Dump Mike Ferguson (NJ7)

Linda Stender's latest campaign piece [see it in PDF, or in PNG after the jump] hit mailboxes today, again slamming Mike Ferguson (R-NJ7) for opposing promising new avenues of medical research.

This is the first time they have used the new theme, "Why Mike? Why?" in a literature piece, and it comes on the same day they launched a website by the same name. It looks like this is going to be the new theme for the campaign.

It works on a couple of levels. The first is plaintive, asking, "Why do you vote/behave/think like that, Mike? Why?" The second is, "Why should I vote for Mike if he doesn't represent my values? Why?"

The positive hit for Stender:

Linda Stender supports stem cell research to give our families hope. As a member of the state Legislature, Linda has been a leader in funding research efforts in New Jersey.

As a member of Congress, Linda will support stem cell research to unlock cures for illnesses that harm our loved ones.

Tuesday, November 7th Vote Stender for Congress

The negative on Ferguson:

But Congressman Mike Ferguson VOTES AGAINST HOPE

Ferguson opposes embryonic stem cell research that could unlock cures for cancer, Alzheimer's and diabetes.

Ferguson marches lock-step wit President Bush and other ideologues that put their narrow views before science -- and before hope.

Why Mike? Why?
For more information, visit www.whymikewhy.com

This is probably her best lit piece I've seen, and the Why Mike? Why? theme might work if it is used properly.

Posted by admin at 08:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The following letter was published in the August 29, 2006 Home News Tribune and August 28 Courier News.

Is Mike Ferguson that clueless?

My mail came with new evidence of how clever Rep. Mike Ferguson, R-7th District, was to notice that his opponent Linda Stender's last name rhymes with "spender." If the hypocrisy weren't so blatant, it would be worth a good laugh. Stender has balanced budgets all her career, while Ferguson has helped usher in the largest deficits is our history, turning the 1990's surpluses into record-setting red ink.

I also wonder when I'll get some mail from Ferguson telling me his positions on the difficult issues facing us as a nation. He has grossly abused his privilege in sending postage-free mail to try to convince us that his name is really Congressman Fix-all-the-Potholes, but not one word on how to end the Iraq catastrophe, stop the oil companies from gouging us, or address the grave environmental problems that we in Central Jersey experience only too closely. Has he even thought about these things? I get the impression from his mailings that he doesn't even know about them.

Michael Pratt
SKILLMAN

Posted by admin at 07:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Well, apparently all we have to do is wish for things and they appear! Here is Linda Stender's new television ad about her campaign against Mike Ferguson here in New Jersey's 7th Congressional District. Enjoy:

Posted by admin at 11:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Linda Stender is hitting back at Mike Ferguson with mailings, a radio ad and -- from what I hear -- a television ad up on cable. I haven't seen it, but if you have put it in the comments. These three posts are the current pieces going out in the mail.

The third is about Ferguson's radical opposition to embryonic stem cell research and women’s right to choose. You can click on either image to get to a pdf of the piece and mail it to your friends.

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Posted by admin at 10:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Linda Stender is hitting back at Mike Ferguson with mailings, a radio ad and -- from what I hear -- a television ad up on cable. I haven't seen it, but if you have put it in the comments. These three posts are the current pieces going out in the mail.

The second is about Ferguson's unlimited support for President George Bush's policies both domestically and internationally. You can click on either image to get to a pdf of the piece and mail it to your friends.

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Back

Posted by admin at 10:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Linda Stender is hitting back at Mike Ferguson with mailings, a radio ad and -- from what I hear -- a television ad up on cable. I haven't seen it, but if you have put it in the comments. These three posts are the current pieces going out in the mail.

The first is about Ferguson's unlimited support for President George Bush's Stay the Course strategy on the Iraq War. You can click on either image to get to a pdf of the piece and mail it to your friends.

Front

Back

Posted by admin at 09:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The following letter was published in the Home News Tribune on August 28, 2006.

Ferguson's claim rings hollow

My wife received a letter from our congressman, Rep. Michael Ferguson, R-7th Dist., in which he cites a "troubling development in the current conflict between Israel and Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon."

In substance, he concludes that the United States should blindly support Israel's position. While I have no particular position regarding the matter cited, though I would be interested in his position on the U.S. war in Iraq. Mr. Ferguson, after making a number of pronouncements for which he offers no support, concludes by stating, "I have written to Secretary Rice raising my strong objection (emphasis added) to the United States advocating that Israel withdraw from the area or negotiate with Lebanon over its future."

He goes on to say, "America's role in the current conflict should be to stand with Israel as it defends itself against terrorists. I will keep you posted when I receive a response from Secretary Rice . . ."

Given Ferguson's record, how can such a transparent attempt to distance himself from the Bush administration be seen as anything else? A strong objection? Come on. I for one not only would like to see his "strong objection," which was pointedly omitted from his campaign letter, but am certainly awaiting his "keeping his constituents posted" on Secretary Rice's response. Holding my breath.

Robert Ross
CRANFORD

Posted by admin at 07:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The following letter was published in the Courier News on Saturday, August 26 2006:

Attack on Linda Stender ignores political record

We are in the dog days of summer.

The weather is hot and the Republicans have wheeled out their misinformation campaign.

Mike Ferguson attacked his opponent Linda Stender for being a big spender.

That's very cute, Mr. Ferguson, but the reality is that you rubber-stamped the biggest federal deficit in American history.

Mr. Ferguson even voted to reward oil and gas companies making record profits with tax subsidies.

Meanwhile, Linda Stender has balanced budgets while mayor of Fanwood and as Union County Freeholder.

Linda Stender will restore fiscal responsibility in Congress; a virtue that Mr. Ferguson does not comprehend.

ROBERT SCARDAPANE
Somerset

Posted by admin at 09:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In March 2005, Mike Ferguson announced the following [pdf] in questioning the director of the National Institute of Health:

Of course, the question of when life begins is not a question of someone’s personal ethics or their religion or anything else. It is a question of science. I think that is important to note for the record.

I will give Mike $200.00 from my own checkbook for his campaign if he can show me one scientific experiement that proves life begins when an egg is fertilized. One that conclusively shows that it is that moment, and not when the fertilized egg attaches to the uterus. Or when the fetus could live on its own outside the womb. Or at 24 weeks. Or when you can see fingers on the untrasound.

Seriously. $200.00 from my checking account that you can report to the Federal Election Commission and use as proof that I have supported your campaign in return for one scientific experiment that proves a fertilized egg is a human being.

But I am not looking for sophistry, where you simply argue for it using sophistic methods. I'm not looking for you to say, "Human beings start when the genetic material is set, the genetic material is set when the egg is fertilized, so a human being starts when an egg is fertilized." That's just a circular argument where you define something in a way that proves your point, then proclaim your point is proven. Watch, I can do it too:

"Human life starts when an individual can live on their own outside the womb, fetuses have been kept alive outside the womb using modern science as early as 21 weeks, so life begins at 21 weeks."

But that's not science. That's philosophical logic, and flawed philisophical logic at that. Really, it's just asserting something you believe to be true but cannot prove.

But you say it's science. And the basis of science is that something we consider true must be demonstrated by experiement, and that the experiment must be repeatable under similar conditions. So get me that experiment and I'll drive the check over.

But if you can't produce that experiement, stop saying it's science. 'Cause it's not.

--- Nathan Rudy

Posted by admin at 06:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

The following letter was published in the August 21, 2006 Courier News.

The line about Lebanon is great.

Ferguson myopic on residents' views

When election season rolls around, pundits of all stripes inevitably rehash tired cliches such as this one: "All politics is local." For Campaign 2006, I'd like to offer an update: All politics is local -- when you're hopelessly out of touch with your constituents.

Two events last week prove my case for the change. First, in Connecticut, we saw Sen. Joe Lieberman (a statesman and a class act) lose the Democratic primary because of his frustratingly stubborn support of the Iraq quagmire. His loss did not signal a win for left-wing bloggers, nor did it symbolize the end of civility in politics (Republicans ended that years ago). As Lieberman campaigned on the 18 years of pork he brought back to Connecticut, the results showed that incumbents who refuse to value their constituents' opinions are vulnerable.

Second was yet another glossy, taxpayer-funded advertisement mailed home that proudly advertised the pork Rep. Mike Ferguson recently secured for the district. In the midst of the diplomatic crisis in Lebanon, the best our congressman can do is to talk about walkie-talkies for Lebanon Township. The juxtaposition was priceless.

Mike Ferguson is busy talking about repaving Route 22 instead of addressing the many serious issues of the day, because his views on the issues that matter are out of synch with those of his constituents. From blindly supporting the Iraq war and advocating for a constitutional amendment to ban abortion, to voting against stem-cell research and promoting irresponsible energy policies as gas hovers at $3 per gallon, Mike Ferguson's positions better represent Georgia's 7th District, not New Jersey's 7th.

It is time to change direction, and fortunately this November, we have a chance to do so by electing Democrat Linda Stender to Congress, a proven leader who will actually represent our views in Washington.

KEVIN CUTRO
Westfield

Posted by admin at 07:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Last week Mike Ferguson started running attack ads and mailings against opponent Linda Stender, plying the old canard that Demcocrats are fiscally irresponsible. The problem is that this is not unly untrue, but that is perfectly describes Mike Ferguson's tenure in the Congress.

Ferguson may be able to rhyme "Stender" and "Spender" but the fact is that Ferguson has increased federal spending by more than $3.3 trillion over his six years in Congress, and increased the debt by $2.8 trillion.

That's right. Not only did Ferguson vote to spend a trillion more dollars a year, but to pass the buck from himself and his rich parents to your grandkids and mine. It's as if he stole our family credit cards and put every single American by more than $9,000 each.

And this is a guy who wants to run a campaign on fiscal responsibility and spending restraint? Trillions of dollars in increased spending? Holy cow! Never voting in his entire career for a balanced budget? Holy cow! Trillions of dollars in increased debt passed on to our grandchildren? Holy cow!

The fact is Ferguson, Tom DeLay, Bob Ney, George Bush and the rest of the Washington Republicans are spending and borrowing us all into the poor house while pretending it's all someone else's fault. It's close to embarassing.

Read the facts in a re-work of Ferguson's recent mailing.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_budget_(United_States)

* Rep. Ferguson’s first budget vote, increased spending by $200,000,000,000.00

** Combined increase in spending for the six budgets Rep. Ferguson voted for in Congress.

Chart for Debt Claim

Source: http://www.publicdebt.treas.gov/opd/opdpenny.htm

* Rep. Ferguson’s first budget vote

Posted by admin at 07:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

If anyone had any worries that Linda Stender was just going to take what Mike Ferguson dished out and not fight back hard, the new radio ad she unleashed today [mp3] should change that notion! Ferguson tried to be clever in his ads calling his opponent, "Linda Stender is a Spender" but the fact is that in Congress Ferguson has voted for record spending, record deficits and record debt.

Linda isn't afraid to point this out, or the fact that Ferguson is trying to hide his record behind clever attack ads. And that gas prices and gas company profits have risen while Ferguson gave tax breaks to oil barons. It's good to hear a competitor like Linda get on the air early and aggressively.

These ads cost a good bit, so be sure to help Linda out by contributing to her campaign on our NJ7 ActBlue page today!

Plus, help spread the word by forwarding the .mp3 of the ad out to all your friends.

You can help keep the pressure on by writing letters to the editor on this and other issues related to Mike Ferguson. The Courier News is 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. More local and weekly publications can be found at Dump Mike Letters.

Posted by admin at 05:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

The following letterwas published is the Hillsborogh Beacon on August 10, 2006.

Ferguson's vote disappointing

To the editor:

I want to thank you for your editorial "Veto could help state take a bold step" in the July 27 issue of the Beacon.

As you state, "the effort to find cures for cancer, Alzheimer's Parkinson's disease, diabetes and other debilitating and fatal diseases through embryonic stem-cell research is widely supported — even in the two houses of Congress controlled by the president's own party. But not in the White House."

This is because President George W. Bush used his first veto to block federal support for stem-cell research even though the bill, HR810, was sponsored by Republican Congressman Michael Castle of Delaware.
Unfortunately, neither the House nor Senate could override the president's veto even though 51 Republicans joined 183 Democrats in the attempt to override.

The failure to pass the legislation made me very upset. Maybe it's because I have close relatives who are suffering from the effects of Alzheimer's and Huntington's disease, a terrible fatal disease that currently has no cure.
Maybe it's because we have friends with family members suffering from juvenile diabetes and Lou Gehrig's disease.
Maybe it's because the research and the potential cures will bring hope to those suffering and to their families.
What made me even more upset is that my own congressman, Mike Ferguson, voted to upheld the president's veto. You can see how each and every congressman and senator voted by checking online at Thomas, the Library Congress' legislative Web site using the Roll Call link, thomas.loc.gov/home/rollcallvotes.

President Bush will be in office until January 2009. But, we can send a message to the administration and Congress by voting against Mr. Ferguson in the upcoming Congressional elections in November and voting for his opponent Linda Stender.

As Ms. Stender writes in her Web site, "Sadly, states are being forced to take the lead on stem cell research because Bush and Ferguson's opposition. In the Assembly, I supported legislation to explicitly legalize and encourage medical research on embryonic stem cells in New Jersey and I plan on taking the same commitment to Congress."

For another viewpoint read Jonathan Alter's editorial in the July 31 issue of Newsweek or read more about the potential of stem-cell research and related research into adult-stem-cells.
Much is happening at private labs in the U.S. and abroad.

As you close your editorial, "Making a bold investment now, even in tough budgetary times, should be a smart move — for humanitarian as well as economic reasons."

Tom Merolla
Dunedain Street

Posted by admin at 08:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The following letter was published in the August 9, 2006 Courier News:

Stender reflects Jersey attitude

Mike Ferguson has consistently voted with President Bush's extremist social agenda. This puts him at odds with most New Jersey residents, who want their legislators to be fiscal conservatives but social moderates.

It's time to bring balance back to the federal government. We need to elect Democrats to the House and Senate to reverse this scary drift to the far right.

Linda Stender is the kind of legislator who more closely reflects the attitudes held by most New Jersey residents.

DOMINICK DEPINTO
Califon

Posted by admin at 07:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Ralph Reed just lost a primary for the Lt. Governor spot in Georgia, and it has been suggested that he lost because he "rode the coattails of his friend Jack Abramoff, noted corrupt superstar lobbyist, into big paydays from gambling interests."

Joe Lieberman is in a fight for his life in today's Connecticut Senate Democratic primary, and the prevailing argument against Lieberman is that he has lost touch with the needs of his constituents with regard to the Iraq War, civil rights and backing President Bush unilaterally.

Mike Ferguson is being challenged heavily by Assemblywoman Linda Stender and is facing the same complaints that he is out of touch with his constituents on contraception, embryonic stem cell research, and on the Iraq War.

And what do these three seemingly different politicians from different parts of the country running for totally different offices have to do with each other? In the 1990s they were all leaders of the religous right, working to tear down the wall separating church and state. Ralph Reed was the Executive Director of the Christian Coalition, Mike Ferguson was the Executive Director of the Catholic Campaign for America, and Joe Lieberman was well known for claiming religion was "under attack."

And together they helped found the conservative religous right organization Center for Judeo-Christian Values in America in 1995. This from the Chicago Tribune article on the founding of the group on December 6, 1995.

One of the the center's honorary co-chairmen, Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.), said American culture and traditional moral values are under unprecedented attack. ...

erving as honorary co-chairman with Lieberman is Sen. Dan Coats (R-Ind.), a Presbyterian who introduced the conservative policy initiative in September called The Project for America. Coats has introduced a symbolic legislative package, which seeks to deal with the social problems of poverty through funding of community groups and charitable organizations rather than government agencies.

Coats' partner in the project, former Education Secretary and drug czar William Bennett, praised Eckstein's new project. "The challenge now is whether we preserve this republic and other republics," said Bennett, a Roman Catholic, "and I think a lot of that will hang on whether we believe man is a moral and spiritual being."

Other speakers supporting the center's mission were Ralph Reed, chairman of the Christian Coalition, and Michael Ferguson, executive director of the Catholic Campaign for America.

The mission sounds nice, but the group was funded by the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, "the country's largest and most influential right-wing foundation." Also funded by the Bradleys are the uber-conservative organiazations the Heritage Foundation, the American Spectator, and American Enterprise Institute; and right wing individuals such as Charles Murray, William Bennett and Robert Bork.

Bennet and Bork also sat on the board of the Catholic Campaign for America, and Ferguson used Bennett and Bork's wife Mary Ellen as references on his application for a part time job at Brookdale Community College in 1997.

In fact, Ferguson used to describe himself as a conservative before he figured out in 1998 that it turned off voters from central New Jersey. In discussing how to frame the use of public money for private school vouchers in 1998, Ferguson said:

"Conservatives come under fire when they call for shutting down the Department of Education or just say they're for school vouchers, OK?" he tells listeners. ... In a state in which cultural conservatism has not exactly been a hot topic, Ferguson freely trumpets his strong pro-life stance. ... For some time, Mike Ferguson has stimulated students in the classroom and thousands of fellow conservatives around the country.

The truth is that Mike Ferguson is no more a "moderate" than is Robert Bork or Ralph Reed, no matter how much he wants to pretend he is. The people he worked with after college, and the votes he casts now to oppose stem cell reasearch and women's rights prove it.

Posted by admin at 04:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

We already know that Mike Ferguson used about $500,000 of his parents' money illegally in 2000 as he won his seat in Congress, and was fined a then-record $210,000 for his violation of the law. But what else has Mike been able to do with Daddy's money as he tries to pass himself off as an ordinary Joe?

According to his W2s, in 1997, Ferguson made $1,568 as a substitute instructor at Brookdale Community College. In 1998, Ferguson made $3,170 as a part time adjunct at BCC. And in 1999 he had his hardest working year where he made a total of $4,645. All told, he was paid $9,383 in three years as a college instructor.

But a regular Joe couldn’t get by on $10,000 over three years. Or working for a year free after college, particularly an expensive one like Notre Dame. Or spending 1994 to 1997 working for non-profits like conservative Catholic Campaign for America and Bret Schundler’s Save Our School Children.

And a regular Joe certainly couldn’t afford to then attend Georgetown University and purchase a house right off the campus for he and his wife to live in. At age 26. Or sell that house for about $240,000 and buy another house in Red Bank, NJ for $290,000 in 1997 – the year he was making less than $2,000.

And a regular Joe couldn’t then sell his Red Bank house to a contributor named Patrick J. McMorrow for $400,000 for a stupendous two year profit of $172,000. This swap was, as many will remember, so he could move to Warren, NJ and run for Congress in the 7th district.

The house he bought in Warren, which coincidentally belonged to the same contributor who bought Ferguson’s Red Bank House, cost $462,000.

Average Joes also don’t get to sell that house just five years later for $755,000 – almost $300,000 in profit! – and move into a smaller condo in New Providence that cost just $405,000.

Oh, yeah. Moved into a smaller house even though he had no children when he bought his first house in DC and now has four kids.

This is a guy who profited almost a half-million dollars in seven years on real estate transactions, most of the profit off a political supporter. He should get his own TV infomercial.

Posted by admin at 02:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

Congressman Bob Ney of Ohio announced this weekend that he will drop out of the race to keep his seat because of ongoing corruption investigations and the threat that he will be indicted for taking bribes from Jack Abramoff. Ney is, of course, another member of the Republican corruption team led by Tom DeLay, and so has contributed campaign cash to the tune of $7500 to Mike Ferguson.

So far, Mike has not been willing to return this money from yet another corrupt politician. Here's the particulars:

The only other person referenced in the Abramoff plea deal was Rep. Robert W. Ney of Ohio, who is accused of trading favors on the House record in return for campaign contributions.

In court papers, prosecutors refer to only one congressman: Rep. Robert W. Ney (R-Ohio). But Abramoff, who built a political alliance with House Republicans, including former majority leader Tom DeLay of Texas, has agreed to provide information and testimony about half a dozen House and Senate members, officials familiar with the inquiry said. He also is to provide evidence about congressional staffers, Interior Department workers and other executive branch officials, and other lobbyists.

"The corruption scheme with Mr. Abramoff is very extensive," Alice S. Fisher, head of the Justice Department's criminal division, said at a news conference with other high-ranking officials of the Internal Revenue Service and the FBI. "We're going to follow this wherever it goes."

Abramoff gave Ney money. DeLay gave Neyy money. Kidan, Rudy, Cunningham and all the other corrupt players gave Ney money. And Ney gave money to Mike Ferguson.

You can help put the pressure on by writing letters to the editor on this and other issues related to Mike Ferguson. The Courier News is 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. More local and weekly publications can be found at Dump Mike Letters.

Posted by admin at 06:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The following letter was published in the August 3, 2006 in the Courier News.

Make Bush pay by ousting Ferguson

Our nation put two oilmen in the White House, and six years later the price of gasoline has tripled and the oil companies are reaping outlandish profits. Is anyone surprised?

Our nation was attacked by Osama bin Laden, and President Bush responded by pursuing his personal grudge against Saddam Hussein, triggering a civil war in Iraq from which there appears to be no honorable way out.

Bush's war and his other profligate spending have put our nation deeply in debt to China and other foreign powers. His unilateralism and intransigence in the pursuit of unwise policies have cost America a large measure of respect worldwide. Remember when America was admired abroad? It was not that long ago.

Bush would not have been able to pursue his wrongheaded agenda without followers such as Mike Ferguson in Congress. Ferguson has consistently supported the war in Iraq and the ruinous fiscal policies of the Bush administration. In lockstep with his party leaders, he voted last year to provide $10 billion in new subsidies to the oil industry, and he recently voted against legislation to punish oil companies that engage in price gouging.

In fact, Ferguson votes the Bush line more than 90 percent of the time.

We can't vote Bush and Cheney out of office this year, but we can change the Congress to slow the advancement of their policies. This is how our system of checks and balances is supposed to work.

Those who have had enough of George Bush have a duty to unseat his minions in Congress, and the undistinguished Mike Ferguson should be at the top of the list.

CLIFFORD C. WILSON JR.
Skillman

Posted by admin at 08:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

The following letter was published in the July 31, 2006 Star Ledger:

End the occupation

Your July 20 editorial "The ugly reality of Iraq" decries the growing death toll there, the inability of Iraqi security forces to protect the populace, the incredibly rosy prognostications by the Bush administration even though the Iraq is in a virtual civil war and the fact that Iraq is likely doomed to years of chaos. This just does square with your June 20 editorial "Wisdom on the war" extolling the judgment of Congress for passing House Resolution 861, which rejected an "arbitrary" date for the withdrawal of troops.

You can't have it both ways. You may claim that rejecting a deadline for withdrawal is not an endorsement of President Bush's "stay the course" failures, but how is it not an endorsement when you offer no other remedy? You are free to continue wringing your hands, but it is to be hoped that voters are more focused in their thinking on the war this November and oppose those New Jersey Republicans who supported the resolution to continue the occupation of Iraq as long as their boss Bush sees fit. Their names are Frank LoBiondo, James Saxton Chris Smith, Scott Garrett, Michael Ferguson and Rodney Frelinghuysen.

-- W. Rosenthal
Maplewood

Posted by admin at 08:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)