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.Com

You can now reach your favorite website at www.moremonmouthmusings.com

Long time readers may remember that some url speculator in Austrailia bought the .com address while I was still writing over at blogspot.  He then tried to sell it to me for $500.00.

Today I bought it through networksolutions for $34.95.

Thanks for the many domain brokers and aftersellers who emailed me over the last two months trying to sell it to me at a premium.  If not for you guys I wouldn’t have known it was becoming available.

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Wayne’s World

Lincoln Day Dinner Almost Sold Out!

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Wake Up America – Artist Jon McNaughton

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Poll: Who should challenge Frank Pallone?

Thank you to all who participated in the design of this poll.

For good reason, political pros consider a challenge to an incumbent congressman an unwinnable  race.  Given Frank Pallone’s war chest and the gerrymandering of the district, the conventional wisdom certainly applies in NJCD-6.

All too often the candidates who take on this challenge, “taking one for the team” feel bitter after the experience.  They get no support, no money.  They are on their own.  When its over, they are rarely celebrated.   They feel used, because they were.

A smart candidate taking on such a race would measure their success not on the ballot result, but on what they built.  A candidate could take this on to lay the ground work for a future race, for this office or another.  To get a message out and alter the agenda.  To hold the incumbent’s feet to the fire or force them to spend time and money that they otherwise wouldn’t spend.

As we saw in 2010, a Republican challenger in CD-6 could win the Monmouth County portion of the district and still lose the election.  That helps the ticket elsewhere on the ballot.    Monmouth Demorcrats will attest to the fact that they lost on the municipal level in Bayshore towns in 2010 because of Anna Little beating Frank Pallone in those towns.  In 2012, without a credible alternative to Pallone on the ballot, the GOP will give many voters a built in reason to ticket split.  That would be detrimental to county and municipal candidates.

In selecting the 20 candidates for this poll, I omitted John Curley and Toni Marie Angelini from the list because they are running for reelection in their current offices.  I added candidates mentioned in the comments.  I added Charles Measley because 1) he included me in his poll, 2) Charles would drive Pallone crazy, and 3) Charles running would be fun. I added David Corsi for the same reasons.

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Christie’s Top 11

Politico produced a video of what they are calling Governor Chris Christie’s Top 10 quotes. (Hat tip InTheLobby)

It’s good, but I think they left the best one out.  In my mind, Christie’s best YouTube moment was one of his first.  The “Honest and Refreshing” video, made early in the term, where he turn the tables on Star Ledger Editorial page editor Tom Moran who was questioning the governor’s style or “tone.”

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Who Should Challenge Pallone?

The filing deadline is April 2.

With all the attention and excitement being paid to Joe Kyrillo’s U.S. Senate candidacy and a new map that most think makes Frank Pallone even harder to beat, there is little if any talk about a GOP candidate in the 6th Congressional District.

So let’s throw some names out there and have then have a poll.   I start with names that come to mind.  Please add names in the comments. Over the weekend I’ll create a poll.  

Former Highlands Mayor Anna Little

Selika Josiah Gore, Marlboro

Matawan Councilwoman Toni Marie Angelini

Matawan Councilman Tom Fitzsimmons

Assemblywoman Amy Handlin

Atlantic Highlands Councilman Peter Doyle

Keyport Mayor Bob McLeod

Former Middletown Committeeman Tom Wilkens

Middletown Mayor Tony Fiore

Hazlet Committeeman Scott Aagre

James Hogan of Long Branch

Oceanport Councilman Joe Irace

Former Freeholder Bill Barham

Former Assemblyman, triCityNews Publisher Dan Jacobson

Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno

Freeholder Director John Curley

Who else?

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Senator O’Toole Makes Case For Christie’s Supreme Court Nominees

By Senator Kevin O’Toole

The appointment of Justices to the Supreme Court of New Jersey is one of the most important duties afforded to the Governor under our Constitution.  The men and women called to serve as members of our State’s highest judicial body must grapple with the most significant disputes arising from laws in a variety of areas, ranging from criminal justice to corporate governance.  Rightfully, the qualifications of any attorney nominated to sit on the Supreme Court should be carefully scrutinized.  In the case of Governor Christie’s two recent nominees, Bruce Harris and Phillip Kwon, that study reveals the backgrounds of extremely well qualified candidates whose experience is entirely consistent with the past and present Justices of the Supreme Court, all of whom enjoyed swift and strong Senatorial support.

Phillip Kwon has admirably dedicated nearly his entire career to various positions in public service within New Jersey.  A graduate of Georgetown University and Rutgers Law School, Mr. Kwon has worked over the last decade for the State’s Attorney General and the United States Attorney’s Office as the lead trial prosecutor in matters such as narcotics trafficking, gang violence, and public corruption.  He has served with distinction as a manager of dozens of federal prosecutors and thousands of state attorneys, earning the accolades of colleagues and adversaries.  As both a private attorney and a judicial law clerk, he has experience in the same variety of civil matters that will occupy the Supreme Court’s docket in the years to come.

Mr. Harris has achieved the rare distinction of combining a successful career as an attorney at two of the State’s most prestigious private firms, with nearly eight years of elected public service.  A magna cum lade graduate of Amherst College, Mr. Harris also holds an M.B.A, with honors, from Boston University and a law degree from Yale.  In legal practice that spanned nearly two decades, Mr. Harris personally negotiated a wide array of financial transactions, in both the public and private sector, valued in excess of $8 billion.  His legal advice and representation ranged from matters involving environmental projects, health care facilities, and public libraries, to assisted living homes, nonprofits, and residences for the disabled.  Simultaneously, Mr. Harris volunteered his time with a host of local charities, including the Chatham Environmental Commission, the Chatham Historic Preservation Commission, and as a Trustee of the Foundation of the UMDNJ and New Jersey Health Foundation.  He also combined his legal practice with nearly eight years of elected service, first as a member of the Chatham Borough Council and now as Chatham’s Mayor.

Notably, the backgrounds of both of these candidates are highly similar to the experiences and qualifications of our current and past Justices, all of whom received quick approval by the Legislature.  Like Justice LaVecchia, who was confirmed within four days, Mr. Kwon is a graduate of Rutgers Law School.  Mr. Harris not only has a legal degree, but also holds a Masters in Business Administration, which he obtained in 1979.  Similar to Justice Rabner, who was confirmed within 17 days, Mr. Kwon clerked in the U.S. District Court, and held leadership positions in the Office of the United States Attorney.  Both Justices Rabner and Patterson garnered experience at the Office of the Attorney General, as has Mr. Kwon, who has been with the Office since 2010.  Three of the five current justices have extensive legal experience in private practice, as do both Mr. Harris and Mr. Kwon.  Like all members of the court, Mr. Harris and Mr. Kwon have worked in prominent New Jersey law firms.  Nor will Mr. Harris become the first elected Mayor and Councilman to sit on the Court, as Justice Daniel O’Hern served as both Mayor and Councilman of Red Bank before his service as a Justice.Water Sports Product

Moreover, the confirmation of both Mr. Harris and Mr. Kwon will restore much-needed political balance to the high court.  By unwritten rule, Governors have maintained a political party affiliation split on the New Jersey Supreme Court, with no more than four Justices of the Governor’s party serving at the same time.  Since 1947, however, the implementation of that “tradition” has produced a Republican majority a mere five times compared with nineteen Democratic majorities.  Governor Christie’s appointments will honor the real intent of the compromise by creating a true party balance comprised of three registered Republicans (Hoens, Patterson, Harris), two registered Democrats (Rabner, Albin), and two unaffiliated Justices (LaVecchia, Kwon).

 The Constitution does not permit indefinite, or even lengthy, vacancies on the Supreme Court.  While the power of appointment and re-appointment rests solely with the Governor, the Senate holds the privilege of providing advice and consent of all persons asked to serve the people as members of the Court.  The Governor’s selection of these two exceptionally qualified candidates, whose backgrounds are substantially similar to the attorneys who have served our State with distinction, will allow the Senate to move swiftly to publicly consider the temperament of these nominees in fulfillment of our Constitutional duty.

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Little Waiting To Hear What People Think Before Launching Senate Bid

Despite telling multiple press outlets that she was running and despite professionally produced fundraising appeals for a campaign for U.S. Senate, Anna Little has not decided whether of not she will challenge Joe Kyrillos for the GOP nomination to unseat Robert Menendez.

Little’s manager, Larry Cirignano, told The Asbury Park Press, “She’s thinking about it.  She wants to wait and see what the people think –if they want a choice or are they satisfied with the field. It’s (a matter) of who is the best person to beat Menendez.”

Click here to tell Little what you think.

Highlands GOP Municipal Chairwoman Carol Bucco has already weighed in.  Bucco and her husband Tony, long time Little supporters, were in attendance at Kyrillo’s campaign kickoff event at the Lincroft Inn in Middletown yesterday.  Sources tell MMM that Bucco declined to sign Little’s nominating petition.

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Water Rates Poised To Double in Marlboro

Barbara Levine, Marlboro

I am writing because I am concerned about a proposed double digit increase in the Marlboro Water Utility Division’s rates. When the mayor and Township Council decided to assume the Marlboro Township Municipal Utilities Authority (MTMUA) as part of the township two years ago, we were promised it would reduce taxpayer and ratepayers’ expenses.

At the time is was reported that the savings to the taxpayers for eliminating this layer of government would be more than $800,000 in the first year and $200,000 per year thereafter and that the takeover would not affect the rates. Yet now, barely two years later, a rate increase is proposed.

We were told the MTMUA was tapping into capital reserves to pay current operating expenses and that absorption (of the authority by the township) would reduce costs so those reserve funds could be used for repairs and upgrades. There were many dissenters at the time and even those who were worried that this would be a “onetime gimmick” and that the Water Utility Division would initially raise rates and then be sold off.

In fact, the question was posed to the mayor and council with a request for a resolution to promise not to sell the water (utility) so that Marlboro does not go the way of other towns who have assumed a water authority with disastrous results, i.e., Howell, which has one of the highest water rates in the state.

Mayor and council, can you provide some assurance that this proposed water increase will not occur, and that you will not sell the water (utility) as long as you are mayor of this town?

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