That keg party is back on

Interesting article in the Coast Star
http://starnewsgroup.com/weekly/2007/10.25.07/abc_director_10.25.07_67746.html?featured=*
The Keg ordinances that require all kegs be tagged have been declared "illegal" by the Director of the ABC. This was first adopted by Belmar where it was endorsed by a certain Sheriffs candidate. It has since been passed in a number of towns and is being considered in others.

Why haven't the other papers picked up on this story? More importantly why couldn't the police chiefs and municipal attorneys figure this out. It was pretty clear to me and to a few councilman in various towns that have raised concerns that such an ordinances overstepped the powers that municipalities have.

I suspect that everyone involved knew these ordinances would not stand up. What the heck, it is good publicity and makes them look tough on underage drinking. Why let legalities get in the way of looking good.

Thats not to say it is not a good idea. It is and the state legislature should adopt it.

A Good Reason

Here is a good reason to not vote for the democrats in the 12th district.
https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=9033504687091008599&postID=2824326926218744746
Great post by Barry Goldwater!

A Pattern Revealed.

The APP has endorsed both Democrats for Freeholder. The App can explain their choices any way they like but the truth of their strategy is now plain. They simply want whatever party that is in power at a particular level of government to be replaced. They want a change in control at all levels of government.

Historically the APP endorsement does not seem to carry a lot of wieght. However, in a close race it could be a deciding factor.

Time will soon see.

Green Acres is the place for me ♪♫

I know this is an election but some issues should not be politicized for the sake of being elected.
Go ahead and vilify me as the enemy of true Republicans but my desire for good public policy transcends my party loyalty.
First this is a tempest in a teapot. I can think of a great many more compelling reasons to not vote for Ellen Karcher. A farmland assesment does not top my list. Can we really blame any of the people who take advantage of the Farmland Assessment. I know if I lived on 6 acres I would take advantage of it to the fullest legal extent possible. Who is to say that it is not accomplishing its purpose with regard to smaller lots. Many people would subdivide their 7 0r 10 acre (or more) lots were it not for the farmland assessment. I know many people in Colts Neck who rent out part of their property to a local farmer who then grows crops. They get a farmland assessment and the farmer gets to grow crops. Is that a bad deal?

That does not mean the Farmland Assessment Act could not use some improvement. For instance if you live on a 10 acre plot that is in a ten acre zone it should be much more difficult to get the farmland assessment because that land will not be developed in any event. On the other hand a legitimate farmer may have a 10 acre farm and you would still want them to get a break.

The bottom line is that the impacts of any changes in the law need to be carefully evaluated and should not be driven by a few bad examples or by campaign rhetoric.

In the News

The APP endorses Republicans in the 11th. Not a hard call considering the backgrounds of the Democrats in the race tag them as big spenders. Sean Kean, good job. Can I ask please be even tougher on the wasteful spending.

This years endorsements should put to rest the argument about the APP favoring one party over the other. They are against t only one party. The "Incumbent Party". Why? Because it sells papers.

Bid Rig defendants sentenced. Merla cried and Palughi took it like a man. Who woulda guessed?
Nice act by Merla . I am glad it did not sway the Judge. He is a con man from way back. I wonder what he took over the years that we do not know about.

Little Tid Bit. Sources tell me that at the Monmouth NJEA dinner this week the politicians who spoke were Karcher, Panter and Handlin.

RASTA REVEALED

Nice scoop by Art Gallagher. http://moremonmouthmusings.blogspot.com/2007/10/meet-rasta-man-at-least-one-of-them.html

My sources say this is not over. As was suspected there is more then one culprit.

I am sure this snivelling coward will spill his guts and rat out his partners in crime.

12th District and guess the press game.

Wow the APP endorses Beck. That has got to hurt the Democrats. I would love to see the current polling data on that race. How much weight does the APP endorsement carry? Why nothing about the assembly candidates in the district?
Is this a part of the throw the incumbents out strategy? What will the APP do at the county level? Time will reveal all.

I am going to take a guess as to what the press will do at the county level. Lets see how I do.
Sheriff -Guadagno, Clerk Choudary, Freeholder 1 -Cantor as to the second Freeholder seat. That is a tough one. I think they want to give it to a Democrat but may be having second thoughts about D'Amico (thanks to Honest Abe) I also think they have mixed feelings about Clifton so I will go way out on a limb and say Schueler. However, I would not bet the homestead on any of those three. Let us be clear this is not who I endorse it is just a little game to see if I can guess what the press will do.

Question for everyone out there. What are the Dems spending all there money on?
I have received a ton of mailers from the Republican candidates but hardly a thing from the Dems. Are the Dems spending their money on just other Dems and independents?

BREAKING NEWS

Rastaman goes private! Access to the controversial site Monmouth Rastaman suddenly grants access only to invited readers. You must be registered to view it.

Rumor has it that a connection to someone in the NY real estate business has been discovered.

More to come.

DISILLUSIONMENT

Is Tom Wilson "Choice for a change" campaign working. I suspect that when combined with the vote out the incumbent mood it may have a positive effect. The truth is it is a great initiative, IF it is followed through on.

The problem is nobody really believes it. Oh they will give it a try. It certainly will not be worse then what the Democrats have to offer and maybe just maybe the Republicans will keep their promises this time. That is about as high as the excitement gets.



Tom Wilson says

"For the past six years, those trusted to govern New Jersey have failed the people of New Jersey. They haven’t listened, they have been arrogant, at times greedy, and they have acted as though they are smarter than the very people who elected them"

The problem is it goes back much further to the end of the Kean administration. It has gotten worse through successive administrations both Republican and Democrat. Like a runaway train and neither party has tried to apply the breaks.

It is no better at any level of government from local to the halls of Washington.

I have not criticised any of our candidates because being a republican I do not want to be blamed for contributing to a defeat (I will have some pointed comments after the election) but the truth is few of the state candidates inspire confidence that they will implement Wilson's vision. I am not impressed by any local or Federal politicians either. Surprisingly a few county candidates give me some small ray of hope. I used to be a rabid Republican now it comes down to whether or not they are marginally better then the Democrats. Yes that is what it boils down to. I will vote for the Republicans because the Democrats are probably worse when taken as a whole. What a sad commentary on the state of politics.

Wilson goes on to say
The people have lost faith in government and those who govern. They feel powerless to make the politicians listen and far too many feel like casting a vote is a waste of time because it just doesn’t matter. What a sad, sad commentary on the state of our state. Democracy as it was envisioned, the great gift of self governance bestowed upon us by our founders, is in serious trouble here in New Jersey. But it doesn’t have to be that way. We can fix what is wrong, end the cynicism, and restore hope by returning to the core idea that government belongs to the people and governments exist to serve their needs.

So I will try to hunt up some antidepressants and hope and pray that this time I am being told the truth.

NEGATIVE

Does negative campaigning work? Do people care that Karcher legally but perhaps not fairly takes advantage of the farm preservation program. Do the voters care that Oscanlon got a consulting contract in Fairhaven? Do the voters care if someone screws up with there elec forms? I could go on and on.

Beyond whether it works when is negative campaigning OK. Is it sometimes unethical itself?

Certainly it works at least sometimes. Especially if it is credible. Look at the swift boat campaign against Kerry. That sure worked. Of course that was done by a group with no obvious political axe to grind and many people had the precept ion that the Swifties were credible. (before any dems start yelling at me notice I said perception. I am not taking a position on whether the perception is true or not because that is not the point of this post. So please do not go there). There are lots of example where negative campaigning has worked and worked well. Does it ever backfire?
On the other hand I notice that the more local the race the less effective it is. While you always have a group of people ready to believe the worst about anyone most people do not want to believe bad things about their neighbors. Just a theory. Maybe I am being to optimistic about human nature.

Certainly it is appropriate if it goes to the honesty and integrity of the candidate. But how bad does it have to be to qualify. Who out there has led a blameless life. Raise your hand.
Ha! I thought so. I do not see any hands raised ;)

But certainly it is sometimes relevant. Look at the extreme end. I f somebody was a convicted embezzler that is negative but certainly relevant. What about the guy who has filed bankruptcy is that fair game? Does it depend on the reasons?

How much puffery is allowed? I would say none in a negative campaign. If it is not bad enough as is to make a difference do not slant it. As Joe Friday said. 'Just the facts" or to turn a phrase, you report the voters decide.

Is politics like love and war where all is fair?

Tough questions with no easy bright line answers but certainly worth thinking about.

Ramblings on the Corruption Review

The Asbury Park press has been running some interesting articles the last few days that have
been pretty interesting. It has actually changed my mind about something. I once said in a post that pay to play was a bigger problem at the local level and not really an issue at the state level.

Boy was I wro wron wrog ... oh hell I can not even write that word. Let's say I was off base ;)

It also appears that the reforms that have been passed may be having the desired effect. Fundraising ability seems to be diminishing.

The most interesting statement came from Codey who said the best way to get rid of corrupt politicians is to vote them out. Good point. It has always amazed me how some politicians can get re-elected again and again even when there are questions about there ethics. Of course that is not always the case as a few Monmouth County former legislators can attest. But even absent evidence of corruption we refuse to use the ballot box to enforce term limits. Should one person hold an office for 10 or 20 years?

I think one thing Codey is trying to say is ; We have met the enemy and he is us.