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Policy, Politics, US

Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) belittled domestic abuse victims by making outrageous comments comparing the Republican Party in Congress to people who engage in domestic abuse.

As a woman, this is very offensive. The accusation, or rather the abusive behavior the Democratic Party has hurled toward the Republican Party, is atrocious.

The Democratic Party and their “war on women” blatantly make light of such a serious topic, taking for granted that women would not become upset over them belittling the severity of abuse victims.

The House of Representatives are actually doing their job, and instead of Sen. Boxer trying to reach her hand across the isle, she slaps the Republican party with disturbing abusive comments, which makes one pause to question who really is the abuser. Boxer stated:

Suddenly, you take a stone from the ground and bash your head in. Honest to God, that’s what they’ve done these Republicans: they’ve bashed the head of America. On a beautiful day, when we’re coming out of recession, when we know we have our problems, but we also know we can solve them. It doesn’t make sense. And, then, as if that isn’t enough, they have another stone in their hand called default.

Then, the endearing senator continued on her rant towards the Republican Party :

When you start acting like you’re committing domestic abuse, you’ve got a problem. I love you dear, but, you know, I’m shutting down your entire government. I love you dear, but I’m going to default and you’re going to be weak.

The senator lied to the people by stating, “we’re coming out of recession.” Has she not looked at the debt, which is the the big red number with the minus sign next to it that just keeps going up, or the unemployment number? And if we are coming out of recession, then why would we need to raise the debt ceiling to fund more “necessary” government programs?

That statement is a blatant lie, especially since the labor force participation rate is at its lowest, even President Jimmy Carter had a higher participation rate.

We have seen the repercussions when we do not have a strict spending budget, then raising the debt ceiling without coupled spending cuts, or as the Democrats like to call it, “clean.”

Here we are today, with the highest debt we have ever had, the lowest labor force participation in over 30 years, a law fondly referred to as Obamacare that was rammed down the throats of the American people, and yet she has the audacity to call the Republican Party abusers.

Instead of reaching across the isle to negotiate, the only thing that Senator Barbara Boxer accomplish was to create a bigger rift between the parties by attacking the Republican Party, belittling domestic abuse victims, telling lies to Americans, and using good ole fashion fear mongering by equating the default to the government shutdown.

The Democratic Party is well aware that Moody’s said that even if Congress fails to lift the limit on borrowing next week the nation will not default, preserving the nation’s sterling credit rating.

It is time for all parties to sit down and negotiate before their worst fear comes to fruition, of course, by their own design.

Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) belittled domestic abuse

News, Politics, Polls

Well, we all knew this was going to happen. The federal Obamacare sign up website also asks applicants if they want to register to vote, leading some to question why the Obama administration would risk further embarrasment over the already crash-prone website if not for political gain

Currently, 36 states are using the federal site – conveniently called exchanges to give a false impression of a market place — to enroll force-fed consumers in government-mandated health insurance.

At least 4 other states — California, Connecticut, New York, Vermont and Wisconsin — are asking or have the intent to ask consumers if they want to register to vote.

Former White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, said on MSNBC that the website, thus far, has been an “embarrassment.” He also stated the problems were not server-driven, but “architectural” in nature. Adding additional code and programming for any purpose makes zero sense to experts.

“The [website] launch has not gone well,” said Nick Novak, a spokesman for the John K. MacIver Institute for Public Policy, which initially noticed the voter-registration question on the Wisconsin site. “Why are they cluttering up the site?”

Novak, who was unsuccessful in his numerous attempts over the past week to click through the site, made the argument that officials should at least pose the question after customers sign up for insurance.

Government officials, unsurprisingly, have defended the ploy on the exchanges, citing federal law that was no doubt designed for possibile current and future opportunities to self-perpetuate bureaucracy.

Brian Cook, a spokesman for Medicare and Medicaid Services, explained back in August how the exchanges must include the question, according to the 1993 National Voter Registration Act. The law requires states to offer voter registration at government offices that provide public assistance.

Brett Healy, president of the Wisconsin-based MacIver Institute, suggests that including the question could backfire on Democrats. Unlike prior programs, such as WIC and SNAP, Obamacare isn’t a something for nothing entitlement.

“The president should be careful what he wishes for,” he said. “While he counted on young people to win the presidency, many are now experiencing Obamacare sticker shock.”

The revelation, though typical, comes on the heels of other news surrounding the trustworthiness of so-called Obamacare “navigators” who have access to a vast amount of private information. There is currently little to no citizen verification or background check into criminal history.

They, too, have been tasked with ensuring Obamacare sign up applicants are asked to register to vote. How many Do you think will be rooting for Republican sign ups?

 

Well, we all knew this was going

News, Politics

Republican leaders will pitch the framework of a tentative deal to reopen the government to a not-so thrilled Republican caucus.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) will have his work cut out Tuesday morning, when he updates Republican lawmakers on ongoing negotiations to cobble together a budget plan that would end a two-week-old partial government shutdown and avoid a manufactured, non-existent default on U.S. government debt.

Minority Leader McConnell and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) wrapped up negotiations late Monday, which ironed out the specifics of an emerging budget proposal after a string of prior plans tanked in the Senate thanks to Harry Reid.

Reid appeared on the chamber floor Monday night very optimistic, and announced, “We’ve made tremendous progress–we are not there yet–but tremendous progress, and everyone just needs to be patient.”

McConnell added, “We’ve had a good day…I think it’s safe to say we’ve made substantial progress and we look forward to making more progress in the near future.”

Around the same time that McConnell will meet with Republican Senators, House GOP leaders will be meeting with their more conservative rank-and-file, many of whom are already skeptical toward the details of the negotiations that were dripping out Monday night.

And they should be, because Democrats offered no real concessions — save for verification that Obamacare recipients are legal — while Democrats will again except another bloc from Obamacare taxes the rest of Americans will still be on the hook for. Unions will be exempt from “bellybutton” taxes — aproximately $85.00 monthly — and the “honor” system that Obamacare is currently on, which would allow illegals to sign up, will now be subject to verification.

The House could table, or at least stall, any deal that emerges from the Senate.

The White House abruptly postponed a meeting with congressional leaders set for Monday afternoon, supposedly to give senators space to work. But White House aides said that President Obama had called the meeting only after the futures market indicated a market plummet at the opening bell. He hoped to leverage Republicans, but when the stock market rebounded, pulled the deal away again.

“We’re going to get this done,” Sen. Joe Manchin, D-WV, claimed.

After several prior plans fell apart over the weekend, including one put together by Sen. Susan Collins R-ME, which received bipartisan support but killed by Harry Reid, lawmakers are working with little time before an artificial Oct. 17 deadline to raise the debt ceiling. After that date, the Treasury Department Secretary Jacob Lew, says the U.S. government will not be able to pay all its bills.

The emerging framework would raise the debt ceiling through February, kicking the can down the road again, and include a spending bill meant to last through Jan. 15.

Importantly, a popular provision to repeal or delay the medical device tax in ObamaCare has been removed.

House Republicans are watching the negotiations unfold, and according to aides still want to see provisions to strip Obamacare subsidies for congressional staff. Conservative members predicted a “huge fight” if McConnell “completely capitulates.”

Pressure is mounting from all sides to reach an agreement. There is fear that the financial markets could start to dive if traders lose confidence that a deal will ultimately emerge. And furloughed federal workers, now entering week three of the partial shutdown, are just now starting to see the hit to their paychecks.

Budget proposals fell apart over the weekend after GOP lawmakers on Sunday rightfully accused Democrats of trying to move the goal post on Republicans, demanding they roll back across-the-board spending cuts, known as sequester.

“I agree that Republicans started with the overreach, but now Democrats are one tick too cute,” Sen. Bob Corker, R-TN., told “Fox News Sunday.” “They are now overreaching.”

He said “both sides need to come to the middle of the road.”

The prior plan, fronted by Sen. Susan Collins, R-ME, would have funded the government for six months, raised the debt limit through Jan. 31, and delayed the health care law’s medical device tax.

Harry Reid outright dismissed the plan on Saturday and the dispute over spending levels escalated.

Republicans, along with the majority of the country, want to continue current spending at $986.7 billion and leave untouched the new round of cuts on Jan. 15 that would reduce the amount to $967 billion. And Americans even oppose raising the debt ceiling 2 – 1 if it is not coupled with spending cuts.

However, Democrats want not only to stop a plan to cut spending, but to undo the sequester, plus enact a long-term extension of the debt limit increase and a short-term spending bill to reopen the government.

A House Republican leadership aide said Sunday that Reid “moved the goalposts” by trying to “violate” spending levels set in the 2011 Budget Control Act.

But, against reality,Democrats denied they were trying to violate those levels.

A Senate Democratic leadership aide said “the suggestion that Democrats insist on breaking the budget caps is false and belied by the facts.”

In other words, Democrats argue that they would accept current spending levels for a short period — just not as long as Collins proposed — so they can have another go at the sequester cuts in the near future.

Congressional sources confirmed that the talks between Reid and McConnell are now over the length of the spending bill, rather than the length of the debt-ceiling increase. Reid wants a longer extension on the debt ceiling, but a shorter-term spending bill.

Republican leaders will pitch the framework of

US

Getting right to the point, Dean Obeidallah is today’s Daily Dunce on People’s Pundit Daily. Obeidallah, for those of you who do not know, is a political comedian, but there was nothing funny about his column in the Daily Beast (Please check the update at the end of this column).

During the Values Voter Summit, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) spoke about the global war on Christianity, which even the Vatican affirmed in their risky recognition that 100,000 Christians are killed each year in the Middle East. The speech can be viewed below, as you are capable of making your own determination.

Nevertheless, Dean Obeidallah accused the Kentucky conservative of “hate speech” for simply recognizing what even Bob Beckel — a devout liberal on “The Five” — recognizes, which is that Muslims around the globe persecute Christians. Paul also pointed out that the media refuses to tell the story.

For Dean Obeidallah — who is a Muslim of Palestinian descent — it was “hate speech” for Sen. Paul to “cite isolated actions by a few Muslims in various countries.” Unbelievably, it gets even more detached from reality. “And then Paul, in an amazing feat of intellectual gymnastics, told the audience that the war on Christianity had come to America. Where you ask? Well, Paul deemed the Boston marathon bombing to have been perpetrated, ‘not against our government but against us as a people, a Christian people.’”

A “few isolated actions by a few Muslims in various countries” is not exactly what Paul was referring to when he referenced a study conducted by Pew Research. Leftists, such as Obeidallah, attempt to trivialize, minimize, and depict Muslim aggression toward Christians as an intellectually deficient position to have. I don’t expect Obeidallah to be well-versed in the scholarship, but because he mocked Paul’s intellectual position, then it is certainly fair to ask him if he ever read Samuel Huntington. And if so, is he aware that there is no real scholastic challenge to “Clash of Civilizations” as of yet?

Prior to 9/11, many Ivory Tower thinkers scoffed at Huntington much the same way those like Obeidallah scoff at Christians like Paul. But they have been relatively quiet for a decade or so, and it’s not because of the event per se, but the lack of pushback by so-called moderate Muslims to radicalism. Would Dean Obeidallah also consider it “fear mongering” to point out the Pew findings below?

Ironically, Muslims who find justification for suicide bombers are most plentiful in the region of the Middle East from which Dean Obeidallah hails. A whopping 40 percent of Palestinian Muslims are perfectly okay with suicide bombings. The greater point Sen. Paul was attempting to make, was that even though the majority of Muslims in other Islam-practicing countries claim to hold moderated views, the raw sum total number of people in the minority still represent a very, very large amount of people.

Dean Obeidallah goes on to mock Paul’s opening statement, “From Boston to Zanzibar, there is a worldwide war on Christianity.” His argument is laughably predicated on the fact that the Boston bombings didn’t target churches, which are numerous in the city, therefore it couldn’t be that Muslims are targeting Christians. Ridiculous, I know, but he is dead serious. I suppose that some twisted logic could support his Christian-tolerant view of Islam, except for the fact that it is mainstream to support Sharia as “the law of the land,” and not the fringe.

Let’s drop the charade. Sharia is not tolerant to other religions, which is why so-called “moderate” Muslims are so few and far between in the battle against extremism. Where was Dean Obeidallah when the more than “a few isolated actions” against Christians gave the Muslim faith a bad public image? If it is such a mainstream Muslim position, then why do so many support putting to death those who leave the Muslim faith?

Dean Obeidallah wrote, “Let’s be brutally honest: If Rand Paul had given a 19 minute speech listing every bad act committed by Jews anywhere in the world under the guise of ‘warning’ people about Jews, he would rightfully be dubbed an Anti-Semite.”

If we were to “be brutally honest” — like Bob Beckel has been on The Five — we would put an end to the farce that claims “moderate” Muslims are the majority. It’s not true, and it never was. The only “intellectual gymnastics” I see comes from leftists like Dean Obeidallah, who have either ignorance or insidiousness behind their motives. Whatever the motive, they are truly “alarming” for slinging accusations of “hate speech” at those who have the courage to stand up and make a perfectly acceptable, real world observation.

I would argue that Daily Dunce is not severe enough to cover this one, but it’ll have to do. Below is Sen. Rand Paul at the Values Voter Summit, giving his “hate speech” to Americans who practice a faith, which I have yet to see organize terrorist cells to show aggression toward others of Islamic faith.

http://youtu.be/l_ADabJKu48

In response to a horrific story about 4 Christians who received 80 lashes in Iran simply for drinking wine of the sacrament, Dean Obeidallah responded via Twitter:

Is that supposed to be funny to the Comedy Central comedian? Is that the tolerance according to Islam and the Left?

Getting right to the point, Dean Obeidallah

News, Politics

The framework of a Senate deal would raise the nation’s $16.7 trillion debt ceiling until mid-February, and establish a Senate budget committee to replace the sequester cuts.

There were conflicting claims on how long the extension would last, with one aide saying it would go to Feb. 15 and another saying Feb. 7, because the Treasury Department uses maneuvers to stretch assets in such times.

It would immediately reopen the government and fund it until Jan. 15.

The deal on the table between Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) would require the Senate conference committee would have to report back to Congress by Dec. 13.

Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) did review the framework of the Senate deal just after 3 p.m. on Monday. The Senate Republican conference is set to meet at 5:30 p.m.

Democrats had been pushing for a shorter government-funding deal so that they could take another crack at the sequester cuts, thus moving the date to Jan. 15 would be a concession on their part.

Under the current budget law, spending for 2014 will automatically be reduced by $19 billion to $967 billion exactly 15 days after Congress is scheduled to adjourn.

Senate Democrats had moved the goal post by pushing for sequestration reform, raising the annual discretionary budget to $1.058 trillion. Republicans have pushed to keep the law as is — $967 billion — while moving cuts from defense programs to social programs.

Democrats are already arguing they are, in fact, making a concession to Republicans, because they are locking in current spending levels for two months longer than they initially wanted. Although last week sequester wasn’t even on the table, the Democrats had sensed a fractured Republican caucus may provide an opportunity to raise spending limits, despite public opinion.

“On Jan. 15, that’s when the sequester kicks in,” said a Senate aide. “Funding would be at $988 billion and then the sequester would kick it down to $967 billion.”

Republicans have not seen the concessions they had hoped for, because the deal would do nothing to even delay or end a tax on medical devices included in the healthcare law. Republicans had sought to eliminate or delay that tax, which is already being collected. This makes the Senate deal a long-shot in the House.

Majority Leader Harry Reid does not want to repeal or delay the medical device tax unless Republicans grant Democrats a concession, according to the Senate source.

“Reid pushed back heavily on that,” a second aide said.

Reid has held the position throughout the talks that funding the government and keeping the nation from going into default should not be considered Republican concessions.

Democrats are also considering including language to require income verification for people applying for subsidies through healthcare insurance exchanges set up under Obamacare.

A Democratic aide said that the reform were “a nothing-burger” because it would only enforce existing law, even though Democrats in the deal win a delay until 2015 of an Obamacare reinsurance tax opposed by unions.

Under the healthcare reform law, states are required to set up a transitional reinsurance program aimed at stabilizing premiums. As part of that transition, companies providing health care will be required to pay $63 per covered person in 2014, as well as lower fees the following two years.

Reid and Republican leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) will need to sell the Senate deal to get it passed by Friday.

They plan to use the 14-month debt-limit extension, which Senate Republican blocked on Saturday, as a means to do so. The existing language would be replaced by any agreement Reid and McConnell finalize in the next several hours or days.

The framework of a Senate deal would

News, World

A Libyan Al Qaeda suspect who was being held aboard a U.S. warship after being captured in Libya has now arrived in New York. He is expected to appear in federal court on Tuesday.

The Al Qaeda suspect Abu Anas al-Libi, is now answering for a federal indictment he was under in New York for more than a decade.

U.S. special operations forces completed a successful snatch and grab in Libya on Oct. 5. He will stand trial over whether pr not he aided in the planning and conducted surveillance for the bombings of U.S. embassies in Africa back in 1998.

He was being held prior on the USS San Antonio, which is an amphibious Marine transport.

Abu Anas al-Libi was transferred from out of military custody to law enforcement officials’ custody on Saturday morning and flown to New York, where he arrived Saturday night.

Apparently, officials discovered Abu Anas al-Libi suffered from several pre-existing chronic health conditions and that the required medical treatment was more detailed than what he could get in military custody at sea.

Al-Libi was taken to a medical facility for evaluation upon arrival. He wife has said in interviews that he suffers from Hepatits C.

“Anas al-Libi was transferred to law enforcement custody this weekend and was brought directly to the Southern District of New York where he has been under indictment for more than a decade,” U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said in a statement Monday. “The government expects that he will be presented before a judicial officer tomorrow.”

A Libyan Al Qaeda suspect who was

News, Politics

Senate leaders said Monday they would reach a deal to open the government, with McConnell confirming he will deliver a plan to Republicans at 5:30 PM ET.

According to a senior aide on Capitol Hill, the deal would extend the debt ceiling to approximately mid-February, while including a continuing resolution that funds the government until January 15. The debt ceiling is almost impossible to calculate, because of measures taken by the Treasury Department to shuffle around assets.

Meanwhile, President Obama stepped aside to allow progress to continue. “The President’s 3:00 pm meeting with the bipartisan leadership has been postponed to allow leaders in the Senate time to continue making important progress towards a solution that raises the debt limit and reopens the government,” the White House said.

Reid, McConnell, Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) were scheduled to meet with President Obama at 3 p.m. The meeting was supposedly postponed to give Senate leaders more time to craft a deal, but White House officials were hoping to have news of a market collapse to pressure Republicans.

Now that the markets have rebounded, it is unsurprising to hear that the new meeting time was not announced. Nevertheless, Senate leaders are optimistic, giving positive statements on and off the floor of the Senate.

“I’m very optimistic that we will reach an agreement that’s reasonable in nature this week to reopen the government, pay the nation’s bills and begin long-term negotiations to put our country on sound fiscal footing,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said on the Senate floor.

He thanked Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) “for his diligent efforts to come to an agreement.”

McConnell reenforced Reid’s optimism.

“Let me just echo the remarks of my good friend,” he said. “We have had an opportunity over the last couple of days to have some very constructive exchanges of views about how to move forward,” he said.

“I share his optimism that we’re going to get a result that will be acceptable to both sides,” McConnell added.

Reid told reporters earlier today that he would like to have a deal by the time Senate leaders travel to the White House Monday afternoon.

Before the postponement by President Obama, Reid was asked if he thought Senate leaders would reach a deal by the meeting, to which Reid said, “sure hope so.”

“We’re working on everything,” Reid said when asked about the outline of the negotiations. “We continue to work on it. It’s not done yet.”

A Senate GOP aide said Reid and McConnell are “engaged in good faith negotiations, and those talks will continue.”

Reid met with McConnell in the GOP leader’s office for about 30 minutes before the Senate came into session. When he left, he gave the media a bit of a lashing, saying that he and the minority leader get along far better than the media has reported.

“That’s greatly exaggerated. Sen. McConnell and I have worked together for more than 30 years, very closely since we’ve been whips. So, no problem,” he said.

However, Reid was not sure if Republicans would accept the Democrats’ latest offer to open the government and raise the debt ceiling.

“Shouldn’t take anything for granted,” he said.

Reid hinted Democrats have not made any significant concessions, even though the Republicans have been capitulating on everything. It was unclear whether or not the sequester cuts, which were being viewed by Republicans as an effort to move the goalpost, were still on the table.

When asked, what Democrats have offered, he said, “We didn’t offer any — we talked yesterday as everyone knows.”

Senate leaders said Monday they would reach

News, Politics

People’s Pundit Daily had previously reported on the giant hole in the story that is the Democratic candidate Cory Booker. However, in light of the recent report by the Daily Caller and considering New Jersey is just about to send one of two men to the Senate, we thought it worthwhile for the people of New Jersey to know what a big fat lie this whole story truly is.

Booker’s neighbor, Tashay Thomas said, “he never did live there,” referring to the house at 435 Hawthorne Avenue. If that address sounds familiar, it should. Hawthorne Avenue is where Cory Booker claimed he was the night of the fire, which the mainstream media used to depict him as a “superhero” mayor. Thomas told reporters, “His security guards live here.” And when asked why Cory Booker claimed that he did she replied, “Because he is a liar.” Now the video below makes a lot of sense.

As if the joke was on the reporter, as well as the rest of New Jersey, Thomas yelled out to James Sharp, “They’re looking for that fake mayor who says he live here. He does not live here!”

Sharp. another one of Booker’s supposed neighbors said, “Cory Booker don’t live here. Only his bodyguards live here.” When asked about the motive for perpetuating the lie about Cory Booker, Sharp responded, “So that he could keep telling people he did stuff but he is not doing anything. A lot of people getting killed and he’s supposed to stop the violence but he don’t.”

It is one thing — albeit filthy — to lie about your address to be eligible for an office you see as an easy win, but another thing entirely to fabricate a story about yourself. In the video below, the rest of New Jersey can see the real day-to-day of the neighborhood, and it isn’t with Cory Booker acting as a local Batman for Gotham City.

“He comes over here once in a blue moon,” she said. “I saw that man over there once and that was like in 2009. I come here every day,” Tashay Thomas said. She also joked, as it relates to the superhero fire story, she thinks Cory Booker listens in on a police scanner to find opportunities to make himself a hero. Meanwhile, he is nowhere to be found, unless of course, you were to travel to New York.

A visit from reporters showed both of his claimed resident homes — 435 Hawthorne Avenue and 19 Longworth Street — were empty. A community activist, Cassandra Dock, told reporters that Cory Booker lives in New York, and that Cory Booker’s supposed home is actually a police station.

“I know he don’t live on Hawthorne because when I did the 2010 census I knocked on the door and asked and introduced myself as the census taker and asked the person that lived there and was told by the officer — cause that house is always filled with officers — that that was a police station so he can’t possibly live in a police station. I really do believe he lives in New York,” Dock told the Daily Caller. Her friend, Donna Jackson, corroborated Dock’s story.

Newark Police refused to give People’s Pundit Daily a statement.

As you can see below, Booker’s supposed Longworth property was never listed on Booker’s Senate ethics disclosure. In fact, no real estate is listed in his actual name, except for those properties hidden inside “Cory Booker Management Trust,” which according to his documentation below draws him zero income.

cory booker

As far as the story about Cory Booker running into a burning building to save Zina Hodge, the story is the laughing stock of Newark. Cassandra Dock said that Hodge was “laughing” when she confronted her about the holes in their story. Hodge has a terrible reputation as a liar in her neighborhood and has a criminal record. Residents believe that Hodge was paid to play the part by Booker himself, as depicted in the video below, and logistically speaking is impossible for Booker to have even done what he claimed.

“I don’t believe he saved her. I don’t believe he put her over his back and brought her out. First of all, the hallway is too narrow for both of them to fit through that hallway so I don’t believe none of that,” Dock said.

This is the filthy garbage that Americans have come to really despise. The voters of New Jersey should have all of the information before they make an uninformed vote based on a lie. The mainstream media should be ashamed of themselves.

No one from the Booker camp has called us back, and we won’t be holding our breathe.

People's Pundit Daily had previously reported on

Polls

With two days to go before voters elect New Jersey’s next U.S. senator, a new poll shows Republican Steve Lonegan continues to gain ground on Democrat Cory Booker. But will it be enough?

In the latest Monmouth University poll Booker leads Lonegan by 10 percentage points, but People’s Pundit Daily has kept this race “Leans Democrat” for a reason, and it is now confirmed inside the numbers.

In 2009, for comparison, Monmouth University — in conjunction with Gannett — had former Gov. John Corzine leading Chris Christie in the gubernatorial race. I had a small inkling then that Christie was going to win, because New Jersey voters do not like having politicians take their vote for granted. Similarly, Democracy Corps had Corzine with a 4-point lead, but we all know how that race ended (but just in case you don’t, it was Christie +4.3, a lead he never held in polling).

When polling the New Jersey Senate race, Booker held a 16-point advantage over the summer in the Monmouth University poll, which fell to 12 points as recently as two weeks ago, and now we are where we are today.

“Concerns about Cory Booker’s intentions to serve New Jersey continue to persist and his favorability ratings continue to drop,” Patrick Murray, director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute, said in a statement. “At the same time, voters clearly prefer Booker’s political views over Lonegan’s. The message seems to be that Garden State voters don’t like to feel that their support is being taken for granted.”

I couldn’t agree with Patrick Murray more.

The candidates spent the weekend criss-crossing the state, but take a look at Booker’s campaign roster over the weekend and it is clear that Democrats do not feel as if this race is all sown up, either.

Sunday, Booker was joined on the trail by Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz (D-FL), the chair of the Democratic National Committee, and U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ). The three heavyweights made stops in Wood-Ridge, Elizabeth, Plainfield and Parsippany.

Booker said Lonegan is a Tea Party “extremist” — pointing out that he supports the federal government shutdown and wants to roll back the Affordable Care Act.

“We know in New Jersey that he is not in the mainstream of where we stand,” Booker said at a rally of Hispanic Democrats in Elizabeth. “So, this election is clear. We have an opportunity with our voices to send a message that will resonate all throughout our country: That we in New Jersey reject shutdown politics. We reject Tea Party politics.”

Rhetoric is rhetoric, and because this is expected to be a low turnout election, we should take polling with a grain of salt and simply look at where Steve Lonegan needs to run up the margins if he hopes to pull off a victory. Below is a county-by-county map of New Jersey shaded in red for the counties won by Gov. Chris Christie in 2009.

There are three big Democratic counties — Bergen, Essex, and Hudson in order of vote share — in which Lonegan must either hold down Booker’s margin or benefit from low turnout. The northeastern area is solid Democratic territory, which includes Bergen County, where Christie was able to hold Corzine to a measely 2-point margin, or approximately 127,386 to 121,446 votes.

Just southwest of Bergen is the small but heavily populated Essex County, where low turnout is Lonegan’s only hope to keep the damage minimal, because even Christie got clobbered in 2009 by 30 points, or 122,640 votes for Corzine to 50,240 for Christie.

Next to Essex and southeast of Bergen is Hudson County, which again, was a wash for Christie who won just 30,820 to Corzine’s 82,075, or a rough 36 percent margin.

Lonegan must run up the margins in traditional Republican central Jersey counties, such as Monmouth, Ocean and Morris, with Monmouth County being the largest potential vote holder for Steve Lonegan. Gov. Christie took Monmouth County garnering 129,039 votes (62.24 percent), Ocean with 124,238 (65.73 percent), and Morris with 99,085 (60.04 percent). From Lonegan’s campaign schedule over the weekend, any observer can see he is well aware of where he needs to win big and where he needs to stay competitive.

Lonegan campaigned in Holmdel Sunday, which is in Monmouth County, at the “Million Vet March.” He also met with several groups that are part of his campaign’s church and synagogue coalitions, including members of the Jewish community in Lakewood Township in Ocean County, and evangelicals in Sparta, which is in the other semi-large Republican-voting Sussex County. A point worth noting, is that Lakewood is home to a very large population of Hasidic Orthodox Jews, who do not poll, whatsoever. This could be a huge boon to Lonegan if he made real headway with that community.

A simple comparison of Christie’s performance with Steve Lonegan’s strategy, and he doesn’t look to be too much of a long-shot anymore, which certainly explains the high-profile Democratic visits over the weekend. Of course, the political stars have to align right, but it is not unheard of in New Jersey, as some in the media would have you believe. The votes for a Steve Lonegan victory are there, and so is a precedent for badly conducted polling surveys in New Jersey.

In fact, if there was one race this cycle that could provide onlookers with an entertaining meltdown of liberal pundits on primetime news, this would be it. Here are a few things to watch for on Election Night.

1. I didn’t discuss Camden County above, because it is not a swing area, but it is the most urban county in New Jersey. Corzine beat Christie in Camden by  14 percent, and Lonegan must hold Booker to a similar level, or really run up huge margins in central and other southern counties in New Jersey. Booker will win Camden, but the question is: by “how much”?

2. Gloucester County consists of the same demographics as Camden County, minus the inner-city. Watching the State’s numbers here will provide us with a better idea of how Lonegan is running with suburban whites. They will be key to his ability to hold Booker’s margin down in and around traditional Democratic strongholds. Christie won the county by 6 percent, but the county narrowly voted for President Obama, twice.

3. Atlantic County is typically a state bellwether, due to the fact that it is roughly 1 point less white than the state as a whole. Atlantic County will tell us how well Steve Lonegan has managed to turnout his base.

4. If Atlantic tells us about base turnout for  Steve Lonegan, then Mercer will tell us how well Cory Booker has done his job. Christie lost Mercer County by 16 points, which was far better than the last two GOP presidential candidates ran against President Obama.

5. Without bogging everyone down in the weeds — because I haven’t already, I guess — I stress the importance of Bergen County, as it is Booker’s best chance to stop an unexpected loss that could result from high turnout in central and southern New Jersey, while a disastrous turnout for Booker in the aforementioned Democratic strongholds could leave him stunned.

6. I lived in central New Jersey for years. Monmouth and Ocean Counties are home to hundreds of thousands of practical voters. They voted for Bill Clinton and Chris Christie. They hate debt and work very hard. They are also on the precipice of a sad meltdown of the traditional family and economic malaise. If there was an area of the country where voters were registered Democrats because they still hold on tight to their Reagan Democrat identity, it is here. It is these voters Booker speaks to when he accuses Steve Lonegan of extremist Tea Party tendencies. Let’s watch very closely to see if it works.

With two days to go before voters

News, Politics

How did the sequester get thrown into this debate? That is the question Republican leadership is asking this morning.

The terms of the debate have now shifted over the shutdown and debt ceiling, as lawmakers begin the week running up to the debt-ceiling deadline, with Senate leaders Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell struggling to reach a deal.

Republicans are now accusing Democrats of overplaying their hand and moving the goal post farther back, with Democrats throwing in the sequester, sensing a dysfunctional Republican caucus.

All of this is taking place behind a false backdrop, with congressional leaders from both parties falsely claiming that a default is possible without a deal. That is simply not true. The U.S. has adequate monies to pay it bills despite the debt limit, but each party is using fear tactics to get the other party to capitulate.

To be sure, both parties are having a tough time even keeping track of what the other wants out of a deal. After one budget proposal after the other fell apart over the weekend, Republican lawmakers on Sunday accused Democrats of trying to force Republicans to roll back across-the-board spending cuts known as sequester, and they are.

Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., on “Fox News Sunday,” indicated that Republicans had gone too far in their gambit of insisting that dismantling ObamaCare must be part of any spending bill to fully reopen the government, which has been partially shut down since Oct. 1.

Corker, however, said Democrats have now overplayed their hand by going too far by demanding the rollback of sequester. He said that the 2011 Budget Control Act makes the cuts just as much “the law of the land” as Obamacare, which had been the Democrats’ argument for weeks.

“I agree that Republicans started with the overreach, but now Democrats are one tick too cute,” he told Fox News. “They are now overreaching.”

He said “both sides need to come to the middle of the road.”

West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin, among a dozen bipartisan senators working with Republican Sen. Susan Collins on a plan, told Fox News, “I don’t know what [Senate leadership] wants. We are in a crisis mode now.”

On Monday, Manchin told Fox News that lawmakers “need to work more” on the Collins plan. He voiced dismay that Reid, the Senate majority leader, knocked down that plan on Saturday.

The plan laid out Sen. Susan Collins would have funded the government for 6 months, raised the debt limit through Jan. 31, delayed the health care law’s medical device tax, and had bipartisan support.

But, unsurprisingly, Majority Leader Harry Reid dismissed the plan on Saturday right off.

Republicans want to continue current spending at $986.7 billion and leave untouched the new round of cuts on Jan. 15 that would reduce the amount to $967 billion.

Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the No. 2 Democrat in the Senate, told reporters the two sides are roughly $70 billion apart, the difference between the $1.058 trillion Senate budget amount and the number agreed upon by Republicans.

“It’s time for Democrat leaders to take `yes’ for an answer,” Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said in a statement.

Democrats denied they were trying to even dismantle those levels.

A Senate Democratic leadership aide said “the suggestion that Democrats insist on breaking the budget caps is false and belied by the facts.”

Democrats argue that they would accept current spending levels for a short period — just not as long as Collins proposed — so they can attempt to dismantle the sequester cuts in the very near future.

How did the sequester get thrown into

People's Pundit Daily
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