More Evidence That The Neptune Nudniks Are Irrelevant

Need more evidence that the Asbury Park Press’s election coverage is irrelevant?  Go to CNN’s My elections page enter your your zip code and see which site is most prominently featured in their news feed.

• Tweet

Chinese Professor

• Tweet

What The “Expert” Insiders Think

Capitol Insights is a joint project of NJBiz, Rider University’s Rebovich Institute of NJ Politics, and the Kaufman-Zita Group, a leading public affairs and communications firm.

CI conducts occasional surveys of Trenton insiders.  This morning they released a survey which included questions on the ARC tunnel, the likelihood of Governor Christie running for President or Vice President in 2012, the likelihood of Governor Christie’s reform “tool kit” being passed before January 1, the outcomes of the congressional races in Districts 6 and 12, the Senate race is NJ’s 14th legislative district and the Bergen County Executive race.  The survey results can be viewed here.

The vast majority(83%) of the bi-partisan expert panel do not expect Governor Christie to be on the 2012. 55% expect Jon Runyon to defeat John Adler in CD-3, and 81% expect Rush Holt to successfully fight off Scott Sipprelle’s challenge in CD-12.

This is the first election that the CI insiders have predicted.  We’ll know next week how “expert” they really are.

• Tweet

12TH DISTRICT LEGISLATORS TO PRESENT TOOL KIT AT GREENBRIAR

Senator Jennifer Beck, Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon and Assemblywoman Caroline Casagrande will be making a presentation on Governor Christie’s Tool Kit tomorrow, Tuesday, October 26^th at 8 p.m. at Greenbriar Retirement Community in Marlboro.

This is the third such presentation the 12^th District Legislators have given on the Tool Kit, which consists of more than 30 initiatives to cut waste and streamline government in order to control the tax burden in New Jersey.

• Tweet

Scott’s “Trail Mix” for October 25th

We are a mere NINE DAYS away from a “shock-the-pundits” victory.  The “experts” said it could never happen. The NY Times poll originally gave us a 1% probability of victory. The powers-that-be gerrymandered NJ-12 so that it would be safe for the incumbent for as long as he cared to run for re-election. But, then, something happened. That something was you! Finish strong, and complete what you set out to do. The future begins on November 3.

Trenton

This weekend Team Sipprelle took our message of economic opportunity to the streets of Trenton.  Long taken for granted by Democrats and ignored by Republicans, the people of our capital city were delighted to see that we care about their community and that we have a commitment to rebuild. We cannot solve America’s problems without tackling our most difficult problems at their core.

There is Nothing Wrong with America

I met a whole new collection of American heroes this week:

A survivor of five concentration camps who came to America and immediately enlisted to serve in the Korean War

A minister who extends his gospel beyond his church to preach fiscal responsibility and self-empowerment to his parishioners

A husband and wife team of doctors who volunteer their time to provide high-quality medical care in a charity health clinic

A Mercer County businessman who runs a thriving manufacturing company, covers full healthcare for his employees, and has never had a layoff

There is nothing wrong with America, but there is something wrong with our government. It has become out-of-touch and disconnected from your values and your concerns.

More Mud from Mr. Holt

Please forgive me for not dedicating any more time and space to refute Mr. Holt’s increasingly bizarre and mean–spirited barrage of smears and personal attacks directed at me. Once his advisors and consultants move on, I expect that he will find the quiet time to wrestle with his conscience.

October 31 Blitz in East Brunswick

Please mark Sunday, October 31 on your calendar for Team Sipprelle to rally and canvass with the residents of East Brunswick. We need as many volunteers as possible, so plan your road trip. Stand tall with us for this final weekend.   Details shortly.

Join Us on Victory Night!

Team Sipprelle will gather at the Westin Princeton at Forrestal Village (on Route 1) on Election Night, starting at 7pm. If you are a challenger or working GOTV, please come on over after 8pm.

If You Can Donate…

…In these last few critical weeks to help us counter Mr. Holt’s full-throttle media volley of distortions and deceptions, please click here:

Click HERE to Donate

Thank you for your continued demonstration of passion and purpose in our campaign for America’s future.

• Tweet

Vin Gopal Should Get His Facts Straight

By Tony Fiore, Deputy Mayor Middletown Township

In response to Vin Gopal’s article on MoreMonmouthMusings, I believe this email below will set the record straight. 

Often times the majority is criticized by the Democrats in Middletown for not listening to Sean’s ideas despite the fact that they are not usually economically or practically feasible.  The notion that Sean’s voice is never heard is nonsense and we do implement his ideas when practical.  We obviously took his direction to use the automated system to announce the Recycling program “not too close” to the announcement of changes to our leave and brush pickup.

 While we all can agree that the lateness of the call to some residents was not intended due to a computer glitch, there was never a second call done to apologize for it.   If Mr. Gopal would like to question the integrity of the Tea Party, I suggest he get the facts straight before he does so.

I stand with the Tea Party in working to retire Frank Pallone and Rush Holt from Congress and take great offense to anyone questioning their motives.  It is no surprise to me that Mr. Gopal would write this type of letter after he has been an active fundraiser for Mr. Byrnes and has even hosted an event that he advertised in his newspaper earlier this year honoring special guest Frank Pallone. 

—–Original Message—–
From: Byrnes, Sean
Sent: Thu 8/26/2010 5:24 PM
To: Maloney, Ted; MayorsOffice; Twp Committee
Cc: VanNest, Jim; Mercantante, Anthony; Posten, Sam; Herrschaft, Cindy
Subject: RE: Fall Brush Collection “Reverse 911”

At some point, maybe not so close on the heels of this announcement, we should also do that for the recycling pickup.  You may have done it already, but we will probably need to push this pretty hard to get the word out and start getting compliance.

—–Original Message—–
From: Maloney, Ted
Sent: Thu 8/26/2010 12:15 PM
To: MayorsOffice; Twp Committee
Cc: VanNest, Jim; Mercantante, Anthony; Posten, Sam; Herrschaft, Cindy
Subject: Fall Brush Collection “Reverse 911”

Mayor and Committee Members,

In speaking with Tony Mercantante yesterday, I have decided to broadcast a “Reverse 911” call this evening to notify residents of DPW’s upcoming brush collection.  An email will also be sent to residents with registered email addresses.  The message is below:

This is a recorded message from the Middletown Township Public Works Department.  The Fall Brush Collection will begin on Monday, August 30th in Zones F and H.  To obtain a complete brush collection schedule, please visit www.middletownnj.org/collectionor call the Brush Collection Hotline at 732-615-XXXX.  Again please visit www.middletownnj.org/collection or call 732-615-XXXX for the current brush collection schedule and updates.  Thank you and have a nice weekend.

As you can see, I am also setting up (with the help of Todd Costello and Jim Dudek) a brush collection hotline that will feature an audible version of the full brush collection schedule.  This hotline, which will remain in effect for all future collections, will also give the caller the option of pressing “0” to speak with a live operator (during business hours).  Our standard postcards are in the process of being mailed to each resident, but may not reach every resident prior to their collection start date.  I wanted to make you aware of this notice in case you are questioned by residents.

Thank you,

Ted

__________________________________________________
Joseph E. “Ted” Maloney, PE, PP, CME, CPWM

Township Engineer – Director of Public Works

Township of Middletown

52 Kanes Lane
Middletown, NJ 07748

• Tweet

Why Vin Questions The Integrity Of The Tea Party Movement In Monmouth County

By Art Gallagher

Because he wants his friend Sean Byrnes to be reelected to the Middletown Township Committee, and because he wants to create a distraction among the Tea Party members during this crucial last week of the election.

The wonderful thing about Integrity is that is isn’t shaken when its questioned.  It is strengthened by being questioned. If you ever see someone get upset by their integrity being questioned, it is a sure sign that he or she has an integrity issue.  Someone with their intergrity intact simply answers the question when it is asked.

So, as a member of the Tea Party Movement in Monmouth County, and a visible supporter of Gerry Scharfenberger, I am happy to answer the questions Vin raises.

I am not a spokesperson for any Tea Party group.  The official spokespeople know they are welcome to submit their own material for the front page or simply comment.

I, and I think the Tea Party groups, support Gerry Scharfenberger for another term on the Middletown Township Committee,  not only because of the R after his name, not even primarily because of the R after his name.  I support Gerry because he has done an excellent job leading Middletown.  I support him because he is one the hardest working most conscientious elected officials I know.

The Tea Party groups have not blindly supported Gerry because he’s an R.  They’ve held his feet to the fire over the budget and operations of Middletown.  He has answered their questions and earned their support.

Vin raises five issues as reasons not to support Gerry.  1) This year’s municipal budget which accounts for the majority of the property tax increase, 2) the recycling robocalls, 3) the arts center, 4) the municipal pool, and the sewage authority.

The most important concern is the budget.  Gerry has explained this years difficult budget well. Taxes had to be increased because of a loss of state funding ( I refuse to call it aid), an almost $1 million unpredictable increase in the cost of snow removal last winter, unexpected retirements that cause big payouts in unused vacation and sick time, and a decline in revenue from recycling.

Had Gerry asked me, I would have advised him to wait on the recycling robo calls until after the election.  My reasoning would have been political, not governmental.  The moment I received the robo call while sitting at my desk at 9PM, I knew it would be criticised politically.

From a governmental point of view, there should probably be robo calls the day before every recyling pickup until the majority of people’s behavior changes and recycling increases.  Robo calls are cheap.  The reaction the recent ones prove they get attention.  An increase in recycling will be good for the townships budget and good for the environment.  Gerry should keep making those calls….after the election…and before 8PM.

The art center and the pool are silly issues to use against Gerry.  They were both in the works either before or very early in his tenure on the township committee.  I agree the art center was too expensive and is under utilized.  Now that it is there, we need to maximise its use and keep the costs down.  The pool should be sold.

The sewage authority is a patronage pit, as are countless authorities throughout New Jersey.  Gerry didn’t create the pit and Sean Byrnes will not clean it up.   Governor Christie has started the process of cleaning up the cess pool of New Jersey’s waste and abuse in all levels of government, including authorities.  Gerry Scharfenberger is the Governor’s partner in the clean up.

Even though the sewage authority is a patronage pit, my sewer bills are lower in Middletown than they are in the other Monmouth County towns where I own property.

Even though my Middletown taxes went up, they are lower, as a percentage of property value, than the other towns in Monmouth County where I pay property taxes.

Yes, I am a partisan Republican, like Vin is a partisan Democrat.  Yet, I have used this blog prominently over the years to criticise Republicans, including Gerry.  I admire Vin telling us he didn’t vote for Ellen Karcher or Jon Corzine.  I understand why he’s not telling us which Democrats he’s not voting for this year, however his questioning of the Tea Party’s integrity would have more weight if he was honest about which Democrats he’s not voting for this year and if he went public about that before the election.  I don’t expect him too, but like he said, if we’re going to lay the cards on the table…..

Even though I am a partisan Republican, as a taxpayer I appreciate divided government.  Early in is tenure, I had hoped Sean Byrnes was the kind of Democrat I could support in a minority position.  He has not proven himself to be that.  He hasn’t added value to the governance of Middletown.  He has used his minority status to try to create partisan wedges rather than to improve the service and costs of Middletown government.

That the government employees unions contributed $74,000 to Byrnes Freeholder race last year tells me all I need to know.  When the Governor’s tool kit gets passed, Middletown will be able to run government even more efficiently than it does now.  If Byrnes is beholden to the unions, he will not be as aggressive as need be in reducing the costs of government.

That Byrnes, as a member of the Township Committee, voted on an appointment of a community member he was involved in litigation with as a private attorney, raises sufficient questions about his judgement to disqualify him for another term. 

Under Republican leadership, Middletown has the one of the lowest, if not the lowest, costs of municpal government per capita than any other town in New Jersey.  The number of municipal employees has decreased by almost 25% over the last 10 years, 10% this year.

As I have asked many many times, name a town in New Jersey where Democrats are doing a better job than Republicans are doing in Middletown.  Let me amend the question for this year; name an municipality with a population and land mass the size of Middletown where the municipal government has done a better job in the last six years than Middletown’s municipal government has done  in the last six years with Gerry Scharfenberger’s leadership.

Vin’s a good friend to Byrnes.  I’m proud to call him my friend too, and I am proud to be able to be friends with my political adversaries.  We need more of that kind of relating as we fix our broken state.  

To my Tea Party friends, don’t be distracted by Vin’s volley. We have too much work to do this week.

• Tweet

Why I question the Integrity of the Tea Party Movement in Monmouth County

By Vin Gopal

If Frank Pallone or Rush Holt or John D’Amico sent out taxpayer funded automated phone calls at 10:00pm at night two weeks before an election, how would YOU react? I recall my friend Art Gallagher often saying that the art of franking, sending out taxpayer funded newsletters during an election year is wrong. I agree with him. So I ask not only Art but conservatives who claim to believe in smaller government, those who consider themselves members of the Tea Party movement, how would YOU react if Frank Pallone or Rush Holt sent out a taxpayer funded robocall two weeks before an election urging people to recycle? 

Because thats what Middletown’s Mayor Gerry Scharfenberger did. Then he sent another taxpayer funded robocall apologizing for sending out the late night call. So how come those, whom call themselves members of the tea party movement or conservatives, how come they don’t speak out about Mayor Scharfenberger’s actions? Or is it basically hypocrisy 101 – hear no evil, see no evil when it comes to Republicans. Is that it? If thats it, thats fine but lets just put it out on the table and lets understand that this movement is NOT about stopping taxpayer abuse but it is simply to elect Republicans. As long as everyone is honest, it make its much easier to communicate if that is indeed what the tea party movement is about.

Middletown has a mayor who spends taxpayer money like water, he supports a patronage mill-filled Middletown Arts Center, which the entire town pays for even though a small percentage of residents use it. Now the Mayor wants to discuss privatizing or selling the taxpayer funded swim club – after 6 years in office, now he brings it up after pressure from the lone Democrat on the committee, Sean Byrnes, who urged the mayor that government should not be in the business of running a pool club. But you won’t see Scharfenberger and his buddies go after the unnecessary Sewage Authority – why would you, when their attorney, Middletown political boss and GOP Chairman Peter Carton has the most to lose from a missing sewage authority. At every turn and every corner, under Mayor Scharfenberger’s watch, Middletown’s taxes skyrocketed more than any other municipality in Monmouth County. The few short examples I listed is just a piece of Scharnfeberger’s record of being a tax and spend politician.

I love the attacks that Mayor Scharfenberger has gone after Sean Byrnes on in his attack mailers….that he is a career politician (Sean has served 2.5 years on the Middletown Township Committee, 1 year as a prosecutor in Atlantic Highlands and 22 years in the US Coast Guard) meanwhile the Mayor has been elected in Middletown for almost the past 6 years and runs a patronage mill in town.

So is the Tea Party in Monmouth County nothing more than an umbrella group trying to convince us to defeat Democrats? Is this an organization that will look the other way on their own fiscally irresponsible members if they simply have an R next to their name? I seriously question the integrity of anyone who says they want to stop the abuse of taxpayers but who say nothing and look the other way when the mayor of the county’s largest municipality sends out a taxpayer funded robocall 2 weeks before the election asking voters to recycle.

Yes, I’m a Democrat because I believe in certain core principles of my political party. I didn’t vote for Ellen Karcher and I didn’t vote for Jon Corzine. I wrote out about the disgusting tactics of those Democrats in South Jersey who tried to create a fake candidate in the 3rd Congressional District in order to manipulate and deceive voters. I like to think, even though I vote Democrat more often, I still have a mind of my own and when members of my own party who are not fiscally or ethically responsible, that we have a moral right to call them out. I question why my counterparts in the other party don’t do the same. Is it because all they are about is politics and elections and not about public policy? I hope that’s not the case.

So as you are reading this, Mayor Scharfenberger and his friends will attack me in the comments section and elsewhere, they will quickly attack Sean Byrnes, making up things that have nothing to do with his taxpayer funded automated phone calls and they will quickly attack anyone else because they are unable to justify why it was necessary to spend taxpayer money 2 weeks before an election urging voters to recycle. They will try to distract the voters and they will be unable to defend the question at hand – why they are sending out taxpayer funded automated phone calls 2 weeks before an election asking voters to recycle. Watch them – watch their excuses.

I have many close friends who are members of the Tea Party. My business partner hosts tea party meetings at his restaurant. But as I watch this, I now question the integrity of this organization of self-proclaimed conservatives who continue to support a Mayor who is responsible for the largest tax hike in the history of Middletown. While Fair Haven’s conservative mayor was able to stabilize taxes in his town, Mayor Scharfenberger skyrocketed taxes in Middletown and yet the Tea Party leaders and conservative leaders all over Monmouth County seem to support him.

Is that what it comes down to? The Tea Party is okay with anyone fiscally irresponsible as long as they have an R next to their name?

• Tweet

Sides

• Tweet

Michelle Obama To Meet Commercial Sex Workers In India

The President and the First Lady will celebrate the election of the 112th Congress with a two day visit to India.

A visit with commercial sex workers in Kamathipura is on the First Lady’s agenda, according to a report in The Economic Times.

This will be an expensive trip:

“A team of secret service agents has already arrived, and has surveyed the areas of his stay and the roads and places on his itinerary,” the officer said.

To ensure fool-proof security, the President’s team has booked the entire the Taj Mahal Hotel, including 570 rooms, all banquets and restaurants. Since his security contingent and staff will comprise a huge number, 125 rooms at Taj President have also been booked, apart from 80 to 90 rooms each in Grand Hyatt and The Oberoi hotels. The NCPA, where the President is expected to meet representatives from the business community, has also been entirely booked.
The officer said, “Obama’s contingent is huge. There are two jumbo jets coming along with Air Force One, which will be flanked by security jets. There will be 30 to 40 secret service agents, who will arrive before him. The President’s convoy has 45 cars, including the Lincoln Continental in which the President travels.”

Since Obama will stay in a hotel that is on sea front, elaborate coastal security arrangements have been made by the US Navy in consonance with the Indian Navy and the Coast Guard. “There will be US naval ships, along with Indian vessels , patrolling the sea till about 330-km from the shore. This is to negate the possibility of a missile being fired from a distance,” the officer said.

The President will be accompanied by his chefs, not because he would not like to savour Indian cuisine, but to ensure his food is not spiked.

• Tweet