The Ridgewood Blog Brings a Free Market Laissez-faire Point of View to Local, New Jersey State and National Issues.
file photo by Boyd Loving
By Jordain Carney
Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) slammed the Justice Department Wednesday for indicting him, saying that he believes he will be “vindicated.”
“For nearly three years, I have lived under a Justice Department cloud. Today I am outraged that this cloud has not been lifted,” Menendez said at a press conference, where he was interrupted multiple times by supports who cheered him on.
Menendez to Obama: You must be kidding on Iran
By Jennifer Rubin March 27
Thursday afternoon, following a slew of news reports about substantial concessions by the U.S. negotiators in the Iran nuclear talks, Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) released a statement, which read:
If today’s news report from Lausanne is true, we are not inching closer to Iran’s negotiating position, but leaping toward it with both feet. We have pivoted away from demanding the closure of Fordow when the negotiations began, to considering its conversion into a research facility, to now allowing hundreds of centrifuges to spin at this underground bunker site where centrifuges could be quickly repurposed for illicit nuclear enrichment purposes. My fear is that we are no longer guided by the principle that “no deal is better than a bad deal,” but instead we are negotiating “any deal for a deal’s sake.”
An undue amount of trust and faith is being placed in a negotiating partner that has spent decades deceiving the international community; denying the International Atomic Energy Agency access to its facilities; refusing to answer questions about its nuclear-related military activities; and all the while, actively destabilizing the region from Lebanon to Syria to Iraq to Yemen. A good deal must meet our primary negotiating objective – curtailing Iran’s current and future ability to achieve nuclear weapons capability. If the best deal Iran will give us does not achieve this goal, it is not a good deal for the United States or its partners. A good deal won’t leave Iran as a nuclear threshold state.
It is extraordinary on many levels — that so many giveaways would be tossed at the Iranians’ feet, that it should be publicly revealed (many speculate, by the French, who object to the collapse), that a Democratic senator would tell the president his deal is going nowhere and that things have gotten this far out of whack without a vote from the Senate. In reality, no Republican and a great many Democrats will refuse to assent to a deal that, for example, leaves 6,000 centrifuges in Iran’s hands, allows Fordow to continue operations, does not provide for snap inspections, does not require revelation of past activities, does not continue in a meaningful way beyond 10 years and does nothing to address the catastrophe throughout the region, caused in large part by Iran’s hegemonic ambitions. Oh, and there may be no written document. As former ambassador Eric Edelman, tells me, “I think it is axiomatic that any deal that cannot be put down on paper is not a deal at all.” Considering all we are giving up, that may be the good news.
Indeed, with Iranian surrogates and allies destabilizing the entire Middle East, why are we lifting any sanctions or talking about a deal at all? Unless the deal is far different than has been reported, look for an overwhelming vote in April to inject the Senate into the process or to increase sanctions.
Menendez gets support on legal costs; backers of Israel see political overtones to indictment leak
MARCH 26, 2015, 5:57 PM LAST UPDATED: THURSDAY, MARCH 26, 2015, 11:41 PM
BY HERB JACKSON
WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT |
THE RECORD
Sen. Bob Menendez, fuming over leaks about a looming corruption indictment, could see a surge of contributions to his legal defense fund because disclosures about a Justice Department probe came while he was having highly visible disputes with the White House.
Several pro-Israel activists said people were motivated by the possibility that anonymously sourced reports of Menendez’s facing criminal charges are linked to the Paramus Democrat’s criticism of the Obama administration’s handling of nuclear talks with Iran and relaxation of restrictions on Cuba.
“The majority of people I’ve spoken with feel he’s getting a bad rap, that the prosecution has political overtones to it,” said Ben Chouake, president of Englewood Cliffs-based NORPAC, a committee that raises money for Democrats and Republicans who support Israel. “On this particular matter, even Republicans will be supporting Bob Menendez.”
Menendez already raised nearly $900,000 for legal costs between April and December last year, and more than $100,000 of that came from ardent Israel supporters. As 2014 ended, the legal expense trust fund had $104,000 on hand.
Menendez and Kerry spar over context of war resolution
By Max Pizarro | 03/11/15 10:00am
Against the backdrop of U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez’s (D-N.J.) squiring Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu into the U.S. Capitol to slap at President Barack Obama and a subsequent leaking of an alleged corruption indictment against Menendez, New Jersey’s senior senator and Obama’s chief diplomat this morning sparred over the President’s request for a Congressional authorization for use of force.
Appearing in his role as ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Menendez told Secretary of State John Kerry that he wants hard answers on the conditions of an Authorization for use of Military Force to combat the ISIS terrorist group.
“I look forward to getting some answers from our witnesses that will allow us to move forward in writing and passing an authorization,” said Menendez. “But, we need to know what combat operations may be undertaken by U.S. troops on the ground in Syria and Iraq. We need to know whether associated forces that come under this agreement could include forces affiliated with ISIL in Libya, Nigeria or elsewhere. We need to know whether a new Administration could revert to relying on 2001 AUMF in three years if this AUMF, if passed, were to expire and we need to know how long we expect to be there and what our exit strategy will be. What metrics will indicate success or tell us it’s time to bring troops home?”
Menendez pointedly noted his opposition in the House of Representatives to the 2001 war resolution that mired the United States in Iraq. Kerry, then a U.S. Senator, backed that war resolution 14 years ago.
https://politickernj.com/2015/03/menendez-and-kerry-spar-over-context-of-war-resolution/
Hudson Dems back Menendez in face of allegations as they announce 2015 slate
JERSEY CITY – The Hudson County Democratic Organization (HCDO) announced its slate of candidates for state and county office on Friday in a building that took on an unexpectedly ironic meaning: a courthouse.
The Hudson Dems presented a united front behind U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ) on the day a report emerged that the Justice Department is preparing to bring criminal charges against New Jersey’s senior Senator, alleging that Menendez used his office to boost the business interests of a wealthy Democratic donor and friend in exchange for gifts. (Bonamo/PolitickerNJ)
Menendez, majority of US Senate on same page over Iran: Analyst
Most members of the US Senate share Democratic Senator Robert Menendez’s opinion on Iran’s nuclear energy program and sanctions, an American foreign policy analyst says.
“Senator Menendez is a very powerful member of the Senate, especially in the area of foreign affairs, and his opinion on Iran carries great weight inside the US Senate,” said James George Jatras, a former US diplomat and adviser to the Senate Republican leadership.
The Department of Justice has reportedly decided to bring criminal corruption charges against Menendez, who is involved in congressional efforts to pass anti-Iran legislation.
“As far as the pending charges against him from the Justice Department, I think… you have to presume that he is innocent until the government shows that they have proof of criminal wrongdoing,” Jatras told Press TV on Saturday.
“But I do not think that charges will really do much to change the direction of the Senate on the question of Iran, and the nuclear program and sanctions because Senator Menendez’s opinions are widely shared by other senators of both parties,” he noted.
Menendez, former chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has been one of the detractors of President Barack Obama’s administration.
https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2015/03/08/400782/Senate-agrees-with-Menendez-on-Iran
Vindictive? The Obama Administration is playing DIRTY! over a grudge?
March 7,2015
Greta Van Susteren
The issue in this post is not whether Senator Menendez should be indicted or not. I don’t know if he should be or not. This is about Obama Administration tactics.
But I do know this: the Department of Justice (DOJ) LEAKING on a Friday night that they are going to bring criminal charges is about as DIRTY as it gets. A leak about intentions is not an indication of a good faith investigation — it is an ugly SMEAR. It is dirty.
I am all for fair investigations (and news if there is an actual indictment) but LEAKING of a possible indictment on a Friday night like this shows bad faith. Why did the Obama Admin do it? So that it gets talked about on all the Sunday morning shows? Rotten! It sure is not playing it straight.
And why would the Obama Administration / DOJ want to SMEAR fellow Democrat, Senator Menendez? Two motivations could be: 1/ Sen Menendez opposes the Obama Administration desire to normalize relations with Cuba and 2/ he also opposes the Obama Administration suspected deal with Iran. President Obama really wants both these deals. The last thing the Obama Adminstration and the President want is for the Democratic Ranking Member on the Senate Foreign Relations to oppose them [and his opposition began when the Democrats controlled the Senate and he was Chairman.]
Reader quipped, “I’am shocked just shocked that there is corruption going on.”
Seems kind of coincidental- menendez has been screaming about not giving in to Iranian demands regarding their nuke program and going against party dogma- i’m no fan of the guy but the timing is very odd- holder’s last scalp- boxer’s hubby is becoming a billionaire based on insider govt contracts and they’re going after this guy-
One can just picture Mayor A. seething at the choice made from among the all of the available photographs of Senator Menendez.
However uncivil it may sound, most people know that if you lay down with dogs, it’s flea city when you get up.
More significantly for the Mayor, does the Obama administration’s decision to throw Menendez under the bus indicate that the Chicago syndicate no longer has any use for the NNJ syndicate as a whole? Or is Obama’s ire being directed solely and simply toward the ‘top dog’?
I’am shocked just shocked that there is corruption going on.
Yes, this is so out of character for NJ. In all seriousness, this will probably not even make the national news, being that it’s such a regular occurrence.
photo courtesy of Rep.Darrell Issa
Menendez praises Netanyahu’s speech, applauds congressional setting for message
Senators Bob Menendez and Cory Booker as well as numerous members of the New Jersey delegation crowded into the joint session of Congress today to hear Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel, denounce a nuclear weapons deal the Obama Administration wants with Iran.
Menendez has been especially vocal in his own opposition to the deal.
He doubled down in the moments after the speech. (Pizarro/PolitickerNJ)
file photo REORG by Boyd Loving
Emails show Bob Menendez as ‘amazing’ help to Xanadu project
February 6, 2015, 11:15 PM Last updated: Saturday, February 7, 2015, 9:35 AM
By JEFF PILLETS and HERB JACKSON
staff writers |
The Record
The developers of the entertainment and retail complex called Xanadu were frantic. It was March 2005, and permits they’d expected months earlier were still tied up with the Army Corps of Engineers.
“The Corps is playing games at the last minute,” executive James Dausch wrote in an email to his lobbyist, Kay LiCausi, a former top aide to then-Rep. Bob Menendez, the third-highest ranking Democrat in the House at that point. “Could you dial up Menendez on an urgent basis and tell these guys to lay off?”
A new trove of documents released this week as part of the trial of former Bergen Democratic leader Joseph Ferriero depicts Menendez jumping into action and winning a lucrative approval for jubilant Xanadu developers, who called the congressman “amazing.”
Xanadu exec says company was asked for Menendez contribution after key federal permit was issued
FEBRUARY 3, 2015, 4:40 PM LAST UPDATED: TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2015, 4:47 PM
BY HERB JACKSON AND JEFF PILLETS
STAFF WRITERS |
THE RECORD
A top executive from the Virginia company that first proposed the failed Xanadu project in the Meadowlands said the firm was asked to raise $50,000 in 2005 for then-Rep. Bob Menendez after it received a critical permit from the Army Corps of Engineers, court documents show.
Jim Dausch said in testimony in 2008 he believed Menendez’s efforts led the Army Corps’ top manager in the New York area to hand-deliver the permit in March 2005, and within two months Menendez telephoned him — a call he assumed was about the contributions.
Related: Ferriero wants U.S. attorney disqualified from RICO case; prosecutors cite new evidence against ex-Democratic leader
Dausch said he could not remember if the initial request to raise $50,000 came directly from Menendez, or from two others working with the Mills Corp. on the project, Teaneck attorney Bob DeCotiis or lobbyist Kay LiCausi, who is a former member of Menendez’s staff.
“But one way or the other, it was clear that the request was coming from Menendez and, and it was in anticipation, we understood, of a run that he was planning to make for the Senate in 2006,” Dausch said.
New Jersey ranks 48th in return on taxes
JANUARY 2, 2015, 11:19 PM LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, JANUARY 2, 2015, 11:25 PM
BY HERB JACKSON
RECORD COLUMNIST |
THE RECORD
New Jersey residents and businesses paid nearly $37 billion more in federal taxes than the government sent back to the state in 2013, the second-biggest deficit in the country, new data compiled by a non-profit group show.
Another way of looking at the numbers: For every $1 paid to the Internal Revenue Service, the state got back only 68 cents in federal largess, ranking the state 48th in the nation.
It’s a picture New Jersey has seen before. And it’s not going to change anytime soon, many analysts say.
The reason has much to do with the relative wealth of New Jerseyans, compared with their counterparts in other states, officials say; the federal tax system imposes higher rates on larger incomes, and the federal social-service network directs much of its money to programs for the poor, creating the gap.
“It’s true New Jersey pays more than it gets back per person, but if you look at states at the other end of the spectrum, such as Mississippi, which is one of the most poverty-stricken, it’s much better to be in New Jersey’s position,” said Lindsay Koshgarian, the research director for the National Priorities Project, which published the latest data.
Mississippi received $4.89 in federal spending for every $1 it paid in taxes, the highest rate of any state, The Record’s analysis of the group’s data found.
https://www.northjersey.com/news/new-jersey-ranks-48th-in-return-on-taxes-1.1185373
file photo by Boyd Loving Ridgewood REORG
Ecuador Family Wins Favors After Donations to Democrats
By FRANCES ROBLESDEC. 16, 2014
MIAMI — The Obama administration overturned a ban preventing a wealthy, politically connected Ecuadorean woman from entering the United States after her family gave tens of thousands of dollars to Democratic campaigns, according to finance records and government officials.
The woman, Estefanía Isaías, had been barred from coming to the United States after being caught fraudulently obtaining visas for her maids. But the ban was lifted at the request of the State Department under former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton so that Ms. Isaías could work for an Obama fund-raiser with close ties to the administration.
It was one of several favorable decisions the Obama administration made in recent years involving the Isaías family, which the government of Ecuadoraccuses of buying protection from Washington and living comfortably in Miami off the profits of a looted bank in Ecuador.
The family, which has been investigated by federal law enforcement agencies on suspicion of money laundering and immigration fraud, has made hundreds of thousands of dollars in contributions to American political campaigns in recent years. During that time, it has repeatedly received favorable treatment from the highest levels of the American government, including from New Jersey’s senior senator and the State Department.
Bob Menendez, Marco Rubio Torch Obama Administration Over Cuba Announcement
Two longtime critics of Cuba made blistering statements Wednesday morning following the Obama administration’s announcement that the U.S. would normalize full diplomatic relations with the communist island, marking a significant policy shift not seen in decades.
Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), the outgoing Senate Foreign Relations Committee chair, praised the release of former USAID worker and prisoner Alan Gross, but sharply criticized the administration for the price it paid.
“President Obama’s actions have vindicated the brutal behavior of the Cuban government,” he said in a statement. “There is no equivalence between an international aid worker and convicted spies who were found guilty of conspiracy to commit espionage against our nation. One spy was also convicted of conspiracy to murder for his role in the 1996 tragedy in which the Cuban military shot down two U.S. civilian planes, killing several American citizens. My heart goes out to the American families that lost love ones on that fateful day.”
“Trading Mr. Gross for three convicted criminals sets an extremely dangerous precedent,” he added. “It invites dictatorial and rogue regimes to use Americans serving overseas as bargaining chips. I fear that today’s actions will put at risk the thousands of Americans that work overseas to support civil society, advocate for access to information, provide humanitarian services, and promote democratic reforms.”
The U.S. is reportedly looking to normalize relations by opening an embassy in Havana, as well as loosening current travel restrictions on the country.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/17/bob-menendez-marco-rubio-obama-cuba_n_6340906.html
file photo
Earth to Bob: Obama has already failed!
December 11, 2014 1 Comment
By Matt Rooney | The Save Jersey Blog
Everyone’s favorite Caribbean tourist Bob Menendez (D-Ecuador/Dominican Republic) sat down with Cory Booker (D-Twitter) and television’s Steve Adubato on Wednesday evening, Save Jerseyans, for an interview billed as focusing on issues facing the new Congress.
Booker did his Booker thing and spoke in vague generalities. Menendez chose to recycle rejected Democrat campaign themes from the 2014 election cycle. “Is there a universe of members in the Congress of the United States who would do anything to see the president not succeed? I do believe that,” Menendez told Adubato, answering his own question.
I’ve got news (?) for your Bob: Your president has already failed! In spectacular, awful, it’s going to take us decades to recover from his idiocy fashion! And I’m hardly alone in my assessment. Had he not failed in a strong majority of Americans’ estimation (e.g. destroyed our health care system, failed to jump-start a sluggish economy, left us weaker in international affairs), Harry Reid would still be Majority Leader come January, you’d still be Chairman of Foreign Relations, and the Republican Party wouldn’t be in its strongest electoral position since before the Great Depression.
https://savejersey.com/2014/12/menendez-obama-booker-interview/
