Midterms in New Jersey: "It’s All About Stopping Trump"

The video above is how most New Jersey voters got to know Jim Keady. Now he's running for Congress, in the district Republican Chris occupies.

Chris Smith (R-NJ) is an anti-Choice fanatic; other than that, though-- and I emphasize FANATIC-- he seems as much a moderate Democrat as a Republican. His voting record is a lot like New Jersey Blue Dog's Josh Gottheimer. He's been representing the 4th district since 1980. The district is mostly made up of Monmouth County but includes some of Ocean and some of Mercer as well. It starts on the east side of Trenton heads northeast to Middletown, Red Bank and Neptune and southeast to Manchester Township and Lakewood. It was Trump's (and Romney's) best-performing district in New Jersey, largely because of a huge community of very right-wing Orthodox Russian Jews (and human organ traders) in Lakewood. The district has the worst PVI in the state, R+8, a point worse than it was in 2017.

Nationally, June 5 is a huge primary day. Going to the polls to pick candidates for November will be some states with incredibly important contests-- New Jersey, as well as California, New Mexico and Iowa. In NJ-04 there are two Democrats competing--Jim Keady, a proven progressive Berniecrat, and some right-of-center carpetbagger the DCCC is pushing, Josh Welle, who seems to be running a campaign that says, "I'm just like Chris Smith" but without the anti-Choice fanaticism. The only political contribution I could find for Welle was when he was still living in Arlington, Virginia a few months ago and he contributed to right-wing Democrat ("ex"-Republican) Joseph Kopser in Austin, Texas.

Dan Jacobson, a former Democratic Assemblyman now publishes the TriCity News in the district and he posted a recent OpEd he wrote about the NJ-04 race , calling out the notoriously corrupt Monmouth County Democratic Party machine. They had a convention last weekend and endorsed "endorsed a boring establishment candidate-- a carpetbagger who just moved up here from Virginia-- to run against Republican Congressman Chris Smith." Jacobson wasn't surprised and he wasn't happy.

Fiery progressive Jim Keady, a former Asbury Park Councilman, came up short. Yet he still showed significant support among the delegates. Now he will take on the machine by running in the June Democratic primary against organization-backed candidate Josh Welle, a mutant who’s decided this is his time to be a Congressman.

(Hilariously, this Publisher was barred by the Monmouth County Democratic Chairman from voting at the mini-Convention, even though I was eligible to do so as a former Democratic Assemblyman back in 1990-91. Apparently, I haven’t been a loyal enough Democrat, as-- shocking!-- I’ve publicly endorsed some Republicans in these pages, while skewering some assholes who are Democrats. Hey, now I know how the Bernie Sanders people felt!)

Although conventional wisdom says Smith is unbeatable in this Republican district, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee added it to its list of targeted races. For there is an outside shot to win.

At least for now, I am a Democrat in good standing-- as the Monmouth County Democratic Party by-laws would describe me since I voted in the last two Democratic primaries over my revulsion at our Jackass-in-Chief. In reality, though, I’m a right-of-center voter. I tend to vote a bit more Republican.

Not now. I’m not voting for any Republicans. We need at least one house of Congress in Democratic hands to investigate Trump and expose him for the fraud he is. The end game for this voter is for Trump not to be on the ballot again, so people like me can vote for a Republican if we so choose. In other words, so the country has a sane choice.

That means contesting every seat in the House of Representatives with even a remote chance for the Democrats. That now includes Chris Smith’s seat. On social issue, I agree with Keady on everything, but on economic issues we part ways. He was a Bernie Sanders guy before people around here even knew who Bernie Sanders was. I think all that left-wing shit they espouse-- while wonderful if it could work-- is economic nonsense. Just ask the next Venezuelan you meet.

But that’s not important now. It’s all about stopping Trump. And Keady is clearly the best choice for this long-shot race precisely because he is a Bernie Sanders progressive. The best way to beat Smith is for an unprecedented turnout among Democrats. Keady can fire them up. Meanwhile, organization-backed candidate/carpetbagger Josh Welle says flat out that his strategy is to win over moderates and Republicans. I say it won’t work. Welle may be a Navy veteran — thank you for your service-- but he’s a pretty lackluster campaigner. Seems like a typical ambitious politician to me, who’s typically uninspiring. Too canned.

Keady is a total animal who’s been consumed with progressive social justice issues since I first met him almost 15 years ago. He’s the real deal. By running in the primary, Keady will now get to put his theory to the test about his ability to uniquely boost Democratic turnout.

In New Jersey, it is extremely rare to win a primary without party organization backing. Josh Welle will now appear in the “organization” column on the Democratic primary ballot. The few people who bother to vote in such primaries blindly go down the organization column, as there’s rarely a serious challenger.

Keady, though, has some things going for him. This is a Republican district which means there’s even less Democrats there than usual. The turnout will be particularly light with no other high profile Democratic primary fights on the ballot, like for President or Governor. Keady can potentially reach this relatively small number of voters. And as a rule, the relatively few Democrats in a heavily Republican area like this tend to be the more hard-core believers in the party.

A Bernie Sanders progressive, running against a triangulating moderate like Josh Welle, can appeal to those true believing Democrats who’d vote in a primary. I’m not saying Keady can pull it off. Right now, it’s likely he won’t.

But it’s also not impossible. In fact, I’ve always thought Keady’s path to victory — and flipping this seat for the Dems-- is to indeed lose the Monmouth Democratic Party convention, and then beat the party organization in a stunning primary upset.

That would be a big deal in the political community in the state, and the national progressive movement. That will attract Jim Keady a lot more attention and support than just winning the party endorsement and cruising though the primary. Local supporters will be even more fired up. In other words, if Keady’s theory is right that his brand of progressive politics can trigger an epic Dem turnout in this district, he has the chance to prove it by winning a huge upset in the Democratic primary.

Democrats Overcome GOP Opposition To Medical Marijuana In Veterans Hospitals

The new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll dug into how independent voters view the two parties. It's just a snapshot in time but 23% of independent voters saw the Democratic Party positively and 37% saw them negatively. Pretty horrible. But it was far worse for the Republicans. Only 8% of independent voters have a positive view of the GOP, while a staggering 52% see the Republicans negatively. Knee-jerk, systemic Republican congressional obstructionism helps explain the numbers.

Voters see the inability of the Republicans to deal with even things as basic as voting on a Supreme Court vacancy or protecting the citizenry from the spread of the Zika virus in a very negative way. If Americans-- or even just independents-- voted on those feelings, there would be just a small handful of Republicans left in Congress.

It isn't even just on the big matters of state where the GOP seems deranged and filled with destructive hatred. They can be counted on to be wrong on almost everything. When I was a teenager I used to smoke pot. It's what teenagers were doing in the 1960s. By the 70s, I had stopped completely. I had zero interest in marijuana for 4 decades until I started feeling the effects of chemotherapy. I still didn't want to use marijuana... until I was persuaded it would help me to survive; and it did. That was over a year ago. I have plenty of the stuff left but now that I'm well, I have no use for it and no interest in it. It saved my life though, so... I respect it. It's lucky for me that I live in California, where medical marijuana is legal.

Last Thursday, Congress moved towards making medical marijuana legal everywhere. The House voted 233-189 by an amendment by Oregon's Earl Blumenauer to the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Act that will "prohibit use of funds to implement, administer, or enforce any Veterans Health Administration Directive relating to the prohibition on VA providers from completing forms seeking recommendations on opinions regarding a veteran's participation in a state marijuana program." It was widely seen among Members of Congress for what it is: a step towards medical marijuana legalization.

Only 5 Democrats, led by reactionary anti-pot psychopaths Dan Lipinksi (IL) and Henry Cuellar (TX)-- 2 Blue Dog throw-backs-- opposed it. Even anti-marijuana crusader Debbie Wasserman Schultz voted yes! And so did 57 Republicans! Of course-- and this helps explain why independents have such negative feelings about the Republican Party-- 184 Republicans voted NO! The Senate passed a companion amendment with several senators from both parties noting that it would help veterans avoid using dangerous and addictive opiates. Tuesday, California Republican Dana Rohrabacher, who has been a major advocate for legalization in Congress, told marijuana activists he has been using a marijuana-rub to relieve the pain of arthritis.

Among the Republicans voting against the amendment was the ridiculously placed chairman of the House Science Committee, Lamar Smith of Texas-- Austin no less!-- who's living (and legislating) in a different era. No medical marijuana relief for veterans living in Austin, San Antonio, New Braunfels, San Marcos or the Texas Hill country! This morning we contacted a military veteran and winner of the TX-21 Democratic congressional primary, Tom Wakely, who had a very different perspective than Lamar Smith's. "It seems par for the course that Congressman Smith, who refused to provide a hearing on Ron Paul and Barney Frank's resolution to end the federal prohibition of marijuana, would try to make it more difficult for veterans to get access to legal medication in their home state. The constituents of our district favor medical marijuana. San Antonio is a military town and I can guarantee the veterans of this district are just as confused as I am on why Republicans seemingly favor our 10th Amendment except in the case of a proven, harmless drug. I stand with the majority of House Democrats and the few Republicans who recognized this was a common sense vote. Personally, I'd like us to go further and put an end to the federal prohibition of marijuana, allowing the drug be turned over to the states for regulation. By definition that's supposed to be the conservative viewpoint. Then again, it's becoming harder and harder to define the platform of the modern Republican party."

Mario Diaz Balart joined the reactionary Republicans voting against the amendment, the only South Florida congressman to do so. Every Florida Democrat plus Florida Republicans Carlos Curbelo, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, and Tom Rooney voted in favor of the amendment but, for some reason, Diaz-Balart decided that veterans in Miami-Dade, Collier and Hendry counties, whose doctors want to prescribe marijuana for pain, sleep or to help with appetite will just have to do without. This morning we contacted the progressive Democratic physician running for the seat Diaz-Balart is sitting in, Alina Valdes, who has a very different perspective than Diaz-Balart, one based on science and humanity. "I have been practicing medicine for over 30 years," she told us, "and that time has been spent in physician shortage areas where people feel disenfranchised because they do not have the resources to make their voices heard especially after the Citizen's United and Corporate Personhood decisions. Many have given up on the political system which does not care about them and their needs. This vote on the use of marijuana to relieve pain and suffering is wrong as many studies have shown the benefits to neurological and musculoskeletal conditions, which many of our vets suffer. To insist that they use traditional opioid BigPharma medications to relieve their symptoms is causing further suffering. Many patients have expressed the desire to be pain free without needing to feel like a zombie while also risking an unintended overdose due to tolerance that is known to develop with these narcotic medications. Many of them use street marijuana and risk arrest and imprisonment because it helps them feel both physically and therefore mentally better.  This is a natural weed with medicinal benefits and is available to many living in states that allow physicians to write these prescriptions. As a general internist, I took an oath to serve, heal, and relieve pain and suffering in so doing. I would personally have no problems prescribing medical marijuana under the appropriate circumstances. To continue to classify marijuana as a class I controlled substance in the same category as heroin and peyote makes no rational sense. It just feeds the inhumane thinking of profits over people in both the pharmaceutical and private prison industries. Our vets especially deserve better than this and it is time for Congress to educate themselves rather than allow their votes to be swayed by big corporate interests funding their re-election campaigns."

And then there was backward Republican multimillionaire and Chris Christie's puppet-congressman Tom MacArthur. He voted against the amendment too, even though every New Jersey Democrat plus New Jersey Republicans Frank LoBiondo and Scott Garrett voted to give the vets a break. MacArthur thinks he has the right to override physicians who want veterans in Burlington and Ocean coutnies to have the opportunity to use medical marijuana if it will help their conditions. This morning we contacted the progressive Democrat running against MacArthur, Jim Keady. "This issue shows a clear difference between myself and my GOP opponent. I believe that we need to make marijuana legal for both medicinal and recreational use at the federal level. We then can regulate it, tax it and use the revenues for tax relief or for a range of social programs," said Keady. "Specific to our Veterans, I was just listening to two Vets who were at my family's tavern the other night; both of them wanted to be able to use marijuana to deal with PTSD. They should be able to do this, legally, anywhere in the United States."

Isn't it time to retire these Republican wastes and replace them with more forward-thinking progressives? Please consider contributing to the grassroots congressional campaigns of Tom Wakely, Alina Valdes and Jim Keady, progressive Democrats in Texas, Florida and New Jersey.

Guest Post By Jim Keady-- Why I Cannot "Just Do It" On Nike And The TPP

One of the issues that has united people across the political spectrum in this campaign cycle is the fact that for the past three decades the United States has signed onto trade policies that have crushed middle class workers and only benefited the uber-wealthy and giant multinational corporations.

The most recent incarnation of these failed trade policies is the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).

While I agree with President Obama on a range of key issues (increasing access to healthcare, fighting to reverse climate change, etc.) on this issue we differ. I am particularly troubled that he pushed for fast-track authority for this deal at Nike’s headquarters one year ago.

To understand why this particular move by the President troubled me, let me give you the quick history of my 16 years working on the Nike sweatshop issue in Southeast Asia.

1. In 1997 I was a graduate assistant soccer coach at St. John's University, studying Theology and coaching with the NCAA Division One defending National Champions.

2. I started writing a paper about Nike's labor practices in light of Catholic Social Teaching and found Nike to be in violation of everything we stood for at St. John's.

3. While I was in the midst of learning about Nike's sweatshop abuses, the St. John's University Athletic Department entered into negotiations with Nike for a flagship endorsement deal that would require all coaches and athletes to wear Nike products 24-7.

4. I took a stand and refused to wear Nike's products as part of the $3.5 million dollar endorsement deal.

5. I was given an ultimatum by my boss, “Wear Nike and drop this issue… or resign.”

6. I resigned in protest.

7. My resignation and lawsuit that I filed against St. John’s and Nike exploded in the media and I was considered an instant expert on the sweatshop issue. I began being invited to speak on college campuses. My critics told me I didn’t know what I was talking about.

8. I wanted to prove my critics wrong, so in the summer of 2000, I moved to Indonesia and lived in a factory workers’ slum trying to survive on a Nike sweatshop wage of $1.25 a day. I lost 25lbs in one month while sleeping on a cement floor in a rat and cockroach infested neighborhood.

9. I met the mostly young women workers who made the gear I wore for my entire life and I promised them that I would go home and advocate for them.

10. I have spent a good part of the past 16 years fighting for better wages and working conditions for Nike’s workers. (If you want to learn what I was up to, google “Jim Keady, Nike, and sweatshops.”)

Sometimes people ask, “Why have you focused so much energy on this issue?”



It is imperative that we expose what Nike is doing overseas for two reasons. First, their factory workers are human beings just like us and as such deserve our solidarity and support. Second, when companies like Nike engage in the “race to the bottom” on wages, working conditions and workers’ rights to organize overseas, it puts a downward pressure on wages, working conditions and workers’ rights to organize here in the United States. How can American workers be expected to compete with workers in developing countries where there are repressive governments who allow people to be paid poverty wages when the companies they are producing for (like Nike) are making billions in profits?

So, that's why I took issue with the President holding up Nike as a model of global trade and why I adamantly disagree with him on his belief that the TPP will be a benefit to workers here and abroad. Since the President used them as the example, let's continue to consider Nike as we examine some of the problems with this trade deal.



In Indonesia alone, Nike has 168,000 workers who are paid a paltry $212 a month. Nike has busted worker unions, refused to pay even the minimum wage, has verbally and physically threatened workers for exercising their fundamental right to freely associate, and they have cheated workers of millions of dollars in overtime pay. Along with the labor rights violations, Nike has also been dumping and burning scrap shoe rubber in Indonesian villages for 25 years – pumping toxins and carcinogens into the air, water, and soil.

In Malaysia, Nike has been found guilty of employing thousands of illegally trafficked workers. These workers had their passports confiscated to prevent them running away to get help or to find a better job. For years, Nike turned a blind eye on this issue until we brought the matter to prime-time TV and forced them to address it.

In Vietnam, the situation is even worse. This is important in the current political context because Vietnam is seen as the linchpin of the TPP deal and Nike is the largest private employer in Vietnam with 330,000 workers. Here, workers are paid $132 per month. Because of Nike’s poverty wage, many workers cannot afford their basic needs, most distressingly, childcare. They are forced to leave their babies and young children with grandparents in their home villages while they migrate to cities to work. If they are lucky, they see their children a few times a year. Along with poor wages, workers in Vietnam deal with verbal abuse, inhuman production quotas, and one worker reported that because of restrictions on the use of toilets at work, a co-worker wet her pants on the production line despite repeated requests to her supervisor for a bathroom break.

This is why Nike should not be held up by the President as a model for trade and why the TPP deal needs a lot of work if it is going to protect the basic rights of workers both internationally and in the United States.

With previous trade agreements, US Administrations have not promptly acted when trading partners do not live up to their promises on labor standards. Not only does this lead to violations of the rights of workers in those countries, it also creates the uneven playing field that leads to the loss of hundreds of thousands of good-paying American jobs.

What do we need to do?

We need to renegotiate all of our multi-lateral trade deals and demand strict protections for labor and the environment.

Second, we must establish legislation that will force the Administration's hand in enforcing these conditions on labor standards and protecting the environment. These cannot be “best efforts” initiatives. These need to be laid out as clear and measurable objectives; there must be monitoring mechanisms to ensure compliance; and there must be harsh penalties for violations.

One legislative initiative could create a legal requirement that companies operating overseas in a TPP country must pay no lower than that country's living wage and must observe the ILO's core labor standards regardless of whether that country has ratified them. In Vietnam for example, this would mean that Nike could not fire striking workers and their workers’ wages would increase by about 50%-- dramatically improving the lives of hundreds of thousands of working families. For those concerned about the impact of this on the cost of your Nike sneakers, it would add a whopping $2 to the price tag on your Jordans.

It is important to note that we have only thus far discussed the impacts of the TPP on wages and working conditions. Along with the TPP’s promotion of economic and labor injustices, this deal will also allow for a significant amount of national sovereignty to be lost. It will give foreign corporations the right to sue the United States government in ways that we have never seen to date. International corporate tribunals will supersede U.S. law and will undermine labor, environmental and health and safety protections in the pursuit of profits for foreign companies.

This is why it is imperative that the TPP be stopped and this is why it is imperative that the United States Congress take action and negotiate a trade deals that truly promote freedom, prosperity and justice for all and not just for the multinational corporations and their executive elites. It is time that the people, through their elected officials, had a voice in shaping the landscape of global trade. Anything short of this is un-American.

(Trung Doan, Director of VietLabor, the only independent labor organization in Vietnam, contributed to this piece)


Jim Keady is on Blue America's Bernie Congress Act Blue page. You can get to it-- and contribute to his grassroots efforts to oust billionaire Christie-crony Tom MacArthur-- by tapping on the thermometer below:

No, Jim Keady Won't Sit Down And Shut Up

by Tracy B Ann

Jim Keady is running for Congress in New Jersey's 3rd district and despite Chris Christie's "request" for him to sit down and shut up when he was protesting for Superstorm Sandy victims, Jim Keady just isn't that kind of guy. He doesn't sit down and shut up when people need help and aren't getting it.

Chris Christie wasn't home in New Jersey enough to realize what the victims of Sandy needed. If he cared he would have been there; Jim Keady was. I remember seeing this on the news; a woman whose house was destroyed was given $10,000 by FEMA. (80% of the Federal money given for victims has not been distributed by the State.)

At that time, I was wishing I could have a screened in back porch. How much could that cost? Very simple; some posts, a bit of decking, some screen and a door or two. The lowest price I got was $10,000 (I did not get a porch) and this woman was expected to rebuild her house for that amount?!?!

Plus, she and many others got letters from FEMA asking for half of the money back. Ok, not asking, demanding and threatening. Where was Chris Christie? Not in New Jersey, but Jim Keady was.

He told me he's running for Congress to represent the people in the 3rd district in New Jersey and the United States. "There are too many in DC who serve billionaires and big business and have no time for the everyday people in America," he says.  Which can sometimes sound cliché, and I admit that when he first started talking to me about that I inwardly rolled my eyes. He added:

"Every decision or vote a Congressperson makes not only affects their immediate district but every person in the US, which is why it's important to unite for progressive candidates and progressive values everywhere in the United States."

He had me with that. I may not live in New Jersey but as a member of Congress he can help improve my life even here in Tennessee, because we are the United States of America. If that wasn't enough, he went on to tell me that he shares the progressive message and commitment of Bernie Sanders. To "get informed and get engaged." He truly is a grassroots warrior for social justice.

"I don't need to be convinced of wage equality, gender equality, racial equality, labor rights, the important of environmental issues and climate change. It's part of my DNA."

I asked him about his connection to the band Rage Against the Machine. He's noted as one of their Freedom Fighters of the month on their website.

That all starts with his soccer career.

Jim played and coached soccer at the high school, college and professional level. He also taught high school religion for 5 years along with coaching soccer. He played for 3 seasons as a goalkeeper for the NJ Imperials.

He has a Masters Degree in Theology from St. John's University where he was also a soccer coach when they were the defending NCAA Division I National Champions.

In getting his degree in Theology he focused on social ethics and pastoral theology. It should be no surprise that when he was forced to wear Nike's as part of a more than 3 million dollar endorsement deal St. Johns signed with Nike, Jim Keady resigned rather than wear the Nike shoes.

During his studies for his degree he had learned that Nike pays their workers $1.25 cents a day, Even though studies were pointing out that this wasn't a living wage, even in Indonesia, Jim was having a hard time getting this point across.

Jim Keady was being featured on all the major network sports shows and speaking at the top colleges in the country but couldn't get past the "Those are great jobs for those people" mentality.

So he went to live in Indonesia and proceeded to see what it was like to survive on $1.25 a day. He came back being able to testify first hand that these are starvation wages.

This all got a lot of press and got Rage Against the Machine's attention, which is when they made him one of their Freedom Fighters of the month. Keady met Tom Morello, originally from Rage (most recently on tour with Bruce Springsteen), back then. They've been friends ever since.

Morello and Serj Tankian of System of a Down are the co-founders of Axis of Justice, a political group whose declared purpose is "to bring together musicians, fans of music, and grassroots political organizations to fight for social justice together." Jim Keady did consultant work for them for 2 years.

Keady also made a documentary about his experience in Indonesia called Behind the Swoosh.



NJ-03 is discombobulated swing district that takes in large parts of Ocean and Burlington counties including the vast, mostly empty Pine Barrens and stretches across the state from Tom's River to the suburbs northeast of Philly. Obama won the district twice, 51-48% against McCain and, 4 years later, 52-48% against Romney. The incumbent is Republican freshman and backbencher Tom MacArthur.

Before Keady faces off against MacArthur in November, he has to win a June 7th primary against Frederick LaVergne, who ran for this seat in 2012 with no party affiliation and got .02% of the vote. In 2014, as a third party candidate, what he called a "Democratic-Republican candidate."

Meanwhile, MacArthur is a notorious self-funder who wrote himself five 1 million dollar checks. Jim Keady is not a millionaire, he runs his family's Lighthouse Tavern in Waretown. He wants dark money out of elections so that the government can represent the majority of Americans, not the few.

When Keady was a city council member for Asbury Park, he wouldn't let anyone buy him a beer, not even people he'd known all of his life, and he still doesn't. He says you have to draw a line early and stick to it.

This is exactly what we need in Congress, in our political system today. This is what we need to counteract the recent Supreme Court arguments over former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell's bribery charges. When Justice Stephen Breyer says "the government’s standard for criminal corruption is so vague that political figures don't know what conduct crosses the line" when referring to McDonnell accepting $20,000 shopping sprees and $5,000 engraved Rolex's, I just want to scream.

When I'm done screaming I'll go to donate to Jim Keady's campaign fund, because this guy knows where to draw the line and he draws it at one single beer.

You can contribute here or at the thermometer just above on the right. Keep in mind, Jim  Keady is also a supporter of 90for90 a voter advocacy movement. He doesn't have much info on his website (go to his Facebook page and Twitter feed for that) but what he does have front and center is voter registration information. If I wasn't already a huge fan, that would have done it right there.