Grossman Weighs In On NJ Transit Mess

Seth Grossman

Republican candidate for congress in New Jersey’s 2nd congressional district, Seth Grossman, weighed in on the NJ Transit mess today via press release. It appears the mainstream press ignored the release, probably because the words “racist” or “bigot” don’t appear anywhere in the release.

But it does appear the folks at 6ABC at least read Grossman’s release. During their 5:00 PM reports they did a piece on the Atlantic City rail line and said some people feared the coming shutdown will be permanent. Maybe next time they’ll give Grossman some credit.

Here’s the Grossman release as it appeared in our email:

Congressional Candidate Seth Grossman Claims State Officials And Democratic Opponent Are Misleading Public by Claiming Three Month Closing of Atlantic City Rail Line is “Temporary”.
 
Fears Temporary Shut Down Is Prelude For Permanent Closing of Atlantic City Line
 
Atlantic City, NJ, August 20, 2018 – Republican candidate for Congress Seth Grossman said NJ Transit officials and his Democratic opponent, State Senator Jeff Van Drew, are misleading the public in claiming the planned three month closing of the Atlantic City rail line beginning September 5 is temporary.
 
“The need to install safety equipment because of the fatal crash in Hoboken two years ago is just the tip of the iceberg,” Grossman said.  “The line was unsustainable for many reasons since the NJ Transit reopened it thirty years ago,” Grossman said.
 
“Donald Trump noticed one big problem right away.  In 1989, Trump criticized state officials for “sticking the (Atlantic City) train station in the middle of nowhere, and then building the convention center next to the train station!” Others at the time predicted service would be dangerous and unreliable because only one set of tracks was built.  I was part of the Atlantic City delegation with Trump when we testified to state officials about our concerns,” Grossman said.
 
“Thirty years later, the Atlantic City line now has only about one thousand round trip passengers a day – not nearly enough to justify the expense of staffing and maintaining the trains and some 50 miles of track,” Grossman said.  “When it reopens after a three month closing, it will have far fewer customers paying for service.  Once the train riders have to find alternative transportation to work, do you think they’re really coming back?”
 
According to the new state budget, taxpayers will bail out NJ Transit’s $332 million deficit this year with recently increased gas taxes, tolls, and surcharges added to electric bills.  Even worse, NJ Transit plans to burn up $511 million of money intended for new equipment and improvements as operating expenses. 
 
“Yet in spite of this, NJ Transit trains have worse service and safety records than most others.  The fatal train crash in Hoboken that killed one and injured 100 others in 2016 forced the Federal government to mandate the installation of safety equipment on NJ transit trains throughout the state.  The Hoboken crash followed a deadly 2015 Amtrak derailment in Philadelphia forcing the government to expand a program installing automatic braking safety equipment on rail lines coast to coast, including the Atlantic City line,” Grossman said.
 
Grossman explained that every Governor since Democrat Jim McGreevey in 2003 has pointed out the problems with NJ Transit, and now politics and mismanagement have brought the rail line to the brink of total collapse.   He called Van Drew’s recent remarks asking officials to “reconsider” the September closing “dishonest and childish”, pointing out that Van Drew and Trenton insiders should be held responsible for creating NJ Transit’s problem during the past 15 years
 
“Instead of wasting more money on Band-Aids, we need to admit that the Atlantic City rail line is yet another failed socialist experiment of government controlling an industry they shouldn’t be involved in.  We need to return this important industry to private ownership.  When a government owned company fails, their answer is to bleed more money from taxpayers!”
 
            Grossman bemoaned the fact that the railroad failed at all, noting that it once had been the foundation of Atlantic City’s thriving tourism industry. 
 
“Back in the 1920’s, private companies ran the fastest, safest and most affordable trains in the world out of Atlantic City.  The railroads enabled Atlantic City’s tourism industry to be born.  Railroads declined since then when “progressive” politicians demonized railroad companies as ‘robber barons’ and crippled them with taxes and regulations that made them unprofitable,” Grossman said.
 
“NJ Transit was created in the 1980’s as a government owned monopoly to run all scheduled bus and train service in the state.  Ironically, NJ Transit is exempt from all the regulations and taxes that drove private transportation companies out of business.”
 
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Libertarian Turned Republican Is Tired Of Screwing Up GOP Primaries So He’s A Libertarian Again.

Murray Sabrin (from his campaign website)

Recently some random guy sending an email to the radio station begging that Murray Sabrin get a little air time with The Bob & Steve Show got me thinking about how many times Murray Sabrin has screwed up an election for Republicans.

If Sabrin, or the aggressive campaign volunteer of his, reads this my guess is the Libertarian Party candidate will not be on our show. I have no issue with the Libertarian Party, I’m a small “L” libertarian who, a lifetime ago, ran for Philadelphia City Council as a Libertarian.

My issue is with the guy running under the Libertarian Party banner for U.S. Senate. Simply put, when it comes to the electoral process, Murray Sabrin has spent a political career screwing things up for Republicans.

I have to admit, I was hoping that email to the radio station that I did reply to would give me the opportunity to tell Sabrin on-the-air he’s a spoiler but two weeks later and not a word back.

So, back to the spoiler. Consider this, if not for Sabrin there likely would never have been a Governor Jim McGreevey. Think about it. 1997 McGreevey ran against incumbent Governor Christine Todd Whitman. Back then, we Republicans thought she was the best, she was widely considered a rising star in the national party. Sabrin was the Libertarian Party’s candidate for governor in that race and thanks to his 5% of the vote Whitman barely beat McGreevey 47%-46%. Losing that close essentially guaranteed McGreevey the Democrat’s nomination four years later.

In 2000 Sabrin was one of the four contestants in the GOP primary for the U.S. Senate, he finished last with 12.6% of the vote. Bob Franks was the winner over Bill Gormley by 4,360 votes. Jim Treffinger came in third. Gormley was the kind of guy we needed to defeat Jon Corzine. Sure, Corzine still would have spent the $63 million, but remember Franks lost by 3% spending only $6 million. Gormley was a far more dominant figure, the outcome could have been different. Without Sabrin in the primary it is possible it would have been a Corzine-Gormley fight.

Then, there’s the mess that was the 2008 Republican primary for U.S. Senate. Sabrin was in the contest as was Joe Pennacchio. The brain trust that ran the party at the time was enamored with Anne Evans Estabrook because of her ability to self-fund. Estabrook dropped out of the race shortly after a video titled “Anne Estabrook Flops on the 2nd Amendment” found its way to YouTube. To be fair, the official reason for her dropping out was a mini stroke.

Estabrook’s exit positioned Pennacchio as the frontrunner, the aforementioned brain trust wasn’t having that. First they went to Andy Unanue, his campaign lasted so long that he never made it back to New Jersey from his vacation in Colorado. Then there was a list of potential candidates before the party bosses settled on Dick Zimmer. Sabrin’s 13.8% of the vote, the bulk of which would likely have gone to Pennacchio, is what helped Zimmer garner 45.8% for the win. Zimmer then went on to get crushed by Frank Lautenberg.

Also, during that mess of a campaign Murray “I’m a fiscal conservative” Sabrin proved he’s not very conservative with other people’s money when he bet campaign funds on a horse in the Kentucky Derby.

Sabrin ran again as a Republican in the 2014 four-way U.S. Senate Primary. He finished dead last.

Now, tired of screwing up Republican primaries, he’s back running as a Libertarian. Don’t let Murray Sabrin screw up this election for Republicans like he has in the past. And, to the guy who emailed the radio station on Sabrin’s behalf, I’ll still let Sabrin come on The Bob & Steve Show and he can explain why he’s spent his entire political career screwing things up for Republicans.

Newspaper: Commissioner Was Seen Drinking

Haddon Twp Commissioner Paul Dougherty

A weekly newspaper, The Retrospect, has a story about Haddon Township Commissioner Paul Dougherty on their front page today. Dougherty, is the commissioner/municipal prosecutor who has come under fire for leaving the scene of an accident in July.

In The Retrospect’s story they write, “Eyewitnesses at a township social event earlier that evening at Crystal Lake pool have told The Retrospect that they saw Dougherty drinking before the traffic incident later that night.”

Kudos to The Retrospect for reporting what this blog hypothesized in one of our posts.

Now that there are eyewitnesses who state they “saw Dougherty drinking before the traffic incident later that night,” the theory as to why he left the scene that we posted on August 9 begins to make sense. To refresh your memory this is what we wrote, “Then again, an experienced prosecutor would know the old trick of running home and reporting an accident and explaining after police arrived that one took a drink to calm one’s nerves. It’s likely the reason a blood or breath test wasn’t administered is cops know that old trick too.”

Go out and buy a copy of The Retrospect today!