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.
We all need a good laugh during times of stress. The other day, I remarked on how ugly things were getting in the GOP 3rd District primary and pointed out a response where Jack Kelly took exception to a lit piece by the Myers campaign featuring a pig wearing a crown. Here's the ad, come up with your best caption...
I have known Rep. Rob Andrews for many years as a constituent in his District. He has always been responsive, concerned, knowledgeable and reflective, even when we have not agreed on issues. Plus, he is not afraid to change his mind, a crucial trait in a wise politician. Case in point is how he came around to co-sponsor the most important legislation currently pending in Congress -- HR-808 to create a federal cabinet level Department of Peace and Nonviolence (DOP).
I am a social worker committed to its passage (see www.thepeacealliance.org). We started lobbying Rep. Andrews in 2003 about the DOP when we urged him not to vote for the Iraq War. He had many concerns about the DOP then, yet was always willing to listen to us. Plus, he consistently explained his objections in writing, which I later discovered (from my fellow Peace Alliance campaigners in other states and districts) was quite rare for a Congressman.
Finally in 2006 after much dialogue, Rep. Andrews became convinced of the value of the DOP, changed his mind and signed on as one of what are now 69 co-sponsors (only 4 from New Jersey). This took courage and vision because the concept of peace is still so sadly and dangerously misunderstood. Rep. Andrews comprehends how a DOP will confront root causes of violence at all levels of society for real transformation. To quote renowned broadcast journalist Walter Cronkite about the DOP, "It is not a matter of simply getting another Department of government. You're speaking of an entire philosophical revolution." It is high time Peacebuilding be taken seriously!
We are working hard to get a DOP companion bill introduced in the Senate and have been lobbying Senator Frank Lautenberg for a long time. While interested, Senator Lautenberg has not been willing to commit to it. Rep. Andrews recently went on record saying that if elected, he WOULD introduce a Senate DOP bill. This is why he has my vote. Further, I believe it serves as a powerful and concrete example of how voting for Rob Andrews is indeed voting for real change!
Barack Obama has taken the lead in superdelegates in the race for the Democratic nomination. Since last Tuesday's primary, Obama has gained a net of 19 superdelegates to just 1 for Clinton.
Property tax deduction
New Jersey Congressional Republicans voted against a package which included a property tax deduction of $350 to $700 for most New Jersey taxpayers. Would Chris Myers, Jack Kelly, Leonard Lance, Kate Whitman, and the other Republicans running for the open seats in NJ-03 and NJ-07 have joined the rest of the state's Republican delegation in voting against lower property taxes for New Jersey families?
Assembylman/City Council President Gary Schaer, already a dual officeholder, can add Acting Mayor to his resume that now Rivera has resigned.
Mohammad Qatanani
Assistant US Attorney Charles McKenna joined a Jewish rabbi, Catholic and Episcopalian priests, and the sheriffs of Bergen and Passaic County in testifying for Mohammad Qatanani in his immigration trial on Friday. It must be embarrassing for the prosecutor in the case that an AUSA is testifying for the defense.
Recession compounds budget squeeze
We're in a recession, and that means revenue shortfalls that further complicate the always challenging budget process.
On the regionalization/consolidation front, employees and officials of the one-square-mile shore towns on LBI don't want to consolidate.
The media
Gannett is offering buyouts to 160 of its New Jersey workers. Perhaps some members of the Asbury Park Press's absurdly partisan editorial board are among those on the way out.
Parks
State Park employees will keep their jobs, and the parks will probably stay open this summer.
SNAFU at EWR
Pilots are confused by the new airspace rules at Newark International Airport.
Apparently New Jersey is considering imposing a deposit on beverage containers in order to encourage an increase in recycling. I'm not really sure I can think of a stupider idea, ever, given the situation of recycling in some areas of New Jersey.
New Jerseyans may soon pay as much as 20 cents extra when buying beverages in bottles and cans as part of an effort to boost recycling and combat litter.
The Assembly environment committee is slated Monday to discuss a 10 cent deposit for bottles and cans less than 24 ounces and 20 cents for larger ones up to 3 liters.
OK, it's possible that even though people will likely still toss their Bud in the street someone will come by and pick it up to collect the dime. So that's the litter argument.
But the environmental argument doesn't wash for me. For one, there are many counties that have excellent recycling programs that will collapse under a deposit law. Currently paper, plastic and foam recycling is subsidized by the money generated from tin, steel and glass recycling plus a little tax money.
Remove tin, steel and glass from the recycling program stream and it will become so expensive that counties like Somerset and Middlesex will have to end or restructure the programs so much that they will lose their effectiveness.
Consumers would get the money back by returning the container to newly created redemption centers or to retailers.
So consumers can use gasoline to bring their beverage bottles to redemption centers to get their money back. What about chili cans? Plastic tomato soup bottles? Vegetable oil glass bottles? Where do those go?
If the counties and municipalities providing service have to reduce curbside pickup then people will have a choice -- put them in the trash or drive them to a second redemption center. Unless, of course, the deposit redemption centers also take no deposit containers. Which will make everything even more complex and confusing.
And it turns out that a "benefit" of the deposit is revenue for the state:
The bill also would let the state keep uncollected deposits and use the money for environmental projects such as land preservation, litter cleanup and park beautification. New York has had as much as $80 million in annual unredeemed deposits.
"We can get some money back into the state, which right now we're in dire need of, and secondly help keep New Jersey green," said Assemblywoman Valerie Vainieri Huttle, D-Bergen.
Huh? Keeping money from deposits on drink containers that were littered or put into landfills is a way to keep New Jersey green? Is it worth 10 cents into a mini-Superfund to put plastic bottles into the landfills?
We need money in the state to pay for environmental cleanup and preservation, sure. But this would be revenue based on anti-environmental behavior!
New Jersey is densely populated enough that we can handle curbside recycling. A bill requiring towns of a certain size or counties to create and manage a curbside recycling program subsidized by a split (ratio TBD) between property and state taxes would make the most sense. It would allow for all recyclable materials to be collected in one step at the home, and taken to one central separation point.
It would be significantly simpler, have a much greater level of efficiency, allow for collection of a larger number of material types, and provide a consistent program across the state.
But creating a statewide deposit program to improve recycling percentages based on what is inside the containers rather than the material that makes up the container just makes no sense to me.
It's possible that New Jersey's three remaining undeclared superdelegates may have already made up their minds.
Shortly after the PA primary, PoliticsPolitckerNJ suggested that New Jersey superdelegate and DNC member Philip Murphy was leaning toward supporting Hillary Clinton.
Earlier this week NJ-12 Congressman Rush Holt declared his neutrality in the race for the Democratic primary nomination:
Holt, a Hopewell Township Democrat, said he will be neutral until he feels revealing his choice would be in the Democratic Party's best interests.
Holt can't "reveal his choice" unless he's already made one.
Frank Lautenberg, the third superdelegate who hasn't announced his intentions, undoubtedly wants to avoid alienating supporters of either candidate ahead of his June 3 US Senate primary. So he'll probably keep his cards close to the vest for at least another few weeks, even if he already knows which ones he's going to play.
Things have gotten pretty ugly in the 3rd District GOP primary this last week. Jack Kelly went up on TV with an ad that really has gotten the attention of his opponent Chris Myers...
Myers for his part has gone after Kelly as a political hack who's used government to serve himself, but those accusations aren't what has Kelly so mad...
Kelly, for his part, said Myers crossed the line with a mailer about him that features a pig wearing a crown.
I haven't seen the mailer because I'm not exactly the voter Myers is trying to reach, but I'll take Kelly's word for it. I guess we all have our limits.
My favorite is the 3rd candidate in the race, Justin Murphy who sums up the Myers and Kelly campaigns with this great line in his press release, Another Corruption Eruption From the boss controlled candidates for the 3rd District Congressional Seat...
...Murphy says Ocean County voters "should know that a vote for Jack Kelly or Chris Myers is a vote to validate the corrupt power of County Bosses in both Burlington and Ocean Counties."
While I've had enough of some primary campaigns, this one is the gift that keeps on giving. This GOP primary continues to get uglier and John Adler gets to raise money while building an organization and enjoying the show. He probably can't ask for much more.
The experience of the last few weeks has been enough to convince me - North Jersey and South Jersey just can't get along. North Jerseyans are a bunch of wannabe New Yorkers who sip lattes and cheer the Giants and Yankees and can't even find Salem County on the map. South Jersey is full of redneck wannabe Pennsyl-tuckians who cheer the Eagles and Phillies and think Hoboken is a neighborhood in Manhattan. It's time we call the whole thing off before people get hurt.
Fortunately, Florida is showing us how to deal with this in a mature fashion - secession.
Furious at what they call no respect from state leaders when it comes to collecting and spending their own money, the North Lauderdale City Commission passed a resolution requesting that Florida be divided into two states: North Florida and South Florida with the boundary line from Palm Beach County down through Monroe County.
I'm convinced. All we need to do is figure out what to do with the Brunswicks and we can split. Oh, and we need names. North Jersey and South Jersey are just so...common.
On the other hand, the Orlando Sentinel does a great job of highlighting the drawbacks in their video (linked above): "I think they would use most of the money to put an extra star on the flag."
Yet another Jersey politician is going to the slammer. At least Samuel Rivera had the decency to admit he was caught:
"We made a careful evaluation of the evidence and the climate for a jury trial and the government made a fair proposal to resolve the case," attorney Henry Klingeman said after the proceeding.
Rivera was one of the local officials swept up in the sting that netted Mims Hackett and Alfred Steele. At that time, he was defiant:
Mr. Rivera, 60, who has been mayor since 2001, after spending six years as a councilman, is accused of accepting $5,000 from a cooperating witness who represented the insurance brokerage in question.
During exchanges in a parked car and at a local diner, Mr. Rivera assured the witness he could make the Passaic City Council and the Passaic Valley Water Commission direct business his way.
"We can get you that easy, easy," Mr. Rivera is reported to have bragged, according to court papers.
In the days that followed the parade of handcuffed defendants with bowed heads, some of the officials, including the assemblymen, have resigned or been forced out of their jobs. Those still collecting paychecks have at least stayed out of public view.
Not Mr. Rivera, who came to work last week filled with defiance. "I'm not going down," he said from his City Hall desk, suggesting that the F.B.I.'s recorded evidence had been doctored. "I'm going to beat this."
Way to beat the rap, Mr. Bribery-is-cool Rivera. Way to beat it.
