An OPPOSITION Party? How Would We Know?

From our friends at the Save Jersey Blog:

By Matt Rooney (reprintedwith permission)

Want to know why the NJGOP can’t seem to win? Anything?

On a day that saw new gun control laws and job-killing regulations approved in the State House, the Senate Judiciary Committee advanced not one but two Murphy cabinet nominees, arguably the most consequential of which was his future treasurer: Elizabeth Muoio.

Former Assemblywoman Muoio is a career politician, tax-and-spend-and-borrow liberal, public sector labor union shill, supporter of Phil Murphy’s ruinous approach to our pension system AND, to make things just a little bit more interesting since all of those other things aren’t unique in Trenton, she also saw $33 million in grants go missing on her watch as a Middlesex County elected official. Scary stuff! Particularly at a time when New Jersey’s finances are already a notorious basket case. 

Muoio failed to satisfactorily explain herself.

“Mercer County is one of five counties with a county executive form of government. So the financial statements and operating functions of the departments fall under the jurisdiction, not of the freeholders like in many counties, but fall under the jurisdiction of the county executive. The county executive is the one in charge of the finance office,” said Muoio, passing the buck.

“You said your expertise was working closely on the budget, but you weren’t aware of these gaps or mistakes back in 2002,” shot back Corrado.

“The audit for 2004 when I was in the freeholder board was an audit of the 2002 budget year, which was the year that Bob Prunetti was county executive, so it was a Republican administration. Basically, going through the audit was the way we found out what was happening with county expenditures,” responded Muoio.

“You can’t say, ‘I didn’t know my budget,’ or, ‘It wasn’t my responsibility because we had a county executive at the time,’” Corrado continued. “You voted on that budget, it’s your responsibility to know what’s in it. And if there’s discrepancies, it’s your responsibility to find out why.”

Yikes, right?

Democrats control the judiciary committee by a solid 7-4 margin (and don’t really care about lost money provided it’s taxpayer cash and not their own), so Muoio’s nomination was never in serious doubt.

So the vote was at least… 7-4, right?

Nope! Wrong. This is New Jersey.

The vote was 10-0 with one abstention (that of Kristin Corrado, the freshman senator who made an issue of Muoio’s missing $33 million in the first place and, as you just read, tried to shake Muoio up on the record).

The other GOP members — Mike Doherty, Kip Bateman and Gerry Cardinale — voted to advance Muoio to a full Senate vote notwithstanding all of the concerning issues raised above, disqualifying factors each in their own right, but also the fact that their new party chairman – Doug Steinhardt of Warren County – went to bat for Corrado with a strong call for Muoio to be voted down.

“Moody’s warning is a clear sign that we need a more qualified Treasurer to challenge Governor Murphy’s liberal spending plans,” said Steinhardt in a pre-hearing statement. “I call on the State Senate to post Liz Muoio‘s hearing, vote her down, and put someone in that office with a proper sense of fiscal responsibility.  New Jersey’s 9 million residents deserve nothing less.”

“Less” is exactly what New Jersey continues to get from its opposition party.

No unity. 

No instincts. 

No cohesive messaging when an opportunity to take a strong stand — and create a strong contrast — for the taxpayers presents itself.

And by the way – did I miss the outpouring of willfully blind bipartisan love for Chris Christie’s nominees? 

Forget beating Phil Murphy and his party at the ballot box, Save Jerseyans. That’s now step 15. Far, far down the road I’m afraid.

Step #1? Building an ACTUAL opposition that is capable of opposing something worth opposing! 

'Slap In The Face' For Those Who Follow Rules!

New Jersey State Senator Jim Holzapfel, Assemblyman David Wolfe, and Assemblyman Gregory McGuckin of the 10th Legislative District criticized legislation approved by the New Jersey Senate that would allow undocumented immigrants access to college state financial aid programs.

Sen. James Holzapfel, Asm. David Wolfe, and Asm. Gregory McGuckin (R-10) criticized legislation approved by the NJ Senate that would allow undocumented immigrants to access college state financial aid programs. (©iStock)

“New Jersey is already one of 20 states that offer in-state tuition to undocumented immigrants,” Holzapfel said. “They’re already getting a big discount on their tuition bills at taxpayer expense. To provide additional financial aid to undocumented immigrants is neither economically feasible nor wise. The pot of money for these programs is only so big, so we should prioritize the limited aid available to college students who follow the rules.”

The bill, S-699, would extend benefits granting undocumented immigrants access to any student financial aid program administered by the state’s Higher Education Student Assistance Authority or the New Jersey Secretary of Higher Education.

“New Jersey students are struggling to afford college even with the various federal and state financial aid programs, including TAG,” Wolfe remarked. “Extending state aid to undocumented immigrants will either reduce a critical pool of college funding for those who ‘play by the rules,’ or increase taxes by $4.47 million, according to the non-partisan Office of Legislative Services fiscal estimate.

New Jersey currently ranks ninth in the nation for student loan debt and the worst in the country for college student outmigration.

“65 percent of New Jersey high school students are choosing to receive their college education outside of our state,” McGuckin added. “This ‘brain drain’ of talent is hurting New Jersey’s workforce and competitive edge. Meanwhile, New Jerseyans who choose to attend college in state are graduating with more than $30,000 in debt. We should work on legislation to make our state’s colleges more attractive and more affordable for our state’s high school students, not efforts like this that could make it even more expensive.”

And Now Here's Your Chuckle For The Day . . .

22,000 Faces Of An Ongoing Crisis . . .

22,000 faces of the opioid crisis 

Last week, President Donald J. Trump announced a bold policy agenda to combat the opioid crisis on three fronts: prevention and education, treatment and recovery, and law enforcement and interdiction.

Now, the White House is partnering with the Department of the Interior and the National Parks Service to bring the National Safety Council’s “Prescribed to Death” opioid memorial to the Ellipse near the White House from April 11 to April 18.

The exhibit will educate visitors on the impact of the opioid crisis with the installation of a wall of 22,000 engraved white pills—each representing the face of an American lost to a prescription opioid overdose in 2015. The exhibit is also an action center, with resources on the safe disposal of unused pills and prepaid envelopes to allow visitors to dispose of any unused medication at their homes.

More information about the Prescribed to Death memorial can be found here. 

U.S. expels Russian intelligence officers 

President Trump ordered the expulsion of dozens of Russian intelligence officers from the United States yesterday morning. He also directed the closure of the Russian consulate in Seattle, given its proximity to one of America’s submarine bases as well as Boeing facilities.

“The United States takes this action in conjunction with our NATO allies and partners around the world in response to Russia’s use of a military-grade chemical weapon on the soil of the United Kingdom, the latest in its ongoing pattern of destabilizing activities around the world,” a senior Administration official briefed reporters yesterday.

America stands in solidarity with our closest ally, the United Kingdom. While the Administration remains ready to build a better relationship with Russia, this can only happen with a change in behavior from the Russian government. Actions like this attack on British soil will carry serious consequences.

Read more on President Trump’s expulsion of Russian officers from the United States. 

Why John Bolton is the right choice 

Commentators agree that by appointing John Bolton to be the next National Security Advisor (NSA), President Trump has made an excellent choice to confront the challenges of a dangerous world and build on the accomplishments of outgoing NSA H.R. McMaster.

In their words, here are just a few of the reasons why:

• “We may assume Pyongyang knows now that bluffing the U.S. won’t work.” – The Wall Street Journal Editorial Board 
• “On the U.N. he’s been right all along. If his presence in the White House helps to scare the organization into real reform, so much the better.” – The New York Times’ Bret Stephens 
• “He’s squarely in the mainstream of conservative foreign-policy thought.” – David French, The National Review
• “Enough with the John Bolton smears — he’ll be the best National Security Adviser in a generation.” – Michael Rubin of the American Enterprise Institute

Learn more about why John Bolton’s appointment is earning widespread support.

PHOTO OF THE DAY

Marine One  | March 25, 2018 (Official White House Photo by Andrea Hanks)

POTUS TODAY

Today, President Trump signed a proclamation for Education and Sharing Day, U.S.A. The President will later meet with the Secretary of the Treasury.

This afternoon, Vice President Mike Pence will traveled to Fargo, North Dakota, to deliver keynote remarks at an America First Policies “Tax Cuts to Put America First” event.

Facts And Figures Don't Support The Impression!

And now, from the very liberal NPR's Morning Edition, we have an excerpt from a revealing report by correspondent Martin Kaste:

"Schools are safer today than they had been in previous decades," says James Alan Fox, a professor of criminology at Northeastern University who has studied the phenomenon of mass murder since the 1980s.
Fox and doctoral student Emma Fridel crunched the numbers, and the results should come as a relief to parents.
First, while multiple-victim shootings in general are on the rise, that's not the case in schools. There's an average of about one a year — in a country with more than 100,000 schools.
"There were more back in the '90s than in recent years," says Fox. "For example, in one school year — 1997-98 — there were four multiple-victim shootings in schools."
Second, the overall number of gunshot victims at schools is also down. According to Fox's numbers, back in the 1992-93 school year, about 0.55 students per million were shot and killed; in 2014-15, that rate was closer to 0.15 per million.
"The difference is the impression, the perception that people have," Fox says — and he traces that to cable news and social media. "Today we have cell phone recordings of gunfire that play over and over and over again. So it's that the impression is very different. That's why people think things are a lot worse now, but the statistics say otherwise."

Click here to read the whole report.

Finish The Job: Let's Throw Them OUT!

Throw them OUT this November!
Missouri: McCaskill
Montana: Tesler
North Dakota: Heltkamp
Wisconsin: Baldwin
Michigan: Stabenow
Pennsylvania: Casey
Ohio: Brown
West Virginia: Manchin
Florida: Nelson
Indiana: Donnelly

A Cogent Analysis With Pertinent Questions!

From CatholicVote.org, here is probably the best analysis of the current gun control debate that I've read thus far. It's cogent, very thorough, thought-prvoking and, I believe, eminently fair.
I commend it to you:

Should we ban guns?

Repeal the Second Amendment?

There’s a lot of talk about guns these days. Kids are marching in cities, cursing older Americans, ostensibly to urge political action. And just today, former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens called for the “REPEAL” of the Second Amendment in the New York Times.

What’s a Catholic to think?

The Church does not have a definitive teaching on the right to own a firearm. At least not explicitly. The social doctrines of our Church are grounded in common human reason. And thus, much of what the Church does say is relevant and helpful.

For example, the Catechism states:

“Legitimate defense can be not only a right but a grave duty for one who is responsible for the lives of others. The defense of the common good requires that an unjust aggressor be rendered unable to cause harm...

“Love toward oneself remains a fundamental principle of morality. Therefore it is legitimate to insist on respect for one's own right to life. Someone who defends his life is not guilty of murder even if he is forced to deal his aggressor a lethal blow:

"If a man in self-defense uses more than necessary violence, it will be unlawful: whereas if he repels force with moderation, his defense will be lawful. . . . Nor is it necessary for salvation that a man omit the act of moderate self-defense to avoid killing the other man, since one is bound to take more care of one's own life than of another's.”

In America, our Constitution enshrined the right to bear arms in our Second Amendment. The purpose of the Amendment was not to protect the right to hunt deer -- as wonderful and environmentally responsible as hunting can be.

Instead, the Second Amendment was created for a free people to protect themselves from the possibility of an aggressive government that would seek to deprive them of their fundamental freedoms to live, speak, assemble, pray, worship, or petition their own government.

Mention this truth today, and people think you are a wacko!

In short, the Second Amendment was created to defend, if absolutely necessary, the dignity of every human life, and the inherent freedoms that extend from that dignity, from those that would use violence to take them away.

We have the right to defend our life, our families and children, and our right to worship the God who created us. 

And not merely with a butter knife…

In our view, the right to own a firearm is not merely a convenient “right” that we can now dispense with in our so-called enlightened age. On the contrary, the right to self defense, as the Catechism affirms, is grounded in the fundamental sacredness of life, endowed by our Creator, for which we are bound to defend. And that right implies access to proportionate means to render aggressors incapable of harm.

CLICK HERE TO TAKE OUR CATHOLIC SURVEY ON GUNS

But, but -- what about the recent incidents of violence?  

Insuring the safety of our children is paramount. And measures to protect our kids are needed -- starting with the courage to call out our culture -- including abortion -- for the disregard for human life it instills in our children. Violent video games and movies, broken families, widespread access to pornography, misuse of drugs, mental illness, and much more all contribute to the recent spate of shootings.

Americans have owned guns for centuries. And school shootings were once unthinkable.

So what has changed?

Are we still good enough to be free?

Certainly there is room for debate on background checks, waiting periods, age limits, and certain limits on the features of guns. But let’s not fool ourselves. The debate underway is much larger.

REMEMBER: the gay marriage debate started as simply “the right to marry the person I love.” Today men are in women’s bathrooms, the government is paying for sex-changes, while corporate and governmental policies seek to dictate even the pronouns we are allowed to use.

The campaigns of the political Left increasingly have a way of concealing their ultimate goals. So we must be vigilant.

Gather the real and relevant facts.

And think clearly about the first principles that inform both our Faith and the Constitution.

I am eager to get your thoughts on this important debate.

Please click here to take our survey. 

Brian Burch, President
CatholicVote.org

Is THIS Clear Enough For You? Is It?

Reaching For The Stars -- And Then Some!

America first in space 

Americans have long looked to the stars as a symbol of our Nation’s traditions of pioneering and exploration. Last week, President Donald J. Trump unveiled a National Space Strategy that works within his broader national security policy to put America’s interests first.

President Trump’s strategy harnesses the American spirit, laying the groundwork for the next generation of U.S. space exploration. Specifically, this new framework will:

• Allow the Government to partner with the commercial sector to ensure that American companies remain world leaders in space technology. 
• Build on the Administration’s National Security Strategy to emphasize peace through strength in the space domain. 
• Ensure that international space agreements put the interests of American people, workers, and businesses first.

Learn more about the President’s strategy to make America a leader in space once more. 

A bipartisan case for trade action 

Last week, President Trump took action to address Chinese trade practices that are harming American businesses. In particular, the President directed his Administration to respond to the unfair and harmful Chinese acquisition of U.S. technology.

These actions prompted a wave of positive reactions, including from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY):

“President Trump is exactly right this afternoon to propose a plan designed to punish China for its most flagrant trade abuses. I’ve called for such action for years and been disappointed by the inactions of both Presidents Bush and Obama. I’m very pleased that this Administration is taking strong action to get a better deal on China.”

“Under my Administration, the theft of American prosperity will end,” President Trump said. “We’re going to defend our industry and create a level playing field for the American worker—finally.”

Read more responses to President Trump’s tough actions against China here. 

‘The cradle of Western civilization’ 

The President welcomed guests to the White House’s East Room last Thursday to celebrate Greek Independence Day. The Greek holiday commemorates the beginning of the War of Greek Independence in 1821.

“As the cradle of Western civilization and the birthplace of democracy, Greece has a rich and glorious heritage,” President Trump wrote in his Proclamation last week. “The ancient Greeks fostered the timeless ideal of human liberty, which inspired our Nation’s Founders as they drafted our Constitution and established our Republic.”

President Trump hosted Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras at the White House last October for bilateral discussions.

Watch: The President hosts a Greek Independence Day Celebration at the White House

PHOTO OF THE DAY

First Lady Melania Trump presents the International Women of Courage Award | March 23, 2018 (Official White House Photo by Andrea Hanks)

POTUS TODAY

Today, after receiving his intelligence briefing, President Trump will have lunch with Vice President Mike Pence.

Numbers Don't Lie, And They're Telling The Tale!

These ads are now beginning to run all over the country in key GOP districts.
Facts are powerful things, folks!