Scoring Points!

Earlier this month, Senator Barbara Buono (D-Middlesex), Chair of the State Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee, scored points for fiscal responsibility and common sense by advocating the elimination of pension credit for part-time government employees. This past week, she scored a touchdown when she pledged to reject any attempts to insert “Christmas Tree items” into the budget for the new fiscal year beginning July 1. She also proposed the restoration of $62 million in proposed cuts in municipal aid, including $37 million in eliminated tax relief for towns with fewer than 10,000 residents.

So-called “Christmas Tree items” are typically inserted by legislators during the final phase of the budget process to provide money for pet projects of that legislator. Usually, the projects will benefit the legislator politically and will benefit supporters of the legislator financially. “Christmas Tree items” inflate our State budget by tens of millions of dollars every year, costing our taxpayers unnecessarily. Senator Buono’s pledge to reject all “Christmas Tree items” is not only welcome but should be adopted by every legislator.

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Michael M. Shapiro, founder of ShapTalk.com, is an attorney who resides in New Providence, New Jersey. He currently serves as the Editor of The Alternative Press Contact Mike at mike@shaptalk.com

The Administration's Recent Shift Towards Sudan

Today, I joined several of my colleagues to condemn the Bush Administration’s recent shift in policy towards Sudan.

I am proud that the United States was one of the largest international humanitarian and peacekeeping supporters in Sudan and Darfur, but the recent actions by the Administration are completely unacceptable.

The United States should not be meeting with Nafi Ali Nafi, the man responsible for many of Sudan’s domestic atrocities and a link to international terrorism. Meetings like this send the wrong message to the international community and terrorist organizations.

I will continue to condemn these actions and speak out for the oppressed people of Sudan and Darfur while in Congress.

Rep. Scott Garrett represents the 5th district of New Jersey.

Reining In Out-of-Control Spending

As New Jersey copes with its increasing budget woes, perhaps the Legislature should consider several measures that would help reduce out-of-control spending: unannounced audits and the elimination or transformation of pension credit for part-time government work.

A bill sponsored by Assemblyman Jon Bramnick (R) currently languishing in the State Legislature, A-222, would require the Office of the State Auditor to perform unannounced audits of any program of a State or State-supported agency as long as such an audit is requested by any member of the Legislature.

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Michael M. Shapiro, founder of ShapTalk.com, is an attorney who resides in New Providence, New Jersey. He currently serves as the Editor of The Alternative Press Contact Mike at mike@shaptalk.com

Washington Must Decrease Spending

Earlier this week, I joined several of my colleagues to offer a piece of legislation that would help to decrease federal spending. The Spending Limit Amendment, which was created by the Republican Study Committee, would limit federal spending each year to the growth of America’s economy, capping spending at 20 percent of the Gross Domestic Product.

I strongly believe that it’s long past time that the overspending in Washington comes to an end. New Jersey’s hardworking taxpayers should not have to bear the burden for the gross misuse of government funds. This year we witnessed the passage of a $683 billion tax increase to pay for Washington’s out-of-control spending habits. America’s middle class and small businesses should not be the ones taking the financial hit.

This legislation would prohibit federal spending from growing faster than nominal GDP, capping it at 20 percent of GDP and require the President’s annual budget submission to have an overall spending total that complies with the spending limit. It would give Congress the authority to enforce and implement this article by appropriate legislation and the ability to waive the limit for any year that a declaration of war is in effect. Also, this bill allows Congress to suspend the limit for any reason with a two-thirds vote of both Houses. The Spending Limit Amendment helps Washington grow up and take responsibility for its actions. When you don’t have money to spend, stop spending; don’t steal from the pockets of our nation’s families.

Rep. Scott Garrett represents the 5th district of New Jersey.

Why Mrs. Andrews?

Last week, Camille Andrews, wife of Congressman and candidate for the United States Senate Rob Andrews, was selected to be on the June Primary ballot as the Democratic candidate for her husband’s seat in Congress. Is Mrs. Andrews qualified to serve in Congress? Absolutely. Is her selection a wise political move? Absolutely not. In fact, the selection of Mrs. Andrews to run for Congress undermines her husband’s insurgent campaign.

By all accounts, Camille Andrews is certainly qualified to serve in Congress and would likely be a solid member for the residents of District 1 and the State of New Jersey. She is an Associate Dean at Rutgers School of Law-Camden, teaches several classes at the law school and serves as a faculty advisor to the Rutgers Law Review. She is a former partner at Dilworth Paxson and was a star law school and undergraduate student prior to her work at the firm. She also serves on a number of community boards, including the New Jersey Cares Board.

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Michael M. Shapiro, founder of ShapTalk.com, is an attorney who resides in New Providence, New Jersey. He currently serves as the Editor of The Alternative Press Contact Mike at mike@shaptalk.com

China and the Summer Olympics

I’m a fan of the Olympic Games. My family and I look forward to watching individuals from all over the world compete for the gold in Beijing, China. I am always proud of our nation’s athletes; they have worked tirelessly for the chance to participate. But recently I’m extremely frustrated with the Chinese government’s detestable human rights decisions.

I believe it is horrific that China supports Sudan’s genocidal regime, persecutes citizens for practicing religion, and denies basic freedoms to their own people. These oppressive actions must be stopped.

I recently signed onto HR 5668, a bill that would require President Bush and other American politicians to boycott the opening ceremonies of the Olympics. I believe this sends a crucial message to China, and other nations—the United States will not tolerate oppressive actions that prohibit freedom. This bill does not punish the athletes who have spent hours upon hours training for various events. And it does not prohibit them from competing.

For the victims in China, I hope President Bush hears us.

Rep. Scott Garrett represents the 5th district of New Jersey.

Communicating with New Jersey Legislators Via E-mail

According to the Office of Legislative Services, the only way for residents of New Jersey to contact Legislators by email is through an online form available on the website for the New Jersey State Legislature, http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/ The online form has a number of significant problems that make it unnecessarily difficult for residents to use. Because of these problems, I asked the Office of Legislative Services for the email addresses of our State Legislators so that I could contact them without using the online form. The Office told me that the email addresses for the Legislators are not available to the public “because of severe spamming problems” and therefore “the form is the current protocol.”

If a resident wishes to contact his Legislator via email, he currently needs to go to the Legislature’s website, http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/ If he knows his Legislator’s name, he can use the roster available on the site to get to a webpage that allows him to fill out an online form to send a message to the Legislator. If he does not know the elected official’s name, the resident can locate him as long as he knows either the municipality or election district in which that resident lives. Fair enough. On to filling out the form…

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Michael M. Shapiro, founder of ShapTalk.com, is an attorney who resides in New Providence, New Jersey. He currently serves as the Editor of The Alternative Press Contact Mike at mike@shaptalk.com

It is Time to “Change Congress”

This past month, Stanford Law Professor Larry Lessig and Joe Trippi, former campaign manager for Howard Dean and senior advisor to John Edwards in their runs for the White House, teamed up to form “Change Congress,” a national movement to help end corruption in the United States Congress (www.change-congress.org). The organization is advocating for several important measures that will help reform Washington, asks all candidates to pledge to undertake these reforms, and encourages citizens to promote these important issues by agreeing to a similar pledge.

First, “Change Congress” asks candidates running for Congress to pledge not to accept lobbyist or PAC money. Second, it advocates for an end to Congressional earmarks in order to eliminate wasteful government spending. Third, the organization demands transparency in Washington including having members of Congress publicly disclose meetings with registered lobbyists, earmark requests, and other such reforms. Last, “Change Congress” seeks publicly financed campaigns to end the corrosive influence of campaign contributions to the political process.

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Michael M. Shapiro, founder of ShapTalk.com, is an attorney who resides in New Providence, New Jersey. He currently serves as the Editor of The Alternative Press Contact Mike at mike@shaptalk.com

Tax Day is Coming

April 15th is Tax Day, the day when income taxes for American residents are due. The daunting task of filing taxes is dreaded by many. Unfortunately, for an increasing number of middle class families, the task has become even harder. And, that’s because an increasing number of middle class families will find themselves subject to the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT).

The AMT is an outdated and onerous tax which is not indexed to inflation. It affects millions of tax payers each year and that doesn’t have to be the case. Last year, I re-introduced my AMT Middle Class Fairness Act, which would index the AMT to inflation and allow a state and local tax deduction against the AMT.

As a New Jerseyan you are already paying too much in taxes; the AMT shouldn’t be added onto your costs. Congress needs to make fixing the AMT a priority. We need to turn the focus of Washington to the family budget and not the federal one.

Rep. Scott Garrett represents the 5th district of New Jersey.