Free Republic

Whichever bill moves in the Senate could attract other immigration reform measures, sources said. For example, the Federation for American Immigration Reform said Monday it was told by Senate staffers that Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., is blocking efforts to reauthorize E-Verify unless language is added making unused family and worker visas dating back to 1992 available for current use.

FBI spokesman Harry Rodriguez showing charges against 13 people, including, Puerto Rican Gov. Anibal Acevedo Vila, at San Juan, Puerto Rico, news conference today. AP Photo/Brennan Linsley Puerto Rico's Governor Anibal Acevedo. AP Photo/Brennan Linsley Robert Feldman a Philadelphia businessman closely tied to former NJ Gov. James E. McGreevey's corruption scandals has been indicted with Puerto Rico governor Anibal Acevedo Vila....13 people are named in a federal indictmentas part of an alleged conspiracy to raise campaign cash illegally...... Acevedo-Vila is a significant behind-the-scenes player in NJ politics....an ally of McGreevey, he endorsed Jon Corzine in 2005. In 2006, US...

A Democratic senator from New Jersey, Robert Menendez, introduced a bill late last night that would strike the Tiahrt amendment, a piece of gun legislation staunchly opposed by Mayor Bloomberg's anti-gun coalition. The introduction of the bill, called the Firearms Information Use Act of 2008, is prompting lobbyists for the gun industry to once again fight to protect the amendment. "Of course the NRA opposes the bill. We feel like the Tiahrt amendment is there for a reason and Congress intended that trace information be available for law enforcement in bonafide criminal investigations," a spokeswoman for the National Rifle Association,...

  Home | Previous Page | Source URL: http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/sep/07092403.html LifeSiteNews.com Monday September 24, 2007 Priest Blasts 'Usual Suspects' For Votes Against Pro-Life Policy FRONT ROYAL, VA, September 24, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The Rev. Thomas J. Euteneuer, STL, president of Human Life International, (HLI) today blasted a gang of 16 Catholic senators for their votes on an amendment to HR 2764 to overturn the Mexico City Policy instituted by President Reagan to prevent U.S. taxpayer dollars from funding overseas abortions. "For the most part it's the usual suspects who claim to be Catholic while their consistent pro-abortion votes amount to...

It was nearly a year ago, during the heat of U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez's election campaign, when federal investigators caused an uproar by issuing a subpoena for records of a real estate deal Menendez made. The investigation yielded no criminal charges, and by the start of summer Menendez's attorneys asked federal prosecutors to declare him exonerated. Not only was that request ignored, according to sources with knowledge of the meeting, but in recent weeks new subpoenas went out, delving into other matters involving the Hudson County Democrat. Tom O'Neil, a spokesman for the Jersey City Medical Center, confirmed last week...

"Democratic Presidential hopeful, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., left, looks at Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J.., right, during a news conference in Washington, Tuesday, June 12, 2007, where Menendez announced he was endorsing Clinton for president."

Will the arrests of three illegal immigrants in an alleged plot to attack Fort Dix, N.J. hurt the effort in Congress to pass a major immigration bill? Sen. Robert Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat, said Thursday it would actually help the case for the legislation. “It makes it more compelling. I would rather know who is here in America to pursue the American dream versus who is here to destroy it,” he said, in a conference call with reporters. An immigration reform that requires all current illegal immigrants to register with the government and go through background checks “creates for...

A deal with a federally funded non-profit allowed then-Rep. Bob Menendez to collect substantially more rent for his old house than he got in prior years, when the property's annual losses reached $10,000, records show. Menendez's arrangement with the politically connected organization meant the rent he charged for the Union City property jumped by nearly 50 percent from 1989 to 1994 despite a pronounced real estate slump that had emptied some of Hudson County's best office buildings. Whether the non-profit North Hudson Community Action Corp. paid Menendez more than the space was worth is a key question in the federal...

Florida Sen. Mel Martinez, co-author of a bill to grant amnesty to illegal aliens, has been picked by White House strategist Karl Rove to be general chairman of the Republican National Committee, RNC officials confirmed yesterday. Some RNC members greeted the news as another example of White House cronyism, reminiscent of President Bush's attempt to name his personal friend and general counsel Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court, a nomination withdrawn in response to outrage from the party's conservative supporters. While the chairman is elected by the 165-member RNC -- which next meets in Washington in January -- the committee...

Authorities have stepped up an investigation of U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez's relationship with a federally funded non-profit organization just days after his hard-fought election victory, according to a senior government official. The official said FBI agents served subpoenas on Thursday and Friday seeking information related to the North Hudson Community Action Corp., which paid more than $300,000 over nine years to rent a Union City building from then U.S. Rep. Menendez. The subpoenas are being served on "close associates" of Menendez, as well as people affiliated with North Hudson and other groups linked to the senator, the official said. On...

In New Jersey's senatorial campaign, Republican candidate Tom Kean Jr.'s aides are charging that opponents "already have resorted to Election Day dirty tricks." Last night, vandals chained shut the Kean campaign's headquarters in Mountainside, N.J., and broke keys off in the door locks to prevent entry, according to aides. "It's Jersey ... this is not surprising," Kean spokeswoman Jill Hazelbaker told us. "It's the Menendez campaign, or their supporters," she added, but without offering evidence. "It's just a lot of noise," was the response from campaign aides for Democratic incumbent Bob Menendez. They say they have "thousands" of lawyers at...

Control of the Senate could turn on one of the bluest states—and one of the nastiest races—in the country. And Jon Corzine is sweating it. By John Heilemann Illustration by Darrow   T he yarmulkes are out in force in Sopranos country. At Temple Beth Shalom in Livingston, New Jersey, a crowd of several hundred (chosen) people have gathered for what’s been billed as a “Senatorial Candidates Forum.” Not that the candidates—Democrat Robert Menendez and Republican Tom Kean Jr.—share even a fleeting moment together on the synagogal stage. In two recent debates, Menendez and Kean have flayed each other loudly, witlessly,...

Menendez Seeks to Bury Image of a Shady DealerBy Michael Powell Washington Post Staff Writer Friday, November 3, 2006; Page A02 ATLANTIC CITY -- A balding labor chieftain explains why his hard-hats should vote for the plump candidate who stands here in a muddy construction site dressed in a white knit cotton shirt, a pinstriped suit, loafers and a perfectly knotted tie. "Bobby Menendez is a fighter !" Billy Mullen bellows at his guys on this balmy autumnal day. "He's been in the gutter , he's rolled around down there his whole life . . ." The hard-hats do much...

UNION CITY, N.J.—In his 30-plus years as a player in New Jersey politics, Senator Robert Menendez has cultivated dozens of friends and allies in positions of influence. But recently, on Sept. 5, one of his allies, a New Jersey business owner and a major fund-raiser for Mr. Menendez, showed up in a curious place: in front of a grand jury in Newark, where he was questioned about the financing of terror bombings in Cuba during the 1990’s. Also appearing in front of the grand jury was the former accountant of a deceased ally and donor for the Senator. The fund-raiser,...

Democrat Bob Menendez holds a six-point lead in the race for U.S. Senate even though more New Jersey voters like and trust Republican Tom Kean Jr., a poll by The Record found. That may be because New Jerseyans, by a wide margin, want Democrats to control Congress in January, the poll also found. "Any other political year, I think the Republicans win that seat," said pollster Del Ali of Research 2000, the Rockville, Md., firm that conducted the survey. "The only thing saving Menendez is the climate out there." Menendez led Kean 48 percent to 42 percent in the survey...

New Jersey Senate: Kean (R) and Menendez (D) Tied U.S. Senator Bob MenendezHere's another race to keep people up late on election night. All year long, the two candidates have been trading the lead position. Now, with less than two weeks to go, it’s a toss-up once again. The latest Rasmussen Reports poll shows Republican Tom Kean Jr. with 43% of the vote and Democratic Senator Bob Menendez with 41%. However, when we add in the leaners, it’s all tied at 45% (see crosstabs). What’s truly amazing about these numbers is the fact that Menendez can’t pull away despite the...

(October 26) The tide appears to have turned once again in this race. Kean had a nice run through mid-September and then Menendez pulled in to a 3-5 point lead in mid-October and now as we approach the end of October it looks like Kean has regained the momentum. On Sunday, we suggested that Kean needed “to turn around the momentum in this race and very soon,” and it looks like he has done just that. . . . . . . This race looks to be going down to the wire as Menendez is back below 45% in the...

One must be careful to make too much of a given Senate candidate appearing broke at the 3rd-quarter FEC filing time. After all, the national parties and major donors can rescue a strong candidate’s foundering finances. And certain costs, such as advertising, may even still have been paid up front. But when so many candidates from one party, who have been very strong, are suddenly out of cash, while the other party is cash-rich, something may be afoot. In this case, the Republicans continue to use their strategy which produced surprise wins in 2002 and 2004: They are keeping their...

TUCKERTON, N.J. (AP) - For Dale Parsons, the truth about the U.S. Senate race is as hard to crack as the clams he has in his bayside seafood store. "I'm ticked off," said Parsons, a registered Republican who's not greatly impressed with either Tom Kean Jr. or Robert Menendez. "There's just so much negativity, you don't know who to believe anymore. You can't trust any of them." In interviews across the state, a common theme emerged among voters: They're sick of the mudslinging, name-calling and finger-pointing, and want to hear what the candidates will actually do for them. In a...

“They destroyed me when I quit donating.” Frances Metallo, Jersey City math teacher. Foreword: The depths to which a trapped crooked New Jersey Democrat will sink truly know no limits. The contempt Robert Menendez has for the voters of New Jersey is transparent. He has just put up a TV spot attacking Tom Kean jr. for being connected to Robert Janiszewski the former Hudson County Executive and federally convicted bagman. This “connection” is alleged because Janiszewski has written to Kean from prison offering to help Kean develop a crystal clear picture of who Menedez actually was/is and always has been....

Watch this video to see how the Menendez machine organized a smear campaign on Tom Kean during and after the NJ Senate debate. Tell me they don't work illegally with peripheral groups!!!!!! What a sham!

Democrat vs Democrat Connecticut sees primary victor, Ned Lamont, facing off against the loser, and former Veep candidate, Joe Lieberman. Lamont is against the war, and seems to have solidified his lead among Democrats, but in the general election independents and Republicans can vote too, so Lieberman retains a small lead. Confusingly, the Republican candidate is against the war, probably why his support is in single figures. Democrats did not want this fight, as it puts Democrat divisions on national security at the top of the news, but now they are stuck with it. Tossup. Republican targets New Jersey, sees...

Menendez's building: The story doesn't measure up Thursday, October 05, 2006 A house is the most costly thing that most people will ever buy, so most of us tend to pay close attention to all transactions surrounding homeownership. In 1984, for example, I bought my first house, a bungalow in Toms River. I still recall the purchase price, the initial mortgage payment and the fee I paid my lawyer. So I find myself wondering how an intelligent person could go through a real-estate transaction of any sort and have no memory of it. Yet that seems to be the case...

1. If the election for United States Senator was held today, whom would you support Robert Menendez, the Democrat or Tom Kean, Jr., the Republican? Tom Kean, Jr. 46% Robert Menendez 41% Undecided 13% 800 likely voters, September 29th-October 1st. MOE +/- 3%.

It appears the ethics investigation targeting New Jersey Senator Robert Menendez is hurting his chances to return to Washington. A new WNBC/Marist poll released on Friday shows that, if this were Election Day, Rep. Tom Kean, Jr. would defeat Menendez 42 percent to 37 percent. This is a big change from two polls taken earlier this week, where likely voters were polled, and Menendez was slightly ahead. More than half of those polled in this survey were aware of Menendez's recent troubles. The federal government is investigating his leasing of a building he owned to a non-profit agency who also...

    Senate Democrats said they won't try to replace Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey, despite new accusations of corruption that surfaced yesterday in the Democratic incumbent's already tough re-election race.     "We expect week after week they're going to throw these allegations around," said Sen. Charles E. Schumer, New York Democrat and chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.     Asked whether he is sure that Democrats will not replace Mr. Menendez, Mr. Schumer replied with an emphatic "yes." He cited new polls that show Mr. Menendez either slightly ahead of or tied with his Republican challenger, Tom Kean Jr.     A Menendez...

MILLVILLE, N.J. - It wasn't supposed to be this hard for Democrat Robert Menendez. New Jersey's political history, campaign cash and national dissatisfaction with the Republican-led Congress are all in his favor as he tries to win the Senate seat he took by appointment from the governor in January. But here he is, locked in an apparent dead heat with Republican challenger Tom Kean Jr., and having to campaign in unlikely places such as a seafood festival down a gravel road in southern rural New Jersey, far from his base in the urban north. Menendez has run smack into the...

Report links Menendez to scheme Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 09/28/06 THE ASSOCIATED PRESS TRENTON — A psychiatrist who worked as an FBI informant in a criminal investigation of several northern New Jersey politicians has linked U.S. Senate Democrat Robert Menendez to a scheme to manipulate government contracts, several published reports said today. In court papers filed in New Jersey in March, Oscar Sandoval said he was pressured in 1999 to hire a doctor Menendez preferred or he would risk losing $1 million in government contracts. Sandoval taped the 20-minute telephone call with Donald Scarinci, a longtime friend...

The PoliticsNJ.com Politician of the Year is an insider, hardly a household name, but one of the state's most powerful strategists and fundraisers who has enjoyed an extraordinarily successful year: Secaucus attorney Donald Scarinci. Scarinci was the leader of the two greatest political coups of the year: the elimination of Rudy Garcia as a force in Hudson County politics, and the withdrawal of Bob Toricelli from the 2001 Governors race. No other New Jersey politician has had as good a year, both politically and professionally. Scarinci has emerged as one of New Jersey's most influential and successful political leaders. His...

WASHINGTON - New Jersey's Senate candidates remained locked in a tie, according to a poll released Thursday that also showed confusion about the candidates among state voters. Among 404 likely voters, 45 percent preferred Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez while 44 percent backed Republican challenger Tom Kean Jr., according to the Rutgers-Eagleton poll. The error margin was plus or minus 5 percent. Among 660 registered voters, 42 percent backed Kean while 40 percent chose Menendez. This survey had an error margin of 4 percent. The survey of both likely and registered voters was conducted Sept. 24-26. The poll showed there was...

Menendez dumps key adviser caught on tape seeking 'favors' Posted by The Star-Ledger September 27, 2006 22:56 U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez's closest political adviser was secretly recorded seven years ago boasting of political power and urging a Hudson county contractor to hire somone as a favor to Menendez, according to a transcript obtained by The Star-Ledger. Tonight Menendez's campaign says he has severed his ties with the adviser, Donald Scarinci, after learning of the taped conversation. Menendez and Scarinci were childhood friends and Scarinci, a prominent attorney with extensive contracts in state and local governments, has been a key fundraiser...

New Jersey Democratic chairman Joe Cryan this morning pledged "absolute" support for U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez's campaign, which late yesterday severed ties with a top campaign fund-raiser who was overheard in a taped telephone conversation repeatedly asking a Hudson County vendor to make a hire as "a favor" to Menendez. "I can absolutely unequivocally assure you we are working harder to get him elected," said Cryan in a telephone interview from a dentist's chair. "This is nothing we didn't expect. We're going to win this thing." Menendez is in a close race with Republican state Sen. Tom Kean, who has...

RCP leaked the premium numbers. Kean (R) 41% Menendez (D) 40%

What’s politically toxic in Campaign 2006? On the CBS Evening News Friday night, Katie Couric covered the U.S. Senate race in New Jersey, and the danger was apparently a Republican standing anywhere near Team Bush. Couric pressed Republican candidate Tom Kean Jr. about President Bush: "Would you like him to come?" The second time she asked, she giggled. She weirdly compared the Kean family to the fictional mob family in The Sopranos. (Would she ever do that to the Kennedys?) Couric ever-so-barely revealed "scandal has wracked the Democratic Party here," but gave no specifics. Newly appointed Sen. Bob Menendez is...

EVERY major poll for NJ Senate has Kean up between 3 and 6 points. This specific poll marks a turnaround from July, when Kean trailed Menendez by 1 point. It looks like we may have to think hard about putting this race into our column soon. No one can say with a straight face that the dems have the advantage, and every poll hints that it's advantage-Kean at this moment.

Preview and Analysis of the Weekend Talk Shows for 9/23 & 9/24/06The campaign to trash President Bush and beatify President Clinton gets into high gear this week.  Perhaps now we know why the Clintonistas were so frantic to kill or discredit The Path To 9/11, because it had the possibility of preempting their re-re-re-re-launch of the "Clinton Legacy" (Take 843).  This is a contest between the Bush and Clinton world views.  Bush views the world in terms of western civilization representing humanity's progress up from barbarism.  Clinton views the world in terms of America's sins and how we must be...

Fighting a Swift Boat with Truth by: Xpatriated Texan Tue Sep 19, 2006 at 00:20:12 AM EDT I have a question for you. What were you doing in February of 1996? It was a month that saw yet another major snow storm hit New Jersey. Bill Clinton signed a telecom bill to widen competition and market access in cable television. Republicans were watching rightwing freakjob Pat Buchanan bury Bob Dole and Steve Forbes in the New Hampshire primary. Jersey Journal article, first pageKirsten Danis was writing an article [Page one, Page two] for the Jersey Journal revealing that then-Congressman Bob...

WASHINGTON -- The Senate race in New Jersey, which a Republican hasn't won in 34 years, remains virtually tied with less than two months before Election Day, a poll released Wednesday shows. Among likely voters, including those leaning toward a candidate, Republican challenger Tom Kean Jr. holds a 48-45 percent edge over Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez, the Quinnipiac University poll showed. Six percent remain undecided. This survey of 688 likely voters has an error margin of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points. Among the 1,233 registered voters surveyed, Menendez has a 41-38 percent edge. This survey has an error margin...

New Jersey’s Democratic elite has developed a well-worn reputation for cockiness. And for good reason: Since 1972, only two Republicans—Tom Kean Sr. and Christine Todd Whitman, each elected and re-elected governor—have won statewide elections in New Jersey, and only once did their victory margin exceed one percentage point. But cockiness also explains the predicament that Garden State Democrats now face: Six weeks before what figures to be the most Democrat-friendly midterm election in a generation, it is very possible—if not probable—that they will squander what should have been one of their party’s safest Senate seats. Through scandals that would have...

Looks like the New Jersey Dems are getting desperate.

Some interesting poll numbers in a swing town A poll conducted for the Democratic mayoral candidate in North Arlington shows Republican Thomas Kean, Jr. leading Democratic U.S. Senator Robert Menendez by a 47%-29% margin in this Democratic-leaning blue collar town of 15,181 people. The same survey, done by Neighborhood Research, gives Democrat Peter Massa a 31-point lead in the race for Mayor over Republican Peter Norcia, and Bergen County Executive Dennis McNerney a ten-point lead against his GOP challenger, Todd Caliguire. North Arlington's voter registration is 30% Democratic, 18% Republican and 52% Unaffiliated. In 2005, Jon Corzine won North Arlington...

For pure entertainment value, not much can compete with the blood sport of New Jersey politics. Last week federal investigators launched a probe into whether U.S. Senator Robert Menendez illegally benefited to the tune of more than $300,000 from a rental-income deal he had with a nonprofit agency that received millions of dollars in federal contracts. Even liberal good government groups agree that the relationship may have violated congressional conflict-of-interest rules. The allegations have sparked a mini-panic among state Democratic operatives, who not so long ago thought Mr. Menendez -- who was appointed by Jon Corzine ... had the November...

Like most successful politicians, U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez has rarely ducked a TV camera during a campaign. But the Democrat, who this week dropped several hundred thousand dollars on a TV ad buy, declined an invitation to debate his opponent, Republican state Sen. Tom Kean Jr., next month on "Meet the Press," the nationally televised Sunday talk show. "We are turning down 'Meet the Press' so that we can focus on local affiliates, local reporters and appearances before New Jersey voters," spokesman Matt Miller said. The Star-Ledger reported last week that federal investigators have subpoenaed records of a rental deal...

New GOP attack on Menendez Wednesday, September 13, 2006 By DEBORAH HOWLETT NEWHOUSE NEWS SERVICE Republican state lawmakers yesterday filed a new ethics complaint against Democratic U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez, accusing him of using his seat in Congress to protect the value of a stock he owned. Aides to Menendez called the complaint "baseless" and say it's part of a mud-slinging effort by "lackies" of his Republican challenger, state Sen. Tom Kean Jr. Advertisement State Sen. Diane Allen, R-Burlington, and Assemblywoman Alison Littell McHose, R-Sussex, claim Menendez violated House ethics rules by working to prevent a $3.5 billion merger of...

Facing a federal investigation just two months before his election, U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez offered a fiery defense of his honor yesterday and accused the U.S. Attorney of engaging in an "orchestrated" smear campaign to destroy him. The Democratic senator at tacked the timing of a subpoena is sued by federal investigators seek ing documents related to a rental deal Menendez had with a nonprofit agency in Hudson County from 1994 to 2003. The subpoena was delivered to the North Hudson Community Action Corp. earlier this week, sources familiar with the move told The Star-Ledger Thursday night. During a defiant...

A federal investigation has been launched into the financial dealings of New Jersey Sen. Robert Menendez and a nonprofit agency he has helped over the years, sources said. The U.S. attorney's office has subpoenaed the agency's records pertaining to a house once owned by then-congressman Menendez, sources told NewsChannel 4's Brian Thompson. Menendez, a Democrat, has denied there was anything wrong with his renting the house to the North Hudson Community Action Corp. for more than $3,000 a month, even as he was working to obtain millions of dollars in federal grant money while he was a congressman

Federal Probe Launched Into Menendez's Finances A federal investigation has been launched into the financial dealings of New Jersey Sen. Robert Menendez and a nonprofit agency he has helped over the years, sources said. The U.S. attorney's office has subpoened the agency's records pertaining to a house once owned by then-congressman Menendez, sources told NewsChannel 4's Brian Thompson. Menendez has denied there was anything wrong with his renting the house to the North Hudson Community Action Corp. for more than $3,000 a month

Rasmussen: Kean up 5 I am certain that Gerry, et al will have much more about this on crosstabs later today (and if you're not reading crosstabs, you're missing the most comprehensive polling coverage on the web), but I wanted to quickly point out a couple of new polls available today behind the Rasmussen pay wall. First, Tom Kean is now up 5 over Menendez, 44-39. Incumbents below 40 are generally in very serious trouble, but the usual caveat about leaners/dead people breaking Democrat at the last minute in New Jersey applies. Second, Rasmussen also has another "generic ballot" poll...

TRENTON, N.J. - The U.S. Senate race between Republican Tom Kean Jr. and Democrat Robert Menendez is virtually deadlocked, but if voters weren't so concerned about the war in Iraq, Kean could hold a clear lead, according to a poll released Wednesday. A portion of Fairleigh Dickinson University's PublicMind Poll designed to test the impact of national issues on the race indicated that if the war were not a factor, Kean could be leading Menendez by 47-36 percent. As it stands, however, 43 percent of voters polled said they favor Kean to 39 percent for Menendez, a difference that matches...