THE SOPRANO STATE

New Jersey’s Culture of Corruption

Part One

FILM INSIPIRED BY THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING BOOK

TO BE RELEASED IN SELECT CLEARVIEW CINEMAS IN NEW YORK & NEW JERSEY

BEGINNING OCTOBER 22, 2010

NEW YORK, NY (September 14, 2010) – New Jersey Pictures announced today that THE SOPRANO STATE: NEW JERSEY’S CULTURE OF CORRUPTION PART ONE, a film produced by three-time Academy Award® nominee Steve Kalafer, his producing partner Bruce Raiffe and directed by Peter LeDonne, inspired by the New York Times Bestselling book by Bob Ingle and Sandy McClure, will be released in select Clearview Cinemas in New York City and New Jersey beginning Friday, October 22, 2010. The film will have its official premiere at Clearview’s Ziegfeld Theatre in New York, NY on Monday, October 18, 2010.

Envelopes of money exchanged for political favors. Cash paid for back-door deals. Construction contracts handed out for those who have to pay elected officials. Sound like an episode of “The Sopranos”?  Worse. Welcome to what is arguably the most politically corrupt state in the USA … New Jersey. THE SOPRANO STATE takes viewers on a wild ride of political power and corruption that started when New Jersey was still a colony. The film exposes elected officials who ran on platforms promising to end political corruption, only to find themselves behind bars for doing exactly that.

THE SOPRANO STATE features interviews and commentary from the attorneys, politicians and journalists who were there – including current New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. The film is narrated by Tony Darrow (“The Sopranos” & Goodfellas).

THE SOPRANO STATE has reunited a very successful team. It is executive produced by Kellie Pyffer. Kalafer, LeDonne and Pyffer, have teamed on the Academy Award-nominated films Curtain Call and Sister Rose’s Passion, winner Best Documentary Short at the 2004 Tribeca Film Festival, both acquired by HBO, and on The Diary of Immaculee, which was honored at The 2006 Toronto film Festival’s  “One By One” event.

The production team for THE SOPRANO STATE includes Steven Moskovic (Director of Photography), Daniel Raiffe (Associate Producer), Molly Williamson (Editor).

This film is not yet rated.

ABOUT THE BOOK

“The Soprano State: New Jersey’s Culture of Corruption” by veteran journalists Bob Ingle and Sandy McClure was published by St. Martin’s Press in February 2008 and became a New York Times Bestseller.

The book has been called “a page-turner. You start out laughing and end up pounding the table for reform” by Tom Curley at The Associated Press. “Looking for laughs at the expense of stupid criminals? Their nonfiction tale reads like a pay-per-view epic, hence the Tony title. Featured are real-life politicians, businessmen and mobsters who’ve less than gracefully nabbed headlines the past 30 years,” said the Athens (Ga.) Banner-Herald. And from Barnes & Noble, “If Garden State politicians were worried that The Sopranos would give Jersey a bad name, they would be mortified by the allegations in Bob Ingle and Sandy McClure’s revealing muckrake. Penned by two hardworking Trenton investigative reporters, The Soprano State paints a picture of widespread corruption that would embarrass even the Bada Bing! Crowd. Scandalously good.”

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Little/Angle ally to defeat the Pallone/Reid axis

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Small Business Can Count On Holt

By Vin Gopal

This November, we’ll find the usual cast characters on the ballot: wall street millionaires, politically-connected lawyers and career politicians, all of whom will try to convince us that they know what is best for us. As a small business owner, I work 16 hours a day, battling to make payroll for my employees while fighting to keep prices low for my customers and clients. One member of Congress understands what small business owners go through every day. His name is Rush Holt and he is not a career politician, he is a rocket scientist turned college professor turned public servant. During his tenure in Congress, Representative Holt has had a far greater outreach into the small business community than any other member of Congress in the New Jersey delegation.

He feels our frustration and pain when we are working twice as many hours making half of what we used to two years ago. That is why he recently introduced the “Creating Jobs From Innovative Small Businesses Act of 2010” – legislation which would encourage small business investment by establishing a temporary 20 percent tax credit for investments in research-intensive small businesses. Last year, Representative Holt helped pass legislation in the House that would eliminate fees on SBA loans and increase loan guarantees to increase lending to small businesses. Month after month, Representative Holt is fighting for us in Congress.

As Labor Day passes and as the campaign season heats up, the last thing small business owners need is another wall street genius who claims he can fix all of our problems. We need someone who has walked the walk and that is Representative Rush Holt. As a private citizen and a proud small business owner, I urge Central Jersey residents to vote for Rush Holt, someone small business owners can count on and someone Wall Street can count against.

Vin Gopal serves on the Board of Directors for the Northern Monmouth Chamber of Commerce and is President of the Hazlet Business Owners Associations. He is the co-owner of Monitor Publications, which currently markets over 200 small businesses throughout Monmouth and Middlesex Counties. These views in this letter do not represent the position(s) of any of these organizations.

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WRIGHT, BEAN & DEMPSEY FIND GROSS OVERSPENDING IN BELMAR’S BUDGET

Detailed study shows Belmar spending $2.1 MILLION MORE for same services

September 14, 2010, BELMAR, NJ – Richard Wright, Jim Bean and Greg Dempsey, candidates for Mayor and Council here, have released a detailed study of Belmar’s municipal budget and resulting property taxes entitled, The Tax Escalation on Belmar Residents.  The six-page report contains an in-depth comparison of the 2010 Belmar and Manasquan municipal budgets, and shows compelling data on Belmar’s municipal overspending and lack of fiscal management which has resulted in tax increases for the last seven years.

“By far, the biggest concern of Belmar residents is high property taxes,” says mayoral candidate Richard Wright.  “We literally hear people say, ‘I’m not sure if I’m going to be able to continue to live here because the taxes are so high,” he says.

 “They always follow with, ‘I love Belmar, but I just can’t afford it when the taxes go up every year’,” he adds.

 The study, available online at the team’s campaign website www.BetterBelmar.com, compares the municipal budgets of Belmar and Manasquan, two municipalities similar in demographics and geographics.  Yet, the study reveals that by the end of fiscal 2010, Belmar will outspend neighboring Manasquan by $2.1 MILLION, even though Belmar is smaller, has fewer residents and brings in more revenue from non-tax sources.

 “The lack of fiscal planning in Belmar is stunning,” says Jim Bean, a candidate for Belmar Borough Council. “With a young family like mine, I need to keep as much of my hard earned money as possible—NOT give it to the government.”

 Running mate Greg Dempsey agrees.  “People just can’t take any more. We have neighbors who have lost their jobs or are working two jobs just to keep up. They are spreading less income further to pay their bills, and rising taxes aren’t helping.”

 Wright adds that the Republican teammates are the only candidates who possess the private-sector, real-world experience managing budgets, meeting payroll, and reducing operating expenses.

“When the rubber hits the road, we’re qualified. We have the practical experience to fix the financial problems facing Belmar,” he adds.

Wright is a retired financial executive who spent his career building growing companies and managing companies through contractions; Bean is an information technology director and efficiency expert who coordinates the needs of several companies at multiple locations; and Dempsey is a veteran account manager who negotiates international contracts and has supervised hundreds of employees. The team is highly qualified and sincerely passionate in their desire to make their hometown more affordable and taxpayer friendly.

Other results of the study include: 

• Over the past decade, Belmar’s population has declined yet taxes have gone up.
• Belmar collects more non-tax revenues, yet Belmar’s taxes are OVER THREE QUARTERS OF A MILLION DOLLARS HIGHER than Manasquan’s.
• Belmar spends $2.1 MILLION MORE on its municipal services than this town of comparable size and population.
• Belmar’s insurance costs are $1 MILLION higher than Manasquan’s.
• Belmar’s worker compensation insurance is TRIPLE what Manasquan pays.
• Belmar’s general liability insurance is TWO AND A HALF TIMES Manasquan’s.
• Belmar’s medical insurance is approximately $168,000 higher. 
• Belmar pays over $600,000 in supplemental retiree medical benefits that other towns, like Manasquan, do not cover.
• Belmar’s utility costs exceed Manasquan’s by nearly A QUARTER OF A MILLION DOLLARS.
• Belmar’s pension expense and Social Security Taxes are nearly A QUARTER OF A MILLION DOLLARS higher.

 Wright says that Belmar’s problems are the results of many years of what he calls “small bad financial decisions,” which add up to “a very big fiscal problem.”

 “Belmar’s are the types of problems faced by many businesses I have worked with over my career.  Correcting the overspending and lax management involves sitting down with all the interested parties, understanding what is really happening and deciding the best way to achieve efficiency without diminishing critical services,” he says. “We can fix this if the voters give us the opportunity.”

 For a complete copy of the study The Tax Escalation on Belmar Residents, log on to www.BetterBelmar.com.

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Flippy May Get His Wish

Freeholder John D’Amico may have something to show for during his term in office, thanks to his close ties to Trenton Democrats.

Flippy, as he is affectionately referred to behind his back by everyone at the Hall of Records and on Republican leaning blogs, because of his ever changing positions, really doesn’t have much to run on as he asks voters for another three year term this fall.  His attempt to transform Monmouth County into Bergen County with beaches and to increase the size of Monmouth County government so that he could hire friends of Joe Cryan to high paid low responsibility jobs was thwarted during the one year the Democrats had the majority in Freehold because former Freeholder Barbara McMorrow was more interested in doing the right thing for the taxpayers than she was in doing what she was told by the bosses.

D’Amico’s signature issues for his term as Freeholder were to be creating the office of County Inspector General, a new level of bureaucracy to do what the Freeholders and the Prosecutors office should already be doing and changing the name “Freeholder” to “County Commissioner.”

Fortunately, the Inspector General idea didn’t go anywhere.  But now, thanks to Senate President Stephen Sweeney, Flippy might get his wish for a business card that says “County Commissioner” instead of “Freeholder.”

Sweeney is sponsoring legislation that would change “board of chosen freeholders” to “board of county commissioners” and “chosen freeholder” to “county commissioner” in new sections of law and revisions to current law.  The proposed legislation would also require counties to change the terms on their websites.

Won’t that improve the quality of your life?  Won’t that make New Jersey a better place to live?   I wonder how much it will cost for this legislation to make its way through the legislature to the Governor’s desk.  I wonder how much it would cost to implement should it become law.  Hold off on ordering new stationary.

New Jersey is the only state with the office called Freeholder.  D’Amico wants it changed so that when he travels on the taxpayers dime to national and regional conferences of county office holders he doesn’t have to explain what a Freeholder is.   Democrats have said that they want to retire the name because it is antiquated and hearkens back to a day when only white men who owned land free and clear, Freeholders, could be elected to the Board of Chosen Freeholders.

While we’re at it maybe we should reconsider the names of other offices too.

Depending on their form of government, municipalities either have councils or committees.  It should really be one or the other or another name all together.  Another name is probably better because there are councils and committees in government that are not governing bodies of towns. In Chicago these office holders are called Aldermen.  That doesn’t work any more than Freeholder does, maybe its worse because it is gender specific.

The office of Senator dates back to the Roman Empire.  Thanks to the Star Wars movies we know the office will endure for many millenniums into the future, so it would really be a waste of time to change that one.

What about “Vice?”   We have a Vice President.  The Navy has Vice Admirals.  But “vice” means activity that is immoral or degrading, like you would find people seeking in the Adult Services section. Clearly we should change the name of those offices.  I mean if we can’t use the terms “idiot” or “retarded” in our laws, certainly we should not be calling such powerful people Vice.   What should call them instead?

Chris Christie is the first Governor that I can remember that actually governs.  Let’s leave that one alone until he becomes President.

This could go on and on and on. I don’t see the point in changing the names of these offices.  What difference does it really make? After all is said and done, we are still going to call D’Amico “Flippy.”

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You are cordially invited to…

A Cocktail Reception benefitting

Scott Sipprelle

With Special Guest

Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno

Friday, September 24^th from 6:00 – 8:00pm

Rumson Country Club

163 Rumson Road, Rumson, NJ

Donation: $500

Please RSVP to: 

 [email protected] or 609 902-2038

Please click below for the official Reply Card:

http://www.supportscott2010.com/docs/lgreply.pdf

PAID FOR BY SIPPRELLE FOR CONGRESS

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Barney Frank Is Coming To New Jersey For Rush Holt

Maybe Holt is coming down with a case of truth in advertising and will shoot a commercial wherein Frank accepts responsibility for his role in creating in the housing bubble while he praises Holt for having a even more liberal voting record than he does.  That will be a great deal more accurate than the ad Holt has in the can blaming Scott Sipprelle for the collapse of Wall Street….a full year after Scott left the Street.

Rush and Barney will be at the home of Dr. Dennis and Patricia Price in Princeton on Sunday September 19.  Admission is between $250 and $2400.

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Sorry to hear…

….that Kathy Baratta’s Manalapan Community Board is “Going Out of Business” , according to a post Kathy made on the site last Weds.

You never know with Kathy though.  She’s threatened on several occasions to stop participating on this site and keeps coming back.  She’ll probably have a long drawn out fight with herself over whether or not to comment on this post.  Eventually she will.  She’s obsessed with MMM and all the fun we have here.

She’s so obsessed that she even wrote today, 5 days after she announced that she was “Going out a business”, a post critical of one of MMM’s advertisers supporting the “Republican Party” by advertising here.    The Republican Party doesn’t own this site.  I, Art Gallagher, own it.

Businesses don’t advertise here because they agree with me.  At least the one Kathy wrote critically of does not.  Businesses advertise here because it is one of the most widely read web sites in the region and is soon to be one of the most widely read web sites in the universe, especially now that craigslist has deleted the adult services section.  If Craig had been a reader of this site he would have known how to stand up to the pantie waste Connecticut Attorney General with his phoney war record and all. 

The APP has an adult services section.  So does The Star Ledger.  How come Blumenthal and the 16 other state attorneys general are not going after them, or the Yellow Pages?  Even the Two River Times has a “Personal Sevices” section listed in their classified index.  I couldn’t find any such ads in the TRT, but there is a boat load of foreclosure ads.

Maybe I better start an adult services section, just in case Kathy scares off my tax paying advertisers.

What ever you decide to do Kathy, you and your 80 readers are always welcome here.  Rumor has it they’ll even let you in at DaTruthSquad.

Kathy’s threatened departure brings to mind the fact that MMM could, and will, do a better job covering Western Monmouth County.  If anyone from the western part of the county (or anywhere for that matter, but right now the west has my attention) would like to be a contributor, get in touch with me.  You can even be a lefty, you just have to be fair and biased.

In honor of Kathy’s efforts with the Manalapan Community Board, I am pleased to play her favorite video:

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Governor Christie’s Statement Regarding Education Jobs Fund Program

Trenton, NJ – Governor Chris Christie issued the following statement today regarding the U.S. Department of Education’s approval of $268 million in federal education funds:

“I am pleased that Secretary Duncan has approved New Jersey’s application for funding under the Education Jobs Fund Program. As I have said before, difficult economic times necessitated difficult choices in our budget. The additional resources will be helpful, but this funding must be viewed for what it is – a one-time infusion of cash that will not be available to us the following year.  This funding, while welcome, must not change our commitment to careful, prudent budgeting that properly aligns state spending with revenues.”

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