Rob Andrews Disrespects
Local Educators, Students

Andrews withdraws from debate,
leaving local educators and students
having wasted two weeks of preparation

BARRINGTON – Dale Glading, candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives in New Jersey’s 1st District, sharply criticized U.S. Rep. Rob Andrews for suddenly and without explanation withdrawing from an agreed upon debate to be held at Sterling High School on October 21.

The debate, which was scheduled to be a digital town hall meeting with students from schools across the district videoconferencing together to ask questions of the two candidates for Congress, had been planned for several weeks. Some of the best students at Sterling High had been preparing for two weeks, developing their questions for the candidates.

Now, due to Rob Andrews’ inexplicable waffling and flip-flopping, all of their hard work is likely to go to waste.

“This is truly outrageous,” Glading said. “Rob Andrews has disrespected the voters of the 1st District time after time. Perhaps the only people he had left to disrespect were young people, some of whom are not yet of voting age, and somehow he found a way to disrespect them too.”

“I offer my sincerest apologies to the students of Sterling High School, the teachers, and the administrators whose hard work went to waste due to Rob Andrews’ conduct,” Glading added. “Even I am surprised to see Mr. Andrews stoop this low.”

“Yet again, Rob Andrews has proven to the people of the 1st District that if he says one thing, the opposite is true,” Glading concluded. “Plain and simply, a man’s word should be his bond.”

Andrews Ducking Debates

After chasing Lautenberg all over the state,
and after promising to debate,
has Rob Andrews lied yet again?

BARRINGTON – Dale Glading, candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives in New Jersey’s 1st District, has questioned Rob Andrews’ claim that he would debate the issues and run a spirited campaign in this year’s election.

Andrews has withdrawn from two previously agreed upon joint appearances, the first being a candidates forum at the Gloucester County Chamber of Commerce on October 17, and the second being a digital town hall debate hosted by Sterling High School on October 21.

Glading will appear as scheduled at the Gloucester County Chamber of Commerce and is working with Sterling High School to reschedule the digital town hall debate after Andrews abruptly withdrew.

“Rob Andrews spent months chasing Senator Lautenberg across the state in this year’s Senate primary, challenging him to as many as 21 debates,” Glading said. “Rob said that the voters deserved to hear where the candidates stood on the issues, and that not holding multiple debates was disrespectful to the voters. Now it appears that Mr. Andrews’ words were as empty as his congressional record.”

“We know that Rob Andrews has a history of not telling the truth,” Glading continued. “When Rob Andrews told the press at his coronation in Bellmawr that he would gladly agree to a series of debates, it rang as hollow as his claims that ‘under no circumstances’ would he return to the congressional race.”

“Just like Camille Andrews said she would run a spirited campaign but held no events and met no voters, Rob Andrews has, yet again, taken the voters for granted in the 1st District,” Glading added. “We have met more than 13,000 voters since the beginning of August, and they all say that Mr. Andrews has never knocked on their door, called them, or shown any interest whatsoever in their concerns.”

“Now those of us who suspected that Rob Andrews would lie once again have, unfortunately, been proven correct,” Glading concluded.

Gov. Jon Corzine continues to struggle to win the approval of New Jersey voters
Voters' feelings on Gov. Jon Corzine remain tepid, although they've slightly improved, according to a Fairleigh Dickinson University PublicMind poll released this morning.

Corzine’s approval rating stands at 45%, while 39% of respondents disapprove of the way he’s handled his job. 17% are unsure or mixed. 40% of voters have a favorable opinion of the Governor, while 43% are unfavorable.

Only 23% of voters think the state is heading in the right direction – the same number that FDU found last month.

The New Jersey delegation's vote on the bailout bill was close, and did not occur along party lines.

But while there were some odd vote combinations, with liberal Congressmen like U.S. Rep. Steve Rothman (D-Fair Lawn) voting the same way as his conservative neighbor, Scott Garrett (R-Wantage), they tended to cite different reasons.

Ultimately, New Jersey Congressmen voted against the bill by a 7-6 margin. None, however, enthusiastically supported it. Nor did any of its detractors express glee at its downfall, and some expressed more openness to voting for a new compromise package than others.

By far the most vociferous opponent of the bailout was Garrett, who yesterday took to the floor and excoriated his colleagues who supported it.

Glading Announces Support for
SAFE Commission Act in Congress

Congressional candidate says bipartisan bill
to establish an independent financial oversight
commission is good for country

BARRINGTON – Dale Glading, candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives in New Jersey’s 1st District, announced today his support for H.R. 3654, the SAFE Commission Act. Introduced by U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper (D-TN), the SAFE Commission Act would “establish a commission to develop legislation designed to reform tax policy and entitlement benefit programs and ensure a sound fiscal future for the United States.”

The SAFE Commission Act currently has 111 cosponsors in the House, including members of both parties. The incumbent in New Jersey’s 1st District, Rob Andrews, is not a cosponsor of the bill.

“Unfortunately, too many of the career politicians down in Washington are concerned only with getting re-elected and ‘bringing home the bacon,’ rather than showing real leadership for the future of our country,” Glading said. “Because those career politicians are so unduly influenced by special interests and lobbyists, we must establish a commission of experts that will determine the best approach for tackling our future tax and entitlement crises. Our children and our grandchildren deserve no less.”

“We have seen with the recent financial collapse that many in Congress cannot be trusted to do what is best for the country when forced to choose between that and the lure of campaign contributions,” Glading continued. “Mr. Andrews voted for the 1999 bill that deregulated the banking industry and allowed for this financial collapse to occur. In exchange, he received more than $1.3 million in campaign contributions from financial industry sources.”

“Rob Andrews took the money and left the rest of us – the taxpayers – holding the bag,” Glading concluded. “We must not allow this to happen again. Implementing the SAFE Commission Act and sending an honest representative down to Washington are two key steps to bringing real reform to the people of South Jersey.”

In Case You Missed It:
Rob Andrews Backed Bill Allowing Riskier Banks,
Received More Than $1.3 Million in Return

Andrews in top 12% of House members
in campaign dollars received from financial institutions

BARRINGTON – U.S. Rep. Rob Andrews supported the 1999 Financial Services Modernization Act, “legislation that allowed the nation's largest banks to get even larger and take risks that had been prohibited since the Great Depression,” according to Massie Ritsch of OpenSecrets.org.

Ritsch also discovered that “those members of Congress who supported lifting Depression-era restrictions on commercial banks, investment banks and insurance companies received more than twice as much money from those interests than did those lawmakers who opposed the measure.”

Rob Andrews, who supported the bill, subsequently received more than $1.3 million in campaign contributions from financial institutions.

Read the full article here: http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2008/09/money-and-votes-aligned-in-con.html

If he's re-elected, Frank Lautenberg would be 90 at the end of his next term: Getty Images Photo
Three months after former U.S. Rep. Dick Zimmer held a press conference and said he would not make age an issue in his U.S. Senate run against incumbent Democrat Frank Lautenberg, Republican State Chairman Tom Wilson stood in the same State House conference room and brought the issue front and center, making repeated references to the 84-year-old Senator’s senior status.

“If you’re too afraid, too incompetent or too old to campaign, then you’re surely not fit for six more years in the U.S. Senate,” said Wilson. “It’s time to let voters decide whether you’re up to serving in the United States Senate until you’re 90 years old.”

Wilson called the press conference to attack Lautenberg for the way he’s run his campaign – or rather, his lack of a campaign.

Lautenberg, said Wilson, has been missing on the campaign trail, making only a public appearance here and there while giving the media little time for questions and refusing to accept one of the roughly 20 debate invitations that have been issued so far.

By not engaging his opponent or the voters on the issues, Wilson said, Lautenberg has brought attention to his age by raising the question of whether he really is up to the task of serving another six year term, at the end of which he’ll have just turned 91. He contrasted Lautenberg’s public schedule with U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Penn.), 78, who although not up for reelection has been holding town hall meetings on behalf of John McCain in every one of his state’s counties.

Fact Check:
Rob Andrews’ Misleading Math

BARRINGTON – In a series of recent interviews, U.S. Rep. Rob Andrews has proposed repealing the tax cuts of 2001 and 2003, using the money instead to fund big government programs. The only problem is Andrews says he plans spend the same money seven different ways, and the numbers just don’t add up.

In an interview with the Courier-Post, Congressman Andrews said that he supported eliminating the tax cuts and spending the higher tax revenues to “pay back the nation’s debt and use the rest to institute universal health care for children.” (“Andrews, Glading agree on bailout,” The Courier-Post, September 23, 2008)

The United States’ public debt is approximately $9.7 trillion. The Joint Committee on Taxation reports that allowing the entire 2001 and 2003 tax cuts to expire would only raise $2.4 trillion in revenue – over ten years!

The Tax Policy Center reports that maintaining the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts for those who earn less than $250,000 a year would cut the total revenue to $1.6 trillion.

That means Rob Andrews’ math is a mere $8.1 trillion off – and that’s without even beginning to look at health care.

But it doesn’t stop there. He has other plans for how to spend the money, too.

Just two days before the Courier-Post interview, Andrews told the Gloucester County Times that he advocates funding transportation projects such as the interstate redesign and the rail line extension by “letting the Bush tax cuts expire.” (“Congressional hopefuls sound off on transit mess,” The Gloucester County Times, September 21, 2008)

Over the past two years, Andrews has also suggested using the higher taxes to pay for veterans’ health care (US Fed News, March 14, 2007); to reduce the deficit (US Fed News, November 29, 2006); and to expand health coverage for the uninsured (Philadelphia Inquirer, November 13, 2006).

“Some of these projects are things we ought to pursue,” said Dale Glading, Andrews’ opponent in the 1st Congressional District race. “However, Rob either doesn’t understand basic math or he is once again insulting the voters’ intelligence.”

“You simply cannot spend the same money seven different ways,” Glading challenged. “To mislead the public into thinking otherwise is simply another instance of Rob being untruthful with South Jersey voters.”

“People in South Jersey are tired of politicians lying through their teeth just to get re-elected,” Glading concluded. “The voters are demanding someone who will be honest with them, and Rob Andrews has proven time and again that he has his own version of the truth.”

The Luxurious Life of Rob Andrews

Nine-term incumbent spends tens of thousands
on fancy restaurants, limousines,
and lavish gifts for campaign financiers

BARRINGTON – U.S. Rep. Rob Andrews, a nine-term congressman who has spent the past 18 years as part of the Washington elite, has been living luxuriously thanks to the generosity of campaign contributors he subsequently rewarded with expensive gifts.

In a Federal Election Commission report covering operating expenditures made from December 2006 through April 2008, Rob Andrews’ wasteful spending was made public but never exposed to the voters – until now.

Over that period, Rob Andrews spent $55,577 at restaurants, bistros, and cafes – excluding fast food restaurants, convenience stores, and cafeteria dining on the Capitol. Despite having the ability to vote on critical fiscal issues in Congress, Rob Andrews wasted $908 at a single fondue restaurant.

It turns out Rob Andrews has a sweet tooth, too. How else can you explain his spending a preposterous $33,047 at Chocolate Heaven and $1,841 at Godiva? Of course, he claims that the tens of thousands he spent on chocolate were gifts for campaign financiers and campaign workers – as if that makes it any better! Of course, the chocolates were only a fraction of the total he spent on gifts for financiers and campaign workers: $77,152, including gifts at Tiffany & Co.

Over the years, Rob Andrews has been given considerable praise for not maintaining a residence in Washington, DC. Instead, Rob Andrews spent $52,797 at hotels, including $12,168 at the Beverly Hills Plaza Hotel!

It figures that Rob has to get to and from the fancy restaurants, hotels, and chocolatiers. So, when he doesn’t have his own gas-guzzling Ford Expedition at his fingertips, he spends $41,294 on limousine and car services!

One thing is clear: Rob Andrews cannot be trusted with our tax dollars down in Washington. A wild and irresponsible spender with his campaign dollars, he has shown no respect for “other people’s money” – especially ours. We have no choice but to question the fiscal responsibility and judgment of anyone who spends almost $35,000 on chocolates.

The median family income in New Jersey’s 1st Congressional District is just over $47,000 per year. Rob Andrews spent almost 20 percent more than the median family in his district earns in a year on fine dining alone.

The bottom line: Rob Andrews is out of touch with his constituents. It’s time to send him home.

Rob Andrews vs. Rob Andrews

18 years in Washington have separated
Rob Andrews not only from the truth,
but from his own memory

BARRINGTON – U.S. Rep. Rob Andrews, a 9-term congressman who has spent the past 18 years as part of the problem in Washington rather than the solution, has been irreversibly corrupted by his time inside the Beltway.

Rob Andrews, candidate for Congress in 1990:

Mr. Andrews, a lawyer who is a summa cum laude graduate of Bucknell and a magna cum laude graduate of Cornell Law School, says, "The first responsibility of a candidate is to tell the truth."
(“Anti-Florio Fever Is Giving A Headache to a Democrat,” The New York Times, October 27, 1990)

Rob Andrews, after 18 years in Washington:

“Rob Andrews lied. Plain and simple.”
(“Editorial: Andrews' Reentry; A bare-faced liar,” The Philadelphia Inquirer, September 5, 2008)

“Plain and simple, Andrews hedged his bets and lied to the public.”
(“Rob Andrews lied to South Jersey voters,” The Courier-Post, September 5, 2008)

Back in 1990, when Rob Andrews was “running scared” after his predecessor and political mentor, Jim Florio, lied to the people of New Jersey and went back on his word not to raise taxes, this is what he had to say:

“Jim Florio doesn't have a tax problem; he has a credibility problem,” concedes Mr. Andrews, who is perceived as Mr. Florio's hand-picked successor. “Jim Florio in the First District was thought of as somebody different, somebody you could trust. Now, the thought is, we got duped.”
(“Anti-Florio Fever Is Giving A Headache to a Democrat,” The New York Times, October 27, 1990)

Many voters feel the same way now about Rob Andrews. They thought he was somebody different, somebody they could trust. They “got duped” again. Rob Andrews, just like Jim Florio before him, has a credibility problem. Just like Jim Florio in 1993, Rob Andrews needs to be sent home on November 4.