Will The Trains Run On Time? Or Ever?

There’s a train coming to Gloucester County!

It doesn’t matter that there are at least 1,865 (1,866 now) folks belonging to a group who don’t want a train.

Never mind that “a number of big rail systems lose between about “a buck” and “$5 a pop” according to a Bloomberg article from a few years ago.

And forget the arguments about transit saving energy and reducing pollution. The CATO Institute proved that untrue several years ago writing, in part:

Nor are claims that transit saves energy and reduces pollution true. In 2016, transit used about 10 percent more energy per passenger mile than the average car and only slightly less than the average light truck. Both transit and cars emit about the same amount of greenhouse gases per passenger mile. People who care about energy or climate change would do better to drive a plug‐​in hybrid than to take transit.

Certain South Jersey politicians, all of the Democrat persuasion, have argued a Gloucester County light rail train will boost economic development. Untrue! Again from the CATO Institute:

The latest argument for transit is that it promotes economic development. While some studies have found that heavily used transit lines can influence property values, research published by the Federal Transit Administration has shown that this is a zero‐​sum game: Higher property values in one part of a city are balanced by lower values elsewhere. Not only does transit not promote overall economic growth, the high taxes required to subsidize transit may actually slow growth down. Data from more than 300 urban areas show that the regions that grew fastest in the 2000s were ones that had spent the least on transit in the 1990s, while the regions that spent the most on transit in the 1990s were among those that grew the slowest in the 2000s.

Despite all these commonsense reasons not to build a new light rail train, similar to the Camden to Trenton River Line that I have watched more than one drug deal take place on, South Jersey politicos are moving forward with pushing to get a Camden to Glassboro train built.

Don’t believe me? According to the Courier-Post – the online version, I’m still looking for my actual paper that I pay $60/month to have delivered to my neighbor’s doorstep – “The plan for a light rail extension between Camden and Glassboro has chugged along for two decades but may accelerate with $200 million in funding from the South Jersey Transportation Authority.”

Make no mistake, that’s $200 million taxpayer dollars!

And that $200 million is only for “preliminary engineering design and project management through bonding, though no financing has been implemented.”

The Courier-Post reports:

The 18-mile passenger line would run from Glassboro to Camden, where it would connect with other rail and bus services. Its cost estimate is between $1.6 billion and $1.8 billion.

The project would use existing Conrail track in Pitman, Sewell, Mantua, Deptford, Wenonah, Woodbury Heights, Woodbury, Westville, Brooklawn and Gloucester City.

Some track would have to built where none exists, such as into South Camden from the Walter Rand Transportation Center in the city's downtown area.

Over $1 billion for an unneeded and mostly unwanted train!

The Courier-Post article goes on to quote the Delaware River Port Authority’s (DRPA) CEO John T. Hanson:

DRPA officials called the recently released environmental impact statement a “significant milestone” in a long-proposed project.

“The GCL will effectively extend the Philadelphia-Camden metropolitan area,” said John T. Hanson, the DRPA's CEO.

There is a reason I moved back to Jersey from Philly, and there is a reason when I moved back to Jersey from New Mexico I chose Gloucester County. I don’t want to be an extension of the Philadelphia-Camden metropolitan area.

I like Gloucester County’s rural feel. I like the fact that the only train I have to deal with is an occasional freight train. I like the fact that Interstate 295 is wider than the New Jersey Turnpike in Gloucester County. I even like the fact that only one bus runs through my town, only once an hour at most and that the bus is almost always empty when it passes through town.

I didn’t move to Gloucester County so I could have to deal with a train stopping traffic. I didn’t move to Gloucester County so I could listen to a train go through town, if I wanted that I would move near the PATCO High Speed Line in my native Camden County.

In my opinion this train is all about helping Camden and has nothing to do with helping Gloucester County. Recently, it was announced that the Walter Rand Transportation Center in Camden, one end of the Glassboro-Camden light rail route, is getting a $250 million overhaul.

The three representatives of New Jersey’s 5th Legislative District, state Senator Nilsa Cruz-Perez, Assemblyman William Spearman and Assemblyman Bill Moen all said in a statement the overhaul will benefit “all of Camden County.” No mention of Gloucester County.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that part of the $250 million in improvements to the Walter Rand Transportation Center are for the proposed Glassboro-Camden light rail. Did the Senator and Assemblymen even consider what the light rail will do to Westville, Woodbury, Wenonah and Mantua? All towns they represent in Trenton.

The light rail route was proposed in 1996 and former Governor Jon Corzine in May of 2009 announced it was to be completed in 2019, since it still isn’t here I suspect there is still time to stop this ill-conceived waste of taxpayer dollars. To stop this train you are going to have to vote. Ask those running for state Senate, Assembly and even Commissioner (formerly Freeholder) how they feel about this train.

Don’t think this train, if it does eventually get built, is going to stop in Glassboro. The Conrail tracks go all the way to Millville. So, pay attention Cumberland County. You could be next!

This whole thing brings new meaning to “It’s like a train wreck, you know it’s going to be ugly but you have to look.”

Vote Fraud Exists – Stop Saying It Doesn’t

I am sick and tired of members of the press trying to make it sound like vote fraud does not exist.

To be fair the “press” has changed their message a little and are now saying things like “there is no evidence if wide-spread vote fraud.”

The fact is there are many instances of vote fraud that have been covered in the nation’s newspapers. Because these instances have made the news I can’t understand why members of the press insist it doesn’t happen.

Vote fraud, or elections fraud happens in many ways. I still remember way back in 2000 when I was a candidate for Congress (the old PA CD1) in Philly having to go to court on Election Day morning to stop an illegal turkey for votes giveaway in the city’s 7th ward. The judge agreed.

Fraud happens, and in the interest of being fair, I will admit it happens both ways. Only two years ago a political operative working for North Carolina Republican congressional candidate Mark Harris managed to get himself indicted on charges related to collecting absentee ballots in the 2018 primary and 2016 election. The whole ordeal led to a new election in which a different Republican candidate, Dan Bishop, stepped up to win the House seat in NC-09.

New Jersey has plenty of vote fraud problems. Anyone remember the time when then Roselle Council President Jamel Holley was charged with absentee ballot fraud for filling out and submitting more than 20 ballots in the 2006 election? In one of those “only in New Jersey” stories Holley paid a $125 fine and was granted pre-trial intervention to avoid jail time and have criminal charges of ballot-tampering dismissed within a year. Even former Governor Jon Corzine wanted Holley out, but typical Democrat politicos like Ray Lesniak and Joe Cryan supported Holley. Eventually, Holley was rewarded with the Assembly seat he occupies today.

Also in New Jersey is the story of John Fernandez, the former Essex County Department of Economic Development employee who received a five-year prison sentence for conspiracy, election fraud, absentee ballot fraud, tampering with public records or information and forgery. According to NJ.com:

In September, a Mercer County jury found Fernandez was guilty of submitting ballots on behalf of voters in the Nov. 6, 2007, general election without their knowledge. He helped collect ballots on behalf of Teresa Ruiz, who won the election and still serves in the Senate.

The jury convicted him of conspiracy, election fraud, absentee ballot fraud, tampering with public records or information and forgery.

And, since the article quoted is from 2012, for those who don’t pay attention Ruiz is still a state Senator.

New Jersey has a long history of vote fraud. The Heritage Foundation lists 16 cases going back to 2003.

More recently Gloucester County Republicans challenged 157 mail-in ballots of voters who voted in Gloucester County even though they filled out a change of address form with the post office because they moved out of the county.

Last time I checked it was illegal to vote where you don’t live. Apparently, no one bothered to tell the judge.

The bottom line here is that vote fraud exists. We know it exists and we have to work to stop it – and not just during election season. The fight for 2021 begins now. We have to out the folks who are committing vote fraud. If they know we’re watching them it might be enough to stop them. Some of those folks who voted in Gloucester County who don’t live in the county I have tracked down on social media, I have the screenshots that show they live elsewhere, I might just have to publish them soon.

To the press: Please stop saying vote fraud doesn’t exist, you’ve written about it, so you know it does.

Libertarian Turned Republican Is Tired Of Screwing Up GOP Primaries So He’s A Libertarian Again.

Murray Sabrin (from his campaign website)

Recently some random guy sending an email to the radio station begging that Murray Sabrin get a little air time with The Bob & Steve Show got me thinking about how many times Murray Sabrin has screwed up an election for Republicans.

If Sabrin, or the aggressive campaign volunteer of his, reads this my guess is the Libertarian Party candidate will not be on our show. I have no issue with the Libertarian Party, I’m a small “L” libertarian who, a lifetime ago, ran for Philadelphia City Council as a Libertarian.

My issue is with the guy running under the Libertarian Party banner for U.S. Senate. Simply put, when it comes to the electoral process, Murray Sabrin has spent a political career screwing things up for Republicans.

I have to admit, I was hoping that email to the radio station that I did reply to would give me the opportunity to tell Sabrin on-the-air he’s a spoiler but two weeks later and not a word back.

So, back to the spoiler. Consider this, if not for Sabrin there likely would never have been a Governor Jim McGreevey. Think about it. 1997 McGreevey ran against incumbent Governor Christine Todd Whitman. Back then, we Republicans thought she was the best, she was widely considered a rising star in the national party. Sabrin was the Libertarian Party’s candidate for governor in that race and thanks to his 5% of the vote Whitman barely beat McGreevey 47%-46%. Losing that close essentially guaranteed McGreevey the Democrat’s nomination four years later.

In 2000 Sabrin was one of the four contestants in the GOP primary for the U.S. Senate, he finished last with 12.6% of the vote. Bob Franks was the winner over Bill Gormley by 4,360 votes. Jim Treffinger came in third. Gormley was the kind of guy we needed to defeat Jon Corzine. Sure, Corzine still would have spent the $63 million, but remember Franks lost by 3% spending only $6 million. Gormley was a far more dominant figure, the outcome could have been different. Without Sabrin in the primary it is possible it would have been a Corzine-Gormley fight.

Then, there’s the mess that was the 2008 Republican primary for U.S. Senate. Sabrin was in the contest as was Joe Pennacchio. The brain trust that ran the party at the time was enamored with Anne Evans Estabrook because of her ability to self-fund. Estabrook dropped out of the race shortly after a video titled “Anne Estabrook Flops on the 2nd Amendment” found its way to YouTube. To be fair, the official reason for her dropping out was a mini stroke.

Estabrook’s exit positioned Pennacchio as the frontrunner, the aforementioned brain trust wasn’t having that. First they went to Andy Unanue, his campaign lasted so long that he never made it back to New Jersey from his vacation in Colorado. Then there was a list of potential candidates before the party bosses settled on Dick Zimmer. Sabrin’s 13.8% of the vote, the bulk of which would likely have gone to Pennacchio, is what helped Zimmer garner 45.8% for the win. Zimmer then went on to get crushed by Frank Lautenberg.

Also, during that mess of a campaign Murray “I’m a fiscal conservative” Sabrin proved he’s not very conservative with other people’s money when he bet campaign funds on a horse in the Kentucky Derby.

Sabrin ran again as a Republican in the 2014 four-way U.S. Senate Primary. He finished dead last.

Now, tired of screwing up Republican primaries, he’s back running as a Libertarian. Don’t let Murray Sabrin screw up this election for Republicans like he has in the past. And, to the guy who emailed the radio station on Sabrin’s behalf, I’ll still let Sabrin come on The Bob & Steve Show and he can explain why he’s spent his entire political career screwing things up for Republicans.