Liberty and hope: They’re what bind us together – Josh Gottheimer

By |2017-08-02T00:32:07+00:00August 2nd, 2017|House & Senate|

Over the first six months of my term, my staff and I visited all 79 towns of the 5th Congressional District, concluding our tour of businesses this week in the towns of Liberty and Hope.

As we celebrate Independence Day, it is the ideals of liberty and hope that speak to the core of who we are as a nation.

I’m honored to serve North Jersey in the U.S. House of Representatives. In this role, I’ve been lucky enough to see the best of New Jersey and the best of the United States: brave law enforcement officers and service members putting themselves in harm’s way to keep our families safe; communities coming together to support innovative small businesses and important causes; moms and dads celebrating milestones like graduations and retirements; citizens connecting with their elected officials and making their voices heard.

Even with all the challenges we face – and trust me, I know that list runs long – we live in the greatest country in the world.

My grandparents immigrated here from Russia and Germany; my wife’s grandparents came to the States after surviving the Holocaust. Our families weren’t here that fateful day 241 years ago when a brave group of colonists declared themselves to be independent and truths to be self-evident. Yet the promises contained in that declaration ring through our family – and all our families – to this day: that America remains the land of opportunity.

I’m the son of a man who started a small business in the basement of his house. He has lived the American dream. Like me, he still believes deeply in that dream – that we all are created equal, endowed with the unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Because of the wisdom and forethought of those Founders who took a stand in Philadelphia, I’m still optimistic that America’s best days lie ahead. Our Founders never thought running our country would be easy. After all, the preamble of our Constitution opens with “in order to form a more perfect Union.” In other words, America would be a work in progress. They designed it that way. Our Founders feared that, in the wrong moment, their work building the greatest democracy in history could be undone.

So they intentionally put a series of checks and balances in our Constitution, giving distinct roles to Congress and the president, including making it difficult to pass legislation. They were thinking about the long game. After all, they had fought hard risking their liberty and lives for America’s freedom from an oppressive and autocratic England; they didn’t want the same outcome here.

My point is that what we are living through now may be difficult, but it’s not the first time. We’ve had plenty of ups and downs in our nation’s history. Fortunately, America’s trend line has consistently pointed upward, and even in today’s environment that’s still the case.

There’s even the hit Broadway musical featuring our nation’s first Treasury secretary, who was shot and killed by the sitting vice president in a duel here in the Garden State that makes our current cable news duels seem tame by comparison.

While we’ve always had different points of view, there is a real difference between disagreeing on policy and pure obstructionism. There is a need to reach back to the collective good that we should be rowing together instead of fighting against one another.

Moving past the partisan arguments will take a commitment from all of us to actually reach across the lines that divide us and start talking with – rather than at – each other.

That’s what I’m trying to do in Congress. I am proud to serve as the co-chairman of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus, a group of 21 Democrats and 21 Republicans who come together on a regular basis to look for areas of common ground and get things done. There are some areas where we may not ever agree, but on issues like cutting taxes, fixing our roads and bridges, and standing up for our veterans and first responders, there’s plenty of room to work together. After all, a broken bridge isn’t a Democratic or Republican issue; veterans live in rural and urban areas; and we all know we pay too much in taxes. These are just plain good for America issues.

I will continue to look for opportunities to reach across the aisle to get things done. This Independence Day, I ask you to join me. Reach out to your friends and neighbors, even those with whom you think you have little in common. Because we all share one important thing in common: We are American. And we all believe in liberty and hope.

Donald Trump Does the Unthinkable! – Liz Crokin

By |2017-08-02T00:25:08+00:00August 2nd, 2017|2016|

Liz Crokin is an award-winning author, a seasoned journalist and an advocate for sex crime victims.  Liz began her journey at the University of Iowa where she received a bachelor’s in journalism and political science.

Donald Trump is a racist, bigot, sexist, xenophobe, anti-Semitic and Islamophobe — did I miss anything?….yup;  he is also deplorable. The left and the media launch these hideous kinds of attacks at Trump everyday; yet, nothing could be further from the truth about the real estate mogul.

As an entertainment journalist, I’ve had the opportunity to cover Trump for over a decade, and in all my years covering him I’ve never heard anything negative about the man until he announced he was running for president.  Keep in mind, I got paid a lot of money to dig up dirt on celebrities like Trump for a living so a scandalous story on the famous billionaire could’ve potentially sold a lot of magazines and would’ve been a Huge feather in my cap. Instead, I found that he doesn’t drink alcohol or do drugs, he’s a hardworking businessman. On top of that, he’s one of the most generous celebrities in the world with a heart filled with more gold than his $100 million New York penthouse.

Since the media has failed so miserably at reporting the truth about Trump, I decided to put together some of the acts of kindness he’s committed over three decades which has gone virtually unnoticed or fallen on deaf ears.

 

  •      In 1986, Trump prevented the foreclosure of Annabell Hill’s family farm after her husband committed suicide. Trump personally phoned down to the auction to stop the sale of her home and offered the widow money. Trump decided to take action after he saw Hill’s pleas for help in news reports.
  •      In 1988, a commercial airline refused to fly Andrew Ten, a sick Orthodox Jewish child with a rare illness, across the country to get medical care because he had to travel with an elaborate life-support system. His grief stricken parents contacted Trump for help and he didn’t hesitate to send his own plane to take the child from Los Angeles to New York so he could get his treatment.
  •      In 1991, 200 Marines who served in Operation Desert Storm spent time at Camp Jejune in North Carolina before they were scheduled to return home to their families. However, the Marines were told that a mistake had been made and an aircraft would not be able to take them home on their scheduled departure date. When Trump got wind of this, he sent his plane to make two trips from North Carolina to Miami to safely return the Gulf War Marines to their loved ones.
  •      In 1995, a motorist stopped to help Trump after the limo he was traveling in got a flat tire. Trump asked the Good Samaritan how he could repay him for his help. All the man asked for was a bouquet of flowers for his wife.  A few weeks later Trump sent the flowers with a note that read:  We’ve paid off your mortgage.
  •      In 1996, Trump filed a lawsuit against the city of Palm Beach, Florida, accusing the town of discriminating against his Mar-a-Lago resort club because it did not allowed Jews and blacks. Abraham Foxman, who was the Anti-Defamation League Director at the time, said Trump put the light on Palm Beach not on the beauty and the glitter, but on its seamier side of discrimination. Foxman also noted that Trump’s charge had a trickle-down effect because other clubs followed his lead and began admitting Jews and blacks.
  •      In 2000, Maury Povich featured a little girl named Megan who struggled with Brittle Bone Disease on his show and Trump happened to be watching. Trump said the little girl’s story and positive attitude touched his heart. So he contacted Maury and gifted the little girl and her family with a very generous check.
  •      In 2008, after Jennifer Hudson’s family members were tragically murdered in Chicago, Trump put the Oscar-winning actress and her family up at his Windy City hotel for free. In addition to that, Trump’s security took extra measures to ensure Hudson and her family members were safe during such a difficult time.
  •      In 2013, New York bus driver Darnell Barton spotted a woman close to the edge of a bridge staring at traffic below as he drove by. He stopped the bus, got out and put his arm around the woman and saved her life by convincing her to not jump. When Trump heard about this story, he sent the hero bus driver a check simply because he believed his good deed deserved to be rewarded.
  •      In 2014, Trump gave $25,000 to Sgt. Andrew Tamoressi after he spent seven months in a Mexican jail for accidentally crossing the US-Mexico border. President Barack Obama couldn’t even be bothered to make one phone call to assist with the United States Marine’s release; however, Trump opened his pocketbook to help this serviceman get back on his feet.
  •      In 2016, Melissa Consin Young attended a Trump rally and tearfully thanked Trump for changing her life. She said she proudly stood on stage with Trump as Miss Wisconsin USA in 2005. However, years later she found herself struggling with an incurable illness and during her darkest days she explained that she received a handwritten letter from Trump telling her she’s the bravest woman, I know.  She said the opportunities that she got from Trump and his organizations ultimately provided her Mexican-American son with a full-ride to college.
  •       Lynne Patton, a black female executive for the Trump Organization, released a statement in 2016 defending her boss against accusations that he’s a racist and a bigot. She tearfully revealed how she’s struggled with substance abuse and addiction for years. Instead of kicking her to the curb, she said the Trump Organization and his entire family loyally stood by her through immensely difficult times.

Donald Trump’s kindness knows no bounds and his generosity has and continues to touch the lives of people from every sex, race and religion.  When Trump sees someone in need, he wants to help.  Two decades ago, Oprah asked Trump in a TV interview if he’d run for president.  He said:  If it got so bad, I would never want to rule it out totally, because I really am tired of seeing what’s happening with this country. That day has come. Trump sees that America is in need and he wants to help.  How unthinkable!

On the other hand. have you ever heard of Hillary or Obama ever doing such things with their own resources? Now that’s really unthinkable!  Might be worth passing on!!!

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