Quote of the Day: "Guantanamo's got nothin' on these guys"

by: Jason Springer

Sat Mar 13, 2010 at 07:28:07 PM EST

Toward the end of Fink's story, which he titled "Jack Shaw's last words," he has this exchange that occured after Manzo and Jersey City Political consultant were waiting in jail:

When asked about the nature of the interrogation Manzo says Shaw told him "Guantanamo's got nothin' on these guys." Shaw died a week later,...an apparent drug overdose which Manzo believes was not intentional.

Slide#14, or Why Health Care Reform Helps Now

by: Hopeful

Sat Mar 13, 2010 at 06:43:48 PM EST

I've taken enough shots here at how the new health insurance exchanges don't start until years from now that I felt I should post on these benefits. Frank Pallone gave us a similar list last year. The main points are the temporary high-risk pool until the exchanges go into effect, thereby helping those who can't get insurance now, and a number of insurance reforms that protect people who already have insurance. Also, relief on the "Donut Hole" for seniors in the Medicare drug plans. In summary, there are significant benefits that John Adler should vote for even though major portions of the reform are not implemented immediately.

Latest from Adler on Health Care Bill: Nothing Changed

by: Hopeful

Sat Mar 13, 2010 at 01:10:37 PM EST

An audience member asks him about the Senate health care reform bill, correctly pointing out that if the bill is approved by the House it can be signed by the President and become law. There's no need for reconcilation or any other votes. So, he asks, will you vote for the Senate Bill?

Adler's answer sounds like a no and gets cheers, but I actually think it was evasive. (It may be that he said more, but the video "conveniently" cuts off and indeed may be deliberately misleading if he said more.) He says he would not vote for the Senate bill "if that were the final bill." But of course it is not the final bill, the point of having a second bill pushed through reconcilation is that some provisions will be changed.  So Adler implicitly left open the chance of voting for the Senate bill, because he knows it will be changed in reconciliation. Needless to say, such positive votes would be welcomed at Blue Jersey and by most of the people who voted for Adler and Obama, and are opposed largely by people who will not vote for Adler anyway. I've expressed my skepticism that Adler will vote the right way but he has not closed the door. In his recent interviews he has insisted on seeing the actual reconcilation bill before deciding on his vote. We expect to see this bill this weekend, or Monday at the latest. The right wing is spreading some absurd propaganda that the bill will be passed without a vote, and I suppose if you think Saddam had nuclear weapons and W. was a good President you might be dumb enough to believe it.  

Politico has posted a memo from Chris Van Hollen which went to Adler's district director amongst others laying out the timelime this week and giving some advice.:

I continue to encourage all of you not to get into debates about process and to try and persuade your Member not to get into process arguments either. At this point, we have to just rip the band-aid off and have a vote -- up or down; yes or no? Things like reconciliation and what the rules committee does is INSIDE BASEBALL. People who try and start arguments about process on this are almost always against the actual policy substance too, often times for purely political reasons.

The rest of the memo is below the fold

Redistrict New Jersey Yourself

by: Hopeful

Sat Mar 13, 2010 at 12:34:01 PM EST

Nowadays with computers it's much easier to compute district boundaries and consider different systems, even gerrymanders. Over at Swing State Project, user possumtracker1991 made his own "theoretical, improbable majority-minority districts, including a gerrymandered New Jersey district that includes Trenton, Camden, Vineland, and Atantic City to be only 39% white.  Here's his map:

Obviously this map is for fun -- it's not going to happen -- and there's not enough people south of the district, so the southern district (with me in it!) would have to extend along the Atlantic City beach to get to Ocean County. Such districts actually help Republicans since they pack so many Democrats together.

The point, though, is that he did this using Dave's Redistricting App which you can run as a web app once you install Silverlight 2.0 for Windows or Mac. It's pretty amazing, you can assign each district in the state to 12 or 13 Congressional districts, and it has best estimates of the 2010 population, although it's doesn't seem to have partisan voting info for our state. A more likely New Jersey map was made by Swing State User andgarden.

Now you can redistrict New Jersey yourself.

NJ Bank assumes assets and deposits of latest bank failure

by: Jason Springer

Sat Mar 13, 2010 at 11:18:50 AM EST

Park Avenue Bank had $520.1 million in assets and $494.5 million in deposits as of Dec. 31.

The FDIC said the bank's deposits will be assumed by Valley National Bank, based in Wayne, N.J. Valley National agreed to pay a small premium to assume all of the deposits. It also agreed to purchase essentially all of Park Avenue Bank's assets.

Park Avenue Bank's four branches will reopen beginning Saturday as offices of Valley National Bank.

"It's a cheap way for banks to expand," said Nancy A. Bush, an independent bank analyst at Annandale-based NAB Research LLC. "The premium that Valley paid for LibertyPointe's deposits is very low by historical standards."

An opportunity to review nuclear security

by: Hopeful

Fri Mar 12, 2010 at 08:48:00 PM EST

Another source, a U.S. law enforcement official familiar with the case, said authorities have been aware of Mobley for some time.

If "some time" is months then okay, but if it is years then there could be a serious problem. I strongly believe that most non-natural naturals are due to a series of multiple failures: The 9/11 attacks and the failed Christmas bombing are prime examples. So if the background-check "system" failed here it is definitely worth looking into, even though it certainly seems he didn't have access to a plant recently, and even if a hostile person did, I trust there are security measures within the plant. I think the letter Bob Menendez sent to the NRC (PDF) today struck the right tone, especially this part:

According to the Yemeni government, Sharif Mobley was among 11 al-Qaeda suspects arrested during a series of raids in Sana'a, Yemen in early March.  While being treated at a local hospital, the suspect allegedly fatally shot a guard and wounded several others as he made a failed attempt to escape custody.  What makes this incident particularly troubling is that the suspect had previously worked at the Salem and Hope Creek nuclear reactors in New Jersey along with other reactors in the area from 2002-2008 and had been cleared by several federal background checks, most recently in 2008.

At this point, without further information about the case, it would be irresponsible to assume at what point the man in question began to engage in terrorist activity or if the federal background screening system missed any red flags. However, the window of time between his last background check and this incident in Yemen is relatively short, which raises concerns.

Thus, I would like a full briefing that covers the following questions:

   * Is there any intelligence that suggests when this man became involved in terrorist activity?
   * Is there any reason to believe that the federal background check system missed warning signs about this man's affiliations?
   * Does there need to be a review or a revamping of the background check system?
   * At any time in his employment at New Jersey nuclear reactors, could this man have handled or gained access to sensitive areas or material that would be valuable to a terrorist organization?

There's no reason to panic over this guy, make too many assumptions, or to launch furious partisan attacks. But we do need to review the security system.  

Republican Senate Candidates playing with the Poison of Birtherism

by: Hopeful

Fri Mar 12, 2010 at 06:21:23 PM EST

Et tu, Rob Portman? Ye of sensibility and rectitude? Ye of maturity and political resolve?  Despite inquires from the Cincinnati Enquirer and Plain Dealer, Portman's campaign won't directly answer the question of whether the candidate believes that President Obama is a citizen. (Obama is.) So now, we're up to five Republican Senate candidates -- major ones, not including J.D. Hayworth in Arizona for the moment -- who have flirted with Birtherism.

Several of these candidates have later corrected their initial hesitation, but it is precisely that initial hesitation that contains so much information about what Republican candidates fear right now. No doubt that Portman and Marco Rubio know that Birtherism is bullshit. The gap between their private beliefs and how they articulate them publicly is fairly wide. I'm not a fan of stories that begin with X "refuses to denounce" Y -- I usually skip them. I make an exception here because the accusation is so reckless, so tied to race and culture, and so stupid that those who try to Wink at the Birthers are adding potency to a poison that everyone is forced to gulp.

Poison. You don't normally see our mainstream media using terms like this. It is dangerous poison.

Good for Senator Menendez for insisting on asking this question. It tells you all you need to know about today's Republicans.

More Budget Solutions: Charging State Workers for Air and Water

by: princetonblue

Fri Mar 12, 2010 at 10:48:00 AM EST

Reading that Gov. Christie wants to start charging state workers for parking (By the way, how many private businesses charge their employees for parking in suburban Jersey? None in the area where I live), here are some other money raising ideas for New Jersey:

1.  Charge state workers for the costs of providing water, electricity, heat, and clean air in their work places.

2.  Charge state workers for the costs of their telephones, desks, computer equipment.

3.  Charge state workers for the costs of the educational training they get to use various computer software programs (it's education that the state is providing free right now).

Run for County Committee

by: Jeff Gardner

Fri Mar 12, 2010 at 12:15:00 PM EST

You can do it alone, with the goal of adding your voice to the process. Or you can do it together with others in your town, with the goal of re-energizing your local democratic party. Either way, it really is as easy as 1 - 2 - 3:

Scott Garrett will not run unopposed

by: Adam L a/k/a clammyc

Fri Mar 12, 2010 at 11:00:00 AM EST

That time is now, as Warren County resident Tod Theise has answered the call and announced his candidacy against Garrett.  In his statement to the press, Thiese noted the following contrast between him and Garrett:

"I don't think he represents working families in the district," Theise said. "He voted against extending unemployment benefits ... he voted for every [George W.] Bush budget."

A former Republican, Theise became an independent in the early part of the last decade and then migrated to the Democratic Party. He said his reasons for the leaving the Republicans were the spending policies and lack of Wall Street regulation under Bush.

His criticisms of Garrett are similar.

"What I find lacking is that he gives the people on Wall Street a complete and utter pass," Theise said. "He is basically bought and sold by Wall Street."

Now, I've met Tod and spoken to him numerous times over the past few months as he has been moving towards a run at Garrett.  There are a few things about this candidacy that I like personally - for starters, it will be interesting to see how a non-Bergen County challenger plays out - especially in the current climate where being associated with the BCDO isn't the best of associations right around now.  Additionally, I've always thought that lowering the 60%+ of the vote that Garrett routinely gets in Warren and Sussex counties is imperative - that this race cannot be won in Bergen alone.  I also like the views and approach that Tod is taking on a number of issues - but this will come out over the next few months as the campaign gets under way.  

Of course, this is one of the most uphill battles in general, as Garrett has never gotten less than 55% of the vote in his 4 previous races.  But you never know what can happen in an election, and there has been unprecedented focus on Garrett by a number of grassroots organizations in the District (ahem....).

Garrett himself didn't have any comments on Theise's candidacy, but "FakeGarrettNJ5" on Twitter had the following to say:

A challenger? I will crush him like I crush the souls of hardworking struggling families in the District.