As Hopeful notes below, a new poll by FDU shows (1) a dead heat between Senator Menendez and Tom Kean, Jr. for a race that is over two years from now, and (2) a very mixed bag on what people in NJ think about health care reform.
As Hopeful notes, 42% of New Jerseyans think that they personally will be worse off if the current health care reform bill passes, while 37% feel that they personally will be better off if the current health care reform bill passes. However, that 5% spread is reversed when the question is asked about the country as a whole, with a 45% - 40% margin indicating that the current health care bill will be better for the country. Adding to this, there is a 5% margin (40% against, 35% for, 25% don't know) when it comes to whether respondents would urge THEIR member of Congress to vote for or against ANY health care bill.
"Our United States Senators should finally listen to the majority of New Jerseyans and support a fresh approach to reforming our health insurance industry."
What's more, Kean said that the suspicious timing of his pontificating was merely "happenstance".
Now, say what you want about the current health care bill - there certainly is more than enough things to like and dislike about the bill on an individual level, but the one thing that can NOT be said is what Kean is asserting about "a fresh approach". It is either (1) is this bill good for me, (2) is this bill good for the rest of the country or (3) do you want your Congressman to vote for ANY bill. If Kean wants to be taken seriously, then he should actually say things that are accurate - especially when it comes to issues that he claims to represent "the majority of New Jerseyans" on and issues where he hopes to represent all of New Jerseyans.
When reached for comment, Adam L a/k/a clammyc noted that the timing of this post was merely "happenstance".
First up, President Barack Obama is at a 53% job approval rating (an improvement on the sub-50 showing last time). Disapproval is at 38%, so the the net +15 matches the margin he beat McCain by in 2008. His numbers with independents are 53-33.
On the other hand, the right track/wrong track numbers for the country are at 38-52, hardly surprising with 10% unemployment, massive deficits, and victory-less wars.
Democrats lead the generic ballot for U.S. Congress 47-39 with leaners. That doesn't exactly suggest many Democratic incumbents will be swept away, though I don't doubt NJ3 is a battlefield.
If the election were held today, Senator Bob Menendez would get 38%, a (hypothetical candidate) Tom Kean Jr would get 39%, Someone else gets 6%. Not the numbers we'd like to see, but not unfamiliar either. The pollster notes that Menendez did worse with the subgroup that was asked about him closer to the questions about health care reforms.
Senator Menendez is at 29-25, favorable-unfavorable, and Senator Frank Lautenberg is at 42-29. The negative ads of 2006 have been forgotten as Kean Jr is at 28-11. Kean was at 33-32 at the end of the last campaign, so you can see that campaigns matter.
As for health care reform, the numbers are lousy but not disastrous, as you know if you follow it in national polls. 37% think they will be better off and 42% think they will be worse off if health care reform passes. On the other hand, for the "country as a whole," "better" leaads "worse" 45-40. No doubt the numbers are dragged down by strong Republican opposition, but the two sets for independents are 31-35 and 41-33. The numbers are very striking by race, because only 28% of "Whites" think they'll be better off. Overall, 35% say they'd advise their memver of Congress to vote for a health care reform bill, 40% against, and 25% don't know. That 25% is more Democrats and Independents, so they need to be won over, perhaps by the reality of the bill helping them. (Cough, cough, too bad some genius designed most of the benefits to start years from now.)
People, I think we all need to take a deep breath. We don't need to use the tactics of the worst of the other side. We're the good guys. - promoted from the diaries by Rosi
Hi, Blue Jersey community - this morning I emailed a letter of apology to Senator Tom Kean Jr., which I include below in its entirety.
But first, additional thoughts. Personal tactics or those which cross a personal zone of privacy are never acceptable. Our opponents have done that to me, as you'll read below, and perhaps others on our side of the marriage equality issue. We all have to be better than that.
Yesterday, in a separate instance, I terminated the employment of a staffer who referred publicly to a different public figure in deeply inappropriate terms. That, by the way, wasn't a free speech issue; it was stupid conduct.
Back to Senator Kean. He has been impeccably fair in this debate. Yes, we may have had a different candidate for U.S. Senate back in 2006. But it is to Tom Kean Jr.'s eternal credit that he has never held it against us in the marriage equality debate. He and his office have been nothing but respectful, meeting with us and being as courteous as can be in every contact we've had with them.
Not only did I send him the apology below, but I have also come to respect the guy very much, and I'm not kidding. Now here's the letter I emailed him this morning:
Dear Senator Kean,
Yesterday I learned, and read in the paper today, that people from the community, some wearing my organization's buttons, appeared outside a family event of yours. I am sickened by this. Though that occurrence was in no way authorized by Garden State Equality - more than 10,000 people have our Equality buttons and more than 4,000 people have our Equality t-shirts from events over the past months - it certainly gave the appearance otherwise.
I recently had protesters opposed to marriage equality chant "God hates fags" outside a personal event of my own, so this kind of tactic is deeply upsetting to me. Last week, someone called my home and left an anti-Semitic message. I know how it feels to have a zone of privacy crossed. Thus I am upset about what happened yesterday beyond words.
I deeply apologize to you that anyone, but anyone, crossed a zone of privacy. I don't care how important an issue is to any one individual, organization or greater community. Garden State Equality, and I as its leader, will never tolerate that kind of invasion of personal privacy.
In fact, as the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Monday, a number of marriage-equality opponents praised Garden State Equality for how we conduct ourselves in the public arena with respect for their points of view.
On a personal level, I want you to know how much the organization and I respect you. You have been a gentleman over the years and have been gracious in meeting with us and hearing our views. No matter how you vote on this civil rights measure, we will continue to respect and appreciate you for your public service to the people of our state.
I extend to you and your family a joyous holiday season.
Sincerely yours,
Steven Goldstein
Chair and CEO
Garden State Equality
It's just amazing how bad Republican policies are in practice. Joe Cryan just sent out a great rant pointing out that Republicans were against the tax amnesty program that seems to have saved the property tax rebate program:
"Today is a great day for taxpayers across New Jersey," said Cryan. "Governor Corzine's leadership in keeping the state ahead of the curve during this national economic recession continues to pay off for New Jersey residents. However, if the Christie Right Wing Republicans had their way the tax amnesty legislation would have never passed. Christie campaign co-chairs Kean and DeCroce and party Chairman Webber all put politics ahead of helping New Jersey's taxpayers. They voted along partisan lines against a measure that was thoughtfully conceived during a national recession to provide added relief to responsible taxpayers by going after those who were delinquent.
These people are the primary supporters of Christie's right wing agenda that would also see us deny federal money from President Obama's economic recovery plan for education, job creation, unemployment insurance and the state budget deficit. We now see clearly what the consequences of Christie's policies would be: deny any and all proposals put forward to get the state through this national economic recession while continuing to provide the wrong answers for New Jersey, like denying property tax relief for our residents."
Kean, DeCroce, Webber, and 16 other Republicans voted against the program.
Just last year, Senator Thomas H. Kean Jr. (R-Union) was running as an "ethical reformer" against Bob Menendez (D-Hudson) for the United States Senate. Kean ran a negative campaign, hammering Menendez with allegations of unethical conduct, including accusations about campaign fundraising and donations. Fast-forward less than a year and it is State Senator Kean on the receiving end of tainted campaign contributions.
Rebounding from his loss in the race for United States Senate, PoliticsNJ reports Tom Kean Jr. is now working the miniscule ranks of State Senate Republicans for an election he thinks he can win - for Minority Leader, or what one of their commenters, commonsensenj, calls:
"the most thankless and pointless job in the State House"
Good.
While Junior distracts himself pounding the pavement for the 9 votes he would need for that coveted slot, Gina Genovese can concentrate on the voters of the 21st District whose votes really matter.
Remember - you can't be Minority Leader unless you're still in the Senate. Maybe we should help Gina explain that to him.
Update:NJ Politics Unusual had the beginnings of this 2 weeks before PoliticsNJ.
That diary raised questions about whether Christie had received or acceded to political pressure to investigate Democrats during last fall's elections. As many as US Attorneys have been fired or pressured to do so in the past few months, and some of them say it was because they refused to use their office politically to benefit the Republican Party.
Remember Bud Cummins. He was the US Attorney from the Eastern District of Arkansas who got canned so Karl Rove's opposition research chief could take over the job. Look closely at what he just told the Associated Press ...
Cummins, U.S. attorney for Arkansas' Eastern District from 2001-2006, said Thursday that he and other fired attorneys had "politely declined" previous requests from the committee. He said he "didn't have any desire to stir up the controversy any further."
"If given the choice, I'd elect to stay home and mind my own business," Cummins told The Associated Press. "Now that I'm under subpoena, I'll go and give cooperative, truthful answers."
When asked if officials in the Justice Department or White House had asked him to decline the earlier requests, Cummins said he had no comment.
Again, one of those 'no comments' that says plenty.
This story may be getting bigger. Again, we do not know how many US Attorneys got pressure to insert themselves into the political process in close elections, but we do know Chris Christie did insert himself in the Menendez/Kean Jr. campaign at a sensitive time. We also know he has continued to issue subpoenas whenever NJ Democrats are making good news for themselves.
The House Judiciary Committee should not only subpoena the fired US Attorneys, but also ones who have not been fired. They should start with ones who publicly investigated Democrats between Labor Day and the November election last fall.
Unfortunately, there is no one from the NJ House Delegation on the House Judiciary Committee for us to call.
Some enterprising reporter should also ask US Attorney for the State of New Jersey Chris Christie if he received any such political pressure. Christie has previously denied it, but with mounting evidence that others have been pressured the subject should be raised again.
While explaining Tom Kean Jr. talking points about how people care about corruption at the "wrap up" press conference, Deborah Howlett in the article, "For Kean, no regrets about run for Senate" cites the upticks in the polls after the that the U.S. Attorney's office had issued subpoenas to a nonprofit agency in Hudson County.
They go on to claim that the benefit of the story to Kean was short lived because of ads run by Menendez. She goes in to state that Kean had "no money" to respond to the ads.
No mention that Kean, then used the story to claim baselessly claim that it was Menendez and not the nonprofit agency that was under investion. Nor does she bother to mention other claims in regards to the agency were refuted by both the Star Ledger and the New York Time. No mention that he had "no money" to respond because he continued to run with more baseless claims that continued to tarnish Keans image and improve Menendez's position in the polls.
Anybody here remember "Father and Son," that Cat Stevens generation-gap chestnut from 1970? You may recall that the future Yusuf Islam performed the song as a dialogue, singing the father’s words in a low sonorous voice, then going high and whiny for the misunderstood son.
That’s pretty much how the 2006 update sounds in today’s Star-Ledger, only this time the low sonorous half of the tune is coming from ex-governor Tom Kean, who sees Tuesday as a tsunami washing away good and bad Republicans alike, while the high and whiny part is sung by Tom Kean Jr., who warbles that his Senate campaign did absolutely everything right, except it fell a bit flat on the winning-the-election part.
Absent from the Dad Kean lyrics is any mention of how he pimped his credibility from the 9/11 Commission to endorse ABC's crockudrama The Path to 9/11, a move that had nothing to do with truth-telling but probably had a great deal to do with trying to make Democrats look bad at the start of the fall campaign season. I guess we’ll have to see if that part of the song turns up as a bootleg.
According to the NY Times, the NJ Senate race is getting one last infusion of resourses. President Clinton was in the Garden State stumping for Menendez and Junior got a visit from President Bush. Well sort of. All kidding aside, Junior out-raised Menendez in the final quarter but Senator Menendez still has about $2M more on hand than Kean, Jr which (trust funds aside) should be enough to rock the NJ vote to a democratic victory. But don't take my word for it, instead tell me what you are doing to ensure a Menendez victory. Are you canvassing? Phonebanking? Driving little old ladies to the polls? Independent voters remain largely undecided, so there is still time to get out there and make a difference.
Remember back in the day -- before the campaign reached a fevered pitch -- when we talked about propTax relief all the time? Well, the legislature in Trentonia is up against a Nov 15th deadline to do something to ease the burden. Anything. After years (decades?) of the highest propTaxes in the free world, I suspect most New Jerseyans are willing to be progmatic if it means relief is forthcoming. I should admit that I am skeptical that homeowners will really get the entire 1/2 loaf, but I am encouraged that Assemblyman (and budget chair) Lou Greenwald agreed to pen a propTax Op-ed for us this weekend, with an update about what's been going on. So, I will reserve any judgement until then.
Some movement on the UMDNJ mess. There is talk about a 3-way merger of universities to streamline costs but this chatter comes on the heels of more scandal. Meanwhile, Wayne Bryant is a turd and since the ethics panel in Trenton is "toothless" it's up to bloggers and citizen activists to sound the alarm bells about Bryant's malfeasance.
Finally, the NY times takes a look at one NJ stragety to tap into renewable energy sources and wonders if the answer (my friend) "Is blowing in the wind." Big wind mills are popping up in Atlantic City. It's a modest start, but it's a start. Any for the naysayers who call the turbines an "eyesore" I say this: all of AC is a bit of an eyesore, so a few windmills ain't gonna mess with the feng shui one bit.
I just got a robocall from Mario Andretti telling me that as an Italian-American I should vote for TK Jr. because he supported Samuel Alito, and that evil Menendez didn't. The call was not by the Kean, Jr. campaign, but by some interest group.
Ignoring the fact that my support or non-support of Alito has nothing to do with his ethnic heritage (and besides, Italian-Americans are already adequately represented on the US Supreme Court), and for all the single issues I could think of, support of Italian-American issues is pretty low on my list, as a full, second-generation, Italian-American, this call begs a question:
Did everyone in NJ get this call, or are they only targeting people with obvious Italian-American last names? If the latter, did they have some sort of computer program scan through voter lists for ethnic-sounding names, or was that a job some crazy interns got?
Inquiring minds need to know.
P.S. last time I knew, Mario Andretti lived in Pennsylvania.
Friday, Nov. 3, 5PM
Summit Train Station
Come show your support and meet Governor Jon Corzine, Senator Robert Menendez, Assemblywoman Linda Stender and our terrific Summit Common Council candidates
Melody Irvin (Ward 1), Terri Tauber and Jill LaZare (Ward 2)
Summit is currently controlled by an all Republican town council who are being challenged this year by three very strong Democratic candidates.
The City of Summit is right in the middle of Kean Jr and Ferguson territory. Kean Jr. lives one town over in Westfield and he keeps an office directly across the street from the train station. Ferguson lives one town over in New Providence.
Tom Kean Jr. wants you to think Bob Menendez is corrupt. Junior wants it so badly that he is willing to lie, spin, exaggerate, cajole, selectively edit and whisper innuendo to get you to believe it.
But the truth is Tom Kean Jr. is full of shit.
This is a guy I actually used to like. Personally. We weren't friends who spent the holidays together or anything, but we definitely were glad to see each other at various political and social events. All in all, he was someone who I might have considered voting for if the Democrat was a complete putz.
At the time I did not realize Tom Kean Jr. was the complete putz. If I see him at an event now I will probably be polite but look for a quick escape. Anyone else to talk to other than Junior.
Hear that rumbling in the distance? That’s the sound of legions of knuckles dragging across the ground as national wingnut conservative groups come to render last-minute assistance to the Thomas “Kid Kean” Jr. Senate campaign.
Hear that nervous tapping in the foreground? That’s the sound of Kean’s campaign operatives trying to dance around the fact that their candidate, who is trying to convince voters in this very blue state that he’s a moderate Republican who won’t kowtow to the GOP’s whacko wing, is now getting support from notable Neanderthals like National Right to Life, the Christian Coalition and the National Rifle Association.
The good news this morning is that Menendez has a 6% lead in the senate race over Kean Jr., according to a Research 2000 Poll. The bad news this morning is that three New Jersey newspapers, The Courier Post, The Press of Atlantic City, and Asbury Park Press, have all endorsed the unqualified Republican over Menendez.
We need to work the media, both traditional (e.g., print) and nontraditional (e.g., internets, blogs), to ensure that Menendez defeats Kean Jr. in 9 days. If you live in any of the areas served by these three newspapers, please take a moment to write a letter to the editor and let them know your displeasure with their endorsements, emphasizing the positives of the Menendez campaign. I've already written the Courier Post, who, despite serving a heavily-Democratic readership, have once again supported a Republican for state or nation-wide office.
Letters to the Editor:
"We will not accept letters without your name, full address, daytime and evening phone numbers. Please remember: letters are subject to editing. The shorter the letter, the more likely it will be published. For full details of The Press letters policy, call (609) 272-7279. You can send your letter to:
The Press Editorial Page
11 Devins Lane
Pleasantville, NJ 08232
For more information, call (609) 272-7266 or 272-7267
letters@pressofac.com"
It seems that Tom Kean Jr. has no problem with being surrounded by those with questionable backgrounds when it comes to racial slurs, and he has a spotty record in the state legislature when it comes to civil rights to boot.
In this morning's 'Courier Post,' Gregory Volpe states that "U.S. Senate candidate Thomas H. Kean Jr. employed on the state's dime a former state Department of Labor employee who had used the racial slur "wetback" during a meeting in front of several state employees." The Kean Jr. employee, Harry Pappas, states that Kean Jr. knew that he was being sued for using a racial slur but that Kean Jr. kept him on the campaign anyway.
This is part of a larger problem, arguably, with Tom Kean Jr.: He has a record of going against basic human civil rights and legislation that would protect the disenfranchised. When Bob Menendez gained the endorsement of an influential group of black ministers in the state, an unsavory moment in Kean Jr's voting record came to light as part of the black ministers' oppostion to Kean Jr.'s candidacy. According to Tom Hester, writing in 'Newsday,' "As an assemblyman in 2002, Kean voted against an early version of a state bill to ban racial profiling." Racial profiling is a major problem in this state and our country, but Kean Jr. obviously doesn't share such concerns for African Americans targeted for no other reason than their skin color.
Combine these two revelations with recent remarks and legislation concerning equality for gay and lesbians -- Kean Jr. wants to write discrimination into the state constitution, and he voted against a bare minimum domestic parternship law in the state senate --, and we have a senate candidate with a problem: Judging from his record and hiring practices, Tom Kean Jr. doesn't support civil rights.
So based on Voter registration, the sample is skewed. If Indie voters were breaking to Menendez by 4%, this skewed sample would have difficulty indicating that trend.
IIRC NJ median Family income is around 50k. 23 respondents said between 50k & 75, while 20 said over 100k. There is no way that nearly as many NJer’s make over 100k as between 50k & 75. IIRC 80% of Americans make 88k or under. So the NYT seems to have included more respondents of high income. So based on income, the sample is skewed.
Additionally 59 respondents said they have family income over 50k, while 33 said their income was under 50k. If I am right about NJ's median income (50k), these numbers should be equal. This represents a nearly 50% error.
To be sure, Tom Kean Jr. has faced very few crises in his life, unless one counts considering what corporate account to put hundreds of thousands of oil company stock holdings into or whether to do keg stands or beer pong with his frat buddies at Dartmouth “moments of truth.” In one of his early races – one of the few where he wasn’t appointed to office in an obvious moment of political nepotism at its worst – a Republican opponent distributed fliers saying that the only difficult thing Kean Jr. had done in his life was take a canoeing expedition down the Danube River; there might be some truth to such a claim. Compare that life experience to Bob Menendez, who lived in abject poverty as a child and worked his way through college.
In the state legislature, Kean Jr. has not faced many crises and has not had to make difficult decisions for the most part, though a recent New York Times article cites that his voted often changed with the wind, and Kean Jr. made evasion and obfuscation his central political maneuvers as a state legislator. One could claim that the recent smoking ban battle, which occurred early in 2006, was a moment of crisis since it affected many a restauranteur and patron; we all know what happened with this one, though: Kean Jr. supported the smoking ban, but, after taking thousands of dollars in contributions from casinos, voted to exempt casinos from such a ban. Talk about quid-pro-Kean at its finest.
The only major crisis that Kean Jr. has faced in his five years in the state assembly and then state senate was this summer, when New Jersey’s government shut down because of Corzine’s budget not passing. This was Kean Jr.’s moment of truth, and what did he do? He blinked, and New Jerseyans would have further suffered with pay loss if his no-decision had come to fruition. According to the Record (10-2-06) “Sen. Joseph Palaia, R-Monmouth, said Kean vehemently argued in a closed-room caucus in July that Republicans should not provide votes for a sales tax increase that Democrats said was needed to balance the budget and end a government shutdown."But if somebody didn't swing over and give a vote or two, we'd still have people out of work," Palaia said of the tax bill, which eventually passed with two Republican votes.”
This is the same state senate where Kean Jr., when New Jersey needed him most, begged his way off the state budget committee rather than contribute anything to the crippling budget debate.
Central to the office of U.S. senator is the ability to stand strong during difficult moments. In the 110th Congress, this will possibly include a nuclear standoff with North Korea, a world-defying Iranian leader, a minimum wage vote for hurting Americans, an investigation of the Bush-Cheney justifications for war, and so on. At the one time Kean Jr. has been asked to respond to a crisis, though, he blinked, and I think he would perform terribly given the same chance in the U.S. senate.
Oedipus Kean: A Two-Act Play
(based on true events)
Starring: Haley Joel Osment as Tom Kean Jr. Al Pacino as Tom Kean Sr.
(Opening Scene: Kean Jr., in front of a mirror, before a press conference):
Act I, scene I:
Kean Jr. (practicing his oral delivery, smiling slickly into the mirror): “Bob Menendez, ahem, is a corrupt politician who…took money from corrupt politicians, has close ties to a presidential administration that has a “for sale” sign in front of the White House...” Wait a second; that’s me.
Kean Sr.: Now, now, son. You’ve been handpicked for this position by the Republican National Committee and Karl Rove himself. You need to have more confidence and clearly espouse your position.
Kean Jr.: But what should I do if I have no position and instead, as the New York Times suggests, only make myself affable to whatever party I’m trying to appeal to?
Kean Sr.: (looks away, mutters to himself) The seed has certainly fallen far from the tree, hasn’t it?
(The two men head out to the press conference. A disinterested press corps begins asking questions).
Reporter #1: Mr. Kean Jr., in the past televised debate, you refused to answer questions concerning your changing positions on the Iraq War. Yes or no – would you vote for the resolution to authorize the invasion of Iraq if it was held no.
Kean Jr. bolts from the room with his father running after him.
(In the men’s bathroom):
Kean Sr.: Son, you can’t keep running and hiding whenever you are asked questions by the press. It looks really bad, and you’ve been caught doing it multiple times on YouTube.
Kean Jr. (huddled in a bathroom stall): Those, those people, they try to get me to state clearly where I stand on the issues. I just won’t do it! (shaking head back and forth) Who the heck do they think they are?
Kean Sr.: Those people are the press and your constituents, son. You have to not only answer questions for them but also stand up for their interests.
Kean Jr.: Rove told me to duck and run when the going gets tough, and that’s what I’m going to do. Say, this bathroom stall reminds me of my college days passed out on the toilet after a night drinking with my frat buddies!
Act II, scene II
(The scene: November 8th, the Kean family estate, Junior walking with his father).
Kean Jr.: Dad, I am entitled to winning this race, just as I was entitled to being appointed via nepotism to the state assembly and the state senate. I’ve… (trying to think of an original idea) been protected and privileged my entire life, never really working except for BP. I’ve even led a canoeing expedition on the Danube River!
Kean Sr.: Son (sighing to himself), you’re really not from the same mettle as I. You are far too conservative and think that the Iraq War is going well. I’ve given you a sheltered life in order to protect you from working, and you used the family name to your advantage. But it is now a family name that has been tarnished from your dirty campaign. What were you thinking in hiring a Republican hack who was kicked out of N.H. for accusing a rival candidate’s wife of participating in an orgasm cult? Why on earth did you lie about Menendez’s participation in the Musto criminal probe? If you were a bit more authentic and had a grasp of the issues, perhaps you would now be elected to the U.S. senate instead of feeling sorry for yourself and picking flowers on our family estate.
Kean Jr.: I’m not going to give up, Dad. I stand against – I mean for – stem cell funding. I am in favor of – I mean opposed – to Bush’s privatization plan. Gosh, Dad, why can’t I get anything right?
A phone rings. Before Kean Sr. can answer
Kean Jr.: Sorry, Dad, that’s Rove on the line, and I’ve always been there for the Bush administration… (pauses a moment). Can’t you appoint me to another position? Please, dad?
Tom Kean Jr. has repeatedly and viciously attacked Bob Menendez for "enriching himself" with his position in the House of Representatives. How did Menendez do it?
A real estate agent rented Menendez's childhood home to a non-profit community group from Hudson County at slightly below average market rate. Menendez later assisted the non-profit in obtaining federal funds to open up a health center for poor and uninsured Hudson County residents. The community group continued to rent the property from Menendez, and stayed in the property even after Menendez sold it.
Really. That's the whole story. There's really nothing else to it.
Yet Junior is running ads on TV and radio claiming that this is proof Menendez is corrupt, and Junior is outraged! Outraged, I say!
"A company headed by President Bush's brother and partly owned by his parents is benefiting from Republican connections and federal dollars targeted for economically disadvantaged students under the No Child Left Behind Act.
"With investments from his parents, George H.W. and Barbara Bush, and other backers, Neil Bush's company, Ignite! Learning, has placed its products in 40 U.S. school districts and now plans to market internationally.
"At least 13 U.S. school districts have used federal funds available through the president's signature education reform, the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, to buy Ignite's portable learning centers." (LA Times)
Start being outraged by this, Junior, and we'll maybe buy your outrage that Bob Menendez is helping the poor get health care.
