Congressman Rush Holt has failed to get the Sgt. Coleman S. Bean Individual Ready Reserve Suicide Prevention Act of 2010 passed into law. Had the bill become law, it would have earmarked $20 million for the Defense Department to prevent suicide by combat veterens through advertsisng, social media and phone calls.
Holt tauted the bill, as if it was already law, as one of his major accomplishments and a reason to reelect him during the 2010 12th district congressional campaign.
On October 22, 2010 during the heat of the campaign, MMMreported that the bill was not law. We asserted that it would never become law and that Holt was cynically and shamelessly using his sponsorship of the law, and exploiting Sgt Bean’s family for his own political advantage.
Now Holt says he’s furious that the the provisions of the bill have been dropped from the final version of the Defense Appropriations Act presented to both houses of Congress. He blames Senator John McCain for having the language of the bill removed from the Appropriations Act during the reconciliation process between the House and Senate versions of the bill.
Holt told mycentraljerseythat McCain told him he blocked the Bean bill language and would continue to do so. “Maybe you need this in New Jersey, but we don’t need it in Arizona,” Holt says McCain said.
It’s not often that you will see New Jersey’s most conservative state legislator, Senator Mike Doherty, and our most liberal member of Congress, Rush Holt, on the same side of an issue.
The disgraceful security procedures deployed by TSA are such an issue.
Holt has written to John Pistole, the administrator of TSE, questioning the veracity of the agency’s claims regarding the radiation safety of the full-body scanners, whether the scanners are effective in detecting concealed weapons, weather the intimate images created by the scanners are indeed deleted once a passenger is cleared, and declaring that our airport security system is broken as evidenced by three year-old children being aggressively patted down by TSA screeners.
Holt praised Israel’s methods of airport security:
I’ve visited Israel many times in my life, including this fall. I have been impressed by how effective-and minimally intrusive-their airline passenger screening system is, particularly given the daily terrorist threat to Israel’s citizens. Clearly, our government would learn much from their system. If a country as small and threatened as Israel can effectively protect their flying public, there is no reason why American children and their parents cannot be protected using the same layered, common sense-based system employed by Israel.
The Congressman requested a meeting with Pistole to discuss the following questions:
1) Any reports from independent entities that have validated the effectiveness of the AIT systems currently being fielded to detect the full range of explosive threats known or anticipated to be employed by potential terrorists.
2) Whether any independent entity has verified that the AIT machines have been modified so as to ensure that no permanent record of a passenger scan is retained, retransmitted, or otherwise copied either directly from the AIT machine itself or by TSA or other personnel utilizing any form of videorecording technology.
3) The measures TSA has taken to address GAO’s concerns and recommendations regarding the employment, cost-benefit analysis, and expected over all costs of fielding these AIT systems.
4) The measures TSA has taken to improve and validate its Screening of Passengers by Observation Techniques (SPOT) program, as discussed in GAO’s May 2010 report on the program.
5) Why TSA does not systematically use watch list-derived intelligence information to screen passengers more selectively via AIT systems and the SPOT program.
6) Whether or not TSA has sought or received recommendations from the government of Israel about how TSA could improve its screening programs without invading the privacy of passengers.
Hat tip to BlueJersey’s Rosi Efthim for publishing Holt’s letter.
Urban Democratic strongholds in Trenton and Plainfield figured prominently in the outcomes of the Congressional races in NJ 12 and 6.
In the 12th district, Trenton voters provided Rush Holt with 8,044 votes to Scott Sipprelle’s 437. Holt won the entire district by 13,836 votes.
In NJ-6, 43% of Frank Pallone’s margin of victory came from Plainfield were he won 7950 votes to Anna Little’s 667. Democratic sources told MMM that Pallone spent $30,000 to get out the vote in Plainfield.
The American dream has never been more distant. The divide between being creative, entrepreneurial and reaping a reward for your hard work has never been greater. It feels like times have quickly changed for the worse. One thing is clear, job losses are rampant and our economic forecast is about to get cloudier in the new year when the Bush tax cuts (that we have all benefited from) expire. The Democrat agenda of big government, big spending and punitive taxation is a historical failure and nearly all of us know someone who has been hurt by it. It’s time to stop blaming Bush. It’s time to hold our current legislators accountable for their defect spending votes, which have driven our economy off a cliff and into an abyss of mass unemployment and pervasive financial despair.
The largest tax increase in American history is on its way. The people responsible for it are still in power. The agenda of Rush Holt, Frank Pallone and Nancy Pelosi is too burdensome, it’s too costly and common sense tells you that it’s time to get rid of them and try something old, before it’s too late.
That’s right I said old. It’s time once again for commonsensical small government conservatism. Ronald Reagan once said, “We’ve tried spending our way to prosperity for more than four decades and it hasn’t worked. . .. Twice in this century, in the 1920’s and in the early 60’s we cut taxes substantially and the stimulant to the economy was substantial and immediate.” Reagan was right. He cut taxes substantially and up until recently we have been enjoying the prosperity that has flowed from his wise choice. That choice is yours once again.
In local elections do you always vote Democrat? Look around you. This election isn’t about political loyalties. This is about survival. 76% of you know someone who is looking for a job, according to Rasmussen Reports. Maybe you are out of work yourself or you had to take a job that you thought you’d never have to take again, just to make ends meet. You feel you’ve paid your dues and yet the poor political decisions made by an elite few have you starting at the bottom again. Democrats like Rush Holt and Frank Pallone have had total power over the federal government and yet they have been a complete failure.
Your vote for Anna Little or Scott Sipprelle is a vote against this political establishment. It is a vote against cronyism and special interest groups. It is a vote for small commonsensical government. In a conservative government maintaining individual liberty is of special interest.
17% percent of people in our community are under-employed. 1 in 10 among us are unemployed, despite an intrusive federal government. This election is about betrayal. Our representatives in Congress have betrayed us with their big government idealism that has favored: Wall Street bailouts, a trillion dollar stimulus bill, a trillion dollar overthrow of private healthcare, a trillion dollar omnibus bill, the complete nationalization of the student loan industry, federal funding for abortions. In total since Nancy Pelosi, Frank Pallone and Rush Holt have betrayed us to the tune of 5 trillion dollars since they took control of Congress.
So as you can see this isn’t just another election. This isn’t simply about Democrat or Republican. This is about common sense. Will you put back in office the very fools that have driven us to financial ruin or will you look back to better days, the days of small government Reagan Conservatism? Common sense tells me that Anna Little and Scott Sipprelle will be our next representatives in Congress.
The way things are going, The Soprano State will have more sequels than Sly Stillone’s Rocky movies.
Just in the last month we had Toms River Regional School District Superintendent Michael Ritacco’s indictment for taking millions in kick backs. We’ve seen Frank Pallone, Steve Rothman, Robert Menendez and Frank Lautenberg put Americans’ health at risk in exchange for campaign contributions. We’ve seen Rush Holt exposed promulgating phony science to bamboozle Congress out of out of millions of dollars for his employer, the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory.
There’s more material to come, perhaps as early as this afternoon. MMM is fact checking a tip on a pay to play scheme by a Monmouth County elected official who has a stack a soap boxes he’s broken while preaching against such behavior. We’re told the APP has had the same tip for a few days. We got it last night. Maybe they’re still fact checking too. Stay tuned.
The gap that Scott Sipprelle needs to close in order to return Rush Holt’s career to plasma has widened from 5% to 8% in the last two weeks, according to a Monmouth University Poll released this afternoon.
Holt has widened his support in Middlesex County to 10%, 52%-42% vs a 4 point margin, 50%-46% in the earlier poll. Sipprelle still leads among Independents in the district, but only buy 11% vs 15% two weeks ago.
“While he’s not out of the woods yet, Rush Holt appears to be solidify his standing among voters in this district,” said Patrick Murray, director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute.
That’s a puzzling conclusion from Murray, given that Holt’s support has remained constant at 51% in the two polls Monmouth conducted. “Undecided and other” have doubled as a percentage of respondents in the current poll, from 3% to 6%. Among Independents, “undecided and other” has increased from 7% to 9%. Rather than Holt solidifying his support, it would appear that Holt’s negative ads have been taking on toll on Sipprelle’s support and/or that Scott has failed to give Independents a reason to come out for him over the last two weeks.
The most surprising number both of Murray’s NJ-12 polls is Sipprelle’s favorability rating. In the October 13th poll, 41% of the respondents did not know enough about Scott to form a favorable or unfavorable opinion, including 44% of Independents and 24% of Republicans. In today’s poll, the “no opinion” number dropped only 2 points to 39%, including 42% of I’s and 24% of R’s. This is particularly surprising given Sipprelle’s radio and TV advertising throughout the summer and fall.
Just as Holt is “not out of the woods,” Scott has not been knocked out and can still win this race, though time is running short. Fast, and expensive adjustments are necessary for him to win.
Scott needs to “let it hang out” and let the Independent voters know the more human side of himself. Elections are not won on debating points. To a large extent they are won on likeability. Scott has been argumentative and a bit strident since the second debate. He’s argued with Holt’s commercials and he’s argued with the Asbury Park Press. He’s been defending himself instead of convincing the voters he’s going to fight for them. The “I don’t know and I don’t care” clip from the second debate that Holt is using on TV hurts. It shows a side of Scott that those who challenged him back in convention season saw a great deal of, but that the electorate does not need to see in the closing days of the campaign. A feel good, emotion provoking TV spot with his family and voters could turn the tide. It would have to be written, produced and booked tomorrow, but Scott has the resources to make that happen.
Focus on increasing the turnout in Monmouth County where Scott has a 60%-35% lead, according to Murray. Let Holt have Trenton and the rest of Mercer. Any resources spent there are a waste at best and possibly counterproductive in the last four days of the campaign. Close the gap with Middlesex Independents with the new ad. Play it during NFL games if there are spots available.
In a decision that could impact development throughout New Jersey, a state appeals court struck down part of the Fort Monmouth Redevelopment plan, according to a report in the Star Ledger.
Ruling in favor of affordable housing advocates, the court said that the Fort Monmouth Economic Revitalization Planning Authority (FMRPA) failed to take a regional approach to planning for the fort’s redevelopment and leaves the housing decisions to the three municipalities where the fort sits, Oceanport, Eatontown, and Tinton Falls.
Unless successfully appealed by the Christie Administration, the court decision will impact development in the Highlands Region in the northwest portion of the state, the Meadowlands and the Pine Lands. The Star Ledger reported that the Attorney General’s office declined to comment.
Neither Frank Pallone or Rush Holt have commented. Fort Monmouth is being closed next year, its military operations being moved to Aberdeen Maryland, because Pallone and Holt were negligent in there representation of their districts during the BRAC process which lead the decision 2005 decision to close the fort.
Princeton, October 27, 2010 – Slamming Congressman Rush Holt’s new radio ad as “defamatory” and “knowingly false and misleading,” as well as is non-compliance with Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations, Republican Scott Sipprelle today issued a letter through his attorney, Brian M. Nelson of Menna, Supko & Nelson, LLC, calling on Millennium Radio New Jersey (101.5) to cease and desist playing the advertisement on their airwaves today.
Holt’s ad falsely alleges that Sipprelle somehow manipulated his property tax bill through participation in a volunteer advisory committee in the Borough of Princeton. In addition to being refuted by Sipprelle, the charge was labeled as “ludicrous…not even possible” by the Borough’s Democrat-appointed Tax Assessor in a Trenton Times article yesterday, who added “that the committee and its members were in no position to know what the outcome of the revaluation would be while it was going on.”
“Rush Holt’s defamatory and knowingly false charges against me are the latest and most blatant signs of desperation from a career politician who will to say or do anything to cling to power,” said Sipprelle. “Mr. Holt knows that he can’t run on his record, so his only hope is to run me down. His actions are a disgrace and he should be ashamed of himself. In addition to asking Millennium Radio to take these ads down, I am requesting a public apology from Mr. Holt to the voters in this district, and an admission that his ads are simply not truthful.”
Sipprelle cited Holt’s 2000 campaign against former Congressman Dick Zimmer as evidence that the incumbent has a sad history of misleading campaigns ads being pulled from the airwaves. (Source: “Democrats’ ad is taken off the air,” Star-Ledger, 8/19/00)
“This is a pattern of dishonest behavior from Mr. Holt and it’s completely consistent with how he governs as a Congressman,” said Sipprelle. “For twelve years in Washington, Rush Holt has not allowed the facts to get in the way of his or Nancy Pelosi’s agenda so why would he worry about the facts during his political campaigns?”
Holt’s ad is not only untrue, it is also in violation of campaign finance regulations for failing to have the proper “Paid for by” disclaimer at the end of the spot.
“This is typical of entrenched, out-of-touch career politicians like Congressman Holt,” said Sipprelle. “He is violating a legal requirement that he himself voted to create. This is just another example of arrogant Members of Congress exempting themselves from the laws they pass for the American people and underscores why we need to change Congress. I am asking the voters of the 12th Congressional District to stop Rush Holt on November 2nd and vote for a new direction.”
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.
