They're Eating The Dogs....

 

Even though National Read A Book Day was on September 6th, I'm not going to pass up a chance to read this new Dr. Seuss classic! 

Hat tip to JoJoFromJerz 

Robert Mueller Dances In ‘Weapon Of Choice’ Parody: The special prosecutor replaces Christopher Walken in the Fatboy Slim video.

Here's a fun way to start your day  😊

Hi.
I love you.

(sound up) pic.twitter.com/4RXlIpLIec

— ᑕᕼᑌᑎK (@chunkled) November 29, 2018

ht/Huffington Post

Pallone Remarks at Hearing with Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 5, 2018

Washington, D.C. – Energy and Commerce Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) delivered the following opening remarks today at a Full Committee hearing on “Twitter: Transparency and Accountability:”

Over the past few weeks, President Trump and many Republicans have peddled conspiracy theories about Twitter and other social media platforms to whip up their base and fundraise. I fear the Republicans are using this hearing for those purposes instead of addressing the serious issues raised by social media platforms that affect American’s everyday lives.

Twitter is a valuable platform for disseminating news, information, and viewpoints. It can be a tool for bringing people together and allows one to reach many. In places like Iran and Ukraine, Twitter was used to organize and give voice to the concerns of otherwise voiceless individuals. Closer to home, Twitter and hashtags like Stay Woke, Me Too, and Net Neutrality have fostered important conversations and supported larger social movements that are changing our society.

But Twitter has a darker side. Far too many Twitter users still face bullying and trolling attacks. Tweets designed to threaten, belittle, demean, and silence individuals can have devastating effects, sometimes even driving people to suicide. While Twitter has taken some steps to protect users and enable reporting, more needs to be done.

Bad actors have co-opted Twitter and other social media platforms to spread disinformation and sow divisions in our society. For example, Alex Jones used Twitter to amplify harmful and dangerous lies such as those regarding the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. Others have used the platform to deny the existence of the Holocaust, disseminate racial supremacy theories, and spread false information about terrorism, natural disasters, and more.

When questioned about this disinformation Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey said the truth will win out in the end, but there is reason to doubt that. According to a recent study published by the MIT Media Lab, false rumors on Twitter traveled “farther, faster, deeper, and more broadly than the truth” with true claims taking about six times as long to reach the same number of people. That’s dangerous.

And countries like Russia and Iran are taking advantage of this to broadly disseminate propaganda and false information. Beyond influencing elections, foreign agents are actively trying to turn groups of Americans against each other. These countries are encouraging conflict to sow division and hatred by targeting topics that generate intense feelings such as race, religion, and politics.

Unfortunately, the actions of President Trump have made the situation worse. Repeatedly, the President uses Twitter to bully and belittle people calling them names like “dog,” “clown,” “spoiled brat,” “son of a bitch,” “enemies,” and “loser.” He routinely tweets false statements designed to mislead Americans and foster discord. The President’s actions coarsen the public debate, and feed distrust within our society.

President Trump has demonstrated that the politics of division are good for fundraising and rousing his base. Sadly, Republicans are now following his lead instead of criticizing the President for behavior that would not be tolerated from a child. As reported in the news, the Trump campaign and the Republican Majority Leader have used the supposed anti-conservative bias online to fundraise. This hearing appears to be just one more mechanism to raise money and generate outrage. It appears Republicans are desperately trying to rally their base by fabricating a problem that simply does not exist.

Regardless of the Republicans’ intentions for this hearing, Twitter and other social media platforms must do more to regain and maintain the public trust. Bullying, the spread of disinformation, and malicious foreign influence continue. Twitter’s policies have been inconsistent and confusing. The company’s enforcement seems to chase the latest headline as opposed to addressing systemic problems. Twitter and other social media platforms must establish clear policies to address the problems discussed today, provide tools to users, and then swiftly and fairly enforce those policies. And those policies should apply equally to the President, politicians, Administration officials, celebrities, and the teenager down the street.

It’s long past time for Twitter and other social media companies to stop allowing their platforms to be tools of discord, of spreading false information, and of foreign government manipulation.

Thank you, I yield back.

Parkland Student Calls Out Lawmakers In NRA-Style Ad

#WhatIf we could go to school without fearing for our lives? Join us on March 24th and visit https://t.co/SrCltJsrBH #NeverAgain pic.twitter.com/iXmCNFOrVj

— David Hogg (@davidhogg111) March 16, 2018

Really, Really, Sad

Quote of the Day

“Why do we have a Second Amendment? It’s not to shoot deer. It’s to shoot at the government when it becomes tyrannical!”  — Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), on Twitter, June 23, 2016.

Father Time ... Nasty

First Santa... now Father Time?  Ha-ha

12/30 mike luckovich: Nasty man.

Not even Santa is immune from a Trump Twitter tirade

Eenie... Meenie ..... Miney.... Mo

Hillary Clinton Declares Her Candidacy For 2016

With simple tweet this afternoon, Hillary Clinton let the world know that she will seeking the Democratic nomination for President in 2016.

Here she is last night preparing for the big announcement!!

Letter: Ocean County Prosecutors Should Prosecute Over Twitter Threat

The expressed opinions or views of this letter does not necessarily represent the opinion of the MiddletownMike blog:

Dear Editor,

I was horrified to learn that the Ocean County Prosecutors Office will not be criminally charging Jill McGuinness of Jackson NJ, for making threats over Twitter to bomb Jewish residents of Lakewood and run them over with her car.

The fact her father is New Jersey State Trooper Steve McGuinness seems to be the reason she is avoiding criminal prosecution. The NJSP has previously admitted to racially biased policies.

Ocean County Prosecutor Joseph Coronato should be fired for his professional incompetence and corruption in refusing to prosecute this aspiring Nazi terrorist.

I call upon the FBI to begin a federal investigation into the matter.

If the FBI fails to act, Mossad should capture her and hold her in detention in Israel to protect the Jewish community.



Eric Hafner
Toms River

Sore Winner Twitter Troll Fiore, Has No Class In Winning

It never ceases to amaze me how two-bit politicians continually get elected to offices that they have no right to hold. Condescending, nasty, arrogant, mean-spirited, "I know better than you know" jerks who's only qualifications to hold office is their membership in and loyalties to the political party. A political party that wants to control and dominate it's minions so that dissent is not an option and it's bidding is done. When this happens, you get public servants like Middletown's Tony Fiore, that think they are above it all and can act, do or say anything they want because there is no one to hold them accountable for their actions.

Case in point.

Shortly after the results of last Tuesday's election were known, Middletown's newly reelected committeeman Tony Fiore felt compelled to send me the below tweet from his Twitter account, which just so happened to be retweeted (shared, to use a Facebook term) by Stephanie Murray (who I can only assume thought it was cute and funny) and a few other of Fiore's Twitter followers.

I don't take kindly to those that act all smug and condescending, especially when someone like Fiore, who has very little personal class and is the poster boy for arrogance and rudeness, thinks he's being clever by sending out an asinine comment that the whole world can see. It really showed what a sore winner he was and how classless he is. So, being the type of person that I am, I couldn't allow Fiore's tweet to go unanswered and responded in kind.

Of course we all know that no good response goes unanswered, so true to form Tony Fiore was compelled to response by calling my blog "smut". Now, you can call me anything you want but to refer to this blog as smut is offensive to me. I've never posted anything to this blog that could be even remotely considered smut.

So, I countered by alluding to a certain local Republican blogger who revels in smut, character assassination, innuendo and bad taste (and once even tried to defend the use of the "N" word), who seems to be the Middletown and Monmouth County Republicans favorite source to decimate falsehoods and propaganda against their rivals in exchange for a little financial support.  

At this point in the thread of comments I suppose Tony  had nothing clever left to say and wished me to" Have a great day!!!". I personally think that he may have started to become leery of others who were picking up on the Twitter conversation and were now starting to comment on his self important demeanor and condescension. Here are just a few:

• Jjf07748 - Grow up. civil servants are held to a higher standard. Try & act like u should be in that office.
• Pauline Hynes - Wow this is how Tony Fiore views his constituents. Interesting that this is the sentiment ...
• SayNo2Trinity - Small-minded people are easily threatened.

I ended with the last word of course but this whole exchange just shows you how little regard Tony Fiore has for Middletown residents. Yeah, he and Murray won reelection by a couple thousand votes that the Republicans in Middletown seem to win by every year no matter the turn out. Because of the Republican dominance in local elections and voter apathy, they take Middletown voters for granted and feel that no one is paying attention anyway so they can do, act or say nearly anything they wish, without having to answer to anyone. It's a sad state knowing that  40% or more of Middletown residents (both Democrats and Republicans) are overlooked by the likes of Tony Fiore and Stephanie Murray on the Township Committee. It's even sadder knowing that they don't really care either.

So if  Tony Fiore, Stephanie Murray,Steve Massell, Gerry Scharfenberger or Kevin Settembrino don't like it when someone holds them accountable for their words or actions, Too Bad! You were elected to represent every resident of Middletown not just the ones that voted for you.

Middletown is our town just as much as it is theirs!

THE #CONGRESSIONALCHALLENGE: AN IDEA WHOSE TIME HAS COME

For Immediate Release:

It is a great moment in our campaign as we now begin the fight to win back Washington in earnest. I
have thought long and hard about what I can bring to this upcoming campaign, and more importantly as
your future voice in Washington. It is clear that Washington is broken and the primary reason for all
that is wrong with politics comes down to one specific issue, namely that of the influence of special
interests and the incredible amount of money they spend to influence our lawmakers. It is no longer a
Congress for the people, but rather a Congress sold to the highest bidder. From the NRA to Super Pacs
to corporate lobbying groups, elections are being decided by who raises the most money. Unfortunately
the organizations that finance these campaigns and elected officials, do so with the expectation that they
will decide what goes on the agenda in Congress. As these groups are allowed to spend more and more
money, they become the only voices that have any impact on lawmakers in Washington. The needs of
regular people like you and me are being ignored and our votes become diluted in favor of the wealthy
and special interests.

That’s why I have decided to do something different in this election. I will disavow any contributions
from special interests groups or PACs or Super Pacs or other organizations. I will not sell myself in
order to win this campaign! This will be a campaign based on issues, about the people, for the
people. I will contact any group that has already been contacted by my campaign, and inform them of
my decision and give back any funds that have been accepted by my campaign. But more importantly I
will challenge my opponent and all those who are running for Congress this year to do the same! Give
back the special interest money and run on the issues! We should no longer expect our Congress to be
sponsored by corporate interests. So join me if you support the idea that Congress belongs to us, and
spread the word on Twitter and Facebook using #CongressionalChallenge. Contact your
Congressman or candidate and tell them that you want them to join us in the #CongressionalChallenge,
vowing to accept only individual contributions and to give back any money from PACs or other special
interests groups. Let’s take back our Government!

Sincerely,
Ruben Scolavino

Squirrels In My Basement - I hate Squirrels

For those of you that have been following my Facebook and Twitter feeds you're well aware of my squirrel issue. For the past week I've been dealing with a few squirrels that seem to have taken up residence in my basement.

It all started last weekend while I was on the overnight shift. I received a phone call from my wife telling me that a squirrel had someway made it down into our basement. My son and his friend were playing video games when the squirrel decided to make his presence know by jumping out at them from behind the game console. Needless to say, they both started to yell and scream like little school girls with their pigtails stuck in a pencil sharpener. It really must have been a hoot, I can't stop laughing thinking about it. My wife told me not to worry, she had called her father and he had brought over and set up a squirrel trap to capture him.

When I arrived home in the morning the first thing I did was a perimeter search along the outside of my house to see where the squirrel could have come from. I got down on my hands and knees and looked all around the outside of the house looking for holes that the squirrel could have crawled through but found nothing, I then proceeded to basement.

When I walked down into my basement the trap was sprung and the squirrel was inside. I took the squirrel and the trap, loaded them into the car and drove to a local park and let the squirrel go. I was commended by an onlooker for being so "humane" by letting the squirrel go and not killing it. I replied that I wasn't ready for squirrel fricassee just yet, I was just trying to get rid of the little bastard so he didn't come back. When I returned home, my wife thanked me profusely for getting rid of the squirrel and we both thought that's that until....

Two days later I'm at work and receive another phone call telling me that once again a squirrel in the basement. I couldn't believe it, I thought my wife must have been imagining it. Only this time when I got home I could hear it scurrying about. Now my wife had already returned the squirrel trap to her father at the time so the only thing that I could do was open the window. As soon as I walked towards the window to open it the squirrel started bouncing around. It was hanging out on top of the duct work just above my head.  I must have frightened or startled it jumped right at but luckily I moved just enough and the squirrel landed on the windowsill and out the window! Great I thought, squirrel #2 was gone with little effort. It was now safe once again to go down into the basement. That was until my wife once again heard the scurrying pitter-patter of tiny feet Thursday morning.

Neither one of us could believe it, a third squirrel is down in our basement and as of this writing is still there. It's become obvious to us that this squirrel has learned a thing or two from the loss of his companions. This squirrel doesn't want to leave.

Thursday night when I got home my wife had already retrieved the squirrel trap from my father-in-law. We baited it with peanut butter and placed it down in the basement. In the morning I went downstairs and was expecting to see the squirrel in the trap. The trap was tripped but there was no squirrel in sight. OK I thought, no problem I'll just reset the trap and come back in a few hours.

When I went back down into the basement yesterday afternoon the first thing I spotted once again was the sprung and empty trap and the little bastard scurrying around! I couldn't believe it.

I was so pissed at this point. I got a roll of old wrapping paper that had been in the basement since Christmas, opened the window as the thing was jumping around my head and proceeded to chase him around the confined spaces of my furnace room, hitting my head on the duct work and banging my knee on the furnace (I really wished I had it on video it must have been hysterical) to no avail, I couldn't get that squirrel to leave out the window.  So, when that didn't work I just took the trap, wiped out the old peanut butter from it and rebaited it with fresh and waited.

This morning when I woke up, the first thing I did was to check on the squirrel.  Of course I was expecting to see the squirrel in the trap when I entered the room. Instead, the trap was once again tripped and empty and I was greeted by the furry critter when it leapt from the duct work to the hot water heater then back to the duct work and ceiling rafters.

At that point I didn't know what else to do (and still don't), so I went out to do a few errands and picked up a bag of peanuts thinking that I could lure #3 into the trap with a trail of peanuts leading to the traps opening. And again, after giving it a couple of hours I checked-in  again to find the trap tripped and empty and the #3 still scurrying around!

I then opened the window and commenced ripping down the little bit of sheetrock that I have in the furnace room, in hopes of taking away any hiding spaces that the squirrel may have and hoping that in the commotion of me ripping down is new found territory, squirrel #3 would be frightened enough to scurry itself out the window, out of the house. But, that didn't happen. The squirrel just hid out of sight somewhere and I got all sweaty and dust covered.

At this time, the squirrel is still downstairs in the basement mocking me, while I wait for a misstep on its part that either lands it in the trap, all ready for an off-sight disposal or out the window the next time I decide to chase it.

If I can't get this thing out of my house before it starts to wreak damage, I may need to resort to the only option left available... poison.

I really don't want to kill it, I would prefer to capture and release it. If the thing dies in my basement and  I can't find it, it will starts decomposing and stink up the house. I don't want that to happen but I am preparing myself for it.

If anyone has any ideas on what else I can do, i'm open for suggestion. In the mean time it's a waiting game. I'll keep you posted.

Quote Of The Day - Earth Day Edition

Earth Day is a reminder of our eternal duty to protect our planet, our home.

- Al Gore via Twitter

Tell Mark Zuckerberg to #UnfriendChristie

From One New Jersey -

By now you might have heard that Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg is hosting a high-dollar fundraiser for Governor Chris Christie in California in a few weeks.

So, its up to all of us in New Jersey – who know the real Chris Christie – to show Zuckerberg exactly who he is aligning with. Tomorrow, let’s spread the word about Christie’s real record by tweeting some thoughts and facts under the hashtag #UnfriendChristie.

In case you need some info on Christie, please check out our “Christie By-The-Numbers” page, as well as some of our recent press releases and op-eds. We must speak up loudly about how Christie has turned his back on the middle-class and working families, while unemployment hovers around 10% and New Jersey residents suffered a gigantic net jump in property taxes since Christie took office – at one point reaching 20%.

There’s no better way for this to spread virally than to take to Twitter and make your point under the hashtag #UnfriendChristie. Heck, do a few tweets – because there are more than enough facts to open Zuckerberg’s eyes to.


Does Zuckerberg “like” stopping people from marrying the ones they love?
• Christie is the sole reason that NJ does not have marriage equality. He vetoed it… and has pledged to veto it again every time it comes across his desk.

Does Zuckerberg “like” stopping people from earning a living wage?
• Just this week, Christie vetoed a bill that would have increased NJ’s minimum wage $1.25 to $8.50… instead saying he wants to bump it up a measly 25 cents.

Does Zuckerberg “like” vetoing women’s health funding?
• Christie vetoed women’s health funding… Four times.

Does Zuckerberg “like” having the Koch Brothers call the shots?
• Christie spoke at the Koch Bros secret confab in Colorado.

Does Zuckerberg “like” that Christie fundraised & campaigned for Right-Wing Congressmembers who voted against Sandy aid?
• Just this Fall, Christie campaigned for Steve King, Susan Brooks, Ann Wagner, Tom Latham and V.P. candidate Paul Ryan… all of whom just voted against Sandy aid for New Jersey.

Does Zuckerberg “like” sticking his head in the sand on climate change?
• Christie pulled New Jersey out of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative… and allowed corporate polluters to rewrite the rules governing them.

Does Zuckerberg “like” failing on jobs?
• Under Christie, New Jersey has chronically trailed the rest of America when it comes to jobs…with unemployment hovering at 10%.

Does Zuckerberg “like” stopping middle-class families from affording college?
• Tuition at New Jersey Colleges and universities spiked under Christie…while Christie cut funding for low-income students.

Does Zuckerberg “like” 1% priorities?
• Christie turned his back on New Jersey’s middle-class & working families… while giving handouts to casino moguls, bailouts to mall developers and calling for borrowing money the state doesn’t have to subsidize a tax cut for multi-millionaires.

Perhaps Zuckerberg only knows about Christie from his carefully cultivated national image. But as noted above, the truth is that Christie’s out-of-the mainstream ideals and policies fly in the face of the narrative he’s conjured up via his manufactured youtube moments, softball network interviews and puff piece packages on the national news. Let’s show the world the truth about Christie’s record of misplaced priorities and failures.

Tomorrow, let’s keep up the fight for middle-class families in New Jersey… and throughout the country… by showing Mark Zuckerberg who he’s raising money for. #UnfriendChristie

HOLD CHRISTIE ACCOUNTABLE – HE CAN’T HIDE FROM 3-YEAR RECORD OF FAILURE & MISPLACED PRIORITIES

Christie’s State of State Will Surely Ignore Failing New Jersey’s Families

(NEW JERSEY) – In 2009, candidate Chris Christie said we must hold a governor accountable… the same holds true today. Governor Christie runs a remarkable public relations machine and does a tremendous job bending the narrative in his favor, while simply ignoring the facts that don’t fit his polished story. However, the State of the State is about reality – not fiction.

To hear Christie talk these days, one would think his first day as Governor started the morning after Superstorm Sandy reached New Jersey’s shores. However, the dark clouds of Christie’s policies have been hovering over our state for a full three years. The people of New Jersey are strong and resilient, but our state has been neglected and is in a worse state of disrepair due to Christie.

Everyone agrees Superstorm Sandy was a hard hit for the state and devastated many families and businesses. But it is unfortunate and cynical for Christie to use the devastating storm as a smokescreen to obfuscate his anemic record of failures and misplaced priorities. And the governor should have to answer for his full record that has consistently hurt New Jersey’s middle-class.

The same problems New Jersey faced before Superstorm Sandy are still facing our state today. So, here are some of the facts that Governor Christie hopes you’ll forget. Because New Jersey has these issues – that predate Sandy and still matter:

• Unemployment is still hovering around 10%.
• Since Governor Chris Christie took office, New Jersey has consistently trailed the rest of the nation when it comes to jobs... and still does.
• Under Christie, New Jersey reached the largest gulf between state and national unemployment averages since Jimmy Carter was president.
• New Jersey residents suffered a gigantic net jump in property taxes since Christie took office – at one point reaching 20%.
• New Jersey ranks as the 46th worst-run state in America.
• New Jersey’s state economy ranks 47th.
• New Jersey’s business climate slipped to 41st.
• New Jersey now has the 2nd highest percentage of mortgage loans in foreclosure in the nation – as rates nationally have fallen to their lowest levels since 2008.
• Commuters are dealing with higher train tickets, bus fares and tolls.
• Schools are in disrepair... while teachers are disparaged.
• Higher tuition at public universities and colleges… while aid is slashed.
• 55% of New Jersey highways are in poor or mediocre condition.
• 35% of New Jersey bridges are structurally deficient or functionally obsolete.
• Christie claimed a mythical "Jersey Comeback" and based his budget on rosy revenue projections that were far from coming true well before Superstorm Sandy.
• There is one stat in which Christie has New Jersey leading the nation. We just slipped to become the number one state that people are moving out of.

****Starting at 2 pm, please follow @JoshuaHenne – who will be livetweeting @GovChristie’s State of the State.

* * * *

One New Jersey is shining a light on politicians who act against the best interests of New Jersey’s residents and who seek to divide our state for their own political gain. It is giving voice to the important issues that affect our daily lives. One New Jersey will closely monitor policy positions and actions of elected officials and expose their records on the issues that matter. You can follow One New Jersey on Twitter (@OneNJ) or search for “One New Jersey” on Facebook.

NRA Shuts Down It's Facebook Page and Twitter Accounts

It seems that the NRA would rather hide than defend their position on gun control regulations in the wake of the Sandy Hook School shootings, now that they are faced by a public that has become outraged over the senseless gun violence that is becoming more and more common.

 AdWeek- The National Rifle Association shut down a key Twitter account last summer in the aftermath of the Aurora, Colo. theater shootings. On Saturday, one day after the unthinkable shootings at a Newtown, Conn. elementary school, the NRA took a more drastic measure by deactivating its Facebook page after celebrating getting to 1.7 million fans on the social site earlier in the week.

While the group has not commented since Friday's tragedy, it appears to have staked out a strategy to take its brand out of the social media picture in the wake of a mass-shooting news event. Given its guns-rights cause, the social media buzz after such events seems to be an unenviable conversation for the org to partake in. The NRA's chief Twitter account, which has doubled in followers to 63,000 since the Aurora shootings, has been silent since tweeting out a holidays giveaway contest early Friday.

Meanwhile, Facebook news feeds and Twitter streams have been inundated with debate about whether the nation's politicians should enact federal gun-control legislation in reaction to the recent string of mass shootings. The conversation has ranged from typically political to thoughtful to downright ugly.

OVER 150 NEW JERSEYANS COME TOGETHER TO IMPLORE CONGRESS TO LET BUSH TAX CUTS EXPIRE ON TOP 2%

For Immediate Release:

Groundswell of Support at Four Sessions Throughout The State

(NEW JERSEY) – With the Bush Tax Cuts set to at the expire of this month, over 150 New Jerseyans took part in a national Day of Action at 4 sessions throughout the state this past Saturday, December 1st. Participants included activists, community organizers, union members, people of faith, volunteers fresh off the Obama campaign and those who simply care about the future our country.

These activist and informational get-togethers took place in Montclair, Pleasantville, Toms River and Willingboro. There, folks learned about the “fiscal cliff” and how it will affect programs the middle-class and working families care about. Specifically, they discussed how important it is for Congress to let the Bush Tax Cuts lapse on the wealthiest 2%. They spoke of ways to mobilize during this lame duck Congressional session and came up with citizen actions to make sure our representatives listen to the will of the people – who voted for fairness at the polls last month.

"This election was all about fairness, and letting the Bush Tax Cuts expire on the top 2% is a strong way to help bring about an America where everyone pays their fair share and has equal responsibility to our communities,” said Jackie Cornell-Bechelli, Campaign Director for The Action and former New Jersey Obama for America State Director. “That's why we saw such a positive response this weekend and that's why we will continue to push Congress to do the right thing.”

“This weekend, New Jersey showed that we believe in tax fairness and an economy that works for 100% of Americans, not just the richest 2%,” said Ann Vardeman, an organizer with NJ Citizen Action and Americans for Tax Fairness. “Our elected officials need to listen to the voices of their constituents and put the needs of the middle-class and working families first.”

If Congress lets the Bush Tax Cuts expire on top income earners, 97% of small businesses and 98% of Americans would continue receiving the exact same tax relief. Moreover, economists have proven tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans are the least effective way to grow the economy.

“Congress shouldn’t hold the middle-class captive just to make sure the Scrooge McDucks of the world can continue swimming around in ever-deepening vaults of cash,” said Joshua Henne, Democratic strategist and spokesman for New Jersey Protect Your Care. “If we hand hedge-fund managers more money to simply add to their savings accounts and stock portfolios, we won’t have the funds needed to rebuild our crumbling roads and bridges, upgrade our energy grid and invest in education, healthcare and innovation.”

Republican Congress Members Jon Runyan, Frank LoBiondo, Chris Smith and Leonard Lance would be wise to keep their finger on the pulse in their district, rather than taking marching orders from right-wing think tanks and Grover Norquist.

“Ending the Bush Tax Cuts for the richest 2% isn’t just a Beltway issue,” said James Gee, veteran political operative. “Real people here in New Jersey are taking interest, because this affects all our lives.”

Throughout the weekend, New Jerseyans throughout the state also took to social media to rally around the cause. Many used the twitter hashtag #TheActionNJ to say why they support letting the Bush Tax Cuts expire on the top 2%. Tweets came pouring in from college students to senior citizens and everyone in between.

The twitterverse saw both Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver and Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy holding up placards saying “End the Bush Tax Cuts For The Wealthy.”

New Jersey Representatives Rob Andrews and Rush Holt also chimed in this weekend on twitter:

· @RepAndrews: “Let the #BushTaxCuts expire so the wealthiest 2% pay their fair share & America can get its deficit under control #TheActionNJ #TheAction”

· @RushHolt: “A budget is about moral choices. The right thing to do: invest in jobs/schools/R&D - not Bush tax cuts for top 2% #TheActionNJ #TheAction”


For more information – and to see the scope of national activities going forward, please visit www.TheAction.org. You can also find “The Action” on facebook and follow @JoinTheAction on twitter.

Do you know about the Global Frackdown?

 by guest blogger Linda Baum

This Saturday, 9/22, is an international day of action to raise awareness about the dangers of fracking, a highly pollutive process used to extract natural gas.  Consumer advocacy organization Food & Water Watch is calling it the Global Frackdown.

The idea is for individuals, organizations, and community groups around the globe to sponsor some event or take some action to raise awareness. 

It could be something as simple as sending out a tweet or sharing news of the global event on facebook.  For message ideas, check out http://www.globalfrackdown.org/social-media/ and use the hash tag #globalfrackdown and the link http://bit.ly/SFshr4 to spread the word. 

Among some other ideas, for example, you could host a “Gasland” screening, arrange for a speaker, distribute flyers at your school, or even hold a kite-flying event to promote clean energy.  The range of ways people can participate is limited only by the extent of their imagination.  For more info on how to plug in to an event near you, visit:  http://action.foodandwaterwatch.org/p/salsa/event/common/public/search.sjs?distributed_event_KEY=682

 

Besides this post, my contribution to the Global Frackdown is to share with you this link to the 18-minute film “The Sky is Pink” by Josh Fox, creator of Gasland:  http://vimeo.com/44367635

As always, thank you for your activism.