2020 ELECTION: Alp Basaran Seeking NJ-09 Congressional District Seat

In the NJ-09 congressional district, Alp Basaran, a formerly undocumented Muslim immigrant and lawyer, is running to unseat Bill Pascrell, a 12-term incumbent who during his tenure (1)

tipped off the INS and oversaw an immigration raid

(

view here

) leading to the arrest of undocumented workers and (2) turned his congressional seat into a family business with his sons (more on that below). If elected, Alp would be:

The

1st Muslim from New Jersey

and

3rd formerly undocumented immigrant

in Congress;

One of the few candidates in the country

calling for amnesty

for undocumented immigrants; and

Representing a broader shift toward

experienced progressives

who seek to unseat

corporate Democrats.

THE AMERICAN DREAM: Alp arrived in New Jersey with his parents when he was four years old and became an undocumented immigrant after overstaying his visa.

Raised by two-parents who did not speak English

and worked minimum-wage jobs, Alp was a product of a fairer America where he was able to

attend public schools and become a lawyer

, working at some of the best law firms in the country for almost a decade. Alp is

uniquely qualified to write laws

in Congress.

ANTI-CORRUPTION: While Rep. Pascrell writes our tax laws on the Ways and Means Committee, two of his adult sons serve corporate interests as professional lobbyists and are actively involved in getting their father reelected. Rep. Pascrell has received

hundreds of thousands of dollars

from corporate lobbyists in the 2020 election cycle alone. Not surprisingly, Rep. Pascrell has found himself on the wrong side of many major issues that define corporate Democrats. Rep. Pascrell:

Foreign Policy:

voted to authorize the Iraq War;

Economy:

voted for TARP and other key bail-out legislation;

Border:

voted for the construction of a border fence, which was the Tea Party precursor to Trump’s border wall; and

Healthcare:

remains opposed to Medicare-for-All legislation.

Alp Basaran is a progressive who will vote in a way that benefits his constituents instead of his donors because Alp understands their experiences.

Clyde Lederman

Communications Director, Alp Basaran for Congress

web:

www.alpbasaran.com

(Video) NEWS 24 SPECIAL REPORT : THE HISTORY OF STEPHEN SWEENEY & GEORGE NORCROSS

In the video below NEWS 24 Special Report looks into the friendship between Stephen Sweeney and George Norcross that began when the two were youngsters.

Stephen M. Sweeney

(born June 11, 1959) is an American executive and

Democratic Party

politician who currently serves as the

President of the New Jersey Senate

. He has served in the

New Jersey Senate

since 2002, where he represents the

3rd Legislative District

. He has been the President of the New

Jersey Senate since January 12, 2010. A Union

Ironworker

by trade, Sweeney is frequently described as a political power broker in New Jersey politics.

George E. Norcross, III

(born March 16, 1956) is an American businessman and a

Democratic Party

organiser and power broker in

New Jersey

Norcross is executive chairman of Conner Strong & Buckelew, an insurance brokerage firm. He is chairman of the board of trustees for Cooper University Health Care System and

Cooper University Hospital

both in

Camden, New Jersey

, and has served as a trustee since 1990. He led the effort to create the

Cooper Medical School of Rowan University

and to partner with

MD Anderson Cancer Center

to create the MD Anderson Cooper Cancer Center, which opened in 2013.

[1]

Norcross has been a prominent political leader in New Jersey for more than 30 years, since before he became chairman of the Camden County Democratic Committee in 1989, a position he held until 1993. For many years, he has been named one of the most powerful non-elected political figures in New Jersey by the website

PolitickerNJ.com

[2]

[3]

From 2014 through 2019,

[4]

he was named one of New Jersey\’s most powerful people by NJBiz.com.

[5]

He is regarded as New Jersey\’s most powerful unelected leader.

[6]

Norcross is a member of the

Democratic National Committee

. He also belongs to

Mar-a-Lago

, the club owned by United States President

Donald Trump

[7]

source Wikipedia

******

SENATE, No. 2173 with Senate Floor Amendments(Proposed by Senator WEINBERG)

ADOPTED: JANUARY 9, 2020

The Senate floor amendments authorize an exemption from mandatory immunization requirements for a child or student who has a sibling who experienced a vaccine injury. To qualify for the exemption, the child or student will be required to submit to the Department of Health documentation of a final determination of vaccine injury issued through the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program administered by the Health Resources and Services Administration in the United States Department of Health and Human Services or a final judgment issued by a court of competent jurisdiction that includes a finding of vaccine injury. Documentation of the department’s approval of a sibling vaccine injury exemption will be submitted to the school or child care center by the child or student, or by the child or student’s parent or guardian, if the child or student is a minor.The amendments allow nonpublic child care centers, preschool programs, elementary and secondary schools, and institutions of higher education to adopt a policy authorizing the admission of children and students who are not in full compliance with mandatory immunization requirements and who do not meet the requirements for a medical or sibling vaccine injury exemption, provided that the facility requires each child or student enrolled in the child care center, preschool program, school, or institution of higher education, or the child’s or student’s parent or guardian if the child or student is a minor, to sign an acknowledgement form, at the time of enrollment, that sets forth the facility’s policy with regard to admitting children or students who are not in full compliance with mandatory immunization requirements and indicates the immunization rates for the facility for the prior academic year. The child care center, preschool program, school, or institution of higher education will additionally be required to prominently post its policy concerning the admission of children or students who are not fully immunized and the facility’s immunization rates for the prior academic year at each entrance to the facility. The Commissioner of Health will be required to adopt rules and regulations concerning the format of acknowledgement forms used by nonpublic schools for this purpose.A child or student who is not in compliance with mandatory immunization requirements who seeks to attend the child care center, preschool program, school, or institution of higher education will be required to provide the facility with written notice of which specific immunization requirements the child or student is not in compliance with and sign a form that states that the child or student, or the child or student’s parent or guardian, as applicable, understands the risks and benefits of vaccination and acknowledges that the child or student may be excluded from attendance in the event of the occurrence of a communicable disease or condition or threat of a communicable disease or condition.The committee amendments restore language in the New Jersey Immunization Information System law that was deleted by prior amendment concerning who may access the system, and instead delete a provision of current law providing that an agency, organization, or other entity authorized to access information in the NJIIS may not use any report made by a healthcare provider in any punitive manner against the provider.

source

TRACK BILL

Pennsylvania Ag Republicans say debate over milk shows depth of partisan divide

By Kim Jarrett |

The Center Square

January 2020

HARRISBURG, PA–The proof that politics affects the agriculture industry is in the milk, said members of the Pennsylvania Ag Republicans at their meeting during the Pennsylvania Farm Show.

During the Obama administration, whole and two percent milks were removed from school lunchrooms across the nation. The Trump administration added some back to school lunchrooms, but whole milk is still banned.

The move has hurt the dairy industry, members of the Ag Republicans said, and it might not recover until whole milk is allowed back into the schools.

U.S. Rep. G.T. Thompson has introduced a measure called “Whole Milk for Healthy Kids” that would bring whole milk back to the schools. But unfortunately, he said, the issue is not in the House Agriculture Committee but in the Education and Labor Committee.

The Food and Drug Administration is still considering changes to what can be labeled as milk, Thompson said, calling products labeled as almond milk “juice.”

Thompson and Lawrence Tabas, chairman of the Pennsylvania Republican Party, emphasized the importance of the 2020 election on agriculture. Tabas said some of the Democratic candidates want to “completely change what it means to be an American.”

“If they don’t like whole milk, if they don’t like some of the crops you are growing, if they don’t like red meat, they can tell you that you can’t raise, produce it or sell it,” Tabas said.

Thompson and Tabas also praised the recent U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement. A large portion of the exported milk from Pennsylvania goes to Mexico, said Mike Firestine, chairman of the Ag Republicans.

Thompson said a portion of a trade agreement with China could come in the next few weeks. That agreement is expected to include hardwoods, one of Pennsylvania’s leading products.

President Donald Trump won Pennsylvania by a slim margin in 2016, and Tabas predicted Trump would win again. He said Republican losses in the 2018 election were because Trump was not on the ballot.

The focus of the Ag Republicans is to get Trump reelected even though agriculture is going through a tough time right now, Firestine said. The economy, overall, is doing well, he said.

“Our stock market has been going up, even with the impeachment trials,” Firestine said.

U.S. Rep. Dan Meuser said agriculture is important to the nation’s economy and to the upcoming elections.

“What’s good for farmers is good for our country,” he said.

Tabas encouraged the group to place signs on their property. The state Republican Party is focusing on about 1.5 million Pennsylvanians that are not registered to vote. The goal is to get 150,000 to register, Tabas said.

published here with permission of The Center Square

Camden County GOP Endorses Gustafson In CD1

Ambrosino awards Gustafson the line

HADDON HEIGHTS – Camden County Republican Chairman Rich Ambrosino awarded the county line to congressional candidate Claire Gustafson in CD1 today.

“Earlier this week Josh Duvall announced he ‘decided to drop out of the race’ in CD1,” Rich Ambrosino said. “While I wish his exit was more graceful this does mean there is no longer a reason to screen candidates in CD1 and avoids what could have been a costly primary.”

“I am happy to endorse Claire Gustafson for Congress in CD1.” Ambrosino continued, “Claire is the ultimate team player. She’s provided financial support to the party and our candidates. She has repeatedly stepped up for our party, she’s held local office, serves as the municipal chair in Collingswood and chairs Camden County’s Republican women organization. She’s fought the tough fights and knows what it takes to challenge South Jersey’s political machine and has a network in place to build a winning campaign organization.”

“Claire has left no doubt as to her support of President Trump or her conservative beliefs,” Ambrosino said. “The contrast between Donald Norcross and Claire Gustafson is crystal clear. I’m proud to have a candidate of Claire Gustafson’s caliber as our nominee and look forward to a spirited congressional campaign.”

Camden County GOP Chairman: “No One Forced Duvall Out Of The Primary”

HADDON HEIGHTS – Camden County Republican Chairman Rich Ambrosino addressed some concerns after learning Josh Duvall has dropped out of the CD1 GOP primary

election.

“Yesterday I learned Josh Duvall has dropped out of the Republican primary election for Congress in CD1. Just like when he announced he was running, he didn’t bother calling any county chairs and simply issued a press release,” Ambrosino said. “I have a serious issue with him implying that he was forced out of the race.”

“No one tried to force Josh Duvall out of the primary.” Ambrosino explained, “Frankly, it was the other way around. Duvall and his supporters felt he shouldn’t be challenged because he announced early. I had to explain that isn’t how it works and everyone appears before our screening committee to determine who gets the organization’s endorsement.”

“Gloucester County GOP Chairwoman Jacci Vigilante and I went the extra mile to encourage Josh.” Ambrosino continued, “We met with Josh after Burlington County endorsed Claire Gustafson and encouraged him to stay in the race and appear before our screening committees. Obviously, he chose not to do that.”

“I’m not sure why Duvall felt the need to attack the party on his way out of the race,” Ambrosino said. “He clearly doesn’t understand primary elections are ‘purity tests’ and he doesn’t understand this party is solidly behind President Trump. Duvall also doesn’t understand our county party has been growing over the past couple of years and I’m sorry he doesn’t want to be part of that growth, but that’s his choice.”

(Video)Some Republican Governors Are Asking For Refugee Resettlement In Their States

SCOTT MOREFIELD

/THE DAILY CALLER

Fox News host Tucker Carlson and a guest discussed Republican governors in 18 states asking for refugee resettlement despite being given an option not to do so.

Introducing the Friday night “Tucker Carlson Tonight” segment, the

Fox News host

recalled when

Republican leaders once

“made a big show of opposing Obama administration refugee policy” and supposedly “got their wish” when President Donald Trump won the 2016 election and

signed

“an executive order allowing cities and states to opt-out of refugee resettlement.”

However, “for some reason, no Republican governors are taking advantage of that,” Carlson said, noting that 18 GOP governors so far “have explicitly requested that more refugees be sent to their states.”

The

list

so far includes:

Doug Ducey

, Arizona

Asa Hutchinson

, Arkansas

Brad Little

, Idaho

Eric Holcomb

, Indiana

Kim Reynolds

, Iowa

Larry Hogan

, Maryland

Charlie Baker

, Massachusetts

Mike Parsons

, Missouri

Pete Ricketts

, Nebraska

Chris Sununu

, New Hampshire

Doug Burgum

, North Dakota

Mike DeWine

, Ohio

Kevin Stitt

, Oklahoma

Kristi Noem

, South Dakota

Bill Lee

, Tennessee

Gary Herbert

, Utah

Phil Scott

, Vermont

Jim Justice

, West Virginia

“We already have more than 20 million illegal immigrants living here,” Carlson said. “The last thing many struggling communities need is more low skilled migrants who may be great people but need a lot. They stress the schools and social programs while not fully integrating. That’s just true and anybody who lives in a community where it has happened will tell you that it is true. As with illegal immigration, the long term agenda of refugee settlement is to bring in future Democratic voters, obviously.”

published here with permission

https://www.dailycaller.com

Bill Re-Establishing Fire and EMS Crisis Hotline Heads to Governor’s Desk

TRENTON NJ–Senator Fred Madden’s legislation, S2898, that would establish a 24 hour crisis hotline for fire and EMS professionals and their families heads to the Governor’s desk after clearing its last major legislative hurdle in December when the Assembly passed the bill with a vote of 76-0. The bill previously passed the full Senate with a vote of 39-0 in January of 2019.

Our fire and emergency services personnel are currently underserved when it comes to coping with the stresses of their duties. Since the discontinuation of the hotline in 2009, there has been a void in the treatment of those professionals who need help most. Presently, fire and emergency service personnel may contact the similar Cop2Cop hotline; however, as the names suggests, this hotline has been tailored to serve the law enforcement community, and the operators of this hotline are not equipped to handle the specific stresses that firefighters and emergency services personnel face day to day.

The Hotline would operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and would service fire and EMS professionals and their families experiencing depression, anxiety, stress, or any other psychological or emotional disorder or condition. Specially trained operators would be available to help callers with the varying stresses that come from their duties. The conversations would be confidential. However, the Division of Fire Safety in consultation with Rutgers University would be permitted to establish guidelines for the monitoring of any fire or emergency services caller who exhibits signs of an extreme psychological or emotional condition that could result in harm to themselves or others.

The bill is now awaiting consideration by the Governor.

Republican Congressional Candidate Running Against Incumbent Norcross Bows Out of Race

CHERRY HILL – NJ CD-1 GOP candidate Josh Duvall released the following statement:

“When I launched my campaign against Donald Norcross for New Jersey’s First Congressional District last May, I knew it was an uphill battle with long odds. Nevertheless, I believed there was at least a small window of opportunity to be a legitimately competitive candidate in one of the toughest Democratic districts in the

country.”

“However, after much thought, prayer, and deliberation, I have decided to drop out of the race.”

“As the minority party in South Jersey, we must reach out to traditional Democrats and Independent voters who feel left behind by today’s radical far-left agenda driven Progressive Democrat party, not push them away. We must have a big tent party that is welcoming to people from all walks of life who have come to the realization that this upcoming election represents a choice between individual freedom or government run socialism. We must make the case for applying our timeless principles to the problems of our time, instead of attacking those who don’t pass an arbitrary Republican purity test. We must lead from the front, engaging our constituents with commonsense ideas and practical solutions that make sense to them, instead of agenda driven rhetoric that we’ve all come to abhor.”

“It has been made clear, this messaging strategy is not shared by the leadership of the GOP. Instead of engaging the 85% of non-republican voters in this district with common sense ideas, the party approach has been to attack and disparage anyone who doesn’t support every word and decision of President Trump. Instead of talking about issues and solutions, we’ve reduced our ‘outreach’ to name calling and posting Trump memes on social media.”

“There is no pathway for a candidate who puts people above party, and pragmatism above politics.”

“To all of my supporters, donors, friends, and family members; I want to sincerely thank you for your continued perseverance and steadfastness. Working on your behalf to reach out to voters and defend the values and ideals we cherish has been an honor. While this leg of the journey didn’t end the way I wanted it to, I’m confident that the best is yet to come for me, my family, and the good people of South Jersey.”

“While I’m ending my candidacy for Congress, I will never stop fighting for those enduring ideals that I believe offer the best opportunity of prosperity for all people; namely life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, in a free society.”

New Audit: Problems with Pennsylvania Voter System

HARRISBURG, PA–An audit of the state’s voter registration system uncovered “potentially bad data and sloppy record-keeping,” but stopped short of saying the results revealed any inappropriate voting.

Auditor General Eugene DePasquale’s examination of the Statewide Uniform Registry of Electors (SURE) found what he said were more than 50,000 cases with potentially inaccurate voter records. While he called the estimate conservative, the review “did not validate the thousands of cases/situations identified.”

DePasquale, who is running for Congress, noted a lack of cooperation by PennDOT and four county election offices in compiling his audit. He also said the Department of State denied his office access to potentially relevant documents.

“It is past time to improve this system,” DePasquale said.

“Some county election officials are busy replacing voting equipment ahead of next year’s presidential election,” DePasquale said. “But keeping voter registration records up-to-date is an equally important task. And as we all know, the next year’s presidential election may be one of the most historic elections and one of the most closely watched elections in not only Pennsylvania but in U.S. history. The closeness of Pennsylvania in 2016 means that every single record is important.”

The state created SURE more than 15 years ago, and the system holds the records of more than 8.5 million registered voters. The audit covered Jan. 1, 2016, through April 16 of this year.

DePasquale’s office handed down 50 recommendations he says will strengthen the Department of State’s policies and management controls. The auditor wants the Department of State to work with counties to resolve records management issues, including duplicate voter records.

Of the 50,000 cases with potentially inaccurate voter records, in 24,408 cases, the same driver’s license number was listed in more than one voter record, while 13,913 were potential duplicate cases. Furthermore, 6,876 had a possible date of birth (DOB) inaccuracy, while 2,230 had potential DOB or registration date inaccuracies and 2,991 were records of potentially deceased voters.

As part of the audit, DePasquale selected 196 voters from the more than 8.5 million registered and requested source documents to verify the accuracy of data within SURE. The team was able to test 58 records and confirmed those were accurate.

However, the team was “unable to form any conclusions as to the accuracy of the entire population of voter records maintained in SURE since we could not test 138 or 70 percent of the records we sampled due to source documentation not being made available,” they said in the audit.

DePasquale said his audit did not suggest inaccuracies in votes cast during the 2016 presidential election or that deceased voters or people living illegally in the country had voted. The Department of State did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment, but

told WESA

the findings were “flawed and misleading.”

published here with permission of The Center Square

NJ Assemblyman Moriarty Takes Credit for New Minimum Wage of $11

WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP NJ (January 3, 2020)–Thousands of people across the state started their new year with a dollar raise thanks to the rise in the minimum wage to $11. The increase is a result of the legislation signed into law last February to put NJ on the path to a $15 minimum wage by 2024 for most workers.

CNBNews graphics file

According to Assemblyman Paul D. Moriarty, a prime sponsor of the legislation, “Putting New Jersey on the path to $15 was the right thing to do to help level the playing field for our hard-working residents.” The minimum wage will continue to increase by one dollar every January 1st until it reaches $15 in 2024.

Someone working 40 hours per week will now make $ 4,472 a year more at $11 an hour than they did a year ago at $8.85. “With almost $90 more each week, minimum wage workers today have a much better chance to thrive than they did a year ago.”

However, not all workers received the same raise. Due to concerns for some industries, the minimum wage for employees of small businesses, farms, and seasonal businesses rose from $8.85 to $10.30 an hour. All Seasonal and small business employees will reach $15 an hour by 2026, and farmworkers could reach $15 by 2027 with legislative approval.

“By raising the minimum wage in a controlled way, we will ensure our workers are treated fairly while our businesses continue to thrive.” Assemblyman Moriarty added, “This is just one way we are fighting for New Jersey Workers. Looking toward 2020, we plan to take on the misclassification of employees and bring transparency to forced arbitration in employment contracts.”

source

https://servingsouthjersey.com/