News Round-up & Open Thread, Sunday August 20, 2006

Jr. (4.00 / 1)

This race scares me. Kean and the republicans will be fierce this fall.

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by: lil @ Sun Aug 20, 2006 at 14:00:31 PM UTC

By no means is the race (3.00 / 1)

a lock for Menendez, but the Kean campaign is a circular firing squad. They contradict themselves on the hour.  Besides having a well known father, what has he done and what is he gonna do different than the policies that aren't working right now?

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by: Jason Springer @ Sun Aug 20, 2006 at 14:06:59 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Jr (3.00 / 1)

The day Jr hires competent communications, press and message teams is the day I would start to worry.

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by: Juan Melli @ Sun Aug 20, 2006 at 14:14:17 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

does the poll tracker at left need to updated (0.00 / 0)

It's actually my favorite bit of the site.


Frank LoBiondo Record and Jon Runyan Watch

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by: Hopeful @ Sun Aug 20, 2006 at 17:20:04 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

this James thing is really terrible (3.00 / 1)

He also flagrantly broke campaign laws, sticking taxpayers with the charges for flying in a supporter.  That should be investigated.  From the same article:

At the height of his 2002 election campaign against Cory Booker, just two days before voters went to the polls, James used the City Hall card to charge airline tickets for Illinois congressman Jesse Jackson Jr., his aide Frank Watkins and pollster Ron Lester, at a cost of $730.50 to taxpayers. The election was the closest in James' political career and he pulled out all the stops to win, showcasing Jackson at churches around the city.

Rush said this charge is particularly troubling and may have violated campaign finance laws.

  "If it was out of his campaign fund that's one thing," she said. "But to put it on the taxpayer dime is really out of line."

Actually, it seem even James admits this is over the line:

James, in a faxed message yesterday, said he had no knowledge of the credit card being used to pay for Jackson's visit. "I never heard of said transaction," he wrote. "My campaign treasurer would not allow this."

After he was faxed the credit card statement reflecting the travel expenses, James said it was an "inadvertent error" by his secretary.

"I will write a campaign check for it on Monday," he said. "That's just stupid."

Frank LoBiondo Record and Jon Runyan Watch

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by: Hopeful @ Sun Aug 20, 2006 at 17:26:08 PM UTC

For clarity's sake (3.00 / 1)

The Riverside ordinance doens't ban immigrants.  It bans illegal immigrants.  Still stupid and counterproductive, but the way this is written either makes it worse than it is or tars all immigrants as bad.

On the unemployment front, that's an insurance policy that we pay for with deductions from our paychecks.  Unemployment insurance for the 14,000 won't be the problem, but increased charity care at hospitals, welfare payments, medicaid and medicare claims, etc. will be.

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by: huntsu @ Sun Aug 20, 2006 at 17:34:24 PM UTC

Brother James (0.00 / 0)

Contemptable as ever.  I am just waiting for the next scandal to break.  maybe he'll out do himself next time?


activist for hire.

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by: Jay Lassiter @ Sun Aug 20, 2006 at 18:22:59 PM UTC

I was suprised by this (0.00 / 0)

in the article about cutting state employees:

Not all positions in the state are funded by taxes. According to a fact sheet published by the state Department of Personnel, although the size of the state payroll has been increasing since at least 2003, "the number of employees supported by State tax revenue has been declining."

The personnel department's data show that about 24 percent of state employees were funded by federal or other sourced funds in 2002, with that share growing to better than 27 percent in January 2006.

Frank LoBiondo Record and Jon Runyan Watch

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by: Hopeful @ Sun Aug 20, 2006 at 18:32:20 PM UTC

Snowflake is kidding (0.00 / 0)

How can the State sell a building on State land? He'd be pitching a hissy fit if Corzine was the buyer in a sweeheart deal, and that would be good cause for a hissy fit. Snowflake should try reporting real news, but that would require real work. He and his editor should be pushing a shopping cart full of tin cans down Canal Street in lower Manhattan. News isn't their strong suit; bullshit is.

Restore democracy and the Constitution for which it stands.

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by: The Wizard @ Sun Aug 20, 2006 at 20:16:09 PM UTC

Snowflack (0.00 / 0)

This is a silly story, but Fred's good at what he does.

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by: Juan Melli @ Sun Aug 20, 2006 at 20:19:45 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

he's a good guy (0.00 / 0)

Does a good job on local politics.  His column is often lighthearted and a little silly.

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by: morrisdem @ Sun Aug 20, 2006 at 23:48:24 PM UTC

[ Parent ]