Republicans run surveillance on Stender and FISA

By Max Pizarro | February 22nd, 2008 - 3:11pm

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The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) issued a release today taunting Linda Stender, candidate for New Jersey's 7th Congressional District, on the issue of Congress’ re-authorization of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).

The GOP suggests that the Democratic candidate is pretzeled by campaign contributions she has taken from trial lawyers. Stender, the NRCC contends, "has yet to say where she stands on the recent actions by the Democrats in Washington to play political games instead of protecting America’s security.

"Just last week, the Democrats skipped town after repeatedly blocking bipartisan legislation to renew the terrorist surveillance program, opening the floodgates for their trial lawyer friends to tie up the court systems with frivolous lawsuits against private telecommunications companies who have done their patriotic duty in choosing to assist in terrorist surveillances," according to the release.

Originally authored in the 1970s and updated post 9/11, FISA oversees a secret court, which approves or denies requests for search warrants and enables surveillance of international phone traffic. "Will the $5,000 in campaign cash that Stender has taken from trial lawyers convince her to vote in lock-step for (House Speaker Nancy) Pelosi’s dangerous national security agenda?" the Republicans query.

Stender hit back this afternoon.

"It's clear from this nonsensical attack that the national Republicans know they're in jeopardy of losing this seat," said Stender campaign spokesman Joshua Henne. "Linda Stender believes we can defend both our nation's security, and the Constitution. The Bush Republicans sadly still haven't learned its possible to walk and chew gum at the same time."

In an interview earlier this week, U.S. Rep. Albio Sires, who opposed re-upping FISA in its current form because of what he cited as concerns about Constitutional rights, explained, "The Republicans are trying to portray the Democrats as soft on security, and it’s absurd.

"We are living in an age where identity theft is very real," Sires added. "We’re going to have these communications companies do all these things with your personal information, and the way it is now the act doesn’t adequately address that. It seems all we do is consider how the big corporations are going to react, my question for the Republicans is, ‘how about the American people?’"

Stender challenged Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Ferguson in 2006 and lost in a narrow election. Ferguson is retiring at the end of his term this year, creating a dogged primary field for Republicans in the 7th district, which includes state Sen. Leonard Lance, businesswoman Kate Whitman, Summit Councilwoman Kelly Hatfield, Scotch Plains Mayor Martin Marks, Warren Mayor Victor Sordillo, Iraq War veteran Thomas Roughneen, and former Hillsborough Township Deputy Mayor Chris Venis.

Even as the GOP today tried to tie Stender to Pelosi on the issue of national security, the Democrat was calling for a change in the way Washington D.C. treats service veterans.

"Supporting the troops shouldn't simply be a slogan, nor should our support end when these soldiers come back to American soil," Stender said in a release. "We must be prepared to honor our commitments to an entire generation of brave men and women returning home from war -- especially those who need assistance re-adjusting to civilian life or who were wounded in the line of duty. I will fight to provide for those who have risked their lives and personal safety with the benefits they've earned and the help they've been promised."

Stender said she supports legislation creating a "GI Bill for the 21st Century" to provide comprehensive educational benefits for soldiers
returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. According to her campaign, H.R. 2702 would make sure that veterans have the resources needed to succeed in our modern world. The legislation would provide up to four years of tuition, books and fees, plus a monthly stipend.

Meanwhile, Whitman, daughter of former Gov. Christie Todd Whitman, issued a press release chastising Stender for running a Congressional campaign when she should be focused on solving the state's fiscal crisis with an alternative to hiking tolls in her role as vice chair of the Assembly's Transportation and Public Works Committee.

"After six years serving in the State Legislature, Linda Stender has completely failed the hard-working taxpayers on this issue," Whitman said. "It is absolutely, positively wrong for Linda Stender and Jon Corzine to once again try to force taxpayers to pay for their mistakes. Corzine is expected to propose 'freezing' spending at last year’s levels even though last year we didn’t have the money for last years’ spending. While 'freezing' is a step in the right direction, it falls far short of the drastic solution needed to fix the budget crisis.”

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Tax Spender

Submitted by CAMDENBEER1 on February 22, 2008 - 3:41pm.

Despite a landslide win by Democrats in 2006, Stender STILL COULDN'T WIN A CONGRESSIONAL SEAT!

This whole release is an Orwellian joke

Submitted by FormerlyAnonymous on February 22, 2008 - 6:03pm.

It wasn't the Democrats who played games with national security last week, but the Republicans.

The Democrats offered to pass a renewall of the Protect America Act to allow all of the FISA changes made in August to continue, but the REPUBLICANS voted against it because they couldn't get what they wanted.

The Republicans could have voted to continue all these protections but chose not to, and now are being disingenuous with their attacks on Stender.

Is that the best you can do?

Submitted by FormerlyAnonymous on February 22, 2008 - 6:05pm.

Seriously, after looking at this specious attack of a release and your trenchant response, I think we'll be looking at a Democratic Congresswoman representing the 7th in 2009.

Police Amerika Act

Submitted by TheBullhorn on February 23, 2008 - 7:29am.

I am a registered Republican I live and vote in the 7th C.D., the open seat sought by Stender and a whole gaggle of GOP hopefuls seeking their patry's nod.

The FISA Amendment euphemistically known as the "Protect America Act" is clearly unconstitutional and facially violative of the 4th Amendment. No Republican nor Democrat who supports such evil and vile legislation will get my vote either in June or in November.

One of the aspects of the Police Amerika Act is to allow warrantless searches of Americans in direct contravention of the dictates of the Fourth Amendment which provides that the people are to be protected from unreasonable searches and seizures. "Reasonable" searches are those that are secured and conducted pursuant to a warrant issued by a neutral magistrate and based upon probable cause.

More importantly, the proposed amendment attempts to provide ex post immunity for telecommunications companies which, along with the Bush Administration, did conspire to and did violate clear federal criminal statutory law in conducting unwarranted domestic spying on American citizens.

Apparently, there is a clear misunderstanding on the part of the GOP about what constitutes "patriotism". (Hint: patriotism does not include violating federal law designed to protect the constitutional rights of Americans). Patriotism is the love of one's land and one's people . . . not blind obedience to the President.

The telecommunications companies clearly knew that the Executive Branch was asking them to break the law in conducting warrantless domestic searches of American citizens; but not all of the companies importuned by the Bushies to conduct illegal spying agreed to do so. A few of them bravely and justly "just said no". It takes a lot of chutzpah to defy the Emperor . . .

Of course, there's always the political angle. The companies that would be immunized from civil suit under the Police Amerika Act are big contributors to the GOP, and many on that side of the aisle in Congress have close friends and relatives on the boards of those companies. Gee, am I surprised or what?

I just love crony capitalism, don't you?

trembling with fear

Submitted by jrlassiter on February 23, 2008 - 9:02am.

Jimminy Christmas don't these people ever grow weary of being terrified all the time?

Honestly, I am more terrified of paying for the trip to the dentist i have been putting off for 2 years (whenever my health plan went down the tubes) than i am about the GOP's latest boogieman scare.

Likewise a more credible threat to my well being -- than some spooky scare tactic -- is the idea that my unborn nephew or niece will be in Iraq fighting Bush's war in 20 years.

The debt? that's scary.

Just about the only solace out there is there are still a few politicians like Linda Stender left who don't use the Constitution to line their proverbial kitty litter box.

A Whitman lecturing anyone on NJ's financial problems??

Submitted by NJ Bob on February 25, 2008 - 9:35am.

If Kate Whitman didn't repudiate the endorsement of Governor Whitman, offered on this site, then she's fair game for what's coming.

She's complaining about Stender's inability to resolve the state's financial problems??

Much of the financial mess NJ is currently in can be traced back to Gov. Whitman's irresponsible three-card-monte with state finances. She entered office with big GOP majorities in both houses, so could do essentially as she wanted to address the state's finances (sort of like W...) (The result in both cases is the same).

Whitman cut income taxes by 1/3, and balanced the budget by raiding the state pension fund, and floating $2.87 billion in bonds. She certainly did not cut the budget, rather she increased it by over $2 billion, and, remember this, saddled the us taxpayers with $275 million to build a tunnel to link Steve Wynn's casino to the AC Expressway.

Now, we're paying for this in spades. The underfunded pension fund is the ticking thermonuclear device in the closet, and the interest on all the bonds is sucking us dry.

For any Whitman to complain about state finances is willfully ignorant of history, and substantially hypocritical.

Read this to refresh your memory:

http://www.thenation.com/doc/19990823/ireland

correction, amplification, go Stender

Submitted by NJ Bob on February 25, 2008 - 10:55am.

Correction to: "saddled the us taxpayers with $275 million to build a tunnel to link Steve Wynn's casino to the AC Expressway."

I started to write "the taxpayers" (of NJ, of course), but then decided to switch to "us taxpayers" (of NJ, because I am one). Unfortunately, I left both "the" and "us" in the sentence, and it could be construed as stating that it is a federal expense ("the us"). We should be so lucky. It's all ours.

I look forward to supporting and voting for Stender, to replace Ferguson, who paid the highest FEC fine ever levied on a sitting US Congressman, when his parents bought him the seat with an illegal $525k donation.

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Mike_Ferguson

today's copy of DNC talking points

Submitted by resurrectingreagan on February 25, 2008 - 2:16pm.

how oddly well-crafted and scripted these responses in favor of Stender seem to be. Civics lessons on the fourth amendment, redefinitions of patriotism, crony capitalism? Is everyone posting here doing some extra credit poli-sci assignment spouting notes taken last week's lecture?

How over the top and liberally cliched these assertions are. Registered republican going to vote for Stender this time because she is not imperialistic. Please don't insult us with such garbage.

I openly laugh thinking someone seriously posted about his dental plan - somehow inferring we all need to pick up that tab because his plan went south whenever. You seem intelligent enough to land a respectable job with basic benefits so go find a new job. Most dental plans are good for little more than twice a year cleanings anyway. What shape were your teeth in before capitalism destroyed your plan that daily brushing and flossing cannot maintain now?

If you are truly that concerned about your unborn neice or nephew's future you can always advocate their abortion. What would be more noble than to surrender the life of the unborn child so that it would not be sacrificed for Bush's War 20 years from now. More noble than sacrificing your life for your country at any rate since patriotism just ain't what it used to be.

If you find solace in Linda Stender not using the Constitution to line her proverbial kitty litter box then imagine the Nirvana you will obtain when you realize that Stender doesn't use the Constitution for much of anything. Using it for lining assumes she holds even that much reverence for the document.

No talking points here - just my opinion

Submitted by NJ Bob on February 25, 2008 - 5:18pm.

Hey resurrectingreagan:

Care to refute my assertion that Whitman was an unmitigated financial disaster for New Jersey? How come her "more conservative" daughter doesn't distance herself from her mother's endorsement on this same website?

Gov. Whitman saddled me and my kids with billions of dollars of additional debt and hobbled the state pension plan. Tell me otherwise. Oh, how fiscally conservative the Republicans are when they get into office, and hold all three branches of government. Either in Trenton or Washington. Gee, George W. and the Republican Congress sure balanced the budget.

I'd rather be a tax-and-spend liberal than a spend-and-borrow Republican. At least I am willing to pay for the programs I want, instead of being as supremely generationally selfish as the Republicans. The GOP mantra? Let the kids pay for it all, or at least let it happen after I leave office. Right, Gov. Whitman?

As for Ferguson, please deny that his parents bought him that seat with illegal contributions. Or, refute that he received more money from (disgraced) Tom DeLay's PAC than any other Congressman. Why would a Texas politician care about what went on in NJ? Because, in return, Ferguson funnelled tens of thousands of dollars into local Texas races through MIKEPAC. That's how it's done by Republicans in Congress. You launder mine, I'll launder yours.

No talking points here, just hard facts, maybe uncomfortable facts if you're a Republican trying to pawn yourself off as a fiscal conservative, or a party representing electoral ethics.

I look forward to voting for Congressman Stender.

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