7/3/09 - Cap and trade
In the last week, there has been a lot of criticism by my conservative friends about Congressman Frank LoBiondo’s vote in favor of so-called “cap and trade” legislation. The Congressman was one of eight Republicans to support the measure.
This has led national pundits and local constituents to call for the Congressman’s ouster and tell him that this single vote has cost him their vote at the polls next year.
This is a mistake and such a mindset ignores the entire LoBiondo record which is decidedly right-of-center.
Consider this: the American Conservative Union has given Congressman LoBiondo a 67% rating. And Citizens Against Government Waste gave LoBiondo a 59% lifetime rating --- the second highest in New Jersey’s Republican delegation.
So when you look at the Congressman’s entire record on matters of taxes, wasteful spending and national defense, he is a solid conservative and this one vote doesn’t change that.
Remember also that the Congressman voted against the last two Democratic budgets in Washington and strongly opposed the President’s wasteful, multi-billion dollar boondoggle stimulus package.
I wish my conservative friends would have publicly thanked Congressman LoBiondo for his opposition to Obama’s stimulus bill last winter as strongly as they now chastise him for his vote in favor of cap and trade. How quickly we forget.
Now let’s move to the substance of LoBiondo’s vote.
First, let’s start with the premise that the emission of greenhouse gasses are a problem that must be reduced in order to slow the progress of global warming.
If you’re a conservative who doesn’t agree with that premise, you’re at odds with our party’s own platform. Last year I served on the Republican Platform Committee. The document we approved was hailed by conservative icons like Gary Bauer, Phyllis Schaffley and David Keene as one of the most conservative platforms in the history of our party.
It’s such a conservative document that certain folks aligned with Mayor Steve Lonegan have recently called for the adoption of the platform by our Republican State Committee in New Jersey.
In the Environmental Protection section of the platform, it is clearly stated: “As part of a global climate change strategy, Republicans support technology-driven, market-based solutions that will decrease emissions, reduce excess greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere, increase energy efficiency, mitigate the impact of climate change where it occurs, and maximize any ancillary benefits climate change might offer for the economy.”
Consequently, even if you don’t agree that the emission of carbon into the atmosphere is a problem, our party has established as a principle that we should strive to reduce emissions and greenhouse gasses.
I readily concede that the cap and trade legislation approved by Congress is too heavy on mandates and too light on providing economic incentives to encourage utility companies to reduce their emissions.
But I think its equally important to actually listen to the Congressman’s justification for his vote, instead of talking over him because of ideological opposition to this legislation.
LoBiondo has said that the bill is far from perfect. He said that he supported the legislation only after it was amended to include additional funding for nuclear power, which annoyed many liberals who ultimately voted against the bill. (And our platform states: “[n]uclear energy is the most reliable zero-carbon emissions source of energy that we have.”) Finally, the Congressman has made the valid point that this bill will not hurt New Jersey like it will other parts of the country. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office has concluded that energy customers in New Jersey will benefit from this legislation to the tune of $104 million. See chart here.
Even if you don’t buy those arguments and you agree with the national leadership of our party, if you’re a conservative, does that mean this one vote by the Congressman means he’s not a conservative anymore?
Of course not.
Alan Steinberg, a former EPA official and pretty conservative fellow who opposed the cap and trade bill recently wrote on PolitickerNJ: “I proudly state that Frank LoBiondo is a friend of mine. While I am disappointed in his vote on [cap and trade], the Congressman from Cumberland County has been very loyal to the Republican Party over the past two decades and voted on legislation over 80 percent of the time consistent with party positions, both as a state Assemblyman and as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives. He has been a superb Representative for his South Jersey constituents, and he has earned the continued trust and loyalty from New Jersey Republicans of all ideological stripes.”
Too often we as a party focus on our differences instead of the issues that unite us. That’s a mistake. Political parties are big and represent a variety of views. If we continue to have a purity test for our Republican officials on every issue that comes down the pike, we’re going to appeal to a smaller and smaller group of voters in the general electorate. We are the conservative party and Frank LoBiondo’s record is consistent with and part of it.
Important issues like health care reform, national security and tax policy lie ahead and I am confident that Congressman LoBiondo will again come down on the right side of these issues as he has for the past 15 years.
5/31/09 - Christie is the cure to Whelan & McGettigan
Just when we thought the Callaway machine was dead, it appears to have been resurrected in the Atlantic City mayoral election.
McGettigan has rejected some of messengered absentee ballots cast by voters whose signatures don't match or aren't found in the registration book.
That's easy.
The hard part is McGettigan getting out of his office to investigate whether those other voters are "sick or confined" to their home on election day as the statute requires.
McGettigan's association with the Callaways is very long. The Callaways actively worked in McGettigan’s behalf in helping him to secure the Democratic Party’s endorsement for the county clerk’s position he now holds by arranging transportation for Democratic County Committee members from Atlantic City to cast votes for McGettigan.
McGettigan is quoted in the Press of Atlantic City saying that his office doesn’t "expect many more messenger applications to come in." This raises the question: How would he know how many more ballots the Callaways would be turning in?
McGettigan has an opportunity to show that the Callaway organization has no influence over his actions by standing up to them and getting his office onto the streets of Atlantic City to bring this corruption of our election system to an end.
While the messengered absentee ballot system is now being abused, the Democratic majority in the state legislature is making matters worse.
Both houses of the legislature recently voted to liberalize our election laws with the "Vote by Mail Act", making it easier for political machines to manipulate elections in the future. Senator James Whelan’s amendment to this legislation to limit a messenger to 10 absentee ballots total is a charade that will only force these organizations to grow their list of messengers. It won’t fix the problem.
Governor Jon Corzine should veto the "Vote by Mail Act" that is now sitting on his desk because it will make the situation we are currently witnessing in the Atlantic City mayor’s race even worse in future elections.
Since I fear Governor Corzine will cater to groups like ACORN in his liberal base on this issue, I can only look forward to the election of Chris Christie as our next governor to tackle voter reform in a meaningful way so we can have fair elections in New Jersey once again.
As U.S. Attorney, Christie was the only official who stood up to Craig Callaway and put him behind bars. He is the only candidate for governor who has the credibility and experience to tackle this issue.
5/27/09 - The Primary and VLTs
If I've said it once, I've said a hundred times. I hate primaries. I'd much rather hold Democrats accountable than attack a fellow Republican.
But Chris Christie, to his credit, has kept his campaign very positive throughout this primary and on message.
Sadly, another candidate is attacking Chris's family members which should always be off limits.
We were very pleased to have Chris cut the ribbon at our headquarters last Friday. We're back at the Lone Star HQ on Fire and Tilton Roads in Egg Harbor Township. Stop in for a yard sign.
Chris will also be back at the Lone Star this Saturday night at 7PM, so stop by.
When Chris was here, he again stated his unequivocal opposition to slot machines or video lottery terminals (VLTs) at North Jersey race tracks. He knows how disastrous VLTs would be to Atlantic City casinos. He knows they will kill jobs here.
Unfortunately both of Chris's opponents in the primary support a public referendum on VLTs, which would almost certainly open the door to slot machines at the race tracks. This would break the promise of gaming in Atlantic City established 30 years ago --- establishing a system which has worked very well, funding important senior programs like the Pharmaceutical Assistance to the Aged and Disabled program.
Opposition to VLTs should be the issue that every Republican primary voter focuses on in Atlantic County, because its about protecting jobs here.
Clearly there is only one candidate in this race for governor who understands the importance of Atlantic City to our regional economy and will prioritize it once he is elected governor: Chris Christie.
5/23/09 - More empty rhetoric from Corzine on pay-to-play reform
Harry Pozycki, head of the New Jersey Citizen's Campaign, wrote a great op-ed which appeared in the Press of Atlantic City recently. The full version can be read here.
Pozycki held a press conference with Governor Jon Corzine and Speaker Joe Roberts 7 months ago with great fanfare and promises for sweeping pay-to-play reform.
Since then, we've seen absolutely zero action on any actual legislation --- as Pozycki accurately notes.
It simply amazes me that these Harry Reid loving left-wingers from DC who started this Mid-Atlantic Leadership Fund would attack the presumptive Republican nominee on pay-to-play issus when it is clear that Jon Corzine dropped the ball completely on cleaning up state government from corrupt contracting.
Remember, it was Corzine who had kind words and commended his Deputy Chief of Staff who was found to have been a "bag man" for a North Jersey Governor.
And of course it was Corzine who negotiated state government worker contracts with CWA President Carla Katz, Corzine's former girlfriend who had her $470,000 mortgage paid off by her old beau. Corzine also gave $15,000 to Katz's brother-in-law.
The fact is while Jon Corzine was maintaining the status quo in New Jersey, Chris Christie was cleaning the state up from corruption as US Attorney with a 100% successful record on public corruption cases.
Corzine has about as much credibility to discuss cleaning up state government from corruption as the bikini girl has to give singing lessons.
5/20/09 - Corzine cuts property tax rebates
In a state with the highest in the nation property taxes, how can Jon Corzine cut property tax rebates? --- particularly after he promised to expand them four years ago.
While he continues to increase government spending, we all suffer.
Click here.
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