CQ Politics releases 2009 Vote Study

by: Jason Springer

Tue Jul 07, 2009 at 12:00:00 PM EDT

Congressional Quarterly has analyzed the roll call voting patterns of members of Congress since 1953. The three principal studies involve:

The frequency with which lawmakers vote with the president when he clearly indicates his preferences (Presidential Support).

The frequency with which they vote with their party, on occasions when a majority of Republicans oppose a majority of Democrats (Party Unity).

And the frequency with which they show up and cast "yea" or "nay" votes (Voting Participation).

	Pres Support	Party Unity	Participation
John Adler	88	86	97
Rob Andrews	96	99	99
Rodney Frelinghuysen	58	80	99
Scott Garrett	15	98	97
Rush Holt	96	99	98
Leonard Lance	69	74	100
Frank Lobiondo	77	65	100
Frank Pallone	96	99	96
Donald Payne	88	99	96
Bill Pascrell	96	95	89
Steve Rothman	96	99	98
Albio Sires	96	97	97
Chris Smith	77	64	97

Frank Lautenberg	97	100	99
Bob Menendez	97	100	99

Snowflack on Frelinghuysen remembering his roots

by: Jason Springer

Mon May 11, 2009 at 01:45:00 PM EDT

Hate to pick on Rep. Rodney P. Frelinghuysen, R-Harding, but I can not  let this gem slip by. At a town meeting today in Roxbury, Frelinghuysen said that he'll never forgot where he came from.

Hmm. .. If I was born into an aristocratic family of wealth and privilege, I wouldn't forget either.

How they Voted: FY 2010 Budget

by: Jason Springer

Fri Apr 03, 2009 at 12:30:00 PM EDT

Now, with President Obama's budget coming up for a vote, another opportunity has presented itself for these three "moderates" to show if they are truly moderate or if they are comfortable being out of the mainstream.

GOP "Budget" plan YES NO Garrett Frelinghuysen Adler Andrews Holt Pallone Pascrell Payne Rothman Sires Lance LoBiondo Smith

Congressional Budget for FY 2010 YES NO Adler Andrews Holt Pallone Pascrell Payne Rothman Sires Frelinghuysen Garrett Lance Lobiondo Smith

Democrats are in blue, and Republicans are in red.

The Republicans couldn't even get the members of their own party to support their version of a budget. Lance, LoBiondo and Smith opposed that reckless effort, but Frelinghuysen and Garrett went along for that ride off the cliff. In fact, 38 GOP lawmakers voted against a plan supported by their own leadership. It appears the party of no can't even figure out how to say yes to their own plans anymore.

Quote of the Day: "You call that hypocrisy"

by: Jason Springer

Wed Mar 11, 2009 at 02:15:00 PM EDT

A representative can not have it both ways.

If you oppose the bill, do not seek money from it.

If you want money from a federal spending bill, support the bill.

Frelinghuysen and Garrett are dismissing the bill with one hand and trying to grab money from it with the other.

You call that hypocrisy.

They should just say they support earmarks

by: Jason Springer

Mon Mar 09, 2009 at 02:00:00 PM EDT

Scott Garrett remains a leading critic of frivolous earmarks.

"Rep. Garrett strongly concurs and has advocated tirelessly for the reduction in the overall size of the federal government," she wrote. "In this vein, he opposed the omnibus spending bill because it greatly increased government spending. He does believe his constituents deserve to receive as much benefit from their tax dollars as possible and is supportive of projects which benefit his constituents."

I rise in opposition to this omnibus appropriations bill for many reasons, not the least of which is that this bill adds even more spending on top of the stimulus package that we just passed.

"As a member of the Appropriations Committee, it is my job to look after the needs of my district and state, especially when New Jersey ranks 50th out of the 50 states in federal taxpayer dollars coming back home," Frelinghuysen said in a statement Wednesday. "I will continue to support New Jersey priorities."

"It's interesting the way the system plays out," he said. "Everybody rails against it, then when the truck backs up with the money, everybody wants to get a piece of the pie, too. ...

How they Voted: Helping Families Save Their Homes Act of 2009

by: Jason Springer

Thu Mar 05, 2009 at 07:43:24 PM EST

Helping Families Save Their Homes Act of 2009 YES NO Adler Andrews Holt Pascrell Payne Rothman Sires Frelinghuysen Garrett Lance LoBiondo Smith

Democrats are in blue, and Republicans are in red.

To prevent mortgage foreclosures and enhance mortgage credit availability.

Three New Jersey districts are in the top 50 district nationally for 2009 foreclosures: NJ-03 has the 13th most, NJ-01 the 14th most, and NJ-02 the 44th most. What's more, the 2009-2012 numbers project an even bleaker future. This mortgage relief bill is badly needed.

So the question arises: Will NJ Republicans vote for a mortgage relief bill to help thousands of families struggling in their districts? Or will they continue to kowtow to Rush Limbaugh and sell out their voters? Time will tell, but don't count me among the optimists.

Calling GOP Congressmen: Foreclosures in NJ By House District

by: bytheshore73

Tue Mar 03, 2009 at 07:48:16 AM EST

In the midst of an economic crisis, many families are facing layoffs, credit problems, and an inability to make ends meet. Still more families, a massive number, face foreclosures that threaten to turn them out on the street.

If you're a responsible governing party, you would have legislation to help families, and the Obama administration and House Dems have put forward HR 1106, the Helping Families Save Their Homes Act. This mortgage relief bill will provide desperately needed aid to families facing foreclosure, but you'd be kidding yourself if you thought the party of No would get behind such a proposal. With the House expected to vote on this bill in the next week, it's sobering to look at foreclosure estimates by congressional district from the Center for Responsible Lending:

District	Projected Foreclosures ('09)	Projected Foreclosures ('09-'12)	# Homes Saved by HR 1106
NJ-01	10,658	35,483	3,505
NJ-02	8,922	29,706	2,934
NJ-03	10,797	35,948	3,550
NJ-04	8,346	27,786	2,744
NJ-05	7,331	24,408	2,411
NJ-06	6,560	21,840	2,157
NJ-07	5,750	19,145	1,891
NJ-08	5,075	16,898	1,669
NJ-09	4,938	16,441	1,624
NJ-10	4,835	16,097	1,590
NJ-11	5,986	19,930	1,968
NJ-12	5,768	19,205	1,897
NJ-13	2,360	7,859	776

Three New Jersey districts are in the top 50 district nationally for 2009 foreclosures: NJ-03 has the 13th most, NJ-01 the 14th most, and NJ-02 the 44th most. What's more, the 2009-2012 numbers project an even bleaker future. This mortgage relief bill is badly needed.

So the question arises: Will NJ Republicans vote for a mortgage relief bill to help thousands of families struggling in their districts? Or will they continue to kowtow to Rush Limbaugh and sell out their voters? Time will tell, but don't count me among the optimists.

Just what would they do?

by: Jason Springer

Sat Feb 14, 2009 at 12:52:51 PM EST

The stimulus bill is about to become law with no Republican votes in the House and only a handful in the Senate...

No legislation is perfect, but there are a lot of things in the bill that will benefit New Jersey, including tax credits for homebuyers and more Medicaid reimbursement. To the Republicans who voted no, just what would they do?

For Women In Ocean County, It's More Sink Than Swim

by: Jason Springer

Thu Feb 12, 2009 at 10:24:14 PM EST

Even when men and women had the same job title in the same department, some women had lower base and overtime pay.

The 82 male Sheriff's Officers in the Sheriff's Department were paid an average of $83,772 in 2008. The 18 women with the same title were paid $78,513 and made about 50 percent less in overtime than the men.

But the women Sheriff's Officers had 14 percent more seniority than their male counterparts. Women had an average of 3,300 days working for the county; men had 14 percent less time at 2,800 days.

It's a good thing our Republican Congressmen LoBiondo, Garrett and Frelinghuysen were overruled in their opposition to Ledbetter, you know that legislation which gives women equal pay, because it's sorely needed in Ocean County government.  I look forward to the full story in the APP tomorrow.

Is the NJGOP going to model itself after the Taliban too?

by: Jason Springer

Tue Feb 10, 2009 at 10:30:00 AM EST

"Insurgency, we understand perhaps a little bit more because of the Taliban," Sessions said during a meeting yesterday with Hotline editors. "And that is that they went about systematically understanding how to disrupt and change a person's entire processes. And these Taliban -- I'm not trying to say the Republican Party is the Taliban. No, that's not what we're saying. I'm saying an example of how you go about [sic] is to change a person from their messaging to their operations to their frontline message. And we need to understand that insurgency may be required when the other side, the House leadership, does not follow the same commands, which we entered the game with."

How they vote

by: Hopeful

Tue Feb 03, 2009 at 07:21:21 PM EST

We only have five big votes so far: Expanding Children's Health Insurance (SCHIP), the Stimulus package, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, reforming the TARP program, and releasing the second $350 billion of TARP.

As you can see, so far Garrett is living up to his extremist reputation.  Overall the New Jersey Republicans seem to have little interest in solving the economic crisis with government action.

I intend to update this chart from time to time.

How they voted on Economic Recovery and Digital TV delay

by: Jason Springer

Thu Jan 29, 2009 at 11:00:00 AM EST

American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan YES NO Adler Andrews Holt Pallone Pascrell Payne Rothman Sires Frelinghuysen Garrett Lance LoBiondo Smith

To postpone the DTV transition date YES NO Andrews Holt LoBiondo Pallone Pascrell Rothman Sires Adler Frelinghuysen Garrett Lance Smith

Democrats are in blue, and Republicans are in red.

Thanks to the extraordinary leadership of President Obama and Speaker Pelosi, the U.S. House has acted quickly and decisively to move forward this major economic recovery plan that will put millions of middle-class Americans back to work and back spending money again. This was perhaps the most historic vote in Congress since the vote to authorize the war in Iraq. Yet, amid a crippling economic recession that has cost millions of Americans their jobs and threatens millions more if nothing is done, Representatives Frelinghuysen, Lance, LoBiondo and Smith all chose to put partisan politics and the failed policies of the past over the struggling families they represent. President Obama reached out to Democrats and Republicans alike and set aside partisanship and ideology to craft a bold measure to get America back to work. It's sad that these Representatives are still clinging to petty partisanship and the same failed, well-worn ideology of Bush 'trickle-down' economics that got us into this mess to begin with.

How they Voted: The Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act

by: Jason Springer

Wed Jan 28, 2009 at 11:15:00 AM EST

Frank LoBiondo once again took a ride with Scott Garrett and Rodney Frelinghuysen opposing fair pay for women.  I'm sure women are very thankful for the lack of support:

Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act YES NO Adler Andrews Holt Pascrell Payne Rothman Sires Lance Smith Frelinghuysen Garrett LoBiondo

Democrats are in blue, and Republicans are in red.

Frank Pallone voted for the bill on Jan 9, but did not vote this time. Both Senators Menendez and Lautenberg supported the legislation in the Senate.  Capitol Quickies shed some light on why they needed a second vote in the House:

The House of Representatives on Tuesday had to vote a second time on the bill, after the Senate broke out from the bill a more controversial, related proposal the House had lumped in that would allow women to get compensatory and punitive damages if the equal-pay law is violated.

House expands SCHIP; Garrett lone NJ opposition

by: Jason Springer

Wed Jan 14, 2009 at 06:09:55 PM EST

"Soon we will have a new president who has committed himself to reforming our nation's health care system so every American can access affordable and quality health care." said Rep. Frank Pallone, D-N.J. "The bill we are considering today makes a down-payment on that promise."

Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009 YES NO Adler Andrews Frelinghuysen Holt Lance LoBiondo Pallone Pascrell Payne Rothman Sires Smith Garrett

Democrats are in blue, and Republicans are in red.

Who from New Jersey will be an Obama swing vote?

by: Jason Springer

Mon Jan 12, 2009 at 12:45:00 PM EST

With five Republican members of Congress, there are a few options for GOP support from New Jersey. I feel safe in saying it's unlikely that Scott Garrett or Rodney Frelinghuysen can be counted on as regular Obama swing votes. That would leave us Chris Smith, Leonard Lance and Frank LoBiondo as potential targets.

Chris Smith joined along for the paycheck fairness and fair pay acts passed this past Friday, however the supposed moderate Leonard Lance joined Garrett, Frelinghuysen and LoBiondo in opposition.  Smith and LoBiondo didn't always walk in lock step with the the current President:

LoBiondo, R-2nd, opposed President George W. Bush on 60.8 percent of House votes, a frequency that was seventh-highest among all 535 members of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, according to Congressional Quarterly's annual survey. Another New Jersey congressman, U.S. Rep. Chris Smith, R-4th, ranked second among Republicans opposing the president.

"I think you'll see President-elect Obama reaching across to moderate members of the House, and I think Congressman LoBiondo certainly fits that bill," LoBiondo spokesman Jason Galanes said.

Who do you think will be the most likely target as an Obama swing vote and why?

... And the Rest

by: Blue Jersey

Wed Nov 12, 2008 at 02:10:01 PM EST

With the Obama campaign sucking up so much of the oxygen (and money, and energy, and ultimately the very PA-bound volunteers themselves), most of what was left over was focused on the "hot" races in NJ-3, NJ-5, and NJ-7. Like so often in the past, if you weren't running in one of the hot races, then you found yourself with scant attention being paid to your campaign.

In the case of Senator Lautenberg, and our 7 Democratic House incumbents, no news was good news. New Jersey's voters delivered a solid double-digit win to its senior Senator, and sent the Magnificent 7 back to Washington with an average margin of victory of over 40%. But for Congressional Challengers in NJ-2, NJ-4, and NJ-11, it was a different story altogether.

We look at each of these races in more detail below the fold.  

A weak moment

by: FogerRox

Wed Nov 05, 2008 at 02:09:06 AM EST

Wyka TV Ad for the final week

by: FogerRox

Mon Nov 03, 2008 at 04:47:36 PM EST

Tom Wyka always tells everyone that will listen, how he was inspired by the late Senator Paul Wellstone. A graduate of Camp Wellstone, Tom is following in the foot steps of many a great progressive democrats, wishing to run a people powered campaign, a campaign that values boots on the ground over Washington DC consultants and big time media buys. In spite of soliciting small donations from average voters, and not big donars, Wyka for Congress has raised enough money for TV and radio.

Heres the ad that has been playing in NJ-11 this week.  

Is The Daily Record endorsing in NJ-11?

by: FogerRox

Fri Oct 31, 2008 at 01:42:18 PM EDT

The Daily Record on the 11th

This is not a normal election year. American forces have been in Iraq for more than five years while the insurrection in Afghanistan deepens. The economy crashed a month ago, prompting an unprecedented $700 billion bailout of the banking industry. There are thousands of new voters, many of whom are talking about change. Tom Wyka, the Democratic candidate for Congress in the 11th District says one can not expect change if we return the same people to Washington.

So vote for Rodney for more of the same. :-)

Unless lightning strikes, Frelinghuysen will win his eighth term.

Do you mean not since 1932 kind of lightning?

We hope that he will recognize an opportunity -- if not a mandate -- for a new approach. We hope the congressman will use his seniority to stake out new and independent positions when the status quo has failed. We hope he will sharpen his appetite for "best-practice" approaches to long-standing problems (see Wyka and Tedholm above), regardless of which party suggests them.

Congressman Frelinghuysen has had an opportunity the last 2 years to "stake out new and independent positions". Congressman Frelinghuysen has had the opportunity over the last 2 years to "sharpen his appetite for "best-practice" approaches to long-standing problems". How many more chances do the voters of the 11th give the Congressman to disavow the failed policies of extreme neo conservatism?

On Sunday the 23rd in the debate at the Temple Beth AM, Congressman Frelinghuysen said he can't imagine a worse job killer than raising taxes. Progressive taxation with hi taxes for the richest, created jobs as we worked our way out of the Great Republican Depression, and won WW2.

Daily Record on NJ-11 Race: "I Guess We Endorse Frelinghuysen; Hope He'll Be More Like Wyka"

by: Jeff Gardner

Fri Oct 31, 2008 at 12:06:40 PM EDT

has been resolute in his support of the war in Iraq and generally loyal to President Bush. It's hard to know where belief ends and loyalty to party and president begins. If nothing else, the past eight years have shown that party unity doesn't always equal good or productive government. More often than not, it has led to, at best, stalled initiatives and, at worst, grievous mistakes.

And, his opponent?

Wyka, of Parsippany, who is making his second try for Congress, has expanded his campaign this year beyond criticizing the war in Iraq. He backs public financing of elections and increased government involvement in health care, a key point in a nation where an estimated 47 million are without health insurance.

I know - call on Rodney, if reelected, to be more like Tom:

Unless lightning strikes, Frelinghuysen will win his eighth term. We hope that he will recognize an opportunity -- if not a mandate -- for a new approach. We hope the congressman will use his seniority to stake out new and independent positions when the status quo has failed. We hope he will sharpen his appetite for "best-practice" approaches to long-standing problems (see Wyka and [Indy candidate Chandler] Tedholm above), regardless of which party suggests them.