Robert Turkavage Should Listen To Chris Christie

Robert Turkavege Facebook Photo

Being a sometimes critic of Chris Christie I had a little bit of difficulty typing the words “Robert Turkavage should listen to Chris Christie” – but he should listen.

Yesterday, New Jersey Globe reported former GOP congressional candidate Robert Turkavage called for Seth Grossman “to drop out of the race” for congress.

Sure, Grossman has come under fire from the left for things he has said, but Turkavage lost the primary and when you compete in a primary part of the deal is you support the winner. Hirsh Singh and Sam Fiocchi understand this and both put out statements of support for Grossman after the primary.

Maybe Turkavege put out his statement to try and stay relevant, maybe he’s a sore loser, either way to paraphrase what Chis Christie said at the Morris County GOP Unity Breakfast, Turkavege, and other wishy-washy Republicans, have till Labor Day to fall in love with Seth Grossman.

Losing is never easy! I was with Fiocchi in the primary. Others were enamored with Singh. Brian Fitzherbert would have been a good candidate if someone hadn’t had him tossed off the ballot. But, the primary is over and it’s time to get behind the nominee, the candidate chosen by voters of our party. Poor choices in words, attacks from the left don’t matter because Grossman is still better for Republicans than Jeff Van Drew who will go to Washington and oppose the President’s policies.

As hard as it is for me to agree with him, Chris Christie was 100% correct when he told the folks in Morris County, “Losing in November is always worse than losing in June.”

Is Governor Murphy Helping Snooki Pee Away Taxpayer Dollars

Earlier this month Governor Murphy signed Senate Bill No. 122, the “Garden State Film and Digital Media Jobs Act,” also known as the “Snooki Amendment.”

Snooki, of Jersey Shore fame, has infamously been peeing on dance floors since 2012 and more recently in pools.

So, the question becomes, by signing the “Snooki Amendment” is Governor Murphy helping Snooki pee away $425 million over five years?

State Senator Joe Pennacchio thinks so. On Monday, he announced “that he has sent a letter requesting that the State Auditor conduct a full evaluation of the Garden State Film Tax Credit, to determine if it is in fact a worthwhile investment of New Jersey’s scarce financial resources.”

In his letter to the State Auditor, Pennacchio writes, “$425 million. For that amount of money, New Jersey could hire more than six thousand additional special education teachers to help our must vulnerable students, and still pay them the going rate.”

Pennacchio continues, “This ‘tax incentive program’ is purely a giveaway to special interest groups who have no interest in the long-term financial wellbeing of our state. Why even call it an incentive? As designed, the program does not give these companies any reason to invest more money into our economy than they have previously spent. It is, in my view, an unconscionable waste of state resources.”

It's obvious Senator Pennacchio knows better than to join the governor in helping Snooki pee away our tax dollars. One has to wonder why other elected officials aren’t as vocal in trying to stop the waste of our money.

Considering a 2012 report from the Tax Foundation found that “aside from studies paid for by economic development authorities and the Motion Picture Association of America [MPAA], an industry trade association, almost every other study has found film tax credits generate less than 30 cents for every $1 of spending,” Senator Pennacchio is right to question the wisdom of the “Snooki Amendment.”

We should all be thanking Senator Pennacchio for standing up for the taxpayers.

When A “Call to Action” Is Issued And Nothing Happens

Photo: Grossman for congress facebook page

It appears the Atlantic County Democrats are a bunch of keyboard warriors. Maybe that’s a good thing.

A week ahead of last night’s Atlantic County Freeholder meeting the county Democrats sent an email encouraging members to “Attend the next Freeholder meeting and tell the Republicans to withdraw their support for Seth Grossman.” To encourage this they were all over social media sharing negative press reports about Grossman.

They failed! Reports are “maybe a half dozen Democrats” showed up and they said nothing. The Grossman campaign countered with about 20 supporters in attendance.

Not only did the Atlantic County Democrats fail miserably with their planned protest of Grossman, they also failed to support Democratic Freeholder Caren Fitzpatrick in her effort to change the title of “freeholder” to “commissioner.” You may recall she believes “freeholder” is a racist and misogynistic term. According to the Grossman for Congress Facebook page the motion on the issue was tabled and fellow Democrat, Freeholder Ashley Bennett called the motion a “big waste of time.”

Based on the lack of a protest it appears Seth Grossman has weathered another round of negative press.