As we pass through Labor Day Weekend and the upcoming week when many politicians and the rest of us return to normal tasks, lets talk JOBS - "right track and wrong track" as the pollsters say. Yesterday's jobs report, indicating that nationally employers added no new net jobs, reinforced the need for policies to put people back to work. Nationally unemployment remains at 9.1% and in harder-hit New Jersey at 9.5%. On Thursday President Obama will present his initiatives. Help from the federal government is important, but our state government also needs to do more.
On August 1, while John Boehner, Eric Cantor, Paul Ryan and their colleagues were threatening to shut down the government, Rush Holt gave a speech describing the budget debate as:
at its heart, a debate between two visions for America. One side envisions rebuilding our country, investing in jobs and education and infrastructure, and rising from the Great Recession as a stronger and more resilient Nation. The other side accepts a pessimistic vision of a weakened America with a shrunken government-a Nation hampered by deep cuts to the safety net and hobbled by a refusal to invest in our future.
I couldn't agree more. And, like the Honorable Representative from the 12th District, I hold with the former.
Here's the full text, after the jump, of his August 1, 2011 speech. It will be in the Congressional Record as soon as it is updated - assuming, of course, that funds will be budgeted for updating and maintaining the Congressional Record.
The title of this piece is contradictory. After all, it in and of itself, is a generalization.
But I'll still go out on a limb and make a generalization - In any of New Jersey's 40 legislative districts it is better to elect a Democrat than to elect a Republican in the upcoming election.
New Jersey Republican Assemblywoman Caroline Casagrande says she is "perhaps" ready to take bold action to charge "slumlords" and "predatory lenders" for the cost of providing legal services.
Really - you can read it right here (scroll down to the end).
Let's read the proverbial tea leaves, shall we?
There are some indications that the new District 11, where Casagrande is running for reelection, could go towards the Democrats (much as Casagrande's prior District 12 was held by Democrats for much of the last decade).
Casagrande presumably knows that Christie's budget and Christie himself is deeply unpopular among moderates in New Jersey.
So she pretends to be addressing the problem - more on that below the fold.
A LOT of money was restored last week that was originally cut out of the budget by the Governor.
Yet very little credit is being given to the main person who led the charge against the Governor.
Steve Sweeney gets a LOT of flack on this "progressive" site ,but very little credit.
It is time to give the man his due.
This is from a M.Symons article which quotes Mr.Murray:
"He wasn't always going to restore. He didn't expect even a little bit of the blowback that he's getting from the people of the state. It's not so much us. The people of the state are angry at his cuts because they went too far," Sweeney said.
"There's an opportunity to restore more than what he's saying," Sweeney said. "The fact that he's feeling so much pressure now, because the cuts clearly were mean-spirited."
Murray said Christie's interest in defusing that phrase is why he spent the week mending fences."You can be a bully and still do good things, but mean-spirited means you're simply out to get somebody, regardless of what the impact would be on anybody else," Murray said.
"The budget cuts essentially handed the Democrats the ability to switch the tag that they used for Christie from bully to mean-spirited, and that is a much more effective public opinion tool to use."
"Senate Restores Sanity" is a headline on Senator Frank Lautenberg's latest statement as he proudly says it "took a stand against the extreme House Republican agenda by voting down this sham bill that would have devastated middle-class families." Senator Bob Menendez joined Lautenberg in this vote.
Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg (N.J.) noted "a little separation" between Obama and his former Senate caucus."
That's a lot nicer but the content isn't necessarily much different. Our Senators have to make sure that they don't support a "sham bill" just because their otherwise fine President negotiated it.
Update: 11:18AM The President is speaking now, or you can read his USA Today article. Unfortunately, he could have accomplished everything he says about taxes on the rich last December without a single Republican vote.
On Monday, Max Pizarro wrote a post about the Democratic Party's veto override votes, quoting pollster Patrick Murray in indicating that this was mainly to get the Republicans (and Christie) on record for supporting draconian cuts to funding that would help New Jerseyans all across the state in need.
Now, I agree that this was a big reason for what some are calling "kabuki theater" - given that the New Jersey Governor has the power of a line item veto, more power (in general) than many other states afford their Governors, a state Republican Party that has consistently fallen in line with what this particular Governor wants, and this particular Governor who has consistently acted in a confrontational and belligerent manner when it comes to supporting those who support him and punishing those who don't.
I also agree that it was a necessary step - one that should have been done last year as well as opposed to Senate President Sweeney delivering a handful of Democratic votes for a budget that Christie crafted, instead of acting as the leader of the Party in charge of the Senate and crafting their own budget. And I also agree that it was fairly obvious that (1) Christie was going to veto these items, (2) an override vote would (and should) be held, and (3) the vote would fail. This is not a shock. The fact that anyone would be shocked at the outcome is really the shock here.
I've also seen a lot of criticism hurled at Sweeney for not negotiating the budget items (either before or after) the odious pension and benefit bill that he shephered through. And to me - that isn't the issue. Quite honestly, I doubt that the budget items or the pension/benefit bill would be something that Sweeney and the Legislative Democrats would go to the mat on if Christie refused to negotiate, so I don't know that would have worked.
But what would have worked is not bringing those bills to the floor in the first place - something that I doubt would have been voted on or passed if Dick Codey was still Senate President, for example.
That being said, this is a time where the State Democratic Party needs to figure out what their plan is - what is next. They came up with a budget and didn't get many of the things that are sorely needed. They passed a millionaire's tax that was vetoed. They have seen very clearly that the State Republican Party will obstruct, bloviate and talk out of both sides of their mouths, so there will be little to no help there. They have also been saddled with the actions of their elected and unelected leaders - Sweeney, Oliver, Adubato, Norcross and a revolving door of a few Democrats who are good on most issues but detrimental on a few big issues.
In short - the State Democratic Party (even down to a local level, as Bergen County is at a similar crossroads, but for different reasons) needs to look inward, find out what they are all about, what they stand for, who they represent and what their way forward is. Because at this point, they have a very uphill battle - both legislatively and in regaining the trust of many New Jerseyans.
For the record, the government has a spending problem and a revenue problem.
Washington spends an amount equal to 23.8 percent of GDP, the highest level in at least 40 years. But it is taxing at only 15 percent of gross domestic product, the lowest level in the same period. (See accompanying chart.)
If you look at only one side of this equation, then your brain has been damaged by ideology.
Here's the chart:
Now, maybe I'm just "brain damaged," but it occurs to me that this chart doesn't account for the decline in GDP because of the recession!
Think about it: if GDP goes down, and government spending stays the same, the percentage of GDP devoted to government spending goes up, right? Even without ANY new spending or programs.
Before the Star-Ledger tut-tuts at liberals, they should take minute to understand what they're talking about. But that would take time away from kicking dirty hippies:
Obama was slow to join this fight, even when his own commission offered a blueprint to address the debt. But by compromising with Republicans, and explicitly supporting cuts to Social Security and Medicare, he has broken with Pelosi and the liberal wing of his party. That's leadership.
Yes, breaking with the people who want to save the greatest anti-poverty programs in the history of the US while the country reels from massive economic inequity is what the S-L terms "leadership."
Diane Allen just blew through a considerable amount of the goodwill and community support rightly extended to her while she battled cancer. How'd she do that? She sat for two days of tough and unpleasant veto override discussions ... and did absolutely nothing. She didn't vote in lockstep with Gov. Christie, as her colleagues did. She didn't vote at all. She sat there for two full days, not engaging. Staring at the screen of her laptop (I'm not kidding) and avoiding eye contact. Abstaining (counts as "no"). Allen - one of 4 co-chairs, along with Loretta Weinberg, of the Women's Legislative Caucus. Allen - who's flip-flopped before, giving up low-income Jersey girls when her rich, white, male governor yanked her home. Allen - cancer survivor, whose inaction widens the crack for other women with cancer to fall through. And, I might add, a woman who knows better, letting Sen. Cardinale claim Planned Parenthood promotes child prostitution, and saying nothing.
And that, as my father used to say, is chickenshit.
Allen deserves to lose the respect of her colleagues in both parties in the Senate, and women in her District should know the votes she sat through. While Diane Allen was battling cancer, her seat in the Senate was held for her for all the months she couldn't show up. And her colleagues, constituents, and anybody who covers NJ politics (including us) held a quiet vigil, hoping for the best health outcome. People were pulling for her, and she deserved nothing less.
But among the votes Allen Farmvilled through (or whatev) was Weinberg's "determined effort" to overturn Christie's de-funding of family planning & women's health clinics that would in turn then be eligible for 9-1 matching funds from the federal government. A return of $67.5 million on an input of $7.5 million. Not much of what Allen eventually said about her 2 days of Clarence Thomasing makes sense. Her statement to politickernj is baffling, as was her statement today, at the end.
If Diane Allen's chief concern is that New Jersey's broke, she contradicts herself, going along with the governor's pissing away $67.5M in health care dollars. I'm surprised at Allen, a prime sponsor of the Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights. A sometimes-ally. But that doesn't excuse this.
Allen, you should know, gets health care on your dime - the same that state workers get. But you won't hear her complain about that.
Allen is the beneficiary of excellenthealth care and the best screening for her tough oral cancer that money can buy. And Allen let slide health care for women with none of the privileges and deference she enjoys, and a standard of living far below what NJ taxpayers help Allen to live at. Planning to help women avoid unwanted pregnancies, so all babies get the best start possible. Maternal & infant health. Doctor time to spot illness early so it's treatable.
And yes, Diane Allen. Early detection for cancer.
Voters in LD-7, especially women, should know there is an alternative: Democrat Dr. Gail Cook, educator, mayor of Beverly and an ovarian cancer survivor. Dr. Cook's running mates are Assemblyman Herb Conaway, a medical doctor, and up-and-comer Troy Singleton. Conaway voted last year for Loretta Weinberg's legislation that would have restored women's health care services, but Christie vetoed the bill. And all three support restoration of those funds. If you want to make a donation to Dr. Cook's team, the info's on her website.
The President rightly pointed out today that the House Republicans are jeopardizing Social Security checks, disability checks, and veterans benefits:
"I cannot guarantee that those checks go out on August 3rd if we haven't resolved this issue. Because there may simply not be the money in the coffers to do it"
Stopping checks or defaulting on debts would be a complete disaster, whether we're talking about the consequences to individuals or the consequences on the national macro-economy.
Setting recent arrivals Jon Runyan and Leonard Lance aside, every New Jersey Republican and Democrat have voted to raise the debt ceiling multiple times (PDF), each voting yes when their party was in the majority and no when it wasn't. These long-term Republicans -- Frank LoBiondo, Chris Smith, Scott Garrett, Rodney Frelinghuysen -- are in perfectly safe seats and it's time for them to step up for the good of the country. After all, they already approved the budget so they have authorized every dollar of spending, knowing that it required borrowing. It's been pure political showmanship until now, but reality is intruding. They need to vote -- with some Democrats of good faith -- to raise the debt ceiling without continuing to take the country hostage.
As we did all day yesterday, Blue Jersey will be LIVE-Tweeting today's NJ Senate session, and observing the Democrats' almost-certainly doomed efforts to overturn some of Gov. Christie's harshest cuts - to his own budget that he submitted. What succeeded in this session is getting Republicans on the record defunding and sometimes dismantling programs New Jerseyans depend on. And go on the record they did, saying some pretty crappy, pretty stupid and pretty inaccurate things. Here's Sweeney, Codey and Greenstein talking about that.
Deciminyan is in the Senate gallery, and we hear he's even found a power outlet. This is in the absence of the gavel-to-gavel coverage of important legislative sessions that NJN used to provide. Ironically, NJN was killed in this very House of the Legislature because of backroom dealmaking. And apparently, thusfar, the disappointing NJTV has no interest in turning their cameras on this kind of legislative session.
The session is just starting. You can also try watching the NJ Legislature website's video feed, but I'm not sure how the quality will be. Yesterday, it was skipping and stopping every few minutes.
Soon after yesterday's NJ Senate session, engineered to get Republican legislators on the record item by item dismantling programs and funding many New Jerseyans must depend on, senators Steve Sweeney, Dick Codey (current and past Senate presidents) and Linda Greenstein sat down for an interview before 101.5's microphones. And somebody turned the video camera on.
Ironically, Sweeney muses on the Governor's power, even with a reach of several hundred miles away on vacation. NJ GOP was in lockstep, except for Jennifer Beck's return to at least a surface pro-women stance, joining the Democrats' attempt to override Christie's cutting out of funds for women's health and family planning programs. Codey complains about the gamesmanship of Christie's cutting his own budget, after the legislature returned it to him intact. Greenstein, for me, was the most effective, recalling some of the revolting things Republicans said on the Senate floor yesterday. That was Day #1 of this effort. Day #2 was scheduled to start 10am today, and is running late.
Deciminyan will be live-Tweeting it all day at @bluejersey.
A letter arrived for me yesterday in the mail from the Office of the Governor. Not sure I ever received one of those before (not even from Governor Corzine, though that might have been nice). So, I didn't know exactly what to expect. Was Christie looking to appoint a Democrat to a high-profile administration post? Commissioner of Labor perhaps?
Um, no.
"I've found that all politicians like to talk, but fewer actually take the time to listen. Thank you for joining me in Fair Lawn and giving me the opportunity to listen to you, your friends and neighbors and to learn a little more about what makes our State so great."
Naturally. While the state upends employee pensions and health benefits, squanders our broadcast television coverage, slashes spending on women's health, decimates aid to cities, and eliminates valuable programs up and down the state - surviving the budget axe is Christie's ongoing political propaganda campaign.
As if paying for Christie's campaign tourtown hall meetings weren't enough, the state gets to pay for follow-up letters to attendees. There's a fine line between government and politics, but they are supposed to be separate. I find it hard to call either the town hall meeting itself or this letter "government" when they feel so much more like politics.
Amidst the name calling and theatrics swirling around Chris Christie's line-item vetoes, how about some real-world details? Take, for example, this AP piece noting that Jersey's cities, already on the ropes in varying degrees, are in for even tougher times. How tough?
New Jersey's struggling municipalities are out $139 million in state aid that was promised - and in some cases awarded - before Gov. Chris Christie vetoed the appropriation in this year's budget.
Christie wiped out all but $10 million from the program that helps cities and towns through extraordinary hardships like increased foreclosures, plummeting real estate values and an abnormally high number of successful tax appeals.
Hey, Camden Mayor Dana Redd and Newark Mayor Cory Booker - enjoy that.
A scorpion, being a poor swimmer, asked the big, strong turtle to carry him on his back across the river.
"Oh, no, no, no, I'm smarter than that!" said the turtle. "You'd sting me!"
"That's ridiculous," laughed the scorpion. "If I stung you, I'd go down, too! Right?"
Convinced, the turtle invited the scorpion to climb on his mighty back, and paddled him across the river. Just before they reached the other shore, the scorpion slithered off to dry ground, and turned around and gave the turtle a vigorous and fatal sting.
What a difference a few days make. I covered two New Jersey State Assembly sessions, live tweeting from each for Blue Jersey from the back of the chamber.
The first, last Thursday, was the session where several Democrats Christiecrats joined the Republican voting bloc to strip state workers of collective bargaining rights and increase their health premiums. That session was punctuated by noisy crowds outside the State House, and the gallery was filled with well-behaved union supporters. By contrast, today's session, where the members voted on the Democratic budget and the millionaires' tax, played to a nearly empty gallery with voting along party lines. Sadly today's session also took place in the absence of NJN television crews.
After sitting behind the GOP assemblymen (and yes, most of them are white men), zealously protecting my claim to an electrical outlet for my laptop, for twelve hours on Thursday and eight hours tonight, I got a feel for how this body works, or at least presents itself to the public.
Promoted by Rosi. FYI Deciminyan has been live-Tweeting from the NJ Assembly budget discussion for hours - from @bluejersey - and it is hot.
Another year, another state budget. The Democratic sponsored budget proposals are being considered today in Trenton. They restore funding for women's health and family planning, and require the state to go after federal funding available to cover reproductive health services. Outrageously, there is another proposal being pushed by some Republicans that claims to fund 'women's health' but prohibits any funding from going to Planned Parenthood. The classic bait and switch but with disasterous consquences for the women of New Jersey.
So who are these women that rely on providers like Planned Parenthood? Let me introduce you to one of my favorites, Angela Giacchetti. A few months ago, Angela posted a video to YouTube to stand up for Planned Parenthood in the face of attacks here in New Jersey.
Does anyone know what sort of pension and benefits Chris Christie will recieve after his term in office as governor? Also, any word with regard to any benefits from his other government jobs?
New Jersey's seventh legislative district has traditionally encompassed the "River Towns" on the Route 130 corridor. But the legislative redistricting has put Republican Moorestown and Mount Laurel into that district.
Singleton was the Chief of Staff to former Speaker Joe Roberts and is currently President of New Jersey Carpenter's union, serves on the Turnpike Authority and Burlington County Bridge Commission, and is a trustee of Rowan University.
I had a chance interview Singleton prior to tonight's meeting of the Mount Laurel Democratic Club, where he spoke to the party faithful. In this four-minute video, Singleton talks about the state budget, marriage equality, jobs, and shared sacrifice.
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