Who paid for Roseff's signs?

The signs are an outright lie.  They read:  "Stop the gas tax hike.  Vote No on Question 2." 

The truth, acknowledged by everyone, is that the a No vote on Question 2 would not undo the gas tax increase that went into effect on November 1st.  The signs were part of a classic Big Lie campaign. 

That campaign failed.  On Tuesday, November 8th, in addition to electing Donald Trump as President of the United States, voters in Sussex County voted YES on Question Two by a margin of twenty percentage points.  Statewide, the YES campaign won by nine points.

On Saturday, November 12th, Harvey Roseff showed up at Newton Green to stage a one-person demonstration at the location where two rallies had been previously called and cancelled.  Like the anti-Trump demonstrations held around the country, Roseff appeared to be attempting to ignore the election just decided, planting about a dozen of the above signs around Newton Green.

A closer examination of these signs revealed that something was missing:  The disclaimer.  Election paraphernalia advocating for or against a Ballot Question is covered under laws administered by the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission (NJELEC).  A disclaimer is mandatory.

Thousands of signs like the dozen or so Harvey Roseff was posting on Newton Green appeared across the state in the run-up to the November 8th election.  What organization, politician, political committee, media corporation, or individual paid for them to be printed, distributed, and posted?

 

Tuesday a bad day for folks who prefer b.s. to truth

Lots of Big Lies fell on Tuesday:  "Hillary is inevitable," "Trump can't win," and so on.  Among those Big Lies was the one fabricated by Bill Spadea about Ballot Question 2. 

Over the past year, Bill Spadea has used the corporate resources of Townsquare Media and Oaktree Capital Management in an effort to make Spadea a major player in New Jersey politics.  Those corporate resources are worth tens of millions of dollars and the airtime alone expended by Spadea and his agents would have cost the average political campaign millions to buy.  All it took was a complacent board of directors and a greedy local management for Spadea to accomplish this enormous appropriation of resources and capital.

Spadea accomplished what some would have considered impossible.  He took hold of wallflower Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno and tore her away from the Governor who had mentored and promoted her.  Spadea smirked as the Lt. Governor performed stunts for him, like opposing Governor Christie on Ballot Question 2.  The Lt. Governor's Super PAC spent money to defeat Ballot Question 2 as she campaigned across the state on a platform that included advocating for a NO vote on both Question 2 and Donald Trump.

Guadagno was joined by the usual Christie-haters and by two Sussex County Assembly members who had temporarily (one hopes) lost their good sense. Spadea, who is a kind of patron saint for failed candidates for political office, attracted such ran-and-lost types as Mark Quick (lost for Congress and Assembly), Peter Vallorosi (lost for Congress), Michael Cino (lost for Congress twice), and Harvey Roseff (lost for township council and Freeholder).

None of these people did dick for Donald Trump or Congressman Scott Garrett.  Vallorosi and Cino actually softened up Congressman Garrett in the primary -- something that enormously benefitted the eventual left liberal, Clintonista Democrat winner -- Josh Gottheimer.  Mark Quick had ran an earlier campaign against Garrett , which also added to Garret's troubles.  This trio and their friends claim to be "conservative" but what kind of conservatives pick a fight with someone they agree with 95% of the time, in order to elect a left liberal who they will almost never agree with? 

Vallorosi, Cino, and Quick are idiots.  Those who have anything to do with them are idiots.  These three and those who give them material and emotional support now have what they wanted -- conservative Republican Scott Garrett has been defeated and left liberal, Clintonista Democrat Josh Gottheimer is now the member of Congress for Sussex County.  Good job asswipes!   

Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno is an idiot too.  She followed the fluttering eyelashes of Billy "the hand" Spadea.  Like those above, she bought the Big Lie and spent money pushing a NO vote on Ballot Question 2.  For good measure, Guadagno chose to give Donald Trump a barbed wire enema -- telling the media that she wasn't going to vote for him (which was supporting Hillary Clinton by default).  Lining up with Guadagno were Sussex County's two Assembly members, who inexplicably lent their names to this pro-abortion, pro-LGBTQ, anti-Trump liberal's campaign to defeat Ballot Question 2.  What happened to common sense?

Spadea has been a political loser his whole life.  He thought he was part of an historic wave when he tried to split the RNC and start a far-right third party in the mid-1990's.  That failed.  Then he ran for Congress and lost.  He started his "Red Shirt" movement, the "Building a New Majority" project, promoted a statewide GOP candidate who would transform the Republican Party to remake it in his vision.  Failed, failed, and failed again.  He even set his sights lower, ran for Assembly, and found himself blocked.  Another failure.  Bitterness followed.

Then he was rescued by FOX. Given a late-night "news of a kind" show.  Then the popular host of NJ101.5 had an accident, and Spadea found himself with a lever of power that he quickly learned and used to pursue his personal ambitions.

But Spadea went too far.  Having lost the gas tax vote he decided on the "Big Lie" approach and made up the myth that Ballot Question 2 was a vote on the gas tax.  People like Kim Guadagno believed him, but groups like American for Prosperity (AFP) and Americans for Tax Reform (ATR) saw Spadea's bullshit for what it was.  On Tuesday, voters saw through the b.s., rejected the Big Lie, and Spadea lost once again.

NJ GOP must fight Red-Shirt Fascism

On Friday night, a couple members of Bill Spadea's Red-Shirt movement held a "rally" at the former headquarters of the notorious American National Socialist Bund.  For some strange reason, instead of demolishing the former Camp Nordland, the town leaders of Andover Township have maintained the building that hosted numerous Nazi, Fascist, and Ku Klux Klan rallies in the 1930's.  Sussex County historian Wayne McCabe has written a book about the goings on at "the barn at Lake Iliff in Andover Township."

The Red-Shirts were voicing their opposition to Ballot Question 2, which simply states:

A "yes" vote supports this proposal to dedicate all revenue from gas taxes to transportation projects.

A "no" vote opposes this proposal, thus devoting the same levels of revenue to transportation projects.

The non-partisan organization ballotpedia.org provides the following details:

Amendment design

Question 2 would create a constitutional requirement that all revenue derived from taxes on motor fuels be deposited into the Transportation Trust Fund (TTF).^[1] Currently, only 10.5 cents of the gasoline and diesel fuel taxes is required to be deposited into the TTF.

Transportation Trust Fund

Question 2 would require all revenue from tax revenues on motor fuels to be deposited into the Transportation Trust Fund (TTF). The TTF was designed to fund the Department of Transportation and NJ Transit, which then use the revenue for transportation-related projects.^[2]

Question 2 and the gas tax

Question 2 was intended to complement a gas tax increase. The amendment itself does not increase the gas tax.^[3][4] On September 30, 2016, Gov. Christie (R) and the Democratic-controlled state legislature agreed to increase the gas tax 23 cents per gallon. As part of the agreement, the estate tax was eliminated, the Earned Income Tax Credit was increased, a tax deduction for veterans was created, and the state sales tax will be reduced from 7 to 6.625 percent in 2018.^[5] Question 2 would guarantee that revenue from the additional 23 cents gas tax and the existing 10.5 cents gas tax to the Transportation Trust Fund.^[6] Gov. Christie signed the bill on October 14, 2016.^[7]

Americans for Prosperity, a leader in its opposition to the gas tax increase, supports the passage of Ballot Question 2:

"Americans for Prosperity supports the ballot measure and constitutionally dedicating the remaining revenues collected from the tax on diesel and the petro tax to the transportation fund. At the same time, AFP wants voters to be clear that this referendum does not authorize a gas tax increase, nor does it in any way resolve the transportation challenges the state is facing. The remaining revenue from these two taxes amounts to less than $30 million, a mere fraction of the $1.2 billion collected for the TTF last year. Americans for Prosperity is steadfast in our opposition to a gas tax hike. We continue to urge lawmakers to pursue reforms to rein in wasteful spending and to ensure our transportation dollars are used solely for our roads and bridges."

Ballot Question 2 is the latest BIG LIE seized upon by Red-Shirt founder Bill Spadea for the purposes of (1) increasing his value to the Townsquare Media Corporation, owners of radio station NJ 101.5; and (2) stirring up mistrust, anger, and rage against government and existing political parties for the furtherance of the Fascist Red-Shirt Movement. 

Spadea's argument appears to be that the tax cuts in the Tax Restructuring program (eliminating the estate tax, the tax cut on retirement income for most New Jersey seniors, the sales tax cut, the $3,000 personal income tax exemption for veterans, and the earned income tax credit for low-paid workers) will take revenue that is needed for pension payments for public employee unions. Spadea speciously argues that a vote on Ballot Question 2 would leave "teachers without proper funding".

First of all, this is nonsense and based on some entirely false premise that the Red-Shirt leader cooked up in his head.  Second, it is essentially a left-wing argument, one made by Walter Mondale against Ronald Reagan, at odds with the political spectrum Spadea and the other Red-Shirts claim to represent. But then again, they didn't call it national socialism for nothing!

The anger is the thing.  Getting listeners to act out in an emotional rage is what Spadea's mission is and the level of sometimes violent rage he's built up is truly remarkable.  The foul and pornographic language, the threats of violence against legislators and their families posted on social media, have been breathtaking. 

Townsquare Media permits Spadea to spew hatred against people who use public transportation as though they were a lower form of human being -- and his Red-Shirt followers (and some elected officials) lap it up.  As a salesman, politician, and movement leader, Spadea appears to know more about transportation engineering than civil engineers and planners, who explain the common sense fact that public mass transportation removes millions of cars from the road that would otherwise be clogging said roads and adding to road wear and lengthening commuting time.

Spadea's latest argument against putting the money from the gas tax into a lock-box for road and bridge repair is that capital projects should be purchased up front instead of being financed over the life of the project.  That would be like buying a house or a car for cash.  Few can afford to do that and taxpayers cannot afford to see their property taxes go up to pay for a new bridge up front  Capital borrowing spreads the cost out over the life of the bridge. 

It's common sense but common sense is not what Bill Spadea and his Red-Shirters are about.  They want anger, they want rage, they want fear, they want hate... and increasingly, they are succeeding.

Spadea's rants have so frightened Assemblyman Erik Peterson, that last week his office put out a press release stating "Peterson has consistently opposed these measures" while apparently forgetting that he voted to put the Question on the ballot in January of this year:

ACR1 Amends State Constitution to dedicate all State revenues from motor fuels and petroleum products gross receipts tax to transportation system.

Session Voting:
Asm.  1/11/2016  -  3RDG FINAL PASSAGE   -  Yes {75}  No {0}  Not Voting {4}  Abstains {0}

Peterson, Erik - Yes

What a knucklehead!

But that's how it is now.  Emotion trumps reason.  The Big Lie conquers factual truth.  Fear makes people forget their own voting records.  And anger, rage, and hate are the order of the day.  We have been here before, as this footage from a speech by an American Brown-Shirt leader in Madison Square Garden reminds us.  Yes, we have been here before and we have defeated the forces of rage and have survived.