New Jersey’s recently enacted “Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights” has been struck down by the Council on Local Mandates.
The state has until the end of March to amend the law or to provide funding for its implementation, according to Gannett’s Statehouse Bureau.
The Council on Local Mandates was created in 1995 by a constitutional amendment approved by the voters. Its members are appointed by the governor and both parties leaders in the legislature and the chief justice of the supreme court. The council is empowered to “expire” laws, rules and regulations that compel boards of educations, municipalities and counties to take action without providing resources to pay for the mandate.
Assemblywoman Valerie Vainieri Huttle (D-Bergen), the anti bullying bill’s lead sponsor, called the council a “rarely used, shadowy fourth branch of government.”
Why is it rarely used? MMM often hears local municipal officials and school board members complaining about money the state is making them spend.
Belmar Mayor Matt Doherty, left, and Governor Chris Christie, on the Belmar boardwalk last summer. Freeholder Director John Curley, the the background, right, will not be challenged by Doherty this November.
Belmar Mayor Matt Doherty, a Democrat, told MMM that he will not be a candidate for Freeholder this year.
“John Curley is doing a good job. He was the right choice to be Director,” Doherty said in a phone interview, ” as a mayor, I find John to be very responsive. He acts without regard to partisanship.”
Doherty is not aware of any Democratic candidates in the field for Freeholder.
Regarding the race for the Monmouth County Democratic Chairmanship, Doherty said he thought either candidate, Frank “LaHornica” LaRocca or Vin Gopal, would do a good job. “What those guys ( LaRocca and Marlboro Mayor Jon Hornick) did to win control of Marlboro is impressive. But Vin is really hustling and I know him better.”
“charged with ‘manufacturing’ 17 marijuana plants that he used to treat his Multiple Sclerosis. Wilson faced 20 years in state prison for this crime. At trial, Superior Court Judge Robert Reed would not let the jury hear the reason that Wilson grew the marijuana plants, essentially removing Wilson’s only defense.“
Senator Raymond Lesniak, who was a chief proponent of New Jersey’s medical marijuana law, had this appeal to Gov. Chris Christie:
“I am disappointed by the recent decision of the Supreme Court to deny the appeal of John Ray Wilson. He was merely trying to alleviate the symptoms of a dreadfully painful and regressive disease. It is unconscionable that this Friday he will be behind bars. Three years ago, I called on Gov. Corzine to commute the sentence of Mr. Wilson. After inaction with the last governor, I was hopeful Gov. Christie would better understand the unfair reality of this situation. Unfortunately, Gov. Christie has been just like Corzine, refusing to use his and only his power to make things right when the true intentions of the law were misapplied. (Ironically) before John Ray Wilson completes his prison sentence, the State of NJ will have its medical marijuana program up and running, and Mr. Wilson may likely be using medical marijuana behind bars or the prescription pain killers he couldn’t afford, paid for by the state’s taxpayers. Governor Christie should commute his sentence immediately.”
Chris Goldstein from the Coalition for Medical Marijuana in NJ wonders,”how many more seriously ill residents are we going to send to prison? We call on Governor Chris Christie to demonstrate his compassion for qualifying medical marijuana patients and his commitment to a new stance on non-violent drug offenders by issuing a pardon for John Ray Wilson.”
In a widely published OpEd piece, Rob Eichmann, the GOP State Committeeman from Gloucester County, questioned why the the State Legislature’s Democratic leadership has made gay marriage their top priority of the year.
Assembly Minority Conference Leader Dave Rible says the Democrats putting the issue, which impacts very few New Jersey residents, on the front burner is a “slap in the face to the guy on the unemployment line.”
Both men have a point.
Garden State Equality, the gay rights organization behind the push for same sex marriage, boasts of 86,000 members on its website. That makes them, they say, the largest civil rights organization in the state.
That 86,000 number is questionable.
Steve Goldstein, Chair and CEO of the GSE, told MMM that they consider any person who takes two affirmative actions for equality to be a member. How they track that, he wouldn’t say. I’m pretty sure they consider me a member. Goldstein was aware that I signed up for their email list this week. I told him that I noticed that shortly after I signed up that the the number changed from 85,000 to 86,000. “I promise you, Art, we’re not counting you as 1,000 members.”
Goldstein finally acknowledged, sort of, that the membership claim is based upon a combination of their email list of 70,000 plus the 17,200 facebook friends they have, less a fudge factor to eliminate overlaps. Given that there is a facebook plug in on the GSE page, the fudge factor should probably be more than 1,200.
Even if GSE’s membership numbers were accurate, they would be representing less that 1% of New Jersey’s population.
The number of same sex couples who have committed to each other in the form of civil unions is a more reliable indicator of just how big this “civil rights” problem is.
According to Daniel Emmer, spokesperson for the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services, 5,790 couples have been joined in civil unions since 2007 when the legislation designating the unions become effective. That’s 11,580 people, statewide, that this issue impacts directly, if we generously assume that none of those unions have been dissolved by divorce. Do they call it divorce?
One might conclude that Goldstein’s political skills are remarkable. He has managed to make his small, be it 11,580 or 86,000 people, constituency’s concern the top priority of our state government during a time when our economy is anemic, municipal governments are making significant changes to balance their budgets and our urban schools are not educating their students. Unemployment and foreclosures are not our top priority. Another generation of minority students are not getting educated, and Steve Goldstein has managed to make same sex marriage the most important issue of the State Legislature.
Or has he?
Goldstein has been played by the Democrats before. Jon Corzine, while he was governor got Goldstein to agree to back off the same sex marriage issue during the 2008 presidential election cycle and the 2009 gubernatiorial election cycle. Corzine made passionate speeches before gay audiences about how important their rights were. He was blowing smoke.
Are the Democratic leaders of the legislature playing Goldstein again? I think they are.
The Democrats and their special interest donors want nothing to do with Governor Christie’s agenda for this year. They want to raise taxes, not lower them. They don’t want to reform education. They don’t want to reform the civil service system so that municipalities can lower their costs and taxes.
The Democrats don’t want Christie to be an effective spokesman for Mitt Romney, especially if Romney wins the GOP presidential nomination.
That’s what this is about for the Democratic leadership. Avoiding Christie’s agenda and changing the public conversation. It’s not about civil rights and benefits for Goldstein’s small constituency.
Whether or not it’s really about civil rights for Goldstein and GSE is another question which will be the subject of a future post.
Freeholder Serena DiMaso will participate in her first regular public meeting of the board tonight at the Hall of Records, 7PM.
There will be a ceremonial swearing of our newest freeholder at the beginning of the meeting. DiMaso was officially sworn into office moments after she was elected by the Monmouth County Republican Committee on January 14.
Same sex marriage will not become law in New Jersey this year by way of legislation or referendum.
Governor Chris Christie assured the Marriage Equality and Religious Excemption Act will not become law when he announced that he will veto it. He was always going to veto it. Yet, his call to put the question on the ballot for the voters to decide assured that it will not pass in the legislature with a veto proof majority, if it passes at all. Legislators, from both parties who are in difficult positions personally and politically over the issue now have cover not to vote to pass the bill.
Senate President Steve Sweeney and Assembly Speaker Shelia Oliver assured the marriage equality question will not be on the ballot as a State constitutional amendment this fall. A constitutional amendment requires 60% approval in the legislature before it goes to the people in a referendum. Sweeney and Oliver have both said that they will not even allow the referendum question come before their chambers for a vote. They say its a civil rights issue that should not be subject to the whims of the majority. David Duke, the Klan and the Jim Crow south have been invoked in the heated rhetoric in response to Christie’s call for a referendum.
All the noble rhetoric on this issue, from both sides, is political theatrics. Presidential and gubernatorial political theatrics. It has been since 2008.
Governor Corzine asked the gay community not to push for marriage equality during the presidential election year of 2008 or the gubernatorial election year of 2009. Corzine couldn’t get it gay marriage passed in the lame duck legislative session of 2009. Had Corzine been reelected, a same sex marriage bill, without protections for the religious community included in the current bill, likely would have become law early in 2010.
Despite their holier-than-though rhetoric about civil rights, and despite Quinnipiac’s poll showing that a majority New Jersey voters favor same sex marriage, Sweeney and Oliver really oppose putting the question on the ballot this fall because they fear it will bring out conservative voters in large margins. They fear that New Jersey’s 14 electoral votes could be at stake and that the congressional delegation could be at risk. They remember what happened in California (of all places) and Ohio when gay marriage was on the ballot.
Christie remembers California and Ohio too. Once again the great compromiser as outmaneuvered the Democrats and made Steve Sweeney curse. He knows that Sweeney and Oliver would never let the question on the ballot, this year of all years. Yet by calling for a referendum, he has killed the legislation’s chances of passing with a veto proof majority, if at all.
It’s back to court, and to the confirmation hearings for Chrisite’s nominees for the State Supreme Court, for Steve Goldstein and Garden State Equality.
Or, if what the gay community really wants if equal rights and benefits, rather than changing the definition of marriage, Goldstein and GSE could put their considerable skill into making the civil union law work. Quinnipiac says 69% of New Jersey voters support the same sex civil union law. The problem has been that Goldstein and GSE don’t support it. That will be the subject of a follow up post.
Buoyed by his stunning victory in South Carolina, New Gingrich is preparing for a nomination process that could extend into the summer.
Calls have gone out to conservative activists throughout New Jersey looking for grassroots networks to get out the vote for the former Speaker of the House in the Garden State’s June presidential primary.
The Gingrich campaign is advertising on cable television in New Jersey.
But the Gingrich campaign may be getting ahead of itself. After leading the polls in Florida immediately after his South Carolina victory, Gingrich has fallen back to second place, behind Mitt Romney, in the Rasmussen Poll conducted last night.
According to Rasmussen, Romney has restored his lead in Florida back to where it was before Gingrich’s South Carolina win on Saturday. Romney is supported by 39% of likely voters to Gingrich’s 31%. Rick Santorum is favored by 12% and Ron Paul has the support of 9% of those expected to vote on Tuesday. Only 7% are undecided.
As a Ron Paul supporter, one concern I occasionally hear from potential voters is that they “like Ron Paul’s stances, except on foreign policy”. It’s a concern that is understandable and also one that I personally held until recently.
Ron Paul usually scores high marks with both republican and independent voters on taxes and spending. For decades, Dr. Paul has warned the American people of the dangers of the Federal Reserve system and of periodic government intervention in the economy. His strict adherence to the U.S. Constitution while in elected office is also something to be praised.
In fact, Dr. Paul has been praised by many of his colleagues who are currently running for President. Mitt Romney punted a question regarding the U.S. Constitution to Paul during a New Hampshire debate, bestowing the title of ‘Constitutionalist’ upon Dr. Paul. Newt Gingrich frequently compliments Paul on his fight against the Federal Reserve. Gingrich even went so far as to mention Paul’s Fed stance during his South Carolina victory speech. Ron Paul’s economic platform has slowly entered the mainstream of the GOP political discourse, and has finally broken through with great reception from conservative voters.
Without Ron Paul, the gold standard, the federal reserve, the dangers of a fiat currency, and a nation continually saddled with debt would have gone by un-raised. At least until it was too late.
What drives a big chunk of conservatives up a wall is the mention of Ron Paul’s foreign policy. Many syndicated ‘conservative’ pundits label Ron Paul’s foreign policy as ‘extreme’, ‘dangerous’, and ‘isolationist’. With this context in mind, it’s easy to see why many establishment republican voters would turn their backs on Dr. Paul. The position of bringing the troops home along with talking heads like Hannity and Beck, jumping and screaming about Paul’s apparent ‘isolationism’ would strongly encourage many conservatives to not take a second look at Ron Paul and dismiss him entirely.
First and foremost, Ron Paul is many things. However, an isolationist isn’t one of them. An excellent example of an isolationist country would be North Korea. The ironically named ‘Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’ has closed itself off from the rest of the world. There is no trade. There is no diplomacy. There is no immigration or emigration. Being isolated from the rest of the world is the antithesis of what Ron Paul believes, and the notion that he is anything close to an ‘isolationist’ should be expelled from any informed voter’s mind.
Non-interventionism, the foreign policy of Ron Paul, put’s America’s needs and concerns first, instead of the needs of other nations. It is important to know that at present the United States has over 900 military installations in over 130 foreign countries.
The overreach and spreading thin of our troops throughout the world leaves our home front vulnerable. One has to look no further than the United States’ own borders, which are seriously undermanned and without any protection whatsoever for many miles. Another example closer to home is the recent shut down of the Fort Monmouth Facility in Monmouth County. The federal government shut down the base late last year as a means of cost savings.
The simple fact that we’re closing bases in New Jersey to open new bases abroad does not make me feel safer as a United States citizen.
The United States military currently has:
◦52,440 military personnel in Germany.
◦35,688military personnel in Japan
◦28,500military personnel in Korea
◦9,015military personnel in the United Kingdom
◦9,660military personnel in Italy
America’s fighting men and women should only be sent overseas when our nation is at war. Our nation should only be at war when the Congress, representing the American people, passes a Declaration of War, as mandated by our Constitution. These used to be conservative principles that our nation held dear up until recently in our history. Since our founding and up to 1945 we declared wars, won them, and the troops have come home. This has been due to our government picking its battles carefully, and only entering conflicts with clear, concise objectives, and naturally, voting on the war in the congress.
As President, Ron Paul has made it clear that he would not hesitate to go to war if necessary, but only as a last resort. The war would obviously have to be legitimized by a vote in the congress, as stated in the constitution.
Ron Paul’s foreign policy is approved by the most important pundits of all, the troops. Ron Paul has received more donations from active duty military personnel than all the rest of the candidates, including President Obama, combined.
If you listen to the troops (particularly those who support Ron Paul), they’ll tell you that the United States Military is creating enemies faster than they can kill them overseas. The troops would tell you, that bringing them home and building our defense here would be more profitable than sending our money and young men and women to the sands of some foreign land.
Military veterans like Adam Kokesh and active duty Cpl Jesse Thorsen have been speaking out about the dangerous foreign policy that the U.S. Government currently engages in, and they offer Ron Paul’s foreign policy as a clear alternative to the lunacy that exists today.
The extreme fiscal expense that the United States incurs by stationing troops around the world will leave our treasury bare and we’ll have nothing to show for it. It is a fiscally conservative position, as well as a constitutional position to support a strong national defense and a foreign policy of non-interventionism, which is the position Paul holds. We can either elect to withdraw from our international installations now, or we’ll be forced to leave in a few years when our government can no longer afford anything and we’ve run out of creditors.
I can’t imagine how someone who considers themselves to be a fiscal conservative can possibly support the fiscally liberal position of excessive spending to subsidize other nations’ defense. Not only do the troops like Ron Paul, but defense employees from companies like Lockheed Martin contribute to Ron Paul as well because they know Dr. Paul would build up our national defense, not engage in careless militarism abroad. Under Ron Paul’s Plan to Restore America, we’d still spend four times more than China on Defense and reduce all other budgetary obligations to 2006 levels. The total savings from rethinking our defense and other careful cuts would result in $1 Trillion of savings in the first year. This would effectively save social security and medicare, without touching promised benefits to seniors or the less privileged. Sounds pretty fiscally conservative to me.
The highest paid employee of state government is quitting his job.
Same sex marriage will not become law in New Jersey this year by way of legislation or referendum.