Retire Garrett

Apparently our Congressman is only a hawk when it comes to how other people are spending tax dollars:

Area members of Congress take advantage of a privilege that allows them to send mail to constituents at taxpayers’ expense.

U.S. Rep. Scott Garrett, R-Warren, led local representatives in mass mailings in the first three-quarters of last year when he spent $202,908, according to congressional records.

I guess when you are on the wrong side of the issues so much you have to spend a lot of money to explain why.

Cross Posted on Blue Jersey, ousting Garrett will be done on the heels of local victories in NJ-5

I have written extensively about how I would like to see the Passaic County Democratic Committee invest in Republican municipalities, specifically with $10,000 of seed money to get campaigns off the ground. However, there are 3, much less expensive steps Passaic County Chairman, and Democratic County Leaders across the State could take to aide Democratic candidates in Republican areas:

I. County parties need to undertake the cost of hiring professional campaign managers for municipal races in their county. There can’t be a price put on the value of having a professional, steady hand, leading inexperienced candidates in campaigns. Most Democrats in Republican towns either run their own campaign, or have an inexperienced volunteer running the show. Having a professional at the helm will allow the candidates to focus on engaging voters and leave the details to somewhere who has been there and won’t make rookie mistakes.

II. Coordinate direct mail with County/Legislative/Municipal Democratic candidates. Additionally, have the mail targeted to specific communities. In Passaic County there are 16 different towns with 16 different sets of issues. Even within each town there are different issues that affect differing geographic regions. Target the mail to address specific issues and the direct mail becomes more effective. Probably the most effective part of this coordination is it allows municipal candidates to gain more exposure, as usually they aren’t in a financial position to do more than one mailer (especially Democrats running in Republican controlled towns).

III. Share the play books that have worked in other towns. In just about every County in the state there are towns controlled by Democrats, where Democrats have run campaigns that were successful and resulted in victories. Towns controlled by Democrats need to share what they have done to win so it can be implemented in other campaigns. Having a sound and effective absentee ballot program is a prime example of something that could be the difference between winning and losing, and probably is not implemented when political newcomers are running campaigns.

All of these suggestions could be implemented for a relatively cheap rate and could be the difference in winning and losing races. I’m not abandoning my thought that seed money should be invested in Republican towns, but can understand why County Leaders would be hesitant to do that.

In counties where Democrats have little fund-raising power (Sussex & Warren come to mind in North Jersey), the State Committee needs to step in and supply campaign managers and consultation to local candidates. These investments could pay huge dividends for Democrats on the local level all across the State.

Subtitled: “Wherein I eviscerate the latest ridiculousness from my odious and clueless Representative

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In the latest installment from Mr. 12-1, Scott “the nut” Garrett pens an absolutely ridiculous editorial in yesterday’s Bergen Record about the stimulus/jobs/recovery bill – arguing his points as to why he voted against it.

This is a man who can claim that he thinks “many of these programs may be worthy of federal support, but there is little need to include them in a stimulus package today”, yet he has voted against worthy federal programs such as assistance for victims of elder abuse, health care for children, relief from Hurricane Katrina, and nearly every single bill that involves federal spending – something that makes Garrett regularly the only NJ representative voting (and many times one of 50 or less out of more than 400 total representatives) for or against something on any given week.

What makes this even more laughable is when one looks at his reasoning, comparisons, justifications and alternatives, there is nothing to suggest that he even knows what he is talking about – let alone do anything to help the struggling families of NJ’s fifth district stay in their homes, keep or obtain employment or deal with the rising costs of healthcare.

First, Garrett talks about what he envisions:

Cutting taxes on labor and investment helped pull our country out of recession in 2003 and 1981, and doing so again would accomplish all of the things people seeking fiscal stimulus want and more.It would provide an immediate cash infusion to American families and businesses, and their spending decisions would be based on economic conditions rather than political considerations.

Now, besides the point that many American families struggled in the 1980s under Reagan’s “trickle down” theory, and that the “recovery” in 2003 was pretty much a jobless recovery, as job losses have mounted under the business tax cuts and outsourcing mania of the past 8 years, we can see how Garrett voted against regulating Fannie and Freddie, which would have contributed to stemming their involvement in the housing crisis, and sponsored his own version of an economic stimulus plan just over one year ago consisting exclusively of corporate tax cuts. Click below for more:

Read more…

Hat Tip to Jason Springer at Blue Jersey for posting this originally.

We should just start calling him Mr. 12-1 at this point. Today, Scott Garrett took a stand on behalf of those who abuse the elderly:

The House took up H.R. 448, the Elder Abuse Protection Act, which would establish specialized elder abuse prosecution and research programs to aid victims, and would provide training to prosecutors and other law enforcement personnel related to elder abuse prevention and protection, and establish programs to provide for emergency crisis response teams to combat elder abuse.

If ever a bill could be called bi-partisan, this one passed by a 397-25 vote. Scott Garrett found it important to stand as the lone New Jersey opposition once again. What did the elderly ever do to Garrett?

The Retire Garrett Campaign presents the Take Back the 5th Town Hall. The purpose of the Take Back the 5th Town Hall is to raise awareness of Congressman Scott Garrett’s horrendous voting record, find someone to challenge Garrett in the 2010 election, and start preparing for the 2010 election campaign. The town hall will feature speeches by 5th District public officials, a discussion on campaign strategies for the 2010 election, and an interactive debate on politics, government, and society. Public officials from across the district have committed to attending so if you are interested in getting involved in politics this is the perfect opportunity.

We are holding the town hall Sunday, March 1 at 2:30 pm at the Mayor’s Council Chambers inside the Demarest Borough Hall (118 Serpentine Rd., Demarest, NJ 07627). You can RSVP, though it is not mandatory, to Mike by e-mail at msimonson19@gmail.com or by phone at 201-572-1030. Below is an easy to read summary of the town hall:

Since Scott Garrett doesn’t think that children from lower-income families should have basic health insurance coverage, why doesn’t he give up the cushy health insurance plan that his family gets from him being in Congress?

by: Matthew Jordan

Since the start of the 111th Congress Representative Scott Garrett has managed to show his constituents 3 major points. First, if you are a woman you don’t deserve (nor are entitled) to make the same amount as your male counterparts. Secondly, American children do not have the right to free healthcare. Finally, and possibly the worst of all, the SEC did nothing wrong in overseeing the Bernard Madoff Ponzi scheme and more oversight isn’t necessary. This is what Garrett had to say regarding Madoff and the role of the SEC (per Herb Jackson):

But Rep. Scott Garrett, the top-ranking Republican on the subcommittee, said he did not think more government regulation was needed.
“Each and every one of Mr. Madoff’s relevant business fell under the jurisdiction of one or more financial regulators,” Garrett, R-Wantage, said at the start of the hearing. “Given what we currently know about this situation, I do not believe there was a regulatory gap that needs to be filled with more, often excessive regulation.

“Rather, we should be focused on ensuring that current regulations are being met and that proper oversight is occurring… We cannot end all fraud nor guarantee these changes would have prevented it.”

Excessive Regulation? Nearly $50 billion dollars have been stolen and our Congressman doesn’t think we need anymore “excessive regulation?” This is the kind of representation constituents of New Jersey’s 5th Congressional District get. Click below for more:

Read more…

The Google group for Retire Garrett is one of the tools for organization that this blog is looking to build.

The long-term goal of building up the members of the Retire Garrett Google group is twofold. One, on the day after we know who the Democratic nominee is for 2010 we want to be able to hand over to the campaign a long list of potential volunteers, donors, and activists who are willing to work to unseat Garrett in the general election. Two, it is a tool that can be used to facilitate what the issues are throughout the district and maintain a dialogue about Garrett, his votes, and general political activity until we have a nominee in place.

So if you living in the district or if you want to be kept up to date on the effort to unseat Garrett, please join the group. Unseating Garrett will start at the grassroots level and this is one tool we can use to organize all of the Democrats, Independents, and probably some Republicans who are tired of the representation in NJ-5.