ObamaCare Will Bankrupt The Country

By Henry Vaccaro, Sr

I recently saw a article written by Congressman Frank Pallone that demanded my response.  Headlines “GOP reforms would break covenant ”

In that story Pallone berated the budget plan prepared by Congressman Ryan as he felt that it dealt too harshly with Medicare reforms.  The first thing he does is to resort to fear mongering and scare tactics  aimed at seniors and then the blame game.

The headline should have said ” Obamacare will Bankrupt the Country.” 

Last year Pallone and his gang, for the first time in our history failed to pass a Budget even though they controlled all three branches of the government.  Instead they kicked the problem  to the next guy.  How courageous of him. Congressman what may I ask is your solution to our staggering 14 Trillion dollar debt.  Where is your plan or is it more convenient to just second guess the guy who actually has a plan.  If we follow your history it’s to give sweet heart deals to the unions,  Give phony cost numbers to the GAO so as to give Obamacare a high score.  Give waivers to over 1000 unions and businesses  to opt out of your Healthcare scam once they find the real cost. 

Congressman the country is broke, how are you going to fix it.  Don’t worry folks, Pallone knows how to work the system.   Ask him how his wife got a cozy job with the EPA paying over $144,000,00 and a pension just after Obama’s election.  They say “To the victor belongs the Spoil’s ” well these spoils  are rotten.   The job even has a fancy title Deputy Associate Administrator of Intergovernmental Relations of the EPA.  This is the same out of control agency that has stopped oil drilling , closed down clean coal operations  and is killing our manufacturing base with overzealous regulations.

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The Fastest Government Study In History

Is Common Sense Decision Making A New Trend?  Don’t Count On it!

By Art Gallagher

The New Jersey Department of Transportation completed its engineering study into the feasibility of allowing commercial trucks to travel the Garden State Parkway north of exit 105 with lightning speed.

The Asbury Park Press reported that the department’s engineers were studying the issue on Saturday.  By Monday afternoon, Transportation Commissioner James Simpson announced that the truck ban would continue.  The department’s engineers had concluded that there were significant engineering issues that would prevent even a preliminary consideration of the idea.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if common sense decision making was at work throughout our various governments as it apparently is in the Department of Tranporation.  How much more affordable would New Jersey be if our leaders could do or not do something without first performing expensive studies simply because the answer is obvious.

Isn’t it obvious that it doesn’t make sense to pay men and women in the prime of the lives generous pensions for the last 30, 40, or 50 years of their lives while they pursue new careers either in or out of government “service?”  Isn’t it obvious that paying for health benefits for those men or women and their families for life is not sustainable fiscal policy?

Isn’t it obvious that paying elected officials a pension and a salary for the same job, while they are in the job, is ludicrous?

Isn’t it obvious that it is wasteful and inequitable to pay someone who worked part-time for 20 years a full time pension if they work full time for 5 years at the end of their career.

Isn’t it obvious that the Abbott District experiment didn’t work?

Isn’t obvious that government employees having civil service protection and union contracts is overkill?

Isn’t obvious that guaranteeing a teacher lifetime job protection after three years gives no incentive to that teacher to preform exceptionally?

Please add more in the comments.

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Christie Town Hall Meeting In Jackson On Tuesday

Governor Chris Christie will hold a Town Hall Meeting on his Reform Agenda tomorrow, April 19, in Jackson at The Westlake Clubhouse ballroom.

Doors open at 9:15AM

Click here to RSVP

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Bayshore Tea Party Group Launches “Two Tons For Our Troops”

Middletown, NJ – The Bayshore Tea Party Group is sponsoring “Two Tons for our Troops,” a supply drive for the 13^th Marine Expeditionary Unit, “America’s 911 Force” now in international deployment.

A Marine Expeditionary Unit has about 2,200 personnel and consists of command, infantry, aviation and combat logistics. The 13th MEU is based out of Camp Pendleton, CA.

The Bayshore Tea Party Group has set a deadline of May 15 to collect two tons of supplies. Communities, individuals and other organizations are encouraged to help reach that ambitious goal. The collection point is 275 Route 35 North, Red Bank NJ 07701 (just north of the Pine Street jug handle.) The following items would be gratefully accepted and appreciated:

ENTERTAINMENT

X-box games, DVDs, games, books, magazines

FOOD – Non Perishable Only

Non-melting candy, powdered drink mixes, Gatorade mix, chips, protein powder/bars, beef jerky, Airborne, Vitamin tablets, Emergen-C

TOILETRIES

hand sanitizer, body wash, toilet paper, body lotion, mouth wash, foot powder, chap stick, Clorox wipes, toothpaste, tooth brush, nail clippers, bath towels, Lysol, Q tips, face wash, dental floss shampoo/conditioner, deodorant, shower curtain, small bath rugs, febreeze, hook toilet fresheners

CLOTHING

Black/brown socks, white ankle socks for PT

MISCELLANEOUS

Stamps, envelopes/stationery, notebooks, phone cards, paper towels, hair clippers, batteries (AA/AAA 3 VOLT), duct tape, small fans,  large trash bags, cable ties, combo locks

Please visit our website at www.bayshoreteaparty.org for information on how you can become involved with the effort to restore American exceptionalism and fix our broken state and federal governments. 

The Bayshore Tea Party Group Headquarters is located at 275 Rt. 35N in Fairview, NJ. Please contact [email protected] or call 732-842-6652 for more information.

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Consider Settling The Burnham Matter

By Art Gallagher

The audit into Ex- Brookdale President Peter Burnham’s spending irregularities has revealed questionable reimbursements in the amount of $48,109.75.  Brookdale plans to file suit against Burnham. Burnham’s retirement funds have been frozen by the Treasury Department.  The Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office is investigating.  All of this according to the Asbury Park Press.

Brookdale has already spent $12,500 on the audit.   Legal fees to date likely add up to several thousand dollars more, not to mention the cost of the prosecutors. 

Unless there is reasonable suspicion of a great deal more of  inappropriate expenditures, and there might be….an earlier APP article that is no longer on their site said construction of athletic facilities was being investigated…,  the Brookdale Board of Trustees should consider settling this matter and putting the controversy in the past.

Spending more money on audits and litigation than on what was misappropriated would be stupid and wasteful.  That money would be better spent on new management controls to ensure that similar misappropriations don’t occur in the future.

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One Meadowlands Racetrack Union Imperils Deal to Save Standardbred Racing

Trenton, NJ – Governor Chris Christie today called Thursday’s inaction by the union representing the mutuel clerks at Meadowlands Racetrack on a proposal from prospective track operator Jeff Gural a potentially fatal obstacle to continuing racing operations at the East Rutherford facility.

In the face of unsustainable racetrack losses, and the recognition that jobs and livelihoods could nonetheless be saved, substantial progress had been made to save standardbred racing in negotiations with Mr. Gural. That progress included the overwhelming acceptance by another racetrack union of new contract provisions.  

Said Governor Christie: “Apparently, one group has decided on its own to put at risk the livelihoods of many others. We were patient and accommodating, but these deadlines for achieving self-sustaining horse racing are very real.  This is an unfortunate outcome to say the least.” 

The failure of Local 137 to vote will trigger the following consequences, which Local 137 was keenly aware would occur: Live racing at the Meadowlands Racetrack will not resume on May 7 as previously scheduled. Meadowlands simulcasting will cease as of May 12. Racetrack employees were issued notices March 8 of potential layoffs as required by law, and absent a vote by Local 137, those layoffs will commence on May 12, the first date for which the legal cessation of all operations at the racetrack can now occur.

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CASAGRANDE: DEPUTIZE PRIVATE ACCOUNTANTS TO HELP DELIVER EVEN MORE SAVINGS FOR TAXPAYERS

CASAGRANDE BILL WOULD PROVIDE WORK FOR PRIVATE ACCOUNTANTS,

CURB GOVERNMENT WASTE AND GENERATE SAVINGS FOR TAXPAYERS

            The State Comptroller’s recent report that state government wastes millions of dollars on uniforms for state workers who don’t wear them, is another outrage that proves the capacity for waste in New Jersey government is endless, said Assemblywoman Caroline Casagrande, the sponsor of a measure that would pay private accountants to audit wasteful government spending – at no cost to taxpayers.

            “This bogus clothing stipend is one of many outrageous examples of waste hidden deep within New Jersey’s many layers of government,” Casagrande, R-Monmouth and Mercer, said. “Matt Boxer and his office consistently do an excellent job unearthing these abuses, but New Jersey governments’ capacity for waste is bottomless and we could always use more diggers.”

            Casagrande sponsors, A-1828, which would allow the State Comptroller to hire private certified accountants on a contingency basis. Their pay would be a percentage of the savings they uncover and deliver for taxpayers.

            “We often talk about running government like a private business, so let’s see what happens when we deputize private accountants,” Casagrande said. “This will help the State Comptroller conduct more investigations with greater impact. It will also create jobs for enterprising accountants in a way that saves money, unlike some recent proposals that would cost taxpayers hundreds of millions without guarantee of one new job.

            “Governor Christie will make sure Governor Corzine’s clothing allowance is hung out to dry in the next public employee contract, but this example proves that special interests and a complicit government will sink to any depth, so let’s even the score with vigilante accountants working for taxpayers against waste,” Casagrande added.

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Red Bank Regional Students Excel In Applied Technology

RBR Students Win the Air Force Association’s CyberPatriot III National Championship

Photo credit, Red Bank Regional High School

Little Silver:  A team of six students from Red Bank Regional High School’s Academy of Information Technology out-performed 11 other teams from across the nation to win first place April 2^nd in the nation’s largest and most prestigious high school cyber defense competition.

The CyberPatriot III National Championship is co-sponsored by government, non-profit and commercial sources under the direction of the non-profit Air Force Association (AFA), whose mission is to promote an understanding of cyber defense and its importance to our national security.

            The RBR team was the only team from the entire Northeast region of the United States to have qualified to the championship finals, which were held in Washington, D.C. during a two-day program.  The winning RBR team—nicknamed Team Mantrap, after an industrial term in cyber security lingo—includes Chris Barry of Bradley Beach; Jared Katzman of Little Silver; Adam Cotenoff, Josh Eddy, Jack Kelleher, and Colin Mahns of Shrewsbury. As finalists in the competition, Team Mantrap had already beat approximately 174 other teams from across the country.

            In addition to bringing home The President’s Trophy, each of the winning students received a $2000 college scholarship from Northrop Grumman, the main sponsor of the final competition. Five of the team members will graduate high school in June, and all intend to pursue careers in cyber security. As their RBR teacher and advisor Mandy Galante says, the CyberPatriot Championship opened many new doors to these students.

 “It means scholarship monies, eligibility for Honors Scholar status at their universities, prospects for job internships, and most of all, networking with industry leaders. It means a future for my students where their talents will be recognized and nurtured so that they can join the ranks of cyber leaders of their generation,” says Mrs. Galante.

The first wave of that recognition hit immediately after the competition, when the winners were announced at a celebration banquet attended by corporate executives, defense contractors and government officials, all of whom were vying to speak with members of Team Mantrap. Included among the cyber industry experts was Dr. Vincent Cerf, one of the founders of the Internet, a guest speaker at the program’s symposium—and a quasi-deity to computer wonks around the world.

The RBR students are still ebullient from their victory, but not necessarily surprised that they won. “We worked well as a team, and spent many hours preparing for it,” explains Adam Cotenoff.  “I knew from the way our guys were working and the points that were registered on the board that we were ahead.”

            They nearly drove their advisor out of her mind, when they started packing up their notes ten minutes before the actual end of the competition. “It’s cool,” they said to her, when they saw the panic on her face. “We did fine.”

The competition took place over a five-hour stretch in a large room where each team was ensconced in its own makeshift section. A scoreboard listed each team’s progress as the challenge evolved, but the identity of the teams was kept anonymous, so no one knew which team was actually in the lead. Throughout the competition, most of the teams’ scores tracked closely together, except for the still-anonymous winning team, which maintained a clear distance ahead of the others. Team Mantrap didn’t know it, but it was actually way ahead.

            Adam Cotenoff had discovered the CyberPatriot III Competition early in the school year and asked Mrs. Galante if it might be something they could look into. The elimination process began six months ago with 186 teams registered from around the United States. Applicants included public, private and high technology focused high schools. The three qualifying competitions took place at the teams’ own high schools during all-day weekend sessions. The schools’ computers were tied into the AFA server, which provided software for the competition and real-time scoring, as students successfully identified and eliminated cyber threats against their computers within a specified time-frame. The resulting twelve national finalists were invited to the final event, with all expenses paid by the AFA sponsors.

As Team Captain Jack Kelleher comments, “Originally, Team Mantrap got involved because it sounded really cool and because we would always rather do hands-on applications of the stuff we learn in textbooks. As time went on we got better and better, we started to think, ‘Hey we could win this thing!’ Just like a sports team, we reviewed our last game to find areas for improvement. We documented game plans, and we did drills over and over again.”

            The students had also recently been interviewed by German Public Radio while they competed in another competition. The German radio reporter was interested in showcasing the school’s program since cyber security has become a national priority for all industrialized nations.

            In addition to her students’ hard work and preparation, Mrs. Galante believes Team Mantrap had beneficial advantages. RBR offers a very unique computer curriculum that is not available in many other schools. Students take specific courses which lead to certification in computer networking and computer security. The latter is directly applicable to the CyberPatriot III competition. They also had the guidance and mentorship of Herb Kelsey, an RBR parent who, at one point in his career, was the head of cyber security for IBM.

            Mr. Kelsey  commented, “Five years ago the government set out to see how they could get our young people involved in an industry that was rapidly becoming a national security priority. This competition is an outgrowth of that concern.”

Mrs. Galante agreed that there was a deeper meaning to the CyberPatriot event.

She explains, “At one point during the symposium, I heard General Lord, CIO US Air Force, speak about identifying the young people who will hold the tip of the spear in cyber defense for our nation. These students are not just geeks, with left-brains perfectly developed to speak code and manipulate bits. These young men and women are the ones who when they see a challenge, they will rise to meet it. When presented with a problem, they will strive to solve it. And when they hear a call to duty, they will answer it. These are the young men and women who will hold that cyber spear to keep our systems resilient, reliable and robust.”

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Little Raises No Money. Has Less Than $2000 Cash On Hand

Campaign Treasurer Claims 2011 Donations and Expenses Are Not Included–Disclosure Not Required

By Art Gallagher

The fledgling campaign of Anna Little to unseat Congressman Frank Pallone raised no money in the first quarter of this year, spent $5,600 of campaign funds left over from last year and has $1966.00 cash on hand, according to Little’s FEC Form 3, Record of Receipts And Disbursements, filed with the Federal Election Commission on Monday.

The campaign owes its manager, Larry Cirignano, $2,123 and Little $700.00.

The $5,600 spent was for fundraising, accounting, rent and phone bills, according to the report.

Little’s $1000 sponsorship of the Bayshore Tea Party’s St. Patrick’s Day Celebration featuring guest speaker James O’Keefe was not reported.  The sponsorship check was drawn on the account of Anna C. Little for Congress Inc. and dated March 11, 2011.  Bayshore Tea Party founder Barbara Gonzalez verified that the check cleared.

Also not reported, either in this week’s filing nor in Little’s final 2010 report, was any expenditure for the campaign’s election night gathering at the Shore Casino.

Asked about the missing expenditures, Cirignano told MoreMonmouthMusings, “I don’t know anything about it.”

In an email to previous donors during the last week of March, Cirignano asked supporters to donate as much as they could by March 31 in order that Little’s report would have an impressive showing in the amount of individual donors, if not in the amount of money raised.

Little for Congress Treasurer Jane Frotton said that this week’s report applies to the 2010 campaign only. “Anna has not formally announced or filed that she is running in 2012,” said Frotten, “our expert in Washington said we don’t have to disclose 2011-2012 receipts or expenditures because we haven’t filed and because we have not raised enough money.”  Frotten said the Bayshore Tea Party sponsorship was a 2011-2012 expenditure that is not required to be disclosed yet.

Frotton said the Shore Casino bill was “paid by somebody else. There is a $250 balance due that I haven’t paid yet.”  When asked if the Shore Casino bill was reported as an inkind contribution or if the $250 balance due was reported as a debt, Frotton said “no.”

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Another Conservative Who Can’t Count

By Art Gallagher

NJ.com blogger Paul Mulshine has a piece today criticising the Tea Party movement for not waging primaries against “safe” Republican state legislators.   Add Mulshine to the list of so called conservatives who can’t count.

After the general election last year I was alarmed by the “RINO hunting” rhetoric I was hearing from activists I had come to know as volunteers for the Little campaign.   Locally and nationally, the Tea Party efforts were focused on defeating Democrats with conservative Republicans.  Why would we now focus our energy on defeating Republicans?  Waging Republican primaries to compete for seats held by Democrats made sense last year.  Putting “safe” Republican seats at risk doesn’t make sense. Not when we’re the minority party.

We live in a state dominated by a Democratic legislature.  Defeating well known and well liked “safe” incumbents in primaries would those “safe seats” in play.  Democrats would dedicate resources to winning those seats if they were “vacant.”   Rather than “RINO hunting” the Tea Party activists would be wise to continue their efforts to defeating Democrats.  Leave the RINO hunting until after we’ve won a majority.

That’s the advise I gave the Tea Party leaders who would listen to me back in November.  I’m grateful that many heard the message, whether they heard it from me or somebody else.

Mulshine is making light of the Tea Parties having a convention and training sessions this weekend because without primaries the training won’t weaken the Republicans chances to pick up seats in November.   

Some Tea Parties are making noise about waging third party campaigns.  If that is the agenda and result of the convention than the organizers are crazier than Mulshine.  Third party conservative campaigns in “safe” Republican districts will increase the Democrats chances of expanding their majority. 

If the point of the Tea Party Convention is to make inroads into Democratic districts, then their efforts will be well spent.

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