NJ-11 
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Tue Sep 30, 2008 at 10:52:42 PM EDT
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TomObamaRama will bring together some of your favorite progressive political comics in a hilarious night of election year comedy.
STARRING: Joey Novick and Sam Greenfield
HOSTED BY: Kevin O'Driscoll
FEATURING: Michael Hayne and Harry Terjanian
WITH SPECIAL GUEST STAR: Alex Adams as Rudy Giuliani
Rudy's going to be there ? And Al Gore too ?
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Sun Sep 28, 2008 at 02:35:45 PM EDT
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Congressman Frelinhuysen has been masquerading as a supporter of Veterans issues for far too long, he consistently pays lip service to Vets and then goes to DC to cut money for the VA, and other Vets issues.
Last week my dairy on how the Congressman voted against the New GI BIll received some attention from a Vet who contacted my privately to ask for further documentation of the Congressman's voting record on Vets issues.
Your wish Sir, is my command.
Join me for short trip on the wayback machine to 2006...
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Fri Sep 26, 2008 at 12:17:18 PM EDT
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If you?re feeling overwhelmed by election year politics don?t miss this opportunity to laugh it all off and raise money to defeat the Republicans!
TomObamaRama will bring together some of your favorite progressive political comics in a hilarious night of election year comedy. Headliners Joey Novick (HBO, Showtime) brings his unique New Jersey home town brand of humor and Sam Greenfield (CNN, Huffington Post) brings the funny from across the Hudson River.
STARRING: Joey Novick & Sam Greenfield
HOSTED by Kevin O?Driscoll
WITH SPECIAL GUEST STAR: Alex Adams as Rudy Giuliani
FEATURING: Michael Hayne and Harry Terjanian
SPECIAL INVITED GUESTS: Bill Clinton, Al Gore, Bono, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Leonardo DiCaprio and Pope Benedict XVI
Darress Theater
615 Main Street
Boonton, New Jersey 07005
Thursday, October 23rd
7:30pm ? 9:30pm
VIP Guests Invited To Back Stage Cocktail Party with Performers
9:30pm ? 11:00pm
Students/Seniors: $20 / person
Single Ticket: $30 / person
Couple: $50
VIP Ticket: $75
VIP Couple: $125
http://www.actblue.com/page/to...
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Mon Sep 22, 2008 at 04:46:38 PM EDT
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It has suddenly become clear to me, like coming out of a tunnel and being able to see everything.
-Some key name endorsements are in the works.
-Our financial plan can put us in the position to afford the foundation of what we need to spend money on, to win.
-Internal polling has injected more than hope into the staff.
Instead of the days and weeks spinning by way too fast, everything has slowed down, I am personally being way more productive. Both my subconscious and conscious are in overdrive. Even in my sleep I come up with ideas.
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Sun Sep 21, 2008 at 04:23:29 PM EDT
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Promoted by Jason Springer because our Veterans deserve better. Its a shame that Rodney Frelinghuysen, a Vietnam veteran does so little to support his fellow veterans. Congressman Frelinghuysen is in the rare position to represent those who gone into harms way, and come back home to find the VA underfunded with discretionary funding that can't be relied upon during the fiscal year.
Most or all Veterans organizations that score members of congress on their voting record on Veterans issues place Congressman Frelinghuysen at the bottom of the list.
Since 2000 Congressman Frelinghuysen has voted against everything on the Vets agenda, except for items that were passed unanimously or nearly so. According to Disabled Veterans of America, Congressman Frelinghuysen has the worst record on disabled veterans in the NJ House delegation.
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Tue Sep 16, 2008 at 01:09:18 PM EDT
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Voters in NJ's 11th Congressional district tend to have a libertarian streak to them, They are fairly well to do and have elected Rodney Frelinghuysen to 7 terms in the House of Representatives. Rodney Frelinghuysen is the 5th member of his family to serve in congress. Rodney Frelinghuysen is the safest republican in NJ.
But Tom Wyka knows how to talk to the libertarian leaning republicans in his district, and after his run in '06, is making serious inroads against this so called safe seat.
In NJ-7 Linda Stender ran in '06, she lost by 1 pt. She's looking to close the deal in '08 and win big. In NJ-5 Dems have improved steadily, year after year, Dennis Shulman looks to make NJ-5 even more competitive in '08. But Tom Wyka has the audacity to run against the Frelinghuysen Dynasty in NJ-11, and has shown he has what it takes to be New Jerseys best democratic challenger. Tom's 2006 campaign set district records for the number of democratic votes. To paraphrase what Bill Clinton said recently "history is on our side", with that kind of Mojo, it just might be the year that Rodney Frelinghuysen is vulnerable. So its time to get out there anddeliver the change New Jersey needs.
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Fri Aug 08, 2008 at 05:56:30 PM EDT
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The political action committee of the New Jersey Education Association, the state's largest teacher's union, has endorsed Tom Wyka, D-Parsippany, for New Jersey's 11th district seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.
The NJEA is the state affiliate of the National Education Association. NJEA has a local affiliate in every school district in New Jersey, almost all of them the leg ally recognized bargaining agent for that district's teachers. NJEA also has local affiliates in most of New Jersey's county colleges and in several of the state colleges.
Wyka says, "NJEA has given me a great honor by endorsing me in the Democratic primary and now in the general election. It's risky for them to endorse a challenger to an entrenched incumbent. However, the NJEA knows that I am committed to education, and they've seen some of the votes that my opponent has cast in Congress. For example, in 2006 he voted for the 'Raid on Student Aid,' which cut $12.7 billion from federal student aid programs. The proponents of that bill claimed they were doing it to reduce the deficit, but at the same time they were planning to cancel out those savings with a tax cut for the wealthiest Americans, especially those with incomes of over $1 million per year. My opponent seems to be out of touch with the needs of ordinary people in this district, most of whom find it difficult to afford a college education for their children.
"A strong educational system is absolutely essential to our future prosperity. Our children need a good education in order to be able to function in the workforce and as citizens. Unfortunately, the No Child Left Behind act has not lived up to its promises. We must pass the No Child Left Behind Improvement Act (HR 648), which would close serious holes in that flawed program, and make it work for our children as opposed to working against them. We must also provide better financial aid and lower interest rates on student loans, so that our young people are not burdened by a crushing load of debt upon graduation."
www.tomwyka.com
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Fri Jul 25, 2008 at 10:49:08 AM EDT
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Here's a story in the Courier Post. First, we get this observation and analysis about the current state of Iraq from Congressman Rodney Frelinghuysen after returning from his recent trip:Frelinghuysen said the trip proved to him that President Bush's decision last year to increase the number of U.S. soldiers by 30,000 was the right one to help stabilize Iraq. Then two paragraphs later, we find this piece of information, which would seem to undercut his previous statement:The congressional delegation didn't travel outside the so-called "Green Zone" in Baghdad - the U.S. headquarters in that country - and was unable to meet with an Iraqi official though it was scheduled. Yes, very stable. Look, I hope things are more stable in Iraq as much as the next person. I want things to get better and I want our troops to come home. But isn't that sort of like saying crime is down in Ohio from looking out your window in New Jersey?The Green Zone is hyper-fortified and was safe before the surge. How can you see the progress of the surge from an area not impacted by the surge? Frelinghuysen could have learned exactly the same stuff by organizing a teleconference with the military leaders, and could have made the meeting with the Iraqi leaders he missed, too. And not spent all that taxpayer money on airfare, gasoline, military and security support. I guess it doesn't matter, because the Courier Post took the bait in their follow up article and gave him the headline he was looking for: Frelinghuysen says Iraqis assuming more control: Lawmaker reports seeing much progress on visit, says troop increase helped Again, he saw this progress out his bedroom window? I know I'm asking for a lot, but I'd prefer Frelinghuysen take a page from his colleague Chuck Hagel's book after his recent return from Iraq:"Quit talking about, 'Did the surge work or not work,' or, 'Did you vote for this or support this,'" Hagel said Thursday on a conference call with reporters.
"Get out of that. We're done with that. How are we going to project forward?" the Nebraska senator said. "What are we going to do for the next four years to protect the interest of America and our allies and restructure a new order in the world. ... That's what America needs to hear from these two candidates. And that's where I am." Well said and while he's directing the response to the presidential candidates, I think it certainly applies here too. And for you confused candidates out there, that's not some "radical liberal blogger" making the statement.
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Wed Jun 04, 2008 at 12:32:29 AM EDT
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Tom Wyka, on his way to facing Congressman Frelinghuysen again in Novemeber, facied 2 primary opponents, Ellen Greenberg and Harry Hager in Toms second run in New Jerseys eleventh.
ONE 4-YEAR HOUSE TERM
Republicans
#Rodney Frelinghuysen* .... 22,458
Kate Erber ......................... 3,402
Democrats
#Tom Wyka ...................... 10,056
Ellen Greenberg .................. 2,233
Harry Hager ........................ 2,126
Thats right, NJ dot com has it as a 4 year term. :-)
In Essex County 5th district incumbant Freeholder, Ralph Caputo won a tight race against former Montclair Mayor Bob Russo. Jerry Vorbach did not fair well in his at large Freeholder race.
ONE 3-YEAR DISTRICT 5 TERM
Democrats
#Ralph Caputo* ............. 3,743
Robert Russo ................ 3,432
FOUR AT-LARGE TERMS
(with 97 percent of the ballots counted)
Democrats
#Donald M. Payne Jr.* ....... 29,454
#Patricia Sebold* ............... 27,596
#Rufus Johnson ................. 26,724
#Blonnie R. Watson* .......... 26,669
Kevin G. Kennedy ................ 3,824
Susan Sotillo ...................... 3,228
Jerry F. Vorbach ................. 3,033
George M. Tillman Jr. .......... 1,727
I think they have the right length term on this one.
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Fri May 23, 2008 at 11:43:52 PM EDT
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The first time I ran into Robert Tracey, the noted veterans' advocate of Morristown, I was at a Bill Bradley book signing in Mendham, passing out flyers for my congressional campaign. Mr. Tracey kindly waved me off with a smile saying that he strongly supported our incumbent Rodney Frelinghuysen, indicating that he's "always there" for veterans. In politics, conventional wisdom says that you need to spend your time engaging the "persuadable" voters, and I sensed that Mr. Tracey was probably not going to be very receptive if I tried to engage him in a lengthy discussion about his congressman's voting record. It's painful for me to resist these opportunities - as I've always prided myself in educating the electorate. I believe in what Jefferson said when he stated "an informed democracy will behave responsibly", but this probably wasn't the time or place to talk about how our incumbent is currently rated the worst representative in NJ according to Disabled American Veterans, an advocacy group for disabled veterans with a history dating back to WWI. Yet our same representative is quick to steal photo ops with vets any chance he gets, and touts votes for veterans benefits that are non-controversial and passed by overwhelming majorities.
Unlike our congressman, I'm not a veteran myself, and no deed that I can lay claim to even comes close to the sacrifice that these people have made for our country.....
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Tue May 13, 2008 at 07:24:19 PM EDT
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I'm a big fan of campaigns embracing new technologies to help perform traditional campaign functions. In today's campaign world, it's about more than just putting up a website. A contest for an ad is nothing new, but getting notified of a blogad contest by email through the Adler campaign's facebook group is certainly a concept that can be successfully replicated...Do you ever see ads on websites, and think that you would do a better job at designing them? If so, enter the contest to design the first BlogAd for the Adler for Congress team! To me, this is a great idea. As a campaign, you engage your supporters, support the netroots and encourage people to focus on how they can better elect the candidate to office without making the reader suffer through a press release to do it. It doesn't just have to be this idea with this platform. Campaigns can capitalize on other social networking platforms to reinforce the general campaign message in front of a different potential audience. It's important to note that while technology will not replace traditional campaign tactics such as door knocking and phone calls, it certainly can assist and enhance those efforts. Technology can amplify the campaigns message across many mediums before numerous audiences. It's another tool at your disposal to help get the job done. In the recent diaries, you can see a video blog diary by candidate Tom Wyka utilizing the youtube platform so that people who are lazy like me and don't want to read a complete message all of the time can click play to watch a video of him giving a clear explanation of money in politics. The Stender for Congress campaign has a facebook group. The Andrews for senate campaign has capitalized on the skills of Jay Lassiter and a handy dandy youtube account to incorporate videoblogging giving us a behind the scenes look at a campaign for Senate along with having a facebook group. I've gotten emails about their latest videos and last week I got a message through the facebook group inviting supporters to the filming of a TV commercial. The Lautenberg re-election campaign also utilizes a facebook page allowing people to join and show their support. The Shulman and Abate campaigns in NJ-5 are utilizing their You Tube accounts to post ads. Shulman went on the air with his 1st TV ad which is also loaded on their Youtube page and the Abate campaign was able to post an ad from their Youtube page in the same thread. Many candidates have attempted to engage the netroots through posts here on BlueJersey and other national blogs. We thank them for that and encourage them to come back frequently to continue the conversation. BlueJersey is also engaging people with technology, so feel free to follow us on Twittter and join our myspace or facebook groups. I hope more campaigns will follow the lead of these candidates and Blue Jersey by continuing to engage technology as a tool to help enhance the great work they are already doing.
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Sat May 10, 2008 at 11:28:25 PM EDT
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Rodney Frelinghuysen voted against HR 5522 (Combustible Dust Explosion and Fire Prevention Act of 2008) which would protect workers against dust.
http://clerk.house.gov/evs/200...
13 workers killed by sugar dust explosion:
http://www.chron.com/disp/stor...
Dust is very dangerous, take a pinch of flour, throw it at a candle flame, but be careful. Explosions like this go back many decades, even centuries.
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Sun May 04, 2008 at 02:21:10 PM EDT
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With about 4 weeks left until the June Primary, Tom Wyka has rolled up the endorsement of Both the Morris and Essex Dems, as well as winning the party line at the Somerset County convention.
nj.com on the Morris Democratic Convention"
Wyka won an easy victory at a Democratic convention held Wednesday night at the Knoll East in Parsippany, getting 111 votes to 35 for Ellen Greenberg of Mendham Township and 3 for Harry Hager of Chester Township.
http://www.nj.com/morristown/n...
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Mon Apr 07, 2008 at 12:15:03 AM EDT
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Tom Wyka has received the Morris County joint DFA/PDA chapter's 2008 endorsement for US Congress in New Jersey's 11th District.
We evaluated all three Democratic candidates on nine separate criteria, and ranked each using a points system (5=highest, 1=lowest). The criteria were: Platform (progressiveness), Grassroots & Party Building, Commitment to Campaigning, Electability, Fundraising Ability, Public Speaking Ability, Knowledge of Issues, Volunteer Base, and Age/Vitality Factor.
Tom Wyka scored the highest score of the three candidates, and we are pleased to support him with our endorsement. Ellen Greenberg & Harry Hager came in a distant 2nd & 3rd, respectively.
To learn more about Tom Wyka, click here ==> http://www.TomWyka.com
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Mon Mar 31, 2008 at 01:10:28 PM EDT
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It's the last day of the calendar quarter, which means at midnight tonight campaigns will be closing their books and preparing reports for the FEC and ELEC. It's a chance to showcase the early strength of and support for their campaigns.
So, show some love. Here are links to some great Democratic candidates running for office in 2008. Contribute what you can.
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Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 03:57:12 PM EDT
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I'm organizing this little party, well..... fundraising dinner, for my friend Tom Wyka, you may have heard of him, hes running for Congress in NJ-11.
The fiscal quarter ends in March, and we're hoping to finish the quarter with a bang with a Dinner at Cryans Pub in South Orange to benefit Toms campaign for Congress.
Wyka for Congress at Cryan's
Date: Friday March 28, 2008
Time: 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Type: Party (Public)
Location: Cryan's Pub
24 1st St, South Orange
$50 suggested guest donation
$150 host donation
All you DFAers and Blue Jerseyians, Consider your selves invited.
RSVP with me. rdanafox at yahoo. Please consider making a hosting donation to ensure we finish off the fiscal quarter with a bang.
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Tue Mar 18, 2008 at 10:26:34 PM EDT
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Tom Wyka is running for Congress in NJ-11, against Rodney Frelinghuysen. Promoted from diaries by Rosi Efthim
... is a spouse who knows how to put a wing-nut in their place.
Reading the Daily Record Sunday morning, my wife Betty caught this gem on the opinion page....
Imagine it's 2017 and you fall off your bike
It's 2017, the first year of the Obama administration in Washington and in New Jersey we're in the second term for Gov. Carla Katz in Trenton.
As I was riding along the Donald Cresitello Bikeway near Burnham Park Lake, I was mulling over the state of existence. All of a sudden, I hit a rock and fell off my bicycle. I went down with a thud and landed on my wrist. It began to throb and turned a hideous shade of purple.
As you can guess, the author, who leans a bit the to right, launches into a screed ("fable") about his horrid experience with Universal Healthcare's bureaucracy in this future world.
You can read the whole thing here - if you have time to waste
My wife Betty, immediately started to think about some of our personal friends and wrote this response....
After reading Jim Larkin's "fable" on Sunday, I felt compelled to tell a story of my own. This story takes place in present day New Jersey and the main characters are three families.
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Fri Mar 07, 2008 at 10:12:27 PM EST
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Matthew Simmons is the head of one of the largest investment banking firms in the world and a former energy advisor to George W. Bush. Simmons has a great concern about the global use of fossil fuels, but it?s not for reasons you might think. Simmons spends a great deal of his time traveling the globe at his own expense ? preaching about what he sees as a looming global crisis commonly known as ?Peak Oil? ? a point where global oil production reaches it?s practical limits as demand continues to increase. There?s a lot of debate as to whether we may have already passed a disastrous tipping point as the price of a barrel of oil topped $100 recently.
In addition, I don?t need to rehash points set forth about Global Warming. Just about everyone has heard it all before. Sadly, people seem to find themselves on either side of the argument depending on what television pundits they view most often, rather than based on the warnings of the scientific community.
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Tue Feb 26, 2008 at 01:42:30 PM EST
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I just wanted to give you all an early heads up. The fiscal quarter ends in March, and we're hoping to finish the quarter with a bang with a Dinner at Cryans Pub in South Orange to benefit Toms campaign for Congress.
The March 28th Dinner has just been posted on Tom's calendar, we are just now contacting speakers, so stay tuned for imformation regarding the event's line up.
For those who don't get over to Morris County that much and find this Essex County venue easier to get to, heres your chance to impact Wyka for Congress's first quarter fundraising drive.
Wyka for Congress at Cryan's
Date: Friday March 28, 2008
Time: 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Type: Party (Public)
Location: Cryan's Pub
24 1st St, South Orange
$50 suggested guest donation
$150 host donation
All you DFAers and Blue Jerseyians, Consider your selves invited.
RSVP with me. rdanafox at yahoo. Please consider making a hosting donation to ensure we finish off the fiscal quarter with a bang.
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