Dennis Shulman for U.S. Congress: Sensible Leadership for New Jersey’s 5th District

November 2nd, 2008

By TOM HOWELL JR.
thowell@njherald.com
Republican Rep. Scott Garrett, R-5, won his last three races for the 5th Congressional District by comfortable, yet declining,margins.

On Saturday, his Democratic challenger made it clear that he will not settle for a narrow loss.
“We need to win this race,” Dennis Shulman told a group of supporters in Hampton. “Everything is at stake.”

Shulman, 58, a blind rabbi from Demarest, has stressed this mood of urgency throughout his campaign, linking sour markets (”the Bush-Garrett financial crisis,” he called it), the costly Iraq War and other controversial issues to eight years under a Republican president and an ultra-conservative ideology.

In response, the Garrett camp has accused Shulman of lobbing attacks without forming ideas of his own. His mailers are steeped in criticisms, with “practically nothing describing who he is, what he’d do and what his policy positions are,” said Garrett, 49, of Wantage, in a phone interview on Saturday.
Despite the mantra of “change” permeating this election cycle, voters on the campaign trail are primarily concerned with taxes and government spending, Garrett said.

“I’m one of the people pushing back on spending … I get in trouble for that sometimes,” the incumbent said.

Exuding confidence in the waning days of the campaign, Shulman unveiled an economic plan to campaign supporters Saturday during a private gathering at the Hampton Diner.

The 5th District representative must develop incentives for clean energy industries to “set up shop here,” Shulman said in an outline of his plan. “New Jersey has the potential to be a major green manufacturing hub, supplying wind turbines and solar cells around the country and the world — but, sadly, we’re not there yet.”

Additionally, he proposed tax relief for middle class families and the elimination of income taxes for the seven million senior citizens making less than $50,000 a year

To pay for these proposals, Shulman said government must hold corporations accountable for their taxes, eliminate billions of dollars in tax subsidies to the oil and gas industry, and move toward an end of the costly war in Iraq.

On these proposals, Garrett said he has voted to support alternative energy as part of a three-legged energy plan — conservation, domestic production and alternatives to fossil fuels.

He also noted he secured funding for an alternative fuel company in Warren County and encouraged similar projects and solar facilities in other parts of the district.

In Hampton, Shulman decried the grip of special interests on members of Congress. In an oft-repeated attack, he criticized Garrett for taking campaign contributions from financial companies he is supposed to oversee on the House Financial Services Committee.

“This has to stop,” Shulman said. “I take a pledge never to accept contributions from special interests or any corporations I’m supposed to be overseeing.”

Garrett said Shulman, by accepting funds from unions, would likely have to break that promise as a member of the full Congress. An open voting issue in unions, known as “card check,” will likely come up in the next congressional session, Garrett said.

“It’s a bit disingenuous to say he’s not going to (take those funds), when in fact he already is,” he said.

On Friday, Shulman’s campaign was buttressed by an $85,000 check from the Democratic Congressional Committee during a rally in Paramus. Surrounded by Democratic heavy-hitters, including committee Chairman Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., Shulman’s camp said the event symbolized increasing momentum.

Van Hollen referred to Garrett as “Bush on steroids,” and said the Shulman campaign is hitting its stride at the right moment, according to a campaign press release.

Dominick Marino, head of the Professional Firefighters Association of New Jersey, which had endorsed Shulman, joined the rabbi on the campaign trail Thursday.

The firefighters association “does not have a friend in Scott Garrett,” namely in the incumbent’s votes on collective bargaining, said Marino during a stop at the Merriam House in Newton.

Garrett said he failed to see how the New York City mayor’s opinion and other endorsements had any bearing on the race. He also said most of Shulman’s big-name support is coming from outside the district.

“In a race like this, people want to know, ‘How do (the candidates) represent me and what are they going to do to address those issues today?’” Garrett said.

The candidates said they are giving equal time on the trail to every corner of the district, which covers all of Warren County, most of Sussex County and parts of Passaic and Bergen counties.
“We are going to compete in every part of this district,” Shulman told supporters. “We are going to keep Garrett on the run. He knows that he’s in trouble.”

http://www.njherald.com/story/news/02GARRETT-SHULMAN-web

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