Congressman Leonard Lance was never a fan of the Iran nuclear agreement. In July 2015, he inveighed against it. “Tough sanctions brought the Iranian leaders to the table, kept them there and will hold them accountable.  Removing sanctions without lasting results achieves nothing.” What, then, must he think of President Trump’s casual and offhand de-sanctioning of Chinese cell phone manufacturer ZTE?  “Too many jobs in China lost”, he tweeted.  This after the U.S. Department of Commerce banned American firms from selling to ZTE for seven years because of sanction-busting trade with BOTH North Korea AND Iran. Trump’s move to rescue ZTE from the brink of extinction comes just as the U.S. has reimposed sanctions on the Islamic Republic, and is threatening European companies that continue to trade there. This volte face by President Trump, typical of his erratic style of governance, is no trivial matter. Lawmakers in the President’s own party have expressed deep concerns.  As an avid proponent of “tough sanctions” against Iran, why has Congressman Lance remained silent on the issue? Is he afraid to poke this can of worms? President Trump’s facile explanation for his decision is unlikely to bear much relationship to the truth, based on past performance.  There are several more credible explanations. But perhaps the most concerning is the temporal connection to Chinese state-owned company’s decision to invest massively (half a billion dollars) in a theme park development in Indonesia that also features a Trump hotel and condos.  Any connection would indicate that foreign policy goals have been suborned to profiteering.  There is a strong case to be made that this is a serious breach of the “emoluments clause”, the constitutional provision banning presidents from accepting gifts or other payments from foreign governments, a case made by the former ethics officers of both the Obama and George W. Bush administrations. As is usually the case when the ethics of the President are called into question, our Congressman has withdrawn into his shell. Meanwhile, you are paying the price at the gas pump for a decision made for questionable ethical and political reasons.  Happy motoring!   #RememberinNovember. #NJ07

Has He No Shame? Leonard Lance has survived another week in which casual cruelty, racism, immorality and venality were on full display in the party he represents. Casual cruelty? How about the comment by White House communication staffer Kelly Sadler that John McCain’s views are of no concern: “It doesn’t matter, he’s dying anyway.”  Or retired Air Force lieutenant general Thomas McInerney on Fox Business Network stating that we know torture is effective because it worked on “Songbird John” McCain? Racism? How about John Kelly stating that illegal immigrants are uneducated and rural, and would be unable to assimilate into our modern society?  In fact, illegal immigrants are not poor, uneducated people coming over the border. Further, they assimilate just as well as they did in previous generations, and they are more likely to find work than their non-immigrant peers.  Immorality? How about the rescission of funding for CHIP, which costs the federal government $14.5 billion a year to cover 9 million children and pregnant mothers.  Trump wants to strip some $7 billion from funding for CHIP and other children's programs after handing down massive tax cuts to his donors.  Or Trump’s threat to veto the Farm Bill without tightening work requirements for recipients of food stamps?  To save less than 1% of the projected revenue loss caused by the tax cuts, nutritional aid will be denied or reduced to around two million people, mostly in families with children. And work requirements can always be gerrymandered along racial lines, as Michigan GOP politicians figured out for Medicaid recipients in the state.  Venality? Nothing approaches the payola scheme put together by the President’s lawyer, Michael Cohen, to shake down corporations in the guise of providing access to policy makers.  The fact that companies ponied up suggests they were pretty sure they would get what they paid for. And why would they feel otherwise when the occupant of the White House has established his own cash cow? Leonard Lance is too busy burnishing his moderate image to notice that he serves a party that has lost all sense of values.  Fortunately, we, his constituents have retained ours.    #RememberinNovember #NJ07  

  There’s Nothing Funny About this Gag This is latest idea from the Republican Party bereft of vote-winning ideas.  When faced with the fury of voters, they failed to repeal and replace Obamacare (an action Leonard Lance voted for at least 39 times).  The Tax Cuts and Jobs Creation Act may have sent the champagne corks popping amongst the big donors, but it produced no joy in Mudville.  Nevertheless, a reliable approach to stir up the base is to go after abortion rights and Planned Parenthood.  Hence the contemplated decision to cut off abortion providers such as Planned Parenthood by banning them from receiving Title X health care funding if they mention abortion or abortion-related services-- even if they also provide safe abortion services using their own, separate, non-federal funds.  Title X is the nation’s program for affordable birth control and reproductive health care that four million people rely on. And, no surprise, those who lack health insurance, or have low incomes, are those who will suffer from this decision.   This so-called “gag rule” was implemented for overseas aid years ago by the Reagan administration, and then by George W. Bush, and again a year ago by Trump/Pence. Overseas groups spending even a dime of their own money advocating for changes in their own nation’s abortion laws were made ineligible to receive family planning funds from the U.S. The results were predictable - an increase in unintended pregnancies, more unsafe abortions, and a chill on public-health research and discussions.  But it has been a policy goal of Mike Pence and the right to bring this policy home for over a decade.  There is political calculation here. Trump has been shown a list of the top 2018 competitive House races, in which every single sitting Republican is pro-life, including our own Leonard Lance. White House support for this change is seen as a winning issue. Lance has been quiet on the topic. Call him up, express your opposition to the “gag rule” and inquire of the Congressman’s position: (908) 518-7733.  If you get a straight answer, let us know.   #RememberinNovember; #NJ07.    

Let’s think big for the American people!  Let’s discard the cramped and narrow politics of avarice favored by Republicans such as our very own Leonard Lance. Let’s instead wake up to the fact that most Americans expect the government to play a BIGGER role in making the US economy work for all of us. Most voters want to RAISE taxes on the rich and corporations; they want INCREASED spending on Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare; they want a HIGHER minimum wage; SUPPORT for college education.  We were told that the Tax Reduction and Job Creation Act would spur investment in jobs and workers.  If you are a regular reader, you know that’s nonsense.  Even Marco Rubio knows it: “There is still a lot of thinking on the right that if big corporations are happy, they’re going to take the money they’re saving and reinvest it in American workers,” he said in an interview. “In fact they bought back shares, a few gave out bonuses; there’s no evidence whatsoever that the money’s been massively poured back into the American worker.” Thank you Marco! There is more joy in Heaven when one sinner repenteth….. Let’s turn over Congress and roll back this giveaway; and let’s debate some of the big ideas in circulation to restore real prosperity to American workers. Open Medicare to people under 65. Provide free PreK education.  Expand support for community colleges and job training. Expand the the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program.  Increase the Earned Income Tax Credit, especially for childless adults, to incentivize work.  Put people to work on rebuilding American infrastructure.  Support collective bargaining and wage boards.  Don’t say some or all of this can’t be done!  The alternative is death by a thousand cuts to Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare and a systematic enlargement of the gulf between the super rich and the rest of us. We can use progressive taxation policies to help lift all boats and restore the faith of all of us in the American dream - that every US citizen should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative.  #RememberinNovember #NJ07 #Vote  

Yes, we can tackle the opioid epidemic! An epidemic that led to the deaths of 64,000 Americans in 2016, that is the root cause of the decreasing life expectancy of Americans, and is believed to cost the economy over half a trillion dollars each year. President Trump campaigned on a promise to tackle the problem.  Once elected, he declared a “health emergency”, and offered solutions that fall short of our needs. The President can huff and puff about his wall, and talk about the death penalty for dealers, but long experience tells us interdiction does not work on its own.  It will not keep fentanyl from being made and admixed with heroin to deadly effect.  No, we need to think bigger and bolder and truly make this a national priority for our time.  France had a serious epidemic of heroin overdoses in the 80’s and 90’s, with a death rate that was climbing annually by 10%. Buprenorphine is a medication that reduces cravings for opioids without becoming addictive itself. By changing the law so that any doctor could prescribe buprenorphine without any special licensing or training, France saw a 79% reduction in overdose deaths in four years.  In the US, we are ambivalent about buprenorphine, as “substituting one opioid for another.” We require doctors to complete a training program before prescribing.  Some states also restrict buprenorphine use under Medicaid. Insurers, public and private, often do not cover treatment for addiction.  We need to support Obamacare, support Medicaid, and compel insurers to reimburse for treatment.  We need to create a treatment infrastructure.  We need to to focus on reducing inappropriate opioid prescribing, and rigorously test alternatives, such as medical marijuana or cannabidiol. We must expand the availability of naloxone for overdose treatment. And we need to make all of this affordable.  If street heroin is cheaper than the cure, failure is assured.  Yes, this will be expensive.  The alternative – inaction – has a cost that is unbearable. Let’s start by voting out Leonard Lance and the Republican Congress and let’s create an equitable tax system that allows us to invest in the health of all Americans, everywhere.  #RememberinNovember #NJ07