Menendez is pathetic. If Obama was so terrific he could run on his record and since he can't, we are subjected to this drivel.

Unfortunately Bob, the Dems have done little to nothing to correct any problems in this country. Should we give Obama and your Party another 4 years to make good on your promises of the last 4 years? Maybe that's why the slogan is "Forward" because there is nothing to look back on.
If something is not done to control this out of control national debt and the cost of Medicare, not only will Medicare disappear but this country will go the ways of Greece and Spain.
I am willing to give someone else a chance, the same chance you and Obama had 4 years ago and did almost nothing.

Obama IS running on his record vs. the Party of No that stands for obstruction rather than moving the country forward. It's the GOP that has no positive record (other than trying to kill Medicare, start another war, and give more tax breaks to the rich).

What the Senator forgets is that despite two stimulus packages and a lack of a real leader in the white house, our economy has failed to grow at a healthy pace. Senator Menendez believes that more government spending and more government involvement is what is best for our state and our country. He believes that simple distribution of wealth, through a higher tax rate on small business owners and those with HHIs of over $250K is what will bring down our nation’s debt, improve our school systems and put all Americans back to work. This is what he and the Democrats believe. No plans have been submitted on how to solve these problems however and so far all the Democrats and Sen. Menendez have done, is pass a health care reform that was determined by the Supreme Court to be a tax…a tax that will have direct burden on the same middle class Mr. Menendez claims he is the champion of.

This is why I will be voting for all Republicans this fall and look forward to hearing more and more about Joe Kyrillos – challenger to Roberto Menendez.

The US can't risk having this slob re-elected.

Must be a slow newsday. Why are we running a political puff piece with no real value nor alternate opinion? Just because there's a convention? Just because he's the delegation leader?

This is a non-story (democrat leading state's delegation to democratic convention says vote for the democrat because the other guys plan doesn't work)..... come on!

This ranks up there with the Charles Schumer is going to (insert trend du jour) that run EVERY weekend on New York news outlets.

Obama and Menendez are both full of excuses. I have found those who constantly make excuses are rarely good at doing anything else...

Liberals.........when will you wake up and realize that Obama is using you as his "Useful Idiots" to collapse the American system to usher in communism. When?

http://weaselzippers.us/2012/09/04/poll-majority-of-americans-say-obama-does-not-deserve-a-second-term-country-in-worse-condition-since-he-took-office/

Both parties are the reason for this mess we are in, time to stop pointing fingers gentlemen and start getting to work to fix it and quit the blaming, if not time to fire us some people on both sides of the house. Who wants to be first?

This guy is a disgraceful sham! His type of old school NJ politics and milking of the productive members of society ends NOW!

Useless is the only word to describe this Dem hack. He has done nothing fot NJ and joins his other useless collegue as the worst Senators in Washington. Leave it to the liberals in the press room to try and make him sound half intelligent.

Good thing enough voters live in a fact-based reality to re-elect the president. These people know that the economy has greatly improved since the president took over and his polcies kicked in. Four million jobs have been added during that time (500,000 manufacturing), there has been a steady increase in GDP, exports are kicking ass, the stock market has doubled in volume....Could things be even better? Yes - but for that to happen we need the republicans to stop doing everything they can to prevent the president from succeeding and start doing what is best for the country. Imagine how much further along we would be and how much better off millions of Americans would be if the republicans worked with the president and not against him.

...I think the Republican's record is clearly stated in their party platform. . ."go back to the past"

Yes - Back in time to a fictional Mayberry. To a time when life expectancy was 15 years shorter, Jim Crow ruled the south and all the rest of rural America, women where treated like they are property....

I enjoy this website for its local coverage; the sort of things that are important to us but are ignored by other media outlets. So ... why run this piece? I'd have expected - and preferred - something about local folks attending the convention, for example. Sen. Menendez and the Democrats from Essex County get more than their share of coverage elsewhere.

As you can see from the Republican rants on Patch all they have to offer America is attacks on the middle class, attacks on Medicare with a hated “voucher” plan, attacks on Women’s Rights, and attacks on immigrants. The Republicans are the most divisive element in American society. All the Republicans care about are their beloved “corporate people” as they cry for more tax breaks for billionaires. The Republicans want middle class families and their children to wait for the crumbs to fall from the table as the billionaires feast. The Democratic Party is the only hope for the middle class, their families and children, the American Dream will not trickle down to our families as the GOP claims.

Amen! How come the rich 1% (with all their Bush tax breaks) haven't "trickled down" any jobs to get us out of the recession caused by the banksters among them? Because they stated that their #1 goal isn't to help the country -- it's to defeat the President.

VOTERS WAKE UP......If the USA is to survive we need to vanish all the DemocRATS from public office.

So Much to Say - You have way too much to say and it is just hate-speak like the rest of the Tea Party Republicans. Notice that NONE of the previous Republican administration was invited to the Convestion. Notice Bush, Chaney, Colin Powell, Donald Rumsfeld - were not invited. WHY? Becaue it would be a reminder of who made this enormous mess the country is in right now. Bush gave tax cuts and declared an unnecessary war at the same time. Never in history was a war declared and taxes cut simultaneously (Haliburton, Chaney's company got rich but many many people died) yes who wants to be reminded of the selfishness of the Republicans. Now they have passed voter suppression laws (how does that sit with the US Constitution?) taking away the right to vote in Republican run states. That is more of an afront to this country than anything I can think of - taking away a person's right to vote to get your billionaire, corporate raider, tax evader voted in as President The Republicans are not the Reagan Republicans anymore I think Reagan would be appalled at his party now.

More dumocrap...Obama pushed his Obamacare up our a$$ in the first two years in office with the full co-operation of the dumocrat house and the dumocrat senate. He raced it thru because he knew in 2010, after that he would not be able to.
I don't have to patience or the time to expose all the dumocrap we've had to deal with in the last couple months. (would take days). Obama has spent at least (no) time discussing all his failed economic policies. Socialism--here we come. Go see 2016.

Jennifer, if you use "spellcheck", your hate speak would be more effective

He is a panderer to the illegals, all he cared about was the Dream Act, more give aways to criminals. Decent taxpaying americans can't get medical treatment, go into debt to send their kids through college and pay their taxes. This guy stands for all that is wrong. Get rid of this liberal moron.

You know what is tragic? Take note of how all of the dem commenters here are all saying the same things over and over again. Not a single independent thought amongst them. We need a senator who might actually relevant in DC. If Menedez was or Lautenberg wasn't so decicated, perhaps Ft. Monmouth would still be open.

President Obama could be stronger and fails to reach out for the support from the people, but the Republicans have done nothing to help this country. In fact, their purpose clearly stated is not to help the country, but to defeat President Obama. Congress is expected to compromise. How can anything be accomplished without compromise? The Republicans all signed a no tax increase pledge removing a key element to any area of compromise. The Republicans created two unfunded wars and gave out a tax cut at the same time, and then say support our troops. Wow, what a load of disingenuous BS. Trickle-down economics... you all know the only thing that trickles down.

Bill Dowd for President

“Menendez said voters shouldn't be fooled by the promises being made by the Republican candidates” LOL Senator are you confused don’t you mean “HOPE AND CHANGE” the BS mantra of our community disorganizer in chief? “If I can’t fix DC in 4 years I don’t deserve to be re-elected” “I will have a transparent administration” Senator having a memory problem? You and Lautenberg (when they let him out of the home) are incredible party BS shovelers, neither one of you has done anything helpful for NJ for years!

No one has yet to discuss the large bill this country got from day 1, many moons ago, from all your buddies that invented the dept up to President Obama.
The money spent by every war the R put their nose in at the cost of all of us Veterans lives. Wars that only happened when a R was in the building.
Those same R did nothing to help the Veterans that returned from being jacked up for the Rs. They did sumthing all right. Ignored them and their fams. Oh yeah, and try to privatize our jobs to their buddies.

Absolutely, the Politicians talk about how they support the vets, but they only act when forced. War is something no one should experience. If they are sending people in harm's way, then they should be willing to assume the costs of our disabled vets in a manor that shows respect for service.

Good line Al.

I'm ashamed to say that I voted for Obama. I won't make that mistake again. He didn't help me or my family in any way.

It's official our debt is now 16 trillion dollars .Blame whoever you want but this debt will put our kids in poverty ,we all will live OK but our kids deep down will hate us for what we have done to their lives .Don't kid yourselves we have no way of ever repaying this debt china and russia will dictate the terms of repayment ,exactly like what Greece and Spain are seeing now .Obama wants to keep us on this path to doom .

I want to thank you pro-Menendez, etc. commenters for continuing to prove me right. By the way, you forgot to blame everything on Bush, Clinton, Bush 41, Reagan, Carter, etc. And don't forget the "race card" too. Or are you saving those for later?

Primary sources of deficit: Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, TARP and associated Fannie/Freddie costs, Medicare Part - C, Bush tax cuts (impact just during his terms), and revenue losses from economic downturn. Obama is responsible for a portion of the last factor and that is one of the smaller factors and for the costs of the wars during his term (FYI for those who rely on Fox News, etc... the president ended one of those wars and has comitted to ending the other in 2014...and, by the way, he has the integrity to put the wars on the books which Bush did not do). Reality - Try it.

Part 1 of 3:
DO YOU REMEMBER JANUARY 3, 2007? This can be a real eye opener.

This tells the story of why Bush was so bad at the end of his term ...

Don’t just skim over this, because it’s not very long. Read it slowly and let it sink in. If in doubt, check it out!!!

The day the Democrats took over was not January 22nd 2009, it was actually January 3rd 2007 the day the Democrats took over the House of Representatives and the Senate, at the very start of the 110th Congress. The Democrat Party controlled a majority in both chambers for the first time since the end of the 103rd Congress in 1995.

Part 2:
For those who are listening to the liberals propagating the fallacy that everything is "Bush's Fault", think about this:

January 3rd, 2007 was the day the Democrats took over the Senate and the Congress.

At the time:
The DOW Jones closed at 12,621.77
The GDP for the previous quarter was 3.5%
The Unemployment rate was 4.6%
George Bush's Economic policies SET A RECORD of 52 STRAIGHT MONTHS of JOB GROWTH

Remember the day...
January 3rd, 2007 was the day that Barney Frank took over the House Financial Services Committee and Chris Dodd took over the Senate Banking Committee. The economic meltdown that happened 15 months later was in what part of the economy?

BANKING AND FINANCIAL SERVICES!
Unemployment... to this CRISIS by (among MANY other things) dumping 5-6 TRILLION Dollars of toxic loans on the economy from YOUR Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac FIASCOES!

Part 3:
Bush asked Congress 17 TIMES to stop Fannie & Freddie - starting in 2001 because it was financially risky for the US economy.

And who took the THIRD highest pay-off from Fannie Mae AND Freddie Mac? OBAMA And who fought against reform of Fannie and Freddie? OBAMA and the Democrat Congress. So when someone tries to blame Bush, REMEMBER JANUARY 3rd, 2007.... THE DAY THE DEMOCRATS TOOK OVER!" Budgets do not come from the White House. They come from Congress and the party that controlled Congress since January 2007 is the Democrat Party. Furthermore, the Democrats controlled the budget process for 2008 & 2009 as well as 2010 & 2011.
In that first year, they had to contend with George Bush, which caused them to compromise on spending, when Bush somewhat belatedly got tough on spending increases. For 2009, though, Nancy Pelosi & Harry Reid bypassed George Bush entirely, passing continuing resolutions to keep government running until Barack Obama
could take office. At that time, they passed a massive omnibus spending bill to complete the 2009 budgets.
And where was Barack Obama during this time? He was a member of that very Congress that passed all of these massive spending bills, and he signed the omnibus bill as President to complete 2009.

If the Democrats inherited any deficit, it was the 2007 deficit, the last of the Republican budgets. That deficit was the lowest in five years, and the fourth straight decline in deficit spending. After that, Democrats in Congress took control of spending, and that includes Barack Obama, who voted for the budgets. If Obama inherited anything, he inherited it from himself.

In a nutshell, what Obama is saying is I inherited a deficit that I voted for and then I voted to expand that deficit four-fold since January 20th.

God Bless America!

God save America from Obama and his radical ideas! If we give him another term, America will be doomed into a civil war!

Part 1:

Your President and His Daughter

Secret service men are not mothers and are not a parent and not
chaperones. At 13 a parent can let the child make decisions, and
balance the consequences under their direct supervision. The kids
will be safe, but that isn't the main consideration.

Your President Well, he is at it again - with our tax dollars. Obama
setting a great parental example letting a 13 year old fly to Mexico
for spring break. Great example of Obama's wisdom as a father. You
probably are not aware, because the new media has not covered this?
That’s another subject! But Obama’s 8th grade, 13 year old
daughter, took a few (12) of her girl classmates, on spring break, to
Mexico. Oh, almost forgot the best part, and 25 secret servicemen.
Estimated cost of this spring break trip- $2.5 million!

Part 2:
Doesn’t that
give you a warm and fuzzy feeling that your tax dollars are being
spent so wisely and 13 year old girls flying to Mexico for spring break?

Or "do as I say, not as I do" - - - they, our Royal Family, tell us
to buy electric cars while they are flying all over the world on our
tax money, using more fuel than 1000 cars.

Is this insane--or what?

After driving the U.S. More deeply into debt than any other President,
want to know where Obama’s 13 year-old daughter is right now with 12
friends? On “spring break” in Oaxaca Mexico, on your dime. She took
two jets and 25 secret service men.

A thirteen year-old?

Why haven’t you heard about it?

The Obama Administration has had the Secret Service scouring the web
ordering that any website mentioning this be taken down because
letting the travel plans out could endanger the president’s
daughter’s security.

Nonsense, the “royal couple” just want to hide the way they are
ripping off the U. S. Taxpayerhttp://www.wtam.com/cc-common/news/sections/newsarticle.HTML?feed=104668&article=9921576

Only a few Canadian Web-sites still have it up.
http://www.edmontonjournal.com/travel/Obama+daughter+spends+spring+break+Mexico/6323773/story.html

This trip will cost more than most Americans make in their entire
lifetimes----13 YEARS OLD.

God Save Us From Barack Husein Obama!

Part 1:

Why I Do Not Like The Obamas

The other evening on my twitter, a person asked me why I didn’t like the Obamas? Specifically I was asked: “I have to ask, why do you hate the Obama’s? It seems personal, not policy related. You even dissed their Christmas family pic.”

The truth is I do not like the Obamas, what they represent, their ideology, and I certainly do not like his policies and legislation. I’ve made no secret of my contempt for the Obamas. As I responded to the person who asked me the aforementioned question, I don’t like them because they are committed to the fundamental change of my/our country into what can only be regarded as a Communist state.

I don’t hatethem per definition, but I condemn them because they are the worst kind of racialists, they are elitist Leninists with contempt for traditional America. They display disrespect for the sanctity of the office he holds, and for those who are willing to admit same, Michelle Obama’s raw contempt for white America is transpicuous.

Part 2:

I don’t like them because they comport themselves as emperor and empress. I expect, no, I demand respect, for the Office of President and a love of our country and her citizenry from the leader entrusted with the governance of same. President and Mrs. Reagan displayed an unparalleled love for the country and her people. The Reagans made Americans feel good about themselves and about what we could accomplish. Could you envision President Reagan instructing his Justice Department to act like jack-booted thugs?

Presidents are politicians and all politicians are known and pretty much expected to manipulate the truth, if not outright lie, but even using that low standard, the Obama’s have taken lies, dishonesty, deceit, mendacity, subterfuge and obfuscation to new depths. They are verbally abusive to the citizenry and they display an animus for civility.

I do not like them, because they both display bigotry overtly, as in the case of Harvard Professor Louis Gates, when he accused the Cambridge Police of acting stupidly, and her code speak pursuant to now being able to be proud of America.

Part 3:

I view that statement and that mindset as an insult to those who died to provide a country where a Kenyan, his illegal alien relatives, and his alleged progeny, could come and not only live freely, but rise to the highest, most powerful, position in the world. Michelle Obama is free to hate and disparage whites, because Americans of every description paid with their blood to ensure her right to do same.

I have a saying, that “the only reason a person hides things, is because they have something to hide.” No president in history has spent over a million dollars to keep his records and his past sealed.

And what the two of them have shared has been proved to be lies. He lied about when and how they met, he lied about his mother’s death and problems with insurance, Michelle lied to a crowd pursuant to nearly $500,000 bank stocks they inherited from his family. He has lied about his father’s military service, about the civil rights movement, ad nauseum. He lied to the world about the Supreme Court in a State of the Union address.

Part 3:

He berated and publicly insulted a sitting Congressman. He has surrounded himself with the most rabidly, radical, socialist academicians today. He has fought for abortion procedures and opposed rulings that protected women and children, that even Planned Parenthood did not seek to support. He is openly hostile to business and aggressively hostile to Israel. His wife treats being the First Lady, as her personal American Express Black Card (arguably the most prestigious credit card in the world). I condemn them because, as people are suffering, losing their homes, their jobs, their retirements, he and his family are arrogantly showing off their life of entitlement – as he goes about creating and fomenting class warfare.

I don’t like them, and I neither apologize nor retreat from my public condemnation of them and of his policies. We should condemn them for the disrespect they show our people, for his willful and unconstitutional actions pursuant to obeying the Constitutional parameters he is bound by, and his willful disregard for Congressional authority.

Robert - You are a paragon of the current Republican. I wish the Party had you read these comments from the podium at the convention during the 10 pm slot, on national TV...and then let you cover some other topics with this kind of candidness. Instead they made a contrived and failed effort to appear reasonable, compassionate, and otherwise sensible. If only the viewing public got a peak at what the Party really is - YOU.

Part 4:

Dislike for them has nothing to do with the color of their skin, it has everything to do with their behavior, attitudes, and policies. And I have open scorn for their playing the race card.

It is my intention to do all within my ability to ensure their reign is one term. I could go on, but let me conclude with this. I condemn in the strongest possible terms the media for refusing to investigate them, as they did President Bush and President Clinton, and for refusing to label them for what they truly are. There is no scenario known to man, whereby a white president and his wife could ignore laws, flaunt their position, and lord over the people, as these two are permitted out of fear for their color.

Part 5:

As I wrote in a syndicated column titled “Nero In The White House” – “Never in my life, inside or outside of politics, have I witnessed such dishonesty in a political leader. He is the most mendacious political figure I have ever witnessed. Even by the low standards of his presidential predecessors, his narcissistic, contumacious arrogance is unequalled. Using Obama as the bar, Nero would have to be elevated to sainthood ... Many in America wanted to be proud when the first person of color was elected president, but instead, they have been witness to a congenital liar, a woman who has been ashamed of America her entire life, failed policies, intimidation, and a commonality hitherto not witnessed in political leaders. He and his wife view their life at our expense as an entitlement – while America’s people go homeless, hungry and unemployed.”

Part 6:
Oh, and as for it being personal, you tell me how you would feel if a senator from Illinois sent you a personally signed card, intended to intimidate you and your family. Because you had written a syndicated column titled “Darth Democrat” that was critical of him.

God Bless America! Obama must go!

Part 1:

Why I Do Not Like The Obamas

The other evening on my twitter, a person asked me why I didn’t like the Obamas? Specifically I was asked: “I have to ask, why do you hate the Obama’s? It seems personal, not policy related. You even dissed their Christmas family pic.”

The truth is I do not like the Obamas, what they represent, their ideology, and I certainly do not like his policies and legislation. I’ve made no secret of my contempt for the Obamas. As I responded to the person who asked me the aforementioned question, I don’t like them because they are committed to the fundamental change of my/our country into what can only be regarded as a Communist state.

I don’t hatethem per definition, but I condemn them because they are the worst kind of racialists, they are elitist Leninists with contempt for traditional America. They display disrespect for the sanctity of the office he holds, and for those who are willing to admit same, Michelle Obama’s raw contempt for white America is transpicuous.

This jerk doesn't care that 23 Million are unemployed, as long as he keeps his job.

robert tarosa please tell us there isnt a part 5 to your manifesto

robert taurosa "how i spent my summer vacation" coming to a book store near you

Go see the movie 2016 Obama's America - If you voted for him last time you won't vote for him again after seeing this movie. (all backed up with FACT).

When it comes to sucess stories of Cuban-American families, I prefer Marco Rubio Fla), and his message of self created opportunity due to individual effort and intelligence as opposed to Menendez's message of more free government aid. It is an insult to the Hispanic community to say that they need MORE HELP than the previous immigration groups that preceeded them in large numbers. By this I mean, for example, "for Chinese/Korean/Farsi/ Creole/Portuguese/etc,etc press #1". Economic opportunity is the same for all. It comes with hard work and the desire to make a better life for ones family. Educational opportunity, also includes the trades, self teaching, apprenticships, and practical experience, not only a college degree. Mr. Menendez has tunnel vision accquired from sitting on the stoop too long in Union City. His dreams are a slap in the face of hardworking and INTELLIGENT Hispanic throughout our great country. His dreams are based on a socialist or communistic vision of a Utopian society, which is unattainable due to the agressive and competitive nature of the human animal.

Dan you can't allow people like Robert Taurosa to take over blogs, please put a stop to this!

@Robert Taurosa.....Thank you for writing everything that many of my family, friends, and myself are thinking. You saved me a lot of typing. You're spot on with your analysis.
@Mrgrumpass.....He hasn't taken over the blog as you allege. Split his comments in half because those are my thoughts and space he used.

Robert Turkavage, an Indepenant is a good choice for us here in NJ. Not a member of either political machine, family guy, ex-FBI, married to ex-FBI, coruption buster,etc. Look him up, I did and was impressed by his bio and his stance on the issues.