State Senator Joe Kyrillos, the NJ GOP nominee for U.S. Senate and Mitt Romney’s 2008 NJ presidential campaign chairman wants Governor Christie to be Romney’s 2012 runningn mate.
“Obviously, I would love for Christie to be the nominee.”
“One, because I think he’d be very good at it for, you know, a lot of different reasons. But also because nothing would be better for my candidacy than to have Chris on the ticket this November. You know, I’ll look like the smartest guy in North America in September for being running for the U.S. Senate if Chris should be the vice presidential nominee.”
Monmouth County Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon is making statewide waves and generating statewide headlines in his quest to prove that red light cameras are not safety devices, but revenue generating ripoffs.
O’Scanlon makes a compelling case, backed up with engineering, that yellow lights should be timed for actual speeds that motorists are driving, rather than by the posted speed limits. He convinced MMM that’s he’s right on the issue, and that might be the subject of a future post. Read one of these articles if you want to bone up on that issue now. What prompted my call to O’Scanlon was politics, not policy.
There are no red light cameras in O’Scanlon’s legislative district, the 13th in Northern Monmouth County.
As the Assembly Republican Budget Officer, O’Scanlon has one of the highest, if not the highest, statewide profile of his fellow Republicans in the Assembly.
The last time O’Scanlon made statewide headlines on a issue not related to the budget he was speaking out in favor of medical marijuana and against towns that were using zoning laws to keep happy medicine dispensaries and farms outside of their boundaries. MMM’s unscientific poll indicated that his position on 420 could cause a 180 among his supporters in the 13th.
I wondered if O’Scanlon might have political ambitions that, in addition to his commitment to doing the right thing, are motivating his activities outside of his district.
In a poll of New Jersey registered voters released by FDU Public Mind this morning, U.S. Senator Bob Menendez leads State Senator Joe Kyrillos in the race for U.S. Senate by a 45%-33% margin. FDU did not poll likely voters.
Despite the 12 point gap, the news is not all bad for Kyrilllos.
Among Independent voters the candidates are virtually tied at 28% for Menedez and 27% for Kyrillos. 45% of Independents are undecided.
57% of respondents said they haven’t heard of Kyrillos. Of those who have heard of him, 22% have no opinion of him, 16% have a favorable opinion and only 5% have an unfavorable opinion.
In contrast, 20% of respondents have never heard of Menendez. 20% of those who have heard of him have no opinion and 23% have an unfavorable opinion. Only 36% have a favorable opinion of Menendez. These are very week numbers for an incumbent.
The challenge for Kyrillos is to get known with Independent voters and to do so favorably. Given Menendez’s $10.3 million to $1.9 million cash advantage (as of June 30) Kyrillos may need to save someone from a burning building or get a gay activist group to attack him unfairly in order to meet the challenge.
Citing State Senator Joe Kyrillos’ 100% rating from the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce, Rob Engstrom, the U.S. Chamber’s Senior Vice President and National Political Director, today announced the nationwide business advocate’s endorsement of Kyrillos in his contest with incumbent Senator Bob Menendez for one of New Jersey’s seats in the U.S. Senate.
“New Jersey is leading the country’s efforts for fiscal responsibility at the state level, but we need leaders in Washington willing to make tough financial decisions as well,” said Engstrom, “New Jersey voters have a clear choice between the candidates on issues that will create jobs and spur growth. State Senator Joe Kyrillos has consistently prioritized free enterprise, while Senator Menendez has a record of failure on economic issues—having only voted with the business community 38% of the time.”
Engstrom noted that the Chamber automatically endorses any incumbent U.S. Senator, Republican or Democrat, that has a business friendly rating of 70% or more in emphasizing Menendez’s hostility to the private sector. “He votes against business is a knee jerk manner.”
Speaking on a conference call with reporters, Engstrom said that the U.S. Chamber is waging its largest voter education effort in its 100 year history in the 2012 election. He declined to answer a reporters question about indenpendent expenditures the Chamber might make in the New Jersey U.S. Senate campaign, but noted that the Chamber has already spent millions of dollars on 12 Senate races and 31 House races. “Stay tuned,” was the most Engstrom was willing to say with Kyrillos on the call, given campaign finance laws that forbid independent expenditures being coordinated with federal campaigns.
“I am humbled and encouraged to have received the support of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in my campaign against Bob Menendez and his job-killing policies,” said Joe Kyrillos.
“American small businesses and job creators are facing undeniably hard times right now. We are not producing jobs at the rate we should because of the uncertainty of new or higher taxes, and more regulation. Small businesses are the backbone of our economy, and the policies supported by Bob Menendez are killing their opportunity for growth.
“I have outlined policies in a comprehensive jobs plan that will put people back to work and restore a robust economy. My plan will create economic certainty, and allow business to plan for the future. My opponent has no plan to create jobs, and if his past record is any indication, he will continue to make things worse.”
After spending the last two months touring New Jersey businesses listening to what job creators need to jump start the U.S. economy, State Senator Joe Kyrillos, the GOP nominee for U.S. Senate announced a 7 point jobs plan, America Works, at a press conference in Trenton yesterday. Representatives of the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) were on hand to endorse Kyrillos’s plan and his candidacy against incumbent U.S. Senator Bob Menendez.
“Americans are struggling through the weakest economic recovery since the Great Depression,” said Kyrillos. “Families that played by the rules and worked hard are not looking for a handout or another government program, but for the opportunity to use their talent, industry, and smarts to build their own future. After listening to the difficulties these job creators face first-hand, I was able to create a jobs plan that directly addresses their needs.
“We need jobs and my plan creates them by restoring fiscal responsibility, reforming the tax code, reducing unnecessary and burdensome red tape, and restoring our nation’s place as the home of innovation. It will also establish programs to build a competitive workforce and put forth solutions to our nation’s energy crisis. The prosperity of our country is in jeopardy. We cannot afford to stay the course Bob Menendez has charted for our future. The opportunity for profound economic growth is before us, and we must seize it.”
Menendez scored the endorsement of Communications Workers of America (CWA), the largest government workers union in New Jersey, on Wednesday.
Regarding the Senate race, Monmouth University pollster Patrick Murray said, “There is certainly more room for a GOP upset in the Senate race than the presidential one here in New Jersey, but it’s a contest that few voters are taking an interest in.”
New Providence, July 23… The healthcare industry will soon face record high tax increases, and medical device manufacturers, like C.R. Bard Inc., will be hit especially hard.
The medical device industry provides 63,400 high-paying jobs in New Jersey, and contributes $12.6 billion to the state’s economy. That is all at risk starting January 1, 2013 as the 2.3% Menendez medical device tax, a funding source for the Affordable Care Act, will go into effect.
Senator Kyrillos toured New Jersey based medical device manufacturer C.R. Bard Inc. today in New Providence to see first-hand how this new tax, among others, will affect their business and service to the consumer.
“This tax will effectively diminish the ability of medical device manufacturers, like C.R. Bard, to innovate and produce quality medical products for their consumers,” said Joe Kyrillos.
“Companies will be forced to raise prices in order to remain solvent due to this tax. That increase in price will then be passed along to the consumer in the form of more expensive health insurance, or more out-of-pocket healthcare spending. This tax will also greatly diminish the amount of money the industry will be able to set aside for research and development, making us less competitive and advanced in the global marketplace.
“Our healthcare spending as a country already far surpasses what it should. We need real reform that deals with the most basic problems of our healthcare industry. Senator Menendez is clearly mistaken if he thinks that higher taxes within a convoluted matrix of new laws and regulations is real reform.”
A May 2012 study by the Pacific Research Institute found that medical research and development will decrease by nearly $2 billion as a result of this tax. Another study, produced by the American Action Forum, found that this tax will force the medical device industry to decrease its workforce by up to 47,100 people, or 10% of the entire workforce.
(Source: ATR.org: ‘Obamacare Excise Tax will Keep Medical Devices out of Patients’ Hands’ http://atr.org/obamacare-excise-tax-medical-devices-patients-a7023)
So far there are seveneight entries into the Bob Menendez is a cry baby song parody contest!
Don’t Cry for me Bob Menendez to the tune of Don’t Cry for me Argentina, Bob Menendez “Crying” to the tune of Don McLean’s Crying, Let’s Give Bob Something to Cry About to Bonnie Raitt’s Let’s Give Them Something to Talk About, Somewhere off in New Jersey to the tune of Somewhere over the rainbow, Tears of a Clown, Bobby’s Turn to Cry, and Spinning Wheel.
Submit your entries in the comments of any post and Art will put them on that page.
MMM’s song parody contest, with the theme of Bob Menendez crying because Joe Kyrillos is the women’s candidate in the New Jersey U.S. Senate race, continues until July 31. The winning entry (entries?) will be made into a professional quality video which will be launched in September.
Joe acts too cautious; could Jersey be voting for Joe?
It took Bob crying to make me wonder
Now I’m convinced Bob could go under
Wishing Bob would go away
Corzine’s guy Bob just ain’t right
Let’s give Bob something to cry about
There’s no mystery to figure out
Let’s give Bob something to cry about
How about it, Joe, Joe Joe?
Joe, give us something to talk about
Let’s give Bob something to cry about
Let’s give them something to talk about
Let it rip, Joe, Joe, Joe, Joe!
MMM’s song parody contest, with the theme of Bob Menendez crying because Joe Kyrillos is the women’s candidate in the New Jersey U.S. Senate race, continues until July 31. The winning entry (entries?) will be made into a professional quality video. Please submit your entries in the comments here at MMM or in a message to Art Gallagher on facebook.
MMM’s song parody contest, with the theme of Bob Menendez crying because Joe Kyrillos is the women’s candidate in the New Jersey U.S. Senate race, continues until July 31. The winning entry (entries?) will be made into a professional quality video. Please submit your entries in the comments here at MMM or in a message to Art Gallagher on facebook.
