Wingnuts are forming their own circular firing squad within the NJGOP as libertarian wingnuts are squaring off against paleocon wingnuts over Steve Lonegan's Bourbonesque plan to increase taxes on the poor and cut taxes on the rich. In a column posted on PolitickerNJ.com libertarian wingnut and professional loser Murray Sabrin threw down the gauntlet when he denounced Lonegan's tax plan for raising taxes on low income earners. Sabrin and Lonegan, who shared the same campaign manager Rick Shaftan, were once political allies but split last year after Lonegan refused to support Sabrin in the NJGOP primary for US Senate and instead endorsed Sabrin's rival State Senator "Jersey Joe" Pennacchio. Ironically "Jersey Joe" betrayed Lonegan this year by endorsing Chris Christie.
On a similar note tomorrow night may well be the grand climax (no pun intended) of the Lonegan campaign when "Joe the Deadbeat Plumber" comes to New Jersey to sell his book and campaign for Steve, and hopefully raise enough money to buy him a hairpiece that fits before the televised debates with Chris Christie. Joe's appearance is no freebie, however, as PolitickerNJ.com reports he will be amply compensated by the Lonegan campaign. Our tax dollars at work.
A bipartisan bill sponsored by state Sens. Paul Sarlo of Wood-Ridge and Joseph Pennacchio of Morris Plains would exempt Xanadu and the Giants and Jets from paying a total of $90 million in fees designed to help towns provide affordable housing.
The bill, which was introduced Monday, would result in a savings of $50 million to Xanadu developers - and $40 million in combined savings for the football teams. Xanadu, a $2 billion entertainment and shopping complex, and the $1.6 billion Meadowlands football stadium would not be subject to a law passed in June that imposed a 2.5 percent fee on most non-residential construction projects.
But dont' worry - the bill is really aimed at keeping East Rutherford from having to pay for new affordable housing. Whew. There for a minute, I thought someone was going to screw the poor or something.
"If our party publicly expressed satisfaction with New Jersey and National Republican results in Tuesday's election, all they were doing was reinforcing rank and file Republican cynicism for our party's leadership," he said. "Once again Republicans find themselves with no message, no money and no direction going into next year's gubernatorial election. To say our Republicans 'Ship of State' was run aground by our captain, would imply that it had a direction. That simply was not so."
He may want to talk to his State Chairman Tom Wilson, who thought election night was like New Year's because once the clock struck midnight they were all ready for the 2009 elections. Wilson must not have many fun New Year's celebrations if he enjoyed Tuesday night.
The Bergen Record has an op-ed today scripted by George Ajjan - who is described as:
George Ajjan is a Republican activist, writer and pundit who was the GOP nominee for Congress in the 8th District in 2004.
There's only one thing wrong with that description (that I'll focus on here) - it's incomplete to the point of being misleading and dishonest. George Ajjan is working for Murray Sabrin, as is evidenced by his name on Sabrin's press releases.
I give the Record credit for being evenhanded - they have an op-ed for each of the candidates for the GOP. It's almost as if they looked for the worst possible people to do it, though. For example - Mike Ferguson writing for Dick Zimmer.
While people may not remember the road traveled come September, the traveling circus known as the GOP U.S. Senate Primary campaign has seen many twists and turns.
In less than one year, the NJ GOP has gone through or proposed 15 candidates, experienced many false starts, had calls for resignation of the State chair and for candidates to drop out all while giving us tons of fun to watch. Here's a recap, in case you haven't been following along...
4/26/07- Assemblyman Mike Doherty became the first candidate to join the show.
5/2/07- A blog aimed at encouraging former baseball player Al Leiter to seek the nomination was started.
7/11/07- Anne Estabrook dipped her toes in the water forming an exploratory committee.
8/9/07- Assemblyman"Jersey Joe" Pennacchio said he was mulling a Senate bid.
8/10/07- Assemblyman Doherty ended his short lived Senate bid leaving only Estabrook and Penachio as candidates expressing interest.
9/10/07- Pennacchio tapped Morris GOP chair to oversee his then exploratory bid.
10/22/07- Anne Estabrook let people know she would run for the Senate seat.
11/13/07- Al Leiter crushed the hopes of conservative bloggers by saying he had his eye on a Senate seat just not Lautenberg's in '08.
This is only the beginning of the ridiculousness. There is MUCH more below the fold...
In the New Jersey GOP Senate primary race we start with Mean Murray Sabrin, Jersey Joke Pinnocchio and Annie "the Nebish" Estabrook. First, Murray attacks Annie, Annie gets all famished and flubs her lines, then Annie has a stroke and everyone else in the GOP gets agita. To cure the agita the GOP big shots turn to Andy "The Bean Baron" Unanue who, they later find out, is really a nightclub owner from New York who lives with his parents in New Jersey so he doesn't have to pay taxes, and then is fired from the bean factory by his own cousins who claim he was drunk on the job.
That's not all. In desperation the big shots turn to The Miracle Worker, John Crowley, who single-handedly saved his own kids from an incurable disease. They hope he can perform another trick and miraculously save the NJ GOP from another statewide embarrassment. The Miracle Worker says he'll think about it, then after thinking about it says he won't do it. Then The Miracle Worker gets a call from the War Hero (John McCain) begging him to reconsider, which he does. Then The Bean Baron says he'll get out if The Miracle Worker gets in. The Miracle Worker says he'll probably get in, but then at the last minute changes his mind again and says this time he's definitely not getting in. Then The Bean Baron says he's definitely staying in even though he's on vacation and doesn't know when he'll be back. Now there's a rumor that another GOP Big Brand Name (Tom Kean Jr.) is thinking about getting into the race if the Bean Baron decides to get out, which the Bean Baron has said he won't do but might do because he said before he won't do it but then said he might do it.
In the meantime, back at the Democratic Ranch, everyone waits for the gunfight at the New Jersey corral between Frank "the Alte Kocker" Lautenberg and Rob "Joe Lieberman Wannabee" Andrews. It looks like the GOP will give us The Keystone Cops while the Democrats give us their version of the main event from Rocky VI.
A Rasmussen poll released Monday found Republican John McCain leading both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama inside the margin of error in New Jersey. McCain, who leads Obama 46-45 and Clinton 45-42, is boosted by his 61% favorability rating in the state.
I'm beginning to think Frank Lautenberg must be subsidizing Republican Murray Sabrin's campaign as his own personal attack dog, considering all the damage Murray is inflicting on his GOP primary opponents. By the time Murray gets through with them, if either of them wins the nomination they'll be so bloodied and battered their own mothers won't recognize them.
Regardless, Murray closely resembles Joe Cantwell (played by Cliff Robertson), a main character loosely based on Richard Nixon and Joe McCarthy from Gore Vidal's play called
"The Best Man" about two rivals for the presidential nomination. I've seen the movie version several times and, though made in 1964, eerily resembles many of the current crop of presidential contenders. Joe Cantwell, just like Murray Sabrin, comes across as a reactionary Goldwaterite with a mean streak which exemplifies Cantwell's belief that the ends justify the means. Like Murray, Cantwell doesn't hesitate to dish the dirt against his main rival for the nomination, accusing the latter of extra-marital affairs and a history of mental illness.
To me, Murray Sabrin is the reincarnation of Joe Cantwell. The problem for NJ Republicans is that, unlike the "Best Man", they lack a credible opponent who can withstand Murray's personal assaults. Instead they have to choose between an affable boob calling himself "Jersey Joe" and a professional adolescent who can't decide where he lives.
New Jersey Republicans have been freaking out for the past few weeks about the prospect of running either Joe Pennacchio or Murray Sabrin against Senator Lautenberg.
Sabrin is the Ron Paul libertarian type (though not really: he's for a constitutional ban on abortion, a national language, etc): 1/3 good ideas, 1/3 "interesting" ideas and 1/3 absolutely crazy ideas.
Pennacchio wrote a manifesto in 1991 (that just got unearthed) that actually had a lot of good ideas in it (which Republicans hate), but he's since renounced most of those anyway. But it also had controversial stuff about how women are equal (but not really) to men and about putting homeless people onto military bases. And the whole thing overcompensates a bit on the issue of race. My favorite line reminds me of Joe Biden: "Shelby Steele, a black English professor at San Jose' State has written eloquently on American race relations."
Since Anne Estabrook dropped out of the race, Republicans have been throwing out all kinds of names as potential third options. Rudy Giuliani, Mike Huckabee, Al Leiter and lately, Andy Unanue - former COO of Goya Foods.
The last one stuck and he threw his hat in the ring yesterday. And it's funny how giddy Republicans are about him. NJ GOP chair Tom Wilson:
"The opportunity to put a different face on the Republican Party and have a candidate who is young, Hispanic and so dynamic excites a lot of the party leaders right now."
That is quite a different face. They're going from running a disgusting, racist campaign against Senator Menendez in 2006 to running a Hispanic of their own less than two years later.
The GOP still doesn't get it. You don't automatically win over Hispanics or blacks or any other group just by running them for office. You start by not being so racist and scapegoating them for all of the country's problems.
I don't know very much yet about Unanue, but I do wonder how it must feel to be drafted by and agree to run with the party that used your ethnicity to scare voters in the prior election.
This Easter weekend New Jersey's Republican leaders are praying desperately in their country club hangouts as they anxiously await a decision next week by a potential messiah who will deliver them from the yoke of having to choose between the lesser of two clowns to run against Frank Lautenberg. Andy Unanue is young, articulate, moderate and most important, as heir to the largest Hispanic-owned business in the US (Goya Foods), fabulously wealthy and willing to finance his own campaign.
The real challenge for the chablis-and-brie country club set will be getting their chosen savior passed the gauntlet of reactionary Pharisees who seem to be coalescing around "Ron Paul wannabee" Murray Sabrin.
The small but potent group of Pharisee wingnuts in the NJGOP is alreadygearing up to politically crucify Andy Unanue should he have the temerity to defy their aspiration to win the primary for Sabrin. Expect the mud-slinging (mostly in one direction) to be fast and furious.
Things are really getting ugly in the NJ Senate race with Murray Sabrin's latest salvo at "Jersey Joe". This time he calls Joe "fascist" for some political ramblings he wrote seventeen years ago, and demands he drop out of the race. Interesting, and hypocritical, that the 1997 Libertarian Party candidate for Governor would imply "Jersey Joe" is extremist. I was involved with Sabrin's 1997 campaign, and some of the people I met were from the far reaches of the outer limits as far as the political mainstream is concerned. Among them was campaign operative Hal Turner whose expressed views would make David Duke blush with embarrassment.
With Murray and "Jersey Joe" going at it like two wrestlers in a no-holds-barred, no disqualification barbed wire cage match, Frank Lautenberg might just as well take a six month vacation cruise and still coast to reelection.
It seems Murray Sabrin hasn't picked up any major endorsements since Anne Estabrook saved herself from further embarrassment by withdrawing from the race. However, not to be outdone by "Jersey Joe" Pinnocchio in showing off his support, Murray has a link to a newspaper endorsement of his campaign. The problem is the name of the newspaper isn't mentioned, and the article refers to his opponent as former State Senator William Gormley. Apparently this "endorsement" is from Murray's failed 2002 primary campaign for Senator. I guess Murray can't get any support for his 2008 campaign, so he has to dig up an endorsement from six years ago. Next he'll probably try endorsements from his Libertarian campaign for Governor, and if that doesn't work he can always dig up old report cards.
Sen. Lautenberg is not someone who comes immediately to mind when thinking of prominent Democratic senators in Washington, at least to me. From Kennedy's prominence in major debates to Biden's questioning of supreme court nominees -- Lautenberg is not such a posturing figure for the limelight.
But to say that Lautenberg does important work for the state and the country would be an understatement: His work on transportation funding, the environment, FISA and constitutional rights, among other measures. Lautenberg has received an "A" from the Drum Major Policy Institute for his attention to middle class legislative concerns, and he is unapologetically pro-choice. Recently, Lautenberg has been given more committee assignments, and he is ranked as the 44th most influential U.S. senator.
Rasumussen polling released today shows Senator Frank Lautenberg defeating any of the three leading Republican contenders: Anne Estabrook, Joe Pennacchio and Murray Sabrin.
Harsh, you say? Well, it's hard to argue with the facts.
In a recent campaign press release covered by PoliticsNJ's Matt Friedman and referenced earlier by our own SJBrian, likely future US Senate candidate, actual current State Senate candidate, and professional Dentist Joe Pennacchio of Montville attacked Senator Frank Lautenberg for... standing up to terrorists.
Right now, Senators Lautenberg and Menendez are standing united with New York Senators Clinton and Schumer to block the nomination of Gene Cretz as ambassador to Libya. Their objection is that Libya, a state sponsor of terrorism, has never truly paid for its crimes.
The Senate Democrats, led by Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey, said no U.S. ambassador should set foot in Tripoli until Libya fulfilled the financial commitments made to the victims' families.
...
"Libya must no longer be allowed to drag its feet and the U.S. must not pursue fully normalized diplomatic relations with Libya until they fulfill their legal obligations to American families," Lautenberg said in a statement.
Joe Pennacchio, however, is apparently of the mindset that we ought to open normalize relations with Libya to "reward responsible behavior." Dictator Qaddafi's 'responsible behavior,' in Pennacchio's mind, includes having "admitted a role in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103," according to his statement. To Pennacchio, it seems mass murder is okay as long as you at least 'fess up to it. Meanwhile, other reputable international organizations characterize Libya as a nation that engages in the vicious torture, murder, and unlawful detention of both journalists and dissidents.
But what's really insane to me is that Pennacchio, as I mentioned earlier, is a resident of Montville. For years, one of the most outspoken advocates of justice for Libya has been Montville resident Kathleen Flynn, who lost her son John Patrick Flynn in Libya's bombing of Pan Am 103. When the Bush adminstration announced that they would be opening diplomatic relations with the Qaddafi regime in Libya, she told USA Today that "the moral compass of this administration is so off-kilter."
So if Pennacchio isn't speaking for his constituents in championing the cause of 'rewarding' Libya, then who is he speaking for?
As indicated in the headline, this is where Dick Cheney comes into the picture. As the CEO of Halliburton in the nineties, Cheney was one of the leading voices in the push to restore diplomatic ties with Libya. The motive, of course, was profit. The Washington Post has an excellent history of the company's relationship to Libya at their website.
Halliburton came under fire in the early '90s for supplying Libya and Iraq with oil drilling equipment which could be used to detonate nuclear weapons. Halliburton Logging Services, a former subsidiary, was charged with shipping six pulse neutron generators through Italy to Libya. In 1995, the company pled guilty to criminal charges that it violated the U.S. ban on exports to Libya. Halliburton was fined $1.2 million and will pay $2.61 million in civil penalties.
. . .
During his chairmanship of Halliburton, Cheney criticized U.S. sanctions against "rogue" nations such as Iran and Libya in a 1998 speech. According to a July 26, 2000, Washington Post story, Cheney complained the sanctions "are nearly always motivated by domestic political pressure, the need for Congress to appeal to some domestic constituency."
Unsurprisingly, in April of 2001, just three months after taking office, The Washington Post reported that Cheney's energy task force recommended that sanctions against Libya and other rogue states be restructured as they impacted "some of the most important existing and prospective petroleum producing countries in the world."
Joe Pennacchio's position is clear. When it comes to chosing sides, it's Dick Cheney and Big Oil over his own constituents fighting to bring a terrorist state to justice.
