The Man Who Taxed Toilet Paper!

This is not the setup to a joke. Nor is it the punchline. This is the history of New Jersey and one of its governors.

His name was James J. Florio. I actually knew the guy and, full disclosure, worked on one of his first campaigns for public office.  Once, by the way, was enough. Anyway, in 1990, Florio decided that New Jersey government needed another $2.8 billion.

So he went looking for it. And looking. And looking.

Eventually, he found it in places New Jerseyans never imagined government would go—including into their most private parts and, disposable paper products like . . . wait for it . . . TOILET PAPER!

And New Jersey went nuts because Florio decided the state would tax toilet paper. It was sort of like taxing the right to take a crap. And it triggered a massive tax revolt. An anti-tax organization, Hands Across New Jersey, actually adopted toilet paper as its emblem making toilet paper became the symbol of the whole sorry business. 

People waved rolls of toilet paper at protests. They put rolls on their car antennas. Anti-tax protesters turned bathroom tissue into a political weapon, streaming it from buildings, trees and utility poles.

The revolution had a roll!

Florio, of course, insisted the tax increases were necessary. Governors have budgets to balance and bills to pay, after all, he argued. 

But there was one little problem. The people paying the bills were not amused.

Three years later, Florio ran for reelection. The voters ran him out of office. Republican Christie Whitman beat him by only about 26,000 votes, but the message was considerably larger: Don't mess with us! Especially not our toilet paper.

There was even a happy ending. Sort of. In 1991, the state backed off the tax on household paper products and exempted toilet tissue. Toilet paper was liberated!

Alas, New Jersey taxpayers were not. And therein lies the real joke. The state apparently learned one lesson: Don't tax toilet paper. But it did not learn the other lesson: Don't keep taxing the people who buy it.

Because New Jersey continued doing what New Jersey does so  disgustingly well  -- finding new taxes, new fees, new surcharges and new reasons why taxpayers should hand over more of what they earn.

We learned that the hard way. Again. And again. And again. To the point where New Jersey is now the highest taxed state on the union.

Still, Florio  did accomplish something few politicians ever have. He united New Jersey. Republicans hated him. Democrats came to hate what he did. And independents hated paying for it. 

What's more everybody—everybody—could get behind one simple proposition: Nobody wants government sticking its hand where it doesn't belong.

But New Jersey's bloated  appetite for taxes?  Still going strong.

Which proves that while politicians can sometimes learn from history, they don't necessarily learn the lesson taxpayers wanted them to learn.

They learned not to tax the toilet paper.

They never learned to stop giving the shaft to the taxpayer.

How Dinosaurs Helped Fight The Great Depression

We'e been on an extended journey out west with stops in parts of Wyoming, Colorado and South Dakota including  Denver, Vail, Deadwood, Mount Rushmore and Rapid City where we stopped at that town's famed Dinosaur Park which sits high above the city.

While some may shrug off the park today as a few old dinosaur statues on a hill, it was actually built to help capture traffic coming to Mount Rushmore and was, for its time, quite an accomplishment.

The City of Rapid City credits Dinosaur Park (built in 1936 during the Great Depression and when Mount Rushmore was still being carved out) for beginning Rapid City's transformation into a major tourist destination

The dinosaurs originally were painted gray, and were changed to cartoonish green and white in the 1950s. They are made of concrete, are virtually indestructible and were crafted by men in need of employment, hired by the federal government during the Works Progress Administration (WPA).

Dinosaurs were selected to represent those roaming the Western United States, including Apatosaurus, Tyrannosaurus rex, Triceratops, Stegosaurus, and Edmontosaurus annectens. A Protoceratops and a Dimetrodon were added later.

Generations of families have come to visit Deano, the quirky 80-foot-long Apatosaurus, and his six other dinosaur friends, straddling Rapid City’s skyline on Dakota Hogback Ridge.

The Park was refurbished in 2024. The multi-million dollar project focused on aesthetic improvements, including repainting the concrete dinosaurs, and improving accessibility.

The park was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990. If you ever come out this way, be sure to include it as part of your visit!

C'mon Now, Ya Know It's The Truth!

 

In Michigan, The Choice Couldn't Be Clearer!

🚨 JUST IN: Trump-backed Michigan Senate candidate Mike Rogers just DROPPED this ad on Abdul El-Sayed

"Abdul says football is RACIST, S*XIST and dominated by toxic masculinity. Let's get this straight. Abdul thinks football is bad, but men playing women's sports is GOOD? That's… pic.twitter.com/ZSbblNFFS8

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) August 29, 2026

As We Approach The Anniversary, Remember THIS

 

Nearly 3,000 people were murdered on the morning of September 11, 2001. They did not simply “die.” 
They were slaughtered by Islamic terrorists. 
And when someone now recounts September 11 by softening the murder of Americans into passive tragedy, only to recover his moral outrage when discussing America’s response, he reveals where his sympathy and anger actually reside. 
Think about what it takes for a human being to look down from nearly 100 stories and conclude that hitting the pavement at terminal velocity is preferable to what is happening behind them. 
These victims did not choose death because they wanted to die. They chose one form of death because Islamic terrorists had left them facing another… suffocation, incineration, or being crushed beneath a collapsing skyscraper. 
September 11 was the deliberate mass murder of Americans, in their offices, aboard their airplanes, and on American soil, by Islamic terrorists.

OK, So Let's Talk About Reanaming . . .

It's utterly ridiculous that lefties are are bent out of shape over President Trump renaming a lake Lake America and the gulf Gulf of America when they've spent years renaming all of the following:

• Washington Redskins became the Commanders

• Cleveland Indians  Guardians 

• Stanford Indians Cardinals

• Loudoun County Raiders Captains

• Edmonton Eskimos Elks

• Columbus Day Indigenous Peoples’ Day

• Lee–Jackson Day eliminated

• Robert E. Lee High School John Lewis High

• Jefferson Davis Highway Richmond Highway

• Mount McKinley Mount Denali

• Fort Bragg Fort Liberty

• Fort Hood Fort Cavazos

• Boy Scouts of America Scouting America

• Aunt Jemima Pearl Milling Company

• Uncle Ben’s Rice Ben’s Original

• Eskimo Pie ice cream bars Edy’s Pie

• Land O’Lakes removed the Indian, but kept the land

• Loudoun County Raiders Captains

• Edmonton Eskimos Elks

• Columbus Day Indigenous Peoples’ Day

• Lee–Jackson Day eliminated

• Robert E. Lee High School John Lewis High

• Jefferson Davis Highway Richmond Highway

• Mount McKinley

• Hispanic Latinx (a term Hispanics did not want and do not use)

• Mother birthing person

• Anchor baby child of noncitizens

• Breastfeeding chest feeding

• Inmate / prisoner / convict / felon justice-involved person

• Ex-con / ex-felon returning citizen

• “Gender” as a biological fact interchangeable with “sex” to being a social construct

• Fat plus-sized

• Master bedroom primary bedroom

• Manhole utility hole

And so on . . .

An Important Announcement From President Trump

 

Did You Know This About Buc-ees?

It's Official, Everybody: Deal With It!

L̶A̶K̶E̶ ̶O̶N̶T̶A̶R̶I̶O̶ @MarkJCarney

𝗟𝗔𝗞𝗘 𝗔𝗠𝗘𝗥𝗜𝗖𝗔! 🇺🇸🦅@POTUS pic.twitter.com/8tErpnXboO

— Dan Scavino Jr.🇺🇸🦅 (@DanScavino) August 28, 2026

Watch: Vital Two Minutes For EVERY NJ Taxpayer

NJ GOP: Give The Money Back To The Taxpayers

Following the announcement that state tax collections increased by 6.4% in a 13-month period, the 9th Legislative District Delegation is calling for this revenue to be dedicated to property tax relief programs to reduce the cost of living in New Jersey.

During the 13-month period from July 2025 to July 2026, state tax collections increased by $3.194 billion as compared to the previous 13-month period.

In May of this year, Senator Carmen Amato, Jr., Assemblyman Brian Rumpf and Assemblyman Gregory Myhre introduced legislation (S-4306/A-5093) that would make permanent the additional $250 property tax relief benefits that have been paid to senior citizen homeowners and tenants under the ANCHOR Property Tax Relief Program.

The $250 senior ANCHOR benefit was eliminated in the new FY2027 State budget. Many seniors have also seen cuts to the NJ Stay checks or have been made ineligible for the program due to provisions in the State budget, which the 9th District Delegation voted against.

Amato, Rumpf and Myhre issued the following joint statement:

“Taxpayers, not Trenton, should be benefiting from increased tax collections.

“Unquestionably, this money should be returned to taxpayers who are struggling to pay property taxes, electric bills and groceries.

“Cuts to the ANCHOR and NJ Stay programs have hit seniors most severely.

“At the very least, the increased tax collections should restore funding to property tax relief programs on which seniors rely to make ends meet.

“After recently passing a record-setting $61.75 billion State budget, Trenton does not need any more tax revenue to provide services to illegal immigrants, bail out another mismanaged city as it did with Jersey City, fund political pet projects or expand the state bureaucracy.”

A Morally Confused Medical Comparison!

 

A very special message from catholicvote.org:   If you didn’t see Jesse Watters interviewing Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed on Fox News last night, you missed a revealing moment that cuts beneath the usual policy debate to something more fundamental.   El-Sayed showed himself to be precisely what Michigan does not need in elected office. Beyond exposing a shallow grasp of basic economics, he made a comparison so medically and morally confused that it lays bare the deeper problem with where certain ideological currents in our politics have arrived.   In an exchange about so-called “gender change” surgery, Watters asked El-Sayed whether he supported allowing a doctor to surgically remove a young boy's male anatomy. El-Sayed's response was not a defense of children. It was a deflection: "Are you circumcised?"   Watters couldn't believe what he was hearing. His reply, "circumcision is different than castration," expressed what most reasonable people watching already knew.   He is right. And the distinction matters enormously.   El-Sayed, a physician with an M.D. from Columbia University, placed a minor, medically routine procedure that does nothing to alter the function of the human body on the same moral and clinical level as a surgery that permanently destroys a child's capacity to father children.   Circumcision is not castration. One has thousands of years of medical and cultural precedent; the other is an irreversible alteration of a healthy body belonging to a child who has no say in the matter and no ability to reclaim what has been taken once it is gone.   This is not a difference of medical opinion, but a failure of basic moral reasoning. And it reveals something about where a particular ideology has arrived: a place where the healthy bodies of children are treated as problems awaiting correction.   People who reason this way have disqualified themselves from public trust.    The Watters interview is emblematic of where we stand as a society and of where we must hold the line. Not merely on the political question of who wins in November, but on something prior to politics: the recognition that children are not experiments and that no movement's preferred conclusions change what every serious moral tradition has always understood about the protection of the young.   In other words, natural law does not require a theology degree to understand.   There are economic and policy reasons aplenty to reject Abdul El-Sayed's candidacy. But what last night's interview made plain is that the deepest stakes in elections like this one are not economic. They concern what we believe about the human person and whether the people we send to govern us are willing to protect children even when an ideology tells them not to.   Michigan voters, the ball is in your court.   Go forward bravely,

Kelsey Reinhardt President & CEO CatholicVote

NJ GOP Demands Answers On Unlawful Voters

New Jersey State Senate Republican Leader Anthony M. Bucco (R-Morris, Passaic) and Assembly Republican Leader John DiMaio (R-Hunterdon, Somerset, Warren) sent a letter to Chiesa Shahinian & Giantomasi PC requesting answers to a ten-question inquiry surrounding the unlawful registration of at least 6,600 noncitizens that resulted in hundreds of noncitizens voting.

An excerpt from the letter reads:

“As you are aware, on July 21, 2026, Governor Sherrill disclosed that the State’s voter registration system has been compromised, resulting in the unlawful registration of at least 6,600 noncitizens between June 2023 and June 2024. Given the gravity of this breach, it is imperative that we take all necessary steps to guarantee the security of future elections, ensure accountability, and restore public confidence in our democratic process. As your firm has been retained by the Sherrill Administration to investigate this matter, we are requesting that you provide answers to a number of questions that remain unaddressed at this time.

As we are confident you will agree, all New Jerseyans deserve a voter registration system that is accurate, secure, and worthy of the public's trust. To that end, a transparent and robust response to the foregoing questions will prevent future failures in the voter registration process and help restore confidence in the integrity of our elections.”

You can read the full letter here.

'To Forget Even One Of Them Is Blasphemy!'

From a friend, as posted on X:

I have undertaken this project to put a face to 9/11 by posting photos of everyone killed that day. If after everything that happened you can vote for the ideology that caused it then it's as if you are killing them yourself! Pictured below was 29 year old Christopher Amoroso who was a Port Authority police officer. Here he is famously shown helping a pregnant woman out of the towers. He ran back in four times and was killed when the North Tower imploded. He left behind a wife and 19 month old daughter and to forget even a single one of these people is a blasphemy!

Yes, Canada's FREE Ride Is 0-V-E-R-!

Canada has been ripping off the United States for decades — and President Donald J. Trump is done letting them get away with it. Last week, the U.S. offered Canada the most preferential market access of any country on Earth, with deep cuts on steel, aluminum, autos, lumber, and more. Instead of partnership, Canada chose unreasonable demands, walk-backs, and flat-out rejection.

The record of Canadian abuse is clear and deliberate: FACT: Canada is joined only by the People’s Republic of China in choosing retaliation over negotiation. Their continued discriminatory treatment of U.S. commerce has burdened American workers, farmers, and businesses.   FACT: Canada alone imposed discriminatory 25% tariffs and company-specific quotas on U.S. motor vehicles — measures applied to no other country. As a result, U.S. vehicle exports to Canada crashed 22% over the last year.   FACT: Canada banned American wine, beer, and spirits in nearly every province and territory — while other countries have faced no such restrictions. As a result, U.S. alcohol exports to Canada collapsed 81% in a single year.   FACT: Canada locks out U.S. dairy with tariff-rate quotas far more restrictive than those given to Europe, plus over-quota tariffs of nearly 300% — rates so extreme they function as a near-total ban and rank among the highest agricultural tariffs in the developed world.   FACT: Canada has extracted a persistent average annual goods trade deficit of roughly $50 billion from the U.S. over the last decade — while refusing reciprocal access.   FACT: Canada targeted American aerospace manufacturer Gulfstream for years. They effectively prohibited the sale of its G500, G600, G700, and G800 models while shielding its own competitor — until President Trump intervened.   FACT: Canada’s protectionist barriers — discriminatory auto quotas, alcohol bans, and dairy lockouts — have hammered American companies. This has cost U.S. producers billions in lost sales, forced layoffs, and driven market share to foreign competitors who face none of the same restrictions.   FACT: Without the United States, Canada could not survive. Canada sends roughly three-quarters of all its goods exports to America — and the U.S. market is where Canada gets the overwhelming majority of its money and economic oxygen.   FACT: Canada’s failed trade policies are driving its own manufacturers south. A recent survey found 42% of Canadian manufacturers have already moved or are planning to move production to the U.S.   FACT: Canada is doubling down on tariffs targeting American workers. Canada just announced an additional $27.6 billion in tariffs on American businesses — including a 50% tariff on American steel and aluminum, a 25% tariff on American fish, and a 25% tariff on American tools.   FACT: The U.S. economy is approximately 13 times larger than the Canadian economy and home to over eight times as many people. The United States has the clear leverage.

President Trump said it best: “Canada is easily the most difficult and unreasonable. They feel entitled, but they are not a State, and will be entitled no longer!” Canadian leadership chose retaliation over partnership — and America is no longer willing to carry them.

Remembering A True American Oridinal!

While I enjoy country music, and liked Dolly Parton, I can't say that I was a fan.

I did see her perform live, in person once. It was at The Borgata in Atlantic City at the hotel's cavernous Event Center. It was not the best venue but if you wanted to see Dolly, you had to be prepared to share her with thousands of others. She was a legendary performer and, like many others, I wanted to see her perform live.

And guess what? Even though she appeared on a vast stage in a casino complex with bars dotting the auditorium and alcohol flowing freely and even though my seat was nowhere near what could be called the orchestra, she was in total command of the evening and she was wonderful.

She looked the way you expected her to look. She performed with all the musical accompaniment and bells and whistles you'd expect. She was in fine form, sounding exactly as you'd expect her to sound. She was responsive to the audience throughout and yes, she sang every song you wanted to hear -- all the hits!

That was Dolly Parton.

She was pure entertainment. The glitter, the glamour and the showbizz were all there but they were combined with just the right amount of down home folksiness you'd expect from Dolly. 

Her career was exceptionally well-managed but that was a testament to Dolly herself -- her savvy, her smarts, her good instincts and her professional discipline. I get the feeling she expected the best of her people every minute of every day just as she delivered the same. 

There was never a hint of scandal surrounding this woman. She never allowed herself to be drawn into partisan politics nor did she lecture her audience from the stage or via other avenues. A woman of great faith, she conveyed a sense of generosity, kindness and caring without a scintilla of righteousness.

A complete American success story, there's no doubt she loved this nation and its people and was the grateful embodiment of her own American journey, complete with all its tribulations and triumphs.

Dolly Parton was an American original!

When They Tried To Get Her To Go Political

Dolly didn't play. Sure she had her opinions, but she selflessly valued the opinions of her fans, all of them, more. She wasn't just a once-in-a-lifetime talent, she displayed a once-in-a-lifetime humility that too few share. https://t.co/2QpXIgGjsF

— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) August 26, 2026

It failed! Miserably!

One Of The Greatest: Heaven Has Found Its Voice

 From the Grand 'Ole Opry:

It is with the heaviest of hearts that we say goodbye to a true country music icon, Opry member Dolly Parton. 

There is no doubt Dolly’s mark on the world, and on us here at the Grand Ole Opry, will be deeply felt for generations to come. She taught us to always lead with kindness, generosity, and compassion. 

May her legacy live on through her songs, the lives she touched, and the countless artists she inspired. 

There will never, ever be another one like her. We will always love you, Dolly.

President Trump Remembers Dolly Parton

 

Announcing The Passing Of A True American Legend

Voter Rolls: Top Court Hands Trump A 6-3 'Go!'

🇺🇸 HUGE MASSIVE WIN! - Remember the SAVE America Act? The bill to make sure only citizens vote that the Senate let die?

Trump just went and did a big piece of it anyway!

The Supreme Court cleared his mail-ballot order 6-3. Ballots go only to verified voters now, with barcodes… pic.twitter.com/ht5a8hi66y

— Bill Mitchell (@mitchellvii) August 24, 2026

BLOCS Succeeds In PA, Could Do More, IF . . .

We've reported here before how the BLOCS program in Pennsylvania has had remarkable success.

BLOCS is Pennsylvania’s leading scholarship organization dedicated to the PA Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) and Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit (OSTC) and has just announced a year of historic achievement in fundraising for private schools throughout the state. As BLOCS closes the end of their fiscal year, the non-profit organization reports they are on track to raise $250 million in need-based scholarships.

And BLOCS can do a lot more IF Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro opts into the new federal Federal Scholarship Tax Credit (FSTC) program. So far, the governor has not done so and that could cost schools and childen Big Bucks. In fact, Pennsylvania students could miss out on hundreds of millions -- up to nearly a billion dollars in private-donor-funded K–12 scholarships as funds flow to participating states.

Created under federal action, the new initiative offers dollar-for-dollar federal tax credits (up to $1,700) for individuals and businesses donating to non-profit organizations that issue K–12 scholarships for private and public school-related expenses. But, to let in-state residents and students participate and benefit, the state’s governor must formally opt in. As Pennsylvania's largest Scholarship Granting Organization (SGO), BLOCS currently relies heavily on state-level programs. The federal program opens the door to matching funds and an expanded donor base through smaller contributors, among other benefits. 

Currently, BLOCS estimates they will be able to serve more than 43,000 students in the coming school year. This is the largest population that BLOCS has ever served in a single school year in its 40+ year history. Think how much wore they could accomplish if Pennsylvania were to opt into the federal initiative!

BLOCS CEO Rob Delany celebrates these achievements with the community of donors, schools, students, and supporters of the EITC program. “BLOCS is proud to reach this milestone of serving over 43,000 students in the coming year,” Delany said. “We are incredibly grateful to our more than 150 corporate donors, thousands of individual donors, and hundreds of school partners who work with us in each facet of the EITC program to create opportunities for deserving students.”

BLOCS  ensures that children receive the greatest scholarship support possible. Thanks to the efficiencies of responsible management, more than 98 cents of every dollar contributed to BLOCS is directed to a student as a need-based scholarship.

As an independent charitable organization BLOCS provides access to high-quality, value-based education for children ages Pre-K through 12th grade across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Through the generosity of its donors, BLOCS partners with over 500 schools to provide over 40,000 need-based scholarships. More can be found at www.blocs.org.