…and special guests Senator Joe Kyrillos and Congressman Chris Smith
Despite some technical difficulties and a shortage of phone lines (sorry if you tried to call in and got a busy signal) we managed to have an informative and entertaining show.
Thanks to Mike Halfacre who kept the show going when I got flustered with the technical glitches.
For those who missed the live show or would like to hear it again, here is a recording:
Highlights: Kyrillos referring to a Chris Christie presidential candidacy as “when” not “if” (though it won’t be in 2012) and Smith speaking about the budget negotiations going on in Washington as a fiscal conservative, overriding his reputation as a fiscal moderate.
Congressman Chris Smith’s office just confirmed that Smith will be calling into the LaRossa and Gallagher: Read Jersey Guys On The Radio this afternoon.
Senator Joe Kyrillos, the dean of the Monmouth County legislative delegation, Governor Chris Christie’s confidant, and a possible U.S. Senate candidate will also be our guest.
You can call in too at 609-447-0236.
The House will be voting on the Cut, Cap and Balance Act this afternoon. Smith wants our listeners to understand if he has to get off the show suddenly to vote.
Fair Haven Mayor Mike Halfacre will be the guest co-host today, as former Senator Richard LaRossa is undergoing a minor medical procedure.
This afternoon at 5, Fair Haven Mayor Mike Halfacre will be my guest co-host for LaRossa and Gallagher: Real Jersey Guys on the Radio broadcast on WIFI AM 1460 and world wide on the Internet here.
Our guest was Lon Hosford, a Tea Party activist who challenged Leonard Lance in the NJ CD7 GOP primary last year.
My partner/co-host former Senator Dick LaRossa shocked me when while introducing Hosford he referred to Lance as a RINO that is “unfortunately our 7th district congressman.”
As much as I disagree with some of Lance’s votes, most notably his votes for “cap and trade” and “cash for clunkers,” I think the RINOplasties that much of the right wing of the NJ GOP and the Tea Parties often engage in is counter productive. Especially while we are in a minority, conservatives damage our ultimate cause of reducing the size of government when we are aggressively intolerant of Republican office holders and candidates who are too moderate for our liking.
Many of us need to learn Politics 101 from the NJ Democrats. Three weeks ago the NJ Democratic Party was deeply divided over the pension and benefits reform bills. Their coalition of unions and progressives were enraged with the legislative leadership and those “turn coats” that joined with the Republican legislators to pass the bills. There was some talk of leadership challenges to Senate President Sweeney and Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver.
Less than ONE WEEK later they were united against their common “enemy,” Governor Christie and the Republicans. Blue Jersey ran an anti-Sweeney ad, which is now gone from that site, urging progressive not to support Sweeney should he run for governor. There was no movement to challenge Sweeney’s reelection to the Senate.
New Jersey Republicans, particularly ideological conservatives and Tea Partiersdon’t have that level of maturity and sophistication. Many of us would rather purge those who don’t pass our ideological purity test and potentially lose an a “safe” seat to a Democrat than do the work required to educate and pursuade our friends, families and neighbors to vote for Republicans.
You can probably imagine that we had an interesting debate on the show. You don’t have to imagine. Listen to it:
During the second half hour of the show Dan Jacobson, publisher of the triCityNews, MoreMonmouthMusings contributor, and Independent candidate for Assembly in the 11th legislative district called in. Dan made some excellent points about the damage conservatives have done historically, particularly in 2006, by sitting out elections and letting Democrats take over. Dan also had some surprisingly nice things to say about the Tea Party.
During the last 20 minutes of the show Hosford, LaRossa and I talked about the difference Tea Parties can make and the power of using social media to do so.
I hope you tune in next Tuesday from 5PM-6PM for the LaRossa and Gallagher: Real Jersey Guys On The Radio Show sponsored by Repatriot Radio. The show is broadcast on WIFI 1460 AM and on the Internet at wifiam1460.com
I got a message from my radio partner Richard LaRossa that he might miss the show this afternoon…he’ll be calling in from a train if he makes it.
Richard arranged for Lon Hosford to be our guest for the hour. Hosford ran for the GOP nomination for Congress in the 7th congressional district against Leonard Lance. I don’t know that I can sustain a conversation with him for an hour and I haven’t prepared an hours worth of material for a solo show.
So please MMM, call into the show. The number is 609-447-0237.
We can talk about what ever you want to talk about.
The show is sponsored by Repatriot Radio and is broadcast on WIFI AM 1460. You can listen via the Internet here.
Senate President Steve Sweeney’s line of bull nearly cost him his life today as a lightning stike just missed him during an on camera interview with the Philadelphia Fox-TV affiliate.
Sweeney’s been lying all week. Not just about the budget and the Governor’s prick. I invited him onto the LaRossa and Gallagher “Real Jersey Guys” Radio Show to talk about the State budget and his now famous remarks to Tom Moran about the Governor. Rather than turn us down because we would challenge him, Sweeney’s spokesman Chris Donnelly said the Senate President was booked all week and suggestted we try at another time. Since then Sweeney’s been a rotten media whore.
That’s ok, former Senator Dick LaRossa and I did fine without him. Here’s a recording of the show:
I just heard from Senate President Steven Sweeney’s office that he will not be calling into the radio show this afternoon.
I’m not surprised, but just a bit disappointed. I immediately extended an invitation for next week. We’ll see what happens.
The show starts at 5 and there’s lots to talk about. Sweeney’s remarks about Christie. The civil war in the Democratic party and what the liberals are saying about Sweeney. The budget cuts that Christie made last week.
We can even talk about the Not Guilty verdict in the Casey Anthony trial if you want to or Senator Jennifer Beck’s new positon on marriage equality if you want to.
This will be the first show that we don’t have a guest schedule since I joined Richard as co-host. Hopefully we will have callers.
The call in number is 609-447-0236. The show is WIFI 1460 AM on the radio and here on the Internet.
Senate President Steve Sweeney has been invited onto LaRossa and Gallagher: The Real Jersey Guys Radio Show this afternoon from 5PM-6PM to discuss the State budget and his remarks about Governor Christie as reported on The Star Ledger’s Tom Moran.
We offered Sweeney as much or as little of the hour long show as he would like. His staff promised to get back to us with a yes or no as soon as possible, but it is possible that Sweeney will just call into the show.
The show, sponsored by Repatriot Radio, can be heard every Tuesday from 5PM -6PM on WIFI 1460 AM on your radio dial or right here on your computer or smart phone.
Your calls into the show are welcome and encouraged. The call in number is 609-447-0236.
The bromance between Governor Chris Christie and Senate President Steve Sweeney appears to be on the rocks.
In recent weeks Christie has shifted his rhetoric from slamming the “do nothing” Democratic legislature to singing the praises of Sweeney for compromising with him over “landmark” pension and benefit reforms which Christie declared on national TV was a “model for America.”
The pension and benefit reforms were signed into law last Tuesday during a Christie-Sweeney love fest ceremony at the Wall Memorial in Trenton. That left only two days for the legislature and the Governor to settle on a State budget.
Rather than negotiate with Christie over elements of the budget he had proposed, the Democratic legislature passed their own budget that exceeded the amount of revenue that Christie had certified by $600 million and increased the “millionaires tax” by 20%.
Christie received the Democrats budget on Wednesday evening. His choices were to veteo it outright, conditionally veto it, either of which could have led to a government shut down, or to use his line item veto power to cut specific spending items that the legislature had passed.
Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon, the Assembly Republican Budget Officer, said of the Democrats, “they played chicken with the wrong guy.”
Christie made $900 million in line item cuts that have the Democrats squealing like a Ned Beatty in Deliverance.
Sweeney reacted with a profanity laced interview with Tom Moran of The Star Ledger. Sweeney called Christie “a rotten prick” and said he wanted to “punch him in the head.” The Senate President likened the Governor to “Mr. Potter from ‘It’s a Wonderful Life,” the mean old bastard who screws everybody.”
Former Senator Richard LaRossa and I will be talking about the budget and the political fallout of the budget this afternoon on our radio show, LaRossa and Gallagher: The Real Jersey Guys on WIFI 1460 AM on your radio dial and here on your computer or smart phone.
As of now we don’t have any guests scheduled for the program. We hope you will call in to the show, 609-447-0236, with your questions and comments about the budget, the Christie-Sweeney tiff or anything else New Jersey you want to talk about.
