Governor Christie: A true executive

New Jersey is an excellent case study of what happens under Democratic Party policies. Bloated government bureaucracies, ineffective public services, high taxes, and a growing number of people feeling entitled to public money for their livelihood and pensions. These are not the conditions of a successful and thriving state. This is an example of a polity on the decline.

Other states share in this fate: California, Illinois, and New York are facing massive deficits. It is no coincidence these states are dominated by State Democratic Parties and have consistently adopted liberal policies regardless of who was in charge. So how does a polity save itself from this decline?

The answer from history is clear, but more importantly what kind of leader or executive can get it done? Governor Chris Christie is an example of a true leader and executive who is dramatically shifting the direction of New Jersey away from failure. While bureaucrats and those reliant on the status quo are crying out, he refuses to let their attacks, public criticism, biased-media criticism, and lower approval ratings deter him from policies he knows will save the state from ruin. A lesser governor would begin to moderate their policies and approach, in other words compromise with the angry and mobilized opposition. They would fear the backlash and what it would mean for their re-election chances. In contrast, Christie has repeatedly says he is not concerned with re-election, and his approach and actions bare that out.

A typical politician will see the recent events as a sign the opposition is being energized, the moderates are becoming worried, and the ruling coalition is beginning to fall apart. All of this could be true, but in the end results are more influential to voters. A bad economy, higher taxes, massive government debt, and uncertainty have a greater impact than Christie's "confrontational" demeanor in the first year of his term.

Should Christie succeed, New Jerseyans will have three years to reap the benefits of his policies. By the time 2013 comes around, Christie's bad attitude will be far from the minds of voters. It is a question of timing. Christie is sacrificing public opinion now for the payoffs later that will result from his conservative policies.

Make no mistake, there is no other way to save New Jersey. Bailouts, government handouts, and socialism are not the answer. Europe does not have the answer. California, Illinois, and New York clearly don't have the answer. Christie has the right answer, and will push that answer even if so many scream at the top of their lungs that they deserve to be paid more, deserve a big retirement pension, and deserve more influence.

More on the Tea Party: Not Radicals

I am frankly surprised at the misconceptions and total lack of knowledge that New Jerseyans have of the Tea Party. It is clear the media, journalists, and others have successfully written them off as radicals, racists, and revolutionaries. And you have bought it.

The Tea Party Platform
The Tea Party is a loose confederation of conservatives, libertarians, concerned citizens, unaffiliated voters, conservative democrats, and independents. These groups may have their own top issues or most important agenda items but there are three main common themes:

1. Limited Government (in both power and dollars)
2. Individual Freedom (protections for religion, speech, right to bare arms, states' rights)
3. Free markets (strong rejection of socialism)

Gallup surveys showed the Tea Party's demographics are fairly mainstream. In other words, they are not All-White, All-rich, All-Christian, All-Republican, or All anything.

So really what makes them tick? The massive growth in government spending, the national debt, the increase in government power in areas of the banking sector, finance, healthcare, student loans, and automobiles. This political event alone is what awakened them. And I say awakened for a reason.

Gallup has also consistently shown this is a center-right country, 40% identify themselves as conservatives and other polls show that 50% or more have fiscally conservative views. Only about 26-29% of people identify themselves as liberal. And yet the Democrats won 255 of 435 seats in the House, and 60 of the 100 seats of the Senate. Obama won with 53% of the vote. How is this possible? Why is it that the Republicans don't dominate American politics???

The Awakening of the Right Wing
Like I said, this conservative side has only recently awakened. There is a segment of conservatives that don't vote because they regard both parties as essentially the same (and have a good case for it). However, the political battles and divergence of policies between the two parties in the last year and a half has changed that sentiment and "awakened" this segment. In other words, Obama's left-wing agenda awakened them. Had he practiced some moderation in his policy proposals, this movement might've remained asleep.

Another segment of the Tea Partiers simply don't vote because they don't feel their vote really makes a difference. Most of this type are not politically active at all. They have these beliefs but would rather keep to themselves and keep their beliefs to themselves. They have been convinced by televisions, movies, and other media that their beliefs are radical fringe right-wing ideas and that they would be ridiculed if they got more vocal of them.

Another segment is the far-right wing. They are a very small group, probably about 5-8% of the total population. They are militias, Christian Fundamentalists, most of them probably racist, and are in many respects anarchists. They may align themselves with the Tea Party, but a vast majority of the other groups in the Tea Party regard these people as crazy, just like the rest of the country.

The final segment, the largest, are disenchanted Republicans and fiscal conservatives that felt their party failed them and did not vote in 2008. This group is the most politically active in general, vote often, but this changed due to Republican failures in 2005-2007. They stopped identifying themselves as Republicans and expressed utter frustration with their party and the country as a whole. this segment was likely to awaken regardless of how leftist Obama's agenda was. It is the combination of this group with the others that give the Tea Party tremendous potential. They are reaching into populations of non-voters and even unregistered voters. Not to mention the fact that Independents are steadily realizing that the Tea Party reflects their ideas in regards to the deficit and government spending.

So, are they racist? Maybe 1 in 20 has white supremacist beliefs, AT THE MOST.
Are they anarchists? No, not even close.
Do they advocate overthrow of the government? No
Are they Christian Evangelicals or Fundamentalists? Many of them are, but none of the issues they are demonstrating for are related to religious or social issues. Sometimes yes, but like I said government power and spending are at the top of the list.

And it is important to note, the Tea Party is steadily growing. Gallup and other surveys show that more Americans consider themselves part of the movement in comparison to three months ago.

So what is their objective?
The slogan most often heard at Tea Parties is "Remember in November". A political protest and demonstration that wants to increase energy AND VOTE. What a bunch of psychos right? They are supporting candidates, donating money, hell they are voting in record numbers! MY GOD, they are going to tear this country down!!! They are critical of a Black President! Surely they are racists!!! By that logic, a Black President is infallible.

A Cautionary Note for Northeasterners
Most Americans do not live within 100 miles of New York or Washington. Most Americans do not get their news from the Big 3, or CNN, or MSNBC. Most Americans are not afraid of guns. Most Americans are not afraid of God or Christians. Whatever sophistication or education level you have achieved, remember you are in the minority and if you fail to take movements like the Tea Party seriously, you will remain in the minority in a sort of hyper-urbanized bubble of the East Coast from DC up to Boston. You are a minority and I think its time you do a MUCH better job understanding the rest of the country and their beliefs because in my experience in New Jersey there is a poor level of understanding.

Self-identified Republicans and moderate conservatives in the Northeast seem to be somewhat elitist and arrogant similar to liberal democrats. That must change. Not only Republicans but Northeasterners in general because last I checked the Census projects Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania will be losing electoral votes to Texas, Utah, and Georgia.

Its time to make a better effort to understand the rest of the country. Because there are more of them than you, and in November, more of them will win election to the House and Senate while Democrats will likely still dominate the Northeast.

When the situation is dire, do not fear change

The situation in the United States is becoming apparent to all Americans. Polls and surveys show a growing fear and apprehension of the direction of this country and a dim view of the future. Well, the next logical step is to decide what to do about the situation. How do we change course? How do we get pointed in the right direction?

I have noticed a pattern among Northeasterners. Actually, this is something I have noticed in plenty of areas but seems to be prevalent among Northeastern media personalities, commentators, politicians, bloggers and regular people. In their minds, the political spectrum has two distinct fields, the reasonable/mainstream and the radical. There are radical left wingers and radical right wingers but it is in the center is where they always want to be. They may in fact not hold moderate or "centrist" beliefs, but they don't want to be identified as being on the fringe.

In conversation, many people feel they need to make clear their beliefs and positions are NOT extreme. They condition their discussions with "I don't think ____, but ______" and then follow it with a straw man explanation of what they think the radicals are pushing. When the discussion is over, they have effectively watered down their position or the explanation of their position to the point where it means nothing.

Why is there such a high premium on avoiding what is judged radical? It is as if many people want to be at the very top of the bell curve and are scratching and clawing their way to get to that point. But why? Are they so self-conscious about their politics? Are they really that afraid of being labeled a radical or tea bagger or a socialist/communist?

This dash to the top of the bell curve tends to halt or drawback reform in either direction. It becomes a manifestation of the fear of change. They don't want to go to far in either direction. It doesn't matter which direction, but going to far one way will be bad. Aggressive turns can cause the ship to ebb and flow, causing discomfort, even destabilization. But this makes it impossible to avoid the massive iceberg ahead. When there are serious systemic flaws in a system, when the State is on the verge of financial collapse, when the situation is dire, this fear of change can paralyze a society.

Governor Christie is one who is demanding radical reform and change in a State that is afraid of it. But the problems are real and they are large. Small, incremental steps can stave off disaster in most situations but not in this one. In the country as a whole, we are on an unsustainable path that could lead to the country's financial collapse in 8-12 years. Serious solutions implemented by serious people will be needed to stop it.

For those dying to stay within the mainstream, understand this, in a crisis such as today, prudence dictates that we introduce radical change and reform. We are way too close to the cliff to simply "slow down", "turn gently", or implement "consensus" solutions. It won't be long before the only consensus will be one of utter despair.

It has been said desperate times call for desperate measures. The mainstream believes these are desperate times but is unwilling to support desperate measures. We need to come to our senses and fast. It is time to abandon the self-conscious fear of being the "radical" in your social circle. In the end, it will be "radicals" that will save this country from ruin.

New Jersey 6th: Can Pallone be defeated?

Short answer is no. Pallone has won the last four elections by more than 65%. Democrats have almost a 3-to-1 edge in voter registration. Overall voter registration is a bit low as well. The gerrymandered district is 16% black and encompasses democratic stronghold New Brunswick. Pallone also has a war chest of roughly $4 million, more than enough to scare away challengers. In Presidential Elections, only Bush in 2004 managed to get above 40%, with 43%.

Diane Gooch, Monmouth County GOP Vice Chair and Highlands mayor Anna Little are running. Other candidates include Fabrizio Bivona, and Shannon Wright. Gooch seems to be the favorite thanks to her party support and personal wealth. she might be able to match Pallone in resources but can she overcome the tremendous voter registration advantage?

As of yet there is nothing of a campaign or a message that can be analyzed to see if Gooch can pull off what Scott Brown pulled off in Massachusetts. Given the below average voter turnout in this district and its strong democratic lean, Gooch would have to run a 5 star campaign full-time and be a charismatic superstar.

I don't think it matters whoever wins the nomination. Pallone is safe in my opinion and see no reason to think otherwise.

New to New Jersey

My name is Fox and have recently moved to Princeton from Chicago, Illinois. I am a conservative, which is strange because I have moved from Obamaland to one of the vaunted ivory towers of the East Coast. Over the past four or five years I have learned to move among the liberals, talk like them, and even look like them. Learning their secrets, their weaknesses, and in rare cases their strengths.

I attended law school in the city and passed the IL bar exam last Summer. Preparing for that exam is something I would not wish on my worse enemies. I started to become active in political campaigns in 2009, helping Dan Proft run for governor (he lost the primary...badly). Luckily another conservative by the name of Bill Brady won and will now challenge the half-wit Pat Quinn in November. Illinois is not Massachusetts however. Independents and conservatives are not quite as energized to kick the democratic leadership out of Springfield (capital of Illinois in case you didn't know).

It looks like New Jersey is ahead of the game. Chris Christie defeated a weak incumbent and it appears a couple democratic Congressmen here might be in trouble. In Princeton, I have decided to help Scott Sipprelle in his campaign in the 12th District. It is strongly democratic but Christie won here so it is completely doable to kick out the incumbent Rush Holt, who is the most liberal member of the Congress.

In my short time I have met some good people here, many through my work with Scott but also in other areas. It is my hope to meet more people here, and help in other campaigns as well. Hopefully we can find more Christies to win back a couple seats and get Pelosi fired as Speaker.

This blog is intended to convey my thoughts and feelings regarding politics, philosophy, law, life, and current events in New Jersey. It is from the prospective of a law school graduate with a background in national security and foreign policy, as well as a person who grew up in the suburbs of Chicago, then lived there. It is a great great city run by corrupt, incompetent, criminals. You may think New Jersey is bad, but in Chicago, corruption is an art form.

There is also always talk of national issues and elections, which I usually talk about on my other blog, Fox and the Lion. See that if your interested. Until then, if I can touch the life of just one person with this blog...then it is clear I should've stuck with being a lawyer.