Measley Issues Apology To Lautenberg. Challenges The Senator To Turn His Wealth Over To U.S. Treasury

Charles Measley, the 21 year-old Brookdale grad and Rumson GOP committeeman, who created a media storm last week with his “We must eliminate the rich” graphics on a YouTube video of U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg’s remarks in Belmar, issued the following statement this afternoon:

On August 14th I filmed and uploaded a video of Senator Frank Lautenberg speaking on the boardwalk in Belmar, NJ. The video, which was uploaded to YouTube, featured the Senator calling on “the rich” to pay more taxes. The Senator stated that “there’s another place to get your money, and it’s to get it from people like me.”  This argument has become an all-too-familiar refrain from the super-elite worth more than $50 million, as is Senator Lautenberg.

Towards the end of the video I misunderstood what the senator was saying. I thought the Senator at one point said “eliminate the rich.” However, after others brought up concerns regarding the video, I examined the footage more carefully and have since determined that the Senator did not say “eliminate the rich.” Rather, he muddled what sounds like a mix of the words “ways” and “waste.”

I would like to formally apologize for misunderstanding and misquoting the senator.

Sen. Frank Lautenberg is not against the presently rich; he is against people becoming rich, lest they become part of his exclusive club. Those who are super-rich, like the senator, are worth millions of dollars. The Senator can afford to live off the $50 Million he has amassed over his 50-year political career and doesn’t need any new income streams. Raising income taxes on the super-rich like Senator Lautenberg would not affect people like the Senator because they have already accumulated their wealth.

Rather, raising the income tax rate prevents individuals in the middle class from becoming rich like Senator Lautenberg. It does this by taking away their means to become rich and that is bytaxing their income.

Senator Lautenberg has been an unfailing member of the class warfare party (i.e. Democrats) for half a century and in that time he has become extremely wealthy on the backs of the middle class. Yet his policies and those of his party have resulted in nothing but the near-complete prevention of middle class Americans achieving the American Dream.

I challenge Senator Lautenberg to write a check to the U.S. Treasury for $50 million dollars. His Senate salary, together with the Social Security he collects, should be plenty off of which to live. Millions of less fortunate Americans do it every single day.

In closing, while Senator Lautenberg may not have actually said “eliminate the rich”, by his policies he has prevented untold numbers of hard-working Americans from becoming rich like him. “Preventing” and “eliminating” in this sense, are one and the same.

 

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Lautenberg Video Goes Viral Then Gets Corrected Or Pulled

By Art Gallagher

When John Shoonejongen of Gannett’s Captial Quickies listened to the video of Senator Frank Lautenberg’s  remarks in Belmar on Wednesday he heard the senator say “we need to eliminate the waste,” not, “we need to eliminate the rich.”

By the time Shoonejongen got second and third opinons and talked to the Asbury Park Press reporter who was at the Belmar event and told him  “Lautenberg definately said waste,” the video had gone viral.  In addition to MMM, Save Jersey, Real Clear Politics and FoxNews.com had picked it up.

Shoonejongen posted on Captial Quickies that the type, “We need to eliminate the rich,” was inaccurate and that Lautenberg said, “we need to eliminate the waste.”  Throughout the electronic media, websites started issuing corrections and pulling the video.  It’s my turn.

Upon a second listening, Lautenberg said “we need to eliminate the waste, we got to eliminate the fraudulent practice.  I didn’t listen closely enough the first time.

MMM has pulled the video and the post it appeared in.  We’re not doing so to hide our mistake which we freely admit to, but to prevent a future reader from going directly to the post through search and thereby not seeing this correction.

Charles Measley, the Rumson GOP Committeeman, Bayshore Tea Party activist and MMM advertiser who shot and edited the video told MMM, “I heard him (Lautenberg) say rich and that was consistent with the context of his remarks, but I’m not 100% sure now that I got it right.”

Lautenberg’s communications director Caley Gray said, “It is very clear that the Senator said waste.  Do you really think he would say ‘eliminate the rich?’  It is pathetic that someone tried to mislead the public over something so obvious.”

MMM apologises to Senator Lautenberg.

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A Case For Competitive Congressional Districts

By Art Gallagher

Giving credit where it is do, The Asbury Park Press Editorial Board got one right in their recent editorial lamenting the closure of Fort Monmouth’s commissary.  They give a quick summary of the disaster the closure of Fort Monmouth is and how the entire BRAC decision to close the fort was based on faulting economic and home security data.

Fort Monmouth’s closure and the move of its operations to Aberdeen Maryland was a huge waste of money that compromised national security.  An investigative series by Asbury Park Press reporters Bill Bowman and Keith Brown (which is no longer linkable) documented the waste and fraudulent numbers that BRAC gave Congress to justify the closure.

In their editorial, The Asbury Park Press accurately lays the blame:

The closing of the base was based on faulty economic and security research in the first place, and yet even with the facts on their side, Reps Frank Pallone and Rush Holt, along with Sens. Lautenberg and Menendez could not carry the day.

That is largely due to the fact that the faulty economic and security data was uncovered by Bowman and Brown after Congress had already voted to close the fort.  Pallone, Holt, Lautenberg and Menendez didn’t have the juice to uncover that data before or during the BRAC hearings when it might have made a difference.  Worse, the didn’t have the juice needed with their congressional colleagues to keep the fort in New Jersey.  Maryland’s delegation had the juice.

This latest insulting failure is just one in a decades, maybe centuries, long example of ineffective congressional representation from New Jersey.  Not just Pallone, Holt, Lautenberg and Menendez, but most of the delegation. Every two years during congressional elections challengers complain that New Jersey only gets a fraction of the money we send to Washington sent back, but it never changes.  Has there ever been a House Speaker from New Jersey?  Name on U.S. Senator from New Jersey who could be considered a historic figure.

As Monmouth University pollster Patrick Murray indicated during his interview on the LaRossa and Gallagher Radio Show two weeks ago, New Jersey Congressmen have little incentive to represent the interests or philosophies of their constituents.  They vote how ever they want and work on, or don’t work on, whatever they want without regard for the good of their constituents because no matter what they do, their jobs are safe.  Historically, gerrymandering as assured that an incumbent member of congress will be reelected time after time except in the rarest or circumstances.

A competitive congressional district map could go a long way to improving the quality of representation New Jersey gets from the people we send to Washington.  Currently, Congressmen face no consequences for failures like the BRACing of Fort Monmouth.  Despite the rants of congressional challengers every two years about the about of money that New Jersey sends to Washington vs the amount of money that comes back, that situation never changes and our representitives have little incentive to work to change it.

If competitive congressional elections were the norm, rather than a rare exception, New Jersey would get better representation and better results.

New Jersey’s Redistricting Commission has a huge opportunity to create an environment that could lead to an major improvement in the quality of our representation in Washington over the next decade.  If past is prelude, the Democrats and Republicans on the commission will spend the process jockeying for influence with the “13th tie breaking” member.  The commission will predictably produce a winning map for one party which will be a losing map for the other party. 

For New Jersey to have a “winning map” would require at least one party to propose a competitive map based upon population and geography only without regard for the residency of incumbents or the historical voting trends of residents, and for the “13th member,” former Attorney General and Acting Governor for ninety minutes, John Farmer Jr, to do the right thing.

Otherwise, it won’t really matter much which party “wins” the redistricting battle.  New Jersey’s representation in Washington will not likely improve if the people will send there have little incentive to work for it.

By the way, Lautenberg and Pallone are scheduled to make a “surprise announcement” in Belmar tomorrow. 

Pray for rain. 

Maybe Lautenberg is announcing his retirement and endorsing Pallone to replace him.  Not likely, but one can hope.

More likely they will announce some legislation they are sponsoring that will probably never become law or some appropriation they are proposing or maybe even secured that will not have nearly postive impact on New Jersey that the negative impact that the closure of Fort Monmouth will have.

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Drinking With Democrats

Our friends at Politickernj have gone old school in the new media age.   They are using a long abandoned journalistic tool to find out what their subjects are really thinking:  Alcohol.

Last week Max Pizarro got some tipsy Democrats to reveal what they really think of President Obama:

“But I’m at the point with Barack Obama where I don’t like him,” the source added – then whispering under the bar buzz – “I hate him.” 

“He’s not a leader,” a second high-powered Democrat groaned. “Say what you want about Christie, but he knows how to wield power. Barack doesn’t.”  

“He’s very thin-skinned,” said the source. “He can’t deal with criticism, that’s why he’s going to Africa with his family on a safari. Is he nuts? A safari in this economy?”  

The Democrats Pizarro drank with think Obama is still a lock to win New Jersey’s 14 electoral college votes handily next year.    That is the conventional thinking.  However, I bet those same Democrats thought in 2008 that the equally disliked Jon Corzine was a lock for reelection.

Turning their attention to New Jersey gubernatorial politics, Politickernj’s Back Room got blank stares from two “Democratic Party bigshots” drinking on condition of anonymity when asked to speculate who would challenge Governor Christie in 2013.

Newark Mayor Corey Booker?  “Newark is too much of a wreck,” and “his time has come and gone.”  Congressman Bill Pascrell?  Would have been great “ten years ago.”   Senator Barbara Buono?  “We need someone outside of Trenton,” like Christie was in 2009.

Looking outside of Trenton, the drinking Democrats see Congressmen Frank Pallone and Rush Holt:

“If Frank gets banged up in redistrcting he may be the best guy to do it,” said the first source. “He’d be ticked enough, angry enough, he could easily unite the progressive wing of the party. He’s got the money. Obviously, he has no strong friends among the bosses. That could be a problem. The question goes to whether he would want to be governor. I’ve always heard his primary interest is senator.”

MMM hereby throws its unequivocal support behind Pallone for the Democratic nomination for governor in 2013.  We’d love to see him get “banged up” in redistricting….like putting Long Branch into Chris Smith’s district…setting up a race between the two most senior members of the New Jersey congressional delegation that Smith would win easily, assuming Pallone chose to compete.   Given the choice of running against Smith for congress or retiring and launching a gubernatorial bid, we think Pallone would challenge Christie.  After losing his first statewide race against Christie, Pallone could launch his 2014 U.S. Senate campaign, assuming Frank Lautenberg retires again.

Holt for Governor?   We hope those guys had a designated driver.

“Yes, I admit he’s not the world’s greatest speaker, but he’s gotten better,” said the second source. “Plus, he’s a good campaigner. Rolls up his sleeves. He gets it. He realized he had a legitimate challenge from Scott Sipprelle (last year), and he rose to the occasion.”

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Kyrillos Testing The U.S. Senate Waters

By Art Gallagher

State Senator Joe Kyrillos has set up an exploratory committee for a possible U.S. Senate run in 2012 against Robert Menendez or 2014 against Frank Lautenberg, an unnamed source told Politickernj.

An exploratory committee, or “testing the waters fund” may raise and spend over the $5,000 threshold that requires candidate reporting on polling, travel and other activities designed to gauge the level of support for a candidate for federal office, according to the Federal Election Commission.

Kyrillos has yet to respond to a message from MMM to comment on the Politickernj story.

A source with knowledge of Kyrillos’ plans confirmed that Monmouth County’s senior legislator will issue a statement announcing the exploratory committee today.

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Grading the Governor

By Art Gallagher

Tom Moran is the editorial page editor of the Star Ledger and the reporter who unwittingly made Governor Chris Christie a YouTube sensation.

Moran decided that its time to grade the Governor.  In a column published on Sunday, the pernicious pundit acknowledges that independent polls indicate that the voters are rating the Governor with A’s and B’s. He spends the rest of the column telling the voters (us) why they (we) are wrong about Christie. Moran say Christie only gets a C.

It’s a good thing that New Jersey pays little heed to Moran. If we did, Chris Daggett would be Governor and Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver would be taken seriously.

Moran gives Christie high marks for courage, calling the Governor a cage fighter for his cause.  Despite this A, Moran gives Christie demerits for failing to compromise.  This has been a theme of Moran’s throughout the year. Christie came to Trenton promising to turn the place upside down.  Moran wants him to be nice while breaking the furniture.

Moran even gives the Governor a B on the budget, even though he calls Christie’s claim that he plugged an $11 billion budget hole “farcical.”

On the 2% property tax cap, Moran says Christie will earn a spot on the honor roll if it works, but so far it hasn’t. Duh. It hasn’t even gone into effect yet, and the “tool kit” negotiations with the Democratic legislative leadership are ongoing. Moran criticises Christie for not caving and accepting Oliver’s and Senate President Steve Sweeney’s first offer.

Moran takes Christie to task for calling Oliver a liar over her assertion that she tried to meet with Christie over the “tool kit.”

Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver was shocked when she learned that the governor had accused her of lying.

“That has irreparably affected my ability to work with this governor,” she says. “For him to cast aspersions on my integrity and say I would lie? That did it. That showed me I really cannot have a trusting relationship with this governor. Because he will distort the truth. He will stand up and lie.

“It was a game changer for me, a total game changer.”

Will Oliver’s resignation as Speaker be forthcoming?  If she can’t or won’t work with the Governor she has no business being Speaker.   Oliver should be grateful that the Governor and most of the media gave her (and Moran) a pass when she called the Governor racist in an earlier Moran column.

Moran seems to think it is a problem for Christie that Oliver and U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg “hate his guts.” 

U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg felt this sting as well. After he criticized the governor for killing the Hudson River tunnel project, the governor lashed out.

“All he knows how to do is blow hot air,” Christie said. “So I don’t really care what Frank Lautenberg has to say about much of anything.”

This is the downside of the governor’s straight talk. He has to work with Oliver and Lautenberg, like it or not. And now they both seem to hate his guts.

“Look, I worked with Tom Kean and Christie Whitman, and had no problems,” Lautenberg says. “This is really unusual. There’s been hardly any communication from his office, and I’m on the Appropriations Committee. I put my heart and soul into this, and to have someone calling me names and trying to shame me? It’s incomprehensible.”

Lautenberg is old and has been very sick for most of the year. He can be forgiven for not noticing that Christie is not Tom Kean or Christie Whitman.  Now that he’s woken up, he’ll start comprehending, if his heart and soul are really in his job.  How effective has he been for us on the Appropriations Committee anyway?

Moran is right about one thing.  Christie hasn’t delivered yet.  But that is not the measure by which to grade a Governor 11 months into his term.  Moran is a liberal ideologue masquerading as a moderate.  Like ideologues on the right who are critical of Christie because he hasn’t fixed all the inequities of New Jersey government in 11 months, he is driven only by his own narrow agenda.

The NJEA is having a news conference in Trenton today to propose education reforms including “significant reform of the tenure system.”   That is remarkable.  Even if the proposed reforms are full of loop holes, which as a Jersey cynic I suspect they will be, the fact that the NJEA has entered the reform conversation is truly remarkable.  Chris Christie made that happen.

Civil Service and binding arbitration is going to be reformed.  Mayors and councils are going to be unbound from the ties that have driven property taxes to catastrophic levels and be empowered to truly manage their communities rather than rubber stamp state mandates. That is unbelievable. Chris Christie made that happen.

The 2% property tax cap, even with its exceptions, will truly force a reduction in the size of government, especially when inflation kicks in. Share services will become a reality out of necessity, rather than something community leaders pay lip service to during elections.

Chris Christie has changed the tone and transformed the direction of government in New Jersey. “Changed has arrived” he declared in his inaugural address.  He is deliverying change.  Trenton is not quite upside down yet, but it is surely tilted.  He can’t be graded by the old score card, because he has changed the game in New Jersey and given Governors throughout the nation, and our leaders in Washington new rules.

Rather than a report card, lets judge Christie with a scorecard.

Christie is leading by a wide margin as the first quarter of his term comes to a close.  Yet, the opposition of special interests and trough swillers have been studying the films and making adjustments.  The final minutes of the quarter are critical as the effectiveness of the tool kit will be determined.  Next year, the second quarter, is when the real heavy lifitng will start. Legislative redistricting, the budget and the legislative election will dominate the agenda.  Municipal budgets drawn under the 2% cap will dominate the news.  As the economy improves, if it does, “we don’t have the money” will not work as well in forcing reforms.

Christie gets an A for his first year.  Next year will be the real test.  Mid-terms will be in November.  If the voters give Christie and A or B in the form of a Republican legislature, we’ll find out what “turning Trenton upside down” really means.

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Pallone, Rothman, Menendez and Lautenberg, the Menaflex Four!

 By Susan Christopher, Asbury Park

An article published in the New York Times on Thursday, October 14^th shows conclusively that Frank Pallone, Steve Rothman, Bob Menendez and Frank Lautenberg, are political villains! The four pushed to approve a device known as Menaflex after extensive FDA research found the knee implant to be defective. The FDA was adamantly against releasing the device to the public, but political pressure from Pallone, Rothman, Menendez and Lautenberg superseded their decision because the manufacturer of Menaflex, ReGen Biologics were shtuping these democrats with political donations. This is corruption at its best! These politicians have proven that they care nothing for people. More important are the “special interest” groups who give these charlatans money. What happens to all the innocent, unknowing people who trusted their doctors and have had this device implanted in their bodies? This should enrage every American! Why are politicians allowed to have a say in the medical profession? Why is there no protection against this? Perhaps Pallone thinks since he wrote Pallonecare this makes him a doctor. There should be laws protecting us from these egotistical maniacs. Isn’t it enough that Americans face threats of terrorism? Must we also worry about our legislators trying to kill us, by pushing for unsafe medical procedures because campaign contributions hold greater importance than Americans do?

Please America think about this when you go to the polls on November 2^nd.

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Holt/Lautenberg Employment Discrimination Complaint

This beats “Twinkle Twinkle Kenneth Star”

By Art Gallagher

MoreMonmouthMusings just received a copy of the lawsuit, the complaint and answer, against Rush Holt and Frank Launtenberg for employment discrimination against African-Americans during the 2008 Democratic primary campaign.

You can view the document by clicking here.  The red meat starts on page seven.

Here’s a tidbit to get you started:

I’ll be going through the document and making commentary as time allows.  Please, jump right in and make comments about what you find in the meantime.

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Ex-Holt Staffer Claims He Was Fired For Hiring African-Americans

A canvass director responsible for recruiting workers to go door to door for Congressman Rush Holt and Senator Frank Lautenberg during the 2008 general election claims that he was fired for hiring African-Americans to canvass white neighborhoods in the 12th congressional district, according to a report in the Star Ledger.

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