Menendez spends $1812 to research his own flights?

The Menendez for Senate campaign spent $1812 with the flight tracking website, FlightAware, in December, according to the campaign’s year end report with the Federal Election Commission. (hat tip, The Auditor)  The expense was listed as a disbursement for the senator’s 2018 primary campaign.

A Premium+ commercial membership to FlightAware costs $39.95 per month.  Perhaps Menendez pre-paid for a 45.36 month subscription?  More likely, as The Auditor speculated, Menendez was doing a review of the flights taken on Dr. Salomon Melgen’s private jet.  In January of this year Menendez reported that he took two flights on Melgen’s jet in 2010 and belated reimbursed his generous benefactor $58,500 for the luxury travel with personal funds.  FlightAware offers custom reports in addition to its monthly subscription service.

Menendez must have a memory problem if he couldn’t remember taking the two private flights.  Or maybe he files on lots of private jets.  Or maybe Melgen was too busy with the FBI to check his records for Menendez on the exact date and time of the flights.  Either way, its good that Menendez got the information in preparation for his 2018 primary campaign.

Menendez is taking the 2018 primary campaign very seriously. In addition to his research in to his own travel habits, the Menendez campaign spent $3,978.73 on T-shirts to secure the nomination in five years, according to the FEC report.

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Menendez complains about constitutional amendment to make judges pay their fair share

Politics should trump good public policy and the will of the people, in the mind of U.S. Senator Bob Menendez.

The Auditor is reporting that New Jersey’s junior Senator called Democratic State Senators Steve Sweeney and Ray Lesniak to complain about the fact that they’re allowing voters to decide on the constitutional amendment that, if passed, will require New Jersey’s privileged Judges to abide by the same pension and benefit rules as all other state employees.

Menendez wasn’t complaining about the merits of the legislation.  He was complaining that the presence of the constitutional amendment on the ballot this fall would get Governor Chris Christie out on the campaign trail supporting the amendment….and also supporting State Senator Joe Kyrillos in Joe’s quest to unseat Menendez.

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MMM Year In Review – March

Governor Christie’s flirtation with the national media and GOP fundraisers over running for president started to build momentum during March.  He told reporters in Washington that he wouldn’t be governor in 2014.  He told the National Review’s Rick Lowry “I already know I could win” the presidency.

The Monmouth County Freeholders suspended three SCAT drivers who had called out sick on February 25 but were caught on camera protesting labor reforms in Trenton.  State Senator Joe Kyrillos praised the Freeholders for their action and stepped up his call for civil service reform.

Anna Little told The Auditor that she was thinking of running for U.S. Senate instead of Congress.

Peter Burnham was suspended as Brookdale College President on March 3.   On March 9 Burnham resigned.

Citizen journalist James O’Keefe embarrassed NPR and came to Monmouth County as a Special Guest Speaker at the Bayshore Tea Party Group’s St. Patrick’s Day Celebration.  O’Keefe ended up being embarrassed himself over the press coverage of the event which included accurate reports that he did not want the event videoed.

Monmouth University Pollster Patrick Murray accurately predicted that Dr. Alan Rosenthal, the tie breaking member of the legislative reapportionment, would choose the Democrats new legislative map.  Murray based his prediction on Rosenthal’s scholarlly work espousing “continuity of representation,” i.e.,  that there is a value to voters being continuously represented by the same legislator after redistricting.

Even though MMM debunked the value of “continuity of representation” and the Bayshore Tea Party Group submitted a constitutional map, Rosenthal did indeed side with the Democrats, thereby assuring Democratic control of the legislature at least until the 2021 election.

After months of reading MMM, former Democratic Assemblyman and triCityNews publisher Dan Jacobson had an epiphany and registered as a Republican.   Jacobson started submitting his weekly columns to MMM and prepared to challenge Senator Sean Kean in old 11th district Republican primary. 

Spring Lake Councilman Gary Rich received the Monmouth GOP’s endorsement for Freeholder.  Rich received 25 votes from the screening committee.  Manalapan Mayor Andrew Lucas received 23 votes and Wall Committeeman George Newberry received 22 votes.  Howell Mayor Bob Walsh removed himself from contention prior to the committee vote.

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