New Jersey Public Pension Risks & Reforms: Feb 21, 7 pm at Greek Taverna
Join in a Montclair Republican Club educational dinner meeting for a presentation on New Jersey’s public pensions with Erica Jedynak of Americans For Prosperity (AFP) – New Jersey. Ms. Jedynak is New Jersey’s state director for AFP.
Montclair Republican Club, unaffiliated with state or national organizations, has been meeting since at least 1880. Our sociable, educational dinner meetings give members, friends and guests from the community a chance to break bread, strengthen relationships, and hear new and varied perspectives. This Thursday, February 21, 2019 meeting will be held at the always-delicious Greek Taverna, 292 Bloomfield Avenue, Montclair.
New Jersey’s public pensions are considered a ticking time bomb. Whether you expect to 
receive a public pension, fund these pensions through your taxes, or both, you can learn more and meet new people by joining in. Youth accompanied by paying adults are welcome, too. Reservations required: reserve here using PayPal or credit card:
1 Youth ($15, must be accompanied by paying adult)
Learn more about New Jersey’s public pension issues at these links:
Byrne, Tom: Risks of Insolvency
Garden State Initiative: New Jersey Earns ‘D-‘ For Failing To Address Pension Crisis
Volcker: Truth And Integrity In State Budgeting: Preventing The Next Fiscal Crisis
Questions? Email montclairrepublicans@gmail.com.
The CHAIR in the ‘CLAIR: NJ GOP Chairman to Visit Thurs Jan 31 7 pm
Montclair Republicans welcome New Jersey Republican State Chairman Doug Steinhardt
Douglas Steinhardt, Esq. NJ GOP Chairman
for a sociable dinner meeting on Thursday, Jan 31, 7 pm at Greek Taverna. Republicans from around New Jersey are welcome to join in our traditional dinner meeting, a format that hearkens back to our club’s roots 140 years ago.
We encourage interested teen-aged youth to attend (with a paying parent) at the rate of $15/per young adult.
Purchase your dinner tickets here (using PayPal or credit card):
Adult – Single ($35) Click HERE
Adult – Couple ($70) Click HERE
Youth (12-18) ($15) Click HERE
Listen to a seven-minute talk from Mr. Steinhardt on Facebook HERE.
Questions? Email montclairrepublicans@gmail.com.
A Vital Message From Roland Straten
Hi, Montclair Republicans, and Happy New Year!
Roland Straten, Montclair’s Republican Town Committee Chairman
My head has been working overtime trying to make sense of all the political stuff going on. The election, confirmation of Kavanaugh, trade wars, fake news, the Mueller investigation, the Left’s hatred of the administration, and political correctness that has run amok are all things I could write about.
Here are some ideas and links on the political correctness that has run amok:
While these topics are all symptoms of the Left gone wild, I have decided to write about the scariest moment of my life.
Here goes:
In a dark, gloomy room, I was standing in front of a blackened one-way window. I was told to slide my U.S. passport into a slot at the bottom of the window. Out came a slip of paper with my name and a few numbers written on it. I proceeded through gates and guards armed with Kalashnikovs. I emerged into a nearly dark, dingy street with old dirty houses lining it.
For the first time in my life I was in a Communist country, as I entered East Berlin at Checkpoint Charlie.
After graduating from Dartmouth with an MBA in 1968, I decided to delay my entrance into the workforce and took a summer job with the Experiment in International Living leading a group of high school students to Germany. After living with German families in the town of Herford, Germany and taking a bus tour of Germany, we went to Berlin, a trip which included a day in East Berlin.
Our group boarded a Boeing 727 in Frankfurt bound for West Berlin. When we reached the East
German border, the pilot revved up the engines to full power for the roughly 10-minute, 120-mile trip over East German airspace to West Berlin. I have never flown faster in my life.
We had a great time seeing the vibrant city, shops, beer gardens, and museums of West Berlin before heading for East Berlin.
Even after 50 years, the dichotomy between east and west was so great that it has left a lasting impression on me. It totally changed my world view.
Before visiting East Berlin, I had heard that life under Communism was drab, unfree and not pleasant. But we had also heard that offsetting the lack of freedom was that the government took care of the needy, provided low-rent housing, free educations, and free health care.
Potsdamer Platz During the Cold War (1945 – 1990)
It immediately became clear that free stuff did not offset the lack of freedom. The utter feeling of despair that enveloped us convinced us that we were in an evil place, that no amount of free stuff could make life bearable. Looking at Potsdamer Platz filled with tank traps was unsettling. The scariest moment of my life was to stand on the wrong side of the Brandenburg Gate looking toward the west, 100 yards away, knowing that the only thing allowing me to leave was the slip of paper in my pocket from Checkpoint Charlie.
If you have read Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, it was as if the dark cloud of ravens came over the country, removing all color and hope, creating a world of despair. Houses were gray and dirty. The people were like zombies looking straight ahead with a glum look on their faces. People were dressed in drab, ill-fitting clothes. A feeling of gloom came over our entire group. After 50 years, this sense of evil and despair is still with me.
I wish I had the communication skills to transfer this experience to our young socialists of today who demand free stuff. We need to get the message out to these youngsters who have not seen Hitler’s National Socialist Workers Party, Franco’s FET Party in Spain, Castro’s Communist Party of Cuba, and Mao’s Chinese Communist Party in action. We still have Venezuela and North Korea to remind us of the evils of socialism and communism, but Hollywood, the press and our educational establishment do not adequately show the evil of these systems. Even the story of thousands of people coming to the USA to escape despotic regimes is portrayed as our fault rather than the fault of repressive, corrupt, socialist regimes.
The message we need to get out is that the socialistic philosophy to give free stuff based on need, not ability, is flawed. The people who produce the free stuff are asked to produce for free or low wages. Even the most altruistic person will decide that working very hard to produce free stuff for other people while not getting any of the benefits may be a bit unfair. As the producers get the message, few and fewer people will produce the free stuff. The government steps in to make people produce. The government then has to resort to coercion to force the producers to make the free stuff.
It should not be hard for our young people to understand this logic, but many do not.
The resurgence of socialistic thought demonstrated by the popularity of Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is a clear and present danger.
It is a shame that we do not learn from history. Each generation makes the same mistakes again and again.
Our only hope is that we can get the message of the evils of socialism out to members of the next generation.
Please do your part to educate them!!
Roland
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YOU ARE CORDIALLY INVITED TO
Join the Montclair Republicans on Thursday, January 31, 7 pm at Greek Taverna for a sociable dinner and presentation by Douglas Steinhardt, Chairman of the New Jersey State Republican Committee. Reservations are required. Purchase your tickets using PayPal or credit card here:
Youth ticket (age 11 – 18, accompanied by paying adult, $15)
Montclair Republican Club and Republican Town Committee members may email the club with their reservation and pay at the door by check or cash: montclairrepublicans@gmail.com.
Registered Montclair Republicans may join the Montclair Republican Club by using these links (annual membership):
Become a Registered Republican by clicking HERE
Beginnings
Social media was used, by both anarchist- and PTA mom-types (above, and right, respectively), to create a small frenzy over Montclair Republicans’ rights of association and speech.
We started the year with a fighting spirit, in the face of local political tyranny, when Nutley Commissioner Steve Rogers , a top Trump campaign operative in New Jersey, came to speak about the many accomplishments of the administration’s first year. In concert with our frequent hosts at the Greek Taverna, we repelled an attempt to silence us. In so doing we put the town on notice that we matter, that our voices will be heard, and that without freedom of speech, of expression, there can be no community.
to us the importance of history, and truth, and the need to comprehend the suffering brought to millions over decades by the scourge of totalitarian socialism. Dr. Bessette’s presentation drove home the key role we play in Montclair, where ideological commitments often obscure facts, right before our very eyes.
A Message From Roland Straten
Roland Straten Montclair GOP Chairman
November, 2018
Van Wagner’s Weekly Message
In the countdown weeks to Election Day 2018, Montclair Republicans are focused on grassroots efforts.
To join the Get Out The Vote (GOTV) team with right-of-center neighbors and friends in Montclair, especially the 11th Congressional District, email montclairrepublicans@gmail.com to be placed on our ‘Weekly Van Wagner’ newsletter email list for the latest meetings, efforts, technology, tee-shirts, pizza and fun.
John Van Wagner, President Montclair Republican Club
GAME ON: NJ’S 11th Congressional District
After Labor Day the gloves will come off in the battle for NJ-11. 
HIS Daughter WILL Vote For Him
Libertarian Murray Sabrin to Appear July 26 in Montclair; Running for U.S. Senate from New Jersey
Sixty nine years ago a two-year-old boy stepped on to the shores of his newly adopted
U.S. Senate Candidate (Libertarian) Murray Sabrin
country with his parents and older brother, left hopelessness and inhumanity behind, and embarked on a marvelous journey of freedom and renewal.
Get In Summer’s Game: March on July 4 (And More)
John Van Wagner, Club President
It’s beach time, lake time, baseball time, and generally time for kicking back.
NJ 11 Congressional Candidate Jay Webber With Two of His Four Daughters
So, in your beach bag, be sure to pack a copy of Newt Gingrich’s “Trump’s America“. It might just propel you out of the waves and into the ranks of active campaigners and donors, particularly for Jay Webber in the crucial race for NJ-11.
Keep a Conservative 11th: Meet Jay Webber, 11th CD Candidate on Apr. 5, 7 pm in Montclair
New Jersey State Assemblyman Jay Webber (R-26), candidate for U.S. Congress in NJ’s 11th Congressional District (a seat currently held by Rodney Frelinghuysen), will visit with and address members and guests of the Montclair Republican Club on Thursday, April 5, 7 pm at Greek Taverna, Montclair.
Purchase your tickets for a sociable and delicious dinner meeting at the links below (special student rate available), or email montclairrepublicans@gmail.com with your reservation: send your check, postmarked by March 29, to Montclair Republicans, 12 Marquette Road, Upper Montclair, NJ 07043 ($35/pp; $15/student rate (11-18) when accompanied by a paying parent).
Jay Webber, 46, a resident of Morris Plains, is a Clifton native, father of 7, Johns Hopkins and Harvard Law School grad. In private law practice in Whippany, he has served in the New Jersey State Assembly since 2008. He is a member of the Reagan Ranch Board of Governors and is founder of New Jersey Reagan Day, the Garden State’s celebratory gathering of conservatives. Read more about Jay Webber HERE.
Jay Webber is known as a conservative voice in the New Jersey State Assembly. Find a ten-year history of video presentations to review HERE.
Listen to a 4-minute radio interview / video on why Jay Webber is running for Congress HERE.
Read nj.com’s recent story on Jay Webber HERE, and Morris County Young Republican’s Jordan Chester’s endorsement of Jay Webber HERE.
Learn more about New Jersey’s 11th U.S. Congresssional District HERE.
We need to put our best foot forward up here as Republicans, and I think I’m the candidate who can keep this seat and keep the progress that we’re making in the country. – NJ Assemblyman & U.S. Congressional Candidate Jay Webber
Purchase 1 Adult ticket ($35) HERE
Purchase 2 Adult tickets ($70) HERE
Purchase 1 Youth ticket ($15, ages 11-18) HERE. Must be accompanied by a paying parent.
Greek Taverna’s family-style dinner is delicious, authentic, and plentiful. Looking forward to seeing New Jersey Republicans, Independents, and sociable old and new friends from across the political spectrum on April 5.
