Garden State Patriot

Back in August, when town hall meetings were at a fever pitch, I attended three of Rothman’s ‘listening sessions.’ While Rothman deserved credit for taking the heat at that time, it was evident that he had no intention of ever changing his mind and voting the will of his constituents despite his rhetoric to the contrary. I said as much here.

Among the many things Rothman said at the time was that he would not vote for a bill that rationed care, included abortion or covered illegal immigrants. Mark Kalinowski of the North Jersey Tea Party Group details this in his Facebook post today:

At his August 10th town hall meeting in North Arlington, Democratic Congressman Steve Rothman told the citizens assembled that he would not vote for any bill that would lead to rationing of medical care. (Video of him saying so is located on YouTube here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VradLPeiynQ) Last night, bill HR 3962 came up for vote. One of the core purposes of this bill — the remarks of the ignorant and the power-hungry notwithstanding — is to have the federal government take over medical care. Whenever this anti-free market approach has been tried by other governments around the world, it has always led to rationing. In fact, the people who wrote this bill understand this, because they removed the following sentence outlawing rationing from a similar bill (HR 3200) weeks ago: “In developing such recommendations, the Committee shall take into account innovation in health care and ensure that essential benefits coverage does not lead to rationing of health care.” (This language was not added back into HR 3962.) Unfortunately, there are a lot of horrible politicians out there, and firmly among them is the thoroughly dishonest Steve Rothman. Voters in his district have just found out in a most spectacular, obvious way that Rothman’s word is no good. (Politicians like Rothman who are so willing to lie to themselves should never be trusted.) For the harm Rothman has caused to our country and our Constitution, for his willingness to violate our unalienable moral rights (such as our right to refrain from paying for other people’s health insurance), and for his stunning betrayal of his constituents, Rothman must be voted out of office in 2010.

Note #1: The source for the quote of the June draft of HR 3200 comes from: http://theblogprof.blogspot.com/2009/11/change-prohibition-against-rationing.html

Note #2: I predicted Rothman’s would go back on his word; for example see this from the August 16th Bergen County Record: http://www.northjersey.com/news/opinions/letters/The_debate_on_health_care_reform.html?c=y&page=3

Note #3: The final roll call for the November 7, 2009 vote on HR 3200 can be found here: http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2009/roll887.xml. If your congressman or congresswoman voted for this move toward socialized medicine, let’s vote him or her out of office too!

Mark is correct. With yesterday’s vote, Rothman has now gone on record as holding his constituent’s in contempt as well as going back on his word. Like every other representative in Congress who voted for government-run healthcare, he has also violated the oath he took to uphold the constitution. 

Mr. Rothman is no longer worthy of the office he currently holds. As a resident in his district, I will personally do everything in my power to make sure that the vote he cast last night is one of his last. And I’m sure I will not be alone in that endeavor.

Cross-posted at Red County and Conservatives with Attitude!

Following the rally and meeting with some of our representatives, Steve Lonegan gave his take on the day’s events. 

And here some more video of the rally from AFP.

Cross-posted at Conservatives with Attitude!

Yesterday, scores of New Jersey patriots – and patriots from all over the country – descended on the Capitol in Washington, D.C. Our message was clear: KILL THIS BILL!

We were greeted by several terrific addresses from Congressional Representatives like Michelle Bachmann, Mike Pence and Scott Garrett. Mark Levin, Jon Voigt and our own Steve Lonegan also joined the chorus of speakers.

Afterwards, our delegation fanned out - some meeting with Congressman Garrett and others with Reps. Rothman and Adler.

Here is the first of my videos from the rally. Unfortunately, I was much too far away to capture all the speakers but this will give you a sense of the size of the crowd and you can hear all the speeches in their entirety. I will upload more later (as it’s been a bit time-consuming!). So please look for more shortly.

And at the end of the day, a rainbow formed over the Capitol! A sign of good fortune? We can only hope!

Also, here is an article of interest on yesterday’s protest focusing on Steve Rothman.

Cross-posted at Conservatives with Attitude!

Well, after 10 town hall meetings in August, I think it’s safe to say the verdict is in: Steve Rothman didn’t listen.

Rothman appeared on Lou Dobbs Tonight, along with our favorite Congressman Scott Garrett, on September 10th to debate healthcare – and among other things, had this to say:

REP. STEVE ROTHMAN (D), NEW JERSEY: Well I think my colleague, Scott Garrett and I, the Democrats and Republicans in general in the House agree on about 80 percent of what’s already in H.R. 3200. I did 10 town haul(sp) meetings over the summer and we learned a lot about what language needs to be tightened up, what things concern people and those suggestions are going to be incorporated in the bill, but basically if you have insurance, we’re going to make sure it’s more affordable, bend the cost curve…

Honestly, I don’t know how Rothman could make the case that Republicans agree with 80% of what’s in the bill. But more importantly, the fact that he thinks the message from the town hall meetings was simply to ‘tighten up the language’ and ‘incorporate our concerns’ is insulting to everyone who went to those meetings to protest the Democrat’s proposal. The message of those meetings was clear as could be: We do not want this. Go back to Washington and start over!

Unfortunately, like Dear Leader, Rothman doesn’t really care what the American people had to say to him. After all, they think they know best.

The video of the segment can be seen here. The transcript here.

You may recall back in June, I wrote two posts on the silly ‘Cash for Clunkers’ program spurred on by Congressman Rothman. In my initial post I questioned just how the program would be paid for – and in my second post the Heritage Foundation affirmed my concern, indicating that only $1B of the necessary $4B needed for the program was set aside.

Well, apparently Heritage’s prediction has become reality. According to the AP, the ‘Cash for Clunkers’ program is being forced to a grinding halt because of a lack of funds.

WASHINGTON (AP) – Congressional officials say the government plans to suspend the popular “cash for clunkers” program amid concerns it could quickly use up the $1 billion in rebates for new car purchases. The Transportation Department called congressional offices late Thursday to alert them to the decision to halt the program, which offered owners of old cars and trucks $3,500 or $4,500 toward a new, more fuel-efficient vehicle.

The congressional officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.Through late Wednesday, 22,782 vehicles had been purchased through the program and nearly $96 million had been spent. But dealers raised concerns of large backlogs in the system, prompting the suspension. 

Further Entangles Government in Market: The program has already spent $150 million and has another $800 million to $850 million in obligations. What that means is that the nation’s auto dealers have already paid car buyers almost a billion dollars but are still waiting for their cash from the federal government. The USA Today reports: “Carmakers and dealers have booked expensive advertising to capitalize on buyers’ interest in CARS, and now will be left promoting a tie-in with a discontinued government program — one that wasn’t supposed to end until Nov. 1. “Disappointed,” said Chrysler spokesman Scott Brown. “It’s too late to recall the ads,” says Beau Boeckmann of Galpin Ford, the nation’s largest Ford dealer, in Los Angeles. “We had increased our ad budget to get the word out. We are very heavy on radio, newspaper and getting direct mail together,” Boeckmann says. “Now what do you tell people when they walk in” for a clunker deal? “It’s tough.”

Honestly, this is just comical. All these auto dealers thought they had a great thing going, spent money to advertise and now the program has been halted (in fact, I just heard an ad on the radio a minute ago). On top of that they don’t yet have the money from the government to pay people their “Cash for Clunkers” refunds.

And these are the people who we should empower to run our healthcare? Egads! 

Want to see where your tax dollars are going to waste in Bergen and other parts of the 9th Congressional District?

Then click here.

Thanks to Congressman Rothman we can see where the so-called stimulus money is going right on Google maps. How exciting.

Perhaps then you can tell me how spending on the projects listed actually creates jobs. 

Additional links: Rothman,  New Jersey Wreckovery

Last week I posted about the ‘Cash for Clunkers’ bill being supported by Congressman Rothman. Among other things, I wondered just how this would be paid for. Apparently, that thought had merit because the bill is working its way through Congress with only $1B of the needed $4B needed to fund the program in place. In fact, according to Heritage the program is nothing more than way of bailing out the auto industry (shock!).

After passing in the House, the stage is now set for a Senate vote to pass the “Cash for Clunkers” bill that would offer up to $4,500 to trade in a used vehicle for a new one. Although the idea sounds good on paper, we’ve outlined a number of problems with the bill: Consumers typically replace clunkers with slightly newer clunkers or used cars, the program would distort the used car market by reducing the supply of used cars at a time when demand has been increasing, the voucher exceeds charity tax deductions for used cars, the environmental benefits are dubious, and its estimated cost of $4 billion is largely unfunded:

“But the $1 billion set aside for the auto-purchase program is far short of the full cost of such an effort, estimated at $4 billion. The $1 billion is expected to fund the program through Sept. 30, the end of this fiscal year, according to two congressional sources close to the negotiations who asked to remain anonymous.

This week, Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Lansing, who sponsored the Senate version of “cash for clunkers” legislation, said she was comfortable with winning approval for money to start the program, with the idea that additional funding could be approved later.”

So, what else is new? Another bill to pay off special interests without the money there to pay for it. And ironically, the bill would actually undermine the very same fuel efficiency standards liberals also love.

I think we can see where this clunker of a bill is headed. Maybe this will capture it for you:

Cross-posted at Conservatives with Attitude!

Well, it seems Congressman Steve Rothman is doing his best to boost the sales of Government Motors. The latest little gimmick is a bill called ‘Cash for Clunkers.’ The bill gives vouchers of up to $4500 to people who trade in their gas-guzzlers for more fuel efficient vehicles.

Congressman Steve Rothman (D-NJ) voted in favor of the Consumer Assistance to Recycle and Save Act, H.R. 2751, also known as the “cash-for-clunkers” bill. Consumers may trade in their old, gas-guzzling vehicles and receive vouchers worth up to $4,500 to help pay for new, more fuel-efficient cars and trucks. The program will provide for approximately one million new car or truck purchases. The Act passed the U.S. House 298-119. It now must make it through the Senate.

“By supporting new, fuel-efficient car and truck purchases, Congress today passed common sense legislation to spur car sales at a time when auto companies and dealers are suffering in this tough economy,” said Rothman. “At the same time we are providing a boost to our clean energy economy and reducing our dependence on foreign oil. I hope New Jerseyans, who tend to spend a lot of time in their cars, take advantage of this new incentive.”

The cash-for-clunkers plan will run for one year, offering vouchers to people who trade in vehicles with average city/highway fuel economy of less than 18 miles a gallon to buy a more-efficient new car or light truck. The proposed program would offer the maximum $4,500 voucher for people to use to buy a car that gets at least 10 more mpg or a truck that is at least five mpg more efficient.

Now, I am by no means on expert on this but a few questions come to mind. Where’s this money coming from? How many people out there are actually driving passenger cars that get less than 18mpg? Even if every eligible car/truck owner turns in their vehicle, how much will this actually do to make us less dependent on foreign oil?

Yes, call me cynical but I have my doubts that this bill would do anything in the way of seriously helping the environment or lessening our dependence on foreign oil.

However, I have a better version of a ‘Cash for Clunkers’ bill that is certainly no gimmick. In my version, it’s quite simple. We immediately force all Democrats to resign their offices and replace them with Republicans who will actually cut our taxes. Now THAT’S a bill that most assuredly is no lemon.

Cross-posted at Red County and Conservatives with Attitude!

Give credit where credit is due. Lord knows I’m not on the same page with Steve Rothman on much of anything. But he has my support in trying to make the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) accountable — and trying to keep relief aid to Palestinians out of the hands of terrorists.

US lawmakers demanded Thursday that the United Nations impose tighter controls on the UN agency that manages aid to the Palestinians to ensure no US funds end up in the pockets of extremists.

“The United Nations should take immediate steps to improve the transparency and accountability of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA),” said Democratic Representative Steve Rothman.

Rothman has written a non-binding resolution urging US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to certify that “no American taxpayer dollars are being directed to terrorists or to further terrorist propaganda” through UNRWA.

The New Jersey lawmaker said that while aides to US President Barack Obama had yet to explicitly support the measure, “they assure me that they share our concerns.”

The resolution calls on UNRWA to improve transparency of its operations by posting on the Internet copies of all educational materials used at agency-administered schools.

“UNRWA schools have been known to, and are still continuing, to include textbooks, videotapes, and other materials which not only slander the state of Israel but also are virulently anti-Semitic,” said Rothman.

The resolution also urges UNRWA to enhance screening procedures, including terrorist name-recognition software, “to ensure that UNRWA staff, volunteers, and beneficiaries are neither terrorists themselves, nor affiliated with known terrorist organizations.”

“These are certainly reasonable recommendations, especially in this time of severe economic crisis in America, when so many of our countrymen and hurting, and the world is suffering and in need of resources, that none of our US taxpayer dollars goes to any terrorist organization,” said Rothman.

Of course, this is just another example of why we shouldn’t be un the U.N. at all. It is a corrupt organization with many members who hate America and hate Israel. Yet, we are the ones who give it the most money to operate.

Cross-posted at Red County.

According to the Bergen Record, Bergen County Democratic Organization Chairman “Goomba” Joe Ferriero announced yesterday that he will resign effective January 22nd.

Bergen County Democratic Organization Chairman Joseph Ferriero announced Friday — after months of pressure from fellow Democrats — that he will resign as the group’s leader, effective Jan. 22.

Ferriero also declared that he was ending his leave of absence immediately to “assure a smooth transition.”

A federal grand jury indicted Ferriero and BCDO counsel Dennis Oury this fall on charges of conspiracy to commit fraud. Ferriero’s trial is set for September.

“I believe that it would adversely affect our party and our candidates if I were to continue to serve as chairman while on trial several weeks before the November election,” he said in a letter. “It is for that reason that I am calling a special county committee meeting for Jan. 22, 2009, to elect a successor.”

The move avoids a fight within the BCDO as they had called on Ferriero to resign by this coming Thursday if he were yet to prove his innocence on charges of charges of conspiracy to commit fraud.

Several prominent Democrats, including Bergen Congressman Steve Rothman, had tried to oust Ferriero. But Rothman didn’t have the muscle to budge the Ferriero machine.

Democrats, of course, are trying at all costs to get the Ferriero monkey off their back with key elections upcoming this November in the state, starting with the Governorship and the State Legislature. The next move will be fore the BCDO to select a new Chairman who will have the task of cleaning up the BCDO’s image – and trying to make Bergen voters forget.

But that will be a tough task. Ferriero’s trial on corruption charges are still scheduled to take place in Septemeber smack dab in the middle of the election season, giving Bergen Republicans a golden opportunity to exploit this issue. The only question is: can they?

NOTE: This post can also be found at redcounty.com