All this so Phoebus can sign-off on a liberal judge?

As a young married man, just starting a family, Steve Oroho got involved in public policy by going to March for Life walks and as a numbers-cruncher for W. R. Grace and Company -- who fed those numbers into something called the Grace Commission, set up President Ronald Reagan to find ways to make government run efficiently.  Steve's son was Senator Bob Littell's paper boy, and it was through him that he met Bob and became the Senator's campaign treasurer.

Alison Littell McHose urged Steve to get involved in local government in Franklin Borough.  He started with the economic development committee and then was elected to borough council.  He helped the town manage its debt and brought in new procedures to monitor spending.  Steve was elected to the freeholder board in 2004, where he worked with Hal Wirths and Gary Chiusano to overhaul Sussex County's budget process and establish fiscal restraint.

In 2007, he stood for State Senate after Senator Bob Littell became too ill to run for re-election.   Steve was the underdog.  Nobody in Trenton thought he could win and none of the usual sources of fundraising were open to him.  But Steve had been asked by leaders in the Sussex County community to run anyway, to try to keep the Senate seat in Sussex County.  His opponent was a Morris County resident and Morris County was crowded with Senate seats. Sussex County only had one. 

So Steve put his own money up.  It was a hardship for him and his growing family, but he did it anyway, because he listened and understood that Sussex County needed its own Senator.  That counties without proper representation become orphans in Trenton and got short shrift.  Running with an all-Sussex team of Alison Littell McHose, Gary Chiusano, Hal Wirths, and Jeff Parrott -- Steve and the whole team won. 

Since then, Steve has served Sussex County, Northwest New Jersey, and the 24th Legislative District.  Whenever a Republican candidate has needed resources, Steve has been there, putting his hand in his pocket or raising it.  Whenever the county GOP was broke and needed money, Steve has seen them through.  When the state party and Republican legislative candidates needed money, Steve has given it or raised it for them.  Conservative organizations have turned to Steve and he has never let them down.  Christian charities, places where young women can have their babies instead of being financially pressed into abortion, have turned to Steve -- and he has never turned them away. 

When Americans for Prosperity (AFP) put up a candidate for Governor, Steve Oroho incurred the wrath of Chris Christie but Steve would not go against AFP's candidate.  And when that man said that he would be a candidate for the United States Senate against Cory Booker, Steve was among the first to rally to his side.

As Senator, Steve has worked with conservative think tanks to fashion model conservative legislation.  Steve serves as chairman of the conservative American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and he's carried legislation for the NRA and other Second Amendment groups.  He is the prime sponsor of the Pro-Life community's most important piece of legislation.  He has championed the cause of religious liberty and traditional values. 

The business community -- small and large -- has relied on Steve Oroho to protect them from big government and over-regulation.  And he has protected both the job creators and the taxpayers.  Against great odds and with both chambers controlled by the Democrats, Steve has the best record of passing tax cuts in Trenton.  In fact, the Star-Ledger tracked the legislative success of legislators and found that of the top ten, only one was a Republican -- Steve Oroho.

It's true that Steve Oroho doesn't sound like Donald Trump.  He doesn't talk trash about those he disagrees with.  Instead, Steve engages in a policy discussion with them.  He comes armed with facts not curse words.  He is patient, courteous, and kind to those with whom he disagrees.  And that's why he gets other legislators, even Democrats, to see his way.

In 2011, the Tea Party got mad at Assemblywoman Alison Littell McHose because she wouldn't support a liberal for the Republican nomination for United States Senate.  That liberal was Dick LaRossa, a former State Senator who the NRA had walked away from in 1996.  The Tea Party had been sweet-talked by Dick.  They liked Dick and thought he was the next big thing.  That all came to nothing.  So, seeking revenge, the Tea Party ran two candidates in District 24 against McHose and Gary Chiusano.  One Tea Party candidate got 5 percent of the vote.  The other got 2 percent.

Now they want to do it again.  And it's all over the appointment of a liberal judge to the Superior Court.  Senator Steve Oroho won't do it.  But a Senator Gail Phoebus would. 

The Tea Party has chosen as its issue the gas tax portion of the tax restructuring package.  The one tax in a five-tax-cuts package.  They have been attacking Steve Oroho for weeks using the most graphic, violent and pornographic language.  The vicious rumors have been spread by people who once turned to him in their need.  Why do some people feel the need to damage someone they called "friend" and spread filth just because they disagree over a single policy?  These are people who claim to believe in God -- but what Creator would license this type of behavior towards that which is His?

We don't believe that the Tea Party will be any more successful this time than it was in 2011.  But one day, Steve Oroho will leave the scene.  And who will fill his shoes?  Then the Tea Party will be singing a different tune:

In July 2008, gas hit $4 a gal, what happened?

Remember the mass starvation that occurred?  The displaced masses?  Thousands died.

No.  That's right, it didn't happen.  And it didn't happen in October of 2012, when the price per gallon again flirted with the $4 mark.  And it won't happen when the price per gallon goes to $2.15 cents, due to the 23 cents per gallon tax increase.

Despite what the petroleum lobby (AFP) and the foul-mouthed followers of the Tea Party tell you, it won't be the end of the world.  In fact, the roads and bridges that had to be closed because there was no money to repair them will now get done, and the world will run a little smoother.

The $8 million dollars in road repaving money promised by the state TTF to Sussex County will now be sent.  That means the county won't have to raise our property taxes next year by $100 to cover that $8 million.  A 105-year-old bridge in Byram will be replaced.  Dozens of other projects in townships and boroughs that would have been paid for by increases in local property taxes will now be funded by the increase in the gas tax.

In New Jersey, the killer tax isn't the user tax on gasoline and diesel, it is property taxes levied by county and local governments and school boards.  New Jersey has the highest property taxes in America and because of it, we have the highest foreclosure rate too.  It is foreclosure that is the breaker of families and the bringer of misery.   

All the energy brought to stop a tax increase was aimed at the wrong tax.  The gas tax hadn't been raised -- not even adjusted for inflation -- for 28 years. 

28 years ago, what did your property tax bill look like?  What is it today?  Did you pay more every year?  Didn't it just go up again this year?

The petroleum lobbyists at Americans for Prosperity ignored the very real property tax/ foreclosure problem and instead focused our attention on the gas tax because that is a tax on the product they sell.  We can at least understand that.

But the Tea Party doesn't have that excuse.  Led by a foul-mouthed national candidate and populated with a legion of rude, foul-mouthed Facebook warriors, the Tea Party is not someone your Mom would let date your little sister.  They are just in it for someone to hate.  It's the anger not the reason that matters.

Some examples:

An X-rated Tea Partier...

After announcing his intent to run as the Tea Party candidate for State Senate against Republican Steve Oroho, Kevin Mazzoti talks Trump to a voter:

 Kevin Mazzoti I'm disappointed in you xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx. Who do you think you are? Are you the one sucking xxxxx off?

An Obama supporting Tea Partier...

A Facebook exchange between Franklin Mayor Nick Giordano and a constituent:

CONSTITUENT:  Don't talk conservative when you brag about voting for Bill Clinton and Barack Obama Mayor.

Franklin Mayor Nick Giordano: Yup cause I vote best candidate at the time not by party.

A two-faced Tea Party "hero"...

As a Freeholder, Gail Phoebus lobbied the Legislature to pass the gas tax to fund the TTF, then lied about it as a candidate, and voted against what she had lobbied for as an Assemblyperson. (Sussex County Freeholder Minutes, November 25, 2014)

A lost Tea Partier on Facebook...

Someone who lives hours outside the district, makes his obligatory threats:

I have been a life long member of the Republican Party.
Now I look forward to repaying you this favor at the ballot box in November.

A flip-flopping Tea Party "king"...

Assemblyman Jay Webber lectured other legislators on the importance of adopting a tax restructuring plan that included an increase in the gas tax and the phase out of the estate tax  -- then turned around and joined Marxists in attacking the plan he told others to support. (Star-Ledger op-ed by Jay Webber, October 14, 2014)

A Tea Partier melts down on Facebook...

At this time, I want you to know that I am going to be spending all my time and energy (outside of working hours) campaigning, writing, and calling everyone I know to VOTE YOU ALL OUT!!! (and it doesn’t matter if you are not in my district). Not one incumbent should be re-elected.

...The burden of the transportation infrastructure costs will now be carried EXCLUSIVELY by the people who travel to work every day.

Yes, by everyone who drives.  It is supposed to be.  It is a user tax -- the fairest form of taxation, according to Ronald Reagan.  Remember him?

...let me remind you that the roads and bridges are used by delivery people, EMT/Rescue personnel, fire trucks, mail delivery vehicles, package delivery, food delivery, telephone and utility (gas/electric) personnel, doctors and nurses who go to work, x-ray and medical technicians, teachers, etc. Now, remember, that people who do not drive utilize these services every day. Are they paying for the transportation costs? NO because they do not drive. The burden of the transportation funding needs to be carried by every citizen of this state.

In other words, New Jersey property taxpayers should subsidize the out-of-state drivers who use our roads.  By-the-way, 30% of those who use our roads are out-of-state drivers.  Wow...

AFP goes LEFT again: Supports reverse discrimination

In a bizarre missive sent out today by AFP's New Jersey leadership, the group put forward the arguments of a left-wing artist and an organization that supports mandatory, government-enforced quotas for businesses based not on the quality of work they do, but on subjective and arbitrary factors such as the gender of the owner.  This kind of reverse discrimination is abhorrent to most clear-thinking Americans and abusive of taxpayers. 

AFP NJ is part of the Koch Brothers' national lobbying group, Americans for Prosperity (AFP).  Yesterday, AFP NJ issued a different attack on the same legislation targeted by today's missive: Legislation designed to protect skilled American workers from illegals looking to take their jobs. 

The bill under attack is Senate Bill 2173.  This is EXACTLY how the bill description reads:

This bill requires every contract subject to State prevailing wage requirements to require each worker employed under the contract to be enrolled in, or have completed, a registered apprenticeship, unless the contractor or subcontractor certifies that the worker is paid not less than the journeyworker wage rate.

Under the bill, a “registered apprenticeship program” is an apprenticeship program which is registered with and approved by the United States Department of Labor and which provides each trainee with combined classroom and on-the-job training under the direct and close supervision of a highly skilled worker in an occupation recognized as an apprenticeable trade and meets the program performance standards of enrollment and graduation under 29 C.F.R. Part 29, section 29.6.

This is the LIE being promoted by AFP:

At the heart of the legislation is a requirement that " each worker employed under the contract to be enrolled in, or have completed, a registered apprenticeship" program. Since apprenticeship programs are offered primarily by labor unions, this bill would all but shut out competition from non-union shops and drive up project costs at the expense of New Jersey taxpayers.

The truth is this:  There are 676 active apprentice programs in New Jersey, only 15 of which are affiliated with a construction union.

Illegals cannot gain access to apprenticeship programs because they are in the United States illegally.  As it is now, unethical contractors hire a qualified worker (per the law) and then place a dozen or dozens of unqualified illegals under him (or her), pay them less, and increase profits.  Why should taxpayers pay for unqualified illegal labor?

SB 2173 makes sure that the workers hired are qualified workers or worker trainees in an approved apprenticeship program, who have a legal right to be in the United States. 

And contrary to what AFP is telling you, if there is no apprenticeship program covering a particular job-description, a worker may be hired provided that the contractor sign a statement that he is legally permitted to work in America.  Now why would ANY group calling itself CONSERVATIVE oppose that!

What's up with AFP NJ?

Back when Steve Lonegan ran AFP in New Jersey, there was a level of competence that seems lacking now.  Lonegan communicated with other conservatives and used AFP to support the conservative movement as a whole -- even when it went against the corporate interests of the Koch brothers. 

In contrast to the Koch brothers and the current regime running AFP NJ, Lonegan was solidly Pro-Life, he opposed same-sex marriage, opposed amnesty for illegal immigrants, and supported American cultural values.  The current leadership are culture warriors for the Left.  No less than conservative Senator Mike Doherty was stiffed by them when he asked the financial backers of AFP NJ for help. 

Whether due to incompetence or by design, AFP NJ has once again exhibited that they don't understand the legislation they are opposing.  Conveniently ignoring the purpose of the legislation to push the Koch agenda isn't helping the conservative movement in New Jersey.  Next time, pick up a telephone and talk to a fellow conservative before going off half-Koched.

Cloud Cuckoo Land at the Herald

Let's say you are the New Jersey Herald and you are in debt.  Your out-of-state corporate owners argue that there is fat that can be cut, things done more efficiently, savings made.  But you still need a source of funding to keep the lights on, pay the staff, and do those things necessary for your day to day operations.

Do you have the option of not paying your staff, your suppliers, your utilities, your taxes -- until you've had time to "study" the problem and come up with a solution that makes your business profitable?   We don't think you do.

But that is exactly what the Herald is suggesting happen with the Transportation Trust Fund (TTF).  The TTF is out of money... now!  So the Herald is suggesting that they spend no more on road and bridge maintenance and repairs until they figure out a way to operate more efficiently.

Now we're all for finding ways to make the TTF operate efficiently (unhelpfully, the Herald doesn't suggest any), but in the real world, we all know that when the money runs out, and the workers don't get paid, the repairs will stop.  And what that will do is make all that road and bridge maintenance and repair work the responsibility of counties and municipalities.  That's right, local governments, paid for with local property tax dollars -- your property tax dollars.

Almost $300 million every year is sent from the TTF to local governments to repair and maintain their roads and bridges.  This is about to disappear, and when it does, it will need to be replaced by local governments with a $300 million increase in property taxes.  If the money isn't replaced, and local governments willingly allow roads and bridges to become dangerous to use and if they fail to close them, the cost of the litigation resulting  from avoidable tragedies will bankrupt some local governments or force property taxes even higher. 

Yes, roads and bridges must be maintained and repaired .  And the TTF must have the money to pay for it.  Where will that money come from?  Approximately one-third of gas tax revenues in New Jersey come from out-of-state drivers.  All property taxes come from the people of New Jersey.  So which do you think is the best way to pay for improvements to roads and bridges, an increase in the gas tax or an increase in property taxes?

The responsible way is the two-track approach:  (1) Study and propose reforms to the TTF while, (2) coming up with a plan that funds road and bridge maintenance and repair without raising property taxes.  But there are those who don't want to be responsible, and we know why.

We know why AFP would rather raise property taxes than a gas tax.  AFP is a top-down organization funded by one of the world's biggest producers of petroleum products.  The people who fund AFP are using it to lobbying for their special interests and a user tax on gasoline affects their bottom line.  As a national organization funded by a globalist elite, AFP isn't concerned that New Jersey property taxpayers will be spending $11 billion on subsidizing the use of our state's roads by out-of-state drivers. 

And we know that newspapers like the Herald are desperate to have taxpayers continue to subsidize them.  State law requires that advertisements be placed in newspapers for many official actions -- like notices of sheriff sales and local government budgets.  Millions of property tax dollars are spent each year by local governments for these advertisements and that money goes directly into the pockets of the corporate entities that own and control the newspapers.  Modern technology has made this expense antiquated and unnecessary.  Today, notice could be given on government-owned websites for a tiny fraction of the cost property taxpayers are paying now to newspapers. To the Herald, keeping this subsidy is more important than keeping the lid on property taxes.

***

THIS JUST IN... A new Rutgers University study of road construction costs shows that the Reason Foundation study AFP is touting is just so much bullshit.  Hey, we get it. He who pays the piper calls the tune and Reason, like AFP, is funded by those same producers of petroleum products.  Below is the statement released by Rutgers.  You can read the full study here.

   
For Immediate Release:  May 19, 2016                   

Contact:  Steve Schapiro  609.530.4280

Kevin Israel

Daniel Triana                                                   

Rutgers study estimates cost to build and maintain NJDOT roads  Research part of analysis to better understand transportation infrastructure costs    

(Trenton) – New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) officials today announced the release of a new study conducted by Rutgers University’s Alan M. Voorhees Transportation Center that determined the average cost to plan, construct, operate, and maintain one mile of roadway under NJDOT jurisdiction is $183,757. 

 
The study is part of a two phase effort to provide an understanding of aggregate costs associated with NJDOT roadways and bridges. Rutgers will conduct additional research to understand more completely the factors that influence cost efficiency. 

 
“The New Jersey Department of Transportation is committed to providing a modern, safe, and reliable transportation system throughout the State in the most effective manner possible,” NJDOT Acting Commissioner Richard T. Hammer said. “The study is part of an on-going effort to identify those factors that drive costs in New Jersey’s public transportation sector.” 

 
The Rutgers study found that on average nearly 60 percent of total transportation-related expenditures are for activities not directly associated with planning, construction, operating, and maintaining roads and bridges under NJDOT jurisdiction.  These costs are related to expenditures for NJ TRANSIT, debt services on transportation bonds, funding for local road projects, aviation, maritime and rail freight, and contribute to providing a comprehensive and safe transportation system throughout the State. 

“The Rutgers study stands in stark contrast to a recent report that grossly over-reported New Jersey’s highway costs at $2 million per mile,” Hammer said, noting that the Rutgers study concurred that it is inappropriate to include the entire debt service amount on transportation bonds when calculating lane mile costs, and that additional analysis is required to isolate the portion attributable to highway projects. 

The study also determined that on average $1.5 billion is spent annually on highway expenses, and of this amount, approximately 60 percent is attributable to construction.  Less than four percent is attributable to administration, planning and research.  The remainder goes toward operations and maintenance.  
“The facts of this study not only demonstrate the Department’s responsible stewardship of taxpayer dollars,” Hammer added. “But also will allow NJDOT to single out cost driver outliers, which will in turn provide the Department the ability to target future efficiency efforts.” 

Phase II of this study will conduct an analysis of toll road authority expenditures and produce a detailed case study analysis of various NJDOT and toll authority roadway and bridge projects to understand cost efficiency variation more completely.  

#  #  #

Click here to see the study. Courtesy of My Central Jersey

AFP is trying to confuse property taxpayers

Like the Reason Foundation, Americans for Prosperity (AFP) was founded by the owners of Koch Industries, a $115 billion global corporation that operates in 59 countries around the world.  Its core business is petroleum and it zealously protects that business, as one would expect it to.

AFP likes to portray itself as a "membership" organization, but unlike other membership organizations here in America, AFP's members don't get to vote on who leads its national and state organizations.  Those decisions are made for them by individuals closely connected with the owners of Koch Industries.   That means that AFP is essentially a lobby group, so we perfectly understand why it would rather see property taxes increased on every homeowner in New Jersey instead of a petroleum tax increase on products produced by Koch Industries.

Today, AFP sent out a very emotional press release about the $341 million boondoggle to repair Route 35.  We all agree that construction projects are targets for political corruption, inefficiencies, and over-regulation in New Jersey.  But we also know -- as AFP does -- that raising these issues does not solve the problem of how to fund road and bridge maintenance and repairs now that the Transportation Trust Fund (TTF) is out of money.

Unlike many liberals, conservatives do not respond to mere emotional appeals like AFP's press release today.  We prefer to listen to a rational argument that appeals to our intellect. 

Yes, something needs to be done to address the political corruption, inefficiencies, and over-regulation of construction projects in New Jersey.  As a start, AFP might join with those of us who are trying to undo the gubernatorial order that killed the state's "fast-track" regulatory program that would speed up construction and save taxpayers' millions each year.  Now where is AFP on this cost-saving reform?  We would like to know.

For two years now a solar construction scandal has rocked northwest New Jersey (where AFP is based and where the group's leadership lives) with all the political corruption and boondoggle AFP could ask for -- but not a peep about it has come from AFP.  It is as if they were asleep, or perhaps the leaders of AFP don't read their local newspapers?  Of course, this construction project doesn't concern a product near and dear to the hearts of Koch Industries. 

Instead of making specific suggestions on how we can address the political corruption, inefficiencies, and over-regulation of construction projects in New Jersey, AFP has only one suggestion -- DON'T RAISE TAXES ON PETROLEUM PRODUCTS!  Now why would that be?

Here's what AFP isn't telling you.

The Transportation Trust Fund (TTF) collects money from the gas tax and then uses that money to maintain and repair state roads and bridges.  The TTF also sends money to local governments (counties and municipalities) so that they can afford to maintain and repair the roads and bridges that they own. 

The TTF is nearly bankrupt.  There will be no money for the maintenance and repair of the roads and bridges owned by the state AND there will be no money to send to local governments to maintain and repair their roads and bridges.

It's happening already.

Last month the town of Montville, in Morris County, went to the TTF for funding to repair a road.  It was turned down.  Note the shock of township leaders:

Due to the New Jersey Transportation Fund’s unfunded state, Canning said he saw something he had never seen in 25 years of working in government: a grant denial.

“There were 641 applications to the NJ Department of Transportation requesting more than $253 million of the $78.75 million available in municipal aide grant funds,” said Canning, “and they did not approve our Brittany Road project, therefore, all $650,000 will have to be self-funded.”

What that "will have to be self-funded" means is that the property taxpayers of Montville will be stuck paying for those repairs.   

As more and more local governments get turned down, their leaders will have a decision to make:  Either they raise property taxes on every homeowner and business to pay for the maintenance and repair of roads and bridges; or they allow those roads and bridges to fall into disrepair, and become unsafe. 

If local governments take the second option and allow roads and bridges to become unsafe, they will be left with just two choices:  Close those roads and bridges as they become unsafe, or accept that there will be lawsuits for negligence when people are injured or killed on those unsafe roads and bridges.  Of course, the legal bills and settlements for such lawsuits will also result in the need to raise property taxes -- so the taxpayer will lose either way.

Don't think it will happen?  Well, it already has.

It took 145 victims, 22 children, 13 deaths, and one bridge collapse for the Legislature in Minnesota to finally raise the gas tax to fund road and bridge maintenance and repairs.  Of course, at that point they also had to pay out many millions more in hospital care, rehabilitation, on-going health care, and negligence settlements -- as well as totally reconstructing a bridge.

Do we really want to wait until we are burying children?

In the real world, we all know that when the money runs out, and the workers don't get paid, the repairs will stop. 

And then there's this to consider:  Right now, New Jersey taxpayers subsidize out-of-state drivers who use our roads.  If we do nothing, we will end up paying $11 billion over the next 25 years to subsidize out-of-state drivers.

Approximately one-third of gas tax revenues in New Jersey come from out-of-state drivers.  All property taxes come from the people of New Jersey.  So which do you think is the best way to pay for improvements to roads and bridges, an increase in the gas tax or an increase in property taxes?

Let us know how you feel.  Your thoughts and ideas are always welcome.