Tag: Democrats

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Sanders: Superdelegates may now be eyeing switch from Clinton

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By Jessie Hellmann

After three big wins out west, Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders said he thinks many of the party’s superdelegates who have pledged to rival Hillary Clinton will switch to his side.

“I think the momentum is with us,” Sanders said on CNN’s “State of the Union” with Jake Tapper on Sunday. “A lot of these superdelegates may rethink their positions with Secretary Clinton.”

The Vermont senator swept Saturday’s Democratic contests in Washington, Alaska and Hawaii, easily winning the majority of the 142 pledged delegates in those states. The biggest prize of the day was in Washington, which offered 101 delegates to be split up on a proportional basis.

The latest delegate counts still put Sanders behind Clinton, however, with 1,004 pledged delegates to her 1,712.

Of those, 469 are superdelegates who have pledged to Clinton and only 29 have pledged to Sanders.

https://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/274402-sanders-superdelegates-may-jump-from-clinton

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The chaos scenario for Democrats what Happens if Hillary is Forced to drop out of the presidential race

Joe Biden

By Ben Kamisar

It’s the scenario that Republicans dream of and Democrats believe is all but impossible: Hillary Clinton being forced to drop out of the presidential race due to criminal charges over her email server.

Any bombshell findings in the FBI’s investigation of Clinton could plunge the Democratic race into chaos.

Bernie Sanders could stand to gain. As the only other candidate in the Democratic race, the party could quickly coalesce around him in an effort to halt the bedlam. But that’s far from a sure thing, with many in the party fearful he would be a weak general election candidate.

Democrats insist there’s virtually no chance that Clinton will be indicted over her server. The candidate has said repeatedly that no laws were broken, and that classified information was never sent over the server. Asked about an indictment at the last Democratic debate, Clinton responded: “That’s not going to happen.”

In the event that Clinton stepped aside after winning the nomination at the convention, the Democratic National Committee could decide on the replacement on its own.

If an indictment came before the convention, the path would be more difficult.

https://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/273626-the-chaos-scenario-for-democrats

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Lead fears grow in Newark schools, but the problem isn’t new

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BY BEN FINLEY
ASSOCIATED PRESS

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — In New Jersey’s biggest city, fears are growing over lead in the school district’s water after a lab found elevated levels in nearly half its schools. The Newark district quickly shut off sinks and fountains in 30 buildings and has offered to test as many as 17,000 kids for contamination.

But the problem isn’t new for the state’s largest school district. Testing has shown elevated levels in some buildings over the last few years. And the district has been addressing issues of lead in the water since at least 2003.

The highest lead levels found in the water in Newark’s schools, however, are far lower than those found in homes in Flint, Michigan, which is experiencing a crisis after the city changed its water supply.

Water also poses a relatively small risk of lead poisoning compared to more common sources, such as lead paint.

“One square centimeter of lead paint, about the size of your pinkie nail, has two times what you’d get from drinking a quart or water from highest level of lead in one the schools,” said Dr. Steven Marcus, executive director of the New Jersey Poison Information & Education System at Rutgers University.

Nevertheless, parents are concerned, with dozens submitting their kids for blood tests when the district first offered them on Thursday.

“My first thing was, Flint, Michigan,” said Dionne Bradshaw, whose daughter was tested. “That’s the first thing I thought about. Ok, here we go again.”

https://www.northjersey.com/news/lead-fears-grow-in-newark-schools-but-the-problem-isn-t-new-1.1530245

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The 21st Century American Revolution

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This is no ordinary Presidential election. We are experiencing something as close to a revolution as might be possible in America. The outrageous things some of the Presidential candidates are saying have captured the public’s rage, anger, and hate combined with an overwhelming outcry to dismantle the status quo in Washington D.C. At the same time, we are witnessing the evolution of political parties and a redefinition of terms like “liberal” and “conservative.” Donald Scarinci, PolitickerNJRead more

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Conflagration in the Caucus Chamber: Rice and Sweeney Separated over AC Takeover Bill

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Senate President Steve Sweeney (D-3) and veteran Senator Ronald L. Rice (D-28) exchanged harsh words in the Senate Democratic caucus chamber this afternoon before state Senator James Beach (D-6) stepped in to keep the men apart. Max Pizarro, PolitickerNJ Read more

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N.J.’s political primary gains in relevance

VOTE_theridgewoodblog

BY HERB JACKSON
WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT |
THE RECORD

Governor Christie may be gung-ho for Donald Trump, but it remains to be seen whether the reality show star’s bid for the presidency gets a boost from the state Republican Party by placing his name on the ballot next to party-backed candidates for Congress and local office.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/n-j-s-political-primary-gains-in-relevance-1.1525137

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The UnDemocratic Democratic Primary

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by Matt Rhoades

I’ll admit it — I might have been wrong when I predicted last month that the Democratic primary was going to be a “long slog.”

U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) promises he’s in the Democratic primary to stay, but that pledge may soon fall victim to simple arithmetic and an arcane Democratic Party process known as “superdelegates.”

A casual observer of politics may wonder: how is that possible? After all, heading into yesterday’s contests, Senator Sanders has won nearly half of the primaries and caucuses held to date: of the 20 contests held so far, Sanders has won eight, while former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (D-NY) has 12.

Yet, Senator Sanders trails by a more than two-to-one margin in the delegate count: of the 2,383 delegates needed to clinch the nomination, Secretary Clinton has amassed 1,130 delegates, while Sanders stands at 499.

https://medium.com/america-rising-pac/the-undemocratic-democratic-primary-6f0a4e3d0976#.m1m6ng55v

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Senate President Sweeney says tiered health insurance plans needed in New Jersey

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The plan by New Jersey’s largest insurance company to divide hospitals into two tiers has already angered customers and health care providers and now it has split Democratic lawmakers as the Legislature considers bills to review the move. John C. Ensslin, The Record Read more

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Should Cory Booker be liable for watershed’s financial losses?

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file photo by Boyd Loving

For lawyers arguing in federal court over whether U.S. Sen. Cory Booker should remain in a lawsuit alleging that he failed to properly oversee the city’s bankrupt watershed corporation, the question could come down to this: How far does a board member have to go to say he’s done his duty? Tim Darragh, NJ.com Read more

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ELEC: Lobbying Expenditures in 2015 Second Highest EVER

New Jersey Democrats Move to Raise Taxes

 

Increased spending on issues such as education, public worker pensions, transportation, and hospitals drove lobbying expenditures in New Jersey in 2015 to $70 million, the second highest total ever, according to an analysis of annual lobbying reports released today by the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC). Jeff Brindle, PolitickerNJ Read more

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Sign of things to come : Hundreds of Paterson employees not sure when they will resume work

Paterson Falls

BY JOE MALINCONICO
PATERSON PRESS

PATERSON – As municipal employees filed out of City Hall at quitting time on Monday, one of their colleagues stood near the doorway and wished them a “Good Holiday.”

Only 453 Paterson employees hold positions the administration deems essential – mostly police officers, firefighters and sanitation collectors – and were told to come back to work on Tuesday. The rest are supposed to stay home as the budget showdown between the mayor and city council continued toward what now seems like an inevitable partial shutdown of municipal government.

The shutdown will affect school crossing guards, street-cleaning, after-school recreation programs and senior citizen services, officials said.

Paterson’s non-essential employees are in limbo and have been told to call the city’s hotline Tuesday night to find out if the council approves the mayor’s budget proposal, a move needed to allow them to resume work on Wednesday.

“I’m angry,” said Joanne Bottler, a tax search officer. “I have a sick mother I care for and losing a day’s pay is going to be a hardship.”

https://www.northjersey.com/news/hundreds-of-paterson-employees-not-sure-when-they-will-resume-work-1.1519975

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2016 Off To a Dreadful Start for Small Businesses in New Jersey

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Posted by Laurie Ehlbeck On March 01, 2016 2 Comments

By Laurie Ehlbeck

We haven’t even made it out of the first quarter of 2016 but there is already plenty for small businesses in New Jersey to be concerned about on the upcoming legislative calendar. Senator Sweeney and Speaker Prieto seem determined to continue to challenge the economic stability of our state by introducing bills to nearly double minimum wage, mandate all employers provide sick leave and attempt to convince the voters that a pension payment must be constitutionally required. Sweeney and Prieto are creating what may ultimately amount to the most hostile session in state history in terms of damage caused to the small business community.

When it comes to minimum wage it is imperative that as a society we are honest about what it truly is. Minimum wage is not now, nor has it ever been, a vehicle in which to feed a family 4. It is an entry level wage that is earned almost exclusively by teens and young adults seeking work experience and a smooth transition into a career. Raising the minimum wage again, especially to the rate of $15 will have one direct effect. It will result in a loss of job opportunities for those seeking to expand their skill sets. It will not alleviate poverty. It will not empower the middle class. It will leave teenagers wondering what to do after school.

According to a recent study, 63 percent of workers who earn less than $9.50 per hour are the second or third earner in their family and 43 percent of these workers live in households that earn over $50,000 per year. In spite of what the proponents would have you believe, minimum wage earners are not an impoverished, disenfranchised group of struggling single mothers just trying to make ends meet. Most are teenagers from middle class families and many more are sharing the responsibility of providing for their families, not breaking under the burden of putting food on the table.

https://savejersey.com/2016/03/small-business-new-jersey-paid-leave-minimum-wage/

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Christie challenges Democrats with state Supreme Court nomination

diana-ross-supremes_theridgwoodnlog

BY DUSTIN RACIOPPI
STATE HOUSE BUREAU |
THE RECORD

Governor Christie on Monday nominated a Republican judge for a long-vacant seat on the state Supreme Court and named a successor for the state’s outgoing acting attorney general, moving to fill two high-profile vacancies that loomed as question marks over the rest of his tenure.

But he refused to discuss anything else — not his disappointing bid for the White House, not his controversial endorsement of Donald Trump. He conducted his first local news conference since dropping out of the race last month in regimented fashion, at least four times swatting down off-topic questions and telling one reporter, “Permission denied.” Christie also blocked the opportunity for anyone to ask him about the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision Monday morning, favorable to his administration, to decline ruling on a case challenging billions of dollars in cuts to the public employee pension fund, therefore allowing the reductions to stand.

Now, after his brief and tightly controlled appearance in Trenton, Christie sets off to campaign with Trump in Ohio and Kentucky during the Super Tuesday nominating contests having laid down a challenge to Democrats in New Jersey that he also hopes will resonate in Washington, D.C.

The death last month of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia has triggered a battle between Republicans who control Congress and President Obama, who has 11 months left in his term, over who will fill the conservative justice’s seat on n the bench, potentially shaping the court for years to come.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/christie-challenges-democrats-with-state-supreme-court-nomination-1.1519888

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Fight the soulless juggernaut: Big money, machine politics and the real issue separating Sanders and Clinton

Hillary Clinton

Democrats face a stark choice: A money-mad, scandal-plagued establishment, or the potential of decency and change

CAMILLE PAGLIA

Despite Bernie Sanders being tied with her for pledged delegates after last weekend’s Nevada caucuses, the media herd has anointed Hillary Clinton yet again as the inevitable Democratic nominee.  Superdelegates, those undemocratic figureheads and goons of the party establishment, are by definition unpledged and fluid and should never be added to the official column of any candidate until the national convention. To do so is an amoral tactic of intimidation that affects momentum and gives backstage wheeling and dealing primacy over the will of the electorate.  Why are the media so servilely complicit with Clinton-campaign propaganda and trickery?

Democrats face a stark choice this year.  A vote for the scandal-plagued Hillary is a resounding ratification of business as usual–the corrupt marriage of big money and machine politics, practiced by the Clintons with the zest of Boss Tweed, the gluttonous czar of New York’s ruthless Tammany Hall in the 1870s.  What you also get with Hillary is a confused hawkish interventionism that has already dangerously destabilized North Africa and the Mideast.  This is someone who declared her candidacy on April 12, 2015 via an email and slick video and then dragged her feet on making a formal statement of her presidential policies and goals until her pollsters had slapped together a crib list of what would push the right buttons.  This isn’t leadership; it’s pandering.

https://www.salon.com/2016/02/25/fight_the_soulless_juggernaut_big_money_machine_politics_and_the_real_issue_separating_sanders_and_clinton/

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Watchdog group wants investigation of $1M contribution to Super Pac supporting Jersey City mayor

Mayor Steven Fulop

BY JOHN C. ENSSLIN
STATE HOUSE BUREAU |
THE RECORD

A national campaign finance watchdog group has asked the Federal Election Commission to investigate a $1 million contribution made to a Super PAC said to be supporting Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop’s potential bid for New Jersey governor.

 

https://www.northjersey.com/news/watchdog-group-wants-investigation-of-1m-contribution-to-super-pac-supporting-jersey-city-mayor-1.1515135