Dump Mike Ferguson (NJ7)

This letter was published in the Courier News on June 26, 2005:

On Iraq, America deserves truth

Like all veterans of any war, I am especially concerned for the well-being of our troops in Iraq and for the continued vitality of our national defense.

This war is not going well because our leaders, inconceivably, failed to plan for anything beyond the fall of Baghdad. Worse, many in the world now perceive that the United States military is over-extended and vulnerable -- a situation that creates many more potential dangers.

Now, I read the so-called Downing Street Memo, which provides very convincing evidence that the president and his administration misrepresented the facts in order to justify the war with Iraq to the American people.

If these allegations are true, the president needs to explain his actions to the American people. I call on my congressman, Mike Ferguson, and all of New Jersey's representatives and senators to actively seek out the truth in this matter.

GORDON SELL
Flemington

You can also call on Congressman Ferguson to seek the truth about how our country was taken to war by calling him at 908-757-7835 or writing to him on his website.

You can write letters to the editor on the Iraq War to the Courier News at letters@c-n.com, the Home News Tribune at letters@thnt.com, the Star Ledger at eletters@starledger.com, or the New York Times at letters@nytimes.com.

Posted by admin at 12:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

This letter was published on June 25, 2005 in the Courier News:

Ferguson's votes pure party politics

Mike Ferguson voted for the U.S. Congress to intervene in a medical case involving Terri Schiavo, a woman in a persistent vegetative state, to overturn the decision of a Florida state court to remove her feeding tube.

How does he feel now that the autopsy was so definitive, and his part in the effort to interfere in the private lives of a family was, at best, an intrusion?

Did Congressman Ferguson ask for a special law for Tom Delay's father when he was removed from a respirator? I hope not.

Rep. Ferguson says he supports concepts like "accountability" and "personal responsibility." Ferguson voted to exempt DeLay from a rule that requires a Congressional leader to resign his post when under indictment by a state grand jury. Did Congressman Ferguson's vote have any basis for reason other than the Delay monies contributed to his campaign?

Recently, the House voted to bar the Justice Department from enforcing a part of the Patriot Act, Section 215, which authorizes the FBI to search library, bookstore and other records in secret. Mike Ferguson voted against this, essentially saying that he thinks the federal government should be allowed to spy on its citizens.

Does Congressman Ferguson represent the people in his district, or does he always vote at his party's call?

Other than a few photo ops while providing false and misleading numbers concerning Social Security or a few bucks for Bound Brook flood control, what great, or not-so-great, legislation has Ferguson even co-sponsored? Anyone?

BRUNO RIPP
Warren

Posted by admin at 12:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Tom Delay gave Mike Ferguson $185,000 over the past seven or eight years though direct donations, sponsored events and former employees.

View this video of Tom Delay backing Karl Rove's recent attacks on Democrats and see if this is someone we want bankrolling our Congressman.

Tom DeLay was supporting this statement by Karl Rove:

"Conservatives saw the savagery of 9/11 and the attacks and prepared for war. Liberals saw the savagery of the 9/11 attacks and wanted to prepare indictments and offer therapy and understanding for our attackers."

This kind of disgusting, partisan attack should not go unanswered. Democrats were there after 9-11 standing right beside Tom DeLay calling for the end of al Queda, and politicizing the War on Terror has been a Karl Rove staple for years.

If, after watching this video of Tom DeLay, you think that he does not reflect the value of the New Jersey's 7th Congressional District you should write Mike Ferguson and tell him to return Tom DeLay's dirty money and repudiate this attack on the 7th District Democrats Mike Ferguson represents in Congress.

We also recommend that you write letters to the editor calling on Mike Ferguson to return Tom DeLay's $185,000 and to repudiate these attacks. Send a letter to the editor to the Courier News at letters@c-n.com, the Home News Tribune at letters@thnt.com, the Star Ledger at eletters@starledger.com, or the New York Times at letters@nytimes.com.

Video from Dembloggers.com

UPDATE: Via Eschaton, it appears that Tom DeLay was either lying in 2001 or he was lying last week. You see what he said above, and on September 20, 2001 he said, "I ran into some of the most liberal constituents that I had. People would come up to me, hug me, kiss me. They would -- they'd just say they're with us, you know, "We want this done and we want it done right, and we're with you."

Can't be both.

Posted by admin at 12:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Mike Ferguson voted against stem cell research that can help Aaron Jones be a regular kid.

From the June 23, 2005 Home News Tribune.

Piscataway youths press Senate for diabetes cure
By LEDYARD KING
WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT

With a broad smile and a love for bikes, Aaron Jones seems like any other fidgety 9-year-old.

Except the Piscataway, N.J., boy was testifying before a Senate committee Tuesday about life as a diabetic: the seizures, the constant monitoring, the worry.

"Living with diabetes is the pits," he told senators. "The part I really don't like is taking insulin shots and always checking my blood sugar. . . . I just want to feel like a normal kid."

Aaron and his sister Shaynah, 13, also a diabetic, were among a handful of children who shared their stories with the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. The panel's chairwoman, Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, wants more federal spending to find a cure for diabetes as well as fewer federal restrictions on embryonic stem—cell research. [snip]

The Senate is considering legislation that would lift federal restrictions on embryonic stem-cell research, which many scientists believe could someday be used to cure diseases like diabetes and repair damaged organs, brain tissue and nerves.

Last month, the House approved legislation that would allow federally funded researchers access to fertilized eggs donated from fertility clinics. Thousands of embryos are discarded as medical waste from clinics each year. The legislation would allow donors to offer the embryos for medical research instead.

Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen, R-11th Dist., joined New Jersey's seven Democrats — Reps. Rob Andrews, D-1st Dist., Rush Holt, D-12th Dist., Robert Menendez, D-13th Dist., Frank Pallone, D-6th Dist., Bill Pascrell, D-8th Dist., Donald Payne, D-10th Dist., and Steven Rothman, D-9th Dist. — in voting for the measure. The state's five other Republicans — Reps. Michael Ferguson, R-7th Dist., Scott Garrett, R-5th Dist., Frank LoBiondo, R-2nd Dist., Jim Saxton, R-3rd Dist., and Chris Smith, R-4th Dist. — voted against it.

Contact Mike Ferguson on his website or by calling his office at 908-757-7835 and ask him to change his position on embryonic stem cell research to help kids and adults with diabetes, spinal cord injuries and other diseases that may be curable via stem cell research.

Send the answer you get to dumpmike@gmail.com or post it in the comments below.

Also, write a letter to the editor to the the Home News Tribune at letters@thnt.com referencing this article and Congressman Ferguson's position on stem cell research.

Posted by admin at 01:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This letter was published in the Courier News on June 23, 2005.

Patriot Act should not be renewed

Recently, the U.S. House of Representatives took a stand against the infringements on our civil liberties, which have been assailed by the Patriot Act. As the act is due to expire this year, the House is voting to alter it before presumably renewing the act. The House took a step toward sanity as it voted to strip from the act the powers that gave the federal government and its agencies the ability to spy on its citizens library, bookstore and other records.

This was an absurd breach of our basic civil liberties. Unfortunately, Congressman Mike Ferguson voted not to remove this provision. I, as should other voters in the 7th congressional district, am ashamed by my congressman's vote. He should stop voting the party line and vote his conscience and do what is best for, and wanted by, his constituents in the 7th District.

JESSE LANDON
Lebanon

Great letter, Jesse!

Posted by admin at 11:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This letter was published in the Cranford Chronicle on June 23, 2005:

On June 16, the US House of Representatives approved an amendment, by a vote of 238 to 187, which would eliminate funding for Section 215 of the Patriot Act. Section 215 allows federal searches, without your knowledge, of your library and book store records. Rep. Mike Ferguson, along with Rep. Tom DeLay, voted no on the amendment. Ferguson and DeLay apparently have little regard for the privacy of ordinary American citizens, and they represent the minority position on this issue. On May 26, Ferguson voted against an amendment to add $53 million to veterans' medical care. The amendment failed by one vote. Is Ferguson properly serving the citizens of the 7th District, or is he merely the loyal lapdog of his Republican masters, George W. Bush and Tom DeLay? For more unflattering facts about the real Mike Ferguson, visit www.dumpmike.com. John Cantilli
Cranford NJ

Thanks for the plug, John!

Posted by admin at 10:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This letter to the editor was published in the Courier News on June 22, 2005.

Ferguson no friend to veterans

I am writing to register my displeasure at the anti-veteran stance of the representative from my district. Unlike his colleague, Republican Representative Chris Smith, R-Hamilton, who voted to add $53 million to support veterans and to stop the closing of Fort Monmouth, Rep. Michael Ferguson, R-Warren, cast a vote on that crucial amendment to cut the $53 million earmarked for veterans and to let Fort Monmouth close.

I was appalled to find out that amendment failed by only one vote. Shame on you, Mr. Ferguson!

My delight that Smith voted his conscience only increases my disgust to discover that Ferguson used voter money to sent out a mailing that pats himself on the back regarding his other votes on veterans. So if I relied only on his mailings, I would not have known that Mr. Ferguson voted to help close Fort Monmouth and cut the increase for our vets.

I say: get some backbone, Mr. Ferguson, and start voting your conscience the way your colleague, Rep. Smith, has -- and if you cannot stand up for our troops, our bases and our veterans, then at least don't tell us half-truths in fancy brochures you send out on the taxpayers' dime.

DEBORAH ALEXANDER
Warren

Posted by admin at 07:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Anthony Manno wrote this letter about Michael Ferguson's environmental record and it was published in the Courier News on June 19th, 2005:

Ferguson helping pollute our water

During the 2004 campaign, Mike Ferguson said he was "fighting to ensure our drinking water is safe from ... harmful contaminants" and is "a strong champion of protecting the environment."

But twice in one week, this past April, Mike Ferguson voted to exempt the oil industry from lawsuits stemming from the spread of cancer- causing MTBE in our drinking water. This directly impacts the two water companies in the 7th Congressional District -- American and Elizabethtown. They have sued the MTBE manufacturer because of major spills in our communities.

If President Bush signs this bill then Mike Ferguson will have caused his constituents to pay out of their own pockets in higher water bills to clean up the MTBE. Mike Ferguson's flip-flop on water pollution will be felt in our wallets and our families' health.

ANTHONY MANNO
Bridgewater

Just a reminder that the Courier News editorial staff writes the headlines to these letters, nto the letter writer. They seem to like to make leaps, such as with this one. I don't think Anthony meant that Mike Ferguson was "helping pollute our water" but that he is forgiving the companies that let it happen, and making the taxpyers fund the cleanup instead of the polluters.

Posted by admin at 08:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

On June 15th, 2005 Mike Ferguson voted to overturn a judge's decision by denying the Justice Department the ability to use tax dollars to enforce the ruling. This is a direct vote against the independence of the judiciary, and its ability to make independent interpretations of the constitution and the law.

It is not the first time this year that Rep. Ferguson has voted to interfere with the judicial process. Earlier this year he voted to impose his beliefs on the Terry Schiavo case.

The case is "Russelburg v. Gibson County" in which members of a local community in Princeton, Indiana filed a federal lawsuit to have a monument of the 10 Commandments removed from a local courthouse. The judge found that the placing of the monument was a violation of the United States Constitution bar on the government establishing a religion and ordered it removed.

People can come out of different sides of this issue, and in fact the courts have over time both allowed and denied religious documents and monuments on government property. That is not the issue here. Mike Ferguson's vote was a direct attempt to bypass the courts and American legal tradition to overturn a legal judicial order by withholding the funds necessary to enforce it.

In fact, the sponsor of the amendment, Representative John N. Hostettler of Indiana, explained the amendment in exactly that way on the House floor [emphasis added]:

Mr. Chairman, here are the facts: federal statute says, ‘Except as otherwise provided by law or Rule of Procedure, the United States Marshals Service shall execute all lawful writs, process, and orders issued under the authority of the United States... .’

“Since this ruling by the Southern District Court in Indiana is not a lawful decision consistent with the Constitution, I will utilize Congress’ Article I, section 8 power of the purse to prevent any funding from being used by the U.S. Marshals Service to remove the Ten Commandments monument."

Rep. Hostettler is playing word games here by saying that this was not a "lawful decision." The judge did nothing illegal in coming to or ordering his decisions and Rep. Hostettler is not saying that he did. That means that the order was lawful according to the rule he quoted, an that Hostettler acknowledges it.

What Rep. Hostettler means when he adds "consistent with the Constitution" is that he believes the decision was wrong, and did not interpret the law properly. The proper place for the merits of the decision to be decided is in a higher court under appeal, and the case is, in fact, currently under appeal by the County. At the highest level, this case could wind up in the Supreme Court where seven of the nine justices were appointed by Republican presidents.

But the proper use of our legal system is not good enough for Rep. Hostettler or Rep. Ferguson. Instead of trusting our federal legal system which has stood for more than 200 years they are trying to overturn judicial decisions not by changing the underlying laws but by changing the federal budget.

Our nation's founders intentionally created a three-part federal government with separate and co-equal powers to prevent any one portion from taking too much power. If this is allowed to pass, the result could be the end of an independent federal judiciary. Congress could overturn any judge's decision it doesn't like simply by forbidding tax money to be spent on the enforcement of that decision.

Representative Ferguson should be careful: this power could be used by conservatives or liberals, depending on which was in control of the Congress. It should not be used by either.

Contact Mike Ferguson on his website or by calling his office at 908-757-7835 and ask him why he voted against allowing the judicial process to continue.

Send the answer you get to dumpmike@gmail.com or post it in the comments below.

Also, write a letter to the editor to the Courier News at letters@c-n.com, the Home News Tribune at letters@thnt.com, the Star Ledger at eletters@starledger.com, or the New York Times at letters@nytimes.com.

Posted by admin at 08:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Yesterday the House voted 238 - 187 to approve an amendment that would prevent money allocated for 2005-2006 to the Department of Justice to be used on scattershot searches of library, book sales and book store customer lists as authorized under Section 215 of the Patriot Act.

Mike Ferguson voted to fund this kind of search.

Here's a description of what Section 215 of the Patriot Act allows, from Congressman Bernie Sanders' press release:

Under Section 215 of the Patriot Act, federal agents have been empowered to get orders from a secret court that allows them to access, among other things, the reading records of Americans in both libraries and bookstores. Because these orders are granted by a secret court, the people whose records are sought had no opportunity to oppose the order. In most cases the person whose records are acquired would never know it because the law itself makes it a criminal offense for the librarian or bookseller to tell anyone about the order.

Sanders’ amendment prohibits the government from using these secret court orders to gain access to Americans’ reading records. The amendment passed despite a Bush Administration veto threat issued the day before the vote.

Congressman Michael Ferguson thinks this is a bad idea.

Write or call Mike Ferguson today and ask him why he voted against Americans being able to read and access information without being secretly tracked by the FBI.

Or write a letter to the editor to your local paper talking about Rep. Ferguson's votes against personal privacy.

Call his office at (908) 757-7835 or write to him from his Congressional Website.

When you are done, leave the answer in the comments for or write to dumpmike@gmail.com.

Posted by admin at 07:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Your latest research link: PDF files of all of Congressman Michael Ferguson's financial disclosure documents.

Go through them, and see what you can find. Send any interesting facts to dumpmike@gmial.com.

Posted by admin at 05:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Folks -

Thanks to your hard work researching Mike Ferguson we have been added to the blogroll of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's blog, the Stakeholder.

How about celebrating by sending $25 to Blue 7th PAC and to the DCCC?

Give yourselves a pat on the back and let's keep up the pressure!

Nathan

Posted by admin at 02:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This letter to the editor about Congressman Mike Ferguson was printed in the Cranford Chronicle on June 9. 2005. Sorry, no link available for this paper.

Dear Editor,

Representative Mike Ferguson seems to have an interesting financial relationship with House majority leader Tom DeLay (R-TX). Tom DeLay's Political Action Committee, ARMPAC, contributed $39,000 to Ferguson's campaigns and $10,000 to Ferguson's MIKE PAC between 2000 and 2004. In 2004, MIKE PAC contributed $28,000 to five Republican congressional candidates from Texas.

Given his recent realignment of congressional districts in Texas, DeLay obviously wants to help elect lots of Texas Republicans to congress. But ARMPAC is constrained by Federal Election Commission (FEC) regulations which limit PAC contributions to campaigns. ARMPAC gave the maximum amount to Texas candidates Louis Gohmert, Randy Neugebauer, Ted Poe, and Arlene Wohlgemuth. What else could be done to help these candidates?

Enter MIKE PAC. Ferguson's sudden and unexpected interest in Texas Republicans resulted in contributions of $1000 to Gohmert, $10,000 to Neugebauer, $1000 to Poe, $10,000 to Roger Sessions, and $6,000 to Wohlgemuth. MIKE PAC gave only $1000 to one New Jersey candidate. Is Mike Ferguson just an obedient bag man for the ethically-challenged and corrupt Tom DeLay?

For more information about Rep. Ferguson, please visit the web site www.dumpmike.com .

John Cantilli
Cranford

Posted by admin at 12:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This letter to the editor was published in the Courier News on June 8, 2005:

On May 26, Representative Mike Ferguson put out a big, bold press release titled, "Ferguson votes to increase funding for veterans' medical care," but this was hardly news since every member of Congress except one voted for this bill.

His press release conveniently failed to mention that on the same day, he voted against an amendment that would have added $53 million more to veterans' care. This also was the amendment that would have cut funding for closing bases -- base closings that will cost the tri-state region more than 15,000 jobs and close New Jersey's Fort Monmouth -- and the savings would have funded the increased spending for veterans.

Even more tragically, that amendment failed by just one vote. Had Ferguson actually voted with the veterans who have served this country so bravely and selflessly instead of against them, the amendment would have passed, and there would be more money in the pipeline to help our increasing numbers of sick and injured veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

Other New Jersey congressmen -- Republican Chris Smith and Democrats Rob Andrews, Steve Rothman, Frank Pallone, Bill Pascrell, Donald Payne and Rush Holt, voted for the amendment -- but Mike Ferguson, while trumpeting his service to veterans, turned his back on them on the very same day.

On Memorial Day, President Bush made a pretty speech about our veterans, but money speaks louder than words. Sending our National Guard to fight foreign wars and closing domestic bases do not make us safer, and asking the Veterans Administration to handle the more than 10,000 injured soldiers with negligible increases in funding does not show support for veterans.

Unfortunately the "Perfumed Princes" in Washington who've never actually experienced combat (and wouldn't dream of letting their children enlist) but who are eager to send other people's children into foreign wars, just don't seem to get it.

CAROL SIMON LEVIN
Bedminster

Posted by admin at 12:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Last month we caught Mike Ferguson misleading a constituent by sending a letter bragging on his opposition to drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) a full eight days after he voted to approve drilling in that pristine Alaskan wilderness. We thought that was pretty bad, seeing as Rep. Ferguson calls banning such drilling a "national priority" on his campaign website.

Now it turns out we gave Rep. Ferguson too much credit, because he has been spinning the truth on drilling for oil in ANWR since his first year in Congress. In August 2001 he did vote for an amendment to stop the Bush administration's efforts to put oil rigs up in Alaska, but that amendment failed and the energy bill moved to the floor included approving the drilling.

Congressman Michael Ferguson voted YES to the energy bill, and YES to drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge on August 2, 2001.

Congressman Ferguson's website, campaign and constituent letters all talk about his opposition to drilling in ANWR, but doesn't mention he traded that opposition in return for an energy bill favored by the oil industry and opposed by environmentalists. And he knows that he traded drilling in ANWR for that energy bill, as noted in this October 22, 2002 Courier News article:

Environment: Ferguson broke with his party on drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, although he voted for an overall energy bill which included drilling.

"At the end of the day, I did feel that we needed an energy bill," he said.

[Source: August 3, 2001 New York Times article entitled, "The Crucial Votes in the House on the Energy Bill"]

Posted by admin at 03:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Here's what we know of the financial relationship between Congressman Michael Ferguson (NJ-7) and embattled Texas Congressman Tom DeLay, at least what we know so far.

• Rep. Ferguson is the number one congressional recipient of campaign cash from ARMPAC, DeLay's political action committee, with a total of $42,403 over seven years. That is at least $10,000 more than any other member of Congress.

• Rep. Ferguson has also received contributions of $5,000 from ARMPAC to his own political action committee, MIKE PAC, for the 2004 campaign. This brings the total dollars given by DeLay to Ferguson to $47,403.

  This committee, MIKE PAC, then turned around and donated $27,000 to Texas candidates for Congress supported by DeLay.

• Employees of Tom DeLay left his office and then contributed an additional $5,500 to Mike Ferguson in the past two years. This brings the total dollars given by DeLay and his minions to Ferguson to $52,903.

Recently, however, we came across a series of articles from 2001 that talk about the Retaining Our Majority Program (ROMP). [Unfortunately, all these articles are off-line and I can't hyperlink to them.] This effort by the Republican leadership of the House selects a limited number of vulnerable candidates and raises tens of thousands – or even hundreds of thousands – of dollars for them.

ROMP was run by Tom DeLay and his protégé, Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) in 2001. According to a February 21, 2001 article in the political newsletter The Hill the goal was to raise "between $75,000 and $100,000 in an effort to retain their seats in 2002." Among the six Republican members of Congress to receive this largess: Representative Mike Ferguson of New Jersey.

Even though Tom DeLay was in charge of ROMP, that is not enough of a connection to the money Mike Ferguson received from ARMPAC. This line from The Hill article, however, makes the connection between the money Rep. Ferguson received from ARMPAC and ROMP abundantly clear:

Jim Ellis, DeLay's director of Americans for a Republican Majority Political Action Committee (ARMPAC), said he informed the six members by late last week.

"These ones were chosen because they are going to face significant competition on this one," Ellis said.

Jim Ellis (currently under indictment for campaign finance violations in Texas) not only leads ARM PAC but also handled the distribution of money from ROMP to Mike Ferguson.

According to a May 17, 2001 Roll Call article, the ROMP fundraiser for these six candidates netted a total of $780,000, money that the newspaper tied directly to DeLay.

DeLay and Blunt have already begun the ROMP effort for this cycle, raising more than $780,000 for Capito, Rogers and fellow newcomers Rob Simmons (Conn.) , Mark Kennedy (Minn.), Dennis Rehberg (Mont.) and Mike Ferguson (N.J.), as well as Virginia state Sen. Randy Forbes (R), a candidate in the June 19 special election to replace late Rep. Norm Sisisky (D).

A November 29, 2001 article Roll Call that again quotes Ellis puts the number of dollars received by Rep. Ferguson and the others at $132,000.

According to Jim Ellis, director of ARMPAC, DeLay's leadership committee, the major boost that members on the ROMP list enjoy comes from a one-time event hosted by a member of the Republican leadership. In May, DeLay raised a total of $132,000 for the campaigns of GOP Reps. Rob Simmons (Conn.), Mike Rogers (Mich.), Mike Ferguson (N.J.), Mark Kennedy (Minn.), Dennis Rehberg (Mont.) and Shelley Moore Capito (W.Va.).

All told, Congressman Michael Ferguson has received $185,000 in campaign contributions thanks to the largess of Congressman Tom DeLay. That is not pocket change, and often there is a quid pro quo expected for such political generosity.

Posted by admin at 03:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)