Diplomat, father, former Congressman proudly representing New Jersey's 7th district.
Nov 22 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
Trump's tariffs may prove performative (and corrupt) - he may relent when countries hire lobbyists & promise to buy more US wheat, weapons or Trump bitcoin, exempt connected industries, etc. But if he means it, our economy will take multiple hits. 1/cnb.cx/40S9e7y
First, most obviously, a 20% tax on all imports from all countries will spike inflation. 98% of clothes sold in America are imported. So are over 40% of fruits and vegetables, and 90% of consumer electronics. All these things and more will instantly become more expensive. 2/
Nov 6 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
When you get beat, you've got to listen to people who weren't sold on your arguments, so I listened to this from Dave Portnoy with an open mind. I'm sure a lot of folks who view themselves as moderates and voted for Trump feel this way. But I have some questions. 1/
First, Harris never once called Trump backers "Nazis," "fascists" or anything similar. Trump's Marine general former chief of staff did say Trump admired Hitler and many of us cited that (how could we ignore it?), but that was not about his supporters. 2/
May 6 • 11 tweets • 3 min read
I've avoided commenting on college protests because they matter way less than the real horror people in Israel/Gaza are experiencing. But there are principles worth defending here, both from the extremism of the far left and the blood lust of partisans on the right. For example:
1. The right to peaceful expression and protest should be sacrosanct, even if the ideas being expressed make people uncomfortable. Many of our elite colleges have unfortunately forgotten this in recent years. Their right wing critics forget it, too, when it suits them.
Apr 29 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
As a former State Department official responsible for enforcing the Leahy Laws, which prohibit US assistance to units of foreign militaries that commit gross human rights abuses, here are a few thoughts on what's going on with the Leahy Laws and Israel. 1/
First, we've enforced the Leahy Laws all over the world, including with close allies. They work because they allow a surgical approach of cutting off individual units instead of denying aid to entire countries. Foreign governments often make changes to avoid getting "Leahied." 2/
Oct 6, 2023 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
The House has the votes to pass more aid for #Ukraine (by a 3-1 margin). But the GOP leadership has refused to allow a vote. And now there is no GOP leadership.
The road to renewing aid, on which so much depends, will be hard. Here is a thread on how it could still be done.
Plan A, the normal option, would be for Republicans to elect a Speaker, who would then schedule a Ukraine vote. But Jim Jordan says he won't do that. And If Steve Scalise manages to unite his caucus to win, I doubt he'll then call a vote on Ukraine that divides his caucus.
Apr 21, 2023 • 10 tweets • 3 min read
Our 12 NJ House members may have to vote next week on Kevin McCarthy's threat to default on America's debts to force massive cuts in domestic spending.
Default would destroy our economy.
But we should also talk about what the proposed extreme budget cuts would do to New Jersey.
The McCarthy plan would cut about $130 billion right away and massively more over 10 years. Since the GOP will likely exempt defense, veterans, and (I'd guess) border enforcement, that would require cutting everything else the government does by over 50%.
I was intrigued, so just for fun, I asked another chatbot - #BingChat - what it thought about Prof. Kosinski's scary sounding experience with its cousin Chat GPT4.
Bing replied I shouldn't worry because Kosinski had admitted in a later tweet that he'd made the whole story up.
Feb 21, 2023 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
It's amazing how Congressional Republicans are now trying to use the horrible Ohio train derailment for partisan ends when they did everything in their power to derail stronger freight rail safety rules just a couple of years ago.
I know -- I was there.
In 2021, the House passed a version of what became the Infrastructure and Jobs Act that tried to limit the length of freight trains and time blocking crossings, required at least two crew per train, strengthened crew fatigue rules, and so on.
Oct 6, 2022 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
This is a hostile act by Saudi Arabia and the UAE, designed to hurt the United States and our allies and to help Russia, despite President Biden's overtures.
I'm introducing legislation with @RepCasten to withdraw our troops from both countries. nytimes.com/2022/10/05/bus…
I see no reason why we should defend a Saudi dictatorship's oil fields if it is using its control of oil markets to tank our economy and help our enemies.
Our message to MBS should be: "If you want to side with Putin, then ask Putin to defend you. And good luck with that."
Oct 4, 2022 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
Last night, my opponent made his first public appearance this year, and we learned why his handlers don’t want him making public appearances.
Here he says he backs a woman’s right to choose … but with restrictions such as the life/health of the mother and the baby. Huh?
Later, he clarified he would ban abortion after 20 weeks with exceptions. But who would decide the validity of these exceptions? Would there be panels deliberating as a woman suffers? Would she have to file a police report against her rapist? He won’t say. gothamist.com/news/gop-candi…
Jul 29, 2022 • 6 tweets • 4 min read
The gun industry should not be marketing guns to kids or putting out ads that fuel the growing culture of violence and extremism in our country.
So I've introduced a bill with @RepRobinKelly to empower the FTC to investigate how guns are marketed. nytimes.com/2022/07/28/bus…
Here are some examples of ads that clearly target children too young to legally buy a firearm. Can you imagine the liquor or cigarette industry getting away with something like this?
Jul 28, 2022 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
The global microchip shortage is a threat to our national security and a major driver of inflation.
So I was proud today to vote for the CHIPS Act, which will bring semiconductor manufacturing back to America, and help us win our competition with China. cnbc.com/2022/07/28/chi…
The GOP leadership's opposition to the CHIPS Act today is more evidence that they'd rather run on the problem of inflation than do anything to solve it (though kudos to the 24 House Republicans who put country over party to vote yes).
Jun 7, 2022 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
Today I'm up for the Democratic nomination for Congress in NJ's 7th district. I also accepted the nomination of the Moderate Party, formed by Republicans and Independents fed up with the extremism of today's GOP, and eager to heal our country's divisions. nytimes.com/2022/06/07/us/…
Most third parties are spoilers that waste their supporters' votes. The Moderate Party is a "fusion party" -- seeking to offer its line on the ballot, and the validation it will bring, to candidates of either the Democratic or Republican party who'll work to earn its support.
Apr 21, 2022 • 16 tweets • 4 min read
We all want to protect our children and their education. That works best when parents and teachers work together and listen to each other. It doesn't work when politicians use kids as political pawns to divide us from one another. That has to stop now. 1/
In February, some sample lesson plans on gender identity were distributed in Westfield that were not age appropriate. Parents raised understandable concerns and I'm glad the school district never intended them to be part of any curriculum. 2/ washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/…
Apr 18, 2022 • 9 tweets • 3 min read
As we file our taxes (those of us who wait till the last day at least), let's review who is fighting to keep middle class taxes down in America and what's standing in the way. And let me tell you where I stand.
The #1 thing Congress did to protect Jersey taxpayers last year was to send direct pandemic relief to our municipalities and school districts - if not for that, our local governments would have slashed fire/police/school budgets or raised our property taxes.
Mar 10, 2022 • 12 tweets • 5 min read
My #1 job is to make sure that the big programs we debate in DC actually benefit the communities I represent. So last year, I worked with mayors in our district to identify 10 local projects worthy of federal $. Yesterday, I got all 10 funded in our Omnibus appropriations bill!
Bernardsville will get funding to build a pedestrian walkway between the train station and the residential area on the other side of the tracks. This will be a huge improvement for the downtown, and give many residents a safer, faster way to get to the train.
Mar 7, 2022 • 11 tweets • 3 min read
As we ask "how will this end?" one possible answer (more likely than Putin caving or being overthrown) is that the Russian army will start to disintegrate as it did at the end of World War I -- battered, poorly supplied, unable to move forward, not allowed to move backward. 1/
The Russians can keep smashing Ukrainian cities from a distance. But when their troops push in, the Ukrainians kill them. Their supply lines are insecure. As Russia's economy collapses, they will get less help from home. At what point will they vote with their feet for peace? 2/
Mar 4, 2022 • 10 tweets • 3 min read
Of course we should stop buying Russian oil.
But please stop pretending this is a silver bullet, or that we could somehow "replace" all the Russian oil by drilling in America.
Last year, the US bought $17 billion worth of oil from Russia. That's not a huge number, and many US refiners are already ending their purchases anyway.
In comparison, Biden's sanctions cost Russian energy companies over $190 billion just this week. 2/ oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-…
Mar 1, 2022 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
Responsible members of Congress are trying to maintain bipartisan consensus on Ukraine.
But those who seek partisan advantage have a clear game plan right now:
Tell Biden to stop Russian oil exports, while preparing to blame Biden for the inevitable rise in gas prices. 1/
Despite what you may have heard, US oil production is up, by some 5%, since President Biden took office. We are at capacity for LNG exports to Europe (till more LNG terminals are built). We are exporting oil AND importing (including from Russia) - this is how oil markets work. 2/
Feb 21, 2022 • 9 tweets • 3 min read
I'm just returning from the Munich Security Conference, where national security leaders from the US & Europe gathered to confront the Ukraine crisis. Some good news: I've honestly never seen more unity among our allies, or our two parties in Congress, on any global issue. 1/
The war Putin is threatening would be a totally unprovoked attack by a dictatorship on a democracy -- a decision by one man to kill thousands of people and to seize the territory of a sovereign country because it won't bend to his will. 2/
Jan 12, 2022 • 11 tweets • 3 min read
1/Virtually everyone agrees on the cause of the harmful inflation we're experiencing: people have more money to spend, but that demand is chasing too little supply.
But who we blame and how we propose to solve it reveals a lot about our political divide.
2/It's an incredible fact that despite one of the worst economic crashes in our history, average Americans (not just the super rich) have more household wealth to spend today than they did before the pandemic.
