Dump Mike Ferguson (NJ7)

I'm not sure what to make of this one, but if the New York Times accurately captured Michael Ferguson's feelings then he prefers having a Democratic majority in Congress.

If the Democratic ascendance on Capitol Hill was supposed to usher in dark days for Republicans, it is hard to tell from talking to moderate ones like Mike Ferguson, who represents a suburban district in central New Jersey.

As the new Democrat-led House rushed to complete its business before adjourning for spring break this week, Representative Ferguson was marveling at the many bills that had been passed in Congress’s first 100 days, including one that would make it easier for unions to organize and another that would increase the minimum wage.

“Under the Republican majority, those bills would have never gotten to the floor,” he explained before heading back to his district. “Now they have been brought to the floor, and I’ve voted for them.”

Mr. Ferguson’s enthusiasm captures a peculiar political reality in the Capitol: many Republicans from swing districts in the Northeast are finding that life under Democratic rule has its advantages.

During the 12 years that Republicans controlled the House, moderate Republicans were the stepchildren of their party, expected to vote with their conservative leadership on crucial issues, even if it meant taking positions that could anger centrist voters back home.

He's gone from Tom DeLay's (R-TX) favorite campaign check casher to a lover of the House under Nancy Pelosi (D-CA).

If Ferguson really prefers a Democratic majority maybe we can help him along in November 2008?

Posted by admin at 06:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In 1948 President Harry Truman labeled the Congress "Do Nothing" because they only met 110 days the whole year. In 2006, the Republican Congress blew that record away by meeting a grand total of 94 days. As a result of missing so many work days, there was a lot that just didn't get done.

One of the things that didn't get done was passing a budget for the 2006-2007 fiscal year, instead passing what "continuing resolutions" that maintain the spending of the previous year. This is usually done as a stop-gap effort as the Congress works to complete the bills. That means that four months into the fiscal year we don't have a budget determining how much money will be spent on what programs.

Essentially, they wanted to pass the buck to the new Democratic majority to let them make the hard decisions the Republicans were not willing to make. It was a political, partisan decision meant to make the Democrats look bad.

Now the Democrats are in control and are looking to pass a budget that is responsible and doesn't increase the deficit. And one of the ways they are doing it is by removing all the earmarks put in last year.

For us in the 7th District that means that the inaction by the Republican Congress in 2006 may cost Mike Ferguson's district about $4.15 million this year for a variety of projects that Ferguson had bragged about getting. In short, he bragged about the funding before he and his colleagues did the work to get the funding, and now it may be lost.

The list of potentially lost funding in our district is taken from the Record list of New Jersey's endangered earmarks. Where possible we linked to Ferguson's bragging on the funding.

Posted by admin at 02:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

The following letter was published in the October 4, 2006 Independent Press:

Ferguson a 'craven Bushman'

To the editor:

Sooner or later the country will wake up, even in the red states, and realize that a gang of Texas billionaires hijacked the true Republican GOP - the true Grand Old Party -and turned it into the Gas and Oil Party. Then there will be a major backlash, which will not be good for the country either.

The time has come for Republicans in our district to put country ahead of party, and replace Mike Ferguson with a Democrat, if only until the red states come to their senses. Then our district can elect a true Republican we can all be proud of - not a craven Bushman.

J.C. Phillips
Summit

Posted by admin at 07:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Last week we learned that Rep. Mike Ferguson (R-NJ7) had taken $3,000 in campaign cash from Rep. Mark Foley, a Congressman who used his power and authority to engage in cybersex with underage teenage boys.

Of course, just taking money from one sexual deviant doesn't mean anything. I mean, Foley gave money to a lot of different people.

What if it is two?

Last November Rep. Don Sherwood settled a $5.5 million lawsuit filed against him by the woman he was cheating on his wife with. Sherwood's mistress claimed the following:

The suit alleges that on June 24, 2004, "without any reason or justification, Defendant Sherwood repeatedly struck the Plaintiff's face, neck, chest and back with a closed fist, and began violently choking her." The suit adds that on numerous occasions prior to and subsequent to June 24, Ore was "violently physically assailed."

The lawsuit continues, "Following each unprovoked and vicious attack, Defendant Sherwood reaffirmed his romantic intentions and promised the Plaintiff that he would not assault her in the future, and pleaded for her to remain in the relationship."

Ferguson donated to charity $2,000 of the $3,000 he received from Foley.

But to date Ferguson has kept the $2000 he has received from Sherwood's Doing Our Nation's Service PAC.

Ferguson won't keep money from a guy who preys on teenage boys, but as long as there is no publicity he is more than happy to keep money from a guy who cheats on his wife and beats his mistress.

The fact is that Mike Ferguson is willing to take money from anyone no matter how corrupt their politics or personal behavior. All four members of Congress leaving office in disgrace – Republicans Duke Cunningham (convicted), Tom DeLay (indicted), Bob Ney (convicted) and Mark Foley (admitted) – have given a combined $65,000 plus to Ferguson over the years, and so far only $3,000 of it has been donated to charity or returned.

Ferguson should be giving the money he received from corrupt politicians because it is the right thing to do, not because of the publicity. But it is the publicity Ferguson cares about.

Wrong choices, wrong Congressman.

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

We noted earlier this week that Mark Foley contributed http://www.dumpmike.com/2005/08/congressman_ferguson_and_campa.htmlhref="http://www.dumpmike.com/2006/09/mike_ferguson_takes_corrupt_co.html">$2,000 (turns out it was $3000 when you include the 1998 race against Frank Pallone in NJ6 ) to Mike Ferguson (NJ-7). Foley recently resigned from the House of Representatives because he repeatedly sent sexually explicit messages to underage boys over the Internet.

Some folks have suggested that making this kind of connection suggests we or others want to brand Ferguson a pedarest. We don't. He's actually, in all the times I have met hime, a good father who really loves his kids.

But what Ferguson is as a Congressman is someone who is willing to put his hand out and take money from anyone no matter how corrupt they are. He is the #1 recipient of campaign cash from Tom Delay who resigned from Congress, took $7500 from Bob Ney who dropped his reelection campaign and is leaving Congress, took $1000 from Duke Cunningham who resigned from Congress to go to jail, and now with Mark Foley.

Tack on money from lobbyist Mark Vallente, college loan impresarios Cary and Ryan Katz, Jack Abramoff, Adam Kidan, Tony Rudy, Jim Ellis, the Kontogiannis family and many more.

And today we learn that he has one more connection with corruption in the House of Representatives: Dennis Hastert. Hastert is the House Speaker, the guy who has power over every member of the House. If he learns of illegal behavior he has an obligation to take care of it and not let that behavior impact our government or our legislature.

But Hastert knew that Mark Foley had been sending sexually explicit messages over the Internet to former pages who were 16, 17 years old. Hastert knew about it, but let it continue.

Hastert has given $40,000 to Mike Ferguson since 2000, the maximum allowed by law.

The point is not that Mike Ferguson is necessarily corrupt in an of himself. He may be a real sweet guy with honest beliefs who is just wrong on the issues.

But the people he owes for his campaigns and cash are corrupt. And the are not just your run of the mill pollitical corrupt folks, but pedofiles, murderers, bribed officials, etc. Every time a corruption scandal erupts it turns out Mike Ferguson has his hand out taking their money and looking the other way.

We cannot have people running out coutry who are happy to put money in their pockets while ignoring pedophilian, the selling of votes, bribery in the House, corruption and every other scandal over the past six years.

Mike Ferguson took the money, and never stood up to any of them.

Wong choices, wrong Congressman.

Posted by admin at 05:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Yesterday Representative Mark Foley (R-FL) resigned his seat in Congress over some e-mails he'd written to former pages and other young men, abusing his power and position in an effort to curry favor with the boys.

This is the fourth Republican member of Congress to give up their Congressional seat in the past year.

• Randy "Duke Cunningham (R-CA) resigned after taking hundreds of thousands of dollars from military contractors in return for government contracts;
• Tom DeLay (R-TX) resigned his seat under a cloud from the Jack Abramoff scandal and an indictment for campaign finance crimes;
• Bob Ney (R-OH) abandoned his reelection campaign and gave up his House leadership position and will leave Congress in January;
• And now Mark Foley (R-FL).

The connection to Mike Ferguson? Every single one of these disgraced, corrupt members of Congress have donated campaign cash to Mike Ferguson's campaign. Cunningham gave Ferguson $1,000 which Ferguson later donated to charity. Tom DeLay gave Ferguson $54,403 and directed hundreds of thousands more. Bob Ney gave Ferguson $7,500.

And Mark Foley, the latest Republican to resign for abusing the power of his office, contributed $2000 to Ferguson's campaign.

No matter what Republican corruption happens in Washington DC, Mike Ferguson is always in the middle with his hand out taking the corrupt Congressman's cash.

Wrong choices, wrong Congressman.

Posted by admin at 09:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

The following letter was published in the Courier News on Friday, September 29 2006.

Republicans sink in unethical mire

Yes, I am a Republican of long standing, and it is not easy to write this letter. I have had enough of the rape of this country by Washington and Big Business.

However, with unethical liberal Democrats and ethical conservative Republicans I am truly concerned. In my mind, ethics has to do with power, control, lying, cheating and stealing by individuals, government and business. The greatness of our country was the strong, honest, hard-working middle class. Yes, the economy is booming for the haves and the upper middle class. The rest of the country is faced with lower incomes, unreasonable prices, debt, usury, identity theft, taxation and health costs.

If we sit down and tally the money those unethical Democrats have gobbled up, we will find it is peanuts compared with that involving ethical Republicans. The Republicans, including Mike Ferguson and Tom Kean Jr., support business, the bigger the better, and favors for the haves. They will be asked to support President Bush's ill-conceived plan to return control of world oil to Houston as it was until the '70s. Yes, they may get us a piece of pork such as removing the mercury, which may never happen, or finish the Green Brook flood control, like New Orleans.

We had a famous middle-of-the-road Republican, Mrs. Whitman. We are assured that Tom Kean Jr. and Mike Ferguson will be of the same ilk. Mrs. Whitman reduced the income tax, a tax dedicated to education. The responsibility for education was transferred to the homeowners with questionable assessments. Education spending for status and parity has grown leaps and bounds to the point of taking small homes to increase tax receipts.

Utilities are billed in such a way as to make the poor, the elderly and those trying to conserve pay more per gallon of water, water that may not be fit to drink, than the haves pay. The interest on a small debt can be more than 60 percent APR, while large favored debts are about 20 percent or even less. There are discounts and rebates for some, but not all.

Now there is a big problem. For some time, all people were encouraged to register and vote, and register they did. How does the minority party solve the problem? Rig the ballot boxes, of course. Mind you, not by a lot, just enough to claim victory. It could easily happen here.

If I were you, I would keep my eye on the ethical Conservatives this go-round. Most likely, I will return to the party when it gives up carrying the Bible in one hand and death-dealing cluster bombs in the other while making large profits for big business on others' suffering.

CHARLES B. MOBUS
Warren

Posted by admin at 07:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

For all the talk of Mike Ferguson being beholden to Tom DeLay's crowd, Jack Abramoff, President Bush and the lobbyists who fill his campaign accounts, we often miss the fact that his votes usually benefit himself as the son of rich parents who have already given him a million dollars and will give him more as inheritance.

The recent House vote on the minimum wage is a perfect example. Ferguson had the opportunity to do good for the working poor of our nation, and instead tried to do well for himself.

The original idea was fairly simple: raise the national minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25 an hour over the next two years. This means a person working 40 hours a week with no vacations or days off would get a raise from $10,775 to $15,175 (approximately).

It's not a lot, but an extra $4,500 or so is nothing to sneeze at for someone making $50,000. For someone making $10K it's a huge increase. It would also be the first increase in the national minimum wage since 1997.

Just for reference, 2006 federal poverty guidelines put the poverty level for a single person at $14,700. Even with the increase (and assuming the poverty level doesn’t rise) this increase would mean a person working full time with no breaks would make less than $500 more than poverty in 2009.

Mike Ferguson voted against this bill, refusing to bring it to the floor for an up or down vote.

Why? Because the Republican leadership wanted to tack on an Estate Tax Cut to the bill, which would give the children of rich parents a massive tax break when they inherit the family wealth. Ferguson voted for that bill, tying a minimum wage hike allowing the working poor to exceed poverty by less than $500 so he could get a tax break on the family wealth.

Remember, this is a guy who has voted repeatedly to accept raises himself. He made $141,300 in 2001 when he first took office, and in 2007 will make $168,500. That's a pay increase of $27,2300 -- more than twice what a full-time minimum wage worker makes today.

Even worse, New Jersey raised its minimum wage to $7.15 as of this October so by blocking a national minimum wage increase he is allowing employers in surrounding states to pay lower wages, taking jobs out of New Jersey at a time when employment is hard to get.

He accepted his own raises, but refused to give the working poor a raise unless he also got a massive tax break on his inheritance.

Wrong choices, wrong Congressman. Mike Ferguson.

Posted by admin at 07:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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)

On February 10, 2004 Congressman Mike Ferguson signed on as a cosponsor of the Federal Marriage Amendment (FMA) which would deny same sex couples the right to marry anywhere in the United States, regardless of what the voters and citizens of that state wanted.

On July 18, 2006 Congressman Mike Ferguson voted for the Federal Marriage Amendment yet strangely his name is no longer attached to the bill as a cosponsor.

Why would he take his name of the bill if he still supports the bill? Is Mike Ferguson going soft on the issue of same sex marriage?

Or was he backing a popular President George Bush in 2004 by cosponsoring the bill, and now trying to run away from an unpopular George Bush in 2006?

Posted by admin at 06:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)

Though he is no longer a sponsor of the bill, Mike Ferguson voted today to pass a Constitutional Amendment banning gays from being legally married.

When he first ran for Congress, Ferguson had the endorsement of the left of center Human Rights Campaign and the right of center Log Cabin Republicans because he presented himself as a moderate on gay rights issues. He has since lost the support of both organizations because of his lurch to the radical right.

It is the same with his environmental record. In 2000 and 2002 Ferguson pretended to be a moderate and received the support of organizations such as the League of Conservation Voters and the Sierra Club. He has since jumped onto the right wing Republican bandwagon and lost the support of every single environmental group that backed him in the past.

Ferguson introduced himself to the public as a moderate Republican and has tried to maintain that facade. The truth is not in his flyers and website, but in his votes. And in his votes he is 100 percent in line with the right wing Republicans currently running DC and our country into the poor house.

UPDATE: After the jump

Continue reading "Mike Ferguson Moves To The Right Again" »

Posted by admin at 07:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Here are the caucuses Congressman Mike Ferguson belongs to, according to the National Journal.

Rep. Mike Ferguson, R-Warren: Congressional Caucus on Intellectual Property Promotion and Piracy Prevention

Congressional Diabetes Caucus

Bipartisan Disabilities Caucus

Congressional Croatian Caucus

Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues

Congressional Boating Caucus

Caucuses are groups of House members who get together to discusss a particular issue. The ones that jump out at me are the Port Security Caucus and the Intellectual Property Promotion and Piracy Caucus. Why?

Regarding the first caucus, Ferguson voted against securing our ports from nuclear materials and for a bill that slashed federal terrorism funding for New Jersey. If that'sthe kind of record people on the Port Security caucus have, I'd be worried about them.

He's much better at promoting intellectual property, though at the cost of everyday folks. Ferguson is the key sponsor of a bill that would ban normal and sattelite radio manufacturers from including recording features in their devices. The idea is that this would protect people who own the rights to music from having their songs recorded and shared, but what it really does is stiffle innovation from manufacturers and make it impossible for people to record shows -- like talk shows, news, etc. -- and listen to them at their convenience.

Posted by admin at 06:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

By the way, you too can donate to Linda Stender's campaign and Blue 7th PAC through our ActBlue page.!

Blogs like Blue Jersey and Dump Mike have been instrumental in bringing endorsements and funds to Linda.  While BlueJersey has just a little under $2,000 for Linda and Blue 7th PAC (which runs Dump Mike) a little under $5,000, Matt Stoller of the Netroots Candidates fundraising list said that without BJ and DM they would not have endorsed in NJ7. 

The Netroots Candidates list has raised almost $10,000 in just a couple weeks.  They should be able to raise 5 or 10 times that much, and the Red to Blue list from DCCC the same.  In 2004, Red to Blue raise a cool $250,000 for each of their identified candidates.

That's as much as $3500K or more that would not be used to defeat Mike Ferguson were it not for us.

So give yourselves a hand, people!  You are making a difference in New Jersey and national politics.

Posted by admin at 02:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

A Blue 7th PAC member was wandering around Mike Ferguson's website looking for information when she noticed something very interesting. On page after page there were pictures of Mike Ferguson meeting with the people, with seniors, kids, soldiers, veterans, and other everyday folks.

And every single one of them was white. Not just the one-on-one pics, but all the people in the crowd photos and the classroom photos. There is not one single minority on the whole website.

We decided to check this out, and so we downloaded every single photograph from the website and checked them out. We enlarged them, looked at little arms sticking into a picture and legs walking out of them. We're pretty sure there are only white people on Mike Ferguson's campaign web site. It's at http://www.fergusonforcongress.com if you want to take a look.

According to the Census, the current 7th district had 15.414 Asian households, 11,405 Hispanic households, and 8,684 African American Households in 2000. Where are they in Mike's world?

Below the jump are all the pictures from the Ferguson for Congress web site. You can click on any one of them to see the picture taken off the Ferguson for Congress site without any alteration or photoshopping.

Continue reading "Mike Ferguson's Whites Only Website" »

Posted by admin at 03:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (9)

The following letter was published in the April 6, 2006 Courier News:

Ferguson does as the Republicans do

In a recent letter, Nancy Singer claims, "Mike Ferguson has been a consistent opponent of opening the Alaska refuge to drilling."

That's simply not true. Congressman Michael Ferguson voted yes to drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and yes to the energy bills in 2001, 2003 and 2005. It's in the Congressional Record.

I don't think any sensible person would call this being consistent against drilling in Alaska. Sounds more like flip-flopping to me.

If you check Ferguson's voting record, you will see he has voted with Bush and the Republican-controlled Congress 90 percent of the time, which has led to the largest federal government ever, including record budget deficits, record national debt and record trade deficits. Ferguson has the same record of failure and incompetence that the Bush administration has.

Perhaps Ms. Singer should check her own facts before lecturing others.

SUSAN RENQUIST
Somerville

Posted by admin at 06:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Blue 7th, a grassroots organization group focusing on NJ's 7th congressional district, called today for Rep. Mike Ferguson to finally purge his campaign of cash connected to indicted Texas Congressman and former Majority Leader Tom DeLay. After being indicted and having more than one top former aide convicted of corruption, DeLay announced yesterday that he would resign his seat in Congress and not seek reelection.

"The culture of corruption is pervasive in Washington DC, reaching to the highest levels of Congress and to individual members like Mike Ferguson," said Blue 7th chairman Nathan Rudy. "DeLay's resignation proves that Ferguson's Texas benefactor was crippled by corruption scandals, and it is time for Ferguson to give up the tainted cash he received from DeLay and his cronies."

Rep. Ferguson has repeatedly refused calls from good government groups and the media to return money he has received from Delay, despite the continued connections to Congressional corruption. Ferguson has been quoted in the media as saying, "those contributions were appropriate."

Rep. Ferguson has accepted $54,413 directly from DeLay and his political action committee known as ARMPAC since 1998. The Ferguson campaign has also accepted close to $200,000 from fundraising programs run by former DeLay employees embroiled in corruption scandals.

"Mike Ferguson was bragging again last week about his fundraising prowess and how much money his campaign has on hand," said Nathan Rudy. "But with $250,000 � a quarter million dollars � coming from tainted and corrupted sources this is nothing to brag about.

On Friday of last week, former DeLay Deputy Chief of Staff Tony Rudy pled guilty to charges of corruption and misusing his official connections. He has contributed $3,000 directly to Rep. Ferguson over the past two years, and his now closed lobbying firm Alexander Strategies threw a big ticket fundraiser for Rep. Ferguson on September 30, 2005 that brought in tens of thousands of dollars.

DeLay was named as "Representative #2" in the plea agreement, as was former Delay Communications Director and Chief of Staff Ed Buckham. Buckham was Tony Rudy's partner at Alexander Strategies, and in addition to the fundraiser last fall has also contributed $3,000 to Rep. Ferguson.

Jim Ellis, who serves as DeLay's treasurer for ARMPAC, was indicted with DeLay in 2005 for laundering money and violating campaign finance law. Ellis coordinated a fundraising program for Rep. Ferguson in 2001 that raised more than $130,000.

Mark Valente III is a lobbyist who also serves on DeLay's ARMPAC steering committee, and held a big-ticket fundraiser to help Ellis build his defense fund after his indictment last summer. Valente and his wife have contributed more than $3000 to Ferguson campaigns, and also serves as the treasurer for Rep. Ferguson's own political action committee, MIKE PAC.

Congressman Bob Ney (R-OH) has been named as "Representative #1" in both the Abramoff and Rudy plea agreement, and is under investigation for making statements on the House floor favorable to clients of the lobbyists. Ney's political action committee, American Liberty PAC, has contributed $7,500 to Rep. Ferguson's campaign.

Jack Abramoff, who DeLay called a "close friend" and whose conviction this winter for bribery and influence peddling led to the conviction of Tony Rudy, contributed $1,000 to Rep. Ferguson. The campaign donated that money after Abramoff's indictment last summer to a charity.

For the past year people connected to the political operations of Tom DeLay have been investigated, indicted and convicted of corrupting Washington, D.C. and our government. Each time a new revelation of corruption is made, we discover a direct connection through money or personnel to Rep. Ferguson's campaigns.

Blue 7th is asking all residents of NJ7 who are interested in clean government to contact Congressman Ferguson and tell him to return or donate to charity all the money he has received from Tom Delay and any colleagues touched by scandal and corruption. Congressman Ferguson's Washington Congressional office can be reached at (202) 225-5361 and his New Jersey office can be reached at (908) 757-7835. The Ferguson for Congress campaign can be reached at (732) 560-4700.

Blue 7th PAC is registered with the Federal Election Commission as a multi-candidate political action committee, and is dedicated to returning clean government to Washington, DC. This press release was paid for by Blue 7th PAC, and was not authorized by any candidate or other committee. More information is available at http://www.blue7th.com and http://www.dumpmike.com .

Posted by admin at 07:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Help Blue 7th defeat Mike Ferguson in November by putting a contribution form on your web site or blog today. It's really simple by following the instructions below, and if you need help just drop us a line at dumpmike@gmail.com to ask for help!

You can also go to ActBlue and set up your own fundraising page there to help Blue 7th and other Democratic candidates win!

Posted by admin at 09:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Members of a New Jersey group traveled to Washington, DC to advocate for more action in stopping the genocide in Darfur, Sudan. They received warm welcomes from a number of Congressman from New Jersey's delegation, but not Congressman Mike Ferguson's office.

They came to ask for more humanitarian aid and military support in a land where hundreds of thousand of Darfurians have been slaughtered, raped, wounded, driven from their homes, and attacked again while struggling for survival in the refugee camps of neighboring Chad.

Delegates met with NJ Reps. Steve Rothman (D-Dist. 9) and Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-Dist. 11), both of whom signed on as sponsors to the Darfur Peace and Accountability Act, a bill the lobbyists believe is vital to the salvation of the Darfurian people.

At the office of Rep. Mike Ferguson (R-Dist. 7), the delegates were seen by Amanda Tharpe, the congressman�s legislative aide. Ferguson has not signed on as a sponsor of the bill.

Describing Ferguson�s aide as �very cool� and not �terribly sympathetic,� Linda Kohl of Short Hills, president of AJC�s Metro NJ chapter, said both Frelinghuysen and Rothman were �very positive. They are really on our side. That was obvious from everything they said and everything they did.�

This is not the first time that people have reported Ferguson's constituent services have been weak. A number of people have told Dump Mike that when they call to get information from Ferguson's NJ and DC offices they are told that the staffer doesn't know the answer, and that an answer can be expected in two to three weeks. Others say that their questions by phone and submitted on Ferguson's web site go unanswered.

Continue reading "Darfur Advocates Find Ferguson's Office "Cool"" »

Posted by admin at 06:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

We're likely to hear something in the next 10 months before Election Day that a reason to vote for Mike Ferguson is that he is a Republican, and the Republicans control DC. Who else but another Republican could possibly have the power to represent the district?

According to the Gloucester Times, that line of reasoning is a bunch of hooey.

What's the point in being a Republican from New Jersey in Washington? It's a cheeky question, but it's worth asking.

New Jersey voters routinely re-elect the six GOP lawmakers. However, the six have little clout. House Republicans systematically quash all attempts by New Jersey officials to rise to power. ...

Saxton, Smith, Frelinghuysen still serve in the House, whereas Roukema has retired. U.S. Reps. Frank LoBiondo, R-2nd Dist., Scott Garrett, R-5th Dist., and Mike Ferguson, R-7th Dist., round out the current list of six GOP lawmakers from the Garden State. They may be popular in their districts, and they may be re-elected.

It is clear, however, that their worst enemies are their party masters. Republicans from the South and West have yet to see New Jersey as anything but a collection of ZIP codes from which to raise money.

Ferguson can't bring home the bacon to the 7th District or represent our values because the radical right running the House won't let him.

Posted by admin at 03:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

In a scathing rebuke, Garden State Equality slammed Congressman Mike Ferguson while endorsing Assemblywoman Linda Stender to take his seat in the House.

For the U.S. House of Representatives in New Jersey's 7th Congressional District, encompassing parts of Union, Middlesex, Hunterdon and Somerset Counties, Garden State Equality proudly endorses Assemblywoman Linda Stender (D-Union County) . "Assemblywoman Stender is among the greatest champions of civil rights in the state legislature today," Goldstein said. "She's an impeccably honest and devoted public servant whose constituency outreach, progressive values and commitment to open government leaves us no doubt she'll go on to become one of the greatest members of Congress ever to serve the State of New Jersey."

In November, Assemblywoman Stender will face incumbent Mike Ferguson. On the broad array of issues that New Jersey cares about deeply -- from a woman's right to choose to the civil rights of every discriminated-against constitutency -- Mike Ferguson has one of the most shockingly extreme right-wing voting records of any member of Congress on either coast of the United States. "Mike Ferguson is so far to the right of New Jersey," Goldstein said, "that if you placed a cut-out figure of him on a map, it would be in Portugal. How embarrassing that this man represents any part of our progressive state.

"Tom Kean Jr. (Junior) and Mike Ferguson are the Extremist Twins, perfect together."

Posted by admin at 02:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

In a sign that is sure to be bad for Mike Ferguson's reelection chances, even Somerset County Republican Chairman Dale Florio knows that Democrats are making inroads in 7th Congressional District towns.

Somerset County Republican Chairman Dale Florio looks on his territory like a battleground: though ground is being lost on the northern front, that loss is being more than compensated for by victorious rearguard skirmishes.

"It was a good year for us," he said in summing up 2005, adding that the GOP gained strength at the local level despite Democratic advances.

The goal of his side, which historically has been the most powerful and well-funded, is to hold the line on its gains, reverse the Democrats' inroads and prevail in the long term, he said.

Florio met last week with Courier News editors to discuss the future of the Republican Party in Somerset County and the ways in which the political turf has changed since 1992, when he became his party's county leader.

The most discouraging news comes from the north, where Sally Rubin became the first Democrat to be elected to the Bedminster Township Committee in recent memory and where a bipartisan citizens' group is seeking to recall Republican Township Committeeman Kurt Joerger from office.

The Democrats also are asserting themselves in the Somerset Hills communities of Bernards [ed: not in 7th] , where two Democrats ran for the Township Committee in November, and Bernardsville, where a municipal Democratic committee has formed. Though the Democrats lost in Bernards, they vow they will be back.

And though Melonie Marano became the first Democrat to be elected to the Township Committee (by two votes) in Green Brook in a decade in 2003, the Republicans have held onto their seats against Democratic challengers in the last two elections.

Florio called the challenge from the Democrats a wake-up call.

The tide is turning.

Posted by admin at 08:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Now that Mike Ferguson's benefactor Tom DeLay has been forced from his leadership position as a result of invetsigations into his corrupt dealings in Texas and with Jack Abramoff, the Republican House delegation is forced to select new leadership. They have an opportunity to turn away from the culture of corruption that has pervaded Washington DC for the past five years, or an opportunity to select the same kind of leadership and continue business as usual.

One of the House Republicans looking to permanently replace Tom DeLay as Majority Leader is Roy Blunt (R-MO), who is so tied in to the DeLay/Abramoff way of doing business that uber-conservative columnist George Will opposes his ascention:

Roy Blunt of Missouri, the man who was selected, not elected, to replace DeLay, is a champion of earmarks as a form of constituent service. If, as one member says, "the problem is not just DeLay but 'DeLay Inc.' " Blunt is not the solution. So far -- the field may expand -- the choice for majority leader is between Blunt and John Boehner of Ohio. A salient fact: In 15 years in the House, Boehner has never put an earmark in an appropriations or transportation bill.

Of course, Congressman Mike Ferguson is so tied in to Delay Inc. that Ferguson recently announced his support for Blunt. It's about all we could expect. When he was getting more money than any other member of Congress from Tom DeLay, Ferguson voted to ease ethics and Republican caucus rules to help DeLay stay in power. Now that DeLay is out -- he has contributed nothing to Ferguson since 2004 -- Ferguson needs someone to fill the void.

Roy Blunt has already given Ferguson $5,000 for the 2006 election, as well as $10,000 for the 2004 election, $9,999 for the 2002 election, and $3,000 for the 2000 election.

That's a $27,999 windfall for Ferguson, and a vote for Roy Blunt for Majority Leader.

Update: Blunt has Abramoff connections, as well.

Rep. Roy Blunt and the man he wants to succeed as House majority leader, Tom DeLay, shared similar connections to convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff and to corporate lobbyists.

Blunt, R-Mo., wrote at least three letters helpful to Abramoff clients while collecting money from them. He swapped donations between his and DeLay's political groups, ultimately enriching the Missouri political campaign of his son Matt.

And Blunt's wife and another son, Andrew, lobby for many of the same companies that donate to the lawmaker's political efforts.

And of course, there are the Delay Inc. memberships for Blunt and his family:

Texas prosecutors recently subpoenaed records of a series of financial transactions in 2000 between DeLay and Blunt that were highlighted in a recent AP story.

DeLay raised more money than he needed to throw parties at the 2000 Republican National Convention and sent some of the excess to Blunt through a series of donations that benefited the causes of both men.

After transfers between political organizations, some of the money went to the campaign of Blunt's son, Matt, in his successful 2000 campaign for secretary of state. Now the Republican governor of Missouri, Matt Blunt eventually received more than $160,000 in 2000.

UPDATE II: A timeline of Blunt's work with Abramoff on Indian issues, and the money that they exchanged.

Update III: We totally forgot that Roy Blunt was also repsonsible for working with Tom DeLay and Jim Ellis to funnel $132,000 to Mike Ferguson from the ROMP fundraiser in 2001.

Continue reading "Mike Ferguson Supports the Continuation of "Delay, Inc."" »

Posted by admin at 05:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The country-wide mood is continuing to shift our way. Now we just have to localize it to our district.

In an ominous election-year sign for Republicans, Americans are leaning sharply toward wanting Democrats to take control of Congress, an AP-Ipsos poll finds. Democrats are favored 49 percent to 36 percent.

The poll was taken this week as Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff pleaded guilty to tax evasion, fraud and corruption charges and agreed to aid a federal investigation of members of Congress and other government officials.

President Bush's job approval remains low - 40 percent in the AP-Ipsos poll. About as many approve of his handling of Iraq, where violence against Iraqis and U.S. troops has been surging. ...

About a third of the public, 34 percent, approves of the job Congress is doing, and nearly twice as many, 63 percent, disapprove, according to the poll of 1,001 adults taken Jan. 3-5. The margin of sampling error was plus or minus 3 percentage points. Public opinion of both Democrats and Republicans in Congress has been mixed, recent polling found.

Posted by admin at 08:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Yesterday Blue 7th PAC called on Mike Ferguson to return the $2,000 he received from admitted felons Jack Abramoff and Adam Kidan. Now we will tell him how he can get his money back: Demand that Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum return his MIKE PAC contributions immediately.

MIke has repeatedly defended his acceptance of money from indicted politicians like Tom DeLay by saying that he doesn't buy into contributor's philosophies. Instead, they are buying into his.

If that is the case, then Ferguson needs to tell his constituents whether he agrees with this threat in the Gloucester County Times from Santorum:

A high-ranking Senate lawmaker on Tuesday said he would try to block federal funding for projects in New Jersey if Garden State officials were to continue objecting to a plan to deepen the Delaware River's main shipping channel by five additional feet, and to 45 feet overall.

"I will do everything in my power to stop anything beneficial to New Jersey, period. I will use everything I have until New Jersey lives up to their commitments," said U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum, a Pennsylvania Republican and third-ranking official in the Senate chamber. "Every single thing that benefits New Jersey in particular I will do everything I can to make sure that it gets slowed down or stopped."

Please call Rep. Ferguson's office at 908-757-7835 and ask his staffers if the Congressman stands by Senator Santorum's threat to block all funding for New Jersey if we don't do what he wants. You can also write to Rep. Ferguson on his website e-mail form.

Another avenue is to send letters to the editor talking about Senator Santorum's threats. Local and regional newspapers are as follows: 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. The Glocester County Times editor is available at ggrossman@sjnewsco.com.

Posted by admin at 11:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

From the December 20, 2005 Courier News:

GOP lawmakers aid only the wealthy

Congressman Mike Ferguson, along with the other members of his Republican majority in the U.S. House of Representatives, passed $56 billion in tax breaks last week that would go overwhelmingly to the wealthiest sliver of Americans.

The Tax Policy Center estimates 84.2 percent of the cuts passed by the House would go to the top 20 percent of households by income.

But that's not all. The tax cuts come after this same Republican majority in the House passed $50 billion in cuts to services that struggling working families depend on, like Medicaid, student loans, child support enforcement and food stamps.

These aren't the priorities of America's working families -- and it's time our representatives in Congress knew that they should oppose cuts for working families and new tax breaks for the wealthy.

Where does Congressman Ferguson stand on these issues? Right with his Republican majority.

Working people should keep in mind how little our congressman considers the needs of the people who he purports to represent, by examining his adherence to his parties policies.

BRUNO RIPP
Warren

Posted by admin at 05:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

It looks like seniors are pulling away from the Republican Congress:

The results can be seen in Americans' attitudes toward Congress 11 months before Election Day 2006. By a 65%-19% margin, Americans age 65 and above disapprove of the performance of Congress; those under 65 are also negative but less lopsidedly, 58%-27%. Moreover, senior citizens say by 47%-37% that they want Democrats rather than Republicans to win control of Capitol Hill. Those under 65 prefer a Democratic victory by a narrower 45%-39% margin.

That disparity, like some other political differences between older and younger Americans, is relatively slight. But it has big implications for the 2006 campaign for two reasons.

The attempt to change Social Security, and the ham-handedness people like Congressman Mike Ferguson in pushing the plan, has really hurt the Republicans with seniors.

If you want a bumper sticker with the slogan, "Save Social Security, dumpmike.com." send an e-mail to info@blue7th.com with your name and address and we'll send you one. Please use it, preferably on a car, because they cost money!

Posted by admin at 08:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The redistricting of 2001 was a blow to competetive races throughout New Jersey, creating largely safe districts for all 13 incumbents. However, a switch of seven percent of the vote will win in the 7th. It will take work and effort and the truth being told, but we can win here.

Mike Ferguson disagrees:

In a telephone interview Friday, Rep. Ferguson said he felt confident that he was poised to win a fourth term.

Ferguson noted that Douglas Forrester, the Republican nominee for governor, won 55 percent of the vote in the heavily Republican 7th Congressional District while losing statewide. President Bush lost New Jersey in 2000 and 2004, but prevailed on Ferguson's turf.

Democrats "need to talk about as many seats as they can that might be in play because they have to assure people for their own credibility that they can win back the House," Ferguson said, deriding the "numbers game" played by Democratic political operatives who claim they will drive him from the House.

"When you look at New Jersey, most of the incumbents -- all of the incumbents -- have done quite well," Ferguson said.

Bush is significantly less popular in 2006 than he was in 2004, and Forrester appears to have just barely won the district. Things are changing here all on their own. The newspaper Roll Call reports that Al Gore won NJ7 in 2000, and would still have won after the state redistricted NJ7. We need to work hard for the next 11 months to help people see that Congressman Ferguson is not right for NJ7:

• Mike Ferguson is so radical on contraception, embryonic stem cell research and abortion that his own Republican House Colleagues call him "Mr. Embryo";
• He has taken more than $54,000 from Tom DeLay and refuses to return it even though DeLay has been indicted for money laundering and corruption;
• After receiving that money from Tom DeLay, Ferguson used his leadership PAC (MIKEPAC)sent $27,000 back to Texas candidates and only $1000 to NJ candidates
• Ferguson voted to change the Republican House Caucus rules to allow Tom DeLay to stay in power if DeLay were indicted;
• Mike Ferguson has also received $1,000 from Jack Abramoff, a corporate lobbyist indicted for fraud in a case involving casino boats and mob-style murder;
• The MIKEPAC treasurer is a corporate lobbyist who makes millions convincing members of Congress to vote for his clients;
• He was called a "wind up doll designed by [pharmaceutical] industry lobbyists by the Star Ledger;
• Mike Ferguson received the largest fine in Federal Election Commission history -- $210,000 -- for illegally using a half million dollars in his 2000 race.
• He refuses to co-sponsor the bi-partisan HR 550 verified voting bill sponsorsed by Rush Holt;
• He has voted three times to allow drilling in the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge, and misled constituents about the votes;
• Ferguson repeatedly voted against expanding the child tax credit from $600 to $1000 for working low-income families;
• Ferguson voted to cut Medicaid by $10 billion, then went to a health care event and sympathized with people who could not get health insurance;
• He voted to close Fort Monmouth and throw hundreds of New Jerseyans out of work after doing nothing to challenge the commission that determined which bases would close;
• He misinformed constituents on Social Security and the problems is faces in public meetings;
• Ferguson is a co-sponsor of the Federal Marriage Act which would deny marriage to anyone but heterosexual couples.

These are not the values of New Jersey's 7th Congressional District. When the voters learn about Mike Ferguson's values, they will change their minds.

Posted by admin at 09:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

PoliticsNJ.com is reporting that the buzz is Assemblywoman Linda Stender will not run for Congress against Mike Ferguson in 2006 in New Jersey's 7th.

Democratic leaders say the expect Assemblywoman Linda Stender to pass on a run for Congress next year, leaving former Hillsborough Mayor Joseph Tricarico as the most likely challenger to three-term Congressman Michael Ferguson. Moveon.org continues to target Ferguson, despite the Republican-leaning tenancies of the 7th district: members are being urged to join in a rally outside Ferguson's congressional office tomorrow morning to show opposition to the federal budget.

Linda has been a good friend to my hometown, North Plainfield, and has come to a couple Blue 7th PAC events. I want to stress that the PNJ report is rumors and not from Linda, so take it with a grain of salt. When Linda is ready to announce, she will.

Posted by admin at 02:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The LA Times notes that Mike Ferguson could be in a danger after the Democratic wins this past weekend.

Rep. Thomas M. Davis III (R-Va.), whose district includes much of Fairfax, said Kilgore's poor performance in the area should tell the White House and congressional Republicans that they need to repair their tattered image with independent voters.

"In our [meetings], all we hear is from guys in safe districts and all they say … is we have to keep the base happy," Davis said. "But you've got to start making independents happy or we won't be a majority."

Davis, former chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, said the same tide that overwhelmed Kilgore in Fairfax County could threaten Republican House members representing similar suburban communities across the Northeast. Democrats are targeting a number of GOP incumbents from such districts, including Reps. Michael G. Fitzpatrick and Jim Gerlach in Pennsylvania, Mike Ferguson in New Jersey and Christopher Shays in Connecticut.

The voting patterns in New Jersey were similar to those in Virginia. Like Kilgore, Forrester suffered from "a weak performance by the Republican base and very limited traction with swing voters," said David P. Rebovich, chairman of the political science department at Rider University in Lawrenceville, N.J.

The numbers were especially bleak for Forrester in large suburban counties such as Bergen, Middlesex and Mercer that are similar to northern Virginia.

Posted by admin at 07:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Over that past few months we've been tracking Congressman Mike Ferguson's campaign finance as it relates to Tom Delay, discovering that the indicted (twice now) Congressman had given $54,403 to Ferguson. We also found that Ferguson used his MIKE PAC to sent $27,000 back to Texas Republican candidates for Congress backed by DeLay.

But that's not the only conflict related to MIKE PAC, as was discovered by The Center for Public Integrity: It turns out that the treasurer for MIKE PAC is a big time corporate lobbyist:

Among the lobbyists overseeing leadership PACs is the Republican political consultant Mark Valente. He serves as the treasurer of 15 PACs, nearly all of which are leadership PACs, including those of House Republicans Joe Wilson, S.C.; Mike Ferguson, N.J.; and Mike Rogers, Mich.

Valente, who heads his own lobbying firm Valente & Associates, said he does not believe any conflicts of interest result from heading the leadership PACs of several members of Congress while lobbying. Although at times the job requires fund-raising, Valente said that the majority of his tasks as treasurer involve filling out forms and keeping banking records.

"The members are looking for people they can trust, and we want to help our friends out," Valente said. "And they are already our friends." [my emphasis]

Valente is a lobbyist for 14 companies and groups with business in front of the United States Congress, and as such his job is to try to get members of Congress to vote for bills that will help his clients and against bills that will hurt them.

At the same time Valente is trying to get Ferguson to vote to help clients, he is handling hundreds of thousands of dollars from campaign contributors for Rep. Ferguson.

At the very least, this has the appearance of impropriety.

You can contact Congressman Ferguson to ask why he employs an industry lobbyist as his treasurer by contacting his office at 908-757-7835 or using his website contact form.

You can also make your feelings known by writing letters to the editor to local and regional papers: 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.

Another option is to write on message boards on the Internet. You can pick them by county or by town and write what your Congressman is doing. These messages reach a lot of people who we might not otherwise reach, so find your local board and start typing!

Posted by admin at 08:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

In an article announcing the candidacy of Joe Tricarico against incumbent Congressman Mike Ferguson in NJ's 7th District, Ferguson spokesperson Abby Bird let slip her boss' real measure of success.

Abby Bird, press secretary for Rep. Ferguson, cited the incumbent's successes leading into the race.

"Congressman Ferguson has a solid record of accomplishment, as evidenced by twice being re-elected by overwhelming majorities of the voters," Ms. Bird said.

That's right. The evidence of Rep. Ferguson's success is that he has been reelected. Not that he has passed any great legislation, brought money to the district or achieved any of his campaign promises.

This is the kind of inside the beltway thinking that lead to poor representation in Washington D.C.

Posted by admin at 07:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Somerset County Democrats sponsored a picnic at Green Brook Committeewoman Melonie Marano's house today (7/17/2005) with Jon Corzine as the invited guest. It poured rain down on us, but still 150 or so intepid Democrats came out to greet Senator Corzine and have a good time with Democrats from throughout Central Jersey.

More than 25 Blue 7th PAC members attended, sporting their Dump Mike buttons and showing strength in a County the state and national Demcoratic party often leaves to its own devices. This kind of turnout is important at these events to show the party that we care about this district and that resources should be spent here to beat Mike Ferguson.

The Senator talked about his issues, especially property taxes. He called for changes to the way we fund our schools, moving them off the regressive property taxes that are hurting our communities and onto a progressive tax. He also reitered his intent to increase NJ Saver in the short term until a Constitutional Convention can be called to address the tax issues.

You can set up a Corzine Connection barbecue at your own house by signing up at the Corzine Connection web site. Be sure to tell them you are a Blue 7th member and that you are working to support the Corzine campaign.

Posted by admin at 10:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

In February of this year, Mike Ferguson was one of only six members of the House invited to participate in conservative Senator Rick Santorum's (R-PA) classes on the Catholic Faith. Both Ferguson and Santorum are Catholics.

Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) has organized a course for members of Congress on Catholic doctrine that is being taught from his Senate hideaway in the Capitol. [snip]

In a February letter inviting a select group of members to attend the courses, Santorum wrote, “I believe that this will be a great opportunity to discuss our faith and to create greater unity between the Catholic members of the House and Senate.” [snip]

Asked why only Catholic Republicans were invited, Santorum responded, “It’s a pretty small circle. I have no idea who they invited on the House. I just invited sort of a handful of folks on our side.”

Senator Santorum has recently been in the news for reaffirming what he wrote on the website Catholic Online in 2002 regarding the priest abuse scandal:

Priests, like all of us, are affected by culture. When the culture is sick, every element in it becomes infected. While it is no excuse for this scandal, it is no surprise that Boston, a seat of academic, political and cultural liberalism in America, lies at the center of the storm.

Through a spokesman, Senator Santorum recently repeated this claim that "cultural liberalism" is to blame for the church sex scandal.

Since Congressman Ferguson is taking religious training with Senator Santorum, it is only appropriate to ask him if he agrees with this take on the scandal. Such questions are not a reflection on his religion or his deep Catholic faith, and should not be taken as a comment on such. However, the residents of the 7th Congressional District deserve to know if our Congressman agrees with Santorum's kind of divisive politics.

Please call Rep. Ferguson's office at 908-757-7835 and ask his staffers if the Congressman stands by Senator Santorum's comments. You can also write to Rep. Ferguson on his website e-mail form.

Another avenue is to send letters to the editor talking about the divisive and insulting comments made by Senator Santorum, and asking if Congressman Ferguson agrees with them after taking religion classes with the Senator. Local and regional newspapers are as follows: 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 06:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

We've already discussed that Mike Ferguson is the single largest recipient of contributions from embattled House Majority Leader Tom DeLay with a whopping $42,403. And it was recently noted that Congressman Ferguson voted with DeLay 89 percent of the time – including for House rules that weakened ethics requirements to protect DeLay.

But now a look at MIKE PAC, the "Leadership PAC" for Congressman Ferguson, reveals that four of the top five recipients of 2004 contributions from Mike Ferguson were Congressional candidates from Tom DeLay's Texas.

The $27,000 MIKE PAC gave to Texas Congressional candidates was 44 percent of MIKE PAC's total contributions to candidates. No other state saw more than $5,000 in contributions from MIKE PAC, so MIKE PAC gave five times more money to candidates in Tom Delay's Texas than anywhere else.

New Jersey candidates received only $1,000, a single contribution to Bill Spadea on May 11, 2004.

That doesn't mean that ARMPAC donated this much extra money to Congressman Mike Ferguson in order to have it flipped back to candidates in Congress, but it is suspicious.

Here's who got the money (this has been edited to reflect updated information. Original links were from Open Secrets, but we went to the source at the Federal Election Commission for the updated information. Thanks to John C for pointing out the error ):

Randy Neugebauer (R-TX19) is one of only two candidates to receive $10,000 from MIKE PAC. In addition to the $10,000 from Mike PAC, Neugebauer also received $15,000 from ARMPAC, and was running in a safe district as a result of DeLay's redistricting to make it easier for Republicans to win in Texas.

Roger Sessions (R-TX - lost) also received $10,000 from MIKE PAC. Mr. Sessions is a little hard to track down as he appears to have run a pretty light campaign. He raised a total of $43,744, meaning Congressman Ferguson totalled about 23 percent of Mr. Session's total receipts. Mr. Sessions reveived nothing from ARMPAC.

Arlene Wohlgemuth (R-TX) got a $5,000 contribution from Mike, though she lost to Congressman Chet Edwards (D-TX17) who has represented the area for eight terms. She was recruited by DeLay, he raised money for her and he gave her $10,000 from ARMPAC.

Louis Gohmert and Ted Poe each received a $1,000 contribution from MIKE PAC. Gohmert also received $10,000 from ARMPAC, and Poe received $5,000 from ARMPAC.

Why is Mike Ferguson giving so much money – almost half of his money – to Texas Republicans and giving only a measly $1,000 to New Jersey Republicans? Maybe after all the money from Tom DeLay, Mike thinks he really represents Texas.

ADDITIONAL UPDATE: MIKE PAC also received $5,000 from ARMPAC, bringing the total Congressman Ferguson has reveived from Tom DeLay to $47,403. Add in former DeLay staffers, and the number passes $50,000.

EVEN MORE UPDATES: Atrios found that Tom DeLay's TRMPAC just lost a major round in civil court.

Posted by admin at 12:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (10)

At the anti-abortion rally in Washington DC last February, Mike Ferguson's speech included a subtle call for the "nuclear option" whereby the Senate Republicans would eliminate the Democrats' ability to filibuster a judicial appointment by President Bush. From the Right to Life website, part of Mike's speech:

But all of these legislative victories are threatened by activist judges and courts that are undermining the will of the American majority who value human life.

That's why we must continue to support the president and his judicial nominees. And we must tell the United States Senate that their days of obstruction must end.

Even though Republicans have used the filibuster against Democratic judicial nominees -- including a Supreme Court nominee in 1968 and one Frist participated in himself to filibuster Clinton appointee Marsha Berzon for U.S. Circuit judge -- they want to deny that right to the current minority.

By the way, I will be participating in the Princeton Frist Filibuster at Princeton University at 6 p.m. or so tonight. Hope to see you there!

Posted by admin at 10:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)