Ian Linker is the only declared Republican candidate for the nomination to challenge U.S. Senator Robert Menendez in the 2012 election. The attorney who resides in Bergen County wrote an Op-Ed piece on education reform that goes a step further than State Senator Mike Doherty’s proposal in bringing equality to New Jersey’s education funding.
Linker is embracing the the New Jersey Parental Rights Act, legislation sponsored by Morris County Assemblymen Anthony Bucco and Michael Patrick Carroll which would grant scholarships or vouchers directly to parents of school age children to use at the school of their choice. Linker is also calling for the elimination of teacher tenure and wasteful duplication is school administration.
Former Senator Dick LaRossa and I will be talking to Linker about his proposal and his candidacy for U.S. Senate.
Oceanport Councilman Joe Irace is probably the best known councilman in Monmouth County, if not all of New Jersey. Without a doubt he is the best know councilman in Trenton. Unlike many politicians, the media savy Irace does not use his social media and public relations skills to promote himself. He uses the media to generate support for and interest in the multitude of challenges that the small Borough of Oecanport has faced since he has been an elected official. From Fort Monmouth to Monmouth Park and the Horse Racing Industry, Irace is an effective and outspoken leader for the interests of Oceanport. He has stood up to and often frustrated powerful special interests and Trenton insiders.
Irace will be joining us at 5:30 for the second half hour of the show.
The LaRossa and Gallagher: Real Jersey Guys On The Radio Show is broadcast every Tuesday from 5PM till 6PM on WIFI 1460 AM and on the Internet here. The show is sponsored by Repatriot Radio.
You are welcome to join the show with your questions and comments. The numbers to call in our 609-447-0236 and 609-447-0237.
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 Showtwo 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.
Bob Ingle, the best selling co-author of The Soprano State, prolific blogger, and Gannett columnist will be our exclusive guest tomorrow afternoon on The LaRossa and Gallagher: Real Jersey Guys On The Radio Show.
In addition to his insightful commentary on New Jersey government and politics, “the 3rd Jersey Guy” as he was know when he appeared in 101.5 with Casey Bartholomew and Ray Rossi’s, weighed in on Presidential governing and politics this week with an Open Letter To President Obama.
I have no doubt we’ll have an informative and entertaining hour.
I hope you join us by listening at WIFI AM 1460, if you get the signal, or in the Internet here. We’ll be taking your calls at 609-447-0236 and 609-447-0237.
The show is sponsored by Repatriot Radio, every Tuesday from 5PM until 6PM.
Former Long Branch Councilman Anthony Giordano is the CEO of Colonial American Bank. The bank, which is headquartered in Horsham, PA, is expanding into Monmouth County later this year.
We will be discussing the potential impact of the S & P downgrade on United States debt on the local economy.
Also joining us on the show will be Laureen Cummings of Old Forge, Pennsylvania. Cummings is the founder and president of the Scranton Tea Party. She is a Republican Committeewoman in Lackawanna County, PA.
She is a single mother, a nurse, and a small business owner who is considering a race for the GOP nomination to challenge U.S. Senator Bob Casey in 2012.
Your calls to the show are welcome and encouraged. The numbers are 609-447-0236 and 609-447-0237.
Assemblywoman Amy Handlin (R-13) will be the first guest tomorrow at 5PM on the LaRossa And Gallagher: Real Jersey Guys On The Radio Show on WIFIAM1460 on your radio dial and here on the Internet.
Handlin and her 13th district Assembly running mate Declan O’Scanlon are sponsors of the New Jersey “Right to Work Act” which prohibits payroll deductions for union dues and makes union membership voluntary.
Imagine getting your dream job that pays well, offers generous benefits and is located a few miles from your home.
But there’s a condition: You must pay Harold Camping $75 every month to help spread the word about his next Doomsday prediction.
That’s probably not a problem for those who believed Judgment Day was May 21 and are now convinced it’s coming Oct. 21, but most would object to an employer telling us what we should believe and how we should spend our money.
In America, people are free to believe whatever they want and support their beliefs however they choose.
In New Jersey, and many other states, however, workers are forced to join unions and fund their political priorities, regardless of their wishes.
I support workers’ right to organize, but that should be a personal choice. Those who agree withtheir union representatives have every right to join, but others should have the freedom to work without subsidizing and endorsing a group they disagree with.
Just last week Handlin announced that she is drafting legislation to prohibit voluntary retirees who are collecting a pension from simultaneously collecting unemployment benefits.
Tune in for what promises to be an informative half hour. Those who have questioned Handlin’s conservative ethos should especially call in and learn something.
Call in with questions and comments to 609-447-0237.
Patrick Murray, the founding director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute will be our guest for the second half hour of the show. Murray’s media profile has risen in recent months as increasingly he has become a “go to” expert for both local and national new outlets for commentary on New Jersey government and politics. We are pleased to have him on the show.
When Murray asked what I want to talk about I said, “whatever is current. We can talk about how the debt ceiling dealings in Washington will impact New Jersey politics, we can talk about Congressional Redistricting, and the upcoming legislative races.” We’re not limited to those topics, and as always, your calls are welcome and encouraged.
Listen live between 5PM and 6PM here and call in to 609-447-0237.
If you miss the show, a recording will be posted here on MMM, hopefully by 9PM.
Senator Mike Doherty was our guest for the first half hour of the show. Doherty spoke about his proposed legislation to equalize education funding throughout the state and was non-committal about running for U.S. Senate next year.
During the second half hour we had a call from “Mark from Anna Little’s district” who called into to say that he had information that many people were calling their congressmen in support of President Obama’s plan (whatever that is) for the debt ceiling. Mark said another report said calls were coming into Washington in favor of Speaker Boehner’s plan. Mark’s point was to ask listeners to call their congressman to support reduced government spending.
The last twenty minutes of the show are Dick LaRossa and I speaking about the debt ceiling. Here’s what a commenter said about that portion of the show:
Art, I didn’t catch all of the show. When I was able to turn in, some guy was rambling on incoherently about Social Security bonds and some 1983 law. (Who was he?) I am a big fan, Art, but you should have cut him off rather than let him ramble on like that. I bet he put half your audience to sleep reading that non-sense for what seemed like minutes on end.
That guy was my partner, Dick LaRossa. Dick was passionate that there will be no Social Security crisis if the government defaults. He was railing against Obama and the Democrats scare tactics regarding the debt ceiling. I have to go back and listen to the end of the show myself to be sure I understand what he was talking about!
I hope you enjoy the show and that you will tune in next Tuesday from 5PM-6PM at WIFI AM 1460 or on the Internet at WIFI1460AM.com.
State Senator Mike Doherty will be our guest for the first half hour of this afternoon’s LaRossa and Gallagher: Real Jersey Guys Radio Show which will be broadcast live on WIFI AM 1460 and on the Internet here from 5PM till 6PM. The show is sponsored by Repatriot Radio.
The Borough of Oceanport past a resolution in support of the plan last week. Councilman Joe Irace said,
“Our School District is one of the many treated unfairly by the State of New Jersey when school aid dollars are appropriated. According to Senator Mike Doherty, our Borough gets back $0.01 for each dollar we send to Trenton.
If all school tax revenue collected by New Jersey were to be distributed equally to each student, it would equate to $7,481 per student. Given our enrollment projections, adoption of this plan would result in an increase in State school, aid of $4,122,031.00 annually. This change would provide meaningful tax relief for Oceanport residents immediately.”
During the second half hour former State Senator Dick LaRossa and I will be discussing the negotiations happening in Washington over the federal debt ceiling and taking your calls.
If you would like to be part of the show, call into 609-447-0236 or 609-447-0237.
…and special guests Senator Joe Kyrillos and Congressman Chris Smith
Despite some technical difficulties and a shortage of phone lines (sorry if you tried to call in and got a busy signal) we managed to have an informative and entertaining show.
Thanks to Mike Halfacre who kept the show going when I got flustered with the technical glitches.
For those who missed the live show or would like to hear it again, here is a recording:
Highlights: Kyrillos referring to a Chris Christie presidential candidacy as “when” not “if” (though it won’t be in 2012) and Smith speaking about the budget negotiations going on in Washington as a fiscal conservative, overriding his reputation as a fiscal moderate.
Congressman Chris Smith’s office just confirmed that Smith will be calling into the LaRossa and Gallagher: Read Jersey Guys On The Radio this afternoon.
Senator Joe Kyrillos, the dean of the Monmouth County legislative delegation, Governor Chris Christie’s confidant, and a possible U.S. Senate candidate will also be our guest.
You can call in too at 609-447-0236.
The House will be voting on the Cut, Cap and Balance Act this afternoon. Smith wants our listeners to understand if he has to get off the show suddenly to vote.
Fair Haven Mayor Mike Halfacre will be the guest co-host today, as former Senator Richard LaRossa is undergoing a minor medical procedure.
Bob Ingle, the best selling co-author of 
Assemblywoman Amy Handlin (R-13) will be the first guest tomorrow at 5PM on the LaRossa And Gallagher: Real Jersey Guys On The Radio Show on 
Patrick Murray