Democrats Move Party Away From The People

Only days after voters expressed dissatisfaction with New Jersey by firing Jon Corzine, who failed to assert control over the government and curb the power of party bosses, those political insiders are scheming to move on as if nothing has happened.

Sheila Oliver of East Orange, and Joseph Cryan of Union, are said to be leading candidates for top Assembly leadership positions while Steve Sweeney is about to become state Senate President. All three of them are double dippers, freeloading politicians who collect more than one paycheck at taxpayer expense.

Essex County Administrator Oliver, Union County Undersheriff Cryan and Gloucester County Freeholder Sweeney represent politics as usual, a system where public officials take for themselves and serve their masters without a care for the people -- those whom government is made by, for and of.

Democrats need bright and articulate new blood who can challenge the GOP, but power brokers are advancing the same tired old hacks.

We need leaders who do not have a government job or a second elected office, where their self interest creates a conflict that prevents them from honestly representing voters who elected them.

After making dual office holding illegal -- but not doubling up on taxpayer jobs -- the Senate is going to elect a dual office holder as its president and two other job hogs are going to be placed in charge of the Assembly.

The New Jersey Legislature is no longer controlled by the Democratic Party, but by the corrupt power brokers who have displaced good government with greed.

It is time that someone must accept responsibility for this condition, and that is me and you. We elected the people who hold public office, and if the same old crooked insiders run unopposed, it is because too many of us sit on the sidelines without taking action.

Americans are not the kind of people who die quietly without a fight. We did not become a beacon of freedom by lying back while indignities are heaped upon us.

This condition of political apathy is a relatively new thing, inspired in part by miles of broken promises and in part by the destructively negative, scortched earth campaigns waged by many politicians. If you are depressed about not having a job, just think of how you will feel if your children are denied the rights and opportunities you have taken for granted all these years.

The solution is not hard to figure out. Get on the phone right now, assemble your friend and neighbors and hold a discussion about who should be elected to replace the politicians who have disappointed us.

Start with replacements for your council members and mayor then identify potential candidates for county freeholder and state legislator.

As you develop lists, join with like minded citizens who have done the same and approach prospective candidates about taking action and saving our society.

I will be glad to help insurgent citizens who step forward to challenge failed politicians, but win, lose or draw, by offering competition in primary elections you will have succeeded in pushing government back in the right direction.

Participation is a vital part of democracy. It is up to you to show up and make yourself matter.

Mainstream Media Play Stupid While Health Care Bullies Sway Opinion

by Tim Fleming

If ever any intelligent, objective citizen needed proof that the American media is a bunch of impotent, corporatized, weak-kneed shills--emasculated by and terrified of the right wing--you need only watch the nightly news or read your local paper.

Day after day, mobs of phony anti-health reform vigilantes threaten others at town hall meetings, yet the TV networks, the Associated Press, and major dailies report this as legitimate news (perhaps because Pfizer, Merck and Eli Lilly sponsor some of these "news" reports?).

A serious journalistic investigation, even a half-hearted one, would reveal that most of these "protestors" are paid by the health insurance corporations or their lobbyists.

The rest are mindless neanderthals, propagandized by Rush Limbaugh and the usual gang of fascists. But Brian Williams, Katie Couric, and Charlie Gibson don't see it that way. To them, the hostile mobs are just average Americans exercising their constitutional right to deprive 46 million people of health care.

What's most galling is that the bullies shout down the pro-reformers with lies about "death panels" and "universal vaccinations" and the end of Medicare, and God knows what else; and the media never challenge these lies.

It would be like Goebbels claiming that Jews are really descended from rats, and the media, instead of dismissing this outrageous prevarication, reports Goebbels' comments (and the psychopaths it unleashes) as legitimate news. (I guess Huey Long was right when he said, "Fascism will come to America, but we will call it democracy. And a corrupt, complacent press will let it happen.")

Meanwhile, polls show that public health care for all, once favored by 80% of Americans, is now dying a slow death. All because a small minority of red-faced extremists and paid propagandists are being facilitated by a brain-dead media.

This is the state of the mainstream media in this country today. Newt Gingrich goes on cable talk shows saying we have the best health care system in the world; Sean Hannity repeats this lie on Fox News. Neither are challenged.

The fact is, the USA's health care system ranks 37th in the world according to the World Health Organization. Dick Armey goes on "Meet The Press" and asserts that having public health care for all would kill thousands of people. It is never revealed that Armey is a paid lobbyist for the health insurance industry.

This is democracy in action; this is your free press at work.

Let's be real. Health insurance corporations have billions of dollars available to flood the free market of ideas with lies and distortions, spread by the politicians, news organizations, and lobbyists it owns.

Profit will always defeat the welfare of the people, when the people are cowed by fear and misinformed by a media that's "for sale." A friend of mine put it this way, "I don't watch the national news any more. You won't find the truth there."

Tim Fleming is a retired English professor and author of the recently published novel, Murder Of An American Nazi, which may be purchased at barnesandnoble.com or amazon.com.

Where are the revolutionaries?

Christie Todd Christie's leading fundraiser has been receiving a paycheck from New Jersey taxpayers for one of the countless no-show jobs that keep political insiders enrolled in the Public Employees Retirement System (PERS).

Christie's advisor, John P. Inglesino, was given a job state Senator Joe Pennachio who, received $2,300 from Inglesino during his failed run for U.S. Senate in 2008.

During Christie's outrageous interview with the NJ 101.5 'Jersey Guys,' he repeatedly lied about the scandal to protect himself and the hundreds of out-of-touch politicians who commonly add friends, donors, and political cronies to a payroll and pension structure that is crushing taxpayers.

The controversial practice of putting associates on the public payroll was a well-known way to cheat taxpaying constituents by allowing those with political connections to rack up credits in the state's troubled pension fund without working.

Taxpayers provide these political insiders lifetime health benefits as well as the opportunity to really cash in, because payouts are calculated by only the average of the total wages collected earned during three years with the greatest salaries.

If you get in the system holding a $3,000 no-show job for 25 years, then get yourself appointed to a $130,000 post for three years, your retirement pay is the same as if you worked full time for those 28 years.

The pension racket is a brazen abuse of the voters, the taxpayers, the people all elected officials pledged to serve. It is wrong,

According to Christie, Inglesino did nothing wrong because "that's the rules the way they are now;" but we must not confuse 'legal' with 'wrong ' because the time has come to change.

The simple fact is, lawmakers alter the rules to suit themselves. It's not illegal to rob the taxpayers because they who do it wrote the laws to make their practices legitimate.

Wrong is wrong whether protected by statute or not. If the law set the age of consent at nine, then sex with a ten-year-old would be legal although it would still be wrong.

A law can change what's legal, but morality and justice are inflexible about some things.
Instead of expressing outrage at his friends who got caught with their hands in the cookie jar,

Christie's reaction was to explain away the details and minimize the offense.
I doubt Christie would make a serious difference as governor, and lacking the determination to enact real change I view him as 'unelectable.'

New Jersey does not need a governor in despair over the extent of corruption in the state or one who cannot tell the difference between legal and right.

If you are not outraged by the abuses pulled off every day by political insiders, then you have not been paying attention.

Jon Corzine and Christie Todd Christie both represent the status quo in a state that is in desperate need of sweeping reform. New Jersey is known as the ‘Crossroads of the Revolution,” which sort of begs the question: Where are the revolutionaries?

Decontaminate Polluted Politics

New Jersey's political structure currently discourages opposition by allowing unfair advantages to candidates with great personal wealth or the support of special interests.

New Jersey experimented with public financing for legislative races through a limited "Fair & Clean Elections" test in 2005 and 2007, but that effort was scrapped this year.

Although the state has public financing for gubernatorial elections in both the primary and general elections, no Democrat emerged to mount a serious challenge to Gov. Jon Corzine, despite his vast lack of popularity and the troubled economy.

Indeed, when Corzine was a US Senator he announced that he would seek nomination for governor before the incumbent declared his intentions. Gov. Richard Codey, who became extremely popular after he ascended to the office when James McGreevey resigned, decided not to run. This is an example of economic power as brute force.

Likewise, New York City voters twice adopted laws imposing term limits, but Mayor Mike Bloomberg got City Council to permit him to seek a third term. His likely Democratic challenger is given long odds (and virtually no media attention) despite the fact that, quite literally, Bloomberg should not be in the race.

It is beyond reason to believe that Bloomberg's wealth has not influenced the situation. Monopolies and collusion undermine the prospect of benefits from Capitalism and a grossly disproportionate advantage with money has a similarly destructive impact on democracy.

Term limits have not been a problem for the presidency or New Jersey's governors. A constitutional limit on the number of consecutive terms would help keep democracy alive much as the heart maintains blood flow through the body. Unfortunately, this necessary provision is not enough.

Democracy, like Capitalism, requires competition and it is within our ability to assure such competition in an even more realistic way.

Most attempts to assure a balance have focused on restricting contributions or campaign spending. That is not what is needed. The courts have almost always ruled that such restrictions are unconstitutional obstructions to free speech.

Political competition requires a floor, not a ceiling. Instead of trying to limit what one can do, government may empower all electoral contenders to exercise their free speech in an effective manner. It is the absence of such ability that makes winning difficult.

The capacity to effectively distribute messages is dependent upon having access to the intended recipients. The government should provide free to each candidate who submits petitions a database of voters with mailing address, telephone number, email address, party affiliation, age, and record of participation in all elections held in the last ten years.

By responding to a mailed notice of upcoming elections (sample ballot) or by indicating a preference at the time of registration, or by selection at the polling places, voters themselves may be frequently afforded the opportunity to define contact preferences among direct mail, telephone, email and SMS.

The Internet was developed by government for the benefit of the public. It belongs to the people. Net neutrality should be required, but that is not enough. Each bona fide candidate for public office should be enabled to distribute information about his or her candidacy to voters without impediments created by ISP providers or the law.

If John Q. Public wants to ignore political messages, he is free to do so. AOL should not be allowed to prevent him from getting the opportunity to make that determination.

Every candidate should be allocated television and radio broadcasting time. The airwaves belong to the public and the ability for some of us to use a small piece of them is a fair price for any broadcaster to pay for what they currently get for free.

Likewise, telephone, cable and satellite systems would not exist without the consent of government agencies. Therefore it is entirely reasonable to require such companies to permit candidates to use their services without charge.

As it turns out, the most efficient organization for widespread general mail delivery is also owned by the government. The US Postal Service has a method of low cost bulk mail entry for non-profit organizations. It would not be an undue burden to allow candidates to send mail to voters for free.

Every candidate could also be given a sum of money with which to wage a campaign without resorting to begging special interests that will expect future paybacks. The government belongs to the people and it is appropriate that we use its resources to assure the selection of officials who are beholden to the public and nobody else.

The appropriation of sufficient funds to wage a campaign would be a radically reduced amount if candidates did not need to pay for broadcasting ads, postage or phone service. It would be necessary to only subsidize production, printing, and shoe leather.

Qualification for public financing should be made dependent upon the collection of small contributions from a reasonable number of voters within a jurisdiction and an agreement not to use personal funds or money from outside interests.

That is almost everything, so let’s review the changes that would help Americans preserve democracy as we have discussed them so far:

• Constitutionally-imposed term limits
• A list of voters with contact information based on recipient choices
• Freedom from ISP interference or other impediments
• Free use of public resources: airtime, postage and phone service
• Public campaign financing for those who qualify

As a final note, voters should have an opportunity to choose "none of the above" for every elected office. If we are going to empower politicians to communicate with us, we may as well inspire them to raise the level of debate.

Christie Todd Christie's bobbing & weaving

Ask someone about Christie Todd Christie's position on any issue and you are likely to come up with a dumb answer, because until this point we have yet to hear where the former Bush-appointee stands. His campaign has sought to elude specifics by ducking debates and using many words to say very little about substance.

That is why it is perplexing to hear that Christie would be a worthy challenger against Corzine after having predicted that Lonegan will emerge as the GOP nominee. I do not agree with Lonegan on a long list of issues, but I can at least respect his integrity and determination.

Christie bores me to sleep. Corrupt and incompetent Gov. Jon Corzine will easily defeat the liberal Republican because New Jerseyans will not get excited over nothing.

Here are seven issues that are guaranteed to sink Christie's general election campaign:

1. He bought a job in the Bush administration by raising $500,000 for the 2000 Republican presidential campaign, including a good deal of that from within his own family.

2. He gave former Attorney General John Ashcroft a no-bid monitoring contract worth $25 to $50 million.

3. He gave another no-bid monitoring contract worth $10 million to a law firm whose partners then returned the favor by giving his campaign $25,000 in donations and raising thousands more from clients and other contacts.

4. He gave yet another no-bid monitoring contract worth $5 million to the former federal prosecutor in New York who decided not to indict Christie's brother Todd, although it seems Todd Christie (that is his real name) did exactly the same or worse as the 14 people who were indicted for the kind of stock market manipulation, which caused the current national economic crisis.

5. He gave a woman involved with trafficking 14-year-old girls for prostitution a plea bargain that resulted in five years probation.

6. He broke all sorts of rules to get his name off a list of US Attorneys targeted for firing by the Bush administration because they did not give Republicans a partisan advantage by persecuting Democrats; and his name dropped off the list when he made a particularly public probe of US Sen. Bob Menendez during his 2006 campaign, even though no charges resulted from that media-rich investigation.

7. Christie is named in a federal tort claim lawsuit charging that as US Attorney, he used his federal power to coerce a party to a civil lawsuit in which the plaintiff had previously been represented by Christie in his private practice.



Of course, I can call him "Christie Todd Christie" because he represents the same liberal wing of the Republican Party that has been exterminated in much of the United States and as conservative Star-Ledger columnist Paul Mulshine said, he stands "a little to the right of Corzine" in much the same manner as ever-popular ex-Gov. Christie Todd Whitman.

Christie's bobbing & weaving seems to make sense, because if Republicans think about their primary election choices, his sinking will take place a few months earlier than New Jersey's political establishment has planned.