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Tammy Murphy Picks Up Over 100 Democrat Endorsements Across Bergen County

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the staff of the Ridsgewood blog

Hackensack NJ,  Tammy Murphy received over 100 endorsements from local, state, and county Democratic leaders across Bergen County in her bid for U.S. Senate.

Continue reading Tammy Murphy Picks Up Over 100 Democrat Endorsements Across Bergen County

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Early Results For Ridgewood Board Of Education : Kaufman Wins !

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the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ , these are Ridgewood results only :

Ridgewood BOE

Kaufman 3899

Loncto  2562

Bergen Executive

Tedesco 5769

Schmeltz 3211

CD 5

Josh 6152

McCann 3152

NJ Senate

Menendez 5238

Hugin 4036

Bergen Sheriff 

Cureton 5123

DiLorenzo 3342

Tormo 317

Kugler 131

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COOK POLITICAL REPORT: NEW JERSEY SENATE RACE A TOSS UP

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the staff of the Ridgewood blog

MOUNTAINSIDE NJ,  Following Wednesday night’s debate on NJTV where Marine Corps veteran and job creator Bob Hugin decisively showed the people of New Jersey that he is the best choice in this election, The Cook Political Report moved the New Jersey Senate race from “Lean Democrat” to “Toss Up.”

Continue reading COOK POLITICAL REPORT: NEW JERSEY SENATE RACE A TOSS UP

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NJ Senate Advances Bill to Protect Transgender Health Care Rights

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By Alyana Alfaro • 05/15/17 5:14pm

Legislation aimed at protecting transgender people from discrimination in New Jersey’s health care marketplace cleared the state Senate Commerce Committee on Thursday.

The Assembly passed the bill in March and the next step is a vote in the full Senate, likely in the coming weeks.

“Antiquated policies and attitudes towards transgender individuals have led to discrimination, violence, depression and suicide,” Assemblywoman Valerie Vainieri Huttle (D-Bergen), a bill sponsor, said in a statement. “While tremendous strides have been made in recent years to advance equality for members of the ‘LGB’ community, much more still needs to be done to help protect our brothers and sisters in the ‘T’ community.”

https://observer.com/2017/05/nj-transgender-healthcare-bill/

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Youth Voting Bill Clears Senate, Heads to Christie’s Desk

vote for me

 

A bill to allow 17 year-olds to vote in primary elections as long as they will reach the age of majority by election day passed in the state Senate Monday, and will head to Christie’s desk. Under current state law, 17 year-olds can register to vote before their eighteenth birthday, but not vote in state primaries. The bill advanced by a 31-8 margin. JT Aregood, PolitickerNJ Read more

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O’Toole Announces His Final Senate Term

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Dear Friend:

As we begin 2016 and this Legislative Session, I wanted to take this opportunity and inform you of a decision I have made.

Being a member of the Legislature has been one of my most satisfying privileges, and having been your State Senator has been my honor and privilege. As with all things in life, I truly believe that there comes a point when it’s time for new opportunities and letting the next generation of public servants have their chance to make a mark on society.

As such, I have decided this will be my last term in the legislature and that I will not seek re-election in 2017.

While I have decided not to seek another term in office, I intend to complete the remainder of my term – which ends in January of 2018. Until that time, please know that my office remains available to assist you and I intend to remain an active member of the Legislature advocating for issues that improve the quality of life for residents here in District 40 and throughout our State.

As always, I look forward to hearing from you at 973-237-1360 or email me at senotoole@njleg.org.

Sincerely,
Kevin J. O’Toole
Senator, District 40

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Jeff Bell Presents his closing argument

jeff-bell

Jeff Bell Presents his closing argument

Dear Friends

As I’ve been telling you all along, I ran for U.S. Senate in New Jersey because I felt that we were headed for trouble unless we made a major change in the economy. Let me tell you exactly why.

Right now this country is in the slowest economy recovery of our modern history. Growth is tepid, good job openings are scarce, and most working people struggle to get a loan. The most frequent question I’ve gotten in nine months of campaigning around the state of New Jersey is, Why? Why is the economy stuck in place? Why can’t my child who is a recent college graduate find a decent job? Why are my own wages failing to keep up with rising prices?

My answer is that the Federal Reserve for six years has been stepping on the throat of the economy. Its zero interest rate policy, begun in December 2008, is the culprit. Banks are lending to the government rather than small business — the main source of new job creation — because of the incentive created by it. Individuals can’t earn a return on their savings. We have an economy that wants to recover but is treading water instead.

If we stay in this present course, three outcomes are possible. We could tip into a recession, we could have a market collapse like we had in 2008, or prices could rise dramatically and we would have high inflation. I don’t know which is most likely to happen, but unfortunately I believe the Federal Reserve has done things that will cause at least one of the three to happen.

Simply ending the Federal Reserve’s zero interest rate policy is not enough by itself, because that has big consequences of its own. If interest rates are allowed to return to normal, that will add about $400 billion to the annual federal deficit. It also could set the stage for a dramatic sell-off of stocks, bonds, and other sources of household wealth that have been artificially juiced by the zero interest rate policy. So ending the Fed’s disastrous zero interest rate policy risks the same bad results as keeping it in place.

How do we get out of this straightjacket? I believe we must go back to the gold standard for the first time in 40 years because it contains all of the self-correcting mechanisms for our current situation. A gold-backed dollar would let the marketplace, rather than the Federal Reserve Board, set interest rates and determine the size of the money supply. Instead of watching and worrying what the Fed is going to do, our markets could function knowing that the value of t dollar won’t change and interest rates would adjust according to supply and demand for credit.

Just as importantly, going back on the gold standard would embed limited government in Washington. Congress would need to balance its budgets in the long-run when it could no longer rely on the Federal Reserve to continually print money to finance them. Our existing debt could be refinanced at better terms since the dollar we would be using to pay it back would no longer be depreciating due to inflation. And finally, members of Congress would be at the mercy of anti-deficit voters in a way they aren’t right now.

Do I think we can go back to the gold standard overnight? Of course not. I’ve proposed it as a three-and-a-half year process that gradually brings the market in and cuts the Federal Reserve out of determining the dollar’s value. I still believe the Fed should continue to exist to serve the roles it was created for: administering the money supply to avoid panics and being a lender of last resort if it fails at the first function.

I would not have run for U.S. Senate if I had found someone else to champion this. Here’s why I think I couldn’t: members of Congress — in both parties — are afraid of losing the Federal Reserve’s money printing support for their spending programs. They don’t want to take power away from an institution that lets them off the hook for being accountable for their fiscal policies. If that happened, legislators like Cory Booker would have to justify the return on investment of every new spending measure they introduce. This has the potential to sink whole chunks of the Democratic Party’s agenda. For their part, even anti-deficit Republicans have chosen to be the Party of No rather than problem solvers. That’s why no one is too optimistic things will change if they take over the Senate tomorrow.

I don’t know if Election Day will be the inflection point I’m describing above, but I am sure that the present course we are on isn’t sustainable. And it’s very likely to catch up with Republican candidates in 2016 if our party doesn’t not come up with a way out of the straightjacket. Hillary Clinton knows how to win elections by promising voters government support, and I believe her argument will be politically viable if there’s no compelling alternative offered.

I’ve staked everything on this campaign not because I desire to hold elective office, but because I saw no other way to fix what’s wrong with the economy. I’m hoping that tomorrow will be a big step in the right direction. Whatever happens, it’s been a great privilege to campaign to represent the voters of New Jersey.

Sincerely,

Jeff Bell
Leonia, NJ

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The Daily Beast’s Hit Piece on Cory Booker Sure is Weak

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The Daily Beast’s Hit Piece on Cory Booker Sure is Weak

October 25, 2014 by Daniel Greenfield 0 Comments

Daniel Greenfield, a Shillman Journalism Fellow at the Freedom Center, is a New York writer focusing on radical Islam. He is completing a book on the international challenges America faces in the 21st century.

Cory Booker has often been accused of putting style over substance. The same is true of Olivia Nuzzi’s hit piece on him for The Daily Beast which is a fun read, but in substance comes down to nothing.

Once you get all her sneers and put downs out of the way, here’s the sum total of her actual indictment of Booker.

But a state audit by the comptroller’s office found that the agency’s director, Linda Watkins-Brashear, was a donor and close ally of Booker’s, was using the Watershed like her own personal bank account—paying herself $1.98 million over seven years, when her salary came to just $1.16 million. The also doled out millions in no-bid contracts to her friends and husband. Further, Booker’s former law partner, Elnardo Webster, had been acting as the Watershed’s counsel—and his firm had profited $212,318. “He had nothing to do with the business the firm conducted with the Watershed,” Booker’s spokeswoman, Silvia Alvarez, told me.

…Which is not to say that blame for the corruption should be placed solely at Booker’s feet—but the the comptroller’s office noted in their report that the mayor did not attend a single meeting regarding the agency. He instead sent a business administrator in his place, and then when the administrator resigned, in 2010, Booker never replaced them. He had no time to go to the meetings, he said. Never mind that a dearth of free time never seemed to get in the way of a commencement address, or a talk-show appearance, or a social-media stunt.

That’s the best that Nuzzi has and it’s not remotely news. But Nuzzi, who appears to have done little for this piece except pile of sneers, manages to take a shot at Charles C. Johnson who actually did investigate Booker.

https://www.frontpagemag.com/2014/dgreenfield/the-daily-beasts-hit-piece-on-cory-booker-sure-is-weak/

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The ugly truth about Cory Booker, New Jersey’s golden boy

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The ugly truth about Cory Booker, New Jersey’s golden boy

It’s eight o’clock on a Sunday night in Jersey City, and for the first time this October it’s cold enough to see your breath in front of you with a deep exhale of the Hudson River air. It’s curious, given that, to see a group of a few dozen residents and visitors from neighboring towns assembled in a parking lot next to the train station—while the New York Giants are playing, no less. The workout-gear-clad mayor, Steven Fulop, is hopping up and down with his arms crossed over his chest for warmth, asking me when I think “he” will arrive. (Nuzzi/The Daily Beast)

https://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/10/20/the-ugly-truth-about-cory-booker-new-jersey-s-golden-boy.html

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Reader says Booker turned out to be an enormous disappointment

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Reader says Booker turned out to be an enormous disappointment

Booker turned out to be an enormous disappointment. He signaled an end to the third-world politics of Newark’s Sharpe James. He’s now moved on to bigger things having left behind a city that has worse stats than the ones he railed against in his campaign against James. The man has accomplished absolutely NOTHING, but in this bizarre alternate universe we now live in called image politics, he’s being touted as a future President. After all, why not? The current President’s accomplishments were equally as empty and the media all but refused to do their required due diligence.

Cory Booker has an unusual personality, self-confidence, is hard to throw off his game, the camera just plain likes him, and the vast bulk of the major media reliably purrs like a kitten when he glances in its direction. Other than that we’re talking about a true cipher. An astonishing absence of true accomplishment, or deep or long-lasting relationships with ‘real people’ who are relatable and reliable and are willing to personally vouch for him. He has a shocking willingness to make up and perpetuate blatant myths and other tall tales and vignettes designed to rev up the warm and fuzzy factor in otherwise inattentive voters. He also seems to be riding somewhat of a wave of quasi-approval or anything-goes type of public attitude regarding non-traditional lifestyles, one or more of which he may or may not be leading on any given day, depending on what insinuation his PR people may believe is most politically advantageous for him. The Senator is a witches’ brew of quirks and strange traits that nobody can seem to quite pin down, figure out, or persuade enough additional people to believe or even think clearly about, at least not in time to make him pay at the ballot box.

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NJ Senate Candidate Bell praises Christie for halting budget busting tunnel project to Macy’s Basement

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NJ Senate Candidate Bell praises Christie for halting budget busting tunnel project to Macy’s Basement

October 9, 2014    Last updated: Thursday, October 9, 2014, 1:21 AM
By JOHN REITMEYER
STATE HO– USE BUREAU
The Record

Governor Christie’s decision to halt construction on new Hudson River commuter tunnels “looks pretty good in retrospect,” even as damage from Superstorm Sandy is now expected to cause more delays during upcoming repair work, the Republican candidate for U.S. Senate said Wednesday.

Jeffrey Bell, speaking to The Record’s editorial board, also said he considers Christie’s success with Latinos last year during his bid for reelection a model, adding he favors comprehensive immigration reform even if other Republicans nationally have taken a firmer position on the issue.

“It makes us seem — I mean the Republican Party — completely unwelcoming,” Bell said of the stances some other GOP candidates have taken.

Bell, a 70-year-old former aide to Ronald Reagan, is trying to upset incumbent U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, a Democrat who is ahead in the race, according to the most recent public opinion polls. Christie headlined a fundraiser for Bell on Tuesday and Bell, who lost bids for the Senate in 1978 and 1982, said the Republican governor “has been very helpful.”

Bell didn’t try to distance himself from Christie’s 2010 decision to stop work on the new tunnels, which the governor said would have exposed New Jersey to billions of dollars in potential cost overruns.

– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/news/candidate-praises-christie-for-halting-tunnel-project-1.1105695#sthash.iwTQ2T0H.dpuf

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A Bell-ringer in New Jersey

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A Bell-ringer in New Jersey
By George F. Will

Every 36 years, it seems, Jeff Bell disturbs New Jersey’s political order. In 1978, as a 34-year-old apostle of supply-side economics and a harbinger of the Reagan Revolution, he stunned the keepers of the conventional wisdom by defeating a four-term senator, Clifford Case, in the Republican primary. Bell, a Columbia University graduate who fought in Vietnam, lost to Bill Bradley in the 1978 general election, but in 1982 he went to Washington to help implement President Reagan’s economic policies that produced five quarters of above 7 percent growth and six years averaging 4.6 percent.

Bell, now 70, is back. He won the Republican nomination to run against Sen. Cory Booker, 45, the Democratic former mayor of Newark who last October won a special election to serve the last year of the late Sen. Frank Lautenberg’s term.

New Jersey last voted Republican for president in 1988; in 2012, Barack Obama carried it by 18 points; it has not elected a Republican senator since 1972. Booker, who has raised more than $16 million, is a prodigy at siphoning money from Wall Street. Bell is running this year’s most penurious Senate campaign, having raised and pretty much spent about $300,000. And this is an expensive state: To reach New Jersey voters, candidates for statewide offices must buy New York and Philadelphia radio and television time, which Bell cannot do.

Yet Booker’s lead is only in the low double digits — 13 points in theRealClearPolitics average of polls. In eight Senate races (Delaware, Hawaii,New Mexico, Oregon, Illinois, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Virginia), Republicans are less competitive than Bell is. If Republican groups had given Bell the money they spent dragging Sen. Thad Cochran to re-nomination in Mississippi, Bell might be hot on Booker’s heels. He could still get there with a modest infusion of campaign contributions: Several polls have shown Booker’s support below 50 percent.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/george-will-jeff-bell-would-offer-new-jersey-far-more-than-cory-booker-can/2014/10/03/c6591c12-4a5e-11e4-b72e-d60a9229cc10_story.html

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Booker-Bell Really a 5-Point Race

Jeff Bell

Booker-Bell Really a 5-Point Race
8:28 AM, OCT 2, 2014 • BY WILLIAM KRISTOL

The new Quinnipiac poll of the New Jersey Senate contest shows Jeff Bell only 11 points down to Cory Booker, 51 to 40 percent, among likely voters. It goes without saying that a race can move a dozen points in the final five weeks of a campaign—especially when a little known challenger (but one who’s well-regarded by those who do know of him) is taking on a pro-Obama incumbent who’s barely above 50 percent in an anti-Obama, anti-incumbent year. (Obama’s approval in New Jersey is hovering around 41 percent.)

But take a further look at the poll results. Booker leads Bell, 51-40. Seventy-six percent of Booker supporters and 84 percent of Bell supporters say their mind is made up. Do the math. Among those whose mind is made up, Booker leads Bell 39 to 34 percent.

https://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/booker-bell-really-5-point-race_808457.html

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Citing Ronald Reagan, N.J. Senate Candidate Jeff Bell calls for immigration reform

Jeff Bell

Citing Ronald Reagan, N.J. Senate Candidate Jeff Bell calls for immigration reform

TRENTON — Jeff Bell, the Republican who is challenging U.S. Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), says his party has been “unwelcoming to Hispanic voters” and that he favors a guest worker program that would put immigrants in the country illegally on a path to legal status. (Friedman/NJ Advance Media)

https://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2014/09/citing_ronald_reagan_nj_sen_cory_booker_opponent_jeff_bell_calls_for_immigration_reform.html#incart_river