GUEST OPINION: Trump Rallies Against NJ’s Environment

NJ SIERRA CLUB

WILDWOOD, NJ: President Donald Trump is holding a rally today in Wildwood, New Jersey. Earlier this month, the Trump Administration gutted a major Obama-Era Water of the United States (WOTUS) rule protecting drinking water for 117 million people. Sierra Club and other groups are suing on close to 37 rules Trump is trying to weaken, from coal ash to offshore drilling.

“President Trump is coming here to Wildwood, where his policies are actually threatening Wildwood’s environment and economy. He wants to drill off the coast of Wildwood, threatening our coastal tourism and fisheries. He calls climate change a ‘hoax’, and is trying to get rid of programs that help protect us from climate impacts and sea level rise. He is trying to dismantle fifty years of environmental progress at the EPA. Trump has muzzled scientists and has tried to open up public lands and coasts for mining and drilling,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “People are lining up to support Trump while rallying against their own economy and environment. Wildwood’s fisheries and coastal economy are threatened by climate change as well as oil spills. Wildwood is already seeing fish living in storm drains some roads going under water with every full moon, and we’re losing coastal wetlands at an alarming rate.”

The Trump Administration is making our situation worse by attacking the environment and climate change protections on a national level. He has weakened 24 air pollution rule. He pulled the United States out of the Paris Agreement and disbanded the Advisory Committee for the Sustained National Climate Assessment.

“New Jersey is one of the most vulnerable states to sea level rise and climate impacts. DEP has projected sea level rise anywhere from 5.0 to 8.8 feet by 2100, which is alarming because Wildwood and our other barrier islands are only 3 feet above sea level. According to a recent Zillow report, New Jersey is top two in the nation for developments in flood prone areas. We are also the second fastest warming state in the nation. Wildwood and other areas in New Jersey want to move forward with renewable energy like offshore wind, but Trump believes that offshore wind causes cancer,” said Tittel. “The only science President Trump and his Administration believes in is science fiction. He has the fictional idea that climate change is not real, but this dangerous delusion puts our communities and families at risk.”

At the end of last year, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) intruduced a new Minimum Offer Price Rule (MOPR). The MOPR will put a surcharge on new renewable energy resources. Elevating the prices of renewable energy resources will prevent them from displacing more expensive dirty energy, like coal and new fracked gas resources. The new rule will cancel out state incentives for clean energy resources, and will raise costs for 65 million consumers as a start.

“Not only is Trump trying to drill off our costs, but the Fossil Fool in the White House is trying to subsidize dirty energy like natural gas and big oil at the expense of clean energy. He is trying to open up our public lands as well as our costs to drilling and mining. He is putting our national treasures at risk by lifting mining restrictions in areas like the Tongass National Forest and Bears Ears and is even pushing uranium mining in areas around the Grand Canyon. Trump’s greedy agenda has sided with corporate polluters with new FERC fossil fuel subsidies that will cost us billions of dollars, changes to NAFTA, and rollbacks to the Clean Power Plan and CAFE,” said Jeff Tittel. “He has pulled out of the Paris Accords and the Clean Power Plan because he is afraid he would have to regulate himself since he is a major source of hot air.”

EPA studies have shown that rolling back the Clean Power Plan would lead to over 1,400 premature deaths and 40,000 cases of asthma each year. The EPA also found that freezing CAFE standards would result in 41,000 deaths and 1.67 million cases of asthma over a decade.

“Some say that Trump’s tweets make them sick, but it is actually his environmental policies and his war on the environment. His own EPA has found that rolling back the Clean Power Plan and freezing CAFE standards will result in over 42,000 premature deaths over a decade. Trump has diminished lead reduction programs, refused to set standards for dozens of toxic chemicals like PFOAS in our drinking water, and failed to completely clean up Superfund sites and deal with the climate impacts to these sites. He won’t enforce the Lautenberg Act and is constantly siding with industry over public safety, playing Russian Roulette with our environment and our health,” said Jeff Tittel. “Trump’s EPA is becoming a polluters agency. They have rolled back 85 environmental regulations, like the Endangered Species Act, and they’re more interested in checking off cleanups on paper than making polluters pay.”

Trump has revoked Obama-era orders to make infrastructure and building standards incorporate sea level rise and flooding projections. He has eliminated the Clean Power Plan, revoked the California Clean Waiver Rule, and increased limits on methane leaks.

“We need to stand up to make sure his actions are not going unchecked. Sierra Club and others are suing on over 40 rules he is trying to weaken, from coal ash to offshore drilling. We are also fighting the administration for hiding scientific reports and holding private meetings with lobbyists, as well as challenging permits for projects like the Dakota Access Pipeline and LNG terminals. Trump is the worst president in history when it comes to the environment, and we must fight back. We have to stand up and continue to fight to protect our planet for our grandchildren and great grandchildren. Trump’s lawlessness and disregard for institutions is putting our environment and safety at risk,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “We must keep fighting to make sure our air is clean to breathe, our water is pure to drink, and our open spaces are protected. We must fight to Make America Green Again.”

NJPP: Public Charge Rule is a Discriminatory Income Test

Earlier today the U.S. Supreme Court voted 5-4 to allow the Trump administration’s “public charge” rule change to take effect. The new rule makes it more difficult for immigrant families to obtain legal permanent residence if they have used, or are deemed likely to use, public health benefits. In response to the Supreme Court’s decision, NJPP releases the following statement:

Erika Nava, Policy Analyst, New Jersey Policy Perspective:

“The Supreme Court decision is a devastating blow to working-class immigrant families in search of the American Dream. The new rule imposes a discriminatory income test to the immigration system and will force many immigrants to choose between having their basic needs met and being separated from their family. Penalizing families who qualify for public assistance runs counter to this nation’s values and must be stopped. In the meantime, immigrant families should not be fearful, but educated on the new public charge rule so they can make the best decisions for themselves and their families as they navigate the immigration process.”

For more info on the “public charge” rule change, read NJPP’s Public Charge FAQ from December 2019:

FAQs: The Public Charge Rule Change

Fenway Institute Says Trump Administration Expanded Discriminatory Anti-LGBT Policies

(January 24, 2020)–The Fenway Institute of Fenway Health released

a policy brief

demonstrating that in 2019, the Trump Administration dramatically expanded upon discriminatory, anti-LGBT policies implemented in 2017 and 2018 that are harming the health and well-being of LGBTQIA+ people in America and around the world.

“During Donald Trump’s third year as president, we moved from worrying that anti-LGBT policies would harm people to seeing the damage of these policies in action,” said Sean Cahill, PhD, Director of Health Policy Research at The Fenway Institute. “The most dramatic examples have been the deaths of two transgender women seeking asylum in the United States who were detained in facilities currently being sued for their alleged abuse of LGBT migrants. Other moves have made LGBT people and people living with HIV much more vulnerable to discrimination in health care, social services, employment, education, and access to basic government services.”

Much of the harm LGBT people are now experiencing is the result of discriminatory actions that target them, such as rolling back sexual orientation and gender identity nondiscrimination provisions in health care, employment, and housing while expanding discriminatory religious refusal policies. But other policies that are not specifically aimed at LGBT people, such as restricting asylum hearings in the United States only to people who have been denied asylum in another country, and the maltreatment of people in border detention facilities, have disproportionately affected LGBT people from Central America seeking asylum to escape anti-LGBT violence.

In June, a transgender woman from El Salvador, who spent six weeks in a detention center in New Mexico that has been sued by the ACLU for creating “unconscionable conditions” for LGBT immigrants, died after being hospitalized for chest pain. The woman, a nurse, had repeatedly asked for an IV solution or, barring that, water, salt, and sugar so she could make and administer her own solution, but was denied medical care.

Two initiatives by the Trump Administration aimed at improving the conditions of LGBT people around the world and ending the transmission of HIV have been undermined by the administration’s own anti-LGBT policies.

During his 2019 State of the Union address, President Trump announced the Ending the HIV Epidemic Initiative, a new plan to end the HIV epidemic by 2030 with increased investments in outreach and prevention to communities hit hardest by HIV. But the campaign does little to address anti-LGBT discrimination and stigma, which are the underlying drivers behind the HIV epidemic among the most disproportionately affected populations in this country. Meanwhile, the Trump Administration’s work to uphold religious refusal protections, repeal nondiscrimination protections for LGBT Americans, and other such actions may actually increase discrimination against LGBT people, creating additional barriers to success for the HIV initiative.

In February 2019, the Trump Administration announced that it would launch a global campaign to end the criminalization of homosexuality as it is still a crime in 70 countries around the world, with 13 of them allowing for the death penalty. Since the announcement, the Trump Administration has been inconsistent in implementing its policy. While the US State Department publicly condemned anti-LGBT laws and actions in Chechnya and Brunei, it has been silent on similar anti-LGBT actions taken this year by Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Kenya. The U.S. Ambassador to Zambia, who criticized the imprisonment of a gay couple there for 15 years, was told to leave the country by Zambia’s president, and was recalled by the U.S. State Department last month.

Other examples of actions taken by the Trump Administration in 2019 that undermine the health and well-being of LGBT people and people living with HIV include:

Proposing a new rule to reverse the Obama-era final rule implementing Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which prohibits discrimination in the provision of health care. The 2016 Section 1557 rule was implemented to address anti-LGBT discrimination in health care, which can range from being verbally or physically harassed to being denied treatment altogether.

Proposing a new rule to remove explicit sexual orientation and gender identity nondiscrimination provisions from important health care regulations governing health insurance exchanges, Medicaid regulations, and the Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly.

Proposing a new rule to remove regulatory provisions that explicitly prohibit organizations that receive HHS grant funding from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, sex, and religion. Such a rule would affect organizations that provide a wide array of health and social services, including health care at federally funded community health centers, HIV and STI testing and prevention, refugee resettlement, elder care programs, childcare and after-school programs, community meal programs, and adoption and foster care services.

Nominating judges for lifetime federal appointments who have expressed anti-LGBT sentiments and/or have histories of ruling against the interests of LGBT Americans.

Arguing before the U.S. Supreme Court in favor of limiting existing nondiscrimination provisions under Title VII that have been used to protect LGBT workers.

Proposing an amendment to the Equal Access Rule, which ensures that homeless shelters do not discriminate based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

Amending the 2019 Notice of Funding Availability Act, administered by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, to remove a crucial incentive that encouraged housing providers to support LGBT individuals. LGBTQ youth and transgender people, especially people of color, experience disproportionately high rates of homelessness.

Eliminating disparate impact civil rights regulations which treat policies that are neutral on paper but have an unequal impact in practice as forms of discrimination, even if there was no discriminatory intent.

Finalizing a rule that allows healthcare providers to refuse to participate in medical procedures, such as infertility treatment for same-sex couples, abortion, and HIV treatment for religious reasons.

Proposing a new rule that would remove sexual orientation data collection for foster youth and foster and adoptive parents in the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System.

Implementing a ban on transgender troops that was first proposed in 2017 and which puts an estimated 13,600 transgender individuals at risk of being discharged.

The policy brief, “

In its third year in office, the Trump Administration dramatically expanded discriminatory anti-LGBT policies

” can be downloaded

here

Since 1971,

Fenway Health

has been working to make life healthier for the people in our neighborhoods, the LGBTQIA+ community, people living with HIV/AIDS and the broader population. The Fenway Institute at Fenway Health is an interdisciplinary center for research, training, education and policy development focusing on national and international health issues.

Guest Opinion: American Dream Mall Fail to Pay Back Taxpayers

submitted by NJ Sierra Club

It has been 3 months since the grand opening of the American Dream Mall and towns are still waiting to be paid. In East Rutherford, where American Dream is located, officials said the mall owes $1 million in payments for last year, and an anticipated $2 million in payments in 2020 that are outstanding. For nearby Carlstadt and Secaucus, the missing payments amount to $750,000 and $100,000, respectively.

“The cost to build the American Dream mall has reached a historical price tag for both our wallets and the environment’s. The mega mall is too costly to build and too costly to visit. From riding its thrilling rides to food costs to parking, a daily visit is very expensive. New Jersey taxpayers had to pay over $1billion to subsidize this monstrosity of a mall and now its customers are being charged even more to enjoy it. What’s even worse is that the mall still owes taxpayers millions of dollars for their mega mall. The mall has taken all of this public money without paying them back while the public still can’t afford to go there,”

said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club.

It has taken 17 years to build and billions of dollars from subsidies, tax breaks, and tax incremental financing. The price tag for the mall has reached historical lengths and unfortunately the cost to its customers are seeing high price tags too. The American Dream/Xanadu mega-mall is the largest public subsidized development project in state history. The project received $350 million in direct state subsidies from EDA plus another $800 million for financing including $100 million for road improvements, bringing it up to $1.5 billion project.

“The American Scheme mega-mall has been the largest corporate subsidy in the state’s history. What’s even worse is that they have failed to pay back East Rutherford and other cities who are proposing to use taxpayer money for school improvements,”

said Tittel.

“If paying $24 for parking wasn’t enough, a daily price to ride American Dream rides will be $80 soon. Combined, that’s more than a season pass at Six Flags and just $5 shy for a daily pass to Disney World. The people who work at the American Dream Mall making $11/hr. cannot afford to go there. To spend a full day at the park could take a full week’s wages.”

The mall is an estimated 3 million square feet with more than half of that allotted to entertainment and the other 45% of the space will be for retail. There are 11,000 parking spaces and they share 22,000 with MetLife stadium on non-event days.

“There is no real traffic program for the bus or train services that are reliable, instead the mall will be car dependent. The project, which comprises 7.1 million square feet of office and commercial space, in order to be successful, it will need to generate around 120,000 to 150,000 cars a day, gridlocking Bergen County with traffic. Everyday traffic will be like game day at Giants Stadium,”

said Tittel.

“The Murphy Administration have been trying to fix traffic problems by proposing a rail plan that will cost $1-$2 billion while NJ Transit is crumbling. That money could have been used to finish the Bergen-Hudson Rail, or important improvements for NJ Transit. Why should we be paying for a rail to a private male. They created the problem, why should NJ taxpayers pay to fix it?”

The American Dream/Xanadu mall sits partly on wetlands in an environmentally sensitive area prone to flooding. Meadowlands resources are important for flood control, fisheries, and migratory birds.

“We have been fighting this mega mall for over 20 years because it is too large, it’s in an environmentally sensitive area, and will cause a lot of pollution and traffic. The American Dream/Xanadu site flooded during Hurricane Sandy. The mall’s water park is built on top of wetlands, which means increasingly vulnerable to the effects of sea level rise and storm surges. Studies have shown the entire area will end up under 3 feet of water. The EPA and Fish & Wildlife under President George W. Bush opposed the project because of environmental impacts on clean air and water, and wildlife,”

said Tittel.

“Overdeveloping the Meadowlands will not only put more people in danger of flooding, but will actually impact wetlands and the fragile ecosystems.”

Governor Murphy believes this project has provided New Jersey residents with extraordinary opportunities for good-paying construction and building jobs, as well as opportunities for New Jersey’s business owners.

“The billions of dollars for American Dream could’ve been used for building schools and colleges, taking lead out of our drinking water, or cleaning up our toxic sites. Instead, this private enterprise is a one- two punch to our wallets, the billions it took to build it and the high price tag to enjoy its amenities. The American Dream mall shows everything that is wrong about New Jersey. We don’t know what will be worse, it the American Dream succeeds, we will see all of the pollution from the traffic coming to the mall plus possible gridlock it would cause to commuters. If it would fail, it wastes billions of taxpayer dollars,”

said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club.

Hawaii: Gun Control Measures Introduced With More on the Way

SOURCE: NRA-ILA

The Hawaii Legislature opened on Wednesday and an onslaught of bills targeting your Second Amendment Rights have been introduced. Below, find a brief description of the more significant anti-gun bills that were introduced this week.

House Bill 1599

House Bill 1734

, and

Senate Bill 2152

would change the permitting system for the purchase of rifles and shotguns (long guns) to match the procedure currently in place for handgun purchases. This would require an individual to obtain a permit from the police each and every time they wished to purchase a long gun that would only be valid for 10 days. Whereas now, only one permit is required to purchase any number of long guns, and is valid for a year. It goes without saying that these bills create an onerous and unnecessary new burden on law abiding citizens who wish to purchase long guns for sport, hunting, or home defense.

House Bill 1733

and

Senate Bill 2151

would prohibit the purchase and manufacture of certain firearms parts by private individuals in an effort to ban home built firearms. The legislation is vague and overly broad as to what exactly could constitute a part or parts that could subject a person to felony penalties. This legislation fails to recognize that prohibited persons already cannot lawfully possess any firearm, whether home built or produced by a licensed manufacturer.

House Bill 1736

and

Senate Bill 2154

would prohibit possession of magazines capable of holding more than ten rounds. These so called “high capacity” magazines are in fact standard equipment for commonly-owned firearms that many Americans legally and effectively use for an entire range of legitimate purposes, such as self-defense or competition. The bill recognizes the utility of these magazines by carving out an exemption for law enforcement, but would still violate the rights of ordinary citizens. It contains no “grandfathering” provision for affected magazines lawfully acquired prior to the ban, so citizens would be forced to dispose of their property, alter it, or surrender it to the government.

Continue to check your inbox and

www.nraila.org

for updates on issues impacting your Second Amendment Rights and hunting heritage.

Trump\’s Religious Liberty Reforms

January 17, 2020

Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on

public policy reforms issued by the Trump administration on January 16

The public policy reforms governing religious liberty issued by the Trump administration are compelling and much needed. President Trump has proven once again that he is the most religion-friendly president in the modern era.

The Trump administration has provided a much-needed corrective to the draconian directives promulgated by the previous administration: the role of religious liberty under President Obama was diminished to such an extent that it all but neutered the free exercise of religion in public policy programs. Trump has reversed this condition, awarding religious liberty the kind of breathing room it deserves, both morally and legally.

There are three areas of public policy affecting religious liberty that have been targeted for reform by the Trump administration: faith-based programs; higher education; and religious institutions.

While the directives that have been issued are tailored to each of these three sectors, there are two elements that are common to all of them: religious institutions will not be afforded a second-class status any longer and their autonomy will be protected.

The Trump administration wants to end the invidious practices of discriminating against religious institutions and associations that were instituted by the Obama administration. Any institution that does not treat religious institutions as the equal of secular institutions will be faced with the prospect of having federal funds terminated.

Religious autonomy is another feature of these reforms. For instance, the state cannot force religious associations to jettison their religious character as a condition of federal aid. Regrettably, this has been done, the effect of which has been to secularize these entities. What is the sense of having a religious institution if it cannot freely exercise its religious prerogatives?

In effect, the Trump administration is going to continue its efforts to put an end to the animus against religious institutions that characterized the Obama administration.

As is customary, the public is being given 30 days to comment on these proposals. I will submit a detailed account of the Catholic League\’s problems with the Obama administration in its handling of faith-based programs, and the need for the kinds of reforms as outlined in the new directives. We will make public our input.

GUEST OPINION: LIKE OR NOT, HE\’S OUR PRESIDENT

by George Roof, Chief Master Sergeant, USAF (Retired)

Because I am a \”lifer\” in the military, I\’ve seen the impact of a president more than many of you can imagine. I enlisted with LBJ and saw just what a Democrat cluster flock was all about. I went to Vietnam and saw how we were constantly and incessantly bombarded with micromanagement from Washington that got thousands of military people killed. I sometimes wonder if I\’ll get to heaven, but if I go to hell, I\’m sure I\’ll still be a few hundred floors above that bastard Robert McNamara, LB Johnson, John Kerry, Jane Fonda, and yes, even the \”hero\” John McCain.

After Johnson \”abdicated\” rather than having his a** waxed, I lived through Nixon who was hawkish but allowed the generals (and there WERE a few real generals back then versus now) run the show. Nixon was so out of touch that he never knew North Vietnam was about to surrender when the Paris Accord was presented. .

Only God could help us after Gerald Ford was beaten by Jimmy \’Peanuts\’ Carter who\’d been funded by Saudi money. The military was turned into Section 8 and even the White House suffered the austerity.

Then the light began to shine and Ronald Reagan swept into the fray. He not only loved the country and the military, they l loved him back. Esprit d\’corps was off the scale during his presidency. The Liberals were slowly turning into socialists, however, and about this time all the draft dodgers of the 1960\’s who\’d been given amnesty by Jimmy \’Peanuts\’ were turning out college graduates with degrees in socialism. Bush 1 was an enigma from the CIA and though he never did much either way, he NEVER DID MUCH EITHER WAY.

Welcome to Bill Clinton. Clinton spent most of his two terms wagging the dog and creating the \’Oral\’ Office, sending a bomber to blow up Quaddafi\’s tent and killing a goat or two, while allowing the UN to set up the infamous Black Hawk Down situation He made history by becoming only the second president to be impeached.

I actually felt sorry for Bush 2. He was doomed to infamy from the start. He thought most of America was still the rah rah patriots of WWII when they were \’simply socialists\’ waiting to feed him to the sharks.

Then there came the Manchurian Candidate Obama with a faked (OK Democrats, let\’s say \”of questionable origin\” to assuage your PC brains) birth certificate, who\’d gotten a free ride through college under a foreign student exemption, and whose college records and complete life history had been \’sealed.\’ (We know more about Thomas Jefferson\’s bastard children than we do about Obama, Michelle , OR their two faked kids.)

From his inaugural address, he slandered America and within days had begun to encourage dissension of the races as well as slandering police who \”acted stupidly.\” That was mild to the crap that would come in doubling the national debt from what had been built by ALL THE PREVIOUS PRESIDENTS COMBINED, feeding us bullshit about how Muslims built this country, and nationalizing American industries.

Paragraph 9: Fueled by George Soros\’ money and using the Air Force fleet as his personal charters, he appointed malcontents and traitors into positions of authority. He trashed the Constitution by installing \”czars\” (interesting he chose a title like that) to bypass Congressional authority. By that time, Congress was completely corrupt on both sides of the aisle. No one had balls to impeach this charlatan Obama.

Mysteriously, the lone outspoken conservative Supreme Court Justice Scalia suddenly dies in his sleep at an Obama pal\’s hunting lodge and the Supreme Court is evenly split. Finally, Congress shows some balls and rejects Obama\’s Supreme Court, Justice nomination. The Libertards aren\’t worried because the fix is in. Soros \’has paid\’ demonstrators to cause turmoil at all the Republican gatherings.\’ Obama concedes that illegal aliens should vote as they won\’t be prosecuted, and Soros-manufactured voting machines are caught switching votes in certain precincts Hillary has cheated her way to the nomination and her lies are completely ignored by the brainwashed minions of sycophants who follow her.

But a shocking thing happened on the way to the forum.

Middle America had had enough and although the pollsters and the pipers tried to convince middle America not even to bother to vote, they were fed up with the denizens of the swamp. It was time. Florida was designated a \”swing\” state ignoring that all those old retirees living in St. Petersburg, and the fed up Cuban Americans of Miami weren\’t interested in their platform. Ohio and Pennsylvania, where coal production was blacklisted and where Obama had ridiculed them for \”clinging to their Bibles and their guns,\” lay awaiting this supposed \”landslide\” Hillary vote,…. and creamed it.

The Socialist world of the Democratic Party disintegrated. An American who expressed unbridled love of country and respect for police, firemen, and military steamrolled across the heartland and the liberals realized their scheme was trashed. A CONSTITUTIONALIST would be nominated to the Supreme Court and if the old hag Ginsburg who\’d claimed to retire if Trump were elected would actually retire and leave, the Supreme Court would have a massive majority of CONSTITUTIONALISTS for the next 40-50 years.

Now, the same party who\’d ridiculed Trump on his comments about the election being rigged, started screaming that the election \’was\’ rigged. They even advocated having the election repeated. They created mobs that burned and pillaged, stopped traffic, threatened murder, battery and rape of Trump supporters, and became the anarchists that the socialist dream thrives upon. They run like castrated pigs for safe zones and use diaper pins as their national symbol.

This is exactly what happens when political correctness takes over and participation trophies are awarded to everyone. They can\’t conceive how disgusting and subservient they have become.

Donald Trump may NOT be the best person for the job, but he\’s such a welcome respite from the candy-assed wimps who\’ve been running the swamp that it\’s refreshing to see. At the very least, Donald Trump derailed the Socialist train and bought us precious time. If he only does half of what he\’s promised, we\’ll still be legions ahead of where Obama has dragged us. Already countries who held us in contempt are lining up to be found in the favor of America. Donald Trump has done more in his short time in the public eye..he prevented Hillary Clinton from becoming president!

So for you liberal lurkers and you half-assed fence-sitters, Tough shit! You had your big hurray and now your party is over. For you staunch Republicans in office, don\’t gloat so much yourselves. You\’ve been put on notice by the American people that we\’re fed up with

ALL YOU BASTARDS

and if you don\’t start putting America first, you do so at your own peril. You might want to buy a copy of George McGovern\’s autobiography and see how shocking and humbling it can be for a professional politician to have to try to find legitimate work once he falls from grace.

This election was pure, unadulterated AMERICAN!!! Hillary was beaten and AMERICA WON THE ELECTION. You can claim he\’s not \”your president\” all you want, but unless you \’forfeit\’ your American citizenship, ….

HE IS YOUR PRESIDENT!!!

Go cry a river some place they need water.

EDITOR\’S NOTE: This article was first published in 2016. It was submitted last week to CNBNews for publication by Frank K.

NJBIA Calls for Re-authorization of Tax Incentive Program in Support of Film Credit Expansion Bill

The New Jersey Business & Industry Association testified in support of a bill that extends the film tax credit, while calling for the urgent need to re-authorize a comprehensive tax incentive program.

New Jersey has been without a tax incentive program, a fundamental tool in most states\’ economic development strategies, since July 1.

NJBIA Vice President of Government Affairs Chris Emigholz said that bill S-3842 (Weinberg, D-37; Sarlo, D-36), which was released by the Senate and Budget Appropriations Committee today, could ultimately be included in a broader tax incentive program.

\”It has now been more than half a year that New Jersey has been without a tax incentive program,\” Emigholz said. \”Without this tool, we continue to put future job creation, economic development and prosperity at risk.\”

The film tax credit bill would extend by five years the availability period for tax credits to offset expenses incurred for the production of films and digital media content in New Jersey. Emigholz added that the bill increases the caps for this film credit program without a formal net benefit test in place.

\”NJBIA believes that increasing these caps is a good first step, but caps are unnecessary for tax incentive programs as long as there are strong net benefit tests to protect taxpayer dollars,\” Emigholz said.

\”The goal should be not to cap success, but allow incentive programs shown to be successful through net benefit tests to create as many jobs as possible. We believe the broader tax incentive program should follow that theme wherever possible of greater flexibility with enhanced accountability,\” Emigholz said.

NRA-ILA: Bloomberg Dismisses Texas Hero

Insists It Wasn’t His “Job” to Have a Gun or Decide to Shoot

SUPPORT NRA-ILA

Jack Wilson – a 71-year-old congregant of the West Freeway Church of Christ in White Settlement, Tex. – is a hero to most Americans. When a deranged man savagely murdered two of Mr. Wilson’s fellow worshippers during a service at the church on Dec. 30,

Wilson took swift action

. He exposed himself to danger to deliver a single shot from his lawfully carried handgun

that instantly ended what undoubtedly would have been even more terrible carnage among the hundreds present.

Other congregants were also seen producing lawfully carried handguns in response to the threat. Several closed in on the fallen assailant to ensure he was neutralized. None of them panicked or acted rashly and no errant shots were fired.

The entire episode was over in six seconds and was captured on the church’s livestream.

The evidence is inescapable and available to anyone who cares to view it. Anybody who has ever tried to justify a public policy proposal on the grounds that it could save “just one life” is now on notice that lawful concealed carry saved many lives in just that one episode.

Yet one person who did not bother to watch the video or acquaint himself with the facts is Democrat presidential contender Michael Bloomberg.

Commenting on the incident

at a campaign stop in Montgomery Ala., Bloomberg did not mention Jack Wilson’s name. Bloomberg did not even acknowledge that the events depicted in video and widely reported in the media – including on

Bloomberg’s self-named news site

– were authentic.

But if they were, he huffed, it didn’t change his mind that only the police (which apparently include the current and former officers on his own armed protection detail) should be able to carry firearms in public.

“It may true, I wasn’t there, I don’t know the facts, that somebody in the congregation had their own gun and killed the person who murdered two other people,” he said. “But it’s the job of law enforcement to, uh, have guns and to decide when to shoot.” He continued, “You just do not want the average citizen carrying a gun in a crowded place.”

In the best-case scenario, responding police would still have been minutes away from the violence breaking out in the West Freeway Church of Christ. The shotgun-wielding assailant could have killed many more people in that time had he not faced armed resistance of his own.

But Bloomberg’s own words indicate he would consider that an acceptable price to pay to vindicate his arch-statist and anti-constitutional view that the government should have a complete monopoly on the lawful use of lethal force.

What, in Bloomberg’s mind, make police the only people who can be trusted with firearms?

Does he feel that only law enforcement can effectively and safely use firearms?

Jack Wilson answered that question on Dec. 29, 2019, by delivering a single, precise shot at 15 yards that felled its target and only its target, saving innocent lives.

But somehow that’s still not good enough for Michael Bloomberg because Wilson is not an active-duty police officer.

What lesson are we supposed to learn from Bloomberg’s response to the White Settlement events, other than who shoots whom isn’t as important to him as who gets to decide who lawfully wields lethal force?

Are you willing to helplessly take one for Team Bloomberg’s scheme of law and order if you end up in the wrong place at the wrong time?

Note that Michael Bloomberg isn’t taking that risk himself; his payroll includes plenty of armed men to keep him safe.

The Second Amendment is your guarantee that you need not take the risk either, which is why Michael Bloomberg’s worldview cannot be reconciled with that fundamental liberty.

This stands in stark contrast to President Trump, who understands exactly what the right to keep and bear arms is all about and unabashedly respects that right.

“It was over in 6 seconds thanks to the brave parishioners who acted to protect 242 fellow worshippers,”

President Trump tweeted on Dec. 30

. “Lives were saved by these heroes, and Texas laws allowing them to carry guns!”

SJ Gas Pipeline Nightmare Continues – Pinelands Commission Fail to Rescind Approvals

The Pinelands Commission was prepared to put a stay on the application of the South Jersey Gas Pipeline application, however they voted down a resolution Addressing the Remand of the South Jersey Gas Company Application Due to a Significant Change in Material Fact.

The final vote was 4-5.

“The nightmare continues at the Pinelands. By voting down even this weak resolution, it blocks the commission from taking final action on the SJ Gas pipeline. This means the application for the SJ Gas Pipeline still stands. This is one of the most shameful episodes that the Pinelands Commission has ever done. The BPU approval is based on the Pineland’s approval so as long as the Pinelands Commission doesn’t rescind their approval, the BPU approval still stands. Our concern is that the SJ Gas proposal could come back,”

said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club.

“What the Pinelands Commission did today was the worst thing that has ever been done in the Pinelands, it goes against the CMP and the AG’s letter vacating the approval of the SJ Gas. It shows the Chris Christie Pinelands Commission is pro gas pipelines.”

South Jersey Gas plans were to build a pipeline that would go through the southern part of the Pinelands to connect into the B.L. England plant. Now that B.L. England will not be re-opened, the company continues to pursue the pipeline claiming it will improve system resiliency. In May, the Attorney General asked the Appellate Court to remand the South Jersey Gas pipeline case,

Docket No. A-3310-16

, back to the Pinelands Commission. The SJ Gas pipeline in the Pinelands was originally intended to repower the B.L. England plant. Owners of B.L. England have now closed the plant permanently, eliminating any need for the pipeline.

“We have been trying to get the Commission to rescind their approval since March, and now they sided with SJ Gas over the Pinelands. The decision made today means SJ Gas would still be able to reapply or find another buyer for B.L England. The Commission vote also goes against Attorney General Grewal’s letter to remand SJ Gas pipeline case to undo the approvals. The Pineland Commission’s approval for the SJ Gas pipeline should be revoked with prejudice because it is in violation of the CMP. Instead the most shameful episode of the Pinelands Commission is continuing. Instead of protecting the Pinelands, the commission is giving another chance for this unnecessary and unneeded fossil fuel project to be built,”

said Tittel.

“The Attorney General has already said that the SJ Gas pipeline does not meet the criteria for the Pinelands approval and has asked the Appellate Court to remand the South Jersey Gas pipeline case back to the Pinelands Commission for further action. The NJ Sierra Club also won our motion to remand the Pinelands Commission to reconsider its approval on SJ Gas. Enough is enough.”

Last spring, Governor Murphy announced that he will appoint Jessica Sanchez and Jennifer Coffey to the Pineland Commission. Jessica Sanchez will be replacing Gary Quinn and Jennifer Coffey will be replacing Bob Barr. Murphy has also re-nominated Ed Lloyd as Commissioner. Governor Murphy also appointed Rick Prickett as the new chair of the Pinelands Commission.

“On the 6

Anniversary of the original denial of the SJ Gas application by the Pinelands Commission, what they did today was disgraceful. Six years ago, the Pinelands Commission denied the application, then Governor Christie stacked the commission with his appointees who are still running it. They want to turn the Pinelands into the Pipelands. We need Governor Murphy to veto the minutes of today’s Commission meeting so that this outrageous act did not happen and so that we can get a denial on this terrible project. It is better to have no resolution than a voted down resolution because then we can still work on rescinding the approval,”

said Tittel.

“The Governor also needs to fight to get his nomination through and hold the Senate President accountable and get these nominations approved.”

The Pinelands is the largest open space on the eastern seaboard and recognized for its biodiversity by the United Nations. The New Jersey Sierra Club is currently suing the Board of Public Utilities (BPU) and the Pinelands Commission on their approval of the SRL pipeline. The New Jersey Sierra Club also filed with Pinelands Preservation Alliance requesting a motion for a stay by the Board of Public Utilities and the Pinelands Commission on the Southern Reliability Link Pipeline.

“Today, instead of protecting the Pinelands Protection Act, the commission turned into the Pinelands Permissive Act. When the Pinelands Act was passed forty years ago, one of the major reasons was to prevent pipelines coming through to connect offshore oil to refineries in south Jersey. The purpose of this pipeline was to build a natural gas plant in Cape May, now that purpose is hot air. The SJG pipeline would not only destroy the Pinelands but also impact critical drinking water for millions of people,”

said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club.

“Today’s meeting shows that it is more important than ever to push Governor Murphy appointees for the Pinelands Commission through. We need people who will protect our environment and protect the Pinelands.”

Link to Pinelands Commission Meeting Live Stream:

https://www.nj.gov/pinelands/home/meetings/live/#1