Voting AGAINST the GOP leadership/Trump-backed federal tax cut legislation didn’t spare New Jersey Republicans the wrath of their Governor-elect on Wednesday, Save Jerseyans:
We won’t give a pass to the Republicans who voted “no” but didn’t speak out forcefully or lobby their colleagues. It is New Jersey, and states like us, who are paying for this plan out of our pockets. We won’t have short memories – 2018 is just around the corner. https://t.co/IDvIB0tvhv
— Phil Murphy (@PhilMurphy) December 20, 2017
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One Republican Congressman who voted NAY, Frank LoBiondo (R, NJ-02), tweeted back at Murphy with choice words for the Democrat who promised $1.3 billion in tax hikes during the fall campaign:
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Remember your own words when you keep your promise to RAISE taxes on hard-working New Jersey residents, Mr. Governor-elect. I ALWAYS put #SouthJersey first. Frank https://t.co/hFGjaP1Hp0
— Frank LoBiondo (@FrankLoBiondoNJ) December 20, 2017
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Congressman LoBiondo’s not wrong about that first part.
But will voters be able to tell the difference?
I think there’s a lot of truth behind Monmouth University Pollster Patrick Murray‘s analysis:
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If this tax bill remains as unpopular in November, I don’t think the GOP members who voted against it bought themselves any real cover.
— Patrick Murray (@PollsterPatrick) December 20, 2017
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Benjamin Franklin famously quipped during the American Revolution’s early days, referring to his fellow signatories of the Declaration of Independence, that “[w]e must, indeed, all hang together or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately.”
That’s good advice generally for Republicans, everywhere, who are facing challenging times ahead. It’s no longer LoBo’s problem (he’s retiring in January 2019) but others whose seats are still on the line should take heed.
When the GOP is as divided as it’s been throughout this tax debate? Refusing to stand together notwithstanding the CLEAR benefits to 95% of the U.S. taxpaying population? And rabid partisans like Phil Murphy are determined to defeat Republicans, indiscriminately?
We can’t blame understandably confused voters for assuming the worst, lumping everyone into the same bucket and falling hook, line and sinker for the Left’s narrative.
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