Viewed from outside of N.J., Gov. Christ Christie is seen a conservative champion, but it is worth recalling that he was actually challenged from his right in that state’s Republican primary for governor. While Christie certainly deserves credit for defying union bosses and for challenging N.J.’s highly activist court, the state still has a long distance to travel back in the direction of fiscal stability.

Americans for Prosperity (AFP), in partnership with the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), has just released a new report entitled: “New Jersey’s Long Road Ahead: Taxpayers vs. Politicians and Unions.”

The report opens with some sobering statistics:

“New Jersey residents pay the highest property taxes in the nation—averaging $7,300 per homeowner.2The state has the highest per-pupil spending at $17,600 per student. The unemployment rate is 9.1 percent and continues to exceed the national average. The state’s long-term debt is one of the highest in the country.”

A key culprit here is the New Jersey Education Association (NJEA), the power state affiliate of the National Education Association (NEA). While it has repeatedly cowed top elected officials in both major parties into supporting lavish taxpayer funded benefits, it would seem that the political climate has finally shifted in the direction of reform and fiscal renewal. NJEA demands did not sit well with the public.

That’s why Steve Lonegan, who heads up the NJ chapter of AFP, would like to see more done to scale back union power and prioritize taxpayer interests.

(more…)

He has written about having sex with an underage girl, and claims he once threatened to kill a pregnant girlfriend unless she had an abortion. He claims to hate marijuana, but recommends heroin as the cure for suburban boredom. He mocks “Tea Baggers” and scorns “hippies.” His Russian newspaper was shuttered after a government crackdown, and he’s a regular on The Dylan Ratigan Show on MSNBC.

Meet Mark Ames, the provocateur who created the Koch brothers conspiracy theory.

Long before John Podesta’s Center for American Progress began targeting the Koch brothers for their supposed role in the Tea Party, and two years before the Kochs were cast as the villains of public sector union protests in Wisconsin, Ames had already shaped the Koch brothers meme.

Ames and co-author Yasha Levine launched the conspiracy theory–and its twin themes of drug abuse and gay sex–with a blog post (now removed) at Playboy.com in February 2009, entitled: “Backstabber: Is Rick Santelli High on Koch?” They published almost exactly the same article at their own site, exiledonline.com, as “Exposing the Rightwing PR Machine: Is CNBC’s Rick Santelli Sucking Koch?”

Ames and Levine alleged that Santelli’s famous “rant heard around the world” that inspired the Tea Party movement “was not at all spontaneous as his alleged fans claim, but rather it was a carefully-planned trigger” for an “anti-Obama campaign.” That campaign, they claimed, had been planned for months before the 2008 election, and funded by “the Koch family, the multibilllionaire owners of the largest private corporation in America, and funders of scores of rightwing thinktanks and advocacy groups.”

Ames would later explain that he had been inspired to write about the Kochs by his experiences in post-Soviet Moscow, when he edited a sensational newspaper, the eXile–described last year by Vanity Fair as “arguably the most abusive, defamatory, un-evenhanded, and crassest publication in Russia” before it closed in 2008. (more…)

As I write this it is difficult to hear myself think over the sound of congressional Republicans high-fiving each other over the debt ceiling deal.

They would do well to remember the words of a British parliamentarian uttered during the Revolutionary War. After the British General Lord Cornwallis won a squeaker of a tactical victory in 1781 by losing a quarter of his army, Charles Fox pointedly observed, “Another such victory will ruin us.”

Surely this is the case with the new debt ceiling compromise in Congress. GOP partisans obsessed with political expediency keep parroting the line that the deal which will pave the way for trillions more in spending is somehow a Tea Party “victory.” They have a strange definition of victory.

There is no evidence that this bizarre deal of at least questionable constitutionality (e.g. the “Super Congress”) will actually lead to any real cuts. Nor is there any evidence that it will prevent the U.S. government from losing its long held triple-A credit rating.

There is a promise of spending cuts, but overall federal spending will continue on its upward trajectory because Official Washington operates in the make-believe world of “baseline budgeting.” According to this crackhead accounting, both a cut and an increase may count as cuts.

Confused? You’re supposed to be.

(more…)

Fascinating profile of Charles and David Koch in The Weekly Standard:

A few years ago Richard Fink told Charles and David [Koch] to prepare for the worst. The brothers were raising their political profile, Fink said, and that would come at a cost. There would be a lot of name-calling. Their opponents would impugn their beliefs, characters, and business. Charles understood what Fink was talking about. “I believed that when we were considered effective we would be attacked,” he said. Before Obama’s election, those who were aware of the Kochs’ political activities tended to assume they were tilting at Austrian windmills. The Kochs had an exotic philosophy, but few took them very seriously.

Not anymore. During the fight over health care and cap and trade in 2009 and 2010, liberals went looking for baddies against whom to mobilize public opinion. The Kochs’ wealth and political involvement made them an obvious choice. Reflecting on the ferocity of the onslaught that ensued, Charles told me, “I didn’t anticipate the hatred, the advocacy of violence.” He must not have been paying attention.

(more…)

From Americans for Prosperity, video of a public sector union protest yesterday on Capitol Hill. After years of steady pay increases, enhanced pension and other benefits and titanium-strength job security, public employee unions are starting to worry that the economic downturn may start to affect them. Poor dears.

(more…)

Frank Rich’s column in the New York Times opinion section this weekend was at the very least two things: Lies and the rehashed work of another writer. But it was also a third thing and that third thing was cover for his buddy in the Oval office and for the hard-core left-wing agenda he’s trying to force down our throats. Rich lent that cover by desperately trying to discredit “the Tea Party “as a funded-from-the-top, sham of a movement. The truth is, though, that “the Tea Party” is not funded by shadowy, rich right-wingers. It isn’t funded at all in most cases.

First of all most of what Rich wrote was but rehashed words from Jane Mayer’s slam against the Koch Brothers of New York. Three quarters of what Rich penned really came from Mayer’s New Yorker piece on the philanthropists. So, big demerits for Frank Rich for simply appropriating Mayer’s piece.

But the real point of Rich’s piece was to pile onto Mayer’s slanted attack piece with some echoed slams against the Tea Party movement in order to discredit it all. Rich is desperate to make the movement seem like a marionette show with rich “sugar daddies” funding it and controlling it from the top.

“There’s just one element missing from these snapshots of America’s ostensibly spontaneous and leaderless populist uprising,” Rich says of the Tea Party events, “the sugar daddies who are bankrolling it, and have been doing so since well before the ‘death panel’ warm-up acts of last summer.”

Rich then rehashes Mayer’s examples of where the Koch brothers put their money in the form of Americans For Prosperity and Freedom Works, two nationwide, very active, and successful conservative advocacy groups.

Now, it is absolutely true that both AFP and Freedom Works have had the cash to put on large events in Washington D.C. and other cities. But it is not true that either of these groups controls and runs “the Tea Party” movement from above.

(more…)

In this week’s edition of Coffee and Markets, featuring The New Ledger’s Francis Cianfrocca, we’re talking about the latest Federal Reserve activity, the kerfuffle between Paul Krugman and Paul Ryan, and Barack Obama’s bashing exercise against Americans for Prosperity. We’re brought to you as always by BigGovernment.com and Stephen Clouse and Associates.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Download Podcast | iTunes | Podcast Feed

You can subscribe to the podcast by following the links above, and if you’d like to email us, you can do so at coffee[at]newledger.com. We hope you enjoy the show.

Related Links:

TNL: America’s Two Tier Economy
Capretta: Krugman’s Flim Flam Assault
McArdle: Why Krugman is Wrong on Ryan
Reason: Greedy Capitalist Refuses to Hire
TNL: Tea Parties and the Professional Left

The debate agitating many in New Jersey right  is whether or not the state’s Governor, Chris Christie, is actually doing much to reform the state as it needs to be. I have to say that I wasn’t impressed with him during his campaign for the Republican nomination against Steve Lonagan. Having no interest in the politics of politic, he sounded like a big government Republican to me.

With that in mind, I was nicely surprised by the turn that Christie’s campaign against Corzine took and by some of his policies. He talked about small government, the need for reforming New Jersey, rejected the millionaire tax, capped property taxes and proposed budget cuts. But now that I am catching up on New Jersey reforms, I am skeptical again.

Let’s start with by comparing Christie’s FY 2011 $29.3 billion budget to Corzine’s FY 2010 budget of 29.8 billion. Given today’s economic climate, a 1.5% cut is not one that deserves immense praise. However, for a second I thought, “spending cuts are spending cuts and better that than nothing.”

That’s until I came across the alternative budget prepared by Americans for Prosperity called New Jersey Taxpayers’ Budget FY 2011. The AFP budget adds up to $25.9 billion. That’s $2.4 billion less than what is proposed by Governor Christie. Plus, they did this, without raising taxes. Unlike Christie’s budget.

That’s right, as part of a compromise on the budget, Christie made a deal with Democrats: he will put back millions into his budget (to buy things such as keeping open Hagedorn Psychiatric Hospital in Hunterdon County, funding for cultural sites including the Battleship New Jersey and the Newark Museum, more funding for projects in Urban Enterprise Zones) in exchange for  a series of new tax and fee hikes are being put forward as supplemental bills.

(more…)

In his 2007 book, Outrage, Dick Morris said it best: “There’s nothing wrong with America’s schools that breaking the power of the teachers unions wouldn’t cure.”

Few have had the courage to put it that directly.  Our organization’s similarly blunt language puts a target on our back, but when you deal with organized labor, you know that comes with the territory.  Expecting unions to act like professional organizations is like expecting the government to be frugal.  It’s not in their DNA.

As Education Action Group Foundation chronicles daily on NEAexposed.com and AFTexposed.com, the national teachers unions and their state affiliates bully and punish school boards and administrators during contract negotiations and school elections.  They work aggressively to elect union sympathizers to local school boards, then up end up negotiating friendly contracts with the candidates they just helped to elect.  It’s a corrupt system that works to  the detriment of children, parents and taxpayers.

And the teachers unions’ answer for school financial problems is always “more taxes,” rather than offering a few concessions that would save schools a ton of money.

When I was invited to speak to the Americans for Prosperity Tax Day rally at the state capitol in Lansing, Michigan last week, it was a first for me.  I had never spoken at such an event.  It was probably one of the few speeches around the country that zeroed in on the pirates of public education: the teachers unions.

The understanding that teachers unions are the problem, not the cure for our public schools, is finally starting to sink in with the public. Even President Obama, whose campaign collected millions from the teachers unions, has come out in favor of school reforms that the unions violently object to.

(more…)

Last month, Phil Kerpen wrote an insightful piece here at BigGovernment.com about “The Stimulus Bill’s Hidden Attack on What We Eat, Drink, and Smoke.” In it, he detailed yet another absurd (and angering) use of so-called “stimulus” funds to help lobby for restrictions and higher taxes on the nanny state’s favorite targets: unhealthy foods, sweetened beverages, tobacco, and other disfavored products that your friendly bureaucrat doesn’t think you ought to enjoy. Digging through the Health and Human Services Department’s stimulus website raises some serious questions about the $650 million in taxpayer money being spent on this program, called “Communities Putting Prevention to Work” (CPPW).

Several grant descriptions suggest that this funding may be in violation of guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control, through which the CPPW program is administered. The CDC’s lobbying restriction guideline states in part that, “no part of CDC appropriated funds, shall be used…to support or defeat legislation pending before the Congress or any State or local legislature.” And yet, that’s exactly what several of the grantees plan to use the money for.

For example, Jefferson County, Alabama plans to spend $7 million on a “tobacco use prevention and cessation initiative [that] will promote changes in policies to reduce smoking opportunities and reduce access to tobacco products.” Pretty straightforward, that. They plan to lobby for more smoking bans and restricting access to legal tobacco products.

New York City, for its part, plans to spend $15.5 million “work[ing] to set policies and create environments that reduce consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages and overly salted foods.” One New York legislator is already trying to “create an environment” where restaurants are prohibited by law from using SALT in their food. Yes, salt, the substance without which virtually every food on Earth would be inedible.

Perhaps my favorite, our nation’s capital is spending $4.9 million on a program called “LiveWell DC,” which will “explore limiting tobacco access through zoning/license restrictions, restrict point-of-purchase advertising of tobacco products, support the elimination of price discounts, and provide social support through quitline and other cessation services.” Quite the laundry list there.

(more…)

It has only been a matter of weeks since Neil Cavuto interviewed me to share my opinion regarding Michael Steele’s sudden interest in the Tea Party Movement. It appears Michael Steele is showing up with candy and flowers this Valentine’s Day. Using my experience as a Tea Party organizer I explained that the RNC was on probation and that I felt confident that the Republicans would have to stand up and show their outrage over spending, the trampling of our constitution, and a myriad of other issues before their status would change in the eyes of the American people. Republicans have often played the helpless victim while hardworking Americans (the true victims of this governmental meltdown) stand and fight.

At the same time I warned of the impending disaster that would result in the creation of a third party. To use some of the language popular with the current administration this would be a Tea Party equivalent to the “Nuclear Option.” The result would be a split vote that would turn the keys over to liberals for yet another term.

Before I go further I must clarify that Americans for Prosperity, 9/12 groups, and in many cases Tea Parties share the same doctrine and values. There are thousands of these groups that are autonomous and effective organizations in their own right. I respect these organizations and fully understand the importance of working with them as separate, viable entities in our fight for liberty.

Under the Constitution we band together as individual voters that govern individually with our ballots, this is our only legal tie. Grassroots voters harness power via their collective ballots, which captures the attention of organizations like the RNC. The RNC has a role similar to that of a labor union speaking on behalf of Republican candidates. Collective bargaining is the RNC’s desired result, as they want to harness the power of the massive grassroots organizing effort undertaken by so many Americans and their votes. We don’t have to negotiate with the RNC.

(more…)

The Tea Party folks keep getting mad at me for saying that in the end they might prove ineffective in races at levels higher than local because they aren’t organized enough. They puff up their chests proudly proclaiming that they intend to resist being organized and they claim that being organized is precisely what they are fighting against. I understand the feeling, even sympathize quite a lot, but there is a problem with this obstinacy. It means they won’t win on a statewide ballot very often. The Illinois primary just proved me correct, too.

Let’s take the race for Senate in Illinois as exhibit “A.” Of course the good old boys in the state party went with Mark Kirk, the center left candidate from a northern suburb of Chicago. He was the he-can-win candidate and the establishment choice. Not one Tea Party group, though, wants Kirk and for good reason — and I heartily concur with them, as it happens. So who was the “Tea Party candidate,” the one meant to beat out Kirk, the one backed by the newly found power of the Tea Party movement? There wasn’t one. There were three.

Sadly, the Tea Partiers in Illinois split their vote all up. Some Tea Party Groups went with Don Lowery and some went with Patrick Hughes. A few even went with John Arrington. Hughes, of course, was the only one that had even a remote chance as far as voter polls were concerned. Hughes at least registered in the polls, Lowery and Arrington barely showed up at all.

Now, I like Mr. Lowery to be sure. He is a great fellow and has some fantastic principles. I can see why Tea Party groups are attracted to him. I feel the same way about Mr. Arrington. On the other hand, the same can be said of Hughes (disclosure, I endorsed Hughes). The problem is not that one or the other Tea Party group chose the wrong candidate, it’s that they didn’t choose the same candidate. They petered away their votes by choosing three candidates allowing Mark Kirk to run away with it.

(more…)

For years we’ve repeatedly heard the falsehood that most Americans want government to regulate the Internet.  We’ve also heard that the Left is supposedly miles ahead of the Right when it comes to online organizing and technological expertise.  Well, late last week, both of those myths have been exposed.

The Federal Communications Commission asked the public to submit comments on its plan to implement so-called net neutrality regulations that would allow government bureaucrats to tinker with the Internet.  The vaunted NetRoots expected to carry the day so much that they simply ignored the facts, claimed victory, and showed themselves to be fools.

It is still hard to understand why we need to regulate something that has been the most successful economic, informational and organizational tool of the past two decades.  But no matter.  On Thursday, the FCC’s comment period closed and the verdict is in. Limited government and free market activists crushed big government fans on the Left.

(more…)

As far as we know, this is the second campaign ad that builds off the ACORN scandal. Media Matters can spin and Big Media can ignore, but the public is paying attention. If ACORN becomes toxic for politicians, they are done.

As always, tip your waitress…

The announcement by ACORN that it is creating a panel of inquiry consisting of its corrupt friends is a fairy tale. ACORN did the same thing last year after an internal scandal but when the honest people on ACORN’s internal panel began asking uncomfortable questions, it cast them out.

Since it’s a fairy tale, let me tell the story the fairy tale way:

Once upon a time there was a group called the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN). It was run, and continues to be run today, by very bad people who do very bad things while they pretend to make America a better place.

They get very upset when people point out the bad things they do. They always lie about those things and call those people who speak against them nasty names like “racist” so those people will get scared and run away. Often it works.

They carry out voter registration drives strictly with a view to meeting predetermined quotas. They don’t give a farthing’s cuss if their canvassers register Mickey Mouse or the dead to vote; in fact, they encourage it. As long as the big fat checks keep coming in from billionaire leftist George Soros and Herb and Marion Sandler everything is OK in their eyes.

(more…)

Something curious happened during the summer of 2008. Democrats, led by Speaker Nancy Pelosi,
shut down the House and C-SPAN cameras with a resolution that passed by just one vote, smack in the middle of an energy crisis. Afterwards, Madame Speaker jetted off on a week-long book tour while gas prices soared.

The Republicans stood in the dark and refused to leave. A few officials, including John Culberson, took out their phones and began Twittering the action to America, this spawning the #dontgo movement. It was the first nudge to the hibernating conservative constituency who were excited about having something over which to be excited in their party. Netroots activists seethed at the realization that Democrats left America in limbo rather than vote against reducing energy costs and drilling stateside –  though the majority of the population approved of such. They rallied around the legislators that had the brass to stay and urged them to “Don’t go!”

Democrats shut down Republicans a second time promptly after the election by moving to bar them from amending legislation in the House.

Taxpayer fury over these offenses grew to a shriek in February when Rick Santelli delivered his famous diatribe on the floor of the Chicago exchange. The feelings of angry disenfranchisement felt by so many conservatives coalesced following Santelli’s speech. The first wave of tea parties came from this, the first national effort occurring on February 27th, 2008. I was at St. Louis’s very first tea party and stood across the mighty Mississippi on the Arch steps with a bunch of wide-eyed, virgin protesters who were just as shocked as I was to see the amount of people who had assembled.

(more…)