionate and tireless troops continue change the political landscape of Central Jersey. If Anna wins, they will have made that unpredictable result happen.
However, also contributing to Anna’s surge is Governor Christie’s personal involvement in the campaign, and Frank Pallone’s own TV ads. Pallone’s “positive” ad emphasises how out of touch he is with the district. In my own unscientific poll of 5 CD-6 voters, 80% said they were less likely to vote for Pallone after seeing the ad. 20% were undecided. Pallone’s “negative” ad attacking Little is a complete failure. 100% do not believe Little is the extremist Pallone portrays her to be. The ad can’t help but increase her name recognition.
Finally, Diane Gooch’s ad for Voice For My Child , while not mentioning Little, has given Independents an additional reason to vote against Pallone.
Little’s TV advertising will start airing tomorrow. Her direct mail pieces have been going out for the last week. She is poised to win this, but still needs help.
Do what you can to get out the vote for Anna Little in CD-6. Donate, talk to friends and family, email your friends links to her ads. As Governor Christie has repeatedly said, we don’t want to wake up on November 3 regretting the one thing we didn’t do.
If you’re in CD-12, or know people who vote in CD-12, do the same for Scott Sipprelle. Send them the link to this ad.
In a poll released this morning by Patrick Murray, Executive Director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute, GOP challenger Anna Little has closed the gap in her race to unseat 22 year incumbent Frank Pallone to 7% with a margin of error of +/- 3.9%. An October 6 poll by Murray had Pallone leading by 12%.
Like his October 6 poll, Murray’s sample assumes a heavy Democratic turnout in the 6th congressional district. The partisan break down of the respondents in the earlier poll was 53% registered Democrats, 23% Republicans and 24% Independent. The sample of today’s poll is 51% D, 24% R and 25% “other.”
The registration breakdown of the district is 37% D, 15% R and 48% I.
Murray says Little is leading Pallone in Monmouth County by a margin of 52% to 45%, up from losing 47%-49% on October 6th. Murray says the difference is partisan. However, in the Monmouth County portions of the district, Dems are 29% of registered voters, Rs 19% and Independents 51%.
Murray says Little is losing in the Middlesex, Somerset and Union portions of the district by 58% to 37%. The registration break down in those counties is 44% D, 11% R and 45% I.
Middlesex, Union and Somerset comprise 51% of the voters in the district, Monmouth 49%. In last year’s general election Governor Christie won the district by 8% with Monmouth County accounting for 52% of the turnout.
If Little turns out Monmouth County the way Christie did, and if 35% or more of Independents show up to vote, Little wins. Murray says Little leads Pallone among I’s by 58% to 37% compared to 51% to 38% three weeks ago.
Total amount received from unions in 2007, 2009 and 2010: $185,800
2007 Contributions (both his name and Middletown Democrats who wheeled it to him):
Local Union 400 PAC $4,500
Carpenter’s PAC $2,500
Plumbers & Pipefitters $1,500
Plumbers & Pipefitters Local 9 $3,000
NJ Regional Council of Carpenters PAC $2,500
Local Union 400 $9,000
Plumbers & Pipefitters $1,000
NJ State Laborers PAC $400
Local Union 400 PAC $2,000
total: $26,400
From his campaign in 2009 from his account and the Monmouth Democrats who funded his campaign with $177,000
Local Union 400 PAC $8,550.00
NJ Regional Council of Carpenters PAC $37,000
Laborers Local 472 PAC $2,500
Plumbers & Pipefitters Local 9 $10,000
IBEW Local 400 $10,000
PAC of NJ Association of Pipefitters $10,000
Communications Workers of America $74,000
(Represents all Middletown Twp union employees ex Police)
NJEA $500
Total: $152,500
2010
Plumbers & Pipefitters Local #9 PAC $3,900
Local Union 400 PAC $3,000
