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Category: U.S. House of Representatives

2014 Gets Ugly Early

May. 15 Cory Booker, Election 2014, Essex County, Frank Pallone, Newark, North Jersey 4 comments

Pallone Says Booker Is Withholding Funds For AIDS Patients

By Art Gallagher | MoreMonmouthMusings.com

Frank PalloneCongressman Frank Pallone fired the first salvo of the 2014 Democratic U.S. Senate primary with a “scathing letter” sent to Newark Mayor Cory Booker complaining that the city of Newark is not fulfilling its obligations to the Hyacinth AIDS Foundation, a New Brunswick based non-profit that services patients with HIV/AIDS, according to a report in The Star Ledger.

The Star Ledger received a copy of the letter dated on Friday, May 10, before Booker received the original.

Booker’s staff dismissed the letter they haven’t seen yet, telling the Ledger that Hyacinth’s funding is working its way through the Newark bureaucracy and will be paid out this year earlier than it was last year.

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Smith Condemns Abortion Trial Blackout

Apr. 13 Abortion, Chris Smith, Mainstream Media, U.S. House of Representatives 11 comments

New Jersey GOP Congressman Criticizes “National Media Cover Up” of Philadelphia Abortion Doc Gosnell’s Trial

By Matt Rooney | The Save Jersey Blog

abortion illegalNon-conservatives sometimes get a little frustrated with conservatives for complaining about “media bias.” To be fair, I do think there’s something to be said for the fact that simply whining about how crappy the press can be isn’t an effective electoral strategy. Plenty of radio hosts make a living that way but it’s not helpful.

That doesn’t mean media bias isn’t a very real problem, and some instances of bias, however, are especially egregious. The complete mainstream media blackout surrounding the Dr. Kermit Gosnell trial across the Delaware River is one such instance, Save Jerseyans. The allegations in that trial — “43 criminal counts, including eight counts of murder” — are nightmarishly grizzly and reveal a completely non-sanitized account of abortion that many willfully-blind Americans need to see.

But the media has remained deafeningly silent, leading even a few prominent liberal pundits like Kirstin Powers opine that the trial ”should be front page news.” 

What Kirstin is apparently waking up to is the reality of a hyper-ideological press corps that lives by the doctrine of selective outrage. Reporting the news is a secondary objective for these people. Affecting their desired vision of “change” in society always takes primacy. In this case, abortion doesn’t offend them (most even see it as a sacred natural right). Private gun ownership does offend them (in case you hadn’t heard!). As a result, you can expect to see story after story lamenting isolated, statistically rare gun accidents but nothing in print about the alleged mass murder of infants.

Again, the media’s goal here isn’t to inform you. They’re trying to shape you.

A few politicians are crying foul. Our own Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), a champion of the pro life cause nationally, took to the U.S. House floor this week to take the media to task…

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Lance Demands Ammo Answer

Mar. 25 Janet Napolitano, Leonard Lance, Second Amendment, U.S. House of Representatives 4 comments

North Jersey Congressman Asks Napolitano for Hearing

By Matt Rooney | The Save Jersey Blog

Janet Napolitano Holding GunYou’ve probably heard about the large-scale federal government ammunition purchases in recent months, Save Jerseyans.

Apparently it’s not just another “right wing” conspiracy theory. At least one moderate Republican Congressman is suspicious, or at least thinks his concerned constituents deserve answers. So GOP Rep. Leonard Lance (NJ-07) sent a letter to Sec. Janet Napolitano of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) last week requesting a formal congressional briefing.

“I believe this briefing will provide DHS with an opportunity to educate members of Congress and their staff on the Department’s procedures and protocols for its procurement of ammunition and to dispel any potential misinformation currently in the public domain.”

Click here to read a pdf of Lance’s letter.

Ethics Committee Moves Forward

Mar. 19 Ethics, Rob Andrews, U.S. House of Representatives 2 comments

House Announces Plan to Establish Investigative Subcommittee to Probe Andrews Campaign Expenditures

By Matt Rooney | The Save Jersey Blog

Rob AndrewsOver six months after announcing that it needed more time to probe the matter, the House Ethics Committee announced on Tuesday afternoon that it would launch a full investigation into whether Rep. Rob Andrews (D-NJ01) used campaign funds for personal expenses.

Here’s the release:

In accordance with House Rule XI, clause 3, and Committee Rules 10(a)(2) and 18, the Committee on Ethics (Committee) unanimously voted on February 26, 2013, to establish an Investigative Subcommittee. Pursuant to the Committee’s action, the Investigative Subcommittee shall have jurisdiction to determine whether Representative Robert Andrews violated the Code of Official Conduct or any law, rule, regulation,

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Mr. Smith Goes to Rome

Mar. 15 Catholicism, Chris Smith, Religion, U.S. House of Representatives 2 comments

Speaker Tasks Smith to Lead Congressional Delegation to Pope Francis Inauguration

By Art Gallagher | MoreMonmouthMusings.com

Chris SmithWASHINGTON, D.C. – Speaker of the House John Boehner has tasked Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04), a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and leader on many international human rights efforts, to lead the bipartisan U.S. congressional delegation to attend the investiture of former Argentine Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio as Pope Francis.

“It is an honor to lead this bipartisan group of House members to this international event,” said Smith, who chairs the House Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights and International Organizations Subcommittee. “The world is a challenging place, in terms of wars and peace, basic human rights and freedoms. The Holy Father has a major role to play in global affairs. I wish him well as he begins his pontificate and am honored to be a part of this historic occasion. The Pope is more than a spiritual leader for the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics, he is an inspiration of holiness and goodness, and above all, the faithful proclamation of the Gospel.”

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Pallone Boxed In By Booker

Mar. 13 Cory Booker, Election 2014, Frank Lautenberg, Frank Pallone, Monmouth County, U.S. Senate 6 comments

FDU Public Mind Poll is Bad News for Frank Pallone and the Politicos Who Want to Replace Him

By Art Gallagher | MoreMonmouthMusings.com

Frank PalloneThe hopes of Middlesex and Monmouth County mayors, freeholders and legislators hoping to move to Washington in early 2015 as the newly elected representative of the 6th Congressional district were set back a bit this morning by a new FDU Public Mind Poll that shows Newark Mayor Cory Booker dominating the Democratic field to replace Senator Frank Lautenberg.

Congressman Frank Pallone has been considered Booker’s main competition for the 2014 Democratic U.S. Senate nomination among the media and political establishment.  However,  12th District Congressman Rush Holt has almost twice the support among self identified Democrats than Pallone does, according the FDU’s survey.

FDU surveyed its respondents cable news viewing habits, polling the trustworthiness of CNN, FoxNews and MSNBC.  Given Holt’s surprising showing, they should have surveyed how many of their respondents are Jeopardy fans.  Holt is famous for being a five time Jeopardy winner and beating IBM’s supercomputer, “Watson,” on the TV trivia game show.

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Shame On YOU, Sir

Feb. 21 Barack Obama, Big Government, sequester, Spending, U.S. House of Representatives, U.S. Senate no comments

Major Party Leaders Fail the American People in Sequester Slap Fight and Obama Sure Isn’t Helping Matters…

By Kristen Luciani | The Save Jersey Blog

Capitol Hill BuildingThe caustic interactions among Capitol Hill Republicans and Democrats are becoming more and more characteristic of a dysfunctional marriage, Save Jerseyans. Even though today it seems to be so easy to walk away from a strained relationship, to just shut down, take your losses and part ways; this is not the reality for our elected officials.

And boy oh boy, do they need counseling!

One of the greatest contributors to a failed relationship is a lack of compromise. What happens to a unit when both parties shut down and stop trying? The system stops working. Communications break down. Both parties dig their heels in, stop listening to one another, and fail to work together as a team. The relationship quickly deteriorates because the key components of a fully functional relationship are entirely missing. This is where we are in Washington, and where we are all across the country, among states and districts and municipalities.

With regard to the sequester, we have distinct units at play against one another. There is a general unwillingness to compromise, to understand each side of the coin, and to come to consensus about how to proceed with the best option for the country.

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Runyan: POTUS Missed Opportunity

Feb. 13 Barack Obama, Jon Runyan, State of the Union no comments

“Now is the time to focus on our debt and deficit”

By Matt Rooney | The Save Jersey Blog

Congressman Jon Runyan (R-N.J.)Congressman Jon Runyan (R-NJ) didn’t like President Obama’s State of the Union address, Save Jerseyans.

He released this statement last night not long after POTUS and Marco Rubio wrapped up their respective remarks:

Tonight, President Barack Obama had a great opportunity to unify Americans around a plan to address the biggest fiscal challenges facing the United States of America. Unfortunately, the President continued to focus on increasing taxes and spending while ignoring the nation’s debt and deficit crisis. Let us not forget that just last month the House and Senate passed a compromise piece of legislation, which the President strongly advocated for publically, to avert the fiscal cliff by increasing revenue. Now is the time to focus on our debt and deficit and get the federal government’s spending problem under control, which is the only way to grow our struggling economy and get America back to work.”