Blog - NJ7 Citizens for Change

Leonard Lance is no "Principled Conservative"

Leonard Lance is a self-described “principled conservative,” a conservative through devotion to small government and traditional morality. But the party he joined does not exist any more. There is no governing ideology behind Donald Trump. He is devoted only to bringing himself glory and defeating his perceived enemies. What must Leonard Lance, an avowed fiscal conservative who mooted a balanced budget amendment, think when he sees a tax plan his party created add at least $1.4 trillion to the deficit? And what must he think of his party leadership when they stuck NJ with the SALT liability?

On Gun Legislation, Congressman Lance Shoots From the Hip

Congressman Lance, let’s think big and bold on gun legislation. The “Fix NICS” legislation that you championed is like regrouting the dike while ignoring the breach. The STOP School Violence Act that you voted for is just a reauthorization of a Justice Department program focused on stopping school threats. No. “Big and bold” means calling for the only two changes that really matter. Universal background checks, and a ban on military style assault weapons.

We Rise NJ: End Gun Violence Now

A little over a month ago, my friend, Katherine Morris, and I created a petition to Congressman Leonard Lance requesting that he support future legislation regarding stricter gun regulations (the banning of semi-automatic weapons, bumpstocks and silencers; enforcement of stricter universal background checks; enacting red flag laws, etc.). We received an overwhelming amount of support from the students at our school, Watchung Hills Regional High School. We obtained over 1,500 signatures from students in the span of just 3 days! We had the unique opportunity to hand-deliver the petition to Congressman Lance when he came to visit our school. From this experience, I was able to see the amount of frustration and passion our student body had towards the issue of guns in America.

Trump Administration Will Bring an Environmental Day of Judgement

THE ENVIRONMENT: A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall After three flat years, carbon emissions globally climbed 1.7% in 2017. Bad as that is, we can say with certainty that the course the Trump administration has set us on has the potential to hasten us towards an environmental Day of Judgement.

PRESS RELEASE: New Jersey Student Activists Demand Town Hall With Congressman Lance

Students invite Congressman Lance to a town hall on April 20th, to discuss the issue of gun violence and give constituents the ability to voice their concerns about legislation he has supported. NEW PROVIDENCE, New Jersey — (April 20th, 2018) — A group of student activists from New Jersey’s 7th congressional district have launched an initiative to host a town hall on the topic of gun safety. However, current district Representative Leonard Lance, who is up for reelection this year, has not confirmed his availability, despite numerous phone calls and email requests. Meanwhile, the students have already confirmed the presence of candidates Tom Malinowski, Goutam U. Jois, and Peter Jacobs who are challenging Rep. Lance for his seat in Congress during the upcoming 2018 midterm election.

Nonsensical Sentencing: The US Prison Overcrowding Crisis

by Tina Tarighian The 1960s were the beginning of a period of mass incarceration for the United States. When citizens felt unsafe in their neighborhoods, they propelled legislators to draft bills that made their system tougher and their streets safer. What they didn’t account for, however, was that clinging to the orthodoxy that more incarceration always means less crime would be the exact reason that the United States now harbors the population of some countries behind bars and leads the world in inmate count. Until we have some real reform, this legacy can never be ameliorated.

Saving Education: The Real Choice We Have to Make

Saving Education: The Real Choice We Have to Make After March for our Lives, let’s talk about what is supposed to happen in schools: education.

NATIONAL SECURITY: Avoiding a Constitutional Crisis

NATIONAL SECURITY: Avoiding a Constitutional Crisis Leonard Lance, what will you do to prevent President Trump from firing Robert Mueller? This once unthinkable scenario becomes more likely with every passing day. The President does not tolerate dissent, firing those with whom he disagrees, and surrounding himself with those whose loyalty is to him, not to the Office. He has always viewed the Department of Justice as a tool to wield his authority against his opponents, as seen by the events surrounding the dismissals of James Comey and Andrew McCabe.

Dear Mr. Congressman: A Student's Message to Leonard Lance

Dear Mr. Congressman, My name is Sid, and I’m a Senior at Somerset VoTech. I’m typing out this letter to you on my phone, in the middle of a packed crowd at the Temple B’nai Abraham in Livingston, NJ. This is the first rally I’ve ever been to in my life, because I’m a cynic, Mr. Congressman. I’ve never held the hope that a protest could shake this country onto the right path, or that a clever sign could be the mirror that sparks real reflection on Capitol Hill. Mr. Congressman, I write to you today that I will be the last of the cynics. There is no more room in our democracy for the tired deflections of the past. I recognize that there are nuances to the issue of gun violence in America, but there is one divide that will forever and always be black-and-white: Mr. Congressman, we can either commit to act, or sit back and enable these horrific tragedies to continue.

Weak-Stance Lance is Whistling in the Dark- He Hopes You Won't Vote

What does Conor Lamb’s victory mean for NJ7, our Congressman was asked? “Secretary Clinton carried my district by 3,800 votes and I was honored to carry it by 38,000 votes . . . . I’m very confident the voters in my district will judge me based upon my record.” Confident? Really? In a race that is now a toss-up? In NJ, where voters disapprove 63-32% of the job President Trump is doing? With your A- rating from the NRA, in the year of #Neveragain? With a proud boast of at least 39 votes to repeal, defund or dismantle Obamacare, when healthcare is again top of mind? With your 34% rating from the League of Conservation Voters? With an 83% approval rating from a Koch brothers group, when we are thinking what we could have done with the $1.5 trillion we gave to the Kochs and their ilk?? You think? Congressman, we will be delighted to judge you on your record! Congressman Lance has one hope. You won’t vote. Or your neighbor won’t vote; or your aunt won’t vote, or your son won’t vote. And Republicans love to put a thumb on the scales when it comes to voting. They have perfected the gerrymander, such that 49% of votes for the House translated to 55% of the seats.They love to roll logs in the path of the poor, immigrants, people of color, all in the name of preventing wholly fictitious voter fraud. But this time, Congressman, we are going to find those 38,000 votes and a few more! We will find them among our large suburban base of motivated women and millennials and minorities. We will find them in the first time voters we are registering, who expect us to take on the NRA. And we will find them among the decent people of NJ7 who are disgusted by the fourth-rate reality TV show that is the Trump administration that YOU support. And we WILL vote as though our lives depend upon it. Because they DO! Remember in November!