Garden State Equality is using a decision in the California court system that came minutes ago as a jumping off point to ramp up activity and create waves to impact the NJ legislature, even as two dates loom which could change everything for gay couples in love in this state. The full Senate will consider NJ's marriage equality bill Feb. 13. The full Assembly follows 3 days later. Both come after companion bills were passed out of both houses' Judiciary committees over the last few days, following 10 hours of often-emotional testimony. Chris Christie, his sights set on his national GOP street cred at least as much as his responsibility to do the right thing in this pro-equality state, has signaled his intention to veto. Unknown if there are enough votes to overturn that veto, and some of those votes may still be in flux.
Less than an hour ago, a 3-judge panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, serving California, ruled that state's Proposition 8, banning marriage equality, is a violation of the United States Constitution. The case is widely seen as destined to be decided in the United States Supreme Court.
In a message sent wide to GSE's NJ supporters, founder Steven Goldstein wrote this:
I was a big fan of NJN, the state-funded television and news network that Governor Christie gave to his cronies last June. So, like others, I held the station's new incarnation, NJTV, to the same high standards that its predecessor followed.
What I liked about NJN, and what I expected from NJTV was:
1. Balanced reporting
2. In depth (live) coverage of important legislative proceedings
3. Professional-quality television
Blue Jersey frontpager, NJ godmother of the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party, Senate Majority leader, and a woman who gives Chris Christie the willies, Loretta Weinberg has a birthday today. She's 77.
LW's taking the day off from her usual Monday morning post, so instead this sweet video she made with her very sensible grandchildren, Shayna and Jonah. Here for "my adopted son Steven Goldstein" and Garden State Equality she talks with them about the day, hopefully soon, when people can marry "who they love and feel comfortable with" and the gay people in their lives who want to get married.
Birthday girl, with the beloved Shayna & Jonah:
(Disclosure: I have the honor of serving on GSE's board)
I wouldn't agree with the writer's suggestion that not attending college makes anyone ignorant. That said, Sweeney's was a poor, thoughtless and inaccurate description of students acting the best way they know how to defend their school against a plan they don't support. Thanks for the diary. - promoted by Rosi
In a stunning example of racial insensitivity, Steve Sweeney called Rutgers Camden students and faculty protesting the end of their school's affiliation with the state's university a "lynch mob."
Characterizing Thursday's rally at Rutgers-Camden as an irresponsible "lynch mob" reaction, the Senate leader said he hopes to see the confusion remedied with a clear picture of the proposal.
This in a school whose full time students are less than 50% white. Where 1 in 10 are African-American. More than at Rowan. Where students were merely exercising their right to protest this Norcross-Christie backroom deal.
Sweeney should be made to apologize for his insensitive remark.
Of course, since he never went to college, it may be ignorance and not racial insensitivity, that led to Sweeney's comment. Either way, like Christie, Sweeney should apologize for his improper comparison to Jim Crow.
The education debate in New Jersey is increasingly becoming a debate about local control of schools. Governor Christie and ACTING Education Commissioner Cerf's emphasis on standardized testing, charter schools, and tenure reform are top-down policy edicts that take more and more authority away from local districts and put it into the hands of Trenton.
What's emerged over the last year in response is a true grassroots resistance to the imposition of corporate "reform." Boards of education, parents, teachers, and concerned citizens are coming together in an effort to stop the destruction of New Jersey's outstanding public school system through state-wide fiat. Some examples:
UPDATE 7:25: Full Assembly will take A-1 up Feb. 16.
UPDATE 5:10pm: After nearly 7 hours of testimony, the Assembly Judiciary Committee voted 5-2 to send A-1 to the full Assembly for consideration. The vote: YES: Johnson, Gusciora, Caputo, Quijano, Barnes. NO: Carroll, Schepisi. Straight party-line vote.
Garden State Equality's Steven Goldstein in a rare moment of calm
If this post looks familiar, it should: 9 days ago, the Senate Judiciary Committee heard hours of testimony, then passed S-1 to the full Senate by a vote of 8-4.
Today, Assembly Judiciary Committee hears testimony on A-1. At the Senate panel session, though there were far more people who showed up and were prepared to testify for equality, about an equal number of pro's and con's were chosen to address the committee. This morning, Garden State Equality showed up at the crack of dawn to greet supporters, many of whom arrived wearing EQUALITY The American Dream tee-shirts. Gov. Christie's response to the rise in the legislature of this issue was the ill-advised and ignorant statement about the civil rights movement which got him a week of the kind of national coverage people usually don't want.
Crowd waits at Assembly Judiciary, many in EQUALITY t-shirts
Listen LIVE here. Please note: You'll need Windows Media Player, which takes a few moments to download. There's a link for it on the Statehouse media page. Hearings often start late, so keep refreshing the page until it's up.
We'll keep this an Open Thread. So if you're listening or in the audience, please let us know what you're hearing and thinking.
Today, the Assembly Education Committee is scheduled have a hearing on charter schools; specifically, on a bill that would require local approval for charter applications and expansion.
Mother Crusader reports that the New Jersey Charter Schools Association - which is funded by the Walton Foundation, among others - is asking its members to call members of the committee and tell them to kill the bill.
After the jump, find the names and numbers of the Education Committee members. Tell them you support A1877 and A2147, which will require local approval for charters, and increase charter accountability and reporting requirements.
This is what Governor Chris Christie looks like when he's calling a seated New Jersey assemblyman, "Numbnuts".
Mind you, he apologized - sort of. But it took a lot to get that out of him. Considerable outrage expressed, particularly from black folks - or, you know, anybody whoever cracked a history book - culminating with Freedom Rider, disciple in his youth of Martin Luther King, Jr. and now congressman John Lewis of Georgia to get on a train and come up from Washington to to clear up a few things for the Governor. Of course, Christie's "sorry" pointedly did not extend to Asm Reed Gusciora, whom he called "Numbnuts" after Gusciora questioned Christie's basic understanding of the American civil rights movement. Christie also chose to make his (limited) apology on 101.5 radio, which routinely stirs up its low-information listening audience and encourages precisely the same kind of (dare I say "numbnuts") carrying-on the Governor specializes in.
Caption Contest! Captions - or Thought Bubbles - welcome!
Michele is Planned Parenthood's Executive Director in New Jersey.
- promoted by Rosi
Oh, right. Women in New Jersey took a big hit in 2010, when Gov. Christie decided to eliminate a $7.4 million budget line that helped fund cancer screenings - including Pap tests and clinical breast exams. This funding supported services for over 136,000 patients; for many without insurance or other access to care, Planned Parenthood had been their primary source of health care. Despite overwhelming pressure to reinstate funding, the Governor has repeatedly refused to do so.
Yesterday the deeply disappointing news broke about the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation's recent decision to cease funding for breast health and cancer screenings at Planned Parenthood health centers. It’s sad – and so telling – that the Komen Foundation, an organization that shares in Planned Parenthood’s mission of protecting women’s health, would succumb to right-wing political pressure by refusing to help fund programs that provide life-saving cancer screenings to nearly 750,000 women nationwide.
To be an effective advocate for progressive causes and social issues, it is important that you know your opponents. Understanding their positions, especially those coming from smart people with whom you may disagree, will help you hone your position and strengthen your arguments.
With that in mind, Joey Novick and I travelled to Morris Township earlier today to have a conversation with Republican Assemblyman Michael Patrick Carroll. Carroll is a libertarian in the Ron Paul mode, and while most of his views are outside of what we may consider the mainstream, he is firmly entrenched in his principals. Our discussion included slavery, marriage equality, the voting rights act, anti-bullying legislation, medical marijuana, and what to do about Camden's crime and poverty. Some of Carroll's thoughts may be surprising or even shocking.
1. Marriage Equality: A. I'll review the bill when it gets to my desk.
B. I'll veto the bill, if it gets to my desk.
C. Don't send me the bill. It should go on
referendum.
D. We shouldn't even be disucussing "social
issues"until we solve unemployment in
NJ. I guess he'll let us know when we
can get back to that "social issue".
2. Supreme Court Nominees: Never Ask About
specific cases. A. Bruce Harris supports marriage equality (good for
him). Drewniak: Harris would recuse himself
from this case. If they didn't discuss "specifics"
how did they find this out? Mmmmmm?
B. Philip Kwon is an independent. Philip Kwon
last voted in New York as a registered R.
3. Root Out Waste and Patronage. A. Passaic Valley Sewer Commission: Gov gets A+
B. Port Authority: Front page Record Story: "Dozens
of PA jobs go to Christie loyalists. Gov's office
referred 50 people to the agency." Gov. gets
another A+ for hypocrisy. Raise the tolls, and
then do an audit. He didn't veto the mnutes of
this agency. "Patronage" by any other name -
is?
Let's see what our Dems say:
1. Civil Rights will not go on the ballot!
2. We are thrilled with the prospect of "diversity"
on the highest court, but both these candidates
will get a thorough vetting to discern their
qualifications, experience, truthfulness and
their judicial philosphy.
3. Gov. "Straight Talking" "You Always Know Where
I Stand" seems to have suffered from a few
inconsistency problems this week
Another feature of this past week was the Chamber of Commerce train trip to DC. The so called "movers and shakers" were taken all the way to Washington, not to hear our federal legislators, but to hear the New Jersey Governor speak. Wonder who made that decision?
This past week we were also informed of the Council on State Mandates declaring the anti-bullying legislation an unfunded mandate. With the help of Garden State Equality and the lead sponsors (Senator Barbara Buono and Assemblywoman Valerie Huttle), work will begin to decide how best to keep the law in place. We have 60 days from the issuance of their written opinion.
And here's a great way to kick off Super Bowl Week. Later today, Congressman John Lewis will make a stop at the Trenton Train Station to be greeted by Speaker Sheila Oliver and others of us who are supporting the marriage equality bill. Congressman Lewis is going to give Governor Christie a quick history lesson on why civil rights activists of the 1960's would never have opted for a referendum. That Christie statement took the prize for "Psycho Talk" on my very favorite MSNBC "Ed Show" this past Thursday evening where both Speaker Oliver and my colleague, Assemblyman Gordon Johnson, were quoted.
Can't wait to see what next week brings to the hallowed halls of Trenton!
(Marie is a public school teacher, a former candidate for the NJ Assembly, and a long time member here at Blue Jersey. I've got more about how the S-L screwed up where Camden St. Elementary is, and why that's important, at my blog. - promoted by Jersey Jazzman)
I'm disappointed to see the Star Ledger Editorial Board miss another opportunity to set the record straight on education 'reform'. I've written previously about their lack of fact-checking, as has Blue Jersey staff writer, Jersey Jazzman.
Yes, editorials are opinions, but they are not the same as water cooler arguments. In order to have validity, the facts supporting the case being made should be accurate. The Ledger has not done its homework for this piece about The Urban Hope Act. As the state's largest newspaper, they reach millions of people who don't know all the issues surrounding education 'reform'. This piece paints the problems Camden and other poor school districts face with broad and misinformed brush strokes.
Given the current culture of ‘blame the teacher’, it’s easy to see how they place the blame for poor performance on ‘disastrous’ instructional programs. Never mind that Camden St. School isn't even in Camden (it's a special education school in Newark), no child can possibly learn and very few teachers can effectively teach in a high school riddled with crime and violence. However, I’ve never heard of any subject—not even math—being responsible for 249 reported incidents of violence. But I do know that things like homelessness, poverty, gang involvement, abuse, drugs, and parents with a history of criminal behavior are—not to mention drastic cuts to the local police force.
An infuriating and amazing story. Superb reporting by Chris Rodda, Senior Research Director for the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF), and author of Liars For Jesus: The Religious Right's Alternate Version of American History.
Promoted by Rosi, with thanks to Chris.
Question: How does a charter school whose multiple applications have been riddled with lies and misrepresentations and has been rejected three times by a state education department get approved for a $600,000 grant from the federal government?
Answer: The federal government admittedly does not routinely fact-check grant applications for charter schools, and does not allow the private consultants it hires to look at the grant applications to look at any information other than what's in the grant application.
That's right, an applicant for a federal grant for a charter school can say whatever they want to in their application, true or false, and nothing they say will be questioned, even if their application has already been exposed as a work of fiction.
This is what's going on right now with the proposed Tikun Olam Hebrew Language Charter High School, and the epicenter of the fight to stop this school from being approved or getting any federal grant money is my own little town, Highland Park, NJ.
While I would have loved to have seen Wagner run for a number of reasons, it seemed to me (just my gut feeling from some discussions and observations I had) that others were more enthusiastic about her running than she may have been. This is no knock against her - it is a huge undertaking and commitment to run for Congress, and Garrett has been known to play dirty against his opponents (recall he smeared former opponent and Rabbi Dennis Shulman as anti-Israel).
This creates a void in terms of big name NJ politicos who can raise the attention and money required to mount a successful run against a very well-funded Garrett. Whether this was in the works for a while, whether this clears the way for former NY Giant Harry Carson to make a run (which has a lot of appeal as well as some potential hurdles), or whether it opens the door for a primary fight among a number of already-declared other candidates remains to be seen.
Either way, this decision by Assemblywoman Wagner to not run (if confirmed) is too bad as it would have brought a different and more high profile seasoned politician to challenge Garrett with more built in and coordinated support from the Democratic Committee of Bergen County. Hopefully, whoever emerges as the challenger will receive coordinated support that will be needed up and down the ballot - especially with the Presidential and Senatorial races this coming year. It is a big opportunity for Democrats in Bergen County and hopefully it isn't a missed opportunity.
And as we reported here at Blue Jersey back in September - the Committee for Our Children's Future about as independent from Chris Christie as Stephen Colbert's SuperPAC is from Stephen Colbert. He met with the group's treasurer - his college buddy - on the same day he denied being connected to the group.
Today, the group launched a $1.5 million TV ad buy pushing the Governor's 10% income tax proposal and touting the Governor as a bipartisan leader.
What does that mean?
One, that it's time for a fuller investigation of the connections between this group and Christie.
Two, it's the opening salvo of the 2013 gubernatorial campaign.
Let's face it: Chris Christie is more politically vulnerable than he would like you to think.
Like most bullies, he runs the risk of dramatically dropping in power and influence if enough people stand up to him. We started to see that back in spring of last year with rapidly dropping poll numbers, until his numbers bounced back after he could claim that he had reined in the Democratic Legislature (remember that Koch brothers speech?) through the pen/ben deal.
This ad campaign plays off of that, claiming Christie's bipartisan successes - and trying to go for independent voters based on them. And trying to push the Democratic Legislature to hand Christie the income tax cut win and once again have him claim bipartisanship to his benefit.
There will be more to say over time, but one final point - $1.5 million is a lot of money, considering that $5 million just resuscitated a presidential campaign in South Carolina. Where's that money coming from?
A good post that I didn't want us to lose amid all the marriage equality coverage that came the same day. Rob is Policy & Communications Coordinator of New Jersey Working Families Alliance, a member of Better Choices for New Jersey Campaign.- Promoted by Rosi
In a month Governor Christie is going to deliver his third budget address. Much of it will be the same sort of hype we heard last week during the State of the State: lots of talk about a New Jersey comeback, promises of income tax cuts and continued cuts to critical services.
The run-up to the speech is a good opportunity take a step back and look at how New Jersey has fared under the last two years of tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations and budget cuts for everyone else. Over the next few weeks I'll be posting weekly diaries about how two years of Governor Christie's policies have compromised the quality of life for millions of working families and jeopardized our long term economic growth.
During last week's speech Chris Christie made a pledge to help residents of Newark and other high-crime areas. But the truth is that Governor Christie's ongoing neglect of New Jersey's cities may have contributed to rising crime in New Jersey's urban centers.
1. He realizes he is on the wrong side of history here and how damaging outright opposition to marriage equality could be to his political fortunes in the long term.
2. But he has to placate the parts of the Republican base which are rabidly anti-marriage equality.
3. So he tries to claim that he takes a middle road by letting people vote on it.
But civil rights aren't for the ballot box. Should the right to interracial marriage have been decided at the ballot box forty years ago? The right of Muslim-Americans to enjoy equal rights as Americans be decided that way today? What makes marriage equality different from those scenarios?
Governor, this is your chance to lead - not to cower behind leaving the decision to others. There's still time.
