Coalition of New Jersey Conservative & Libertarian Organizations Condemn Votes by Frank LoBiondo, Leonard Lance & Chris Smith

In response to the votes of Congressman Chris Smith, (NJ-4), Frank LoBiondo, (NJ-2) and Leonard Lance, (NJ-7), who voted in favor of HR 2454, the "Cap & Trade" Global Warming Bill, some of the leading Conservative and Libertarian organizations in New Jersey have joined together to release a press statement condemning their actions.

Conservatives with Attitude!, Campaign for Liberty, the New Jersey Conservative GOP, Republicans for Conservative Leadership & the Woodbridge Conservative GOP have all expressed their extreme disappointment in the votes of the 3 New Jersey Republican Congressmen.

Michael Illions & Rich Ross of Conservatives with Attitude! said after the vote, "Some of these Republicans don't even pretend to be Republican anymore, they are now outwardly supporting the Liberal agenda of the Democrats. This legislation will literally choke the life out of businesses and bring the economy to it's knees, while adding an additional tax burden to the American citizen."

Paul Danielczyk, representing the New Jersey Conservative GOP, agrees. "Lance, Smith and LoBiondo have betrayed the public trust. They voted for and were key in passing the largest tax hike in the history of our great nation! The hard working decent taxpayer is already taxed beyond their means, and this Tax & Trade/Global Warming bill, will dig deeper into their pockets! My Congressman Leonard Lance, has sided with Pelosi, Barney Frank and Harry Reid. Lance voted for this bill which supports Junk Science, and has brought upon us the fraud of so-called Global Warming! He's inline with that hypocrite scam artist Al Gore! You'd think that Linda Stender won the Congressional seat in the 7th district!. A change of party card should be delivered to these three disgraced Republicans, and true conservative Republicans must come forth next year and challenge them in their Republican Primary," Danielczyk concluded.

The Campaign for Liberty organization, represented by Dan Krause, Rob & Gloria Leustek added that “this bill, and those representatives who voted for it, has placed a tax on every aspect of human life. The food we eat, the clothes we wear and every other aspect of our lives will now be taxed. The tragedy is the harm this will do to the poor and the middle class; those who can least afford a higher cost of life or a reduced level of industry.”

Don Nelsen of the Woodbridge Conservative GOP, who is represented in Congress by Leonard Lance was equally angry at the outcome of this vote "It was only a matter of time until Lance would expose his Democrat-Lite stances. Lance's vote for Cap and Trade clearly shows even his self proclaimed 'Fiscal Conservatism' takes a back seat to his latent moderate tendencies. The RINO leadership in the 7th Congressional District was allegedly duped into backing him, but at least the Conservative base saw through his leftist agenda and got it right. We are going to mount a primary challenge in 2010 against Lance, and I've gone so far as to contact the Democrats and ask they take 'Lenny the Leftist' back to their party where he belongs."

John Di Marco, the Somerset County Chairman of the Republicans for Conservative Leadership, summed it up by stating that “Repeatedly, these three Congressmen have voted against core Republican principles with this vote being especially egregious. In too many incidents, they turned their backs on their fellow Republicans and joined hands with the democrats to further the liberal agenda. It is time for New Jersey Republicans to turn our backs on them. As Ronald Reagan said, “A political party cannot be all things to all people. It must represent certain fundamental beliefs…And if there are those who cannot subscribe to these principles, then let them go their way.”

All organizations participating in this press release strongly condemn the yes votes by Leonard Lance, Frank LoBiondo and Chris Smith and will work to recruit and support primary challengers against them in 2010.