No News Corp Is Good News Corp

10.25.10: No News Corp Is Good News Corp

As many people in New Jersey know, the Fox channel has been off the air in many homes because its parent company News Corp. and Cablevision have not been able to agree on payment issues. That has voters turning to elected officials and candidates to see what they are doing to make Fox available.

Scott Sipprelle originally misheard what the problem is and thought that it was "lox" that was unavailable. He immediately held a press conference in East Brunswick condemning Rush Holt and his liberal policies for impeding small businesses from providing a sufficient supply of smoked salmon.

Gov. Chris Christie went right to the microphones blaming President Obama and Washington bureaucrats for impeding the airing of Fox. When Christie was then told that it’s a dispute between two private companies, he quickly hired Bret Schundler as a telecommunications czar and then immediately fired him.

Aides to Senate President Steve Sweeney indicated that it wasn’t a top priority for him, considering that Sweeney’s television programs are preselected by Chris Christie. “One of Christie’s people comes over to my house on the weekends and sets up my DVR for the whole week,” Sweeney said. “It’s so nice not having to make decisions about what to watch.”

Senator Michael Doherty quickly became the public face of the TEA Party movement, otherwise known as the Television Enough Already group. “None of the Founding Fathers ever watched television,” Doherty said while encouraging people to instead read the Federalist Papers at night by candlelight.

Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno came out with the following statement: “Hi, I’m Kim Guadagno and I’m the Lieutenant Governor of New Jersey.”

Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver was originally on Cablevision’s side, but then she found out that Joe DiVincenzo likes watching reruns of “The Office” in the evening so she switched her position to backing Fox.

Anna Little indicated that Fox would have been able to pay the higher fees that Cablevision wants if “Fox didn’t have to pay for the exorbitant medical bills for its employees that Obamacare mandates thanks to Frank Pallone.”

Here’s hoping we can get this problem resolved quickly before the NJEA starts to get blamed.

The Republican Senate Turnstile turns on Dick Zimmer

The last time we saw Dick Zimmer, he was conceding defeat to Congressman Rush Holt in 2000 in what was a mirror image of the Gore-Bush race. Unlike the national presidential race, the local congressional race turned out better for the district and the Democrats.

So, after going through Senate candidates like bloggers go through cliches, the Republicans finally landed on Zimmer.

What's left of the Gang of Six----is Doherty-Estabrook-Sabrin-Unanue-Crowley-Pennacchio, the Sabrin and -Pennacchio campaigns are the only ones left to deal with the mess.

The Republicans have turned to two-time loser, Dick Zimmer. Once unbeatable, Zimmer first fell to Robert Torricelli in 1996 in the Senate race and then to Rush Holt in the 2000 squeaker. Since then, Zimmer has worked as a lobbyist. He was hired by the Hunterdon County Freeholders for thousands and thousands of tax dollars to try to defeat the legislation that created the Highlands. Yupper, he's gonna work out just fine.

Once considered unbeatable, the last time Zimmer won a race in 1994. If you’re voting for the first time, then the last time Zimmer won a race you were four years old.

He is not as well known state-wide as the Republicans think he is.

If he is the best the Republicans have, let’s get on with it.

We Miss Rush Holt

If you’re like me in Central Jersey, and you used to have Congressman Rush Holt representing your interests in D.C., you miss him.

Once again, Rep. Holt proved his mettle by standing up to the president on the issue of illegal wire-tapping of American citizens. It’s good to have someone who is able to teach Bush Jr. about the constitution.

Holt, courageously said:

"There has been a fundamental shift under the Protect America Act in the relationship between the people of this country and their government. It is whether or not the government regards the ordinary American with suspicion first…Think about it. The reason this country and our liberty have survived so well is because the government understands they are subservient to the people."

The Protect America Act just recently passed the Senate by a 68-29 margin. In the past, Obama and Clinton both voted against the Act.

Ironic, though, that the “law and order” Republicans have no problem giving “retroactive immunity” to those telecommunications companies who broke the law and allowed phone conversations of law-abiding Americans to be listened to. Go figure.

The Protect America Act [recently passing the Senate] allows the government to monitor “foreign-to-American” phone calls without obtaining a warrant. So, all those customer service phone calls to gas companies and electric companies that are outsourced to call centers in India---can all be listened in to by the NSA.

Good going, Rush. Keep up the great work. You and the New Jersey Giants rule.

Mensch of the Week and Putz of the Week -January 19th 2008

I waited this week until Sunday to award the weekly Mensch and Putz of the week here at NJPoliticsUnusual, because I was live blogging from the 2008 GOP Presidential Candidate Debate and Straw Poll. This event organized by our very conservative friends over at Conservatives With An Attitude, and Michael Illions.

There was a healthy turn out of about 200 plus paleo-cons, neo-cons, Ron-cons, and one tie-dyed libertarian hippie. I did get to speak with many before the festivities began. There were some true-believers and many situational conservatives.

However, these were not Republicans that followed the Eleventh Commandment as stated by Reagan: “Thou shalt not speak ill of any fellow Republican.”

There was booing and hissing a plenty on several fronts.

Bill Spadea, speaking on behalf of Mayor Rudy, was booed for articulating Giuliani's stand on undocumented aliens and his support for a path to citizenship. Not to be out done, the room filled with mostly Ron Paul supporters, also jeered their own candidate’s rep ----libertarian Murray Sabrin ---for articulating so well that Rep. Paul does not support the Iraq War.

More on Sabrin: In an answer to a question on whether or not we should stay in the United Nations, Sabrin said [and I admit to paraphrasing, but this is the substance of what he said]

"Ron Paul supports withdrawing from the UN, and making them condos on the east river. That will handle the homeless problem in NYC.”

It was told as a joke, and thereby illustrates the difference in the core values between the Republicans and the Democrats.

And, so, for making light of the housing and homeless problem in New York, Murray Sabrin is our Putz of the Week.

Rush Holt has been trying for years to pass his Bill, H.R. 811 ---H.R. 811: The Voter Confidence & Increased Accessibility Act.

Recently, Rep. Holt has introduced the “Emergency Assistance for Secure Elections Act of 2008. This act will help election authorities using e-voting to convert to paper ballots, offer emergency paper ballots or convert audits by hand counts. For 2008, this will make sure that every vote is counted, that every election result is verifiable.

According to an AP story:

The bill would provide incentives for states to provide verified, audited balloting for the general election, but would not mandate standards for all states.

Voters in all or parts of 20 states, including New Jersey, now cast ballots electronically without backup paper verification, said New Jersey Rep. Rush Holt, who has sponsored the bill in the House.

"Millions of Americans will be voting on unreliable electronic machines without paper ballots. There will be questions that cannot be resolved because there is no way of determining a voter's intention. All you have is an electronic memory," said Holt, a Democrat.

Holt said he crafted the emergency bill because the House has not approved his earlier measure that mandated the use of backup paper ballots and audits in time for the presidential election.

For his ongoing efforts to ensure accountability in the election process, and especially his efforts this week, Rush Holt is the Mensch of the Week here at NJPoliticsUnusual.com.

Rush Holt in New Jersey

Until Linda Stender becomes my representative in Congress in January 2009, we still have Mike Ferguson. So, I live vicariously through those in the 12th who are represented by Rep. Rush Holt. It was not too long ago that Congressman Holt represented Flemington. And he represents towns not too far from Flemington in Hunterdon.

So, I keep a close eye on what he does, and always appreciate his leadership in Congress:
From "Freepage News":

Early next year, Rep. Rush Holt, D-N.J., will introduce the "Confidence in Voting Act of 2008," which would provide $500 million to counties and other election jurisdictions to replace controversial paperless electronic voting systems before the 2008 presidential election. The bill envisions voters using paper ballots that are marked by hand, or ballots that are printed on Election Day after voters use a computer to make their choices. An electronic scanner, like a standardized test, would then tally the ballots.

The bill also provides $100 million for audits, where 3 percent of all paper ballots -- including absentee and early voting -- would be hand-counted to verify the electronic count before winners would be certified. Those audits would be public, according to the New Jersey congressman.

The bill also would pay for printing "emergency" paper ballots to be used as backup if there were a "failure" of paperless voting systems, although it does not state what constitutes an emergency or a failure.

"The overall goal is to have audited elections based on voter-verified paper ballots throughout the country," Holt said. "Audits must be completed and discrepancies resolved before certification of the winner. You could publish the results on Election Night, but they would not be final."

The proposal by Holt comes against a backdrop of congressional gridlock on voting technology issues and studies by top election officials in key states, notably California and Ohio, which have documented security and accuracy problems with all-electronic voting systems. In some states, election administrators have wanted to update voting systems before 2008's presidential vote but have lacked the necessary funds.

"What we do is offer reimbursement for anyone who opts in," Holt said, stressing the proposal's optional nature. "There is time to do this by November."

The real election in New Jersey is just 783 Days away.

The November 2007 election is a mere 55 days away. However, the simultaneous election campaign in New Jersey is for the Presidential primary on February 5th, 2008 is a mere 146 days away.

And, of course, the grand daddy of them all ---the 2008 presidential election is on November 4th, 2008 and that’s 419 days away.

However, lurking waaay behind the scenes is the real biggie in New Jersey --- the 2009 election for Governor.

And that’s a mere 783 Days or 18793 hours. Or 1127626 minutes away.

It will be here before Bush can learn how to pronounce ‘nuclear’.

Why is that soooo big? Because it’s unprecedented.

It will be the first time New Jersey will be electing a Lt. Governor. Kind of changes the whole shebang, one might think.

Hence, who is on the short list for Lt. Governor to run with Governor Jon Corzine?

Well, the ticket will need some ‘balance’, perhaps. Someone to reflect the rich diversity of New Jersey’s political landscape. Someone with leadership skills and executive experience, possibly.

Indeed, that would put Newark Mayor Cory Booker on the top of the list.

But wait, New Jersey ranks somewhere in the low thirties for the top states with women in state legislatures.

So, maybe Barbara Buono or Susan Bass Levin might be on the ticket. Buono has been a loyal Senator and a good Democrat. Levin has been an executive (Mayor of Cherry Hill), the Commissioner of the DCA, and a solid fund-raiser for the Democrats.

Also, Assemblywoman Bonnie Watson-Coleman might be on the list ---she was the Democratic State Chair, and is the Majority Leader in the Assembly. Assemblywoman Nellie Pou, the powerful chair of Appropriations Committee could be considered, too.

Other possibilities might include Mayor Jun Choi of Edison, who has powerful standing in two important constituencies the Democrats need for victory: the Asian community and the progressive community. And he has executive experience as well, being a Mayor.

Another might be Kris Kolluri, Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Transportation. He was named a possible Lt. Governor candidate by PoliticsNJ on their 100 most powerful politicians in New Jersey list earlier this year.

Maybe a Congressman or two might be interested in the number two spot, with an eye toward being elected Governor in 2013. A congressman would not have to give up their seat in Congress to run for Lt. Governor, either. So, Rep. Albio Sires ---the former Speaker of the Assembly might be tapped, or maybe even Congressmen Rush Holt or Rob Andrews.

Anyone we're leaving out? And it's still just 2007.