“About 61,200 ‘public-sector’ (i.e. government) jobs were lost from the beginning of the recession through the end of 2011 … If these jobs were not lost, New Jersey’s 2011 unemployment rate would be more than a full percentage point lower – 8 percent, instead of the current 9.3 percent. Support to maintain or replace public jobs … should come from the federal government, since New Jersey clearly lacks the financial resources.”

-- N.J. Policy Perspective Report of October 2012.

I want to take a moment to congratulate fellow columnist Harry Hurley for transforming radio station 1450 AM from an ESPN radio station to an all talk format (WPG radio). It seems that when it comes to talk radio, Harry is like the Energizer Bunny, always on the move to bigger and better things, and never letting setbacks get in the way.

It's less than three weeks before Election Day. I strongly believe that it is the most important election in our lifetime.

Mitt Romney holds a small, but steady lead against Barack Obama.

United State Sen. Robert Menendez, D-NJ leads state Sen. Joe Kyrillos, R-13. This remains a very daunting task for Kyrillos, as New Jersey has not elected a Republican United States senator in 40 years.

Public Question 1: Building Our Future Bond Act

“Do you approve the ‘Building Our Future Bond Act’? This bond act authorizes the state to issue bonds in the aggregate principal amount of $750 million to provide matching grants to New Jersey colleges and universities. Money from the grants will be used to build, equip and expand higher education facilities for the purpose of increasing academic capacity.

Yes____  No_____.”

The top 25 economists in America evaluated employment numbers for September 2012 and concluded that 113,000 jobs were created and that the unemployment rate rose from 8.1 percent to 8.2 percent.

However, when the federal government released the official September jobs report, it declared that 14,000 jobs were created and that the unemployment rate dropped to 7.8 percent.

We honor our veterans with parades, we remember those who give the ultimate sacrifice – and then, many of us don’t bother to vote. So what did they fight and die for?

This week’s column states my personal views only. LibertyAndProsperity.org is an educational organization that cannot endorse candidates.

Last Sunday, Oct. 7, marked the beginning of the Afghanistan War 11 years ago. We now enter our 12th year of war – the longest United States war in history.

Last week, my fellow columnist Harry Hurley asked, “Why does New Jersey consistently elect Democrats?”

In 1965, I was a sophomore at Atlantic City High School. At that time, New Jersey was the best state in the country to live and work. We had no state sales or income tax, and no state debt. But my public school education was second to none. Rutgers and most state colleges charged less than $800 per year for tuition, room, and board – less than what I and most teenagers earned working on the Boardwalk in a single summer. We also learned as much about what really matters in life from those summer jobs as we did in school.

Many of you have seen the commercials on television trying to sell us on the safety of fracking, the name for drilling for natural gas deposits deep beneath the ground.

“There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what… who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to healthcare, to food, to housing, to you-name-it. That it’s an entitlement… These are people who pay no income tax… My job is not to worry about those people. I'll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives…”

– Republican Candidate for President Mitt Romney

Why do New Jersey voters consistently vote for Democrats to lead this state? 

If actual results mattered, this would certainly not be the case. The Democrats have led this state into millions and even billions of dollars in structural problems. 

Please allow me to start this week's column with a couple of updates to recent columns.

Pressure on Congressman LoBiondo to debate Democratic candidate Cassandra Shober produced a response from the LoBiondo campaign, according to a recent Press of Atlantic City article. LoBiondo's spokesman said that Shober was not a serious candidate, implying that it would be a waste of time for the congressman to debate.

The Shober for Congress Campaign has unveiled the Frank Facts website, saying it “will expose the truth about Congressman Frank LoBiondo's voting record."

His Democratic opponent, Cassandra Shober, is running as good a campaign as she can on the usual financial shoestring that LoBiondo's opponents find themselves in.