A better Mercer includes GOP freeholders
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Times of Trenton
In the June 30 article "County GOP hopefuls hit 'frivolous spending,' "the Mercer County Republican freeholder candidates were unfairly attacked as being "anti-patriots" because they op posed the spending of public funds for the June 27 Freedom Festival at Mercer County Park, even though the state and county are struggling with the decreased revenues, bloated payrolls and increased health care and pension obligations.
Republican candidates for freeholder Cindy Randazzo, Joe D'Angelo and Russell Wojtenko Jr. are true patriots. They stand for the basic principles upon which the U.S. was built: individual liberty, limited government, free enterprise, civil political discourse and basic fiscal responsibility.
On their web site, abettermercer.com, the three have outlined real solutions to Mercer County's budget crisis by cutting the county budget by 10 percent, or $30 million.
The county executive and freeholders are spending more than ever. The freeholders just passed the largest budget in Mercer County history -- more than $301 million. That budget has a $43 million deficit. Most important, the freeholders raised our property taxes this year.
-- SHIRLEY GUERIERI, Trenton
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Can Palin ever come back?
Can Palin ever come back?
By Camille Paglia
Jul. 08, 2009 Salon.com
Dear Camille,
Just wondering. Do you still think Sarah Palin is ready for the big stage?
James L. Somers
Good question! And very timely after Palin's shock resignation as governor of Alaska this past Fourth of July weekend. I assume that family priorities -- personal as well as financial -- had become all-consuming. Given her success with finalizing the massive Alaska pipeline project, I think Palin should have stuck it out, but of course she is master of her own fate. What certainly was blameworthy was the chaotic and rushed statement itself. Something so politically consequential needed more careful composition and rehearsal. Why provide more fodder for the vultures and harpies of the Northeastern media?
Unfortunately, it's pretty obvious that Palin still lacks that cadre of trusted pros who are the invisible elves behind every successful national politician -- the assistants who gather and vet material and who filter proposals and plan logistics. In a way, this is part of her virtues -- her complete freedom from routine micromanagement and business as usual. She does her own thing with seat-of-the-pants gusto. It's why she remains hugely popular with the Republican grass-roots base -- as I know from listening to talk radio. Callers coming fresh from her rallies are always heady with infectious enthusiasm.
Of course you'd never know that from reading hit jobs like Todd Purdum's sepulchral piece on Palin in the current Vanity Fair. Scurrying around Alaska with his notepad, Purdum still managed to find comically little to indict her with. Anyone with a gripe is given the floor; fans are shut out. This exercise in faux objectivity is exposed at key points such as Purdum's failure to identify the actual instigator of Palin's extravagant clothing bills (a crazed, credit-card-abusing stylist appointed by the McCain campaign) and his prissy characterization of Palin's performance at the vice-presidential debate as merely "adequate." Hey, wake up -- Palin cleaned Biden's clock! By the end, Biden was sighing and itching to split.
Whether Palin has a national future or not will depend on her willingness to hit the books at some point and absorb more information about international history and politics than she has needed to know in her role as governor. She also needs a shrewder, cooler take on the mainstream media, with its preening bullies, cackling witches, twisted cynics and pompous windbags. The Northeastern media establishment is in decline, and everyone knows it. Palin should not have gotten into a slanging match with David Letterman or anyone else who has been obsessively defaming her or her family. Let surrogates do that stuff.
The vicious double standard is pretty obvious. Only the tabloids, for example, ran the photos of a piss-drunk Chelsea Clinton, panties exposed, falling into her car outside London clubs a few years ago. If Chelsea had been the scion of Republican bigwigs, those tacky scenes would have been trumpeted from pillar to post in the U.S. as signals of parental failures or turmoil in clan Clinton. As a Democrat, I detest the partisan machinations that have become standard in Northeastern news management and that are detectable in editorial decisions at major metropolitan newspapers nationwide. It's why I, like a host of others, have shifted my news gathering to the Web.
By Camille Paglia
Jul. 08, 2009 Salon.com
Dear Camille,
Just wondering. Do you still think Sarah Palin is ready for the big stage?
James L. Somers
Good question! And very timely after Palin's shock resignation as governor of Alaska this past Fourth of July weekend. I assume that family priorities -- personal as well as financial -- had become all-consuming. Given her success with finalizing the massive Alaska pipeline project, I think Palin should have stuck it out, but of course she is master of her own fate. What certainly was blameworthy was the chaotic and rushed statement itself. Something so politically consequential needed more careful composition and rehearsal. Why provide more fodder for the vultures and harpies of the Northeastern media?
Unfortunately, it's pretty obvious that Palin still lacks that cadre of trusted pros who are the invisible elves behind every successful national politician -- the assistants who gather and vet material and who filter proposals and plan logistics. In a way, this is part of her virtues -- her complete freedom from routine micromanagement and business as usual. She does her own thing with seat-of-the-pants gusto. It's why she remains hugely popular with the Republican grass-roots base -- as I know from listening to talk radio. Callers coming fresh from her rallies are always heady with infectious enthusiasm.
Of course you'd never know that from reading hit jobs like Todd Purdum's sepulchral piece on Palin in the current Vanity Fair. Scurrying around Alaska with his notepad, Purdum still managed to find comically little to indict her with. Anyone with a gripe is given the floor; fans are shut out. This exercise in faux objectivity is exposed at key points such as Purdum's failure to identify the actual instigator of Palin's extravagant clothing bills (a crazed, credit-card-abusing stylist appointed by the McCain campaign) and his prissy characterization of Palin's performance at the vice-presidential debate as merely "adequate." Hey, wake up -- Palin cleaned Biden's clock! By the end, Biden was sighing and itching to split.
Whether Palin has a national future or not will depend on her willingness to hit the books at some point and absorb more information about international history and politics than she has needed to know in her role as governor. She also needs a shrewder, cooler take on the mainstream media, with its preening bullies, cackling witches, twisted cynics and pompous windbags. The Northeastern media establishment is in decline, and everyone knows it. Palin should not have gotten into a slanging match with David Letterman or anyone else who has been obsessively defaming her or her family. Let surrogates do that stuff.
The vicious double standard is pretty obvious. Only the tabloids, for example, ran the photos of a piss-drunk Chelsea Clinton, panties exposed, falling into her car outside London clubs a few years ago. If Chelsea had been the scion of Republican bigwigs, those tacky scenes would have been trumpeted from pillar to post in the U.S. as signals of parental failures or turmoil in clan Clinton. As a Democrat, I detest the partisan machinations that have become standard in Northeastern news management and that are detectable in editorial decisions at major metropolitan newspapers nationwide. It's why I, like a host of others, have shifted my news gathering to the Web.
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Friday, July 3, 2009
Palin announces resignation
Palin announces resignation
By: Jonathan Martin politico.com
July 3, 2009 03:04 PM EST
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin announced Friday that she was resigning her office later this month, a stunning decision that could free her to run for president more easily but also raises questions about her political standing at home.
Palin disclosed the surprise news Friday afternoon from her home in Wasilla with her husband, Todd, and Lt. Governor Sean Parnell, who the governor said would take over the state on Saturday, July 25th.
By not running for re-election, Palin liberates herself from the political constraints that come with running for president while still in elected office.
Leaving office at the end of the month, the former vice presidential hopeful will be able to travel the country more freely without facing the sort of repeated ethics inquiries she’s been fending off since returning to Alaska earlier this year.
In making her announcement, Palin spoke directly to those inquiries, saying she wouldn’t stand by as taxpayer money was spent to investigate her.
Palin has been dogged by a series of ethical complaints, many of which her allies consider as frivolous, and has had to set up a legal defense fund to pay her bills.
Just this week, the Anchorage Daily News reported that these complaints against her administration had reached almost $300,000, much of that sum owing to the so-called “Troopergate” probe of Palin.
Beyond ethical questions, Palin has continued to face other difficulties since her return to Alaska.
Legislators of both parties have complained about some of her time away from the state capitol and Palin has had to grapple with a series of tabloid-type stories relating to her family.
But Palin retains a strong following among many conservatives who were electrified when she was tapped to serve on the GOP ticket by Sen. John McCain last year. She drew thousands of people to a small-town festival in upstate New York last month , some of whom drove a considerable distance just to catch a glimpse of Palin.
Palin allies contend that her star power will still benefit her home state.
“She can be more of a help to Alaska from the outside now,” said one Palin loyalist.
But the decision to suddenly quit her post will also reinforce some of the very questions about Palin that were raised in the lengthy Vanity Fair story this week – whether she’s overly erratic and prone to ignore her own political advisers.
Two of own GOP allies were told this week that Palin would announce that she was definitely not running for re-election, but the move to outright leave office has caught many of her supporters by surprise.
Palin’s office announced Friday morning that she would make an “announcement’ at her home in the afternoon but said nothing more until the governor stood alongside Parnell and her cabinet at her lakefront home in Wasilla.
By: Jonathan Martin politico.com
July 3, 2009 03:04 PM EST
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin announced Friday that she was resigning her office later this month, a stunning decision that could free her to run for president more easily but also raises questions about her political standing at home.
Palin disclosed the surprise news Friday afternoon from her home in Wasilla with her husband, Todd, and Lt. Governor Sean Parnell, who the governor said would take over the state on Saturday, July 25th.
By not running for re-election, Palin liberates herself from the political constraints that come with running for president while still in elected office.
Leaving office at the end of the month, the former vice presidential hopeful will be able to travel the country more freely without facing the sort of repeated ethics inquiries she’s been fending off since returning to Alaska earlier this year.
In making her announcement, Palin spoke directly to those inquiries, saying she wouldn’t stand by as taxpayer money was spent to investigate her.
Palin has been dogged by a series of ethical complaints, many of which her allies consider as frivolous, and has had to set up a legal defense fund to pay her bills.
Just this week, the Anchorage Daily News reported that these complaints against her administration had reached almost $300,000, much of that sum owing to the so-called “Troopergate” probe of Palin.
Beyond ethical questions, Palin has continued to face other difficulties since her return to Alaska.
Legislators of both parties have complained about some of her time away from the state capitol and Palin has had to grapple with a series of tabloid-type stories relating to her family.
But Palin retains a strong following among many conservatives who were electrified when she was tapped to serve on the GOP ticket by Sen. John McCain last year. She drew thousands of people to a small-town festival in upstate New York last month , some of whom drove a considerable distance just to catch a glimpse of Palin.
Palin allies contend that her star power will still benefit her home state.
“She can be more of a help to Alaska from the outside now,” said one Palin loyalist.
But the decision to suddenly quit her post will also reinforce some of the very questions about Palin that were raised in the lengthy Vanity Fair story this week – whether she’s overly erratic and prone to ignore her own political advisers.
Two of own GOP allies were told this week that Palin would announce that she was definitely not running for re-election, but the move to outright leave office has caught many of her supporters by surprise.
Palin’s office announced Friday morning that she would make an “announcement’ at her home in the afternoon but said nothing more until the governor stood alongside Parnell and her cabinet at her lakefront home in Wasilla.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Helen Thomas and Chip Reid Challenge Obama Admin. On 'Controlled' Town Hall Meeting
Helen Thomas and Chip Reid Challenge Obama Admin. On 'Controlled' Town Hall Meeting
Thursday, July 2, 2009 9:30 AM
By: Kenneth D. Williams Article Font Size
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs and the Obama administration found the press corps slightly less friendly than they are used to yesterday, when CBS's Chip Reid asked why the questions for Wednesday’s town hall on healthcare were being selected beforehand.
Gibbs tried to dodge the issue, and asked for it to be asked after the town hall meeting in question, but then Helen Thomas became involved, saying, “We have never had that in the White House. I’m amazed that you people … call for openness and transparency.”
Reid and Thomas didn't let up for a second, especially Thomas.
Karl Rove opined on Fox News this morning that, to some extent, Gibbs had a point in saying that, since people are free to ask whatever questions they want, the president should be allowed to answer whichever questions he wants.
But Thomas didn't see it that way. After the press conference, she told CNS News that Obama's grip on the media is even greater than that of Richard Nixon.
"Nixon didn’t try to do that. They couldn’t control [the media]. They didn’t try that. What the hell do they think we are, puppets? They’re supposed to stay out of our business. They are our public servants. We pay them. I’m not saying there has never been managed news before, but this is carried to fare-thee-well - for the town halls, for the press conferences. It’s blatant. They don’t give a damn if you know it or not. They ought to be hanging their heads in shame."
Thursday, July 2, 2009 9:30 AM
By: Kenneth D. Williams Article Font Size
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs and the Obama administration found the press corps slightly less friendly than they are used to yesterday, when CBS's Chip Reid asked why the questions for Wednesday’s town hall on healthcare were being selected beforehand.
Gibbs tried to dodge the issue, and asked for it to be asked after the town hall meeting in question, but then Helen Thomas became involved, saying, “We have never had that in the White House. I’m amazed that you people … call for openness and transparency.”
Reid and Thomas didn't let up for a second, especially Thomas.
Karl Rove opined on Fox News this morning that, to some extent, Gibbs had a point in saying that, since people are free to ask whatever questions they want, the president should be allowed to answer whichever questions he wants.
But Thomas didn't see it that way. After the press conference, she told CNS News that Obama's grip on the media is even greater than that of Richard Nixon.
"Nixon didn’t try to do that. They couldn’t control [the media]. They didn’t try that. What the hell do they think we are, puppets? They’re supposed to stay out of our business. They are our public servants. We pay them. I’m not saying there has never been managed news before, but this is carried to fare-thee-well - for the town halls, for the press conferences. It’s blatant. They don’t give a damn if you know it or not. They ought to be hanging their heads in shame."
GOP CHAIR RESPONDS TO ATTACK
GOP CHAIR RESPONDS TO ATTACK
Hamilton, NJ July 2, 2009
Mercer County GOP Chair Roy Wesley responded to Mercer County Democrat Chair Rich McClellan's attack on the GOP freeholders candidates. Calling our candidates "anti-patriots" for criticizing wasteful and redundant spending is another example of how out of touch and out of tune our all Democrat county government has become with the fundamental principles of the democratic process. Since when is legitimate decent 'anti-patriotic'?" stated Chairman Wesley.
Wesley stated, "Rich McClellan could use a history lesson. American patriots tarred and feathered the tax collectors not the citizens fighting higher taxes. Instead of threatening the opposition with historically incorrect violence, Mr. McClellan should be demanding that the Democrat freeholders he is supporting for re-election provide real tax relief to Mercer counties families before being their campaign cheerleader. "
Wesley continued, "For a number of years now, Rich McClellan has been the mouthpiece that elected Democrats in Mercer County love to hide behind. Rich McClellan ran interference for Glen Gilmore for years as a taxpayer funded confidential aid. Now he is running interference for County Democrats running for re-election, while holding another taxpayer funded position at the Bridge Commission. Obviously, he is handsomely rewarded for his efforts as Party Boss, having collecting over one million dollars in salary from taxpayer funded positions in Hamilton and at the Bridge Commission, in exchange for writing one liners attacking Republican candidates exercising their right of free speech. How does any of this help the democratic process? Why should the public have faith in elected officials who will not speak for themselves or party officials who have a vested interest in speaking for them?
Wesley demanded "Instead of hearing from the party boss, the tax payers deserve an explanation from their elected officials. Can Ann Cannon, Pat Colavita, or Dan Benson explain why they agreed to throw a duplicative festival when they raised taxes for Mercer? Can they explain after threatening hardworking rank and file employees with layoffs and furloughs they couldn't follow Mayor Bencivengo's lead and secure 100% corporate sponsorship of this event? Can they explain why Mercer's taxpayers had their taxes raised this year and a promise of more increases to come?"
Wesley stated, "Rich McClellan is not elected to any office in Mercer. He should not be responding on County business. The people who make the decisions should be the one's responding. And, since Rich McClellan still is on the tax payer dime, the public is entitled to assurance that he is not playing party boss when he should be doing his taxpayer funded job at the Bridge Commission."
Wesley stated, "Rich McClellan's response is a perfect example of why we need a change in Mercer County government. Elected officials should be accountable to the taxpayers. Every citizen has the right to open and honest government. It s time for the Democrats' 'million dollar mouthpiece' to let the officials and candidates respond for themselves. Our GOP candidates, Randazzo, D'Angelo and Wojtenko , can and will speak for themselves. Cannon, Colavita and Benson need to stop hiding behind party boss McClellan and speak for themselves, too. "
Hamilton, NJ July 2, 2009
Mercer County GOP Chair Roy Wesley responded to Mercer County Democrat Chair Rich McClellan's attack on the GOP freeholders candidates. Calling our candidates "anti-patriots" for criticizing wasteful and redundant spending is another example of how out of touch and out of tune our all Democrat county government has become with the fundamental principles of the democratic process. Since when is legitimate decent 'anti-patriotic'?" stated Chairman Wesley.
Wesley stated, "Rich McClellan could use a history lesson. American patriots tarred and feathered the tax collectors not the citizens fighting higher taxes. Instead of threatening the opposition with historically incorrect violence, Mr. McClellan should be demanding that the Democrat freeholders he is supporting for re-election provide real tax relief to Mercer counties families before being their campaign cheerleader. "
Wesley continued, "For a number of years now, Rich McClellan has been the mouthpiece that elected Democrats in Mercer County love to hide behind. Rich McClellan ran interference for Glen Gilmore for years as a taxpayer funded confidential aid. Now he is running interference for County Democrats running for re-election, while holding another taxpayer funded position at the Bridge Commission. Obviously, he is handsomely rewarded for his efforts as Party Boss, having collecting over one million dollars in salary from taxpayer funded positions in Hamilton and at the Bridge Commission, in exchange for writing one liners attacking Republican candidates exercising their right of free speech. How does any of this help the democratic process? Why should the public have faith in elected officials who will not speak for themselves or party officials who have a vested interest in speaking for them?
Wesley demanded "Instead of hearing from the party boss, the tax payers deserve an explanation from their elected officials. Can Ann Cannon, Pat Colavita, or Dan Benson explain why they agreed to throw a duplicative festival when they raised taxes for Mercer? Can they explain after threatening hardworking rank and file employees with layoffs and furloughs they couldn't follow Mayor Bencivengo's lead and secure 100% corporate sponsorship of this event? Can they explain why Mercer's taxpayers had their taxes raised this year and a promise of more increases to come?"
Wesley stated, "Rich McClellan is not elected to any office in Mercer. He should not be responding on County business. The people who make the decisions should be the one's responding. And, since Rich McClellan still is on the tax payer dime, the public is entitled to assurance that he is not playing party boss when he should be doing his taxpayer funded job at the Bridge Commission."
Wesley stated, "Rich McClellan's response is a perfect example of why we need a change in Mercer County government. Elected officials should be accountable to the taxpayers. Every citizen has the right to open and honest government. It s time for the Democrats' 'million dollar mouthpiece' to let the officials and candidates respond for themselves. Our GOP candidates, Randazzo, D'Angelo and Wojtenko , can and will speak for themselves. Cannon, Colavita and Benson need to stop hiding behind party boss McClellan and speak for themselves, too. "
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
County GOP hopefuls hit 'frivolous' spending
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
BY CARMEN CUSIDO
STAFF WRITER Times of Trenton
The three Mercer County Republican freeholder candidates blasted the county government for spending taxpayer money on a festival they call "redundant" and "frivolous."
With fireworks and celebrations in several Mercer County towns, freeholder candidate Joe D'Angelo said, last Saturday's Freedom Festival at Mercer County Park seems like a duplicate event.
"In a year when our elected officials are threatening layoffs and furloughs to our hardworking public employees and are further saddling our already overburdened taxpayers with a significant increase in their county tax bill, this extravaganza is a perk that we cannot afford," D'Angelo said in a statement. He said the county could have found ways for private entities and others to underwrite the costs or sponsor the event.
But county officials fired back, saying the festival honors American independence, and accused the GOP candidates of partisan attacks.
"The American Patriots in 1776 would have known exactly how to deal with these would be Independence Day party poopers. ... and, it would have involved large quantities of tar and feathers," Rich McClellan, the Mercer County Democratic Committee chair, said in a statement. He also called the trio anti-patriots.
County Executive Brian M. Hughes said the festival, now in its fifth year, attracted approximately 20,000 people.
"In a year like this, when we have folks returning from service and so many families working so hard on behalf of veterans, to take some sort of partisan (position) out of something that should bring us all together is surprising to me," Hughes said yesterday.
The county's net cost for last Saturday's festival was $27,575, down 23 percent from last year's $35,730, according to Hughes and county documents.
Hughes said the Freedom Festival's net costs went down from last year because the county eliminated hot air balloons, reduced the music budget, the number of event staff, and other expenses. The festival, part of the overall Park Commission budget, also received free advertising valued at $86,000 through a partnership with WPST radio, Hughes said. County officials said the number of local vendors participating increased to 100 from 80 last year.
"We think it's an important event," Hughes said of the festival, and he added the candidates' criticisms are "clearly" partisan. "It's by the candidates and for the candidates to promote their candidacy."
The Republican candidates, however, say the festival is an example of uncontrolled spending. D'Angelo and fellow candidate Cindy Randazzo cited the $63,486 resolution the freeholders approved in May for the purchase of close to 200 televisions for the Mercer County Geriatric Center. Even though a county spokesman last month said they might reconsider the purchase of the televisions, Randazzo said, "there are no speed bumps on spending. ... let's not take as much money from our poor citizens."
It is not clear what percent of the average tax bill goes to the county.
D'Angelo and Randazzo also cited Trenton's jazz festival, which has been discontinued indefinitely because the city could not find enough sponsors to support the $250,000 budget. They also noted Hamilton Mayor John Bencivengo had enough private business donations to underwrite the annual Septemberfest celebration last year without using township funds.
Bencivengo said the township raised around $140,000 from sponsors to cover the costs. If it hadn't been underwritten, he said, the celebration would have had to be reduced or canceled.
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