Our Politics

Tag: new jersey

  • Grassroots Organizations for Collective Policies

    Grassroots Organizations for Collective Policies

    Organizations and Links helpful to good Grassroots policy idea and website links.Along with Information

    General + Organizations 
    Eventbrite  -Post Events on here to get more people showing up
    League of Women Voters
    Our Revolution
    Progressive Democrats
    Food and Water Watch (Environmental Organization mostly against Climate Change/Pollution and supportive of efforts to expand Clean Water/AHealthy Foods)

    American Immigration Council
    Environment New Jersey
    Organization For Fair Drug Laws
    Bus for Progress –
    New Jersey Citizen Action (Citizen advocacy group- beware somewhat corporate aligned)
    Justice Democrats

    AdLibbing– Social Good Marketing Organization

    Fighting Corruption

    https://represent.us/about/ (passing city wide anti-corruption laws)

    https://volunteer.represent.us/chapters

    Wolf PAC  (Money out of Politics) via constitutional amendment

    https://vimeo.com/278195786

    https://www.publicintegrity.org/2016/02/11/19283/here-are-interests-lobbying-every-statehouse -COVANTA HOLDING CORP. FIRSTENERGY CORP. VERIZON COMMUNICATIONS INC. PRUDENTIAL FINANCIAL INC. CABLEVISION SYSTEMS CORP.) Top Industries lobbying NJ(2014)!

    https://freedom-to-tinker.com/2011/09/13/nj-election-cover/

    Books on NJ Corruption

    The Soprano State: New Jersey’s Culture of Corruption
    by Bob Ingle, Sandy McClure (2006)

    Soft Corruption: How Unethical Conduct Undermines Good Government and What To Do About It
    by William E. Schluter

    Health Care
    Health Over Profit (Universal Health Care)
    Physicians for a National Health Program (Universal Health Care)

    http://www.nationalnursesunited.org/ – Nurses for  Universal Healthcare

    https://www.kff.org/statedata/

    http://universalhealthcarenj.org/index.html – For putting NJ on Medicare

    https://www.njsaferatios.com/ For a ratio of patient/nurse number for healthcare

    http://universalhealthcarenj.org/Top_Tools_Tactics_Notes_Links_SMT.pdf

    Environmental, Sustainability

    Environment New Jersey

    http://www.cleanenergyresourceteams.org/solargardens – Solar Gardens

    Home

    https://www.njlcv.org/

    http://asbcouncil.org/nj#.WeU1gmhSxPY – American Sustainable Business Council NJ

    Food and Water Watch

    http://www.arboraesthetics.com/blog/category/tree-planting
    http://urbanforestrynetwork.org/benefits/aesthetic.htm
    http://www.gardenaesthetics.com/
    http://gardenpool.org/diy-projects – creating sustainable living in US and Abroad
    http://phe.rockefeller.edu/ -Research focuses on long-term trends relevant to the environment, including changes in population,
    http://www.lead.org.au/fs/fst29.html – Getting lead out of drinking water

    https://www.nrdc.org/ – Protecting US Environment

    http://www.vrg.org/- Vegetarian resource group

    (From NJ Future Website)-http://designyourtown.org/places/ – Can look at town designs

    https://www.institut.veolia.org/en/nos-publications/la-revue-de-linstitut-facts-reports/reinventing-plastics

    Peace & International Conflict Resolution 
    Humanitarian Law Project (Fight for Human Rights)
    Veterans for Peace (For International Peace and Nuclear Disarmament)
    https://www.peacecoalition.org/ – For International Peace and Nuclear Disarm

    http://worldbeyondwar.org/who/ -World Beyond War is a global nonviolent movement to end war and establish a just and sustainable peace.

    The Cost to End World Hunger

    Peace Voter

    http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=114294746

    http://gunsandbutter.org/ten-topicsten-shows.htm

    http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/meiklejohn/meik-peacelaw/meik-peacelaw-10.html

    Women, Womens rights, Womens Issues
    http://www.nownj.net/about-us/about-now-nj – NJ State-wide women’s rights activist organization

    http://www.wpcnj.org/ – Womens Political Caucus of New Jersey – getting women elected/voting

    https://girlswhocode.com/ – Helps Young Women Learn to Code

    League of Women Voters

    https://www.plannedparenthood.org/

    Internet Issues, Cyber Security, Freedom of Information 

    https://civic.mit.edu/ – Goal :sign, create, deploy, and assess tools and processes that support and foster civic participation and the flow of information between and within communities.

    http://comprop.oii.ox.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/2017/07/Troops-Trolls-and-Troublemakers.pdf

    https://libraryfreedomproject.org/ – Liberty Freedom Project – Cyber Security for the People

    https://wordpress.com/?ref=footer_website

    Home

    https://www.eff.org/who-has-your-back-2017 – Rating Companies and Privacy

    -https://www.defcon201.org/  – There New Jersey Branch in Jersey City

    https://muninetworks.org/communitymap – Creating your own internet! Maps of who has done it!

    http://www.toolboxfored.org/ – Creates games/programs for justice

    https://law.duke.edu/cspd/ – Center for the Study The Public Domain Duke University

    https://www.cleargov.com/products/civic – Gov Transparency

    https://dci.mit.edu/decentralizedweb/- Push for Decentralized Web

    Economic, Housing, Wage Issues, 

    (site below)

    Housing/Development

    http://www.njfuture.org

    Home is NJ Future, they do smart growth on public policy.

    http://designyourtown.org/places/ – Can look at town designs and building styles (From NJ Future)

    https://centerforpartnership.org/mission-and-history/ – Cooperative Partnerships in all aspects of life

    http://www.affordablehousingalliance.com/ – Affordable Housing- Monmouth/Ocean/Middle-sex Counties

    https://www.unitedwayalice.org/new-jersey- Affordable Housing (ALICE)

    http://nlihc.org/about – Nation Local Income Housing Coalition

    http://ahpnj.org/resources/affordable-housing – Affordable Housing Professional of New Jersey

    Important Housing Notes: http://www.state.nj.us/dca/divisions/codes/publications/guide.html

    https://homesforall.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Communities-Over-Commodities_Full-Report.pdf

    About

    https://kapitalism101.wordpress.com/

    https://evictionlab.org/map/#/2016?geography=states-Map of evictions state level numbers

    Economic

    https://www.goodjobsfirst.org/-Tracking Subsidies,
    Promoting Accountability in Economic Development

    http://www.antipovertynetwork.org/

    https://ilsr.org/-Self reliance institute

    http://www.ideaeconomics.org/ -Micheal Hudson Economics

    http://freakonomics.com/ -Steven Levitt

    http://www.publicbankinginstitute.org/ – Public Banks

    About NEC

    https://www.census.gov/mycd/

    http://rooseveltinstitute.org/about/ (Progressive Think Tank)

    http://www.greenworker.coop/ourcoops

    Home

    https://institute.coop/about-dawi/mission-vision

    Home

    https://thenextsystem.org/principles – Gar Alperovitz

    http://www.toolboxfored.org/ – Interactive toolbox to make games for social change

    https://www.peoplespolicyproject.org/-Think Tank for Progressive Econ

    https://www.localfutures.org/

    Freedom of Speech

    Home

    Political Action/Planning/ Tools for organizing 

    http://thecitizenscampaign.org/about/

    • Running for office and citizen tools

    https://ourrevolution.com/2017-elections-results/ – OUR REVOLUTION Election Results

    https://democraticautopsy.org/democratic-party-in-crisis/ -Democratic Autopsy Report

    http://thecitizenscampaign.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/How-to-run-for-a-political-party-committee-seat.pdf

    https://www.standcnj.org/education/six-levels-government/ -Understanding Local Government

    Political Communication

    http://nationbuilder.com/ – used to map voters/communicate/ planning

    https://www.dailydot.com/layer8/hustle-app-bernie-sanders-texting/ – Texting App

    Political Planning/Must reads

    Shows Political score if an Area leans Democrat or Republican (PVI) +

    http://cookpolitical.com/pvi-map-and-district-list

    https://openstates.org/nj/legislators/  – Good but needs updating

    https://thebestschools.org/magazine/15-logical-fallacies-know/ – Understanding Logic

    Showing influence

    https://ballotpedia.org/Influencers_in_New_Jersey

    Ideology Rating Sites(A-B + %)

    http://progressivepunch.org/scores.htm?house=senate

    https://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/report-cards/2015/senate/ideology

    http://xroads.virginia.edu/~hyper/DETOC/assoc/bowling.html – Talks about fragmented communities need to understand to get into modern US politics especially NJ

    Advocacy 

    https://www.indivisibleguide.com/guide/advocacy-tactics/

    Figuring Out Influence/ Who’s in charge

    https://movetoamend.org/toolkit/guide-power-mapping

    US Spending Data/State Spending/ Programs Spending

    https://www.usgovernmentspending.com/state_spending_rank_2018bH0C

    Open Source Data Software

    https://towardsdatascience.com/setup-a-data-science-environment-on-your-personal-computer-6ce931113914

    Hosting Events- Post Here to Attract People+ Find Events

    https://www.eventbrite.com-  Find events

    Texting App for Communication in newly formed/forming group or outreach 

    https://www.dailydot.com/layer8/hustle-app-bernie-sanders-texting/ – texting app

    Understanding Vulnerabilities of Large Corporations and Brand

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mxExkIVw-c –

    Shows Political Funding

    https://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/summary.php?cid=N00000781

    Why Civic Education is important 

    http://civiced.org/papers/articles_role.html

    Small City Beating Corporate Giants

    Immigration

    http://www.njimmigrantjustice.org/

    Higher Education/School Board (learning without college tuition)

    https://www.facebook.com/pg/NJUnitedStudents/about/?ref=page_internal

    https://www.edx.org/school/harvardx – Getting very cheap Education for high level information like government/peace/science topics…etc

    https://www.coursera.org/- Getting Free Education for high level information like government/peace/science topics..etc

    https://www.khanacademy.org/ – Mostly free highschool

    http://www.njamistadcurriculum.net/about – Teach about African American Historyhttps://www.njsba.org/about/membership/membership-school-board-members/school-board-candidacy/- Run for School Board

    Names
    Fort Monmouth Economic Revitalization Authority

    List of NJ Credit Unions
    Credit Unions Online

    http://www.njcul.org/- New Jersey League of Credit Unions

    List of Labor Unions
    https://www.manta.com/mb_44_F0277_31/labor_unions_and_similar_labor_organizations/new_jersey
    Information on Area to help make decisions
    https://datausa.io/
    http://www.bestplaces.net/state/new_jersey

    Alliance Map
    Stand Central NJ

    Reliable News Organizations
    https://centerforcooperativemedia.org/ – Montclair NJ- Help start new state wide local media coverage via coop model

    https://hudsoncountyview.com/ -Hudson County NJ News

    (Intro)Film the Myth of the Liberal Media by Noam Chomsky : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8oHl3ooeZo&feature=share
    WikiLeaks – Truth to Power
    AirWars – Military news
    Democracy Now! – World/ US News
    DC Reporting – US News- Washington- Big Shots
    The Real News Network – World/US News

    https://worldjusticeproject.org/our-work/wjp-rule-law-index/wjp-rule-law-index-2017%E2%80%932018 – Has Rule of Law Report(global decline of law)

    https://www.projectcensored.org/- News Stories that the media misses

    https://usawatchdog.com/bio/ – US news and Corruption
    The Intercept – In-depth News, mostly foreign Policy, in depth on domestic issues
    Chapo Trap House – Young People on Policy

    About

  • Analysis of the 2017 New Jersey Gubernatorial Election

    The 2017 New Jersey Gubernatorial Election is set to be held on November 7. Incumbent Republican Governor Chris Christie (who was first elected in 2009 with 49% of the vote and re-elected in 2013 with 60% of the vote) is term-limited and cannot run for a third term. Despite coming into office with an ambitious agenda for political reform, Governor Christie is leaving office with a 15% approval rating and a legacy marked by scandal, continued fiscal decline, and failure to address long-standing structural issues facing the state.

    Here is an overview of the candidates and a preliminary prediction of the election results:

    Lieutenant Governor Kim Guadagno is the Republican candidate for New Jersey governor and has proposed a center-right platform.
    Lieutenant Governor Kim Guadagno is the Republican candidate for New Jersey governor and has proposed a center-right platform.

    Lieutenant Governor Kim Guadagno
    Lieutenant Governor Kim Guadagno is the Republican candidate for governor, having won the June 7th primary with ~47% of the vote. Guadagno was born in Waterloo, Iowa on April 13, 1959, and earned a Law Degree from American University Washington College of Law in 1983. After graduation, Guadagno took a job as a federal law clerk in New York City and developed a reputation as an effective prosecutor in cases involving political corruption. Prior to serving as Lieutenant Governor, Guadagno was Assistant New Jersey Attorney General from 1999 to 2001 and was elected Monmouth County Sherrif in 2007, serving for two years.

    Kim Guadagno has developed several different policy positions that have helped her to stand out as a candidate. Guadagno has pledged to veto any new tax increases and supports placing a cap the school portion of a homeowner’s property tax bill, arguing that such a measure will save a family making New Jersey’s median income of $72,000 an average of $895 annually. Guadagno is opposed to increasing the minimum wage to $15 per hour, arguing that such a policy will harm the economy of the state. Guadagno supports reform to the New Jersey antiquated school funding formula and expanded school choice. Guadagno is opposed to the current House Republican plan to cut Medicaid and has called on lawmakers to find a “more sustainable way to replace the services to some of the neediest Americans.” Additionally, Guadagno is opposed to marijuana legalization (but backs its decriminalization) and supports bringing public health insurance plans in line with the private sector as a way to reduce state expenses.

    Phil Murphy is the Democratic candidate for New Jersey Governor.
    Phil Murphy is the Democratic candidate for New Jersey Governor.

    Former Ambassador Phil Murphy
    Phil Murphy is the Democratic candidate for governor, having won the Democratic primary with 48% of the vote. Murphy was born on August 16, 1957, to a middle-class family in Boston, Massachusetts. Both of his parents were politically active, having campaigned for future President John F. Kennedy in his successful Senate campaigns in 1952 and 1958. Murphy received a Bachelor’s Degree in Finance from Harvard University in 1979 and an MBA from the University of Pennsylvania in 1983. After graduation, Murphy began a 23-year career at Goldman Sachs and established a reputation as an effective deal-maker. After retiring from Goldman Sachs, Murphy served from 2006 to 2009 as the National Finance Chair of the Democratic National Committee and was subsequently appointed Ambassador to Germany by President Barack Obama and served from 2009 to 2013. In 2014, Murphy created New Start New Jersey, a progressive policy think tank. One of the goals of the organization was to help displaced workers back into the workforce and improve the economic climate in New Jersey.

    Phil Murphy has proposed an ambitious agenda for moving New Jersey forward. Murphy supports the creation of a statewide investment bank as a way to improve the New Jersey economy. Such a bank would supply loans to both businesses in the state and college students and would have the effect of limiting Wall Street firms from participating in state financial activities. Murphy supports increasing state investment in infrastructure as a way to both attract workers and promote economic advancements. Murphy is also a major proponent of raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour, mandating earned sick leave, and expanding the Earned Income Tax Credits for New Jersey residents. Murphy has thus far been vague on how to address the state’s troubled pension system but has stated that New Jersey has a need to follow through on its obligations to its workers. Murphy also supports the legalization and decriminalization of marijuana and guaranteed paid sick leave for New Jersey workers.

    The New Jersey Libertairan Party selected Peter Rohrman as its gubernatorial nominee.
    The New Jersey Libertarian Party selected Peter Rohrman as its gubernatorial nominee.

    Peter Rohrman
    Former Marine and candidate for Bergen County Freeholder in 2015 and 2016 Peter Rohrman is the Libertarian nominee for Governor. Rohrman is the grandson of Italian and German immigrants and grew up in a blue-collar family. After a stint in the Marine Corps, Rohrman earned a degree in Computer Science at Rutgers University and was subsequently employed as an operations director for an Internet service provider.

    Peter Rohrman has mostly focused on economic issues during his campaign for Governor. Rohrman supports eliminating the gas tax, sales tax, and state income tax in addition to reducing state spending by as much as 30%. Rohrman favors making the public pensions system voluntary, improving the state’s business climate, and reform to prevailing wage laws. On social issues, Rohrman supports the legalization and decriminalization of marijuana, criminal justice reform, and a loosening of firearms regulations in New Jersey.

    Pastor Seth Kaper-Dale is the Green Party candidate and proposes a progressive platform to the left of Phil Murphy.
    Pastor Seth Kaper-Dale is the Green Party candidate and proposes a progressive platform to the left of Phil Murphy.

    Seth Kaper-Dale
    Pastor Seth Kaper-Dale is the Green Party nominee for governor. Kaper-Dale and his wife Stephanie both graduated from Princeton Theological Seminary in 2001 and soon after became co-pastors at the Reformed Church of Highland Park. Dring his service as a pastor, he and his wife have emerged as progressive voices for social justice and have led efforts to raise awareness regarding issues such as affordable housing and immigration reform, and has worked to end Solitary Confinement and torture in the New Jersey prison system.

    Seth Kaper-Dale supports increasing the state income tax rate as a way to reduce income inequality and favors the implementation of a single-payer Medicare-for-All healthcare system. Kaper-Dale also supports the legalization and decriminalization of marijuana and increased measures preventing police brutality within minority communities. Kaper-Dale is a major backer of reforming the New Jersey criminal justice system, arguing for a ban on Solitary Confinement, reopening the Office of the Public Advocate, and implementing meaningful re-entry services for inmates.

    Overall, the candidates running in the New Jersey gubernatorial election have a variety of different views covering all parts of the political spectrum. Based on current polling, it seems that Phil Murphy will likely win with around 55% of the vote, with 43% going to Lieutenant Governor Kim Guadagno and 2% going to the minor candidates. Even though he is far from a perfect candidate, there are several factors going in Murphy’s favor going into the election. The first is the overall national trend against the Republican Party and President Donald Trump. Currently, President Trump has a 37% approval rating nationally, thus dampening Republican chances in local, state, and national elections (Trump’s low approval rating may even be enough for the Democratic Party to retake both House of Congress, a majority of state governorships, and many state legislatures in the mid-term elections next year). The next factor is the overall economic situation in New Jersey. Even though the unemployment rate in New Jersey is 4.1%, the economic outlook in the state remains bleak and job growth remains stagnant. Because of these factors, it can be argued that Phil Murphy has an edge in the Gubernatorial election barring any drastic improvement of Republican prospects both nationally and statewide.

    Here is a list of polling places in New Jersey and information on how to register to vote:

    https://voter.njsvrs.com/elections/polling-lookup-orig.html

    http://www.state.nj.us/mvc/Licenses/VoterRegistration.htm