Lonegan says A.G. investigating him as retribution

Maybe they are investigating your hiring practices, Steve?

And, in the spirit of full disclosure, Steve Lonegan is a columnist for PolitickerNJ

     Isn't it amazing that our state attorney general hasn't had any time in the past year to investigate the  of dollars of taxpayer money squandered by the School Construction Corp. but she has time and staff to investigate Steve Lonegan??? Charlotte Vandervalk has asked her to investigate the SCC for the past year but it just gets stonewalled, even as the Governor proposes another $2.5 billion for school construction and implies there will be more requests after that.

Lonegan sued me because I wrote "I think Steve will look good in an orange jumpsuit", I should have said that it would be an improvement, there isn't much that will make him look good.

I perused this site recently and find that "Dino Crocetti" has repeatedly accused me of posting under an anonymous screen name.  That is an outright lie and another example of the Lonegan spin machine making baseless attacks on anyone who points out his ethical/legal transgressions.

Here is my first encounter with Slippery Steve Lonegan.  What a tremendous advocate for free speech he was when I had something to say about him.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPmWYS913Cw

Dino Crocetti (aka Dinodad) is Lonegan's psychophant cyberstalking minion and has engaged in a campaign of slanderous harassment in order to discredit me.   

Notice how Lonegan assumes I have the (falsified) purchase requisition that he signed in my hand.  Lonegan's mens rea

Did you folks know that your hero had Bogota's DPW clean out his garage after he got caught hiring illegals?  The AG has a duty to investigate theft of service and official misconduct. 

First the Bogota Police are after him (they responded to a suspicious person call) and now it's the AG (he doesn't deny ordering the DPW to clean out his gagrage).

Poor Stevie can't take responsibility for his own behavior; Maybe he's just too full of himself!

Dino Crocetti (aka Dinodad) is Lonegan's psychophant cyberstalking minion and has engaged in a campaign of slanderous harassment in order to discredit me.

Oh yeah, because you're just sooooooo important, aren't you?

You know what I would like to know, Bill? I would like to know how you are going to cope now that Mayor Lonegan isn't Mayor in Bogota anymore. I mean, you've devoted so much of your time and energy into hating him, how ever are you going to fill that void?

Maybe a song will help you deal with your frustrations a little better.

Goose fraba, goose fraba. 

Ronald Reagan actually DID amnesty. I think he would be in one of Mitt's negative commercials! - Rudy Giuliani

Steve Lonegan Big Talker...Even Bigger Hypocrite

Posted by Steve Adubato, PhD November 02, 2007 9:08AM

Bogota Mayor Steve Lonegan gives new meaning to the word hypocrite. Lonegan is a guy with a lot to say about illegal immigration. The former statewide candidate rails against federal immigration policies and has tried to get McDonalds to take down a Spanish language billboard in his town. Lonegan also unsuccessfully tried to make English the official language of Bogota and has said many other bold and controversial things about the subject of immigration.

In several published accounts in The Record newspaper, Lonegan offers these gems:

"Any immigration whatsoever that violates the laws of this country should not be tolerated. We've now allowed America to become a free-for-all."

And, "We have people violating our border and elected officials are afraid to stand up to the far left. It takes a lot of courage to stand up on this issue..."

That was just the beginning of Lonegan's crusade against anyone who is in this country without proper documentation and any public official who aids and abets such efforts. When your rhetoric is so bold and strident, you get a lot of media attention, and Steve Lonegan has had his share, both at the state and national level--especially for the mayor of a tiny North Jersey town who got an embarrassing number of votes when he tried to run throughout New Jersey.

But Steve Lonegan is a big talker who knows how to get big press. But now comes the really ironic part of this story. A few weeks ago, Lonegan got nailed for hiring two illegal immigrants to put together some signs for his organization called "Americans for Prosperity." Interestingly the signs said "Stop Higher Taxes: Vote 'No' on All Ballot Questions."

The two guys Lonegan hired were picked up by the Bogota police when one of the mayor's neighbors called to report two Hispanic men on a property owned by Lonegan, where the signs were being constructed. It was later found that Mr. Lonegan had offered to pay the illegal workers $80 each for their efforts. Lonegan says he asked the guys if they were American citizens and they responded "Si". Lonegan never actually asked to see any citizenship documentation. That sounds kind of odd for a guy whose entire public reputation is a product of his vehement and very vocal opposition to the serious illegal immigration problem in our state and nation.

Hypocritical? Obviously. Embarrassing? No doubt. But oh, how ironic. And get this--In spite of the absurdity of the situation, Steve Lonegan's initial response was to say that the Bogota police had "racially profiled" the two men--even though all the cops did was following up on a neighbor's complaint about two guys hanging around Lonegan's property. Clearly the cops and the neighbor were worried about a potential crime.

Later Lonegan said the police were targeting him because of an ongoing municipal dispute involving a fight with the police union over benefits. Said Lonegan; "This is a racial profiling issue, because I won't give them [Bogota cops] lifetime medical benefits...They [the officers] had only one reason to go onto my property, and that's because [the workers] were Hispanic..."

Steve Lonegan gives new meaning to the word "chutzpah." Look, let's be honest about this. There is an American obsession with cheap labor. Many Americans get our lawns cut, our meals served to us and sometimes even our children cared for by workers whose official American citizenship is highly questionable. Landscapers, restaurant owners and private citizens often hire workers who aren't citizens because it is cheaper.

Steve Lonegan did the same thing when he hired a couple of guys hanging out in Palisades Park, in an area that is known to attract illegal immigrants looking for day work. The only difference is that Lonegan says people who are neither legal nor documented American citizens are killing our state and country. Yet, he has no problem hiring those same workers to put together some signs without making the slightest effort to confirm their citizenship. Then when he gets nailed for it, he makes some asinine comments about "racial profiling" and tries to make himself a victim.

Lonegan's lame excuses only make an embarrassing situation more embarrassing. The fact that he can't figure that out is pretty dumb. This is the classic "do as I say not as I do" approach. Steve Lonegan is just another loudmouth archconservative on the immigration issue who has no credibility left at this point and then a big "WANTED: Legal American citizens looking to do some honest labor putting signs together that say 'Steve Lonegan big talker...even bigger hypocrite.'

The one thing I will never stand for is to have any one's civil rights stomped on!  But for some reason, it seems that as long as it is Steve Lonegan who has his rights abused, you are fine by that.  Speaks alot of the legal field.  But the really disturbing thing is when you insert the writings of one of the most one sided political commentator's in the state to continue this attack.  The following editoral by this mouthpiece for the left reveals that he and his PhD (piled high, deep) couldn't find his butt with a mirror.

Don't Like Corzine's Plan? What's Yours?

Posted by Steve Adubato, PhD January 18, 2008 12:24PM

Categories: New Jersey Politics

"If there is a better plan...put it on the table." That's what Governor Jon Corzine said in his State of the State speech earlier this month when he challenged critics of his controversial, but long overdue, plan to get New Jersey's fiscal house in order. Corzine has begun a series of town hall meetings in all 21 counties trying to sell a complicated, but well thought out, initiative to address the state's massive $36 billion debt. We are talking about well over $1,000 per man, woman and child in the state to pay the interest on a state mortgage that has been ballooning for well over a decade.

You can only refinance your house so many times before you begin starting to pay down on the principal at least making your mortgage payments. At some point the bank is going to come after you, and that's exactly what is happening in New Jersey. Nobody wants to see the tolls increased on several New Jersey roads in order to create a pot of money to be put into a yet to be created non-profit organization, which would then help to pay New Jersey's debt as well as support road and bridge upkeep.

Corzine's plan is by no means perfect. It is doubtful that Route 440, one of the roads Corzine proposed creating tolls on, will ultimately make it into the plan. Further, the fiscal restructuring plan seems to disproportionately affect those who must drive to and from work every day on certain New Jersey roads. That seems particularly unfair to middle income families who are struggling to pay their property taxes and stay in the state. What about the rest of us who aren't on those roads that often and have more income? Shouldn't we be shouldering more of the burden of our debt? One hopes Corzine's plan will be revised moving forward to reflect these issues.

However, to date there is no realistic alternative to the Corzine initiative. Criticizing it is easy. Saying you don't want tolls raised is a no brainer. But as former Republican Congressman Bob Franks, an unlikely lead champion of the Corzine plan recently said; "...mere opposition is not a meaningful policy." Franks, a highly respected New Jersey leader, will be speaking out on behalf of the governor's plan; not because he thinks it will be popular, but because he knows it is absolutely necessary. Something has to be done and Franks, who is a true fiscal conservative who actually ran against Corzine and almost beat him in the 2000 race for the U.S. Senate, actually knows that something must be done in Trenton to stop the insanity.

Franks has said he wants to "depoliticize" the discussion over the Corzine plan. He and Corzine are looking for a meaningful dialogue on alternatives or revisions to the toll hike proposal. But if you listen to the Republicans in the legislature there is little hope that this is going to happen any time soon. I recently interviewed Senate Minority Leader Tom Kean Jr. on the subject and asked him several times; "What is the Republican plan?" Every time I did this, Kean kept repeating that the Corzine plan was all wrong, that it took him too long to come up with, that it was a gimmick to hurt New Jersey motorists and would create congestion on side roads with people looking to avoid paying higher tolls.

Yet, every time I returned to ask Senator Kean what the Republican plan was to get us out of this massive debt, which both his party and the Democrats created, Kean wouldn't budge. He just stayed on message and kept bashing the governor and his plan. Like I said, that's easy. That is what the Minority Party usually does in the legislature, yet times are different and the stakes are much higher. One wonders when the Republicans, as well as some reluctant Democrats, will finally get the message that enough is enough and that the fiscal games have to stop.

Again, Corzine's plan is far from perfect, but the level of our debt is massive. The amount of money that must be paid to retired public employees for pension and health benefits is so high that you can't nickel and dime this one. Our roads and bridges are crumbling. You can't simply move a few million here and a few million there and make it look like you've solved the problem. And you can't deliver one-liners like that of Republican State Chairman Tom Wilson who recently said, "Convincing people this is the right thing would be harder than convincing an Eskimo he needs a lawn mower."

That's funny, Tom, and I always love having you on my show because you make for great TV, but this time it's not going to cut it. Sure, you can win cheap points against the governor and pander to public opposition, but it won't help solve the problem. It may help the GOP in the effort to win the governorship in 2009, but it isn't going to help pay down $36 billion in debt. Don't like Corzine's plan? I say, as governor Corzine did, if you've got a better idea, put it on the table now or keep quiet and sit on the sidelines while more serious people try to deal with a very serious problem.

Did you see Steve Lonegan's name mentioned anywhere in this essay?  Of course not, because Steve actually has a plan.  Not little Kean, not Franks (what a traitor he is), not anyone but Steve.  In fact, here it is:

  Governor Corzine Asked for a Better Plan – Here it Is!
By Steve Lonegan

Governor Corzine stated in his State of the State Address that if anyone had a better idea than his Asset Monetization scheme that will raise a 35 cent Parkway toll to nearly $2 then he wanted to hear it.

Here’s the plan.

New Jersey’s state spending has increased from $21 to $33 Billion under Governors McGreevey, Codey and Corzine.  That’s a 57 percent increase in just six years – far above inflation.  To start, Governor Corzine needs to shut down dozens of liberal big government spending schemes created in the last six years such as $37 million for Trenton Capitol Aid, $12 million non-competitive special arts programs and $8 million for the bogus Regional Aid Program that arbitrarily   benefits five Hudson towns run by dual office holders.

New Jersey’s leaders cannot fund every costly idea politicians conjure up.

It is essential to determine just what government should be doing and return all functions feasible to the private sector.  In short-downsize, prioritize and privatize.

Downsizing starts with the general appropriation budget, rampant with billions in pork barrel spending programs.  The Governor needs to use his line-item veto to eliminate all of these items and a lot more.

Privatization will cut costs dramatically.  Bookkeeping, maintenance and a host of functions can be bid on a competitive basis.  Privatization also takes people out of the pension system and eliminates sick and vacation days.  This means layoffs, a highly unlikely scenario unless the Governor is serious about putting his job on the line to put our state’s fiscal house in order.

New Jersey has the most lucrative pension systems in the country.  The Governor should call for a roll back in the pension increases granted in 2001 when politicians in both parties claimed the fund was solvent.  Taxpayers are subsidizing the pension system through direct taxation and that’s wrong.  New employees should be placed in private 401(k) plans, ending the stagnation that occurs when employees remain to build their pension well after they are productive, a key reason for Trenton’s large entrenched bureaucracy.

The state’s bloated budget can be reduced by leadership committed to achieving fiscal stability and fundamental change.  The goal should not be to make government “more efficient”-- translated into taking taxpayer dollars faster and spending them quicker- but rather to reduce its size, scope and interference in our daily lives.  

New Jersey should bring our state’s public employee medical benefits in line with the private sector.  Even Governor Corzine realized this before submitting to pressure from public employee union bosses.  New Jersey taxpayers provide state government workers the finest medical benefits available while requiring little or no   employee contribution.  This must change.

Legislation requiring that state, county and local governments, and school boards, must pay high union wages on all construction or repair projects raises the cost of these items by 30 percent – a cost passed on to taxpayers.  Project Labor Agreements as these are called was Jim McGreevey’s first Executive Order, later codified into law.  This legislation must be repealed if local governments are to have any hope of controlling the highest in the nation property taxes.

Another impediment is big state debt.  But rather than foist that debt on New Jersey’s motorists with a scheme that increases debt even more, Governor Corzine should give voters an opportunity to vote on the tens of billions of dollars in debt from school construction bonds to tobacco bonds to bonds sold to balance Jim McGreevey’s budget.  This debt was sold without voter approval and if the voters say no the Governor is under no obligation to repay these Independent Agency bonds, default of which would have no effect on the state’s credit rating.

The biggest obstacle to implementing change is the legislature itself.  New Jersey legislators have proven Benjamin Franklin right in saying “no one is safe when the legislature is in session.”  Our legislature is almost always in session, constantly imagining ways to borrow and spend.  Twice a week legislative sessions should be replaced with a fixed legislative session in January and February and the destructive lame duck session should be eliminated.  Legislators should be removed from the state’s pension and medical benefits program.  People should not be encouraged to make serving in the legislature a lifetime job.

Since 2001, NJ has added over 50,000 new government jobs while the private sector has remained stagnant.  More than 70,000 residents fled the state in 2006 and tens of thousands more in 2007.  New Jersey has the fastest growing tax burden in the nation and as other states are building surpluses we are creating deficits.  

Give Governor Corzine credit: he is committed to his big government vision at any cost.  Unfortunately that’s the exact wrong way to put our state’s fiscal house in order.  It’s time for a change in New Jersey, but the “change” Governor Corzine is proposing would make a bad situation even worse.

So next time you go and "quote" a leading expert, maybe you should find someone who actually has done the research!

"The only man who never makes a mistake is the man who never does anything."
                --Theodore Roosevelt--

I think you might want to check out this link, before quoting Rudy.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1065553/posts

It is interesting.

On the other hand, lets keep up the pressure and protect Steve's flanks.  It seems that no republican leaders want to. 

"The only man who never makes a mistake is the man who never does anything."
                --Theodore Roosevelt--

    Corzine would have a bit more credibilty proposing his plan to "solve" the state's debt problem if he hadn't immediately proposed $2.5 billion in new debt for more school construction. Meanwhile, his AG stonewalls looking at what happened to the previous $8 billion. But I guess his AG is too busy investigating Steve Lonegan because he dares to say something critical about her boss.